Chapter 2
The next morning Elizabeth woke up to a sharp pain. She rolled over to her other side letting her sore hand hang over the edge of the bed. When she had arrived home last evening, Grams had taken the switch to her hand. And Elizabeth knew she had deserved the punishment. She had given her grandmother a great scare...and after all she had done for them. When Elizabeth's parents had died in a train accident back east over ten years ago, the widowed Audrey Hardy had taken in the three orphans, giving them a home and making sure they were properly educated. Elizabeth would never have intentionally worried her, but it seemed that she was always doing the wrong thing.
And Grams had not been the only one to worry. Apparently some of the farmhands had been sent out looking for her and even the Spencers had joined in the search. And Lucky...he had been there on the porch waiting with Sarah with a worried expression on his face. Upon seeing her, he had hugged her and admonished her to never worry them like that again.
It had warmed her to know he cared, but when he had kissed Sarah tenderly good night, it had been like a stake to the heart. At least the physical pain of her punishment had taken her mind off her heartache for a little while.
Elizabeth slowly got out of bed and dressed for the day in a simple yellow top and skirt. Overtop, she placed a white apron. Stepping in front of the mirror, Elizabeth wondered why the Lord had decided to make her so plain. And not just in looks but in character. If she could have been brave or witty she would have been so grateful, but no, she always ended up being so very timid. Why just look at how she had behaved with that stranger yesterday! Why couldn't she have demanded the man to let her leave? Why had she let him do all the asking when he was the one who had lied? And he ihad/i lied...she knew what she had heard and he was Jason Quartermaine. She should have called him on it. But...he was a man almost twice her size with a gun!
But why couldn't she be a little more spirited like those heroine's in the dime novels?! Because deep down she felt she had spirit in her...if only she was brave enough to show it. Perhaps then Lucky would look at her the way he looked at Sarah. Not that Sarah was adventurous exactly, but she had such beauty and poise. Elizabeth couldn't hold a candle to that.
As she continued to stare into the mirror she considered what to do with her unruly hair. Grams was always trying to push her to dress it up as she was now a "young lady". But her hair was so thick and heavy, loose curly strands often came falling out as soon as she walked out of the house. So she decided to simply tie her long curls back in a loose ponytail and then placed a simple straw hat on her head. She still looked younger than her seventeen years but at least a little older than with her braids. With one last look at her much too small nose and much too large mouth, Elizabeth headed out of the room to tackle her chores for the day.
As midday approached, most of the chores Elizabeth and Sarah were responsible for had been finished, and Sarah was eager to head into town to go through catalogues for wedding finery. Audrey too wanted to purchase a few supplies. Elizabeth asked to stay home, but both women demanded that she go with them. They knew she would be far too tempted to ride her bicycle even though Audrey had forbidden it.
"Really Lizzie, you need to learn to be around folks. Perhaps then you wouldn't constantly be off on that bicycle riding to Lord knows where!"
So the three women found themselves riding the old buggy into the town of Heaven on that hot summer's day. As was usual the streets were filled with horses and other buggies.
Since the railroad station had been built a couple years ago, the town was growing rather quickly, and now even had a large hotel. Across from the hotel was the town bank. Both bank and hotel were owned, of course, by the Quartermaines. As was the local supply store next to the bank.
The newspaper shop which sat next to the bank was one of the few properties the Quartermaines did not have in their control, but it was known that the owner, Miss Alexis Davis, was engaged to Ned Ashton, a cousin of the Quartermaines. And next to the newspaper shop was the dress shop, owned by another Quartermaine cousin, Miss Chloe Morgan.
A little further down the street was the sheriff's office, where the town sheriff, Mac Scorpio and his men could usually be found, and right beside it was the post office run by Lucky's aunt, and the minister's wife, Mrs. Anthony Jones. Another large building that could be seen near the centre of town was the doctor's office. The doc, Kevin Collins and his busybody wife, Lucy Collins were an odd pair to say the least, including Mrs. Collins' known addiction to gossip and her rumoured penchant for dabbling in the supernatural
Those were the shops and buildings which the good folks of Heaven frequented. Now the bad folks of Heaven spent most of their time at the Corinthos Saloon. Elizabeth knew very little about the place except it was filled with wondrously colourful immoral women and dangerous wicked men. The God-fearing women of Heaven took it upon themselves to espouse the evilness of such an establishment. While young men, actually men of all ages, frequented the place, young ladies were expected to stay well clear. But if one came to town at night one could clearly hear the loud music and rowdiness coming from Sonny and Carly Corinthos's den of sin.
But as it was day, nothing could be heard from the grand building as the Webber buggy made its way past the saloon. A few ladies of the evening could be seen lounging on the upper balcony, but most of the folks traversing the street did a rather good job pretending to ignore them. Unfortunately, Elizabeth was not one of them.
As Grams and Sarah departed from the buggy and headed into the Quartermaine supply store, Elizabeth walked a little distance from the store, trying to avoid the gazes of the people walking along the road. As she leaned against the wall, from underneath her straw bonnet, Elizabeth tentatively looked up at the painted women leaning against the balcony railings. More than once she had thought of sketching these fascinating women. She wondered what they were like. How did they feel being ostracised by all the other women in town? And what exactly did they do with the men who their smiles lured into the building?
A deep blush rose in her cheeks at the thought and she was about to make her way back toward the supply store, when she heard a sultry feminine laugh. "Well, lookie here, girls...looks like one of the fine ladies of Heaven is mighty interested in us."
As she looked up at the balcony she saw a beautiful woman with dark brown hair and exotic almond shaped eyes staring straight down at her. Elizabeth's face turned an even darker shade of red than the scarlet gown the woman was wearing. Please Lord no...that woman could not possibly be speaking to her, could she?
"Leave the gal, alone, Gia." Elizabeth's eyes immediately were drawn to the stunning blond woman who was now leaning over the railing to get a look at her. "And you girl, ya going to say anythin' or just stand there gawkin'?"
Elizabeth felt the overwhelming urge to run into the store, but the woman was right. She had been staring at them rather rudely. "I-I'm sorry for staring, ma'am," she said in a low voice.
The beautiful blond shouted down, "What's that? Come on girl, speak up!"
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth said in a louder voice, "I said I'm sorry for staring, ma'am. It was rude."
The woman laughed, a deep full laugh. "Please honey, it's Carly, not ma'am!"
The dark beauty asked bluntly, "So what ya find so interestin' 'bout us?"
Oh Lord, how was she to answer ithat one/i? "I-I..."
"Maybe the little ilady/i has a hankerin' for some fun..."
At the sound of the man's harsh voice, Elizabeth's eyes immediately fell upon a large brute of a man leaning against the wall near the swinging doors of the saloon. From beneath the rim of his hat, Elizabeth could make out a pair of beady eyes, and leathery skin. His mouth was a cruel slash across his face. He was a villain right out of one of those dime novels.
Elizabeth's breathing started to become erratic as fear grew in her belly. How did she end up speaking to such characters? She promised the Lord she would never, ever again look at something she was not suppose to, if the ground would immediately open up and swallow her whole! But of course it did not, so she forced her feet to move.
As she was about to turn to run towards the supply store, she heard the blond woman shout down, "Leave the girl alone Sorel, or Sonny will have your hide, ya here me?"
As his malicious eyes stayed on Elizabeth, he said gruffly, "I was only having some fun, ma'am. No need to concern that husband of yours."
"Just mind my warnin' mister," Carly then yelled at Elizabeth, "You best skedaddle girl."
Elizabeth did not need to be told twice. She turned around and ran down the walkway and into the supply store.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Jason Morgan rode through the main street of Heaven without paying the slightest attention to the people moving all about him. He had finally caught a glimpse of his daughter...Rebecca, and it had not been nearly enough. She was beautiful...with her dark brown hair, blue eyes and peaches and cream complexion, a mixture of him and Robin. The best of him and Robin, of what they had dreamed of before the Quartermaines had ripped everything they had shared apart.
His mind as usual skirted around the memories of Robin, too painful to dwell upon. Instead he concentrated on his anger. Damn them! He should never have believed that AJ, and the rest of them would let him see his daughter. As soon as he had arrived that morning he knew that something was wrong. And sure enough they were attempting to sneak Eve and Rebecca away from the back. Only Lila's interference had prevented them from taking her away. Jason had been so angry by the time he had made his way to the back of the house, he knew he was in no condition to see his daughter, and so after an all too brief glimpse of her, he had agreed to come see her later in the evening after Lila promised to ensure that Rebecca remained at the house.
Jason trusted his grandmother, but his distrust of his grandfather, father and brother ran deeper. He needed to find a way to get his daughter away from them without frightening her. And now he had another worry thanks not to the Quartermaine men but to Lila. The brief conversation he had with her was still on his mind.
iAs she walked him to his horse, Lila said softy, "Jason, I'm sorry about what they did. If I had known...I would never have allowed it. I still can't believe they tried to pass off Rebecca as AJ's and Eve's. If it hadn't been for Emily...but that is neither here nor there. There's something important I want you to consider, Jason. I know you want your daughter...and I know you will be a good father to her. But as much as I hate to say this dear, she needs a mother and Eve is a good one. She loves the child as if she were her own."
"But she's not hers, Lila. She's my daughter. I will be the one to give her a good home. I'll make sure she's not subjected to what this twisted family calls love."
"I know, you would be good for her, Jason. I know you'll try to settle down somewhere but..." Lila paused, her crystal blue eyes shining with concern, "Jason...have you ever thought of marrying?"
Jason stared at his grandmother and gave a hard laugh. "You know I did once, Lila, and look at how that turned out. No, I won't be getting married anytime soon."
Lila shook her head sadly at the coldness in her grandson's eyes. "You need to let what happened with Robin go. Rebecca needs a mother, Jason. And even if you don't want to admit it, you need someone too."/i
He had been so adamant with Lila about the impossibility of such a scheme, but as he rode away without his daughter, he could not help but think about what she had said. Even though he knew very little of girls, except what little he remembered of Emily's childhood, he knew that a young girl needed a woman's influence. He had thought to bring Rebecca back to Texas with him and hire a nanny to help care for her. But was that being fair to the little girl?
Perhaps she needed a mother...but he couldn't leave her with the Quartermaines no matter how good Eve was with her. So where did that leave him?
Jason shook his head in frustration as he arrived in front of the saloon belonging to the only two people in Heaven he called friends. He was about to dismount when he heard an ear piercing scream of rage, and then he found the unsurprising source of the sound-Carly Corinthos. She was waving her hands wildly in front of a large man. Jumping down from his horse, Jason sauntered over to them and asked, "There something wrong here, Carly?"
The buxom blond turned fiery eyes his way, and yelled, "There sure is! I found this mudsill harassin' some of my girls. I told him he best shin out before Sonny comes back and blisters his hide!"
Jason turned his blue gaze on the man who was still standing firmly rooted to his spot by the saloon entrance. "Did you not hear the lady? She told you to get."
"Now see here, don't kick up a row. I was only givin' those whores what they were hankerin' for."
As his eyes narrowed and he stepped forward, Jason warned, "You better get going before I give you a lesson on how to respectfully treat ladies."
"You jokin' mister? They're whores the whole lot of 'em. I-"
In less than a second, Jason had his gun drawn and aimed right between the man's eyes. "Get."
The man slowly backed away and moved toward his horse. "You'll be sorry, mister. The boss ain't goin' to like hearin' 'bout this."
As Jason kept his gun and eyes trained steadily on the man mounting his horse, he asked, "Who is he Carly?"
"Joseph Sorel, one of Frankie Moreno's men. Damn, Sonny ain't goin' to like this one bit."
Jason agreed. "I think you best be on the look out for trouble. Sonny told me that Mor-" Before he could finish, he caught sight of a woman overloaded with a large pile of packages heading right into the path of Sorel's horse. "Damn it!"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
It had taken over a half an hour for her sister and grandmother to decide on which household supplies they wished to purchase at the Q's supply store and then another hour to order new dresses and bonnets for Sarah from Miss Morgan's shop. Of course as a lady about to be married, Sarah had to dress the part. As she phrased it, "A married woman was expected to dress with sophistication, not like a little country girl..." Elizabeth could hear the unspoken words, ilike Lizzie/i. By the time they were ready to leave town, all three women found their arms full with goods.
As her grandmother had remembered she wanted to see Mrs. Jones for correspondence from Steven, Elizabeth soon found herself given the task of carrying all four bonnet boxes to the buggy. Unfortunately she could not see over them to where the buggy was located across the street. If she were Sarah surely one of the gentlemen around her would offer to assist her. But alas, she was too easy to ignore. All she could do was pray that for once her usual clumsiness would not result in disaster.
Through necessity, she shouted out from behind the boxes, "Sarah could you please help me here?"
As Sarah was busy placing her packages into the back of the buggy, she merely replied, "Over here, Lizzie. We really must be getting home soon. I promised Lucky I would bake a blueberry pie for supper with the Spencers this evening."
Even as her heart squeezed painfully at the mere mention of Lucky, Elizabeth forced herself to take a tentative step in the direction of her sister's melodic voice. But she instantly found herself bumping into someone.
"Watch where you're going young lady."
Elizabeth recognised the voice of one of the town's notorious scandalmongers. "Oh. I'm terribly sorry Mrs. Collins."
"Why is that you Lizzie?"
And where there was Mrs. Collins, there was Miss Amy Vining, her partner in crime...if one considered being busybodies a crime. Many a person who had been the subject of their rumors certainly believed it was. "Yes Miss Vining. Can you please direct me towards my sister?"
Amy laughed as she placed her hand on Elizabeth's arm. "Oh alright, this way Lizzie. My you're such a wee little thing aren't you? Why did Audrey and your sister let you to carry all of those boxes on your-Oh Sarah! We just heard the wonderful news about you and Lucky..."
"I was just telling Amy here, that I knew...I just knew you would be marrying that young man..." exclaimed an excited Mrs. Collins.
Both ladies quickly made their way past poor Elizabeth to cross the street to fulfil their duty to the town and find out as much as possible about the upcoming nuptials.
"Miss Vining!? Mrs. Collins?!" Elizabeth called out, but she knew they had already left her to garner what juicy details they could from her sister. Oh heavens...she was just going to have to walk toward the sound of the two women's prattling. She had tentatively taken one step and then another, and was just letting out small breath, when she suddenly heard a scream.
"Lizzie! Watch out!"
The next thing she knew there were shouts coming from every direction and she heard the sound of a horse's outcry and then a loud splash. Surprisingly, despite the fact she was sent off balance for a moment by the shock, she was soon able to catch the boxes so they were secure in her arms. As she was just thanking her lucky stars that she had avoided disaster, Elizabeth heard the angry growl, "You clumsy little..."
She should have known. Disaster had just come a calling.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The next morning Elizabeth woke up to a sharp pain. She rolled over to her other side letting her sore hand hang over the edge of the bed. When she had arrived home last evening, Grams had taken the switch to her hand. And Elizabeth knew she had deserved the punishment. She had given her grandmother a great scare...and after all she had done for them. When Elizabeth's parents had died in a train accident back east over ten years ago, the widowed Audrey Hardy had taken in the three orphans, giving them a home and making sure they were properly educated. Elizabeth would never have intentionally worried her, but it seemed that she was always doing the wrong thing.
And Grams had not been the only one to worry. Apparently some of the farmhands had been sent out looking for her and even the Spencers had joined in the search. And Lucky...he had been there on the porch waiting with Sarah with a worried expression on his face. Upon seeing her, he had hugged her and admonished her to never worry them like that again.
It had warmed her to know he cared, but when he had kissed Sarah tenderly good night, it had been like a stake to the heart. At least the physical pain of her punishment had taken her mind off her heartache for a little while.
Elizabeth slowly got out of bed and dressed for the day in a simple yellow top and skirt. Overtop, she placed a white apron. Stepping in front of the mirror, Elizabeth wondered why the Lord had decided to make her so plain. And not just in looks but in character. If she could have been brave or witty she would have been so grateful, but no, she always ended up being so very timid. Why just look at how she had behaved with that stranger yesterday! Why couldn't she have demanded the man to let her leave? Why had she let him do all the asking when he was the one who had lied? And he ihad/i lied...she knew what she had heard and he was Jason Quartermaine. She should have called him on it. But...he was a man almost twice her size with a gun!
But why couldn't she be a little more spirited like those heroine's in the dime novels?! Because deep down she felt she had spirit in her...if only she was brave enough to show it. Perhaps then Lucky would look at her the way he looked at Sarah. Not that Sarah was adventurous exactly, but she had such beauty and poise. Elizabeth couldn't hold a candle to that.
As she continued to stare into the mirror she considered what to do with her unruly hair. Grams was always trying to push her to dress it up as she was now a "young lady". But her hair was so thick and heavy, loose curly strands often came falling out as soon as she walked out of the house. So she decided to simply tie her long curls back in a loose ponytail and then placed a simple straw hat on her head. She still looked younger than her seventeen years but at least a little older than with her braids. With one last look at her much too small nose and much too large mouth, Elizabeth headed out of the room to tackle her chores for the day.
As midday approached, most of the chores Elizabeth and Sarah were responsible for had been finished, and Sarah was eager to head into town to go through catalogues for wedding finery. Audrey too wanted to purchase a few supplies. Elizabeth asked to stay home, but both women demanded that she go with them. They knew she would be far too tempted to ride her bicycle even though Audrey had forbidden it.
"Really Lizzie, you need to learn to be around folks. Perhaps then you wouldn't constantly be off on that bicycle riding to Lord knows where!"
So the three women found themselves riding the old buggy into the town of Heaven on that hot summer's day. As was usual the streets were filled with horses and other buggies.
Since the railroad station had been built a couple years ago, the town was growing rather quickly, and now even had a large hotel. Across from the hotel was the town bank. Both bank and hotel were owned, of course, by the Quartermaines. As was the local supply store next to the bank.
The newspaper shop which sat next to the bank was one of the few properties the Quartermaines did not have in their control, but it was known that the owner, Miss Alexis Davis, was engaged to Ned Ashton, a cousin of the Quartermaines. And next to the newspaper shop was the dress shop, owned by another Quartermaine cousin, Miss Chloe Morgan.
A little further down the street was the sheriff's office, where the town sheriff, Mac Scorpio and his men could usually be found, and right beside it was the post office run by Lucky's aunt, and the minister's wife, Mrs. Anthony Jones. Another large building that could be seen near the centre of town was the doctor's office. The doc, Kevin Collins and his busybody wife, Lucy Collins were an odd pair to say the least, including Mrs. Collins' known addiction to gossip and her rumoured penchant for dabbling in the supernatural
Those were the shops and buildings which the good folks of Heaven frequented. Now the bad folks of Heaven spent most of their time at the Corinthos Saloon. Elizabeth knew very little about the place except it was filled with wondrously colourful immoral women and dangerous wicked men. The God-fearing women of Heaven took it upon themselves to espouse the evilness of such an establishment. While young men, actually men of all ages, frequented the place, young ladies were expected to stay well clear. But if one came to town at night one could clearly hear the loud music and rowdiness coming from Sonny and Carly Corinthos's den of sin.
But as it was day, nothing could be heard from the grand building as the Webber buggy made its way past the saloon. A few ladies of the evening could be seen lounging on the upper balcony, but most of the folks traversing the street did a rather good job pretending to ignore them. Unfortunately, Elizabeth was not one of them.
As Grams and Sarah departed from the buggy and headed into the Quartermaine supply store, Elizabeth walked a little distance from the store, trying to avoid the gazes of the people walking along the road. As she leaned against the wall, from underneath her straw bonnet, Elizabeth tentatively looked up at the painted women leaning against the balcony railings. More than once she had thought of sketching these fascinating women. She wondered what they were like. How did they feel being ostracised by all the other women in town? And what exactly did they do with the men who their smiles lured into the building?
A deep blush rose in her cheeks at the thought and she was about to make her way back toward the supply store, when she heard a sultry feminine laugh. "Well, lookie here, girls...looks like one of the fine ladies of Heaven is mighty interested in us."
As she looked up at the balcony she saw a beautiful woman with dark brown hair and exotic almond shaped eyes staring straight down at her. Elizabeth's face turned an even darker shade of red than the scarlet gown the woman was wearing. Please Lord no...that woman could not possibly be speaking to her, could she?
"Leave the gal, alone, Gia." Elizabeth's eyes immediately were drawn to the stunning blond woman who was now leaning over the railing to get a look at her. "And you girl, ya going to say anythin' or just stand there gawkin'?"
Elizabeth felt the overwhelming urge to run into the store, but the woman was right. She had been staring at them rather rudely. "I-I'm sorry for staring, ma'am," she said in a low voice.
The beautiful blond shouted down, "What's that? Come on girl, speak up!"
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth said in a louder voice, "I said I'm sorry for staring, ma'am. It was rude."
The woman laughed, a deep full laugh. "Please honey, it's Carly, not ma'am!"
The dark beauty asked bluntly, "So what ya find so interestin' 'bout us?"
Oh Lord, how was she to answer ithat one/i? "I-I..."
"Maybe the little ilady/i has a hankerin' for some fun..."
At the sound of the man's harsh voice, Elizabeth's eyes immediately fell upon a large brute of a man leaning against the wall near the swinging doors of the saloon. From beneath the rim of his hat, Elizabeth could make out a pair of beady eyes, and leathery skin. His mouth was a cruel slash across his face. He was a villain right out of one of those dime novels.
Elizabeth's breathing started to become erratic as fear grew in her belly. How did she end up speaking to such characters? She promised the Lord she would never, ever again look at something she was not suppose to, if the ground would immediately open up and swallow her whole! But of course it did not, so she forced her feet to move.
As she was about to turn to run towards the supply store, she heard the blond woman shout down, "Leave the girl alone Sorel, or Sonny will have your hide, ya here me?"
As his malicious eyes stayed on Elizabeth, he said gruffly, "I was only having some fun, ma'am. No need to concern that husband of yours."
"Just mind my warnin' mister," Carly then yelled at Elizabeth, "You best skedaddle girl."
Elizabeth did not need to be told twice. She turned around and ran down the walkway and into the supply store.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Jason Morgan rode through the main street of Heaven without paying the slightest attention to the people moving all about him. He had finally caught a glimpse of his daughter...Rebecca, and it had not been nearly enough. She was beautiful...with her dark brown hair, blue eyes and peaches and cream complexion, a mixture of him and Robin. The best of him and Robin, of what they had dreamed of before the Quartermaines had ripped everything they had shared apart.
His mind as usual skirted around the memories of Robin, too painful to dwell upon. Instead he concentrated on his anger. Damn them! He should never have believed that AJ, and the rest of them would let him see his daughter. As soon as he had arrived that morning he knew that something was wrong. And sure enough they were attempting to sneak Eve and Rebecca away from the back. Only Lila's interference had prevented them from taking her away. Jason had been so angry by the time he had made his way to the back of the house, he knew he was in no condition to see his daughter, and so after an all too brief glimpse of her, he had agreed to come see her later in the evening after Lila promised to ensure that Rebecca remained at the house.
Jason trusted his grandmother, but his distrust of his grandfather, father and brother ran deeper. He needed to find a way to get his daughter away from them without frightening her. And now he had another worry thanks not to the Quartermaine men but to Lila. The brief conversation he had with her was still on his mind.
iAs she walked him to his horse, Lila said softy, "Jason, I'm sorry about what they did. If I had known...I would never have allowed it. I still can't believe they tried to pass off Rebecca as AJ's and Eve's. If it hadn't been for Emily...but that is neither here nor there. There's something important I want you to consider, Jason. I know you want your daughter...and I know you will be a good father to her. But as much as I hate to say this dear, she needs a mother and Eve is a good one. She loves the child as if she were her own."
"But she's not hers, Lila. She's my daughter. I will be the one to give her a good home. I'll make sure she's not subjected to what this twisted family calls love."
"I know, you would be good for her, Jason. I know you'll try to settle down somewhere but..." Lila paused, her crystal blue eyes shining with concern, "Jason...have you ever thought of marrying?"
Jason stared at his grandmother and gave a hard laugh. "You know I did once, Lila, and look at how that turned out. No, I won't be getting married anytime soon."
Lila shook her head sadly at the coldness in her grandson's eyes. "You need to let what happened with Robin go. Rebecca needs a mother, Jason. And even if you don't want to admit it, you need someone too."/i
He had been so adamant with Lila about the impossibility of such a scheme, but as he rode away without his daughter, he could not help but think about what she had said. Even though he knew very little of girls, except what little he remembered of Emily's childhood, he knew that a young girl needed a woman's influence. He had thought to bring Rebecca back to Texas with him and hire a nanny to help care for her. But was that being fair to the little girl?
Perhaps she needed a mother...but he couldn't leave her with the Quartermaines no matter how good Eve was with her. So where did that leave him?
Jason shook his head in frustration as he arrived in front of the saloon belonging to the only two people in Heaven he called friends. He was about to dismount when he heard an ear piercing scream of rage, and then he found the unsurprising source of the sound-Carly Corinthos. She was waving her hands wildly in front of a large man. Jumping down from his horse, Jason sauntered over to them and asked, "There something wrong here, Carly?"
The buxom blond turned fiery eyes his way, and yelled, "There sure is! I found this mudsill harassin' some of my girls. I told him he best shin out before Sonny comes back and blisters his hide!"
Jason turned his blue gaze on the man who was still standing firmly rooted to his spot by the saloon entrance. "Did you not hear the lady? She told you to get."
"Now see here, don't kick up a row. I was only givin' those whores what they were hankerin' for."
As his eyes narrowed and he stepped forward, Jason warned, "You better get going before I give you a lesson on how to respectfully treat ladies."
"You jokin' mister? They're whores the whole lot of 'em. I-"
In less than a second, Jason had his gun drawn and aimed right between the man's eyes. "Get."
The man slowly backed away and moved toward his horse. "You'll be sorry, mister. The boss ain't goin' to like hearin' 'bout this."
As Jason kept his gun and eyes trained steadily on the man mounting his horse, he asked, "Who is he Carly?"
"Joseph Sorel, one of Frankie Moreno's men. Damn, Sonny ain't goin' to like this one bit."
Jason agreed. "I think you best be on the look out for trouble. Sonny told me that Mor-" Before he could finish, he caught sight of a woman overloaded with a large pile of packages heading right into the path of Sorel's horse. "Damn it!"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
It had taken over a half an hour for her sister and grandmother to decide on which household supplies they wished to purchase at the Q's supply store and then another hour to order new dresses and bonnets for Sarah from Miss Morgan's shop. Of course as a lady about to be married, Sarah had to dress the part. As she phrased it, "A married woman was expected to dress with sophistication, not like a little country girl..." Elizabeth could hear the unspoken words, ilike Lizzie/i. By the time they were ready to leave town, all three women found their arms full with goods.
As her grandmother had remembered she wanted to see Mrs. Jones for correspondence from Steven, Elizabeth soon found herself given the task of carrying all four bonnet boxes to the buggy. Unfortunately she could not see over them to where the buggy was located across the street. If she were Sarah surely one of the gentlemen around her would offer to assist her. But alas, she was too easy to ignore. All she could do was pray that for once her usual clumsiness would not result in disaster.
Through necessity, she shouted out from behind the boxes, "Sarah could you please help me here?"
As Sarah was busy placing her packages into the back of the buggy, she merely replied, "Over here, Lizzie. We really must be getting home soon. I promised Lucky I would bake a blueberry pie for supper with the Spencers this evening."
Even as her heart squeezed painfully at the mere mention of Lucky, Elizabeth forced herself to take a tentative step in the direction of her sister's melodic voice. But she instantly found herself bumping into someone.
"Watch where you're going young lady."
Elizabeth recognised the voice of one of the town's notorious scandalmongers. "Oh. I'm terribly sorry Mrs. Collins."
"Why is that you Lizzie?"
And where there was Mrs. Collins, there was Miss Amy Vining, her partner in crime...if one considered being busybodies a crime. Many a person who had been the subject of their rumors certainly believed it was. "Yes Miss Vining. Can you please direct me towards my sister?"
Amy laughed as she placed her hand on Elizabeth's arm. "Oh alright, this way Lizzie. My you're such a wee little thing aren't you? Why did Audrey and your sister let you to carry all of those boxes on your-Oh Sarah! We just heard the wonderful news about you and Lucky..."
"I was just telling Amy here, that I knew...I just knew you would be marrying that young man..." exclaimed an excited Mrs. Collins.
Both ladies quickly made their way past poor Elizabeth to cross the street to fulfil their duty to the town and find out as much as possible about the upcoming nuptials.
"Miss Vining!? Mrs. Collins?!" Elizabeth called out, but she knew they had already left her to garner what juicy details they could from her sister. Oh heavens...she was just going to have to walk toward the sound of the two women's prattling. She had tentatively taken one step and then another, and was just letting out small breath, when she suddenly heard a scream.
"Lizzie! Watch out!"
The next thing she knew there were shouts coming from every direction and she heard the sound of a horse's outcry and then a loud splash. Surprisingly, despite the fact she was sent off balance for a moment by the shock, she was soon able to catch the boxes so they were secure in her arms. As she was just thanking her lucky stars that she had avoided disaster, Elizabeth heard the angry growl, "You clumsy little..."
She should have known. Disaster had just come a calling.
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