Ben Riker stood in the window of his hotel room, peering out. The best hotel room they had in this town was little more than a clean bed, dresser and mirror. There was a bigger hotel being built, not far from the second saloon that was going up fast. Sleepyside was bustling but he wasn’t sure how long he’d hang around. Through the winter, obviously. Getting out of this hole in the wall town would be difficult before then.
A sneer crossed his handsome face as he studied the town. He wasn’t welcome at the Wheelers house; his cousins wanted nothing to do with him. Which was just as well. It was easier to scheme from the middle of town. Easier to entertain himself as well, with the saloon just across the way that was filled with pretty girls waiting on him. He had to do something to keep himself busy while he toyed with Hallie Belden.
***
Jim rode towards his family ranch. The Pinkerton Agency had responded with brief information, adding that the rest would be coming via train to Tulsa within the week.
He found his brother cranky and restless in bed.
“According to Pinkerton, Malley worked for a circus owner until a few months ago. Malley was one of the workers let go once the Ringling Brothers Circus stole a bunch of their business and the Ringmaster, apparently Mrs. Malley’s father, died under mysterious circumstances. Apparently the new Ringmaster didn’t like Malley’s attitude.”
“Murder or suicide?” Dan asked.
Jim shook his head. “Don’t know. Apparently they’re sending a lengthy report. Want me to ride over to Tulsa to fetch it?”
Dan nodded. “Please. Regan has been very distracted the last few days, stunned in fact. He hasn’t said anything to me but I think it has to do with her.”
Jim rubbed his chin. “Regan didn’t seem to recognize Malley, so Malley must have joined up after he left. Malley probably got the daughter hoisted on him, maybe after her father found out she was pregnant. A quickie marriage to save Martin the disgrace. ”
“Why not force Regan to marry her, though?” Dan asked. “Make an honest woman of her?”
Jim ran his hand over his red hair. “What if Regan was already gone?”
“Regan wouldn’t run out on a woman,” Dan said defensively. “Especially if she was carrying his child!”
“I didn’t say he did. And I saw Regan’s face when he saw that boy. He didn’t know. But if you owned a fairly successful circus, would you want a stray runaway kid marrying your daughter?”
“No,” Regan said from the doorway. “He didn’t. And that’s where everything went to Hell.”
The brothers looked guiltily towards the door. Jim’s face flushed red.
“I’m sorry,” Dan said immediately. “I didn’t mean any harm, but I was curious and you never talk about the circus. So I had Jim do some digging.”
“Ain’t nice memories,” Regan said, coming into the room. “But you might as well know the story, or at least, as much of it as I know. I was going to tell you eventually, but her showing up kind of puts a different perspective on it, if you know what I mean.”
Regan sat in a chair as Jim took the end of Dan’s bed, the younger men studying their uncle.
“I joined Cooper and Bailey Circus when I was around ten, not too long after I ran away from the orphanage. It was run by Cooper, and all I did was tend the animals. I never saw the show, I didn’t interact with the performers; I kept to the hired hand wagon. There were some other kids around but I generally didn’t associate with them. When I was about fifteen, we got a new Ringmaster, name of Martin. He was an old friend of Cooper’s, and he had his daughter with him.” Regan’s green eyes turned cloudy with vague old memories as he stared at the wall, unseeing.
“Most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Tall, curves in the right places just developing, gold hair, blue eyes. She smiled at me once and I was lost. She was an acrobat, and it was thrilling to see her flying through the air. Clumsy as an ox on her own two feet, but up in the air, she was magic.”
Jim and Dan exchanged a glance.
“She used to call me cinderhead, because of my red hair, so I’d wear a cap most of the time. One night she came into the animals' area, where I was tending them, and teased me about my cap. I never seemed to be able to talk much around her, and then she’d go off on this long speech, usually Shakespeare. She did that a lot. She loved to read, when she wasn’t up in the air.”
Regan’s sadness washed over the boys as he continued.
“One night she was teasing me, and I turned to snap at her, and all I could see was those big blue eyes staring at me. She kissed me. Real quick, then she laughed and ran away,” Regan shook his head. “So it began. She’d stalk me around the circus, during set up or strike time. Pop out of the shadows, snatch my cap and run. Sometimes she’d kiss me real quick and then run off. I wanted her. I wanted to be with her,” Regan said softly. “She wasn’t like the other women I had been with.
“But her father had noticed the attention she gave me, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t want his daughter messing with an uneducated, runaway orphan kid, even though most of the circus folk was runaways at some point. I don’t think he wanted anyone to marry her. So he warned me to stay away from her, if I knew what was good for myself.”
“But you didn’t,” Dan said quietly.
Regan shook his head. “I tried. I loved my job, and I needed it. I was about seventeen near the end. One night she had an argument with her father, and came to find me. One thing led to another, but he caught us.”
“During…” Dan let the sentence trail off.
Regan shook his head. “Just after. I had gone to my trailer, got my things together, because we were going to run away. She confessed she loved me, I said the same. We had spent almost two years playing that game. She was tired of her father’s rules and she wanted me to take her away. So I was going to. When I got back, her father was there, with one of the wrestlers. He knew what we had done and he was furious. That man pulled me away and beat me within an inch of my life. Martin slapped Ayla around a bit too. I could barely walk, my arm was broken, but I was told to get out. Luckily I had a couple of clothes and the little money I had. They dragged me away from the circus, really, and I passed out in a ditch. Some poor farmer found me and took me to a doctor. It was a while before I was able to really function on my own. I helped the doctor a little bit, ran errands and such, but once I was strong enough, I took off again. I knew I had family named Wheeler, and I set out to find him.”
“You never went back for her?” Jim asked.
Regan nodded. “I did. About a year later. Martin almost had a heart attack from the rage when he saw me. Shot at me, got my arm. Screaming all sorts of nonsense at me and almost had me fed to the lions. I never went back,” he finished. “And I never saw her again. Until last week.”
“You’ve seen her son,” Jim said.
Regan nodded. “That boy is mine. He looks like me, he has my first name, and he’s the right age. There’s no way that man fathered that boy. Plus, they have no other children that I’ve seen or heard of. The boy is my son.”
“The younger man? About my age?” Dan asked.
“Nephew of Malley,” Regan answered. “No relation to Ayla.”
“We’ll have more information in a few days,” Jim said. “But Regan, there’s nothing you can do to prove that boy is yours. Not without disgracing her, angering him and he’s the husband. That would be one hell of a mess.”
Regan nodded. “I know. I just don’t know what they’re doing out here. Why did they suddenly turn up?”
“We’ll know soon enough,” Dan said. “I’ve already had Jim send for information. Didn’t mean to go behind your back, but I was hoping I could help.”
“I appreciate it,” Regan said quietly. “I’ve just been in shock these last few days. “
Dan nodded. “Been a rough month for us, huh?”
Regan gave him a sheepish smile. “Definitely that.”
***
Brian lay awake, his thoughts on Lillian. She didn’t belong in that life. But who did, really? He wondered. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since the other day, when they spoke in her room. There was something about her, so gentle, so soft, that Brian wanted to protect her. Sure he had seen plenty of pretty girls, but none like her. None that stirred him in his soul. She was hiding, but he sensed she was much smarter than she was letting on. She was too well spoken to not have some education behind her. Where was she from and hw did she end up as a saloon girl?
Finally, he rose from his bed to dress. As he washed his face, his brain whirled over possibilities.
***
“You want me to what?” Madeleine asked.
“There’s a girl I’d like you to hire, if you have a place open on your house staff,” Brian repeated.
Madeleine swallowed. She hadn’t seen Brian but twice since he had come back, and now he was asking her to hire a whore?
“Brian, why would you ask me something like this?” she finally asked.
“Because it’s the only way I can help her,” he said earnestly. “To get her out of that life.”
Miss Trask, working the household sums as she listened discreetly in her role of chaperone, was stunned.
Madeleine was finding it hard to not stare into his dark, dark eyes. They were practically glowing, and he was jumpy. She had never seen her former beau as anything but solid and steady and calm. She swallowed, knowing what this meant. And it hurt. A lot.
“Forgive my interruption,” Miss Trask said, sensing Madeleine’s discomfort, “but Dr. Belden, is this girl in a sort of, familial trouble?” she asked tactfully.
Brian’s eyes widened as he realized what she meant. “No, no. It’s nothing like that. It’s just…I think that sort of life will destroy her, and I don’t want to see that happen.”
Madeleine’s hands trembled, from anger and hurt, but years of training helped her keep her face passive.
“We don’t really have a place open on staff, Brian,” she said quietly. “It’s just me and Father here, and we have Tom, Celia, Miss Trask and Regan. I’m sorry.”
Madeleine wondered how deep his feelings for this girl ran. Could they possibly be that deep, she wondered. He had been back barely a month. Had he been utilizing her services since he returned, she wondered, feeling ill. She tried to ignore the little voice that whispered if the girl were set up as a servant, it would be more socially acceptable to marry than a common whore. She hated the crestfallen look on his face, but Madeleine hardened her heart.
“That’s all right. Thank you for even considering. I knew it was a bit of a long shot,” Brian smiled sadly at her.
After he had left, Madeleine turned to Miss Trask, shaking with fury.
“How dare he!” she burst out. “How dare he ask me to hire his whore!”
Miss Trask put her embroidery down. “Now, Madeleine, don’t jump to conclusions. We cannot assume Dr. Belden is involved with this woman.”
Tears sprung to her eyes. “A few months ago, he was courting me. Now he’s taken up with a common harlot!”
She burst into tears and Miss Trask hurried to her side, putting one arm around her. “There, there,” she murmured. “I’m not sure what’s going on with Dr. Belden but we mustn’t assume the worst.”
“I don’t care about the worst!” Madeleine cried. “How did I lose a beau to a common whore? A woman who shares her body with different men for money! You know he’s been with her, Miss Trask! No man would try to rescue a woman from that life if he didn’t want her!”
Miss Trask wisely didn’t point out Brian hadn’t been her beau for months. “There’s no telling what goes on in a young man’s mind,” she soothed. “I do believe Dr. Belden has the world’s best interest at heart, and he is simply trying to help someone, as he is sworn to do. He may just be a bit naïve.”
“Some trashy little whore flashes him some flesh and he goes running to her!” she said bitterly. “While here I sit, growing older every day and soon enough I shall be a spinster. Maybe I should have gone back to New York with Mother.”
“I don’t see as how that would help, you would be bombarded with the exact men you despise,” Miss Trask said sensibly.
“Men!” Madeleine hissed. “It’s all about them, and they run the world we live in!”
Before Miss Trask could respond, they heard the faint flute music. Madeleine’s anger seemed to cool, as she listened.
“What on earth is that?” Miss Trask asked.
“Alexander Jasper,” Madeleine murmured.
Miss Trask hurried to answer the knock at the door, surprised by the change in her young ward. The anger and tension had left Madeleine quickly as the music grew closer, and louder.
A moment later, Alexander Jasper entered the parlor behind Miss Trask. He was dressed neatly, she noticed, dark pants and vest, white shirt, his unusually long hair was combed. Madeleine wondered if he was part Indian.
“Good afternoon, Miss Wheeler,” he said cheerfully.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Malley,” she said shyly.
Miss Trask quietly resumed her sums at the dainty desk.
“I came by to see if you’d be willing to walk a bit with me,” he said with a smile.
Madeleine felt herself blush and glanced at Miss Trask who gave her a nod.
“I would be pleased to,” she smiled. “Miss Trask will stand as chaperone.”
“Wonderful,” he gave her a beautiful smile and held out his arm.
***
He lived with his uncle, he explained, and his uncle’s wife, who wasn’t much older than himself. His uncle had taken him in when his mother was killed in an Indian raid. The Indians had been seeking revenge against a US Military raid on their secluded, peaceful camp that massacred the majority of the tribe. They had retaliated against the first small camp of white people they came upon. Jasper was the only survivor, by luck. He knew his mother had had an older brother in New York, and he was sent there by the family who took care of him immediately following his discovery.
“I was only twelve,” he said, as they walked. “And it was rather scary. My uncle isn’t the friendliest of men, but he’s not a bad man. Ayla is all right. She’s fun. She’s been more like a big sister to me than a mother.”
“What about your father?” she asked hesitantly.
“Never knew him. Not even a name. My mother always said he was a noble man, but plenty of the others in town said she had a love affair with an Indian, because I’m dark. My uncle didn’t care, he loved my mother and took me in. I think he does know about my father but he won’t say. I’ve never had the urge to try and find information on him. I am who I am, and I can’t change that. Schooling was rough when I was younger though. Got in plenty of fights,” he grinned at her.
“I’m glad they took you in,” she murmured. “That must have been horribly traumatic.”
He nodded. “It took me a while to figure out where I belonged. Uncle Tom is the growly sort, and William can be sulky, but Ayla always took care of me. I think she was lonely. She’s quite a bit younger than Uncle Tom,” he said conspiratorially.
Madeleine had to giggle. His good mood was contagious, and his smile adorable. They walked the path Regan had marked in the Preserve, followed a few feet discreetly by Miss Trask. Bundled in warm coats and scarves, Madeleine couldn’t help but think it was a romantic setting. There was something …sensuous, she decided, about him.
“What made your uncle decide to come out west?” she asked curiously.
“We used to work with a circus,” he replied casually. “It got bought out a couple of years ago, and my uncle didn’t like the new way it was being run. He and Ayla had some money saved up and he had always wanted a farm. So here we came.”
“Did she work in the circus too?” Madeleine asked. He nodded.
“An acrobat. Watching her fly through the air was something to see. I had been working with her for a few years when we left. The Ringmaster thought our looks complemented each other, me being dark, her being light.”
“I saw the circus once in New York,” she smiled. “The acrobats were amazing!”
“Flying is like nothing else,” he turned to her, his dark eyes shining. “I’d give almost anything to go back to it. But my uncle really wants me nearby.”
Miss Trask watched the pair with approval. Now that was an engaging young man, she thought. Articulate, interested and good looking. Her only fear was that Matthew might protest the looming courtship, due to the boy’s unknown parentage and lack of social standing. He would check out the family thoroughly, and Miss Trask wondered if she could make discreet inquiries. Something told her this might be the right young man for Madeleine. Her charge needed someone passionate and vibrant, which this young man was, but Miss Trask feared he might have the other trait that often went with those two characteristics–fickle.
“What have you been doing since you left the circus?” she asked.
“Not a lot,” he admitted. “I whittle. Make flutes. Sold quite a few, as we made the trip out here,” he said proudly. “I make small animals and things too, trinkets, knickknacks.”
“So you’re an artist of three mediums,” Madeleine murmured. “Movement, wood and music.”
He laughed. “I don’t know about that.”
“But you are,” she said earnestly. “I’ve heard you play, and on a rather unrefined instrument. And you’re a visual performer. I think it’s wonderful!”
“No one’s ever described it like that,” he said thoughtfully, turning a charming smile on her.
*** 
