The Promise of Jenny Jones (2 page)

"I see." Jenny frowned. "When you're no longer present to protect her, you think your cousins will kill your daughter."

Marguarita flinched. "This is a terrible thing to admit. But, yes. Only one small child will stand between my cousins and a life of great ease and comfort. I cannot trust any of them to see her safely to her father."

Jenny considered the dilemma. The poverty in this area was legion. There were grand estates, and she assumed Senora Sanders resided on one of them, but clearly the cousins did not. They, like the nearby villagers, most likely lived in thatched huts and counted themselves blessed to have a single cow in the yard and a few thin chickens. Perhaps the cousins occasionally joined the bandits who roamed the countryside, hard-eyed men who would not scruple to slit a man's throat for a few precious pesos.

Jenny picked a louse from her scalp and cracked it between dirty fingernails. "What aboutyour Roberto and his parents? Are they going to welcome Graciela with open arms?"

"I don't how," Marguarita whispered, bowing her head. She touched trembling fingertips to her forehead. "I've had only one letter from Roberto in six years. He said he would come for me when it was possible for us to be together." She closed her eyes. "Perhaps he is dead. Perhaps he despaired of our future and forgot about Graciela and me. Perhaps… I just don't know. I tell myself he has written many, many letters and they did not reach us because perhaps his parents intercepted them."

"If you ask me, Robert Sanders is one sorry son of a bitch," Jenny stated flatly, studying the line of dirt embedded beneath her fingernails. "You know that, don't you?"

"No!" Senora Sanders's shoulders stiffened abruptly, and fire flashed in her dark eyes. For an instant Jenny glimpsed the girl who had defied a powerful father to marry the man of her choice. "Roberto is the sweetest, gentlest man who ever drew a breath."

"Spineless, you mean."

Marguarita stumbled to her feet, coughing harshly, and flung out a hand to support her shaking body against the cell wall. "I will not listen to slanders against my husband!"

Jenny rested her elbows on her knees and watched Senora Sanders fight to draw breath. She was no expert on medical matters, but she guessed Marguarita Sanders had only days left to her. "Yeah, the guy's a real prince. Sit down and rest. And finish what you came to say," she said.

Marguarita collapsed rather than sat. Her thin chest rose and fell rapidly, struggling to find air in the fetid cell.

"I don't have much time to arrange for Graciela's safety." She raised her eyes to Jenny. "If Graciela remains in the village after I die, she will shortly follow me to the grave, a victim of an unwitnessed accident. This I fear, and this I believe. The only solution is to send her to Roberto while I still can."

"He might not want her," Jenny said brusquely. "Your sorry Roberto may have remarried years ago. Have you considered that?"

"No!" Then the fire in Marguarita's eyes died to an ember with no strength behind it. "But there may be some reason why he cannot take her. Perhaps his father will not allow it." She closed her eyes and swallowed. "That is why you must give me your solemn promise on all you hold holy that you will never abandon Graciela. If you cannot give her safely to Roberto and to Roberto only, then you must raise her as your own."

Jenny spread her hands. "Senora Sanders. I am the last person on earth you would want to haveraise your daughter. I can read some, and I can write some, but I have no education to speak of."

"I see the dictionary in your back pocket. I saw the books on the guard's table among your effects."

"Just feedingmyself and keeping a shirt on my back is a full-time job. And it isn't easy. In my time I've taken in wash, I've skinned buffalo carcasses, which is the worstjobon this planet, I've signed on as a roustabout, and most recently, I've driven a mule team and hauled freight for the Comden outfit. Except for washing, none of those jobs is what you'd call women's work. The only reason I got hired is because I begged for the work, and I happen to be better at those jobs than most men. Course, I got paid less than a man. The point is, I can barely feed and clothe myself, let alone a kid."

"I will give you money for the journey."

"What worries meis keeping Graciela if Robert can't or won't take her. Who's going to hire me if I have a kid hanging on my pant leg? How would I support this kid if I had to? And what kind of life would it be for a kid anyway?"

Marguarita studied her. "If you let your hair grow, and cleaned yourself … if you put on a dress and—"

Jenny burst into laughter. "Me? And a man?" She slapped her thigh. "That's a good one." Her eyes sobered. "No man has ever looked twice at me in twenty-four years, and I doubt hanging a skirt on my waist would change a thing." She shook her head. "A man has to be blind drunk to take a grab at me."

"You have beautiful eyes," Marguarita said after a minute, sounding surprised. "And a pretty mouth."

"Forget it." Angry now, Jenny made a chopping motion with her hand. "If I have to raise your kid, it's going to be just me. And it's going to be a damned hardscrabble life for both of us. She's not going to have fancy clothes, or servants waiting on her hand and foot. She'll be lucky to have food in her belly and a pillow for her head. Is that what you want for her?"

Marguarita's head dropped and she closed her eyes. "I have no friends outside my family, no one to rely on. I have no choice, and neither does my Graciela."

"That's not the worst of it," Jenny continued, being brutally honest. "I don't like kids. Never have."

"Graciela is precocious. She's very bright. Much older and wiser than her years would indicate."

"I don't care if she's a fricking prodigy. She's six years old. That makes her a kid, and I don't like kids. I don't know how to talk to them. I don't know how to take care of a kid." Jenny threw out her hands. "Kids don't know squat about how to survive in a desert or how to gut a rabbit or do a day's work. Kids get in the way. They whine. They cry. They're only half-human."

"Why are you telling me this?" Marguarita asked softly, her eyes pleading.

"Because I want you to know exactly what kind of a person you're willing to die for. If we change places, and I get stuck with your kid, I don't want to wake up some night with me and Graciela sleeping on the dirt with empty bellies and then start feeling guilty that you died for me, and I'm letting you down."

"I am not going to die for you, Jenny Jones, make no mistake about that. I am going to die so that Graciela may live. I'll take the bullets for you only if you swear on all that you hold sacred that Graciela will not be left here to die at the hands of people she mistakenly loves! I'll stand in front of that firing squad only if you promise on your soul that you will save my daughter. I'd a thousand times rather that she be hungry than dead."

"Where does your father, the wealthy rancher, fit into all this?" Jenny snapped. The two women glared at each other. "If your precious Roberto can't or won't take Graciela, why can't I just dump her off on your father's doorstep?"

"He will never accept the childof a Sanders ."

"Well, there's your answer." Jenny leaned back against the wall, stretching her feet out on the lousy mattress. "Just explain that to your greedy cousins, and the kid is saved."

And she had just talked herself out of a chance to live. For a moment she cursed herself. Then she thought about trying to support a child and decided she would almost rather face a firing squad. Things worked out the way they were supposed to work out.

"Graciela is my father's legitimate heir whether or not he accepts her. Which he will not. In his eyes, Graciela is Roberto's bastard. But when the court is presented with my certificate of marriage, which I will give to you, Graciela's claim will be secure. I have verified this."

Jenny stared at a toe poking out of her broken boot. "I've told you that I hatekids, that I can't provide well for Graciela. Hell, I don't know what the future holds. I don't even know if I can get to northernCalifornia." She lifted hard eyes. "But you still want this exchange?"

"You are Graciela's only hope."

"Then Graciela is in big trouble." Jenny's laugh was harsh. She thought a minute. "They may shoot me while I'm wearing a hood over my face, but they aren't going to bury me in a hood. And the minute that hood comesoff, everyone around this place is going to know they shot you, not me. Have you thought about that?"

Marguarita nodded slowly. "You'll have about six hours' head start." She hesitated. "Frankly, I don't believe the soldiers will bother searching for you. They wear uniforms, but they're little better than bandits. There is no profit in wasting time chasing a penniless woman. They'll have a corpse; that will satisfy the official records."

"So what's this about a six-hour head start? A head start onwho ?"

Marguarita stared at her. "My cousins, all of them, but especially Luis, Chulo, and Emil. Once my body is identified, they will understand all. But they will convince themselves you have abducted their beloved little heiress. They will convince each other that it is their duty to rescue Graciela. They will try to kill you both."

"Well, son of a bitch!" Jenny pulled a hand through her hair. After a minute she glared at Marguarita. "You're sticking me with a kid, possibly for the rest of my life, and I'll have a bunch of murdering Mexicans trying to track me down and kill me. That's a heavy price."

"You will be alive," Marguarita reminded her softly, meeting Jenny's gaze. She glanced at the shadows creeping across the stone walls. "Now you must decide. If we are to make the exchange, I have much to arrange and little time."

Two minutes ticked by in the heat while Jenny thought about it. A sigh lifted her breast.

"You know I'll do it. You knew that when you bribed your way in here." She shook her head and closed her eyes.

Tears of relief glistened in Marguarita Sanders's eyes. "Let us be clear what each of us is promising. I promise to die in your place tomorrow morning. You promise to take Graciela to her father and give her to no one else. If Roberto cannot or will not take our daughter," a cloud of pain crossed her features, "then you will raise Graciela as your own child. You will try to love her."

"Oh no." Jenny's head snapped up and her eyes narrowed. "I'm not promising to love some kid I've never met and already know I won't like. I'll take her to Robert. And I'll raise her up to be a woman if I have to, but don't expect me to love her. I can't do that."

"You're a hard woman, Jenny Jones."

"You don't know the half of it! My pa beat me from the time I was old enough to walk. The only person I ever loved, Billy, my third brother, died when I was nine, and it was my fault. My ma threw me out onto the streets ofDenverwhen I was ten. I've been making my own way ever since. Yeah, you could say I'm a hard woman."

Compassion glistened in Senora Sanders's brown eyes. "I'm sorry. This should not happen to any child."

"You're going to die tomorrow, and you're sorry for me?" Something sharp turned in Jenny's chest. "You're either a fool or a better person than I've ever met," she whispered, staring.

The terrible truth of their transaction gripped her mind in a painful squeeze. This lovely, delicate woman would die tomorrow morning. Marguarita Sanders would face the firing squad in Jenny's place because she loved her child better than whatever life was left to her. She would spend her remaining hours arranging for Jenny's escape. She would say good-bye to a child she adored. With all this facing her, she could still feel compassion for a stranger's squalid past.

"What will I tell Graciela when she asks what happened to you?" Jenny said, swallowing hard.

"She is wiser than her years. I will tell her the truth," Marguarita said, standing. She shook her skirts, but the filth from the floor did not fall away. "I don't want her to blame you for my death. She must understand this was my choice."

"Assuming we aren't killed by your cousins … and assuming that Robert is dead or something." Jenny coughed uncomfortably. "What if Graciela asks me what kind of person you were? I don't know anything about you."

Marguarita's eyes settled on the iron bars. "Tell her that I loved her and her father. Tell her that I tried to live my life with kindness and dignity." She turned her gaze on Jenny. "Then tell her to forget me and honor the woman who raised her."

They studied each other in silence. Then Jenny said softly, "You can be a hard woman, too."

"Tell her not to burden herself with the past. Tell her to live and be strong, Jenny Jones. Teach her to laugh and to love. If she does this, and if she finds happiness, then wherever I am, I will smile and be happy."

"Oh Christ." Jenny scrubbed a dirty hand across her eyes. When Jenny realized Marguarita meant to embrace her, she hastily stepped backward. "I'm dirty, and I've got lice."

Amusement twinkled in Marguarita's eyes and a hint of color bloomed on her cheeks. "Senorita Jones," she said, smiling, "the lice will not trouble me long."

She wrapped her thin arms around Jenny's waist and rested her head on Jenny's shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered. "I will pray for you, Jenny Jones."

Jenny waved her hands in the air, then, helplessly, she returned Marguarita Sander's embrace, careful not to apply too much pressure against birdlike bones. Marguarita's size and delicacy made Jenny feel huge and awkward. As graceless as a new calf.

When she stepped away, embarrassed and clumsy, she dusted her hands together and stared at Senora Sanders, memorizing her features in the fading light. "I don't know what to say. If it's possible to get Graciela toCalifornia… then I swear on my sacred oath, I'll do it."

"I know you will." Marguarita stepped to the bars set in the doorway and summoned her strength to call the guard. "There won't be time to say good-bye when I see you tomorrow morning. So I will say good-bye now." She smiled and pressed Jenny's big callused hands between her small soft palms. "There are not words to express what I feel in my heart. Gratitude. Appreciation. Love. They do not touch the surface of what I feel for you. You are the salvation of my heart, which is my daughter. You are the answer to my prayers. You are the mother I give to my child."