“Yes, sir. Thanks to your generosity.”
“None of that now, I think we both know that we helped each other.” Allen turns to Glenn, “You missed a lot when you were away.”
“I can see that.” He murmurs as he follows them inside the modest two-room cabin.
Sheriff Austin sips on his coffee and leans back before pulling the bottle from his pocket.
“What can you tell me about this bottle?”
Eli glances at his father and John hisses out in frustration. “Knew she was trouble, in her fancy carriage and all. I told her to only use two splashes per batch. Why? What’d she do with it?”
Glenn sighs and runs a hand over his face. “She used two full bottles.”
“What?” Eli shouts while his father stops puffing on his pipe and leans forward.
“Was anyone hurt?”
“Depends on the definition,” Glenn snaps.
“Don’t be thickheaded, son. We believe she poured one full bottle into the apple cider at the Quilting Bee. Not sure about the second bottle, she crushed it on the floor of my barn.”
John sits back in shock as Allen explains in more detail.
“Daisy was sick for twelve hours straight as well as Savannah. Ms. Coltrane has been sick for two days.”
“Two days? Tell me her symptoms,” he demands.
“Hot, fevered, chills, hallucinations, tightness of breath, and vomiting. Not to mention headaches,” Glenn answers hoarsely.
Eli goes to the cupboard and pulls down a small brown bottle. “This is lemon and honey. Mix it with a cup of boiled water and serve it like tea. It will help with worst of it. Remember, lots of fluids for her,” he instructs offering the bottle to Glenn. “Two teaspoons per cup.”
“Thank you.”
“Why would that girl do this? I warned her that it would be dangerous?” John turns to the Sheriff, “What are you gonna do about this?”
“Not much I can do. Martha swears that Anika did it and that you are lying for her,” Sheriff Austin replies with a sigh.
“That girl ain't right in the head, talking about true love…” John Sutton turns to look at Glenn. “You? Was she was talking about you?”
“I never gave her reason to believe anything of the sort,” Glenn hisses and stands up to move to the window.
“You best beware of her, scorned women are dangerous,” Eli says.
“I can see that,” Glenn sighs. “She made all the women in my family sick.”
“It’s worse than that, son. It could have poisoned them all.”
Allen covers his face with his hand when he thinks about his wife and daughter. “What are we gonna do about this?” he asks Glenn.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Sutton. I will see what I can do, but right now it’s your word against hers.”
“I'm sorry Allen that you and yours were hurt if there's anything I can do, let me know,” John offers.
“I will. Thank you.”
As they ride away from the small house, Glenn looks at his father, “You have some explaining to do.”
Allen waits until they are halfway down the mountain to pull on his reins. Sheriff Austin slows his mount, “I'll be asking around town and revisiting Martha. Don't do anything rash.”
Allen doesn't promise; instead, he watches the Sheriff ride away before speaking. “John Sutton and his sons helped us when the raiders came and tried to burn down our home and barn. In return, I provided them with fruits and vegetables for their families. It seemed like a fair trade.”
“Damn, I wish I'd known,” Glenn says staring back up the mountain.
“You didn’t ask.” Allen rides away leaving his son in silence.
“Guess he’s right, I do have a lot to learn.”
Chapter 19
“Stop fretting, Martha, you’ll only give yourself worry lines. They can’t prove that you put a few splashes into her cup or the pot. I can guarantee that the church members will be in an uproar over this incident. In fact,” she says toying with the new bonnet in Mrs. Flannagan’s dress shop, “with the right nudging I can promise they will run that girl out of town on the next train.”
Martha grins, “Mother, I love your devious mind. Did you see how they were acting,” she cackles loudly and dabs at her eyes. Giving a sniff, Martha struggles to get herself under control. “It was more like a half a bottle in her cup, and that's before the whole bottle I poured into the pot,” she says cackling even louder.
“I was hoping it might have a stronger effect, but apparently that batch wasn’t what he claimed.”
“I heard she was sick for four days,” her mother insists.
“Not nearly sick enough.” She holds up a necklace to look at it in the sunlight of the shop window and smiles. “One shouldn't be surprised that someone of Glenn's lineage doesn't know quality.”
Mrs. Austin tiptoes through the aisle behind them and fights with her anger. She was sick for half a day on just three glasses of that cider, what that poor girl must have went through! She hurries away from them and goes in search of her husband.
Sheriff Austin marches into the main office of the First National Bank and smiles as he’s greeted by a clerk. It is a small building in the center of town and quite busy this time of morning.
“I need to see Mr. Darlington, Jess.”
“Jessica,” she smiles. “I hate that nickname, and you know it, cousin.”
“I do know it.”
Jessica’s eyes flick around the room and she scurried around the desk. “I can’t let you see him right now, Sheriff. He’s with some important visitors.”
“I’m afraid this isn’t a social call, Jess. I need to see him now.”
“Give me a minute.” She hurries to the office in the back and knocks on the door.
A few moments later she is followed
