Horse With No Name

by Alexandra Amor

  Julia took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter. Merrick's face was below hers and it was a new experience to be looking down at him.

  He continued, "Anything might be helpful, Julia. What accent did they have?"

  It was a good question. Nearly everyone in Canada was very recently from somewhere else, or their parents were. Julia closed her eyes. "English," she said. "Not posh. Rough."

  "Thick English?" Merrick asked, "As though they'd been raised there?"

  "Yes."

  "What else?"

  "They smelled of whisky. At least the first one did. He's the one who got right up close to me." She shuddered.

  "Good. That's good. Anything else?"

  "One of them was chewing tobacco. Not the one with the knife. The other one." She cast her mind back, reluctantly closing her eyes. "The first one called the other one Bill. They were wearing long coats. Like stockmen. And they both had hats on. Black, I think." She was quiet for a few more seconds, searching her memory for clues. The room was silent, waiting. Finally she opened her eyes. "That's it. I don't remember any more."

  "That's fine. You did well." Merrick stood up. "They could be drifters, or new drovers on a ranch. I'll have to ask around. We'll find them. Don't worry." He looked at Julia with concern, their mutual embarrassment about Millie Jones' matchmaking evaporating.

  Merrick turned to Hunter and began asking him similar questions, but the clockmaker wasn't able to add much new information.

  Though it was early, the dance was finished for that night. Heaped onto the residual fear Julia felt, was guilt at spoiling the event for the townspeople. She tried to protest when people began packing up their food, and gathering their coats, but Betty wouldn't hear her protestations.

  "It's not your fault, Julia. We are your friends. We want to help."

  Betty helped Julia gather her shawl and bag.

  As she began to leave the building with Betty and her husband, Christopher, a thought suddenly occurred to her. She turned and found Merrick standing close by, conferring with Mayor Billy, Walt and Edgar Finnegan. "They knew who I was."

  Merrick's eyebrows drew closer together. "Really?"

  "Yes, they called me by name."

  Three

  Elise Campbell had fallen and torn her stockings. Grit and small bits of gravel were ground into the soft skin on her knee. The girl sniffled as Julia wiped blood carefully away and dabbed the wound with a soft cloth.

  This was one aspect of the job of schoolteacher that Julia had not been prepared for; she was mother hen during the day to all the children who filled the schoolhouse. Raised as an only child, she was unprepared for the maternal feelings that were growing within her with each passing day. Elsie was just the latest in a string of injuries that had befallen the pupils on that Monday. Julia wasn't sure if it was because she was rattled from the events of the dance two nights previous, but there seemed to be some sort of curse on the classroom. Edgar Butters tripped first thing in the morning and banged his head on the side of Julia's desk. Luckily the boy's skull appeared to be impervious to ill treatment, and he was laughing about it with the other boys in the yard at lunch. A bird flew into one of the windows and landed with a soft thud in the yard. That accident had turned into a science lesson. Julia found a basket and laid an old tea towel in the bottom. She and the students all trooped outside and gathered the bird up, bringing it inside, away from predators. It was a purple finch, which brought on discussions of migration and eating habits, which Julia much preferred to rote teaching of the multiplication tables.

  But the catastrophes weren't over yet. After lunch the two youngest pupils got into a spat, the genesis of which Julia was still not sure she understood. They had to be separated, which caused them both to sulk for the remainder of the day. And then, just as Julia was locking up the doors to go home, Elise came up the schoolhouse stairs, weeping with her bloody knee on display.

  "There," Julia said, giving the knee a final swipe with her cloth, "it's all clean. Feel better?" She looked up from where she was kneeling in front of Elise. The child was shuddering softly with the leftover breaths of weeping. She had the end of one of her braids in her mouth. Julia reached up and removed it. "Come on," she said, "I'll walk you home."

  The girl's dark eyes brightened at this. She wiped her nose on her sleeve.

  The day before, Sunday, Julia had woken in an unfamiliar bed. It took her a few moments to realize she was in the Mitchells' spare bedroom. They had coddled her; making her a lovely breakfast of fresh boiled eggs, thick slices of bacon and fresh baked scones. Together they walked to church and bumped into Merrick on their way.

  Merrick and Julia fell into step a few houses down from the school that would be operating as the church. Merrick was wearing what Julia had come to recognize as his Sunday suit. He had on the black, wide-brimmed hat he always wore. Julia had never seen Merrick look untidy and today was no exception. He was clean-shaven, and the silver watch-chain on his vest gleamed. Some men look ill-suited to their profession; the thin cook or the sickly doctor. Merrick was not one of these. He was tall and imposing, and when at rest his expression was often solemn. Julia knew him to be kind and fair, but criminals would not make that assumption at first glance. He knew how to use his height and stature to his advantage. Now his blue-green eyes looked at her cautiously.

  “How are you?” the constable asked.

  “Fine, thank you. And thank you for last night."

  "I did nothing. Mr. Hunter deserves all the credit."

  "I am so grateful to him. But also to you. And everyone." She glanced back briefly at the Mitchells, who walked arm-in-arm.

  Merrick looked down at her. "Today I'm going to ride out to Middle Lake Ranch and talk to Herbert Green. He's got several new drovers, I think, and I want to talk to them."

  Julia thought about this for a minute. "I should go with you."

  Merrick stopped in his tracks, and stared at her. "You must be joking."

  "No, I'm not. You need to identify the men, and Mr. Hunter and I are the only people who can do that."

  The Mitchells caught up to them and Merrick's feet began to move forward again by rote. "Don't be ridiculous. I'll ask at the ranch, and if anyone acts suspicious or doesn't have a good explanation for where they were last night, I'll bring them in. You can identify them then, if necessary."

  Merrick seemed to be waiting for her to protest but when she didn't he nodded gently to himself.

  She wouldn't confess as much to Merrick, but she was relieved he had turned down her idea. After church she wanted to spend the rest of the day making herself a bath and then soaking in it for as long as the water stayed warm.

  Elise didn't speak while they walked down the street toward her home, but she held Julia's hand as she limped. Julia was quiet, also. Her bath the day before had been just what the doctor ordered, and the Mitchells had insisted she join them again that night for their Sunday roast dinner. They invited her to sleep there again, but she declined this time, wanting to get back to a routine that felt normal. Hoping that by doing so, she would begin to feel less shattered and anxious.

  Julia and her pupil arrived at Elise's front door. Elise pushed it open and called out, "Mother?"

  Mrs. Campbell appeared from the kitchen. The house smelled pleasantly of cooked onions and fresh bread.

  Elise began to cry again when she saw her mother.

  "Oh, my darlin'. What's happened?"

  "She's fine, Mrs. Campbell," Julia assured her from the threshold. "Just a little scrape."

  Beth Campbell crouched down and used the tea towel in her hand to wipe the tears from her daughter's face. She murmured softly to the girl for a few moments.

  "Go on, now," she said, standing up, "Go take those stockings off and put on your after school dress. Bring me your stockings once you've got them off and I'll darn them." She kissed the girl's cheek.

  When Elise was gone, Beth stood.

  "Let me make you a cup of tea, Miss T
hom."

  "I'd better not, Mrs. Campbell. I want to get to the clock shop before it closes. I want to thank Mr. Hunter for his help the other night." Hunter had not been at church the day before, and Julia couldn't remember if she'd thanked him sufficiently on Saturday night.

  Beth nodded and then the light in her eyes shifted slightly. "I was so sorry to hear about what happened to you at the dance, Miss Thom. That must have been awfully frightening."

  "It was a little unsettling, I must say," Julia conceded. The truth was that she had been more rattled by the event than she cared to admit. She had hardly slept at the Mitchells, and then in her own bed Sunday night, and felt herself anxiously looking over her shoulder several times during the day at school. She couldn’t get the smell of the two men - a mixture of chewing tobacco, whisky and sweat - out of her nose.

  "How nice that Mr. Hunter was there for you. He's such a lovely man. Quiet." She stopped, her eyes glancing down, thinking. "I don't actually know if I've heard the man say more than three words. But there are worse qualities in a man, aren't there?"

  Julia smiled, and shifted uncomfortably where she stood, now waiting for the first opportunity to leave the house.

  "He certainly came to your aid. A gun! My goodness." Beth clutched her hands to her chest, enjoying the drama.

  "It was just a tiny little thing," Julia said, wondering why she was downplaying the size of the gun.

  "The bullets still come out of it just as quickly as a large gun, I'm sure." Beth laughed a tinkly little twitter and Julia had to smile as well.

  "I must be going, Mrs. Campbell," Julia said and backed toward the door. "I just wanted to see Elise safely delivered."

  "Of course, Miss Thom. Thank you." Beth moved forward and just before Julia made her escape she put a hand on the teacher's arm. "You must tell me if Mr. Hunter refers to the escapades from Saturday night when you see him this afternoon. He must be feeling quite gallant."

  Julia cursed under her breath as she reacted to what seemed to be the collective town project that looked to involve marrying her off. She'd left her family home for just such a reason. Her parents didn't want her educated, they wanted her married. Despite encouraging her intelligence when she was a child, when push came to shove all her parents wanted from her were grandchildren. Julia's father had been her best friend, teaching her all he knew about the law. But when she began talking in earnest of applying to law school, even though no woman had yet attended one in Canada, he balked. Words were flung. Tears were cried. Julia felt betrayed by the man who, for the whole of her life thus far, has been her greatest ally. She had come to Horse in a rash move to punish her father, but also to escape the preordained role as wife and mother that she had felt herself being pushed into. And now I find myself in the same damn predicament, she thought as she stomped down the street. People being shoved in my face at dances, and matches made with men who inexplicably carry guns.

  She turned onto Main Street, her thoughts swirling, her anger growing and bouncing around inside her like a rubber ball in a drum. She wasn't quite ready to admit to herself that it felt better to be angry than to reflect on how afraid she'd been the night of the dance. As she walked down the wooden sidewalk, her heels tapping, she thought about what Mr. Hunter had done for her. She was grateful. About that there was no doubt. But she was not attracted to the man. Was she?

  Julia came to a stop on the sidewalk. Now she was second-guessing herself. Mr. Hunter was an attractive man in an unshowy kind of way. Did she have feelings for him?

  She shook her head and scoffed at herself. The townsfolk had gotten inside her head. Especially that passive-aggressive Millie Jones who would like nothing more than to have Julia married off to the first man who had laid eyes on her. She resumed her steps and hopped down off the end of the sidewalk when she reached Third Avenue.

  Mr. Hunter's shop was three doors past the corner. In the front window sat a display on an old pine dresser with several pocket watches and a mantel clock.

  The door creaked as it opened, and Julia closed it firmly behind her. She was determined to be as professional and courteous as possible, but she was not going to let others' ideas about her and Mr. Hunter cloud her mind.

  The shop rustled with the ticking of many clocks. There were several small wall clocks in the front of the shop, their pendulums swinging. Julia feigned interest in them for a moment, while she waited for Mr. Hunter to attend to her. A small counter stretched across the middle of the store, dividing the shop into front and back. Behind the counter was a wall and a doorway, and beyond that Mr. Hunter's workspace. Julia could see a workbench, crowded with tools and also the innards of what she assumed was a watch, laid out on what looked like a piece of dark velvet. She listened for a moment, trying to detect sounds coming from the workshop, but there were none. Perhaps Mr. Hunter was out back at the privy.

  She waited.

  After a few more moments with no sign of the proprietor, Julia went to the counter and called through the doorway behind it, "Hello? Mr. Hunter?"

  She waited, ears perked.

  Perhaps he had been called away. It seemed strange that he'd leave the door open in that case, but perhaps it was an emergency.

  Julia shrugged, relieved in a way not to have to face Mr. Hunter while she was still riled up. She turned and walked to the front door and yanked it open, perhaps slightly more aggressively than entirely necessary.

  Just as she raised her foot to step across the threshold she heard something. Turning, she waited. There it was again. At first she thought it was one of the clocks making an odd noise. But then it came again and she recognized it for what it was. A groan.

  She let go of the door and turned back. "Mr. Hunter?" she asked again, this time with fear touching her voice.

  At the far left of the counter was a gap with a small, knee-to-waist-height swinging door. Julia, still listening, walked to it and pushed through, aiming to go to the workspace in the back of the shop. But she was brought up short. There, on the floor behind the counter, lay Mr. Hunter. One of his arms was crumpled under him at an odd angle. He was lying on his stomach. There was a tear in one sleeve of his white shirt and his dark suit trousers looked splattered with some kind of dark liquid. His head was turned and rested on one cheek and the side facing Julia was covered in blood. The right eye was swollen almost completely shut; it bulged out from Hunter's face like a small balloon.

  Julia dropped to her knees and fumbled in her handbag for a handkerchief. "Oh dear, oh dear. Mr. Hunter, can you hear me?"

  She flung her purse to one side when she realized her handkerchief was not there. She must have left it at the school after using it to minister to Elise. Julia leaned forward and touched the man's arm gently. "Mr. Hunter? Are you awake? Can you hear me?"

  Something was digging into her left knee. She shifted slightly, and reached down with one gloved hand to brush away whatever it was. As her hand touched the offending object she caught a glimpse of it before it shot away from her touch and bounced off the baseboard behind her. It was a tooth.

  Four

  "Can you hold up your side a bit better please?"

  "I'm trying but you've got him hoisted so far up on your side that his weight is sliding down on me. You're both taller than me, you know," Julia said crossly, and slightly out of breath.

  "Okay, stop then. Let's try something else." Merrick stopped walking and shifted Hunter so that his arm wasn't around Merrick's shoulder. "Is that better?"

  "Yes." Julia said.

  They kept walking.

  Hunter needed medical attention, that much was obvious. Julia debated for a few seconds about running all the way through town to Dr. Parker's office to get him and bring him back to the store. She ran out into the street and, as luck would have it, Constable Merrick was riding by. He took one look at Julia's face and leapt off Earl, his big grey. He quickly threw the reins over the closest hitching post and followed Julia without a word into Hunter's store. After a quick assessment
, Merrick decided it would be better to just take Hunter to the doctor's office.

  "Stay here. I'll go get Walt."

  "Don't be ridiculous," Julia said, refusing to be relegated to the status of frail bystander. "We shouldn't waste time. Let's get him up into sitting position."

  When they did, the situation briefly worsened. Hunter's vest and shirt front were liberally covered in blood. His nose was sitting at an odd angle and was nearly as swollen as his right eye. His left eye still remained slightly open, but Julia expected that situation wouldn't last long. The right arm was clearly broken. Hunter moaned loudly when they sat him up.

  From there, as gently as they could, Julia and Merrick got Hunter standing between them. He was conscious, but just barely, and his feet dragged occasionally as they pulled/carried him out of the shop.

  Dr. Parker was waiting for them when they reached his surgery. Christopher Mitchell had been coming back from a delivery and spotted the ragged trio inching their way along Main Street. He’d run to the doctor to prepare him.

  "Put him on the table. Gently now."

  Julia and Merrick slowly made their way down the hallway at the front of Parker's house. In his office, the examination table was covered with a fresh sheet and lying flat.

  Julia and Merrick leaned Hunter against the table at its middle. Merrick unwound his arm from Hunter's side and then while Julia squiggled out of the way, the doctor and Merrick gently lifted the patient up onto the bed. Hunter groaned once and his head flopped back dramatically as he fainted for the first time since they'd left the store.

  "What happened?" Parker leaned over Hunter's face as Merrick stepped out of the way.

  "I don't know," Julia answered. "I found him like this behind the counter at his store."

  Merrick turned to Julia. "Did you see anyone around the shop when you arrived?"