Laura Jo Phillips (32 page)

“We will never be too far away from them for you to visit whenever you like,” Faron assured her. 

“Good,” Saige said.  “I want very much to be a part of her children’s lives if I can.”

As Ban drove slowly through the small town of Granite Falls, Saige eyed it curiously.  Lariah had told her it was a small town, but that it had everything one could need and Saige thought maybe she was right.  The only problem was that the only women’s clothing store was
Lady’s Secret,
and that was owned by Darleen’s sister.

“I suppose I can order clothes somehow?” she asked doubtfully.  Dav and Faron frowned.  “Why would you do that when there is a store here?” Faron asked.

Saige wondered if men had brains that were just completely different from women’s. 

“I do not care to run into Darleen.”

“There is nothing to worry about in that regard,” Faron replied.  “Darleen does not work in her sister’s store.”

“She brought clothes from the store out for Lariah,” Saige pointed out.

Faron shrugged.  He had never quite understood that himself.  “Nevertheless, she does not work in the store, nor is she allowed in it during store hours.  Caitlyn, Darleen’s sister, banned her from it because Darleen was so unpleasant to the customers.  Or, that is what Caitlyn said.”

“You don’t believe it?” Saige asked, catching the doubt in Faron’s voice.

“I believe that she was rude to the customers, but when Caitlyn told me that, her scent was nervous.  She did not tell a lie, but neither did she tell the whole truth.”

Saige thought about that for a moment and shrugged.  She didn’t really care why Darleen was banned from
Lady’s Secret
so long as she wasn’t there.  But Darleen’s absence didn’t necessarily mean Caitlyn would welcome her. 

“Won’t her sister be angry with me for ruining Darleen’s plans?” she asked.

Dav chuckled.  “Do not judge Caitlyn by what you know of Darleen,” he said.  “It is true they are sisters, but I have never seen siblings so different from one another.”

“Then you obviously have never met Ellicia,” Saige muttered, not quite softly enough for the Lobos’ hearing.

“Ellicia?” Ban asked. 

“Lariah’s sister,” Saige said reluctantly, wishing she hadn’t spoken the words aloud.

“You do not like Ellicia?” Faron asked, as always going to the heart of the matter.

“It’s not that I don’t like her,” Saige replied.  “I only meant she is nothing like Lariah.  If they did not look so much alike in their build and facial features, I would wonder if they had the same parents.”

Saige realized that all three of the Lobos were gazing at her intently and she knew they meant to ask more about Ell.  She had no wish to discuss Lariah’s sister so she changed the subject.  “So, you guys think that Caitlyn is a good person?”

“No, we think that Caitlyn is a
very
good person,” Ban said.

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it.  But, just so you know, I’m only letting you convince me because Lariah told me how great the clothes were, and I want to see if she was right.”

A couple of hours later, Saige had to admit that Lariah had been right.  There were a lot of beautiful clothes in the
Lady’s Secret
.  In fact, the clothing was so nice, and of such high quality, that it was immediately obvious to Saige that the clothes Darleen had brought to Lariah could not have possibly come from the store.  Saige wondered how it was that Lariah had not noticed that, then suddenly realized that she had.  That was certainly one of the reasons Lariah did not like Darleen.  Lariah was too kind to point out such a deception to Darleen’s face, but she was also too honest herself to tolerate such blatant dishonesty in others without a very good reason.

Saige was almost overwhelmed by the huge selection of beautiful clothes and wasn’t really sure where to begin.  She had never spent a lot of time shopping for clothes before, nor was she the type to spend a lot of time primping in front of a mirror.  But she had never had a boyfriend before either.  Now she had three men, and she wanted to look pretty and sexy for them as much as any other woman would. 

She was chagrined at herself when she realized just how many items she was hauling back to the dressing room to try on.  A while later, she was almost disappointed to discover that everything she tried on fit her perfectly.  She had been hoping to thin out her choices with the things that didn’t fit or didn’t look good on her. 

She sat on the padded bench in the dressing room and put on her shoes as she tried to make up her mind which of the items she could buy, and which she had to leave behind.  Suddenly she heard an angry voice, muffled, but close.

“....lazy little good for nothin’ freak, that’s what you are.”  The voice was muted through the wall, but there was no doubt that it belonged to a man.  Saige leaned over and pressed her ear to the wall.  “Should have drowned you when you were born you worthless little shit,” the voice continued. 

Saige did not have any idea who was speaking, or who he was speaking to, but the words and the tone of his voice made her angry.  Nobody deserved to be talked to like that, she thought.  She pressed her ear closer to the wall and listened as the man continued haranguing his victim with the same litany, his words punctuated with odd tapping sounds that Saige could not place.  Until, after several of the sounds, she began to hear small, muffled whimpers.  Then she realized that the man was not just verbally abusing someone, but he was hitting that person as well.

She leapt to her feet, shoved open the dressing room door and ran through the store, zig-zagging her way through the racks and displays dotting the floor between her and the front door.

“Saige?” Faron called from somewhere behind her, but she didn’t slow down or stop.  She was furious with herself for sitting there as long as she had, not realizing that those tapping sounds were blows.  How many of them had fallen while she did nothing but sit and listen?  She would not stop to explain herself now when she knew that for every second of delay, somebody was being beaten.

She shoved through the door, turned right and raced down the sidewalk to the door of the next store.  She yanked the door open and hurried inside before pausing a moment to get her bearings.  From the rows and rows of shelves and displays filled with tools and materials, Saige guessed it was a hardware store.  She made her way toward the back, aiming for the right hand wall, not stopping until she reached a long counter that ran the width of store.

Behind the counter was a wall with a closed door set in the center of it.  There was a small woman behind the counter, watching the door with a terrified expression on her face, and Saige knew at once that the woman was aware of what was happening behind that door.

She leapt over the counter since she couldn’t find a way through it and marched straight for the door.  The frightened woman put a light hand on her shoulder when she reached for the door knob. 

“Don’t,” she said in a shaky whisper.  “If you try to help, it will only make it worse.  And he’ll hurt you.”

Saige looked at the woman more closely.  This time she saw the signs of abuse in a fading bruise, a crooked nose, a missing tooth, but most of all, the eyes.  Those faded blue eyes held so much fear and, worse, shame.

“Its all right,” Saige said softly.  “I will stop it, and I will prevent it from ever happening again.”

The woman’s eyes lit with hope for a brief moment.  Then the sound of a blow, followed by a yelp of pain reached them and the hope died. 

Saige jerked the door open, strode into a large storeroom and growled at the scene before her.  A small boy with dark hair was standing with his back in the corner, his hands covering his face.  A big man stood before him with his fist clenched.  “Drop those hands you freak or you’ll get worse,” he warned the boy.

“How about you fight with someone closer to your own size?” Saige said, fighting to keep her voice even.

The man swung around, his beefy face red with fury.  “How dare you come in here?” he snapped.  “This is private property.  Get the hell out, bitch.”

Saige smiled, an expression intended to enrage the man further.  “Make me, bastard,” she challenged. 

Faron watched in surprise as Saige burst out of the dressing room and raced through the dress shop. 

“What is it about your Arimas that sends them running out of my store?” Caitlyn asked as she watched Saige race for the door.

“I do not know, but I think we need to find out,” Faron replied before taking off after her with Dav right behind him.

“Please have the items Saige tried on sent to the ranch,” Ban said quickly as he all but threw his wallet at Caitlyn.  “Send that back as well,” he added before turning to follow Dav and Faron out of the store at a run. 

By the time they reached the sidewalk there was no sign of Saige.  Faron closed his eyes and used his nose, finding her unique scent of lilacs and rain immediately.  He followed it to the next store down and entered, already beginning to understand what was happening.

Everyone in town knew about Mrs. Petrie and her son, Chandler.  Mr. Petrie had died of a heart attack suddenly the year before, leaving Mrs. Petrie with the hardware store and a lot of bills.  Mr. Petrie had been a kind man and a good one, but he had also liked to gamble too much. 

Mrs. Petrie had borrowed money from her brother-in-law to help with some of the debts her husband had left behind.  And when she had been late on a payment, he’d shown up and taken over the business.  As well as her life.  Nobody really knew what the man was like because he never socialized, nor did he allow Mrs. Petrie or Chandler to socialize.  There were rumors that the man abused them both, but nothing that could be proven.  And since Mrs. Petrie never said a word against the man, there didn’t seem to be anything anyone could do about it.

Because of a similar situation the year before with Frith Yanger, Prince Garen had appointed one of his ranch hands to spend time in town and get to know the people there.  At Faron’s recommendation, young Billy Tate had been appointed and he took his job seriously.  He had reported the situation with the Petries to them, but as there was no outward sign of abuse or violence, there was little that could be done.  Unlike Frith Yanger, this man, Jack Petrie, did not threaten his neighbors.  He kept his behavior private.

Faron pulled the door open and followed quickly in the wake of Saige’s scent until they reached the back of the store and saw Mrs. Petrie cowering in the open doorway to the storeroom.  They leapt over the counter and gently nudged the frightened woman aside so that they could get through the doorway.  They were just in time to watch Saige challenge the overgrown bully.

The man roared and took one step toward her, which had Faron, Ban and Dav all growling at once, but Saige was far faster than the overweight, out of shape man.  She turned sideways and bent slightly as she raised one foot into the air, her slight turn giving it added momentum as it swung upwards so fast it was a blur by the time it landed hard against the man’s cheek.  He staggered back from the blow and shook his head in shock.  Saige spun around and, using all of the strength and momentum she could muster, she kicked him square in the crotch.  The man let out a long, wheezing yell as he bent over to hold himself with both hands. 

Saige considered him for a moment, then glanced at the boy in the corner who was staring in wide-eyed shock at the scene before him.  He looked at Saige with a touch of fear in his eyes.  Saige winked at him and was relieved when the boy dared a tiny smile in return.  She rewarded him with a grin, then turned back to the wheezing man before her.

His face was now an odd purplish color and he was just starting to catch his breath, though he was still bent over.  Saige took a step back, spun around and kicked him in the jaw hard enough to make him stand up straight.  She started to spin again for an even harder blow when a low voice from behind her said, “Now
amada
, don’t break his legs or it will be harder for us to get him off the planet.  He’s too damn big to carry.”

Saige shrugged, spun around once more anyway, but settled for one more good kick in the face.  The man toppled over onto his back like a felled tree.

Satisfied that he was unconscious and could cause no harm for the time being, Saige turned to face her men.  Faron, Ban and Dav stood in a row behind her, all wearing grins on their faces. 

“That was very nicely done,” Faron said.  “I particularly liked that kick to his privates.”

“Well, I wish you hadn’t done it,” the small woman said as she huddled in the corner, her son tucked behind her. 

All eyes turned to her and she cowered further beneath them.  “I am grateful, and I do appreciate you trying to help us.  Really I do.  But it only will make things worse.”

“Perhaps you do not mind being a punching bag for this man, but you cannot believe your child enjoys it,” Dav said evenly, none of the contempt that Saige knew he was feeling sounding in his words.

Saige stepped in front of the woman and took up a protective stance, blocking the Lobos’ view of her.  “You do not understand,” she said to them.  “Please, just wait.”  When Faron nodded to her, she turned to face the cowering woman. 

“What is your name, please?” she asked, keeping her voice soft and gentle.