The Watcher

by Heather Kindt

  “I am already keeping his mind off the war.” Laney dried the remainder of the dishes in the rack. “More than you know.”

  A light flickered in the abandoned barn when Jonas returned after having supper with his family. Things changed so much in the time he’d been gone. Throwing down the quilt she stitched, his mother threw her arms around him, thinking she’d lost a second son. His younger sister, Katherine, had begun a courtship with Jonas’s best friend. He’d have to have a word with him about that.

  The household went to bed, so he crept out to check on Nicholas and to see if the Wanderer arrived. A hooded figure stood near the boy, rifle in hand.

  “Stop.” Jonas slammed the door behind him.

  “I wasn’t going to kill him, you imbecile. He’s our bait.” The Wanderer threw the rifle down. “Get the boy some water. He appears to be dehydrated.”

  Jonas didn’t want to be an errand boy. He had his own plans and used the Wanderer to accomplish it. The horse trough outside would have to do because he didn’t want to wake up his family.

  Nick’s eyes opened when Jonas lifted a cup to his lips. He drank some of the water, but then spit a mouthful in Jonas’s face. “That’s rancid.”

  “You know the saying,” Jonas grumbled. “Beggars can’t be choosers.”

  “When are you going to leave Laney and William alone? What’s wrong with your life here?” He glared at Jonas, then directed his attention to the Wanderer. “And what’s your story? Who are you and what do you want with my friends?” He struggled with the ropes that kept him tied to the pole.

  “All I want from Delaney is her life. Simple as that.” She lifted her rifle and opened the door to the barn. “Jonas—a word.”

  “Like I said,” Jonas grumbled as he walked out the door. “I’m an errand boy.”

  Outside the barn, the Wanderer’s eyes, set on the tiny cabin across the field, glowed in the moonlight. The windows of the cabin were darkened. “I sense your affinity for these strangers.”

  “I have no idea what you are talking about, woman.” He shook his head, trying to remove any doubt from her mind. “William Clarke is my mortal enemy, and Delaney Holden is a means to an end. She’s ruined my life.”

  “Still—I have worked with many Enders to bring an end to their Weaver, and I’m not sure you’d pull the trigger to end her life.” She poked her finger at a button on Jonas’s jacket before adjusting his lapels.

  He felt the struggle burning inside. There was something about Delaney that might make him pause if he were asked to kill her.

  “We need to discuss our plan.” The Wanderer took out a pocket watch and snapped it open. “Daylight arrives in an hour. There needs to be a way to draw the Weaver to this spot. She’ll try to rescue her friend with the Watcher, but I want to raise the stakes.”

  “What do you have planned?” Jonas leaned in closer, intent on playing another game with Delaney.

  William stomped through the front door, exhausted. Laney rested in the chair by the window, reading a book from his father’s collection. Relief swept over him. The possibility of her disappearing from his life again, lingered over him like the smoke from the battlefield. He took her hand and guided her to the pantry, out of earshot of his family.

  “It’s too much. Seeing my brothers injured from this war and you tell me it will continue for ten more years. How can we continue?” The makeshift hospital in town remained filled to capacity, and the guilt of not serving next to them gnawed at him.

  “You will. You’re one of the strongest people I know.” Her faith in him was unfathomable.

  He ran his hand through her hair and cupped her face. When he lost the Watcher pendant, he thought he’d never see her again. To have this gift standing right here was overwhelming at times.

  “So, your sister is beginning to wonder about our wedding. I guess your courtship with Anne has gone on a little long.” The cheek he caressed turned pink beneath his fingers.

  Of course, the thought crossed his mind before. They were of age. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. “What might you say—if I did ask you?” He lowered his hand from her face, anticipating her answer.

  She lifted his hand to her chest. The accelerated beating of her heart matched his own. “I think you know.”

  He leaned his forehead against hers and ran his hand through her auburn hair, which appeared darker in the dim light from the single window in the pantry. Her blue eyes gazed on him with such love and intensity, and her pale pink lips cried out to be kissed by him. He leaned down and touched his lips to hers, pulling on her bottom lip with his teeth.

  William pulled back and sighed. “We’ll need to excuse ourselves to search for Nick. I’m sure he’s just a pawn, but I’m concerned for anyone in the hands of Jonas.”

  A knock sounded on the door as it swung open. Sarah stood there with her hands on her hips. “Again? Until I see evidence of an engagement, the two of you need to stop being alone together, or I will have to report your rendezvous to Father.”

  “Sarah, you’ll get what you want soon. Anne and I have to tie up some loose ends.” William shoved past his sister, annoyed by her attempts, once again, to replace his mother.

  Chapter 19

  Laney imagined the road into Lexington time and again as she wrote her book, The Soldier. Though the town changed since the 1700s, her father took her there a couple of times, scouting out the local antique scene. As she walked into town, she passed the schoolhouse, the busy tavern, and rows of colonial homes. People wandered here and there, completing their daily chores. Many greeted her, and she seemed to fit right in wearing one of Sarah’s dresses. William volunteered Laney to fetch a dozen eggs from the Whittle family in town as a way for her to leave the house.

  She strolled down the road, swinging a basket. William planned to sneak out shortly after. The blacksmith shop they’d arranged to meet at stood on her left-hand side, set in a thicket of maple and pine trees. Laney sat down on a boulder to wait for him. She removed the book from her basket.

  After flipping the page to a sixth chapter, she stood up to search the grounds around the shop for William. He was supposed to be right behind her. The area around the shop appeared to be deserted as well as the dirt road that led to the cabin.

  “Delaney.” Jonas stepped out from behind the shop. He glanced around for any other signs of life then removed a gun from his coat. “I think you and I need to exchange a few words.”

  “William will be here any moment.” She used her best lecturing voice. “He doesn’t want to see you pointing a gun at me.”

  A loud boom pierced the air. Jonas’s bullet hit a tree behind her shoulder. “I’m not joking around. Get over here.”

  Laney’s body went numb. Maybe he’d really kill her. A glisten of sweat formed on her brow as she stared at her antagonist.

  The blacksmith shop was empty. Jonas pointed the gun at her head and marched her over to a pile of hay inside the structure. “Sit down.”

  “Where’s Nick? I swear, if you did anything to him…” she lowered herself slowly, not used to wearing a dress.

  “He’s with the Wanderer.”

  “What?” She gripped the hay beside her, wishing she had the guts to run, although he had a deadly weapon pointed at her head.

  Jonas kicked some hay then took a seat next to Laney. She moved over, wanting to avoid contact with the Ender. She studied him for a moment. His hair appeared clean, and the usual stench of alcohol was gone. Maybe he’d turned things around on a more permanent basis.

  “What does she want with Nick? He’s innocent in all this.”

  “She wants you. You’re the key in your whole story. Nick’s not safe because of you. William’s not safe because of you. Missy’s not safe because of you. And Jason, well, we all know how that turned out.”

  Anger burned inside her, and this time, it let loose. Her fist hit Jonas in the shoulder, and her other fist hit his chest. He caught her third punch with his hand.

/>   “You can’t hurt me.” He tried to suppress a grin, but it slipped out.

  “Yes, I can.” She dug in her backpack for her notebook and removed the pen. “I’m ready to kill you right now. How should I do it? The roof caves in on you? A wild horse tramples you to death? One of the many people who hate you shows up with a gun and blows your brains out?”

  “I don’t think you’d do it.” Jonas stared straight ahead at some tools on the wall. His hand sifted through the hay at his side.

  “Just watch me.” She uncapped the pen. “You killed Jason. You’re evil. Like I said before, I’m sorry I ever created you.”

  “I didn’t kill Jason.” He redirected his stare to her. “It was an accident, I swear. I just wanted to scare you into finishing the story.” For a moment, he almost seemed remorseful.

  She felt numb again, but it was short-lived. Anger returned and she dropped the pen from her hand. “You’re lying.”

  He took in a deep breath—his chest puffed up, then he let it out. “I’m trying to live up to the villain persona you’ve created for me. Every day, it’s an internal struggle. I don’t want to be the revengeful drunk. I want to live my life, but the parameters you’ve set make it impossible.”

  She didn’t know what to say because she didn’t want to see him in a different light. It was so easy to blame someone else for Jason’s death. If she dug deep enough, she was the cause. Jonas was the personification of the dark things within her.

  “I’m not lying. We got into a fight that night, and the ice broke below him.” His eyes glistened with tears—were they real? “I couldn’t save him.”

  “You should’ve just left him alone.” She felt no compassion for his so-called remorse. “He would’ve been safe at Manor Hill.”

  “I couldn’t do it. I needed you to change my story.” He wiped his eyes on his sleeve. “It’s your one weakness—the people you care about.”

  “Why can’t you change your own story? You’ve already changed.” She pointed to the pocket of his jacket. “The flask is gone.”

  “It takes incredible willpower. I want it to be easy and to be part of who I am.”

  “What if I do this? What if I change your story? You leave us alone? You ensure Nick’s safety?” She rolled the scenarios over and over in her head. “Because my services don’t come cheap.”

  “I promise to leave you alone, but Nick and William’s safety is out of my hands.” He tilted his head into his hands, gripping his hair.

  “What do you mean…William?” Laney jumped up and peered out the door of the shop. No one was on the road. The boulder remained empty.

  “She promised she’d get me anything I wanted if I distracted you. The Wanderer has William, or at least she should by now.” He let go of his hair and reclined into the hay.

  The words hit her hard. Her little chat with Jonas cost her William’s safety. Now she’d have to confront the woman who wanted her dead.

  Jonas was tired. Three trips in and out of the book wore on him, and all he wanted was to go home and live a life free of Weavers, or Gate Keepers, or Wanderers.

  The girl rushed to his side, kneeling in the hay beside him. “You said you want to redeem yourself. Right? Then tell me where they are.”

  “Behind my home, there’s an old barn on the other side of the field. My family no longer uses it, so it’s private enough.” He placed his hand on her arm and she flinched. He kept his hand there, maybe to torture her a bit. “She’ll be expecting you.”

  “Can you help me?” Her eyes were expectant, perhaps believing in his transformation for the first time.

  He was a coward. Last year he hid behind his intoxication and the safety of the forest. He wasn’t ready to face a woman with as much power and connections as the Wanderer. “You’ll have to go alone.”

  Delaney’s eyes burned with intensity and purpose. She’d make a much better soldier than he ever would. “Then, at least let me have your gun.”

  Laney left Jonas behind in the blacksmith shop. She debated whether she’d follow through with her part of the deal. The coward remained on the hay, letting her walk into a trap. But the Wanderer didn’t know she was aware of the trap, so at least she had that advantage.

  The road converged with two other roads in the town center—the village green in the center of the three. She stared at the seemingly peaceful park where one of the most famous battles in history commenced. This was the exact spot where the Revolutionary War started just a half year ago. Recalling the details in her book, Laney followed the road on the far end of the green to the Webb house.

  At the property, she kept close to the woods, not wanting to be seen or stopped by the members of Jonas’s family. She crouched behind a bush, where she kept an eye on the doorway of the barn and settled in to wait for dark. Crickets chirped throughout the field, welcoming in the twilight skies. She laid her head down on the soft moss hours before and slept the afternoon away.

  When she woke, it took her a moment to realize where she was and why she was there. Staying within the shroud of the forest, she crept closer to the structure. The Wanderer left the barn, hood over her head, crossed the field and disappeared into the forest. This was Laney’s chance.

  Jonas claimed his usual stool at the Buckman Tavern among the comfort of his fellow drinking mates.

  “The usual?” Charlotte, the barmaid, was an object of continuous flirtations for Jonas.

  “No, ma’am. Just water tonight.” He wanted the distractions of others but didn’t want to revert to his previous vices. “What time do you get off?” Well, maybe keeping one vice wouldn’t be so bad.

  “I am closing tonight.” Charlotte flipped her hair over one shoulder. “Have you given up the drink?”

  “Just trying to be a better man.” He sighed. These were his people. But the one common thread that bound them together was the liquor they drank. What would it feel like to have friends like Delaney’s—friends who had the common thread of love and commitment to each other?

  A commotion alerted him to the doorway. The woman with bright red hair and electric eyes demanded the attention of the establishment. The Wanderer weaved through the men, mouths hanging open, until she reached Jonas. “Where is she?”

  Jonas knew exactly who she was talking about, but feared the answer. “She escaped.”

  “How could a scrawny teenager escape from a strong man like you?” The Wanderer’s piercing eyes burrowed into him unnerving any resolve he had left.

  “I let her go.” He didn’t know what else to say. He wished he could have been clever and misled the evil woman, but she scared him.

  “Does she know our hideout?” The Wanderer, whose electric eyes seemed like they were about to zap him, kept one hand on the bar, but her feet pointed toward the door.

  “I’m pretty sure she does.” He took a swig of his water.

  “How? I mean, I think she’d probably suspect that we might keep them at your house, but I thought it might take her some time.” The Wanderer dug her nails into Jonas’s shoulder. “How did she find out?”

  “I told her.”

  The barn door was heavy, so Laney used her strength to open the door just wide enough to slip through. The only light in the barn was a small candle burning on a table near one of the stalls. A book lay on the desk with a large feather quill next to it. Although the book tempted her, she had to be quick to rescue William and Nick before the Wanderer returned.

  She picked up the candle from the table and began to search the stalls. The doors creaked as she pushed each one open but found the compartments empty. Laney looked up to see if there was a hayloft but what hung from the rafters made her heart stop.

  Nick was suspended in the air. His feet were hooked over the rafter, but his body was wrapped in rope so that he leaned forward at a forty-five-degree angle above the floor below. His eyes were closed, and he had dark shadows, or bruises, across his face. He was a fly caught in the Wanderer’s web. Her heart cried out to him as if her wil
l could get him down.

  The rope snaked above him and around a pulley. It then ran down to the wall below where the rope was tied around a cleat like the ones that tied a boat to a dock. She’d have to figure out a way to release him that didn’t involve strength.

  Her eyes moved along the wall to where another cleat fastened to a second rope. Icy fear gripped her heart as her eyes followed the rope back up to the rafters. In the shadows, William pitched forward precariously. His position mimicked Nick’s. His eyes were also closed. What had this woman done to them?

  If she released one of them and held onto the rope, the pure momentum of the man’s fall would be too much for her to take with her own body weight. She inspected the rope that held Nick. He was the lighter of the two. If she held onto the rope after she cut it, it might slow his descent, but she’d fly into the air. Not wanting to admit it, she needed Jonas right now.

  “It’s quite the game, isn’t it?” The Wanderer stood by the door of the barn, her face upturned to her dangling prey. “Jonas helped me think this one up. He’s pretty good at coming up with fun ways to mess with you.” She removed her hood, and her red hair cascaded out over her shoulders. “He’s really a good boy.”

  “Get them down.” Laney didn’t hide the anger in her voice as she clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms.

  “Oh, darling. I don’t think you know what you’re saying.” The Wanderer held a knife to William’s rope. “A few simple incisions, and you’ll be wiping your boyfriend off the floor.”

  “What do you want from me? From them?” She let out a breath as the Wanderer dropped her knife from William’s rope. “I know you have some kind of hang-up with me because I’m a Weaver. Let them go and take me. They don’t deserve to die.”