When You Are Near

by Tracie Peterson

  Since leaving Kentucky, Ella had awoken every morning concerned that her father and former fiancé would show up at the Brookstone ranch and demand her return. That fear overshadowed everything, even the longing she felt to see her mother again. But today was her twenty-first birthday, and Ella finally felt a sense of relief. She was certain now that no matter what else happened, she was safe from having to marry Jefferson Spiby. Safe from having to return home.

  What continued to haunt her, however, was the knowledge that she knew what had happened to August Reichert. At least in part. She knew her father and Jefferson were responsible, and she still couldn’t keep the nightmares at bay.

  Every day she prayed for wisdom. Today was no exception. She opened her Bible to pick up her daily reading. She had marked her spot at Ephesians five and began to read. Verses fourteen through seventeen drew her attention.

  Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

  She wanted to walk in wisdom—to redeem the time. Most of all, she wanted to understand what the will of the Lord was for her life.

  “What should I do, Lord? What is Your will for me?” she prayed aloud.

  Truth. The word seemed to echo in her soul. Truth.

  She looked at the Bible verses again. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Ella bit her lower lip. Truth. She needed to tell the truth. That was God’s will for her. She remembered hearing a sermon in their Kentucky church in which the pastor said that the truth would set you free.

  “It could also cause the Brookstones to put me from this house and their company.”

  “Hey, Ella, are you ready?” Mary called from the other side of her bedroom door.

  Ella frowned. “I’m getting dressed.” She put the Bible aside and gathered her clothes. “I’ll be right there.”

  She quickly combed and braided her hair, then threw off her nightgown, shivering from the chill of the morning. Never had she dressed so fast. She was still shivering when she made her way downstairs to breakfast. Everyone else was already seated and awaiting her arrival.

  She offered them a weak smile. “Sorry I’m late. I was reading my Bible.”

  “Never have to be sorry for that,” Oliver Brookstone said, smiling. He looked tired, but given he and Jason had just returned from Chicago, it was no wonder. “I’ll share the verses I read this morning and then pray for our meal.”

  Ella settled into her chair. She was seated between Mary and Mrs. Brookstone and gave each a smile and nod while Mr. Brookstone read from the Psalms. After he prayed, Mrs. Brookstone reached for Ella’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Happy birthday, Ella.”

  The others joined in, wishing her well for the day with the promise of cake that evening. Mrs. Brookstone had even gone to the trouble to make Ella’s favorite—pound cake.

  She couldn’t help but feel safe and loved. These people cared more about her well-being and happiness than her own family did. How could she not give them the truth?

  Going through her paces later that day while Mary and Lizzy watched, Ella pondered how she would come clean and tell Mary what she knew. The truth would be hard to hear, but Ella knew it would help her friend move forward. At least she hoped it would. A part of her feared it would only cause Mary more grief. After all, few would ever believe that George Fleming and Jefferson Spiby had committed murder. And those who did believe it would be too afraid to do anything.

  Ella felt a tightness in her chest. She loved the life she had here with the Brookstones. She had worked harder than she’d ever worked at home, but there was also a greater satisfaction in her accomplishments. She’d grown stronger in the last few months and now had little trouble saddling her own mounts or performing the various tricks Lizzy gave her to try. She’d even managed to renew her love of Roman riding using the Brookstones’ horses. All in all, she was delighted with the way her life had turned out. What if the truth changed all of that?

  “It’s not like I know exactly what happened,” she whispered to Pepper as she leaned low over his neck. She saw Lizzy and Mary at the other end of the arena. She liked both women very much and didn’t want to lose their friendship or her place in the show by admitting what she knew.

  Nothing I say will bring back her brother.

  That thought constantly stayed at the forefront of Ella’s mind. Confessing wouldn’t change the fact that August Reichert was dead, nor did she believe it would make a difference in seeing justice done for him.

  “You’re better at those Cossack drags than I am,” Lizzy declared as Ella brought Pepper to a stop in front of her and Mary.

  Ella slid off the horse and gave him a generous hug. “He’s such a good horse. He always anticipates my every move.” She glanced at Mary and noted that she was wiping her eyes with her handkerchief.

  Lizzy’s gaze followed hers. “Mary’s having a rough day. She’s talked to everyone who was with us on the show, but nobody has any answers for her regarding August.”

  Guilt washed over Ella in waves. “Would it matter so much if she knew what really happened?” Her voice was barely a whisper, but despite that, Mary’s head snapped up.

  “It would matter a great deal.” Mary came to where Ella and Lizzy stood. She looked at Ella. “My brother deserves justice.”

  “What if there was no justice to be had?” Ella hadn’t meant to get drawn into this conversation, but now that it had happened, she knew she’d have to continue.

  Mary gripped Ella’s shoulder. “You know something, don’t you?” Her tone was accusatory.

  Ella swallowed the lump in her throat. “I . . . I can’t. . . .” She bit her lower lip. How could she admit to knowing all these months? Especially when she had no proof except what she’d overheard.

  “Ella, if you do know something, you must tell us,” Lizzy urged.

  Tears slid down Ella’s cheeks before she could stop them. She had always been given to crying when under pressure.

  Lizzy put her arm around Ella’s shoulders. “Come. Let’s sit down.”

  She led Ella to the bench in the tack area. Ella sat, and Lizzy and Mary took their places on either side of her.

  Mary took Ella’s hand. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. It’s just, well, you know how this is for me. I’ve tried so hard to find answers regarding my brother. Please—if you know something—help me.”

  Ella couldn’t bear her pleading. “It won’t help.”

  “Let me be the judge of that,” Mary said, squeezing her hand.

  “Ella, I know you’ve been living in fear of what your father and fiancé might do if they find you,” Lizzy began, “but you are twenty-one now. You don’t have to worry about that anymore. They can’t force you to return home.”

  “You don’t know my father. You don’t know Jefferson. They are powerful and cruel.”

  “Did they have something to do with my brother’s death?” Mary asked.

  Ella’s words caught in the back of her throat. She felt the room closing in and knew she had no choice but to tell the truth.

  “Please,” Mary begged, “I must know what happened.”

  Doing what she could to compose herself, Ella drew a deep breath and nodded. “I’ve wanted to tell you. All these weeks now, I’ve lived with the guilt of knowing what I needed to do.” She got to her feet and faced both women. “You have no idea how it has tormented me. I don’t want to lose your friendship—it means more than life to me.”

  Lizzy shook her head. “You aren’t going to lose my friendship. Not ever.”

  “Nor mine,” Mary assured. “Lizzy has told me how terrible things were for you. I promise I’ll always be your friend.”

  “I’ve prayed so much about this. I don’t know the details. I can only tell you what I overheard.” Ella paus
ed and met Mary’s gaze. “Believe me, if it could have brought August justice, I would have said something immediately. But nothing I say will help you with that. My father and Jefferson Spiby own the entire county and part of the state. They have friends in powerful positions, and they will never be called to account for the things they’ve done.”

  “What have they done?” Mary asked.

  “I don’t even know. I overheard my father and former fiancé speaking. They said someone had seen too much. I don’t recall the exact words, but the conversation ended with them resolving to take care of the matter. The next thing I knew, your brother was dead. I wasn’t even sure the two events were connected. I had already planned to run away, and I knew that my chance to leave depended on being able to slip away unnoticed.

  “When Father told us August was dead and the sheriff was coming, I knew I had to take advantage of that narrow bit of time. I was nearly caught coming down the back stairs of the house, but I managed to hide myself when I heard my father and Jefferson. It was then that I overheard Jefferson say that he had killed your brother.”

  Mary gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth. Lizzy’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes grew wide. Ella felt a sense of relief that the truth was finally out there, but she had no idea what would happen now.

  “I didn’t see him do it, nor do I have any idea what August saw that made them think he had to die. I never dreamt my father was capable of such a thing, but I could believe it of Jefferson. I’ve heard horrible things about him. He even admitted to my father that this wasn’t his first time to kill and it wouldn’t be his last.”

  “We have to stop him,” Mary said, lowering her hands. “He’ll just keep killing people for whatever reason he deems necessary.”

  “I know.” Ella could hear the resignation in her voice. If only they understood the hopelessness of it. “But no one will listen to me.”

  “You don’t know that,” Mary said, getting to her feet. She looked down at Lizzy. “We have to do something.”

  “But what?” Lizzy rose and looked from Ella to Mary. “She’s right. I’ve met these men. They have money and power, and no one is going to speak against them.”

  “But Ella will. Ella can tell what she heard.”

  “But that’s just it, it’s hearsay. It’s her word against theirs.” Lizzy shook her head. “Ella’s right, no one would dare come against them.”

  Ella could see in Mary’s expression that she finally understood as she sank back onto the bench. “Then August’s death will never be avenged. He’ll never have justice.”

  “God will give him justice,” Lizzy said, sitting beside her. She put her arm around Mary’s shoulders. “God knows what happened, and He won’t let evil win. We must give this over to Him and pray that He will show us what to do.”

  “If only we had some equally powerful men we could go to for help,” Mary murmured. Her head snapped up. “What about Jason? His father is wealthy and a man of power.”

  “He’s an Englishman. He doesn’t hold any power here in America,” Lizzy replied.

  “But you said yourself that Jason is half American, and his mother’s family is rich. He and his family must know powerful people here.”

  “Perhaps.”

  Ella could see where Mary hoped to take this. She wanted to do whatever she could to help. “If we can find someone—anyone—who will help us, I will happily testify to what I heard. I don’t know if that will matter at all, but I will do what I can to help you, Mary. Please don’t hate me for not speaking up sooner.”

  Mary’s eyes met Ella’s. “I don’t hate you, Ella. You were afraid, and fear is something we have all experienced. I appreciate that you would tell me now, even though your fear is still very real. I knew my brother couldn’t have been trampled by a horse. I know you’re afraid your father and fiancé will come here and cause you harm, but I will do whatever I can to protect you from their wrath.”

  “We both will,” Lizzy assured her.

  Ella knew they were both sincere, but their words gave her very little peace.

  twenty

  Corabelle and Betty won’t be returning to the show,” Uncle Oliver announced. Some of the performers had already started arriving at the ranch as planned, while others had sent letters of regret. “I just learned that Corabelle’s back injuries will keep her from performing. She twisted it pretty badly when we were on the road, and apparently while at home, she suffered a fall that caused the problem to worsen.”

  Lizzy looked at Ella. “She did both trick riding and Roman riding. Do you suppose you can learn some of the Roman riding act before we head off on the circuit?”

  “I’m sure I can.”

  Uncle Oliver nodded. “I was hopeful of that.” He looked at Gertie, a young woman of medium build in her early twenties. “What about you? Do you want to take on some of the Roman riding?”

  The brunette shrugged. “I’m willing to give it a try, but I doubt I’ll be proficient enough by the time we’re on the road. I’m better with the trick riding.”

  “I can help,” Lizzy said and turned to Jessie and Debbie, their other Roman riders. “I haven’t done it in a while, but at least I’ve had experience. I’m sure with all of us working together, we can figure something out. If nothing else, we’ll change the routine.”

  The ladies nodded.

  Jason sat beside Lizzy and offered her a smile. “Are you certain? I remember you once saying that it is best to focus on just one area of stunt riding. If need be, I’m certain we could hire another rider.”

  He’d stuck to Lizzy like glue since returning from Chicago. She knew he wanted to endear himself, but being overly concerned wasn’t the way to do it.

  “I’ll be fine. Once Ella knows the routine, they’ll be back to a team of three. You said that we needed to learn each other’s jobs so we could cover for one another in times of injury or absence. Ella and I have even been training with Mary, although I’m not much good at sharpshooting.”

  “I’m not as likely to get injured as you are,” Mary threw out. “Besides, Alice is coming back. She wrote and told me, I just haven’t had a chance to announce it. Since Teresa left, Alice didn’t want to train with someone new, but when she found out I was rejoining the show, she decided to come back so long as her husband is rehired as crew.”

  Everyone looked to Jason. “Which one is he?”

  “Carson Hopkins. He was my brother’s best friend,” Mary replied. “He wasn’t sure he even wanted to return, but I encouraged him to do it in memory of August.”

  “Ah, yes.” Jason looked to Oliver, who was nodding. Jason smiled. “He was definitely invited to return.”

  “Alice shoots bow from horseback. I think we can give her more time in the act,” Oliver said. “Perhaps she’ll have some ideas for how we might make the act even more exciting.”

  “I think I could add some things as well,” Mary declared. “My job isn’t as physically taxing as what the others girls do. If you need me to, I could do some additional tricks, even have more audience participation.”

  “I say, that’s a capital idea,” Jason piped up.

  Lizzy listened as the conversation continued about how they would make the show more exciting and add some local interest as well. Jason assured them that having some contests for the locals would bring people in from far and wide.

  “A sense of competition will always encourage attendance. We could have something of a challenge between the genders, perhaps?” His face lit up at this.

  “I’m not sure I understand what the purpose would be,” Mary commented.

  Jason’s expression suggested he’d just struck gold. “Imagine this. We could have an open competition at the beginning of each event—just prior to the show itself. We invite men to pay to shoot against Mary and Alice. Mary could use her rifle, and we could set up targets. Alice could have a similar contest with the bow.”

  Oliver nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Yes! I can see that being very
compelling. Imagine the men wanting to prove themselves against the women. Would you be willing to add that to your responsibilities, Mary?”

  “Do you really suppose the men would pay to shoot against me?” Mary looked to Lizzy. “What do you think?”

  “I think men tend to be ninnies any time women are involved,” Lizzy said without thinking. Jason raised a brow as he glanced her way. Lizzy wasn’t going to get caught in this discussion. “I have some new tricks I need to work on. I think whatever you decide will be fine. I’m sure there will be plenty of money to be made if the men think they can outshoot Mary. Goodness, if you made a kiss from her the reward, we’re sure to be swimming in gold.”

  “There’s an idea!” Uncle Oliver said, turning to Jason.

  Lizzy didn’t stay to hear where the rest of the conversation led. She made her way to the pens and collected Longfellow before heading to the arena. Once there, she saddled the horse and began galloping around the arena. She liked to warm him up before heading into any kind of maneuver. As they made endless circles, she thought of Wesley. He’d been so busy with the calving season that she’d seldom seen him. Mother said that Cookie was packing up food each day to send out with the men, but sometimes they didn’t even make it back in before nightfall. There was so much to do, in fact, that Phillip and the older men were out helping.

  Mother had also mentioned that she and Uncle Oliver wanted Wes to go on tour with the show. They felt confident that since he had experience and could be trusted, he was the perfect choice to fill August’s role. Lizzy hadn’t known what to think of that. The idea of Wes being with them made it much riskier for her. How could she hope to keep her feelings under control?

  She signaled to Longfellow that they were going to start their routine. She brought him to a stop at the end of the arena. “Good boy,” she said, stroking his neck. She slipped the reins under the bridle headpiece. “Now it’s time to work.”

  She put him through his paces doing simple tricks—vaults, spins, and layovers. Longfellow knew what was expected and performed without flaw. When Lizzy felt they were both amply warmed up, they tried a few harder tricks. She knew better than to practice alone, but with Uncle Oliver and Jason wanting to go into details with the others, Lizzy felt the best way to spend her time was in practice. Besides, she and Longfellow rarely had trouble.