The Jewel of His Heart

by Maggie Brendan

  He ordered another piece of pie and coffee, then settled Juliana across the table from him. He noted that the tiny blue flowers of her calico dress brought out the color of her eyes. His eyes slid down to her hands, which were red and chapped. She had long, slender fingers with small oval nails. Fingers that shouldn’t have to work like that.

  Josh shook his head slightly to clear his head. What was wrong with him? She was just a mere slip of a girl, he would guess barely seventeen, but a woman just the same. Suddenly, Josh’s throat felt tight and dry as burnt toast. He tried hard not to let his nervousness show.

  “Will you be staying here or moving on now that your mother is gone?”

  She clasped her hands on the table with a demure look. “I have a job working at the Lewistown Gazette.” The pupils of her eyes were large with enthusiasm, and it was all he could do to drag his eyes away from them. He didn’t want to scare her off. Not this sweet young girl. Her eyes spoke of past hurts in her life. She apparently needed something or someone to believe in.

  “You don’t say? That’s great. I try to read the paper and catch up with all the news whenever I’m in town. Do you enjoy it so far?”

  “I’ve only worked there a couple of days, but I find it very interesting, and I would much rather read and write than wash clothes!” She looked down at her pie, picking at the flaky crust with her fork, and added, “It gives me a feeling of security as well. I can’t be beholden to the Stocktons indefinitely.”

  “You have a lot of pride for such a young woman.”

  “Mama taught me to work hard at everything I do and not to be dependent on others.”

  “‘If a man won’t work, neither shall he eat.’” Josh pushed back his plate and reached for his pie.

  “What?”

  “Never mind. I admire that in you, Juliana. It takes a tough individual with strong convictions to make a living here in Montana. Between the weather and the space, it can be a very lonely place.” Josh was thinking of himself in the past winters. The brutal cold and harsh winds were trying things to deal with, especially without a partner to warm the lonely winter nights. “I’m surprised you intend to stay.”

  “I really don’t have anywhere else to go. I have no family to speak of, and my father went to the Colorado gold mines a long time ago. Mother and I stayed in Montana. Ever since my father decided to mine for gold and left when I was ten, we never knew where our next meal would come from. So Mother took in miners’ laundry to keep our heads above water.” Juliana looked down at the table, avoiding Josh’s eyes. “I don’t want to have to live that way. Miners go from camp to camp. I would never want to marry a miner. The work is backbreaking, and there’s little promise of any future.”

  Josh stiffened at her comments. Maybe he could be the one to change her mind about mining. “I don’t know, some people have become very rich . . . So, you don’t know where your father is?”

  “I don’t even know if he’s alive, and I’m not sure it would matter now.”

  The anger in her voice surprised him. Changing the subject, Josh told her about his dog, Shebe, and how much she loved the baby lambs. He could see the relief on her face and was glad he hadn’t asked more about her father.

  They finished their dessert, and after paying the waiter, Josh insisted on walking her to the bottom of the staircase.

  She paused before going up. “The dessert was wonderful. And thank you for the conversation.”

  Josh took a deep breath and exhaled. “It was my pleasure. I hope to see you again before I go back to the ranch.”

  “Good night, Josh.”

  He liked the sound of his name on her lips. “Sleep well, Juliana.”

  Back in his room, Josh peeled off his boots, placing them next to his bed. He stripped down to his long handles and crawled under the heavy quilts of the lumpy feather bed. Folding his arms behind his head, he wondered about the lovely Juliana. He’d met beautiful women before, and while he didn’t consider her perfect in that sense, her lovely face reflected an inner beauty and strength, though he was sure she wasn’t aware of it. That made her all the more appealing to him.

  Maybe he would do a little investigating on his own about her father, or help her find any family that was left. She was all alone in the world. A bit like he’d felt when he’d left his family in Colorado, though it was his own choice.

  Eventually, he drifted off to sleep with the image of Juliana’s shining blue eyes floating through his thoughts.

  8

  “Juliana, I’d like you to attend the Lewistown Ladies Social Club meeting this afternoon at two o’clock, and try your hand at writing an article for tomorrow’s edition.” Albert hunched over his cluttered desk, trying to decide what his headline would be. “I’ve been thinking you may be capable of more than just running errands and filing. Think you can handle that?” He paused in his work as she hung her coat and bonnet on the rack near the door.

  “I certainly would like to try. What is this about?”

  “That’s what I want you to find out. It’s a small group of busybodies, mostly made up of the town’s most influential wives. I try to give them a small column occasionally in the paper, mainly to publish what their next project for the town will be. It makes them feel good and puffed up with humanitarianism. But I’m thinking they need a female point of view for the column.” Albert’s eyebrows made a furrow in his forehead above his spectacles. “We want to keep them happy.”

  “We do?” Juliana detected a hint of truth to his humor.

  “Indeed we do. There’s nothing like a pack of women breathing down your neck. I think they’re up to something.”

  Juliana bent her head down, trying to hide her smile.

  “Where do they hold their meetings?”

  “At the church three blocks down on the left.”

  “That should be interesting. I look forward to it. Are you sure you don’t want to sit in on their meeting?” She giggled under her breath, walked over to the potbellied stove, and poured herself a cup of coffee. “Would you like more coffee?”

  “Wouldn’t mind if you’d pour me a fresh cup. I got busy, and this one is cold. The missus makes coffee, but since she brings it to me before I’m out of bed, I don’t have the heart to tell her that it’s weak.”

  Juliana envisioned a devoted couple from the few remarks he’d made to her, but she’d yet to meet his wife, Sally. Juliana and Albert had quickly become friends, and she was grateful to be able to work for him. She placed the chipped enamel cup before him and proceeded to her desk with her coffee.

  Suddenly shots rang out, making her jump and splatter her coffee across the desktop.

  Albert sprang from his desk and jerked open the front door, and Juliana was right on his heels. “What—?”

  A horse flew past them and disappeared in a cloud of dust, its rider hunkered down low over the horse’s back. Shopkeepers suddenly appeared on the sidewalks outside their storefronts.

  “The bank’s been robbed!” Glenn, the barber next door, shouted.

  Albert and Juliana hurried down the sidewalk to the bank, where a crowd was beginning to form. “Anyone hurt?” Albert asked.

  Glenn made his way through the bank’s front door. Juliana could see past him to the banker, who was lying on the hard floor, blood oozing from his side. “Someone go fetch the doctor, and hurry before this man bleeds to death!” Someone in the crowd ran to do his bidding.

  “Mac, can you hear me?” Albert knelt down next to the bleeding man. A moan was his only answer. “Do you know who did this to you?”

  “I saw the man.” A scared and white-faced man peeked out from behind the teller window. “Where’s the sheriff?”

  “On his way. You can give him your description.” Albert nodded to Juliana. “Get a piece of paper off that desk there and take down any information you hear.”

  She hurriedly found pen and paper just as Dr. Barnum hurried through the door carrying his black satchel. He nodded in her direction. Poundi
ng up the wooden steps behind him was the town sheriff, slightly out of breath, his silver badge displayed on his leather vest.

  “Take it easy, Mac.” Dr. Barnum knelt beside the man and ripped his shirt open to reveal a bullet wound in his shoulder.

  “Who in tarnation . . . ?” Sheriff Ben Wilson tried to bend his stout frame over the wounded banker as far as his protruding stomach would allow. “Who did this to you, Mac?”

  Mac tried to speak, but his breathing was too ragged. Dr. Barnum tried to calm him. “Mac, you’re lucky. The bullet just missed your heart and lodged in your shoulder. You’ll be okay.” He turned to the crowd. “Can someone help me get him to my office?” Several of the men scurried forward to help.

  The teller stared down in shock at his friend, his eyes stark with fear. It could easily have been him.

  “Sheriff, there was only one. Older guy. I don’t recollect ever having seen him around here before.” The bank teller fingered his moustache with a shaking hand.

  “Well now, exactly what did he look like?”

  “Dark-haired, scruffy-looking with a beard, and kinda tall in the saddle.”

  “Humph! How much did he make off with?” Albert asked.

  “Near as I can tell, about $15,000.”

  “Whew! That’s a bundle for sure. I need to get a posse together and hit the trail before we lose him.” The sheriff scratched his head in thought before turning to the crowd, his hand resting lightly on the gun strapped to his leg.

  “How about it? I need five good men to ride with me.”

  “Sheriff, I’ll go.” A man standing nearby stepped up. “Just let me get my horse and rifle.”

  “Me too,” another man said. Three more rugged townsmen spoke up, and they quickly mounted their horses hitched at the post in front of the bank. Sheriff Wilson nodded to Dr. Barnum before taking the lead.

  “Take care of him, Mark.” Sheriff Wilson reached over to the hitching post, untied the reins, then mounted his horse. “He’s a good man.” The posse left in a cloud of dust, choking the small crowd that stood watching.

  Turning to Juliana, Dr. Barnum shook his head. “I hope they catch him.”

  As he worked on the man, Juliana, with trembling fingers, busily jotted down a few notes about the incident. She felt a little queasy seeing Mac in a pool of blood. She swayed momentarily.

  “Are you okay? You look a little pale.” Dr. Barnum reached out his hand to steady her elbow.

  “I think so. It’s not every day I see a man bleeding.”

  “Come on, Juliana. Let’s get you back to the office,” Albert said. “When I asked you to take notes, I never considered that it’d be tough for you. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

  She took his arm, and they headed back to work, with Albert talking the whole distance about how it wasn’t safe around here anymore.

  Before Juliana was to leave for the Ladies Social Club meeting, Dr. Barnum came striding through the door and stood before her desk. “I didn’t realize you worked here until the shooting. I came by to see if you were okay.”

  “That’s sweet of you, Dr. Barnum, but really, I’m feeling fine now. It was a bit of a shock. I guess if I’m going to be a reporter, then I might as well get used to seeing all sorts of things.”

  His smile was warm and affable. Juliana had never really taken a good look at the doctor, and she realized that while he was nice-looking, his countenance was serious.

  “May I take you to supper sometime?”

  Somehow that was not what she was expecting. She quickly filtered what this might mean. Two men in one week. Her tongue felt dry. “Well . . . I guess so.” After all, there was no parent to ask permission now. How strange it felt to be alone with no family to care one way or the other what she did with her time.

  “Wonderful! How about tonight?” When she hesitated, he added, “You have to eat, don’t you?” His face softened, allowing the hard lines in his forehead to relax.

  “That’s true.” Juliana saw his lips curve into a gentle smile across his clean-shaven face.

  “Okay then. I’ll meet you at the hotel at 5:30, and we can go over to Maggie’s Café for some home cookin’. How does that sound?”

  Juliana nodded. “I’ll be there.”

  Juliana saw Albert watching her, and he nodded his head in approval.

  “I’ll be waiting. And please, could you call me Mark?”

  Juliana nodded, and Mark tipped his bowler hat and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

  It was a short walk to church, and Juliana walked past simple clapboard houses, whitewashed to match the fences, with her notebook tucked closely to her chest. The afternoon air was light and breezy and lifted her spirits. She let herself into the church vestibule that smelled of lemon and beeswax, apparently used to polish the dark wood pews and gleaming floors. Several ladies sat in the first two pews, and a stout lady with a round face and big blue eyes stood in front of them, laughing.

  The chatter and laughing slowly died down as the women turned in the pews to see why their speaker had paused. Juliana felt her face flush with embarrassment.

  “Please excuse the intrusion, ladies. I’m Juliana Brady from the Lewistown Gazette. I’d like to sit in on your meeting and write about your latest project.”

  “We weren’t told of this.” A plain, bony-nosed woman rose from her seat, visibly agitated. The lady who was sitting next to her reached out and touched the woman on the arm. “You weren’t invited.” She pushed her friend’s hand off her sleeve.

  “I—” Juliana sputtered.

  The stout lady with the twinkling eyes walked toward Juliana, extending her hand. “I’m Helen Brown. We’d be delighted to fill you in on our club’s activities.” Her hand was soft and cool to Juliana’s touch.

  “But—” the plain woman began, but Helen shushed her. The others twittered in undertones and watched with interest.

  “Albert did speak to me about creating a column that would be great advertising for our community endeavors. I just failed to mention it today in my haste to get started.” Helen smiled at Juliana. “He did not tell me, however, that he had hired a woman to work for him at the paper.”

  “And such a young one too. Are you sure you can spell?” The plain woman looked down her bony nose at Juliana. “I’m Cynthia Hood, and this is Margaret Spencer—we all call her Miss Margaret—and her two daughters, Louise and Natalie.” She indicated the other ladies clustered nearby, who nodded toward Juliana. Louise was slightly taller than her sister and wore an olive dress with leg-of-mutton sleeves, which ended tightly at her thin wrists with a tiny row of pearl buttons. Her sister wore a robin’s-egg-blue dress with a matching bolero trimmed in tan velvet. The only adornment on each sister was a small string of pearls.

  “And this is Esther White.” Cynthia gestured toward a middle-aged lady decked out in black peau de soie and matching vest edged in lace jabots. Diamond drops hung from her ears and flashed in her rings on her hands. Juliana wasn’t sure she’d ever seen someone dressed so finely.

  Juliana nodded at the group. “How do you do?”

  Natalie took Juliana’s hand. “I’m glad you’re here. Now maybe we’ll be taken seriously.” She laughed.

  Juliana liked her immediately. “I’m not sure about that,” she said. “I confess this is my first real assignment.”

  “It’ll be better than the write-up we normally get, coming from another woman.” Louise chuckled. “Women’s social issues are really not Albert’s forte.”

  “Marion Stockton is visibly absent today with who knows what. She is always prying into other people’s affairs and neglects her own.” Cynthia cocked her head sideways, making a tsk sound to indicate her displeasure at Marion’s absence.

  “Now, Cynthia, we don’t want to give Juliana a bad impression of us by speaking unkindly of Marion,” Miss Margaret said.

  Esther added her two cents’ worth. “Well, you know as well as the rest of us that what she said is true. She is just not dependab
le!”

  Juliana bit her tongue. Should she say something? Tell them Marion was her good friend? Or just let them make complete fools of themselves?

  “Please. Have a seat here next to me.” Louise patted the wooden pew as she scooted to one side. Juliana took a seat between Louise and Miss Margaret, who was clearly the oldest one there. Her thin gray hair, though wound into a chignon, had strayed from its pins. She smelled of rose water and wore a beautiful embroidered white collar that was clearly old. Her watery, gray eyes smiled back at Juliana over her wire spectacles as she leaned over.

  “Never mind Esther and Cynthia. They believe themselves to be above everyone else.” The old lady patted her hand affectionately, and Juliana felt an instant kinship.

  “Thank you, Miss Margaret.” Juliana proceeded to open her notebook, clearly aware of the looks Esther and Cynthia cast in her direction. Juliana heard Esther whisper, “Didn’t she used to do the miners’ wash on the edge of town?”

  Cynthia nudged her friend in the ribs. “Shh . . . she’ll hear you.”

  Helen cleared her throat. “Ladies, we need to get started on the meeting and talk about our latest project.”

  Juliana felt entirely out of place. She would force herself to focus on what Helen was saying and forget about the snide remarks. Why did she think for one minute that by having a job at the paper, she would instantly make new friends? Helen seemed a friendly person and outgoing. She was probably middle-aged, though quite different from what Juliana was used to when she considered that her mother would have been about the same age. But apparently not all the women were as friendly as Helen and Miss Margaret.

  “As I was saying, one of the most important things we can do for the future of our town is give our children a good education. But more importantly, we all know that down at the miners’ camp, children are running around and playing like hoodlums without the benefit of a school.”