Chapter Sixteen

Elise Robertson knew just what it felt like to be an orphan. She knew the feeling of being utterly alone in the world and thinking that not a soul in the world cared what happened to you. She knew what it felt like to fall asleep on a pillow that was so drenched in tears it felt like it would never be dry again. She knew a great many things about just how cruel the world could be, but she had learned something else along the way as well. She had discovered that sometimes God allowed suffering so that something greater could come from it. After all, who better to understand an orphan than one who had been orphaned themselves?

As she swept up the last of the dust from the kitchen, she looked around with tired satisfaction. She had also learned that love could overcome a great many other shortcomings and she had love in abundance. For the better part of four years, she had run the kitchen at the Somerset Orphanage and every meal was prepared with a very large dash of love. There was never quite enough money to buy the supplies she needed, but there were other ways of doing things. The darning and mending she did most evenings put a few extra coins in her purse and the chickens she ran in a coop out the back helped supplement the meagre meat supply she could afford. With an Irish grandmother, she knew only too well how far a potato could take a meal and her sunny smile and warm heart had caught the attention of the local padre who often passed a portion of the collection plate her way.

The faint odour of beef stew wafted through the room and Elise smiled as she remembered young Timmy’s toothless grin when he came racing in for supper. The smile quickly faded as she thought of another youngster with his front teeth only just growing in again. Matthew had less smiles to share than Timmy did, but something about the child tugged at her. He was already there when she came to work in the kitchen and she had been almost shocked when he had suddenly been adopted out. The boy had clung to her apron and tried to be brave as he explained that he was going to have a papa. She had smiled and kissed him on top of the head and wrapped her arms around him for one last hug. And then he was gone.

Not long afterwards, three well-dressed men had knocked on the door and started asking unsettling questions. She had been shunted aside and threatened that she needed to keep her mouth shut if she wanted to keep her job, but something had arisen inside her that would not give her a moment’s peace. The men had come back several more times and finally one night she had slipped out and followed them.

The sordid tale the men had told her made her cry. The place that she had thought of as a haven for lost little boys and girls was no longer what she thought it was. The newly appointed administrator was not the kindly older gentleman he portrayed himself as. The horror of it made her want to retch and she had vowed to do whatever was needed to bring justice. It was the hardest thing to do to show up every morning in the kitchen and feign ignorance, but it was better than just walking away and pretending it was not her problem. If it was not her problem, then whose was it?

---

Ben paced across the room, trying to keep his anger in check. Two of his sons sat silently while the third of his boys was still locked away behind the door to the next room. He’d arrived in time to hear Joe scream and the sound still tore at him even in the silence of the room. The doctor they had come to trust had chased them all out of the room and told them to wait outside. As he looked up at the sun angling through the window, Ben frowned at how far it had moved. It was taking too long!

Finally the door cracked open and Doctor Hanes walked out into the waiting room. His outer robe had been discarded in favour of a large apron, but he hadn’t bothered to dress and was still wearing his nightshirt and boots underneath it. His hands were still damp and he wiped at them with a towel as he walked. All three of them sprang towards him and he held up a hand as if to ward them off.

“I got the bullet out and he’s sleeping now.”

“How long before he’s awake?”

The doctor saw three anxious faces watching him intently and he carefully considered how to answer. Instead, he turned to Ben and asked a question.

“Ben, has your son ever needed ether before?”

Ben frowned as he remembered the one time that Paul had deemed it necessary when Joe had a badly broken arm. He’d overestimated his climbing ability and was trying to race Mitch up a ponderosa pine when he slipped and fell. The bone protruded from his forearm and there was no way they could hope to hold a small boy still and set the bones without it.

“Once, several years ago. Why?” He knew the answer even before the doctor spoke again.

“Because your son apparently doesn’t take too kindly to it. He was vomiting when I brought him round and I’d like to keep him here overnight where I can keep a close eye on him.”

Ben nodded as he recalled the last time. There hadn’t been time to warn the doctor and it wouldn’t have made any difference anyway. It wasn’t as if the man would dig a bullet out of a child without ether unless he had no other choice.

“It took two days last time. He was sick for two days.”

Paul had thought it might just have been Joe’s age or his size at the time. Ether was not an exact dose and it was impossible to know how a patient would react until they did. All of them clearly remembered just how wretched Joe had felt until the effects wore off.

“Can I see my son?”

The doctor smiled at him and nodded.

“Of course. He’s asleep so don’t wake him, but yes, you can see him. Then I need to check this fella over and give him a clean up.” The doctor nodded towards Adam who still had dried blood tracking down the side of his face. Adam shrugged him off and kept moving.

“I’m fine.”

“Course you are, but since I’m the doctor, how about you humour me and let me do my job?”

As the trio began to move past him, the doctor grasped at Ben’s arm. “Joe is going to be fine. He’ll be pretty sad and sorry for a bit, but he’ll be just fine.”

“Thank you.” Ben needed to see that for himself and he hurried through the doorway, followed closely by his two sons. Joe was propped up against several pillows to help against the inevitable nausea and Ben paused as he looked at him. The boy who claimed to be almost a man looked more like a small child. Once again, the guilt slammed into him and he was acutely aware that he could have prevented all of it if he had just paid attention. It seemed he was saying sorry far too often lately, but he made his way across the room and said it again anyway. If Roy hadn’t been distracted with trying to protect Joe back in Virginia City, he could very well have apprehended Kent there instead of allowing the man to go on a murderous rampage that had come full circle and almost claimed his boy a second time.

“Joseph … I’m so sorry, my boy.” He reached out a hand to cup the side of his face and was relieved to feel the skin was a normal temperature. Of course, it was far too soon to know if infection would be a problem, but he would take whatever small mercies were granted as they came.

The doctor was wise enough to know that he needed to bring the treatment to his patient as there was no way Adam would leave the room and he carried a bowl of clean water across to him and placed it on the table. He dabbed at Adam’s forehead to clean off the dried blood and wasn’t surprised to find a large gash under his hairline.

“That’s going to need stitching together.”

His patient didn’t seem particularly concerned so he just gathered the needle and catgut and set to work. By the time he was done, Adam hadn’t spoken a word or made a sound. He wrapped a length of bandage around the wound and stepped back to remove his instruments.

‘You need some rest too. A knock to the head is nothing to trifle with, young man.” As he packed away the last of his things, the doctor turned to survey the room. “Now, if you gentlemen don’t mind, I think I’ll go and get dressed!”

---

It was several hours later when Joe awoke and found himself instantly wishing he hadn’t. His stomach roiled in protest and he found an enamel basin propped under his chin before he even had time to ask for one.

“Pa?”

“I’m right here, Son.” As Ben moved in again with a glass of water, he watched intently as Joe tried to move without pulling at his leg. His father knew that any kind of pain draught was pointless for as long as it was likely to come back up and Joe would just have to wait it out.

“Stay still, Joe. Try not to give that leg any more grief.”

“Pa … Adam ‘n Hoss? They didn’t … ” Joe’s eyes clenched closed as pain shot up through his back and his fingers dug into the blanket.

Ben reached for his hands and unwrapped Joe’s fingers before wrapping his own hands around them. “Easy, Son. Just breathe and it will pass.”

As the only sound in the room was Joe’s ragged breathing, Ben waited until the pain spasm passed. He kept his gaze locked on his son’s face and tried not to entertain the thoughts that had tormented him since Adam had shoved open the hotel door and frantically called his name. He had taught his boys to respect the law, but everything in him wanted to march over to the jail, rip the door off its hinges and use it to beat the living daylights out of Kent Johnston. In the time it took for the doctor to operate on his son and remove the bullet, he had been sufficiently filled in to want to explode with rage.

He’d seen the same raw fury on his eldest son’s face and had pulled Adam aside and specifically warned him to keep it in check. Hoss had turned the other way and sat with his head in his hands as he stared at the floor. It didn’t mean his anger was any less, but Ben knew his gentle middle son would turn that anger inward. Once all three of them had been assured that Joe would live, Ben had sent both of his sons off with something to keep their minds busy. Two small boys sat waiting alone in a hotel room and it did not take three of them to wait for Joe to sleep off the ether.

The two brothers reluctantly left and headed for the hotel, but half way there, Adam suddenly stepped off the boardwalk and began to cross the road. Hoss grabbed at his brother’s shoulder and tried to steer him back again, but Adam shrugged off his hand and kept going. He’d seen that determined look before and Hoss resigned himself to leaving Adam to his own devices. Nothing he had to say about it would make any difference anyway. He stood on the side of the main street and watched as Adam marched across to the sheriff’s office. He figured it was a good thing that Kent was on one side of the jail cell and Adam on the other. As he turned and headed for the hotel, he realised that it was an even better stroke of luck that Adam wasn’t wearing a gunbelt or the sheriff may have trouble on his hands.

Nick shifted back on his heels, as if getting ready to leap into action. He’d seen the venom in the young man’s eyes and he figured he’d feel exactly the same way if it was his brother in the doctor’s office.

“You aren’t going in there. Ain’t no need.”

Adam opened his mouth to protest once more and Nick stepped forward.

“I said, you are not going in there!” He held a hand against Adam’s shoulder and hoped he was not going to be forced to restrain him. “Don’t matter how many times you tell me otherwise!”

Adam glared at the lawman, unsure of what he had even hoped to accomplish. If it was Roy staring him down, he knew he wouldn’t be getting any closer to a prisoner either, but the thought brought no comfort.

“That snake escaped a state penitentiary. This is just a small-town jail and you …”

“Don’t even finish that comment!” Nick pulled himself up to his full height with his hand resting on his holster. “Believe me, I understand how angry you are, but that prisoner is my prisoner until the marshals come get him. That should be some time tomorrow if my wire got through. In the meantime, he’ll be guarded twenty four hours a day.” His tone softened as he patted his hand against the young man’s chest. “I promise you, Adam …. justice will be done. He won’t be going anywhere except straight back to the pen to face a noose.”

Revenge had never been a part of him as his father had always taught him that vengeance belonged to the Lord. His father’s words echoed in his ears as he struggled to keep himself in check.

Son, you are not God.

The lawman staring back at him was not Roy Coffee, but the look was the same one that Roy would have shown him. Vigilante justice was not his style and he blew out a sharp breath as he considered his own thoughts.

“I know.”

Nick allowed himself to step back a pace as he smiled. “Alright then. Now, something I bet you haven’t thought of yet is how you are gonna spend your reward money.”

When Adam didn’t answer, the sheriff grinned broadly as he pulled a wanted poster off his desk. “The Governor is always appreciative when one of his is brought back home. There’s gonna be two thousand dollars on its way for you and those brothers of yours.” He quickly sobered as he thought of the cost involved. “Of course, I know that don’t make up for a hole in his leg, but I’ll bet young Joe can come up with a few interesting ways to spend his share while he’s recovering.”

Adam smiled slightly at the thought of his brother running wild in Cass’s Mercantile with more money than he had ever seen in his life. “A wagon full of candy isn’t outside the realm of possibilities.”

Nick slapped him on the shoulder as he pointed to the door. “You let me focus on that one in there and you go and take care of that brother of yours. He might even share his candy with you if you play your cards right.”

---

Elise sat at the table and tried to pretend she was working through the monthly ledger. Part of the reason she had been taken on in the first place was because she was good with numbers and could help keep the books. It had never occurred to her the reason why she only had access to certain ledgers, but had just assumed that the administrator took care of more important things than food supplies. She kept the ledger open on top of the one she was trying to skim through and prayed that nobody came through the outer door. Her heart was in her mouth the entire time as she searched out the details the investigators had asked for.

As she carefully slid the heavy ledger back into the filing cabinet, something else caught her attention. A pile of letters were tied together and shoved into the back of the file, as though somebody wanted to keep them out of sight. Her heart was beating so fast that she feared she may fall down as she reached for the envelopes. The same scratchy writing covered each one and she had no idea why they suddenly had her interest. Afterwards, she would wonder if it was female curiosity or divine intervention that made her lift them, but she tucked them into the fold of her apron and hastily pushed the file closed. Moments later, boots on the outside staircase warned her that someone was coming and she slid back into her seat and began copying numbers with her pencil. As the door swung open she was the picture of innocence as she looked up.

“Aren’t you done on that yet?” Henry MacAllister stared at her as she fumbled with her pencil.

“I thought I had this all added up … but I’m so sorry …. I must have lost track of something because it just won’t balance.” She tried her best innocent smile and he huffed back at her.

“Well get a move on, girl. I have work to do and an important meeting shortly.”

“Certainly, Mister McAllister. I can finish this later if you wish.”

As Elise stood up and packed away the things she had been using, she hoped he could not see how much her hands were shaking.

It would be several hours later that she got time to go to her small room and lift the letters out of the folds of her apron. They felt like a lead weight in her hand and she slowly untied the string that held them together. The first letter she opened had her gasping in surprise and she hastily pulled open the second one. Her hand caught at her mouth as she read a father’s heartbreak in the scrawled words on the page.

“Oh my Lord! Whatever have they done with him?”