Jack didn't notice the strange looks she received as she walked through Irvington until a pair of schoolboys stopped in their tracks, stared at her, and broke out in raucous giggles before running away. Jack's eyes followed their skittering feet and the trail of dust in their wake. What new source of infamy followed her now? Her boot collided with a misplaced cobblestone and she nearly fell on her face. What in tarnation?

She and Donovan had returned to the Bookers' home at dusk the night before and had not seen anyone from Irvington, so Jack had presumed their absence and subsequent return had gone unnoticed. She was apparently wrong. What had the Slate brothers done during their trip to further sully Jack and Donovan's reputations? Jack rolled her eyes and hurried her pace. The Walkers' mansion stood before her, prominent at the center of town.

Oliver Walker had been the illustrious mayor of Irvington for enough years that many simply called him "the mayor" because there was no other. To Jack, he was not the mayor but her infuriating brother-in-law and the father of two girls who had avoided inheriting any of his ample arrogance and condescension. There was a time when Jack and Anita had been close despite the ten year age difference. They were sisters, after all, and none of their other siblings had survived childhood. They were their only living family and despite their differences in age and disposition, Jack had hoped they would always be close. Then, Anita had accepted Oliver Walker's hand in marriage and Jack had been left an outcast, spurned by her sister and brother-in-law alike.

If it weren't for Corrie and Christina, Jack doubted that she would ever associate with them again. However, because of her love for her nieces, Jack came to the Walkers' home regularly to visit with Christina, still recovering from her paralyzed leg and severe bout with pneumonia.

Jack took the brass door knocker and hammered against the door. Mr. Bricker, the butler, peered through the door and bowed. "Miss Harrison, come in."

Jack proceeded through the foyer to the spiral staircase that led to the upstairs bedrooms. Why they wouldn't give the disabled girl a room on the ground floor, Jack didn't understand, but she suspected it had something to do with the miserly control they held over their youngest daughter, especially since Corrie's marriage.

Jack bounded up the stairs two at a time, rounding the corner to Christina's room when a voice summoned her back to the entryway.

"Jacqueline, if I may have a word."

Jack froze and looked down the staircase to where Oliver stood, his hands crossed over his chest. He was decked in a three piece suit and hat that attempted to hide his portly stomach and balding head. He tapped his ivory-handled cane on the ground and lifted his eyebrows at her.

"I'm here to see Christina," Jack said, hesitating.

While she normally would have no problem ignoring Oliver, she had to be more careful given Donovan's tenuous situation. They might need to call on his support at last resort, and Jack couldn't afford to anger him should that happen.

"Christina's not here. She's at that doctor's office today, reading to the soldiers."

She descended the staircase and stood before him as he eyed her with that familiar disapproving quirk of the lips. "Yes?" she asked, her patience waning. "What do you want?"

"Please, step into my office."

Her feet as heavy as lead, Jack followed him to the mahogany office. He sat behind his desk after closing the door. The room was dark, the window shut, and the dim electric light did little to dispel the dreariness. It felt like a stuffier version of the munitions factory.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Mayor?"

"Don't take that tone with me, Jacqueline. I want to speak with you as a concerned family member, not as the mayor." Oliver ran his fingers over his mustache as he spoke.

Jack snorted. Concerned family member. As if he'd ever been concerned about her for any reason beyond the impact of her reputation on his family.

"Some particularly notorious rumors have reached my ears over the past few weeks, Jacqueline, and I have take this earliest opportunity to speak with you."

"What is it this time?" Jack asked. Between her own antics and the rumors spread by Margaret Hunt and the Slate brothers, she could hardly imagine what tales had been concocted to sully her name.

"Then you don't know?" he said, raising his bushy eyebrows.

"Since I'm assuming this rumor has no basis in truth, no, I don't."

"Then you didn't spend the weekend with that Indian fellow?"

Jack felt the blood drain from her face. She assumed a few people would notice, but she hadn't anticipated that their trip would be the talk of the town. She could hardly refute the truth, but she knew how this must look.

Oliver rose to his feet, slamming his hands against the desk. "So you don't deny that you have been living in sin with this low-life, with this Indian?"

"He is not a low-life!" Jack cried, clambering to her feet as well. The heavy chair she sat on screeched as she slid it backwards. Silence reigned as the two locked eyes.

"Do you not see what this looks like, Jacqueline? You are behaving like a...a..."

"Like what, a whore?" Jack cried, her indignation overpowering her reason. "You are unhappy when I'm a spinster, but now that I'm courting someone, I'm a fallen woman?"

The illicit words spoken aloud stunned Oliver and a shadow fell over his face. "It's more than that, Jacqueline, and you know it. Your reputation is bad enough, but it's not so...so criminal. Do you truly know anything about this man, this Indian? What is his name, Donovan? Does he even have a first name? I've spoken with my daughters and even they seem to have some reservations about who he is and where he comes from."

Jack's skin turned from white to red. What did Oliver know and what was he trying to imply? Yes, Donovan had held secrets from all but Jack, but had anyone--Oliver, her nieces, the sheriff, Dr. Benjamin--had anyone tried to get to know him or learn about him? No. No one had given him a chance because of the color of his skin.

Seething, Jack spoke between gritted teeth. "Don't speak of what you don't know. You don't know him or where he's from. If he's secretive, it's for a reason. You don't trust him for the color of his skin, and I won't listen to you degrade and judge someone of whom you know nothing."

Oliver tapped his fingers on the desk. "You might be surprised at what I know, Jacqueline. I am not only the richest and most influential man in this city, but also the mayor. I know what happens in Irvington." He leaned towards her over the death, all humor gone from his gray eyes. "And I know more about Donovan than you might think."

Jack chilled at his words. Had the Slate brothers told him about the murder charges against Donovan? How much did he know? He seemed convinced that Donovan was trouble, and Jack was afraid she wouldn't be able to change his mind. The tide had turned against them.

"You're wrong. Donovan is a good man."

"I can't tell you what to do, Jacqueline, but I must protect my family." He affected a troubled expression and heaved a deep sigh, shoulders sagging. "You can't enter this house again until Donovan is gone. That man is trouble, and I won't tolerate it."

Oliver sat down at his desk and immediately began to pore over a ledger on his desk. Jack stared at him in speechless horror. Not only would this destroy her reputation in Irvington, but she would no longer be able to visit her injured niece. This was a cruelty beyond any he had inflicted before. She wanted to protest, but she was afraid of what else he could do. Not only had he forbidden her from seeing Christina, but he had sentenced Donovan with his words without even knowing the truth.

Jack stood struck speechless by the harsh censure for a few more moments, her hands curling into fists. Would the entire town turn on them like this? Who had told Oliver these terrible rumors about Donovan? Finally, she turned and stormed out of the office, her feet echoing on the floor as she slammed the door behind her and left the house.

Jack hurried to the post office where she had discarded her bicycle and rode frantically back to the Bookers' house. She needed to talk to Minnie and figure out where all of this new animosity was coming from. She needed to do something to make all of this stop--the Bookers, the gossip, the hatred. Donovan didn't deserve this.

Jack's bicycle ricocheted over the bumpy dirt path as she pedalled, her face hot from exertion and rage. A rock skewed her wheel and Jack nearly toppled, but she pressed on. If Oliver knew of Donovan's ignominious reputation, who else did? Would he lose his position at the school? Would Sheriff Fletcher be forced to prosecute Donovan? Jack's mind could hardly handle the possibilities. They had to do something.

When Jack reached the Bookers, she didn't stop to set her bicycle neatly against the wall; she kicked it to the side and ran into the house, searching for Donovan and the Bookers. While Donovan had not yet returned from the school, Minnie and Julius sat at their kitchen table, talking over steaming cups of coffee.

"Jack, you've returned!" Julius said, rising when Jack entered the house without knocking.

"What happened?" Jack demanded, panting from her feverish bike ride. "Oliver told me--what are they saying?"

Minnie rose as well, walking to Jack and clamping a hand on her shoulder. "Now, calm down, Jack. There's no need to get all bent out of shape."

Jack wrenched away from Minnie. "Yes, there is! They're going to force Titus to prosecute. You know that, Minnie."

The couple exchanged a look and Jack wondered how much Donovan had told them about his need for refuge. "We're worried too," Julius admitted. "The town found out he's staying with us and someone robbed the newspaper last night."

Jack cursed under her breath. "The Slate brothers. They want him dead."

"That's not gonna happen, Jack," Minnie said. "Julius and Hannah are fine and no permanent damage was done to his shop."

"Who told Oliver?"

"You're right about the Slates. Those two men have told anyone who'll listen about Donovan. Not details, just vague lies about how he's violent and dangerous and trouble."

Jack felt a shiver go through her. "Will they--did they fire him?"

"Not yet," Julius said. "The parents like what he's teaching at the school, but I'm not sure how long that will last."

"He's a good man," Minnie said. "The town will see that."

"You know that doesn't always matter, Minnie," Julius said, trading a look with her.

A shadow passed over Julius's normally cheerful face and Jack looked between them both. Julius was right; Donovan's innocence might not be enough to save him.

Minnie sighed. "There's more, Jack. As soon as you were gone, Margaret Hunt showed up at the factory and talked Cartwright into giving her a job. You weren't there to tell him not to hire her, and you know he doesn't listen to me."

Ice washed through Jack. No. Jack had seen Margaret talking to the Slate brothers and ever since Roy's death, she'd been dead set on destroying Jack. Could they be working together?

"What does she have to do with them?" Jack demanded.

Julius and Minnie traded a look. "They're staying with her," Minnie confessed. "She was bragging about the taller one, how handsome he was."

BIle rose in Jack's throat. Of course Margaret had aligned herself with those miscreants; she was even letting herself be wooed and manipulated by them. The trio were out to destroy both Donovan and her, and Jack wouldn't let it just happen.

"This has to stop!" Jack cried. "I can't let them hurt him. I won't."

The rumble of an automobile sounded outside the Bookers' house and Jack saw Donovan approaching in the distance. Pressure boiled in Jack's stomach. She had to do something, whether Donovan wanted to or not. The longer these rumors spread, the sooner they would kill Donovan--either legally or behind the scenes. The Slate brothers needed to leave town.

Before Donovan could dismount his car, Jack picked up her bicycle and took off pedaling for Irvington.

The Slate brothers needed to leave, and Jack would make sure they did. 

Are the Slates conspiring with Oliver? And is Donovan really as innocent as she claims? Let me know in the comments!