Creighton Manor

by Karen Michelle Nutt

  Gillian hoped that Samantha was right or their attempt to save Zachary would be lost since Dora was their only hope of finding out what really happened.

  "Are you ready to go?" The captain looked at Gillian. “It’s no secret. Zachary claimed the body found by the river wasn’t you, but no one believed him.”

  “That’s why I’m here.” Gillian squinted against the sun. "I'm ready. Let's make this boat fly."

  The captain chuckled. "The Ida Belle is no bird, Mrs. Creighton, but I'll surely push her to the limits."

  Gillian paced most of the trip. She couldn't sit still. She was worried she would be too late. The captain was sure the sentencing was today. She had to be there before that happened.

  Finally, they docked and the captain wished her Godspeed. She remembered where the courtroom was located from her last visit into town with Zachary.

  No one gave her a second glance as she quickly made her way. When she finally reached the building, she straightened her dress and took a deep breath and exhaled. She then opened the door and entered.

  It took her a moment for her eyes to adjust. The courtroom was not very big, but it was crammed with people. Some were standing against the wall and in the aisles. Gillian worked her way to the front. Her eyes caught sight of Zachary sitting next to Ellery at the front table.

  "Will the defendant please rise?" The judge looked at Zachary and waited.

  Zachary rose from his seat and stood tall and straight, his shoulders squared as he waited to hear his sentence.

  "Zachary, the jury has come to a decision . . ."

  Gillian moved her way around one of the spectators. "Your honor, may I say something before you proceed?"

  All eyes riveted toward her, stunned into silence. Someone whispered her name and the courtroom immediately buzzed with speculations. She kept her eyes on Zachary, who in return looked at her with disbelief. God, she had forgotten how blue his eyes were.

  She heard Tyler's voice above all the commotion. "Aunt Gillian, you're back."

  With the mention of her name, the voices rose until she couldn’t hear what the judge was saying.

  He pounded his gavel four times before there was order in the court again. "Please approach the bench, young lady." Gillian walked to the front of the room. She felt uneasy, knowing all eyes were on her.

  Judge Turloff waited until she stood before him. "What is your name young lady?"

  She straightened her shoulders and answered. "Gillian Creighton.”

  "You'll swear this under oath?"

  "Yes, your honor."

  "Please turn around and face the people of the court," Judge Turloff asked Gillian, kindly. The judge addressed Josephine Locke. "Is this woman, Gillian Creighton?"

  Josephine’s hand flew to her mouth. “What have I done?”

  "We're waiting?" Judge Turloff boomed.

  Josephine glanced at Zachary then to Gillian. "Yes," Josephine barely answered above a whisper, but it was quite loud enough for everyone to hear.

  Judge Turloff looked at Zachary. "Is this your wife?"

  Zachary searched Gillian's face, confusion evident in his wide blue eyes. Gillian knew he had questions. They thought they would never see each other again and yet here she stood. It felt like a dream to her. She could only imagine what he must feel. "Yes, sir.” Zachary’s voice was husky with a quiet intensity that brought all eyes around to meet his. “The beautiful woman standing before you is my wife."

  Judge Turloff hit his gavel down on the desk with a loud thump. "This case is dismissed on the grounds that Gillian Creighton…" He pointed to her, “…obviously was not murdered."

  Arthur Mann jumped to his feet. "What about the attempted murder of Dora? Surely you don't plan on letting this man go." Arthur pointed to Zachary.

  Ellery was on his feet also. "Looking at how this case has been twisted into lies. I move to have this also thrown out of court."

  Judge Turloff looked as if he would have liked to, but Gillian knew ethically he couldn’t. "I will postpone testimony over Dora Chandler, until we have gone over all the evidence with a fine tooth comb." He looked at Arthur Mann. "If you cannot prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Zachary is the attacker, I will release him. Is that understood?”

  Arthur nodded.

  "Good. Now in the matter of the woman found by the river, we need to find out her true identity, so we can notify her family." Then the judge looked at Zachary. "Until such notice, I will have to ask you to stay with us a while longer."

  "But, Judge Turloff . . . " Ellery began, but the Judge raised his hand, halting the flow of words.

  "What I say stands. Do not argue with me." He looked at the restless crowd in the courtroom. "Court adjourned." He hit the gavel to the desk and rose from his seat.

  Everyone at once started to leave, but Gillian stood where she was and watched the sheriff take Zachary away.

  Lotti, Ellery and Tyler were beside her in seconds, all of them at once, asking questions. It would have been comical, if the situation at hand hadn’t been so dire.

  "One at a time." Gillian tried to calm them.

  "How did you manage to find your way back?" Ellery was the one to speak first.

  "Molly of course," she answered simply.

  "You’re really here." Lotti hugged her. “Thank you.”

  "Will they let me go to him?" Gillian looked to Ellery.

  He smiled. "They will. Come with me."

  ***

  Zachary stood when he heard the door open. Luke led Gillian inside and down to his cell. He had wondered if she would come to see him, or if she would simply disappear back to her time. Luke opened the cell to let her in. Then he went back up front to give them some privacy.

  She stood staring at him, her auburn hair framing her beautiful face. If it were possible she was more beautiful than he remembered. The throbbing desire to kiss her turned into a slow roll of want, but before he would put his heart on the line, he needed to know where he stood with her. "Why did you come back?" he blurted out.

  Her gaze didn’t waver. "I had a horrible dream about you, Zachary. I couldn’t rest until I found out what happened to you. Samantha and Jerry helped me search for the truth." She chewed on her lower lip and he knew she hesitated to tell him what they found, but he already knew.

  "I was found guilty and they hung me, didn’t they?"

  Gillian nodded. "When Molly appeared, I had to go. I couldn't let you hang for something you didn't do."

  "Oh." He looked away trying to hide the disappointment that centered just behind his heart. She felt guilty. That’s why she came. He guessed he should be grateful she had a conscience. "You shouldn't have come," he said quietly.

  Gillian walked up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I had to. Shouldn't a wife stand by her husband?”

  He turned to look at her again. His right eyebrow lifted slightly as a whisper of hope touched him. "What are you saying?"

  Gillian lifted her left hand.

  He swallowed hard when he caught sight of the wedding ring she wore.

  "I want to be with you always, Zachary. When you went back with Tyler, I tried to go to you, but I waited too long. I was a fool to have ever let you go, and worse for not seeing what I had. Right before you disappeared, you said something to me. Do you remember what it was?"

  He nodded and repeated the words. “Grá mo chroi.”

  "That's what the man in my dream always tells me."

  He ran his fingers through his hair and couldn’t help but smile. "Let me get this straight: If I had spoken Irish endearments to you from the start, you would have gladly fallen into my arms?" He chuckled, but she didn’t laugh. Hell and Damnation, she was serious.

  “It didn't matter that you pledged those words, for I already knew in my heart that I belonged with you." She touched her hand to her chest. “Did you mean what you said in the letter that you left me or have your feelings changed?”

  He caught her hand and pressed it to his che
st. “I meant every word, Gillian.”

  "You asked me why I came back.”

  He nodded and swallowed the lump in the back of his throat.

  “I came back because I love you.” Her eyes brimmed with tenderness and longing.

  "A ghile mo chroí." His mouth descended upon hers and he felt her knees go weak. He held her tight. He wouldn’t let her fall. He drank in the sweetness of her kiss, making him hungry for more. His hands glided down her back, drawing her closer. Neither one wanted to let go of the other, but the circumstances of where they were warranted that they had better stop. He reluctantly lifted his head and drew in a rugged breath. Her eyes fluttered open, still drugged with passion. He brushed a strand of her hair away from her face.

  Her lips curved. "What do those words mean? The ones you say in Irish."

  "Grá mo chroi, means my darling and a ghile mo chroí, means my heart's beloved."

  She rested her head against his chest and hugged him. "A ghile mo chroí.”

  Zachary cradled her against him while he ran his hands through her long unbound hair. As much as he wanted her to be with him, he couldn’t say it, for right now his future looked bleak. Dora could die and he would hang for her murder. He reluctantly let her go so that he could think logically. "Come over here." He led her to the cot and bade her to sit down with him. He held her hand, caressing the ring he had given her.

  Gillian must have sensed something was wrong. “Talk to me, Zachary?”

  He leaned forward and kissed the tiny frown lines that were etched between her brows, hoping to erase them. He leaned back and squeezed her hand tenderly. "You don't know how long I have waited for you to tell me you wanted to be with me. I would like nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you, but unfortunately, that will probably never happen. If you didn’t know, Dora was seriously injured. Lotti has seen her and has talked to the doctor. She'll not recover." He took a deep breath and released it. He was afraid to ask, but he had to know. "I would never hurt Dora, you know this don’t you?"

  "Zachary, it never crossed my mind that you would have.”

  He sighed in relief.

  "But the question is: Who would?"

  He ran his fingers through his hair. "I've gone over it again and again in my mind without any answers. The woman that had been mistaken for you, she was found wearing your brooch."

  "My brooch… the one you gave me? The one that was your mother's?"

  "Yes. What I don't understand is how she had obtained it."

  "I distinctly remember leaving it on the nightstand. Could the woman have broken into the house and stolen the brooch? Maybe Dora came upon her and the woman attacked her."

  "Ellery and I have thought about that, but it just doesn't make sense. Where did the woman come from? If only we could have made an identification other than the brooch. By the time someone found the woman, nature had taken its toll and no one could identify her. The woman had reddish-color hair and she was wearing your clothes. That is why everyone was so convinced it was you.”

  “We proved it wasn’t.”

  “Yes, you did, but it doesn’t clear me of the other charges. Now that you are aware of what I am up against, you can see why you must not wait around for me. If Molly offers you a way back to your time, please promise me you’ll take it."

  "I'm not leaving you. Besides, we still have hope. I forgot to tell you, Jerry and Samantha are with me. At this moment, Jerry is looking at Dora and seeing if he can do anything to help."

  "Jerry is here?"

  "Yes, and he brought enough medical supplies to open up a clinic. If Dora can be saved, Jerry will do it."

  "I hope your right." For the first time, he felt a glimmer of hope.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Dr. Jenson was taking care of Dora and by the looks of it; he was doing a piss poor job of it. It took some convincing, but with the letter from Captain Pike, the doctor attending Dora finally allowed Jerry to examine her. Dora was very ill, burning with fever and in dire need of fluids. Jerry could see that the wound had not ruptured anything vital, which in itself was a miracle, but it was infected. From what Jerry was able to find out, Dr. Jenson had bled the poor woman repeatedly to rid her of what he thought was poison in her system. Jerry would have throttled the man on the spot if Samantha hadn’t intervened and led the doctor outside.

  Jerry had Samantha stand guard at the door, while he set up an IV. Dora needed her strength and antibiotics. He didn't want to have anyone stopping him from what he was doing because they didn't understand the technology.

  Jerry listened to Dora's heartbeat.

  Samantha moved beside him. She waited until he was finished before she asked, "Can you save her?"

  He looked at her and sighed. "I'm not sure, though she does have a strong heartbeat. I'll know more in twenty-four hours. If she responds to the medication, I think she may have a chance." He looked at the woman that was lying on the bed. "She's a fighter that one. She's lasted this long with the quack doctor out there," Jerry said disgustingly as he nodded toward the closed door. "He tried to suck the life out of her, but luckily he didn't succeed." He moved around the bed and checked the IV that was hanging from a coat rack to make sure it was dripping properly. Once, he was satisfied that he did all he could do for the woman, he pulled up two seats, offering one to Samantha. All they could do now was wait.

  ***

  Gillian reluctantly left the jail with Ellery, promising Zachary she would be back first thing in the morning.

  "Lotti asked me to escort you to Bowyer Hotel,” Ellery told her.

  Gillian stopped suddenly and took hold of Ellery's sleeve making him look at her. "We can't let them sentence Zachary for something that he didn't do. I didn't come all this way to lose him again."

  "I know, Gillian, but my hands are tied. The weapon was Zachary's knife. Dora was stabbed in his home, his room to be exact. There are no witnesses. As far as we know nothing was taken from the house."

  "Yes, there was."

  Ellery gave her a quizzical look. "Are you talking about the brooch? Zachary was not sure if it had been in the house."

  "It was. I know I put it on the nightstand. Everyone was convinced that the woman who drowned was supposed to be me, that no one questioned the possibility the brooch was stolen. The woman had to have been in the house. It’s the only explanation as to how she got it."

  "Even if she was the one that was in the house, we don't know who she is. She had nothing else on her person that could identify her."

  “We have to try again.”

  “Believe me, we will.”

  "May I ask another favor of you?" Gillian asked.

  "Anything."

  "Can you help me send a message to my friends."

  Ellery looked quizzical at her. "Friends?"

  "Yes. They're from my time and they are, at this moment, trying to see if they can save Dora."

  “I don’t believe they can, but then I am not familiar with the wonders of the twenty-first century. Come, we’ll send a telegram.”

  Ellery waited anxiously with Gillian for the response to the telegraph message they sent. Finally, they had an answer, even though it didn’t tell them what they wished to hear. Jerry sent a message that Dora was no better, but she was no worse either. He said he would send another message, tomorrow. Knowing there was not much more they could do, Ellery walked Gillian to the Bowyer Hotel and bade her goodnight.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  Dora groaned as she moved her stiff limbs. Where was she?

  “Are you awake? Can you hear me?” a man’s voice asked.

  He had a nice voice. Dora turned her head toward him, squinting her eyes as she tried to focus. She kept hearing the strange man saying something to her, but she wasn’t sure what he was trying to tell her. She closed her eyes and would have gone back to sleep, but the man was insistent. She opened her eyes once more. This time the young man's face was clearer. He was very handsome, she thought, but she couldn�
��t place who he was. Finally, she recognized the words that the man was saying to her.

  "I'm Doctor Jerry Avery. Do you know who you are?"

  Dora stared at him. Who was this man? Movement caught her attention and she turned her head. A woman with long blonde hair walked over to stand next to the doctor. She looked worried.

  Jerry asked the question again. "Do you know who you are?"

  Dora couldn't seem to make her vocal chords work. She settled on a nod.

  "Can you tell me your name?”

  The doctor was getting on her nerves. Couldn't he see how tired she was? Since it seemed he wasn’t going to leave her alone without her answering, she swallowed and tried again to use her voice. It was scratchy but the words came out. "My name is Dora Chandler.”

  The handsome doctor’s lips curved into a smile.

  Now that she was awake, she was a little curious. "Where am I?" she croaked out the words. She tried to look around her, but she felt stiff and uncomfortable. Then she tried to move and that was worse for she felt a sharp pain sear through her. She decided to stay very still.

  "You're at the doctor's office. You were attacked. Do you know by whom?"

  Dora thought for a moment. She was attacked? Then the memories of what happened came flooding back. Her eyes grew big as saucers as she nodded. "Yes, I know who it was. It be that woman…" Dora fought to remember the name.

  Jerry patted her arm. “Take a breath.”

  She nodded and swallowed. "Violet… Ellsworth,” she forced the name out. “She was in the house. Crazy… stabbed me.”

  Samantha and Jerry exchanged looks. They had a name of the attacker. They just had to get the information to Gillian.

  ***

  Gillian and Ellery were at the telegraph office promptly at twelve. Gillian could not sit still. She paced up and down the walk. Ellery was just as nervous as she was for an answer, but had decided to take a seat on the bench.

  "I wish telephones were already invented. Heck, what I would do for a cell phone. This is driving me crazy." Gillian threw up her hands.