by Cathy Peper
It was very dark in the woods. A wedge of moon shone overhead, but it was less than half full and the trees blocked much of its meager light. Hannah was afraid. It had seemed simple while in her mom’s arms. Walk up-river to where the other boat was, where her dad was, and convince him to take her and her mom home.
But now the trees cast deep shadows she couldn’t see through. There could be a bear or wolf hiding there and she would never know until it sharp teeth sank into her skin. A man could hide there, too, a man with a knife against her mother’s throat.
Hannah shook her head. No, the bad man was gone. Her dad had defeated him like a hero in a movie and he would never hurt her again. Still, the safety of the Fury beckoned, tempting her from the cold, dark, scary forest.
Hannah took a deep breath. She could do this. She could be a hero just like her dad. She took the first step and then another, moving farther from the Fury. Brush and trees blocked her path, but she forced her way through where she could and went around when she couldn’t, just as she had seen her parents do. The river disappeared from view, but she kept on. She had to get to her father before her mom had a chance to talk to him.
An owl hooted overhead and she froze. Come on, it’s just an owl. An owl couldn’t hurt her. What if the owl had seen something? Owls had good vision, her mom had told her that. They needed it so they could hunt mice and other small animals in the dark. But they weren’t as smart as cartoons and stories made them out to be. Hannah wasn’t sure she was as smart as she had thought she was either. The simple plan, which had turned out to be a scary plan, now seemed like maybe it had been a stupid plan. Should she go back? Her mom would be really mad at her. Her dad, too, maybe. He was less likely to hear her out if he was mad.
She turned. Trees stretched out behind her thick and impenetrable. How far had she come? Would it be quicker to go forward or back? The trees all looked the same and she could no longer see the river. Was she even going the right way?
Panicked, she decided to fight her way to the river. Once there, she might be able to see either the Fury or the other boat and know which one was closer. At least she would know which way she was going. She was small, she could fit into tight places.
Determined, she pushed forward. And plunged deeper into the forest.
Chapter 23
Ari woke as the first threads of dawn unfurled in the tiny tent. She sighed, reaching for Bryce and aching when her hands cupped empty space. She had sent him away. Told him they needed a break, a chance for her to come to terms with his dark side. But didn’t everyone have a shadow self? She wasn’t perfect. No one was.
She dug her head into her pillow even as disquiet wrenched her from her sleepy musings. She wanted to sleep, to avoid thinking about the hard choices she faced. But the emptiness beside her hinted at loss and sorrow, and not just because Bryce was gone.
Hannah! Fully awake, Ari shot up, her gaze darting around the tent. Her daughter was nowhere to be seen. Ari threw on her clothes. Hannah often awoke before she did on the weekends. Having no TV to turn on, she might have gone onto the boat in search of someone to talk to or some food.
She left the tent and climbed up the gangplank. Most of the crew were still abed, but she asked those she saw if they had seen her daughter. No one had.
She rushed into the kitchen area. Sebastien looked up from where he was making coffee, took one look at her face and asked what was wrong.
“It’s Hannah. She’s gone.”
“Gone? How is that possible?”
“She wasn’t in the tent when I awoke and she’s not on the boat either.”
“Have you asked Bryce if he knows where she is?”
“No, I haven’t seen him. I don’t even know if he came back last night.”
Sebastien’s posture eased. “She is probably with him. Maybe he took her hunting or to visit her grandfather.”
“Without telling me?”
He tensed again. “He is new to this fatherhood thing. He might not realize how worried you would be.”
“I need to know if he came back last night. We had a bit of a spat before the rifle shot shook everything up.”
“I will question the men who were on watch,” Sebastien said. To calm her jangling nerves, Ari took over the coffee making process. She was sampling a cup when Sebastien returned.
“He came back shortly after midnight and told the night watch he would bunk with the crew. Said he didn’t want to wake you and Hannah.”
Better than telling the man I kicked him out. “It’s unlikely he has Hannah, but go wake him. He needs to know.”
“If he doesn’t have her, we will send out search parties. But why would she leave?”
Ari shook her head. “I don’t know. She’s never done anything like this. Maybe she was looking for her dad?”
“Don’t worry. We will find her.”
“I can’t lose her, Sebastien. For so long she’s been all that I had.” Tears threatened, but she had no time for them.
A few minutes after Sebastien left, Bryce joined her in the kitchen area, hair mussed and eyes bloodshot. “What is it?”
“Is Hannah with you?”
“No, I left her with you.”
Tears gathered in her eyes. “She was gone when I woke up this morning.”
“Where would she go?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she went to find you?”
“Are you sure she isn’t on the boat?”
She glared at him and didn’t deign to answer.
“Stupid question. Even for a child, there’s nowhere to hide. Do you think she was kidnapped?”
“The guard didn’t see anyone and I don’t think someone could have come into the tent and taken her without waking me.”
“But she managed to leave without waking you. She could have gotten lost.”
Or worse. Neither of them spoke the words. “We have to get her back. Sebastien said he would organize a search party.”
“I’ll ask my father to do the same. The more people we have looking for her the sooner we will find her.”
Ari ran back to where Sebastien waited for her by the rail. “She’s gone. Bryce hasn’t seen her. He’s gone to ask his father’s crew to search as well.”
“I’m sending out four teams of two men each. I will head one of the teams. You can wait here with Tori.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“We can move faster without you.”
“She’s my child.”
Her brother nodded. “Then come with me.”
Her brother had tracking experience. She only hoped it would be enough.
* * *
Following the path he and Sebastien had made yesterday, Bryce bolted through the woods towards his father’s boat. It was still early, the morning brisk, the sun low in a sky filled with wispy clouds. Someone had drawn up the gangplank after he left last night, so he called out.
One of the men came to the railing and set it out again. Bryce boarded and asked if his father was awake.
“Haven’t seen him yet,” the man answered.
Bryce rapped on the door to the cabin. A moment later his father, still wearing his nightshirt, answered.
“I need your help,” Bryce said.
His father studied him with cool blue eyes similar to his own. “I’ll be right out.”
Bryce paced the deck while his father dressed. The memory of Ari’s stricken face haunted him. Where could Hannah be? He had only known about his daughter for a few weeks, but the thought of losing her made his stomach clench. Ari had cared for her from the moment of her birth and must feel ten times the anxiety.
“What has changed?” his father asked upon emerging from his cabin. “Last night you made it clear you were headed west and wanted no part of me or the family business.”
Were the old man’s feelings hurt? Surely not, he didn’t possess normal emotions. “I wasn’t disowning you, as you did me four years ago. I promised to stay in contact if I could.” It just would
n’t be possible from the twenty-first century. “But opportunities abound in the new land and I want to take advantage of them.”
“A reasonable plan,” his father allowed. “Come, let’s get some coffee.”
Bryce waited impatiently while Gordon hailed a crew member and told him to bring them some breakfast. If he wanted his father’s help, it would be best not to anger him. Plus, if he was to spend the next several hours scouring the woods for Hannah, it would help to have a full stomach.
“You still haven’t told me why you are here.”
“Hannah is gone. She went missing sometime last night. We’re not sure if she wandered off or if someone took her.”
“Your bastard daughter?”
Bryce stiffened at the words. He had told his father bits and pieces of the last four years, excluding any mention of time travel. He’d said that Ari had been sent to stay with a distant relative, upon discovery of her pregnancy, and that he had only recently found her. “It’s not Hannah’s fault that Ari and I were separated.”
“Perhaps not, but she’s still illegitimate.”
Bryce couldn’t wait to return to the twenty-first century where the circumstances of Hannah’s birth no longer held such stigma. “I plan to marry Ari as soon as possible.”
“Won’t change Hannah’s legal status.”
“I don’t care about her ‘legal status.’ She’s my daughter and she’s out here in the woods somewhere alone and vulnerable.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Sebastien and his men are searching for her right now. I want your men to join them.”
The crewman Gordon had spoken to earlier, returned carrying a tray holding two steaming cups of coffee, a couple hardtack biscuits and a bowl of dried apples.
Gordon took the tray. “I need to speak to the captain.”
“I’ll let him know.”
Bryce nibbled at a biscuit and sipped his coffee as he waited for the captain. His father seated himself on a chair, but Bryce couldn’t keep still. At times he had been overwhelmed by Hannah’s endless questions and constant needs. He had even resented her small body laying between him and Ari in their little tent. Fatherhood did not come easily to him, but the worry that she was hungry, frightened, or injured kept him moving.
It didn’t take long for Captain Hobbes to reach them. “What can I do for you?” he asked Gordon.
“My granddaughter has gone missing. The men from the Fury are already looking for her, but we need your men to help.”
Hobbes nodded. “What does your daughter look like?” he asked Bryce.
“She’s four years old, with brown hair and blue eyes.”
“Do you think she was kidnapped?” he asked bluntly.
Bryce swallowed. “We don’t know. No one heard or saw anything.”
“There is no reason for anyone to kidnap her,” Gordon said.
“You’re a wealthy man, sir. If they know she is your granddaughter, they might hold her for ransom.”
A vice clamped around Bryce’s heart. But who could know about their relationship, except one of the crews from either boat? No one else would know Hannah was Gordon’s granddaughter. And none of them knew Gordon was unlikely to pay to rescue a bastard girl. A legitimate son, maybe, but not an illegitimate daughter.
“I only learned of her existence myself yesterday,” Gordon said. “The child probably wandered off and got lost.”
“I will send the men out at once.”
“Thank you,” Bryce said. “I’m coming with them.”
His father didn’t argue but didn’t offer his own services.
Bryce swallowed the rest of his coffee and grabbed a handful of apples. Please let her be all right.
* * *
She was going the wrong way. It was taking too long to reach the river. Hannah turned around and scrambled in the other direction. Still no river. She was lost.
“Mom! Dad!” No reply. She was too far away, her mother was asleep and she didn’t really know where her father was, only that she’d been desperate to reach him. She should never have set out on her own. This place wasn’t like home with well-lit streets and wooded parks that closed at dusk. Her mom had said there would be no more earthquakes, but what if she was wrong? The ground could open up beneath her feet right now and swallow her up like it had the ATV. She would never see either of her parents again. Or a man could come after her with a knife. But wait, that had happened even before they traveled to this other world.
She called out for her parents again. The dead leaves on the ground rustled as if someone or something was sneaking up on her. An owl hooted once more, followed by a high pitched squeal as some small animal met its doom. Would she be next? Not eaten by an owl, of course, but by a bear or a wolf. Was that a wolf behind the tree or just a shadow?
A flash of light nearly blinded her and she blinked up at the shadowy figure behind the lantern. He wore a hooded jacket or robe so she could barely make out his features, but she didn’t think she had ever seen him. Behind the man stood a black woman, equally unknown.
“Who do we have here?” asked the man.
“I’m Hannah. Can you tell me where the river is?” She hated the way her voice quavered.
“You will come with us.”
“Sorry, but I’m not supposed to go anywhere with strangers.”
He laughed and the hair lifted on her arms. “I’m not giving you a choice.” He turned to the woman. “Grab her.”
Hannah took off, running as fast as she could in the dark. She didn’t hear them following her but wasn’t sure she would over the racket she was making and the frantic beating of her heart. Her mom had warned her about stranger danger. Her shin hit a downed tree and she fell forward, slamming into the ground.
“Are you all right, child?” the woman asked, leaning over her.
Her shin throbbed and her knee and palms burned. “I guess.” How had they gotten here so quickly? They must have been following her after all.
“There will be no more running,” the man said.
Hannah didn’t think she was capable of running any farther. “Okay.”
The woman helped her to her feet and took her hand. Hannah went with them, unsure if they were taking her deeper into the forest. The man had shuttered the lantern again and her eyes were slow to adjust. She tripped, but the woman’s hold on her arm kept her from falling. What were they going to do with her?
The man stopped so abruptly, they nearly crashed into him. He turned and smiled, his teeth white in the darkness. “Your parents have something we need. We’re going to trade you for it.”
Chapter 24
Tori stayed behind. She wouldn’t be much help and didn’t want to worry Sebastien any more than he already was. Everyone assumed Hannah had wandered off on her own, but once she entered the woods she could have been injured, killed by wild animals or captured by Indians. She sat on the roof of the cabin area, waiting for news. If anyone found her, they were to fire two shots into the air. She had heard nothing so far but the searchers calling the little girl’s name.
If no humans were involved in her disappearance, they should find her quickly. She couldn’t have gone far on her own. But if she had been taken… Tori shuddered.
Presumably, Bryce and his father’s men were also searching, but another theory had occurred to her, one she hadn’t shared with either Sebastien or Ari. Bryce could have taken the girl himself. She would not have struggled or made a fuss. Ari had told Sebastien she was having second thoughts about marrying Bryce. This might be a custody battle.
If it was, at least Hannah would be well treated. Despicable as he could be at times, Bryce wouldn’t harm his own child. And then there was his father, who hadn’t wanted a marriage between Bryce and Ari in the first place. Could he have anything to do with this? He might think that if Hannah were gone, Bryce might not go through with his marriage plans. Sebastien had told her the man was rich and powerful. How far would he go to control his son?
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br /> She climbed down, went to the kitchen area and made herself a cup of tea. Food didn’t look appealing, but she grabbed a hardtack biscuit. Back on her perch, she sipped the hot liquid, savoring the warmth as it slid down her throat.
An hour stretched into two. They should have found her by now. Guilt settled on Tori’s shoulders. If Ari hadn’t returned to the past to warn them of danger she and Hannah would be safe at home.
An object hurtled past her, landing a few feet from where she sat. She ducked, flattening herself on the roof and wondering if they were under attack. Nothing. No more missiles came her way and the man Sebastien had left on board to watch her and the boat puttered below, unaware anything had happened.
Tori lifted her head. It seemed safe, so she crawled back to where the object had landed. It was a rock with a piece of paper wrapped around it. She pulled the paper free and read.
We have the girl and will trade her for the necklace. Meet us at the cave tonight. Come alone or she dies.
A crude hand-drawn map filled the bottom of the sheet. Tori called out to the watchman. “Someone just threw a ransom note on board. Can you catch him?”
“I can try, but he’s probably long gone. We’d better call the patron back.” He fired two shots into the air before running down the gangplank. A few minutes later, he reappeared. “There’s no sign of him, miss.”
If only she had alerted him the moment the rock landed beside her, he might have been able to catch whoever threw it.
Members of the search party filtered in. Tori told them she had received a ransom note, but gave the men no other details. When Sebastien and Ari arrived, she showed them the note.
Ari gasped. “Who knows about the necklace?”
Sebastien swore under his breath. “Dalton.”
“Not just Dalton,” Tori said.
