The Heart of a Soiled Dove Read online

  THE HEART OF A

  SOILED DOVE

  by

  SARAH JAE FOSTER

  RIVER VALLEY PUBLISHING

  SPOKANE, WASHINGTON

  The Heart of a Soiled Dove

  Published by River Valley Publishing.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

  Editor: Valerie Susan Hayward

  Cover design by Scott Carpenter

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Copyright © 2012 by Sarah Jae Foster

  ISBN 978-0-9856453-4-2

  Chapter One

  Montana 1876

  Both watched as the last of the wagons left camp.

  Aurora Young turned to look down the hill they were perched on to the undersized town below. “Pine City, Montana. We’re a long way from home.” She rubbed at the bruise on her forearm, inflicted by the wagon train guide, Seth. “I’m glad, too. I wasn’t planning on going one more mile with them.”

  Emmy Sanborn’s eyes followed her guardian’s over to the empty rough and warn path of the departed wagon train. “Do you think it will be worse than San Francisco?”

  Aurora began to pick through their suitcases. “Nothing can be worse than San Francisco.”

  She discarded any attire considered immodest and was left with three items of clothing in her hands. Aurora looked upon Emerald Sanborn’s exotic seventeen-year-old features, and knew that no matter what her young charge wore, she’d always bring trouble from men. She sighed. There was nothing to do about it.

  They rode double towards the foreign and simple town on their only horse. A crude sign planted on the outskirts read Pine City. It appeared to be desolate but for a few cowboys lingering on the boardwalks. Although Aurora and Emmy were dressed prim and proper, like regular pioneer folk, they still incurred catcalls coming from the men. She elbowed Emmy hard. “Stop encouraging them!”

  “Maybe the Northwest does look upon color as equal.”

  Quietly Aurora admonished, “Nobody knows us as we were. No one would take us for anything other than girls coming from a farm family. We need to keep it that way, Em.”

  Unyielding, Aurora looked at Emmy until she answered, “Yes, Aurora.”

  They stopped in front of the mercantile and dismounted, stretching out kinks of all kinds. “I’ll be right back,” Aurora said. “I’m going to find out where the auction is to take place tonight.” The land auction was the reason Aurora had come to Pine City.

  She looked around town and with her worldly wisdom, self-preservation and intuition, instantly spotted the danger areas. In an afterthought she told Emmy, “Come with me. Just keep your head down and appear humble.” They entered the mercantile like the two misfits they were.

  Aurora had a bad taste for credit and, for the first time in her life, she would accomplish something as normal as a business deal with cash and without flirting. It was a great feeling of independence and freedom. She watched as Emmy roamed the store like a curious child, touching everything. Aurora would see to it that Emmy would never be exposed to the ways of their old lives again. Behind the counter stood the clerk.

  “Excuse me, I’m here for the auction tonight?”

  “Ma’am? That auction is for the ranch adjoining Donovan Ramsey.”

  “Is that supposed to mean something?”

  With surprise and a bit of kindness he said, “With all due respect, do you have anyone else accompanying you?” He looked towards Emmy fingering a bolt of calico. “A man, perhaps?”

  “With all due respect, I am here to bid on the land. I don’t care who it’s next to.” Aurora bit her tongue hard to hold back what she really wanted to say. She recalled timely enough, the words of Leona Smythe, her mentor back home. Be slow to anger....

  “Donovan Ramsey is the largest cattle baron around this entire region,” the man answered direly, as if saying the Ramsey name would bring down his wrath. “He’s been aching to get his hands on that land for years.” He glanced behind her again as if searching for someone else, clearly out of sorts with having this discussion with a mere woman.

  Aurora hid her irritation by looking at her boots for a moment. She did not want to lose a place they could make into a home. She brought her eyes up to the clerk and her old nature was crying to creep to the surface. The nature that would have her loosen the buttons on her ruffled blouse, lean in real close so he could catch her store bought rose scented perfume and bat her eyelashes. She fought those urges and set her stance, ready to do business without the womanly wiles and manipulations she’d grown up around.

  Just then a man walked into the mercantile and carelessly interrupted. Aurora acknowledged his brief greeting by the tipping of his hat. Such a gentlemanly gesture not usually equated in her presence, but she remembered that she and Emmy resembled the look of ladies. She wanted to pull her eyes away and get back to business but she knew men, she knew them down to every type and always read them right. The man whose boots were thudding closer and closer to where she was standing was not ordinary by any means. Confidence exuded from his clear gaze, and his simple gesture brought to Aurora the reality that a man had never before greeted her like that. As insignificant as that may be to anyone else, it meant everything to her.

  He smiled broadly. “Morning.”

  In kind, Aurora replied with a smile of her own. “Morning.”

  It took a lot for a man to affect Aurora in any way other than callous disregard. But this day, little flutters spurred her insides at his handsome, rough-edged features. Men in San Francisco all looked like dandies with their pin-striped suits, polished nails and walking sticks, but to see such a specimen of masculinity had taken her off guard just a bit. She heard the clerk clear his voice, anxious to be rid of her no doubt.

  The stranger switched gears and appeared to be a man on a mission. He took his eyes from Aurora and turned to the clerk. “Mornin’ Mr. Clawson. How’s the auction planning coming? It’s about time I acquire the old Renner place.”

  Mr. Clawson looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock, such was his sudden nervousness. “Uh, Mr. Ramsey – I don’t know what to say here.”

  She saw his eyes glance at the gun placed low on the stranger’s hip.

  Aurora looked between the two of them and wondered why the clerk looked as though this man next to her was going to shoot him. Well that was a ridiculous notion. Then it dawned on her which land was being discussed and who was standing next to her.

  She decided to help the storekeeper. “He was just about to tell me where the auction was, but seems hesitant to do so.” She gave the clerk a look of impatience. “Perhaps you would be so kind to lend me the guidance?”

  The man’s eyebrows drew close and his gaze roved over Aurora again, but this time his look was emitting a different effect. “Who are you?”

  Not intimated by any man, she offered firmly, “My name is Aurora Young. We arrived in town this morning to attend the auction tonight.”

  He sought who the “we” was, and when he found Emmy, he became visibly annoyed.

  “Clawson, you know I’ve been waiting for the law to sort this out. That land should belong to me. I want to purchase it.”

  It was as if she suddenly wasn’t standing there, setting off Aurora int
o her newly acquired independence.

  “Mr. Clawson, is it?”

  He nodded. “Listen lady, I... I’ve already told Mr. Ramsey here that... should he decide he wanted it... the auction was just a formality….”

  Listen lady? She braced her hands on the countertop and felt Emmy’s presence behind her. She needed to think about the girl and would keep it together. “It doesn’t sound as though it was a done deal. I’m just as prepared to buy those acres, too. I’ve traveled hundreds of miles to acquire it. An auction is an auction, is it not?” Aurora asserted, and then frowned when Mr. Ramsey had the audacity to chuckle.

  She did not leave a life behind to be treated like she did not matter.

  Aurora tossed a wry glance at him. “Cash on the barrel,” she said with confidence and turned beautifully to Mr. Ramsey. “Are you prepared to do the same?”

  He ignored her and set his face like a stone. “Clawson, do we have a deal or not?”

  Aurora knew about business and the owner was a businessman first and must take an offer like hers into consideration. Would he, or was he just a coward like most of the men she knew?

  Quite in torment the clerk surrendered. “Mr. Ramsey, I have to hold that auction. Please understand…the law….”

  “Clawson.” His name was drawn out, a warning and intimidation, plain and simple. “You were going to sell it to me. I don’t take kindly to being double-crossed.”

  Donovan Ramsey hooked his thumbs into his belt, jaw twitching.

  Aurora learned enough from Leona to keep quiet and let things settle. As quick as she could sneak a glance at the man next to her, she saw that Donovan was boring a hole through her with a steely gaze, no doubt not liking being upstaged. She was relieved when he finally stalked away from them.

  Mr. Clawson sighed heavily after the moment was over. Aurora wanted to earn his business and respect, and she had to feel for the man. What exactly had Donovan Ramsey meant with his underlying threat to the poor clerk about being double-crossed? She wanted no trouble and needed a life of peace and quiet with Emmy. She didn’t know much about God, but she did know she’d promised Him that she would not go back to her old way of life, not ever. Besides that, she’d promised Leona on her deathbed that she’d begin a new life and live according to the teachings of the Bible.

  After a speechless Mr. Clawson handed her a map to the auction site, she smiled prettily at him until he blushed. She had to give him that, at least.

  After eating a brief lunch of dried venison, something Aurora would never eat again if she could help it, they headed early to the auction site, lest anyone try to be corrupt. Inwardly she prayed, Lord, I know you sent me here. I leave it to you to work all things out.

  She and Emmy followed the clerk’s roughly drawn map until they arrived at the site of hopefully their new home – a home without madams and clients and desperate girls in the woes of poverty. The two dismounted and stood side by side. “Oh, it’s perfect,” Aurora whispered with sincerity.

  She looked upon the property with longing. To the natural and less hopeful eye, the property would be viewed a mess. Broken wagon wheels, buckets, tools and other objects were strewn round a battered house. Torn and dirty sheets hung loosely on laundry lines and blew in the springtime breeze. She wondered who had abandoned this place. The front door was broken and half off its hinges. Aurora risked a glance at Emmy, who stood there with disgust and disbelief written all over her features.

  “It’s not as bad as it looks, Em.”

  Her charge’s response was suspended eyebrows. Aurora gave her a quick squeeze. “Come with me.”

  They explored everything. They stepped over broken whiskey bottles and old newspapers littering a caved in porch. The sound of glass crunching beneath their boots was muted beneath Aurora’s “aws” as she dreamily peered into cracked windows.

  “There’s a barn over there,” Emmy said meekly.

  Aurora swayed merrily and shouted, “We’ve our own barn?”

  “Whatever we gonna do with a barn?” Emmy muttered.

  “I told you we’re going to have us a real livelihood with horses, cows, chickens and pigs.” At Emmy’s skeptical look she added, “Don’t be so concerned. Once we fix this place up you’ll see.”

  An hour later a few riders came roaring through the property. Mr. Clawson was at the tail end, and no surprise, Donovan Ramsey had taken the lead. Aurora was shocked that there didn’t seem like much interest or competition for the place. She didn’t even know how many acres it held. She just wanted a home to call her own and in a place where no one knew her past. This was perfect, and she was determined to claim it as hers. Six men total dismounted in front of them and she wanted to wipe the belittling smirk from Donovan Ramsey’s face. She wondered who the other men were since there appeared to be no one else called up to the front to join an anxious looking Mr. Clawson.

  He cleared his throat and brought the auction to a beginning. Aurora’s nerves were jumping all over the place. One month ago, when she’d read the advertisement that this land was to be auctioned, it was the first time she learned what it felt like to be directed by the Lord. This had to go her way. What would happen if she didn’t acquire this land? Where would they go? Images of the town’s brothels came to mind. A quick look to Emmy, who seemed enamored with the cowboys, spurred her on to make this deal happen to her favor. She refused to look directly at the man willing to intimidate her away. She would not cower. Taking a deep breath, she focused hard on Mr. Clawson while he set out the rules.

  It took only fifteen minutes for Aurora to win. It had been an exorbitant amount of money but she didn’t care. She ran to Emmy and embraced the life out of her. “We’re home!”

  “Not so fast,” said Donovan Ramsey. He took in Mr. Clawson, reminding him, “Cash on the barrel, isn’t it?”

  “Uh, yes, of course it… is.”

  With dark eyes filled with smugness, Donovan Ramsey looked upon Aurora as if waiting for her to produce the many bills of money required in sealing the deal.

  Without meaning to be brazen in any way, she turned away, and with gentility, lifted her skirt a fraction to dismantle her money pouch. She deducted the amount due, and trying hard to conceal her winner’s smile, handed the amount over to Mr. Clawson, who dutifully counted it under Donovan’s hard and defeated stare.

  Certainly she’d not meant to create an enemy on her first day in town and she would do all she could to make it up to the man before her. He couldn’t hold a grudge forever, could he?

  Without so much as a word to her, Donovan took off his hat, slowly reshaped it with his hands, then placed it back into position on his head. Finally, he turned to the other men. “Let’s go, we’re done here.”

  Aurora might never forget Mr. Clawson’s look to her. It was full of both sympathy and respect. She rather liked the latter one and hoped she wouldn’t actually need his sympathy. But Donovan Ramsey was indeed a proud man, and men didn’t like their pride to be injured.

  She looked after the impressive cattle baron riding away and prayed, “Lord, you came through for me today. Please do it again tomorrow, and the next day.... I need you.”

  Chapter Two

  Two days later, Aurora stepped onto the porch and breathed in deeply. The climate felt so open and clear – the air was fresh and lacking the pollutants of smog. Unlike Emmy, she was undaunted by the tasks before her. In fact she relished doing “farm chores,” as her brooding roommate said. From now on, every day was new and she’d never felt so clean, physically and spiritually.

  Aurora heard a wagon approaching and turned to see that it was their freight from the mercantile, ordered the day before. She looked forward to a breakfast of eggs and fried ham and would make that for Emmy, who was still sound asleep. She’d get used to this new life soon enough, and Aurora was determined to be patient with her.

  A few minutes ticked by before the wagon was brought to a dusty halt in front of her. A very tall and gangly young man bounded down and di
dn’t hold back his thoughts on the place she’d purchased. He deposited crate upon crate on the sagging porch and said, “Ma’am, you do realize you were somewhat bamboozled when you bought this place?”

  Aurora stepped square in front of him. “I was not. There was a man by the name of Donovan Ramsey asking for it just as I was.” She stood herself taller. “And he didn’t strike me as a man who would be bamboozled as you say.”

  He put the last of their items in front of her and let out a slow whistle. “Yes, we all heard that you went up against Donovan. What we all can’t seem to figure out is how it was you who acquired this place?”

  Who was this “we all” anyhow? “My money’s the same as his, that’s how.”

  “Well, I’ll be.” He backed down the steps and planted himself where he belonged, in the buckboard, and looked at her curiously. “It’s a brave thing, Ma’am, to be taking on the most powerful man around – I’m just wondering why he let you win.”

  She’d taken on powerful folks before and this Ramsey was of no interest – or threat to her. “I had the money on hand, he didn’t.” She stared him down. “Not that it is any of your business.”

  The man clucked his tongue, struck the reins on the horses’ backs and tipped his hat to her in good-bye, leaving her on the edge of outrage.

  Emmy’s voice came out of nowhere. “Aurora, you need to be nice to people if we’re gonna be livin’ here.”

  Put in her place, although still winding down from the irritating interaction, Aurora willed her anger away. When that didn’t work, she remembered she could pray it away and felt peace almost instantly.

  After they put the food items on the one shelf remaining intact in the kitchen area, they set to making the morning meal.

  Aurora took her place across from Emmy on the two chairs they salvaged from the web-filled attic. “We are partners, you and I. Equal. You didn’t come here to serve anybody, not even me. We got churched a bit before we headed out of that awful place and I aim to keep us churched. Tomorrow is Sunday, so we need to ask around and see what there is.”