Chapter 24

24

T ravis pulled into his house far faster than he usually did. He'd come to care deeply for that baby, and the idea of anything happening to her had stirred every protective instinct he possessed. Not to mention, the panic in Alaska's voice had been concerning. It was obvious that she thought something very terrible could happen. Whoever she was dealing with most likely was someone who gave her a legitimate fear.

He'd seen some nasty things as he traveled the country and the world. It was shocking what humans were capable of doing to other humans. He did not understand it, didn't even want to try, other than to know that to see those things happen, was to know that the devil was indeed, loose and alive in the world. There was no way he could doubt it.

Thankfully, Ellen got out as quickly as he did, and they walked side-by-side up the rickety steps. The house was run down, most of the shutters had fallen off, there were weeds in the flowerbeds, the porch needed to be completely replaced, a person had to be careful where they stepped, that they didn't fall through any of the rotten boards. He'd seen mice in the house, although he had traps out for them, and he was pretty sure there was a spot in the roof that leaked. Several of the windows were cracked, and half the time the hot water heater barely got the water lukewarm.

There was just so much to fix, and he hadn't been in a big rush to fix it, because he was going to look for a farm to buy, discuss it with Ellen, and get married and move, eventually.

He wanted to do things right away, but he thought it would be more considerate to Ellen that way. But, she had thrilled him to the very bottom of his soul when she said that she preferred not to. Now, he had all kinds of things to do, and no time in which to do them.

But, if she would marry him and move into a house like this, then, he figured he'd let her.

"Alaska!" he called as he opened the door. She was the kind of woman who might have a pistol aimed at his head as he walked through. He didn't want her to mistake him for whoever she was so scared of.

He opened the door to silence.

Lord. Please don't let her have left with the children. Please keep them safe.

He prayed as he walked in, wondering belatedly if it was wise to have Ellen coming in with him. He didn't want anything to happen to her, after all the years they'd waited to be together. But not only that, he loved her. He couldn't stand the idea that she might get hurt.

But it was too late. Now, the safest place for her was probably right beside him. If he had to do it over again, he would've left her at her uncle's place, until he figured everything out. But he wasn't used to dealing with situations like this. He had been trained in business, not… Whatever this was.

"Travis?" a soft voice called from the living room. He didn't see any movement, as he started to walk slowly toward it, not wanting to push Ellen behind him, but tugging on her hand a little, to let her know that he would prefer she let him go first.

She glanced up at him as he tugged, and then she smiled, reassuringly. There was no fear at all in her eyes. He loved that. She might not be aware that there was danger, or she might just be confident that God was going to take care of them, no matter what happened. He preferred to think it was the second, just because he knew that was the kind of person Ellen was.

She moved without him tugging again and put two hands on either side of his waist as she followed him in.

He loved that she touched him, so he knew that she was still there and okay.

"Alaska?" he said as he reached the doorway of the living room.

She stood up from where she had been crouching behind the recliner.

"I'm so relieved," she said, on an exhale that showed how truly relieved she was.

"Everything's okay. I didn't see anything moving around in the yard as we came in." His eyes had swept the yard, but he hadn't searched diligently. He'd been thinking about the dilapidated house and bringing his bride home.

"The kids are sleeping." She pulled her bottom lip in, and gave him a glance, as Ellen came out from behind him and put her arm around his waist. He put his around her shoulders and pulled her tight against him. Still not wanting her to be any further from him than what she needed to be. Alaska was obviously scared.

"So sorry for bringing you guys into this. I shouldn't have come."

"No. You needed to come and get help. The police station would have been a good idea."

"If I go to the police station, the first thing he'll do is find my children and kill them."

"Who is he?"

She pulled both lips in and bit them.

"Chelmer Leggins."

Beside him he could feel Ellen stiffen at the name.

He didn't laugh, but he did let out a bit of a breath and almost snort. He would never have guessed that. Chelmer didn't seem like the kind of person to instill fear in people, but he did have a lot of bluster and brag. And, it didn't surprise Travis at all that he was probably wrapped up in drugs.

"Is he the father of your children?"

"Yeah."

She looked down. Like she was ashamed. He supposed it was because she knew that Chelmer had children who are very much the same age as hers.

Which meant that she had been with him when he had been married to Shanna. What a mess.

"Has he threatened you?" Travis asked, trying to keep his words gentle and not strident.

"Yeah. Multiple times. He… Made me visit men, and…" Her voice trailed off.

"Basically he was your pimp," Travis said, and he suddenly felt very weary.

"Yeah."

"All right. That's enough. I don't know if he's capable of the things you seem to think he is, but I have a place where you will be safe. You can take your children if you want to, or you can leave them here with us."

"I'd…really like to take them. Where?" Alaska said.

"The Clyborne Ranch. It's called Sweet View, and I've spoken with Ezra. He's the head of the family, and he'll keep you with him. There are a bunch of people running around at the ranch. It's always busy, and there are plenty of dogs, plus the driveway is gated. People are not going to be getting in very easily. And I think you'll be safe there until we can figure out if we can get Chalmer out of the picture."

It made sense. If Chalmer had been making money as her pimp, and she left him, he lost an easy source of income. He didn't know how far Chalmer would go to try to get her back, but he doubted it was very far. The man wasn't known for his tenacity. But, it was probably better to be safe than sorry. Because Travis had seen men do crazy things, especially when there were drugs involved.

"I don't have any way of getting there," Alaska said, as though the thought had just occurred to her.

"I'll make sure you get there. It will probably take a couple of trips until we get the kids' stuff out, and get beds and things set up for them. Ezra is not married, doesn't have any children and I'm sure it's going to take a little time for him to be ready to have two kids."

"Alaska and I could take the kids and go look for a wedding dress. We could go to Rockerton if you think you'd be safe there?" Ellen spoke up.

Travis thought that was a brilliant idea. He loved the idea of her getting a wedding dress herself, and he also thought it would be a good idea to get Alaska out somewhere where Chelmer wouldn't be looking for her.

"Bismark might be better."

"All right. Let's go to Bismark then. Will that work for you Travis?"

"Yeah. But leave the kids here. I'll call Ezra, we'll discuss it, and we'll get things ready so that when you come back, we'll have a spot for you at the Sweet View Ranch.

"How can I ever thank you?" Alaska said.

"Well, I originally told Ezra that you were looking for a job. He was willing to give you one as his personal assistant. You'd probably be in charge of keeping all the books for the ranch, and possibly cooking meals, I don't know. This seems like it could be a new start for you. Something you might be interested in. It would be a good place for you to raise your children, and Ezra is an honest and upright man. So, the way you could repay me is by doing a good job. Being honest, and trustworthy. I couldn't tell him you are, because I don't know you. So he'll be watching. I know he'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but he probably won't give that to you twice."

Alaska nodded her head, and Travis hoped he hadn't been too hard on her. He was trying to emphasize the fact that if she wanted to turn her life around, she was the one who had to do it. She couldn't sit around waiting for someone else to fix her. She had to take the initiative.

Of course, it was easier for a Christian to do that, because they had the Holy Spirit helping them. Still, Alaska would be in an environment where she would surely hear about Jesus, if she hadn't already, and she could make a decision for herself.

As much as Travis wanted to discuss it with her now, God gave a person free choice, and that's what he needed to do as well. Wait on God's timing.

"Do you need to get ready to go?" His voice softened as he looked at Ellen. She glowed, her cheeks were rosy, her eyes shone, and she looked at him with so much…love in her eyes that it made his heart feel like it was too big for his chest, and all he wanted to do was pull her close and never let her go.

"No. I'm ready now."

"All right. The two of you can go, and I'll call the police, let them know what's going on. They might want to talk to you when you get back. I don't know…I've never handled anything like this before. But after that, I'll call Ezra and we'll go from there."