Page 23 of The Heart’s Charge

“If you don’t mind.”

Donaldson waved a hand as he pivoted back toward the livery. “I’ll have him ready in a jiffy.”

Jiffy was a bit optimistic, Mark thought, watching the man’s slow, lopsided gait. But he wasn’t in a hurry. Kate wasn’t even expecting him.

He leaned close to Jonah, careful to keep his voice low. “Let me know what the deputy has to say. And if you get the sense he’s not being forthcoming with you, I can take a run at him this afternoon when I come back to question the teacher.”

During their plotting last night, they’d decided Jonah would question the local law to see if anyone had reported missing children. Mark would take charge of the schoolmarm, see if she’d noticed anything unusual lately or heard any chatter about kiddy-snatchers during recess patrol. If anyone had heard about children disappearing, surely it would be one of those two community members.

“I think I’ll pick up a train schedule while I’m at it,” Jonah said. “If we come up dry with the adults, we might get some answers by running these boxcar kids to ground.”

Mark nodded. “Good idea. I’ll ask Kate about it as well.” Hopefully in a subtle enough manner to avoid causing alarm. He didn’t want to scare her. Just see what she might know.

“Hey, Donaldson,” Jonah called to the livery owner, who’d just led Cooper into the tacking area. “You handle wagon repair? I got an axle that needs replacin’.”

Donaldson shook his head as he retrieved a bridle from a numbered hook on the livery wall. “I can do minor stuff, but any axle work will need to go to the wheelwright in Llano.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

Mark shot his partner a questioning look.

“Noticed a significant crack in the wagon’s rear axle yesterday.” Jonah fit his hat lower over his eyes as if worried his gaze might give away more than he wanted to reveal.

Like an attraction to a certain Harmony House headmistress.

Mark pushed his hat higher on his forehead, letting all the smirkiness in his eyes dance around in full view.

Jonah grunted and turned away.

Mark chuckled. Nice to know he wasn’t the only one with an ulterior motive for hanging around a foundling home.

Five minutes later, Donaldson had Cooper saddled and ready to go. Mark slung his saddlebags behind the cantle, then slid his rifle into the scabbard. In a well-practiced motion, he fit his left foot to the stirrup and mounted. “I’ll be back this afternoon,” he said.

But not before he and Kate finally got around to those explanations that had never quite materialized yesterday.

“So. Are you going to tell me about Mr. Wallace voluntarily, or am I going to have to order the twins to tickle it out of you?”

Katherine lifted her gaze from where she’d been hiding it in her teacup and looked across the table at Eliza. Her best friend had sacrificed her normally perfect posture in favor of a more intimidating stance that included crossed arms, a single raised brow, and the Southerland death stare. The one that brought misbehaving children to their knees in the classroom and spurred bureaucratic feet-draggers into action when a child’s welfare was at stake. Unfortunately, it had a similar effect on Katherine, crumbling her resistance as if it were no sturdier than the day-old biscuit she’d used to break her fast.

“It’s not a story I’m particularly proud of,” she confessed. Yet ever since Mark had appeared at the door yesterday, she’d been able to think of little else. Their history had even invaded her dreams, twisting into a convoluted mess of emotions and obscured facts that had left her more tired than rested when she awoke.

Eliza’s intimidating expression melted away in an instant. She leaned forward in her chair, scooted her empty breakfast plate out of the way, then reached for Katherine’s hand. “If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. Just know that nothing you say will diminish my respect for you. I know your heart. Your passion for those discarded by others. None of us is perfect.” A smile broke across her face. “Especially when we’re sixteen. That’s how old you would have been a decade ago, right?”

Katherine nodded. Her pride insisted she sprint down the escape path Eliza had kindly ungated, but her conscience wouldn’t allow such cowardly behavior. Perhaps if she got those memories out of her head and into the real world, she could finally put them to rest.

“We were so young,” Katherine said, thankful the children were out of earshot, occupied in the schoolroom upstairs. Eliza always let them play for thirty minutes before she started lessons. It helped them expend some energy and allowed the adults a quiet breakfast before the day began in earnest.

Nostalgia relaxed her tense muscles and tugged her lips into a small smile. “All the girls were infatuated with him. Handsome. Tall. Athletic. But that’s not what drew their attention. Not really. Mark had this way about him that was just so genuine. He got a little cocky at times, yet never in a cruel way. He cared about people. Listened to what they had to say. It didn’t matter if they were cranky old men with a laundry list of complaints or children barely old enough to have a full set of teeth. He charmed them all.”

A small harrumph emanated from Eliza’s side of the table.

Katherine shook her head. “I know you think charm is a weapon wielded by manipulators and the insincere, but that wasn’t the case with Mark. His sincerity was his charm.”

Eliza looked less than convinced. “So how did this Prince Charming break your heart?”

“He didn’t. I managed that feat for both of us.” Katherine sighed. “Mark was two years older than me in school, but our families were close. We both shared an interest in music as well, so we were often paired together for school and church functions that involved singing or performing. I had a terrible crush on him, although Mark never let on that he knew. He didn’t show favoritism to any of the girls. My mother explained his need to be careful in that regard. Handsome young men from fine families were considered a great coup, and some girls—and their mothers—would not be above trapping such a young man into marriage. The Wallace family honor would never allow a lady’s reputation to be marred, so even if Mark was the victim of a self-serving girl’s scheme, he wouldn’t cry off.”

Katherine swallowed the last bit of her tea, her face scrunching at the lukewarm temperature. Strange how something so perfect when hot left a bad taste in her mouth after the passage of time. Much like her own folly with Mark. In the heat of the moment, she’d been so sure she was doing the right thing, but time proved her choice not only foolish, but distasteful.