Julia: Bride of New York (Amercan Mail-Order Bride 11) (15 page)

Julia raced down the boardwalk, the sound of Mrs. Raleigh’s feet pounding behind her. She grabbed a streetlight pole when her feet almost went out from under her. It seemed to take forever for them to reach the mercantile.

Julia burst through the front door. “Where are your sons?”

She wove her way through the aisles, banging into a barrel of dried beans and almost knocking it over. She reached the front counter where Mr. Johnson stood, his mouth hanging open. Julia grabbed his arm. “Where are your sons? They did something with my daughter.”

He backed up, his eyes wide. “What…what are you talking about? My boys are in the back room cleaning up.”

Julia shoved him back and headed around the counter. Mr. Johnson pulled the back of her coat collar, almost yanking her off her feet. “Wait a minute. You can’t just go barreling in there.”

“Ronald. Jimmy. Get out here,” Julia shouted.

“Now hold on—”

Both boys came running from the back. “What?”

Julia lunged for the boys who backed up against some shelves, knocking cans of food all over the floor. “What have you done with my daughter?”

“Geez. It was no big deal.”

Mr. Johnson walked up to Ronald and backhanded him across the face. “What have you two done this time?”

The boy rubbed his cheek, tears filling his eyes. “Nothing. We just showed her a ditch we found. She…fell in.”

“Oh, my God.” Julia’s covered her mouth with her hands. “Where is the ditch?”

“In the woods behind the hill by the school,” Jimmy said. He pointed out the window. “On the west side of the creek.”

Julia turned to Mr. Johnson. “Give me a lantern.”

White-faced, he reached behind him and took a lantern off the shelf. He shoved it at her, along with a box of matches. “If you wait for me to close up the store, I can go with you.”

“No. I’ll get her out.” Frankly she didn’t trust the man near her. If she had a gun right now, she’d probably shoot the three of them.

Mrs. Raleigh remained alongside her as they left the store to the sound of Mr. Johnson shouting at his sons. “I can go with you if you want,” she said.

“No. You’ve been very helpful, but you’re soaked to the skin. Go on home and get dry. I’ll have her out in no time.” She took the woman’s hand. “I can’t thank you enough.”

Mrs. Raleigh whispered, “Good luck,” and turned toward her home at the end of town, her head lowered against the pounding rain.

Julia lit the lantern underneath the overhang of the mercantile, and holding it high above her, headed back toward the school, a prayer on her lips for the safety of her daughter.

Chapter Thirteen

Sheriff Fletcher Adams tugged on the brim of his hat and ducked his head as the rain started. He’d done his official duty and now was headed home to his family. He was only about forty-five minutes from Wickerton. Why the hell couldn’t the rain hold up until he’d gotten home? He slowed his horse down and pulled his poncho from his saddlebag.

With the rain, darkness came early, and the gloom made him long for home even more.

Home.

He hadn’t realized how lonely he’d become once Laura had died and Catherine took Patty Ann from him. Now he had his little girl back, and he had a new wife.

Julia.

Just thinking of her brought a smile to his face. He blessed the day Johnson had asked him to stand in for him. He remembered how beautiful she’d looked standing on the train steps, chewing her plump lips as she scanned the crowd. He’d known then she was a special woman. Thank God that fool Johnson decided not to marry her.

He laughed to himself, thinking of all the times he’d proposed to her. It had finally sunk into his stubborn brain that the woman was looking for love.

His woman. His love.

He couldn’t wait to hold her in his arms and tell he how much he loved her, and even though the thought of losing her terrified him, if having a baby of her own was what she wanted, then a baby of her own it would be. He would do whatever it took to make her happy.

With the road slippery with rain, he had to slow down, which frustrated him even more. He imagined her looking out the window, awaiting his return. Later, once Patty Ann was settled into bed, he would scoop Julia up, settle her on his lap on the sofa, and kiss her until she dragged him off to the bedroom.

Yes. It would be a fine homecoming.

He stopped in at the jail first to check with Ernest. The man was asleep at the desk, and from the smell in the room, he must’ve drunk his supper.

“Hey, Ernest. Wake up.” He shook the old man on the shoulders.

Bleary-eyed, Ernest looked up. “Hi, Sheriff. You just getting home?”

“Yeah. How’s things? Anything going on I should know about?”

Ernest stumbled a bit as he stood. “Nah. It’s been a quiet day. Nothing happening.”

Fletcher slapped him on the shoulder. “Well, you can go on home now. I’m headed that way myself, just as soon as I write up this report.”

“Okay. See ya, then.” Ernest grabbed his hat from the hook by the door and left.

About fifteen minutes later, Fletcher shoved the report in the second drawer of his desk and turned out the lamp on his desk. Making his way carefully toward the back of the jail, he let himself out the door and frowned.

His house was completely dark.

Julia stumble over roots and twigs, panting from the run through the woods, as well as her fear. “Patty Ann!”

She should have had one of the Johnson boys come with her, but she’d been so angry with them and so anxious to get to Patty Ann that the thought of having one of them with her turned her stomach. She held the lantern high above her. All she saw were bare limbed trees. The sound of the rushing water of the creek to her right told her she had to be headed in the right direction. “Patty Ann!”

Continuing on, she abruptly came to a clearing in the woods. She stopped and wiped the water from her face, and heard a cry. She hurried forward, allowing the lantern to guide her. She dropped to her knees and crawled forward. “Patty Ann?”

“Mama!”

The little girl stood in the ditch, water all the way up her legs, almost to her waist. God, she had to get her out of there before she drowned. It was then she noticed the creek behind her had begun to overflow, dumping even more water into the ditch.

“Hold on, honey. I’m here.”

“I’m scared. I tried to crawl out, but it was too slippery.”

Julia sat back on her heels. She should have brought a rope or something. How stupid she’d been. She raced out of the store with no one to help her and no way to get the child out. She’d never imagined the ditch would be so deep. She lay flat on the ground and reached down into the pit. “Honey, grab my hands and I’ll pull you up.”

“Okay.”

Their fingers touched, and Julia inched further up until part of her upper body leaned over the edge of the ditch. With the extra distance, she grabbed onto Patty Ann’s wrists and pulled.

And fell headfirst into the water.

Fletcher stood with his hands on his hips, staring at the dark house.

What the hell? Where was his family? He strode up the path from the back of the jail to his front door. “Julia?” He swung the door open.

Silence.

He stepped into the room and, taking a flint from the mantle over the fireplace, lit two lamps in the parlor. His poncho dripping puddles on the floor, he went into the kitchen and lit the lamp on the counter. The table had been set for supper, and there was a pot of something on the stove. He felt it with his fingertips. Still warm, but not hot.

His gut tightened. Something had happened. Julia would never walk off and leave food on the stove. He checked the table again. No note. He rubbed his hand over his chin. It was pouring out; she certainly hadn’t gone for a stroll. And if she had some errand to run that couldn’t wait, she wouldn’t take Patty Ann out in this weather.

Ernest had told him it had been a quiet day. But then again, the old sheriff had been sound asleep when Fletcher found him. Still trying to puzzle it out, a banging on the front door had his long legs eating up the distance.

He flung the door open. Tom Raleigh stood on the steps, a lantern in one hand and an umbrella in the other hand, keeping most of the water off him. “Evenin’, Sheriff. Did your wife and daughter make it home all right?”

Julia pulled herself out of the murky water and stood. “Patty Ann. Thank God you’re all right.” She pulled the sobbing little girl into her arms. “We have to get out of here. The creek has overflowed, and this ditch is filling up fast.”

“H-h-h-how?”

The poor child was shivering, and with the cold air and constant rain, she would be sick if she didn’t get warm soon. Julia looked up from where she’d fallen. She reached as far as she could but didn’t make the top. Water sloshed around them, now almost up to Patty Ann’s underarms.

“I’ll lift you onto my shoulders. See if you can crawl out.”

With her skirts heavy with water, it took some doing for Patty Ann to make it up to Julia’s shoulders. Julia eyed the space. Water continued to pour in from the creek, scaring her to death. They could both drown.

She leaned into the muddy wall as Patty Ann stretched and reached. She clawed at the rim of the ditch, but all she managed to do was pull down clumps of mud that landed on Julia’s head.

“I can’t pull myself up.” Patty Ann’s voice shook with fatigue and fear.

Julia pushed the muddy strands of hair away from her face. “While you’re up there, unbutton your dress and pull it off your shoulders.” She needed to strip both of them down to their undergarments. The weight of their dresses was hindering any attempt they would make to get out.

“All right. It’s unbuttoned, and I pulled my arms out.”

“Shimmy around on my shoulders until you pull up the skirt, then try very hard to get it over your head.”

Julia held onto the girl’s legs, her shoulders aching with the weight. She’d never been so cold, or scared, in her life. Not only was her life in danger, she was responsible for Fletcher’s daughter and she’d failed her. She fought back the tears, not wanting Patty Ann to know how frightened she was.

Patty Ann straightened her legs and pulled up the soggy dress over her head and threw it. “I’m out of my dress.”

“Good. I’m going to put you down now.”

“All right.”

With aching, freezing hands, Julia lifted the girl as best she could and set her down in the muddy water, only to scoop her back up again when the water reached Patty Ann’s chin.

“No, Julia and Patty Ann aren’t home. Do you know where they are?” Fletcher waved Mr. Raleigh into the house. The man left his sopping umbrella on the front steps and moved inside.

“My wife asked me to check. She overheard the two Johnson boys talking about how they threw Patty Ann into a ditch not too far from the schoolhouse. Your wife went after her, but I think they should have been home by now.”

Fletcher ran his fingers through his hair, his gut tightening with each word Tom uttered. “Where is the ditch?”

“From what the boys told my wife and yours, there’s a small hill behind—or next to—the schoolhouse. On the other side is a wooded area the creek runs through. Old man Wimbly had a ditch dug there to keep the creek from flooding his land when it rains hard like this.”

Fletcher’s heart dropped to his muddy, booted feet. If the ditch filled up quickly enough, Patty Ann would drown. Spurred into action, he clapped Raleigh on the back. “Thanks so much for coming by. I need to get out there right away.”

“I can go with you, but I walked over. I’d have to go home and saddle up my horse.”

“No. Thanks, anyway. I don’t want to waste any time.”

Fletcher left the man standing in his house and headed to the stable where he’d left his horse, Bounty. After quickly tacking him up, he pulled a rope from the hook by the door and tossed it over the saddle horn. He mounted the horse and headed out, his heart in this throat at the amount of water gathered in deep puddles on the street.

Julia’s heart pounded. The water was now above her waist, and she and Patty Ann had been screaming for help for what seemed like hours but most likely was only about fifteen minutes. The water continued to rise, and Patty Ann’s head drooped, her cheek resting on Julia’s shoulder.

Oh, God, please help us.

Maybe if she put her hands under Patty Ann’s bottom and hoisted her, it might give them the few more inches they needed for her to crawl to safety. She shook her daughter. “Patty Ann, don’t fall asleep on me here.” Now she was terrified the girl would fall asleep and never wake up.

She shook her again. “Come on, honey, wake up.”

The girl mumbled something. Julia tapped her cheek, then stopped. Either she was asleep herself and dreaming, or she’d heard Fletcher call her.

“Fletcher!” Her throat raw from screaming, she swallowed and called again.

The sound of horse’s hooves brought tears to her eyes. “Julia!”

A thud of feet hitting the ground, then Fletcher’s beloved face, lit by a lantern he carried, appeared above the ditch. “Oh, my God.”

“Fletcher, you have to get Patty Ann out of here. The water is over her head, and I can’t hold her much longer, my arms ache.”

“Hold on. I brought a rope. I’ll toss it to you, and you need to tie it around her.”

“I can’t tie it with one hand.” She was frustrated at the tears that clogged her throat as she tried to talk. She was so tired.

“Have her tie it around herself.”

Julia tapped on her daughter’s face, then shook her shoulder. “Patty Ann, wake up.” She shook her some more, then snapped her finger on her chin.

Patty Ann opened her eyes. “What?”

“Your papa is here. He’s going to throw a rope down. You have to tie it around yourself.”

“Papa!” Patty Ann looked up, the tears rolling down her cheeks, making white tracks where the mud had been.

“I’m here, sweetheart. We need you to pay attention and do what we tell you, okay?”

“Yes.” Her little chest heaved with sobs.