by Dee Jones
The small waiting room was nearly empty with four upholstered chairs and a desk where Millie Aimsley, the town nurse sat to greet patients. Julia was shown into a small exam room and sat on the leather covered table to wait the doctor. She looked around at the many books that lined the shelves and the metal instruments lying across the top of a nearby counter. She blushed scarlet when she saw the familiar device Daniel had at his flat and wondered how many of the town’s socialites visited here for a treatment.
The examination took less than half an hour, much to Julia's delight; the old man who had nursed her through measles, colds, broken arms and the more recent occurrences, confirmed she was indeed pregnant. He told her she was nearly four months along and promised she would soon be over the morning sickness. He ordered her to take it easy for a few days, stating he was concerned with the swelling in her ankles and calves, yet insisted there was nothing to worry about; it was all part of the package deal. He repeated what Margie had told her; get rid of the tight clothes and let out the seams on the better fitting ones.
Reluctantly, and with a great deal of persuasion from Margie, Julia stopped in at the dressmaker's just as soon as they left the small stuffy office. She ordered several new, yet casual and functional dresses, along with two sunbonnets - at Margie's insistence. She purchased a number of new petticoats, chemises and knickers all of various sizes to last the next five months, before hurrying back out to the late afternoon heat. She felt a sudden rush of adrenaline, feeling for the first time the real excitement of her condition. Margie insisted she stay and have something to eat and since she had left her supply of biscuits at home, Julia eagerly accepted.
It was half past seven o'clock before Julia began her twenty minute ride back home. Margie persuaded her to join her on the short ride home since Harold had been called away on urgent business, leaving the two alone early in their meal. She left a message for Harold, instructing him to pick her up at the ranch and bid her children good-night as Miss Sally, the family’s nanny began the task of preparing them for bed.
The sun was setting in the west as the carriage clattered down the road toward Browning Estates. The sky was illuminated with a brilliant sunset of red, orange and pink. Julia watched the splendor for several minutes, while her friend sat next to her in silence.
Julia had decided shortly after leaving Mayfield she would tell Daniel about the baby that night, and accept whatever restrictions he put on her. The sale would soon be over and there was no longer a need for her to help prepare for the steady flow of buyers that would soon arrive. Louise would be there to help out, so Julia would be able to rest if that was what her beloved husband insisted on; which Margie insisted he would certainly do. The idea of telling Daniel her news at last, of the passion they would share when they privately celebrated their joy and the love she felt for the father of her unborn child, stayed with her as the horse plodded along noisily.
Somehow, she thought with a wistful smile, going home held much more excitement than she had anticipated when she left that afternoon. Daniel would be waiting for her when she arrived and she would rush into his arms and tell him her secret. She would tell him it was her love for him that had given her this miraculous gift; this new life that sealed them together for eternity.
Daniel finished his work earlier than he had predicted, allowing him time to have a bath before Julia returned. It would be his last chance for the next two days to spend any time with his wife and he wanted to make certain he was clean and ready for her when she came home.
Allowing Julia to go without a chaperone hadn't been easy, yet he found waiting for her to return to be even more difficult. It took all his strength not to run after her the very instant she left the ranch. He knew she needed a break, but being without her in the barn all afternoon seemed strange. Daniel smiled to himself, removing his dirty sweat soaked clothes and climbing beneath the hot water. Jeremy had been right; Julia did know more about running this place than she let on, a fact that made her seem all the more intriguing.
With quick actions from tired stiff fingers, Daniel washed his hair and removed the thin layer of filth from his bronzed muscles before climbing out of the tub. He pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a freshly pressed cotton shirt then headed for the door. He would order a small supper to be brought to their room once Julia was home, so they could spend their last few hours of rest, in privacy. Daniel spotted the unopened letter Harold had left for him last week, sitting on the table next to the bed and picked it up; then found Victor's ledger and carried both downstairs with him.
He made his orders for the evening known before retiring to the library to wait for Julia. He filled his long neglected pipe with tobacco and sat in the large chair next to the fireplace, stretching his legs out in front of him. He hadn't felt this relaxed or this at home since he moved in here nearly six months ago. He used to think the only thing that could make him feel relaxed were his pipe and books, two acts he used to swear by; that was until he found out how comfortable life could be in the arms of his beautiful wife.
Daniel opened the book with a content smile and began reading through the pages. A few minutes passed by before he realized he was having to force himself to stay awake. His eyes drooped and his mind wondered as he continued reading through the pages. Victor hadn't exactly been an intriguing or attention grabbing writer, but then he wasn't trying to win any award with his personal journal, either.
Page after page was turned and Daniel yawned, swearing the next one would be the last. He tried to concentrate on the words written and the events described with little success until he read a familiar name that caused him to straighten upright in his chair. He turned the page back and reread the words Victor had written. With a frown Daniel turned the page and continued reading, his interest peaked and his fatigue forgotten. He stood and headed to the door, calling for Louise in a tone that seemed to shake the rafters of the old mansion. Louise hurried to the library, a frown of concern on her aging face.
"Good heaven's Daniel," she scolded. "Your yelling could wake the dead."
"When did you say Sharon claimed to have arrived here?" he demanded, ignoring her comments completely.
"The day of Victor's funeral. Why?"
"According to his journal, she was here months before that. Victor stated a dark haired woman was seen after several of the incidents at the stables. According to this, he finally had his fill of the mystery woman and set a trap for her. He caught her when she tried to set fire to the stables."
"Victor never said anything to me about it."
"He goes on to say, he warned her to get out of town or he'd call in the sheriff. He states he ordered Rally Overton to tell me about her being here, in case there were any further problems. The same time she was supposed to leave town, Julia arrived home from Boston."
"Oh Daniel, you don't think she stayed just to hurt Julia, do you?"
"Victor said, Sharon still blames Julia for Heather’s death and has admitted to me that she was seeking vengeance by trying to ruin Turner reputation. She said she had moved back into her childhood home and has lost contact with her family since her sister’s death. She said her parents divorced because of their grief and her brother hadn’t been heard from in years. He thought the more recent problems were done by someone here at the ranch. He believed Sharon left after he threatened her, so the only logical assumption would be that the incidents were created by an internal worm. I'll bet Sharon knows who assaulted Julia at the funeral and the swimming hole."
"Do you think Sharon could have been involved with setting the stables on fire?"
"Dourn Overton said the stable hands saw a dark haired woman riding away just after the fire broke out. Given her history of causing trouble, I'd say it's a good bet she was involved, but I can't figure out who else is in it with her. Damn, why didn't Rally tell me about all of this?"
“Who’s Dourn Overton?” Louise asked.
“Rally’s son; he asked me to hire him on shortly before
Victor died, but he didn’t tell me at the time who he really was.”
"Rally’s doesn’t have a son named Dourn. The only son I know of is Michael."
“Michael?” Daniel’s frown increased as he felt the pieces of the past few months beginning to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
“Yes, Michael Overton. He used to work here, but Victor fired him about four or five years ago. He started drinking heavily and nearly caused one of the horses to break his leg, then one night he got arrested for fighting. That was the last straw; Victor didn’t have a choice but to get rid of him.”
“I met him at the saloon after I arrived in town. He was drunk and tried to start a fight with me. The sheriff took him to jail and I never heard about him again. I’m the reason he was fired.”
“People still insist that he was fired because Victor learned that he was messing around with Julia, but of course there was no truth to it. I'm not even sure if Julia knew his name, though several people around town swore they had seen them together.”
"Dr. Stewart told me and Harold the doctor in Graves County claimed to have examined Heather just before she died. He told Stewart she was pregnant and insists she brought a young man in with her, introducing him as her husband."
"Pregnant? Heather would never do anything like that and she wasn't married or Julia would have told me."
"That is, if Julia even knew. The nurse working for the doctor said she couldn't remember the man who was with Heather, but she remembered a scar on his arm. She told Harold it ran from his elbow to his wrist."
"Michael has a scar like that,” Louise said with wide eyes. “He got it in a fight with a couple of the stable hands. Rally was pretty put out at the boy at the time."
"It would seem our Mr. Overton has some questions to answer." Daniel stood and walked to the open veranda doors, looking out onto the night.
"I can't believe Heather would have been involved with a man like Michael Overton. He's just not the type of person she would notice, let alone allow to get her in trouble."
"A person can do some strange things once their emotions are involved, and if Heather was as innocent and shy as I've heard, it's possible Overton recognized that and took advantage of her insecurities."
"Her parents would have put a stop to her seeing him before things got so far out of hand that he got a child on her."
"You said people claimed to have seen Julia with him. Suppose it was Heather wearing Julia's clothes so people wouldn't tell her parents about it? It is possible Heather was trying to avoid suspicion by wearing Julia's dresses, making everyone who saw her think it was Julia rather than herself. That way, she could sneak around with Overton and still have people thinking she was innocent of any wrong doings, thus protecting her secret from her family."
"Heather wouldn’t have done anything like that. It would have made Julia look guilty and she'd never have hurt her that way."
"Maybe it wasn't a conscious act, but just her way of hiding from her family? It may not have even been her idea. A little persuasion and some sweet words spoken at the right time and a woman would do just about anything a man asked. I know I've done the same thing on occasion."
"I suppose it could be possible. Heather didn't exactly have the best relationship with her parents and she was very inexperienced and insecure."
"I have to find out. I have to talk with Overton again." Daniel knocked the tobacco out of his pipe and was just heading to the door when a knock sounded. He stopped Thompson with a wave from answering it, and opened the door himself. He swung the door open hoping to find Julia standing outside, but instead found Harold.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, stepping back to permit his friend in.
"I came to talk to you about the letter. Didn't Julia give it to you?"
"The letter? Good God Harold, I've been too busy to even open it."
"Then I think you'd better. I have to send a reply as soon as possible."
"What sort of reply?"
"Daniel dammit, read the letter!" The two men stepped back into the library, joining Louise who remained to listen. Daniel took the letter from where he had tucked it in the journal and tore it open. He pulled the paper out and began reading through it as Harold went to the liquor cabinet and poured a glass of brandy, leaning his hip against the cabinet to await Daniel's reply.
"Oh my God!" Daniel snapped, dropping the letter to the chair. "Let's get to the stables." The two men left the house at a fast pace, leaving Louise to stare her confusion at their departing backs. She picked up the paper that had been discarded and read through its contents.
Dear Mr. Leonard,
In regards to your inquiry about Miss Sharon
Farnsworth, I'm afraid I have some bad news
for you. As lawyer for the Farnsworth family,
it's my sad duty to inform you, Sharon has passed
away. She spent the past four years in a hospital
in New York state, where she had been suffering
from a nervous breakdown. Her room caught on
fire and she was trapped inside. By the time the
fire was put out, Sharon was dead.
If you have any further questions, the family would
appreciate your contacting me, rather than them.
Sincerely yours,
Raymond S. Talbot
Attorney At Law.
Louise dropped the letter and headed out the door behind Daniel and Harold. If Sharon was dead, then how was it possible she could be here? There were an awful lot of questions to answer and at the moment her main concern was why Julia hadn’t returned from town yet? She had a terrible feeling in her gut that her only daughter was in trouble and needed help.
Daniel, Harold and twelve of the stable hands were already saddling up the horses when Louise caught up to them; her heart pounding like thunder, her pulse racing with fear and her lungs demanding oxygen. She touched Daniel's arm and tried to compose her words through gasps of air.
"Daniel...Julia...Sharon..."
"What is it?" Daniel growled, holding the woman by the shoulders. "Is Julia back? Where is she?" Louise shook her head softly.
"No...but she should have been...she's been gone too long...maybe Sharon..."
"Stay here and wait for her," he ordered gently, pushing her out of the way. "We'll divide up. Some of you men head over to the Farnsworth place and check it out. Harold you head back to town. If you don't see anything, fetch the sheriff; we may need him before this is over. I'm heading out to the swimming hole. Shamus and Barker, you come with me." Daniel looked around the gathering men and frowned. "Where's Rally?"
"He headed out about an hour ago," Ivan said, his thick red mustache falling in his mouth as he spoke.
"Where did he go?" Harold asked suspiciously.
"Don't know, he didn't say. I saw him head north though." Harold looked to Daniel, knowing exactly what he was thinking.
"The swimming hole," Harold said as a sudden rush of fear raged through his limbs, causing his knees to shake with anticipation. "Would he cause Julia any problems?"
"I don't think so; she’s never done anything to the man, but I'm not in the mood to play guessing games. Let's go and the first person to spot Julia, fire a shot in the air so the rest of us will know." The men turned their horses and headed out in the directions Daniel ordered, each hoping for the best, each fearing the worst.
Daniel had a painful knot in his stomach that forced him to push his prized steed to his limits. He had to find Julia, he had to help her and he prayed he was in time to prevent anything else from happening. His fear mounted; not only did he have to worry about Julia possibly falling victim to another of what he was certain was Sharon Farnsworth’s wicked schemes, but now he had to worry whether or not Rally was caught in the middle with his wife.
The carriage had just turned off the main road, heading up the path that led to the ranch when Julia heard her name being called out. She looked across the field and saw a
dark haired woman riding toward her as though the devil himself were riding her back. She frowned as the woman neared and sighed with disgust. She had thought herself fortunate for having avoided her for this long; but there was no escaping this time.
"I wonder what she wants," Margie snarled.
"Julia come quick," Sharon shouted, across the distance of road, preventing her from answering Margie's question. "Daniel's been hurt." Julia turned to Margie and back to Sharon, examining the woman through narrowed eyes.
"Where is he?"
"Follow me, hurry." Julia's nudged her horse into a faster gallop, following Sharon across the fields toward the swimming hole. The thought of Daniel in pain brought a lump of terror to her throat, but a still small voice warned her to be cautious. Sharon wasn't exactly a very reliable or trustworthy person, regardless of the situation.
"We should send for the doctor," Julia shouted, across the carriage seat as she edged closer to Sharon.
"We already have."
"We didn't see anybody on the road from town?" Margie argued as the chestnut colored mare picked up her pace, racing toward the secluded pond.
Julia stopped the carriage at the top of the small hill and hurried down the path in front of Sharon. The trees and brush were so thick; Julia had to struggle to get past them. She neared the water's edge and looked around, seeing only the darkness of night reflecting from the water's surface. She turned around in time to see Margie and Sharon arguing, witnessing her friend as she fell in a lifeless heap on the cold ground.
Dourn Overton stood behind Margie's unconscious body, a pistol in his right hand, his dark dirty hat pulled low across his penetrating gaze. Julia's eyes widened with horror; she wasn't certain what had just transpired; it all seemed to happen so quickly she wasn't certain if Margie had been killed or merely wounded. Julia swallowed hard staring up the small incline to where Dourn and Sharon stood towering across her friend, when realization struck her.