One reviewer thought that Clementine was a runaway. Hopefully, this chapter will clear that up; it goes a little deeper than that.
Clementine drowsily rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. She'd just woken up and was having trouble placing where she was. Then all the events of the last couple of days came flooding back. She remembered how the bad man who had a big beard and was really dirty had threatened her mommy, and how mommy had told him to give her a little time, that she'd come up with the money. Clementine was hiding in the closet, so nobody knew she was listening. The next day, her mother put her on the stage and paid the stage driver to make sure she got to Four Corners. She looked so pale and scared. Thinking about her mommy made Clementine's eyes tear up, and all the scrubbing of little fists didn't make them go away. She finally gave up, and collapsed in sobs, crying into her pillow.
Ezra, coming up the stairs, heard the sobs, and ran to her room. The sight that greeted him made his heart break. He hurried to Clementine's side, wondering what could have upset the little girl so much.
"Clementine. What ever is the mattah?"
Clementine lifted her head from the pillow, tears streaming down her face, and crawled onto Ezra's lap. He embraced the little girl and let her cry herself out against his shoulder.
"What's wrong, baby?" Ezra asked worriedly when Clementine's sobs slowly started to subside.
"Mo-mommy." Clementine got out between sobs.
"What's wrong with your mommy?" Ezra asked.
"The man – he's going to hurt her. Ah want to go back to her. She needs me." Clementine looked up at Ezra with pleading eyes.
Mind reeling, Ezra hugged her close again. "I'll take care of it. It's OK."
Ezra waited until the tears started to subside, then pulled out a silk handkerchief and used it to wipe her tears away and blow her nose. The tears had stopped, but Clementine was still anxious about getting back to her mother.
Ezra took Clementine's hand and walked down the stairs with her. Some of the hombres drinking and playing looked at the little girl in surprise, but most of them were too engrossed in their games or just too drunk to notice.
Ezra looked around, almost frantically, and was very relieved to see Mary Travis walking past on the street. He carried Clementine past all the drunken gamblers and stepped onto the street.
"Mrs. Travis?"
Mary turned to see who had called her name and smiled when she saw Ezra and Clementine. "Hello, Ezra."
"Hello, Mary." Ezra put Clementine down. "Uh, Clementine, this is Mrs. Mary Travis. Mrs. Travis is a very good friend of mine. Mary, mah daughter Clementine."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Clementine." Mary squeezed the girl's hand and smiled down at her warmly. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Mary, would you happen to have some time? Clementine hasn't seen the town yet, and who could show her around better than the local columnist?" Ezra asked hopefully.
"It would be my pleasure!" Mary assured him.
"Wonderful! Ah have some things to attend to, Clementine. Mrs. Travis is going to show you around town, alright?"
Clementine nodded, and Ezra smiled at her, relieved. "Good. I'll see you ladies later then." He tipped his hat to them and strode off towards the telegraph office. He found the telegrapher fast asleep with his head on the desk inside the window.
"Mistah Stewart?" Ezra shook his shoulder to wake him up.
The man's head came up and he looked around frantically, trying to gather his thoughts. "I, uh, yes. Mr. Standish. Uh, how can I help you?"
"Ah need to send a telegraph to Albuquerque."
"Of course." Mr. Stewart said, trying very hard to look as if he was totally awake and in control of the situation. He pushed a piece of paper through the window for Ezra to write his message on.
"A pen would be useful right now." Said Ezra, a little annoyed at the incompetent telegrapher.
"Oh, yes, of course." Stewart quickly handed the gambler a pen.
Ezra immediately started writing the telegram.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sheriff Jenkins
Can you give me information regarding Anastasia Archibald Stop Her daughter Clementine Standish in Four Corners Stop Distressed about her mother Stop
Ezra Standish
Ezra handed the telegram back to Stewart and watched as the man clicked away.
"Do you want to wait for an answer?" Stewart asked, collecting the fee.
"No, Ah will come around again later." Ezra tipped his hat and left.
Next, Ezra walked over to the boarding house, where he rented two rooms, for himself and Clementine. He was just finished with that, when Jordan Davies, a young boy who often ran errands for people around town, ran up to him.
"Mr. Stewart sent me to give you this telegram." Jordan handed Ezra a piece of paper.
"Thank you, Jordan," Ezra said, quickly opening the folded paper.
All strength seemed to seep out of him as he read the telegram, and he had to lean against a hitching rail to keep from falling to the ground.
Four Corners, New Mexico
Ezra Standish
Anastasia Archibald was killed last night by unidentified burglar Stop He got the safe open, but had to get out without the money due to our arrival Stop I wasn't aware that she had a daughter; the daughter will have to appear in court once we catch the murderer Stop My condolences
Sheriff Jenkins
Ezra felt like somebody had punched him in the stomach as he read the telegram again as if reading it again might somehow change the meaning of the words. All his earlier feelings of hurt and anger towards Ana were quickly replaced by a helluva lot of guilt, sorrow, and, understandably, anger at the man who murdered her. He had thought that Ana sending Clementine across the state unaccompanied had been an act of pure heartlessness, and proved that she didn't even love her own little girl. But now everything began to fall into place, as he realized that Ana's actions had been meant solely to protect their daughter. Ezra's mind was a hopeless jumble of thoughts and worries as he stumbled to the saloon. He grabbed a full bottle of whiskey from the bar and made his way to a table. Sitting there, he read the telegram again and took a long swig out of the bottle.
That's how Chris found him ten minutes later; drinking from the almost empty bottle as he stared at the telegram, totally oblivious to the world around him.
"Ezra." Chris strode over to him, surprised at seeing the man in that condition. "Ezra!"
Ezra took his time looking up, but his eyes finally focused on Chris's face. "Uh, my good friend Mistah Larabee. Join this joyous celebration." Ezra invited sarcastically as he motioned to the chair beside him with his bottle.
Chris, however, stayed standing. "Ezra. What's wrong? What happened? Where's Clementine?"
"Clementine is fine," Ezra assured him, staring at his bottle.
"But what happened?" Chris asked urgently.
Ezra pushed the telegram towards his friend and took another swig from the bottle.
Chris quickly read the telegram, suddenly understanding why Ezra was in the shape he was.
Ezra laughed a hollow laugh – that didn't have amusement as a factor – at Chris's expression.
"I'm really sorry, Ezra," Chris said, putting his hand on Ezra's shoulder comfortingly.
"So am Ah, Chris, so am Ah," Ezra said quietly. He reached for the bottle again, but Chris stopped him.
"Ezra. You can't get drunk right now! Think of Clementine. We have to go after the man."
"Clementine told me something was wrong, Ah should have done something!" Ezra said, shifting the guilt onto his own shoulders.
"Ezra, listen. Anastasia was killed last night, long before Clementine even arrived here! There's no way it was your fault; it's just technically not possible!" Chris said, not wanting the man to believe it was his fault. "Look. You get cleaned up, then go talk to Clementine. She has a right to know. I'm going to contact Sheriff Jenkins, in Albuquerque, for details. Who knows where the man responsible is now. Okay?"
Ezra nodded and got up to go clean himself up as Chris left for the telegraph office. Having washed his face in the water trough outside, he gave himself a couple minutes to collect himself, before going in search of his daughter. He found her with Mary and Billy at the livery, looking at the horses. He took a deep breath and walked up to them.
"Hello, Ezra!" Mary greeted him, smiling.
"Hey, daddy," Clementine said shyly. Billy nodded to the peacemaker and continued grooming Mary's horse.
"Hello, Clementine, Mary, Billy." Ezra took another calming breath. "Mary, can Ah talk to Clementine for a minute?"
"Of course," Mary said quickly, wondering what could be wrong. "Come on Billy, let's go to the Clarion office. We'll see you later, Clementine."
When Mary and Billy had left, Ezra sat down on a pile of hay so that he was eye to eye with his daughter.
"Clementine. Ah need to tell you something. Ah telegraphed the sheriff in Albuquerque today to ask about your mother."
Clementine started breathing faster, the carefree expression on her face changing to one of intense worry. "What did he say? Is mommy OK?"
"Clementine." Ezra took a steadying breath to calm his nerves. "Clemmie, your mother... left... last night." Ezra managed to get out. His gift with words had suddenly left him, as he choked on the lump in his throat.
"You mean..." Clementine's face changed from worry to extreme grief. "No! What – how – who?" She gave up trying to find out how it had happened, and threw herself, crying bitterly, into Ezra's arms. "No-oh-oh!" Her cry came out as a wail.
Ezra just hugged her.
She said something muffled, that sounded like, "Ah knew he would come back!"
Ezra's brow furrowed, wondering again who "he" was. "Who did you know would come back?"
"The bad man who threatened Mommy." Clementine sobbed.
"Who threatened your mommy? What did he look like?" Ezra asked, gripping her shoulders, and making her look at him.
"A dirty man with a beard this big," Tears still streaming down her face, she made a big triangle shape under her chin, obviously exaggerating a little. "broke into the house, and threatened mommy. He wanted a lot of money."
"Did your mommy give in to his requests?" Ezra asked, suddenly understanding more of the situation.
"No. He was very angry, but Mommy didn't have it." Clementine explained.
"When did this happen?"
"Three days ago." Clementine sniffed.
"Ah see. Clementine, Ah have to go find my friends so that we can go catch the man who executed this horrendous crime. You can stay with Mary and Billy."
"Ah want to go with you."
"Ah know, but you can't go with us. It's dangerous; you might get hurt." Ezra explained.
"But Ah want to help catch him." Whined Clementine.
"Ah am sorry, but you can't." Ezra got up, taking a shaky breath. "Come on, Ah will bring you to Mary."
Like Ezra expected, Mary wasn't far away. She was talking with Chris, and Ezra didn't doubt for a second that she already knew what was going on.
Mary looked up as soon as she saw Ezra and Clementine. "Oh, Ezra!" She said in her usual warm, comforting way. "I'm so sorry."
"So am Ah, Mary." Ezra was finding talking without breaking down pretty hard, so he didn't embellish his speech as much as he usually would have. "Ah don't want to intrude upon your hospitality, but Ah have to ask if Clementine can stay with you for a while? Ah am going to be pretty busy, and Ah don't want to leave her at the boarding house all by herself."
"Of course, Ezra. I was just about to suggest that. If you can use my assistance in any way, please don't hesitate to ask!" Mary said, as kind and thoughtful as ever.
"Thank you, Mary," Chris said, and Ezra echoed the heartfelt thanks.
As Mary left with Billy and Clementine, Ezra and Chris looked at each other. That one look steadied Ezra, as he realized that with his six brothers helping him, sooner or later they would catch the man.
