by Kit Morgan
“Certainly.” Aggie fetched paper, ink and a pen and returned to the kitchen. Elizabeth rattled off what they needed and Aggie scribbled it down, then grabbed her coat and was ready to go.
Elizabeth studied her. “You look stronger every day. Wait until Mr. Judrow gets back and sees you. He’ll be even more eager to court you.”
Aggie blushed head to toe. “You think so?”
“I know so. Now off you go.”
Aggie went out the door and down the boardwalk. She liked Elizabeth a lot, and realized they were becoming good friends. Maybe she wouldn’t have to get a room at the local boardinghouse – Elizabeth seemed to enjoy the company, and she’d just have to walk downstairs to go to work. They’d have to work out rent and the grocery bill – especially if she continued eating like a draft horse – but it beat being a charity case …
She was so lost in that thought that she almost walked into a man coming out of the mercantile, his arms full of packages. “Good afternoon, Miss Shrewsbury.”
“Good afternoon … oh!” Aggie’s heart leaped into her throat, then sank again. For a moment, she’d thought it was Eldon. “Hello, Deputy Judrow. When did you get back?”
The deputy turned on the steps to face her. “Early this morning. I was just picking up some gifts for my wife – I have some catching up to do.”
“Were you and your brother successful?”
“Quite. We finally caught up to the slippery ne’er-do-wells near Sweetwater Springs. A doughty bunch, but not tough enough.”
Aggie stepped forward. “Eldon … I mean, your brother …”
Deputy Judrow’s eyes softened. “… Is just fine. Not a scratch.”
Her shoulders slumped in relief.
“In fact, he’s planning to do the Christmas tree judging later today,” he added. “Does Mrs. Cornell have a tree up in her shop?”
“Oh yes!”
“Good to hear. I’ll let you get on with your business, Miss Shrewsbury. Good day to you.” He walked off, lugging his bundles with him.
Aggie smiled as she went inside. She was well-fed and warm, had a good job with a good employer, Olivia was more or less out of her life, and now Eldon was back. Could things get any better?
Eldon ran a hand over his newly-shaven face. He and Lucius had come back tired and dirty but no worse for wear. The sheriff gave Lucius a few days’ off for a job well done - he didn’t have to go back to work until the day after Christmas.
And speaking of which, Eldon needed to follow his brother’s example and go pick out a few Christmas gifts at the mercantile. Thankfully, he didn’t have many to worry about – just something useful for Lucius, something pretty for Emma, and something special for Aggie.
“Aggie,” he whispered. He’d thought about her to the point of distraction on the trail. It was a confirmation his bounty-hunting days were over. When he married her, he wouldn’t want to stray far from her side.
A shiver went up his spine at the thought. Marriage. After the war, he never thought he’d see the day. But since he’d reunited with Lucius and seen how happy he and Emma were, he wanted the same for himself.
He finished dressing, combed his hair, donned his hat and set off to meet the other contest judges. He hoped Aggie would still be at the shop – it was getting near closing time for them, he recalled.
He met Mr. and Mrs. Todd in front of the livery stable. “Good afternoon. Are we ready to start?”
“Almost,” Sam said. “We’re waiting for Mary.”
“Oh yes, Mrs. Latsch,” Eldon mused. “Well, since we’re right here, I’m going to ask the blacksmith about shoeing my horse. You’ll excuse me?”
“Certainly,” they said in unison, then laughed.
Eldon smiled and went into the livery stable. He glanced around but it appeared to be empty. “Hello?”
Thud. “Ow!”
Eldon’s brows puckered. “Hello?”
Without warning, someone popped up from behind the nearest stall door. He hadn’t realized he’d drawn his gun until the youth raised his hands in the air, a startled look on his face. “Don’t shoot!”
Eldon sighed as he holstered his gun. Apparently he wasn’t quite recovered from the long manhunt yet. “Young Mr. Bridger – my apologies. What are you doing in there?”
“I work here.”
“I see. Is your boss around?”
The boy opened the door and slowly walked out. “He went to the mercantile for some rope. Oughta be back any minute.”
Eldon approached the stall and leaned against the door. “I’d like him to take a look at my horse. I think a couple of shoes are coming loose …” Eldon stopped and looked more closely at the stall. “What are those?”
The youth scrambled to close the stall. “Oh, nothing.”
Eldon stopped him with a hand on the stall door. “Doesn’t look like nothing.” There was a stack of folded blankets, he noted, and two good-sized sacks. “What is all this? And don’t tell me ‘nothing.’ I know what ‘nothing’ looks like, and that ain’t it.”
The boy audibly gulped. “If you wanna wait over there … I can get your horse taken care of.” He pointed at a spot near the anvil.
Eldon didn’t move, but placed his hands on his hips and studied the stall further. Blankets, food, clothing, a canteen, not an ounce of horse manure. “Do you sleep in here?”
“Er … yes,” he finally confessed, looking at his shoes. Then he brought his head up defiantly. “The boss said I could! And so did my pa!”
Eldon cocked his head in curiosity. “I thought you lived outside of town. Least that’s what my brother told me.”
“How would he know?”
“He’s the law – it’s his job to know,” Eldon looked the stall over once more. “So why are you here instead of home with your family?”
Jonathan frowned. “You ever met my family? My sister?” he said bitterly.
Eldon put two and two together. “Your sister wouldn’t happen to be named Olivia, would she?”
“That’s the one. And my ma’s just like her.”
Eldon sighed and nodded in understanding. Two Olivias in one house … that must be Hell on Earth. “So your pa sent you here to get away from them?”
The boy blanched. “Not exactly …”
Eldon sat on a hay bale and motioned for Jonathan to join him, which he reluctantly did. “I promise I won’t tell anyone you’re here if you don’t want me to – if you can explain to me what’s going on. If you don’t, it looks suspicious enough that I’m honor-bound to bring my brother into it.”
“All right, all right.” Jonathan groused. “We’ve been living off Pa’s inheritance for years, but it’s just about run out. It was my idea to get a job and help him, ‘cause he don’t work no more – not sure why. But it wasn’t enough, so I asked the boss if he’d let me live here – I said if he’d feed me, I’d stay around all day and night and guard the place, do whatever he needed. Pa agreed to it too to save money. Getting away from Ma and Olivia’s fights … that’s just what you’d call a side benefit. At least for now. I’m afraid if I stay away too long, they might kill each other.”
Eldon nodded again with a slight grin. The boy was obviously the peacemaker in the house. “Does Aggie know?”
“No. In fact, I ain’t seen her since I moved in here. She was helping me with my letters, you know, but I guess she’s been busy.” He made a face.
“I believe she has,” Eldon assured him, though in reality he had no idea. “But you oughta let her know. She is your friend, right? She’ll worry about you.”
“I suppose. But … well, I don’t want her to see me living in a barn.”
“Now, son, sometimes you just need to swallow your pride. She won’t think any less of you – you’re just trying to get by like she is. Like any of us.” Eldon stood up and brushed hay off his behind. “I have one question, though. How do you and Aggie know each other?”
“Oh, she used to live with us.”
“L
ive with you? With your family?” With Olivia?!
“Yes, sir – five whole years. She did everything – cooked, cleaned, sewed, did the washing, you name it. On account my Ma and sister don’t like to do much of nothing.”
Eldon’s hands fell to his sides as he imagined poor Aggie dealing with Olivia every day. “She was your housekeeper? That must have been … well, difficult.”
“You have no idea. And my folks didn’t even pay her.”
Eldon went cold. “What did you just say?”
Jonathan hung his head. “I ain’t proud of it. They worked her hard day and night, especially my sister. And if they didn’t like how she did it, they wouldn’t feed her.” He looked up at him sadly. “I wish I could’ve done something about it, but I was just a kid …”
“Now, don’t be sad. You were her friend, and I bet that helped a lot.” So many mysteries about Agatha Shrewsbury had just been solved. Eldon put a hand on the boy’s slumped shoulder. “Thank you for telling me. And Jonathan?”
“Yes, sir?”
“I promise you, on my sacred honor, Aggie will never be cold or hungry again, I’ll see to that. Personally.”
Jonathan’s face lit with understanding. “Yes, sir!”
Aggie waited with breathless anticipation. Any minute now Eldon would come through the door to judge their Christmas tree. She couldn’t stand still, pacing the back room instead.
“Will you settle down?” Elizabeth scolded as she entered the room, a tea tray in her hands.
Aggie sighed. “I can’t help it.”
“Here, have a cup of this,” She set the tray down and started to pour. “Before you wear a hole in my floor.”
Aggie took a deep breath. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. By the way, we still need to work on your dress for the dance.”
Aggie slapped her forehead with her hand. “The dance – I forgot about it!”
“So did I until just a little while ago. I have a dress I can wear – old, but still fashionable enough. Do you have one packed away? That would save us some work.”
Aggie shook her head. “No.” She didn’t tell Elizabeth that she’d been thinking about simply not going. She didn’t have the money for a gown, and had been too busy making everyone else’s besides.
“You must have something. It’s the highlight of the year, and Cutter’s Creek has never had a Christmas dance before. Besides, Eldon will be there …”
Aggie sat up straight. “You think so?”
“I’m quite sure. Now let me get my measuring tape – no, I don’t need to. I have your measurements on that order for Mrs. Petroff’s granddaughter. Let me go get that, and …”
The bell above the door rang. Both women froze. “The festival committee!” Elizabeth whispered excitedly. She set her cup down and headed for the front room. “We’ll take care of it later,” she tossed over her shoulder.
Aggie followed her employer with a song in her heart. She’d finally get to see Eldon again! But when she reached the front and saw the judges gathered around the tree, Eldon wasn’t among them.
Chapter 13
“Perhaps he was too tired,” Elizabeth said later that night. She went to the stove, gave the odd pie filling a stir and sniffed the contents. “It certainly smells good. I’m glad Mr. Smith at the mercantile came into all those plums and pumpkins.” She stuck a spoon into the mixture and tried a taste. “My heavens!”
That got Aggie’s attention. She’d been down ever since the festival judges left. Why hadn’t Eldon come? With a heavy sigh she got up from the kitchen table and went to the stove. “What is it?”
“This is incredible! Try some.”
Aggie took the spoon from her and took a taste. “My word! It’s so … so …”
“Different?”
“Yes. Do you think it will set up well?”
“I don’t see why not. Let’s start on the crusts.” Elizabeth went to the hutch on the far wall and dug through the lower cupboard. “I know I have pie tins somewhere …”
“Don’t you bake?”
“Not like I used to.” She sighed. “Not since my husband died. There’s been no reason to. I want something sweet, I get a piece of pie at the café.”
“Maybe someday Cutter’s Creek will have a sweet shop or bakery. Then you wouldn’t have to do it at all.”
“I like baking,” Elizabeth said. “But there’s no point doing it for just myself.”
Aggie caught the flash of sorrow in her friend’s eyes and decided to change the subject. “What are you wearing to the dance?” Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the best choice …
“I’ll show you the dress when the pies are in the oven. How would you like yours to look? Maybe we can spruce up one of yours. Unless you want to work all night?”
Aggie shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ll go. I’ll … I think I’ll wait to hear from Eldon before I decide.”
Elizabeth looked at her questioningly. “What else would you do if you don’t come?”
“I suppose I’d get the rest of my things from the Todds’ and put them away.” Which would take maybe an hour and most of that walking to the Todds’ and back, but she wasn’t going to say that. “Thank you again for letting me to stay with you.”
“As I said, I like the company. But I still don’t think it’ll be for long. Something must have kept Mr. Judrow from the judging – probably exhaustion. He was out on the trail of those outlaws for quite a while.”
Or maybe he’s just lost interest in me, Aggie thought. She returned to the table and flopped back into her chair. “I’m not going to fret over it.”
Elizabeth studied her. “Give him time, Aggie. He seems like a good man and would make you a wonderful husband.”
Aggie sunk a little in her chair. “Like I said, I’m not going to … well, I’ll try not to fret over it.”
Elizabeth set several pie tins on the table. “That’s more honest. Now let’s concentrate on making the most wonderful dessert this town has ever tasted.”
Aggie smiled. At least then she might stop thinking about why Eldon hadn’t come to see her. Or if he’d changed his mind about her.
The next day was a buzz of activity. The parade started promptly at ten, with the participants gathered in a field a hundred yards south of town. Rev. Latsch was in charge of putting them in order – any order really, as no one much cared who went first or last. It was all about the fun.
Farmer’s decorated their plow horses, hanging holly and other greenery from their harnesses. Bells, too, were abundant, and the resulting jingles and jangles were merry indeed. Some townspeople dressed up in reds and greens, and hats decorated with holly as well. Sam Todd’s hat even had a wreath of candles on it. Everyone laughed when Estelle almost set the whole thing on fire trying to light them.
Once everyone was lined up, the parade would begin, everyone marching or riding to the opposite side of town. There they would turn around and wind their way back to the meeting hall for the judging. The hall too had been decorated, with Aggie and Elizabeth among the women tasked with the job.
They’d just finished when a cheer went up outside. The parade must have reached them. “Come, Aggie,” Elizabeth said, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the doors. “Let’s watch!”
They exited the building with the other women and lined the boardwalk just as the first wagon rolled by. The back was full of children singing Christmas carols and an old man accompanying them on a fiddle. More people followed, walking or sitting in wagons. The parade was short but festive and fun, and Aggie clapped with the rest of the people lining the street.
Still, her heart was heavy – she had yet to talk to Eldon. Earlier that morning, he’d stepped briefly into the meeting hall while they were decorating, but didn’t bat an eye in her direction – he just conversed with Mrs. Petroff and left. Had he thought about things while on the trail and decided he didn’t want to court her?
Good heavens, why? She hardly knew the man yet but … Oh no! S
he wasn’t in love, was she? Why else would her heart hurt so much? She sighed and brushed at a tear.
“That was fun!” Elizabeth said. “Let’s go watch the judging!”
Aggie smiled weakly and nodded. This might be a very long day.
“At least come and eat,” Elizabeth begged. She’d been nudging Aggie all afternoon.
“I don’t have a proper dress. I won’t embarrass you. What would people think?”
Elizabeth sighed in frustration. “I’ve got a dozen dresses in the shop that would fit you well enough …” She shook her head. “Have it your way. You’re going to get your things, then?”
“Yes, in a bit. You go to the dance and have a nice time. I hope you win.”
“Oh my goodness – I almost forgot about the dessert contest.”
“Oh no, not after all the work we put in to that pie.”
“Actually, I put your name down for that,” Elizabeth confessed.
“What? I thought you put down the shop?”
“The shop makes dresses, not desserts.”
Aggie smiled and shook her head. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I did,” she grabbed her coat. “Besides, it comes with a fifty-dollar prize – and I know you could use the cash.”
“Fifty dollars for a dessert?! That’s ridiculous – who would put up that much for … oh, wait, I know who.”
“Of course you do. Are you sure you won’t change your mind?”
Aggie closed her eyes. She felt a huge weight on her chest and just wanted to be alone. “I’m sure.”
“Then I’m off,” Elizabeth headed for the door. “I’ll tell you who the winners are when I get home.”
Aggie sighed then smiled. “You do that. Have a good time.”
Elizabeth hugged her and left. As soon as she was gone, Aggie slumped onto the table and wept.
When her tears were finally spent, she considered crawling into bed. But no, she did need to gather her things. Mrs. Todd had told her that morning where the spare key to their house was, so she could easily go in and out. She reached for her coat, thought of Eldon’s and her heart wrenched. No! You are a grown woman, and it’s time you stood on your own feet, she told herself. If he doesn’t need you, then you don’t need him!
