by Barbara Goss
“This one is a jungle story, so there will be a lot of animal names. Let’s begin,” she said, as she turned to the first page.
Anna stumbled on a few words, like elephant and rhinoceros, but otherwise had no problems reading the book.
“Well, it looks like I’ll need to bring something a bit harder for you tomorrow,” Violet said.
Just then Miles walked in. “Am I interrupting? I can go into the sitting room if I am.”
“No,” Violet said. “Anna has breezed through all of these books. I’m going to have to find her something harder.”
“How did you make out in town? I told Anna about Gavin,” she said.
“I told the constable, and of course he lectured me on not having reported it sooner, but I explained that he never accomplished his goal. Nevertheless, the constable has promised to look for him. I told him the last place he lived was Salina, and that he lived next door to a blind woman. That’s when the constable told me news that sent my heart beating faster—three saloon women in Salina were recently raped.”
Billy walked in, just as Violet said, “So the rapist must be Gavin McKenzie!”
“Yep,” Miles said.
“I’d hate to think I was that close to one,” Violet said.
“You were,” Miles said. “I’m sure of it.”
“Billy!” Anna said, when she noticed him standing silently in the doorway.
Since they had company, Anna felt confident enough to walk to him and take his hand. “Welcome home. We were just discussing the Abilene rapist.”
“I heard,” Billy said, with a worried frown. “I wish there were something we could do to stop this maniac.”
Miles explained what he'd reported to the constable, without mentioning Violet’s near rape by the man last summer.
“It’s all right, Miles,” Violet said, touching his arm. “You can tell him. After all, you were the hero in the story.” She smiled up at him lovingly.
“Violet was almost raped by him, twice. She met him in Salina; he was a fellow teacher. I didn’t like his looks from day one, so I kept my eyes on him. I followed him once, caught him attacking her, and pulled him off of her. The second time was at the camp, and Violet was tricked into seeing him alone. Someone told me about it, and I saved her again, but that time it was close. I took him to see Reverend Martin, when I should have taken him to the constable.”
“I see,” Billy said. “Don’t punish yourself, Miles. You tried to help him in the kindest way. You had no way of knowing he’d do this to others.”
“If Martin thought he was dangerous he should have done something,” Miles said.
“He couldn’t. There is a confidentiality between a minister and the person he's counseling,” Billy said, looking paler than Anna ever remembered seeing him.
Miles shook his head. “I’m so afraid he’ll come looking for Violet again, I won’t leave her alone for a second until he’s caught.”
Anna thought Billy looked pensive, and more bothered by news of the rapist than he should have been. Why should it bother him so? Was he worried for her safety? She knew better than to go out alone.
Billy turned to Violet. “So, how’s the reading coming? Is my lovely wife a scholar yet?”
“Nearly,” Violet said. “She’s gone through all of the children’s books, so I’m going into town to see if I can find something a bit harder for her.”
“Well, I’m going with you,” Miles said. “Let’s go.”
After Violet and Miles had left, Billy went into the sitting room, and held his head in his hands.
“Bad day?” Anna said, sliding in next to him. She loved being close to him.
He reached over, took her hand, and placed it against his cheek. “It started out lovely, but one of my sessions was the toughest I’d ever had, and I’m afraid I was no help to the person at all.” He kissed her hand. “I've never been so glad to come home.” He smiled at her.
“Where’s Dora?” he asked.
Anna smiled widely. “Michael picked her up. He's taking her to Pete’s for dinner. I think he said something about going for a ride to the river first.”
“I’m glad. Now maybe he’ll leave my wife alone,” he said with a wink.
“She did make us a bit of dinner before she left, if you’re hungry,” Anna said.
“Maybe later. I need to find a scripture, something I can say to that man if he ever comes to see me again.” Billy stood, patted her shoulder, and went into his office.
Dora rode to the river with Michael. He stopped the buggy and suggested they watch the barges floating by. Out of the blue, Michael reached for her hand.
“I’m so sorry, Dora. Can you ever forgive me?”
“Are you really sorry, or did you just run out of saloon women?” she asked.
“I loved you. I know you won’t believe me, but that’s why I couldn’t come and break it off with you—I knew I couldn’t look you in the eye and say those heartbreaking words to you. I just felt too young to be tied down. I simply met you too soon. I've fooled around with countless saloon women, yes, I admit it, but the only one of them I remember is you.”
“Do you really expect me to believe that, Michael?” she asked.
“No. I was certain that you wouldn’t. You’re way too smart to believe it unless you have proof. Well, I have proof,” he said.
Michael got down on one knee in the buggy, and took her hand. “Will you marry me, Dora?”
“If this is some kind of a cruel joke—”
Michael handed her a diamond ring. “No joke. If I can’t forget you, then I’ll just have to marry you.”
“I feel it fair to warn you, ring or no ring, I won’t bed down with you until the vows are said. And you’ll go to church with me every Sunday, too.”
“Anna's already warned me about that. I can wait, but not too long. Should we do it soon?”
“Really?” she smiled and held her hand out so she could see the ring on her finger. “It’s beautiful.”
“Wait a second,” Dora said, “what brought you to Abilene? Did you know I was here?”
“I did know you were here. Belle told me when I tried to find you at the saloon where you once worked. She said you’d gone to Abilene. I was in the process of selling my farm, but since you and my good friend, Miles, were here, I thought this was where I’d settle down.
“I figured that you were probably still in the saloon business, so after seeing Miles, I planned to find you. I never expected to see you at Billy’s house. I was shocked, but at the same time, the moment I saw you, I knew that I’d have to finally make you mine.”
“Were you able to find a job?”
“I took a job with Quinn at the livery. It’s only temporary, though,” Michael said.
“And why is that?” she asked.
“I want to start a business, here, in Abilene, but I haven’t decided what it should be yet. Any suggestions?”
“A restaurant. We only have Pete’s, and that stuffy steak house. We need another, nice place for families to come and eat. I can do all of the cooking, and you can do all of the finances, hiring, firing, and supervising,” she said.
“That might actually work. We can name it Dora’s Place.”
Dora smiled. “God has answered my prayers. There are just three words I need to hear to clinch the deal.”
“I love you, Dora.”
“I love you, too, Michael. Always have, and always will.”
“My lovely Dora, let’s go to Pete’s and eat, and then I want to get you home. I’m so glad you aren’t a saloon woman any longer. Did you hear about the rapes?”
“I knew Elsa Flannigan, one of the rape victims. I saw her at the general store, just yesterday. She said it was horrifying. He was scary looking, too. She said he had thinning black hair, was clean-shaven, and had a scar that ran from his right eyebrow to his chin.”
“She should have someone try to sketch a picture of him that we could hang around town,” Michael said.
>
“That’s a great idea!”
“Are you ready for dinner, soon-to-be Mrs. Green?”
“I sure am.”
Chapter 11
On Sunday morning, Anna felt proud of her husband once more. The sermon was good. Very good. But she could tell something was still bothering him. She hoped it had nothing to do with her, but she sort of thought it had something to do with the news of the rapist. He had a worried look every time the subject was mentioned.
The last few days he’d been quieter than usual, but his small displays of affection had continued, and they were what Anna lived for. Just the anticipation of him touching her hand, her shoulder, or her waist as they walked, sent a thrill through her whole body.
After church, once again, Billy stopped by her pew, and led her to the foyer, where they stood by the front door, and greeted the congregation. Miles and Violet pushed their outstretched hands away, and hugged them both. Julia hugged them, too. The rest of the people, of course, settled for the handshake.
Suddenly she felt Billy tense at her side when a man came up and shook his hand. As he went to shake her hand, Billy stepped in front of her. He’d never acted like that before. He whispered something to the man and the man nodded, and walked back inside the sanctuary.
Billy whispered to her, “I have a slight emergency. I want you to go find Julia and stay with her. She’s out in front, talking to Jonas and Ivy. Stay with her!”
“But what about greeting the rest of the congregation?”
“I’ll handle it. Just go with Julia. Now!”
She‘d never seen him so distressed. Who was that man, and why was Billy so upset? Nevertheless, she did as she was told. She went out and stood by Julia.
““Billy gave me strict orders to find you and stay with you,” she said, and then shrugged.
“How strange—but delightful. You can come home with us.”
As she was getting into Caleb and Julia’s buggy she saw Billy talking to Miles. Strangely, each of them looked either surprised or panicky, she couldn’t tell which, but something was going on.
Suddenly, Violet ran over to their buggy and hopped up beside Anna.
“Anyone know what’s going on?” Violet asked.
“No,” Anna said. “Some type of emergency.”
As Billy stood beside Anna, shaking hands, the next man he saw in line shocked him.
What was Gavin McKenzie doing in his church?
Billy shook his hand, but when Gavin went to take Anna’s hand, Billy stepped in front of her. There was no way he’d let him even touch his wife. He had to think up an excuse for blocking him from Anna, so he said the first thing that came to him: “I need to talk to you. I may have a solution for you. Meet me in my office. I’ll be there in five minutes.” The man agreed. Now, he needed to find Miles.
Billy sent Anna to Julia. He told the rest of the congregation he had a bit of a family emergency and that he was sorry he couldn’t formally greet all of them. He then ran outside and caught Miles, just as he was about to drive off, with Violet beside him.
“Hey, what’s up?” Miles said as he stopped his buggy.
“Quickly, Violet, run and jump into Julia’s buggy. We’ll pick you up later. Hurry!” Billy said.
Miles looked upset, but watched Violet until she got to Julia’s buggy. “What’s wrong?”
“I need you to follow me,” Billy said. He led Billy behind the church. “Sit right here, beneath my office window. I’m going inside and I’ll open the window a bit. I’m going to be talking to Gavin McKenzie.” He watched Miles’s eyes widen. “Yes. And you’ll listen to everything. I can’t repeat a word he says, but you can. Now, stay right there.”
Billy ran to the front of the church and inside to the sanctuary, where he found Gavin sitting with his head bowed.
“I've finished my greetings, “ Billy said. “Now we can talk. Let’s go into my office.”
Gavin nodded and followed him.
After they entered the small office, Billy said, “It’s going to be another hot one today,” and he opened the window. He was pleased to see Miles’s head beneath the window, at the ready.
Billy sat down after Gavin had taken his seat. He wanted to be sure that Miles didn't miss a single word, so instead of sitting behind his desk, he pulled up a chair beside Gavin, who was sitting next to the window.
“I’ve been thinking about your problem. Now, let me get this straight: you get aroused, simply by touching a woman, and you’ve already raped at least one woman to date?” Billy asked.
“Yes, mostly. The woman has to be attractive, though. And I didn’t actually finish with the rape. I almost raped a woman. But the Bible says that if you even think of doing a sin, then it’s as if you already did it, so technically, I raped Violet Jeffries—who I hear is married now and has a child. I loved her so much.
“Reverend, you must know: ‘you shall not commit adultery; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.’ I read it somewhere in the book of Matthew, I think,” Gavin said.
Billy let out a breath of relief. “So you never physically raped her or anyone else, ever?”
“No. I’m a Christian man who has a problem, but I’d never hurt anyone, physically. I’m sorry if I led you to believe…” Gavin’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped. “Did you think I was the local rapist?”
Billy nodded. “I did, and I couldn’t sleep at night over it.”
“Sorry,” Gavin said. “I don’t even go into saloons.”
“I’m glad, so glad. You see, it bothered me because I'm sworn to confidentiality I couldn’t say a word to anyone, and I was torn between right and wrong,” Billy said.
“I understand you’re from Salina. Why are you visiting my church, if I might ask?” Billy said.
“I wanted to ask you again for help. I had a feeling you didn’t fully understand the problem.”
“I’ll counsel you, but I would prefer, because of my brother and his wife, that you do not attend this church. I never thought I’d ever say that to anyone, but under the circumstances—”
“I don’t understand. Who’s your brother?”
“Miles Croft; Violet is his wife.”
“Croft!” Gavin slapped his forehead. “I didn’t make the connection. All right, I’ll continue going to my own church in Salina. I can’t talk to the minister there about this, because he's the brother of the blind woman I take care of, and my situation would make him uncomfortable, I’m sure.”
“So,” Gavin said, “can you help me with my problem?”
“I’ll give it a good try. Can you come in some day next week?”
“Yes, I can come in any day after three because I teach school until then,” he said.
“All right. Friday at five,” Billy said. “But I promise nothing. All I can do is try.”
After Gavin left, Billy went out and met Miles in the side yard, by the buggies.
“So,” Miles said, “it wasn’t Gavin.”
“Thank God,” Billy said.
“I don’t like that he’s coming to church here,” Miles said. “Violet went through a great deal of trauma after his assault.”
“He won’t,” Billy said. “I told him to stay away, but that he could come for counseling during the week. I’ll try to help him if I can. I thought you were listening.”
“I walked away after I heard he wasn’t the rapist,” Miles said. “I don’t care if you counsel him, Billy, as long as Violet doesn’t come into contact with him.”
Since Anna loved the hug and kiss on the cheek that Billy had given her the day he forgot his satchel, she made it a habit to walk him out to his buggy in the morning. He seemed to like it, too, because he continued to hug her and kiss her on the cheek. Since there was no one around to be playacting for, maybe he did care, even if just a little.
Anna went to the kitchen for coffee where Dora was frying ham and humming.
“Yo
u sound cheerful this morning,” Anna said.
“I should,” she said. Dora set Anna’s cup of coffee down with her left hand, and then stuck her hand under Anna’s nose.
“He proposed! Michael did it!” Anna cried. “I’m so happy for you.”
Dora smiled. “I’ve had my prayers answered, Anna, and I want to marry him, quickly, but I won’t. He has to take the final leap first.”
“Final leap?” Anna asked.
“He has to ask God into his heart and talk to Billy about it after church some Sunday. The only problem is, if I tell him I won’t marry him until then, he’ll fake it, and that isn’t what I want,” she said.
“Maybe you should talk to Billy,” Anna said. “He might make the sermon and the invitation to the sinner’s prayer special that morning, or something.”
“Thank you, Anna. That’s exactly what I’ll do.” Dora hugged Anna. “I thank you for your part in this, too.”
“Not a problem. I love happy endings,” Anna said.
“I wish you had one.”
“Oh, Dora, things have been so much better. We're slowly moving closer to each other. It’s so nice to be on better terms with Billy. I think we understand each other now.”
“Maybe I’ll think of a way to help you two along,” she said.
“No, really,” Anna said, “we’re fine.”
“Say, do you know anyone who can draw pictures?” Dora asked.
“Julia can. She drew a picture of Zoe and Alfie together, and it looks so real.”
“I need to go see her. An old friend of mine was one of the rape victims, and she has such a good description of the rapist, I want to find someone who could try to sketch his picture, and then we could hang pictures of the scum all over town.”
“Good idea,” Anna said. “We could ride there today. You have a buggy, right?”
“Oh, yes, Quinn gave me an old one, but it gets me around.”
Julia welcomed Anna and Dora warmly. She made them tea and they chatted a while before Dora made her request.
