"Cretin!" Clenching his fists so he would not strike the man, Jaeger said, "Come with me. I want the man unhurt. I care nothing for the boys."
He led them down the hall, gesturing for one of them to go into the room where a boy cowered against the side wall. At the damaged door, he peered cautiously inside. Lachlan was squatting beside a large woman whose hands were bound across her belly. Across the room two squalling brats clung to another boy. He looked again. No. it was the Trogen woman. Lachlan's woman. He stepped inside, reaching for the pistol as he did.
"Please do not move," he said.
A shot was fired in the next room. There was a thud, as if a body fell to the floor, followed by the sound of running footsteps. "See what happened," Jaeger ordered, never taking his eyes off of Lachlan.
"Who the hell are you?" Lachlan remained where he was, but his body tensed.
"I am Jaeger. Please to stand, Mr. Lachlan. You too, Mrs. Trogen. We are going for a walk together."
"The hell I will. Don't move, Siri."
"I will count to three. If you are not both standing then, I will kill one of the children. The little one? Or the big one?" He shrugged. "It matters not to me."
They both stood, the woman releasing the children reluctantly. They clung to her legs, weeping.
"Very good. Now walk to the door. Together. Take the children."
They obeyed, but the woman's movements were hampered by the children. "Lachlan, pick up the girl. Mrs. Trogen may carry the boy. Just remember that I will be aiming at one or the other of them at all times." He watched Lachlan lift the smaller child so the woman could hold it in her left arm. Her right must be bound under her shirt, he decided, and remembered she had been wearing a sling when he had last seen her in Astoria. The sight filled him with a certain small pleasure.
His neck prickled as he entered the hall. Where was the man he'd sent to check the next room?
His man stepped from the adjacent doorway. "The kid shot Bob, Mr. Jaeger. Kilt him dead. He hightailed it downstairs afore I could stop him."
"He should have been more alert. Downstairs," Jaeger ordered his captives. "You, Go first. And watch for that boy." He hesitated. "Wait. Give me the girl."
"No!"
"Mrs. Trogen, you are being quite impractical. I can kill her with one shot. I might even miss and kill both her and your lover. If I am carrying her, she will be much safer. Now give her to me." He held out his free arm. "You, whatever your name is. Keep your gun on Mrs. Trogen. Kill the child if she does not obey."
Lachlan's mouth twisted. Jaeger wanted to laugh aloud at his expression--frustration coupled with impotent rage. "I have to, Siri," he said. He pried the child's arms from their clutch on his neck. "It's okay, Rosel. You'll be fine."
The girl squealed, then went limp. Her sobs died away into hopeless hiccups.
Jaeger wrapped an arm about the girl's middle and clutched her against his side. Her arms and legs flailed until he tightened his arm and said, "Be still, or I will hurt you." Then she froze. He felt the trembling of her slight body.
He found descending the stairs awkward with the girl dangling from his left side. His men were no longer guarding the front bedroom, so they must have taken care of its occupants and the man who had hidden in a back bedroom. The foyer at the bottom of the stairs was empty. No matter. He had accomplished his goal and what happened to the scum he had hired no longer concerned him. "Outside. There is a carriage waiting at the end of the walk. You will enter it."
"Just a moment." From the wide doorway to Jaeger's left, a man stepped forward. "I don't believe you're going anywhere. Put the girl down."
Verdammt! He had been overconfident. "I think not. There are two of us and two of you. We have guns and you do not." He looked at his hireling. "Kill the child!"
As he spoke, he struck Lachlan across the face with the pistol in his hand. When Lachlan reeled back, Jaeger shoved past him and out the door. The girl under his arm shrieked as he ran down the walk. He tossed her into the waiting carriage and snarled, "Silence, or I will hurt you very much."
A hard blow sent Siri staggering, just as something exploded beside her head and pain flooded her chest. She would have fallen but for strong arms that caught and held her and Rolf securely. Confusion and noise surrounded her, close by, yet at a curious distance. A voice spoke meaningless syllables close to her ear. Rolf's arms released their desperate clasp on her neck as she was lifted and carried into a darkened room. The voice spoke to her again, but the words still meant nothing. Her right shoulder burned, as if she had been branded with a red-hot poker.
"Follow that carriage," she heard someone say. "Don't lose sight of it."
A woman's voice said, "Sit still, Buffalo. You are bleeding."
"Where's Simmons?" The first voice said. Siri recognized it, but the name escaped her. A wide, strong man, with hair almost as light as hers.
"Sit still I tell you, Buffalo. I go find Simmons in a minute, Boss." Soomey? Yes, that was the woman. Soomey. Buffalo's aunt.
And the man is his uncle. Boss? No, that is only what Soomey calls him. Mr. Dewitt.
"Did he get the girl?" Buffalo said. His voice sounded strained.
"Yeah, I couldn't stop him, not without risking her. But Evan's on his tail. He won't be able to hide."
"Shit! Let me up, Soomey. I've got to--"
"Only when you have stopped bleeding."
"This one's not going anywhere," the uncle said. "I'll go look for Simmons."
Siri tried to turn her head, but could not. What had happened? Why was Buffalo bleeding? What girl? Suddenly her memory cleared.
Rosel? Ah, Gud! He took min dotter. She tried to sit up but the pain in her shoulder and chest made her gasp and fall back. She couldn't even turn her head without agony. "Soomey," she called weakly. "Soomey, help me!"
In an instant Soomey was beside her. "You are hurting? Lie very still. You were shot but not badly. Only when Boss pushed you, he may have hurt your shoulder again."
"Rosel?"
"The bad man took your little girl. Evan is following him, and we will soon have her back."
"Where is Rolf? I heard...is he... " She could not speak her fear.
"Rolf is not hurt. He helps me bandage Buffalo. The bullet struck you but not him."
"Tack. Oh, thank you. Tusen tack! "
"Nothing to thank us for. We blundered badly, Siri. We weren't expecting an attack from outside." Mr. Dewitt lowered himself to one knee beside the sofa. "I can't tell you how sorry I am we let your little girl be taken. As soon as I'm sure everything's all right here, I'll get a search organized." He rubbed one hand across his mouth. "The good thing is that he seems to want you and Buff, not the kid. Let's hope he'll offer a trade."
"Ah, ja! I will go to him, if it will save Rosel."
"Nobody's going to him, if I have any say," Mr. Dewitt told her. "Buff? You all taken care of yet?" He rose.
"Yeah. How about Simmons?"
"He's going to see to the women. The bastard roughed up the one in the kitchen pretty badly. I don't know yet about the others."
"The nanny's tied up, but not hurt. Well, except for her shoulder, which may be broken. She tried to aim a shotgun." Buffalo came into Siri's view. A wide strip of cloth covered his brow and a bruise was forming around his eye. "Let's go. I want to get moving." He came closer to the sofa and stood there. Looking down at Siri. His mouth was set in a hard line.
After a moment, he knelt and took Siri's free hand. He carried it to his mouth, soft and warm against her icy skin. "Siri, I'll get your girl back. I promise. And when I do, we'll go home. All of us." He bent and kissed her, a gentle, sweet kiss unlike any he had given her before.
"Let's go, Silas."
Siri watched the two men, unlike yet curiously similar, stride through the wide doorway. For an instant, their coats seemed to shine, as if they were made of polished metal.
Fantasi!
* * *
"Damn, Silas, how'd we let it go to hell th
at way? It should have been easy."
"More to the point, who the hell was that fellow. He knew you and Siri." Silas dropped to a trot.
The mud of the unpaved street clung to their boots, making each foot weigh a ton. "Look, there's Jones's cap. He came this way, all right." Evan Jones had dropped a glove at the first corner and at the second. Buff hoped the fellow had enough spare clothes to lead them to their quarry.
"I've seen him. I know it," he said, in reply to Silas's question. "I just can't remember where. Sure wish I could, though. Maybe I'd have a hint as to what grudge he's holding." They were in town now, approaching the docks. Traffic grew heavy, the closer they got to the waterfront, and soon they were forced to slow to a fast walk. "We'll never find him, if he's holed up down here. Didn't you say something about tunnels?"
"Yeah. Some of the saloons have cellars with underground exits. You can guess where they lead." Silas dodged a beer barrel, rolling across the road. "Look. There's Evan."
The driver-cum-bodyguard awaited them at the corner of First and Morrison. "He went in there, Mr. Dewitt," he said, jerking his chin toward a shabby two-story hotel halfway up the block. "I didn't see the kid, but he was carryin' a big gunnysack over his shoulder."
"The bastard--" How would he ever tell Siri...
"Hold on, Buff. She's probably fine. He couldn't carry a little girl into a place like that, now could he?" Silas's grip on his upper arm was like steel. "After all, the girl is his bait."
"Yeah, you're right. Now what?"
"I think it's time to get help. Evan, you keep an eye on this place, I'll send someone to watch the back as soon as I can get to the office." He strode off down the street, leaving Buff little to do but follow.
* * *
The pain in Siri's shoulder subsided somewhat by the time three husky young men arrived with a note from Mr. Dewitt. For the last hour, Martine had been pounding on the floor and yelling to be released. Siri was just as happy she was behind a locked door. She still lay on the sofa, with Rolf cuddled between her and the back, asleep. His warm little body gave her such a feeling of peace and contentment, until, as she did every few minutes, she remembered that his sister was in the hands of a vicious monster. Ah, Rosel, min älskade dotter, var är du?
"We go to the hotel," Soomey told her. "These nice men will carry you to the carriage, so you must not try to stand."
Obediently, Siri let them load her into the carriage like a particularly precious sack of oats. She clung to Rolf all the way to the hotel, and refused to let him out of her sight while she was being carried up to the Dewitt's suite. One of Mr. Dewitt's men had stayed behind to care for the injured nursemaid and to release Martine. Siri hoped he would escape alive when he opened Martine's door.
"Boss says we will stay together from now on," Soomey explained as Siri and her son were settled into a big bed. "The bad man wants you, so you must not be alone. I will protect you."
"Where are Buffalo and your husband?" Siri could not believe she had not asked sooner.
Soomey shrugged. "I do not know. Boss does not tell me anything when he thinks I am in danger. I think Buffalo is the same. They want us to sit here and think about all the bad things that can happen to them."
A knock sounded at the door to the suite. Soomey said, "I will see," and hurried out the door. She pulled it firmly shut behind her.
A few minutes later she opened it again. "Here is doctor," she said, ushering an older man inside. "He will make you well again."
Perhaps in time she would be well again, Siri thought, a long, painful time later, but not for a while. The doctor had examined her carefully, with many a 'Hmmm' and an occasional 'Well, well.' He cleansed the bullet wound, informing Soomey as he did so that she was a very lucky young lady, for the bullet had passed through the least vulnerable part of her shoulder, and had, luckily, missed the collarbone. "Which wasn't made any better when she was whacked on the back," he commented, poking at her until she wanted to scream every time his fingers touched skin. "Wouldn't surprise me if it isn't rebroke, but maybe it's just cracked along the join."
He cleaned her wound and bandaged it, then wrapped her arm close to her side. "I don't want you using that arm for another two, three weeks, and then only gently. You start wavin' it around, and you'll end up with a crooked shoulder, sure enough." He patted her cheek. "You're a brave girl. I know a lot of men who'd have been cussin' before I was done.
"Now," he said, holding out his hand, "how about we take a look at you, young man? Your auntie says you've had yourself some adventures."
To Siri's amazement, Rolf hardly hesitated before crawling across her legs and into the doctor's arms.
After a brief examination, the doctor pronounced her son to be in the pink of health. "Nothing wrong with him that some mother's love won't cure. Mrs. Dewitt said he'd been stolen away from you, that right?"
Siri nodded, afraid to speak, for once again her heart was crying out for her daughter.
"Well, whoever did it took good care of him." He pulled a lollipop from his coat pocket, "There you go, youngster. Take that and go sit by the fire."
Rolf grinned, but made no sound. Siri realized he had not spoken since they had found him.
Before she could say anything, the doctor said, "He may act a little funny for a while. Little guys like him don't always understand what's gone wrong, but they know something has. Just be patient and don't fret him with too much fuss. He'll be fine, now that he's back with his ma."
"Doctor..."
"Yes? You've got a question?"
"If Rolf were older...would he still...act funny?"
The doctor scratched the back of his head. "Well, that's a hard thing to answer. Some do, some don't. Usually if a child's old enough to understand what's happening, and can talk about it, then he'll be all right. But sometimes, when there's been a terrible accident like...oh, last year a little girl saw her pa run over by a freight wagon...well, she still has nightmares." Shaking his head, the doctor said, "There's just no telling. Best thing is to do your best to show 'em you love 'em and hope they'll grow past whatever happened to them." He bent down to pick up his bag. "Now you take it easy and don't go gettin' in the way of any more bullets, you hear?"
"I will be good," she told him, wondering if she was lying. One way or another, she was going to find Rosel. With or without Buffalo's help.
Chapter Thirty-two
The men had not returned by ten that night, but a boy had delivered a note from Buffalo, saying they were keeping watch on the place where the bad man had taken Rosel.
"Keeping watch! Why are they not going after her?" Siri struggled to get off the sofa. "Help me up. I will go--"
Soomey pressed her back. "You will not. What good would it do? There is a good reason why they do not rescue your daughter. Boss will not let him harm her."
"Nej! I must go!" She strained against Soomey's hand. "You do not understand...Ouch!"
The sharp slap to her face left her cheek stinging. "You hit me!"
"I will hit you again, if you do not obey me. You have been very brave, but now you are thinking like a child. Our men are doing what they can to save your daughter. You would only be in the way. We will go to bed now. In the morning you will feel better."
Docilely, but inwardly rebellious, she let herself be helped into bed. Tomorrow, she vowed as Soomey turned the lamp low, tomorrow I will go there. I will find some way to make him give me my Rosel.
Sleep did not come to her, even with Rolf's warm little body curled against her. She lay for a long time, staring into the shadowy darkness, watching light flare and sweep across the window. How different this city was from Astoria, where nights were dark and quiet, away from the docks. Occasional cries came faintly to her ears, and the rumble of carriage wheels against the cobbled streets.
She was still awake when the door opened quietly and Buffalo entered. Saying nothing, she watched as he turned away from her and silently undressed, laying his dark clothing upon the chai
r in the corner. In the faint, shifting light from the window, the angles and planes of his muscular back were dramatically evident. He turned, and his lem, half-aroused, stood in bold silhouette. But then he moved again, and his face became visible.
"Your face!" she gasped.
He spun. "You're awake? I was trying to be quiet."
"I was never asleep. Your face--"
He came to the bed, sat on its edge. "I guess it must look pretty terrible by now." Lightly touching his cheek, he said, "It hurts some, now I think about it. Sure hope the swelling goes down by morning. It's a nuisance, not being able to see out of this eye."
"Lie down. I will get cool water." She started to roll out of bed, when Rolf whimpered and clutched at her nightgown.
Buffalo jumped like he'd been stung. "Oh, hell, I forgot about him. Let me get some britches on." He went to the bureau, where he lit the lamp, but left it burning low. "Where the dickens...?" He opened each drawer in turn and pawed among its contents.
Since Siri had not been allowed to explore this room when she was brought to bed, she was of no help.
In the third drawer down, he found what he wanted. The white garment he pulled on was like nothing Siri had ever seen. Although it had legs like trousers, they were cut full, so that when he stood, he looked almost as if he was wearing a narrow skirt.
He saw her staring as he turned around. "Yeah, aren't they something? I got 'em in India."
The skirt-like trousers in no way took away from his masculine beauty.
She started to untangle herself from Rolf, but Buffalo said, "Never mind doctoring me. Let's just get some rest." He extinguished the lamp.
To Siri's surprise, he climbed into the opposite side of the bed, keeping Rolf between them. Remembering Valter's refusal to allow the children in his bed, she said, "I can make him a bed on the floor."
"Don't be silly. He needs his mama. And it won't be the first time I've slept with a kid. All of us boys shared a bed in the cabin. If it got cold enough, we slept in heaps, all of us together."
Wide awake now, she said, "Do you miss your brothers and sisters?" She had often wished she had sisters. Even a brother would have been nice.
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