When they got to town, Phoebe thought it was even smaller than she’d remembered. The few people who were gathered outside had decided it was far more interesting to stare at her and Abe than to continue on in their conversations.
Ignoring them, she glanced at Abe. Could he really accept her and her mother since they weren’t more like him? If she’d had some Indian blood in her, she suspected he would’ve accepted her right away. She was different from him, and she didn’t know if he really could separate his feelings for the people in town from her and her mother.
But he’d asked her to give him a chance, and the least she could do was what he wanted. As he pulled the wagon up to the general store, he turned to her. “Do you know what you want, or are you going to look around?”
“My mother gave me a list of items she needs,” she said, pulling it from the pocket of her skirt. “I thought I’d take a look around and see if I need anything.” She cleared her throat. “Is there any food you’d like me to get while we’re here?”
“I don’t care as long as it’s not any of Carl’s. Avoid anything with the Richie label.”
She nodded and waited for him to come over to her side of the wagon before getting down. If he hadn’t made the comment about her skirt, she would have gotten down herself, but the last thing she needed to do was give any of the onlookers a show.
“I’m going to the post office and then the lumber store,” Abe told her. “Afterwards, I’ll come to the store to pay for the items. That way, we don’t have to be in town any longer than we need to.” He paused. “That is, unless you want me to go to the store with you.”
“I’ve been to a store before,” she told him, aware the people were still staring. “I know how to find things there.”
“I didn’t mean to imply you didn’t. I just thought being new here…” He sighed. “Never mind. I’m sure whatever I say you’d only take it the wrong way.”
As he started to head off, she asked, “What do you mean by that?”
With a glance around, he came back to her and lowered his voice. “I thought you wanted my help in there, that’s all. Some items are pretty high, and I could reach them for you.”
“Oh. Is there a ladder or something to step on to reach them?”
“Yes, but it’s not always available.”
She hadn’t considered that. He made a good point. But since he was uncomfortable being in town and since the people were still staring at them, she decided it would be better to make things go as quickly as possible. “You go on ahead to the post office and lumber store. I’ll go to the general store. If I see anything out of reach, I’ll wait until you’re there to get it.”
He nodded in satisfaction and led her up the steps to the boardwalk. As they passed by two men lounging in a chair, one of them snickered. She looked his way, but he’d already turned his gaze to something across the street. Her eyebrows furrowed. What was the snickering about?
From beside her, Abe let out a sigh and opened the door. “I won’t be long,” he told her, gesturing to the interior of the general store.
She mumbled a thank you and went into the store. After the door closed behind her, she glanced back. The two men didn’t talk to Abe, something she had expected, but they did chuckle and whisper something to each other as Abe headed to the post office. She’d thought Abe was exaggerating when he mentioned how things were in town. There might, however, be more truth to what he said than she’d been willing to accept.
“May I help you?” a man asked.
She turned and saw a thin man right in front of her. He had a handlebar mustache and looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was tall, too. Probably a good six feet and five inches in height.
“Um…yes.” She unfolded the piece of paper her mother had written on then handed it to him. “These are some of them. I was going to browse the store to see what else I wanted.”
He took the paper from her and scanned it. “How do you intend to pay?”
“I’m not going to pay. Abe Thomas is.” She motioned in the direction of the post office. “He’s over there right now, and then he’ll go to the lumber store.” When he frowned, she added, “But he’ll be here after that.”
“I see Carl got that mail-order bride for him after all,” he said then went to grab a basket.
Maybe she shouldn’t press the issue, but she couldn’t help but blurt out, “You knew Carl posted a mail-order bride ad on Abe’s behalf?”
“It’s a small town. There’s not much I don’t know.” He scanned the list again and began collecting the items written on it.
She followed him. “I don’t understand. If you knew, then why didn’t Abe know?”
“No one told him.”
“Why not? Don’t you think he had a right to know?”
“Little lady,” he said, stopping to turn around and look down at her, “there are some things men have a right to, and when a half-breed bastard tries to take it, a distraction goes a long way.”
A half-breed bastard? A distraction? What in the world was he talking about? “I don’t understand. What does that have to do with Carl posting an ad and you not warning Abe?”
“Abe’s not one of us,” the man gently told her. “I can’t blame Carl for what he did. Abe wasn’t giving up.”
“Giving up on what?”
“Carl has a right to the land he’s on, and Abe’s been interfering with that right. Carl figured with you here, Abe would have better things to do than to fight with him.”
“Are you talking about the part of the land with a stream on it?”
He nodded. “Abe’s lucky Carl’s letting him stay in the cabin he currently occupies. You ought to remind Abe of that. It was Carl’s father who owned that land to begin with.”
“But isn’t Carl’s father also Abe’s father?” The words flew out of her mouth before she had time to think over the wisdom of using them.
“Unless the son is legitimate, he has no claim to the inheritance.”
She shut her mouth then, only because it became clear he was talking to her as if she were a child.
Fortunately, he turned back to filling the basket with items her mother had written on the paper, so she was spared from having to engage in any more conversation with him. She didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or angry about the whole thing.
While the owner continued gathering the things, she browsed the other items he was selling, her enthusiasm at getting something new diminished significantly. In Ohio, she’d loved to spend time in stores, picking out things she’d love to take home. She couldn’t afford to take everything she’d wanted, of course, but she’d made it a habit of pausing and imagining what it’d be like to own the item of interest. Such fantasies eluded her now. She wasn’t sure she wanted to ever come back here again, let alone have Abe buy them for her today.
The door opened, and thinking it was Abe, she looked over at the doorway. She hid her disappointment. It was one of the men, who’d been staring at her and Abe as she came into the store. No doubt, he was just as pleasant as the owner, what with the way he snickered and all.
No, she must not think that way. It wasn’t fair to make assumptions based on her conversation with the owner. She’d give everyone a chance. Perhaps the man hadn’t snickered at her or Abe. Perhaps, he’d been thinking of something else. Or maybe he had something stuck between his teeth he was trying to dislodge with his tongue. There could be many reasons for what he did.
As it turned out, the man came over to her. “Howdy there, Miss,” he greeted, tipping his hat.
She stepped away from him, trying not to be obvious about the way he repulsed her. He smelled like he hadn’t had a bath in over a month, and worse, there was alcohol on his breath. “Good afternoon,” she mumbled then forced her attention to the row of staple items in front of her.
He came around her other side, an action which boxed her into the corner, unless she chose to go around him, but that would require her to touch him, and she didn’t much care for that option.
“I heard you came in yesterday,” he said, probably smiling in what he thought was a charming manner.
She swallowed and concentrated on keeping her voice steady. “Yes.” Maybe if she didn’t give him more than simple answers, he’d go away.
“I also heard Carl wrote a mail-order bride ad and sent you to Abe Thomas.”
He took a step toward her, and she backed up, her hip hitting something on the shelf that wobbled. She glanced at the owner, who didn’t seem interested enough in what was happening to look their way. She swallowed. What was wrong with these people? Didn’t anyone offer help when they saw a lady who needed it?
“Please, sir,” she began, “I need to go outside and get a breath of fresh air. Will you kindly step aside so I can get to the door?”
“Actually, I was thinking we should get better acquainted,” he replied, stepping even closer to her.
With nowhere else to go, she could only press her back up against the shelves. She glanced at the owner, hoping he’d do something to help her, but the owner was taking the basket of goods to the counter. He had to know what was going on. Why wasn’t he doing something to stop this?
“Name’s Enoch,” the man said, making a show of looking her up and down, his gaze settling on her breasts.
She crossed her arms to block his view of them. “Enoch,” she swallowed, “I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not that kind of woman.”
“Come now, Miss Durbin. Don’t play games with me.” In a lower voice, he said, “You’re living with a half-breed. You can’t tell me he hasn’t enjoyed you.”
He reached for her behind, and she slapped his hand away. “He most certainly hasn’t! Abe is a gentleman. My mother and I slept in one room, and he slept in another.”
Enoch threw back his head and laughed. “You tell some entertaining stories, Miss Durbin, but I’m a man and there’s no way Abe has you out there without enjoying what you have to offer.”
In a bold move, he pressed himself up against her and tried to grab her breast. Gasping, she made an attempt to push him away, but he was much too strong for her.
“Sir,” she called out to the owner, “help me!”
“He ain’t going to help you,” Enoch whispered as he lowered his head to kiss her neck. “He hates Abe too much.” He kissed her again.
“No!” She hit him, but it made no difference. The brute was much too big.
Suddenly, he was off of her. In one fluid motion, she saw him fly across the room until he crashed into a display of pots and pans in the middle of the store. He landed on the floor, and Abe pulled out a gun and pointed it at him.
“What’s the meaning of this?” the owner asked, finally doing something.
Phoebe gritted her teeth, wanting to throw something at the owner. Unfortunately, she was trembling too much to grab anything.
Abe glared at the owner. “You got nerve, Benny. You were going to let this piece of filth rape her right here in your store?”
“You kill him and they’ll hang you,” Benny said, not even having the decency to apologize for not trying to stop Enoch.
Abe lowered his weapon, so it was aimed at Enoch’s crotch. Then he cocked the gun.
“No, no!” Enoch covered his crotch, tears springing to his eyes. “Not there. Anywhere but there.”
“I forbid you to fire that gun, half-breed,” Benny snapped.
“You’re nothing better than a pig,” Abe spat on Enoch and then kicked at the man’s hands, effectively striking his crotch in the same blow.
The man cried and fell onto his side, curling up and holding himself.
“You ever touch her again,” Abe said, “and I’ll make sure that wife of yours doesn’t have any more children.”
Wife? Phoebe’s eyes widened. Enoch was married?
Abe turned to Benny and pointed the gun at him. “You listen here. I don’t care what you and the others say about me. But you will never treat Phoebe that way ever again. You hear me? Because whether they hang me or not, I’ll shoot you. By the way, you won’t be charging us for these items because of what you were going to let Enoch do.”
Benny opened his mouth to protest, and Abe fired the gun. Phoebe hid her eyes, but then peeked between her fingers. The bullet had gone right past Benny’s ear and hit the sack of flour on the shelf behind him. No doubt, Abe was warning Benny. There was no way he could miss a shot that close.
Benny clenched his teeth. After a tense moment, he grabbed the basket and dumped it at Abe’s feet. “Get out and don’t come back.”
Abe nodded at Phoebe. “Take it.”
Despite the fact her legs were wobbly, she hurried to the basket and picked it up.
Abe then glanced between Benny and Enoch. “If you or anyone else steps on my property to do any harm, you’ll live to regret it. I might not get away with killing any of you, but there’s other ways to make you suffer. Go to the wagon, Phoebe. I’ll be right behind you.”
Phoebe was too scared to stay there, so she bolted on out of there. She threw the basket in the back of the wagon and scrambled up into the seat, lowering the hat over her forehead and avoiding eye contact with anyone who happened to be watching.
Her heart was hammering so loudly in her chest she thought it might burst. She didn’t realize she was trembling until she noticed her shaky hands. Crossing her arms, she was able to steady them.
Things couldn’t have transpired the way she thought they did in there. That horrible Enoch hadn’t been trying to grope her right in public, and worse, the owner hadn’t really ignored the whole thing. None of it was decent at all. In all her time in Cincinnati, she’d never heard of such a thing happening to a woman. Sure, she’d heard of places called brothels where men used women for pleasure, but that kind of thing wasn’t supposed to happen in a general store.
She heard the door of the general store open and saw Abe coming out, his expression dark. He slammed the door and paused to look around. Curious, she followed his gaze, noting that six people were staring at him. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought his expression went darker, as if he was daring any of them to confront him.
One of the women hurried off down the dirt road and scrambled into another building. The men, however, weren’t so easily dissuaded and only continued staring at him.
After a long moment, Abe went over to the wagon and got up on the seat. Phoebe noted he was still holding his gun as he released the brake. Was someone going to shoot them? He had to think it was a possibility if he hadn’t put it back in his holster.
She gulped and closed her eyes. If gunfire was going to erupt, she didn’t want to see it. Better just let it be quick and over with. She gripped the edge of her seat, sure something bad was going to happen at any minute.
But the only thing that happened was the wagon moving forward, bouncing her as they went over the uneven road. It wasn’t until a few minutes passed before Abe told her she could open her eyes, and even then she was afraid to.
“Phoebe,” Abe said, “we’re out of town. No one’s going to harm us.”
She took a deep breath then opened them, sure that someone would jump out at them from the trees lining their path. But no one did such a thing. She glanced behind them, assured they really were safe. She exhaled, her grip on the seat relaxing.
“I had no idea that was going to happen,” Abe said. “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have left you alone. I’m sorry. I know they don’t like me, but I thought you were safe because you’re white. None of the other white women have to worry about that kind of thing around here.”
“Why didn’t you have Enoch and Benny arrested?” Phoebe demanded.
“I’m a half-breed. That makes me less than human. Enoch and Benny are white. It doesn’t matter what they do. The sheriff wouldn’t have done anything. Not when it’s two white men’s word against mine.”
“What if I back up your story? We can go back and hold them responsible for what they did.” She gestured back to the town.
“It’s not that simple. I didn’t realize your association with me would make you vulnerable. If I’d known, I never would have agreed to take you and your mother in. I would have insisted Eric do it. But apparently, they all assume you’re spending time in my bed. We’re not married, and I’m a half-breed. I should have known that was a bad combination. They think you’re no better than I am.” He shook his head. “Look, Phoebe, you have to get out of here when the stagecoach comes. You can’t live this kind of life. I’ll give you and your mother money and send you back to Ohio. I doubt you’ll end up with another half-breed. Chances are, you’ll find a good, white man who’ll take care of you and your mother, and next time, he’ll be the one who actually posts the ad. If we do this now, you can get back before the weather turns bad and travel is impossible.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. What he said made sense. It was the logical thing to do. Maybe she should do it. Her mother had survived the trip out here. She could survive the one back to Ohio. Then next year when they tried again, maybe that one would work out.
If she couldn’t venture into town without someone trying to hurt her, how could she ever be safe? How could her mother be safe? She closed her eyes and tried to block out all the bad from her mind, even if it was a temporary reprieve. She’d think better once the emotions weren’t so fresh.