Twin Flames Beyond the Trail (Preview)

Chapter One

“Addison, I need a minute in my office, right now.” Mrs. Holden said, with less of a bark than she usually had. It still set her heart racing. 

Up to her elbows in dishwater, it seemed like an odd time to take her aside, but Addison was in no position to argue with her new employer. She’d only been at the High Noon Diner & Saloon for a week and a half, and while cleaning dishes and slinging plates of catfish and cornbread wasn’t exactly a dream come true, it paid enough to cover the boarding house room she shared with her sister. 

“Coming!” Addison replied, drying the gray water from her hands and tucking her loose strands of blonde hair back into her bonnet. 

Mrs. Holden gave her a pitying look before turning on her heel and leading the way to the cramped back office. It was ten degrees hotter in there than the rest of the saloon, including the kitchen… which at least had a window. Piles of paper browning at the edges sat stacked on the shelves behind Mrs. Holden’s desk, threatening to tumble over at any moment. 

“Sit down, sit down,” Mrs. Holden instructed, waving her thin arm toward the stool on the other side of the desk. It would have been more comfortable to stand in the glorified closet, but Addison did as she was told. 

“If this is about this morning, it’s important that you know I wasn’t late, I was just helping with the deliveries that came out front instead of coming ‘round the-”

“I know you weren’t late, Addison. Don’t worry. This has nothing to do with your performance. You’re one of the better scullery girls we’ve had, but all the same…”

A lump started forming in Addison’s throat. She tried to swallow it down, but it was almost impossible knowing what was coming. 

“You can’t keep me on, can you?” Addison said, finishing Mrs. Holden’s sentence. 

“If I’m very honest with you, my daughter is coming back to town, and she needs the work. She ventured off six months ago, thinking she could provide a better life for herself somewhere else, but now she’s come crawling back. Trust me, she’s not half as good as you at the job. If I had my way… well, it doesn’t matter now. The Lord’s seen fit to bring her back to me, and it’s a mother’s duty to provide.” 

Mrs. Holden sighed, as if providing her daughter with a job was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. While she knew very little of Mrs. Holden’s life, Addison felt it couldn’t have been all that hard. 

“Maybe there’s something else I can do around here? Odd jobs, just while I find something else to keep me on my feet. I have my sister that I’m taking care of as well, so it’s not just my own mouth I have to feed,” Addison reminded the woman. 

She didn’t want to sound desperate, but the truth of it was that she was. Addison and her younger sister had spent a week living on the streets of St. Louis before escaping to Lowell, Missouri for a fresh start. Only, life in Lowell was starting to feel just as rotten as it had been in St. Louis. 

“I know, and trust me, I’ve considered it. You can take a meal home for the girl tonight. I wish I could offer more, but times are tight here, just as they are everywhere else. How old is your sister now?” 

“Emily just turned nine,” Addison replied. 

“Right. A bit young to start working, but under the circumstances… I can put in a good word for you at the boarding house. They always need help with the cleaning. Emily’s little fingers would be good at getting to hard-to-reach places,” Mrs. Holden suggested. 

Now the resentment was threatening to boil over in Addison’s chest. She’d already asked for work at the boarding house upon arrival in Lowell. In fact, she’d asked just about everywhere. The general store, the post office, and even the tailor’s. The saloon had been a last resort for Addison. 

No matter how hard things got, she wasn’t about to make her sister start working at her age. In Lowell, she’d finally gotten a chance to put her in school, even though she was years behind. There was room at the schoolhouse, and she wanted Emily to have the chance to learn her letters and numbers instead of scrubbing floors till her fingers went raw.

“That’s an excellent suggestion. Thank you for everything, Mrs. Holden. Now, if you don’t mind, I should get back to my sister and bring her that meal you so generously offered,” Addison said, standing up and willing her knees to stop shaking from anger and despair. 

“Ah, no, no, you can’t go yet. You’re only halfway through your shift. My daughter won’t be back until tomorrow, and I assume you’ll want to earn your last week’s pay by finishing out things properly,” Mrs. Holden ordered. 

The insinuation was clear. Mrs. Holden wasn’t going to give Addison her last round of pay unless she finished out her shift. She yearned to storm out of the place, after giving the woman a piece of her mind, but Addison knew she was stuck. She needed that last ounce of pay, if not for herself, then to keep her sister’s stomach full. 

Numbness had set in by the time Addison returned to the boarding house that night. Emily was tucked away in bed like the good girl she was, though her eyes popped open as soon as Addison lit a candle. 

“I didn’t mean to wake you. Close your eyes,” Addison said, putting a hand to Emily’s forehead. She considered offering the girl some of the cornbread she’d come home with, but it was best to save it for the morning if possible. They would need to ration carefully until Addison was able to get more work somewhere. 

“I’m not tired. I couldn’t wait for you to get home. I caught a frog today! It was the slimiest thing I’ve ever touched. We wanted to keep them, but Miss Carol said we had to set them free because they’d only die if we tried to capture them.” 

“That’s nice,” Addison replied, distracted by thoughts of how she was going to carry on the next day. 

“It’s not nice at all. We don’t want the frogs to die. What’s wrong?” Emily asked. She was a quick girl who sometimes knew her sister better than Addison knew herself. She’d been a fool to think she could keep the events of that night a secret from Emily for long, but she’d hoped to have at least until the morning. 

With a sigh, Addison confessed that she’d lost the job at the saloon, putting them firmly back at square one. 

“I’m sorry. I thought things were going to be different here,” Addison whispered into the dark, hot room as she fought off the tears. 

“It’s not your fault, Addison. Don’t be scared. Mama and Papa are watching down on us from the heavens. They’ll make sure nothing bad happens to us,” Emily assured her. 

Addison smiled at her sister’s optimism. While she didn’t quite believe that everything was going to turn out alright (at least not any time soon), it was a good reminder for Addison that she wasn’t alone. The Lord wasn’t going to give her any struggle that she couldn’t overcome. 

“That’s right. They’re both looking down on us right now,” Addison replied. Emily’s hand fumbled in the dark for the locket around Addison’s neck. It was a calming tradition they had developed shortly after their parents had passed five years earlier. Addison still felt the overwhelming sadness whenever she thought of them.

Inside the locket was a picture of their Mama and Papa, but as the years wore on, all Emily and Addison needed to do to take comfort was to touch the outside of the silver piece and remember that they were never as alone as they might feel. 

After the accident that had taken their parents, Addison had jumped right into action, delaying her grief in an effort to provide as best as possible for her sister. Only fifteen, she’d gotten work straight away, finding a job cleaning with a rich family. But after they’d threatened to steal Emily from her—to claim her as one of their own children—Addison knew she needed to escape. 

Without steady pay, the two sisters had ended up on the streets, putting Emily at even more risk of getting taken away and put in an orphanage. After stowing away on an early morning train, Addison and Emily had wound up in Lowell, Missouri, hoping to turn a new leaf. 

Thinking back on the family she’d worked for back in St. Louis, however, made Addison consider her options in Lowell. Though she’d been thorough with her search for work in town, she’d neglected to present herself as a maid to the richer families in the area. Maybe there was hope in that field. She had experience after all, and not every family was going to want to steal Emily from her. 

With that sliver of hope running through her mind, Addison managed to find sleep, comforted by her sister beside her, and trust in the Lord above. 

***

It wasn’t exactly the tastiest breakfast in the world, but the scrambled eggs would have to do. The ranch he worked on had stopped serving the morning meal since the drought had struck, leaving Mason to fend for himself and his father. When he looked up, however, he saw that his father’s plate was still full. 

“Do these eggs look like the right color to you?” his father asked, pushing his fork around the plate. 

“They’re fine. Could use some salt, but at least they’ll keep you going for the day. You need to keep up your strength,” Mason warned, pushing his father’s plate closer to him. 

“What do I need my strength for anymore? I can hardly carry something half my weight. Altogether useless. And you can hardly earn enough for the two of us.”

Mason resisted letting out a frustrated sigh. The mornings had gotten particularly difficult with his father ever since his mother had passed six months earlier. The older Mr. Clark had never been a particularly optimistic man, but the tragedy of losing his wife had pushed him over the deep end. 

Now, each day started with a litany of complaints and not a single note of positivity or trust that things were going to get better sooner or later. It was starting to grind Mason down as well. There was only so long he could keep a brave face on and ignore the fact that his father was right about most things. 

“With any luck, I’ll be sent out on the cattle drive next week. Then, I’ll make enough money to get us through the winter,” Mason pointed out. 

“That is if you make it back alive. Or I don’t die while you’re gone. Or if they even send you! Ranch work around these parts has been drying up, and you know it as well as I do. I can already tell what’s going to happen, and it’s not good.”

“Oh, so you can tell the future now?”

“Not so hard when you’ve seen it all happen before. Colton will tell you that he’s had to cut down on the number of cowboys making the run this year. You’ll take the news as well as you can, and head into town to check the message boards. Then, you’ll see a posting for another bounty hunter call.” 

“You know I don’t like doing that kind of work,” Mason grumbled. 

“I know that just as well as you do, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’ll have to take the job. Then, you’ll be on the road for weeks and promise to send me money home while you’re gone. Goodness knows where you’ll get it from. You’ll win the wrong bet at the wrong poker table one night trying to scramble together enough to pay for a room because it’s raining, and get yourself shot and killed.”

“Father, that’s an awfully grim portrait you’re painting before seven in the morning. Maybe you need to go for a bit of a walk. After you’ve eaten your eggs, of course,” Mason ordered. 

“I can see it all now, clear as day. Mark my words.”

“Well, I hope you have a good day too. Try not to get up to too much trouble, and I’ll see you later.”

Mason ran a hand through his dark curls t before putting his wide-brimmed hat on and making his way out for the day. As he saddled up his horse, Mason took off toward the ranch, trying to shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. 

How could things get worse, anyway? Only a year ago, he and his father had saved up almost enough money to buy their own plot of land, big enough for a small ranch with promise for growth. Now, his mother was gone thanks to a ravenous fever that had stormed through town, his father’s joints had all frozen up, and the money was almost gone. 

For a while there, Mason had even started to wonder if it was time to take a wife and start a family of his own, but that was still when he had hope for the future. All dreams of starting their own ranch were quickly drying up, replaced by meager aspirations to survive until the next month without anything getting worse. 

It wasn’t just his family who was struggling. The droughts had hit the area hard, killing cattle and crops alike. Crime had ticked up in the town that was usually known for its peace, and everyone in Lowell was left to pick up the pieces. 

Instead of the hard times bringing everyone together, however, something had shifted in town. Suddenly, neighbors were avoiding eye contact, hoping not to be faced with a request to offer help they didn’t want to give. 

“Might as well turn around now,” a voice to Mason’s left called out as he started up the road toward the corral. Mason turned to see his old friend Lenny, a fellow cowboy who was just as hard up as he was. The fever had taken his parents as well, leaving Lenny and his sister Missy to fend for themselves. 

“What do you mean?”

“They’re letting us all go. Most of us, anyway. They’re leaving early for the railhead, hoping to find some greener pastures along the way. Can’t blame them, but… leaves the rest of us pretty hard up,” Lenny explained as he rode closer. “Colton asked me to tell you.”

In the distance, Mason’s old boss gave him a salute. “Sounds about right.”

“He feels terrible about it all, of course, but… that hardly helps.” 

Mason believed that Colton felt badly about it all. He wanted to be able to provide enough jobs for his men, but when it came down to it, he had to protect his own family before all else. 

“I suppose he’s got a whole ranch on the line, whereas… I’m not sure what we’ve got to lose anymore,” Lenny joked. Mason couldn’t help but notice his friend was looking thinner than usual.

“It’s a dwindling list, that’s for sure. I don’t know how I’m going to tell my father about this. He was already on about how awful everything is. Now I have to go confirm all his worst fears before the sun’s even hit the middle of the sky,” Mason complained. 

“Why go home now? Let’s go fishing down by the river. We can pick up the rods on the way down. Missy’s had some luck with what I would call miniature squash in the garden. If we bring home a fish or two, then that’ll shut your father up for the night at least,” Lenny suggested. 

Mason shrugged. “I don’t have a better idea. Might as well head down and try our luck.”

If it wasn’t for the growing lightness of his pockets, Mason would have looked forward to a day of fishing with his friend. They used to skip out on school to do just that, back when it didn’t matter if they caught anything. Knowing there was going to be dinner on the table no matter what took the pressure off. 

“Maybe it’s time we got out of this place,” Lenny muttered as they rode back through town to get down to the river. Mason knew what he was talking about. The shoulders of everyone around seemed to be carrying an increasingly heavy weight. 

He looked around at the faces of his fellow townsfolk, noticing once plump cheeks now hollowed out. His eyes landed on one young woman with bright blue eyes coming out of the boarding house, and he couldn’t help but let his gaze linger. 

If he wasn’t mistaken, it was Ella Scott, daughter of Lowell’s mayor. Everyone knew her to be the prettiest girl in town, though a bit stuck up. Mayor Scott managed to keep his family well-fed despite the rising poverty around them, and no one knew exactly how. There was talk of railroad investments, gold mines in California, and even the coffee trade, but the Scotts kept their riches and secrets close to the chest. 

“What do you think Miss Ella Scott is doing coming out of the boarding house wearing a dress fit for a ranch cook?” Mason asked Lenny. “From the looks of it, even the Scotts aren’t doing well these days.”

Lenny wrenched his head around to see what his friend was talking about. “You talking about her, over there? That’s not Miss Scott. Couldn’t be.” 

Mason looked behind him again. Of course, Miss Scott wouldn’t be caught dead in town unchaperoned, let alone looking like that. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him. 

Maybe there was something wrong with those eggs after all. 

Chapter Two

“Sorry, we don’t have any work to offer here. If I were you, I’d see about moving to a different town,” yet another cook told Addison. This one towered over her with what might have been a motherly face once, now cracked into terrifying hardness. 

Addison stood with a hand in the frame of the back door, hoping that would keep it from being slammed in her face. It was the fifth house she’d been to that day, which didn’t seem like many, but considering how far apart all the big houses were, Addison felt as though she’d been walking for weeks. 

At every place, it was the same story. They’d just had to let someone go, or they couldn’t take on anyone new. Addison was starting to feel sick from hunger and so much time in the sun, but the thought of being able to tell Emily some good news kept her going. The cornbread had disappeared quickly that morning, and Addison had gone without eating anything so that Emily would have something for lunch. 

At first, Addison had thought her last bit of pay from the saloon was going to last the two of them for a while, but the owner of the boarding house had insisted that she pay for the next week upfront. Not wanting to risk losing the roof over their heads, Addison had handed it all over. Now, there was nothing left and nothing to eat. 

Behind the surly cook was the largest kitchen Addison had seen with her own eyes. Bread was baking in the oven, and from the smell of the place, there was a rack of ribs roasting over a fire. It was enough to make Addison’s mouth water. 

“Right. I’ve heard that before. I don’t suppose it’s worth mentioning that I have experience not just in the kitchen, but also with cleaning. Back in St. Louis, I worked for a family and—”

“Do you have a reference?” the cook interrupted. 

“Well, no, unfortunately not.”

The woman shook her head. “Can’t have you in the main rooms of the house without a reference. Why didn’t they give you one? That tells me you either got fired or you had an affair with the man of the house. Either way, we can’t have your kind around here. Best go try your luck somewhere else.”

Addison’s jaw fell open in shock. but before she could defend herself, a maid came running into the kitchen behind the cook. 

“Mrs. Baitle, Lucas got into the matches again and is threatening to set fire to the curtains if he doesn’t get his cookies now,” the maid screamed, as if the whole house was already up in flames. 

“Oh, come on now, Sally. We’ve talked about this! You can’t let him order you about like this, matches or no matches,” Mrs. Baitle replied with the same judgmental tone she’d given Addison. 

When the smell of smoke floated down the back stairs, however, both women started sprinting away, lifting their skirts and shouting for help. 

Addison lingered by the door that was still open, wondering if she ought to go help them, or if they expected her to leave. While she didn’t get the best feeling about working for Mrs. Baitle, she couldn’t help but think there was room to convince the woman that she deserved a job. 

Addison wasn’t prepared to give up so easily just yet. No matter what Mrs. Baitle thought of her, the young woman trusted that she could talk someone into hiring her. She had to. 

As the minutes ticked by and there was no sign of Mrs. Baitle, Addison’s stomach started to grumble with hunger. She dared to take a step inside, seduced by the smell of a basket of fresh rolls. 

Would the family really miss one or two of those rolls? Of course, Addison was no thief, and if she took anything, she would make it her business to pay the owners back, but… the smell was too much for her gnawing hunger to resist. 

She darted forward, knowing that if she thought about it for too long, she’d talk her way out of it. Addison quickly slipped a roll for Emily into her apron pocket, but after snatching another one for herself, she turned back to the door only to come face to face with Mrs. Baitle once more. 

“So, that’s your game, is it? Pretend to be an innocent young girl looking for work while you strip the good people in this house of their hard-earned food?” 

Addison’s eyes went wide. Without thinking, she made a run for it, sure that she could outrun the older woman. 

The sound of her boots clicking quickly against the stone floor echoed through the kitchen. Addison’s heart raced as she neared the open door. Why had she dared to do such a stupid thing? How had the cook come back to the kitchen so silently, and why were the rolls still in Addison’s pocket? 

Now, she really looked like a thief. 

Before she could reach the door, Mrs. Baitle got there first, slamming it shut. 

“You think you can take what you want and make a run for it? Not so fast! It’s straight to the mayor with you. I can’t wait to see what the sheriff thinks of this,” Mrs. Baitle hissed. 

Addison tried to duck as Mrs. Baitle lurched toward her, but the woman was faster than she looked. Before she knew it, Addison’s wrist was in the cook’s grasp, and she was halfway up the stairs. 

“As if Lucas trying to set fire to the curtains wasn’t enough, now we have a thief in the kitchen! I’d rather have rats. The things we put up with around here. It’s too much,” Mrs. Baitle continued to rail as Addison tried to make sense of her surroundings. 

Was the mayor of the town upstairs? Even if he was, why would he bother with a small-time thief? 

At the top of the stairs that opened out into a grand, white foyer stood a painting that explained it all. The painting was a portrait of a stout man, likely made out to be better looking than he really was, sporting a mayoral gold chain. 

As if her luck couldn’t be any worse, Addison had somehow found herself on the mayor’s estate. It explained why it was a grander house than any she’d ever set foot in before, but she could hardly enjoy the magnificent architecture under the circumstances. 

Her mind raced as she was marched down a hall with a dozen doors that reached off it until finally Mrs. Baitle stopped in front of one and knocked. 

“What is it?” 

“I hate to bother you, Mayor Scott, but you told me to inform you anytime we had a sneaky little thief trying to worm their way into our food, and I’ve caught one,” Mrs. Baitle reported. 

A split second later, the door to the mayor’s study sprang open, and a shorter, stouter man resembling the one in the painting stood on the other side. His round face was red with anger, but as he studied Addison’s face and figure, the anger slowly turned into something approaching curiosity. 

“Well, well, well… she’s a pretty little thief, isn’t she? What did she take?” Mayor Scott asked. His voice was higher than Addison thought it would be. 

“Bread rolls, if you can believe it. Goodness knows how many she stuck in her pocket.”

The mayor swiftly went to empty Addison’s pockets. She would have slapped his hands away out of instinct if Mrs. Baitle hadn’t been clinging to both her wrists. 

“Looks like there’s only two of them. Still, a very grave crime to be taking the bread from someone else’s mouth. A sin, really,” the mayor announced. 

“I’ll send for the sheriff straight away,” Mrs. Baitle said. 

“Wait, wait a moment,” Mayor Scott said, raising one hand. He took a bite from the bread roll as he considered his next move. Addison was too shocked to say anything in her own defense. This was how the world worked, as far as she could tell. Those with money ruled over all those who didn’t, even on the frontier. 

“Wait for what, sir?”

“I might have something better in mind for her. I’ll have to think about it. Lock her up in that closet there and have someone guard the door while I consider… the options in this scenario,” the mayor said, once again eyeing Addison up and down. 

“What are you going to do with me?” she dared to ask. 

“I don’t know yet. That’s the whole point. If you’re very lucky, I might find a smidgen of mercy in my heart… wouldn’t want a pretty girl like you wasting away in prison. But it’s a very serious crime you’ve committed just now. That is not to be forgotten! Take her away.” 

Mayor Scott waved a hand and Mrs. Baitle pushed Addison down the hall. 

“Wait, please don’t,” she pleaded, but she was no competition for the fortress that was Mrs. Baitle. 

Seconds later, she was thrust into darkness. But she quickly figured out she was in the largest linen closet she’d ever seen. The scent of lavender filled her nostrils. It was likely meant to be a calming scent, but under the circumstances, Addison didn’t think she’d ever think of lavender the same. 

She considered banging on the door and crying for help, but she knew better. She was in the mayor’s house for goodness’ sake, having just been caught red-handed committing a crime. Addison was drowning just as much in guilt as she was in despair. No one would believe her word against the mayor’s, and besides, what could she say in her defense?

All she could do was go along with whatever the mayor decided and be as obedient as possible in the hopes that he might take pity on her. She tried to tell herself that it was good news that the sheriff hadn’t immediately been sent for, but then again, it was hard to say if Mayor Scott’s idea of justice would be any better than the sheriff’s. 

Time ceased to have any meaning as Addison sat there on the ground of the linen closet, too scared to even cry. Not even her hungry belly made any noises as she sat there, the feeling of her impending starvation replaced by pure panic. 

Eventually, she heard footsteps approaching the door once more, followed by the muffled voice of the mayor. Then, the handle rattled, and the door opened, bathing Addison in a blinding light. 

“Come, come. Stand up and follow me back to my office,” she heard the mayor order her. Behind him came the voice of the cook, asking whether or not she ought to bind Addison’s hands. Thankfully, Mayor Scott said that wouldn’t be necessary. 

Back in his study, Addison tried to stop her hands from shaking. The place was just as remarkable as she would have assumed it would be, with two-story high bookshelves lining the walls and a huge desk made out of what she was convinced was mahogany. 

Mrs. Baitle closed the door behind them, and Addison jumped when she noticed for the first time a clerk sitting behind a smaller desk, taking notes on everything the mayor said or did. Mayor Scott didn’t seem to acknowledge the man at all. 

“Well. Thank you for your patience. Please, help yourself to a biscuit,” he said, gesturing to a small plate on his desk. Despite her hunger, Addison held back, nervous that he’d had the biscuits poisoned perhaps. The about-face was too abrupt for her to interpret. What could possibly explain the sudden show of hospitality?

“No, thank you,” Addison managed to whisper.

“No? Ah, nervous stomach, I would imagine. I hope my decision will serve to calm you. As it happens, I will not be alerting the sheriff as to your criminal activity this afternoon.”

Addison let out a small sigh of relief before sucking in another breath and holding it. Was the mayor going to seek some kind of civil justice ten times worse than whatever sentence the sheriff might have imposed upon her?

“Thank you,” she replied regardless, as it seemed it was the response Mayor Scott was looking for. 

“I know, very generous of me. I am merciful to the citizens of Lowell, though of course, I have a demand to make in return. Now, this may be too complicated for you to comprehend at first hearing, but you can simply ask my clerk to repeat anything I may have said if you need to hear it again. Do you understand?”

Addison looked over to the clerk quickly. He was a small man with particularly tiny spectacles who never seemed to raise his eyes from the page before him. 

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good, good. I suppose the place to start… is to tell you about my daughter. Ella. She’s a beautiful girl and I expect great things from her. Great things from her marriage prospects, of course. Here.” 

Mayor Scott passed Addison a small painting of a blonde woman who was indeed beautiful. There was something eerily familiar about the image of Ella, though Addison couldn’t quite put her finger on it. 

“She seems lovely.” Addison passed the picture back. 

“Yes, lovely… but is there nothing else you notice? Erik, tell me you see it,” Mayor Scott demanded, putting the painting in front of his clerk. 

Without looking up, Erik spoke. “They could be twins. They are identical in every respect except for upbringing, class, and clothing.” 

“Thank you! Yes, indeed! It took me a moment to see past the grime of poverty but upon closer examination… you really are the spitting image of my Ella!” Mayor Scott exclaimed. “I suppose you don’t often get to gaze upon yourself in a mirror, but take our word for it. The two of you could be one. Mrs. Baitle said it to me, unprompted.” 

“Oh, I… I suppose we do look similar,” Addison replied, unsure as to what to make of this revelation. Where was this all leading? “Could that be… of use to you?” 

“Yes, yes, I think it very much could. You see, my daughter is being preyed upon by some invisible force or gang. They leave signs everywhere. Footprints under her window. Threatening, anonymous notes claiming to be in love with her. I fear the culprit may even have been inside her room at some point,” he explained. 

“That’s terrifying.” 

“Couldn’t have put it better myself. The sheriff’s deputies once saw a man climbing down from her window, but he could not be apprehended. I don’t know if it’s someone working alone, or if there’s a whole band of outlaws after her, but as I’m sure you can imagine, my Ella is a prime target to fetch a pretty ransom.”

“I’m sure,” Addison agreed, still unsure about where the conversation was leading. 

“It’s gotten so bad, that I’ve decided to take her away to California until this all blows over. I have some property there and could use a vacation from my duties. Of course, the travel there would be quite dangerous. This stalker of sorts will, in all likelihood, follow at any cost.”

“I can see why you’d be afraid of that.”

“And that’s where you come in. I had to think about it for a while. How to make use of this uncanny similarity between the two of you, but finally it came to me, all in an instant, as if God was speaking directly to me.”

Addison’s jaw fell open slightly as she tried to see into the future. How, exactly, he thought she could help stop Ella Scott’s pursuer was beyond her, no matter how hard she tried to read the mayor’s mind. 

“God was speaking to you?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. 

“He sent you to me! To act as a decoy, of course! It all makes perfect sense now. You must go ahead to California with some kind of a chaperone. I’ll spread the word around town. Of course, you have to stay hidden until then, so no one guesses the plan before we can put it into action. You’re not from here, are you? And you haven’t been prancing around town too much?”

“I… um, no… I’m from St. Louis. And no, I haven’t been… prancing around, as you put it,” Addison replied slowly, still trying to make sense of Mayor Scott’s plan. 

“Good, good. Even if you had been here for long, this grimy costume is the perfect disguise. Only my keen eyes would recognize you for Ella’s doppelganger. We’ll have to transform you into a fine lady, which will take some doing… but if we put the work in, it will all be worth it,” Mayor Scott said excitedly, clearly very pleased with his idea. 

“So… you want me to act as bait, go to California on my own, and hope that whoever’s after her attacks or kidnaps me instead?” Addison asked. 

The mayor shrugged. “In a very simplistic way, yes. Only, you wouldn’t be going alone. No one would believe that my Ella would be traveling without companionship or protection. I’ll have to ask Sheriff Miller who he thinks would make for the best chaperone… perhaps there’s one of his deputies he can spare. Then, two weeks after you leave by stagecoach, the real Ella and the rest of our family will travel to California by train!”

“I- I wish I could take you up on this… generous offer, but I’m afraid I can’t. I have a sister to care for, and she’s too young for me to leave behind,” Addison explained. 

The mayor’s eyes went cold. “Generous offer? Allow me to make myself perfectly clear… you do not have the option of turning this down. It is not an offer. This is an order. Unless, of course, you would prefer me to tell the sheriff about this incident.”

He started making his way around the desk slowly, moving like a large predator stalking his prey. 

“Don’t write this down, Erik,” he demanded, keeping his eyes on Addison. “Would you like that? Would you like me to tell the sheriff that you were trying to make off with the silverware, and it was only thanks to the bravery of-”

“I didn’t go after the silverware!” Addison protested before she could stop herself.

Mayor Scott laughed. “That’s the point, isn’t it? It’s your word against mine, and I saw your grimy fingers closing around my candlesticks. At my request, the sheriff and judge would see to it that you paid the dearest price for your crimes… a year behind bars, perhaps? To make sure you learned your lesson properly! I can’t imagine how your younger sister would take care of herself with you locked away.”

There were only a few inches between their noses now. Addison trembled as the full terror of her situation was spelled out for her. She was stuck between a rock and a tyrant mayor foaming at the mouth. 

“California sounds lovely,” she squeaked out just loud enough for him to hear. Immediately, his smile returned, and he stepped away from her, clapping his hands. 

“It does, doesn’t it? Of course, all the expenses of your travels will be covered, and then you’ll be able to get a fresh start! Sounds like the adventure of a lifetime, if you ask me!”

Addison wasn’t half as giddy as the mayor seemed to think she should be. From what he’d told her, this was potentially an extremely dangerous mission that she would be risking her life for… without a penny in compensation. 

On the other hand, the alternative was prison time, which Addison could not fathom. Of course, there was still the issue of Emily. 

“Quite an adventure. I implore you, however, I can’t leave my sister for so long. She’s only nine-years-old, and-”

The mayor let out a loud and low grumble. “Yes, yes, your sister! Can you go a second without speaking of her? She can travel with us to California on the train and meet you there. We’ll have the servants take care of her.”

Addison swallowed. She didn’t like the idea of being separated from Emily, especially after everything that had happened back in St. Louis. Traveling by stagecoach with Addison and a crazed criminal on their tail was hardly any better, however.

“And… if I don’t make it to California safely… if this outlaw and his associates manage to get their hands on me thinking I’m your daughter… what will happen to my sister?”

“I don’t know! We’ll send her to an orphanage in California. Does that sound fair? It is fair! This is all getting a bit exhausting. I expected a bit more gratitude from a pauper and vagrant like you.”

Addison let the insults wash over her. Emily was her main concern, and it sounded like she wasn’t going to get a better deal than the one Mayor Scott was offering. She could only hope that the servants watching over her sister would be kinder than the cook. 

Emily was a sweet girl. It was almost impossible for anyone not to like her, so as long as the Scotts didn’t decide that they wanted to keep her, Addison was fairly sure those looking after her would be won over. 

After the family in St. Louis had betrayed her, however, Addison couldn’t fully bring herself to trust any wealthy person. Experience had taught her that money rotted the mind and conscience of those who had it for too long, leading them to believe that they were somehow superior beings because of their pocketbooks. 

“I’m very grateful for your generosity, sir. Thank you for not telling the sheriff about my indiscretion. I appreciate it more than I can say. If you don’t mind, I should like to go to my sister now and explain-”

“No, no, no, you can’t go anywhere now. Can’t risk you getting spotted by anyone else in town or our plan might be ruined. Where are you staying?”

“The Lowell Haven Boarding House,” Addison replied. 

Mayor Scott shuddered. “What a place. Right. I’ll have your sister sent for. The two of you can stay in the servant’s quarters until we depart next week.”

Addison’s heart leaped in fear at the idea of strangers barging into her shared room with Emily, insisting that the girl go with them. If Addison wasn’t there, how was Emily meant to trust anyone ordering her about? With Emily’s reading so behind, she couldn’t even give her a note. 

“Here. Take this,” Addison said, taking the locket off from around her neck and handing it to the mayor, who held it out as if it was made of mud. 

“…What for?”

“To give to my sister. To assure her that it’s alright to go with whoever is sent to fetch her,” she explained. 

Mayor Scott nodded with pursed lips and wordlessly dropped the necklace on the clerk’s desk. 

Minutes later, Addison was being led by another silent maid to the room where she would be staying for the next week, through the narrow, winding servant’s staircases that lined the proper halls and expansive parlors where the rich folks did whatever it was that they did. 

“Here,” the quiet, slight maid whispered when they arrived at the highest, hottest room in the house. “Breakfast is served at 6:30 in the servant’s hall downstairs. I’ve been told that you’ll be eating lunch with the family, however, so you learn their ways. But not dinner.”

“Right. Thank you. My name is Addison, by the way.”

“Molly,” the girl replied, with a deferential bow of the head. 

“Nice to meet you, Molly. Will you be going to California with the Scotts?” 

Molly shrugged away the question. “Mayor Scott told me to help you into one of Miss Ella’s dresses. I hope you don’t mind blue.”

Addison looked over to the bed where the prettiest dress she’d ever seen was lying. It was a periwinkle blue, dotted with impossibly tiny pink embroidered flowers and a lace collar so fine she couldn’t imagine how it had been made. 

“Oh, I don’t… I’m sure I’ll be fine on my own,” Addison said, unaccustomed to being waited upon or helped in any way. She knew full well that she would never be able to get such a dress on herself, but it still felt odd to make someone else aid her. 

“No, you won’t,” Molly replied, looking Addison up and down. The girl quickly got to work, stripping Addison down to her shift and replacing even that with a much finer one. It all smelled like the same lavender that had haunted her in the linen closet where she’d been trapped earlier. 

When she was fully dressed, Molly spun her around to inspect the work, and her eyes went wide. 

“What is it? What’s wrong? It looks terrible on me, doesn’t it?”

“No, it’s that… you really do look just like her. Miss Ella. Except for the dirt on your face. I’m going to get some water and a cloth to clean you up. Then, we’ll have to do something with your hair,” Molly said, reaching up and touching Addison’s blonde locks with the same disdain Mayor Scott had had for the locket. 

After fussing over her face and hair for the better part of two hours, Molly finally finished her masterpiece. She handed over a small mirror, and even in the modestly sized glass, Addison was stunned by the transformation. 

She looked every inch a wealthy, frontier woman. She was hardly recognizable, even to herself. As pretty as the reflection looking back at her was, Addison could still feel her stomach cloying at itself in hunger. It didn’t matter how much powder or pretty fabrics were piled on her… Addison was still the girl who’d been caught stealing the bread rolls at the end of the day.