Chapter 172 – Katie's Story
While Elizabeth was getting going at the schoolhouse and Jacobs was helping Jack, Wynn sent McGinty to Buxton with a dozen names to check out as well as buildings and plats of land to look into. Wynn made sure he took his overnight bag with instructions to wire if he was staying. After seeing McGinty off, Wynn stopped in the jail and talked to Bill for a few moments. While they were sitting talking, the prisoner called out to them.
"Hey." Dominic called out.
Wynn whispered something to Bill and Bill shook his head. Wynn stood up and went over to the cell.
"What do you want Dominic?" Wynn asked.
The man stared at him wide-eyed.
"Yes." Wynn said. "We know who you are. We want to know why you were sent here. You can talk to us or you can talk to the Mounties in Calgary when you are transferred there. Either way, you are facing attempted murder charges. If you want to go down for that yourself it is up to you."
Dominic sat there for a few moments while Wynn stared at him.
"I wasn't going to kill anyone." Dominic said quietly. "I was just going to scare them hoping it would be enough to make him back off."
"Who are you talking about?" Wynn asked.
"That Mountie." Dominic said.
"I need a name." Wynn said.
"Thornton." Dominic said.
"Who sent you?" Wynn asked.
"No way." Dominic said. "Both him and his father are crazy. They threatened to kill me if I didn't deliver. I am safer in prison. I don't care, I am not saying anything else."
Wynn sat back down with a triumphant smile on his face.
"I will see what I can do about making arrangements for you." Wynn called out. "Are you willing to plead guilty and forgo a trial?"
"Yes." Dominic said. "Just keep me safe."
"No one is going to hurt you while you are in our custody." Bill called. "After that, I can't make promises."
"I will wire Union City for transport." Wynn said. "I think we can contact a judge and if he is willing to plead to the charges, Union City can arrange for him to be sent to Medicine Hat."
"Wouldn't it be safer to send him somewhere else?" Bill asked.
"Medicine Hat is the closest." Wynn said.
"I will let you deal with that." Bill said. "But I think we should protect him. At least as much as we can. It sounds like Kensington is behind this. Isn't he in Union City?"
"He was supposed to be moved to Ottawa today." Wynn said. "But I will let them know about the potential conflict."
"Okay." Bill said. "I will let you get on with your day."
As Wynn was walking back to Abigail's office, he saw Charlotte ride into town. He didn't say anything to her and she just tipped her hat to him. He figured that if she wanted to talk she would later. He had enough going then to worry about her now that she was back. Wynn got to the office to find Abigail already hard at work. So he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down to do his paperwork.
Wynn and Abigail had been working on paperwork for about twenty minutes when there was a knock at the door. Wynn got up to see who it was.
"Ms Yost." Wynn said.
"You can call me Katie." She said.
"Was there something that you needed?" Wynn asked.
"Sorry." Katie said. "I wanted to talk to you about something and I also had messages for you guys."
"Please come in." Wynn said. "What did you want to talk to us about?"
"I know that Dad would never say anything." Katie said. "But he is getting really frustrated with one of your Mounties."
"Which one?" Wynn asked.
"I don't know his name." Katie said. "He is one of the older ones staying at the saloon."
"What does he look like?" Wynn asked.
Katie went one to describe the man pretending to be Campbell.
"What has he done?" Wynn asked.
"Well at first it was just a few little things." Katie said. "Complaining we didn't have certain things. Then this morning, he wanted to send his own messages. Dad wouldn't let him and he got upset. He said that he was a Mountie and had the right to send communications without him interfering. Obviously Dad didn't let him. I know that he has let Dee and Jacobs, but that is different. They always ask and let him know what is going on."
"Thank you." Wynn said. "I will deal with him. If he continues to cause trouble, please let me know, but also know that you and your father have the right to ban him from your business."
"Thank you." Katie said. "Also thank you for working it so that Lucy and I can keep the girls. We love those little girls and are looking at adopting them."
"Which one of you?" Abigail asked.
Katie looked down a moment and twisted her foot.
"We each want one." Katie said quietly. "We will never separate them, I promise."
"Please sit down for a moment." Wynn said.
Katie and Wynn sat down as Abigail came over to the table as well.
"I have a feeling that there is something more going on." Wynn said.
Katie was quiet for a few moments and before she could speak, Dee and Jacobs came in. Katie looked at them and then looked at Wynn.
"Can you guys give us a moment?" Wynn asked.
"Okay." Dee said. "I have things I need to check on."
"I will check on the cadets." Jacobs said.
"Can you check on the ladies at the cafe as well?" Abigail asked.
"Of course." Jacobs said.
Dee and Jacobs left. Katie waited a moment and then looked at Wynn. He could see that there were tears in her eyes.
"I know that it is not normal." Katie said. "But I have no interest in getting married, ever. I had given up the idea of having a family. Then I met Lucy. She feels the same way that I do. We talked about this and we agreed that we could make a family this way. I know that it is not traditional, but we want this. Lucy has savings from her mother. She also is skilled in other areas. Between what both of us have in savings as well as working at the mercantile, we have enough. Dad told me that the mercantile will be mine one day. Lucy was also looking at working at the newspaper. She was told that she would have to talk to the new owner, but Mr Bolt would give a recommendation even though she never worked for him. When I asked him why, he said that he knew Lucy's father and owed it to him."
"Wait a second." Abigail said. "Mr Bolt sold the newspaper?"
"Yes." Katie said. "Mr Bolt said that the new owner will be here by the end of the month. He bought both the newspaper building and the building next door to it that Mr Bolt was using as storage. There is an apartment above both buildings that can be opened up."
"Did he say who the new owner was?" Abigail asked. "Moreover when was Mr Bolt here?"
"He was here yesterday and today." Katie said. "He was clearing out some personal items and then was going to head back to Benson Hills. He was keeping the building that he owns for the rental income. Dad is going to manage that for him."
"Did he tell you the name of the new owner?" Wynn asked.
"No, sorry." Katie said.
"No problem, I will talk to him." Abigail said. "Now I understand if you haven't found the right person, but you make it sound like you have closed yourself off to getting married and Lucy agrees with you."
"Yes." Katie said. "I can't really explain it. I have never really been interested in guys and Lucy feels the same way. We both figured that we would never have any other family and we were okay with that. Then by some miracle we found each other and those two little girls came into our lives. Dad supports us and we know that we will have the support of the community as far as raising those little girls."
Wynn and Abigail looked at each other.
"Do you love Lucy?" Wynn asked.
"Yes." Katie said. "But I don't want you to think we are doing something wrong, because we aren't. We both believe in God and plan to raise the girls in a Christian home."
"I wasn't suggesting that there was something wrong with it." Wynn said. "I was just trying to get a better picture of the situation."
"Okay." Katie said. "I came back here because I knew that the people in this town would understand."
"Did something happen while you were away at school?" Abigail asked.
Katie looked down and wiped a tear before it could fall.
"I promise that anything you tell Wynn and I will stay between us." Abigail said.
"Yes." Wynn said. "We won't say anything, but I need to know if someone hurt you and that is why you feel this way."
It took Katie a few minutes before she felt like she could speak.
"Yes." Katie said. "Something happened. I didn't even tell Dad. I just told him that I missed home and he agreed to let me come back and finish with correspondence courses."
"Katie." Wynn said. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Why." Katie said. "It won't change what happened and those Mounties there said it was my fault, so there is nothing that you can do."
Abigail picked up Katie's hand.
"Did someone attack you?" Abigail asked.
"Yes." Katie said softly.
"Please tell me what happened." Wynn said.
"I was walking home from the library late one night." Katie said. "I was cornered by three men. They reeked of alcohol and tobacco. I tried to get away, but I couldn't. When I went to the Mounties, they told me that I shouldn't have been out late alone."
"I am sorry that happened to you." Wynn said. "When and where was this?"
"Three years ago in Toronto." Katie said. "The next day, I wired Dad and asked to come home. I told the school that my father needed me back home and arranged to finish my courses by mail."
"Thank you for telling me." Wynn said. "I promise I won't say anything to anyone. I will also see what I can do about arranging for you and Lucy to have the girls."
"Thank you." Katie said. "I better get back. Dad is going to worry."
"If he has a problem." Abigail said. "Tell me you were helping us."
Katie nodded and left the office. Wynn and Abigail looked at each other. Before either could say anything, Dee came back in.
"Can I come in?" Dee asked.
"Yes, sit down." Wynn said.
"I am going to go talk to Mr Bolt." Abigail said. "I will be back shortly."
Wynn nodded his head. Dee sat at the table as Abigail left. Dee gave his father a few moments as he looked through the messages on the table.
"Everything okay?" Dee asked.
Wynn stopped what he was doing and looked at his son.
"Sort of." Wynn said. "I need you to do something for me, but I need the utmost discretion on it."
"Of course." Dee said.
Wynn finished writing out a message, handed it to Dee and looked at him for a moment.
"I want you to send this personally." Wynn said. "Have any reply come back coded."
"Yes, Sir." Dee said.
As Dee left to do as his father asked, Jacobs came in. He looked at Dee and then at Wynn.
"Everything okay?" Jacobs asked.
"Let's just get to work." Wynn said. "Nothing I can share, so I don't want to talk about it."
"Understood." Jacobs said.
Dee came back and shook his head and when he sat down, he leaned over to his father.
"No response yet." Dee said.
Wynn nodded and went back to work. Dee grabbed the stack of messages to go through them.
