Seth's Promise (Grooms With Honor Book 6)

by Linda K. Hubalek

  Seth gritted his teeth hearing the two men talk about Miss Lind as if she was Hardesty’s property.

  “Why’d you think to look here?” asked the hotel clerk.

  “She was with a rancher by the name of George Milner last night, so figured we need to check all the hotels in the area. Check your register to see if he’s here.”

  Excuse me for lying about my name last night, Lord, but I’m so glad I did.

  The clerk scanned several pages in his book. “No, don’t see his name. You know the stock show is going on. There are thousands of ranchers in the area this month and not all at this hotel.”

  “This man was tall, cowboy hat, western style boots.”

  “You’re still describing most of the men staying here this week.”

  “He’s young, late twenties, has reddish-brown hair too, so that’s got to cut down the list of suspects.” The policeman rapped his knuckles on the counter. “Let us know if you hear anything about her. Mr. Hardesty would appreciate it.”

  Seth breathed again, relieved Lily got away last night. Unfortunately, people were looking for both Lily and him now. Where is she? Apparently, Lily got away before the snow would have shown her tracks. As soon as the clerk turned his back, Seth would sneak back up the staircase for his coat and hat and start looking for her.

  He wondered if she went to the train station, but she’d probably guess Hardesty’s thugs, or the police, would look for her there. And he doubted she could find a church and find help there during the night.

  Seth had told her to meet him in the stockyards, so he had a feeling she was hiding there—if she hadn’t been accosted by someone else along the way. There were around two thousand livestock pens and numerous buildings covering the three-hundred-acre stockyards. Somewhere, hopefully, Lily was hiding—and not frozen to death—waiting for him to find her before someone else did.

  It was time to pray to God and one of his Irish mother’s favorite protectors, Saint Michael for help because this search could be harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

  *

  Two hours later, Seth still hadn’t seen any sign of Lily in the buzz of activity in the snow-covered stockyard. Some yard workers were moving hogs toward the meat packing plants, while others unloaded livestock from the trains which had stopped in the Yards. Workers were systematically forking loose hay from horse-drawn hayracks into the horse pens’ feed troughs, so horses were lined up in the pens eating. Seth slowly walked down the alley of the horse pens, pretending to look at the horses listed on this week’s sale bill he carried. He kept up a steady conversation with the horses, loud enough so Lily could hear him if she were nearby. Seth stopped when other lookers walked by but started talking again after they passed.

  “Look at that dumskalle, will you, looks like the jackass came all the way from Sweden.”

  “A Kansas rancher wouldn’t buy that dumskalle.”

  Seth kept talking, thinking of words Lily might catch as a clue to show herself.

  He stopped at the next pen, realizing that all the horses were standing facing an inside corner, as were the horses in the three other pens which connected to it. Something or someone had their attention.

  Seth looked closer, trying to see through the legs of eight horses in this pen, then he went to the next pen to look at the corner from another angle. A tiny bit of blue fabric showed in the corner pile of hay. Had he found her?

  “Miss Lind! Lily!” Seth hissed as loudly as he dared. She didn’t answer, nor did the patch of material move. He tried again, “Dumskalle! Smörgåsbord! Lutfisk!” Still no movement in the corner.

  Seth looked around, then slid open the gate latch to get into the pen, then closed the gate behind him. “It’s all right, just trying to get to the corner,” he calmly spoke to the horses as he made his way around the inside perimeter of the pen’s fence.

  Seth cautiously poked the hay pile with his boot, knowing it could be a drunk hiding or just a piece of fabric instead of Miss Lind. The hay shifted. Seth reached out to lightly brush hay off the form until he found a gray blanket. Half afraid, Seth slowly opened the blanket—to see two beautiful, sleepy, blue eyes blinking open.

  “Miss Lind, it’s Mr. Reagan.” Thank God and Saint Michael. “Are you all right?”

  She blinked at him, still half asleep, or in shock? Seth looked around, he had to get her out of the pen and away before someone saw them.

  “I’m...cold...”

  “Listen, you need to get out of that dress because the police are looking for you.”

  “What?” She blinked her eyes and looked around her. Did she remember getting into the pen of horses last night?

  “I have a bag of clothing you need to change into, then I’ll put the dress in the bag, so it isn’t seen. Hurry!”

  Seth pulled out a pair of trousers, then pulled Miss Lind up to her feet. “Lean on me,” he grabbed her foot and worked it into a leg of the pants, then shifted her weight to slip her other leg in. He yanked the trousers over her bloomers and buttoned them at her waist before she had time to protest.

  He looked around again, there were people slowly wandering this alley, stopping to look at the pens of horses, but still a distance away.

  “I got a shirt and men’s coat for you to put on, so let’s get you out of the dress.” Seth popped off half the buttons as he opened the side seam and was yanking the dress over her head before Lily got her arms up.

  “Go easy...my ribs...”

  “Hurry up! People are coming!” Seth grabbed a hunting cap out of the bag before stuffing the dress in his bag, causing the horses to move in agitation.

  “Whoa, there, we’re not trying to startle you. Calm down,” Seth lowered his voice to settle the horses, keeping himself between them and Lily.

  “Miss Lind, you’re now my assistant, Arthur Johnson, at least until we get out of the stockyards. Ready? People are two pens from here,” he whispered as he looked over his shoulder.

  She had the shirt on but was timidly working to get the coat on.

  “Here, put the coat on and wrap it around you,” Sseth whispered as Miss Lind hissed when Seth roughly pulled the coat on her shoulders and pushed the cap on her head. “Don’t worry about buttoning anything right now. The hat’s got a havelock cape to cover your neck and hair.”

  Seth rubbed his hand over the back of the nearest mare as three men strolled by the pen he and Miss Lind were in. “Hello,” Seth said, nodding to the men, before continuing to run his hand up the horse’s neck.

  “How’s this group look, sir?” one of the men said.

  “I believe all right. It looked like one of the mares had a cracked hoof, so I came into the pen to check it. But luckily, it was frozen hay and mud instead.” He moved to check the next mare, ignoring the men as he waited for them to move on. None seemed to notice his companion’s dress or stature before they continued to stroll down the alley to the next pen of horses.

  “Why am I wearing men’s clothing? Where’s your cowboy hat?” Miss Lind looked confused as she slurred the words. He had to get her back to the hotel as quick as he could.

  “The police were at the hotel early this morning looking for Lily Lind—in a blue gown—and a tall reddish brown-haired cowboy named George Milner. I bought some cheap men’s clothes for you and a black crusher hat for me this morning to try to change our appearances a little.”

  Lily swayed, and Seth grabbed her before she crumpled back into the hay. Besides wincing, she gasped this time when he pulled her close. She squeezed her eyes tight, but tears still rolled down her cheeks.

  “Are you hurt? Did Hardesty hurt you?”

  “One punch in my ribs,” she said after taking a shallow breath. “But then I slipped on the ice when I was running, and slammed down on my side, which made it worse.”

  “Think you can walk until we can hire a carriage to take us back to the hotel?” Seth was ready to pick her up and carry her back but thought that might hurt her ribs more.

&nbs
p; “Yes, just give me time. I can walk along the pens and lean against the fence if I need to.”

  ***

  Lily was so glad when the carriage pulled up to the hotel. Besides shivering from the cold and numb from fatigue, she was faint from hunger and lack of sleep.

  “Mr. Reagan, I shouldn’t be going up to your room,” Lily had whispered this more than once, but he refused to hear her arguments.

  “My parents taught us, boys, to help others in need, so you’re my current case. My room has a private bathroom, complete with a bathtub and running water, which you need to soak in as soon as we get upstairs,” he reminded her again as they slowly walked side by side up the hotel entrance steps. But Lily hardly heard him as she took in the lobby, tastefully decorated with expensive-looking overstuffed chairs scattered in groups for visiting. She had never been in a place this nice.

  Mr. Reagan touched her shoulder to stop her once they were inside the foyer. “We’re in luck. There’s a different clerk at the desk now instead of the one the policeman talked to this morning about us. Stay on the opposite side of me when we go up the stairs in case he looks our way.”

  Lily never thought it would be hard to go up a staircase, but right now each step was work. Mr. Reagan ushered her down the hall, looking both ways before inserting the key in his hotel room door and opening it for their entry.

  “Before you wilt on the floor in a dead sleep, let me get the bathwater running so you can enjoy a hot, soaking bath,” Mr. Reagan remarked as he opened the door of the bathroom. Lily sighed when she heard the sweet sound of hot water hitting the bottom of the bathtub.

  The room was clean. No questionable stains on the bedspread, a thick area rug Lily couldn’t wait to sink her toes into, light streaming through polished glass…she had to be hallucinating.

  “Are you going to be able to undress and get in the tub by yourself?” Seth asked while pulling off his hat and coat and tossing them onto the overstuffed chair by the window.

  “Uh, yes…I’ll manage.” It may have taken the effort to say those four words, but she’d get her icy cold clothes off because a hot bath was waiting for her.

  Thank you for electricity and modern plumbing in this hotel.

  The dirty Emporium room had a kerosene lamp, a chamber pot, wash basin and a pitcher of water in it—and a bed with a repulsive odor. Lily needed to rub the remainder of that room and the smoky saloon off her skin and hair as much as she needed to warm up.

  “All right. Umm ...while you’re bathing, I’ll go down to the dining room for coffee and food for us.” He lifted the door key. “I’ll let myself back in, so don’t be surprised when you hear me.” When Lily heard the soft click of this door locking, she felt safe instead of scared, as she had at the Emporium.

  Lily stood in the bathroom doorway a minute and watched the steam coming off the tub water. How did I get so lucky to have a decent man help me after this terrible week?

  Piece by piece she shed the men’s clothing, and her wet undergarments, cringing at the pain it caused her left side. She gasped as she turned and looked in the mirror above the sink. Her hair was a tangled mess, and her face was as pale as the snow outside the hotel.

  She moved farther from the mirror to see more of her body and gingerly raised her arm to view the bruise on her side. It was an ugly combination of shades of purples and reds, but it would heal, thanks to her escaping and Mr. Reagan finding her.

  Lily turned the knobs to shut off the water. She’d add more when the water cooled because she planned to soak for a long time. Her feet stung when she stepped into the tub. After a minute, she eased down to her knees, getting acclimated to the water, before sitting to stretch her legs out and lean against the back of the full-length tub. Oh, this feels so good!

  Time had passed when she heard the key in the room door, but she continued to enjoy the hot soak.

  “Miss Lind, it’s me. I brought...”

  Lily opened her eyes when he spoke and realized he could see her! The bathroom door latch hadn’t caught, and it had slowly opened on its own to reveal her in the bathtub.

  He stared at her as she sank down in the bathtub, then quickly turned his back to her. “I brought food, and I’ll set this tray on the table. Can I close my eyes and shut the door for you? I promise I won’t look again.”

  Her face might be red because she was in hot water, but she was sure her cheeks turned redder if that was possible. “Yes, please.”

  True to his word, Seth walked backward, feeling for the doorknob without taking another peek at her in the tub. She had almost fallen asleep in the hot comfort of the tub, but she was wide awake now to finish her bath. She rubbed the washcloth against the bar of castle soap to make a nice foam then scrubbed every inch of her body, hoping to get the smell of cigar smoke, cheap perfume, and horse manure off her skin.

  Then Lily slid forward in the tub to lean back and dunk her hair into the water, then sat back up. It felt luxurious to rub the bar of castle soap into her scalp and hair. She slid her head back into the hot water to swish and rinse her hair. Once again on her feet, Lily carefully rubbed her body with a clean towel, then used it to wrap around her wet head. Then she reached for…nothing. She didn’t have any clothes to put on after her bath.

  Mr. Reagan’s cup of coffee stayed halfway to his lips when Lily opened the door and peeked around it. “Do you have any dry clothes I could borrow?”

  ***

  Miss Lind devoured the toast, eggs, and bacon like she hadn’t eaten in…well, days, which Seth guessed was accurate. She’d been savoring the hot, strong coffee a slow sip at a time, which looked like it had finally taken the chill out of her bones—along with his wool socks, his nightshirt, and the blanket from his bed, which was wrapped around her.

  The woman was covered head to toe, but he was still embarrassed that she was in his room. They ate in silence, but now they needed to talk.

  “I need to go back to the Stock Show today, so you can sleep here while I’m gone. I brought up extra food you can eat later. Will you be all right while I’m gone?” Seth had promised Mr. Connely he’d visit with cattle buyers about the Cross C Ranch breeding stock.

  “Yes, thank you, Mr. Reagan. I feel safe now and appreciate the use of your room to recover from my ordeal.”

  “Since you don’t have the bare necessities you need, how about you make me a list of items I could get while out today?”

  “I don’t know how I’m going to repay you for all of this. I was so unprepared coming to Chicago. I assumed I’d be settling into a nice house this week, and getting to know my husband…having money...”

  Miss Lind was doing her best not to cry in front of him. It had to be so hard, dreaming of what her future as Mrs. Hardesty was going to be, compared to the situation in which she found herself.

  “Don’t worry, buying what you need is no problem for me. My employer is a generous man, with my salary, and expense money for my trip to Chicago. And Mr. Connely is the type of man who would be disappointed to hear if I didn’t help a woman in dire need.” Seth tried to assure her.

  “Thank you. If you have a pencil and a notepad, I can start the list, but I’m keeping it to the bare minimum.”

  Seth reached into his vest pocket to pull out and hand her the items while asking, “How about you make your list and I’ll get ready to go?”

  Miss Lind had a lot of decisions to make about her future, but she needed sleep, and a clear head first. And he needed to get away because being close to Miss Lind was clouding his brain. Even though she was tired and forlorn, he still enjoyed visiting with her.

  Chapter 5

  Lily slowly awoke, needing to get up to relieve herself. Why does my side hurt?

  She rolled over in bed and pushed back the covers to swing out of bed but stopped when hearing a light deep snore. The room was dark, but light shadows were coming from the window and beneath a door.

  Where am I? Lily put her hand up to her throat. This isn’t lace at the neck of m
y nightgown…and these sleeves are so long.

  The Emporium! No, the room layout wasn’t right. The extra door…was the bathroom in Mr. Reagan’s hotel room. And the poor man was sleeping in the chair near the window. He was going to have a kink in his neck in the morning.

  Had she slept all day and into the night, not hearing Mr. Reagan come back to the room? Apparently. Lily slowly slid out of bed and tiptoed to the bathroom, trying not to wake the man.

  Lily knew Mr. Reagan was awake before she reopened the bathroom door because he’d turned on the table lamp. She had no choice but to walk out in his nightshirt, which didn’t cover her ankles.

  “Good evening, Miss Lind. Did you have a good rest?”

  “Yes, it helped. Sorry I slept so long. What time is it?”

  Mr. Reagan pulled his watch out of his vest pocket. “Eleven fifteen,” he said before snapping the watch cover closed and slipping it back into his pocket.

  “Eleven fifteen…at night? How could I sleep that long?”

  “Apparently you needed it. Want a bite to eat now? I ate earlier, but I saved you a sandwich for when you awoke.”

  Lily pulled the chair out from the table and slid into it. She was hungry and thirsty again, and she appreciated he’d saved food for her.

  “My day was productive,” Mr. Reagan hinted as he watched her take her first bite of sandwich, “besides finding you.” Lily looked up, glad to see a smile on his face when mentioning the rescue instead of a frown.

  “I talked to two bull breeders whose stock I’d recommend for the Cross C Ranch cattle herd. One was from St. Louis, Missouri and the other from Topeka, Kansas, so close to central Kansas than most of the breeders at this show. I’ve met people from Canada to Maine on this trip. It’s amazing how far people travel to bring livestock to this show, but it’s a way to advertise your pedigreed stock.”

  A thick slab of ham, plus a slice of cheddar cheese between two buttered pieces of fresh-baked bread made a filling sandwich. Lily enjoyed every bite while watching Mr. Reagan talk. He didn’t make gestures as some people but sat telling her about his day in a calm, gentle manner.