Loving Eliza (30 page)

“Addy’s been fretting up something awful that you and John will leave for a new town.  We certainly don’t want to see you two go.”

As soon as John saw the tears form in Eliza’s eyes, he grabbed the handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.

She laughed as she accepted it.  “He always seems to know what I need.” After she dabbed her eyes, she looked at them.  “I can’t tell you how much this means to me.  I’m fortunate to have you all in my life.”

“We also came to bring you your picture.” Addy pulled the lid off the box and took out the photograph.

John leaned forward and thought it turned out well.  No one would know that Eliza had been shaking.  He nudged her in the side and pointed to her.

“You think I’m beautiful
?” Eliza guessed.

He nodded.

“Now how do you two communicate like that?” Frank wondered, looking intrigued.

“Oh Frank,” Addy began with a grin, “they don’t need to speak to know what the other one is thinking.  Love has its own language.”

“I suppose you’re right.” He looked at John.  “But I still need you to write things down.”

Eliza laughed again, and John suddenly realized how much he missed that sound.  Yesterday had been such a somber day, and he hated watching her cry.
  He went to retrieve the silver frame from the parlor and came back so he could put the photograph in it.  Then he showed it to her.

“He doesn’t look so t
all when he’s sitting
, does he?” Eliza noted.  Glancing at him, she said, “You can seem intimidating at times, you know.”

He blinked.  Him?  Intimidating?

“That’s true,” Frank agreed.  “It’s because of your height.”

Eliza placed the picture down on the shelf above the cookstove.  “Thank you for bringing this out.  I do like it.”

“Every woman should have a picture of her and her husband,” Addy commented.

“Will you two stay for lunch?  I was just about to make something.”

“We’d be delighted.  And let me help.”

Frank
stood up.  “I don’t know about you, John, but I take that as my cue to leave.”

“What?  You don’t want to make a casserole dish?” Addy teased.

“You know very well what would happen if I were to help out in the kitchen.”

She sighed.  “He’s right.” She looked at Eliza and John.  “He nearly burned down the kitchen in our first year of marriage.  I have banned him from the cookstove ever since.”

“You won’t hear me complaining about that either.” He turned to John.  “You want to show me what you’re working on?”

John nodded and grabbed some paper and a pencil.  It’d be nice to have a real conversation with Frank for a change instead of nodding or shaking his head.  He kissed Eliza on the cheek.

“Oh now I can’t have John showing me up here,” Frank grumbled good-naturedly.  He walked up to Addy, put his arms around her, leaned her back and gave her a long kiss.  By the time he set her upright, she was blushing.  “There.  Now when John here has been married to you for a good twenty some odd years, he’ll kiss you like that,” he told Eliza before heading out of the house.

Addy tapped Eliza on the arm.  “We ought to come out here more often.”

John chuckled to himself a
s he followed Frank
out the door.

E
liza went out to the creek the next morning to do some light washing.  Fall was quick in coming, but she thought she might take advantage of the warm weather while it lingered in the air.  She had taken some soap and a washcloth.  She took off her clothes and knelt by the cool water so she could wash her hair.  The row of trees provided a sense of privacy from anyone who might ride onto John’s property to visit, though she doubted anyone would do that while it was still early in the morning.  She rose with the dawn, something that she hadn’t done in a long time.

She wasn’t accustomed to the sunrise
.  John didn’t need to be up at dawn like a farmer did, so he liked to sleep until around eight.  Even when she worked for that
horrible Harriet Lube, she woke up at eight to be
at Harrie
t’s door in the half hour.  This
was a nice change, she decided as she dipped her hands in the cool water and rubbed the soap until she had built up a nice lather.  Sh
e filled the cup with
water, bent her head forward so her hair fell in fron
t of her, and tipped the cup so the water poured over her tresses
.  Then she worked the lather into her hair
before she rinsed it
.  Reaching for the comb she’d brought along, she picked it up and worked the tangles out, gritting her teeth each time the comb got stuck.  She patiently worked through her hair.

At one point, she thought she heard a twig snap, so she stopped and glanced over her shoulder, only to see a squirrel run up a tree.  She
did a quick scan of the trees around her.  It hadn’t occurred to her how far the house was from the creek until that moment.  Everything seemed normal, and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.  She threw her comb on the towel beside her and decided she could bathe later.  Next time, she’d take John with her.  She stood up and threw on her undergarments and dress.  Just as she was finishing her top button, she turned around and saw Troy standing in front of her.

She gasped and nearly fell back.  As soon as she caught her footing, she grabbed her comb and pointed the sharp edge
of
the handle
in his direction.  The edge really wasn’t all that sharp, but it would do.  She took a step back, careful not to slip.

“It’s a shame you put those clothes back on,” he calmly stated, his expression cold.

“What do you want?” she yelled, hoping John would hear her.  Surely, he’d investigate if he thought someone was on their property.

He sneered at her.  “How cute.  You think John’s going to hear you and come running.  It’s too bad someone shut the windows in the house.”

She didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but there was no way she was going to take her chances if she didn’t have to.  She took a step to the side
, careful to keep the comb pointed at him.  “Get away from me, Troy!”

“I don’t think s
o, Eliza,” he said in a
low tone.  “Word on the street is you’re used to being alone with men.  You owe me, honey.”

Her heart caught in her throat and she struggled to take a deep breath.  She needed to think clearly.  Now wasn’t the time to panic.  “Stop it!  Get out of here!” She took two steps closer to the house.  But the house was still too far!  She didn’t dare turn her back on him.  She needed to keep the sharp edge of her comb on him.  It could mean the difference between him succeeding in what he’d come to do and
her getting away
.

He chuckled.  “Yes, ma’am.  Just because you tell me to do something, I should do it.” He lowered his hands and undid his belt buckle.  “You were supposed to stay with me during that dinner at the Custer house but you bailed on me so you could marry John.  Do you really think I’m
going to let you off the hook for that?” He unzipped his pants and approached her.

Oh crap
!  Her hands started to shake and flashbacks came at her full force.  She took a deep breath and steeled her resolve.  No.  She wasn’t fourteen and he wasn’t her uncle.  It didn’t have to end the same way!  She took another deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs.
  Then she scrambled backwards, toward the house, but not daring to keep her focus off of the beast in front of her.

He lunged for her and she sidestepped so that he tripped on the tree root that had been at her foot.  Still screaming, she tightened her grip on the comb and bolted for the house.  How much time did she just buy?  A few seconds.  That was all, but she was going to use those few seconds to her advantage.  Adrenaline shot through her as her bare feet ran over rocks and sticks that jabbed her.  Flesh wounds.  She could tend to those later.
She heard him get up and glanced back
to assess how much distance she’d gained.  Not enough!

Screaming while she was running was making it hard for her to breathe, but she figured it was her best offense.  If John heard her and came to her...She said a quick prayer that it would work.  She hadn’t screamed before and her uncle succeeded.  So she had to scream now.  She glanced over her shoulder and saw that he was gaining on her.  She gasped for air and got ready to scream again when he plowed into her.

“Listen, you little whore,” he seethed as he slammed his hand over her mouth so she couldn’t scream anymore.

Tears stung her eyes but she couldn’t give up.  She had to keep fighting.  She gripped the comb and tried to figure out where to stab him so he’d have to release her.

“You’re use to this kind of t
hing,” he whispered as his free hand
curved down her leg and lifted her dress.  “You made a fool of me.  You owe me.”

No!  Not this time!
  Focus.  She needed to focus.  In one swift motio
n she threw the comb at his
neck.  He released her but not before he slapped her across the head.  She ignored the ringing in her ears and scrambled away from him.

She hadn’t crawled three paces when she realized someone else was there with them.  She looked back and saw John
lift Troy by the collar and punch him in the jaw.  The relief she felt at seeing John there was too much for her to handle.  She collapsed on the ground and kept praying her thanks that history wasn’t going to repeat itself.

“John!  Stop!”

Suddenly a pair of hands were around her, and she was looking at Shawn.  “Are you alright?  Did we get here before Troy...?”

She nodded.  “I’m fine.”

He helped her to her feet and waited until she had enough strength to stand on her own before he let go of her. 
She turned her attention to Guy
and Aaron as they struggled to pull John off of Troy.  She saw the blood, but it was hard to tell where it was coming from.  Everything was happening so fast.  She could tell that John had Troy pinned to the ground and he wouldn’t stop
punching him, but Aaron and Guy
were hovering around and blocking a clear view of him.  They kept yelling at John to stop and grabbed for him.

“It’s a good thing we came out
when we did
,” Shawn said, not taking his eyes off
of
his brothers.

She sobbed into her hands. 
“It’s my fault.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I let him take me to Charity Custer’s party.  I should have said no.”

“Troy’s taken other ladies to parties and other social gatherings, but he never tried to rape any of them.  I hate to say this but I think it was because you married John and were a...well...a lady of ill repute.”

She took small comfort in that.  Maybe there was nothing she could have done to avoid it.  Maybe it would have happened just because she had been a prostitute and he figured that meant she would be intimate with any man who wanted to be with her that way.

Aaron and Guy
finally succeeded in pulling John off of a battered Troy who was barely moving in the grass.  She had the sudden urge to go over to him and kick him in the face but refrained when she realized that her comb had landed right into his throat.

Once a bloody and
winded John settled down, Aaron knelt beside
Troy and pressed his fingers to
the side of his neck.  He looked up at the group watching him.  “He’s alive
but we need to get him to the doctor.  Then we’ll have to report this to the marshal.” He turned his attention back to Troy.  “Why did you have to go and do something stupid
like this?” He stood up and Guy
helped him lift Troy.  Glancing at John and Eliza, he said, “We saw what Troy was trying to do.  We’ll back up your story to the marshal.”

Beside her, Shawn gave a heavy sigh but joined his brothers as they made their way back toward the house.

Still trembling, she walked over to John and wrapped her arms around his waist.  He held her tightly against him and kissed the top of her head.  She closed her eyes and reminded herself that this time she had taken the steps necessary to defend herself.  She’d learned to fight back.