Minding Benji (Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs Book 5)

by Sandra E Sinclair

  MINDING BENJI

  Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs

  Book 5

  SANDRA E SINCLAIR

  Copyright © 2017 Sandra E Sinclair

  All rights reserved.

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to

  The hard-working authors of the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog who provide the world with sweet/clean historical romances about North Americans between 1820 and 1929.

  I’d also like to give a special mention to Kathie Hamilton who has managed to continue to support and encourage me with my writing. Even during times of great physical stress. As well as Amanda Hammond and many of the members of my fan group. They are too many to mention here, however, to all of them, I say THANK YOU…

  .

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This book is part of a multi-author series sponsored by the authors who write for the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog. My appreciation and thanks go to those other authors who helped develop the fictional mining town of

  Jubilee Springs along the Arkansas River in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

  I also wish to thank my editor, Meg Amor, for helping to make this manuscript as accurate as possible.

  DISCLAIMER

  The town of Jubilee Springs, and all the characters described in this story are fictional. They are not based on any real persons, past or present. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and unintended.

  Chapter 1

  “Are you sure this is what you want?” Maddy asked.

  “I don’t know what I want. But I know what I need, and this isn’t it,” Prudence said, pacing the room. Mr. Langton had gotten familiar with her for the last time. Prudence Fairchild wasn’t so desperate she’d welcome the advances of a married man just to get by.

  She had to find a way out of this situation; and the matrimonial pamphlet Maddy had shown her was as good an answer as any. Because right now, she was all out of ways to avoid Mr. Langton’s roaming eyes and wandering hands.

  “I do know, Pru. Your place is here. I showed it to you as a joke so we could laugh at the desperation of some women. I mean, who wants to marry a man they don’t know?”

  “You know what, Maddy, I do. I’m one of those desperate women you want to laugh at, because from where I’m standing, anything is better than this.” She waved her hands out, indicating the tiny space they shared.

  “How can that be? We have a roof over our heads, warm food in our bellies, and a wage at the end of the week. We’re doing a lot better than most in our position. Besides, who’s going to finish teaching me to read?” Maddy leaped off her bed and stood in front of Prudence, bringing her pacing to a halt.

  Prudence stared at her friend with a wry smile. In another life they would never have been friends. Maddy would have been lucky if they had shared more than a sentence together. Now she wouldn’t change what they had for the world.

  “You don’t need me for that anymore, Maddy; I’ve taught you the basics and you’re doing fine. You managed to read the pamphlet all on your own—enough to find it funny and share your findings with me. And I’m grateful for that. Mr. Langton has—”

  Prudence stopped herself. She almost let slip her shame. Mr. Langton was constantly being inappropriate with her whenever he found her alone. The only thing that saved him coming to her room, was because she shared it with Maddy.

  This last time was too much. He would have to explain the bruise growing on the side of his face to his wife in the morning. Prudence had to save herself, because the next time he got that close to taking advantage of her, she would end his miserable life and then her own.

  Maddy’s squeal startled Prudence. “Oh my goodness, I did, didn’t I? I was so caught up in the reading of it. I didn’t even realize I did it all on my own.” She threw her arms around Prudence and began to jump up and down, jiggling Prudence’s body so much she was forced to jump with her.

  “Quiet down now, Maddy, you’ll wake the whole house. Then where will we be?” Prudence asked, standing firm the moment her feet were on the ground again, and stilling Maddy’s trajectory.

  “I’m sorry, though, I suspect no one will ever hear us up here in the attic, even if we screamed,” Maddy said.

  That was exactly what Prudence was afraid of—no one would hear her screams if Mr. Langton attacked her up here.

  “But I do get myself carried away sometimes.” Maddy interrupted her thoughts. “Do you need me to help with your corset?” She turned Prudence around by her shoulders. “I can brush your hair too, once you’re ready for bed.”

  Being too far away from the other household staff was Prudence’s problem. Mr. Langton had threatened she wouldn’t have Maddy in the room much longer, to save her from his wiles. And he was right. When Maddy married her fiancé, she would be moving out, and Prudence would be on her own. His parting words were, that he’d fix her business just as soon as he came back from his trip.

  As he clutched his cheek and staggered his way back down the stairs, cursing her name, he said, “I will have you, Pru Fairchild. You aren’t so uppity anymore, and when I do, you’ll be begging me for more. Mark my words.”

  “I’d sooner be found face down in the Hudson River.”

  “Don’t think I can’t make that happen once I’m done with you.”

  The words he’d uttered were cold and biting—although slurred—she’d heard them. The serious undertone was not missed by her either. He meant to make her pay for striking him. It was clear to her, if he ever got the chance to corner her again it would take more than a slap to get rid of him. She needed to get a gun or leave.

  Prudence shuddered as Maddy began to unlace her. She could still smell the stench of alcohol on her person. The feel of his grimy hands against her chest and thigh. No amount of scrubbing would ever make her clean of him. He’d violated her with his disgusting tongue against her cheek. Were she surgically apt, she would be inclined to remove said cheek.

  All she could do once Maddy had released her from the clothes she wanted to burn, was use a scrubbing brush to rid herself of what trace of him she could.

  She stared at Maddy through the full-length mirror she’d been allowed to take with her from her old life, and wished she could tell her what was going on under everyone’s noses. But pride forbade it. She may be poor now, but the teachings of her past, growing up as a Fairchild, where they never spoke of embarrassing matters, had been ingrained in her. And being set upon by Mr. Langton definitely fell into that category.

  It was not speaking that landed her family in this mess. Prudence and her older brother Benjamin hadn’t been aware of what was going on with her father and his business partner. If they had, it could have provided them with a clue with how to fight back and get what was theirs—after the mysterious murder of her parents.

  They were both shot in the back on their way home from the theater, and left in the street to die. Nothing was taken, so it wasn’t a robbery gone wrong. It was an assassination, and the only one to benefit from their death was her father’s business partner, who claimed their father owed debts to the business.

  He took everything they had and put Benjamin and her out onto the street. His college placement and engagement canceled due to their fall in status, Benjamin had dropped her off at the Langton’s and disappeared.

  Mrs. Langton had been a close friend of her mother’s and took Prudence into her service, although, at the time, she’d told Benjamin she’d take care of Prudence as if she were her own child.r />
  Undressed, Prudence left her clothes where they fell. She took the jug of boiled water behind the curtain in their room to pour some into a bowl and began to scrub at her skin.

  She’d been living in the Langton house for over a year, and things in the household had gone from bad to worse. As soon as Mrs. Langton became aware of Prudence’s more industrious skills, she fired some of her staff and added their workload to the list of chores she had Prudence do.

  Prudence sometimes wondered if Mr. Langton’s advances had anything to do with his wife. The woman loved to delegate just so long as she didn’t have to do it. Maybe she’d tired of her wifely duties and offered Prudence as a substitute; after all it wasn’t something she could ask of Prudence directly. But she’d hinted at the fact she was not as licentious as her husband.

  The disclosure had puzzled Prudence at first, then she thought maybe these were the types of conversations Mrs. Langton would have with her mother. Now however, she was beginning to think it was Mrs. Langton’s way of telling her to prepare herself, to expect it without complaint.

  Well, Mr. and Mrs. Langton could think again, if they thought she had nowhere else to go and therefore had to put up with their despicable ways. She’d show them she had options.

  Rubbed raw, Prudence slipped on her nightgown. Drawing back the curtain she said, “Where’s that pamphlet?”

  Chapter 2

  The jerking against his shoulder startled Austin Alwin out of his slumber. His foot thudded to the ground as he drew his gun and pushed back the hat covering his eyes.

  “If you find my sermon so boring, why do you bother to attend?”

  “Because it’s the safest place I know to get some shut-eye. It wasn’t your sermon I came for today, although I’m sure I’m going to get one anyway. It’s your advice I’m needing.”

  Pastor Jeffrey rolled his eyes. “If you feel so safe, why did you bring your gun into my church?”

  “Oh this.” Austin looked at the pistol in his hand and slid it back into its holster. “Sorry about that. I’ve been riding all night. I came straight here.”

  “I can smell that.” Pastor Jeffrey waved his hand in front of his face. Pushing his spectacles up his nose, he said, “Well, little brother, how can I help you?”

  “I need a wife,” Austin said, smelling his underarm and grimacing, closing his arms tight against his side.

  His brother arched his brow. “Oh, really? Is that all you need?” Pastor Jeffrey placed the Bibles he’d been collecting onto the bench next to Austin, and looked around him as if searching for something. Then he raised his hand. “Wait here, while I check if I have one spare under the pulpit. I do believe I had a few single women under there, just waiting on you to make up your mind.” He moved as if about to walk off toward the pulpit.

  Austin sucked in a breath, drew himself up, stood, and grasped his brother’s arm. “Why do I bother?” He straightened his hat. “I should have known better than to ask you for help. You must be counting down the days.” He grimaced and let his brother’s arm go.

  Jeffrey looked up at him with a twinkle in his eye and smiled. “Yup, you got that right. I would like nothing more than to see my dear little brother out on the streets.” He patted the top of Austin’s shoulder. “I was thinking I’d extend the church and raise the roof with the money I’m going to get once Highbourne’s sold.”

  “You do know that isn’t funny, right?” Austin drew his lips into a thin line and nibbled on them.

  “Minna seems to think I’m very funny. I’d like to think of myself as mildly amusing. And talking of knowing better. You should know better than to wear your hat in my church. I’d suggest you take it off.”

  Austin did as his brother asked. “So, are you going to help me or aren’t you?” Austin rubbed the back of his neck wishing he didn’t have to ask for help. But he needed a good woman and the only person who knew how to find one was his brother. His brother’s wife was the pillar of virtue.

  “Like I hinted toward, but it was obviously wasted on you. I don’t have a stream of unmarried woman I can call upon to marry you. What do you want me to do?”

  “You could ask your wife for one. She’s sure to know someone, maybe even have a cousin or two.” Austin did not appreciate the snide look on his brother’s face. The one that said, over my dead body, when he mentioned the possibility of one of his wife’s kin as a matrimonial interest.

  What did his brother think of him? Whatever it was, Austin felt sure it wasn’t good. So he wasn’t heading for sainthood, but he wasn’t heading for the other place either. Austin felt certain when his time came, he’d float around for a spell in limbo, until the big guy upstairs decided to let him in.

  Judge not, lest ye be judged brother. That thought made Austin smile.

  His smile seemed to irk Jeffrey, and his face hardened. “Oh, silly me. I forgot about Minna’s trunk stuffed full of spinsters. When she gets back from her meal run to the old and infirm, I’ll be sure and ask her to check it out, and get back to you.” Pastor Jeffrey picked up his stack of Bibles and continued to collect the rest.

  Austin bit his bottom lip in frustration. Jeffrey was only treating him like this because he’d gone off for a few weeks and didn’t tell him where he was going. Well, he wasn’t a kid anymore, and Jeffrey needed to recognize that fact. Setting that aside, if he wanted his brother’s help he was going to have to apologize.

  He could tell him about driving a team of horses to Utah, and leave out the week he’d spent at the saloon just outside of town. He doubted anyone there would have told his brother they’d seen him there, considering the reputation of the place.

  “Look, Jeffrey, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I went off without a word to you and Minna. But I got a good deal on a trade and didn’t have time to pass by and say anything.” Austin raised his hand to silence his brother, when he’d stopped what he was doing and looked at him as if to speak. He needed to get this out before the need to ask his brother for forgiveness left him.

  He needed Jeffrey’s help and this was the only way he was going to get it if he wanted it today. “I know…I know, I should have gotten word to you and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” Austin said, following his brother and picking up Bibles, meeting him in the aisle.

  Austin wished his uncle had just left well alone, and minded his own business. No one interfered with his uncle’s choice at bachelorhood. It wasn’t anyone else's fault but his own. No one told the old goat not to get married. Maybe he should have. Having a soft, loving substitute mother might have been a far better upbringing for him and Jeffrey than their cold, miserable great aunt, whose idea of affection was the strap.

  “Spare the rod, spoil the child,” was her motto and boy did she act on it.

  It wasn’t right for his uncle to make him get married to keep the roof over his head. He was fine on his own, and if he, Austin Alwin decided to die a bachelor, it should be up to him. If his uncle had regrets, they were his and he had no right to impose his wishes on others, none whatsoever. Austin had a good mind to dig him up and shoot him on principle.

  He’d loved the old fool, but this just wasn’t right.

  “What are you frowning about?” Jeffrey asked, then rolled his eyes. “Not how wronged you feel. Uncle Ed put that clause in his will because he was thinking about you. He’s only ever wanted the best for us.”

  “Easy for you to say, you have a wife. She’s probably the best woman in Jubilee Springs. I’ve got eight weeks to find me a wife or I’m homeless.”

  Jeffrey laughed, and took the Bibles from Austin’s hands. “You’ll never be homeless. You could always move in here with Minna and me, or I could build an extension with the money I’m going to get.” Jeffrey’s eyes danced with amusement, as Austin exhaled and shook his head.

  “Huh, thanks, but no thanks. All I need is a good woman who knows her place and is not too demanding. Someone like Minna.” Austin chuckled at his brother’s furrowed brow.

  “I’ll ha
ve you know our marriage is a partnership. I make no decision without first consulting with my wife. The same wife whose family you want to marry into. For your information, the only place my wife needs to be is at my side. You need to adjust your attitude, little brother,” Jeffrey said. He stalked off and placed the Bibles he’d collected into a wooden box against the back wall.

  “Does this mean you’re not going to help me?”

  “Look, I don’t know what you want from me. You know as well as I do, there’s a shortage of females in this town. However, I did hear the miners were sending away for mail order brides. I don’t have the particulars. Maybe you can ask Johnny B, I heard him talking about it. He’s your friend. It’s quite possible he’d know more than me.”

  “Did I hear my name a-calling,” Johnny said, his frame silhouetted against the sun in the open doorway.

  “Speak of the devil.” Austin laughed and walked over to shake his friend’s hand. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m dropping off your brother’s buckboard and collecting my buggy. Where have you been these last few weeks?” Johnny B raised a brow.

  “Oh, you know, here and there. Utah for the most part,” Austin said, with a wink, rubbing the back of his neck after sneaking a peek in Jeffrey’s direction to be greeted by a disapproving gaze. Austin groaned. “Here, walk with me and tell me more about this mail order bride thing. Do you think I could get me one of those?” Austin tried to push Johnny B out the door.

  Johnny stretched his neck to look over Austin’s shoulder at Jeffrey.

  “Go, take him with you. Minna is still out with the buggy. I’ll bring it along later. And Austin, we will be expecting you for dinner.”

  “All right, I’ll see you then.” Austin waved the back of his hand holding his hat over his head as he left without looking back, dragging Johnny B with him.