Texas Twilight by Caroline Fyffe Page A

to resolve Lily and Harriett’s problem as
soon as possible.
    The
teller that he’d talked to yesterday stepped out on the boardwalk
and lit a cigarette, taking a long draw. Their eyes met over the
smoke as he exhaled. So much for having breakfast first.
    Stepping off the wooden planks, John made his
way across the dusty street. The temperature was rising and a
trickle of sweat slipped down the side of his face. The teller must
have known by the look on John’s face that his break was over
because he dabbed the top of the cigarette on the post, and put the
rest into his shirt pocket.
    “Is Mr. Shellston in? I’d like a word with
him.”
    “Yes he is. Let me go check if he will see
you.”
    Who in the hell did this banker think he was?
Grover Cleveland? No one should take themselves so seriously.
    In a moment the teller was back. “I’m sorry.
He’s quite busy. Would you like to make an appointment?”
    Though John was the youngest male McCutcheon,
he was known by all in Y Knot as the one with the hottest temper.
Growing up, he’d gotten into trouble more times than he’d like to
remember because of it, and he’d been marched out to the woodshed
by his father, each and every time.
    “Absolutely,” he said in a pleasant tone.
“I’d like to make an appointment for…” He flipped open his pocket
watch to see the time was now eleven twenty-five. “Eleven
twenty-six.”
    The teller backed off a step, peering at John
to see if he was joking. “But…that’s in one minute?”
    “Exactly.”

Chapter Fifteen
     
     
    A fter the big
night they had had the night before, it was no wonder Tante slept
soundly past seven o’clock without any signs of waking. Lily snuck
from the nice warm covers and peeked out into the hallway until one
of the chamber maids came by. She requested some hot water and a
tub sent up. In no rush to go out, Lily enjoyed bathing and washing
her hair. The hotel even availed her at no extra charge a tiny bit
of rose water for rinsing.
    Today she
needed to “make opportunities” happen. That’s what her mother
always said. People who sat around waiting for good fortune to find
them never achieved anything of value. Something of worth was never
gotten easily. If you depend on yourself, then you only have
yourself to blame. She could go on and on remembering all the
sayings. Her mother and father had been extremely hard workers,
never wasting a moment of time or energy. She would be like that. She would make her
opportunities happen.
    When Lily came around the screen fully
dressed, she was shocked. She went to the side of the bed and gazed
at Harriett. Stirrings of fear began in her mind. She bent close to
her aunt’s face, checking to see if she was still breathing.
    “Tante,” she whispered, lowering herself to
one knee so she could get closer. “Are you awake?” She rubbed her
aunt’s shoulder, then gave it a soft shake. “Tante Harriett?”
    This had happened three other times since
Lily had come to live with her aunt in Boston. Fear gripped her as
she shook the small frame of her aunt with more force with no
result.
    Falling to her knees, she reached for her
aunt’s satchel under the bed. She rummaged around, looking for the
cylinder of smelling salts that her aunt usually had nearby for
emergencies. Not finding it, she rifled deeper into the clutter,
carefully setting aside the tiny derringer her aunt always carried,
and the knitting needles that she had yet to use since departing
Boston. As Lily was about to close the bag up, something new caught
her eye. It was a little black lacquered box etched with flowers
and a tiny pink butterfly. Lily opened it carefully, finding
several little packs of paper containing a small amount of white
powder. Confused, she slowly closed the lid and put it back where
she’d found it next to a pair of black knitted stockings. As she
pushed them to the side, she noticed that something appeared to be
stuffed inside one.
    Lily sat back on her heels