Chapter Eight
Hannah had never been so happy to see Vivian.
After a visit to the sheriff’s office that had left her more confused than ever, she’d stood awkwardly across the road from the general store.
The shop was easy enough to find but gathering the courage to go inside was a different matter entirely.
It didn’t help that two men in filthy clothing stood smoking directly outside.
The only way to get to the door was to step between them, and one of them was already staring at her from across the road.
Hannah found herself wishing she’d gone to find one of the other girls when Vivi happened to appear, picking her way around the muck and mire that lined the edges of the road.
“Well, we can’t stand out here all day,” Vivi said after she’d had a moment to assess the situation. “And neither of those men look any worse than the sorts I had to wade through at the saloon to leave my new home.”
It was impossible to ignore the bitterness behind Vivi’s words.
“Is it all that bad?” Hannah asked. Perhaps they should have been more particular in their advertisement. Or maybe they ought to have asked more questions when Mayor Cabot sent a letter on behalf of all the men.
Vivi drew in a breath and gave Hannah a long-suffering look. “I would have made a much better doctor’s wife. Or even the mayor, with his boardinghouse. I wouldn’t mind helping to run a boardinghouse.”
“I hope Mr. Watson sees how lucky he is to have you.” Hannah knew her words were of little comfort, but she hoped that by saying them out loud they might come true.
Vivi didn’t reply. She scanned the men by the door again as one shifted his weight to lean against the wall. “Shall we?” She held out an arm, and Hannah laced hers around it.
“It can’t be worse than anything we’ve experienced before,” Hannah said. They’d certainly run into their share of questionable men on the streets in New York.
Together, they crossed the road, taking care not to step in manure or mud. The doorway was narrow, and Vivi dropped Hannah’s arm to go first. She lifted her chin as if she were a wealthy lady from uptown before stepping between the men.
Hannah felt their eyes on her as she mimicked her friend. One of them muttered something unintelligible, and another one responded with a laugh. When the door shut behind her, she took a deep breath, feeling as if she’d just swum across a raging river simply to do the shopping.
“What do you need to purchase?” she asked Vivi as they made their way through the cluttered store. There was more here than she’d anticipated.
“Nothing in particular,” Vivi said as she picked up something that looked like a tool and examined it, her eyebrows knitting together. “I simply needed to get out of that saloon. What do you suppose this is?”
“I don’t know, but it looks dangerous.” Hannah stood on her toes, searching for someone who might be Mr. Warner.
She spotted a grizzled looking fellow in an apron standing behind a long table at the side of the room.
Three men waited on the opposite side. “Will you come with me? I need to buy flour and a few other items.”
Vivi followed her to the table. “How is your husband?” she asked while they waited. “He certainly is handsome enough.”
Hannah would have traded handsome for a man who actually wanted to be her husband. “I don’t think he’s happy he was paired with me.”
Vivi gave her an incredulous look. “You can’t be serious.”
“I wish I wasn’t,” Hannah said as she leaned forward to attempt to catch the proprietor’s attention.
“Well, he’s awfully foolish. Any man should count his blessings to be with someone as beautiful and kind-hearted as you.”
Hannah’s heart warmed at Vivi’s words. “I’m merely happy to be away from New York and Mr. Donahue.”
“As you should be, but you deserve more. Perhaps he’ll come around,” Vivi replied.
Mr. Warner asked Hannah what she needed before she could say anything more to Vivi. With no direction whatsoever from Rafe, Hannah had narrowed her list down to the essentials.
“Is there a butcher in town?” she asked Mr. Warner after giving him her order. Two men remained at the table, and they were watching her and Vivi with unabashed curiosity. Hannah didn’t know why they stood around; both had crates of foodstuff resting on the table in front of them.
“Harrell, down at the edge of town,” the proprietor said, jerking his head in the general direction. “Surly fellow, though. I’d bring along your husband, if I was you.”
“Thank you,” Hannah replied as the men nearby seemed to hang on every word spoken.
Hannah had the uneasy feeling they were interested to discover if she and Vivi were, indeed, married.
“I’ll tell Deputy Garland. Be certain to share that with Mr. Watson,” she said, turning to Vivi after intentionally speaking the names of their husbands out loud.
That seemed to be enough for the two men, as they both slunk away from the table toward the front of the store.
Hannah breathed a little easier after they left.
“You needn’t worry about the Cormack brothers,” the shopkeeper said, seemingly reading Hannah’s mind. “They look mean, but they’re chicken. Most either of them would’ve done is ask you the time.”
Hannah gave him a grateful smile. “Have you a wife, Mr. Warner?” she asked.
The man laughed as if she’d told a good joke. “I’ll fetch your order.”
They didn’t have to wait long. He returned after a few minutes with a crate filled to the brim.
Hannah lifted it to test the weight. It was heavy, but not impossible to carry to Rafe’s house.
She waited while Mr. Warner accounted for every item, took the bills Rafe had given her, and made note of their new account.
“I’ll help you,” Vivi said, taking hold of one side of the crate. “Then you can show me where you’re living. Aside from Beth at the boardinghouse, I don’t know where to find anyone.”
They maneuvered through the shop’s front door, the crate hanging between them. The same two men from earlier still lounged outside, one against the wall and the other beside the bottom of the three steps that led up to the door.
The one by the steps tossed aside the cigar he’d been smoking and moved to stand immediately in front of the bottom stair.
Everything inside Hannah told her to turn around and go back into the shop.
But the crate and Vivi were angled behind her, making it impossible to simply turn and run back up the steps.
So instead, she did exactly what she would have done back home.
She pushed her shoulders back and her chin up, and looked the man right in his eyes.
“Pardon me,” she said, her voice sounding stronger than she felt inside.
The man didn’t move. He crossed his arms, stared past her toward the crate, and asked, “What’ve you got in there?”
“It isn’t your concern,” Vivi said from behind Hannah. Vivi had never been one to be shy, not from the moment she arrived at the orphanage at twelve years old.
The man ignored her. Instead, he took a step forward to get a better look. He was so close Hannah could smell him, and it started to make her eyes water. She was vaguely aware of his friend moving away from his spot near the wall.
The man closest to Hannah turned his attention back to her. “Hand it over, and you can be on your way.”
Hannah’s mouth opened at the man’s brazenness.
She’d run into her share of thieves in their neighborhood in New York, but none had ever confronted her like this in broad daylight.
The worst that had ever happened was a young boy who had grabbed a coin from her hand as she’d gone to pay a deliveryman.
“Absolutely not!” Vivi said. “Now kindly move out of our way.”
The other man laughed while the one in front of Hannah frowned. To her surprise, he stepped slightly to the side, giving her just enough room to slip by.
“Thank you—” she started to say.
But before she could finish, he’d reached out and yanked the crate from her hand.