Chapter Fifteen
Emily kept a close watch out as she and Mrs. O’Neal drove the buggy into town. Neither of them actually had a dire need for anything but the MacEnroys had taken all the children fishing and Mrs. O’Neal had been eager to go to the shop, to look over the goods in the store at her leisure. Emily had not had the heart to say no, so even though she did not really like being outside the walls of the MacEnroy home, she had come shopping with the woman.
She stiffened her spine and told herself to cease being a frightened little mouse. Now that she thought on it she did not even go riding anymore unless one of the men went with her. Iain insisted on it but she had not complained either. Emily knew it was because she was glad of the extra protection. It was time she ceased cowering behind the men. This was her trouble and she would face it. Like a man, she thought, and grinned.
Mrs. O’Neal called out a greeting to a Mrs. Potter who was outside her home beating her carpets. She then pulled up by the fence, introduced Emily, and began to talk with the woman about a lot of people Emily did not know. Emily was uncomfortably aware of the fact that she now had a big secret the women who loved their gossip would just love to sink their teeth into.
It was not until they were back on their way to the store that Emily realized something. “Your name is Mary?” she asked Mrs. O’Neal.
Mrs. O’Neal briefly frowned at her. “Yes. Didn’t you know that?”
“No. No one told me. They all call you Mrs. O’Neal and that was how you were introduced to me.”
“Well, of course the boys call me that. Need to. I have to hold on to some kind of proper place in that household. But you can call me Mary if you must. Don’t much like the name myself. Rather boring name, truth be told.”
“Mary is a good name. A lot of people use it.”
“Especially amongst the Irish, but, be truthful, it is a boring name. There is no lilt to it, no hint of liveliness or beauty. It just sits there.”
It was not easy but Emily quelled the urge to laugh. “Well, it goes well with O’Neal.”
“I know that but I am not Irish, am I? It is one thing about me Tommy’s folks liked.” Mrs. O’Neal frowned at the mention of her late husband’s parents. “It is the one real fault I had in their eyes. If I had been Mary Callahan or Mary O’Leary and had a crucifix round my neck I would have been completely welcome. Instead I was just plain, Mary Smith, that Protestant.”
“It was Mary Smith?” Emily thought she deserved a prize for not falling down laughing.
“It was. As plain a name as anyone could think of. Still think they just got weary of trying to find something clever or original. My siblings all had much better names. Instead I was just Mary Smith, the Protestant girl their son would go to hell for. Do you know they have never come to see his sons, never even written to ask after them?”
“That is sad. Your husband was their only son, you said?”
“He was and my Rory is the spitting image of him.”
“They may not know how to get here or cannot afford to. Were the children all baptized Catholic?” Emily could already see the answer to that question in Mary’s cross expression.
“No. I had them baptized into the Protestant church.”
Emily winced. “I suspect that did not help.”
“No. Tommy took great delight in telling them though.” Mrs. O’Neal smiled.
“Have you sent them a letter or two?”
“I can’t write, can I. Tommy got someone to send them a note with each child born. And, yes, I know you can teach me and you’re teaching all the others, but I have twenty years or more on most of them. Too damned old to be doing schooling. Once you get the children taught they can read anything I need read to me. Tommy’s folks can’t read, either, though I know they find someone to read to them if they have a want to know. Probably one of Tommy’s siblings.”
“I will write a letter for you. Maybe there is someone in this place who takes photographs and we can send one of them as well. That is, if you wish.”
Mrs. O’Neal frowned in thought for a few moments then nodded. “We’ll do that. If I get no answer I will be certain the split between my Tommy and his family was final.”
Emily just nodded and looked around carefully as they entered the small collection of buildings they called a town. Photography had gained popularity and she hoped that, even in this area, some person had what was needed to offer such a service. Either that or a traveling one would pass through at some time. When they halted in front of the Trading Post she noticed that Mrs. O’Neal was careful not to park anywhere near the door to the tavern.
Once inside the store Mabel and Mrs. O’Neal fell into a friendly argument over the prices of her material. Emily went to the front window and studied the area. She had seen such places in her travels to the cabin she had shared with her sister. There was nothing more than what was absolutely needed and she suspected it would never truly become a real town. It would disappear as soon as people were able to safely go to a town that actually warranted a name. Even the bank was no more than a small house that had bars on the windows and a room for a large safe. It was more a place to stop briefly in one’s journey than an actual town.
Then she caught sight of several men walking toward the bank. One of them was very well dressed and tall, with hair as blond as hers and she froze. A heartbeat later she ducked behind one of the curtains that framed the window. She peered out again and her heart raced with alarm. What was Albert doing here, so close to her and Neddy and so soon after his last failure?
“Mrs. O’Neal,” she called softly.
Turning to look at her, Mrs. O’Neal frowned. “What are you doing? Why are you hiding?”
“Yes,” she hissed, “I am hiding. Can you see the men about to go into the bank?”
“I see them. Five of them. One of them’s a tall fellow in fancy clothes. Why?”
“That is Albert.”
Mrs. O’Neal hurried closer to the window. “That Albert who is causing us such trouble?”
“Yes. No, don’t pay attention to me. Act like you are studying the items in the window.” Mrs. O’Neal started studying a tea set that Emily suspected had come from someone in need of money, either someone passing through or even someone in the area trading for goods. “I need to get out of here without being seen.”
“What is going on?” asked Mabel as she walked up.
“Some fellow that’s working hard to kill our Emily and her nephew is over at the bank so she’s trying to hide. Don’t want him seeing us leave.” Mrs. O’Neal put her hands on her hips and scowled. “Man shouldn’t look so good. Ought to look like the evil snake he is.”
“Want me to shoot him?” Mabel stared at the man. “Could hit him easy from here but you’d have to pay for a new window.”
Emily stared at the woman in shock. “You can’t just shoot him down in the streets of town.”
“Why not? Want him shot somewhere else?”
“No! I just want to get away from him without him seeing me.”
“Shooting the bastard would solve that,” said Mrs. O’Neal and then she frowned at Mabel and said, “even if it does cost us the price of a window. A cracked window, too,” she grumbled, pointing to the crack that ran down one side.
“Cracked not broken. I shoot that fellow and it’ll be broke then, won’t it.” Mabel frowned out at the men in front of the bank. “Bit of a shame to shoot him ’cause he sure is a pretty fellow.”
Emily stared at the two women and then shook her head. “You cannot just shoot him. He is doing nothing to us at the moment. What explanation would you give for shooting him?”
“That he planned on doing something illegal,” said Mabel. “You said he was after killing you and the boy. Reason enough for me.”
“But he is not after us right this moment, not shooting us, not even looking at us. You would simply be killing him on the street. No, just show us how to get out of here without being seen. I do not know how the laws work here but where I come from you cannot just shoot a person even if you know he is rotten to the core.”
Mabel shrugged her wide shoulders. “Seems fair to me. But I can get you out of here without him seeing though it looks like he will be going into the bank soon.”
“The bank has big windows,” said Mrs. O’Neal. “With our luck he will be looking out of one just as we try to slip away.”
“Go out the back. I will bring the buggy around and you can ride out of here without him seeing.” Mabel took one last look at Albert and shook her head. “Man that fine-looking shouldn’t be so dirty on the inside.” She looked at Emily. “Get going out the back. Only take me a few minutes to pull around with that buggy. Waste of a day so far,” she muttered as she started toward the door. “You bought nothing and I didn’t get to shoot that man.”
Emily shook her head and looked at Mrs. O’Neal. “Mabel is a bit of an odd stick.”
“I know.” Mrs. O’Neal started for the back of the store. “Wanting us to pay for the window just ’cause she’d break it doing a kindness for us. Just trying to get someone to pay for the window that is already cracked, if you ask me.”
It was not just Mabel who was odd, Emily thought as she hurried after Mrs. O’Neal. They stepped out the back of the store onto a narrow landing and waited for Mabel. The woman drove the buggy around a moment later and stopped it right by the stairs leading down from the landing.
They climbed into the buggy and Mrs. O’Neal thanked Mabel, promising to get back to shop as soon as she was able, then snapped the reins and set off for home. Emily kept a close watch behind them until they were a good distance from the little town but no one followed. Although she did not feel particularly safe, she relaxed a little.
“No one chasing us?”
“No,” Emily answered. “It appears we got away without him seeing us.” She frowned as she thought on what she would tell Iain. “I suspect the MacEnroys will think I should have let Mabel shoot him.”
“Yup. She would have killed him too. Woman can shoot really well.”
“But it would have caused her trouble. He was just standing there and I suspect no one really knows what he has been up to. It would have looked as if she just picked some random fellow on the street and killed him.”
“Might have. Might not have. Never can tell with Mabel. She knows a lot of people and they’d listen to her. Don’t think anyone in the area would be willing to see her hang for shooting a man none of them know and who doesn’t live here. And the boys would’ve gone in and told everyone why he needed killing.”
Emily was beginning to think she should have let the woman kill Albert. It would have solved a lot of their troubles. It certainly would have ended the trouble she had brought to the MacEnroy house. She began to suspect she was about to get an earful from the MacEnroys when the story was told.
* * *
“Why the devil didnae ye let her shoot the fool?” demanded Iain as he filled his plate with food.
Emily sighed. They had waited until the evening meal to tell the brothers what had happened in town. She was surprised at how they had all stared at her as if she was mad or witless. Yet, she could not really say she would have acted differently.
“I rather thought that she could go to jail for it.”
“Nay.” Robbie shook his head. “We would have spoken up for her.”
Thinking of all seven brothers swearing to what a threat Albert was made her think that there had been little threat to Mabel. It all would have been cleared up quickly. She was not even certain there was any sheriff or constable in the town.
“Then I apologize. It appears I made an error in judgment.”
Iain almost winced. She was speaking in her very proper, very English tone, which meant she was upset. The more upset Emily got the more precise her accent, the more like gentry she sounded. He suddenly realized that the accent did not bother him as it once had, just the realization that she was upset.
“Weel, since ye saw him in town, it might be a good idea if we go and see what we can see. Might even find him”—he smiled coldly—“and have ourselves a little chat.”
“I can see how that might be a good idea but I can also see how it could get someone hurt or killed. Yes, I want the man gone, but I don’t want anyone hurt in the doing of it.”
“Weel, the fairies willnae come and whisk him away,” said Robbie, who then muttered a curse when Matthew smacked him on the back of the head. “Just pointing out that no matter how one would like it all to be so gentlemanly and no one hurt and all, there will have to be some fire and lightning. Always will be when dealing with a man like that.”
“I know,” Emily said, and sighed. “But one cannot help but wish for something better now and then.”
Mrs. O’Neal nodded but said, “You get a few more years on you, dearie, and you will see the better and nicer is one of those miracles that only comes once in a blue moon.”
“We will think on what needs doing and try to get ye one of those blue moon miracles but dinnae put too much hope on one,” said Iain.
“I will not.” She looked at Mrs. O’Neal and said, “I am sorry your day of shopping was ruined. I hope we can arrange so you have another day free to do it.”
“We will take them fishing again when ye decide ye want to go and it is safe,” said Iain. “Nay many days left for fishing unless ye wish to dress up like a bear to hold off the cold.”
“I will tell you when I am of a mood to go. Thank you,” said Mrs. O’Neal.
“So he is in the town. I have to wonder if he has been there all along or only just arrived because the men he hires keep failing.” Emily frowned. “I wonder how he knows that?”
“Could be he has someone telling him or could be a survivor goes back to him.” Iain shook his head. “Would not be a bright one because anyone with a brain would ken that Albert is the bigger threat. That is a man who would shoot the messenger.”
“Oh, most certainly. Especially ones like those men. Albert is very aware of his own consequence. Everyone else is an underling and can be easily disposed of. There were rumors that some of his servants were killed for things like dropping a napkin but no one could prove anything.”
“A man who goes about killing his own kin will do just about anything,” said Mrs. O’Neal.
Emily glanced at the children who sat at a shorter table in the far end of the kitchen. They did not appear to be listening but she was sure they would find out later. It was probably not the best of talk to have around the children but there were few other times when they all sat together and could talk things out.
“Is there no law around here?”
“About a day’s ride away,” replied Iain. “They are never too interested in dealing with anything that requires they leave their town, which is near to a city compared to our little hole in the wall. No use going to them, trust me on that.”
That news depressed Emily’s spirits so much she just wanted to get away somewhere and sit, possibly by the water. No law, no just shooting the man, and no way to turn an army of armed men toward him. Everything worked against them. She wondered if that was fate at work or something far worse.
“I forgot to say but I got something that was being sent to ye. Picked it up when I went to get my horse shod.” Nigel patted all his pockets and pulled out a letter before handing it to Emily. “It looks to have been moving about for quite awhile. Dinnae ken how it got here from your sister’s place. Someone out there told them to send it to you here.”
Emily’s hands shook faintly as she took the letter. “That would have been Maggie. She and her family lived only a short walk from us. Well, what would be considered short by those who live here. I wrote to her once I knew Albert already knew where Neddy and I were. I believe this is from her actually. Which means it may take me a while to decipher it.”
“She cannae write?”
“She can write quite well but she is from England, too. Yorkshire. They have so many different ways of saying things and then her family came here and landed in Boston, so you have a New England way of talking mixed with the Yorkshire.” She shook her head. “And then she married and moved here. You really cannot understand half of what she says when she talks and when she gets excited or emotional it is truly like a foreign tongue. But we shall see. She may have had someone else help her if she felt she had something of great import to say. I think I should wait until after dinner to read it.”
“Can ye actually do that?” Iain teased as he watched how she kept looking at the letter as if she could read some of it through the covering.
“You can read it when we put out dessert in a bit, Emily. Dessert is not so distracting,” said Mrs. O’Neal.
Emily nodded and was finally able to set the letter aside. She hoped there had been no trouble at any of the other houses or any of the other people got hurt. One could never be sure about rough men willing and able to slaughter one family and burn their house. In their disappointment over failing to get what they went for they could easily have wreaked destruction on others.
* * *
Emily sat in the parlor on the settee and found herself flanked by Iain and Robbie. She carefully opened the packet that held Maggie’s letter and was amazed by the lengthy note the woman had written. Even better she had sent three of her drawings of David and Annabel. The woman had not liked Annabel all that much but Emily had always suspected the woman had been sweet on David.
One drawing of Annabel was of her sister sitting on one of the high rocks and staring toward England. Another was of David, who sat on another rock and stared at his wife. The last was of David and Neddy and, by the look of Neddy, it was from shortly before they had been killed. She handed the drawings to Iain and opened the letter.
As Emily had feared Maggie had written the way she talked, which would mean a slow read for her. She read through the condolences quickly and she could tell Maggie was brokenhearted about the death of David and explained why she had been so deeply fond of him. He had looked and acted like her eldest brother, who had been killed in a fight on the ship over. Now to know David was murdered brought it all back to her.
The bad news hit Emily hard. Someone had dug up the grave marked Neddy. She suspected the men had gone back the next day or sooner and in poking around found the grave marked for little Edward. Then found out it was empty. That was all Albert had needed to get himself out here to lead. She sighed and then looked up at Neddy.
“Neddy?” she called, and the boy looked at her. “Remember Maggie from home?”
“Yes. She is Abbie and Nicky’s mom. Is she hurt?”
“No, darling, she has just written me a letter. And she says right here that Abbie and Nicky say hello.”
“Can we go see them?”
“Not right now but I will think on it.” She shook her head when he lost interest and hurried out of the room.
By the time she finished the letter she missed Maggie like a limb. The woman had been claimed by Annabel, who had then swiftly forgotten all about her. The teas shared were almost always, Maggie, Emily, and David. Even though they were at their cabin and Annabel always called Maggie a friend, she had rarely had tea with them. Emily had guessed that Annabel had detected Maggie’s love for David and totally misinterpreted it.
“Well, Maggie says that someone came back to the cabin and checked it all over. In the process they found Neddy’s grave and dug it up so they know he was never in there.” She looked up to find everyone looking at her in shock. “What?”
“Ye had a grave marked for Neddy?” asked Iain.
“Did you not see it?”
All of the MacEnroys shook their heads.
Emily struggled to explain. “David decided we needed some insurance for our Neddy. If any of us got grabbed we could just say the child is dead, there’s the grave. And all that. I thought it a brilliant idea. My sister not so much. Since the boy was who was hunted, we took him out of the running. That was one reason I was so stunned that they killed David and Annabel. With the child supposedly dead and buried there was nothing to gain.”
“Except, perhaps, your sister getting pregnant and birthing yet another son. As a, if ye will excuse the language, breeder, she was always a threat.” Matthew shook his head. “Where was this grave because we never saw it and we looked all around.”
“It was on the other side of the garden. David made it flat so it would not stick up. No mounding. Even made the headstone flat but it had Neddy’s full name on it, some religious picture, a weeping angel or something, dates and country. Perhaps because the garden was so full this year it had hidden it, covered the top. I really can’t say because, living there for three years or so I was so accustomed to it I never really saw it from day to day. I also tried not to think of it often because it gave me the chills.
“Nothing much else of interest. Some gossip about the McDonald wife being very friendly with Jacob Potsdam and a few tales like that. Maggie always blames the hills. She claims it gives folk the idea that they can act like animals, too. And she is carrying her tenth child and plans to do a specific operation on her husband soon as she can find the right knife.”
“Tenth child?” said Mrs. O’Neal.
Emily nodded and grinned. “You would never know to look at her. She says she is part rabbit. But she does not look any older than she did when I met her, not in figure or face, and not even graying hair. To be fair there are two sets of twins in that number.”
“But ten children.” Robbie shook his head. “How on earth does one family care for so many?”
“And how does a woman find the time to draw such good pictures with ten kids running around?” said Iain, still studying the pictures Emily had handed him.
“Our enemy is a tricky bastard but more than that he is completely insane.”
“I think so.”
“So what does one do with a madman?” asked Duncan.
“Same thing ye do with a rabid dog,” said Iain.
“But how does one find him?”
“He will be lurking around here. There are a number of us who can watch for him,” said Matthew.
“So you will all take time from your work, your living, to hunt for this maniac? Does that not seem just a bit unreasonable?” Emily asked quietly. “Give him the opening he seeks to destroy what you have? I think he is after more than ridding himself of heirs now; I think he wants to be rid of the people who have blocked him at every turn. You have to think that every small thing you neglect, every bit of income you lose, and so on, means he wins.”
“Do ye really believe that?” Iain asked.
“I do. From what I know of dear Cousin Albert, every time he is stopped from getting what he wants he gets angry and he plans to make the one who blocked him pay. I fear we are not simply enemies any longer, we are impediments and dear Albert gets particularly rabid about those.”