by Kari Trumbo
“Ruby Gres…Ruby Arnsby. I’m Ruby Arnsby.” She held her head high, feeling the weight of that old name slip off her.
“Pleased to meet you, Miss Arnsby. Come with me.”
He led her up the aisle and to the narrow door in the back of the sanctuary. He pushed the door open and ushered her in. The room was lit by an oil lamp sitting on a desk. Just as he’d said there would be, a tall curtain hung from the ceiling nearest the back wall, creating a small nook.
“Come and sit, child. Tell me what’s on your heart.” A voice came from behind the curtain.
Ruby sat on a nearby chair and took a deep breath. “Forgive me… I don’t know how to address you. I know you aren’t a Father.”
The curtain laughed. “No, I’m certainly not. Why don’t you just tell me what’s bothering you without worrying how to address me?”
Ruby nodded then laughed nervously. Reverend Bligh shut the door, leaving the two women alone.
“I told your husband my name was Ruby Arnsby. That’s the first time I’ve used that name in a long time. Two summers ago, my father convinced one of his clients to marry me as a way to forgive that man’s debts to my father. He performed the ceremony right there in the yard. I didn’t want to go, and never…I never… He never…” How could she explain?
Mrs. Bligh cleared her throat. “I understand. Go on.”
“I never thought I’d be rid of him, but I prayed for it. I prayed for a way to be rid of that awful man, but I never meant for him to die.”
“He didn’t die by your hand, did he?”
Ruby straightened. Though she’d chastised herself for leaving him in the cold, she had never come right out and said it— “Of course not!”
“Good. So, something happened and now he’s gone.”
“Yes. He froze to death. Recently, I learned my marriage wasn’t even legal. It never felt right to me. Am I ruined because I lived with him for so long? I know I need to be forgiven for praying to be rid of him…” she paused, her thoughts rattling around in her head. “I don’t know what else. Yes, I do. I need to be forgiven for wishing Beau’d kiss me. Because I do, and I shouldn’t.”
For long moments there was silence from behind the curtain. “I don’t need to forgive you for anything, child. You haven’t done a thing to me and you just asked the Lord for forgiveness. How do you feel?”
“How do I feel?” Ruby stared at the curtain and felt the tension in her face. “I feel like I want to run back to Mrs. Cahill’s house and kiss Beau silly. That’s how I feel.”
Mrs. Bligh laughed so hard Ruby thought she’d fall out from behind the curtain. After her guffaws subsided, she asked. “Ruby, do you love him?”
“Love? He makes me feel like I’ve never felt before; silly, like there’s bubbles in my belly. When he touched my hair tonight, I couldn’t breathe. I wanted…” She felt the heat rise to her cheeks.
“Those are wonderful feelings, dear, but they aren’t love. They’re the tools the Lord uses to help you find the one you love. You’ll know you love him when you’d willingly sacrifice your life for him. You’ll probably never have to make that choice, but you’ll know it.”
“So, that’s it? I’m forgiven? Just like that?”
“I don’t think you did anything wrong. It’s natural to pray for a way out of a terrible situation and you’re of an age that one man should make your heart sing. Keep yourself pure for him and then kiss him silly on your wedding night.”
“But he doesn’t see me as pure. I lived with a man for nine months. There’s no way he’d believe nothing happened. Why would he ever want a bride he thought was all used up?” She wrung her hands in her lap, the tension in her shoulders making her neck ache.
“Now, that’s a sticky situation.”
Ruby heard Mrs. Bligh move on her seat behind the curtain.
“I know. I can’t exactly tell him I’m a, that is, I’m not…”
“Yes. I know Beau, and that isn’t something he’d be comfortable talking about, in fact, most men wouldn’t. My advice to you, dear, is to spend time with him. As much as you can without letting carnality steal your intentions. Let him know, by your godly words and deeds, that the Lord preserved you just for him.”
Ruby nodded. “I can do that. Thank you, Mrs. Bligh.”
“You’re welcome, Ruby. I hope at some point you’ll feel comfortable enough to talk to me face to face. But until then, if you ever need to talk again, just let my husband know.”
Ruby emerged from the warm church and the chill night air caught her breath. The street was empty and she could see from where she stood that Mrs. Cahill’s home was dark. Mrs. Cahill had now gone to bed and Lily was not yet home.
Ruby suddenly realized she was out in the night alone. She scanned the street nervously. Thank goodness it was only a short distance to her home. She spied a couple, hunched together, walking up the street on the other side.
She shivered under her cloak. She held it tightly around her as she stepped out onto the street. Three men jumped from the shadows, grabbing her before she could scream.
“Thought you could hide away in the church, did you? There’s a bounty on your head and I intend to claim it.”
One of the men pulled a rag from his pocket and shoved it in her mouth, then yanked a flour sack over her head. Ruby’s world plunged into complete darkness. She kicked and squirmed, but the men tied her hands behind her and pulled her up off her feet. Soon she was tossed into some type of wagon. The beating of hooves and the rumble beneath her told her she was on the move. Which way and how far, she couldn’t guess. She wiggled to get free or to at least get the gag out of her mouth, but the material was thick and rough. She couldn’t budge it.
What would they do to her? There wouldn’t be a bounty on her, she wasn’t worth anything! If it wasn’t her they were after, would they let her go? She flopped, banging her hip against the hard planks below her.
I thought the Lord led me to go to that church. Help! The voice inside her screamed, just as the wagon came to a stop.
Hands gripped her painfully numb shoulders and yanked her out of the wagon. One of them tossed her over their shoulder and every one of her muscles protested. Men all around her spoke in muffled words. She couldn’t tell if there were now more of them or still just the three. She tried to stop her ragged breathing but the thought of what they might do to her made it all the worse. They carried her bouncing up a few steps, then she was unceremoniously dropped onto a chair. Seconds later someone yanked the flour sack off her head, pulling some of her still-loose hair with it.
The room around her was near dark, but she could make out two men and a rough fireplace to her right. The rest of the room held little, nothing of note but some old ripped curtains on the one window by the door.
“Oh, no.” A man dressed in black, with ragged teeth jumped back, his eyes wide. “We got the wrong girl. Ivy’s got yeller hair.”
“You oaf. She could’ve colored it.” A skinny man with oily hair approached the chair, reaching for her hair, and she shied away. He pulled at it and glared at her scalp. “Don’t see any yeller parts.”
“I think we got the wrong gal. She had a hood on and it was dark, Boss.” The man in black crossed his arms.
The boss dropped his head in his hand and the first man yanked the gag from her mouth.
“Water?” she choked.
The younger man filled a small tin cup with water and put it to her mouth. She downed it in a single gulp.
“You ain’t Mrs. Masters, are you?” The boss squeezed the bridge of his nose and frowned down at her.
Ruby scowled at him. “Of course not, and you don’t even have to take my word for it. The lawyer in town knows what Mrs. Masters looks like because he works for Mr. Masters.” She shifted in her chair trying to get feeling back into her arms.
“You mean to tell me that we can find her and collect the bounty without going all the way back to Maine?” Boss glared down at her.
“I
won’t help you.” She promised Ivy she’d keep her mouth shut. They wouldn’t find out about Ivy from her. Ivy’s husband had to be even more frightening than Arnold if he’d been willing to send out bounty hunters to find her.
“Oh, you’ll help us, all right.” He laughed. “Or you’ll never go home again. Just because you ain’t Mrs. Masters don’t mean we can’t make money off you.”
She hadn’t considered that. She tipped her chin defiantly and Boss laughed.
Boss thumbed toward the door. “I’ll need a night to think about this, Skunk. Put her in the cellar and we can go have a chat with the lawyer tomorrow.”
Skunk grabbed her arm and hoisted her out of the chair. He shoved her outside and yanked the door to the cellar open. “You won’t freeze, probably.” He untied her wrists then shoved her down into the hole. She groped for anything to hold on to as she fell, tumbling down the stairs into the dark recess as he shut the door over her head.
Ruby ran up the stairs and pounded on the door. “Don’t leave me down here!” Something heavy fell against the door from the other side.
“You quiet down in there.” She peeked through a crack in the door and the man’s foot came toward her, kicking the door and raining dust down on her.
Ruby sat on the stairs letting the small shaft of moonlight fall across her face. She couldn’t force herself to go further into the cellar. The deep blackness was thick around her, clawing at her. A scratching sound came from the depths of the room and Ruby shrieked, pounding against the door. The man had left, leaving her without a guard. It almost would’ve been better if they had, because then she wouldn’t be alone.
Her breath couldn’t fill her lungs. She felt light-headed and her hands shook.
“Please, let me out of here! I can’t stay in here!” She pounded against the door. When no one came, she sat on the very top step and clutched at her throat, her cloak choking her. She blinked to clear her vision and a halo of light formed around the shaft of moonlight, then solidified into an intersecting point. If she gazed up at it just right, the light became a cross.
Her racing heart slowed.
The Lord is my Shephard; I shall not want… Ruby repeated the verse, never taking her eyes off the cross.
I will make it through this night.
15
Beau lay in his bed examining the ceiling. He’d been awake most of the night thinking about the feel of Ruby’s hair, and what it had cost him. He shouldn’t have touched her. But it had been too tempting. He had to remember she felt hunted. He didn’t want her to feel like prey but rather like a sought-after prize. In his mind, there was a big difference. One was precious, the other, just dinner.
He sat up and sighed as he rested his head in his hands. Ruby was on his mind more and more often. He knew the remedy and it wasn’t what he’d ever planned to do. He’d seen men bitten by the marriage bug before, and he had all the symptoms. Problem was, the woman he wanted to be his bride wasn’t the usual woman. She was so skittish, and the words he felt he should say…they’d send her running. So, what was a man to do?
He heard a distant knock and the sound of May’s booted feet on the wood floor as she went for the door. He yanked on his clothes and ran his hand through his hair. May stood in the sitting room, offering Mrs. Bligh a seat.
“Good morning, Beau. I was wondering if I might have a private word with you?” She stood.
Beau’s sister and father were already sitting at the table breaking their morning fast. They wouldn’t miss him for a few minutes.
Mrs. Bligh’s face brightened as she waited for him. “We could go over to the Sweet Shoppe for a cup of coffee.”
He nodded and slid on his boots, then grabbed his coat as he followed her out the door.
He couldn’t figure what he’d possibly done to warrant a visit by the preacher’s wife. “I don’t mind saying, this is a little strange for you to come to my door. Have I done something wrong?” Beau gazed down at the short, older woman, with the round, friendly face.
“Not at all, Beau. Frankly, I wasn’t sure if I should talk to you at all, but after sharing with my husband, we both thought it’d be a good idea. Did Ruby Arnsby happen to seek you out last night? I know it was late, but she seemed rather eager to see you.” Mrs. Bligh glanced up at him, her eyes twinkling.
“Ruby…Arnsby? No, in fact, last I saw her, she was running from me. I sometimes get the feeling she wants to see me, but then other times…well, I’m sure she’d just rather be alone.”
Mrs. Bligh waited for him to open the door to the Sweet Shoppe and when he did, she slid into the first available seat and waited for him to do the same.
“There’s where you’re wrong, Mr. Rockford. She’d much rather spend time with you, but she’s frightened.”
“She told you that?” He felt heat rising up his collar, so he waved to Mable to distract Mrs. Bligh.
“She told me she felt…certain things, but I’m not at liberty to share the particulars. However, I do want you to know something—”
The door slammed open and Beau turned as Lily rushed in.
“There you are!” Lily exclaimed. “She’s gone, Beau! I went to bed before Ruby came home last night, but she never did come home. Her bed isn’t disturbed. Everything is just how it was. Maddie Moore hasn’t seen her. She’s just gone!” Lily’s voice cracked and she grabbed ahold of the chair for support.
Mrs. Bligh patted the table next to her. “Sit down, dear.”
Lily obliged. Beau had never seen Lily so disheveled; as if she’d left her house before she finished getting ready.
“Now,” Mrs. Bligh continued, “I saw Ruby just last night at the chapel, or rather heard her. I did not see her. Since we know she was there and that’s the last place any of us saw her, let’s start there.”
Beau left a few coins on the table for the coffee and held the door for Lily and Mrs. Bligh. They inched their way to the little chapel, searching the ground for any hint of the missing woman. It hadn’t snowed in days and the area around the chapel was trampled with hundreds of foot and hoof prints. They couldn’t make hide nor hair of the prints in the snow.
“I should have followed her when she left Mrs. Cahill’s. A woman shouldn’t be walking alone at night. If I hadn’t been so prideful…” Beau clutched his hands into fists. He was always doing something wrong when it came to women.
Mrs. Bligh laid her weathered hand on Beau’s arm. “Young man, I know you don’t want to hear this, but the Lord needed Ruby to seek out the chapel last night. Ruby has a hole in her heart that only the Lord can fill. In fact, she can’t love you proper until she heals from her past. You can help her by seeing her for the woman she is.”
“But…I do. I don’t care about where she’s been or who she was.”
The old woman’s eyes gleamed. “Good. That’s a good start. I think you should tell the sheriff. Both of you. I’ll be praying for Ruby’s safe return.” She strode up the stairs into the chapel, leaving Beau and Lily in the street.
***
Ruby blinked against the light on her face and raised herself off the stair she’d slept on. She stretched her tight shoulders and neck. Thankfully, it was the day after Christmas and too cold for any type of bug or snake to trouble her down in the dark cellar. She shivered and pulled her cloak covered in twinkling frost tighter around her. The sun shining through the crack between the two doors allowed her to see a little further into the cellar. It was empty of any food. Neat shelves hung along three of the walls and crates lined the floor. In the light of day, the room itself was not frightening, but being trapped was. At least down here they couldn’t harm her.
Shuffling footsteps approached the door and she backed down into the cellar to keep from getting hit by anything they might throw down. Skunk flung open the door, scurried down and, grabbed her, then shoved her back up the cellar stairs and into the house.
“We’ve decided to bring the lawyer out here to tell us who you are. If you really are Ivy, then w
e can collect our money. If you’re not, the boss has other plans for you.” He shoved her into the chair she’d sat in the night before, and tied her arms behind her back. Ruby didn’t even want to think about the other plans.
She searched the room for a way to get them to untie her. If she could make a run for it, she might be able to find her way back. “Excuse me, I need to use the necessary.”
The man’s eye’s bulged. “They’s a pot over in that corner.” He pointed.
Ruby rolled her eyes. “And how am I to use it, tied to this chair?”
Skunk scratched his head and scrunched his face at her. “Are you tryin’ ta escape? ‘Cause if you are, you’ll get me in a heap a trouble.”
She squirmed in her seat. “No, believe it or not, women sometimes have to go, too.”
He turned red from his neck to his scraggly hairline. He untied her and backed away, watching her with wary, mud brown eyes.
“Do you plan to stare at me the whole time?” She couldn’t keep the agitation from her voice.
He turned his back as she approached the filthy corner. Aware of the awkwardness of her situation, she finished quickly. It hadn’t been as urgent as she’d made it out to be, but he didn’t need to know that. She scrambled to the fireplace and grabbed the poker, holding it out like a sword.
“Now, you’re going to let me go. I’m not Ivy and I’ve got no business with you. You let me go and I won’t even tell Sheriff Brentwood where to find you.”
“That shouldn’t be hard, since you don’t know where you are.” Skunk sneered.
“If you think I’m too scared to use this, you’d be wrong.” She steadied her breathing and focused on controlling her shaking hands. Freedom was her only chance. Once she was free, she could get back to Ivy and warn her.
“I ain’t scairt of no bitty girl.” He lunged for her.
Ruby pulled up on the poker, but it only grazed his cheek. He didn’t even wipe at the small scratch it left.
“See, you can’t do nothin’.”
The door swung open and Boss walked in carrying wood. He dropped everything and drew his gun, pointing it right at Ruby’s chest.
