Read Shadow of Shame: Book 1 of the Shadow series Online
Authors: Barbara Goss
Shadow of Shame: Book 1 of the Shadow series
Shame
Barbara Goss
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this book is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage system without express written permission from the author.
Copyright © 2016 Barbara Goss
All Rights Reserved
Kindle Edition
Cover design by: Samantha Fury
Amazing Grace
:
Christian hymn published in 1779, with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton (1725–1807).
"
Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes
"
is a popular old
English
poem, the lyrics of which are
Ben Jonson
's 1616
[1]
poem "
Song. To Celia
."
Abilene, Kansas - 1875
After returning from three months in Topeka, George Armstrong called his two grown sons into his office and offered them seats across from his desk.
Jonas thought his father might have discovered some of his latest antics in his father’s absence, and prepared himself for a lecture, though he knew Caleb wouldn’t be scolded for anything. Since his injury, Caleb had been treated with sympathetic kindness. Even he was gentler with his brother than he’d been before Caleb’s run-in with a bull.
After both sons took a seat, their father cleared his throat. “As you both know, I buried Aunt Bertha three months ago. I stayed on in Topeka to settle her affairs. Since we are her only heirs, she left me her home, which I sold, and she gave each of us a large sum of money.”
Both sons perked up when they heard that. “Money?” Caleb repeated. “How much?”
George took a paper from his breast pocket. “Here is a copy of the will.” He handed it to Jonas who scanned it, whistled when he read the figure assigned to them, and passed it to Caleb.
“I knew she had money, but never imagined she had that much. Where’d she get it all?” Caleb handed the will back to his father.
George returned the document to his pocket. “Her husband, Jake, went to California during the gold rush and filed a large claim. Bertha received the bulk of it after he died. She was never one to splurge on luxuries since she lived a modest life, so she spent little of it through the years, although she was always generous with me.” He swung his arms out as if to draw attention to the room they were in. “We’d have none of this if it weren’t for her.
“I want you both to buy some land and build a home with your money. It’s time you left the nest anyway,” he said. “As you know, I’ve been courting Phoebe Ellis for a few years now. I’m thinking it’s about time I remarried. It has been ten years since your mother passed away, after all.”
Jonas didn’t have to think long about this. “All right. I’m excited to start. Oh, and congratulations—Phoebe's a good choice for you.”
“What about you, Caleb?” George asked. “Will you be all right?”
Caleb nodded. “It scares me, a little, to think about living alone, what with my leg, and all.”
“Neither of you have to leave if you don’t want to, but build the homes anyway, so the houses will be ready when you are,” George said. “When you're ready Caleb, you can hire a staff to help you.”
George smiled at Caleb. “Son, once word gets out that you’re rich, you’ll have no problem finding a wife. The problem is, you don’t want a fortune hunter.” He addressed both sons, “So, I think we should keep a low profile with the money. Neither of you wants a fortune-hunting wife, right? But Caleb, you can spend enough to attract a nice woman, I’m sure of it.”
“Even with my gimp leg?”
“Yes,” his father said.
Caleb smiled and nodded, but then Jonas spoke up, “I don’t want a wife at all, but I do like the idea of my own place.”
“Well, Jonas, that’s entirely up to you, but you’ll not spend extravagantly until Caleb is married.
“I’ll speak with Conrad Lebold at the bank and convince him to keep quiet about the money. I suggest you buy some land and build a modest home—
And I mean modest
,” George said. “Once you’re married, you can do whatever you want with the money, but I’d suggest you start a business, Jonas, so you’ll have a livelihood.” He looked at Caleb. “You will be my partner in the lumberyard, since you can’t really do as much with the stiff leg. And, if you apply yourself to being more social, you
will
meet someone. If not, there’s always the mail order bride thing that was done years ago. Some people still use it.”
“What will you do with your money, Father?” Jonas asked.
“I’m going to fix up this old house. It was built by one of the earliest settlers to the area, back when Abilene was still called Mud Creek. I’m going to restore it back to the way it looked when it was first built.”
George took his sons to the outskirts of town to buy land. After looking at several parcels, Caleb and Jonas agreed on adjoining properties, about two miles from town. Their father took them to the lumberyard to order the wood they’d need to build, and he recommended several area carpenters.
Separate crews were building the houses, so that after two weeks, each had a good start on their way to becoming modest homes.
Jonas had been the perfect son since his father’s return from Topeka, and though he did spend some time in the saloons, he made sure he was home at a decent hour—alone. He had, however, had quite a time drinking and womanizing during George's absence. He’d even brought some of his conquests home with him for the night. Since he’d behaved so well since his father's return, he was surprised when his father woke him up early one morning, hammering on his bedroom door. He could tell by the pounding and the tone of his voice that he was furious.
“Jonas! Jonas!” he yelled, and beat the door some more.
Jonas shook the sleep from his head, and walked to the door, and opened it a crack. “What?”
“I want you down in my office as fast as you can make it. I have serious business to discuss with you,
immediately!”
His father turned and stomped down the stairs.
Jonas felt a lecture coming on, based on the tone of his father’s voice. What could his father have found out to put him in such a fowl mood? He knew Caleb would never tell their father about how he had carried on in his father’s absence. He worried and wondered the whole time he dressed, and made his way down to the office. If his father found out about his behavior in his absence, he’d have him chopping wood for the rest of his life.
He opened the door to his father’s office, and stared in disbelief at the middle-aged man and young, familiar-looking woman sitting across from his father’s desk. When Jonas realized he'd been standing in the doorway with his mouth agape, he quickly proceeded into the room, and closed the door behind him.
His worst fears were about to be realized. He knew that at age eighteen, he was headed for the altar.
“Sit!” his father commanded.
Jonas sat in a chair as far from the father and daughter as he could get.
“Mr. Hayes is here to see that you do the right thing by his stepdaughter, Minnie Kreider, who just happens to be increasing after being with you several nights while I was gone.”
Jonas’s stomach felt like marbles had begun to tumble around in it. “Yes, sir,” he mumbled. He looked at the woman's stepfather. “I’m sorry, sir.”
“As you should be,” Mr. Hayes snapped. “Minnie is a good girl.” He pointed his finger at Jonas. “You took advantage of my stepdaughter, and you’ll marry her for it. And quickly, before her condition becomes noticeable.”
Jonas knew Minnie had a reputation for being quite generous with her favors. Minnie worked at The Bull’s Head Saloon. She was a pretty girl, with fair skin, and ginger-colored hair. He wanted to ask Mr. Hayes how she’d known he was the father, since he knew he wasn’t the only one who’d been with her, but thought it best to keep silent. It could just as well be his fault as anyone’s.
“My apologies, Mr. Hayes,” George said. “My son will marry Minnie on Saturday. He has a house being built as we speak, but they can live here until it’s finished.”
Mr. Hayes and Minnie stood to leave, and Jonas looked at her, and just slightly shook his head to let her know; he was not happy.
“Sit back down!” George Armstrong yelled, as his son tried to escape upstairs once the guests had left. “I’m not through with you yet.”
Jonas trudged back to his father’s office and slumped into a seat.
“What in the world happened while I was gone?” he demanded.
Jonas rolled his eyes, “Isn’t it evident? Listen, I wasn’t the only one who was with her. Boyd Egan and—”
“No!
You
listen!” His father yelled. He pounded his fist on the desk. “I don’t care about your friends, I am
your
father, and I never planned to have you married at age eighteen!” George Armstrong sighed. “This can’t end well.”
“I wasn’t the only one who—”
“
You
were intimate with that woman!” George rubbed his forehead. “And God only knows how many others that I don’t know about. When a man goes that far with a woman, he is
responsible
for the results. How could you have been so careless and negligent?”
Jonas remained silent.
“Thank God Aunt Bertha left you and Caleb enough money to give you a good start in life, because your life will start on Saturday. As soon as the house you’re building is finished, you will take your wife there to live. Do you understand? Try to make a decent marriage out of this. You owe that much to the child, at least.
“Just promise me you’ll not tell anyone, including Minnie, how much money you have in the bank. I instructed you and Caleb to build modest homes and save the rest of the money, because I didn’t want either of you marrying fortune hunters. Though you will soon be married—under these circumstances—keep it quiet, at least, until we see how things go. Who knows what could happen if she knew the size of your inheritance?
“I also want you attending church again. You’ve been skipping it in favor of sleeping off a Saturday night of partying. I want you in church every Sunday, because only God can help you now.” His father left the office with a slam of the door.
Jonas endured a hasty marriage at the office of the Justice of the Peace, since his church had refused to perform the ceremony. He moved Minnie Kreider Armstrong into his room. Minnie didn’t look any happier about the situation than Jonas did. They spoke very little as they stood in his bedroom alone. After several minutes of silence, he felt he had to say
something
.
“I’m sorry this happened, and I’m willing to make the best of it, if you are.”
She shrugged. “Where should I put my things?”
Jonas pointed to the armoire and the closet. “I’ll move my things into another room.” Jonas sighed loudly. “This is very awkward.”
“What’s done is done,” she said. “How soon before our house is ready? This one gives me the creeps.” She looked up at the high ceiling and shivered.
“This is a fine old house,” Jonas said. “I was born in the room down the hall. There’s nothing spooky about it.”
“The floors and stairs all squeak, and the doors make a creaking noise when you open them,” she said.
“Well, it’s old,” he said. “Now, there’s only one bed in here, so I’ll sleep in the adjoining bedroom. No one will think twice about us not sleeping together since many married couples sleep in adjoining rooms.”
“We won’t be um… you know, intimate?” she asked.
“No. I agreed to make the best of it, but it’s not as if I chose this marriage, or that I’m happy about it. Making the best of it means you go your way and I’ll go mine.” He turned to the door, and said, “I’ll leave you to get settled.”
That night, Jonas went to The Silver Slipper for a few beers, and ran into his two best friends, Quinn Iverson and Boyd Egan.
“Hey, old man, I hear you got yourself hog-tied,” Boyd said loudly. Boyd and Quinn slapped him on the back laughing. “Let me buy the groom a drink!” Boyd signaled the bartender. “A drink for the groom on his wedding night.”
“Shouldn’t you be elsewhere tonight?” Quinn asked with a smirk. “Like in bed with the little woman?”
Jonas didn’t let their remarks bother him—he was used to their ribbing.
“Seriously,” Quinn asked, “why are you here instead of home doing the husbandly deed?”
Jonas sighed. “Well, it’s like this, Quinn, some men choose their wives, and some women choose their targets.” He took a long drink from his beer mug.
Boyd scratched his head. “I’m not following you. You didn’t choose the woman? Who is she anyway? I only heard you got married, but Belle never mentioned who the bride was.”
“Belle told you?” Jonas couldn’t believe that the owner of The Bull’s Head Saloon had told him the news. “And she never mentioned
who
I married?”
“Truth is, she didn’t exactly tell
me
, I sort of overheard it, and I only heard part of the conversation. Tell us—we’re dying to know.” Boyd took a drink of his beer and wiped the foam from his mouth. “Was it Ruthie Jean?”
Jonas shook his head. “Minnie Kreider.”
Both friends let their mouths drop when he mentioned Minnie’s name. “Sorry, old man,” Boyd said.
“I didn’t know you were courting a saloon woman seriously, Jonas,” Quinn said. “You do know she’s sort of been around, don’t you?”
“Yep,” Jonas said after taking a gulp of his beer. “I know. One of us got her ‘up the duff,’
“Seriously?” Boyd and Quinn said in unison.
“Man!” Quinn exclaimed. “I’m sorry, Jonas.”
Jonas nodded again, and continued to nurse his beer.
“Even Samson who works for the Smithy has been with her, and Carl, the barber,” Boyd added.