Yellowstone Romance Series - Bundle (# 2-5) (61 page)

A gruff voice penetrated her mind, and it sounded like it was coming from a deep railroad tunnel. Rough hands grabbed her around the waist. She clutched at the windowsill, unwilling to be pulled away. Any moment now, Kyle would move, and he’d get up off the ground. 

“Come along, Kate Ellen. Your shenanigans are over. I’ll deal with you proper when we get to Helena.”

“Let go of me, you monster,” she yelled.

“Simmons, deal with the mess you’ve made. I’m sure the sheriff will be along any second. My wife and I are leaving.”

“No,” Kate screamed. She flailed her hands in all directions. Her wrist connected with Hiram’s ear.

“Do I need to give you more chloral hydrate,” he hissed. “It subdued you before our nuptials. I wasn’t going to resort to it again, but you’re not giving me a choice, Kate Ellen. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring any with me.”

Hiram’s words barely registered in her mind. Vaguely, she wondered at the name of the medication. Her mother had given her potassium bromide, not what Hiram had just mentioned. In the deep recesses of her mind, she knew this was important somehow, but right at this moment, nothing seemed to matter.

She sobbed, each breath agony to her lungs. Her head pounded, and Hiram’s arm crushed painfully around her waist as he attempted to drag her from the room.

“Kyle,” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

“It’s over, Kate Ellen. He’s dead. Stop your foolish behavior this instant.” Hiram’s harsh words sliced like daggers through her heart.

“No! No! Let go of me!” She cried out repeatedly. Kate fought like a woman possessed, swinging her arms, and kicking out her legs. She was no match for Hiram’s bulk. He half dragged, half lifted her toward the door. Several times her hands made contact with some part of his body.

“Goddammit, woman. I’ve had enough of this,” Hiram bellowed. He released her waist, and flung her away from him with such force, she thought for a brief moment she’d become airborne. Her feet made contact with the ground. Her knees buckled, and as she went down, her hip crashed into the wooden coffee table. She cried out in pain. Her hand shot out to brace the rest of her fall. It was a futile effort. Her forehead connected with something solid.

“I’m coming, Kyle,” she mouthed the words, just as darkness and peace enveloped her.

Chapter 29

“I love you, Katelyn.” Kyle’s deep voice seeped into her subconscious, and enveloped her in radiant warmth. She smiled up at him.

“I knew you’d come for me, Kyle. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“I always keep my promises, Kate.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Kate leaned into him, and moaned softly. Her hands glided across his firm back. A sudden flash of bright light startled her, and she pulled out of his embrace. A loud blast reverberated inside her head.

“No! Kyle!”

His body jerked repeatedly as bullets, one after another, tore into him, splattering blood everywhere. He stumbled backwards, and fell out the window into the bright sunlight. Her arms shot forward, and she grabbed for him, to no avail.

“Remember. Always stay strong, Kate.” His words echoed in her mind, just before he disappeared from view into the brightness of the light.

 Kate bolted upright in her bed. The brilliant sunlight streaming in through her window blinded her, and she squinted in protest. Her chest heaved as she gasped for air, and her cotton nightgown clung to her sweat-soaked body. She swiped a trembling hand over her damp face and through her hair.  What started out as a pleasant dream always ended in the same nightmare.

“Good morning, mistress,” an overly cheerful, yet stern voice greeted her from the other side of the room. “Did we have that bad dream again?”

Kate groaned, and fell back against her oversized pillow. She turned away from the window, and from the annoying woman who had opened the curtains.  She was tempted to tell the maid to leave her room.

“Now, now, Mrs. Devereaux,” the woman chided, and Kate heard the clanking of a porcelain cup against its saucer. “The day’s a’wasting. Your husband has an important business meeting this evening, and he wishes for you to be at your best to greet his guests for supper.”

I don’t care what his wishes are.  As if it’ll take me all day to get ready
. The annoying maid set the tray with the teacup on the nightstand, then pulled the covers away.  This was the woman’s routine every morning. Kate pulled her nightgown down over her knees, and clenched her jaw. The woman grated on her nerves.

She reluctantly turned.  Gone was her warm sanctuary. Cold air greeted her, and she shivered involuntarily.  With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself to the edge of the bed and swung her feet to the floor. Arguing with the maid would be futile. This was not a battle worth fighting.

“Drink you tea, and the day will look much brighter.”

Kate stared up at the bean-pole thin maid. Eliza was gone. Hiram had terminated her employment in Helena. Kate had never gotten the chance to see her, much less say goodbye. In her stead stood this stout, stiff and prim woman. Mary Jane. She was as old, if not older than Kate’s mother. She kept her dark hair tied back in a severe bun, and glared disapprovingly at Kate from behind wire-rimmed spectacles. She rarely smiled, and the deep creases that outlined the skin around her mouth gave testimony that her lips were habitually drawn tightly together.

Kate eyed the cup the woman held out to her. She knew without a doubt that it contained more of the medication Hiram had given her after their arrival back in Helena. That had been two months ago. After falling against the coffee table in the hotel room in Virginia City, she’d been too weak to protest. She’d barely been cognizant of her surroundings on the journey back to Helena, and for most of their stay there before they returned to Boston.

Kyle’s death had shocked her system into an almost catatonic state.  His body lying unmoving in the street after his fall from the window haunted her every day. She’d seen him get shot. Exactly where the bullet had hit him, she wasn’t sure, but she knew it had to be somewhere up high from the way he jerked his body after the impact. No one would survive a gunshot to the chest, and then a fall from the window like that. Kate hadn’t cared what happened to her. She wished the injury to her head had killed her as well.

Her external wounds had healed, however, and her mind cleared. Hiram began medicating her again, no doubt to keep her placid on their journey back to Boston. Discreetly, she found ways to discard her daily medicine-laced tea. If Hiram thought she was too simple minded not to know he was secretly drugging her, then he was the ignorant one. Kate was no longer the puppet she’d been before her experiences in Montana. Kyle had shown her what it meant to think for herself.

Her nightmare about him was always the same. He would come to take her back to his valley, and then he’d get shot. Every time, he told her to be strong. If she had nothing else, it was those words that sustained her. She vowed that someday she would find a way back to Montana. Even though the man she loved was no longer alive, his dreams and visions for the Yellowstone area would survive, and she wanted to be there to see those dreams come true.

During her recovery in Helena, and even for several weeks after they arrived back in Boston, Hiram had barely spoken to her, and thankfully he never sought her out. She’d stayed out of his way, and kept to herself. Mary Jane had been hired a few days after their arrival. Kate was sure she’d been hand-picked by Hiram to keep a close watch on her, and that the woman reported religiously to him about Kate’s activities and behavior. She’d done well enough that Hiram had no longer medicated her. Until recently.

He’d come to her chambers one evening, demanding his rights. Kate had refused. The furious look on her husband’s face almost made her laugh, igniting his wrath even more. He had thrown her against the bedpost in anger. Kate had scrambled to her feet, and stood, boldly facing him.

“If you dare lay another hand on me, Hiram, I swear I will run through the streets of Boston in the nude, and show the world what it is you do to me. The evidence will be irrefutable. Even if people proclaim they don’t believe you hurt me, the seed of doubt will be planted in their minds. I’m sure you don’t want that kind of publicity.”

To her utter amazement, her threat had worked. She could see it in his wide eyes and reddened face that he wanted to hit her again, and it cost him all his resolve to restrain himself.

“Your lover is dead, Kate Ellen,” he sneered. “You have a duty to me.”

Kate held her head high. She would not allow Hiram to see the pain his words caused her. She held tight to the bedpost, and inhaled a deep breath.   “Go seek out your mistresses, Hiram. I have no desire to be your plaything.  Kyle may be dead, but my heart will always belong to him.”

He took a step toward her, his hand raised, and his mouth clenched in a tight line. Kate stood, unflinching. She raised her chin and squared her shoulders. If he struck her, she would not cower. Hiram hesitated, then lowered his hand.

“I’ll make a bargain with you, Hiram. Leave me alone, and I will keep up appearances.”

Surprise registered in his eyes at her boldness. Kate could scarcely believe her own words and actions. It felt good.

“You are in no position to bargain with me,” he scoffed. “You’re my wife, Kate Ellen.  That gives me the right to come to your bed. At some point, I wish to have an heir.”

“Then you married the wrong woman. Grant me a divorce, and you can marry someone more willing than I.”

“Never,” he laughed. “I’ve desired you since you blossomed from a child into a young woman. I’ll never let you go.”

Kate’s eyes narrowed. “Kyle was convinced this marriage is illegal. I haven’t quite figured out how he came to that conclusion, but someday I will, Hiram. And when I do, you’ll no longer hold me prisoner.”

“What could a backwoods simpleton know of such things?” Hiram hissed. “Father Ashton married us in the church.” He laughed. “That scout lived in his father’s shadow so long, he wanted to impress you any way he could. Apparently his false promises worked on you.”

Kate remembered several of Virginia City’s residents telling her of Chase Russell’s incredible accomplishments many years ago. The man was a living legend in Montana. Kyle had never mentioned it to her, and neither had his family ever spoken of it.

“Kyle didn’t need to live in his father’s shadow. He was his own man,” Kate said boldly.

 ”Enough!” Hiram bellowed.  “I will leave, for now, but I won’t stay away from your bedchamber forever, Kate Ellen. You have a duty to me, and you will uphold it.” With those words, he turned and hurried out of her room.

The next morning, not an hour after drinking the tea her maid had brought, Kate had felt sick to her stomach, and she knew immediately what it meant. Each subsequent morning, she discreetly poured the tea into her chamber pot.

Mary Jane pushed the cup into Kate’s hand. The maid hovered in front of her, an expectant look on her face. Kate cursed silently. 
Ladies don’t swear, Kate
.  Kyle’s teasing words resonated in her mind, and brought tears to her eyes. She blinked, and eyed the cup the maid thrust at her.

Was the woman getting suspicious?  With a trembling hand, Kate reached for the cup, and rose from the bed at the same time. Feigning loss of balance, she reached out for Mary Jane’s arm, tipping the cup toward the woman. The hot liquid spilled down the maid’s uniform.

“Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry,” Kate gasped, and reached for a handkerchief from her nightstand. Inwardly, she gloated. Mary Jane sputtered incoherently, and stepped away from Kate, swiping her hand hastily down her front.

“It was an accident,” Mary Jane said, as if trying to convince herself. “I shall return shortly. I must change my uniform.”

“By all means, please do,” Kate urged, and steered the woman toward the door. “I’ll wait for your return. And, no need to brew more tea, Mary Jane. I can go without this morning.”  She’d have to think of something else if the maid returned with a fresh cup.

******

Whenever Hiram entertained guests for supper, Kate usually sat quiet, and spoke only when spoken to, which was rare. She never cared much for the talk around her, and usually tuned it out. This evening, however, the topic of conversation had piqued her interest.

With Hiram at the head of the table, Kate had sat to his left, facing a senator seated to Hiram’s right. She absently pushed the food around on her plate, creating swirly patters with the mashed potatoes. She would have much rather preferred to eat her supper in her room, rather than sit here stiffly and bored amongst these puffed up congressmen.

The senator sitting across from her had leaned over, and although speaking loud enough for several other members of the party to hear, whispered, “So, did everything work out for you in Montana, Hiram?”

Kate’s hand stopped moving. Her ears had honed in on the word
Montana
. She looked discretely across the table at the man, then lowered her eyes again, resuming her plate painting.

“Everything looks to be in place. Besides us,” the senator motioned to the men seated around the table, “we’ve been able to interest five other members. It should be enough to sway the vote in our favor.”

“We’ll discuss this in greater detail after supper, Mortimer,” Hiram said, his forehead wrinkled. He glanced quickly toward Kate before directing his attention to his guest. Kate pretended indifference. She shoveled some potatoes on her fork and forced it into her mouth.

“The Yellowstone area seems a great investment, and we’ll all profit from it immensely,” the senator continued. “Your efforts in that regard are to be commended. We’ll make sure nothing stands in our way.”

Hiram cleared his throat. Apparently, whatever his efforts had been, he did not wish to share them in front of Kate. She dabbed her napkin to her mouth, and reached for her goblet of water. Her mind raced as she held the glass to her lips. What business dealing in the Yellowstone area was Hiram involved in? Surely it couldn’t have anything to do with creating a national park. There was no profit to be made from that. Kate slowly perused the senators seated at the table. She’d seen several of them at other business meetings, but she didn’t really know any of them. Kyle had mentioned the proposal was up for discussion in Congress in November, and he’d been asked to come and speak on behalf of the supporters. That was only a month away.  Somehow, she needed to find out what these men were up to.