The Judge's Daughter

ELEVEN

Ellie's nerves were jumping so rapidly, she suspected any moment now that she'd crumble to the ground dead due to a racing heartbeat. It unsettled her to be back in Dodge City – in a town where most everyone knew her father and uncle. Austin was doing such a wonderful job at keeping her level-headed, and she didn't know what would happen if he wasn't here to help. She said a silent prayer that she and Austin would learn the truth quickly.

"Mr. Peabody," she said after sitting in the wooden chair near his desk. "I need to know something about my father's account."

The bald man nodded as he sat behind his desk. "What do you need to know, Miss Lawson?"

"Where did my father's money go when he died?" Ellie's throat tightened, and she blinked back the tears threatening to come forth.

The other man appeared confused. "The money went to your uncle, who is you guardian until you turn twenty-five."

Now it was Ellie's turn to feel perplexed. "Pardon me? Why would you think Wesley Lawson is my guardian?"

Mr. Peabody gave her a sympathetic smile. "My dear, Miss Lawson, until you are twenty-five, you have a guardian. It's in your father's will, and he stipulated that in a contract with the bank."

"What exactly is written in the contract?" Austin asked, standing behind her chair since there wasn't anymore chairs in the small room.

"If I remember correctly," Mr. Peabody scratched his chin, "the judge has trust funds for both Eleanor and her sister Josephine, but they won't receive the money until their twenty-fifth birthday. In the contract written nearly ten years ago, the judge stated that if he died before his daughters' birthdays, then his brother, Wesley Lawson, would be their guardian."

Anger rose inside Ellie, and she breathed deeply as trying not to show the banker how upset this news made her. Why hadn't her father told her about the trust funds? And why had Uncle Wesley not mentioned it at all? Ellie's twenty-fifth birthday was a week away. Was her uncle planning on giving her the money on her birthday? She didn't think so.

"Mr. Peabody?" Austin asked. "Has Wesley Lawson been able to obtain the judge's money since his death?"

The middle-aged man nodded. "Of course. He has had access to the judge's account since the day after he was killed."

Ellie released a ragged breath and bunched her hands into fists on her lap. If Uncle Wesley was standing beside her now, she would punch him in the face. How dare that man withhold money that belonged to Ellie and her sister after their father died? It was bad enough tht their greedy uncle had to take over his brother's house, but to take all the money without giving Ellie and Josie any of it? They sisters had wanted new mourning dresses, but instead, they had to wear old dresses from five years ago, which were almost too snug on them. Yet, Ellie noticed that Wesley and Jacqueline wore new cloths. Even their children, Tara and Leonard were dressed as wealthy socialites.

"Mr. Peabody," Ellie said in an irritated voice. "Can I change my father's contract?"

The other man arched an eyebrow. "You don't want your trust fund?"

"What I want," she slowly stood as anger continued to grow inside her, "is a chance to use some of my father's money that had been in his own account. My uncle hasn't given me or Josie one penny."

Austin moved beside her, touching her back, but he didn't speak.

Mr. Peabody's eyes widened and his face lost color. "He hasn't given you anything?"

She shook her head. "No, but he and his family have no qualms of spending that money for themselves."

Mr. Peabody's jaw tightened and his cheeks bloomed with color. "That's not what your father wanted."