She left. She ran down the hill, but when she reached the corner of the fence, she stopped. She didn’t want to go back to the house just yet. For one thing, she wanted to wait as long as possible to make sure Cornell wasn’t waiting there for her. The last thing in the world she wanted was to run into him again.
She also wasn’t finished walking in the moonlight. She came outside to walk in the open air, and she hadn’t had a chance when she decided to take Chuck back to the Fort House. She wasn’t tired yet. In spite of her long day, she wanted to stay out a little longer. The air cleared her thoughts and refreshed her aching heart.
What a day it had been! It started with her first confrontation with Cornell, followed by the trip to Butte, her first meeting with Chuck and the other two men, and now the final run-in with Cornell. This would go down as one of the most challenging days of her life.
Yet Violet couldn’t fault herself for any of her actions, not even smashing Cornell’s head into the stairs. She’d merely delivered the final result of all his provocations. She hadn’t retaliated at all when he harassed her endlessly about her decision to marry a mail-order husband. She’d barely reacted at all when he threatened to disown not only her, but her sisters as well, if they went through with their plan. And she only lashed out at him violently when he attacked first Chuck and then her.
She strode along the fence line, but she didn’t see the stars or the moon. Her mind only rolled over and over all the events of the day. She relived the memory of seeing Mick McAllister brawling in the streets, assaulting a man and taking back his rightful property. She relived her fear and foreboding at going into the hotel saloon to find Jake.
Chuck’s description of his two comrades conflicted so deeply with her impressions of them that Violet wondered if he might be mistaken. Maybe they took him in with their talk and good manners. A person could act as politely as he wanted to in a quiet train car. Get him out on the street and he might behave quite differently.
What if Rose and Iris married dangerous men, but only found out their true nature after it was too late? What if Cornell was right about them being wanted outlaws?
And now this final experience of loving Chuck, of the wild insanity of falling into his arms forever. Just thinking about it, remembering his touch and the comforting intimacy of their conversation, sent her spinning out among the stars. Would she ever return to earth again?
Just imagine what would happen on their wedding night, when nothing remained to bring her back! She could discard all the social inhibitions tying her down to the ground and dive head first into him. She could discard this stiff proper body, shedding her skin like a lizard. The confining strictures of self and society would fall away, and she would be pure, unadulterated being.
She could hardly contain her excitement when she thought about it. She felt herself approaching the precipice of annihilation again, and she shook herself to regain her composure. Chuck was right. A few days was a long time to wait.
How stupid all those rules were! How stupid the whole concept of marriage was! Why couldn’t they just live like savages and go home together? They knew they loved each other. They knew they wanted to live together and give each themselves to each other. Why not?
Violet stopped at the corner of the fence where Chuck leaned against the top rail. From here, she could see all the range land for a long way around. The moon illuminated the landscape so it shone as bright as daylight.
Was that a black shadow slinking along the back hill and slithering down toward the main house? Was it a coyote, or a person running in a crouch?
The refreshing breeze that just bathed her burning cheeks and forehead turned into a cutting wind, and Violet wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm. She started toward the house. Her bed waited for her in her own room. She could rest there. Tomorrow, she would face another exciting day with Chuck.
In spite of fatigue and emotional distress, she slowed to a reluctant walk on the way back. Just a little while longer…
Chapter 29
All of a sudden, a thunderous bang shattered the tranquil night. Violet jumped out of her skin. Another crash rang out, followed by another. A corresponding flash lighted up a window in the house at every bang, and the thud of pounding footsteps scurried through the house.
Violet started toward the house, but stopped. Should she go in and find out what was going on? Could those be gunshots coming from inside the house? If they were, it might be dangerous to go inside. She turned one way, then another, started across the yard, and stopped again.
She just started walking a third time when a figure ran down the hill from the Fort House. The person almost ran straight into Violet, and only skidded to a halt when she called out, “Chuck!”
He peered at her in the moonlight. “Violet! Thank God you’re all right!”
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“I heard the shots coming from the house,” he told her. “I thought Cornell might have got you.”
“Shots?” she asked. “Were those gun shots, do you think?”
“I’m sure of it,” he replied. “Three of them. Something’s going on in there.”
“Do you think it’s safe to go in?” Violet asked. “I was going to find out what’s going on, but it might be dangerous. Whoever’s shooting in there could still be shooting people.”
“Who would be shooting people?” Chuck asked. “Who’s in there? Your sisters, Rita, maybe Cornell. Who would be shooting?”
Violet glanced toward the house. “I don’t know. But maybe we shouldn’t go in.”
“You stay here. I’ll go in and see what’s happening.” Chuck turned away.
“Wait.” She caught his arm. “Don’t leave. If you’re going in there, I’m coming with you.”
“Like you say,” he replied. “It could be dangerous. You saw the way Cornell lost his head before. Maybe this is the other shoe dropping. He could be shooting the whole place up. He could be killing everyone in sight.”
“I’m not staying out here alone while you go in there,” Violet snapped. “No way! If anyone’s going in there, we’re going together. We faced Cornell together before, and we’ll face him together now.”
Chuck stared at her through the gloom. “All right. Come on.” He took her hand and they started toward the house together.
The house loomed huge and black in the eerie light, and when they stepped up onto the porch, the darkness blocked them in so they clung to each other and groped their way into the front hall. They panted for breath, neither of them willing to take the next step without holding tight to the other.
Chuck shut the door behind them with a soft click, and they paused in the front hall, listening to their own breathing and the echoing silence all around them.
“Wait a minute,” Violet whispered.
She tore her hands away from him and groped her way to the hall table, where she lit a candle. They took each other’s hands again.
“The shots,” Chuck breathed. “Did you hear where they came from?”
“I didn’t hear it,” she told him. “But there was a flash of light, three of them, one for each shot, coming from the library. I saw them through the window.”
“All right,” he replied. “Let’s check in there.”
“Chuck,” she whispered.
“Yes?” he asked.
“The library,” she panted.
“What about it?” he asked.
“The library’s Cornell’s office,” she whispered. “He has his desk in there.”
He stared into her eyes in the candlelight. “Does he have guns in there? Does he keep a gun in his desk?”
Violet glanced toward the door to the library. “I don’t think so. I never saw him with a gun in my life. He thinks guns are for criminals and working men. He thinks he’s too good for all that.”
Chuck sneered. “I’ll bet he does. Well, I have my side arms here. We aren’t totally unprotected. Come on.”
They fumbled
their way to the library door and slid it open as silently as they could. The interior of the room spread before them into a bottomless black chasm. Even with their candle extended in front of them, they couldn’t see a thing.
They tiptoed over the threshold and the candlelight cast a watery outline of Cornell’s desk in the far corner. No one sat behind it. The rest of the room stood empty. Not a whisker stirred in the whole house.
“Maybe it was nothing,” Violet whispered.
“Nothing?” Chuck whispered back. “We just heard three gun shots. Someone shot them and they shot them at someone. I’d say that’s something.”
“Just a moment,” Violet replied. “I’ll light the lamp. Then we can see better. We’ll have to search the rest of the house just to make sure no one’s hurt. I hope Iris and Rose are all right.”
She went to the desk and stepped behind it to reach for the lamp on the shelf. She almost pitched over onto her face as her foot struck something solid behind the chair. She bent down to remove the obstruction.
Then she screamed.
“What’s wrong?” Chuck asked.
“It’s Cornell!” she gasped.
“What about him?” Chuck asked.
“He’s lying on the floor back here.” Violet bent down and took a closer look with her candle. “He’s been shot in the head.” She took a closer look. “And at least once in the chest, too.”
“Oh, no!” Chuck rushed to her side and they inspected Cornell together. “What are we going to do?”
Violet stood up. Deep inside her, a window opened that she never knew was there, and a bright vista exposed itself to her view. “There’s nothing to do. He’s dead.”
Cornell was gone. All these years, he’d taken charge of her life and the lives of her sisters. He’d told them what to wear, what to eat, who to talk to, and even what to think. Cornell decided who Violet Kilburn was. She never had to question who she was or what made her what she was, because Cornell always did that for her. Now he was gone.
Her parents’ deaths hadn’t affected her much because she was so young. She didn’t even really understand when her parents died. But she always feared Cornell’s death. She worried she wouldn’t know who she was or what she ought to do once he no longer made those decisions for her.
Now she found out who she was and what she ought to do for the first time in her life. She found out that, with Cornell gone, she was in charge. Everything rested on her shoulders. She saw her future and the future of the ranch laid out before her like a magnificent banquet with herself as the guest of honor. She knew what to do, and she would rise to the challenge.
Another patter of footsteps resounded through the house, and the library door opened a little further. Iris and Rose put their faces into the halo of candlelight. “Violet?” Iris whispered. “Violet, is that you?”
“I’m here, Iris,” she replied in a regular voice. “You don’t need to whisper. There’s no danger anymore.”
“Are you sure?” Iris whispered.
“I’m sure.” Violet set the candle down on Cornell’s desk and took the glass chimney off the lamp. “You can come in.”
She lighted the lamp, and the room filled with light. The next minute, Mick and Jake appeared in the doorway. “What’s goin’ on in here?” Mick asked.
“Cornell’s been shot,” Violet told him.
“By who?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Violet replied.
“Well, that’s a fine how do you do,” he exclaimed. “What are we going to do?”
“I would appreciate it, Mick,” Violet replied, “if you would go out to the bunk house and wake up Pete Kershaw. Please ask him to saddle up and ride down to Butte and bring back the sheriff. There’s nothing else we can do.”
“The sheriff!” Iris cried. “Shouldn’t we get the doctor?”
“There’s no need to,” Violet replied. “Cornell’s dead.”
Iris screamed, but no one paid any attention.
“Are you sure?” Mick asked.
“Half of his head is gone,” Violet shot back. “I’m sure he’s dead. Now please go and send Pete for the sheriff. If the sheriff finds out we delayed at all in sending for him, it won’t look good.”
“I’m goin’.” Mick disappeared.
“What are we going to do with Cornell?” Iris asked.
“We can’t do anything with him until the sheriff’s seen him,” Violet replied. “He’ll have to see exactly where the body was found and examine the scene. That’s the way it is when a person is killed.”
Chuck raised an eyebrow at her. Did he notice the change in her? “You sound like you know from experience.”
“It only makes sense,” Violet replied. “Ask Jake if you don’t believe me. You can’t go moving a dead body around before the sheriff gives you permission to do so. Once he’s seen Cornell and examined the room and everything else, I’m sure he’ll give us permission to bury him.”
Iris choked back a cry. “Bury Cornell! I never thought I’d live to see the day!”
“He wasn’t exactly young, you know,” Violet reminded her.
Mick came back in. “Pete’s going now. Well, this certainly puts a different spin on the idea of getting rid of him.”
Violet straightened her shoulders. “I wouldn’t joke about it, Mick, if I was you. I’m sure the sheriff will have some hard questions for all of us.”
“What do you mean?” Iris asked.
“It’s very simple, Iris dear.” Violet searched the faces around her. “Someone in this room is a murderer.”
The End
Coming up next…..
Book 2: Iris’s Mail Order Husband
This second episode of The Montana Brides Series follows middle sister, Iris Kilburn, on her journey of self-discovery to win the heart of her mail-order cowboy, big, black haired Mick McAllister. When the sisters’ guardian, Cornell Pollard, winds up dead in the library, everyone is a suspect. And when Sheriff Tom Maitland shows up at Rocking Horse Ranch and starts asking questions, the three mail-order couples begin to see each other with new eyes. Could Iris’s new love be a murderer?
Iris finds a depth of feminine sensitivity within herself she didn’t know she had when she falls in love with Mick despite his rough edges. Meanwhile, Mick finds out Iris’s secret. Not only has she been running the Kilburn family ranching operation behind Cornell’s back, but she actually puts on a hat and boots and rides out to help the cowboys herd and tend the cattle. Can big tough Mick handle a wife who can rope and brand and ride as well as he can?
With just one more day left before the sisters’ triple wedding, the skeletons in the Kilburn family closet come out in force. The murder mystery deepens, and fingers point in all directions. No one knows who to trust or who to believe. Can Mick and Iris’s budding romance survive the pressure? Will Iris marry her mail-order cowboy?
Thank you for reading and supporting my book and I hope you enjoyed it.
Please will you do me a favor and review “Violets Mail Order Husband” so I’ll know whether you liked it or not, it would be very much appreciated, thank you.
Other Books by Kate Whitsby
Iris’s Mail Order Husband (Montana Brides: Book 2
Mail Order Marion (Chapman Mail Order Brides: Book 1)
Christmas Mail Order Bride
Mail Order Josephine
Mail Order Bride Romance Box Set
Western Mail Order Brides Box Set
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