Prairie Storm (32 page)

Elijah tried to scrape his stomach up off the ground. “So Lily is really leaving town?”

“Indeed. We depart tomorrow morning.”

“All the more reason to send that baby on with me, Brother Elijah,” the deputy said. “Ain't gonna be nobody to look after him when she goes. You'd better let the orphanage take over.”

“I need to do some thinking.” Eli paused. “I need to pray.”

“I hope it won't take too long, Preacher. The longer I dawdle here, the less my wife is going to like it. Like I said, we've got six young'uns….”

As the man rambled on, Elijah felt his heart stand still in his chest. He had to see Lily. Had to talk to her. Under the cottonwood tree, she had told him she loved him. But loved him how? Like a preacher? Like a brother?

He wanted more from Lily than that. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” he said. Then he nodded to the two men and sprinted out of the cemetery toward the Hanks house.

Chapter 17

A
S LILY carried Samuel down the road toward the opera house, she watched a peregrine falcon soar high above in the bright blue sky. Drifting on a current of warm summer air that swirled upward from the prairie, the majestic bird surveyed its territory with an eye that missed nothing. Alone, regal, ever vigilant, the falcon hovered, almost unmoving.

“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”
The words of Isaiah whispered through Lily like a soft breeze.
“They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Wait upon the Lord
. In her awkward, stumbling life, God had revealed himself as the master of time. He had led her, matured her, nurtured her, and finally knocked at a moment when she was willing to open the door of her heart. She had to trust that even now, in the midst of her utter sorrow, God would work his will. In his time.

If she could only be patient, Lily thought as she stepped onto the porch of the gaudy building, he would give her strength. Though right now she felt as worn and ragged as an old dishcloth, she believed that one day God would help her to mount up with wings just like that peregine falcon. She would be able to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint. Some distant future moment, even without Elijah and Samuel, she would learn to soar.

Oh, Father, guard me now. Please permit me to give Elijah this one gift, something to help him in his work, something from my heart
.

She had barely lifted her hand to knock when the door swung open. Beatrice emerged, her purple velvet dress blending with the shadows in the room behind her. A smirk lifted one corner of her red-painted mouth.

“I saw you walking down the road, Lil.” She stepped aside and gestured toward the dusky foyer. “Won't you come in?”

Lily tightened her grip on Samuel. “Thanks, Bea. I was hoping you and I could speak for a moment.”

“Sure. Old friends, after all.”

Entering the room with its red wallpaper and gilt chandeliers, Lily nestled the baby's head against her neck. The sound of laughter and poorly played music drifted through the room from the saloon down the hall. She had hoped to leave Sam with Eva. But the woman's “short trip” to the mercantile had lasted more than an hour when Lily decided to go ahead and finish the matter. Evening approached, and she didn't want to be out after dark.

“How do you like the place?” Bea asked, giving a twirl that sent her velvet gown billowing above her ankles. “The saloon's that way. The girls' rooms are up the stairs. The opera stage is through those doors. Can you believe this is all mine? It's just like the cards foretold, Lil. Grand things are happening to me. And this is the grandest of them all. What more could a woman want?”

True love
, Lily thought.
A family. A home. An abiding faith in a saving God
.

“Our girls came in yesterday,” Beatrice confided. “We've got five of them, and every one is just gorgeous. We have a singer, too. She's not as good as you, but she'll do. The saloon is fully stocked, and business is good already. George has been counting the wagons and stagecoaches passing this place ever since we started building. He thinks we've got ourselves a regular gold mine.”

“Are you happy, Bea?” Lily asked softly.

“Of course I'm happy. I'm ecstatic. Who wouldn't be? This is everything I've ever wanted.” With a frown that belied her words, she crossed her arms. “So, what brings you out here? I see the deputy wasn't able to pry you loose from that baby yet. You know, your daddy was fit to be tied when he found out what his little girl had been up to. I guess you two have worked things out. At least, I don't
see
any bruises.”

As she laughed, Lily lifted her chin. “I'm going back to Philadelphia with my father tomorrow morning, Beatrice,” she said. “I've come for my melodeon.”

The woman's face froze. “You've come for what?”

“I want my melodeon.”

“What for?”

“Because it's mine. I bought it. Please give it to me.”

Bea's face, harsh in the light of the chandelier's oil lamps, twisted into a sneer. “The blasted thing is
here
, isn't it?” she said. “That means it belongs to me.”

Lily shook her head. “You know it's mine, Bea.”

“I know who's got it, and that's me.” She gave a sniff. “You robbed me once already of my biggest asset. You refused to stay with me, even though I'd taken care of you and given you everything I had to give. You left me penniless and hopeless, with nothing to my name but that old show wagon, while you went prancing off after that preacher and his baby. Now you think I'm going to give you the melodeon? Think again, Lily Nolan.”

Lily had expected this. She knew Beatrice still wanted to punish her, and she sensed that honor and fairness would never rule in the heart of her false friend. To move Beatrice Waldowski to action, it took money.

“You know the melodeon is mine by rights,” Lily said. “If you won't give it to me, I'll buy it from you. Here's everything I've earned working for Elijah Book. You can have all the money in my purse, if you'll let me take my melodeon.”

Shifting Sam to her other arm, Lily tugged a cloth pouch from her pocket. The weight of the coins pulled on her arm. Elijah had earned this money by tending to his flock, faithfully ministering to their needs, and laboring day and night on the church. But he had given it willingly to Lily to pay for Samuel's care.

In the beginning, she had felt she deserved every penny. Up most of the night, worn-out from washing diapers and helping Eva keep the house, her body depleted by the baby's constant need for nourishment, Lily had taken Elijah's money gladly. Now it meant nothing to her. Nothing but a way to get the melodeon.

“How much is it?” Beatrice asked, giving the pouch a look of disdain. “Five or six dollars?”

“More than that. You're welcome to count it.” Lily handed her the pouch. “It's enough to help pay for a piano. That would suit your needs better anyway.”

“What are you planning to do with the melodeon? Start your own opera house in Philadelphia?”

“I want the church of Hope to have it.”

“A church? You want to put that organ in a church?” She smiled. “Well, too bad, Lil. I'm keeping the melodeon. I like the way it sounds.”

She tossed the pouch at Lily before whirling away. Lily strode after her. “You have to give it to me, Bea. It's mine. You have no right to keep it. I need it.”

“You can't have it!” Beatrice stormed into the saloon. “Go on back to Philadelphia, little girl. Let your daddy beat on you. You don't need a melodeon for that.”

“Where's Mr. Gibbons?” Lily demanded, following on her heels. “I'll speak to him about it. He'll take the money.”

“George won't care about your paltry pennies, Lil. He's a rich man.” She sashayed across the room toward a table where a group of men were playing cards. “Get rid of this woman for me, would you, George? She's pestering me.”

The big man stood up from the table, dropping his cards facedown beside his glass of whisky. “You again?” he said, facing Lily. “What are you doing on my premises? Get out.”

“That's my melodeon in the corner,” Lily said. “I bought it when I joined the traveling show. I paid for it myself.”

“With money she stole from her daddy's vault,” Beatrice shouted.

“I've offered to pay for the melodeon,” Lily countered, laying the cloth pouch on the table. “There are thirty-two dollars here. Count them if you like, Mr. Gibbons. It's a fair price.”

“Get outta here, lady. We don't need your money, do we, Bea?”

“We don't need anything from her.”

“Get out, before I send one of my boys to throw you out. You ain't caused me nothing but trouble since the first time I laid eyes on you. You and that infernal preacher. First he drives off my saloon business, and now you try to take my music.”

“It's
my
melodeon,” Lily repeated firmly. “I have nothing else to leave these people. Nothing to give Elijah. I want the town of Hope to have the melodeon. Please, sir, listen to reason. Take this money and give me my instrument.”

“Out!” he roared, grabbing her arm. “Out, out, out!”

As he pushed Lily across the saloon, the customers broke into jeers. The women in their bold silk dresses called out to her. Samuel began to cry. Lily covered his head with her arm and hurried out into the foyer, barely able to stay on her feet as George Gibbons shoved her toward the front door.

As she reached for the brass knob, the door flew open. Elijah, the deputy, and Dr. Richardson—followed by half the town of Hope—poured into the building. George Gibbons and his men drew their pistols.

“Turn the woman loose,” Elijah demanded, taking a step toward Gibbons. A half-dozen six-shooters pointed at Elijah's chest clicked to full cock. He held up his hands. “I'm unarmed. I'm the preacher in Hope, and I'm asking you to let Mrs. Nolan go.”

“She's trespassing,” Gibbons spat. “And so are you, Preacher.”

“Well, I'm not,” the deputy said, moving into the open circle. “Put your guns away, men. Won't be no bloodshed. We'll settle this peaceable, or I'll haul every one of you off to Topeka.”

“We've done nothing wrong,” Beatrice said. “We have a deed to this property, and we're just minding our business. It's Mrs. Nolan you ought to haul off. She came over here to stir up trouble, Deputy—and she brought that poor little baby right into the saloon. If that doesn't show what kind of person she is, I don't know what would. Arrest her, sir, and we'll all be better off.”

Lily let out a cry of disbelief. “Beatrice, how can you say such things? I came for the—”

“She came here looking for work,” Bea said. “She tells me you're planning to take her back to Philadelphia tomorrow, Dr. Richardson. She was hoping to hide out here at the opera house until you left without her, and then she thought she could get a job singing in our shows. I reminded her of all the trouble she's caused you and everybody else, but she said she didn't care a bit. Look at her standing there with that baby, all sweet and innocent. She knows good and well what she's up to, don't you, Lily?”

“Why would I come here for work, Bea?” Lily said. “You've already got a singer. Don't you, Mr. Gibbons?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“Did you want to join our
other
girls, Lily?” Beatrice asked. “Maybe that was your real reason for coming.”

Cornered, Lily spotted one ray of light.

“Maybe so, Bea,” she said. “Maybe you'd like to hire me on with the other girls. Why don't you tell the deputy what my duties would be? And while you're at it, you can show him your license to operate a brothel.”

Amid the cries and shouts that followed her remark, the deputy hollered for order. “Now what's going on here?” he demanded. “What's this about girls, Mr. Gibbons? I've been hearing rumors ever since I stepped into this town. You operating a brothel here?”

“Absolutely not, sir.” Gibbons's face flamed bright red. “We run a legitimate opera show and a saloon.”

“What's all this about hired girls?”

“Maids. Cooks.”

“And those rooms upstairs? What do you use them for?”

“We rent them out to travelers passing through. Kind of like a hotel.”

“I guess you wouldn't mind if I took a look.” Without waiting for an answer, the deputy headed for the stairs.

In the ensuing confusion, Lily spotted her opportunity to escape. Hugging Samuel tightly to her chest, she darted through the front door and slipped out onto the porch. Oh, this had been a disaster! How could she have misread the warning signs? How could she have been so naive as to think Bea would agree to her request? She could hardly wait to get back to the quiet security of Eva's house.

“Lily!” Elijah's voice stopped her short. “Lily, can I talk with you a minute?”

She stopped at the edge of the porch and squeezed her eyes shut. She could only pray for strength. At this very moment, she must hand Samuel over to Elijah. She must let them both go, and she had not even the melodeon to give the man she loved. Her father would be coming to get her, and she must leave with him. That was her decision—to do God's will and put her own desires behind her.
God, give me strength!

“Lily?” Elijah's warm hand covered hers. “I was worried about you. I went looking for you at the Hankses' house. And then Caitrin Cornwall said she saw you walking this direction. Your father and the deputy heard the news, and after that, it seemed like the whole town joined in the parade down to the opera house. Are you all right?”

She drank down a breath, unable to meet his eyes. “I'm sorry to have caused trouble again.”