Tracie Peterson - [New Mexico Sunset 03]

by Angel's Cause

  Gavin shook his head. “Angel does enjoy her causes.”

  “That’s not the half of it,” Lillie joined in. “We forbade her to go. We tried to reason with her and thought we’d made her see our side of it, but last night, she sneaked out of the house and caught the train for Springer. From there she plans to travel south to Santa Fe with a suffragist named Willa Neal.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Gavin asked, coming to the edge of his seat. He hoped Daniel’s and Lillie’s words would affirm what he already had in mind.

  “We’d like for you to go after her,” Daniel said solemnly. “We’d of course pay your expenses.”

  “No need for that,” Gavin said, getting to his feet. “I was serious about marrying Angel. I know she cares for me the same way I care for her. But, she’s also young and stubborn. This time, though, she may well have gotten herself into more trouble than she can handle.”

  “Our thoughts exactly,” Daniel concurred. “I don’t care what it takes, I just want her back here safe and sound. From that point we’ll just have to take it day by day.”

  Lillie reached out and poured a cup of coffee. “Why don’t you have some,” she said, extending the cup to Gavin.

  “No thank you, Aunt Lillie,” he said, knowing that one day he would call her by another name. That was, if he could find Angeline before she caused herself harm. Then, he’d have to somehow convince her to marry him, but that was all immaterial at this point.

  “I’ll need to go home first,” he said, already heading for the door. “My folks will need to know what I’m up to.”

  Lillie and Daniel followed him. “Of course,” they said in unison.

  Gavin turned at the door. “Try not to worry. Angeline’s stubborn, but she’s got a good head on her shoulders.”

  “Thank you, Gavin,” Lillie said, reaching out to hug the stern-faced young man.

  “I’ll get her back,” he whispered for her ears only, and Lillie hugged him even tighter.

  “I know you will.”

  ❧

  Gavin found a captive audience when he returned to the ranch. Maggie and Garrett immediately sensed the urgency in their son and shooed his brothers from the room in order to privately speak with their eldest.

  “Is something wrong?” Maggie asked, the worry clearly written in her eyes.

  “Yeah,” Gavin said with a nod, “it seems Angel has run off to join the Suffrage Movement.” Maggie and Garrett both looked rather surprised before Gavin continued. “Lillie and Dan want me to go after her, and I told them I would.”

  Garrett grinned at his wife, who’d already told him that their son intended to marry their best friends’ daughter. “Bet that was a hard decision to make.”

  Gavin couldn’t help but flush a bit. “Who told you?”

  Maggie laughed out loud at the look of surprise on her son’s face. She reached out and rumpled his hair as she’d done when he was a small child. “Does it matter? Do you mind us knowing that you’re in love with Angeline?”

  Gavin shook his head, then rolled his eyes heavenward. “Please tell me they don’t know,” he moaned, motioning in the direction Maggie had sent his brothers.

  Garrett fairly howled at his son’s grim expression. “Gavin, my son, you are the oldest boy, and therefore the first to experience the ribbing and teasing that your brothers will good-naturedly dish out. But, just remind them,” Garrett added with a wink, “their time will come and the shoe will be ever so neatly on the other foot.”

  Gavin smiled, just a bit. It really didn’t help matters now. “I hope it’s all right with you, my going after Angel, that is.”

  “Certainly,” Garrett said, and Maggie nodded her assurance.

  “She’s in Santa Fe,” Gavin offered. “I’m leaving this afternoon.”

  “I don’t envy you going after a willful young woman,” Garrett said with a sly glance cast at his wife. “Retrieving spiteful, head-strong girls, especially ones you fancy yourself in love with and plan to marry, is no easy task.”

  Gavin looked quizzically from his father’s amused expression to his mother’s reddening face. “You look as if you have a story to tell,” Gavin said with a grin.

  “You might say,” Garrett began, “that I started a family tradition.”

  “You might say,” Maggie interrupted, “that unless you want to sleep with that horse of yours, that you’ll choose your words carefully.”

  Garrett grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. “You know that your Grandfather Intissar, Maggie’s pa, and I were good friends long before your mother came here to live.”

  Gavin nodded. “Mom lived in Kansas with her grandmother because Grandfather Intissar had some problems to work through.”

  “That’s right, and when those problems were worked out, he sent for Maggie. Only problem was, she didn’t want to come. That’s when I came into the picture. Jason Intissar sent for me and knowing that I was half love-sick for his daughter, he put me on a train to Topeka and paid me to fetch his only child home.”

  “I guess I knew that,” Gavin said as if suddenly remembering the story.

  Maggie interrupted his thoughts. “What your father might be hesitant to say is that I nearly outfoxed him several times, in escaping to return to my grandmother.”

  Garrett laughed. “She thinks she nearly outfoxed me. First, I caught her coming down a trellis outside her second story bedroom window. Then she nearly got herself killed when she slipped off the train in the middle of the night and wandered around on the rain-drenched prairie for several days.” His voice grew quite sober. “When you find her, Gavin,” he stated quite seriously, “don’t let her out of your sight. Women get peculiar notions when they feel caged in, and I wouldn’t want Angeline to get hurt.”

  Maggie had thought to make a snide remark, but the truth was, Garrett’s words were an accurate portrayal of why she’d run away from him. Now Gavin would perhaps face the same thing with Angeline. Maggie put a hand on her son’s arm. “Unfortunately,” she said softly, “your father is right. Angeline won’t be easy to bring home, and it might risk the both of you before the matter is settled.”

  “Don’t worry,” Gavin said, patting his mother’s hand, “God’s my partner on this one, as with everything else. I prayed long and hard about Angeline and this time won’t be any exception. You keep me in your prayers too. That way, when I’m having to concentrate on what she’s doing and where I’ll still be covered.”

  “You’ll have our prayers, Son,” Garrett replied proudly.

  “And I know you’ll have Lillie’s and Dan’s,” Maggie added.

  “Thanks,” Gavin said and turned to leave. “I know it will make all the difference.”

  Chapter 7

  Angeline had already been told more than ten times by Willa that tonight’s rally was an important one. She had been instructed to send messages to all of her family’s good friends and encourage them to attend. After that, Willa had suggested that Angeline rest up, and with special emphasis she added that Angeline should wear something pretty to the rally.

  Pacing in her hotel room as twilight fell in a golden glow against the adobe churches and plaza structures, Angeline picked up one of Willa’s books and read for several minutes. From outside her window came the sound of a baby crying and, for some reason, it caused Angeline to think of home.

  Going to the window, Angeline gazed out on the ancient city of Santa Fe. “I wonder if they hate me?” she whispered. She couldn’t help but envision her father and mother sitting down to the empty dining table and gazing at her vacated spot the way they had when John and James had gone into the army.

  “I don’t know what to do,” she moaned and wished that God would open her eyes miraculously. She’d gone to church since she was a little girl, but none of that or the multiple sermons and Bible verses that had made their ways to her ears, seemed to help now.

  Down in the center of the plaza, Angeline could see the makings of a crowd starting to
gather. Willa had told her that many of the local politicians were shy about their cause, but with a little encouragement from solid citizens and people such as Angeline, they would turn out in mass number. If for no other reason, just to see what the fuss was all about. If they were lucky however, as Willa told Angeline they must be, these men would offer their support for the suffrage movement.

  Angeline felt torn like never before. She really did want to help Willa. More than that, she wanted to do something worth while with her life. Something that people would remember her fondly for. Women’s suffrage seemed to be a worthy enough cause, but Angeline knew her heart wasn’t in it completely. How could it be when part of her heart was several hundred miles away in Bandelero?

  The knock on her door startled Angeline, because she knew Willa would simply enter with her own key.

  “Who is it?” she asked softly.

  “Douglas.”

  Angeline opened the door. “Mr. Baker.”

  Douglas smiled revealing his perfect teeth, and Angeline immediately thought of a tooth powder advertisement she’d recently seen in one of her magazines.

  “I hoped to escort you to the rally tonight. Willa will undoubtably have her hands full, and I wouldn’t want you to arrive alone.”

  “That’s very considerate of you, Mr. Baker.”

  “I thought we dispensed with that earlier today. Call me Douglas.”

  Angeline nodded and offered him a shy smile. “Very well, Douglas. I shall meet you in the lobby at seven o’clock.”

  “I will look forward to it.” He gave her a slight bow and left without another word.

  Angeline closed the door behind her and leaned against it heavily. Every time Douglas was near her, she couldn’t help but think of Gavin. The troubling part was that she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why.

  ❧

  Ten minutes ’til seven, Angeline put on the finishing touches by adding a pink ribbon to her carefully pinned up hair. She wanted to make Willa proud, and so she had chosen her very delicate white eyelet dress with the pink ribbon waist band and snug bodice. Checking herself in the mirror one final time, Angeline opened the door and made her way to the lobby.

  Douglas was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. He cast an admiring glance at her, quickly running his gaze up and down the full length of her.

  “You look ravishing, my dear.” His tone was sincere enough, but something in his expression seemed almost leering.

  “Thank you,” Angeline murmured, uncertain why she suddenly felt so uncomfortable.

  “Come along,” Douglas commanded, taking hold of her arm. “They are about to begin, and Willa has instructed me to have you close to the stage.”

  “Why would Willa want me there?”

  “I’m uncertain as to her exact reasons,” Douglas stated, making his way with Angeline into the street, “but I believe she holds you in high esteem. You will offer her great support as you have all along.”

  Angeline said nothing but immediately began to pick up on the atmosphere surrounding the plaza grounds. Somewhere in the midst of the people, a band was playing popular ragtime tunes and most of the people seemed in high spirits. The crowd was growing by the minute, and though most of the participants were men, Angeline counted a great many women among the group as well. It should please Willa, Angeline thought.

  Douglas manuevered them expertly through the mass and finally arrived at the place where Willa, in a stiff looking suit of blue serge and a banner proclaiming her cause, awaited the moment of her speech.

  “Good, you’re here,” she said, noting Douglas’s possessive control of Angeline’s movements. “Sit here and I will start the rally.”

  Angeline allowed Douglas to lead her to the chair, while Willa had the small band stop playing their ragtime tunes and cued the percussionist to give her a drumroll.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we are happy to welcome you here tonight.” The crowd seemed to still and move in closer to the stage. Willa began to speak in earnest, commanding everyone’s attention and enrapturing Angeline as she had the very first night in Denver.

  “For centuries women have played a vital and necessary role in the lives of their families. When God first created the universe and mankind, He showed the necessity for womanhood and, by special design, created her for life on this earth.”

  Angeline smiled. Willa said she always liked to start with something about God, because who could argue with the Bible? True to form, she was leading the crowd where she wanted them to go.

  Willa continued, “The position women have maintained over the last several hundred years, however, has been less of a helpmate to her male counterparts and more of a servant. A servant whose mind has been closed to the reality of what she was created to do. Women all across this great nation, and even throughout the world, have offered important progress in the lives of all people. They must be rescued from obscurity and thrust forward in the limelight.” Willa paused to see how the crowd was effected by her stern words before moving on.

  “Madame Marie Curie in 1911 won the Nobel Prize for chemistry. Her contributions to the field of science have been magnificent and will continue to be so. And only a few years ago, an upstanding Southern woman named Juliette Low created an organization for our young women—the Girl Scouts. This association promises to help girls everywhere to formulate leadership qualities and push forward into the future. However,” Willa paused, and everyone seemed to lean forward, “that future cannot be mastered, and those young women cannot be sufficiently utilized until they are able to exercise their choices for the leadership in this country. Women need the right to vote. Men need for women to have that right.”

  The crowd murmured unintelligible things, while Angeline seemed to momentarily forget Willa and concentrated instead on the people nearest her. She hated to eavesdrop but she wanted to know, no, she needed to know what they were thinking. Douglas seemed to immediately sense her contemplation and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

  “Smart men will know she speaks the truth, and if their women are motivated to seek the vote, they will rally behind them.”

  Angeline looked up at Douglas for a moment and nodded, while Willa finished her speech and prepared to move from the stage to walk amidst her listeners and answer questions.

  For some strange reason, Angeline suddenly felt very misplaced. She felt the people around her shifting to accommodate those in front of them and a fearfulness gripped her momentarily. With a quick glance at Douglas, Angeline assured herself that all was well.

  Willa shook hands with people, while Douglas helped Angeline to her feet. “She’s very good at this,” Douglas said as if sensing Angeline’s uneasiness. “Just watch her and you will learn a great deal.”

  Suddenly, a man approached Willa with an narrowing of his eyes that quickly told Angeline he wasn’t a supporter of the “cause.”

  “Madam,” the man began in a loud enough voice that everyone around immediately fell silent. “I have listened to you suffragettes from one end of this country to the other. You spout about rights that were never extended to you, because frankly, Madam, they were never necessary. Proper women, women who are biblical-minded as you so clearly like to associate your cause with, seek the protection and authority of men. Men, whom I might add, the good Lord made first and put in charge of everything else.” At this, a roar of approval went up from the crowd.

  “Sir, proper women are women who seek to do their best. They are women who, knowing God gave them many gifts, choose not to waste a single one. They seek not to usurp the authority of man, but to augment the benefits they might offer their fellow human beings.”

  The man made several notes on a tablet before questioning Willa again. This time the attack was far more personal, and an ugliness was born of the group that startled Angeline.

  “Why is it, Madam, that all of you suffragettes are homely, spinster-type women, who obviously can’t seem to attract the attention of a man any other way
than to try to steal the pants from him?” The people surrounding them roared in laughter, and Angeline moved closer to Douglas, feeling fearful that things might get physical as Willa had warned her had happened on occasion.

  Without any warning, Willa seemed to part the crowd with the wave of her hand and pulled Angeline forward. “This lovely young woman is my assistant. Perhaps you would like to tell her how homely and spinster-like she is.”

  The man stared at the stunned-faced Angeline and smiled. “No, Madam,” he said to Willa, and a broad smile crossed his face. “I doubt anyone could accuse this beauty of being homely.”

  Angeline wanted to crawl into the nearest hole, but Willa’s hand firmly gripped her arm and moving away was out of the question. The man quickly motioned to someone, and Angeline blinked her surprise when a man thrust a camera into her face and started snapping pictures. The flash blinded her momentarily, but Angeline stood fast.

  “Tell me, Miss,” the man began.

  “Her name is Angeline Monroe. She is the very model of virtue and grace,” Willa stated for the newspaperman.

  “Tell me, Miss Monroe,” he began again with pencil in hand, “do you honestly support the cause of suffrage and if so, why?”

  Angeline felt Willa’s hand tighten on her arm, but she wasn’t schooled enough to know this was her mentor’s signal to remain silent. Willa opened her mouth the speak but found Angeline’s soft voice answering instead.

  “I hold the highest regard for womanhood. I believe that God has given women a very special place on this earth, and that place is neither to usurp the man’s place, nor to exceed it.” The crowd grew completely silent as everyone strained to hear the delicate voice.

  “My own mother is an intelligent woman who works at the side of my father, a physician. She is often consulted for her opinion, and my father, even with his college training, supports and honors my mother as a colleague. Other women I know are just as resourceful and just as important. And, Sir, I find it sad indeed that you seem to place a woman’s value only in her appearance. One cannot always help the way one looks. Should we scorn the cripple because he,” Angeline paused, “or she, cannot walk as we do with strong, sturdy legs? Do we not love the unlovable, just as Christ did when He walked this earth?”