The Drum_The Twelfth Day

by E. E. Burke

  Draven shook his head. “Nobody up there knows who he is. Maybe you could help us identify him.” He turned back the blanket and the doctor lifted the lantern.

  Light shone on a slender man in dust-coated clothing, miner’s garb. Charlie’s gaze halted at the man’s hands, which had been crossed over his crushed chest. On his right hand, he wore a distinctive signet ring, embossed with a swirling C.

  Charlie’s arms broke out in gooseflesh. “Bring the light to his face.”

  He leaned closer to study the man’s features. Bruised and battered, but still recognizable. “That’s Robert Cortland.”

  “Cortland? Your former partner?” Penny scrambled out of the sleigh, but Charlie put his arm out and held her back.

  “You don’t want to see this.”

  The sheriff quickly flipped the blanket back over the corpse. “Looks to me like he got caught under one of the supports. He had a stick of dynamite in his pocket. My guess is he set a charge somewhere in the tunnel and didn’t get out in time.”

  “He tried to kill me once when he stole my gold.” Charlie touched the old scar on his cheek. “Must’ve come back to finish the job.” Whatever motive had compelled Cortland to return after all this time had died with him.

  Charlie put his arm around Penny. “He’s the one responsible for my bad luck, not you. Doc, put him on ice, then you and Draven come on over to the saloon. We’re having a wedding.”

  Chapter 15

  The street sparkled with light as the residents of Noelle turned out to welcome the mayor back and to witness a marriage between the twelfth couple. With the promised marriages finalized, along with the potential for silver, the railroad board would have no reason to dispute their agreement. Noelle would be saved.

  Penny once again stood inside the door of the saloon, only this time she wasn’t nervously clutching a piece of evergreen, wondering if her groom would show up.

  Charlie was already there, waiting for her.

  Her fears about bad luck had been mostly put to rest upon discovering a reason for the mine collapse. She had forced herself to set aside her doubts. Charlie had asked for her trust, and perhaps with time, he would come to love her as much as she loved him.

  The glow from an elk horn chandelier cast a gleaming hue over the rough-hewn walls and floors. Her groom’s hair, which had been combed and smoothed down, shone like spun gold. Standing next to him—his best friend and the town’s pastor—Chase Hammond clutched a Bible to his chest and beamed like a proud papa.

  “This calls for a celebration. Whiskey for everyone!” Seamus Malone marched over to the bar. “The preacher’s paying, ain’t that right?”

  “No I recall very clearly you said if we found him, the drinks would be on the house,” Chase replied. “After the wedding.”

  Charlie smiled at Penny. “I’ll cover the tab. We can toast my bride.”

  The ladies who’d arrived with her twelve days past—which in some ways seemed like a lifetime ago—gathered around her. Their husbands scrambled for chairs, a few sat on tables. Draven, Storm and the doctor stood with their elbows propped on the bar. Thankfully, the Thorntons had left their goose at home.

  Genevieve pressed two decorative hairpins in Penny’s hand. “Use them to secure your veil. For good luck.”

  Zee Daniels handed her cherub-cheeked baby to her husband, Culver. The brawny blacksmith smiled indulgently when little Jem grabbed his nose with a gleeful squeal. The sound stirred a maternal longing in Penny’s heart. She hadn’t asked Charlie whether he wanted children, and he’d been so devastated when he lost his daughter, but she wondered if another child might help his heart heal.

  “I have something for you too.” Zee slipped a silver bracelet around Penny’s wrist. “This was passed down from my great-grandmother. It’s given me luck and protection.”

  “Oh Zee, thank you.” Penny studied the pattern, which was possibly gypsy symbols or an ancient language. The precious gift touched her heart. “Are you sure you want to part with it?”

  “I have more.” Zee stepped back and looked Penny over, and her dark gaze warmed with approval. “That dress fits you perfectly.”

  “It does, doesn’t it?” Penny smoothed her hands over the dress Charlie had sent Aggie to purchase for her, after she’d used the excuse she couldn’t be married in soiled clothing. By some miracle, Gus must’ve remembered the dress she’d admired, because that was the one the elderly widow had returned with.

  Birdie stood on tiptoe to attach the lacy veil to Penny’s hair. “Something else you should know. This lace was made on a loom that was smuggled into France by one of the lace makers in Calais, so they could produce the kind of lace that the duke wished to give to his bride.”

  “Really?” Penny lifted her hands to the delicate fabric. She felt awful about how she’d treated the gift. “I can’t believe you kept this for me.”

  “Why wouldn’t I? I knew you’d have a use for it one day.”

  Humbled by her friend’s thoughtfulness, Penny reached out to squeeze Birdie’s hand. “Thank you. I don’t deserve such kindness.”

  “Of course you do.”

  “Not after throwing this veil in your face.”

  Birdie’s eyes twinkled as if she found the remark somehow funny. “As you said, you didn’t need it then. But you do need it now.”

  Over her friend’s shoulder, Penny spotted Grandpa Gus, who gave her an exaggerated wink. He nudged his grandson, Jack, who responded with a thumbs-up. They’d never acted afraid of her. They’d treated her as part of the family. And the other ladies, they’d stood by her, even when she’d doubted herself. In this way also, she was very lucky.

  She stepped up beside Charlie.

  The preacher opened his Bible. This time, he directed a pointed look at her. “Are we ready?”

  “Yes,” she said firmly.

  “Just a minute.”

  Her heart shrank at Charlie’s answer. Had he changed his mind?

  He didn’t look at her to reassure her. Rather, he seemed intent on digging something out of his coat pocket. He lifted her hand and placed it in her palm.

  She stared in confusion at the little red drum, the last ornament in his collection. He’d stopped the ceremony because he’d forgotten to decorate the tree?

  “The Drum and this ornament belong to you now. And I’ve already signed the papers. You’ll own fifty percent interest in the mine—the gold, silver, whatever we take out of it.”

  “Wait!” A shout came from the near the door. “Stop! I object!”

  Charlie turned at the interruption. “What the devil?”

  Percy elbowed his way through the crowd, ignoring the shocked and disapproving looks cast his direction. “You don’t have the right to sign over half the mine. It doesn’t belong to you.”

  As if a reluctant bride wasn’t bad enough, they had to be interrupted again, and this time by a raving lunatic.

  “You’ve been out in the sun too long, Penworthy. Go sit down.”

  The land agent’s face flushed bright pink. He straightened the pince-nez at the end of his nose and adjusted his coat with a self-righteous sniff. “It’s night, in case you haven’t noticed. The preacher is going to ask if anyone has just cause to object, and I do. You can’t offer your wife half interest in the mine without the approval of the other owner.”

  Either Percy was mad, or this was his way of getting control of the mine by perpetrating some sort of fraud.

  Charlie stepped away from Penny and stalked the land agent. “What are you trying to pull?”

  Looking alarmed, Percy moved his feet fast, scrambling in reverse, but he didn’t get far before Draven gave him a push back toward Charlie, who snatched him up by the lapels of his tailored coat.

  Charlie pinned him with an icy glare. “I smell a rat.”

  Percy squeaked, “Don’t hit me! You…you’ll break my glasses!”

  “I don’t hit rats. I feed them to my ferret.”

  The bean counter’s e
yelids fluttered.

  “Don’t you dare faint.”

  Percy’s eyes snapped open, and he started sputtering. “I did nothing wrong. Mr. Cortland showed me a deed to the mine that had his name on it. He told us he’d found a fortune in silver, and he promised he would arrange for my uncle to buy into it. He-he’ll be at the meeting tomorrow, you can talk to him about it then.”

  Silver… That would explain why Cortland had been sneaking around, and the rockslide too. He’d been awfully busy on the other side of the mountain, and Percy had kept his secret.

  Charlie longed to wring the Judas’s scrawny neck, and to think he’d allowed the slimy snake into his town. “You were doing business with Robert Cortland?”

  Percy bobbed his head.

  “He won’t be attending any meetings,” Draven ground out. “He’s laid up over at Doc’s—squashed flat as a bug.”

  “That’s right,” Charlie tightened his grip on Percy’s coat. “Cortland set a charge at the mine entrance and blew it up. Tried to kill me. Reckon he thought if I was dead, no one would stand in his way.”

  Percy’s face turned ashen. His mouth gaped open…closed…open—like a fish gasping for water. “I-I heard about the cave-in. But I swear I didn’t know that was his plan. H-He didn’t tell me how he would arrange things.”

  That was the sorriest excuse yet.

  “He showed you a false deed. I bought him out three years ago. But you’ve been having fun, haven’t you, running everybody in circles over these weddings, all along figuring you’d soon be getting rich off silver and running this town.”

  The fear in Percy’s eyes confirmed Charlie’s assumption. “No! You’ve got it wrong. I’m not that kind of person.”

  “I know exactly what kind of person you are. The kind that don’t deserve to live.”

  The tension in the air was palpable, as Charlie coldly contemplated whether he could get away with murder.

  A light touch on the back of his shoulder arrested him.

  Penny.

  He knew her touch without looking, because it stirred his heart and released a host of emotions that he’d tried, unsuccessfully, to bury. With just a touch, she reminded him his heart had once been soft. When it came to her, it was the consistency of pudding.

  “Let him go, Charlie,” she said softly. “The sheriff can deal with him.”

  He let go so fast Percy’s knees gave way. The trembling agent would’ve collapsed if Draven hadn’t caught hold of his arm.

  “Lock him up,” Charlie snapped. “He can explain it to the judge.”

  The sheriff’s mauled brow twitched. “Our little jail’s gettin’ a mite crowded. You all must think I’m runnin’ a hotel. Just in case this little mouse is tempted to run off, I’ll find a spot for him. But he’s not going anywhere until after.”

  “After what?” Charlie asked.

  Draven cocked his head and wry amusement gleamed in his good eye. “After you marry that lady you been chasing all over town.”

  Penny watched in stunned amazement as the sheriff hauled the land agent to stand beside him while the ceremony commenced. Everyone else appeared equally surprised. There for a minute, she feared Charlie would wring the man’s neck like he would a chicken’s—not dissimilar to how he’d manhandled the preacher. The deceitful Mr. Penworthy deserved a good lashing, but then Charlie would be arrested.

  Reverend Hammond, who’d backed off and rested his hip on the edge of a table, calmly observing the drama, came to his feet. “Well, that was exciting. Now…are we ready to continue?”

  Charlie tucked her fingers over his arm and set his jaw. “I’m ready.”

  Penny lifted her other hand to look at the ornament, puzzled by what he meant in giving her half the mine. Was it because she’d asked for the rock to be assessed? Did he think that was why she’d finally agreed marry him, to become rich?

  The reverend opened his Bible. “I’ll pick up where I left off. Nah, let’s get to the vows. Charles Augustus Hardt, do you take—”

  “Excuse me, Reverend, I’d like to have a word with Mr. Hardt before we go on.”

  A thunderous expression darkened her groom’s piercing gaze. “Do you, or don’t you, want to get married?”

  She tightened her hold on his arm. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

  Someone in the crowd barked a laugh, and another person hushed him. She wasn’t sure if Charlie’s frown was meant for them or her.

  “But I want to know why you think you need to give me this.” She held up the ornament. “I don’t need riches, Charlie. All I need is you.”

  He blinked down at her. His eyes looked a little glassy and then he cleared his throat. “That’s good to know. But it seems I didn’t make myself clear.”

  He clasped his hands on her shoulders. “Penny, I’m offering you ownership in the mine to show you that you’re the only treasure I care about.”

  His treasure? Her? That meant his dogged pursuit hadn’t only been about saving the town. Charlie loved her. That’s what he was saying, and in the sweetest way possible.

  In her heart, something felt like a key turned in a lock and a door opened. The curse. It was broken. Or maybe, as Charlie had claimed repeatedly, there had never been a curse, only fear, and his love had driven it out.

  Elated, she threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, Charlie, more than anything, and I promise to honor and obey you… Well, to be honest, I’m not sure I’ll always obey, but I can promise to trust you. And I’ll never forsake you, in sickness or in health, as long as I live.”

  He tightened his embrace. “Penny Jackson…” His voice quivered. “I pledge to honor and protect you, and to love and cherish you until death do us part.”

  From behind her came sounds of sniffling, and Penny began crying, too.

  Charlie kept his arm about her waist as he turned to face the preacher. “I take this woman to be my lawfully wedded wife.”

  “And I take this man to be my lawfully wedded husband,” she added, beaming up at him.

  Reverend Hammond closed his Bible, his dark eyes danced with amusement. “Then I think it’s safe to say, I can now pronounce you man and wife.”

  Charlie bent over and kissed her with a firm, but gentle pressure. The kind of kiss that sealed his love and his vows.

  When he straightened, she took a deep breath. Her feet couldn’t be on the floor because she was certain she was floating.

  Only one more thing remained to be done. Penny reached for his hand and gave him the ornament, a symbol of their mutual love and commitment. “The drum rightfully belongs over there. Why don’t you put it with the others you placed on the tree?”

  “Good idea.” Charlie stepped around the preacher, who didn’t look nearly as surprised as everyone else did, and hung the drum ornament next to the partridge.

  “You sly dog,” Reverend Hammond murmured. “What got you in the Christmas spirit?”

  Charlie gave a shrug, as if he hadn’t given it a thought. Only, Penny knew better. “Twelve days, twelve gifts. Hey, somebody ought to write a song about that.”

  Author’s Note

  Our series is set in the fictional town of Noelle, Colorado, which is loosely based on the actual history of Leadville, Colorado. That gold mining community had nearly petered out until silver was discovered, almost by accident. After that, the town exploded, becoming one of the richest and wildest western American towns in existence at the end of the 19th century.

  I’m so grateful to USA Today Bestselling Author Caroline Lee for inviting me along on this journey, and what a fun trip we’ve taken together, along with ten other bestselling authors. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed brainstorming the series and seeing how each author took their couple’s love story and blended it into the overall tale about a little town named after a baby. I hope you’ll enjoy reading about Noelle and the twelve couples determined to save it.

  Merrily,

  E.E. Burke

  Here’s a complete list of th
e books in the Twelve Days of Christmas Mail-Order Brides series:

  The Partridge, The First Day, by Kit Morgan

  The Dove, The Second Day, by Shanna Hatfield

  The Hens, The Third Day, by Merry Farmer

  The Calling Birds, The Fourth Day, by Jacqui Nelson

  The Ring, The Fifth Day, by Caroline Lee

  The Goose, The Sixth Day, by Peggy Henderson

  The Swan, The Seventh Day, by Piper Huguley

  The Maid, The Eighth Day, by Rachel Wesson

  The Dancing Lady, The Ninth Day, by Mimi Milan

  The Lord, The Tenth Day, by Danica Favorite

  The Piper, The Eleventh Day, by Amanda McIntyre

  The Drum, The Twelfth Day, by E.E. Burke

  Books By E.E. Burke

  The Bride Train Series

  (Historical Romance)

  Valentine’s Rose

  Patrick’s Charm

  Tempting Prudence

  Seducing Susannah

  American Mail-Order Brides

  (Historical Romance)

  Victoria Bride of Kansas

  Santa’s Mail-Order Bride

  Also in audiobook

  Victoria, Bride of Kansas

  Santa’s Mail Order Bride

  Steam! Romance and Rails Series

  (Historical Romance)

  Her Bodyguard

  Kate’s Outlaw

  A Dangerous Passion

  Fugitive Hearts

  Texas Hardts

  (Contemporary Romance)

  Maybe Baby

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  About the Author

  E.E. Burke is a bestselling author of emotionally powerful historical and contemporary romances that combine her unique blend of wit and warmth. Her books have been nominated for numerous national and regional awards, including Booksellers' Best, National Readers' Choice and Kindle Best Book. She was also a finalist in the RWA's prestigious Golden Heart® contest. Over the years, she’s been a disc jockey, a journalist and an advertising executive, before finally getting around to living the dream--writing stories readers can get lost in.