A Texas Promise Read online

  Once she left, Maggie sat back down at the table. “What is it you wanted to talk about, Sheriff?”

  “Please, call me Eli.”

  She nodded.

  “I’d like to start by sorting out some of the lies you’ve been telling me,” he said.

  Maggie stiffened and drew herself up like she was ready to fight him.

  Eli kept his voice low and even. “I need the truth, Maggie, or I’m never going to be able to help you. You understand?”

  She stared at him for several long seconds before an expression of resignation settled on her face. “What do you want to know?”

  “Have you ever been married?”

  She glanced down at her hands. “No.”

  “What about the baby?”

  Face filling with color, Maggie shrugged. “It’s a story as old as time, do I really need to go into detail?”

  So she still wasn’t willing to tell him the whole truth. “Are you engaged?”

  Maggie lifted her head and those golden brown eyes stared straight into his. “No. I told you the truth about that. Hollis Anderson is not my fiancé.”

  “Why is he telling everyone that he is?”

  “My father is encouraging him. I don’t know why, except maybe Papa is desperate to see me taken care of before he dies. He worries about what will happen to me. He’s afraid I’ll die a spinster.”

  Eli didn’t believe there was any possibility of that happening. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-three.”

  “My, my. You are in your dotage.”

  Maggie smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She surprised him with a question of her own. “How old are you?”

  Eli answered without a second thought. “Thirty-one, for a few more months.”

  “Do you have a wife? Children?”

  “No, I…” He stopped. Maggie was trying to distract him. And doing a fine job. “Let’s stick to the matter at hand for now.”

  “All right.”

  “So I understand now why Hollis Anderson is claiming to be your fiancé. Why did he have you committed?”

  That question brought back a spark of outrage. “Because he could! He wanted to show me that he will be in charge of me. That he can make my life as miserable as he wishes.”

  “I hate to keep repeating myself, but why?”

  “I embarrassed him. Also, even though he’s a wealthy man in his own right, I think he believes if he can control me now, he’ll have no trouble controlling my inheritance.”

  “This is about money?” He should’ve known.

  “Yes. Papa’s made no secret of the fact that he’s leaving everything to me.”

  “Even if Hollis is interested in financial gain, what makes you think he doesn’t love you?”

  Maggie immediately launched into a long list of reasons, including the fact that he acted completely different when her father wasn’t around.

  “How did he convince your father to go along with placing you in the asylum?”

  Maggie glanced away. “Papa happened to come into the kitchen moments after Hollis Anderson placed his hands on my arms and shook me.”

  “He shook you?”

  “Yes. And his fingers were biting into my arms. I…I may have reacted a bit strongly.”

  “Strongly? Like how?”

  She exhaled deeply. “I hit Hollis in the head with a cast iron skillet.”

  Eli ducked his head to hide a grin.

  “You have to understand,” Maggie rushed on, “at the time I felt like I was fighting for my life. I realize now that I would’ve been much better off remaining calm until he was gone, and then talking everything over with my father.”

  Maggie twisted her napkin, then untwisted it and smoothed it out. “I wish I could live that day over,” she admitted. “The tighter he held me, the more I panicked. Hollis managed to convince Papa that I was close to breaking down and needed to rest. That I’d be better off somewhere that knew how to care for me. Papa signed some papers, and in short order I was sedated and committed to the Fair Haven Lunatic Asylum. I doubt if my father knew where I was being sent. I wasn’t aware the place existed until I was confined there.”

  Eli worked to keep his expression blank. He didn’t want her to know how upset he was until he’d heard the whole story. He wished now he had punched Hollis Anderson in the face. Especially after learning what the asylum doctor might have been planning. Did she know about that?

  “The Fair Haven sheriff told us they found some sort of contraptions and notes that made it seem like the doctor planned to do medical experiments on the patients out there. Did you endure anything like that?”

  Her face turned ashen. “No,” she breathed. “How awful.”

  “How long were you there?”

  “Several weeks. I tried to escape a few times, so they made it increasingly difficult for me. As I mentioned before, they took my shoes. Then they took my clothes away at night, so I wouldn’t try anything. They’d give me a dress in the morning. Not my own clothing, but I was grateful.”

  “Have you remembered anything about how you made it to Moccasin Rock?”

  She shook her head.

  “I think I might have an answer,” Eli said, telling her about the man named Cap.

  “I’m so grateful that he left the wagon where he did,” Maggie said. “I can’t imagine what could have happened if I’d climbed out of there anywhere else.”

  She’d touched her ribs again, probably without realizing it.

  “Maggie, who beat you?”

  She drew in a shaky breath. “One of the guards. There were several male guards, patrolling outside. Inside there were women working there. To be honest, I’m not sure if they were nurses or not. If so, they hadn’t had much training. They were negligent, but they weren’t violent.”

  Maggie pressed her fingers to her eyes. When she lowered her hands, the bleakness in her expression hit him like a punch to the gut.

  “One night, one of the male guards came into the room and yanked me up from the cot by my hair. At first, he just slapped me a few times. The second time he came in, it got worse. Even when it seemed unbearable to me, he reminded me that he was pulling his punches. That he could kill me without ever breaking a sweat. Everyone there called him Tiny. He wasn’t.”

  Eli felt anger tightening like a coil inside. “Didn’t anyone working there come to help?”

  “No. In all fairness, they seemed overwhelmed at times. Almost scared. After the first beating, they let me keep the dress to cover the bruises. I think they were afraid of being blamed. Or maybe they were afraid the same thing would happen to them.”

  “This guard, did he…” Eli was trying to determine the most delicate way to phrase his question. He didn’t want to add to her misery by embarrassing her. But she understood the question without him voicing it.

  “No, he didn’t. I was terrified that he would, and he even admitted he wanted to, but he told me that Hollis had warned him that I’d better still be…pure, when I returned home.”

  Maggie brushed back her hair with a trembling hand. “The beatings were merely a form of persuasion,” she said.

  Eli’s fists clenched. He wanted to find that guard and dispense a little frontier justice. He was also intrigued by the fact that she seemed to have forgotten she was supposed to have been in an advanced stage of pregnancy at that time. Not exactly the definition of pure.

  Why wasn’t she telling him the whole truth? But he didn’t say anything about the obvious contradiction. If he could keep her talking, he’d have the full story soon enough. “What was the guard trying to persuade you to do?”

  “He said that Hollis instructed him to do whatever it took to make me return home and marry him. And I had to sign some papers.”

  Eli blinked a couple of times. “Papers?”

  “Yes. I had to agree, in writing, that I’d turn over my trust fund to Hollis when we marry, and I had to pretend to care for him. My affection had to seem sincere.�
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  Obviously she was right about the money, but the second part was confusing. “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s not difficult at all, sheriff. Not only does Hollis want control of my future finances, he wants me to grovel. In public. You see, I rejected his proposal in front of several prominent people. They were attending a dinner in our home. In Hollis’s opinion I had to pay for that. He wanted me to see how easy it would be to control me, whenever, and however, he wants. That way, I’d be the perfect little submissive wife.”

  Why hadn’t she attacked the man with something worse than a frying pan? “Doesn’t the Bible say something about submissive wives?”

  So far, all his questions had produced fearful or evasive responses, but that idle question was like throwing a match into dry timberland.

  “A man is supposed to love his wife the way Christ loves the Church,” Maggie snapped. “Violently shaking me, intimidating me and having me committed to an asylum does not seem the sort of thing a loving husband would do.”

  “No, it doesn’t,” Eli murmured.

  “Even if I felt Hollis had any real affection for me, I wouldn’t have tolerated that,” Maggie said. “I will not be dictated to, abused or oppressed, by any man. Although I strive to live peaceably with everyone, I answer only to God and my father. Until such time as I’m married, and then I will also submit to my husband.”

  She paused, then raised a hand and started in again as if he’d been arguing with her. “As long as his dictates are biblical, I prefer to be a helpmeet to my future husband, not a servant or a possession.”

  Good grief. Eli had a feeling this wasn’t the first time Maggie Radford had given this speech. Probably sent more than one suitor running scared. No wonder her father was worried. And yet it didn’t scare Eli, at all. In fact, he was mesmerized by her passionate response; even more so as her brown eyes flashed and her skin took on a lovely shade of pink again.

  Shaking his head, Eli drew himself up and got back to business. He’d seen men mesmerized by a lot of things, including snakes. None of it ended well.

  “So you see why I have to get home to my father,” she said.

  “I can see why you want to, and why you feel the need. But what if you’re arrested for starting the fire? Sheriff Clark expressed an interest in finding you. It’s too risky.”

  “Why can’t you go with me to Fair Haven? Together we could talk to my father and try to get him to see what’s happening. You’re a lawman. Maybe that’ll make a difference.”

  “I have no authority there,” he said.

  She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Then I have no choice but to go alone. I’ll have to take my chances.”

  Eli groaned. “You’re the most exasperating female I have ever run across, and that’s saying something.” His tone gentled. “Then again, if you weren’t strong, I don’t suppose you could have survived these past few weeks.”

  Her expression and posture relaxed a little. “I’m not trying to be difficult, Sheriff. I’m desperate.”

  “I understand,” Eli said. “Give me a little time to sort this all out. I really am trying to help you, and keep you safe.”

  “I know, and I appreciate it.” She stood, as if their conversation was over. “Would you like some cake before you go?”

  Well, that was subtle. “No, thank you,” he said. “Sure enjoyed dinner, though.”

  “Glad you liked it.” Maggie gathered plates from the table, then scraped them and placed them in a round graniteware pan before filling a kettle at the pump and placing it on the stove. “I forgot to heat the water for the dishes.”

  She then gathered the cups and glasses from the table; relaxed, smiling, still talking, but with less desperation now.

  It was a scene of domestic tranquility that Eli had never experienced. Even though it was only temporary, he let himself soak it all in—the warmth of the room, the beauty of the woman, the flow of gentle conversation.

  Eli hated to end it. But he had no choice.

  Maggie was facing away from him, when he said, “Before I go, why don’t you tell me the truth about the baby? Who’s her mother?”

  The cup she held slipped from her fingers, shattering as it hit the floor.

  Chapter Fourteen

  With shaking hands Maggie picked up the bigger pieces of the shattered cup.

  He knew. She should’ve been prepared. She should have known he’d figure it out. Drying her shaky hands on her apron, Maggie tried to decide what to tell him.

  Eli leapt up to help. He finished sweeping up the smaller pieces and sat back down at the table. He didn’t say anything, just kept those coffee brown eyes leveled at her. Waiting for the truth.

  Mind spinning, Maggie opened her mouth to lie again, but she couldn’t do it.

  Pulling out a chair, she sat down across from him. Please Lord, help me make him understand.

  “Her mother’s name was Lucy Gray,” Maggie said softly. “She was only sixteen, and a patient at the asylum. Everyone there called her Little Lucy.”

  He frowned. “I didn’t realize there was anyone there that young. Was Lucy insane?”

  “No, in some ways, her situation was similar to mine. She’d been placed there unjustly. As a young girl she’d gone to work as kitchen help for a wealthy family. The baby’s father was her employer’s son.”

  “The son didn’t want to marry her?”

  “It wasn’t that. According to Lucy, the young man loved her. When he learned about the baby he asked her to marry him. He was older than Lucy, but from what I gathered, he wasn’t much more than a boy himself.”

  “I noticed you referring to the mother in the past tense, what happened to her?”

  “She died right after Lucinda was born.”

  Eli’s brows drew together. “I’m sorry to hear that. I need you to tell me everything you remember about this girl. What did she look like?”

  “She was small, had reddish blonde hair, and a birthmark beneath her right eye.”

  “So what happened that night?”

  Clearing her throat, Maggie told him how it had all unfolded, or at least what she could tell him. “The day before the fire, Lucy went into labor. One of the women who worked there told me the physician who was running the asylum had requested my assistance. I was to report to his office immediately.”

  “Had he made that request before?”

  “No, and I admitted that I didn’t understand why he wanted my help. I had no medical training or experience. The doctor explained that Lucy had been asking for me. And that she’d been screaming for hours. For a while, Lucy and I had been in the same room. Then they moved her to the other side of the building. Unfortunately, the doctor didn’t want my help, he wanted me to handle everything. He was leaving. An important appointment, he said. I decided he picked me because he knew there was nothing wrong with me. And Lucy and I had formed a friendship.”

  “He couldn’t have gone far,” Eli said. “His body was found in the rubble.”

  Maggie shivered. “Right before he left, the doctor finally admitted that Lucy was having difficulties, and that she would probably die. He said there wasn’t anything I could do except to keep her quiet”—Maggie’s voice broke—“until it was over.”

  “Keep her quiet?”

  “Yes, according to him, some of the patients were reacting poorly to her screaming. I don’t think they were upset about the noise—there was always screaming there—I think they were upset because Lucy was suffering and no one was helping her.”

  “What about the baby? Wasn’t the doctor concerned about her?”

  Maggie shook her head. “He said she would be dead soon, too. He told me to place “it” in a bag, and to not move anything out of that room.” A thought struck her. “Do you think he planned to use their bodies for his research or experiments?”

  The sheriff’s expression tightened. “It’s possible.”

  Nausea hit Maggie. She squeezed her eyes shut, grippi
ng the edge of the table until the room stopped spinning. When she opened them again, the Sheriff was standing beside her.

  “You okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Maggie said. “Please sit down. I don’t think I can go through this again. Let’s get it over with.”

  He took a seat across from her, but he still seemed concerned. “When you feel up to it, tell me what happened next.”

  “I told the doctor I would take care of Lucy, but I couldn’t do it alone, that I needed help. So he let Mabel go with me.”

  Eli interrupted her. “Was she…” he cleared his throat. “Did that woman need to be there?”

  “In my opinion nobody needed to be there,” Maggie said. “But if you’re asking was she insane, yes, I believe so. As I told you before, I think she was responsible for the fire. She was a big woman, scary looking, but she was gentle when it came to Little Lucy. She told me that Lucy reminded her of the daughter she’d lost years ago.”

  Eli nodded, and motioned for her to continue.

  “Mabel was furious when she found out that the doctor didn’t plan on delivering the baby himself. She said she was going to create a distraction so I could get Lucy out of there and get her help.”

  Maggie had started off intending to deliver a brief summary of the night, but she found herself reliving each moment, in vivid detail. And yet she was only able to vocalize bits and pieces of the horror. She realized her voice had dropped when Eli leaned in closer.

  “There was only weak lighting, and it was so cold. And there was so much blood. There was blood everywhere.”

  The sheriff’s gaze was trained on her hands now, and Maggie realized she was wringing them in a scrubbing motion. She placed her hands in her lap.

  “Mabel left, and I never saw her again. The fire started not long afterwards. Lucy was dying right before my eyes. She begged me to take the baby out of the asylum and find a home for her. She didn’t want her child to spend even one day in that awful place. The last words I said to her were that I would take Lucinda and raise her as my own. She smiled at me and whispered thank you. That innocent baby was the only good and decent thing to come out of this ordeal, Sheriff.” Maggie clenched her fists. “I will fight for her.”