by Merry Farmer
“Pleased to meet you.” Miraculously, Elspeth managed to complete a ladylike curtsy for Solomon as they walked on.
Solomon greeted her curtsy with a noble nod and a tip of his hat. “Ma’am. I’m only sorry that we had to meet under such trying circumstances.”
The fleeting thought that Elspeth and Solomon might just be the two most dignified people Athos knew passed through is mind before it latched on to other things. “Do you think Bonneville and that woman could really take my children from me?”
“No,” Solomon answered, but he wasn’t as confident as Athos wanted him to be. “At least, I don’t think the appeals judge—or any other judge who actually met you and the children and saw the way things are with you—would uphold this bogus order.”
“Good,” Elspeth exclaimed. When Solomon glanced at her, she went on. “It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve been a governess in one household after another for the past several years, and I can assure you that the Strong children are happier and healthier than a good deal of other children.”
Solomon grinned and nodded. “I may call on you to give that testimony at the hearing.”
They reached the hotel and entered together, as a unified group ready to fight for what was right. Athos let go of Elspeth’s hand and surged forward the second he caught a glimpse of the back of Heather’s head in the hotel’s dining room. He marched straight on, heedless of the hotel staff members who jumped into high alert or the patrons who raised curious eyebrows to see what was happening.
“I’ve come to take my children back,” Athos announced as soon as he burst into the dining room.
What had been a normal breakfast for hotel patrons and townspeople alike screeched to a halt. All eight of the Strong children sat at a long table at the far end of the room. Mrs. Lyon presided at the head of the table. She had a full plate of eggs, sausage, ham, and fruit in front of her, while each of the children had nothing but bowls of plain oatmeal. The four thugs stood at the four corners of the table. The rest of the restaurant contained a handful of tables of diners…including the Bonnevilles. Bonnie Horner sat by Rex Bonneville’s side. She rose from her place with a triumphant smile as soon as Athos made his declaration.
“Papa! Papa!” The table with the Strong children burst into chaos. The older ones were able to leap out of their seats and run to him while the younger ones squirmed and struggled to get down.
“Sweethearts.” Athos managed to catch Ivy and Heather in a tight hug, kissing the tops of their heads, before the thugs separated them. The younger children hadn’t even made it away from the table before they were nabbed and forced back into their places.
“What is the meaning of this?” Mrs. Lyon snarled, throwing down her napkin and standing.
“I could ask the same thing,” Athos said. “How dare you rip my children away from me?”
The kids all continued to shout.
“Papa!”
“Take us home, Papa!”
“I don’t like it here.”
“I want to go home.”
Athos started toward Vernon—who stood closest now that Ivy and Heather had been wrestled back to the table—but Bonneville jumped up from his seat to stop him.
“Obstruction of justice as well as dereliction of parental duty? Eh, Strong?” Bonneville seethed with a sly smile.
“This is your fault, Bonneville.” Athos balled a fist and pivoted to face the man.
The Bonneville daughters yelped in fear, and Solomon barked a quick, “Don’t.” It was Elspeth’s light touch on Athos’s arm that drained his need to punch Bonneville.
“Ooh, he’s horrible,” Bebe squealed, bursting into tears.
“How could a noble lady debase herself by marrying him?” Melinda added.
“He’s always been very kind and responsible,” Honoria mentioned.
“Shut up, Honoria,” Vivian snapped.
“Girls,” Bonnie warned them, but aside from Honoria, the Bonneville sisters merely turned up their noses at her and got up to watch the scene unfolding.
“I want to go home,” Geneva whined, starting a new wave of protest from the children. They seemed to thrive on the complaints, encouraging each other to be as loud and irritating as they could be.
“I want something better than oatmeal to eat,” Thomas hollered above the rest of them. “She gets sausage, so how come we only get yucky oatmeal? It doesn’t even have brown sugar.”
Athos whipped back to Mrs. Lyon. “Are you attempting to starve my children?”
Mrs. Lyon sniffed and tilted her chin up. “Children should be fed a simple diet that will not aggravate their already irascible spirits.”
“But I like sausage,” Lael complained.
“You want sausage? I’ll get you sausage,” Hubert declared. He darted behind Mr. Lyon before any of the thugs could stop them and grabbed not only the sausages, but a handful of eggs straight from her plate. “Here.”
He tossed the entire handful to Lael, who caught the sausage with a sudden laugh. The eggs splattered on the floor.
“How dare you?” Mrs. Lyon blanched.
“Like this,” Ivy said. She broke out of the grip of the surprised thug who held her arm and scooped her hand into the nearest oatmeal bowl. With a satisfied grunt, she threw the handful at the thug’s face. “We will not be cowed!” she declared, just as the hero in the book they’d been reading had.
That was all it took to thrust the scene into pandemonium. All of the Strong children that were not being physically restrained lunged for their oatmeal bowls. In a matter of seconds, large globs of lukewarm oatmeal were flying all through the restaurant. The Bonneville sisters screamed and tried to flee the dining room, but their movement only made them targets. Vivian elbowed Honoria in her attempt to bolt, sending her crashing against Solomon. Solomon grabbed her and held her up, but in his effort to counterbalance, he thrust out a foot, which tripped Melinda.
The thugs rushed to try to restrain as many of the children as possible, but they were outnumbered. Hubert and Millie managed to wriggle away and set about grabbing and throwing whatever food they could get their hands on from any of the tables in the restaurant. A stray piece of bacon hit Athos in the head, followed by Millie’s overexcited, “Sorry, Papa.”
It wasn’t until Athos spotted Gunn sprinting for the restaurant that he shouted, “Children, stop!”
Instantly, all eight of the kids froze where they were. Their eyes glittered brightly, as if they would burst into action again as soon as he gave the word.
“This is an outrage!” Mrs. Lyon shouted.
“It certainly is,” Bonneville agreed. His daughters hadn’t made it out of the room, and now three of them stood huddled together weeping in frustration, as Honoria continued to hide her face against Solomon’s shoulder. “I demand action be taken at once.”
“So do I,” Athos joined the fray. “I demand that my children be returned home this instant.”
“They should all be locked up in jail,” Vivian whined.
“Or a pigpen,” Melinda added.
“No one is being locked in any jails.” Gunn intervened the moment he reached the restaurant. “I’ll take the children back up to their rooms and—”
“No!” Mrs. Lyon thundered.
Gunn turned to her, brow raised in horror, eyes flashing with indignation.
“This was a mistake,” Mrs. Lyon went on, not recognizing the danger she’d stepped into.
“It was a mistake,” Athos panted. “Return my children to me at once.”
“It was a mistake to lodge the children at this hotel, so close to the disruptive influence of their father.”
“What?” Elspeth stepped forward. “That’s absurd. He’s their father. He has a right to see his children.”
“Not if it incites them to behavior such as this,” Mrs. Lyon growled.
In the back of Athos’s mind, it dawned on him that letting his children run riot, even if it was in defense of him, wasn
’t necessarily the right way to convince the world they should be returned to him.
“The children should be lodged somewhere far from that man’s influence,” Mrs. Lyon went on, thrusting a finger at Athos. “They should not have any contact with him at all.”
“That’s not fair,” Heather called out.
“He’s our father,” Ivy added.
“Let us go,” Hubert rounded out the complaint.
“No.” Mrs. Lyon stomped to underline her point. A diabolical light flashed in her eyes. “No, you all are behaving like perfect animals, so you should be kept where those animals are kept.”
“Yes, a pigpen,” Melinda exclaimed.
“Lock them in a stable,” Bebe added.
“I still think they should be in jail,” Vivian muttered.
“Are you going to put us in a zoo?” Thomas asked, his question somewhat hopeful.
Mrs. Lyon ignored him, crossing in front of Athos and Elspeth, stepping over splotches of oatmeal and scrambled eggs on the carpet, until she reached the Bonneville cluster. “No, the children should be secured on a ranch until such a time as my order can be enforced. You own a ranch, I believe, Mr. Bonneville.”
Stunned silence fell over the Bonneville sisters.
“You can’t mean that they should live at our house until the judge takes them away?” Vivian squeaked.
“That is exactly what I mean.” Mrs. Lyon nodded. “As I understand it, your ranch is a sufficient distance from town, you have many ranch hands who could prevent Mr. Strong from interfering, and,” she rounded on Rex Bonneville, “you were the one who lodged the complaint.”
Athos’s temper flared. He clenched his fists and inched forward to protest.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Gunn…grinning. It gave him pause. Frustrated and confused, he sent a questioning look Gunn’s way.
Still grinning as if Mrs. Lyon had just told a riotous joke, he met Athos’s eyes and shook his head.
Athos let out a breath, as confused as ever. Then again, if Gunn thought it was a good idea—a funny idea—that his children should be taken out to the Bonneville ranch, then maybe it was. He could just imagine Bonneville and his spoiled daughters trying to put up with Vernon and Lael’s antics or Thomas’s constant questions or Ivy and Heather’s emotional turns. He blinked, grinning himself. Why, if the Bonnevilles had to deal with his kids for more than a few days, they’d be sending them back in no time.
“I agree,” he said, nodding and crossing his arms.
“What?” Vivian snapped, looking downright sick.
“I agree that the children would be safest at the Bonneville ranch,” Athos repeated.
The children turned to him, stunned.
“But…but Papa.”
“I want to go home.”
“The Bonneville ranch?”
“If you can’t stay at home with me until the judge gets here—” Athos started.
“On Friday,” Gunn interrupted. Everyone assembled turned to him in surprise. “I’ve just had a telegram,” Gunn went on. “Judge Andrew Moss will be here on Friday.”
“That’s less than a week,” Elspeth said, eyes bright.
Athos reached for her hand, squeezing it. “I agree that the children should stay at the Bonneville ranch until Friday.”
“That’s not what was supposed to happen,” Bebe blurted.
“You can’t make us take these vagrants in,” Melinda sniffed.
“I wouldn’t mind taking care of them for a few days.” Honoria stepped away from Solomon and smiled tentatively at the kids.
“Shut up, Honoria,” Vivian sighed.
“You were the one who instigated these proceedings,” Mrs. Lyon reminded Rex.
A moment of expectant silence followed as they all turned to Rex Bonneville.
Rex clenched his jaw, narrowed his eyes, and held his breath. He glared at Athos and at Solomon. Then he said in a tight voice, “All right. They can come to my ranch. But if they break or destroy anything, you’re paying for it,” he spat at Athos, then turned to march out of the room.
“Yeah, you’ll pay for it,” Bebe repeated, then tilted her nose in the air and followed her father out.
Melinda and Vivian did the same. Honoria glanced after them, then skipped over to Athos.
“I’ll watch out for them.” Her promise was followed by a racking cough.
“Miss Honoria, perhaps you should see Dr. Meyers about that cough before you head home,” Solomon suggested.
“It’s nothing.” Honoria smiled up at him, cheeks pink, then fled the room.
“Gentlemen, prepare the children to be taken to the Bonneville ranch,” Mrs. Lyon ordered her thugs.
“Yes, ma’am,” they answered, then began to herd the kids out of the restaurant.
The kids didn’t go without protest, though.
“I’m scared,” Geneva confessed.
“Me too,” Millicent echoed.
“I’ll make them regret ever taking us,” Hubert vowed.
“No.” Athos held out his hand and shook his head. “Children, you have to behave while you’re at the Bonneville ranch.”
“What?” Vernon and Lael protested.
“That’s no fun.” Ivy exchanged a wicked glance with her twin.
“Trust me.” Athos shuffled into the lobby, Elspeth following, as the thugs pushed the children on. “I think Mr. Gunn and Mr. Templesmith, Elspeth and I are about to hatch a plan to bring you home.”
“Yay!” The younger children shouted.
“Quiet!” Mrs. Lyon snapped. She made sure the children were pushed to the back hall where they’d had their scene the day before.
It was near torture for Athos to let them go. Heart aching, he turned back to Gunn and Solomon. He reached for Elspeth’s hand, and once he held it tight, he asked, “What do we do?”
Chapter 7
Throughout the entire, chaotic scene in the restaurant, Elspeth stood by Athos’s side. It didn’t take a genius to see that there was so much more to the conflict in front of them than children’s behavior or the kind of father Athos was. The Bonneville family was a stunning example of how clean dresses and perfect posture meant nothing if what was inside the package was rotten. The only Bonneville that Elspeth didn’t find completely repugnant was Honoria, but even an outsider could see that the shy young woman didn’t stand a chance against her ill-mannered, vindictive sisters.
“The Bonnevilles are crafty,” Solomon said in answer to Athos’s question. He gestured for Athos and her to follow him to a quieter corner of the lobby as Mr. Gunn fretfully gathered his staff to clean up the mess that had been made of his restaurant. “So we have to be craftier.”
“How?” The tell-tale signs that the entire catastrophe was taking its toll could be seen in the tension bunching Athos’s shoulders and the desperation lining his face.
Solomon extended a hand to a small sofa in the lobby’s corner, inviting Elspeth and Athos to sit. He took a seat kitty-corner to them in a chair. “We’re already off to a good start. I don’t think the Bonnevilles expected to be saddled with the children.”
“They certainly didn’t,” Elspeth said, bringing to mind the shock and horror on the sisters’ faces.
Athos reached for her hand and squeezed it. He’d been holding her hand a lot in the last day, just like Thomas had when his siblings were all at school and he hadn’t quite known what to do with himself.
“They’ll get a taste of what it’s like to parent eight children, that’s for sure,” Solomon went on. “But we must also find a way to get word to them that they must behave like perfect angels while they’re out there on the ranch.”
“What?” Elspeth and Athos asked at the same time. They exchanged a look of surprised that they’d answered in chorus, then gave their attention back to Solomon.
“Hear me out.” Solomon raised his hands. “The complaint that was taken to the court in Cheyenne alleges that the children are out-of-control as well as being neg
lected and mismanaged.”
“They’re not,” Athos insisted. “They’re just lively, interested children.”
“I know that,” Solomon went on, “but if the appeals judge had witnessed the scene we just saw, what conclusions do you think he would draw?”
Elspeth’s shoulder sagged with delayed embarrassment over the food fight. “I can see why having them behave in front of the judge would be helpful,” she said, “but how does good behavior while at the Bonneville ranch benefit us?” She would have thought that the case to return the children to Athos as quickly as possible would have been better made if they drove the Bonneville sisters to the brink of insanity.
One peep at Athos told her he thought the same thing. “I doubt they’re displaying church manners right now.”
“Then you need to figure out a way to go out to the ranch and tell them,” Solomon said. “If the children are clever enough to change the Bonneville sisters’ minds, make them think that they’re the sweetest bunch of angels that ever graced the earth, then they might retract their complaint before the judge even gets here.”
“But what about that Lyon woman?” Athos asked. “She seems like a real shrew, and not particularly likely to give up now that she’s got the bit between her teeth.”
“Ah, but she’s not the one who brought the case before the courts,” Solomon explained. “She was merely sent to fulfill the judge’s order. Once the appeals judge makes a ruling, she will have to abide by it.”
“Then you’re right.” Elspeth sat straighter. “All we need to do is convince this appeals judge that the case is frivolous and was brought about out of revenge for imagined wrongs, and he’ll side with Athos and the children will be returned.”
“Exactly.” Solomon smiled, studying Elspeth. “I heard a rumor that Charlie, Virginia, and Josephine had picked out a remarkable bride for Athos, but I see now that the rumors didn’t come close to the truth.”
Elspeth blushed and looked down. “I’ve hardly been here long enough to be the subject of rumors.”
Solomon smirked. “This is Haskell.” That seemed to be explanation enough. “At this rate, I should get them to send for a bride for me.”