Alexander raised his chin even so slightly before replying. “It was a complete success. Pauline is a natural borne rider, not that I had any notions otherwise. We will continue with the lessons the day after tomorrow.”
“Marvelous,” Clementine said honestly. She was rather proud of her niece and by the looks of it so was Alexander.
“She is now soundly asleep in her room upstairs, utterly exhausted,” Alexander added with the big smile on his face.
“I am glad. Well, for the first part, not the exhaustion part,” she corrected herself and they all laughed.
Although, if she thought about it, Clementine always felt better, more at ease, if Pauline was sleeping while she worked than doing anything else by herself. That way there were fewer chances of her getting hurt. If Pauline was with Alexander, Clementine did not have such distinctions. He was her protector either way, and Clementine was beyond grateful because of that.
While she worked, Alexander kept following her around so he could tell her every last detail about Pauline’s riding lessons. He was a rather skillful storyteller and at times she laughed so hard, Clementine almost forgot about the hidden knife under her bed. She would have to move it out from that spot since there was a rather big chance Pauline could accidentally stumble upon it.
Today Mr. Brewer proved how wildly out of control he really was. And all because she owed him some money. Technically, that was not her crime either. She just had the misfortune of being married to the person who was in debt to him.
There had to be a way for her to stop Mr. Brewer from tormenting her even further or entrap him in some way. If she could not collect the money to give to him when the time came, then she had to find another way to defeat him.
Maybe she could provoke him in some way while in the presence of the sheriff. That could be highly dangerous, she was aware of that. At the same time, it was a dandy way to finally get rid of him for good. If he was in jail than he couldn’t threaten or hurt her. The same could be said for her family. Clementine confessed her plan wasn’t ideal, however, any plan rarely was.
“And then she asked me if Beatrice could sleep tonight in the room with the two of you,” Alexanders words pulled her back to here and now and Clementine smiled. “Of course she did.”
Her niece loved sleepovers. It did not matter if she was having one with Clementine, or some of her friends, or even a horse apparently.
“I told her that she most certainly can have Beatrice for a sleepover.”
Clementine gasped, ready to chastise him for not being able to say no to Pauline when he burst out laughing.
“Just checking if you are paying attention,” he said, unrepentantly.
“Oh, I most certainly am.” She gave him the look so he would know how much she did not appreciate that joke, it scared her half to death she would find a horse in her bed later that night.
“Of course I did not say that to her,” he reassured Clementine so she stopped glaring at him.
“What did you say then?” She prompted.
“I explained how Beatrice would feel more comfortable inside her own stall, in the stable,” and then he chuckled. “You are so gullible. You should have seen your face.”
Clementine swatted at him. “And you are utterly bad, making me believe I would have a horse for a night guest.”
He made a face, and she did not like that. “There is a small issue, though,” Alexander said carefully to her.
Clementine eyed him suspiciously. “Are you trying to jest with me anew?” She asked despite knowing how ridiculous that sounded. If he was, he wasn’t going to admit it.
“No,” he replied instantly and did not elaborate any further.
“What is it then?” Clementine thought she already had her fair share of bad news yet as it turned out they kept coming regardless of her sentiments. That was rather rude of them.
Alexander took a deep breath. “Once I explained all that to Pauline about Beatrice and not being able to have her way, she begged me to let her sleep in the stall with the horse.” His face softened after that. “Her reasoning was Beatrice could have a bad dream and Pauline did not wish for her to wake up all alone.”
“And what did you reply to that lunacy? I hope it was a definite no,” Clementine asked while her eyes suggested he better had a correct answer for her or there would be two spankings installed later in the day.
“No,” he replied while making a guilty face. “I told her she should definitely discuss such matters with you since you are her aunt and guardian.”
What he was truly saying was that he threw that hot potato back to her. “Very well, I will be the grown-up here, capable of saying no to her. It is preferable that the alternative, I suppose,” she thought out loud.
“The alternative?” That piqued Alexander’s curiosity.
“You allowing her to do anything and everything she wishes.”
Alexander chuckled while shrugging. “What can I say, guilty as charged?” Alexander laughed at himself. “She only has to look at me with those big, pleading eyes and I am a puddle in her hands.”
At least he was being honest, Clementine liked that. “A mighty bounty hunter, feared by many, successfully overpowered by the pleading look from a small little girl,” Clementine couldn’t help teasing him a little.
“Everybody has weaknesses. Apparently, this is mine,” he replied with a shrug as though accepting that about himself with dignity was no big deal.
“I bet Honey had you wrapped around her little finger as well,” Clementine blurted out and instantly regretted it, wanting to smack herself across the forehead.
She could not understand what on Earth made her say something like that to him. She knew how difficult it was for Alexander to speak about his sister since he still felt the immense amount of guilt regarding her death. Even though he never went into details about why he felt that way, the fact remained that he did, and probably always would.
Luckily, he smiled. “She could and she very well knew that. The things I had to do for her,” he shook his head in utter disbelief, while clearly remembering all kinds of things.
“She even braided my hair once, then applied some of our grandmother’s rouge to my cheeks and lips.”
“Indeed?” Clementine inquired trying really hard not to laugh in his face while picturing him all dolled up. It was a hard line to walk upon.
“Yes. I completely forgot about that and in haste to get to work on time waltzed into a sheriff’s station looking like that.”
Clementine lost any semblance of composure and started laughing wholeheartedly.
“I kept wondering why people on the streets were looking at me funny.”
“And then you found out.” Clementine grabbed her stomach, she couldn’t take it much longer.
“The colleagues in the station enlightened me. They called me Bonny Sheriff Carson for months. It was a nightmare.”
Clementine continued to laugh despite herself. She absolutely could not give up, she had to find a way to deal with Mr. Brewer because it was utterly worth living for moments like these.
Chapter Twenty-Three
After having a chance to sleep on it, Clementine decided to tell Alexander everything about what has been happening. It was still true she wished there was a way to keep him out of things, but she was no idiot. What happened yesterday showed her she was in too deep. There was no shame in asking for help, so that was exactly what she planned on doing. Two heads were better than one after all and Clementine hoped together, they would find a solution for her problem.
Perhaps it was foolish of her she kept everything from him this long. Alexander was trained to handle dangerous situations after all. If she told him everything from the start maybe Mr. Brewer wouldn't turn into such a nightmare. However, there was no point in stressing about what could have happened and focus on what would happen from now on. It was just that she was so used to having to deal with everything on her own, she forgot how to share her problems and
actually rely on someone else for help. That was her baggage, not Alexander's.
Rationalizing to herself this was not an act born out of selfish reasons, Clementine practiced inside her head what she wanted to say to him. It was key to present only facts and remain levelheaded, emotionless, only then they could find a solution. The problem was she was running out of time and feared if Mr. Brewer lost his patience anew, his next threat would be even more serious.
Maybe she shouldn't involve Alexander after all, it could make things worse rather than better, she had a serious moment of doubt. Pauline was the most important thing so she had to tell Alexander everything, for her sake.
"Pauline!" She called out to her niece. "Do you need any assistance with your clothes?" she inquired.
Pauline was supposed to get herself dressed while Clementine made breakfast. Apparently, Clementine wasn't the only one who was a bit sluggish that morning. For completely different reasons. Clementine from lack of sleep and Pauline because her whole body ached.
Following her first ridding lesson Pauline experienced some mild legs and hands problems, which was completely normal and anticipated. She was never in such a position before so it was only understandable her body rebelled a little.
Although Alexander did his best to make it as short as possible while making it comfortable for Pauline and Beatrice alike it was expected something like this would occur since her young body wasn't accustomed to ridding. At the same time, thanks to her young age, Pauline would recover and adapt quicker.
She remembered her first time on horseback. She was even younger than Pauline and had a horse named Dancer. She adored that horse more than anything else, was beyond ecstatic when father bought it for her.
Clementine refused to stop riding despite her father's warning, so the following day she could barely walk let alone sit straight. Once that passed she was inseparable from Dancer. That was a good lesson learned though. Sometimes her father had a good point.
She smiled despite herself remembering her favorite horse. He died unexpectedly when she was in her early twenties. Some kind of lung disease took him practically overnight. She mourned his loss for years.
"No, Auntie," Pauline yelled back from the bedroom, snapping Clementine back to reality. "I am almost done." True enough, she appeared a couple of minutes later.
Aunt scrutinized her niece. The little girl looked better than she did after her first horse riding lesson. She was impressed. "All right, let us go then."
They were going to Mavis' house that morning. Mavis was Viola's neighbor who sometimes watched over Pauline when Viola had too many things to do or had to go to work. Mavis agreed to look after Pauline today while Clementine was at her new job at Mrs. Bane's house.
Clementine was in the process of closing the door behind her, while mentally checking if she brought everything with them when two things happened at the same time.
Her niece screamed. "Auntie!" As a big shadow loomed over Clementine. She did not even get a chance to react, turn, before she felt agonizing pain. Everything went black and she lost consciousness.
Clementine had a terrible dream. She was alone in the dark and no matter what she did, no matter how hard she shouted, prayed, begged for help, she could not escape out of it. The darkness was all-consuming as it was absolute. She was utterly alone, forgotten and trapped.
Awful dream. To top that off, her head was killing her. It throbbed so bad she wished she could return to that oblivion despite the fact she did not feel better there either.
"Clementine?"
Alexander? Why was Alexander calling out to her?
"Can you hear me, Clementine?" He sounded rather concerned.
Was she still dreaming? She must be.
"Clementine, please wake up!"
Hearing his commanding voice, Clementine did everything in her power to comply. She opened her eyes only to discover Alexander looming over her.
"Oh, thank God," he exclaimed. "You are alive." The relief on his face was more than apparent which confused her to no end.
Why did he come to her house so early in the morning? She had to wonder. And she did not like he was waking her up while she slept in her bedroom. That was highly inappropriate as far as she was concerned.
Just because they professed love to one another did not mean he should stop treating her with the utmost respect. She was about to voice her complaints when piercing pain to her head stopped her. She winced.
"Are you all right?"
"My head hurts," she replied only to discover he had his hand at the back oh her head. That was not the only strange thing she noticed.
Clementine was not in her bedroom at all. She was sprawled on the couch in the living room without any recollection of how she ended up there in the first place. It most definitely was not early in the morning. That alarmed her.
"What happened?" she asked in a slight panic. Clementine tried to sit up and the pain in her head stopped her midway so she abandoned that endeavor for now. The back of her head started to throb even harder.
"I wanted to ask you that same question," Alexander replied, confusing her. Hearing that did not put her at ease, quite the contrary. If he didn't know anything either than who did?
"What?" she replied, startled.
"What happened to you, Clementine?" he demanded.
"To me?" she repeated, following his hand that disappeared behind her. He was holding something at the exact place that hurt her. Was she injured? "I don't know what happened to me," she said in all honesty, as she panicked even more. Why couldn't she remember anything?
"Garry got worried when you didn't show up for your shift so I told him I would come here to check up on you, make sure everything is all right," he started to explain.
Apparently, nothing was alright, and Clementine couldn't help wondering why she didn't go to work. Did she accidentally hit her head and pass out? It was a possibility.
"When I arrived," Alexander continued, unaware of her speculations, "I found you by the front door bleeding and unconscious."
"Excuse me?"
"I thought the worst happened," he admitted with the shudder kissing her brow. "Someone hit you in the back of your head pretty badly."
So she was right about her head. She got knocked out. Unfortunately, it was no accident, someone did this to her on purpose. "Who would do such a thing?" She voiced her biggest concern.
This time when she tried to sit up she succeeded with the little help from Alexander. The world started to spin around her and Clementine started to take deep breaths and luckily it stopped.
Alexander was still holding some kind of pressure against her head. "Is it bad?" she asked not really wanting to hear the answer. She was never that fond of the blood. It did not matter if it was hers or not, blood was blood.
Very carefully Alexander removed the piece of cloth which turned out to be his neckerchief and Clementine was horrified to see blood on it. "Oh, dear me," the sight of it instantly made her queasy so she repeated her breathing exercise.
"It is all right," Alexander was quick to reassure her, sitting next to her. "It stopped."
She should at least feel relieved about that part, as it appeared she wasn't going to bleed to death, she joked without actual humor.
"I would never let you die, Clementine," Alexander replied gruffly. Only then did she realize she said that out loud. He saved her again. "Do you know what happened?" he asked afresh, in a much calmer tone this time, offering her some water.
"I cannot remember anything," she replied with frustration. He patted her hand and she drew strength from that. She was not alone.
"What is the last thing you do remember?" he prompted.
Clementine concentrated really hard, taking a deep breath. "The last thing I remember... is breakfast time. I was preparing to take Pauline..." and then it hit her. "Pauline! Where is she?" She demanded, looking around herself.
Alexander was instantly on high alert as well. "I only found you," he replie
d much to her despair.
"Impossible," she said with a brush of her hand. "Pauline!" She started to call out for her niece. She was a smart girl, she probably hid when she saw someone harming Clementine. There was a possibility she even ran away and went for help. What if she did run away? How would she find her way back? Clementine thought in exasperation.
"Are you telling me she was here with you?" Alexander needed to make sure.
"Yes," Clementine stressed the word.
"I thought she was with Mavis."
"We never got there," Clementine explained trying really hard not to cry. Where was that little girl?
A Courageous Bride to Bring Him Hope: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 21