The Romantic Ruse (Historical Christian Romance)

by Barbara Goss

  Gus went to every store and place of business on the main street, asking for information, telling people where he would be, and asking that they notify him if they saw either Lily or Harley. Most of the people he met were helpful and cooperative.

  When he was done, he went to Harley’s apartment over the post office and knocked, but no one answered. Gus put his ear to the door to see if he could hear anything; all he heard was silence.

  He went back to his room at the saloon and spent some time fretfully pacing. He'd done everything he could think of doing. There was nothing else he could do but wait.

  He took out his pistols and started polishing them.

  In the dark of night, and while the saloons on the street were full of rowdy cowboys making noise and having a good time, Harley snuck up the stairs to his apartment, carrying Lily, bound and gagged, over his shoulder. He set her down on his bed, untied her, but left the gag on her mouth, and tied her hands to the bedposts, leaving her legs free. He lit a lamp and left her there, locking the door from the outside with a key.

  Lily gazed around the dark, sparsely furnished room. There were two tall windows, but Harley had papered them up so no one was able to look in or out. Opposite the bed stood a battered old armoire, a wooden chair, and next to the bed was a small table. She twisted her body to see if there was anything on the table, but all that was there was an empty glass, and a saucer that someone had used as an ashtray.

  Lily shuttered to think what was in store for her. She’d been praying diligently, and felt that, at least so far, God had protected her. She once more asked God to send his angels down to safeguard her.

  Just as she had relaxed enough to finally fall asleep, Harley came back into the room, holding a horsewhip in one hand, and a glass containing a yellowish liquid in the other. Lily felt her eyes grow wide and her brain become instantly alert.

  “Now, my dear," he hissed, "it’s time for me to hurt you as you’ve hurt me. I don’t like forced lovemaking—it’s so much more fun with a responsive partner. What do you think it might take to make you a responsive partner? A whipping, perhaps? Or maybe you’d prefer the delicious cocktail that the Gypsy woman concocted for me?” He held up the glass and shook it a little, so whatever it was inside sloshed back and forth against the sides. He removed the gag so she would reply.

  Lily lay stunned. If he drugged her, she’d be ruined. Her wedding gift to Gus would be spoiled. “I’ll take the whipping,” she said.

  “Ah, but you see, that will come later. First we will enjoy each other's company, and then I will hurt you as you hurt me that night in the street.”

  Lily’s brain tried to make sense of what he'd just said and how she could possible avoid the inevitable. “I don’t need the cocktail, Harley, I'll be responsive. Gus and I have already been intimate, many, many times, and I rather enjoy it.“ She gulped, hoping he'd fall for it. “You want responsive? You'll get responsive.” Lily made a show of looking at her arms, still tied to the bedpost. "I’ll need my hands to be responsive as well,” she said, trying to sound seductive.

  Harley set the “cocktail” down, untied her hands, and lay down beside her on the bed. “Seriously? You like it?" only instead of "it," he used a vulgar term for making love.

  Lily felt too frightened to speak. She forced a smile and nodded. To further convince him, she stroked his chest with one hand and his hair with the other, and tried to look provocative.

  Harley rolled on top of her. She moved one hand to stroke his neck passionately, and the other she snaked between their bodies.

  Harley moaned, probably in anticipation, thinking she meant to touch his privates. Lily did not disappoint—she grabbed his most tender area and squeezed as hard as she could, digging her fingernails in so deep, she thought she felt her other fingers through his testicles.

  Harley jumped up, swore, and punched Lily in the face with a closed fist. Then he doubled over in pain.

  Lily lay lifeless on the bed.

  Harley cursed at her, calling her several vulgar names. “You’re no good to me now! I can’t wait to use the whip!” Harley said aloud, still clutching his private parts.

  “Harley!” called a female voice behind him. “How could you do this to me?”

  Harley swung around to face Clarice. “Get out!" he screamed. "Can’t you see I’m busy?”

  Clarice gave him an evil smile. “I have something for you,” she purred.

  “Get out!”

  “You told me I was the only one, that you loved me. When I caught you with Polly, you told me she'd seduced you, and I believed you. When you said I was different from the others, and that the other women meant nothing to you, because you loved only me, I believed you again. And now you bring Lily back here to seduce her?“ Clarice looked at Lily lying, unmoving, on the bed.

  “My God, Harley! Have you killed her?”

  “No, I just knocked her out.

  "You are the only one for me, Clarice. But this one hurt me twice where it hurts the most, so I’m paying her back. I'm not making love to her. See the whip?”

  “What’s in the glass, Harley? Is that the stuff you gave me the first time?” Clarice moved a little closer to him.

  “No, it’s whiskey.”

  “Drink it, then.”

  “I’m not thirsty.

  "Now, get out!” he yelled still clutching his groin.

  Clarice looked over Harley’s shoulder and said, “Look, she’s waking up.” When Harley turned toward Lily, he felt a sharp pain in his back. He felt pressure as she slid the knife from his back, and then footsteps as she ran from the apartment.

  Harley lay partially on top of Lily, bleeding badly, drenching both Lily and the bed with blood. He pulled his shirt off and tried to hold it over his wound the best he could, but it was hard to reach.

  He lay like that for several minutes before he tried to get back up. He managed to get to his feet and started to walk toward the door, but ended up crawling there instead. He collapsed into a heap in front of the still open door with a gurgling gasp.

  Gus heard a frantic knock on the door to room number four. He opened it to see a frenzied Clarice. “It’s me, again. Lily's in Harley’s apartment right now. I think she’s killed him.” Clarice turned away, ran into room two.

  Gus dressed in a flash and ran as fast as he could to the post office apartment. He practically flew up the stairs where he found the door to Harley's apartment open. He ran inside calling Lily's name. He noticed Harley in the doorway, crumpled into a heap, stepped over him, went to Lily and held her, shaking her gently.

  “Lily?" he said. "Lily, it’s Gus. Wake up. Please!”

  Sheriff Smith rushed into the room. “What’s going on?" he asked. "Why is the street door standing wide open?” He looked around, taking in the scene and gasped as he saw Harley’s body.

  “You stay right there,” he pointed to Gus. “Don’t move.”

  He bent and examined Harley. “He’s dead!”

  Gus remained on the bed, still holding Lily. “He kidnapped her,” Gus said, nodding at Lily. “It looks like if he beat her as well. Look at her face. He must have punched her; she’s unconscious.”

  Smith walked over and examined Lily, then he turned to Gus. “So you killed him?”

  Chapter 19

  “I planned to, but someone beat me to it.” Gus kissed Lily’s forehead. “Please get a doctor!”

  “I’m afraid I have to arrest you for murder, Mr—who are you?”

  “My name is August Tanner from Hunter’s Grove. I didn’t kill him. You can see he was stabbed. A knife would not be my weapon of choice." Gus touched the gun in his holster. "I’d have used this, and I wouldn't have shot him in the back, either.”

  “Then who did kill him?” They both looked toward Lily.

  “She couldn’t have,” Gus said. “She was unconscious when I found her." He checked her body, looking for a source for the blood and found none, which meant it must be Harley's blood, which meant she was alrea
dy unconscious when he lay on top of her after he'd been stabbed. "She needs a doctor! Worry about who killed Harley later. Please!”

  Smith went over to Lily, opened one of her eyes, and felt for a pulse in her neck. “She’s really out cold," he said. "That’s a nasty bruise under her eye. None of that means she couldn’t have killed him, though." He thought on it for a moment; the pause was maddening. If he didn't go get the doctor soon, Gus thought he might give him a reason to.

  "I’ll get Doc Ellis," he said at last. "Don’t you leave the scene,” he ordered.

  “You couldn’t pry me away with a crowbar,” Gus replied.

  Sheriff Smith returned a short time later with the doctor in tow. The doctor was a small man who wore glasses and carried a black satchel.

  The doctor shook his head when he looked at Lily. “Who would do this to such a lovely young woman?” He checked her eyes and vital signs, and announced that, although she was unconscious, she most probably did not have a concussion. He started to gently slap the back of Lily’s hand. “What’s her name?”

  “Lily,” Gus said anxiously.

  “Lily!” the doctor called repeatedly, alternating between rubbing and patting the back of her hand.

  Lily’s eyes eventually fluttered and then slowly opened. When she saw the doctor, her eyes and face reflected fright.

  Gus moved into her field of vision. “It’s all right, love. You’ll be all right,” he said.

  “G-Gus!” Lily cried. “He, he tried to…but I hurt him, so he hurt me back.” Lily raised her hand to touch her cheek.

  The sheriff stepped up to the bed. “How exactly did you hurt Harley Ward?”

  “I-I…” Lily looked up to Gus as if for help.

  “It’s all right. Tell us all you can remember.” Gus took her hand and squeezed it. “When you're done, we're going home to get married.”

  Lily smiled. She looked at the sheriff and said, “I squeezed his privates when he tried to have his way with me. He swore at me, and then punched me, and that’s all I remember.” Lily looked around the room. “He isn’t here, is he?” Her eyes grew wide with terror.

  Gus squeezed her hand. “He’s dead, Lily. He’ll never hurt you again.” Gus sidestepped so that Lily could see the body on the floor.

  Lily’s mouth dropped open at the sight of Harley’s body. “Did I kill him by squeezing his…?”

  “No!” Gus cut in. “Someone stabbed him in the back.”

  “We know it wasn't you. Harley must've been sprawled across your chest at some point after he was stabbed.” Smith pointed to the blood all over Lily and the bed. “Someone else must have been here.” Sheriff Smith looked at Gus.

  “No one wanted that scum dead more than I did," he admitted, "and I was prepared to challenge him to a shootout. Stabbing a man in the back is not exactly my way of doing things.” Gus leaned over and tenderly kissed Lily on her forehead.

  Smith shook his head. “Strangely enough, I believe you; the man had few admirers.”

  Sadie ran into the room and addressed the sheriff with panic in her voice. “Frank, come quickly. We need you at the saloon.”

  “What’s up, Sadie? I’m in the middle of—”

  “Clarice is on the upstairs balcony threatening to jump. Come quickly!” Sadie turned and left, with the sheriff following close behind.

  The doctor grabbed his bag, “I might be needed there next.”

  This left Gus alone in the room with Lily. She looked up into his eyes and said, “I love you. Thank you for being here.”

  “I’m not letting you out of my sight for the rest of our lives,” Gus said. He kissed her on the lips. “I meant it when I told you I couldn’t live without you. When I heard what had happened, I just had to come and find you. I only wish I’d gotten here sooner.” He touched the bruise on her face. “If he weren’t already dead, I’d kill him.”

  Lily sat up with some effort. “It was horrible! He—”

  “Not now, Lily," Gus told her. "Rest up a while longer and then I’ll carry you to my room where you can rest until tomorrow, when we will head home, get married, and never be apart again.

  “Would you like something to drink, darling? There’s a glass here on the table.”

  “No!” Lily shouted. “That’s… that’s… well, I don’t know what it is, but Harley said a Gypsy friend made it for him and that if I drank it, I’d be responsive to….”

  “That scum! That’s the lowest thing a man can do to a woman.” Gus had been holding the glass, but now he put it down. “I’ll see if there's some water in the kitchen.”

  Gus returned a short while later with a glass of water. He held the glass, and supported Lily's head as she drank.

  “I want to get up now. I’m fine, really I am,” Lily said. “I need to see what’s happening with Clarice.”

  When Gus and Lily arrived outside of the saloon, quite a crowd had already gathered. Clarice was still sitting on the railing of the second floor balcony, threatening to jump.

  “Does she realize that a jump from there won’t kill her?” Gus whispered to Lily. “At best she might break a few bones.”

  “She’s ranting. I think she may be caught up in some type of hysteria.”

  “Listen to what she's saying,” Gus moved Lily closer to the saloon.

  “If I can’t have him, no one will! He never loved me!” Clarice continued to rant as tears streamed down her face. She grabbed her head, frantically. “I loved him… He used me… I don’t want to live… I can’t live without him…He’s dead!”

  “Clarice, calm down, now,” Smith yelled up to her. “I’m coming up to get you.”

  “No! If you come up, I’ll jump.” she yelled back.

  “If you jump, Clarice, you’re only apt to break a few bones.

  "Stop this nonsense and go back into your room,” Smith continued.

  “Then I’ll stab myself!” She laughed hysterically. “I’ll use the same knife I used on Harley.” She started to openly weep. “My darling Harley!” She sat down on the floor of the balcony and sobbed.

  Smith and Doc Ellis ran up, brought her in from the balcony, and placed her on the bed. Sheriff Smith picked up a bloody knife from her bedside table. “Case solved,” he said.

  Doc made Clarice drink something that made her cringe, and she quickly dropped off to sleep. “I think someone ought to look after her for a few days. She's suffering from a nervous illness, caused by the stress of killing her lover.”

  “I’ll post a deputy outside her room, because she's technically under arrest,” Smith said.

  “Yes,” the doctor said. Then he added, “but let her recuperate a day or two first.”

  Gus purchased a horse from a local rancher, and he and Lily left Abilene early the following morning. Lily’s bruise still looked sore and black.

  They rode all day and slept at night under the stars, in each other’s arms.

  One night, when Lily cuddled up to Gus, he looked down at her, making her heart do a flip-flop, and she had to tell him.

  “Gus," she said, "my relationship with Harley, he—”

  “I don’t care. I don’t want to know. Please! From now on, it’s just you and me.”

  Lily tried again. “But you should know—”

  “I don’t care what happened between you and Harley, Lily. I love you. What happened in the past doesn’t matter.”

  “Really?”

  Gus kissed her on the forehead. “Really. Now, go to sleep.”

  “But you haven’t kissed me at all,” she pouted, curling up closer to him.

  “I’m saving myself for our wedding night,” he said. “I don’t trust myself kissing you alone out here in the wilderness. It would be far too tempting.” He kissed her on the nose. “Goodnight, Lily.”

  Chapter 20

  Lily and Gus stood before the makeshift altar in Simon Morton's barn. She regretted that Charles and Emma weren’t present, but she dared not ask Gus to put the wedding off until they arrived, but he did p
romise her a huge wedding party when they came to visit. Reverend James Flannery, now the official church minister, read them their vows, which they repeated.

  “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may—”

  Gus kissed Lily passionately.

  “You are supposed to wait until I say: ‘You may now kiss the bride, ’” James grumbled.

  “Sorry, James; I couldn’t wait. She looks so beautiful, and now she is all mine…forever!”

  Lily, dressed in the same pink dress she and Mandy had picked out earlier, smiled coyly.

  Mandy came up to them and hugged them both. “Congratulations, you two.”

  “Will there be a wedding trip anywhere?” James asked.

  “Maybe later we’ll take a trip to St. Joseph," Gus said, "but for the next few days we’ll be in residence at a plush hotel suite, and I’m not telling anyone where; We do not wish to be disturbed.”

  James gave him a knowing look. “I understand. I’ll look after the ranch for you.”

  After the newlyweds left, James approached Mandy. “Would you do me the honor of having dinner with me at Pete’s?”

  Mandy’s eyes sparkled. “Well, since we're all dressed up, we might as well.”

  The ride to Topeka seemed like the longest ride ever to Gus. He couldn’t wait to begin his wedding night. He would do everything he could to make it special and memorable for Lily. When they pulled up before the hotel, a uniformed man escorted them to their room. A young boy who worked for the hotel took the wagon to the livery for them.

  Inside, Lily gazed around their suite. It took up half of the third floor of the three-story hotel. The halls and floors were thickly carpeted, and the furnishings were lovely.

  There was a knock on the door, and a bellboy wheeled a covered meal into the suite, but Gus wasn't interested in food just then, and he surmised that Lily wasn't either. They exchanged knowing glances as they anxiously awaited the bellhop’s disappearance. As soon as the door closed behind him, Gus took Lily into his arms and kissed her passionately. Lily responded. Gus began to pull her to the bed, but she resisted.