Chapter One
Philadelphia
December 1880
The knock on the door was loud and demanding and woke Nellie. A glance at the clock on the mantle above the fireplace told her it was only six o’clock! The house was still officially in deep mourning, so who could possibly be at the front door so early? She struggled into her slippers and wrapper and went to the hallway to listen as the housekeeper/cook opened the door. She heard the elderly Mrs. Harper cry out in fright, and without giving the matter another thought, Nellie raced back into her bedroom, grabbed the poker from the hearth in front of the fireplace, and then she took off at a dead run to get downstairs and fight off whoever frightened Mrs. Harper!
As she ran down the steps, brandishing the poker over her head like a sword, Nellie’s blue eyes spotted a very tall man standing before Mrs. Harper, his face dark and menacing. He was roughly dressed, and even had a gun strapped to his hip! She didn’t miss the lethal looking knife he wore strapped to his thigh, either. Positive the man meant them harm, Nellie wasted no time in launching her attack, letting out a scream that would make a Comanche brave proud.
She cried out in disappointment as the man put up an arm to ward off a blow that would have knocked him unconscious, and therefore unable to harm them. Nellie tried again, and then again, but each time he managed to evade the poker.
“Little lady, if you don’t stop swinging that thing, I’m going to lose my temper and take it from you and then turn you over my knee for a damned good spanking!”
“You get out of this house, you hooligan!” Nellie knew that she alone stood between him and the slaughter of the entire household of females. She lowered her weapon and decided to go in low. If she dealt him a blow right between the legs, then perhaps they could remove his weapons and send for the constable! But, the man seemed to read her mind, and he grabbed the poker before it could do any harm. He twisted it right out of her hands and then threw it clear into the parlor! Then he advanced on her, murder in his dark eyes.
“I warned you what was going to happen, didn’t I, little lady?” he asked rhetorically as he lunged for her, grabbed her wrist, and then pulled her to the staircase, where he took a seat and jerked her face down over his hard thighs.
“No!” Nellie screamed as she struggled futilely to escape the indignity he planned for her.
“Yes,” he stated firmly, and in the next second Nellie heard a loud crack and then felt burning pain as his hand left an imprint on her bottom.
This simply could not be happening! A second spank was all the proof she needed that it was indeed happening! A strange man broke into the house at an ungodly hour of morning and now he was spanking her as if she were a naughty child! Nellie was in shock, but that shock did not prevent her from screaming and trying to free herself. Why, she was entirely too old for a spanking!
“I don’t know what bee got under your bonnet, little lady, but you are the one who is going to feel the sting.” He spanked harder and kept a careful eye on the woman who answered the door earlier. She stood rooted to the spot, her eyes wide and full of shock that he would dare to spank the young woman. But, he surmised, the young woman needed a good spanking. What was she thinking, coming at him with a fire poker! Who the hell did she think she was? When his hand started burning and spanking her was causing him pain, he stopped. Then he got to his feet, dumping her to the floor at the bottom of the grand stairway. “You’d best settle down now, little lady. If you put me to the trouble of tanning you again, I’ll bare you first and then take off my belt and stripe your ass raw.”
Nellie looked at him through tear-filled blue eyes. “You are an intruder in this house. Leave now, or I will report you to the authorities!”
“I have every right to be here, girl. I’ve come to take my nieces home with me.”
He no sooner said the words than there was an outraged squeal at the top of the steps. “You leave my Aunt Nellie alone!” Joy came running as fast as she could, her nightgown flapping as her little bare feet ran down the steps. Harmony followed, imitating her big sister’s actions. Joy started hitting him with her tiny fists and kicking him with her bare feet while Harmony tried to balance on one foot to get in a kick, too. Nellie watched in horror as he swept both of them up in his arms. She jumped to her feet, prepared to defend the two little girls she loved more than her own life!
“Now hold on, you two! I’m your Uncle Simon, Joy,” he said gently. “You were just a little baby the last time I saw your Dad, but I’ve sent you presents each and every year on your birthdays and on Christmas. Do you remember, Miss Joy?” he asked hopefully, and seemed relieved when she nodded dubiously. “It’s okay if you don’t remember what I look like, honey. I am still your Papa’s big brother.” The words caused a painful lump in his throat. Simon still couldn’t believe that Foster was dead.
“Mama called you Santa Simon,” Joy said matter-of-factly. “She said you sent too many presents and were spoiling us.”
“I wanted to spoil you because I couldn’t make it here to spend time with you,” he explained, and then looked at Harmony, who was staring at him and trying to decide whether or not she wanted to cry. “Harmony, you look like your Grandmother,” he told the younger child, his voice full of love as he gave each of them a squeeze and a kiss.
“Why were you spanking Aunt Nellie, Uncle Simon?” Joy asked curiously. She was six years old and questioned everything. “She’s too old!”
“No little girl ever gets too old for a good spanking,” Simon said calmly, his dark eyes giving Nellie a meaningful look.
Joy giggled and said, “Aunt Nellie isn’t little!”
“Yes, she is… compared to me,” he said with a smile. “I can see you are perky, Miss Joy, but how is our Miss Harmony?” he asked, giving the three-year-old another squeeze and bouncing her on his hip.
“Mama and Papa went bye-bye to heaven,” the little girl intoned solemnly, her eyes full of sadness at something she simply couldn’t understand.
“I know, sweetheart,” Simon said quietly, and then kissed her cheek, sharing her grief. “I came as soon as I got word. You and Joy are going to come and live with me now. We’re family and it is what your Papa wanted.” He explained as simply as possible.
“We can’t,” Joy said calmly. “Aunt Nellie would be all alone!”
“Joy and Harmony, you need to go upstairs and get dressed. These floors are very cold, and I don’t want you to get sick running around in your bare feet. Joy, you help Harmony, and if you need me, call out.”
“You need to get dressed, too, Aunt Nellie.” Joy was full of advice.
“I will be doing just that in a few moments,” Nellie stated.
“You girls do as you were told,” Simon said quietly, but his voice was firm enough to send them scooting back up the staircase and down the hallway to the room they shared.
“Mrs. Harper, since we are all awake, would you please start breakfast and then let us know when you are ready?” Nellie asked calmly, showing none of her inner turmoil, and struggling to keep from reaching back to rub her stinging posterior. She was determined not to give Simon Call the satisfaction of knowing he actually hurt her. Her pride was even more damaged than her bottom. She hadn’t recognized the man simply because she’d never met him before. She was away at school when her sister married Foster Call, and her stepmother refused to allow her to come home for the event. It was just one more injustice the unhappy woman heaped on her two stepdaughters. Their father wanted to please his much younger second wife to the point that he all but estranged himself from his daughters to make Cynthia happy. Once he passed away, she and Sally made it clear they wanted nothing to do with her. Their father left a living stipend to his second wife, payable only until she remarried, but the bulk of his estate was split evenly between his two daughters. Cynthia was furious, and wasted no time moving to Boston to live. She and Sally were glad to be rid of her.
“Yes, Miss Nellie,” Mrs. Harper replied to her request for breakfast to be prepared, but then whispered, “I can’t leave you alone with a man while you’re in your night things!” It was obvious she was scandalized, and Nellie felt herself blush a fiery red as she realized she was standing there without her clothing!
“Mr. Call, would you please have a seat in the parlor? We were not expecting you and I fear you have us at a disadvantage. Once I am dressed we can sit down and discuss the girls.”
“There isn’t much to discuss, Miss Worthington,” Simon replied. “Foster named me the girls’ guardian, and I have already booked passage on the train west for Friday, which was the soonest I could get tickets. I expect to have the girls packed and ready to go by then, and this house sold. I don’t have time to take care of it, and when the girls are older, they’ll marry and their husbands will determine where they live. There is no point in keeping this place.”
“But where will Miss Nellie live?” Mrs. Harper gasped in consternation. She at least had children who had been begging her to come and make her home with them, but the sweet Nellie had no one in the entire world besides the two little girls she loved so much.
“You make your home here?” Simon was taken aback by that piece of news. The attorney’s letter made no mention of Sally’s sister taking care of the children, and he’d assumed that a housekeeper was responsible for them after his brother and sister-in-law were killed when their carriage collided with another, driven by drunken college students engaged in a wild race through the streets.
“Who do you think has been taking care of our babies for the last five and a half months? Miss Nellie quit her job at the Academy to move in and care for the little ones. The last Mr. Foster heard from you was over two years ago! He was sure you was dead, given the way you live your life! You got no business coming here and threatening to take these babies from their home! They’ve lost enough already, and what will they do if you get your fool self killed?”
Simon kept a tight rein on his temper. Mrs. Harper was old enough to be his grandmother, and she was merely expressing her love and concern for the little girls. “Ma’am, I truly understand your concern for Joy and Harmony, but they will be better off with me.” He wondered what happened to the presents he sent the last couple of years, but it also explained why he hadn’t heard from Foster. “I did send gifts and letters, Mrs. Harper. I don’t know why they didn’t arrive.”
“Mr. Foster worried himself sick over you. He sent out letters, but they come back marked ‘return to sender’ in plain words. If you look in his desk, you’ll find them,” she sniffed with the air of someone who was more ‘family’ than ‘employee’.
“Thank you for explaining that, ma’am. I’ll be sure to go through my brother’s desk and make sure all his obligations are satisfied before we leave town Friday.”
“I have already settled Foster and Sally’s accounts, Mr. Call,” Nellie stated in aggravation. “You are a bit late to come here and act as though I would neglect such a thing! And,” she continued, “You are not taking those little girls anywhere! I won’t allow it!” Nellie was furious. “You take yourself out of this house and back to wherever you came from. We have managed just fine without you for nearly six months now, and we will continue to do well without your presence. Please leave!” she ordered in the same tone of voice she used to let her students know she was totally out of patience and about to assign consequences.
“Miss Worthington, while I might have some patience for someone of Mrs. Harper’s years, you’d better have a care when addressing me or you just mind find yourself over my knee again.” He watched her cheeks turn a pretty pink and then said, “Go get dressed and we’ll discuss getting the girls packed for the trip.”
“I will get dressed, but I will be seeing my attorney about this matter. I cannot believe any Judge in his right mind would permit two little girls to go off anywhere with a gunslinger!” She spit the word at him like it was so dirty she couldn’t bear to say it aloud. “I cannot believe that Foster was foolish enough to appoint you their guardian when it is obvious that I am the better choice!” she rudely declared.
“My brother named me their guardian; you were not mentioned in his will.”
“But I am the one who has been here for the last five months while you were God knows where doing God knows what! No, Mr. Call, you are not taking Joy and Harmony anywhere. I will fight you.”
“You are welcome to try,” he said with a grin, and then walked into the parlor and took a seat.
“Ohhhhhh!” Nellie stomped up the steps furiously. After she took the time to examine her very red and hot-to-the-touch bottom, it did not take her long to perform her morning toilet. By the time she was properly dressed, she was also completely composed and assured she could deal with one uneducated hired gun! After all, the children were her nieces, too. She was female, and she was a teacher by profession. She had much more to offer the girls than Simon Call. She smoothed the skirt of her black dress, and picked up her bonnet and gloves and brought them downstairs with her. She wanted to go out immediately after breakfast and call on her solicitor and ask his counsel.
She went to the children’s room and saw that they were both dressed. Nellie
did not believe in dressing children in mourning except for those times when
it was unavoidable, like going to church. Still, she didn’t dress them
in gay colors, either. She quickly brushed their hair and tied it back
with black ribbon. “Let’s go and see what Mrs. Harper has made for breakfast,”
she said, taking their hands in hers and leading them downstairs.
Simon got to his feet when he heard Nellie and the girls coming down the staircase. The
girls were chattering away and Nellie’s voice was gentle and loving as she
answered their many questions, most of them concerning the spanking he gave
her. He listened in no little amusement as she explained she did not
know he was their Uncle and thought he was breaking into the house to harm
them. She thought she was defending them, and since he didn’t know her,
either, he fought back… by spanking her! She made the incident sound
amusing so the children would not be alarmed, and when Joy asked her if it
hurt, she lied and said, “Of course not, honey!” He decided he would
let her keep her pride. Simon was truly thankful for the excellent care
that she had given the children, but now they were coming with him and he would
take over their care… not that he knew one damned thing about raising kids,
especially little girls. He was going to have to find a housekeeper and
fast.
When he saw Nellie all dressed in black, she looked pale and small. Black was not her color. Out west the folks weren’t so conscious of mourning etiquette, and if he had his way, he would burn the black dress and insist Nellie dress in something blue… to match her pretty eyes.
“I have breakfast ready, Miss Nellie,” Mrs. Harper called to her.
Nellie’s upbringing would not allow her to be rude to Foster’s brother. “Would you join us, Mr. Call?” she asked formally.
“I could eat,” he nodded agreeably. The truth was that he was starving. He’d come straight from the train, worried sick about the girls being uncared for. It had taken months for him to get the attorney’s letter of notification, and he was going to have to find out who was intercepting his mail both ways.
“That’s Papa’s chair,” Joy informed Simon when he started to pull out a chair at the dining room table. “The other end is Mama’s chair; you need to sit beside Aunt Nellie,” the six-year-old bossed.
Simon saw no reason to argue with the child. Sitting beside the pretty Nellie could hardly be considered a hardship. “This looks good, Mrs. Harper,” he said with a smile for the elderly woman. He was going to have to make sure she was pensioned and had a decent place to live. Foster would want that, and it was obvious the lady needed to retire. He suspected she would have done so already if not for the little girls.
“I know how to cook, young man,” Mrs. Harper tartly replied, insulted.
“Uncle Simon was trying to say that your food looks wonderful, Mrs. Harper,”
Joy solemnly explained. “He was trying to be nice to you.” When
the elderly woman merely sniffed, she looked at Nellie and said, “Right, Aunt
Nellie?”
Nellie had to smile at Joy’s earnest expression. “Yes, Joy, you are quite right. Your Uncle Simon was paying Mrs. Harper a compliment. The food does indeed look good and it smells good, too. Let’s say our prayer so we can eat.” She watched the children fold their hands, and noticed that Simon bowed his head, too. Nellie gave a short prayer, and then she jumped up to round the table and helped the children with their food.
Simon watched as she helped the girls handle the serving dishes. While Joy was able to put food on her plate, little Harmony needed help, and Nellie also cut up her sausage for her, and put butter and jam on her biscuit. She gave Joy a bit of assistance, too, before sitting down again and tending to serving herself. Simon wouldn’t have thought to help the girls unless they asked.
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