Amos had heard all about that, too. Sally Thorpe said she'd been walking past the store and heard Fletcher cry out in pain. The strange woman, this widow, rushed over and apologized for striking him. It might have been an accident. Sally allowed that they'd looked to be in the midst of cleaning up the mess.
But Amos didn't think so.
He suspected this widow wanted matrimony, and Fletcher Bell, known to be a skinflint, had tried to take his pleasure without paying the piper…so to speak. So she'd broken up merchandise at his emporium and popped him a good one right in the face. Now he was talking matrimony, all right. And all but kissing her backside whenever they were out in public.
Then there was young Lucius, who inexplicably had turned up in town with part of his hair missing.
Slim Johnston absolutely made it clear he was in no way, shape or form liable for that. The younger Bell had been out of town for several days and turned up on his father's porch with his clothes torn, his pockets empty, and a section of bloodied scalp where luxurious hair once sprouted. He'd been beaten and robbed, so they said.
No one really knew that to be a fact.
But the local men decided they'd continue to frequent the local saloons and bordellos, and stay the heck out of places in Reno or beyond. One family canceled their plans to ride over to Utah for a family reunion. The elder Bell wasn't planning a wedding trip. A man obviously took his chances traveling these days. Train robberies, highwaymen…all manner of dangerous sorts. Nope, folks were staying close to Wadsworth. After all, darned few of the menfolk had enogh hair to spare.
Twila, of course, had always drawn stares at church. Before they'd been openly hostile. Now they were looks of envy and disbelief. Not only had she wed the handsomest rancher in northern Nevada, there was talk of a family soon, and everyone heard the news out of the assay office.
Delancy Mitchell had discovered gold on his land.
Twila had broken her ankle, had to hobble into church on a pair of wood crutches. To the women in town, she might have ridden in on a sedan chair carried by a half-dozen male slaves. She amazed them. Had them simply agog.
"You know, Lula," Jessica Burns muttered behind her gloved hand. "I was always taught to view ungainliness as a detriment. My mother always said a young lady must be graceful as well as demure. Now I'm not so sure that's the best idea. Everyone in town knows Mrs. Mitchell is prone to mishaps, and just look at her! Maybe I should slip off my back porch. I've been wanting the doc to get a look at my ankles. He's a widower, you know."
"Your ankles are thick, Jessica. Perhaps I should fall onto my bottom and get my tailbone examined. If I was to take a wild pratfall, do you suppose I'd find gold or silver in my back garden?"
Del heard the whispers and had to hide a smile. He reached for Twila's hand and they settled onto a pew. A collective sigh rose around them.
Well, a body never knew what might happen tomorrow. Some of these folks would get their heart's desire, Del supposed. Some were hoping against hope. But Del Mitchell didn't have to pray…still, he did. He prayed for Twila's ankle to heal up fine. For five sons and four daughters, all sturdy and healthy as young horses. And smart. He prayed for the ranch to prosper, so he could leave it as his legacy to those nine children he hoped to father.
But he didn't ask God for wondrous miracles. He'd already been granted two.
Twila and the gold.
A superstitious man might figure he had a third one coming, the way things of like natures tended to come in packs of three. Yes, three was said to be a magical number, and Sandy and the boys were sure Del must be due for a third miracle. They had a round of bets going over at Miss Minerva's as to what it might be.
Of course, they were wagering in the wrong direction entirely, thinking bigger and bigger all the time. A place the size of Buckingham Palace. The President of these United States coming to buy a horse from Del Mitchell. Twila's next candle misadventure burning down the entire town.
Del had his money on smaller. About seven or eight pounds or pure spunk and mischief. Looking up to meet his wife's smile, he amended that. Nine pounds of bedevilment. A smart man never underestimated Hell's Belle.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I'd already envisioned an accident-prone heroine when I began working on this tale. Then I researched Western towns for the setting. I wanted to find a ghost town, a place which did or had actually existed once…though the events I'd recount there would be pure fiction. My research led me to Wadsworth, Nevada—which locals insist is not a ghost town.
Not in the traditional sense, anyway. It's still inhabited. Wadsworth's original church, schoolhouse, and a few shacks from its heyday of wild frontier days remain. But it's a quiet place, far off the beaten track. Visitors would never guess the gambling casinos and bawdy nightlife originally were on that site, rather than Reno, thirty miles away.
Wadsworth intrigued me and seemed an ideal setting for the story of Twila and Del, as it had a true history of accidents and misfortune.
In June of 1872 there was a serious railway accident, with several train passengers injured. Fires repeatedly burned down the entire town, despite its location along the banks of a river. After a particularly devastating fire in 1902, the whole railroad maintenance shop and most of the town's businesses and inhabitants packed up and relocated farther west…to a new site they christened Sparks.
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
Shannah Biondine is a former professional resume writer who is the author of several historical romances and other works of fantasy. Shannah is an avid and eclectic fiction reader herself. She collects Venetian masks and the art of Josephine Wall. Shannah also owns big dogs, reads tarot cards, enjoys both jigsaw and crossword puzzles, and since relocating from California to Colorado has developed an affinity for shoveling snow. To learn how to pronounce her pen name or learn more about her titles, please visit her website: www.shannahbiondine.com
Table of Contents
Copyright
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
AUTHOR'S NOTE
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
Hell's Belle Page 24