“But what about your bail?”
She turned to Sheriff Grayson. ” I can’t let him post my bail. He’s been through too much already. Will you be accompanying us to Kansas City?”
The sheriff thought a minute and seemed to come to a decision.
“Yes, Grace. I think I should. If you have any trouble with the law in Kansas City, I’ll be there to set the record straight.”
John wasn’t certain at what point during Billy’s confession Grace, Mr. Hanover and the sheriff had arrived at the Holy Moses. Or left. All he knew was his wife was gone and he needed to talk to her. He left his well-meaning but misguided friend in his saturated state slumped over a table inside the saloon with Charlotte watching over him. He never saw any of this coming and yet, he wasn’t surprised. He had known for years Billy was fond of Lizzie but he had no idea how deep his feelings for her had gone.
John walked the short distance to the Sheriff’s office. He found the sheriff sitting at his desk cleaning his side arm.
“Sheriff. Where’s my wife?”
John walked past the sheriff to the jail cells. Nothing.
“Where is she?”
“She’s not here. She and Mr. Hanover went back to his house to get ready for the train tomorrow back to Kansas City. I released her into Mr. Hanover’s custody so there’s no need to put your team up to cover her bail.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about my team. I need to find my wife.”
John’s head was a jumble of plots and plans as he jumped aboard his freight wagon and headed to the Hanovers. There was no way in hell he was losing another wife and child. And it wasn’t just another wife now. It was Grace. He realized he had fallen in love with her back in his family’s snow-covered hunting cabin. He had played a dirty trick on her taking her to that primitive place but she was an amazing woman and he was going to keep her.
Granted, she was not as forthcoming about her situation as he would have liked. But he would risk everything to save her from herself. He was not going to allow her to sacrifice herself and their child for her sisters. It wasn’t going to happen on his watch.
John pulled up in front of the Hanover’s home. Before he dropped to the ground, Mr. Hanover met him on the porch.
“Where’s my wife? I need to see her.”
Mr. Hanover blocked his path up the steps.
“What are you doing? I want to see Grace. There’s some things we need to talk about.”
John tried to push his way past the robust little man but his size disguised his strength. John couldn’t push past him without the possibility of hurting him. That’s the last thing John wanted to add to this day.
“She doesn’t want to see you, John. I’m sorry.”
“Why? Billy’s confession makes everything clear. Grace and I have a chance now.”
“I’m afraid she doesn’t see it that way.”
John tried to push his way past Mr. Hanover, but suddenly the blacksmith appeared around the corner of the house carrying the largest hammer John had ever seen.
“Go on, laddie. Nobody wants to see you get hurt but the lassie’s made it clear she’s a no wantin’ to talk to ya. “
John backed up to the front of the house so he could see the upstairs windows. He was going to make her listen whether she wanted to or not.
“Grace! I know you can hear me. I love you. And our baby. It doesn’t matter how all this got started. We are together now and we are going to have a baby. Do you hear me? I love you! We’ll figure out a way to fix this. Together. Please don’t go, Grace. I can’t help you in Kansas City. Stay here. Please.
John’s heart dropped when the heavy lined drapes fell into place and he knew she was shutting him out. She was shutting him out.
The burly blacksmith stood beside him and looked up.
“There’s your answer, me boy. She’s a not a stayin’ wi’ ye.”
John grinned up at the blacksmith and Mr. Hanover.
“We’ll just see about that.”
27
Grace woke late in the day, her eyes swollen from crying and the baby was causing havoc on her morning constitution. She was a mess. The thought of leaving John almost bent her double with grief. But, she knew it was the right thing to do. John hadn’t bargained for a wife. In fact, he had made it clear from the very beginning he didn’t want a wife or a child. If she stayed, he could be burdened with both. Because, right or wrong, she could be facing a future of prison. Or worse.
She thought of her own childhood. She knew from firsthand experience how hard it was for a child to grow up without parents. Without an extended family. Would John want to raise this child or would he send it to his brother’s family? Either way was better than the future she could provide if she was found guilty.
He said he loved her but she knew that wouldn’t last. Her legal troubles could cost him everything and then he would grow to resent her. She couldn’t stand that. It was best if she set him free now.
“Grace, Hiram is going to wrap up some business down at his office this morning. He said the train would depart at 3:00pm so you should be at the station by 2:30 to ensure your bags get onboard. He will meet you there. The sheriff will be here to escort you to the train station.”
“Thank you, Aggie. I’ll be right down.” Grace looked around the room and thought back to her wedding day. Her groom, drunk on his ass proclaiming his bachelorhood. Her, not knowing if she was running from the law or not. Well, now she knew. She only hoped when she got back to Kansas City, Mr. Hanover could help them all.
Two o’clock came faster than she could have imagined. She walked down the Hanovers’ stairs and met her friend at the bottom of the stairs. Aggie dabbed a handkerchief to her face.
“Don’t worry, Aggie. Everything will work out somehow. It’s just got to.” She absently rubbed her belly hoping God was listening. She came to Creede hoping to find redemption. Instead, she found a burly shaggy bear of a man to love and it was because of that love she was going to set him free.
She hugged Aggie and Sarah and put on her bonnet and overcoat. She hoped she would be a free woman soon. She had hoped to spend her first Thanksgiving with her new husband and his family. Instead, she had no idea where she would be. Jail. Awaiting trial. The gallows. Best case scenario, she would be above the Red Slipper Saloon with her sisters and a new baby growing inside of her. Tears burned behind her eyes. The doctor said her emotions would fluctuate as the baby grew. This must be what he was talking about because she was not one to give over to emotional outbursts. She had always prided herself on being level headed.
She dabbed her eyes with her overcoat and opened the door to a gray, somber overcast day. And yet, standing there in front of her, was the brightest sunshine she had ever witnessed.
She stepped down off the Hanovers’ porch step by cautious step. She knew what her eyes were seeing but she wasn’t certain she believed them.
Standing before her was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. An oversized freight wagon, pulled by a team of six—mules? And standing next to the lead mule was the most beautiful man she had ever laid eyes on.
“What happened to your beard? And your hair?”
“You like it?” John beamed with male pride.
“What woman wouldn’t love a handsome, dark haired man with the most beautiful blue eyes directed straight at her?”
“And don’t forget the most beautiful blue eyes filled with love directed straight at her.”
Grace’s hands were shaking underneath her cloak.
“Yes, filled with love.”
Grace was rooted in place. She wanted this man so much. But could she be so selfish as to put her wants before his needs?
“Where are your bays?”
“I put them up as your bail.”
He beamed as if that was the cleverest thing he had ever done. Grace’s heart sank.
“John, I can’t let you— “
He held up his hand and walked toward her. He stopped
in front of her and cupped her face with his hand.
“It’s already done, my dear wife. Mr. Hanover, myself and the sheriff had a little meeting last night down at the jail. This morning, Mr. Hanover sent telegrams to the Circuit Judge in Missouri and his investigator in St. Louis. He asked for a change in venue for the trial because it was clear neither you or your sisters would get a fair trial there. With the dead man being the mayor’s son and all.”
“And he agreed?” Grace couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Mr. Hanover stepped up and provided Grace with the rest of the good news.
“Let’s just say the Circuit Judge didn’t want anything to do with the possibility of an Indian woman being persecuted instead of prosecuted so he was more than happy to change the trial’s location. And, since all the witnesses are in Kansas City, they will be transported here by train at the state’s expense. So, Rosie and your sisters will be here by Wednesday of next week.”
“So, I’ll be here, at home with my family for Thanksgiving? It can’t be true. How will I get everyone in our tiny cabin?”
John picked her up and spun her around grinning from ear to ear until she was nearly dizzy.
“John, put me down. You are going to make me sick. I swear you will if you keep doing that.”
“Yes, my dear wife. Your family will be here for Thanksgiving so we have to get home and make room for them all.”
He kissed her soundly on the lips.”
“John, my sisters will not fit into our tiny cabin. They would be better suited staying with the Hanovers and, of course, I would like to stay with them for a few days when they arrive.”
“Not on your life, Mrs. Malone. I’m not letting you out of my sight for one solitary minute. Shall we get started?” John helped her up onto the familiar seat and took his place next to her. A snap of the reins and the gangly mules strained against the fancy brass tack and pulled the heavy freight wagon down the road and home.
Two hours later, Grace was awakened by the movement of the wagon stopping.
“Where are we?”
Her husband gifted her with one of his glorious smiles. “We’re going home, Grace. We’re going home.”
John turned the mules toward the right fork instead of the left.
“This isn’t the way home.”
“Just sit back and enjoy the ride. I still have a few more surprises for you.”
Grace reluctantly sat back against the wagon seat and watched the ungainly gaits of the mules. John had assured her as long as she showed up for the trial, he would get his prized bays back. And even if he didn’t, he was happy with the trade. Grace snorted when he said it but somehow, she believed him.
Half an hour later, John pulled the wagon into a picture perfect clearing in front of a beautiful cabin sitting on a slight rise. A panoramic view of the most beautiful valley she could have imagined existing on this earth as far as the eye could see.
“Oh, John. This is beautiful. It’s the most amazing place I’ve ever seen on this earth. Where are we?”
John hopped down and came around to Grace’s side of the wagon. He picked her up and carried her toward the staircase leading to the covered porch surrounding the house.
“This is home, Grace. Our home. Our real home. The other cabin is my family’s hunting cabin. I took you there hoping to get you to change your mind and head back to town. But you didn’t. Instead, you made a home out of that hovel. And you gave me a family I thought I would never have again. You found your way into my heart and helped me see that no one benefits from sacrificing themselves for someone else.”
Grace ducked her head knowing he was referring to her choices too.
“This is our home? Not that tiny one-bedroom cabin with no water well and no outhouse? And no kitchen? And bears?” She wanted to smack him for tricking her but she was so happy right now she couldn’t muster the energy.
“There’s only one condition you have to abide by to live in this house.”
“Condition?”
Grace’s heart skipped a beat. Her husband had conditions?
“You are not allowed out on the porch without one of your sisters or myself with you at all times. At least, not until after our baby is born. Promise me. Please?”
The earnest pleading in her husband’s eyes made her stop and think about all John had lost. Lizzie was his first love and there would always be a place in John’s heart she would occupy. And then there was his baby son he would think about every time he looked into their own child’s face. But Grace’s heart was so full of love there was no room for jealousy. Every anniversary that would mark the passing of that awful day in John’s life, they would celebrate their memory.
Grace looked into her handsome husband’s face.
“I promise.”
“Now, let me show you our new home.”
Epilogue
June 17, 1884
Mineral County Courthouse
“We the jury, find the defendant, Grace Abigail Sinclair Malone, not guilty of murder in the first degree.”
The bailiff handed the verdict to the judge. He read it and banged his gavel on the desk.
“Sheriff Grayson, please release the defendant. She is a free woman.”
The crowded court room filled with friends, relatives and the assorted curious onlookers erupted in a congratulatory cheer.
Grace stood on wobbly legs, emotions running rampant on the verdict that could have gone the other way. But with Mr. Hanover as her legal counsel, she was free to go home with her husband.
John grabbed her around her amble waist and hugged her gently, her belly swollen with their child between them.
Mr. Hanover slapped the sheriff on the back and Aggie Hanover rushed toward her trailed by her three sisters and Rosie.
“Grace. You are free. Oh, thank God. I’m so grateful that everything worked out.” Faith was overcome with emotion and sobbed uncontrollably.
“Geesh, Faith. You take the biscuit, you know that. She’s free and clear. Can’t you stop frettin’ for one gol-dang minute?” Charity rolled her eyes and then cut her eyes toward the Sheriff. Hope and Rosie grinned at each other.
“Let’s all go to my house for a celebratory feast.” Mr. Hanover pulled his wife to him and kissed her soundly on the cheek. “Is that all right with you Aggie, dear?”
“I should say it is, Hiram. Sarah, run on ahead and prepare refreshments for everyone. We shall be there momentarily.”
Sarah rushed off leaving the rest of them to follow at their leisure. John held on to Grace’s waist as they followed the Hanovers, her sisters and Rosie down Main Street the three blocks to the Hanover’s house.
“I’m finally free.” John squeezed her close to his side, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders.
“Yes, my dear. You are finally free. We are free to live our life without this hanging over our heads.” He kissed her on the side of her head.
They walked along the boardwalk, passing the general store and the Holy Moses bar. She could see Charity arguing with Hope while Faith and Rosie walked arm in arm.
“John?”
“Yes, dear.”
“Do you think the law will try to punish Faith for the mayor’s son’s death now that I’ve been found innocent?”
“I don’t know. It was clear during the testimony that the mayor’s son had a reputation for forcing himself on defenseless women. I think it is clear he did the same to Faith, and Indian or not, she was a defenseless woman forced to defend her virtue. There’s not a court in this land that will want to prosecute her for that but it all depends on how hard the mayor wants to push the issue.”
“John?”
Her husband gave her an amused look.
“Yes, dear.”
“Do you think my sisters can come out and spend some time with us after the baby is born?”
“Of course. Your sisters are welcome at our home. Anytime. They can stay as long as they wish.”
“You may be sorry you sa
id that.” Grace warned her husband.
“Not if it makes you happy.”
“John?”
John squeezed his wife’s baby expanded waist a little bit tighter.
“Yes, dear?”
“Do you think we could hurry a little faster to the Hanovers?”
“Of course. But, why?”
Grace looked into her husband’s handsome face and his beautiful blue eyes and counted her blessings.
“I think the baby is coming.”
At nine o’ clock pm on the seventeenth day of June, 1884, Abigail Faith Hope Charity Rose Sinclair Malone was born kicking and screaming into the world.
John stared down at his wife and daughter sleeping in the bed of the Hanovers’ guest room. Memories of a different mother and child tried to push past his newly formed defenses. But he pushed backed at the sad images from the past and chose to focus on his future. Grace and his baby girl were warm and safe. Pink and soft. His life had once been bleak and filled with loneliness and misplaced guilt. But now, he was overcome with love, joy and exquisite happiness--and lots of females. Six of them to be exact. And he didn’t mind a house full of laughter one bit.
He was secretly thrilled Rosie, Hope, Faith, Charity, Grace and Abigail would be keeping each other company when he started back hauling freight again although he hoped he would never have to admit it out loud. It gave him no small measure of comfort knowing that a firebrand like Charity would be there to protect his family. God help anyone who tried to harm them on that woman’s watch.
A grunt emanated from the pink bundle squirming in his sleeping wife’s arms. He scooped up his little bundle of joy and held her up gently, peeking inside the blanket. Staring back at him was a tiny pair of warm brown eyes just like her mothers. His heart melted and he knew he was in big trouble.
“God help me.”
He kissed the tuft of downy soft blonde hair and held her tiny body close.
“Let’s go downstairs and meet those crazy aunts of yours.”
Grace Page 19
