She wouldn’t let her family members win. If they wanted a fight, they would get one. She would protect the Abbot legacy for her father and pass it down to her children one day. But she would love them and show them God’s love and mercy.
Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Charles strode toward her from the bow of the boat, his hands in his pockets and a slight smile on his face. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you up and about. You had me pretty worried.”
“Well, you know me. Always trying to keep you on your toes.”
He looked around them. “At least no one else is around right now, so I can be honest.”
She held her breath. When he got that look in his steel-gray eyes, she wanted to hug him for all she was worth. She felt … adored. “Well, go ahead. What is it?”
“I think I need a clothespin for my nose.”
A couple of other passengers emerged from below deck. Probably to watch their arrival at the dock. Mary Margaret gave Charles a brotherly shove and tried not to giggle like a schoolgirl.
“Martin. Behave yourself.” He looked stern, but she caught the twinkle in his eye.
“I’m just following your good example, big brother.”
Two hours later, Charles led Mary Margaret through the crowds at the docks. Something didn’t seem right, and it made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. But as much as he wanted to take her hand and protect her, he couldn’t.
Not until they were safe.
He already had a plan. Get her situated in a reputable hotel where he could be in the next room. Then he would check the telegraph office, purchase their train tickets in false names to Denver, and get a new dress for Mary Margaret. It would only take three days to get to Colorado, and they could go straight to the courthouse and clear up this mess.
And then? Well, he didn’t want to think about leaving her and returning to Juneau alone. He knew he wasn’t good enough for her, but if he’d learned anything over the past few days—it was that he loved Miss Abbot. But could he tell her?
“Charles?”
He looked back.
“I can’t quite keep up—I’m sorry—could you slow down just a little?”
How foolish of him. She’d barely been able to stand, and here he was making a mad dash through the streets of the city. He stopped and gave her a minute to catch her breath. But when he turned, he saw a face he’d seen before. But then the man spun and went the other direction. What was going on? If he didn’t know any better, he’d say the man had been watching him—or rather, following them.
When they reached the hotel, Charles paid for adjoining rooms and ordered a bath for Mary Margaret. After he got her settled, he promised to be back in an hour and told her not—under any circumstance—to leave the room or open the door for anyone.
She smiled. “I’ll probably take a nap. I’m so tired, I don’t think I can stand up another minute.”
“Do me a favor?”
“Sure.” She yawned. “What is it?”
“Burn those clothes.”
Her laughter carried him down the stairs, and he practically ran to the telegraph office. But to his surprise and worry, there was nothing. What could have happened to Mr. Dillard? Especially after his ominous last note.
He wanted to make a stop in his store, but if he went in the front door, there was bound to be a commotion. Sneaking into the back, he found Mr. Bannister in the storeroom and tapped him on the shoulder.
“How can I help … Charles! My word. What are you doing here?”
Charles pulled the man aside. “I need you to be very quiet. Don’t let anyone know that I’ve been here.”
“Of course, of course. Whatever you need. Are you in danger?”
Charles peeked through the storeroom curtain. “I’m not really sure. But I am protecting someone right now, and I have to ensure they get to their destination. In a few days, hopefully I’ll be able to send you news and explain everything.”
The man nodded. “What can I do to help?”
Charles made a list and handed it to the manager.
“I’ll get to it right now.”
The bath was glorious. Most likely the best one she’d ever had—and not just because she’d never gone this long without one—well, maybe that was the reason. But she’d dumped enough lavender oil into the water that there could be no question when she got out of the tub that she was Mary Margaret again.
The only other clothes she had with her were a simple man’s white shirt and a pair of denims that were so big, she could barely tie the rope tight enough at her waist to hold them up. Prayerfully, Charles would return with decent clothes for her to travel in.
She laid down on the soft bed. Maybe she could just lie here and rest for a few minutes.
A knock jolted her awake. And it came from the door that led to Charles’s room. She padded her way over to the door and yawned as she opened it. “This had better be good. I was taking a lovely nap and you interrupted.”
His chuckle emerged from a tower of boxes.
“What is all this?”
“Clothes. For you. The trunk is arriving in a few minutes. But you can’t exactly travel like a lady without luggage.”
Before she knew what she was doing, she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. I can’t believe you thought of all this.”
“Mmmm, you smell nice.” He grinned and brought the packages in.
Rummaging through the stack of boxes, she found a large, flat one. When she lifted the lid, she gasped. It was a beautiful white dress trimmed with green ribbons. She held it up. “Charles, it’s beautiful. I can’t wait to wear it.” And she was shocked it wasn’t too long. How did he guess so accurately?
“Do you remember the day we met?”
“You mean the day I snapped at you about the job?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
She bit her lip. Father died later that day.
“I know it doesn’t hold the best of memories, but I was hoping we could make some new ones. You were wearing a beautiful white dress that day, and I’d just come out of the mine, so my eyes were still adjusted to the dark.” He moved closer to her. “The sunlight made your dress glow. You looked like an angel.”
Tears burned her eyes again. Must she always cry in front of this sweet man? She shook her head. “How did you get the right length?”
“I just told the manager at the store that you only came up to here”—he held a hand up to his chest—“and they did the rest.”
A knock sounded—but it came from the door in Charles’s room.
“I’ll be right back.” He pulled the door between their rooms closed.
In a couple of minutes, he returned. But a frown etched his face.
“What is it?”
He motioned to her. “They delivered the trunk, and the bellboy was looking around with a little too much curiosity. Then I looked out the window. Come see, but stay back.”
Mary Margaret followed him into his room and over to the window.
“See that man?”
“Which one?”
“The one across the street. Studying his notebook.”
“Ah, yes.”
Charles sighed. “I wasn’t sure of it before, but I am quite positive now.”
“Of what?”
“That same man was on the ship. And then he was on the docks following us. Now, he’s looking for us in the hotels. The bellboy all but gave him away.”
She placed a hand over her heart. Could she take much more of this? “What do we do now?”
He walked into Mary Margaret’s room. “Sadly, we pack all this up into the trunk and I go find you some more suitable clothes, Martin.”
As much as she hated the thought of dressing like a boy for longer, she hated the thought of dying more.
“Oh no.”
“What?”
“The tickets are for a man and a woman traveling together.”
“Well, I gue
ss you’ll have to change them, or does it matter?”
“I’ll think of something.” Charles shook his head.
“Please … be careful.”
“You, too.”
Chapter 12
The three days were up.
Three days of conversations. Three days of her falling asleep on his shoulder. Three days of holding sweet Mary Margaret’s hand whenever he could.
And now their journey was almost to an end. Could he let it end?
Charles rubbed her knuckles as she slept on his shoulder one last time. They’d be pulling up to Denver soon, and he’d have to take her straight to the courthouse.
If he thought they’d built a friendship before, it had grown into so much more as they’d traveled for miles on the train. But he couldn’t be selfish and think of that now.
When he’d gone to the station in San Francisco, he’d been hit with a genius idea. So he’d traded in his tickets for a later train and then stayed to watch their mystery guest board the train they were first going to take.
Now he just needed to get Mary Margaret off the train and to the courthouse without mishap. And that was easier said than done.
He’d purchased a private compartment to keep her as concealed as possible—and selfishly so he could be with her and hold her hand—but there were sure to be people at the station watching and waiting for them.
The train slowed, and she lifted her head and stretched. The travel had at least been restful for her. “Are we there?”
“Just about.”
Quiet engulfed them as he retreated to his own thoughts. But as the train came to a stop, he knew his time was up. “Mary Margaret.”
“Yes?” She squeezed his hand and didn’t reprimand him for not calling her Martin.
“There’s something I really need to tell you—some—”
The door to their compartment burst open. “It’ll have to wait.” The man who’d been following them pointed a gun at Mary Margaret. “All right, let’s get a few things straight. You’re going to get your bags, keep your heads down, and get off the train like nothing is out of the ordinary. If you don’t, I’ll put a bullet in little Miss Heiress here. Got it?”
He nodded. Didn’t want to give the guy any thought that Charles would try something—which of course he would. Just needed the right moment.
As they exited the train, Charles looked for a distraction.
A police whistle sounded behind them.
Something poked into his back. “Move!” The kidnapper’s voice snapped with anger.
“Oomph.”
The pressure on his back disappeared. Charles turned around and so did Mary Margaret.
“Uncle!” She hugged the man.
Sure enough, Dillard stood there with a policeman’s club in his hand. And their kidnapper lay in a heap on the ground.
“Thank you.” Mary Margaret hugged her uncle again. “I know Charles was trying to find a way to get me away from the man. How’d you do it?”
“The policeman gave me this. And so I just bopped him on the head.” Dillard shrugged.
“But how did you find us?” Charles shook the man’s hand. “I hadn’t heard anything more from you.”
Dillard laughed. “Let’s just say that I had a man watching this man who was watching you.” He took Mary Margaret by the arm. “I don’t want to waste a minute. Let’s get to the courthouse. Everyone is already there.” He gestured to another man beside them. “Oh by the way, Charles Delaney, this is Judge Graham. He will be assisting today.”
Charles shook the other man’s hand, and then all four climbed into a buggy.
The courthouse teemed with people. What was going on?
Dillard leaned toward Charles. “There’s also a murder trial going on.”
“Oh, gotcha.”
“I was hoping it would help us sneak her in.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Judge Graham had Mary Margaret on his arm. They must be old friends, because she talked to the older man as if she’d known him all her life.
When the judge opened the door to courtroom B, a cacophony of voices filled the air. Yelling from every direction.
The judge on the bench banged his gavel.
“Exactly why have we been summoned here today?” The nasally voice came from a short woman on the right side. “It’s apparent that our sister’s not returning. Why do we have to wait?”
“It’s our money, too!” A lower female voice.
Those must be the sisters. Martha and Mabel.
Charles stepped forward, but Mary Margaret’s hand shot out and stopped him. She removed her hat, letting her hair tumble down, and walked forward. “Sorry to disappoint you. But I’m very much alive.”
The women and the men beside them all gasped. And then started yelling again.
Charles covered his ears. How could these women be even remotely related to Mary Margaret and Arnold Abbot?
The judge’s gavel banged five more times. “Order! I demand order.” He pointed to Mary Margaret. “Now come forward. How do we know you are in fact the Miss Mary Margaret Abbot? You could be an imposter.”
The sisters agreed from their corner.
Charles just rolled his eyes.
Dillard and Judge Graham walked forward and approached the bench. Judge Graham sent a serious frown to the presiding judge and then whispered for a minute or two.
The judge on the bench went ashen.
Police filled the courtroom.
Charles watched in awe as the sisters, their husbands, and the judge were all arrested.
Dillard smiled and patted Charles on the back. “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”
Mary Margaret walked to him in her boyish getup and took his hand.
Judge Graham joined them. “Judge Scoggins has been suspected of taking bribes for some time. We are grateful for your assistance in helping us put this case to rest once and for all.”
“What about Martha and Mabel?” Her sweet voice shared her concern for her sisters, even though they’d been horrid.
“They—along with their husbands—have been arrested for conspiracy to commit murder and a few other small charges, like falsifying papers, forging documents, stealing, and bribing a US court judge.”
“Will I be allowed to visit them?”
“Of course. But do you really want to?” The judge furrowed his brow and shook his head.
Mary Margaret looked to Charles. “Yes, I think I do. Will you go with me, Charles?”
“When the time is right. Yes, I will gladly accompany you.” If he could just keep his temper in check. He’d have to pray a lot about that one.
Dillard walked back toward them and kissed his niece on the cheek. “I’m so glad you are okay.” He chuckled. “But how you ever passed as a boy when you smell so much like lavender is beyond me.”
Charles and Mary Margaret shared a look. He winked at her. “You should have smelled her last week.”
Two crazy days passed with legal paperwork and visits to the local jail. Mary Margaret slept a lot, too. But Uncle Dillard said that he’d kept Charles occupied with business talk whenever she wasn’t around.
As she waited for Charles now, she anticipated talking with him alone. There was so much she wanted to say. So much that filled her heart and her mind.
“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘All that glitters is not gold’?” Charles’s voice from behind her on the veranda made her smile. She turned to him and took in those beautiful gray eyes.
He lifted her hand and kissed her palm.
Heat flared up her arm. “Yes, I have. Merchant of Venice … Shakespeare.” She smiled. It was unexpected, but oh, so glorious. She loved this man. Yes, she did. And she couldn’t wait to tell him. “So…?”
“Well in gold mining, in the panning process, we find a lot of fool’s gold—pyrite.”
“Go on.” Her heart beat a little faster. She knew him so well, she had already figured out where he was
going. But she longed to hear him say it. So she forced herself to remain patient and bit her lip.
“Pyrite is much more reflective of light than real gold. So a lot of people would get excited to see glittering, golden specks—only to find out what they’d discovered and worked for was actually worthless.” He took both of her hands in his. “But the real gold—the truly precious metal—appeared to be dull in its raw form to most people. Because they didn’t realize what they were looking at. They didn’t appreciate it and got distracted by the glitter.” He paused.
She peered up at him and hoped he saw the admiration she felt for him.
“Too many are looking for the glitter. But I’m looking for the real thing.” Charles went down on one knee. “You are the real thing, Mary Margaret Abbot. And I love you with all my heart. You shine and reflect the True Light, you glitter with beauty, wit, and charm, and underneath it all—you are pure gold. Will you marry me?”
She only had to lean down a few inches to kiss him. And she did it with gusto. When she pulled back, she couldn’t keep a grin from her face. “On one condition?”
“Oh boy. What is it?”
“That we hire someone to work with Uncle Dillard to run the companies here when we are not in Colorado.”
His brow crinkled. “I don’t understand. You don’t want to stay?”
She shook her head. “At least not right now. I’d like to go back to Alaska and have a real funeral for Father. But I want it to be more of a celebration of his life, and a celebration of our new life together. And then we can run the mines up there for a while. I can watch you work. Learn all about it. That kind of thing.” With a wink, she tugged him toward the door. “It could be an extended honeymoon, an adventure.”
“Haven’t we been on enough adventures already? Where you almost died?”
The American Heiress Brides Collection Page 59
