Marie overslept the next morning. Warm and comfortable in her own bed, she slept deeply throughout the night, never even turning over. When she finally awakened, she saw the daylight coming into her room beneath the drawn window shades. As much as she would have liked to remain in bed, she knew she could not. She had a store to run, a store that had not been opened in several days, and her customers, who depended upon her for many of their goods, probably required supplies to run their homes and businesses.
Reluctantly, she tossed back the covers and started to rise, then when a twinge in her sprained ankle reminded her of the injury. Leaning over on the edge of the bed, she examined the swollen, badly bruised limb, but she knew that it looked worse than it actually was. Rising carefully, she tested her weight on the ankle, then, satisfied that she could get around with relative ease, she dressed, brushed her long hair and tied it back with a ribbon.
As she limped carefully down the main staircase, she smelled the wonderful aroma of coffee and frying bacon drifting through the house from the kitchen. She made her way carefully through the parlor, then paused in the kitchen door, smiling fondly as she observed her young ward. Lucy had already started a pot of coffee, and was at the stove busily preparing breakfast, unaware that she was being watched.
“My, but that smells good,” Marie exclaimed as she entered the room.
Lucy turned around and smiled, brightly. “Good morning, Marie.”
“Good morning,” she responded, then scolded gently, “You should have awakened me instead of letting me oversleep.”
“Well, I figured you probably needed the rest after everything you’ve been through.”
“Well, I must admit, it was nice to sleep in for once,” she agreed. “Except for times that I was ill, I don’t suppose I’ve slept late since I was about your age.”
Lucy noticed that she was favoring the sprained ankle, and gestured toward the table with the fork she was using to turn the bacon. “You sit down at the table, and I’ll finish up here,” she suggested.
Marie moved to the kitchen table, pulled out one of the chairs, and sat down, relieving the stress on her ankle. “So, not only can you go to bed without being told, you can also get up without being told,” she teased. “I get the feeling you had an ulterior motive, young lady, when you went up to bed without being told! You were playing a bit of matchmaking, weren’t you?”
A slight blush of embarrassment crept into the girl’s cheeks that she had been found out. “Well, I . . ." she began, then, changing the subject abruptly, she asked, “Did you and Marshal Craddock have a nice evening?”
“Yes. In fact, we did.”
Lucy’s blue eyes were large and hopeful. “I hoped you would. We were almost like a family last night. It reminded me a little bit of the way it was with Mother and Father before we left Toronto to come here.” She paused to draw a deep breath, then released it in a heavy sigh. “I miss them.”
Marie’s expression was sympathetic. “I know you do.”
“And the last few days, I thought I had lost you, too.”
“You didn’t lose me, Lucy, and you’re not going to. Now, let’s get finished with breakfast, so you can get back to school. I don’t want you falling behind in your studies.”
The smile returned. “Yes, ma’am.”
As soon as breakfast was eaten and the dishes washed, Lucy fetched her schoolbooks from her room, and she and Marie left the house together. Marie paused briefly to securely lock the front door, then she and Lucy walked partway together, before the girl crossed the street and took one of the side alleys that led to the clearing in which the schoolhouse was situated.
Limping on her sprained ankle, Marie completed her walk to the store, and opened up to start the day. Knowing that she would be unable to stand for long periods of time, she located a tall stool in the storeroom, and placed it behind the counter on which to sit.
A few minutes later, Sally Duffield arrived. With her typically sunny smile, she said, “It sure is good to see you behind that counter again!”
“It’s good to be back, Sally,” Marie told her as she eased herself down on the stool.
“You sure gave us a scare. I wasn’t so sure we’d ever ---“ She broke off suddenly, superstitiously refusing to say the words she had been thinking. “What was it like being trapped in the cellar of that old house?”
Marie fell silent for several moments, thinking about that. When she finally spoke, her voice was somber. “It was being trapped that was the worst part; of being unable to leave that place of my own free will. I’ve never really been claustrophobic, but it was terrifying waiting for the rest of that house to come crashing down on us.”
“I can’t understand why that man would do something like that if he loved you. How can you try to kill someone that you claim to love?”
Marie shook her head, as bewildered as her friend. “I don’t know, Sally. He isn’t a normal person.”
“Oh, did you unlock the back door?” Sally asked, worriedly.
“No. I’m going to keep it locked until Jack and Clive find him and lock him up. If you need to get wood for the stove, bring it around to the front. Don’t open the back door at all.”
Marie was blissfully unaware that at that very moment, a man was at the back door of the store, attempting to open it. Finding it locked, he cursed angrily, then slunk away to await another, easier opportunity.
Unlike Marie, Jack had not slept well. Every time he turned over, he was startled by the burning pain in his side, made even more uncomfortable by the tightness of the bandage around his middle. He still didn’t know why Marie had insisted on it, and considered the idea of removing it, but he knew she would scold him profusely as soon as she found out.
The bed was warm and cozy, and he continued to linger awhile, thinking about the previous evening and the way Marie had encouraged his kiss. Having believed he could never win her love, the kiss had left him more confused than ever. Before the explosion, there had been no doubt in his mind that Marie had favored Clive over him. Everything about her mannerisms and her tone of voice had indicated that she did not really desire his attention, but tolerated them to avoid hurting his feelings. What had changed? He was at complete loss for an answer.
Finally, giving up on the attempts to sleep, he got up and dressed, then went to the saloon for breakfast.
Diane Denny smiled cheerfully, as he entered the establishment. “Why Marshal, it’s so good to see you again! What can I get you?”
“Mornin’, Diane. Well, Marie ordered me not to eat too heavily for a few days, so I reckon a coupl’a eggs with grits, a small slab o’ breakfast steak, and a coupl’a slices of bread. And coffee! I done been two full days without any coffee.”
She laughed, her teeth very bright against the darkness of her skin. “That’s hardly what I would call eating light, Marshal!”
“Really? All right. I guess maybe you’d better leave off one of the eggs and one of the slices of bread.”
Sure thing, Marshal. Take a seat anywhere you want, and I’ll send Dom over with a fresh pot of coffee while I get those eggs and the steak started.”
Jack moved through the saloon and selected a table near the stove. By the time he was seated, Dom Bertino approached him with a steaming pot of coffee and a cup.
“Morning, Marshal,” he said as he poured the coffee. “You’re looking a sight better than you did the last time I saw you! I guess you probably slept pretty good, being back home after being trapped in that cellar.”
“Nope. I hardly slept at all. Marie insisted on bandaging my ribs, and I can barely breathe. And it hurts to turn over.”
“Yeah, I can see where that would be pretty uncomfortable. I’ll be back in a few minutes with your breakfast.”
“Thanks, Dom.”
While he waited, Jack tipped his chair back on two legs and watched through the window as the townspeople passed back and forth in front of the saloon, moving toward their places of business or enroute to other errands. On the surface, it seemed that everything was back to normal, but Jack knew that things were far from normal. Oliver Knapp was still on the loose, and he had no doubt that he would be back to finish the job he had started. He and Clive had already made the mistake once of assuming that Knapp had moved on, and they had been proven wrong, an error that had nearly cost him and Marie their lives. He would not make that mistake again.
As he continued to gaze outside, he saw Marie and Sally inside the general store, moving past the store window as they arranged the merchandise on the tables and shelves. Marie was moving cautiously on her sprained ankle, so it appeared that Sally was doing most of the work. Worried about her safety, he made a mental note to look in on her later to check the locks on the doors.
Dom arrived a short time later with his breakfast, and as he set it down on the table top, he asked, “Need a refill on the coffee?”
“Sure, Dom. Thanks.” His eyes wandered hungrily over the food on his plate as he tucked his napkin into the front of his shirt. “That looks purely delicious. Diane outdone herself!”
“She does know how to cook, that’s a fact. So, I thought maybe you would stay home and get rested up after what happened,” the server said, making casual conversation.
“Cain’t do that, Dom. Gotta keep a lookout for that British weasel.”
“You think he’ll be back?”
“I know he will. It’s just a matter of when and where.”
Dom started to turn away to leave the marshal to his meal, but was stopped when Jack seized him by the wrist.
“Say, Dom.”
He turned back, lifting his eyebrows quizzically.
Jack glanced quickly around him, then satisfied that no one was near enough to listen, he said, “Dom, I was wonderin’ somethin’. You’re pretty worldly, ain’t you?”
Dom smiled. No one had ever used that term to describe the mild-manner server before. “That depends on what you mean by ‘worldly’.”
“Well, truth is, I need some advice.”
Dom shrugged. “Sure. I’d be happy to help you, if I can.”
“All right; good.” His eyes scanned the room again to make certain that no one was eavesdropping. Several other people occupied tables in various locations around the room, but none were close enough to hear him. “See, I’m havin’ dinner with Marie tonight, and I wanna make a good impression, you know what I mean? She’s a refined, educated woman.”
Dom nodded in agreement. “Yes, she is. Beautiful, too.”
“Yeah, and I’m . . . well,” He spread his hands and glanced down at himself for emphasis. “What you see is what you get. I ain’t exac’ly cultured and I sure ain’t educated, so I wondered if you might give me some pointers, you know, things that might make me seem a little more sophisticated.”
Dom found the request somewhat amusing, but the earnest expression on the marshal’s face kept the server’s countenance totally neutral. As he watched, Jack shoved a spoonful of grits into his mouth, and followed it with a large bite of bread. Then, he picked up the knife and began sawing on the steak.
“Well, I don’t want to offend you, Marshal, but one thought would be your table manners.”
“What’s the matter with ‘em?” he asked, his cheek stuffed with food
“Well, truth is, you haven’t got any!”
Jack stopped chewing to stare at him with a puzzled frown, waiting expectantly for him to explain.
“All right, for starters, look at your knife.”
Jack looked at the knife, held in his right fist, the handle straight up, the blade pointing straight down at his steak. Then he looked up at the server’s face again. The frown on his rugged face indicated that he did not comprehend the direction of Dom’s observation. “So?”
“You’re holding it like you’re about to stab someone!”
“Well, how else am I s’posed to cut my steak?”
“There is a proper way to hold your silverware, and you have it all wrong.”
“All of it?” Jack asked, incredulously.
“All of it.”
Jack gazed at his eating utensils again. Both his knife, in his right fist, and his fork, in his left fist to hold the meat still on the plate, did indeed look like he was planning to stab someone with them, but it was the way he had always used them. He had never been taught any different. “How’s it s’posed to be done?”
Dom hesitated, surprised at the unexpected interest in proper table etiquette. “All right.” He sat down, and reached for the utensils. “Here, let me show you.”
He took the knife and the fork, and demonstrated the proper method of using them to cut his meat.
“And when you use your fork or your spoon, you should not use it like a shovel.” He placed the fork in Jack’s right hand, and folded the marshal’s thumb and forefinger into the proper position. “Hold it like this.”
Jack looked at the fork in astonishment. “Are you sure ‘bout this, Dom? This don’t even feel natural!”
“That is the correct way to hold it. Practice with it and get comfortable with it. That will impress her, I promise. And for Pete’s sake, don’t wipe your knife on the tablecloth! I saw you do that once. If it’s dirty, ask for a clean one.”
Jack nodded. “All right. I can remember that.”
“I’m not finished yet.” Dom reached out and pulled the napkin out of the collar of Jack’s shirt. “You should not use your napkin like a bib. You’re a grown man, not a baby.” He placed the napkin in Jack’s lap.
“Holdin’ the fork like this, I’m sure to get food all over me!” Jack protested. “How am I s’posed to keep it from gettin’ on my shirt?”
“By leaning forward over your plate when you take a bite. Hopefully, nothing will fall off your fork, but if it does, it will fall back on your plate.”
Jack nodded. That made sense. “All right.” He carefully loaded his fork and took a bite of his eggs without spilling any of them. His expression of triumph was almost childlike. “It works! I’ll try to remember that.”
“One more thing, Marshal,” Dom said as he stood up. “Don’t talk with your mouth full. It kind of makes people lose their appetite.” He gave the marshal’s shoulder a friendly pat, then moved away to see to his other customers.
Business in the general store was brisk all morning, with townspeople coming to purchase supplies and to offer well-wishes to Marie. Denied access to the store for several days, the customers quickly emptied the shelves of certain items, sending Sally to the storeroom several times to replace them. Late in the morning, business began to drop off as the time neared the lunch hour.
It was nearly noon when Sally entered from the back storeroom carrying an armload of supplies, and saw that her employer was deep in thought, a slight smile on her lips.
Marie sat on her work stool behind the sales counter in her store, leaning forward on the smooth surface of the countertop. Her chin rested in her cupped hand, and her eyes were unfocused as her mind’s eye turned inward, lost in a daydream. The sales receipts she had been totaling lay on the counter before her.
Sally smiled in response. “Marie?”
Marie blinked herself back to reality, and straightened up again. “I’m sorry, Sally. I must have been daydreaming. Did you say something?”
“That was some daydream! You were a million miles way. What were you thinking about?” Her smile broadened. “Or maybe I should say ‘Who’?”
Marie smiled, embarrassed. “Am I that transparent?”
“Sometimes you’re as transparent as glass. This is one of them.” She arranged the bags of coffee, beans, and flour on the shelves, and prompted, curiously, “So, who were you thinking about?”
Marie’s fair complexion colored slightly. “Actually, I was just thinking about the past few days.”
Sally’s expression was doubtful. “You were smiling, Marie. Being trapped in a cellar with no food or water is something to smile about?” The teasing smile returned. “You’re thinking about the marshal, aren’t you?”
Marie sighed. “Sally, I thought everything was so clear in my mind about who I would eventually spend my life with. Now, I’m not so sure. In fact, I’m more confused than ever.”
Sally’s face brightened at the confession. “I knew you had been leaning toward the corporal!” In response to Marie’s surprised expression, she added, “Well, it was pretty obvious to everyone, Marie. We could all see it; the way your eyes brightened when you saw him, the way you talked about him.” She hesitated, and her smile faded as she moved toward the sales counter. “And the way you looked when you saw him with Miss Upton.” Then the smile returned, sensing that Marie would be all right, no matter how things turned out with the corporal. “So, now you’re taking a second look at the marshal? What changed your mind? The corporal’s wandering heart?”
“That, among other things, but it doesn’t mean that I’ve made a decision, Sally. It just means that, as you put it, I’m taking a second look.”
Sally leaned on the countertop, facing her, her expression eager. “Tell, tell!”
“Well, you know that Jack puts up this barrier around himself in public, and he keeps people at arm’s length when it comes to his personal life and his past. I knew him for years before he confessed to me that he had once had a wife and child. But in that cellar, all alone with him, I saw a side of him that I’d never seen before. He opened up to me more than ever before, and he told me things that I know he’s never told anyone else.”
“What kind of things?”
“Things about his past and his family. I can’t repeat them, Sally, but I saw how his wife must have seen him years ago, before his life as a lawman hardened him.”
“You saw a gentler side?”
She nodded. “Yes, but so much more than that. He once told me that he would give his life for me, and I saw his willingness to do just that. Every time there was a cave-in of debris, he covered me with his own body to protect me. I could feel the boards striking him, Sally, and I knew they hurt, but he never let on. I wrapped his ribs last night, and he’s covered with bruises. You wouldn’t believe how many!”
“So, you’re back to entertaining two suitors! I can certainly understand how that would make you happy!”
“Sally!” Marie protested, but she was smiling, indicating that she had taken no offense.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t tease you when you’re so confused!”
A masculine voice spoke from the doorway. “Confused about what?”
Turning toward the door, both women saw that Clive Bennett had stepped into the store without their knowledge. He stood just inside, his hat in his hands as he observed them, curiously, waiting for them to acknowledge his presence.
The two women exchanged glances.
“I’m sorry,” he said, quickly, aware of the sudden silence that permeated the room. “I seem to have interrupted something.”
“That’s all right, Clive,” Marie said. “Actually, I’ve been wanting to talk to you, anyway.”
“You have? What about?”
Marie glanced at her friend, who was watching with intense curiosity. “Sally, would you excuse us for a few minutes?”
Disappointment swept across Sally’s face, but she quickly excused herself. “Well, its lunchtime, so I’ll go see if I can coax Dom into cooking something special for me!”
“Thank you, Sally.”
After the other woman had left, Clive became vividly aware of Marie’s harsh gaze as she looked at him. “You seem upset about something,” he observed
Marie came directly to the point. “What is this business about you wanting to send Lucy to boarding school in Toronto?”
Caught off guard by her challenging demeanor and hostile tone of voice, Clive’s face colored, resentfully. “Craddock told you ---“
“No. He didn’t. Lucy told me last week. She found a brochure on your desk while you and Jack were out. I’ve been intending to bring it up with you before now, but you’ve been busy.”
“She shouldn’t have been snooping,” he told her.
“It was lying in plain sight on top of your desk, so I hardly think that qualifies as snooping, but I’m not going to quibble with you about any misconduct on her part, since you have hardly been forthcoming yourself. It upset her terribly, Clive. How could you even consider such a thing without consulting me first?”
“I didn’t mean to offend you, Marie, and I didn’t mean to upset her. I just thought ---“
“You thought what? That I wouldn’t be angry with you for going behind my back like that?”
“I didn’t mean to go behind your back. I intended to show it to you, so that you could consider it, and then Grace arrived and it slipped my mind.” The excuse sounded lame, even as he spoke the words, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Why, Clive? Why would you want to send her away?”
“Well, since she’s a ward of Canada, I just thought it would be a good experience for her to visit other places and achieve a higher education than what we can provide here.”
Marie knew immediately that he was not being truthful. “Do not lie to me, Clive Bennett! You thought she would be in the way if we ever decided to get married!”
His eyes snapped up to her face, startled. “No! That isn’t what I meant!” He paused to regroup, then continued. “Marie, many young girls in these parts are going to finishing school back east. It is their best chance of finding a good husband and having a decent life. Let’s face it – there isn’t much to choose from out here.”
“Lucy is my ward, not Canada’s, and I will decide what is best for her. Her family was coming here from Toronto, or had you forgotten? They came out here seeking a new life! Lucy does not wish to go back east, and I do not wish it, either.”
He stared at her for several moments, stunned by her vehemence, and knew that she meant it. “Marie, it was just an idea, a suggestion. When you took her in, it wasn’t meant to be a lifelong commitment. It was only supposed to be until we could find a suitable family to take her in.”
“I am her family now, Clive. I love her like my own daughter, and I won’t give her up. As far as I am concerned, she is my daughter.”
He nodded, defeated. “All right. I won’t bring it up again.”
“I would appreciate that, because I’ll discuss the matter no further.”
Uncomfortable silence settled over them. Clive fumbled with his hat, and Marie pushed the sales receipts around on the countertop as if searching for something in particular, then finally stacked them and set them aside.
Breaking the intense silence, Marie spoke up. “What was it you wanted when you came over here?”
“Oh!” he exclaimed, as if he had forgotten. “I was just wondering if you might consider having dinner with me tonight.”
“What about Miss Upton?” The words were spoken before she could stop them, and she immediately regretted it, for they sounded spiteful, almost childish, like a jealous teenager.
“I’m asking you, Marie,” he responded quickly.
“I see. In other words, she’s busy tonight.”
He lowered his gaze to the floor, but did not answer.
She lowered her gaze, smiling to herself at his discomfort. “I’m afraid I have other plans for tonight, Clive.”
He looked up again. “It’s Craddock, isn’t it? You’re having dinner with him again?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been spending a lot of time with him, lately.”
“And you’ve been spending a lot of time with Miss Upton.”
“I just . . .” He stopped, unable to deny the truth.
“Did you think I was just going to sit at home waiting for you to come back after you got tired of her?”
“Does this mean you don’t want to see me any more?”
“No, it doesn’t mean that. I do want to see you, but I will be seeing Jack as well.”
He recognized the fact that he had just lost all the progress he had made toward convincing her to select him over Craddock. He was back to square one. Fumbling his hat in his hands again, he said, “You know, Marie, ever since you and I have been seeing one another, you have also been seeing Jack.”
She understood what he was driving at. “I know, Clive, but I had been seeing Jack long before you arrived in Bordertown. “ She sighed, heavily. “I had just thought that you and I had grown closer over the past few months, that we were moving toward something.”
“We were, Marie.”
“So of we were growing closer, how did you become so easily attracted to Grace?”
“I just started out being nice because her uncle is my supervisor. But I discovered that I like her.” He lowered his gaze, as if ashamed. “I can’t deny that.”
“I don’t expect you to. And I don’t expect you to wait for me forever, Clive. I’m still not ready for a major commitment yet, and your frequent interest in other women tells me that you’re not ready, either. Now is the time for us to see if there are any other fish in the water.”
His smile was amused and very handsome as he looked up again. “Fish in the sea, Marie.”
She shrugged, accepting the correction to her pun. “There is one thing you are going to have to consider very carefully, Clive. If we ever do get together, you are going to have to accept Lucy.”
He nodded his agreement. “I do accept her, Marie.”
She gazed at him for several moments, and he knew that she was unconvinced. Time would tell. He would have to prove it to her.
“I am free for lunch,” she suggested.
He looked uncomfortable. “Well, I’m afraid I’m not.”
“Miss Upton?”
“Yes.”
She laughed, softly, which surprised him. “That is all right, Clive. Some other time.”
“Will there be ‘some other’ time?” he asked, hopefully.
“Of course there will.”
The sound of children’s shouts and laughter drifted into the store through the open door, indicating that class had recessed for lunch. Satisfied that their relationship was not completely shattered, Clive gestured toward the door. “Well, I’d better go meet Grace before she starts wondering where I am. Will you have supper with me next week?”
“All right. I’ll see you later, Clive.”
He made his departure, and Marie decided that it was time to break for lunch as well. Limping on her swollen ankle, she hung a Gone to Lunch sign on the knob, then locked the door, and made her way slowly down the boardwalk toward her house, intending to prepare a quiet meal for herself.
Moving stealthily from one outbuilding to another in the open space behind the buildings, Oliver Knapp followed her.
GO TO CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO