Deborah Camp (4 page)

“You’re a cheeky rooster, you are,” Mrs. Nation said, shaking a finger at him. “You’ve succeeded in keeping me jailed, but you can’t imprison my spirit or my truth, Mr. Dane. No one can do that.”

“And no one is trying to do that,” Theo assured her. “I’m sorry you have to stay in jail. That’s the law, Mrs. Nation. Maybe next time you’ll think twice before you hack someone’s property to pieces.” He gathered his papers and placed them in his leather case, then belted it shut. Eric and Tom left ahead of him. As Theo stood, he glanced toward Regina and wished he hadn’t. The tears standing in her eyes sent a knife through his heart. She gave a little sniff and swept past him. He resisted the urge to go after her and explain that it was his job … nothing personal. Hell, she’d never believe him.

“She’s frightened, poor thing,” Mrs. Nation said. “She has a heart as big as all outdoors and it bleeds for every frail creature and each lost cause.” Her sharp gaze fell on Morton Potter. “It’s a good thing I’m not expected to pay you, Mr. Potter. Your work today wasn’t worth spit. Come, come. Don’t look so stricken. My own father used to say that you get what you pay for, and you have proved him right.”

Theo seized the moment to duck out of the chambers. Eric and Tom waited near the front of the building for him.

“Thanks, Theo,” Tom said, shaking Theo’s hand. “Eric, it was good of you to come. I feel like I’m getting two great lawyers for the price of one.”

“I’ll be in touch,” Theo said. “We’ll begin compiling a list of witnesses and pertinent information. The circuit judge has given us more than enough time to complete our arsenal.”

“Good. I want that woman stopped. This has gone too far. I mean, I don’t want any harm to come to her, but I don’t want to have to lock my saloon door to keep her out either.”

“I understand, Tom.”

Tom shook his hand again. “I’ll be getting back to my business and leave this to you. Y’all come by tonight and the drinks will be on me.” He swaggered out the courthouse door.

“Wilson’s feeling heroic,” Eric noted. “The other saloon and brothel owners are rallying around him. It’s a pity Mrs. Nation’s bail was set out of her reach. I would have thought she had some money at her disposal. She’s so well known and all …”

“She runs that home and has a soup kitchen for the poor. Those kinds of operations don’t come cheap.”

“You’ve looked into her background already?”

Theo shrugged. “I’ve just heard things around town. You go on back to the office. I’ve got a couple of things to do first. Motions to file and such.”

“Anything I can help you with?”

“No. It will only take an hour or so. I’ll see you at the office shortly.” He was already striding down the hallway.

Regina stared at the figures before her. The lantern light illuminated the sheets of paper strewn across the table in Mrs. Nation’s kitchen. They spelled disaster at every turn.

Resting her chin in her palm, Regina stared, blindly, into the flickering light and saw herself as she had looked when she arrived at Mrs. Nation’s home.
Bedraggled
was a good word for her appearance, she decided. Bedraggled and downtrodden. The train ride had been arduous and she’d felt limp and dirty at the end of it. But the moment
she saw Mrs. Nation’s face, she knew she’d found a home. A few months later Mrs. Nation had insisted that she move into the house next door and be her renter. The house was the first home she’d known since she’d left her mother’s. The thought of losing it made her want to cry.

Sighing, she put aside such doomsday thinking. There had to be a way … a bake sale or a county fair. All that takes time, she thought, and all that time Mrs. Nation would be behind bars.

She directed her bad feelings toward Tom Wilson and his ruthless lawyer, Theodore Dane. Those men could have prevailed upon the judge to reduce the bail, but they hadn’t. Even Morton Potter had sat there like a knot on a tree. Were there no others besides homeless women and children to rally behind Mrs. Nation?

“How much do we have?” Lu Beck asked, interrupting Regina’s despairing thoughts.

Regina looked into Lu’s round, sweet face. A bruise discolored her jawline, a parting shot from the husband she had left last week in Topeka. “Twenty-two dollars and a few cents,” Regina answered.

“Oh, dear,” Lu said sadly. She stroked her five-year-old daughter’s brown hair. “That’s not nearly enough.”

“ ’Nuff for what, Mama?” Annie asked.

“Enough to bring Mrs. Nation home,” Lu said. “Annie, go fetch my sweater. It’s in the parlor. I should get you into bed. It’s late.”

“Maybe we can have another flapjack supper,” Bitsy Frederick suggested as she entered the room. She playfully swatted Annie’s behind as the girl raced past her.

“That will take time to plan. I was hoping to get Mrs. Nation out of jail quickly.” Regina checked the figures again. “It’s not fair!”

“Life ain’t fair,” Bitsy said with dripping scorn. “Especially when it comes to us women. We always get the business end of men’s boots. That old judge must have a heart made of pig iron. I think he wants to keep Mrs. Nation in jail.”

Annie skipped into the kitchen again and handed over the sweater. “Thank you, dear.” Lu shrugged into the garment, its elbows worn thin. “Aren’t you getting sleepy-eyed, child?” She cupped Annie’s chin in one hand and tipped up her face. “Wide-eyed and full of wonder. That’s my Annie.”

A knock sounded on the front door and Regina reached for the lantern.

“Who can that be?” Regina took the lantern with her to the front foyer. She looked through the side window and released a whoop of excitement. “I don’t believe my eyes! Mrs. Nation! It’s Mrs. Nation!” She lifted the bar and flung open the door with a happy laugh. “Whatever are you doing here? Did the judge come to his senses and release you?”

“He did not. My bail was paid.”

“By whom?” Lu asked, taking her turn to embrace the woman.

“I don’t know. The person didn’t leave her name. Must be a shy admirer of mine, and I’m glad of it.” She wrinkled her nose. “The sheriff arrested a couple of our town drunks and threw them in the cell across from mine. They surely did stink up the place, but I prayed for them, all the same. Just like I always do.” Mrs. Nation flung out her arms and gathered in a great breath. “Ah, but it’s good to be home. I shall raise my voice in song to celebrate.” With that, she marched into the parlor, where her pump organ took up one wall.

The women followed and joined her in a rousing chorus of “Rock of Ages,” although Regina
would have preferred something more lively from the old days when singing had put supper on her table.

“Regina, you have such a beautiful voice,” Lu whispered.

“Thank you. I love to sing, as long as I don’t have to sing alone in front of people. I find that quite unpleasant. Stage fright,” she added in a whisper, and Lu nodded her understanding.

“How are you faring, Mrs. Beck?” Mrs. Nation asked Lu.

“Oh, very well. My daughter and I are grateful for your hospitality.”

“I hear that you’re staying next door with Regina instead of here in my home.”

“Yes, ma’am. Regina was kind enough to offer me and Annie a room.”

“Are we full up, Regina?” Mrs. Nation asked.

“No, ma’am, but I was needing company, what with you being away and all,” Regina said, trying to explain the unusual practice of having them in her home. She thought about telling the truth, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. “When I rented the house it was with the understanding that it might be used for overflow.”

Mrs. Nation nodded. “True. It’s good of you to be so generous with your home, Regina. With so many saloons open we’ll no doubt need the extra rooms. I see only hard times ahead of us.”

“At least someone with a good heart came forward to pay your bail,” Bitsy said. “That sure enough is an answered prayer. We didn’t know how in the world we was gonna raise that kind money, Mrs. Nation.” She patted the woman’s shoulder. “But we was sure gonna try.”

“How many others are here?” Mrs. Nation asked.

“Three others besides me,” Bitsy said. “They’re
all abed. They was worn completely out when they showed up this afternoon. A woman named Joy Edwards and her two children from over by Berryville. A more poorly group you never did see. Their breadwinner has been drinking up the household money and leaving them to hunt through garbage for food.”

Mrs. Nation shook her head and clucked her tongue. “It’s a pity we can’t all be Christian soldiers.” She sat straight with renewed purpose. “Well, enough of this. I’m as hungry as a miner at the end of a long day. Lu and Bitsy, will you scamper into the kitchen and prepare something for this weary woman?” Mrs. Nation laid a hand over Regina’s. “I want to speak to Regina a few minutes alone and then we’ll join you.”

“How does ham and eggs sound?” Bitsy asked.

“Wonderful. Hot milk for me, too. All they serve in that jail is warm water and cold coffee.” She stroked Annie’s soft hair. “What a pretty girl you are. You make your mother proud.”

“She’s the light of my life,” Lu agreed, taking her daughter’s hand and pulling her toward the kitchen.

When they were alone, Regina leaned toward Mrs. Nation with unconcealed worry. “Is anything wrong?”

“No more than usual.” Mrs. Nation twisted around on the piano stool and smiled at Regina. “You were going over the ledgers when I arrived, weren’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And have we any money, Regina?”

“Not very much, Mrs. Nation.” Regina tensed, wondering if Mrs. Nation was going to fall back on her notion that the Lord would provide. The faithful were to be admired, but faith didn’t pay
the rent and the local banker wasn’t a softhearted man.

“It looks as if Tom Wilson’s going to be foolish about this and take me to court. That will cost money.”

“Mr. Potter said he’d waive his fee.”

“Yes, but if Mr. Wilson wins the case I must pay all the court costs plus his damages. Mr. Potter says he’ll most likely win.”

“Then why doesn’t he try to settle out of court?”

“Mr. Wilson won’t hear of it. He wants to beat his chest and point his finger in front of a judge and jury.” Mrs. Nation shrugged and set her face in a mask of stubbornness. “So be it. Mr. Wilson can rant and rave all he wants. I’ll find my strength in the Lord.”

“But where will the money from come, Mrs. Nation? How will we raise it?”

“I’ve been approached by a Mr. Tattershall to give a series of lectures across Kansas and Missouri. I shall accept his offer and the money I make will more than pay for Mr. Wilson’s courthouse antics.”

“A series of lectures,” Regina repeated. “Then you’ll be gone more than a few days.”

“A few weeks, dear, but I shall be back in time for the trial.”

“We all look to you for support and guidance, Mrs. Nation. When you’re away things fall apart.”

“You should look to the Lord for support and guidance, dear.” Mrs. Nation squeezed Regina’s hands. “I know that you’ll run things smoothly while I’m away. You and Jebidiah are my rocks.”

“But we can’t take your place.”

“I must raise the money, Regina,” Mrs. Nation said firmly. “You know that, and I certainly can’t raise any money here. I’m not a popular person in this town.”

“That’s so unfair, too. You do so many good things here. Why can’t people see that?”

“Some do. Most, I think. It’s just the noisy wheels that get noticed. They squeak and squeak until you think every wheel in town needs a good oiling, when all the time it’s only a couple making such a racket.”

“Like the Hampfs. Mrs. Hampf is helping Mr. Dane and Mr. Wilson. She’ll never forgive you for interrupting her husband’s sermon that Sunday.”

“She should thank me. John Hampf isn’t a preacher, he’s a sedative.” Her eyes twinkled and she laughed with Regina. “He’s about as exciting as a bucket of hair.”

“What’s all this laughin’ goin’ on in here?” Jebidiah poked his woolly head around the corner. “Why, has there been a jailbreak? Laws, laws! If’n it ain’t Miz Nation!”

“Get yourself in here, Jebidiah. You’re just in time for a late dinner. We’re having ham and eggs. Don’t say you’ve already eaten. I’ve known you ten years and I’ve never in that time known you to turn down a meal.”

Jebidiah chuckled. “You got that right, Miz Nation. I can always eat. It sure is good to see you. I been so worried. All I c-could d-do was c-cry.” His big eyes grew watery. He sniffed and wiped his nose on his shirt cuff.

“Now, now, none of that, Jebidiah.” Mrs. Nation stood and placed an arm around his narrow middle, giving him a quick hug. “You must be strong. I’m going to be traveling to Kansas and Missouri to spread the word about the evil of saloons and I must leave my work here in Regina’s hand. I’m counting on you to help her, to be her tireless assistant as you have been to me.”

“You’re leavin’? When?”

“Next week. I have only to send a wire to Mr. Tattershall.
He’s the man paying me for my time,” she explained to Jebidiah. “He’ll send me a schedule and I’ll be off.”

“I w-wish you wouldn’t go.”

“But I must. I have to spread the word, don’t I? It’s my moral mission.” She led them to the kitchen, where the aroma of cured ham greeted them.

Bitsy popped a sheet of biscuits into the oven. Lu came in through the side door carrying a jar of milk she’d fetched from the cool cave across the street where they stored perishables.

“Ah, it’s good to be home,” Mrs. Nation said, sitting at the table. She patted the chair next to her. “Sit here, Regina, and tell me all about that Mr. Dane.”

“Mr. Dane?” Regina repeated, confused. “I don’t know anything about him.”

“I heard that you went to see him this morning.”

“Well, yes, on your behalf.”

“Bitsy, is it true that he winked at you on Spring Street?” Mrs. Nation asked, and Bitsy giggled.

“He sure did. I swear he’s a devil. What did you think about him, Regina?”

“I think he needs his face slapped,” Regina said, wishing her heart wouldn’t kick every time someone said his name.

“I think he needs a young lady to make a lasting impression on him,” Mrs. Nation said. “That’s how men like him are brought into line.”

“A lady wouldn’t have anything to do with him,” Regina said.