A Fresh Start in Kirkham: a nineteenth century western romance Read online

  A Fresh Start in Kirkham

  a nineteenth century western romance

  by

  Susan Thomas

  All rights reserved

  Copyright © July 2017 by Susan Thomas

  Published by LSF Publications

  http://www.lsfpublications.com/

  Cover design by Nathaniel Scott.

  All names, characters, organisations, places, events and incidents featured in this work are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Following her husband's death, Cecelia runs away from her unpleasant and controlling in-laws. Taking her young daughter, Alice, they arrive at the small but growing town of Kirkham, where Cecelia gains employment as a nurse, working for the town's only doctor, Dr Davies. Shortly after her arrival, Cecelia is befriended by Samuel Hoctor, a widower with a daughter, Julia, who is the same age as Alice. Though Sam doesn't have the dashing good looks of Cecelia's late husband, he is tall and broad shouldered with a kindly face and a pleasant manner. After a few hours in his company, Cecelia begins to realise he would make a good husband for her, and father to Alice. To her delight, Sam is of the same opinion. As their romance blossoms, Cecelia begins to learn more about Kirkham ... the men of the town practice domestic discipline, and it isn't long before Cecelia finds she has earned a well-deserved spanking for her disobedience, first by the Mayor, and secondly by Sam. Contrite, she takes her punishment and resolves to do better.

  But there are strange goings on in Kirkham; a masked stranger wielding a knife is targeting women, Cecelia in particular. Gradually, the mystery begins to unravel, and when it does, Cecelia's chance of a happy marriage hangs in the balance...

  This story is set in the town of Kirkham, USA, at the latter end of the nineteenth century. Kirkham was the setting for two earlier books: Elizabeth's Flight, and The Schoolmarm and the Preacher. All three books may be read as standalone novellas.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

  Also from LSF Publications...

  Prologue

  The guard needed no encouragement to 'sit a spell' and take a drink. The man was well known as an imbiber and it was therefore doubtful his employment would last much longer. After this it wouldn't last at all! Letting a lunatic escape would cap drunkenness as a cause for dismissal.

  Persuading the garrulous fool to talk about himself was easy. The man was pathetically eager to give details of his miserably useless life, all the while swigging at his bottle of rotgut. He had quite forgotten about his other duties and eventually, as expected, fell into a drunken slumber. Taking his keys, candy from a baby; getting out of the building, with a little caution, as easy as pie.

  Of course, it was dark outside. If one escapes at night that is the consequence, but so easy once out of the building. The grounds, five hundred beautiful acres, hid an escaper very well at night, and then there was only the wall. That was the difficult part.

  Keeping calm and walking around as if one had all the time in the world to find... yes, there it was: a tree with one limb partly overhanging the wall. There in the moonlight it had all the glory of a stairway to heaven.

  Climbing the tree was not easy. Sitting astride the overhanging limb and inching along it was terrifying. Lowering oneself down from the limb to the top of the wall... that was truly terrible. Hands stretched up to hold the limb, feet barely on tip-toes on the wall, shakily letting go to balance precariously atop the wall; then oh so slowly bending down until one was more firmly kneeling on the wall. The exhilaration at that point... huge.

  Hanging down, holding the top of the wall and letting go was a mere nothing. A jar as one landed but then free. Free!

  Freedom brings its own challenges. Being reunited would be hard. The distances and difficulties tremendous, but all achievable. It was getting out of an asylum that was the hard part. Getting in was easy enough! That thought caused a burst of hilarity. Suppress that idiocy. They would be reunited. Oh, yes, of that there was no doubt. No doubt at all.

  Chapter One

  Cecelia McMorran's worried face only lightened slightly as her daughter Alice organized her dolls in the shade of an old tree. Her friend, Martha, watched her carefully.

  "Tell me your troubles my dear. A trouble shared is a trouble halved."

  "If only it was that simple."

  "Can't hurt to tell."

  Cecelia poured them both more tea and sighed. "They want control of Alice. Now Ralph is dead they want Alice. Ralph left me so little money in the first place but now that is almost exhausted, and they know it, so they want me to go and live with them. Once there I'd be under their power. Alice would be brought up their way and eventually married off to suit their business or connections. I'm fairly sure they'd try to marry me off too. Getting rid of me would give them total control over Alice."

  "Are you sure Cee? I know they have a reputation for being ruthless..."

  "Why do you think Ralph was as he was? Very good at putting on a pretense. You've no idea what a hell my marriage was. Alice is untouched at the moment. I don't want her growing up like the McMorrans but I have no power to resist them. I've no money, and she has already hinted that if I don't agree they'll use their influence to have me declared insane and locked up in Randall's."

  "Cee, are you sure?"

  "Don't you believe me?"

  "Yes, I do, but it seems so, I don't know... extreme."

  "Oh, she didn't come right out with it like that. She's much too clever for that. It's 'My dear have you heard about that poor woman?' Followed by. 'Of course, her troubles all became too much for her and her mind went. It is so easy for us as women to suffer these breakdowns you know. One has to be so careful.' I understood her meaning right enough."

  Martha watched Alice playing and sighed. Such a lovely child and so much potential. She knew the McMorrans right enough and knew them to be ruthless. They would do anything to advance the influence of their family and had been angry when their son had fallen for Cecelia. He had been injured falling from his horse during a race and Cecelia had been one of the very few properly trained nurses available. She had warned Cee not to marry him but he had been handsome, and, for a while, enamored with his beautiful nurse.

  "Do you remember Elizabeth Franklyn Jones?"

  "I don't think so. Who is she?"

  "When I was sixteen I was employed as a wet nurse and nanny for her. Please don't ask how that happened, but Elizabeth became my charge and I loved her dearly. Her parents were quite another story. Anyway, they got rid of me when Elizabeth was about twelve. They had plans for her. Wanted her to marry a man named Rankin Blake. He was not only much older than her but a brutal, cruel man who had probably murdered his first wife. Elizabeth was desperate to avoid marrying him and I helped her get away."

  "Why are you telling me all this?"

  "Elizabeth ran off to become a schoolteacher out west in small town named Kirkham. She married the sheriff who is also a local businessman. She's very happ
y now with newly born twins. She writes regularly to me and her latest letter only arrived today."

  "I assume there is some point to your story?"

  "Now, now Cee, just be patient. Kirkham is growing and thriving and the new doctor wants a properly trained nurse. Elizabeth ran off using the name Beth Franklyn. She was very clever about it. You could do the same. Use a different name, but not your maiden name, and hide your route out. Beth booked a ticket to New York and then got out at a junction and bought a new ticket entirely, making it hard for her to be followed. Start a new life. You'd not be rich but better that than the fate you fear."

  "They'd find out. I had to get rid of the servants but they've sent me a pair to help: Jacob Standing and his wife Ethel. They are so kind and sympathetic all the time but I know exactly what they're up to. I know I sound mad, but they spy on me. I find my papers moved around and the McMorrans always seem to know things they couldn't possibly know unless the Standings informed them. I pretend not to know or notice, but if I plan to escape they'll find out."

  "Elizabeth did it all from my address using Beth Franklyn. If you do the same there is no way they can spy on you. You'll just be visiting a friend and when it's time to leave you can stay with me to help me with my children because I am ill. Above suspicion... just being a Good Samaritan, but how will Alice take being separated from her grandparents?"

  Cecelia laughed. "Oh, that will be no problem. She's scared stiff of them both, especially her. My dear mother-in-law hits her across the knuckles with things if she doesn't sit up properly, or sit still, or whatever ladylike deportment she's trying to get out of a five-year-old. Nothing I say stops her. She just tells me I wasn't brought up in polite society therefore I have no notion of how a lady should behave."

  "Lord, what a dreadful woman. Well, write the letter now using my address and I'll post it for you. Here's my Beth's letter."

  Cecelia McMorran sat and read the letter, her mind whirling around with the daring plan. True she would be poor but far better that than the corruption of the McMorran's. "I'll do it. I must do it, if for no other reason than protect Alice." She took the paper and pen that Martha gave her and began drafting a letter. When finally, she felt she had it right, she wrote the fair copy. Just sealing it in an envelope gave her a sense of hope and a weight lifted from her shoulders.

  27th April, 1882

  Dear Doctor Davies,

  I understand that you are seeking to appoint a properly trained nurse to assist you in your practice. I would be grateful if you would consider an application for that post from this correspondent.

  My name is Cecelia Masters, I graduated from the New England Hospital for Women and Children in 1874 and moved back to my home town to nurse at St Anne's, the local hospital. My appointment included the requirement to help train other nurses.

  It was while nursing there that I met my husband who was a patient following a riding accident. Unfortunately, my husband loved to ride and recently another accident killed him, leaving me a widow. I have a five-year-old daughter named Alice from my marriage.

  I believe that, although I have spent some years out of nursing, my thorough training, practical experience on the ward, and my work training other nurses would be of assistance to you.

  Yours Sincerely,

  Mrs. C. Masters

  Cecelia felt she had no choice but to name the hospitals she had trained and worked at. She just hoped he would not seek a reference from either because Cecelia Masters would not be a name they recognized. Martha persuaded her that a lone country doctor would not have the time or inclination to seek references. The very name of the Boston hospital would probably be enough on its own. In fact, Martha thought it unlikely Doctor Davies would have any applications other than Cecelia. It hadn't even been advertised as yet; business in the country lacked the urgency of the town. Cecelia knew that even the reliable US Post would not be able to deliver the letter that quickly to such a remote location, and there was no telling how quickly Dr. Davies would take to reply, always assuming he did. She was not to know that Martha also wrote to Beth Flight pleading Cecelia's situation.

  Cecelia felt a constant anxiety: money was a worry; there were constant hints and pressure from her parents-in-law; she had to be so careful what she said and did with Jacob and Ethel Standing reporting everything back; and the fear that Dr. Davies might write to the hospitals she named for a reference. Her twice weekly visits to Martha were her only relief. That good woman always eased her mind and helped her to relax. It was only three weeks after she had posted her own letter that Martha triumphantly waved a letter at her when she arrived.

  "It's from Kirkham for Mrs. C Masters."

  Cecelia tore open the letter with shaking hands.

  Kirkham

  10th May, 1882

  Dear Mrs. Masters,

  I am in receipt of your letter of the 27th April regarding the position of nurse here at my practice in Kirkham.

  First of all, I must convey to you my deepest sympathy at the loss of your husband to a riding accident. The shock and grief that you have experienced are doubtless only alleviated by the love of your young daughter. I quite understand why such a tragedy would drive you to distance yourself from the place which must forever be associated with your loss.

  You will understand that I had not hoped to have in my employ a nurse so well trained and experienced as you are. My eagerness to avail myself of such qualification must not blind me to my duty. Although I am more than willing to have you join me in my practice I must warn you that I am a mere country doctor. You will not have in Kirkham, the facilities and support that you would have in such a prestigious hospital as the one that trained you.

  The good people of Kirkham built a small house for me and a surgery. They have further added an operating room and provided a one bed facility for an inpatient. The town is growing and, in many ways, is advanced in its thinking. Why, we even have women on our town council. However, it is still a small, rural town without any of the refinements of a city in the East.

  If my warning causes you to change your mind please write by return of post and let me know. However, I am going to assume that you wish to pursue your application and turn now to the matter of accommodation. Although Kirkham is in many ways advanced in its thinking it would still not be considered proper for you to lodge with me. In fact, I doubt either of us would find it acceptable. I have made enquiries and the proprietor of the dress shop, Mrs. Drake, has rooms at the shop. She herself lived in them until her recent marriage.

  There is a large ground floor kitchen at the rear of the property with a stone sink and pump over which is most convenient. Outside in the yard is a well-managed privy. There is an internal staircase to an upper floor with two very good bedrooms. Everything is furnished and in excellent order. I am willing to pay the rent as part of the remuneration for your services.

  I would be grateful if you would write at your earliest convenience to inform me whether you wish to accept these arrangements and if so when you are likely to travel.

  Yours sincerely,

  I. Davies. (Dr.)

  Cecelia felt such exhilaration that she quite literally jumped for joy and took some time to become calm enough to make plans. A letter of reply was written and reluctantly the two women decided that Cecelia and Alice would have to travel with very little luggage. She and Alice could bring some luggage on the pretext of staying a week to nurse Martha and help with her family. However, any attempt to bring more would arouse suspicion. Cecelia reviewed her dwindling finances and decided that she would just have to buy new clothing for them both when she arrived in Kirkham.

  ---oOo---

  "Excuse me Sir. Standing is here to see you."

  "Show him to my study. I'll see him in a short while."

  The servant retreated and Mrs. McMorran seemed puzzled. "Why is Standing here Jacob? He usually sends a note."

  "I really don't know my dear. It must be of some urgency. I'd best go and see. I thought
the wretched woman was safely at the Basetti house taking care of that woman and her brood. For a week, I understood."

  Jacob McMorran was not long and when he came back he was delighted. "That Standing is smart one. He wasn't convinced that Cecelia was telling the truth so he's been buying drinks for some of the men working for Basetti... you know, my dear he has that carrier's business. It seems Martha Basetti isn't ill at all, so what is Cecelia doing there? I've authorized him to see if he can bribe one of the servants Basetti has working in the home. I warned him to be careful. I do hope she's thinking of running off. Now that would suit me admirably. If she runs with no money, and no employment to go to, I can quite easily have her committed to an asylum. I want that damnable woman out of the way. Ralph should never have married her... nasty little fortune seeker."

  Jacob McMorran was better pleased the next day. The news, in a brief note from Standing, was that his daughter-in-law and granddaughter were only expected to stay for a few days and then they were off somewhere. The servants believed it was New York but they couldn't be sure. Standing was reinforced with an extra man and both given strict orders to watch carefully for any unusual activity. There was no doubt that Mr. Basetti's visit to the station to buy two tickets for New York was unusual.

  "Excellent, the stupid woman really has no shame running off with Ralph's child, and into what exactly? Does she imagine that she can provide properly for our granddaughter without money or even employment in New York of all places? Now, all we need to know is what train she catches and I will arrange for it to be met in New York. I'll have her committed and once in an asylum she'll have a hard job ever getting out again. We can take a later train and bring Alice home with us. The girl must have the best of everything and when the time comes, we can make a suitable marriage for her."