The Widow Jane Parker (Hearts of Texas Book One) Read online

  The Widow Jane Parker

  HEARTS OF TEXAS

  BOOK ONE

  JUDY MCGONAGILL

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Acknowledgments

  Before You Go…

  The River Rider

  Also by Judy McGonagill

  About the Author

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

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  Copyright © Judy McGonagill 2021. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

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  Published by Rise UP Publications

  www.riseUPpublications.com

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-64457-308-2

  This book is dedicated to my beloved husband, George, and our two sons, Brian and David.

  Chapter One

  1897

  I was only seven, but I still remember what happened.

  Jane Parker rolled over in the sweat-soaked bed and reached for the damp cloth that lay on the table by her bed. She rubbed the damp cloth over her face and arms. It was sultry hot, not a breath of night air stirred. She lay looking through the open door at the shadows of an almost moonless night. Far in the west she saw a brief flash of lightning. Oh, dear Lord, please let it rain, she prayed silently. It had been an unusually dry spring and still dry in late June. The crops suffered in the fields, the cattle and other animals would soon be drinking from stagnant puddles instead of flowing streams. Rain, rain, she thought, oh how we need rain.

  Jane sat up, lifted her long auburn hair, and wiped the back of her neck with the almost dry cloth. It gave a brief moment of faint coolness. She was tempted to wipe Ruby’s face and arms but didn’t want to wake the sleeping child that shared her bed. Ruby would just fret and whine about the heat. Let her sleep, Jane told herself.

  She almost unconsciously turned her gaze toward the open door as she heard the faintest creak of a board. Then silence followed. Jane thought about getting up and going out to sit on the porch. It might be cooler outside. She didn’t want to disturb her sleeping children by moving around too much. Seven-year-old Ruby, ten-year-old Sam and fourteen-year-old Opal was all she had left. Samuel, her husband of eleven years and four-year-old Pearl had passed last winter when the flu hit hard in their community.

  There came another creak of a board, slightly louder this time. Jane wondered if some animal had ventured onto the porch in search of food or water. Even at night most animals didn’t usually come this close to people unless they were starving. It was as if they could smell them, or sense them, and kept their distance. Jane gently wiped her face with the cloth again.

  Suddenly the dim light of the door was filled with a shadowy figure of a man. Jane’s heart seemed to stop. The shadow stepped quietly into the room and quickly moved behind the open door. Jane may have thought she imagined it had she not heard the slight squeak of the door when it moved. Jane stared at the now empty doorway and could barely see the door was ajar. What if she hadn’t been awake to see the man sneak into her home? she wondered. He could have attacked her and the children while they slept. She shivered at the grim thought. Very slowly, she lifted the loaded gun she kept by her bedside and aimed it toward the door. At that very moment, she saw another shadowy figure cross the yard in front of the door. She held her breath. How many shadows were there? Why were they here in the middle of the night? Jane wondered, but she partly knew the answer. They were up to no good, that was for sure.

  Then the stench reached her. The smell of soured sweat, stale tobacco, and whiskey wafted across the room, and Jane almost gagged. Instead, she steadied herself and spoke.

  “Mister,” she said in as calm a voice as she could muster, “how many more are there outside?”

  No answer came.

  “I’m just asking one more time, and if you don’t answer I plan to shoot,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  A brief silence, then, “Just one, Ma’am,” come a solemn reply.

  “You better be telling the truth.”

  “Mama,” came Sam’s sleepy voice from the far bed, “who you talking to?”

  “There’s a man standing behind the front door and he says one more is outside,” she replied in a quiet voice hoping to not wake Ruby. “Wake Opal and tell her to get over here with me and Ruby,” Jane half whispered to Sam.

  “What they want?” Sam asked, as he yawned and attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes.

  “Nothing good I’m certain,” Jane replied matter-of-factly.

  Sam moved to his sister’s bedside and gently shook her. “Wake up, Opal. Opal, wake up,” Sam said in a hushed tone so he wouldn’t wake Ruby.

  “Quit!” came Opal’s irritable reply.

  “Opal, there’s trouble. A man is behind the door and one outside. Mama said for you to come to her bed and don’t wake Ruby.”

  “What do they want?” Opal asked in a more civil tone.

  “Mama said they’re up to no good.”

  Jane could hear the rustling of Opal moving to her bed and the give of the springs as Opal sat next to the still sleeping Ruby.

  “Mama, what are we going to do?” Opal asked with a slight quiver in her voice.

  Jane didn’t know and didn’t want to answer Opal’s question. Instead, she addressed the man behind the door.

  “Mister, what are you and that other one up to? Tell the truth,I have this gun pointed at your black heart,” she told the stranger.

  “Well, Ma’am, we was, we was, just passin’ by and thought we would, uh, uh.”

  Jane raised her voice slightly and emphasized, “I said the truth, now say it.”

  “Well, I ain’t quite sure what Luc—,” he hesitated, realizing
he had almost used his partner’s name. “I mean my friend just told me to come on in and stand behind this door and he would let me know what to do then. Yes, Ma’am, that’s what he told me.”

  Jane pondered what the man said. “Do you always do as you are told?”

  “Well, uh, I uh, no, Ma’am, not always. Just if it seems suitin’ at the time,” he offered in way of an explanation of his actions.

  Jane didn’t answer immediately but took time to think about what he had said.

  Then she questioned, “Just what do you suppose your friend intends to do now that you are standing behind my door with a loaded gun pointed at you and he is outside where he could just take off and leave you here in this predicament?”

  “I don’t rightly know, Ma’am,” he admitted.

  The room fell silent as Jane pondered what to do next. She needed to get help but wasn’t sure exactly what to do. The only thing she could think of was to send Sam to fetch Mr. Armstrong and some of his men.

  She took care of Mrs. Armstrong and the house and did most of the cooking for the farm and ranch hands. The Armstrongs were good people and had let her and the children live on here after Samuel and little Pearl had died last year. Lord only knows what would have become of her and the children if Mrs. Armstrong hadn’t taken sick and needed help about that time.

  It was about a quarter of a mile to the Armstrongs if Sam cut across the pasture. He would have to cut through a few trees by the dry creek but other than that he would be in the open and could see anyone following him. She wished they still had their faithful old cocker spaniel, Boots. He was a good watchdog and would go everywhere with Sam. Boots would have been a comfort to Sam, but the poor old dog had died last month. But there was the man outside. How could she be sure he wouldn’t hurt Sam?

  She picked up the cloth and wiped her face again. Her hand shook slightly as she tried to decide what to do.

  “Ma’am, it’s gettin’ mighty hot behind this door,” the man complained. “Do you think I could just step out for a breath of air?” he asked.

  “Huh! I reckon not. You was mighty keen on getting behind that door so you just stay put!”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” he sounded a bit dejected, “but what if I faint?” He whined and let out a loud breath.

  “If I see that door move you are a dead man, so just faint, and you won’t have to be worrying whether you’re hot or not,” Jane replied with no sympathy.

  Jane made up her mind about what to do. She could see the lightning growing brighter and knew the storm was coming their way. She couldn’t delay any longer or Sam and Mr. Armstrong’s men would also have to battle the storm.

  “Tell your friend to step to the edge of the porch in front of the door so I can see him,” she instructed.

  “HEY, HEY, can you hear me?” he yelled.

  “Yeah!” the man replied from not too far away.

  Ruby stirred but Opal quickly began to pat her again in hopes she wouldn’t wake and start crying.

  Jane suspected the man outside already had heard what she told the man behind the door.

  “The lady said for you to come to the edge of the porch in front of the door so she can see you,” he repeated exactly as Jane had said.

  She heard the crunch of his steps on the dry dirt. His shadowy figure appeared in front of the door just as she had ordered.

  Jane didn’t hesitate. “I’m sending my boy to fetch the neighbor and his men, and you better not try to stop him. If you touch a hair on his head this one behind my door is a dead man, and you will likely join his sorry soul before long. You understand me?” she questioned in a commanding voice.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” came a deep, gravelly voice in reply from the shadow in front of the door.

  “Now step back away from the door,” Jane ordered.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” he replied and disappeared from her view.

  Ruby stirred in the bed and let out a slight moan. Their voices had disturbed her sleep. Jane could hear Opal gently patting Ruby to lull her back to a sound sleep.

  “Sam, get your dad’s gun - it’s already loaded - then come here.”

  Jane could hear Sam moving about in the dark, but he didn’t need a light to know where she kept his dad’s gun. She had let Sam use the gun to go hunting a number of times, and he had become a decent shot. He brought home a variety of game for her or Opal to cook, and it helped in feeding the family. Sam came and stood quietly beside his mother, waiting for her to tell him what she wanted him to do next.

  “Sam, I know you are a brave boy. I know I have to ask you often to do a man’s job, and this is another time I’m asking you to do a man’s job. Take the quickest way to Mr. Armstrong’s, you know what I mean,” she paused.

  “Yes, Mama,” Sam answered.

  “Tell Mr. Armstrong to bring some of his men, that we need help,” Jane told Sam, trying to remain calm.

  “Listen to me, Sam, if that man tries to harm you in any way don’t hesitate one second to shoot him right in the heart. If he gets a hold of you, you won’t have a chance; he’s bigger and stronger, so don’t give him that chance, you shoot!” It broke her heart to tell her ten-year-old son to shoot a man, but it might save his life and theirs.

  “I understand,” Sam replied with assurance. Sam leaned over and lightly kissed his mother’s cheek, then stood straight and walked toward the open door.

  “My boy is coming out! You stay back and let him pass!” Jane almost yelled.

  Jane silently sent up a fervent prayer for Sam’s safety. Sam was more man than child.

  Another streak of lightning lit the sky, and before long a low roll of thunder followed.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” the low-pitched voice replied.

  “Now, so I know where you are, you keep talking!” Jane ordered. “I don’t normally talk much,” he replied.

  “If you don’t want your friend to get a hole blown right through his heart you best do as I say,” Jane told the man in a stern voice.

  “Yes’um, I reckon I can find somethin’ to talk about for a while. I don’t much cotton to women tellin’ me what to do but right now you seem to have the upper hand. You know, it would save a lot of trouble if you would just let my friend come on outside and we could be on our way and no harm done. What do you think of that idea?”

  “I don’t think much of it,” Jane answered without hesitation.

  “Well, it ain’t like we have done anything to you and your young’uns. I let the boy pass just like you said, so it looks like you could return the kindness by letting my friend and me just mosey on down the road before your neighbor gets here causin’ all sorts of trouble,” he argued.

  “Mister,” Jane replied in a stern voice, “you and your friend are the ones that have caused this trouble by you sending him into my house in the middle of the night in the first place. If you weren’t up to trouble yourself, you would never have stopped here in the first place. So, don’t be suggesting I just let him walk out of here as though nothing happened,” Jane answered indignantly.

  Silence prevailed.

  “You best still be outside my porch because I know just how long it will take my boy to fetch the neighbor,” Jane addressed the man outside.

  “I’m here.”

  “Just go on talking about something besides me letting your friend go,” Jane emphasized again.

  “Well, I was just thinking I might just go on down the road and meet up with my friend later when this has all blowed over. Like I said, we ain’t really done nothin’ to you or your young’uns, so I don’t know what you expect your neighbor will do to either of us.”

  “Well, if you are so innocent why not stick around and see what my neighbor does to the two of you?”

  The man outside gave a low chuckle. “Well now, Ma’am, sometimes men get all kinds of notions about what another man was thinkin’ or intendin’ and might not take time to look at the facts. If I leave, that will give them more time to think about the fact that we really caused you n
o harm.”

  “You caused harm alright just by being on my property in the middle of the night. You caused harm by scaring me and my children. You caused harm by sending your friend into my house thinking I was asleep. Yes, you have caused harm. You caused harm by making me send my boy out in the night with a storm coming and wondering if I would see him safe again!” Jane could feel her voice begin to shake with exasperation.

  “I’m leavin’,” the man said with a sneer. “You come join me down the road where we talked about goin’ when this is over my friend.”

  “You just gonna leave me here to face them men by myself?” the man behind the door questioned in a panicky voice.

  “You’ll be all right, they ain’t gonna do nothin’, you haven’t done nothin’ except stand behind the door. Just stay calm and tell them you know you made a mistake and promise it won’t happen again,” the outside man answered trying to sound as though he really believed there was nothing to fear.

  “That’s easy for you to say,” the man behind the door complained.

  “I’ll see you on down the road. You know where. So long, Ma’am. Now you tell them men that we didn’t lay a finger on any of you folks, and everything will be all right,” the outside man told Jane.

  Jane heard the sound of his steps fading into the distance. She couldn’t resist the impulse to jab at the man behind the door. “My, but you keep brave company.”

  There was no reply.