Mail Order Devastation (Montana Mail Order Brides, Book 4) (24 page)

“
But wouldn’t she have gone looking for her own child, instead of a position as a wet nurse?” Deming asked.

“
Something definitely happened,” Noah asserted.  “She must have been unable to find her own child, or she knew there was no way of getting her back.”

“
Or the child died.”

Everyone
’s attention snapped to the sheriff.

“
You think the child died in a fire somehow, as she said?”

“
No.  I suspect the fire was an elaborate story to explain the fact that she had no baby anymore.  There probably wasn’t any husband, or she’d be with him.  More likely, the child died in childbirth, or…” he glanced at Mollie, then Noah, then shifted his gaze back to the stand of trees.

“
Or what?” Mollie asked, trembling, though in her heart, she knew.

Chapter 32

The sheriff didn
’t answer.

“
You think she murdered her own child?” Deming asked, shocked.

Sheriff Langton
shot Deming an irritated glare.  “We don’t know that.  Why don’t you keep your trap shut?”

The world began to blur and spin, and Mollie willed herself to remain upright, clutching
onto Noa
h’
s coat. 
I will not faint, I will not faint, my child is in the arms of a possible murderer, I cannot faint…

“
There’s no reason to believe she killed her child,” Noah whispered, shaking Mollie by the shoulders.  “You hear me?  None at all.  They’re just speculating.  For all we know, she was arrested for some small crime, and her child was left at home with the father.  Perhaps the father ran off with another woman, and took the child with her.”

“
No.”  Mollie shook her head.  “That woman wouldn’t leave her child.  She wouldn’t take on another woman’s child unless she knew her own child was gone.  Irretrievably gone.”  Somehow she knew it was the truth.  “She’s replaced her own daughter with Nell, in her fragile mind.  That’s why she said she’s not letting the baby be taken away
again
.  The child died, somehow, and they took the body away from her.”

She looked at Sheriff Langton for confirmation, but he slid his gaze away.  That was confirmation enough that he suspected the same thing.

There was a long, awkward silence as they all watched Fulton in the distance.  She shifted, and Mollie finally saw a large bundle in her arms, swaddled in blankets. 

Her heart ached. 
My Nell!  Please God, save her.  I don’t care what happens to me.  Save my baby from the arms of that woman!

“
How do we proceed from here?” Deming asked.

“
We don’t know if she has a weapon.  If somehow I could at least see her hands, and make sure she’s unarmed, we could consider rushing her at once—”

“
No!” Mollie hissed, horrified.  “
No one
lunges for her!  Not unless it’s a last resort.  She doesn’t need a weapon to hurt Nell.  It wouldn’t take much to harm such a small child.  We do this my way.”

“
I’m
in charge, Mrs. Jamison—”

“
And I appreciate your help, but she’s
my
child.  Have
you
given birth, Sheriff?  Have you experienced the loss of a child in any way?  Have you felt the gnawing agony that comes with being separated from your child?  No?  I didn't think so.”  She turned from him without awaiting a response, and addressed the group, but kept her voice low.  “I may not be mad, but I know what it’s like to feel mad with grief.  I know what desperation can do to even the sanest of mothers.  I’m the only one here who can muster empathy for this woman, who can begin to suspect what is going through her mind.  So we do things
my
way.”

“
She might feel threatened by you,” the sheriff muttered.

“
She may.  But she already feels threatened by you.  And by Mr. Deming as well.  I may be our only chance.”

“
Fine,” he agreed with reluctance.   Then he turned and addressed his men in a louder whisper.  “You heard the lady.  We do it her way—until I say different.  But we can’t let her get past us.  I don’t want her to jump on her horse and gallop off at full speed with an infant, when she can’t ride a horse for beans, as it is.”

They all nodded. 

Mollie stepped forward.  “Eugenia?”

She saw the woman
’s head jerked up.  “Go away!”

“
Eugenia, I just want to talk.  I’m not a police office
r—
you can see that.  I’m a mother, just like you.”

“
I know who you are.  I saw you the day the police dragged you away in the paddy wagon.”  She laughed.  “Thought you were going to get my baby, didn’t you?  But you didn’t, and you won’t get her today, either.  I know that’s why you’re really here.  You tricked Mr. Deming into thinking it’s your baby, and he was going to hand her over.  Can you believe that?  Just hand her over, like a sack of unwanted potatoes?  Well, you can banish that notion.  She’s mine, and you can’t take her away this time.”

Some deep part of Mollie wanted to dash for the trees and rip her child from the arms of the horrid woman.  She could almost feel the woman
’s hair twined in her fingers as—in her imagination—she dragged her away from Nell.  She wanted to claw the devil’s eyes out!

Then Miss Fulton shifted again, and Nell whined, an arm appearing from the bundle of blankets, reaching out.  It brought Mollie back to reality, and made her swallow the rage that threatened to surge up. 
I have to think rationally.  If I’m to get Nell back, I have to connect with this woman, no matter what my true feelings for her are.  She has to give Nell up willingly.

Mollie took a step forward. 
“I’m sorry if I upset you or the Deming family that day, Eugenia.  I truly wasn’t there to steal Nell.  I only wanted to visit her.”

“
Her name is
Ramona
, and you’re a liar!  You don’t think I can take care of her.  You want to take her away, like everyone else!”

Ramona?
Mollie glanced at the sheriff, and saw him wince at the name.  The woman was definitely delusional. 
Ramona must have been her own child’s name.
In that moment, Mollie knew she’d found the way to connect with Eugenia Fulton.  She may have been mad, and possibly could have contributed to her child’s death, but nonetheless, she was a mother who was missing her child.  Her baby was gone, and was never coming back.  Mollie knew that pain—although she’d never given up hope—and knew that on that level alone, she could understand.  And if she could, then Eugenia could, as well.

At least, I hope she can.

“Eugenia,” she said, taking another step forward, “no mother should ever have to suffer having her baby taken away.  It’s a gut-wrenching pain that no one else can understand, and that you never recover from.”

Eugenia lifted her head. 
“No one understands.”

“
I do.  I understand.”

“
You
don’t
understand.  They didn’t lock
you
up, I’ll bet.  They didn’t treat
you
like an animal.”

“
No, they didn’t.  About that, you’re right—I don’t understand.  But someone
did
take my child.  I came home one day, and found that my own mother had stolen my baby—right from her bed—and given her away to a stranger.”  Mollie slowly edged toward the stand of trees.

“
Why would someone
do
that?  Don’t they know?  Don’t they understand that a baby belongs with its mother?”

“
A baby
does
belong with its mother.  I think sometimes people believe they’re doing the right thing, even when they’re not.  They think they’re helping the baby, or protecting her.  But all they’re really doing is hurting the baby, because they’re not thinking clearly.  They’re really only thinking about what they want.”

“
That’s right!  They didn’t care about Ramona.  Ramona needed me.  She wanted me.  And they took her away anyway!”

“
What happened with Ramona?”  Mollie was close enough to see the top of Nell’s head.  She was dressed warmly—thank God—but Mollie could see that her cheeks were red, and her skin pale beneath.  It was too cold for such a young child to stay outside so long.

“
She…she was sick.  She wasn’t breathing right.  They wanted to take her away, but I wouldn’t let them.  I knew they’d keep her from me.  I knew I’d never see her again.  She didn’t need all their doctoring.  She needed me.  She needed to nurse at her mother’s breast.  They didn’t want to listen.”  Eugenia was petulant, like a child recounting how she hadn't gotten her way.  “But I showed them.  The doctor wasn’t careful—he was new, and he left his torture instruments out on the little table after Ramona was born.  I used one to protect myself—to protect Ramona.  They yelled and screamed and tried to get at us, but I held them off.  I wouldn’t let them take her.  I protected my baby.”

“
That’s all we want, isn’t it?” Mollie asked.  “We want to keep them safe.  Keep them warm.  Let no harm come to them.  Right?”  She entered the stand of evergreen saplings. 

Eugenia craned her neck. 
“You stay right there!  Don’t come any farther.”

“
I’m right here, Eugenia.  I just want to talk.  I don’t want to shout all over the state of Montana, for all those men to hear.”  Mollie jerked a thumb back toward the posse.  “They don’t understand.  They’re not bad people, they’re just doing their jobs—but they don’t understand, do they?”

Eugenia shook her head.  Her wool bonnet had fallen back, and her hair fell in wisps around her face. 
“No one ever understands.”

“
I understand.  Remember?  I told you, my mother stole my child from me.  She wasn’t even sorry.  She wouldn’t tell me where my baby was.  I begged and I begged, but she wouldn’t listen…”

“
They didn’t listen to me, either!  I tried to tell them that I could take care of her.  I’ve taken good care of her all this time!  She’s healthy, and she’s happy, and nothing has happened to her, like what happened the first time.”

“
What happened the first time, Eugenia?”  Mollie took another step closer.  Only six feet away.  She could see the confusion in the woman’s eyes.   

“
She…she…I don’t know.  Something happened…”

Mollie didn
’t want to know.  She was afraid she would lose her mind if she knew what the woman might be capable of.  But she
had
to know. 

Nell turned, then, looking up at Mollie.  Her blue eyes were wide.  Mollie knew without a doubt that Nell could sense something wasn
’t right with Miss Fulton. 

She looked afraid.

Mollie’s heart twisted in her chest, and she choked back tears.  It was the closest she’d been to Nell in nearly a year, and all she could see was fear in her baby’s eyes.  But she forced herself to sweep back the emotions that swamped her, and continue on.

“
What happened, Eugenia?  It’s important that you remember.”

“
Why?  I don’t want to remember.”

“
Did something happen to Ramona?”

“
She…she couldn’t breathe.  I tried to get her to nurse—I could see she wanted to—but she was gasping for air.  They wanted to take her away.  But what could they do?  They’d just let her die, and I’d never see her again.  So I held her, and I rocked her, and I wouldn’t let them near her.  They pretended that they cared about her, but none of them wanted to get cut.  So they didn’t care about her—not really.  If you care about a baby, you’re not afraid to get cut.  You’re not afraid to risk everything for her.”

“
That’s right.  That’s right, Eugenia.  If a woman loves her baby, she’ll do anything for it.  Even if it makes her unhappy, she’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that her baby lives a long, happy life.”

“
I’d do anything for Ramona.”

“
I know you would.  Just like you did that day.  But what happened, when she had trouble breathing, Eugenia?  What happened to Ramona then?”

Eugenia
’s breathing hitched, and she hugged Nell closer.  “I…she…it got worse.  And then it just stopped.”  She cast her eyes over the landscape as a tear trickled down her cheek.  “Everything stopped.”

“
You mean she stopped breathing?” 

Eugenia nodded, her eyes unfocused, staring off into space. 

“She died?”

“
No!” Eugenia snapped, shifting her gaze to pin Mollie with a deadly glare.  “She never died.  They took her away.”

“
Eugenia,” Mollie said gently, taking another step, “if a baby stops breathing, she dies.  Ramona died, didn’t she?”

“
No!”  She stood up angrily, hoisting Nell in her arms. 

Then from behind them, the sounds of horses reached their ears.  Both women turned to see the other half of the posse making their way up the trail, coming around to the top of the hill. 

“You tricked me!  You brought more of them, to take Ramona!”

“
No,” Mollie held out her hands, pleading, “no, Eugenia, they’re just doing their job.  I won’t let them—”

“
You’re a liar!  You’re all liars!  I won’t let you have her.  I won’t!”

Before Mollie could react, Eugenia whirled and ran.  Mollie leapt forward, lunging for her, but her fingertips merely brushed the hem of Eugenia
’s cape before it disappeared from her grasp.  Watching with horror, she realized that ten feet beyond the rocky outcropping, the land dropped off sharply.