Mail Ordered Deception

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Monica let her footsteps carry her along, the houses and Jackson fading into the distance. She looked back once, noticing he had not moved from where she left him. Facing back forward, she finally let the tears fall that she had been holding back. Monica was angry but mostly at herself. Admittedly she had begun to see Jackson as a friend. She saw how he had been more open to a smile and even the occasional laugh. She smelled the whiskey less and less each day and foolishly assumed it was because of her influence.

The more she walked, the more angry at herself she became, but for a different reason. She began to realize that she judged him so harshly for his actions, without thinking of her own misdeeds. Just today she had stolen fifty dollars away from him for her own needs. How was she any better than he was, morally? Her walking slowed, as she heard the car approaching from behind. Monica moved off of the road to allow the car to pass. Instead, it stopped just ahead of her. Jackson stepped out of the car and walked up to her. She folded her arms across her chest, still too stubborn to admit that she was in the wrong.

“Come in the car.” Jackson gestured to the open door. Monica shook her head defiantly and proceeded to walk. “Please?” She stopped then and turned to face him. He took a deep breath. “I am sorry. I should never have acted like you are ignorant, or spoken to you in such a demeaning manner.” Monica held firm physically, but inside she was softening to his apology. It sounded heartfelt to her and so she stood there, willing to listen to what he had to say. “I am for lack of better terms, an arrogant ass.” Monica could not hide the giggle as much as she tried. “Will you please come back in the car?” still she shook her head. He turned defeated back to the car.

“If you would like, you can walk back with me though.” Monica felt her heartbeat quicken, wondering why she would prefer walking alone with him than riding with a buffer in the form of a driver. Jackson waved the car on and they watched as it sped away, leaving them with nothing but each other’s company.

“Shall we?” He asked, holding his arm out to her. Hesitantly, Monica linked her arm in Jackson’s and they started again towards home. “So, since you clearly know so much about me,” he gave her a pointed look with a cheeky grin, causing her to blush, “would you care to tell me a little bit about yourself?” Monica should have expected this and was just hoping she could keep her big mouth from revealing too much.

“Well, what would you like to know?” Monica asked, looking forward.

“Anything.”

“Let us see. I grew up with my parents on a very tiny farm. We used it for our own means, rather than make a profit from it. I have no brothers or sisters, and I had a dog named Minnie.” She stole a glance at him and saw Jackson was watching her, listening to what she had to say. “And my favorite color is purple.”

“Are your parents still around?” Monica would have preferred to avoid the topic of her parents altogether, but not answering would prove suspicious.

“Yes they are.”

“What else can you tell me?”

“There really is not much to tell, sir.”

“Sure there is. You mentioned before that you are nothing more than a simple country girl, but you speak as though you were raised in the heights of education. Clearly there is more to your story.” Monica wished he would end the prying so she could be finished with telling half truths. She only learned to speak this way so she could show she belonged alongside a wealthy husband, to further the ruse. Yet, a part of her was pleased he wanted to learn more about her.

“I learned to speak this way in books. My hometown may be entirely too small, but it has a single claim to fame. It has a rather large library, and it is open to everybody. Men, women, children, black and white. Most people find such a thing scandalous, but I love it.” Thinking over her next words, she figured it was safe to continue. “When I realized I could be married to anybody, I did not want to come across as ignorant, so I found books on grammar, eloquence, and etiquette. I read through them quickly and memorized as much as I could.”

The manor could be seen now, its large shadow being lessened by the setting sun. Their walk was coming to an end, but that did not seem to stop Jackson from asking one last set of questions.

“Why did you become a mail order bride to begin with? Was there not an opportunity to marry someone you loved?” Monica stopped. She could feel sweat under her arms scrambling to find a satisfactory answer. Unable to come up with much, she simply said,

“It just was not in the cards for me.” By now the manor was less than fifty feet away. Facing each other, he found his eyes boring directly into hers, and she could see the sadness in them. Then the front door burst open causing the pair to jump apart.

Jackson’s Point of View

Bethany came running towards them with her arms outstretched. Jackson held his arms out and she flew into them giggling. Jackson held her in a tight hug, Monica’s words of the day ringing in his ears. ‘A child should be raised with love’. Though he loved Little Beth, he was finally understanding that he did a terrible job of showing it. People have tried to tell him before and he refused to listen. It was different seeing how much she had opened up just in the short time of affection and attention that she had received from Monica. His eyes were quickly being opened to the realities of allowing himself to continue to sink.

Bethany reached out to Monica to hold her. Monica in turn looked to Jackson for permission and he reluctantly handed her over. The child wrapped her arms around Monica’s neck and was swiftly tickled in the ribs without restraint. Her laugh echoed off of the mountains and spread across the land and for the first time, there was an air of joy. As they went inside, Bethany began telling them about her day at lightning speed. She had gone on a trail ride, played hide and seek with Lauren, ate way too many sweets, and practiced her arithmetic. She did not nap, so Jackson knew that they had to get supper into her quickly so she could go to bed.

In the dining room, they all ate quietly, but smiles were shared all around. Dessert was forgone because of the late hour, and it was time for bed.

“Daddy, can you tuck me in?” she asked. Normally, the answer was something along the lines of, ‘no, I have work to do’ or ‘you can tuck yourself in, you are a big girl’. Tonight, as her face shined with hope, he finally gave a new answer.

“Of course I will, Little Beth.” Jackson left Monica in the dining room, as she was still working on her plate and carried Bethany up the stairs to her room. It was already dark, save the lamp on her dresser. Jackson pulled the blankets back and laid her down gently, already half asleep as a large yawn escaped her little mouth. He pulled the covers back over her and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, my love.” he whispered over her before leaving the room, turning out the lamp as he went. As the door closed behind him, Jackson went back downstairs to see if Monica was still eating her dinner. As he entered the dining room however, he was disappointed to see it was empty, her plate already cleared from the table.

He debated whether or not to go to bed himself, but decided instead to take another look at his books. Although the purchases Monica made today were necessary, he still needed to find a way to cover the costs. Jackson went into his office and sat at his desk. When he went to open his books however, he noticed a note over the top page.

Another six foals gone. The bodies already taken care of.

-Terry

Great. He thought, putting his head on the table. This was the last thing Jackson needed right at that moment. The situation was getting way out of hand and if it continued, he would have to pull his position over his friend and take matters into his own hands. Otherwise, the ranch would be lost.

Monica’s Point of View

What was the rolling set of emotions of a day had finally come to an end. Slightly shaking inside, Monica decided to take outside and breathe in the night air. She walked down the yard, stopping briefly to see Prince. He greeted her warmly as she stroked his face.

“I wonder if you deal with problems such as these. If you could speak, would we listen to what was on your mind?” He let out a snort in response and Monica sighed. Stepping away to go back inside, out of the corner of her eye she saw a light from inside of the barn. All of the workers should have been gone by this point, so out of curiosity, she ventured forward to the door. Peering carefully around the corner, she heard grunting and the sound of something dragging across the floor. Scanning the barn, she saw at the opposite end a large wagon. What else she saw caused her heart to stop. Terrance McKnight, the foreman was dragging a foal, its legs tied together so it could not stand, into the back of the wagon. From the sounds coming from inside, she could tell there were several of them in there. She covered her mouth to hold back the gasp, but still some sound escaped. She hid behind the door praying that she had not been heard.

After several moments, she dared to peer back inside, but was met with an unfortunate sight. Terrance was standing not two feet from her, knowing he had been caught. And yet, instead of fear, she saw him smile back at her.