A Changed Agent

by Tracey J. Lyons

  He must have sensed her shift in mood because he said, “You can’t back out on our agreement, Miss Mitchell. The children need you.”

  Minnie sat on the steps by her feet, and Harry was dragging a stick he’d found in the school yard through the dirt. After seeing how withdrawn Minnie was even with her brother by her side, and knowing that poor Harry wanted to make more friends but had loyally stuck by his sister’s side all day, Elsie knew in her heart of hearts that she couldn’t back out of their agreement.

  Quietly, she spoke. “I know they need stability.”

  “Walk to the house with me so I can show you around. You can look at your accommodations.”

  “I’ll meet you there in half an hour. I have to gather some papers together so I can grade them tonight. As soon as I lock up the building, I’ll come over.”

  He folded his arms across his chest, taking a wide stance with his legs.

  She could tell he thought she wouldn’t come. “Mr. Benton, I always keep my word. I’ll be by, I promise.”

  “We’ll look for you in half an hour, then.”

  “Yes.”

  He motioned for the children to join him and then walked away. Elsie was about to start back up the steps when she saw Mr. Craig from the telegraph office come up to Mr. Benton and hand him a piece of paper. He read the paper and then with a nod to Mr. Craig turned to walk home with the children.

  Will scanned the telegram and then stuck it in his shirt pocket. He turned, about to ask Miss Mitchell whether Harry and Minnie could stay with her for a bit longer, but she’d gone back inside. Giving a shrug, he thought now would be as good a time as any to look like a family man. With Harry and Minnie in tow, he set out for the other side of the street. Leaving them within eyesight of the swinging doors, he entered the saloon, scanning the room until he saw her.

  Busy pouring a glass of whiskey, she pretended not to notice him. He sauntered across the wide-planked floor. Peanut shells crunched beneath his boots. Cigar smoke swirled around him, leaving a haze in his wake. The woman with brilliant red hair in the bright-red dress didn’t acknowledge him until he stood in front of her.

  The feather in her headband swayed back and forth as she leaned across the bar. “What’ll ya have?”

  “The usual.”

  She poured two fingers of whiskey into a short glass and slid it across the bar to him. “You new in town?”

  “Sort of,” he answered, playing along with the charade. Will scanned the mirror behind her, noticing three men playing cards off in a corner. “I received a message.”

  Resting her elbows on the bar, she batted her long, dark lashes at him. “Did you now?”

  “Come on, Lily, don’t hold out on me. Why are you here?” He studied her face, noticing she’d been a bit heavy-handed with the stage makeup. Those pockmarks on her face looked real.

  Lily Handland’s brown eyes sparkled with mischief.

  “It’s been a long time since we’ve worked together, Will. Maybe I needed a change of scenery.”

  He knew better than to be deceived by the flirtations of the best female Pinkerton in the agency. He brought the glass to his lips, pretending to sip from it, and then set the glass on the bar. In the mirror he watched a man in a black vest and white shirt sit down at the piano. His long fingers wandered over the keys. Tin notes echoed off the walls.

  He heard Lily’s voice close to his left ear. “Word is your mark is coming here.”

  “Description?”

  “None right now. I’ll get word to you if I find out anything more. Just be on the lookout.”

  He nodded. Holding the glass in his hand, he swirled the amber-colored whiskey. Lily left the bar and sashayed across the room to join the man at the piano.

  Elsie set about ending the school day. Returning to the classroom, she paused by the desk that Minnie and Harry had shared. Harry had done very well on his testing. He could actually read out of the third-grade primer. He needed a bit of work on his writing, but Elsie felt that with a little effort there would be improvement.

  Realizing it would be impossible for Minnie to read out loud, she’d had her work only on some small arithmetic problems and copy some simple sentences out of the first-grade primer. Minnie tested out a grade level below her brother. Mildly worried, Elsie knew that time and the Lord’s helping hand would heal the child. Elsie was hopeful she would catch up by the end of this semester.

  She emerged from the building a little over half an hour later. Hating to be even the tiniest bit tardy, and imagining Mr. Benton pacing impatiently in wait of her arrival, she hurried along the planked sidewalk toward the house. She had gone about halfway when a fuss outside the saloon caught her attention. A man wielding a broom came toward two small children on the walkway in front of the building. Raising the broom, he shouted at them.

  She immediately recognized the riot of curls flowing down the little girl’s back. What on earth were Harry and Minnie doing outside that building? And where was their uncle? Fear pumped through her veins, spurring her forward. She could see Minnie and Harry trying to run away from the man. Minnie cried out as her brother tried to shield her by pushing her behind him.

  By the time Elsie got to the building, her fear turned to anger. Drawing in a deep breath, she steeled her shoulders for a fight. It was all she could do to temper her emotion as she made her way to the frightened children. In front of them, the barkeep hoisted the broom handle behind his back, preparing to swat at them. Harry cried out and stumbled.

  The noise of men laughing and some of the most dreadful piano music she’d ever heard spilled out onto the street. Hoisting her skirts above her ankles, she rushed up the steps to stand between the children and the horrid man who was missing two front teeth and smelled as if he hadn’t taken a bath in quite some time.

  With her nose twitching and her heart pounding, Elsie grabbed at the broom handle. “Leave these children alone!”

  “They’ve no business playing here,” he replied, then spat a steady stream of murky, vile tobacco juice from between his teeth.

  “Oh!” Jumping back in disgust to avoid the brown splatter, and at the same time reaching out to grab the arm of each child, she pulled them up to stand one on each side of her. “You, sir, are disgusting.”

  “And this is no place for a lady.” He drew out the word like he believed her to be no such thing, adding, “And those young’uns got to move along.”

  At least on that she agreed with the wretched man. Looking down at the children, she gazed from one surprised face to the other, demanding, “Where’s your uncle William?”

  “He’s inside,” Harry answered, trying to squirm out of her reach.

  “Stay still, Harry. You’re not the one in trouble. How long have you two been out here?” she asked, quickly looking them over to make certain they were unharmed.

  He gave a quick shrug of his little shoulders. “We came here right after we left the school yard.”

  She forced herself to soften her tone. “What is your uncle thinking? This is no place for children.”

  “Are you going to yell at Uncle Will?”

  Sighing, Elsie fought to rein in her temper. After all, this was not their fault. It was William Benton’s, and he was about to be told in no uncertain terms how the saloon entryway was not an appropriate place to leave children. Taking Harry and Minnie by the hand, she walked them to the opposite edge of the boardwalk. “You two stay right here until I come back. Don’t move a muscle; don’t speak to anyone. Do you understand me?”

  Harry’s head bobbed up and down. “Yes, Miss Mitchell.”

  Putting a smile on her face, she added, “After this, I’ll take you over to the bakery for a treat. How does that sound?”

  Minnie hugged her doll to her chest while Harry beamed. “We’ll stay right here, Miss Mitchell. We won’t move one bit. Right, Minnie?”

  The little girl nodded.

  “All right, then. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Aft
er straightening her short jacket, she secured her bonnet and marched right up to the swinging shutter doors that led to what was surely Heartston’s very own version of Sodom and Gomorrah. Taking a stance a mere inch from the doors, she opened her mouth and, heaven help her, yelled, “William Benton, you get out here right this minute!”

  Raucous laughter greeted her demand. A swirl of red and black in the form of a scantily clad saloon girl appeared before her.

  “You looking for your man, lady?” The girl’s brilliant red hair was adorned with a sequined headband, which had a colorful ostrich feather sticking out from it.

  Her face had seen better days. Pockmarks scarred her heavily rouged cheeks. If she were in a better frame of mind, Elsie might have felt sorry for this creature’s plight and would be praying for her salvation. Right now, though, she could concentrate only on getting William Benton out here. Feeling as though the entire town were staring at her, Elsie bit back a tart remark as she felt a heated blush spreading across her face like wildfire.

  “He’s not my man.” Forcing herself to remain calm, she said, “I’d be grateful if you could find him and send him out here, please.”

  The thought of her and Mr. Benton as a couple made her tremble in fury. A man who could abandon children like some animals on the side of a street while he sated his lust would never be the man for her!

  The woman disappeared with a rustle of stiff red taffeta. Feeling like she may have gone a bit too far by creating such a scene, Elsie took a step to the side of the door, pulling the wide brim of her bonnet lower. Three men came out the doors before Mr. Benton finally exited. And then he completely ignored her, walking right past her toward the children.

  Gathering her skirts, she trudged up right behind him. Her anger was so great that she had to force herself to take a moment to say a silent prayer for calmness. She reminded herself that the children were present. Barely stopping to retrieve his charges, he seemed oblivious to her presence. Lengthening her stride, she matched his pace.

  “Mr. Benton! You cannot leave these children on the sidewalk while you do . . .” Sputtering, she searched for the right words. “Whatever it was you were doing back there in that horrible place.”

  Casting a sidelong glance at him, she saw his back stiffen. He had some nerve being angry at her! Not to be deterred by his silence, Elsie finally caught hold of his arm right above his elbow. Startled by the flexing of firm muscle, she quickly dropped her hand to her side.

  “Mr. Benton! Stop!”

  “Follow me to my home, Miss Mitchell. We can talk there.”

  “But Uncle Will, Miss Mitchell promised we could get a bakery treat.” Harry’s plaintive whine sliced through the tension-filled air.

  Mr. Benton glanced at her.

  Daring to speak, she said, “I promised them if they behaved while I went to find you that they could have a treat.”

  Turning away from her, he looked down the street to where the bake shop stood. The wonderful scent of its locally famous cinnamon rolls wafted from the open door all the way to where they stood. Elsie thought it one of the most blessed scents of the entire town. Looking at the hopeful expressions on the children’s faces, she hoped Mr. Benton thought so, too.

  “All right! I’d hate to make a lady go back on her word.”

  They drew up short in front of the storefront, where Mr. Benton said, “You will wait here while I go buy the cinnamon rolls.” A few minutes later he returned with a full brown paper bag. Handing it to her for safekeeping, he led the way to the opposite end of the town in silence.

  She didn’t know what to do with his brooding silence. When they finally reached the house, Mr. Benton turned to take the bag from her.

  The place looked much better than it had in months. The porch had been swept clean of the dried leaves and twigs left over from the previous fall, the windows had been cleaned of grime, and the front door stood ajar. Pausing at the base of the steps, she watched as the trio disappeared into the house. Putting her hand on the rail, she started up the steps, only to be stopped by Mr. Benton as he returned to the porch.

  “The children are washing up.” Folding his arms across his chest, he stood looming over her on the top step.

  Despite his intimidating stance, she was determined to make him understand that his actions had been completely inappropriate. Removing her hand from the railing, she took a moment to gather her thoughts.

  She looked up at him and said, “Mr. Benton, you can’t leave children that age unattended! Too many things could happen to them. Strangers come through this town quite frequently on their way to the mountain retreats. There’s no telling who these people are, where they came from, or what their intentions might be.”

  “Don’t you think I’m aware of the dangers out in the world?”

  “I’m saying that it has become clear to me, sir, that you have no idea how to raise children. They are in need of a great deal of care, the first part of which is seeing they are safe at all times. The saloon. . . .” She gulped in a breath before continuing, watching as he narrowed his gaze even further at her. “What were you thinking?”

  She hadn’t intended to ask the question. It just popped out of her mouth on its own volition.

  “It’s none of your business what I was thinking, Miss Mitchell.”

  Elsie plowed onward, keeping the children’s needs at the forefront of her thoughts. “I was going to take a few days to organize my belongings, but after what I just witnessed, I fear the children might come to harm if I’m not here to ensure their safekeeping.”

  His face relaxed a fraction, and she thought this might be because he was about to have another person to shoulder some of his parental responsibilities. She soldiered on because there were a few new stipulations to her final acceptance of this job.

  “There are things you must agree to before I move into the apartment.”

  “You promised me back at the school yard that you’d be coming here.”

  “That was before I found the children, alone, outside the saloon.”

  They engaged in a silent standoff, until he spoke first. “Go on.”

  “Dinner will be on the table every night by six o’clock. I will not stay up awaiting your return from your work. Then there is the matter of church services. The children and you will attend them every Sunday. I cannot tolerate a lack of the Lord’s guidance in their lives.” She noted that with every rule she imparted, his stance had begun to change, until he stood with his feet apart and his arms crossed in front of his chest, squinting at her with an angry glare.

  Undeterred by his silent intimidation, she ended with the one thing she felt certain would be like poking a stick into a hornet’s nest. “I cannot abide by your visits to the saloon.”

  Moments passed when the only sound to be heard was the chirping of the spring birds in a nearby budding weeping willow tree.

  “While I will try to be here for dinner at the appointed time, you must understand that there will be times when my job will not allow for that. Working at the lumber company does not come with specified hours. I may be required to be up at the lumber camp for days at a time.”

  “The children and I will deal with those times as they come along. But you mustn’t work on the Lord’s Day. This will set a terrible example for the children. And frankly, Mr. Benton, from what I’ve seen today, you are in need of some time with the Lord.”

  Dropping his arms to his sides, he said, “Miss Mitchell, I’m delighted that you will be helping with Harry and Minnie.”

  Her mood brightened a bit at his remark. “Thank you.” And then it just as quickly plummeted when he held up a hand.

  “Let me finish, please.”

  “Of course. Go on.”

  “I am a man who has needs.”

  Her gaze wavered from his as the heat of a blush spread across her face.

  “I will go to the saloon when I choose to. And as for my time with the Lord, that is between me and the man up above.”

&nb
sp; She could learn to tolerate many disagreements, but his choosing not to attend church wasn’t one of them. Elsie immediately wanted to rescind her offer to stay and care for the children. She might have done just that if Harry and Minnie hadn’t chosen to make an appearance.

  Harry awarded her a smile. “Is it true, Miss Mitchell? Are you really going to be staying here with us so soon?”

  She didn’t answer right away. Her mind was busy formulating a way to get their uncle to see the light of day in regard to the proper rearing of children. Finally, she said, “So long as your uncle agrees to accompany us to church services every Sunday, I’ll be here to help take care of you and your sister.”

  Will was awestruck by the schoolmarm’s audacity. How dare she dictate to him the conditions of her employment? He’d known from the start that Miss Mitchell was going to be a stubborn woman. But he’d no idea just how tenacious she could be. Although she didn’t know it, the matter of his going to the saloon had nothing to do with his needs as a man or for drinking. Alcohol hadn’t passed his lips since he’d started working with the Pinkerton Agency. Truth be told, Will didn’t care for the drink.

  However, the telegram that had been delivered to him outside the schoolhouse had indicated that the mark could be on the move. Furthermore, there was no changing the ways of certain criminals who made it a habit to haunt such establishments. If the mark was to be found in the saloon, then it was Will’s job to follow the lead there. To his way of thinking, the children had been perfectly safe outside the building.

  Maybe he’d been wrong about his decision to leave them there. But he’d had to act quickly, and he’d felt sure they’d be all right on the walkway outside the saloon.