The Lost Baroness

by Judith B. Glad

  The trousers were fastened with a knot that resisted his fingers. He sliced them away from her long legs in ragged strips, tossing the scraps aside. When she was finally naked, he eased her into the steaming water.

  Her breath hissed between her teeth. Then she slid down until only her head was above water. "S-s-så varm. T-t-tack." Her eyes closed. After a while, her teeth stopped chattering.

  That was when he finally took a good look at her.

  "What the hell have you done to your hair?" he demanded.

  She tried to answer, but he cut her off. "Shut up. Just don't talk to me. I swear, Siri, if you weren't so damn cold, I'd whale the tar out of you."

  What he'd taken for soot or some other black substance rubbed into her hair was actually a greasy substance that repelled water. Biting back his anger, he loosened the long braid. His hands came away stained.

  Not wanting her skin to be colored too, he piled her hair on top of her head. God almighty, what a crime! Her sleek, once-silvery hair was a mass of tangled black ropes, sticky and matted.

  "I'll get you some coffee," he told her. "Warm you from the inside out." Because if he were to stay with her, he'd probably kill her, he strode through the living room of the suite and out the door. "Keep an eye on her," he flung over his shoulder as he exited.

  A quarter-hour later he was back, followed by a waiter carrying a tray loaded with a coffee service, an assortment of sandwiches, and a plate of small cakes. She didn't like coffee, but she was damn well going to drink it. Nothing like it for getting the blood moving. Especially with a shot of brandy in it.

  Siri slowly felt warmth seeping into her bones. The awful reaction that had overtaken her when she realized what a chance she and Soomey had taken had also relaxed its hold. After all, Martine would hardly have had them killed. But she might have attacked them with her big fists, as she had Siri one time.

  Soomey could have been badly hurt. She was so small, so delicate.

  Worst of all, Martine would have hidden the children somewhere else and Siri might never have found them a second time.

  Well, what was done was done. Now all that was left was to remove the children from Martine's hold. She hoped Buffalo was not so angry with her he would refuse to help with that.

  A heavy wool robe was tossed across a stool next to the bathtub, along with a soft linen towel. Siri eyed them longingly, but with her arm unbound, she knew she could not dry herself safely, let alone don the robe. "I hope someone will come in soon." The water was cooling now, and soon she would be cold all over again. She would have called for help, but the occasional loud, angry voices from the next room constrained her. Mr. Dewitt was very angry with Soomey. She hoped he would not beat her.

  Eventually Buffalo entered, carrying a cup and saucer. "Drink this," he commanded, handing it to her. She sniffed.

  "I do not drink coffee."

  "Yes you do. Even if I have to hold your nose and pour it down you." He shoved the cup at her.

  Siri had no choice but to take it. "Monster," she told him. "You are grym!" She sipped, and choked on the harsh beverage. "What did you put in it?"

  "Brandy," he said. "Drink."

  She drank, and found it warmed her from the belly out, a different. soothing warmth.

  When she handed him the empty cup, he said, "Are you ready to get out?" He picked up the towel. "Careful. Don't slip."

  Soon she was dry and wrapped in the wonderfully warm woolen robe. Her arm was supported by a sling fashioned from a silken scarf decorated with crimson dragons and bold flowers.

  "We've got to do something about your hair." He reached toward her head, then drew his hand back. "How much of that color is going to come off?"

  "Not much, I think." She let her distaste sound in her voice. "It is otäck...hideous, is it not? But you must agree I do not look like myself."

  "So what? Why the hell didn't you wait--"

  "They are mina barn! Finding them was my responsibility."

  "The hell it was! Silas and I were planning to...Great God, Siri, you risked your life--and Soomey's--going in there. What if the old witch had caught you?" He paused, staring at her. "How the dickens did you pull it off, anyhow?

  "Don't say a word! I don't want to hear about it. If ever there was a woman needed beating, it's you. What possessed you--" He broke off and stalked across the room. Facing the blind-covered window, he said, "Siri, when you weren't here, weren't in your room, my first thought was that something had happened to you. If it hadn't been for Silas, telling me his driver was a good bodyguard, I'd have been out and searching for you--" His voice broke.

  Slowly he turned around and came toward her. Stopping just out of reach, he said, "Siri, you...you've come to mean a lot to me. Promise me you won't put yourself into danger again." His hands shot out, grasped her upper arms. He shook her gently. "Promise me!"

  Unable to make such a promise until her children were restored to her, Siri said nothing. With her lower lip caught between her teeth, she simply stared back at him.

  After a quick rap on the door, Soomey peeked into the bathroom. "You will need help with your hair. Go away, Buffalo. Now she is warm, we will make her beautiful."

  After Buffalo went, reluctantly, but borne to the door before a whirlwind named Soomey, Siri said, "Does everyone do what you tell them?" She had never known a woman--a person of either sex, in fact--who swept all before them as this small Chinese woman did.

  With a chuckle, Soomey said, "No. My husband is master in our house and I am a very obedient wife. Besides, I think Buffalo would rather I washed your hair than he. It is very ugly." She wrinkled her nose. "It smells bad, too, like a ropewalk, or a tar barrel."

  She produced a bottle of a clear liquid. With efficient movements, she spread a towel over Siri's shoulders and gave her a cloth to wipe the drips from her face. "For you do not want this in your eyes."

  The next little while was as unpleasant as any experience Siri could remember. Fumes from the bottle's contents stung her nose, and the liquid stung her skin.

  At last Soomey said, "Now we wash. Can you bend down beside the bathtub? The water is cool, but I think it will feel good on your skin."

  She knelt, clumsily, and bent her head over the tub. Soomey dipped scented soft soap from a fancy dish and rubbed it through Siri's hair. "Keep your eyes tight," Soomey warned, and poured cool water over. Thrice she repeated the process, and after the third soaping, she rinsed again and again, using water from a pitcher on the commode at the last.

  "Your hair is still quite black, but it is slick and clean," Soomey told her, as she wrapped Siri's head in another towel. "It is not ugly any more, but I think I liked it more the way it was."

  So did I, Siri admitted. Aloud she said, "I would have shaved my head if it meant I could find my children. Thank you, Soomey. I can never repay you for what you did today."

  Soomey hugged her. "It was a great adventure. My life has been quite uninteresting of late. I should thank you."

  In complete agreement, the two women returned to the living room.

  To Siri's surprise, Buffalo said no more about wanting her to promise to be careful. As soon as she had eaten two of the sandwiches, the men asked for an account of the day's adventure. She and Soomey took turns, interrupting each other, and sometimes speaking in unison, telling the whole story. She noticed that Mr. Dewitt's mouth seemed to twitch more than once, but Buffalo only grew more and more sober. Not angry, exactly, but allvarlig...thoughtful.

  "What's done is done," Soomey's husband said when they were finished with the tale, "Soomey has promised me she'll behave, Siri, and I hope you'll do the same. I admit you probably found the easiest way to get in and identify your kids, but great God! The risk you took." He shook his head. "Never mind. What we need to do now is figure out how we'll get 'em out of there."

  They considered and discarded several schemes as the evening wore on. Mr. Dewitt wanted to call in the police, but Siri was sure they would side with Martine. After all,
she had nothing to offer the children, except the love of a mother. She grew more and more discouraged.

  "This is wasting time," she said, after both Buffalo and Mr. Dewitt had urged her to wait until they could reconnoiter the house again tomorrow. "I will not wait. There are five of us, if Mr. Jones will help. Martine has only one, or perhaps two maids, and the children's nurse. We can make her give them to me."

  "God save me from crazy women!" Buffalo yelled. "Only an idiot starts a battle without intelligence and planning. You saw a maid and a nurse. How do you know there isn't a bodyguard or two on the premises? And what are you going to do if she somehow summons the police?" He pushed his hands through his curly hair, standing it on end.

  "I see what it is," she yelled right back as she poked him in the chest with her finger. "You only want to do this your way. Well, if we had waited for your way, we would still not know mina barn are in the house. And if we wait for your way, they will stay there forever.

  "I tell you this, Buffalo, I am sick to death of being told what to do by men who only care for their own comfort. You believe the only wishes that matter are yours. You say women and children are to be protected, but you really want us out of the way while you live as you choose. Only when you are hungry or wanting to...to jucka do we become important to you." She gave his chest one last poke. "Tomorrow I go to get mina barn. With or without your help. So there!"

  "Wait just a minute--"

  "Hold it!"

  At Mr. Dewitt's sharp command, Siri wilted. Had she really said those words, really stood up to Buffalo that way? Ah, gode Gud! Now he will refuse to help me. How could I...

  "Siri, you're understandably upset at what seems to be unreasonable delay. And Buff, you're probably a mite put out at what the women accomplished today. So why don't we all sit down and see what we can do to get this job done as safely as possible and as soon as possible?"

  Siri chose a straight chair at the small table by the window, as far from where Buffalo sat beside the fireplace as she could get. For the next hour and more they discussed several possible plans, but always came back to the same one.

  "Enough!" Buffalo said at last. "We're all so tired we can't think straight. First thing tomorrow, we'll send Jones up there to reconnoiter. I want to know where the doors and windows are, how far it is to the street, what cover there is around the house. I'll go talk to the police, see if we can keep them out of it." He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, and Siri saw weariness in the gesture. "I sure hope this weather messed up your man's hunting trip, Silas."

  Mr. Dewitt nodded. "I'll send someone out to the boarding house first thing with a message that we need him at the office." He rose, and pulled Soomey up with him. "I'm for bed. We've got a big day ahead of us."

  "Tusen tack," Siri said to them both. "I cannot tell you how I am grateful for your help. No matter what..."

  "Tomorrow night you will have your children," Soomey assured her. "Buffalo and Boss will see to it." She hugged Siri and said good night.

  Hesitating, Siri looked at Buffalo. He looked back, his expression saying nothing of his thoughts. When he opened the door, she walked through, careful not to brush against him. "Still mad?" he said, once they were alone.

  "I was not so much angry as...I do not know the word. Min far used to say he felt as if he was trying to bail water with a sieve."

  "Frustrated." He grinned at her. "Yeah, I can see why you felt that way. But trust me, Siri, the only thing we'll gain by going off half-cocked is a lot of trouble."

  Before she could ask him what the expression meant, he had swung her off her feet. She could have struggled, but chose not to.

  Such a good feeling, to be held thus. Safe. Treasured. Warm.

  He helped her undress, as impersonally as any lady's maid. When she emerged from behind the screen, he was gone, and the door between their rooms was half closed. She started to climb into her bed, then paused.

  Before she could change her mind, she went to the connecting door and tapped.

  He was there in an instant. Siri all but forgot her purpose, for he was clad only in his trousers. "Så skön!" she breathed. She would never get tired of seeing his beautiful body.

  "Men are handsome, not beautiful," he told her.

  "You are beautiful." She touched his chest, feeling his warmth. "I am sorry," she said, while she could still think. "I should not yell at you."

  "Are you still fretting about that? Forget it. You had every right to yell at me. It must have seemed to you like Silas and I were sitting around talking and not getting anything done."

  "Ja," she admitted. "I did think that. But--"

  "But nothing. I'm not mad at you. Now, go to bed. Tomorrow could be a long day."

  Obediently she went to her bed. It seemed too big, too empty. If only...

  As if in answer to her unspoken wish, Buffalo crawled in beside her. "I was lonesome," he said, reaching for her.

  She went willingly into his arms, but found she could not respond to his caresses. All she could think of was that tomorrow she would once again hold her children.

  And then what?

  She could not banish the question, for there was no more time to find an answer.

  Still, when he stopped kissing her breast and lay back beside her with a sigh, she realized she had made a serious mistake. "Oh, please, you must not...I did not mean...you must go ahead and--" she faltered. Valter would never have left her alone because she felt no desire for him.

  "Oh, sure. I'm supposed to climb on and rut away, just because I'm horny. Is that what you're saying? Never mind it's the last thing on earth you want." He rose to loom over her. "God damn it, Siri, what kind of man do you think I am? If you're not interested, all you have to do is say so."

  She recoiled from the anger in his voice, different and much fiercer than his tone when they had argued before. "Oh, but, I do not mind. You are a man...you need..."

  "I need to get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a pisser of a day." He flopped back and laid his forearm over his eyes. "Go to sleep, Siri. Or lie there and fret and stew all night. I don't care."

  After a while his breathing became slow and even. She thought he slept.

  She did not.

  Chapter Thirty

  By midmorning the day after his arrival, Jaeger had found the hotel where Lachlan and the woman were staying, had hired three waterfront dregs to watch him 'round the clock, and had become Gotthart Taube, gentleman of leisure. Adler would remain in the waterfront hotel, but Herr Taube would be a guest here at the Siskiyou House, where only society's best were found.

  Why had Lachlan brought the woman here, as if she was his mistress? She was not beautiful, nor did she in any way resemble the man's usual paramours. A drab little servant, with no family, she was the sort a man used and discarded.

  He lowered his newspaper and watched a pair of attractive young women walk across the lobby. Tempting, but no doubt well-protected by fathers or husbands. When he wanted a woman, he would find one on the waterfront, not here, where a hue and cry would be raised if he allowed his passions free rein. He was too close to the conclusion of this assignment to chance exposure.

  Now why had that thought occurred to him? He had been successfully executing commissions without even the smallest of difficulty for more than a decade. All that time he had taken his pleasure with convenient women and had never fallen under suspicion. Even his clients had not known of his secret life.

  He smiled to himself. Clients who never hesitated at ordering the removal of someone who stood in their way would have been horrified to learn of his sexual habits.

  Perhaps, when he had disposed of Lachlan, he would sample the woman. There must be something about her...

  * * *

  "Well, I still can't think of any other way," Buff said. He looked out at the river, higher than yesterday, and all but obscured by the rain that fell at a sharp angle. Once again river traffic had stopped, for even the most powerful steamers could make
little headway against the wind. "And I don't like it any better than I did last night."

  He was a little nervous about leaving Siri alone in the hotel all morning. No telling what sort of fix she'd get herself into next. And here he'd thought her a sensible, biddable woman.

  Hell, she's as bad as Soomey!

  A tap on the door interrupted his thoughts.

  "Come," Silas called.

  The big redhead who entered held a wool cap in two ham-like hands. "You wanted to see me, Mr. Dewitt?"

  "Yes, I did. Have a seat." Silas gestured to the chair beside Buff's. "This is Buffalo Lachlan, Jamie. Buff, here's the man who can help us. James Simmons, mate of the Hattie's Fortune."

  Buff shook hands, glad Simmons wasn't the sort to play the 'my grip's stronger than yours' game. "I'm glad to see you. How was the hunting?"

  Simmons shrugged. "Too wet. We saw some elk tracks, but that's all." He squirmed in the too-small chair. "How can I help you?"

  "Silas tells me you're staying at Martha Peterson's boarding house. We need some information about it." He paused and looked a question at Silas.

  "Jamie's loyal," Silas said. "I'd trust him with my life."

  Simmons ruddy face grew even redder. "Thankee, sir," he said.

  "You've seen the children? Mrs. Peterson's grandchildren, I believe?"

  A nod. "Lively little tykes, especially the boy. It's a shame she won't let 'em outside to play. Kids shouldn't be cooped up."

  "No," Buff agreed, "they shouldn't. But there's a reason why she won't let them outside, Simmons. She's their grandmother all right, but she's stolen them from their mother. Mrs. Peterson hasn't any right to those children."