She spotted a large tree, one that looked suspiciously like one on her farm and she smiled. Maybe Silas and Ben would be joining her. That would be fine with her because she missed them so much.
She walked into the small yard, having no idea that it was a school. All she saw was a tree and she needed to rest her weary feet. Her whole body was weary.
Lily sat down and leaned back against the tree and took a large sip of her whiskey. It tasted foul but it was still alcohol. Her eyes began to close as she drifted into sleep, shivering now with the cold.
Soon, she began to see images of her dead husband and son, as if they were beckoning to her and she smiled. "Wait for me," she muttered. "Don't leave me again." The drink kept her warm for a while and she finished the bottle.
As sleep finally claimed her deranged mind, Lily's final thoughts were of her beloved lost son and husband. As the night grew colder, the deepest sleep of all took Lily away from the tragic events life had placed in her path. She was going to join her Silas and Ben at long last, such a contenting thought.
Since it was dusk, with snowflakes limiting vision to the immediate environment, no one noticed the woman whose eyes were inexorably closing and in whose hands were a child's riding crop and an empty bottle of whiskey.
~#~#~#~
Martha was not at the reception desk when Richard returned later that evening to find out if a child had been found for him to adopt. He found a younger woman who would not meet his eyes. That was strange but he couldn't imagine why.
"I am sorry sir. We have no children at this time. Perhaps you can check with us again tomorrow morning? Someone may leave a child in the after hours hamper during the night. Sometimes they wait until no one is watching, to leave a child with us."
"Thank you," Richard twisted his lips and went out, deeply saddened at the thought of returning to Granger on the morrow without a child. Annie would be so depressed and the last thing he wanted was his wife to be sad.
He felt guilty and that it was his fault that she was unable to conceive - which of course it was. If only the clock could be turned back and he hadn't been injured by a horse at the age of fifteen. At the time it hadn't bothered him too much, being more concerned with the pain, but now he wished with all his heart that he could function as a proper man.
He knew there was nothing he could do about it, so instead, felt guilty for being the cause of Annie's unhappiness. He wanted his wife to be happy all the time and prayed that a child would be found in the night. Alex could do with a sibling because the young boy was growing up so fast.
Richard smiled when he thought about his son. Annie had given him a child when he thought he would never have one, and he loved the little boy, so much, that even now his hands itched to hold his son.
"Lord, we need a miracle," he prayed. "Please send us a Christmas miracle, send us a child who needs a home. Please Lord."
~#~#~#~
Chapter Eight
Nina Hoxton looked at the sleeping child and smiled through her tears. She was tall and in her mid thirties, with pale blond hair and blue eyes. Because of her flawless smooth skin, she had a youthful look about her. Someone had brought her the perfect gift for Christmas and there was no way she would give him up for adoption.
When she had returned from her meeting with the mayor the previous evening, she had found her staff gushing over the most delightful and happy child she had ever seen. He was singing and clapping with the staff.
Martha had informed her that the child had been dropped off by a drunken woman who claimed that the child had been left with her at the train station. "What's more, I may have found the perfect family for this little boy."
"Did the woman tell you his name?" Nina wanted to hold the boy but restrained herself.
"She said something like Silas but she was very drunk and her words were slurred so I can't be too sure."
Nina had nodded. "Call the rest of the staff in here," she ordered and Martha left to do her bidding. The rest of the staff comprised of three wardens and two cleaners, all of them women. She sent the cleaners out of the room and only the wardens remained with her.
"Listen all of you," she glared at them. "This child is not to be put up for adoption." They all looked at her in surprise. "You will do well to remember where your paychecks come from," she wagged a finger at each of them. "Silas is not available for placement with a family, he is my son now."
Though it seemed as if they wanted to protest, none of them did and Nina had taken the small boy to her quarters. He would be her child from now on and she knew the other would say nothing about her breach of the rules because they all needed their jobs.
Now, as she watched him sleeping, she felt that she had done the right thing. This boy was hers and hers alone. She had been the administrator of the orphanage for over ten years now and always did the right thing, and placed the children with families. This duty, she told herself, she'd performed faithfully, even though she secretly desired to have her own child.
Her husband had died a while back, leaving her childless. She was set for retirement in about six months time and would be going to California to just relax and enjoy life on her brother's farm. Now that she had a child, her plans would have to be altered a little, but she would cross that bridge when she got to it.
The first thing she needed to do was to get this child away from here, just in case one of the wardens decided to go behind her back and hand him over to a family in her absence. For the moment he was safe, and in any case she had another meeting with the mayor this morning and the last thing she wanted was to carry a child out in the cold.
She pushed back the hair on his forehead and kissed him gently. "My own son, I will name you Moses, for I found you."
~#~#~#~
The following morning, Richard wanted to weep with disappointment when once again, he was informed that there was no child available for adoption.
"Thank you Mrs. Martha," he made a second donation of one hundred dollars and left, head hanging low.
Martha saw the pain in his eyes and wanted to call him back, but her hands were tied. She was a widow and needed this job to support herself and her three orphaned grandchildren. Her only son and his wife had perished in a mining accident a few years ago, leaving her the sole guardian of the three children. She was not happy with what was happening with the little boy who'd been brought in last evening and if she had been able to do so, would have done something about it.
"Lord please forgive us," she murmured. According to government regulations no member of staff was allowed to adopt a child from the orphanage unless proper procedures were followed. Nina had flaunted all the rules and dared anyone to say anything.
No one would because they all feared her. The woman had powerful allies in the government and the mayor was her personal friend. No one wanted to lose their jobs in these hard economic times, so they just murmured among themselves but followed her instructions.
Silas was not to be placed with any family and no one was supposed to know about his existence. If anyone accidentally saw him and raised any questions they were to be told that he was Nina's nephew.
~#~#~#~
As Richard walked back to the guest house to pick up his luggage, before proceeding to the train station, he saw a small crowd of people standing outside the gate of a school yard. He didn't know what it was that drew him to the scene, but he decided to find out what was going on, especially when he saw the town's Sheriff and a man who looked to be a doctor.
"Good morning," that was when he noticed the body lying on the ground just about to be covered over with a blanket. "Wait," he held out his hand and crouched, peering at the face of the woman.
Her face was blue with cold but it was unmistakably Lily James. "I know this woman," he rose to his feet and addressed the Sheriff. "My name is Richard West and this," he pointed at the dead woman. "This is Mrs. Lily James, once a neighbor of ours."
"I'm Sheriff Andrew Munford and this is Dr
. Zachary Crown." The two men shook hands. Andrew was of average build and height, with sandy hair and green eyes. What he lacked in stature he made up for in confidence and Richard found himself taking a liking to the man. "If you don't mind, could you come down to my office with me?"
Richard nodded but something else caught his attention. The woman was holding a small riding crop, much like the one he had given his son.
She had an empty whiskey bottle in the other one. "Please may I see that riding crop?"
"Sure," Andrew prised it from the woman's stiff fingers and passed it to Richard. He turned the handle over and saw the inscription he had made himself.
It read AAW, standing for Alexander Annie West as they lovingly referred to their son. He looked at the Sheriff in confusion.
"What's wrong?" asked the Sheriff, sensing right away there was a problem here.
"This riding crop," he held it up. "These initials belong to my son, but I don't understand. What is Lily doing with Alex's riding crop? My son never leaves it behind, how did she get it?"
"That I cannot tell you, but if you could please come with me to my office I'd be grateful if you can give me further information about this unfortunate woman."
"What happened to Lily James?" Richard could not shake off the feeling of dread.
Why did Lily have his son's riding crop? Maybe she had wandered to their ranch and found it lying around.
But someone would have seen her wandering around the farm. No, something else was happening and he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"The man who tends the school yard came by very early this morning to check on things and noticed her seated under the tree. She was as stiff as a board and reeking of whiskey.
She must have fallen asleep under the tree and frozen to death. Looks like she's been here the whole night."
"Poor woman."
Richard felt the need to speak in Lily's defense. "She lost her son and husband not so long ago. The little boy fell into a flooding river and his father tried to save him. They both drowned and I guess Lily lost her mind after that – wouldn't let anyone help her. We thought she was too full of pride, but now I think she was unhinged by the whole thing – didn't really understand much of what was happening around her."
~#~#~#~
It didn't take long to walk to the Sheriff's office and Richard was keen to speak with Sheriff Andrew. He asked one of his deputies to brew a pot of coffee while he prepared to take down notes from his interview with Richard.
There was a minor commotion at the doorway.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you sir, but Wilcox here says he has something he wants to tell you," his deputy told him.
"Ask him to come in,' he turned to Richard. "Wilcox owns the cart that we hire from time to time to carry bodies to the morgue."
Wilcox came in, a thin man of average height, dark hair and grey eyes. He was holding his hat in his hand. "Pardon me Sheriff," he cleared his throat. "My missus came home very upset yesterday and when I asked her she said something happened at her work."
"Where does your wife work Wilcox?"
"Down at the Angels Orphanage. She's one of the cleaners." He took a deep breath. "Mrs. Nina the senior administrator called the wardens into her office, but my Hannah was listening and heard her telling the other staff that no one was to tell anyone about the child who was brought in last evening."
Richard gave a start. So there had been a child after all, no wonder Martha had been acting like she was hiding something. Wilcox was still talking and Richard tuned in once more.
"Mrs. Nina threatened the other staff with being fired if they placed the child – said that no one was to place the child with any family. Hannah had to leave in a hurry when the door opened, but she later heard the staff discussing the beautiful little boy who was brought in by a drunken whore and left there. They said the boy's name was Silas. From the way the drunken woman was described, it fitted perfectly with the body that we just took to the morgue."
"That cannot be," Richard shook his head. "Lily had a son named Silas. He was about one and a half years old. Remember I told you about the father and son who drowned at the beginning of autumn this year? The child fell into a flooded creek at the farm and his father jumped in to save him but both drowned."
"Something strange is going on, but try not to worry Richard – we'll get to the bottom of this," he turned to Wilcox. "Go on man."
"Hannah said the members of staff were wondering if something was wrong, because the child looked like he was well cared for. He didn't look like the usual abandoned children that are brought to the orphanage. They suspected that the woman must have stolen the child from his parents."
Andrew turned to Richard. "Have you heard of any cases of missing children back in Tipton since it's obvious this woman just came from there," he pointed at the stub of her train ticket. "This ticket says she arrived yesterday afternoon on the train from Tipton."
"By the time I left there were no such reports. Maybe she took the child from the train station or something."
"That's the story she gave at the orphanage," Wilcox said. "She told Mrs. Martha that somebody had left the child with her at the train station. But when they wanted to question her further, she fled." He cleared his throat.
"My Hannah said the wardens were very scared because Mrs. Nina said she wanted to keep the boy for herself, which is against the regulations. They believe the senior administrator is up to something."
"Why didn't anyone come to tell me of this?"
Wilcox twisted his hat. "Everyone who works at the orphanage is mighty scared of Mrs. Nina. She is the personal friend of the mayor and threatened that if they said anything they would all lose their jobs – said they would get into trouble and promised them misery for the rest of their lives. They don't agree with what she's doing but they are bound to silence for fear of losing their jobs and getting into trouble."
"Thank you Wilcox. You may have just saved some poor parents the pain of losing a child." He turned to Richard. "How did your son's riding crop end up in the hands of that woman?"
"Sheriff Andrew, I have no idea. Perhaps a visit to the orphanage where Lily left the small boy might shed some light onto this mystery."
~#~#~#~
Chapter Nine
The search party on Richard's ranch stared at each other in horror, the implications of the small footsteps leading right up to the flooded creek too grim to comprehend, but clearly telling a story of their own.
Jeremy could not imagine what his friends would go through when they found out that their beloved son had drowned. It would devastate them both and he felt deeply for his friend.
Richard had told him a long time ago that he was unable to father any children and when Annie came to Tipton, it had been like a priceless gift to him when she gave him a son, even though he wasn't the biological father.
Richard doted on the boy because he often told Jeremy that Alex is the only child he would ever have that had Annie's blood. They had talked of adoption but according to Richard, Alex would always be his most favored child, not that he would not love any others that he adopted.
"He carries Annie's blood and you know how crazy I am about that woman," Richard would often say with a laugh. Now Alex was gone and Jeremy felt deep pain and anguish. In a few months he was set to be a father himself and even before his own child was born, he had forged a deep bond with it, to his wife's continued amusement.
He led the ten men back to Annie's house and called his mother outside.
"Ma," tears welled up in his eyes. "It is terrible," he said hoarsely.
"What is it Jeremy?" Myra held a hand to her heart. "What's going on?"
"We found small footprints leading right up to the creek and then they disappear."
"No, no, no," Myra shook her head. "Anything but that. Please tell me that it isn't true."
"Mama, that's the only explanation for my godson's disappearance. We've searched hig
h and low for the boy. We hope his body..." Jeremy almost choked on the words. "We pray he will be washed up before long."
Rita, Marie and Cora wept silently when Myra relayed the news to them. "We have to tell Annie, but I don't know what to say to her," Myra wiped her tears but more took their place.
Rita stretched out her hand. "It is Christmas Eve tomorrow. We should be celebrating and preparing for the remembrance of the birth of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ." She shook her head sadly. "No parent should have to mourn the death of their child at this time."
"Ma what do you suggest we do?" Cora had a hand over her womb. Her child was silent, perhaps understanding that it was a very solemn moment. "Annie needs to be told."
Rita nodded. "Eventually yes, but let's wait until tomorrow when Richard gets here. With him by her side it will still not be easy, but at least they will have each other to hold onto. We can tell them tomorrow."
Everyone else saw the wisdom in Rita's words. She stood up. "Luke and I need to get back to town."
Cora nodded. "Mama Paine and I will stay here with Annie and Marie," she threw a glance at her sister who was weeping. Marie loved Alex and the thought that he could be lying dead at the bottom of the creek was too much for the young girl to take in. "We need to give Marie something to soothe her so she can also sleep."
"I'll prepare some milk for both Marie and Annie," Myra stood up. "We need to keep them calm until Richard gets here tomorrow."
No one wanted to eat anything that evening, not even the two laborers and Samuel, but Myra forced them to. She had made some sandwiches and tea. "We need to keep our strength up. There are tough days ahead of us. Richard and Annie will need us to be strong for them."
"Yes ma'am," the men said. They were fond of little Alex too and their hearts were heavy.
~#~#~#~
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