“Just watch yourself, Mick. I know you have a hot temper, particularly when it comes to women and kids. I don't expect you to stand by if anyone is being mistreated but when it comes to Dickinson and his men, you might not want to handle it alone. That’s all I'm saying.” Davy looked at him. Mick nodded. He understood his boss’s warning and was more than a little touched by the fact he cared enough to make it. They sure had come a long way since that first year Mary Sullivan had arrived.
“Come on, Mrs. H will have my head. She's baked a feast. She said she had a feeling you’d be back soon and got prepared.”
“Sure, that’s the only reason I come back to Clover Springs. Mrs. Higgins's cooking.”
Mick gave his horse to one of the boys who helped the ranch hands with the chores. “After his rubdown, give him plenty of oats, he's earned it.”
The boy led his horse away. Mick walked toward the kitchen spotting Cookie laughing and joking with Mrs. H. They did look like a couple. He wondered if he might just have a word with Aaron and Samuel. With the boys both being relatively newlyweds, they might just convince their ma to give it a go with Cookie. She wouldn’t get a better man that was for sure.
Chapter Three Clover Springs
“Morning, Wilma.” Father Molloy walked into the orphanage closing the door behind him.
“Did you smell the cookies? I just baked a new batch this morning. I have to wait till the children go to school or they eat them all as soon as they come out of the oven.” Wilma chuckled.
Father Molloy knew she didn't mind the children taking the cookies. After what those little ones had been through, they deserved cookies every day as far as she was concerned.
He took a seat at the table.
“Is Ellen down at the school, too, with baby Jake?”
Wilma frowned. “Yes, she is and you need to have a word with that woman. She be doing too much. She should be resting after a difficult birth. Stubborn as a mule she is.”
“You would know more about that than me, Wilma.”
Wilma laughed. “I don't know about that, Father. You can be more stubborn than Miss Ellen and me put together.” Her tone grew more serious. “I am telling you though she ain’t listening to nobody. Laura is trying to persuade her to take more time off, but Miss Ellen thinks there are too many children for one teacher.”
“Ellen is right. There are.” Catching the look on Wilma's face, Father Molloy quickly continued. “Ellen shouldn’t be there though, not with her still feeling so ill. I will speak to Mrs. Grey. She seems to have a way of talking Ellen around.”
“I was talking to Miss Alicia, I mean Alicia, last week about the children.”
Father Molloy noticed her slip but didn’t comment. It would take Wilma a long time to stop calling white folk mister and miss despite Alicia's insistence she treat them as her equal.
“You know I am still rather shocked, but delighted, you two have become such good friends.”
“Me and Alicia? Me too. If you had told me that day she arrived in Clover Springs, she would fast become like family to me, I would have said you done lost your mind.”
“God works in mysterious ways,” Father Molloy said half teasing as he knew Wilma hated it when he referenced God like that.
“I don’t know about God and mysterious ways, but I do know you be a good judge of character. You saw something in Alicia that day or you wouldn’t have invited her to Clover Springs.”
Father Molloy didn't confirm or deny her assumption.
“Is she back from her trip yet?”
“They is all due home tomorrow. I can't wait to see her, Aaron and those two sweet boys of theirs. Mr. Aaron, he was kicking up a big fuss because Alicia told him he had to wear a fancy suit to their meeting. You should have heard him complaining to Mr. Samuel about it. He was saying he not one of those city boys.” Wilma was laughing so hard, her whole body wobbled. She wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes.
“I hope the visit proves successful.”
“You mean you hope Alicia shows more tact than she did when she first came here.”
Father Molloy nodded, not surprised she had read him so well. “A lot of people don’t take too kindly to women bosses, particularly those who are likely to complain if the workers aren’t being treated too well.”
“Well, I guess Alicia has learned a few things. Part of her making Aaron dress nicely was so they would assume he be the boss. But woe betide them if she finds bad working conditions for the miners or, worse, children working in her mine. The men in charge will be out on their butts quicker than you can say jackrabbit.”
“Quite right too,” Father Molloy agreed. “I wonder if Alicia and Aaron will continue to live here in Clover Springs or move nearer to the mine.”
“Leave Clover Springs? Over my dead body is they going up them mountains. No fit place for young boys to grow up surrounded by miners. They need their friends, their school and...”
“Their Wilma with baked cookies.” Father Molloy knew Wilma had taken the orphans to her heart just as much as she had taken Alicia. He hoped for her sake Alicia and Aaron decided to stay on the homestead. They could afford to live in luxury anywhere they wanted once they had been married twelve months. They would gain full control of her inheritance then.
“Alicia is coming back. We been talking and she wants to use some of her money to make Clover Springs even better. We need to find another teacher and build a bigger school and...” Her voice trailed off. Surprised she had stopped in full flow, Father Molloy looked up. “You look tired. Why are you not sleeping? What you worried about now? The Red Feathers?”
“Wilma, this is why I come see you to talk. You seem to read my mind better than most anyone else. I admit I am very concerned.”
Wilma took a seat, resting her chin on her hands as she gave him her full attention. He sighed as he tried to frame his thoughts in the least judgmental way possible.
“I know some men like to have a drink. And I know they have certain...”
“They got an itch that needs to be scratched,” Wilma supplied making him smile.
“Not sure I would put it quite like that but yes. I want everyone to feel welcome in Clover Springs. But I don't believe we need something like that establishment. I want to find a way to close it down but without a huge fuss. I do not want to either embarrass the men who visit, but more importantly the women who work there.”
“That’s what makes you different from a lot of religious men. Some of the clergymen I’ve encountered would have spoken out against any man who frequented the Red Feathers from the altar at services. “
“Well, I might have been tempted to say a few words about the owner,” Father Molloy admitted reminding himself he should find a confessor. But that could wait until he sorted out this latest problem.
“What can I do to help you?”
“I was wondering if you had spoken to the ladies, the ones working there.” Father Molloy pulled at his collar, it felt very tight all of a sudden.
Wilma gave him a knowing look. “You know I have, Father. I made it my business to show those girls they have a friend in Clover Springs if they ever need a shoulder to cry on. Makes me sick to my stomach to see how some folk treat them. Some folk need to concentrate more on your sermons.”
Father Molloy’s mind went blank. He looked at her for an explanation.
“You know those ones where you can't judge other people and we should all love one another. See I have been listening.”
“Now don’t you get all fired up on me, Wilma.”
“I ain’t gettin’ fired up.” Wilma stared at him and then shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, maybe a little. Its only they be so young. I was telling Miss... I mean Alicia there is one girl who reminds me of Tilly, the orphan you both rescued on the train. Mollie, the girl from the Red Feathers only be about a year or so older than Tilly.”
Father Molloy struggled to keep his temper under control. It was one thing for ladies in their twenties to
be working in these establishments, it was quite another for young girls to be forced into that line of work. There was no doubt in his mind they hadn't become a woman of the night out of choice.
“You tried talking to the sheriff?”
“Yes, but his hands are tied. Dickinson hasn't broken any laws, least none which we know about.” Wilma said before taking a minute to calm herself. “You bet he has done all sorts of things. Men like him, they don't care about no laws. All they see is dollar signs.”
Father Molloy saw Wilma fighting back tears. He could only imagine the horrors this brave beautiful old woman had seen in her lifetime. He was sorry he had brought back bad memories but the reality was he needed Wilma's help. There was no way he could get the Red Feathers ladies to speak to him like they would to Wilma.
“Why they let him open that house here anyway?” Wilma’s angry tone highlighted her frustration. “We should have stopped that happening as soon as he took his dirty a...”
Father Molloy coughed just in time.
Wilma gave him a grin before she corrected herself. “Feet out of the train and said he was staying. He looked like an oily rat right from that first day.”
“Mrs. Shaw thought he was charming. As indeed did Miss Hawthorn. He even tried to charm Mrs. Grey.” Father Molloy said.
“Well, Lorena Ella Grey didn’t fall for his pitter patter and neither did I. As for those other two ladies, do you think we could convince Dickinson to take them with him when he does leave?”
Despite himself, Father Molloy laughed. “Wilma, you are going to get me into trouble for agreeing with sentiments like that. I will pray on it.”
“You do that, Father. Maybe another wedding might happen. Mr. Dickinson could marry Miss Hawthorn and live happily ever after somewhere else. Australia might be far enough.”
Father Molloy left the orphanage with a smile on his face. The situation with Dickinson had troubled him. He felt better after talking with Wilma. He mostly always did.
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Acknowledgments
This book wouldn’t have been possible without the help of so many people. Thanks to Erin Dameron-Hill for my fantastic covers. Erin is a gifted artist who makes my characters come to life.
The ladies from Pioneer Hearts who volunteered to proofread my book. Special thanks go to Marlene Larsen, Cindy Nipper, Marilyn Cortellini, Janet Lesley, Sherry Masters, Robin Malek, Meisje Sanders Arcuri and Denise Cervantes who all spotted errors (mine) that had slipped through.
Last, but by no means least, huge thanks and love to my husband and my three children.
Also by Rachel Wesson
Trail of Hearts - Oregon Trail Series
Oregon Bound (book 1)
Oregon Dreams (book 2)
Oregon Destiny (book 3)
Clover Springs Mail Order Brides
Katie (Book 1)
Mary (Book 2)
Sorcha (Book 3)
Emer (Book 4)
Laura (Book 5)
Ellen (Book 6)
Thanksgiving in Clover Springs (book 7)
Christmas in Clover Springs (book8)
Erin (Book 9)
Eleanor (book 10)
Writing as Ellie Keaton
Women & War (World War II fiction)
Gracie
Penny
Molly
New York Storm Page 15