"Mr. Barton, may I ask another favor of you?"
He looked nervous, ready to bolt and run. "What is it?"
When he turned that golden-eyed gaze on her, she almost lost her voice. He was the handsomest man she'd ever met.
She said, "Perhaps you could tell the desk clerk we need a doctor. While you're there, you could get another room for yourself. I believe there's a connecting door between your room and mine, which makes it ideal for the boys.”
She flushed, remembering the time she'd spent peeking through the keyhole. No wonder she thought of him by his first name. How could she think otherwise of a man she watched undress?
"First we better get a story straight. You can't just haul kids around without permission from their family unless you have a good reason."
Sarah blanched. Intent on saving these children, she never stopped to think about permission from anyone. Surely if anyone cared about them, they wouldn't have been where they were in the first place. Still, she had better do this right. She scooted a chair around to face the bed and sat down.
"All right, children. This is Mr. Barton. My name is Sarah Kincaid. You may call me Miss Sarah. Luke, do you have any family here?"
He looked sad and hung his head. "No, ma'am. When our folks died, the preacher kept us 'til he wrote letters and got answers. He sent us here on the train. Our mama's Aunt Sue was supposed to meet us and take us to her house to live, but she didn’t never come."
"You mean someone put you on the train alone?" Sarah asked.
"Miz Simmons rode this far with us, but she had to leave us to catch another train. She said to wait on a bench in front of the depot 'til Aunt Sue come. We waited all day."
"Didn't anyone from the depot see you all alone and try to help you?” Sarah's blood started to boil.
"A mean-eyed man kept talking to us, kept saying we should come with him. He tried to pick Cindy up but she wouldn't let him. Kicked him hard. I got scared, but that's when Joe come and helped us get away."
"And how long ago was that?"
The two boys looked at one another, then shrugged.
"Do you think it was over this many days?" She held up all ten fingers.
Both boys nodded and Luke added, "I think it was a long time ago when Ma and Pa died. Reckon it was right after school started. When the preacher got a letter back, he said we'd be at Aunt Sue's in plenty of time for Christmas.”
Nate decided to take over the interview. At this rate Sarah would take all night and into next week.
"What's your last name, kid?" he asked Luke.
"Davis."
He pointed to Joe. "You read and write your name?"
Joe nodded.
Nate took paper and a pencil from the desk and handed them to the boy. "Write your full name."
With his tongue caught between his lips, Joe slowly scrawled his two names.
Nate picked up the paper. He could barely read the awkward letters scribbled in varying sizes. For a kid his size, this one hadn't spent many hours in school.
"Josiah Edwards. Edwards is your last name?” When Joe nodded, Nate continued. "Listen Josiah Edwards and Luke Davis. You stay here in this room with Miss Kincaid while I go fetch the doc and get this room thing arranged. I'll have the cook send up some food for your supper.” Before he opened the door, he paused and turned back.
"I'll tell the desk clerk and doctor you're relatives of Miss Kincaid's. You've been visiting other relatives, and we met your train here. Got that?"
Both boys nodded. "Miss Kincaid, may I have a word in private?”
She followed him into the hall, worry marring that gorgeous face. Her petulant rosebud lips made him want to kiss them into a full-bloomed smile.
"Surely we don't have to lie about the children," she said, her disapproval obvious. "Or teach them to lie as well."
Just what he'd expect from a naive busy body. "We covered that. You think the people who run this hotel are going to let a single woman bring in three ragamuffin kids? You don't want them shipped to some orphanage, do you? Tomorrow I'll start asking around, see if I can find out anything about them. Unless we turn up some kin, stick with my story."
"Yes, I can see you're right." She turned a full smile on him. "Thank you for helping us. You're being very kind.”
Her smile slammed right into him, churned his gut into mush. And damned if those lavender-blue eyes didn't suck him right in. He'd better be careful or he'd be paying her to take his inheritance from him.
"You be thinking what you'll tell those people--Welborn, isn't it? They're not going to hang around while you play nursemaid to a sick girl."
The silvery tinkle of her laugh caught him off guard. "Now that's an unexpected bonus.”
When she closed the door behind him, he stomped down the hall. If he didn't get roped into some of the durndest things just to make a few dollars--or get back what should be his.
Not only had he wasted a ten-dollar gold piece to get the room next to Miss Butter-Wouldn't-Melt-In-Her-Mouth Sarah Kincaid, but now he had to spend more to get a second room on the same damn floor. Good thing he beat that swine Welborn at cards. He had to give it to Miss Priss Kincaid, though. She went with that Luke kid right off into a dark alley. Took guts. And stupidity. No telling what or who might have been waiting.
Remembering the encounters he witnessed with Welborn on the boat and with the kid, he understood several things. One, someone had instructed her in defending herself. Two, the shy and proper little lady had a temper. Three, she had a real soft spot for kids. Better file those facts away for the future.
***
When the food came, Sarah thought Nate had ordered enough for several meals until the boys stuffed down most of it. Their manners were atrocious and both were far too dirty to even be in the room with food, much less eating. Sarah insisted they wash their hands, but made no other criticism. She decided to choose her battles. She wanted the children to accompany her to Texas. Pushing now might alienate both boys.
She hoped the doctor hurried. If they were at home, Pearl would know exactly what to do. Sarah had a fair idea, but she had none of Pearl’s store of herbs and remedies with her, not even anything to make a poultice or rub for Cindy’s chest.
In the meantime, Cindy drank warm tea and swallowed some chicken soup. Her breathing grew worse from the exertion, but Sarah thought the nourishment would help. Who knew when or what the child had last eaten? She was asleep when Nate returned with the doctor.
Dr. Wells confirmed Sarah's fears. "She's got pneumonia. Needs at least a week in bed here before you take her on a train ride.” He looked around the room, must have noted it was one of the more luxurious rooms offered by the hotel. "You'll be taking the sleeping cars when you leave?”
While waiting for the doctor to arrive, Sarah had decided to reserve one of the new Pullman cars straight through to the Kincaid Springs depot. "Yes. We'll take a Pullman car all the way. We won't even have to change trains."
He scratched his chin. "You might be able to get away in three or four days if you can keep her in one of the beds on the train, then. I'll stop around tomorrow and see how she's doing."
When the physician left, Nate stood by Cindy's bed examining a key. "Going across the hall. I'll move my things and open the boy's room from the other side.”
With the connection opened up, Sarah showed Luke and Joe their sleeping quarters. Luke took to it right away, bouncing on the bed in glee, but Joe looked wary. Nate strolled back in while she tried reasoning with Joe.
"You can both sleep at the same time. No one can bother you. Leave the connecting door open or closed, your choice."
Joe motioned to the hall door.
"You'll have the key and the door will be locked."
Joe shook his head and held up two fingers.
Before she could continue her argument, Nate walked to the armoire and shoved it in front of the hall door. "No one can come in now unless you move this for them.” He pushed a washstand near the op
ening between the rooms. "When you're ready to sleep, you can push this in front of the door if you're afraid. Got it?"
Obviously puzzled, Joe nodded. His wide eyes watched Nate's every move.
Nate knelt in front of Joe. The boy stepped back, but Nate met his gaze and pointed to the door between rooms. "You can leave that door open or close it. It won't make any difference. No one here will ever bother you. Not in any way. Understand?"
Joe met his gaze but made no movement. Nate gave him the key and stood. He took Sarah's arm and ushered her into the room in which Cindy lay sleeping. The door closed behind them and they heard sounds of the washstand being moved.
My stars, she thought. If they won't trust me enough to leave the door opened all the way, how will I ever convince Joe and Luke to come with me to Texas?
"He's so afraid of being trapped and attacked. You'd think he would be happy to have such a nice place to sleep after that horrid shack he's been in for who knows how long."
Nate paused, as if choosing his words carefully, then said, "I suspect the boy's had some bad things happen to him."
Sarah snapped, "Of course, he has or he wouldn’t have been living there in the first place."
"No, Ma'am, I don't think you understand.” He looked back at the closed door between the two rooms and shook his head. "I believe that boy has had terrible things done to him.” Owing to the line of work her mother was in, he hadn't expected her to be shocked. Maybe the rich folks she lived with protected her.
Sarah wondered why Nate repeated himself? She said, "I know he has. There's no telling who's been trying to steal that horrid shack from them. It's a wonder to me they've survived."
He turned her to face him and held her arms so she met his gaze. "What I mean is, I think he's been used as, um, as a girl by a man or men. Do you understand what I mean?"
"No, I..." His meaning jolted through her. A boy used as a girl? She'd read of such things happening in classic literature, but couldn't really understand it, found it hard to believe it happened in real life, especially in this day and age. "Oh. Oh, no.”
She thought she might throw up, so she rushed to a chair and sat down. "You mean someone did...that...to him? Poor Joe, what a horrid life he must have had.”
Tears gathered in her eyes and she struggled to hold them back. She still felt ill, nauseated at the thought. How could anyone treat a child that way?
Nate's voice softened and he knelt in front of her. "Sorry, I shouldn't have been so blunt. Didn't you notice how he moved away from me, how he watched my every move?”
She sniffed and pulled her handkerchief from her cuff to dab at her eyes. "I thought it was caution because he doesn't trust adults. I never thought of anything like...that."
He stood. "You'll have to give him plenty of room, Sarah. Sorry, I mean, Miss Kincaid."
"No, please, call me Sarah. You've helped us so much. And I'll call you Nate if I may.” That's how she thought of him anyway. Nate with the strong shoulders and muscled chest. Nate with eyes like a wolf. Nate, who made her think silly schoolgirl thoughts and her body react in odd and startling ways whenever he came near.
"Yes, please call me Nate. That boy won't trust either of us easily, especially not me. Don't be upset or push him."
"As long as he'll stay here, I'll be happy. Time later to worry about convincing him to move with me to Texas."
"You need help here right now?" he asked.
My stars, yes, she needed help. She needed his strong arms around her to comfort her while she rested her head against his broad chest. She needed his smooth words easing her fears. Too many things had happened, too much to absorb and deal with.
Taking a deep breath, she stiffened her spine. "You've done more than enough. Cindy's sleeping and her breathing's easier. I'll sit with her in case she wakes, but thank you."
She wanted to tell him not to leave her alone. After the doctor's diagnosis for Cindy and the troubling revelation about Joe, she needed him to stay. He wouldn't even have to talk to her, but she needed his presence.
"Then I'll be right across the hall. About midnight I'll come over and take a turn watching the little girl."
"That's not necessary, but thank you again.” She wished she could ask him to stay in her room tonight. What would he think, though? No doubt he'd take it as an invitation for much more. She almost risked it.
He opened the door. "Sarah, so you'll know, I told the doctor and desk clerk we're engaged. Seemed the easiest explanation for my being around.” With a click he was out of the room before she could respond.
The nerve of the man. Telling people they were engaged without even consulting her took gall. She worked herself into a state, but reason returned.
Nate was right. People would talk, and she hated to be the center of gossip. Lord knew she had more than enough of that as a child in Tennessee. She'd been so careful to avoid any impropriety in their new home when they reached Texas. True she'd helped Pearl with her restaurant for a few months until they'd sold it, but working for her sister really wasn't improper in spite of what Lily said. And hadn't she put up with Lily's shenanigans and tried to act every inch a lady for the past seven years?
She touched the ring on her finger. Rubies set in hearts. Scandalous to wear such fanciful jewelry while in mourning, but Sarah loved it. Mama had slipped it from her own finger and placed it on Sarah's, and Sarah wasn't about to take it off. Cal had given it to Mama to wear as a wedding ring, but it could easily be an engagement or betrothal ring.
Scooting an armchair beside the bed, Sarah wondered what being engaged to a handsome man like Nate Barton would be like. For one thing, he'd probably have kissed her good night. Her fingers touched her lips. She'd never been kissed, not by a man. Billy Jenkins when she was fourteen hardly counted.
Billy had caught her behind the church and planted a wet kiss on her lips before she knew what happened. Storm thought it was funny when she told him, but that's when Storm showed her ways to repel unwanted attention from a man.
She glanced at the proper little black-enameled watch pinned to her bodice. Nine o'clock. Only three hours and Nate would be back.
From the adjoining room she heard the scraping sounds of the washstand against the floor. The door opened a crack and Luke crept through. "Is she really gonna be all right?"
Though she had wondered herself earlier in the evening, Sarah nodded. "She'll be feeling better in no time. See, she's already breathing better."
He looked close to tears and patted his sister's hand where it rested on the covers. "I tried to take care of her, honest."
"Of course you did. I'll bet no other brother could have managed as well for so long, Luke. She's lucky to have you."
"You think so?” He brightened a little. "Joe helped me. I couldn't have done it without him."
"You make a good team. Why don't you go to sleep now and enjoy that nice big bed? In the morning we'll see about getting you cleaned up and into some different clothes."
"Joe won't sleep in the bed. He thinks it's a trick and he made him a place underneath. Got his club right beside him. It ain't a trick though, is it?"
"No, it's not a trick. Maybe when Joe sees how well you sleep in the bed, he'll change his mind.”
Luke chewed on his lip then asked, "Suppose maybe I ought to stay in here and take care of Cindy? I could sleep on that little cot you had brought in for you."
"I'll stay with her. If she wakes up and is afraid or asks for you, I'll come get you. Mr. Barton will be back in a few hours to help me take care of her tonight, so you can rest easy. After all, you and Joe have been taking care of her a long time. It's our turn."
"If you're sure. It's been a awful long time since I slept in a real bed. I ain't never slept in one that nice."
"Then it's time you did. Good night."
"Good night.” Luke slipped back through the door. This time he left it open a crack. Sometimes mere inches measured giant progress.
***
Nate
worded the message carefully so the telegraph operator wouldn't be able to understand it. No telling when some key man was working with the law. Monk had said he would check for wires every time he stopped. Nate sent the same wire to four cities, all addressed as agreed to Mike Masterson. It was a clean name, one they hadn't used before, just as Barton was clean for him. He finished the message and handed it to the telegraph operator.
Delayed in Memphis Central City Hotel STOP Here until Friday then Kincaid Springs Texas STOP Nate Barton END
If Monk got one of the wires, he would get here before Friday and know who to ask for. If not, he knew where to find Nate. All Nate had to do now was go back to do his shift at babysitting for Miss Lovely-To-Look-At Kincaid and bide time.
***
"You what?" Mrs. Welborn clutched at her throat with one hand, her mouth agape.
"I'll be staying here in Memphis for a few days until the little girl can travel.” Sarah braced herself for Mrs. Welborn's outrage. She wasn't disappointed.
"I've never heard of such a thing.” Mrs. Welborn looked like a steam engine, cheeks red, breath huffing around her shrill voice. "Taking in beggars off the streets. Staying unescorted in a hotel. Traveling alone. In spite of Lily's efforts to educate you in the finer aspects of life, you obviously take after your mother."
"Thank you. My mother was a fine woman."
Mrs. Welborn's eyes bulged and her face reddened. "She was a trollop."
"That's quite enough about my mother. You didn't even know her.” She took a deep breath to stay her anger. "These children need me and I'll stay until the little girl can travel safely. I'll hire a companion to accompany me on the trip."
"Hmph.” Mrs. Welborn's nose tilted upward. "Probably find an adventuress looking for a chance to rob you."
"Perhaps. One thing I can guarantee, she'll be far more pleasant than you and your lecherous husband.” With that, Sarah turned and left the Welborns' room.
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