“What makes him dreadful? He was looking for you as hard as any of us were.”
“Keep looking out the window, if you don’t mind. I don’t know what it was that made me dislike him in the first place, but after what I heard, I know I was right. He and Owen are planning to murder Lionel and blame it on you.”
“Me? But what do I have to do with the brat?”
“Not you, but Whitman Eskridge, the one who embezzled and beats his wife and—”
“Beats his wife?” Ash said with a smile in his voice. “I didn’t know about that.”
“Well, I hope you never find out,” she said quickly. “But that’s where I was: hiding in the bushes and listening to Owen talk to that man.”
“You rode up there and they never saw or heard you?”
Chris thought about the few moments before Tynan had appeared, then it had seemed that the men had known of her whereabouts and were coming after her. But of course that had been her imagination. “The storm was just beginning and they didn’t hear me over the rain and thunder. The only problem now is that that…man is insisting that we leave here now. In fact, he wanted us to leave directly from the forest and not even come back here to warn you.”
Asher didn’t say anything.
“Well?” Chris said. “You see that we can’t leave now, don’t you? We have to protect Lionel.” She was dressed and she went to stand before him.
Ash looked down at her. “How did Tynan find you?”
“I don’t know. Followed me, I guess.”
Asher put both his hands on her arms. “Chris, I think Ty’s right. You should be on your way back to your father’s right now. If you hadn’t come back, I would have looked for you for another couple of days, then I’d have left and gone back to your father’s, too. Then everyone would have been safe. It wasn’t very smart of you to come back here knowing that there might be a murderer.”
She moved away from him. “But what about Lionel? Doesn’t anyone care that he might lose his life?”
“All we have to do is alert the local sheriff. If he questions Hamilton, that’ll put Owen on his guard.”
“So he’ll kill Lionel in a very, very secretive way. I’m sure it’ll look like an accident and Owen will be no where in the vicinity.”
“That’s not my concern. My concern is you. I think we should get out of here as soon as possible. Today.” He moved toward the wardrobe and withdrew her carpet bag. “I want you to pack right now. I’ll tell Owen that the dangers of this place are too great for a lady like you and that I’ve decided to take you back East where you belong.”
“I won’t go,” she said, glaring up at him.
“Then I shall tell him who you really are. I don’t think we’ll be welcome after that. Get packed, rest, and I’ll be back in an hour or so. I want to talk to Tynan first.”
“Don’t talk to him!” Chris said angrily. “He wants to get rid of me as soon as he can.”
Asher paused at the door. “On the trail back, I want you to tell me what went on when the two of you were gone all night. But now, to discourage you from trying to do something brave and stupid, I’m going to lock this door. I’ll see you in an hour.”
Before Chris could say another word, he was out the door and she heard the key turn in the lock. For a moment, she leaned against the door and cursed all men everywhere, but then she looked at the soft bed, spread with clean, fragrant sheets, and she walked toward it as if she were in a trance. She was asleep almost before she landed.
The sunlight was
coming into the room and Chris was deeply asleep when she felt the hand on her mouth. Her eyes flew open in alarm—only to see a man with a black cloth hood over his face.
“Be quiet, missy, and you won’t get hurt. You’re gonna take a little ride with us.”
She didn’t recognize the voice nor the shape of the body. She tried to struggle but the man held her easily as he tied a tight gag about her mouth and then tied her hands. Even when she tried to kick him, he clamped down on her ankles with big, hamlike hands.
He tied her with what seemed to be yards of fine, flexible rope that cut into her when she tried to make any movement, tied her as if she were a corpse bound for burial at sea. When he was finished, little more than Chris’s eyes were visible, even her hair, loose down her back, was fastened to her body.
He easily lifted her body and slung it over one wide shoulder and carried her toward the window. A ladder stood ready and, as if she were a rolled-up carpet, he carried her to the ground.
Chris tried to turn her head to see if there was anyone about, but her bindings made movement impossible. A horse awaited him in the trees and he tossed her across the saddle and mounted behind her, then took off quietly so no one could hear him. Chris thought that everywhere she went she was seen by someone, but now that she needed help, no one was near.
She didn’t think any more because her captor had speeded their progress and the saddle was pounding into her soft stomach. For the next few hours, she did nothing but try to keep from being sick.