Heart of a Deputy (Heart of Colorado #2)

Chapter Ten

“I feel ill. I need water and I need it now.”

“Get her some water.” The lady ordered some unseen assistant.

“My head hurts so badly. I need laudanum, or something.” Sally felt like a frog had captured her throat, and someone had poured sand in her mouth.

“You can’t have laudanum in your condition.” The woman crooned.

“Why not?” Sally argued, but was still too hazy to make sense of anything.

“Because you’re expecting, honey.” The nice stranger explained.

“No one ever told me that. Is this some new thing, Corinne?”

“Do you think you can eat? I have some breakfast for you.”

“No, I feel ill, and I need water. Where’s that water?” Sally asked, trying not to sound too demanding.

“Who’s Corinne?” She asked.

“You are.” Sally answered, finally coming to her senses. Then the memories of last night flooded back: Leaving the Richards’s home, going to the station, the unnamed assailant holding a gun to her low back, the train, the hood on her head.

“Who are you and where am I?” Sally suddenly managed to open her eyes, but everything was a blur.

“Don’t you remember, Sally? I’m Edna?!” Edna. Who was..? Realization smacked her like a brick through a window. Edna? Bill’s Edna? Bill’s wife, EDNA?

“No. Why am I here? NO! I don’t belong here, Edna. I belong in Erie, with Mamie, Buddy, Lottie… I was in Colorado Springs. Why am I in Boulder?”

“You’re not, Sally. We’re in Denver. You became rather ill on the train last night, and Xavier felt you should rest.”

“Who is Xavier? Edna, please. You have to help me get home." Her voice went higher as the panic began to mount. "I can’t live like I did when I worked for Bill. It’s not an environment I want my child in. Edna, help me.” Sally was begging, an act she wasn’t proud of, but Edna had a big heart. She knew Edna. How Edna remained married to Bill, knowing he ran a brothel? That was the unspoken question of the moment.

“We’ll take good care of you and you’ll be back to yourself in no time.” Edna cajoled again.

Sally remembered Edna. She didn’t see her often, but she was never too far away. Sally recalled the first time she’d learned of Edna. No doubt Edna didn’t know all of Bill’s escapades with the ladies he ‘managed’ or she would not be married to him still. Maybe she would be.

Edna was a small, redheaded woman from the South somewhere; maybe Kentucky or Tennessee. She looked sweet, but she had spitfire when she needed it. She was sweet as honey and bitter as vinegar, and was definitely no one to trifle with, as far as Sally was concerned.

“Edna, you don’t’ understand…”

“Oh, yes I do. Bill explained it to me. He let you go on a retreat of sorts, and now you’re coming back.”

“No, I’m not. He had me captured like an animal. He’s forcing me back. I left this life he offers, and I don’t want it anymore. I’ve met a man, and I’m having a baby.”

“A baby that belongs to Bill, from what I understand. It was conceived in his establishment wasn’t it? We’re going to take care of it so you won’t have to worry about where the child is.”

“NO! Edna, listen to me!” Just as Sally was ready to go on the attack, the door opened and the servant with the water walked in. The glass was placed on the table, and the young lady walked out without uttering a single syllable.