Emma punched the bread down again, imagining it was Daniel’s face winking at her. Why was he so blasted handsome, yet so infuriating? Why did he irritate her in one breath and tease her about kisses in another? He’d been a perfect gentleman physically, not bothering her or touching her – yet he asked permission or hinted at intimacy between them over and over again.
Grabbing a knife, she quickly sliced the dough into loaves and shaped them, setting them into greased pans to rise once again. Draping a linen cloth over the loaves, she put them on the hearth to rise from the heat. Someday, she would best determine how to handle the man… who was currently missing.
“Daniel?” she called out and listened for his response. Dusting her hands, she walked into the storefront to see if he was there or just outside. She realized that she was quite alone and had been for some time apparently. Putting on a cape, she tied it under her chin and covered her hair. Stepping outside, she saw that the air had a scent to it that smelled heavily of snow. Where had he gone? Turning back to the house, she saw Daniel was on his knees with his back towards the building off in the far distance near the tree line.
“Daniel, what are you up to?”
Emma walked over and stopped in her tracks, stunned. Just underneath the large oak tree that was losing its leaves were two carved marker posts where her father and brother were buried. She had been so distraught and overwhelmed at being alone, that simply saying goodbye had been hard enough – much less actually marking the fact that they were gone.
“Where… how…?” she stammered in surprise, touched by the thoughtfulness of the man she was married to. He didn’t have to do this, nor was it expected of him. The posts had been carved lovingly and rubbed with oil to help protect the wood from the elements.
“How did you hide this from me?”
Emma picked up her skirts and gingerly walked through the dusting of snow already present on the ground.
“I wanted to surprise you and worked on it after you retired for the evening to your room. I hope you don’t mind?” he asked, his eyes concerned.
“I also want you to know that I support any decision you make. If you want to stay here with your family, I can head to Baltimore and sell the business officially to my uncle. Then I would not need to be concerned with him ruining it any further, it would be his, and the only condition would be that he rename it. I will not have the Knox name tarnished by his deeds – as despicable as he has shown himself to be in the past.”
“I would never ask that of you.”
“No, but I would give it freely to you wife in exchange for us to start our lives as a true couple,” he admitted. “These past months have been more wonderful than I have ever expected. I feel like I am truly home when I see you smile.”
Emma stared at Daniel’s kind eyes and tender smile. He was such a good man to her and had given her so much freedom. He never truly pressured her; it was more along the lines of teasing her in order to get her upset. When she felt cornered, he would back away and give her room. She couldn’t ask for a more considerate husband in these trying times and the threat of an uncertain future with the king.
“Daniel, I…”
Gunfire rang out and Emma stared in shock at the seeping crimson that developed on Daniel’s shoulder. He groaned heavily and fell to his knees at her feet. His fearful eyes met hers for the briefest moment before glancing around to see where the blast had come from.
“Daniel!” she screamed at the sudden glazed and distant look in his eyes. She quickly looked around in terror, unsure what to do. “Daniel?”
Her husband collapsed onto the ground and groaned in pain. His entire shoulder and chest were now bright crimson, staining the snow nearby. Falling to her knees, Emma put her hands on his shoulder to staunch the flow of blood.
“Please don’t die, Daniel,” she whispered to him, staring at his pale face. She saw the dawning horror in his eyes as he looked past her and began crying in earnest. She just knew he was dying before her very eyes and staring up at the heavens for guidance. She had been just wretched at times towards him and regret beat painfully in her heart.
“Please Daniel, hang on for me.”
Emma was so distraught that she never heard the person behind her until it was too late. Seeing a shadow fall across them, she glanced over her shoulder only to see that her home was on fire. A man in black stood directly behind her just within her line of sight. An explosion of pain in her skull caused her to collapse on the ground near where her husband lay bleeding.
Daniel woke in indescribable pain as his brother worked on stitching together his wounded shoulder. His shirt had been removed and a bowl lay nearby full of bloodied rags. Glancing down at his shoulder, he saw the jagged edge of where the ball had entered.
“Did it go through?” Daniel asked, wincing.
“No, but I’ve already dug out the ball. I’m trying not to have to sear the wound closed – stay still,” Alden ordered, grimacing as Daniel felt the prick of the bone needle through the heated tissue over and over again. Alden pulled the strands tight before knotting them. Closing his eyes against the pain, he realized that he hadn’t seen Emma.
“Where’s Emma?” he asked as a sinking pain burned in his chest that had nothing to do with the pain in his shoulder. He’d failed to protect her.
“I didn’t find her.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were alone. Emma was nowhere to be found. Thankfully the townsfolk saw the fire that had been set on the house and they were able to put it out quickly.”
“I saw him!” Daniel said angrily, trying to sit up. “He must have taken her – our uncle has captured my wife.”
“Then he’s signed his life away, brother. I have already turned in documents regarding his treachery – adding kidnapping and attempted murder will only further condemn him in any court of the land.”
“I’ve got to help her. If…” Daniel got to his knees and saw his brother extend his hand in understanding.
“If we leave now, we may be able to stop him and rescue your Emma before he gets any further away. I need to send word to Madeline so she knows what is going on and for her to take care in case our uncle is headed that way. I hate leaving her unattended, but I agree that you are right. He’s attempting to wipe away any claim to our inheritance – and the threats to our family must stop.”
“They shall, brother – one way or another,” Daniel said grimly, wondering how his feisty wife would be handling the issue. The thought of her being alone, injured, or in jeopardy did not sit well with him at all. He hoped that Emma would give his uncle what for - and make him regret ever entangling with her. Compounding his attempt on Alden’s life, the impressment of his own and time lost, and now this … the ultimate betrayal of what family was supposed to be or mean was shameful for the Knox name and it was time to clean the slate.
Emma stared carefully at the scenery around her, analyzing everything and looking for any way out of this safely. When she’d come to, she had been slumped over a saddle alone with her hands tied in front of her. She had thrown herself off the horse and fallen onto the ground, knocking the wind from her chest in an attempt to free herself. That had only served to make her mysterious captor aware that she was no longer unconscious.
Daniel’s uncle – the same man that had accosted her and had shot Daniel in the shoulder. The wound had been bleeding heavily and she wondered if he was still lying in the snow-tinged grasses, alone.
“So, the little pigeon has tried to flap her wings - eh?”
“You are truly despicable,” she spat at him, earning her a painful slap across the face that stunned her. No one had ever dared strike her, not even as a child. Her father may have threatened the rod, but never applied it. Only a coward would do something so vile instead of finding another way to handle a situation.
“And you had best learn your position, niece. You are soon to become a widow and will be looking for a husband to provide for you.”
“What have you done?”
“Joining our two families will ensure that we work well together.”
“Are you addled? Our families are already merged by proxy, as much as it pains me to admit that right now. Threatening my husband or his brother will not gain you ownership of their company.”
“Actually, I’ve contacted the courts to appeal ownership due to their flagrant treachery to the crown – and the British are on the way towards Lexington as we speak to capture them both. They will hang and the Knox name will go down in history as traitors.”
“That makes no sense – your name is Knox.”
“I’ve taken a fancy to another surname and the change is most easily made. I never wanted to be associated with that simpleton brother of mine, nor his pair of spoiled sons. None of them were ever strong enough to bring pride to our family line – and our children will have a fresh start.”
“There will be no children between us,” she snarled, feeling ill at the thought that he’d out-maneuvered them. Daniel was such a good man that he’d offered to give everything up for them to have a beginning to their lives and gain security for them. He wanted to distance himself from his treacherous uncle and it disgusted her to think that this man might actually succeed.
If Daniel and Alden hung as traitors – his Uncle Percy was correct in his statement claiming she would be alone again. The only problem was that he assumed she would easily submit to his plans and simply go along without an argument. She would rather be on the streets than to submit to the man that ruined her world.
“There will be absolutely no children,” Emma repeated forcefully, “I will not marry you, nor will I allow this horrific atrocity to occur.”
“You will not have much choice in the matter, dear,” Percy said easily over his shoulder. “You’ll either submit or you’ll be sold to the highest bidder and on the next ship out of the country.”
Biting back a retort, Emma knew that egging him on would only make her situation worse. She needed time to think and put together a plan to make an escape at the first opportunity. As they rode on in silence in the night, she twisted the corner of her cape nervously and eyed the frayed edge. Pulling slightly, the fabric gave slightly. Glancing up, she swallowed and searched Percy’s profile to see if he’d heard the noise. They rode on in silence and she tugged at the fabric a bit more, pulling off a piece before dropping it on the ground.
Sighing at her naïveté, she realized that it was dark out and never would a piece of fabric be noticed on the dirt road – nor would anyone recognize it as her own. She would need to come up with some other way to notify anyone crossing their path that she needed assistance. Offering up a silent prayer, she hoped it was Daniel that found her soon for two reasons. One, to simply get away from the man that made her skin crawl. And two - to tell her husband how much she’d grown to care for him.
Chapter Seven
Emma was beyond exhausted.
Daniel’s uncle was apparently not only despicable but a taskmaster. They had ridden all night; the two of their horses were tethered together to prevent her escape. She was ready to drop off the animal, face-first onto the ground below.
She was barely able to keep her eyes open anymore and had already almost slipped off the saddle twice in the last hour. Her legs and backside ached terribly from being in the saddle for so long. Her bladder hurt due to it being so very full. She had asked to get down several times and each time Daniel’s Uncle Percy denied the request. He seemed to be concerned at being caught and she wondered if there was something he’d seen or noticed that she hadn’t picked up yet.
“May we please stop?” Emma asked, hating the pleading tone in her voice. Her body was protesting in every way possible and staying awake was a losing fight. Her wrists ached terribly where they were tied with rope and the simple movement of trying to remain seated had caused the rope to chafe her skin overnight.
Percy pulled the tethered horses to a stop and looked at her coldly, as if he was trying to determine if she was lying or not. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Emma heard the distant sounds of horses galloping. Apparently he heard it as well, uttering a soft curse word and yanking on the reins. He circled his horse around, grabbing her by the shoulder and shoving a handkerchief in her mouth just as she opened it to shout out for help. She dangled precariously halfway off the horse, struggling to hang on to the horn at the tip of the saddle.
“I’m falling,” she cried out, only to have it come out in a muffled jumble of words, trying to spit out the handkerchief. She painfully clenched her legs on the saddle for two reasons – one to keep from tumbling onto the ground between the tethered horses, the second reason to keep from disgracing herself before this awful man. Percy yanked off his cravat and twisted it around her head, holding the handkerchief in place and tying it at the base of her skull painfully tight. Her hair was caught up in the knot, pulling at her scalp enough to cause her eyes to water.
“Be silent and hang on,” he warned in a hushed voice. “If you fall, I’ll finish the job,” he growled, patting the flintlock that stuck out of his belt. “Do you understand what I am saying?”
She nodded silently.
The horses in the distance could have belonged to anyone and it wasn’t necessarily someone that would rescue her, even if she prayed long and hard for it. It could have been anyone passing this way – wherever they were at currently. She didn’t recognize any of the landscape around them but had never had a reason to leave Lexington when she was growing up.
Glancing hopefully over her shoulder, she sighed heavily through the fabric as tears stung her eyes. She couldn’t see anything behind them and the sound of hoof beats that gave her hope were gone now.
“She looks unharmed,” Daniel whispered aloud, “thanks be to God.”
When he’d first heard the sound of their voices and Emma’s pleas to stop traveling, he wondered at the listlessness he’d heard in her voice. His lovely bride was a fighter and that wasn’t like her at all. He wondered if she had been abused and perhaps he simply couldn’t see it from this distance.
“Now that we’ve found them, we can keep an eye on her and see what Percy is up to,” Alden affirmed, as he peered through the bushes they’d taken cover behind. “Let’s mount up and be on our way.”
Nodding, Daniel pulled himself back into the saddle painfully and ignored the throbbing in his shoulder. He knew the wound was bleeding again and had seen the blood seeping through the material of his shirt that was easily hidden by his heavy coat. He was taking no chances at losing his Emma again. They would ride until Daniel couldn’t hold on any longer. Nudging his mare gently with his knees, they slowly began to follow from a distance to prevent alerting the duo to their presence and losing the element of surprise.
Hours passed and they found themselves having to slow down further in order to stay out of sight. Something was amiss up ahead and it was killing Daniel not to know what was going on.
“Do you think she’s hurt?” he asked painfully, “Do you see anything?”
“I don’t,” Alden admitted. “There’s a tobacco farm not far from here.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve hidden there several times in the past from the redcoats,” Alden confessed, causing Daniel to look at him sharply. His brother had nonchalantly confessed to becoming a spy for the army but it still surprised him to hear him admit so candidly that he had to hide.
“I imagine you’ve seen or heard things that would make men shudder in their boots,” Daniel said, broaching the subject, only to see Alden’s tight nod in agreement.
“Spying isn’t an easy task nor a grateful one. It’s simply something that has to be done in order to right a wrong for our country. I’ve seen grown men cry like babes once interrogations have begun and other apparitions that would keep me up at night. No, I wouldn’t wish this on anyone willingly and am simply glad to be able to serve.”
“Would you do it again?”
“
Most certainly,” Alden said with a secretive smile. “I am honored to serve my country and it gave me the chance to meet Madeline. I would go through any peril to see her smiling face.”
“I hope to meet my new sister someday.”
“And so, you shall, brother,” Alden replied, “but first I think we should secret your bride away from our uncle.”
“And how is that? I don’t want to risk her safety.”
“No – neither do I. Considering we have both ridden all night long, I am assuming they are stopping to rest a bit before continuing on. Shall we?” Alden offered, extending his hand. “How’s your shoulder?”
“It aches terribly.”
“Has your wound torn open?”
“I believe so.”
“Let’s address your wound again before rescuing Emma.” Just as Daniel was about to protest, Alden held up his hand to silence him. “If you are losing blood, it will do her no good to have you in a weakened state.”
His brother was right.
He was beyond sore, exhausted, and losing more blood than he wanted to admit. His injured shoulder was significantly cooler due to the wet state of his clothing in the cold night air. He needed to stop the bleeding and wrap it again but his concern for Emma’s safety was utmost on his mind. He obediently followed his brother, backtracking a little way to keep from being spotted. Alden quickly built up a small fire and thrust his knife into the coals. Daniel’s eyes met his and he winced, knowing his shoulder was about to hurt quite a bit more before it got better.
“I know your concerned but she’s safe right now and sheltered in the tobacco barn. If Uncle Percy is wanting something from us, he isn’t about to injure his bargaining chip with you. Emma is currently in better shape than you are.”
A Bride for Daniel Page 5
