“There. Now you have it all. You heard the man. He closed out the account. There’s nothing more.”
Hiram frowned but took the cash. “I figured you’d have more, Addie. What about the gold you took out of the Yukon?”
“What gold?” She looked at him in disbelief. “I snuck out of town dressed as a poor boy. Where was I going to get gold? Furthermore, where was I to hide it during my escape?”
She could see Hiram was studying her as if to decide thetruth of the situation, so she hurried to continue. “I had the necklace, of course. I wore it under my clothes, but I sold it. I had to live all of these years.”
“You didn’t need a hundred thousand dollars.”
She gave a laugh. “I had no idea it was worth that. I figured I was lucky to get what I did. Just a few thousand is all I thought it was worth.”
“A few thousand? You sold that gold-nugget necklace for a few thousand?”
She didn’t want to lie, so she changed the subject. “I’m no expert on gold. Besides, I just bought my little house. Cash was required for that transaction. Too bad you didn’t show up sooner.”
“We can sell it. After all, I figure we’ll leave town.”
“And go where?”
They were walking back to the trolley stop in the light sprinkling of rain. Addie was certain they’d be soaked to the skin by the time they got back to the expo.
“I have a hankering to go to California,” Hiram replied. “I’ve heard there are all sorts of opportunities there to get rich fast.”
“I hope you and Shep will leave soon.”
“I told you, you’re coming with us.”
Addie saw the trolley in the distance. She turned to Hiram and shook her head. “I will not come with you. Never. Not under any circumstances. You might as well get that in your head right now. You have what you wanted, so take it and go to California.”
“I don’t believe that the necklace is gone. I don’t believe that there’s no gold. You must be hiding it somewhere else.”
“Believe what you want, Hiram, but it doesn’t change athing. Do you honestly think I’d be living as I have if I had money? You’re a fool if you do.”
He slapped her hard across the face, causing several gasps from the women standing in line behind them. Hiram turned and scowled at them. No one said a word.
For Addie, it was just one more reminder that she had to leave as soon as possible. Hiram would stop at no amount of torture to get what he wanted, and she wasn’t at all sure how long she could be strong.
Sunday came, and Isaac was looking forward to seeing Addie at church. He hoped to again offer her lunch and have their much-needed conversation about the future. Instead, when he arrived at church, he found that Addie wasn’t in her regular place. Pearl and Otis Fisher were there, but there was no sign of Addie. After the service, Isaac hurried to catch up with them and find out where Addie was.
“We don’t know,” Pearl replied. “She missed work yesterday and sent no word to us. She’s missed work almost all week, in fact. We tried to find out what was wrong. We even sent Mary to the cottage a couple of times, but Addie wasn’t home.”
“That doesn’t sound at all like her.” Fear edged his heart. “When she’s been at work, has she complained about any ailment or problem?”
“No, but she did show up with a black eye on Monday,” Pearl replied. “She said she fell and also had a sore arm and shoulder. I fear, however, that she didn’t fall. Addie’s quite agile. I can’t imagine her having such troubles unless she’s fallen ill.”
“When did you last send Mary to the cottage?”
“Thursday. Mary said there was a mess at the house, but that Addie wasn’t there.”
Isaac rubbed his jaw.
“What do you know about Addie’s brothers?” Pearl asked.
The question took Isaac by surprise. “Why do you ask?”
“Bertha thought she saw Addie near the house with a large man. He seemed to be arguing with Addie about something.”
“Her brothers are big men. I’ve been concerned about them showing up. Of course, what are the chances of them finding Addie after all this time?”
