“Well, all I know is the second the carriage is finished, we are headed straight back to Tucson, I’ve had it with this town,” Jacob huffed, as he sank into a chair by the stove and lit his pipe.
“But, my dear, I promised Aunt Ethel I’d help her finish the marmalades in time for the celebration at the end of the month,” Laura said gently.
Jacob glowered at her. “I suggest you work as fast as you can then, I don’t plan on us staying in this lawless town any longer than we have to.”
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Laura headed over and opened it to find Abe standing on the porch with a basket of rhubarb. Jacob’s eyes widened as he saw him. He leaped on his feet.
“Him! That’s the savage that attacked me last night!” he hollered, as he strode to the door.
Laura looked at Abe. “Abe? Is this true?” she asked.
Abe put the rhubarb down on the porch and stepped back, as Jacob barreled toward him. He put his hands up toward Jacob. “Now hold on sir, let’s not do anything too rash in front of your bride,” Abe said, in a calm, steady voice.
“Rash? You nearly cracked my ribs open last night and you talk to me about being rash?” Jacob was practically spitting, as the words came out.
“What’s going on? Who is this man?” Xavier demanded.
“Father, this is Abe Mavor, he’s been helping myself and Aunt Ethel out with…well…just about everything while I’ve been here,” Laura explained. She turned back to Abe. “Abe, what’s going on, is this true?”
Abe kept his eyes trained on Jacob. “Yes Miss Laura, I believe there was something of a…misunderstanding between myself and Mr. Fisher here last night. I believe I may have overstepped a bit.”
Jacob looked at Laura. “This man is insane, and if he had been helping you, it’s no doubt his motivation was not that pure...” He turned back to Abe. “I can assure you there’s no way we will be needing any assistance from you any longer and I insist you stay far away from Laura here or I will have to call the authorities on you,” he said, as he straightened his jacket and pulled Laura close to him. She winced, and Abe’s face fell, with a storm growing in his eyes.
“Now, this is all quite ridiculous,” Aunt Ethel cut in, hobbling over to the door on her cane. “Abe has been nothing but a help to me, even before Laura got here and, whatever happened, I’m sure won’t happen again, isn’t that right, Abe?”
Abe continued to stare at Laura silently.
“I think it’s time for you to go, sir,” Xavier said, from over Jacob’s shoulder.
“Quite right. Aunt Ethel, I brought you some rhubarb for the marmalade. I’ll leave it with Miss Laura here,” Abe replied, tipping his hat and striding away from the door.
Laura leaned down and picked up the basket of rhubarb from the porch as she watched Abe riding off. She carried it back inside and placed it on the table.
Jacob turned to Aunt Ethel.“How could you stand up for a man like that? After what I’ve told you he’s done, after witnesses confirmed his actions?” he stuttered.
“Now Jacob, I’ve known Mr. Mavor far longer than I’ve known you, so please excuse me if I’m inclined to think that there may be two sides to the story,” Aunt Ethel replied defiantly.
Jacob seemed to be taken aback by that response and quickly relit his pipe. Xavier looked at Ethel darkly. “Well, whatever it is, I don’t like the idea of a man with violent inclinations hanging around here,” he said.
Aunt Ethel squared her chin and looked at Jacob, who was sulking in a chair, puffing his pipe. Laura began to unpack the rhubarb from the basket. And then, she spotted it: a small piece of paper tied to one of the roots with a little bit of twine. She quickly shoved it in the pocket of her apron, as she finished setting the rhubarb out to be cooked.
“Well, after all that excitement, I think I’m going to lie down for a bit, if you’ll excuse me,” Laura said to the room. She walked over to her bedroom and closed the door. On the other side, she could still hear the rest of them hashing over what had just happened.
“To think, a man like that, skulking around here with our girl,” Dorothy said faintly.
“It’s best that we finish what needs to be finished as quickly as we can and bring her back to Tucson, so she and Jacob can make their arrangements in peace,” Xavier said firmly.
“I’m telling you all, Abe is harmless, a good man who’s been nothing but kind to us,” Aunt Ethel insisted.
Laura sat on the edge of the bed as they continued to argue. She pulled the piece of paper out of her apron pocket and unfolded it. It was a page out of a book, a drawing of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer by the whitewashed fence. Laura smiled. She turned the paper over, and there, scrawled in barely legible handwriting, was a note.
Things not as they seem. Meet me in the barn tonight at ten o’clock
Chapter Eighteen
Abe paced back and forth across the hay-strewn floor of the barn’s loft.
How could I have been so stupid. No way she’ll listen to me now. All I’ve done is drive her straight toward that cowardly, sniveling…
“Abe?”
Laura’s voice jerked him out of his thoughts. He peered through the trapdoor and in the shafts of moonlight slicing through the slats of the barn he saw glimpses of Laura’s golden hair, her head turning back and forth, looking for him.
“Laura! Up here!” Abe called out in a voice barely above a whisper. Her face turned up toward him and she did what he least expected.
She smiled.
Maybe there is hope.
“Wait there Laura, I’ll come down to you,” he called down.
“Nonsense, last thing we need is to be spotted. I’ll climb up; I’ve done it plenty of times back home when I needed a bit of peace from the family,” Laura said, as she placed her foot on the bottom rung and began to climb.
Abe extended his rough arm out to her and, as she reached the top, she grabbed on and he hoisted her into the hayloft. She looked around, as if to be sure they were truly alone. Then she turned back to Abe and put her hand gently on his face. “Abe, tell me what’s going on. What really happened?” she said softly.
Abe hesitated, as he drank in the feeling of her soft fingers against his cheek. He looked into her hazel eyes and felt his heart swell painfully. He reached up, grabbed her hand from his face and held it in his.
“That man, he’s not how he appears to everyone else. I heard him talking at the saloon in town. He was saying things about you that no gentleman should ever say about his bride. And, something came over me.” Abe looked at her, hoping she would understand. “I didn’t mean to bring any disrespect to your family, but I couldn’t sit by and let him say those things.”
Laura stood silently for a few moments, absorbing what he had just said. But she didn’t look shocked.
Something else has happened.
“Laura, did he put his hands on you?” Abe asked urgently. Laura only looked down, still saying nothing. He reached out and gently turned her chin up to face him. The tiniest of tears were pooling in the corners of her eyes.
“Laura, I swear to God if he’s hurt you, I’ll kill him. I swear I will.” Abe said, the fire welling up again inside him.
“And what would that solve, Abe?” Laura asked, fighting back the tears. “My father would have you arrested, and you’d likely hang. Moreover, I’d still end up with some other man, possibly even worse than Jacob.”
Abe sat there, unsure of what to say next. His hands were shaking.
He’s already laid his hands on her, and he probably will again.
“You can’t go with a man like that Laura. Don’t be stupid, there’s other men out there.”
Laura looked at him defiantly.
“You think I’m choosing this Abe? You know I’m not!” she shouted.
Abe was taken aback by this sudden outburst. It seemed Laura was too, as she suddenly visually softened and sank to the floor, her figure looking even tinier in the dim light of the loft. Ab
e eased himself down next to her.
“I…could get you out of here Laura. Take you away somewhere, away from him,” Abe offered.
“And then what, Abe? How long could I run before they found me? Or worse, what if I ran forever? I’d never see my family again. What kind of a life would that be?” She looked at him with a sad resolve in her eyes.
“Laura, I know I need to step aside and respect your Father’s decision, and you, but stepping aside feels like a betrayal,” Abe said, practically pleading.
Laura took a deep breath. She cupped her small hands around Abe’s large, rough one and her face seemed to both soften and steel at the same time.
“I turned the house from a shack to a home. Maybe I can build a home in Jacob’s heart. At the very least I have to try.” She held tight to Abe’s hand. “This isn’t about me anymore, Abe. It’s about my family. They need me to do this.”
There, in that hayloft, the air hung heavy with her words. They both sat there silently, hands pressed together. Abe heard the soft flutter of a flock of bats, as they swirled outside the barn. He heard Aunt Ethel’s old mare snort lazily beneath them, likely mid-dream.
“I don’t love him, Abe,” Laura said, shattering the air.
Why tell me that?
“Didn’t expect that you did, Laura,” He replied. “But if you’re doing this for your family…and I believe I’ve an idea what that means…then you’re quite the strong woman to do so.”
“You can feel me shaking, Abe. I wouldn’t call myself strong. Just…stuck,” Laura said, with a small laugh.
“Well, sometimes when we’re stuck, that’s when we’re the strongest.”
Laura took a sharp breath in, and forced a smile, as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Abe reached up instinctively and brushed it away. She touched his hand.
“I want to help you get out. I’m ready to bash that coward’s teeth in, before he can lay a finger on you that’s unwelcomed.”
Laura smiled at him, the moonlight shining off her tear-stained cheek. “You’re a good man, Abe Mavor. I’m so happy to have met you.”
“You too, Laura,” he replied quietly.
Abe wrapped his arms around Laura. He felt her breathing, slowly and deeply.
Laura, let me take you away. Please. I don’t know if I can stand this.
He felt a pit in his stomach growing. Every fiber of his body wanted to pick her up and carry her out of that hayloft. He saw them jumping onto Bruce’s back, the wind and his hooves carrying them far away from everything.
But he stayed rooted, her small frame wrapped inside his large one. An owl muttered somewhere in the rafters. He wanted to drink in every last moment of this, before it was gone forever.
After what could have been five minutes or five years, Laura pulled back from Abe and stood up, brushing straws of hay from her skirt. Abe eased himself to his feet as well.
“It’s late, I should get back in the house before anyone might notice I’ve left,” Laura said.
Abe nodded and extended his hand to her to help her onto the ladder. She descended, rung by rung, into the dark barn floor. She took one last look up at him, and then walked out of the barn, and out of his view.
Abe felt as if his heart was pulled out of the barn with her.
* * *
Laura woke up the next morning as the light was already pouring into her room. She laid in bed, silently staring at the ceiling, an image of Abe’s moonlight streaked face still echoing around in her head.
It cannot be. It cannot be. It cannot be.
She kept repeating the words, but his face stayed there. What released her from it, was her mother flying into the room.
“Good gracious child, laying in bed all day, while there’s work to be done. Certainly, will not be any of that once you’re married, so enjoy it while it lasts.” She sighed heavily. “I’ve already taken care of breakfast and the morning chores. When you’re collected, I need you to run to town and pick up some more flour and coffee.”
Her mother threw the curtains fully open, flooding the room with light. Laura, in turn, threw her arm over her face, to shield her eyes, and groaned.
“Up Laura and be prompt about it!” her mother fussed.
Laura eased herself up and swung her feet out of bed. Her mother, satisfied, exited the room, as Laura straightened herself up. She sat down at the vanity mirror and saw the deep bags and lines under her eyes, evidence that the hayloft was definitely not a dream.
Jacob…I wonder what he actually said about me. Something crude no doubt.
She felt a shiver as it ran down her spine.
It’s for the family. It’s the right thing to do. I’ll make do, plenty of girls have. We’ll live close to Mama and Father and once the children come, I’ll be too occupied with them to be bothered with his boorish ways.
She looked in the mirror and began to gather her long blonde waves above her head, into a neat and tidy style. She splashed cold water on her face, trying to freshen her wearied appearance.
When she emerged from her room, she saw her father sitting at the table, puffing away on his pipe and writing in his notebook. She stepped over to the stove and sliced a bit of bread, popped it onto a plate, then slid a layer of Aunt Ethel’s marmalade over it.
Aunt Ethel was knitting in her chair, her cane propped up against the arm. Laura’s eyes wandered up and down Abe’s carving. Aunt Ethel noticed, and shot Laura a sly grin. Laura quickly looked away and bit into her bread.
Well, she knows something. But she’s certainly not going to stand in the way of Father.
Laura chewed her bread, her thoughts still tangled up inside her head. Aunt Ethel cleared her throat and began to chatter to the room.
“You know, funny, Ernest wasn’t the first man I was promised to,” she declared to no one, but Laura looked at her with silent curiosity. She continued, “No, I was promised to this other man, Jethro. Even funnier, he already had two wives. My father was a big believer in the faith, and thought if I was to marry, it should be to a man whose large family would bring us favor in Eternity. But I couldn’t stand the idea. Eternity did not seem to matter, if it was with a man I knew I’d never be able to fully love. He drank too much, and his wives were already tired-looking.”
A grunt-like laugh escaped from Laura’s father. “Never saw the point in multiple wives, seems exhausting for everyone. Isn’t it outlawed now?”
Aunt Ethel nodded. “Indeed, part of the agreement Utah made with the Union to get our statehood. Wonder what Jethro and his family are going to do now…” She trailed off into thought for a second, then snapped back. “Anyways, Ernest didn’t have nearly as many prospects, in this life or the next, as Jethro did but he had the sweetest smile. I met him when he was helping deliver some hay to the farm. Big strong muscles, didn’t talk too much, which I didn’t mind.”
“Because he didn’t interrupt your rambling stories, Ethel,” Laura’s mother cut in, as she came in from outside. “Soon as he caught your eye, I knew Father was going to have a heart attack.”
“Oh, and he certainly did,” Ethel said with a smile. “I marched into the barn one day and announced I was never going to marry Jethro. He about threw me into the wagon right then and there to drop me at Jethro’s, but I told him if he did, I’d just run away.”
“You were always the precocious one,” Laura’s mother sighed.
“Oh, I was,” Ethel agreed with a laugh. “After much hollering, Father calmed down and the next time I saw Ernest I told him that I believed we should be together, and he should ask Father for my hand and he agreed.”
“Wasn’t Jethro furious that your father broke his promise?” Laura asked.
“Funny enough, I think he was a bit relieved, too. Both his wives were pregnant at the time and I don’t think anyone had the energy to deal with another one. So, all’s well that ends well, I guess,” Ethel said with a smile and a sigh. “Ernest and I had so many good years.”
“As I’m sure you and
Jacob will, my dear,” Laura’s mother said, as she patted Laura on the shoulder.
Well done, Mother.
Laura finished her piece of bread and stood up. She began to collect her things to go into town.
“Anything besides coffee and flour, Mother?” Laura asked.
“If you could also drop in at the butcher and see if he’s gotten any fresh beef sides in, that would be lovely, thank you dear!” her mother chirped, as Laura fastened her hat on.
She headed out to the barn and saddled up the old mare. As she jumped on her back, she thought she heard a strange rustle behind her. She quickly turned around and scanned the empty stalls, but nothing stirred.
The Salvation 0f A Runaway Bride (Historical Western Romance) Page 13
