Wanted: Innkeeper: Silverpines Series (Book 6)

by Marianne Spitzer

  She nodded, and he followed her back to the office. When she handed him the bank draft, he smiled. “This is more than I thought. I get this each month until the Inn is sold?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right, you can have three months.”

  Ella Grace stood, “Thanks, Dexter. I’ll write you a draft at the end of each month and do my best to find someone to buy the Inn who will pay off the debts and run it the way your father dreamed.”

  “All right,” Dexter said as he rushed from the room bank draft in hand.

  That took a major worry off Ella Grace’s shoulders. She and the others would have their jobs for at least three months, but it added another boulder size worry. How was she going to find someone to buy the Inn or at least help her run it well enough to pay Dexter and keep him happy?

  Chapter Seven

  Ella Grace glanced around the quiet Inn. Mr. Wooster and Mr. Busby were their only guests, and they were leaving today. The third floor still had some of Hattie’s patients, but they were quiet. She wondered if anyone would want to buy the Inn. A sick feeling crossed her when she thought the Inn might be sold to an unscrupulous buyer. They might use the Inn for nefarious reasons. Words flashed through her mind that made her shudder: gambling hall, gentlemen’s club, a bordello. No, she would do her best to find a buyer for the Inn that would keep Mr. Bastion’s ideas alive and allow the Inn to remain the Inn. But how?

  Riley had mentioned to Ella Grace that Mr. Busby was quite noisy at night and twice he hurried upstairs to inquire about his well being after hearing a crash in the room. Each time it turned out that Mr. Busby was drunk. Clara didn’t mention any damage to her, but she decided to check out the room herself. Mr. Donlinson was repairing a small crack in the wall near the side windows, and Ella Grace asked him to keep an eye on the desk for a few minutes. He nodded, and she hurried as gracefully as she could up the stairs.

  She stood in the hall looking at the doors. Which room was Mr. Busby’s? She shrugged. It didn’t matter, she could check both his and the room vacated by Mr. Wooster. She knocked and waited. When there was no answer, she opened the door.

  As soon as she walked in, she realized that the room was still occupied regardless of what Mr. Busby had told Riley. An open suitcase lay on the bed with a sheet of paper on top. Ella Grace started to turn and leave the room when she noticed names of some of her friends and shop owners written on the page. She glanced at it and saw that not only did the list contain their names, but what business they owned, the value of the property, and what the purchase price could be reduced to after a disaster such as the ones that hit Silverpines. She leaned closer and read more of the notes on the page. It was a list of possible accidents that could take place to reduce the value of each property. The thought hit Ella Grace like a brick. Mr. Wooster and Mr. Busby were con-men.

  Ella Grace slowly backed out of the hotel room pondering what she read. What was Malcolm Wooster up to and why did he have that list? She decided they were most likely going to try and buy the properties for much less than they were worth. She needed to tell the marshal before the men left town. Would Marshal Sewell be happy she found the list or upset because she made a mistake and went into a guest’s room uninvited? It was the wrong room, but she did run the hotel. She had the right to investigate the possible damage. She’d entered the wrong room, but it wasn’t intentional. Mr. Wooster didn’t appear to have left yet, and he’d be upset with her. Still, if she were correct about why he had the names of some of the town’s women and notes about their property, then they were conducting illegal business on the Inn’s premises. Surely that counted for something.

  She closed the door, turned around, and ran right into the hard chest of Malcolm Wooster.

  “Oh, please forgive me, sir. I didn’t see you.” Ella Grace’s face turned red as she tried to explain.

  Malcolm grabbed her arm. “What were you doing in my room? I told you when I checked in that I didn’t want anyone in my room unless I asked.”

  “Umm,” Ella Grace stammered trying to back away from the angry man. He kept a firm grip on her arm. “I went into the wrong room. I noticed right away and didn’t touch or clean anything. Mr. Busby turned in both room keys saying you were both checking out.”

  “I don’t believe you. I think you should come with me.” He pushed her back into the room, closed and grabbed the suitcase, and dragged Ella Grace toward the back stairs. She tried her best to loosen his death grip on her arm but to no avail.

  “Get down the stairs and don’t try to run. I have a gun, and I won’t hesitate to shoot you.”

  Ella Grace nodded and started down the stairs. Halfway down, her heel caught in the hem of her dress and she tripped. Why am I so clumsy? She gripped the rail to keep from falling and dropped to her knees on the stairs. Malcolm didn’t slow his descent and tripped over Ella Grace. He flew head first over her and somersaulted through the air landing on his back at the bottom of the stairs with his suitcase’s handle still clutched in his hand. He didn’t move.

  The back door of the hotel opened, and Malcolm’s partner Luther stepped in. “Malcolm, what happened? I thought we were leaving.”

  Malcolm groaned, “Get the girl.”

  Luther looked up at Ella Grace. Before he could move forward, a broom hit him squarely in the face. Clara walked out of the small storeroom at the bottom of the stairs and hit the shocked man once again. He fell backward hitting his head against the doorjamb and dropped to the floor next to Malcolm. Not taking any chances, Clara hit them both once again as hard as she could with her broom.

  Ella Grace hurried to find Riley or Mr. Donlinson. When they returned with Mr. Donlinson, both Malcolm Wooster and Luther Busby were gone. Mr. Donlinson checked the stables and confirmed that both their horses were gone before he went to find Marshal Sewell.

  Ella Grace dropped to the stairs and rested her elbows on her knees. “When Miss Ethel and Miss Edie find out about this, they may try and forbid me to come back to work, but I promised Mr. Bastion. I need someone to run the Inn and keep us safe.”

  “You need a husband, Ella Grace,” Clara offered.

  Ella Grace smiled, “That would be wonderful, but it was nearly impossible before the disasters, and now, the men are gone. You don’t suppose we’ll end up being a town of spinsters, do you?”

  “I hope not. I want a husband and children. I might have to move to a bigger city to find one, but I’m afraid to move alone.”

  “I understand. I doubt I’m brave enough to do that myself. I should get back up front and wait for the marshal.”

  Clara nodded, “I need to dust the second and third-floor rooms. I’ll be up there if you need me.”

  “All right, but don’t enter Wooster and Busby’s rooms in case the marshal wants to see them.”

  Clara smiled and hurried up the stairs while Ella Grace made her way back to the front desk just in time to see Mr. Donlinson return with the marshal.

  Marshal Sewell was kind and understanding. He listened to Ella Grace’s story and Clara’s account of helping her friend, but there was little he could do except to wire Wooster and Busby’s description to the surrounding sheriffs. Since he was the only law in Silverpines, he needed to stay near town and doubted that the two men would return. He was aware of their nosing around the shops and nearby farms but inquiring as to whether or not an owner wishes to sell their property wasn’t a crime. If they returned, he would act. He cautioned Ella Grace to be vigilant, and she assured the marshal that should they try to hurt her again, she would shoot them. He smiled knowing she might do it and wondered again what kind of lessons the spinsters taught their young charges.

  After Marshal Sewell left, Ella Grace turned to Mr. Donlinson and said, “I meant it. If they come back and try to hurt me or anyone else, I will shoot them.”

  Mr. Donlinson scrunched his eyebrows the way he did before he was going to say something that a person might not want to hear. “You know, Ella Grace, it might not be a bad
idea if Dexter sold the Inn. You need a younger man around here to help in these situations.”

  Ella Grace bit her lip before she said something unladylike. If there was one thing Miss Ethel and Miss Edie taught the girls, it was that they could do anything that men could do. It might take them a bit longer, or they might need a bit of help if it required a lot of strength, but they could do it. Women were equal to men, Miss Edie would always say. It was nearly nineteen-hundred, and women were making changes in the world. That may be true, Ella Grace thought, but she still wished for a husband.

  Chapter Eight

  Ella Grace wanted to scream, but she knew Marshal Sewell was right. He had to remain close to town in case there was trouble. Wooster and Busby hadn’t been the only strangers in town to ask questions and sneak around. Some of the residents believed one or more of the men might have already caused trouble. Maybe that was why Wooster and Busby left town so quickly and tried to abduct her when Wooster thought she read the papers in his room. Mr. Donlinson was right, a man running the Inn might keep some of the undesirables out.

  Lost deep in thought, she didn’t see Maude until she said, “Ella Grace, can you hear me?”

  “I’m sorry, I was woolgathering. Is everything all right at home? Don’t you usually teach the girls at this time?”

  “Yes, but I told Miss Edie that I had an important errand, and she said she’d take the girls outside for a botany lesson.”

  Ella Grace giggled remembering the lessons Miss Edie taught her about the plants and flowers around the house. She was sure Miss Edie made up some of the names of the plants when she wasn’t sure what they were called. Her lessons were always full of smiles and odd facts.

  “I’m sure the girls are enjoying the lesson. Did you get your errands finished?”

  Maude shook her head. “No, I told her a small lie. I needed to talk to you before you came home this evening.”

  “What about?”

  “This,” Maude answered sliding the copy of the Grooms Gazette she borrowed from Betsy Sewell.

  “What is this? It looks like one of those papers where men advertise for a bride.”

  “It is,” Maude whispered. “But it’s also the way Betsy found Alexzander. She wrote to the lady who runs the paper. Some of us thought it might be a good idea and I asked Betsy if I could borrow it since you were at work when we went to speak to her.”

  “Why did you bring it here?”

  “I thought you could find a husband and an Innkeeper. You don’t want Dexter to sell the Inn to some stranger who doesn’t care, and I know you want to continue to work here and find a husband. Why not advertise for one? You can get everything you want by placing an ad. Well, maybe you might not get everything, but it can’t hurt.”

  Ella Grace shook her head back and forth at the ridiculousness of the idea of advertising for a husband as she wrote down the information at the bottom of the paper. She made sure she had the address, ad cost, and instructions. She looked up at Maude’s beaming face.

  “I take it you like the idea.”

  Ella Grace shrugged. “I don’t have to advertise my name. The paper will send me any letters my ad receives. No one will know it’s me. I could try. Maybe, just maybe…” her words trailed off.

  Maude grabbed the paper and waved it as she hurried to the doors. “I have to get this back to Betsy and then get home before Miss Edie teaches the girls things they may not want to know quite yet.”

  Ella Grace smiled knowing Miss Edie had a way of answering the questions of the older girls in front of the younger ones realizing all the girls would share what they knew later at bedtime. She added a quick prayer for her dear guardians to keep them safe and help them through their grief after losing Mr. Edward in the mine collapse.

  When she heard the door open again, she looked up expecting to see Maude returning or Katie arriving for her shift in the dining room. She was surprised to see Marshal Sewell again.

  “Hello, Marshal. May I help you?”

  “No, I believe I have an answer to one of your concerns.”

  “You found Wooster and Busby?” Ella Grace asked expectation lacing her question.

  “No, but I believe we found Bugs.”

  “You don’t know for sure?”

  The marshal shook his head. “A horse wandered into the old miner’s camp earlier today. The items in the saddlebags led us to believe they belonged to Bugs. I was able to follow the tracks back to a small dilapidated trapper’s cabin three miles out. From what I observed, a man was attacked by a cougar and managed to shoot it. Both have been dead for several days, at least. The horse appears to have finally broken free from the old hitching rail most likely due to hunger or thirst. There was a dry trough, and the grass was scarce. I think the horse finally decided to make its way back to the camp. Other items in the cabin and the fact that Bugs had his name burned into the back of his gun belt leads me to be fairly certain it’s him. He fits the description although, well, let’s say I can’t make a definitive identification due to the cougar attack.”

  Ella Grace nodded, “I understand. I would come to the same conclusion.”

  “If it isn’t him, then the items were stolen from him, and the dead man killed him. Either way, I’m fairly certain he’s dead, and you no longer have to worry.”

  “That must be why the notes and dead weeds and flowers stopped showing up over a week ago.”

  Marshal Sewell nodded, “I agree. No one knew he was out there and if the horse had access to more water and grass, we might not have discovered him for quite some time, if at all.”

  “Thank you, Marshal. My sisters and guardians will sleep more securely knowing he isn’t around any longer.”

  The rest of Ella Grace’s day was peaceful, and she arrived home to find Miss Ethel reading to the girls from the Bible as was their usual bedtime tradition. She sat quietly until Miss Ethel finished and then she relayed the information Marshal Sewell shared with her leaving out any of the details that might frighten the younger girls. She heard a collective sigh of relief and then hugged each of the younger girls as they headed off to bed.

  After a few minutes of speaking with Miss Edith, Miss Edie, Maude, and Katie, she begged off saying she was tired from her long day and needed to get some much-needed sleep. No one doubted her except for Katie. She could tell Ella Grace had something on her mind. A few minutes after Ella Grace went upstairs, Katie followed to the room they both shared.

  Katie opened the door and wasn’t surprised to find Ella Grace sitting at their little corner desk staring at a sheet of paper and not in bed.

  “I knew you weren’t headed for bed. What are you doing?”

  “Contemplating an insane idea.”

  “What?”

  Ella Grace explained her conversation with Maude and Katie nearly bounced on the bed with excitement. “I think that’s wonderful. Since you plan to stay in Silverpines, it might be the only way to find a good husband. Maybe he would buy the Inn. All your dreams would come true.”

  “True, but it is taking a big chance.”

  “Not if they don’t know who you are. You don’t have to answer the letters if you don’t like the sound of the man.”

  “I know, and I might not have a choice. I don’t have that long to find a buyer before Dexter sells the Inn. Should I try and place an ad?”

  “Yes,” Katie said popping off the bed. “If I planned to stay here I might try it. How dreamy to find love through an advertisement?”

  “You could place an ad, too. We do need more men here.”

  “I know,” Katie answered staring out the window. “I still think I should move to Portland and find my future. Miss Edie says women have more opportunities now and Portland is much bigger and more forward thinking.”

  “I’ve heard her say that, too, but I don’t think she said it to give you ideas about moving. Have you told them your ideas yet?”

  “No,” Katie’s head shook back and forth violently. “I can’t. I need more tim
e. Now, what about your letter? I think you should start it with Dear Future Handsome Husband.”

  Ella Grace gasped, “That’s’ too forward, and I didn’t think of looks. What if he’s horribly ugly, old, or grumpy.”

  Katie shrugged, “You’ll figure it out. How about Dear Future Husband and just leave out the handsome part.”

  “I don’t know how to start this ad.”

  “Dear Hubby-to-be,” giggled Katie.

  “Be serious, this is important.”

  Katie drew in a deep breath and blew it out, “All right. How about Husband Needed Fast. You do need someone before the time runs out.”

  “That makes me sound as if I’m in the family way and need a husband.”

  “You’re right. You think of something.”

  Ella Grace pondered for a minute and then wrote: Innkeeper Husband Wanted.

  Katie read over her shoulder, “That should work.”

  Chapter Nine

  Gentle Falls Wisconsin

  June 1899

  Michael Karson stood behind the check-in desk of his father’s hotel, The Gentle Falls Hotel, and watched his parents as they finished eating breakfast in the hotel’s dining room. He saw his father enter the dining room earlier holding a letter. He hoped that it was a letter from his older brother, Daniel, telling them that he had finally finished school and that he would be on his way home soon. The elder Mr. Karson made his way slowly to the front desk and handed the letter to Michael. He gave his son a small smile and said, “I think you should read this letter from your brother.” The letter stated:

  Dear Mother, Father, and Michael.

  I know you expected me to return home from school as soon as my classes were completed; however, something new and exciting has happened to me, and I can't wait to share it with you. Last Saturday I married the love of my life, Cassandra, at the small chapel here at school. Don’t be upset, mother, that we didn’t let you know. We didn’t invite Cassandra’s family either. We just knew we should marry and couldn’t wait. I know you are waiting for me to come home and take over the hotel now that I have my business degree, but meeting Cassandra has changed my entire life. I'm going to stay here in Milwaukee and work for her father and his furniture business. We will come to visit you soon, and I'm sure you will come to love Cassandra as much as I do. I know the situation I am leaving you with Michael, but I hope you will understand that I’m doing this to follow my heart as I know you want to follow yours. We will talk when I get home.