“Seth? What’s going on here?” His face creased in concern, Cole ignored the ears that strained to hear as the gawkers and gossipers eased back.
“I got a right to what’s mine.” Pointing a finger at the woman on the ground, the man sought help from Cole, “This slut stole from me. I want it back. Arrest her!” He stood almost completely supported by Seth’s arm and squinted trying to clear his vision. “Cole, I want her locked up. You hear me. Locked up?”
Seth had an uneasy notion start to form. He eyed the sheriff. “Do you know this man?”
“He’s Brannon, Texas Ranger.” Cole’s mouth set in a thin line. Resignation wreathed his tone.
Unsettled to say the least, Seth could only stare at Cole who shook his head. The growing unease in his gut screamed that this didn’t bode well at all. “Well, hell.”
Grabbing Brannon up by the cuff of the neck when Seth shoved him in the sheriff’s direction, Cole turned with his charge and steered him toward the jail. “Come on. You can sleep it off tonight. We’ll discuss this in the morning,” Cole muttered over his shoulder.
Heading toward the jail, the drunk clearly had a plan. “She’s gonna pay. Mark my words…I’m the law.She’s gonna pay.” The drunken Ranger’s arms waved wildly as if a scarecrow caught in a dirt devil. Cole merely snatched harder on the Ranger’s coat collar.
Seth knelt by Celia, who was examining the woman. “Are you all right?”
“I’m okay.”
Seth’s eyes roamed her without saying anything. Turning his attention to the unconscious woman, he frowned. “How is she?” He watched Celia as she wiped the blood from the woman’s mouth.
“She needs attention. Help me get her back to the hotel and into a bed. I have some herbs in my bag. Didn’t Ty say Tyler has a doctor?”
“Yeah, I’ll get him.”
“I won’t know how bad it is until I can examine her more closely. I think you’d better hurry.”
“I’ll do my best. Celia, will she make it?”
Celia glanced at him before answering. “I hope so. She’s passed out from the pain, which is a good thing, because she may have some broken ribs. Moving her will cause a great deal of pain, so she’s better off unconscious at the moment. Do you have any idea who she is?”
The woman’s head lolled in Celia’s arms as she continued to swipe at the blood. The moon glinted off the golden flax of her hair. She resembled a porcelain doll with chips in her perfection. Seth hadn’t answered which made Celia curious as to why he paused. Perhaps he had no idea. She glanced at him bemused.
“Yeah, she’s my sister,” Seth said solemnly.
***
What had he done? That one question kept resurfacing throughout the wee hours of the next morning. He could still see Celia clutching the bodice of her gown to her breasts while her eyes as big as owl’s eyes watched him go on the defense in that filthy alley. Studying the liquor in the glass, Seth considered the stupidity that had driven him to such a low state of affairs. For bleeding Judas sake – what had he done?
The ornate grandfather clock in the sitting room ticked away the minutes. Too much time to think, damn it!
A man had needs didn’t he? And she’d been willing, hadn’t she? Oh yes, she’d been willing. All of that was no excuse. He could have gone to Claudette’s any time he wanted and satisfied his base needs. Seth swore under his breath. If it hadn’t been for Casey’s screams, hell, he’d have taken Celia like a common whore. He slammed back the three fingers of whiskey in the glass before staring into the bottom of the cut crystal. She deserved better.
Doc Wheeler emerged from his sister, Casey’s room. Dropping his bag on the marble-topped side table, he nodded his head in Seth’s direction. “I’m not gonna blow smoke up your ass, son. Casey’s in serious condition. She has several broken ribs as well as numerous lacerations. The bruising alone will keep her abed for a week. We won’t know about internal bleeding until tomorrow. She’s sure as hell not out of the woods yet,” the old man said, shaking his head. With a keen eye for the glass in Seth’s hand, Doc Wheeler inclined his head. “Give me one of those, will you, son?”
Seth obliged as Wheeler dropped into a nearby chair. Fatigue showed in his weathered face.
“Umm, that’s good.” With a deep drink, Wheeler glanced at the clock and then his own timepiece. “If she has complications through the night, then she’ll have a better chance with complete bed rest. Do you understand?”
Seth grunted his perception. He’d known Wheeler all his life. The man had delivered him right there at the ranch over thirty years before. He trusted Wheeler’s judgment.
“Casey’s not to be moved for at least two weeks.” The stern look he gave Seth brooked no argument.
Seth nodded. He was just grateful to whatever gods there were that she was going to live.
Tyler’s only doctor peered at Seth over the rim of his spectacles. “My orders are simple. The young woman you have here is a fine caregiver. Celia understands what I expect her to do. There shouldn’t be any problems, but if you have any, send for me. If not, I’ll be back tomorrow to check on her.”
“Thanks, Doc.” Seth glanced toward the patient’s room.
Doc Wheeler didn’t move. “Son, did you get into it with any of those ruffians?”
Seth glanced back at the doctor. “No.” Perplexed, he flicked a glance at the old man. “What makes you ask?”
The doctor examined his timepiece again and sighed heavily. “Seth, I’ve been Tyler’s doctor for more years than I care to remember. With all those years under my belt, I’ve come to recognize when something’s bothering somebody. You look positively lost.”
A pregnant pause followed the doctor’s words.
“I’m just worried about Casey is all,” Seth lied.
Doc Wheeler didn’t comment before glancing back to Casey’s door. “Nothing you can do for her now, except keep her still.” He waited a beat before making a suggestion. “Let’s go down to your room and have another drink of this excellent whiskey I know you have on hand no matter which room you’re in.” His passed Seth a knowing grin.
They walked down the hall. Seth closed the door behind them. With the drinks poured, the two old friends sat in the comfortable rosewood chairs of the sitting area.
Doctor Wheeler continued with his advice. “You know Seth, if you’re really concerned about Casey, you’ll get her out of that hell hole she works in and take her home where she belongs.”
Seth’s jaw worked as he met the Doc’s eyes. “Thank you for that,” he said with a bit too much sarcasm tainting his mirthless laugh.
The old man leaned back in the comfort of the chair and stretched out his legs in front of him while his eyes watched the liquor swirl in his glass. “Well, I guess I have an opinion just like everybody else in Tyler. The Silver Spur is no place for a lady.”
“If she’s working there, doesn’t that make her a whore?” Seth eyed the doctor with a benign cock of his eyebrow. Even though he’d meant his words to be facetious, Seth felt his gut tighten. His sister worked in a saloon. He knew what everyone thought. It didn’t make a damn, he told himself. He still cared about her.
“Now Seth, you and I both know that Casey was born a Loflin.” Waving away the imitation of a startled expression, which came into Seth’s eyes, Wheeler continued, “Don’t give me that look. You and I both know the speculation that travels in a town like this. Maybe Casey’s tried to convince herself that it’s not common knowledge.” He dropped his head and sighed deeply. “She confided in me one night when she thought the scarlet fever was going to take her. I guess she considered me her confessor.” His belly shook as he huffed out a breath. She told me, too, that she kept a small room behind the hotel. I believed the girl when she said she only serves drinks at the Spur. She’s not a soiled dove.”
Seth didn’t look up, but deep in his gut he felt the churning subside some. Grateful to the old man for the consideration, Seth nodded.
Doc Wheel
er folded his hands over the mound of his brocade-covered belly while smiling benevolently for Seth. Wheeler watched him.
“I wasn’t arguing the point. Whether she is or isn’t a whore is nobody’s business, including mine. I don’t give a rat’s ass what anybody in this town thinks, anyway.” Seth let the statement linger between them.
“Well, it’s true that the fine, upstanding citizens of Tyler consider any association with the Spur, or any of the other saloons in town, to be tantamount to selling one’s body, but I, for one, have seen too many false assessments of a person’s character based on gossip over the years. I don’t listen to what the fine, upstanding citizens of Tyler say – it’ll jade a man.” Doc Wheeler cocked one bushy, white brow before inclined his head at Seth, “Didn’t get to be as old as I am by relying on gossip for facts, huh?” With a good-natured wink, Wheeler reached over and patted Seth’s arm. “Now, if there’s anything you need, just let me know. Okay?” Gripping the ornate arms of the red brocade covered chair, Doc hoisted himself up. Settling his boiler hat on his baldhead, he turned for the door.
“Thanks, Doc.” Seth watched as the old man ambled to the door.
“Don’t mention it. Just consider what I said. It would be best for all concerned, especially Casey.” With his bag in hand, Doc Wheeler headed out and closed the door behind him.
He brooded into the liquor swirling in the cut crystal glass in his hand. “Bye, Doc.” Seth said to the empty room.
***
“She’s gonna be all right. “Doc Wheeler said so.” Maggie plumped the pillow behind Casey’s battered head. Nodding in agreement with herself, the housekeeper cast worried eyes on Casey.
Celia watched from the opening formed by the red velvet drapes hanging at the balcony door. She had to sigh with relief. Thank goodness for small favors, she mused.
“She’s gonna need rest. She’s broken several ribs and has numerous bruises and abrasions. She can’t be moved for at least two weeks.” Maggie straightened the quilt covering the young patient, yet again.
Doc Wheeler had explained all of it to Celia earlier, but she let Maggie prattle. Anyone could see how distraught the housekeeper was.
Laying another blanket over the young woman in the big four-poster bed, Maggie folded her hands and took a step back. “Doc left laudanum for the pain. If it gets really bad he said he’d have to prescribe some opium, but not unless it was absolutely necessary - too easy to become addicted to the powder.”
Celia glanced at the patient and then Maggie. “Well then, I guess we wait and watch. If she starts to run a fever or becomes fretful, we’ll need to contact the doctor again.” More for Maggie’s benefit than direction, Celia repeated the doctor’s orders. She grieved for the people in the room and Casey’s brothers, such a sad set of affairs.
Nodding in agreement, Maggie looked down. Wiping the damp hair off the woman’s forehead, she smiled. “Her name is Casey.” The older woman’s words were subdued.
The affection was evident. Celia looked up at her then and figured the timing was right to ask the question that had been hounding her ever since they’d come upon the young woman in the street. “Why is Seth’s sister working in a saloon?”
Maggie heaved a heavy sigh and shook her head sorrowfully. “Child, it’s a sad tale. I don’t want to burden you with our shortfalls.” The housekeeper dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief in her weathered hand.
“Maaaggiiee…” Celia let the woman’s name drag off her tongue. She was frustrated with a number of things and confused by others. Her patience was in limited supply. On top of everything, she was exhausted. “I believe I have time to hear the story.” Celia glanced down at the patient and then back into the housekeepers’ worried expression. “After all, we aren’t going anywhere for two weeks at least.”
A brief struggle played out on Maggie’s face before she let out a ragged breath. “Seth’s mom died having Casey.” The housekeeper let that simple statement slip. “The Captain was destroyed by the loose of his wife. He grieved and drank and grieved some more.” Maggie tugged at the handkerchief in her hand as she glanced glassy-eyed about the room.
Celia watched and her heart went out to the woman.
“I did all I could for him.” Sniffing, the housekeeper dabbed at the tears with the handkerchief. “He was lost in pain and wouldn’t see anyone, not even his new daughter.”
Maggie wiped the tears that now fell liberally from her faded blue eyes.
“I tried to get him to at least hold Casey, but he would have none of the baby. He refused to even say her name.” Maggie drew in another ragged breath before trying to control the sobbing that stole her composure.
Celia stepped around the bed. She went to Maggie gathering the woman in her arms.
“Earl told me to get rid of the thing.” Maggie looked up at Celia with a pained bewilderment in her features. “He didn’t want his own child,” she whispered in disbelief. “Just get rid of it, he said, like she was an old pair of boots or something.” Maggie shook her head woefully. “He threatened drowning her, if she stayed. In his frame of mind, I was afraid he would make good on the threat.” She dabbed at her eyes again and looked back at the girl lying still in the bed.
“Oh, Maggie, surely not,” Celia’s own disbelief surfaced in the words.
Vehemently, Maggie shook her head. “It’s the God’s truth, rest his soul.” She made the sign of the crucifix over her breast. “I barely knew him, child. He was beside himself with grief. Oh, but it was a bad time.”
Pain constricted Celia’s chest as she glanced again at the battered woman lying in the bed. Putting an arm around the Maggie, who’d cared for them all, like her own, she did her best to console the housekeeper until she cried herself out. “I’m so sorry.”
A few minutes passed before Maggie found her voice. She picked up with the narrative as if she’d never stopped. “I didn’t know what to do.”
Celia heard the older woman’s pain.
“There was no one to talk to about the situation ‘cept Jake and Shorty. We all decided the best thing for all concerned was take her into town and leave her with the padre at St. Helena’s. So that’s what we did. After Laura’s funeral, the three of us went to Tyler and Father Samuel took Casey in as an orphan. No one in Tyler, other than the padre and the three of us, knew who’s she really was.”
Celia felt the tremors in Maggie’s shoulders. “Didn’t Seth’s father ever change his mind? Ever come around?”
Maggie shook her bowed head. “No. He never even spoke her name.” Maggie’s hand came up and fisted at her mouth. “Whenever one of us would try and bring up the subject, Earl would fly into such a tirade that a body wasn’t safe remaining in the same room with the man.”
Tears slid silently down Maggie’s face as she looked at the young woman lying in the bed. She reached out a trembling hand, brushing at the flaxen hair around the battered face. “She was such a jewel. She went to school, you know.” Maggie lifted her tear-filled eyes to Celia’s as she rubbed her weathered hand over the patient’s fingers. “We saw to that.”
Such conviction and love filled Maggie’s words. How tragic that the poor girl’s beginnings had to be so. A lump formed deep in Celia’s throat. She was theirs, despite the circumstances. “When did Seth find out?”
“Oh…well.” Maggie paused, peering off into middle distance. “That would have been about the time that Casey started working at the saloon. See, she found out who her parents were. The girl was always getting into things she didn’t have any business getting into and one night, when she was visiting from school, she broke into the padre’s safe. She may have been looking for valuables, but she found much more. The knowledge that she was Earl’s drove her to do things, I don’t think she would have considered otherwise. The fact that her father disowned her did something to her. It hardened her. She resented so much. Yet…” Maggie looked up at Celia then. “I think she wanted her father to notice her so desperately. She dropped out o
f school and came back to Tyler. That’s when she came up with the idea to become a waitress at the Silver Spur. She told me she wanted to shame the name Loflin as much as possible.” Maggie dabbed at her red eyes and shook her head. “Only, it backfired on her.” Tugging absently at the handkerchief wadded in her hand, Maggie shook her head.
“One night, after Earl and Seth got through loading the supply wagon at Smitty’s, they got the notion to stop by the saloon. Casey was serving drinks to the miners that night and she saw them come in. She confronted Earl in the middle of the saloon and in front of God and everybody. Oh, the quarrel they had.” Maggie shook her head again and wiped at her nose with the wrinkled hanky. “Casey threw things at Earl and called him every vile name she could think of before Seth drug his pa out of there. Later, Seth questioned us about what we knew. I’ve got to tell you, he wasn’t very pleased with us for a long while.” Maggie wrapped her arms around her ample bosom and rocked herself. “I don’t think Seth ever forgave his father.”
“Why didn’t she come home with you after her father died? Surely, you and Seth would have encouraged her to do so.” Celia felt a numb tingling in the pit of her stomach. So many lies and smothering of the truth. Where would it ever end?
Maggie’s mouth thinned into a white line across her tear-splotched face. She continued to rock for another minute. Then her lip trembled and she began to weep again. “The will had been read and everything had gone to Seth and Ty. Earl never even mentioned her.
Seth tried talking to her. She spat at him and vowed she had no home. She told Seth if he tried to force her to come to Shooter Creek she’d make sure she escaped and he’d really be sorry then. Seth simply let her be.” The words, issued in a whisper had Maggie dropping her head once more to weep silently into her hands.
Celia stepped away from the bed and back to the window alcove. She slid boneless down onto the window seat’s velvet cushion. Her own secrets and lies settled beside her like an unwelcomed and unpaid debt. She thought of her own secret and the lies. Her own omission of truth weighted heavily. Seth would never forgive her, she mused. Celia felt her own heart sink.
Comanche Haven (The Loflin Legacy: Book 1) Page 19
