“No.” Lyla stood in front of Joey. “You won’t see it. There is something that you have to learn, Keith: you don’t always get your way. You may think you are getting your way, but I will hate you every day I am with you.”
Keith looked as if he wanted to hit her, but he didn’t. Instead, he took a step back with a cruel smile. “We will see who is getting their way. Jeremy! Come here a second.”
The man who had been playing with Joey by the fire came walking over with a strange look on his face. It almost looked as if he were sympathetic towards her and Joey.
“Jeremy, take the boy back to the sheriff. Then meet us on the route we chose earlier.” With that, Keith walked off to the stagecoach.
Jeremy reached for Joey, but Lyla stood in his way. Looking into his eyes, she mustered all the kindness she could. “Please, promise me you’ll take him to the sheriff.” Her voice wavered as she glanced down at her son.
“I will, ma’am,” Jeremy assured her, taking Joey’s hand.
“When will I see you again?” Joey was starting to cry.
“Don’t cry Joey. Just tell James what happened, okay? It’s all going to be all right. Go with Jeremy, here. You’re going to be all right.” Lyla kissed Joey on the forehead, and then watched as Jeremy loaded him up on the horse and the two rode off into the forest.
She didn’t know if it would be the last time that she would ever see him, but she was going to hold on to hope. Maybe James would find a way to save her.
She watched while Keith and another man she learned was called Mark packed things up and prepared to leave. Finally, when they were ready to go, she climbed reluctantly into the stagecoach across from Keith. They were on their way back to a place where she had hoped never to return.
She knew that she would be miserable, and she would wish that she could have done things differently for the rest of her life. But the little bit of good that shined through all of this was the fact that Joey was safe with a man who loved him and would take care of him.
Lyla smiled. Even with all of the things she’d done wrong, she had still done one thing right. She only hoped that James would forgive her.
Chapter 33
“What do you mean, she’s just gone? When did you see her last?” James demanded.
His mother looked as flustered and worried as he was. “I don’t know. She came and had breakfast. She seemed a little off, so I went out to talk to her a little while later and she was gone. Some of her things are there, but many are gone, too.”
James ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “Do you think he took her? Could he have taken her without her without you knowing?”
“I don’t think so, I’m sure I would have heard.” James’ mother sat down in a kitchen chair with a sigh.
“I don’t know what happened. I really don’t.” Tears ran down Bonnie’s face.
James paced back and forth. What could they do? Now, not only was one person missing, but two. They’d had no luck finding Joey. He and Keith seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
The sound of hoof beats and Sam barking made James rush outside. A rider was leaving his ranch, leaving behind a little boy crying near the road. Sam was doing his best to lick the tears from the boy’s face and Joey was hugging the dog.
James ran towards the figure he knew so well. When he reached the boy, he pulled him into a tight hug. “Joey! Thank God you’re alright!”
James felt his throat close with emotion and a tear run down his cheek. He quickly brushed it away. He was a man, and men didn’t cry.
Finally, he pulled Joey away from himself. “How did you get here? What happened? Why did Keith let you go?”
The little boy looked confused and James knew that it was unfair to bombard him with questions, but he couldn’t help himself. He felt as if he was losing his family no matter what he did.
Joey searched in his sweater and, after a few moments, he produced a piece of folded paper. “Lyla said to give this to you,” he said seriously. “I promised I would.”
James took the paper and unfolded it quickly.
My Dearest James,
I knew that if I told you what I was going to do, you never would have let me go. I couldn’t stand the thought of Joey being out there all alone anymore.
I’ve accepted Keith’s terms, though if there were any other way, I wouldn’t go through with it.
He will take me back to town to be married. I wish that we could finish what we started together.
Just know that no matter whether I get out of this or not, none of this changes how much I love you. Take care of Joey for me, and remind him how much I love him each and every day until I see him again.
Yours truly forever,
Lyla
James felt anger building within him. Keith had gotten what he wanted. They hadn’t won, and Lyla had stopped fighting. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t ready to accept this.
“James? When will Lyla be coming back?” Joey asked, his voice wavering.
James knelt down so that he could look the boy in the eyes. “I am going to get Lyla back, okay? You don’t have to worry.”
He nodded, but didn’t look convinced.
“Joey?” Bonnie’s voice was shrill and excited behind them. James turned and watched as Bonnie swept Joey up into her arms while crying tears of joy. “I thought I would never see you again.”
“I’m fine, Grandma Bonnie,” Joey said as she sat him down on his feet again.
James looked at his mother with curiosity.
“I told him to call me Grandma when you and Lyla decided to get married,” Bonnie shrugged. “Come on, let’s get inside and get you something to eat. You look like you are all skin and bones. Didn’t they feed you?”
Joey nodded that they did feed him and began to tell what had happened to him in the last three days, but James couldn’t concentrate.
He kept thinking of Lyla’s letter. It seemed that she wanted him to follow her. Could he find her when he hadn’t been able to find Joey?
Whether she wanted him to get her or not, he was going to stop them, somehow. He couldn’t let Lyla live a life of misery, feeling trapped, all because he hadn’t been able to protect her.
James sat down at the kitchen table with Joey and tried to focus on the boy’s story.
“There was this really nice man who gave me food while I was there. He played games with me by the fire,” Joey was saying as he ate the heaping plate of fried chicken and mashed potatoes.
“Do you know where they were?” James couldn’t possibly hope that Joey remembered how to get to where he’d been held.
“I don’t know. It was in the middle of the trees somewhere.” Joey looked disappointed that he couldn’t recall anymore.
“It’s okay. What else do you remember?” James pushed. It could be that any detail Joey could remember might help him find Lyla.
“There were lots of trees but, where we were, there weren’t any, just in the middle.”
James tried to think of all the different clearings in the forest. He knew where most of them were. “Did they say if they were going to wait for the man who brought you?”
“No, they said he was going to meet them.” Joey looked up at James innocently.
James tried not to be frustrated or angry at Joey. He knew it was pretty amazing that the little boy had relayed so much already.
“Do you remember anything else?” James urged.
Joey’s eyes filled with tears. “I can’t remember anything else.” His voice trembled. “Does that mean you won’t be able to find Lyla?”
“No, he’s just asking too many questions.” Bonnie hurried over and rubbed the little boy’s shoulders. “James, that’s enough. Stop harassing the boy; he just got back.”
James leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I know, I know. It’s just… You’re right. I shouldn’t have been so pushy. Sorry, Joey.”
“It’s okay.” Joey wiped his eyes and continued to eat his food.
James
stood and pushed his own plate back. “I’m going into town. We’re going to have to move fast if there’s any chance of catching them.”
“Do your best. This place isn’t going to be the same without Lyla around.”
“I’ll be bringing Lyla home no matter what I have to do,” James told his mother confidently.
He knew that it wasn’t going to be easy and there was a strong possibility he wouldn’t find her in time, but he was going to do it, no matter what.
---*---
It took James a while to decide who he was going to tell first, but he chose Merrick. It didn’t take long to get to Merrick’s house.
He hurried over to the cabin and began pounding on the door. It would be just his luck if Merrick wasn’t here today. He knew that Merrick had been taking turns with the other men on the searches and he also knew that Daniel was at the jailhouse today.
“James? What are you doing here?” Merrick’s voice surprised him from behind.
James turned to find his friend walking over from the barn. “Merrick! Thank goodness you’re here.”
“What’s going on? Why aren’t you with the searches?” Merrick had a saddle blanket in his hand. “I just came back to change horses before I go out again. You caught me just in time.”
“Joey’s back.” James’s words stopped Merrick in his tracks.
“What? When? I’m so confused. Have you told everyone else?”
James shook his head. “I just found him a little bit ago—or, to be more specific, he was dropped off at my house.”
Merrick scratched his head. “What are you talking about? Why would they drop him off, unless…?”
“She left and went with him. She thought it was the only way to save Joey.”
“You can’t just let her go—you have to go after her. You can’t let her marry that man.”
James was surprised at Merrick’s anger for his situation. “I know. That’s why I came here. I need you to call off the search for Joey, and we need to get a few men together to go after Lyla. She’s headed to Merrill, Illinois. I know it’s not a lot to go on, but maybe, with a little luck, we can get ahead of them and head them off. They are in a stagecoach and we are on horseback, so if we cut through the woods, we might be able to get out in front.”
“I can’t believe she just left without telling you. How are you doing?”
James shook his head. “I’m doing alright, I suppose. I just…It’s not the same without her. What if I can’t get her back?”
Merrick slapped James kindly on the shoulder. “Don’t think like that, James. We’re going to get her back. We’re the best law team in the entire wild west.”
“I hope you’re right. I just keep thinking that we’ve been looking for Joey for almost a week now without so much as a warm clue. How are we going to find Lyla before she gets married?”
The thought of going on without Lyla, knowing that he’d lost her because he wasn’t fast enough, wasn’t good enough, tore him apart.
He needed Lyla. He couldn’t stand to lose her. He’d already lost one wife, and there really hadn’t been anything that he could do about it, but this time, he had a chance to save her.
Just one chance…If he didn’t do it right, he would lose Lyla forever.
“Come on, let’s go into town. Daniel can help us, and we’ll leave before nightfall. Let’s take a couple extra horses. We can ride them in turn, so they will last longer.”
James hurried over to help Merrick saddle his horse and then mounted his own. They put a rope on two others and tied them to their saddle horns.
Riding side by side, they hurried towards town. On their way, they passed several search groups which they quickly informed of the new developments. By the time they reached town, there were several men who had volunteered to come with them in search of Lyla.
It wouldn’t be like Joey’s search. This time, they were on a clock, and their target was moving specifically toward a destination. They had something to go on.
“What’s going on?” Daniel asked, when James, Merrick, and all the other men burst into the jailhouse.
James started stocking up on ammunition and cleaning his pistol while Merrick told Daniel what was going on. Soon, the three of them, along with seven other men, were all gathered together around the porch of the jailhouse.
When James felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned. “We’re going to get her back, James, no matter how long it takes,” Daniel assured him confidently.
“Thank you, Daniel. I really appreciate yours and Merrick’s help with all of this.”
Daniel nodded, then went to join Merrick with the other men. James was too distracted and worried to care how they organized the search. He would wait for Merrick and Daniel to decide and then tell him what the plan was.
“We sent two teams to go on routes on the outside. We’re going to go right down the middle. It’s the most probable route they’ll take, since the others are a lot longer and I don’t think Keith is the type to be patient,” Merrick explained as they mounted and began the ride out of town.
“That makes sense,” James replied. «How will we know if anyone finds her?”
“Whoever finds her first is to shoot three fast shots into the air to let the other teams know.” Merrick pointed to his pistol.
“We have to catch them before they get to Illinois. When they get there, I have no doubt he’ll want to marry Lyla immediately, and once they are married, it will be more complicated to…” James trailed off. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if Lyla was married before he found her.
He dug his spurs into his horse’s side to urge him forward. “Yah!” he shouted, slapping the reins against the animal’s neck.
James could see the other teams disappearing into the forest they’d have to cross to get to Illinois.
Time seemed to slow down as they inspected the trees around them and took turns riding out to either side. This wasn’t going to be a direct search—instead, they were all going to have to cover a pretty large piece of ground to not miss Lyla on the way.
James looked up at the sky. It was getting a little darker; it would be dusk soon and then their chances of finding Lyla would be slimmer.
If they couldn’t see, they would have to move even slower. Grunting in frustration, James tried to remind himself not to give up.
He needed to be strong for Lyla.
Chapter 34
Lyla glanced over at Keith. He had dozed off and was leaning against the side of the stagecoach as he slept.
She wondered if James would ever forgive her. She had told James that she would marry him, that she would have a life with him and Joey, and now she was heading off with another man. Of course, she had her reasons. She had done it for a good cause, and she would still change her mind if she had a choice, but would James see that? And would Keith give her a chance to get away?
Would James even look for her or come after her? Her mind thought back to man who had left her pregnant with Joey. He hadn’t cared about his promise to her. He hadn’t cared what he’d said to her. He hadn’t even been with her for a day before leaving her.
Of course, Lyla knew that James wasn’t like that, but she had been. This time, it had been her who had abandoned both James and Joey. If she didn’t think of some way to make this right, she would never forgive herself.
A Treasure Brought by Fate: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 25
