Page 95 of Charlotte's Reckoning
“Janelle,” Aaron pressed, the weight of his warning hanging between.
“I can’t say,” she admitted. “I was sworn to secrecy.”
“Is she somewhere safe?” Seth demanded.
“I wouldn’t say safe, exactly.”
“If she’s in danger, you must tell the sheriff,” her husband insisted.
“I suppose these are extenuating circumstances,” she allowed. “I haven’t seen it, but Jenny and Wisteria say it’s awful. No inside water or plumbing of any kind, and Jenny said the roof was half caved in.”
“It sounds like a hovel,” Mr. Bennett concluded.
“Where is this place?” Seth asked, his frustration rising.
“She bought the old Owens place west of town.”
“I know it,” Aaron grunted. “It is a hovel.”
“I feel awful for her. She had nothing except some clothing, so Wisteria brought supplies, and Jenny asked George Gleason and his men to do repairs, but according to the girls, the only hope for the place is to level it and start over.”
“Where?” Seth repeated, eager to get going.
“Three miles out of town on the Rawlins road, in the woods,” Aaron advised.
“She can’t mean to live out there alone!” James Bennett exclaimed.
“She had no choice,” Janelle advised. “According to Jenny, after the inn turned her away, she got the same inhospitable answer from the boarding houses.”
“I’m bringing her back,” Seth asserted.
“To live where?” She glanced at Aaron. “Our house?”
“You mean the mayor’s house? You know that isn’t possible.” He paused a moment, clearly weighing other options. “She could stay on the ranch at Heath’s old cabin near the stables.”
“That’s a good idea, Aaron,” Janelle agreed. “She’d be alone but safe on Jackson land.”
Seth wanted to sprint to rescue Charlotte, but there were other women in danger, and he had an idea. “Your offer is generous, and I hate to ask for more, but how big is this cabin? There are a few other ladies at the Red Eye who want to leave but have no place to go.”
“It will be cozy, but certainly they can stay. As long as they need to!” Janelle offered without hesitation.
When he looked at Aaron for confirmation, he nodded his complete agreement.
With a solution to several problems, he mounted his horse, his mind consumed with worry for Charlotte. He couldn’t bear the thought of her alone, in a hovel, and possibly in danger. As he headed west, he’d be damned if the rain didn’t pick up again.
Chapter 23
An Uninvited Guest
Nearly two hours later, after countless trips to the creek and singeing her fingers lighting the small cast-iron stove in the bedroom, Charlotte poured the last bucket of water into the tin tub. The adage,careful what you ask for, ran through her head because preparing the half-full tub had very nearly killed her.
After stripping off her filthy clothes, she sank into the warm—far from hot—water. The tub was oval and not long enough to stretch her legs out. Her head, shoulders, half her chest, and bent legs stuck out, but it still felt glorious. Before her hard-prepared water cooled, she reached for the tin of soap. It was a brand she’d never heard of before. She sniffed the white bar, found its clean, mild scent appealing, and dropped it in. Charlotte laughed in delight when, instead of sinking, it floated on top.
She glanced at the label on the tin—Ivory Soap. “Since it will take a month for me to recover from this ordeal, this will be handy in my next bath—in the creek,” she mused aloud.
After scrubbing everything twice, she was delighted to see the new soap left more bubbles than the fancy scented soaps she used to use. Before all the heat was gone, she wiggled around until she could rest her head on the rim, even though her knees and legs to mid-thigh stuck out, and she closed her eyes.
She aimed to relax for a few minutes, but she couldn’t turn off her brain. If the ruling didn’t go her way, there was still so much to do—sealing cracks in the walls, planting a late-season vegetable garden, and another priority, figuring out what was wrong with the chimney—all tasks she had never attempted before. But she was an intelligent, determined woman. She could accomplish anything if she set her mind to it.
