The Widow's Secret (Keepers of the Light Book 5)

by Marie Higgins

  “I know.”

  “Will you please just listen to her?”

  She nodded. “Will you watch the girls?”

  “Of course.” He gave her a small hug. “Pru is out by her wagon.”

  Taking deep breaths for courage, and praying for understanding as she listened to her sister’s explanation, Amelia walked out of the cabin. Prudence leaned against her wagon as she watched the children play near the small tree in the front yard. When Prudence looked at Amelia, she quickly pulled away from the wagon and straightened.

  Prudence smiled and motioned toward the two blonde curly-haired girls. “They are best friends already. It reminds me of us when we were young.”

  Amelia glanced at the two girls and nodded. “It looks that they really like each other.” She stopped next to her sister and expelled a slow breath. “I hope you forgive me for making such a scene earlier today. It was quite a shock to see you.”

  Prudence chuckled. “Imagine my surprise. Grandmother Ruth mentioned there was a new woman in town that needed help, and she just happened to hold the same name as my dead sister.”

  Amelia gasped. “Dead? You thought I was dead?”

  Prudence nodded. “After I had left, I heard you had caught pneumonia and were on your death bed.”

  “Who would tell you that?”

  “Wyatt Mortenson. He ran away a week after I had, and when he found me not long after that, he told me how deathly sick you had been, and that Mr. Stone had already started to dig your grave.”

  Sadness grew inside Amelia and she held back her tears. “I’m so sorry you were told that lie. All I knew was that you ran away and didn’t want your sister to go with you.”

  “Oh, no... Mellie, that’s not the way it was.” Prudence circled her arms around Amelia’s shoulders and hugged her. “I tried several times to come back and rescue you, but the Stones had their watchers on alert for the longest time. Then, when I’d heard that you were going to die, I thought I was truly alone.” She pulled back and wiped the tears from her eyes.

  The ice-block Amelia had built around her heart began to crumble. She wanted to scream with frustration. Why had their lives turned out so miserable? Yet, they all survived in one way or another. “Is that when you came to Spruce Hill?”

  Prudence’s expression changed into a deep frown. “No. I had done all I could to try and live. Just as Bobby had done, I stole from people just to eat and stay alive. I worked as a servant in several homes, but as I grew, I knew that wasn’t the life for me.”

  It hurt Amelia’s heart as she tried to imagine how life would have been for her sister. It would have been worse for Prudence than for Bobby. “I’m glad to see you’re not like that any longer.” She motioned toward the girls. “And you have your own little girl.”

  Prudence smiled and sighed. “I had wanted someone in my life to love me unconditionally. Men only knew how to break my heart, but a child of my very own... that’s different.”

  “I agree.” Amelia nibbled on her bottom lip, wondering how she could tell her sister that Gracie wasn’t really hers.

  Prudence touched Amelia’s arm, frowning again. “Oh, Mellie... I’ve done some terrible things in my life. Most of them have made me stronger, but a few I wish I could redo and make things right.”

  Amelia nodded. “I completely understand. I, too, have done some things that I wish had never happened. Of course, I blame the Stones for that.”

  “The Stones should be tortured, just as they did to us. I hope they both die horrible deaths.”

  “Mr. Stone is dead.”

  Prudence folded her arms. “Well, if you ask me, Mrs. Stone needs to follow in her husband’s footsteps quickly.”

  “Yes, I know. I just pray the state finds out how deceitful she’d been, and I hope they throw her in jail and lose the key.”

  “Jail? No, she should be hanged.”

  “Very true.”

  Prudence leaned back against the wagon. “Did you know they made me kidnap children?”

  “I think they made all the older children do that. They forced Bobby to do that, and me as well.”

  Prudence drew her finger along the edges of the buckboard, watching where she was tracing. “But sometimes, children shouldn’t have to stay with parents who don’t want them. They shouldn’t have to endure their father’s angry hand or a drunken mother who doesn’t know if its day or night.” Pru glanced back at the girls by the tree. “That’s how I got Georgia. I... took her away from an unhappy family because I couldn’t stand to see the girl treated so poorly.”

  Amelia’s head rang with warning bells. Where had she heard the name Georgia before? It didn’t take long before she recalled the conversation she’d had with Chet when he accused her of kidnapping the mayor’s daughter. She gasped and snapped her attention back to her sister. “Did you take Mayor Tidwell’s daughter?”

  Prudence jumped and covered Amelia’s mouth. “Shhh... Lower your voice. Nobody needs to know.”

  Once again, Amelia’s chest tightened, making it hard to breathe. This couldn’t be happening, and yet, there was still something that didn’t make sense. “Pru? How did you know the mayor?”

  “I worked for him as Georgia’s nanny. Why?”

  Amelia swallowed hard, trying not to pre-judge her sister too harshly. “Tell me then, why did you use my name?” She licked her dry lips. “Why does he think that Amelia Florence kidnapped his daughter?”

  SIXTEEN

  Chet sat across the table from Mayor Tidwell. Although he’d met the man before, this time Chet studied him differently. The portly middle-aged man smelled strongly of whiskey, and as he ordered food from the restaurant, he continued to ask the woman who worked there if she had any alcoholic drinks, to which the woman said no. The man’s red-shot eyes let Chet know the mayor had been drinking enough whiskey already. He definitely didn’t need more.

  “Mayor Tidwell, thank you for coming on such short notice.” Chet tapped his fingers on the table. “I hope I didn’t pull you away from anything important.”

  “Not at all,” the man answered gruffly. “Finding my child is of utmost importance.”

  “Yes, I understand.”

  “So, did you summon me here to inform me that you caught the kidnapper?”

  “Unfortunately, it’s just the opposite.” Sighing, Chet leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “I followed up on the leads you gave me, and I found a woman by the name of Amelia Florence, but she did not have your daughter. In fact, she’s never been to Astoria.”

  “Impossible.” The man’s dark bushy eyebrows drew together. “Don’t you know a liar when you meet them?”

  Chet hesitated to tell the man he had reservations about the mayor of Astoria right now. “I asked her questions. I tried to trick her into giving me some information that would make me believe she was the woman who’d kidnapped Georgia, but it wasn’t her at all. In fact, she was in Nampa, Idaho, six months ago as a school teacher in an orphanage. It couldn’t have possibly been Amelia Florence.”

  “Then you have the wrong woman.” Mayor Tidwell grumbled and leaned his elbows on the table. “The woman I’m looking for is in her mid-to-late twenties. She has black hair. She’s very pretty and quite charming.”

  “Your description could fit several women.”

  The mayor shook his head. “This woman is very good with children. Did I tell you she was Georgia’s nanny?”

  Chet frowned. “No, you didn’t.”

  “Well, she was, and she disappeared with my daughter only after working for me for two months.” He reached in his suit pocket and pulled out a flask. He unscrewed the lid and quickly tipped it to his mouth, gulping loudly. He finished and placed the lid back on before returning the flask to his pocket. The man blinked several times before his glassy gaze moved back to Chet. “She’s a witch, I tell you. That woman knows how to charm the devil himself.”

  “Mayor,” Chet lowered his voice. “By chance, were you attra
cted to the nanny?”

  The portly man pushed his fingers through his greasy hair. “Shoot, most of the men in Astoria were attracted to her. I’m certain even Reverend Brown had impure thoughts.”

  Slowly, the missing pieces to this very confusing case were starting to fit into place. When Chet had first met the mayor after he’d been hired to find the kidnapped girl, there were a few things that stood out in his mind. First, for being a man with a missing child, the mayor seemed more concerned about Chet finding Amelia Florence than finding out if his child was all right. The mayor seemed to have more details about the nanny than his own daughter. Another thing Chet realized was that Mrs. Tidwell had sat quietly in the corner of the room, sewing, while the mayor showed his anger and frustration that day Chet had been hired. Why hadn’t he noticed that the woman wasn’t distraught over her daughter’s disappearance? Of course, now he recalled her glassy eyes as she stared at her sewing. Now he wondered if she had been just as intoxicated as her husband was at this very moment.

  “Mayor Tidwell, can you tell me what your daughter’s favorite color is? Or her favorite toy?”

  The man snorted and rolled his eyes. “What does that matter? She’s with that woman, Amelia Florence.”

  Chet nodded. “And what is Amelia’s favorite color or her favorite food?”

  The man shrugged. “I believe she wore a lot of blue bows in her hair. She also enjoyed eating Salmon and rice.”

  Fisting his hands, Chet tried to hide his anger. “I have one more question for you.” He swallowed hard before clearing his throat. “When Georgia was living with you, did you and your wife discipline her often?”

  “Well... I suppose. Georgia didn’t like to obey us. Of course, because of my wife’s malady, I was the one who did most of the discipline.”

  “What’s Mrs. Tidwell’s malady?” Chet wondered.

  “She has a sickness in her elbow and wrist.”

  Chet narrowed his gaze on the other man. “Pardon me? What does that mean?”

  “She uses it too much, if you know what I mean.” The mayor made the gesture of tilting a bottle to his mouth.

  “Oh, yes,” Chet said in a tight voice, “she likes her whiskey just as you do, then?”

  The mayor chuckled. “I suppose you could say that.”

  Chet kept his eyes on the man, wondering what he was going to do about this. It was clear that Georgia belonged with a better family, but was that a bounty hunter’s decision to make? Unfortunately, not. However, he still needed to remove Amelia’s name from the suspect’s list. The mayor would only hire someone else and she would still be in danger.

  “Here is what I believe.” Chet straightened and rested his clutched hands on the edge of the table in front of him. “I think the woman who was your nanny lied about her name, because Amelia Florence has been living in Idaho for sixteen years, and she only left when I found her a week ago. Whoever this nanny was, she was most definitely not Amelia Florence.”

  The door to the restaurant opened, and Sheriff Hobbs and his deputy walked in. They briefly glanced at Chet and the mayor before sitting at a table on the other side of the room. Seconds later, the door opened again, and Amelia walked in with Gracie.

  Chet’s breath caught in his throat as fear filled him. What were they doing here? She knew that he had a meeting with the mayor. Unless... What if she came to prove that she wasn’t the one the mayor was searching for? Hope grew inside him from the idea, and he prayed it worked.

  He smiled at Amelia and motioned them over. “Mayor Tidwell, I would like to introduce you to my fiancée and her daughter, Gracie.”

  Chet stood, and the mayor scrambled to stand, but he swayed a few times in the process. Amelia smiled even though Chet could see she was scared to death.

  She stood in front of the mayor and nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  The mayor nodded. “I must say, Mr. Logan has done very well picking out a pretty fiancée.” He glanced at the girl, bending to her level. “And you are such a doll.” He lightly pinched Gracie’s cheek.

  Gracie scowled and buried her face in Amelia’s dress. She cleared her throat and looked at Chet with wide eyes. Excitement danced in her hazel orbs, and his heartbeat quickened.

  She licked her lips. “We just dropped by to let you know that my sister and I will be at the dressmaker’s shop.”

  Chet gave her a wink. “You should bring your sister and her daughter in here to get a treat.” He glanced at the sheriff, hoping Amelia would see who he was looking at. “I’m sure you’re all a little hungry from your busy day.”

  Amelia took a quick peek at the sheriff and deputy before looking back at Chet. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course, he’s sure.” The mayor chuckled. “In fact, I’ll pick up the bill.”

  “Why thank you, Mayor Tidwell.” Amelia smiled widely. “You are very thoughtful.” Holding Gracie’s hand, they walked out of the restaurant.

  Releasing a pent-up breath, Chet sat. The mayor sat in his chair, too. Something in Chet’s gut told him that Amelia knew something about the mayor that he didn’t. Why else would she come in here, unless it was to show the mayor that she wasn’t the woman he was looking for?

  “What a charming woman she is.” The mayor arched an eyebrow. “You are one lucky man.”

  Chet chuckled. “I happen to think so, too.” He scratched his chin.

  “I don’t think you mentioned her name, though.”

  “Oh, forgive me.” He cleared his throat. “That is Amelia Florence, the woman I tracked down, and the little girl is Gracie.” He leaned his elbows on the table and narrowed his gaze. “And I know for a certainty that you’ve never seen her or the girl in your life.”

  The man’s face lost color and moisture popped on his forehead. “I... don’t understand. She looks similar to my nanny, but that wasn’t her.”

  “Exactly, which makes me believe that your nanny was lying about her name.”

  “Yes, I think you’re right.” He withdrew his flask of whiskey and took a few more swallows. “Oh, this is not good. We’re back to square one. I have nothing left to tell you about the woman who... who...” The mayor’s forehead creased. “She stole money from me. Did I mention that?”

  Chet tried not to smile. Now the real truth to the story would be revealed, he was sure of it. “Actually, no. Please tell me what happened.”

  “She somehow convinced me that I should hire her as Georgia’s nanny. She was sweet and very attentive. My wife even enjoyed her company. But after the nanny left with my daughter, I realized she had taken five-hundred dollars.”

  Chet hitched a breath. “That’s a lot of money.”

  “Indeed! And it was money the town had donated to build a new church.”

  “I’m sure that made Astoria very upset.”

  “Well...” The mayor played with the edge of the tablecloth. “You see, the town doesn’t know about it. I decided not to tell them yet.”

  “But I’m sure they wondered why their church wasn’t being built, right?”

  “Actually, I give them excuses, and they seem satisfied for now. Of course,” the mayor glared at Chet, “I was thinking that the bounty hunter I’d hired would have found the woman and brought her back with my money.”

  Chet arched an eyebrow. “What about your daughter? Is your money more important than your daughter?”

  The middle-aged man’s cheeks grew red. “Of course, not. You know what I meant.”

  “Yes, I’m sure I do.”

  The restaurant door opened, and Amelia walked in with Gracie again. This time, her sister and her daughter followed behind. Prudence kept eyeing the mayor closely. Amelia said something to her sister and pointed toward the sheriff and deputy’s table, but Prudence shook her head, trying to leave the restaurant.

  Chet’s gut twisted again. Something definitely wasn’t right. The question was, should he interfere? He prayed Amelia knew what she was doing.

  SEVENTEEN

  Amelia
tugged on Prudence’s sleeve, motioning toward Sheriff Hobbs. “Pru, you can do this, and you have the law to back you up.”

  Her sister’s big hazel eyes stared back at her. “What if they don’t believe me?”

  “Then Chet will help us. You must have faith that goodness will prevail this time. The mayor is evil. We cannot let him win.”

  Prudence’s chest rose and fell quickly, and she released her breath in fast swishing sounds. After a few moments, she straightened her shoulders and nodded. “I’ll confront the mayor, but while I’m doing that, please let the sheriff know what’s about to happen.”

  “I promise.” Amelia squeezed her sister’s hand for support before taking both Gracie and Georgia’s hands and leading them past the mayor – who glanced their way – and to Sheriff Hobb’s table. “Pardon my intrusion,” she said softly, “but I’m going to need your help.”

  The two men of the law quickly stood and nodded. The deputy motioned to the empty chairs. “Would you like to sit?”

  “Thank you.” Amelia smiled even though her heart was racing with worry. She prayed she was correct about the mayor getting his comeuppance. That man was nearly as evil as the Stones. “My name is Amelia Florence, and this is Gracie and Georgia.” She said the other girl’s name quieter.

  When they were all seated, she leaned toward the sheriff. “If you will, I need you to listen to that table right there.” She said softly, pointing to Chet’s table. “Chet Logan is a bounty hunter, and the other man is Mayor Tidwell.”

  “All right.” Sheriff Hobbs nodded. “What am I listening for?”

  “Here in a moment, you’re going to hear about some illegal actions and the person responsible needs to be brought to justice.”

  The sheriff and Deputy Spencer exchanged curious gazes before moving closer to Chet’s table. She held the two little girls close to her as she silently prayed that everything would work out the way it was supposed to... and without anyone getting injured.