South of Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 2) (28 page)

Chapter Fifty-Eight

    
 
J
ude Thomas climbed awkwardly from the carriage onto the road and moved along the edge of the crowd leaning on his cane. He had ridden in on the public lane, avoiding Stavewood entirely. Now he stood on the edge of the clearing where he could see the new station, and, through the line of trees, the mills.

      He had done his time, every cursed minute of it, and he had a right to be here. They had not been able to convict him on the murder charges as they hoped, or hold him responsible for the fire. Had he not shot into the trees that night, he may have walked away scot free. Elgerson and Vancouver could not say a word to him. The railroad property was a public easement and as long as he did not venture onto private property they couldn’t say a word. Nor would they dare, he thought, not in a crowd like this.

      A few people noticed and recognized him and stepped away whispering as he continued up to the front of the crowd.

      He could see Timothy Elgerson behind the station, shaking hands with some city men that Jude did not recognize. Roland Vancouver was there as well, standing with his feet planted apart and his hands clasped behind his back. He stood like the prison guards, Jude noticed, and decided he loathed the man that much more. The kid was there too, Corissa’s boy, but he had changed drastically. He held himself like he was just another one of these rich bastards. He bet Corissa would roll over in her grave to see her kid looking like one of these fancy-fitted loggers.

     The women stood several feet away and Jude moved back into the crowd and shuffled closer to see them better. The little thing that Elgerson had taken in was even prettier now than she had been when he had first brought her here. Jude watched the way her skirt swayed and how she tossed her head in laughter. He imagined her with her hair falling down around bare shoulders, a come-hither look in her eye. The blonde looked good as well. She’s filled out real nicely, he observed. She was smiling as well. He could see her in his mind’s eye, naked in the grass, over there in the pretty spot where Vancouver had built his place. Funny, he thought, that Vancouver was his neighbor now. There was that nice path that led between the properties.

      He recognized the girl with Corissa’s boy, too. She was Shofield’s kid. She was still a little plain, but shaping up nicely. He couldn’t imagine what she would be doing hanging around these fancy folks, but he knew a drink or two with Shofield would tell him everything.

      He’d been at the Weintraub house for nearly a month now and had seen Vancouver ride out once and peer into his windows. Had he a gun he would have shot the bastard for trespassing. He had money now, and with a few visits to the bank he’d take care of the tax bill soon enough and the minute one of them set foot on the place he’d exact his revenge.

      He looked up at the sign and read the name. He hated that name with all of his being. This man had murdered his family, beat him senseless twice and that damned kid had shot him in the leg. Now they were trying to take his farm away and they had killed all of his horse stock. The sheriff had told him, just yesterday, that almost every horse was dead in that ravine, but he knew it was a lie. Elgerson owned the law too, he believed. Those horses were perfectly fine. Grass grew down in that canyon and when it rained there was plenty of water. They were fine just the way he had left them.

      Jude watched Elgerson, Vancouver and Corissa’s kid walk up onto the platform and he slunk back into the crowd as people began to clap and cheer.

      “It’s wonderful to see such a magnificent turnout today,” Timothy Elgerson began. The crowd applauded appreciatively.

      “I put my name up here,” he pointed to the sign, “so you all could find it, but this station is for all of you.” The gathering laughed and turned to each other smiling.

      “This is your station. As I’m sure you all know, it’s close to many of your farms and to town. We’ve got a good telegraph inside and there will be an operator on duty.” The clapping began again.

      “We have good lumber here and good men to gather and mill it. With the two new buildings and the steam donkeys we can move much more lumber. All of this means more business for your shops downtown, jobs for those of you that need them and for your youngsters. My fondest wish is that this all means only the best for all of us.”

      The throng clapped loudly and shouted words of appreciation and enthusiasm.

      Benjamin Neilson addressed the crowd, thanking Timothy Elgerson and his stockholders for their commitment to his business. He wished the people of Billington the best of luck and announced that there were refreshments inside and that the group should walk through in an orderly fashion and visit the new station.

      A railroad representative spoke briefly and the crowd began to move towards the entrance to the station. Timothy had posted young men to keep the crowd moving through and he stepped down to join the people filing towards the building.

       Jude shuffled away to the back of the gathering and waited for the people to clear.

      Roland saw the man first, then leaned to Timothy and pointed him out. Jude Thomas stood in the center of the clearing his face dark and threatening.

      “I knew he was out, but I really didn’t think he’d show up here, not today,” Roland spoke to Timothy Elgerson quietly.

      “There’s nothing we can do. He did his time. Maybe he learned something.” Timothy returned to greeting the people, and answering their questions. He decided that this day was an accomplishment of a lifetime and Jude did not warrant his attention.

      Jude Thomas watched the men with hate in his heart. None of them even seemed to care that he was there. Not one of them felt his threat. He fumed inside of his woolen coat and spit into the hard packed snow. Next time they’d notice him, he vowed.

      He watched person after person shake the men’s hands and each warm greeting further convinced him that this time he would not fail at enacting his revenge. Had Timothy Elgerson allowed Corissa to do as she wished, all those years ago, she might be alive today. She may never have ridden out from that cursed estate in anger and frustration. All the rich fool had to do was let her come and go as she pleased. He has all the damned money in the world, he thought. If he had let her find what she wanted in bed this would all be different. If Timothy Elgerson hadn’t decided he had the right to tell her where she should go and who she should see, she might be with him now. She belonged to him, he believed. Elgerson could never have made her happy stomping around in his boots. He was just a tree farmer, nothing more. He couldn’t keep her happy and he wouldn’t let her go.

      Vancouver was no better. He couldn’t even be with a woman any longer. Mina had told him all about it. She had said that she tried to lure him into her bed and he had lost his temper with her. He’d lost it because he would never perform as a man again. That blonde he was with now had to have gone to another man to conceive her child. Sooner or later they all came to him anyway, and these women would as well, in time.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

    
 
M
ark and Bernadette walked along the road behind Stavewood in the spring of 1903. They could hear the brook that ran along the path and the birds enjoying the first early berries of the season, their nests raucous with the calls of young hatchlings. Timothy had asked that his son bring the girl to the mill office for an interview, and the couple walked hand in hand to her appointment.

      One day earlier, Mark was sitting at the desk in the new office at Stavewood. Timothy Elgerson had expanded and divided his study into two offices; one his and one Mark’s. Mark’s was bright with several windows, as he had wanted. His books filled the walls of shelves and the big desk was stacked with papers. He had taken on some of the responsibilities of the mill office, but on this day the numbers just didn’t seem to add up.

      Bernadette was waiting for him, studying the titles in the book collection when she heard him curse under his breath. She walked around the desk and looked over his shoulder. She knew she could figure out just about any math problem there was, and as soon as she saw what he was struggling with she tried to help him out.

      “If you look at the total here,” she had pointed out, “you’d see where the problem is. These figures here should match up.”

      Timothy was working in his adjoining office and he listened to the young couple through the open doorway.

      “How did you do that?” he heard Mark ask.

      “You look at this column here, it has the receivables. This number here should be subtracted. You added it, that’s why your numbers are off. See?”

      The big man stepped away from his desk and walked to the doorway of Mark’s office.

      “Bernadette,” he began. “Have you any experience with bookkeeping?”

      “Oh. Hi, Mr. Elgerson. Well, not really. I understand what Mark’s trying to do here. I guess numbers just make sense to me.” She smiled shyly.

      “That’s exactly what I’m looking for. I have an opening for an accounting apprentice. Maybe it’s something you would be interested in.”

      The girl agreed to meet with him and the accountant the next day. A better paying job would be wonderful, she thought. The sewing job at the dressmakers paid poorly and she didn’t want to spend her life at a sewing machine.

      “Are you nervous?” Mark asked, watching her walk beside him, lost in thought.

      “Maybe, a little bit.” She looked up at him and smiled. She really liked him very much, and she found herself spending more and more time with him. He was easy to be with, like a brother might be. It didn’t hurt that he was really handsome and terribly rich and that all of her friends were green with envy.

      She saw Sam Evens working in the yard with the men and smiled and waved. She really liked Sam, too. He wasn’t as rich as Mark, but he lived in a really nice house and was equally handsome. But he made her nervous whenever he talked to her and made her lose all concentration. When Sam winked at her while they were talking he took her breath away.

      “How long has your girl been seeing that Elgerson boy?” Jude signaled the waitress to pour another round.

      “Since winter,” Old Man Shofield tossed the shot down quickly and slammed his glass down onto the wooden bar.

      Rival’s Saloon was quiet this early in the day, and the two men had the bar almost entirely to themselves.

      “What does a boy like Mark Elgerson want with your pretty daughter?”

      “I asked her the same thing myself. She keeps sayin’ that he’s a gentleman and all. He comes sniffing around for her most every weekend. Now she’s sayin’ that Elgerson is going to be having her out at the mill working on his bookkeepin’ or some such thing. He’s got damn near everybody workin’ for him nowadays. They ever have another one of them accidents and the whole town will be starvin’ while they wait for him to reopen.”

      Jude had kept thinking about how Corissa probably didn’t want her son to grow up a timberman like Elgerson. He had watched the man treating the kid like he was his own flesh and blood. If he were that attached to the kid he’d be pretty upset if Mark got into trouble. No one in town would think much of that kid, or Elgerson if he were to get a poor girl in a bad way.

      “What would you do to that boy if he were to get your little girl in trouble?” Jude asked.

      “You can be sure I’d get out my rifle for that. He’d be walkin’ her right down the aisle. I don’t need any Elgerson brats from him, not without a wedding!” Old Man Shofield downed another drink.

      “Maybe I should take the girl under my wing and keep an eye on her. I’ll get her to trust me and I’ll watch her and make sure that boy doesn’t lay a finger on her.”

       “I’d appreciate that. She won’t listen to me about him, calling him a gentleman all the time,” he slurred.

Chapter Sixty

     
    
 
B
ernadette Shofield smoothed her new frock as she stepped off the train at Elgerson Mills and fussed with her modern handbag.

       “Good morning,” Samuel Evens greeted her as she stepped from the platform. She was two hours early for her shift and she was hoping to see Mark before she started work. She knew he would be working at Stavewood that morning and she thought she might walk down to catch him alone for a few minutes and show him how fine she looked.

       “Hello, Sam,” she smiled sweetly. She thought Sam might like her new dress as well.

      “You look very nice today,” he complimented. Samuel Evens had noticed Bernadette several times over the years. Mark Elgerson always seemed to have the best girls chasing after him, rich and poor alike. Samuel felt better about himself, he did come from a nice family, but his mill job paid really well and he’d be buying his own place before long and looking for the right wife was often on his mind. He’d had his eye on Bernadette long before Mark and he had hoped they’d break off by now. He really liked the girl and was sure that, without Mark’s competition, he could make her happy.

       Bernadette studied the odd way that Sam regarded her and smiled.

      “I have to get to work, but you do look really pretty today,” he continued.

      “Why, thank you, Sam.” Bernadette touched his arm, ever so slightly. She was very much enjoying the attention of all the men recently. Sam was always telling her she looked so pretty and Jude couldn’t keep his hands off her, and he bought her so many pretty things. She liked being around Mark, too. He was kind to her, if not terribly affectionate. That was alright, she considered. He was okay, but she thought kissing Sam sure would be nice.

      On a whim she stood up on her toes and leaned over and kissed his cheek and he looked at her oddly.

      “Well, Sam, you are so sweet to me. I just had to kiss you to say thank you.” Bernadette was discovering that she might not be the most beautiful woman around, but some flirting could get you many things. She was tired of being a poor nobody. She wanted boyfriends and pretty clothes and maybe Samuel Evens as well.

      The young man walked back towards the mills and struggled with his thoughts. This wasn’t the first time Bernadette had been so forward. He knew she was still seeing Mark. He liked her, but not at the cost of his friendship with Elgerson.

      Bernadette nearly skipped along the path towards Stavewood and she checked her lipstick in her hand mirror before walking up to the back door at Stavewood and knocking softly in her cotton gloves.

      “Good morning, Bernadette,” Timothy greeted her and opened the door. “I believe Mark is in his study.”

      “Thank you, Mr. Elgerson,” she replied and brushed past the man.

      He watched her go through the swinging kitchen door and he could have sworn she had found a new way to swing her hips. Recently it seemed as if the girl was appearing in fancier clothing and was getting her hair done more often. She was doing a great job bookkeeping for the mill and he was glad to see that she was able to spoil herself a little, but thought she overdid it a bit sometimes.

      “Good morning,” Bernadette glided into the office and put her hip on the desk.

      “Morning,” Mark muttered and glanced up at her briefly before returning to his work.

      “Well?” she waited.

      “Humm?” He looked up again.

      “You didn’t even notice my new frock!” She stuck out her bottom lip and pouted.

      “I’m sorry, Bernadette. Stand up and let me see.”

      Her day dress was frothy and full, fitted at the waist and trimmed in yards of lace. Mark had driven his mother to the dressmaker enough times to know that the newest styles, such as this, did not come cheaply. He knew exactly what money Bernadette earned at the mill and it seemed that nearly every day she had a new dress or bonnet. He refrained from buying her too many things. She had pressed him to for a while, but had given up over time. He liked buying her things very much, but knew that her father disapproved. He never gave her cash. He did not want his intentions to ever be misunderstood.

      “You look lovely,” he remarked. He did notice that she was wearing that new lipstick again. He was not entirely comfortable with Bernadette’s new fashion sense.

      The girl scowled as he turned back to his paperwork. Jude had made such a fuss over her this morning. Of course she couldn’t admit that to Mark. The one time she had told him that she had spoken to Jude he had gotten really upset. He accused him of being a horse thief and trying to kill his father and Mr. Vancouver, but Jude had said that the Elgersons were just out to get him. He was so good to her, buying her all these pretty things all the time.

      She had long ago decided that she wouldn’t tell Mark about Jude. She wasn’t married to him, as Jude had pointed out to her. If Mark proposed then it would be different, but it seemed as if that was never going to happen.

      Bernadette began to walk around the office absently. She thought about how Jude was always asking about the money and affairs at Stavewood.

          She shifted some papers on the desk.