Mail Order Promises

by Julianna Blake

  She looked up, upon hearing his stern tone, and reluctantly told him about her day, starting with running into Wilbur Warren.

  “You’ve got to be kidding!” Jake stood up, knocking his chair backward as he tossed his napkin down on the table. “It’s time that man learned his lesson. He can say whatever he wants about me—I don’t care what some no-account, drunken complainer has to say about me. But he is not going to intimidate my wife—”

  “There’s more.” Lilly’s quiet voice silenced him faster than any impassioned plea could have.

  “There’s…more?” He couldn’t imagine what might be worse than Warren’s behavior—and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know—but he figured he’d better be sitting down for whatever she was about to say. He retrieved his chair and sat down heavily.

  “I saw Sadie today.”

  It was like a sucker punch to the gut. There was no way he could have been prepared for that.

  “Sadie?” He blinked. “My Sadie?”

  The twisting in his gut was nothing compared to the pain he felt when he saw Lilly blanch at his words.

  “I didn’t mean it that way. I mean…how else do I differentiate between her and any other—?”

  “Do you know a lot of Sadies?”

  “I—no.” He sighed, leaning on the table. “I’m sorry. It was just—that was the last thing I was expecting to hear. I haven’t let myself think much about her in a long time.”

  “She was certainly the last person I expected to see today. Apparently, however, the same was not true for her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  His wife relayed the events at the mercantile, including how Mrs. Sanders surmised that Sadie had already recognized Lilly when she walked in.

  “How is that possible?”

  “Mrs. Sanders suggested that she may have seen you and me together, around town.”

  “Not this week. You’ve been at home all week. How long has she been in town?”

  “I couldn’t say.”

  “And she didn’t say what she was doing here?”

  She shook her head. “I told you everything she said.” Lilly took a bite of cheese and chewed thoughtfully. “You said the man she ran off with was a salesman who traveled to Helena frequently. Maybe she came along with him this time?”

  “In three years, I haven’t seen her in Helena once. Why come now?”

  “You think she’s here to see me?”

  “Why else? I can’t think of any other reason that makes sense.”

  “Could she have left the flowers?”

  Jake hadn’t gotten that far in his thinking…but it all made sense now. He nodded. “I wouldn’t put anything past her, at this point. But why?”

  “To split us up. Maybe she’s having second thoughts.”

  “She had time for second thoughts all through the divorce proceedings. And if she’s still with that salesman—and she made it sound like she was, assuming Oswald Turner is the name of the man she left with—then why would she come all this way just to split us up?”

  “Perhaps she’s just the kind of person who doesn’t want you, but doesn’t want you to be happy without her.”

  “That’s insane!” He beat his fist on the table. Woman or not, his fingers itched with the urge to find Sadie and wring her neck for the trouble she’d caused. But he wasn’t that kind of man, and clenched his fists until the urge went away. “What kind of a woman would do that?”

  He looked up to see his wife arch her eyebrow. She didn’t have to lay out all Sadie’s sins before him again as proof of his first wife’s failings. The small movement of Lilly’s brow said it all.

  “You’re right. At this point, nothing Sadie does should surprise me.”

  “So what do we do about it?”

  “First, you’re going to stay home, with the doors locked.”

  “No, I’m not. Besides, they were locked while I was gone, and look what happened!”

  “Wait—the doors were locked?”

  “Yes. I always lock the doors when I go into town anyway, but since the flower incident, I figured it was best to be extra sure that they were locked, so I double-checked.”

  “I had assumed you left it unlocked. Lilly, the door was standing open when I came home, and none of the windows were broken.”

  Lilly’s mouth fell open. “Who else could have a key?”

  “The landlord. And…Sadie.” He rubbed the area between his eyebrows with his fingers. “That settles it. We’ll have to find out about getting a new lock, and then you’ll stay home from now on.”

  “Absolutely not. I love you Jake, but I nearly went out of my mind this week—”

  “Lilly, be reasonable—we have no idea what she’s up to—”

  “I won’t stay a prisoner in my own home because your ex-wife decides she’s not done toying with your life yet! She’s going to have to learn that you’re my husband—we’re married, and we’re happy, and there’s nothing she can do to change that, no matter what under-handed tricks she might try.” She sat back, folding her arms over her chest.

  He sighed. She was right. Why should she be punished because his ex-wife wanted to cause trouble? It was bad enough that soon Lilly would have to stay in, out of the public eye, because of her condition. He didn’t have the heart to take away her last days of freedom.

  He raised his hands in surrender. “You win. I won’t stop you from going out. Instead, I’ll ask the landlord if I can have a telephone line installed here, so you can call the sheriff if you need help. Maybe I’ll put one in at the smithy, too, so you can reach me. Just…please, be more careful. You promised me you’d keep an eye out, and you about ran headlong into Wilbur Warren today.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.” She uncrossed her arms, her agitation draining away. “I guess I just let my guard down while I was inside with Dr. Archer.”

  “You can’t let your guard down, Lilly. Not ever again. I don’t think Sadie’s dangerous, but who knows what manner of trouble she might try to stir up for you? Be watchful, and avoid her at all cost. I can’t lose you.”

  Chapter 25

  Wednesday, July 30, 1890

  The next morning Jake asked Lilly to wait until after his dinner break to go into town. He planned to bring a dinner pail with him, and eat just before midday while he worked, so he could spend the dinner hour going to see their landlord, the sheriff, and a locksmith. Then he would come home and walk Lilly into town if she wanted.

  “Just let me do that, and you can walk back on your own, with no complaints from me—as long as you’re careful. Alright?”

  “That’s fair,” she agreed. “Just don’t take too long. We don’t get much breeze in here, so I’d like to spend the hottest part of the afternoon visiting in town, maybe see Madeline. They get a decent breeze in their shop when the door is open, if the air is moving at all.”

  After breakfast, she kissed him goodbye, and tried to find ways to keep herself busy, without working up too much of a sweat. She could tell the day would end up being a scorcher.

  She was aching to get back into the garden, but after all that had transpired the day before, she knew Jake would have a fit if she did. The apartment was stifling, especially with the windows closed. By midday she was bored to tears, so she decided in spite of the heat to try to scrub a dirty spot out of the parlor rug, from where an overturned plant had landed the day before. Anything to keep herself busy, even if it meant being overheated.

  After working for ten minutes or so, she thought she had the worst of the dirt out. She was working carefully, since she had to do it indoors, and didn’t want the rug getting too wet and damaging the wood floor. There was a bit more to do, but she desperately needed something cold to drink. Fortunately, she’d made lemonade that morning, and thought it might be cold enough already.

  She poured herself a glass in the kitchen, then put the pitcher back in the ice box, and took the glass of lemonade into the parlor with her. She took a few gulps, then set to w
ork again.

  When she had the rug clean to her satisfaction, she got up off the floor, panting from the heat and the vigorous cleaning. She stood back a few feet to admire her work on the rug, then picked up the glass of lemonade. She drained it in a few very unladylike gulps, and sighed with delight at the cool relief.

  “Hello, Lilly.” The familiar voice was mere inches behind her.

  The glass slipped from her fingers and shattered on the bare floor.

  ***

  The sun was high in the sky, beating down on Jake’s shoulders as he walked from his landlord’s storefront to the sheriff’s office, and finally headed down toward the locksmith. He was almost there when he paused, then decided to cross the street and stop in at Doc’s office for a quick ‘hello’.

  And while I’m there, it couldn’t hurt to ask him to check in on Lilly from time to time, could it?

  He opened the door and stepped into the office. Doc sat at the desk, his chair tilted, his coat off and his shirtsleeves rolled up, his hands clasped atop his head. “All week long I’ve been inundated with patients,” he murmured in a sleepy drawl. “Mostly children who hurt themselves playing outside in the delightful summer weather. But today, it’s finally hot enough that the children are sitting quietly in the shade, I presume, because I’ve only seen two patients so far.”

  He spoke in a slow, lazy way, as if the heat had sapped him of all his energy. Jake knew how he felt. Although the summer sun burned with intensity outside, it was still a welcome respite from the intense heat of the smithy. He and Edgar had spent most of the morning taking frequent breaks to go outside and dump cups of water from the horse trough over their heads. He wasn’t eager to return.

  Jake pulled one of the chairs lined up against the walls for patients and dragged it over to sit down in front of Doc’s desk.

  “What brings you in today, Morgan? Wanting to set up more needless medical examinations for your perfectly healthy, pregnant wife?”

  “Ha, ha.” Jake leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Actually, I sort of am here about Lilly.”

  “I swear, that’s all you think about these days, boy.”

  “Someone broke into our apartment yesterday.”

  “You’re joking.” Doc opened his eyes.

  “No. The place was torn apart, and I called out, and Lilly didn’t answer—”

  Dr. Archer shot upright in his chair, the legs landing with a jolting thud on the floor. “Is she alright?”

  Jake nodded. “She’s fine. She walked in right after I did. But it scared the daylights out of me. I thought she’d been—”

  “Dear Lord, boy, next time lead with the ‘she’s fine’ part! You darn near gave an old man a heart attack.” He clutched his chest for emphasis.

  “Sorry. I just…I’m worried. I told you about the flowers already.”

  Doc nodded, his jaw tight.

  “I think it might be Sadie.”

  “Sadie? Isn’t she in Billings?”

  Jake told him about Lilly’s encounter with Sadie the day before.

  Doc whistled. “Boy, you sure know how to pick ’em.”

  “Hey! I picked Lilly, didn’t I?”

  “Mm…more like she picked you, but I won’t argue.”

  “Anyway, I don’t know if it’s Sadie or not, but I worry about Lilly. I can’t close up shop and stay with her—not if I want to save up enough money for us to leave town like we were planning. I get home for dinner most every day, but that leaves a good part of the day that she’s alone. So I was wondering…if you happen to be making a call down by our place, maybe you could just ride down our alley, peek and see if things look alright? I’m not asking you to go out of your way or anything, just—”

  “Of course, of course. You know I’ll do anything I can to help that girl.”

  “Thanks, Doc. You’re a good friend.” Jake heaved himself up from the chair, wishing he had more time to rest and chat with his friend. Instead, he returned the chair to its original position and made his way to the door.

  Doc followed suit, coming around the desk to follow him out. “Lilly seems like a sweet girl, and she’s good for you. I can tell. So anytime she needs help, I’ll be there.”

  “What’s that?” A familiar scent hit him, making Jake smile. “Has Lilly been here today?” Then he frowned. “I asked not to go out until this afternoon.”

  “No. She was here yesterday, but not today. Why?”

  “I smell her perfume.”

  Doc looked around, sniffing himself. “I don’t smell anything.”

  Jake sniffed again, his nose leading him to the coat rack standing between the door and the window. Two coats hung there—a black one, that matched Doc’s suit, and a brown one. He sniffed the black one—nothing but a hint of sweet pipe tobacco and something slightly medicinal. Then Jake sniffed the other. “It’s on this coat!”

  “How can that be? Are you implying again that Lilly—?”

  “No. This is strong. Too strong. Like some perfume actually got sprinkled on the coat itself. It’s not just a hint of transferred scent.” He sniffed the cuff of the coat, then lifted the hem of the coat, inhaling again. “There! Smell that.”

  Doc leaned over. “I think I smell something. My olfactory senses aren’t what they used to be. But how do you know it’s not from another young woman wearing the same perfume?”

  “Because Lilly’s mother gave her that perfume. Her father brought it home from Paris, as a gift to her mother, years ago. It was very special, and very expensive. Lilly cried when she saw that it had been smashed yesterday.”

  “Wait—are you saying the bottle this perfume came from was destroyed when your house was ransacked?”

  “Yes! Doc—whose coat is this? Did a patient leave it behind?”

  “It’s not possible,” Doc murmured to himself, turning away from Jake and rubbing his hand over his balding head. “There has to be an explanation. Perhaps he was passing by, saw the opened door, went inside to check and see if anyone was hurt—”

  “Doc, whose is it?”

  “It’s…it’s Dr. Foyle’s coat. He wore a brown suit yesterday. He must have left his coat behind…”

  “When will he be in?”

  “He won’t. He stopped in earlier, but he won’t be back in. Today is his day off, and—”

  His stomach felt as if it had been filled with lead. Something is wrong. Instinct kicked in, and Jake turned and ran out of the office without another word.

  Chapter 26

  When Lilly came to, she was lying half-curled on her side on the bed, her hands tied together in front of her, and her feet bound at the ankles. Her vision was fuzzy, and she had to blink to bring things into focus.

  As soon as she realized she was bound, panic set in. But then she heard footsteps approaching the bedroom, and she closed her eyes quickly, trying to calm her anxious breathing. Her best hope of escape was feigning unconsciousness, and hoping he’d leave her alone again, so she could come up with a plan to get free.

  The footsteps stopped just inside the bedroom door. She could feel him watching her. Then the bed shook abruptly, and she nearly gasped.

  “Open your eyes! I know you’re awake, you can’t fool me.”

  Reluctantly, Lilly opened them, blinked again, and saw Dr. Gabriel Foyle standing over her.

  She fought the fog that wanted to descend over her brain again. How did I get here? She remembered cleaning the rug…getting lemonade…the glass! She remembered the glass falling to the floor and shattering.

  Why?

  Because he came in. He started me. He said my name, and the voice was familiar, but…

  She had asked him what he was doing there—how he’d gotten in. He had laughed and said he’d learned how to pick locks out of necessity, in his second year in medical school—he’d picked the lock to his professor’s office, to steal answer sheets for the tests planned for that semester. He’d only gotten caught one time, during his last year, but he’d done it every semester af
ter that first time. “Not that I needed to,” he had assured her, “but just to make sure I covered everything that I needed to study. I needed to be first in my class.”

  She had insisted he leave, but he only laughed again. Before she could scream, he had her pinned to the wall with a cloth over her mouth, a sickly-sweet odor filling her nose until at last she’d lost consciousness.

  It all came back to her in a rush—though she had no idea what had happened in the interim. He must have soaked the cloth with something that rendered her unconscious. Ether? Or something else? She didn’t know, and it didn’t matter. All that mattered was what his intentions were.

  He walked around the bed, scowling at her, appraising her as one would an animal locked in a zoo cage. “You think you’re so special, don’t you? You and your dirty blacksmith husband. You’re no better than field laborers, yet you have the audacity to act as if you’re above me? I graduated from Harvard Medical School. Harvard! And you—you’re just a woman!”

  Lilly glanced at the bedroom window, which looked out over their little yard. If she screamed, would anyone hear her?

  “Don’t even think about it,” he warned. He turned his hand over, revealing a flash of silver—a sharp instrument of some kind. “I’ll slice open your jugular and let your blood pour over me in warm, wet gushes, long before help could arrive—even if anyone did hear you, which I doubt.”

  She swallowed hard, her mouth as dry as cotton.

  He paced the floor, his ire increasing with each step. “Jake Morgan is a nobody. And he thinks—you think—you can just snub me? He’s just angry that I caught on to the truth—that you’re nothing but a little strumpet who laid herself out for the first man who came along, and cried ‘outrage’ as soon as the man begged off marrying you, once he knew what you really were. Then you fooled Morgan—poor imbecilic sap that he is—to marry you and make you an ‘honest’ woman.” He laughed heartily, his lip curled as he looked down at her. “As if a ring on your finger makes you lily-white again.” He laughed at his own pun, before the laughter melted again into anger.