Her life was in danger.
Jeb hadn’t uttered a word since they left Sparta. A sly glance up at him revealed a tense angular jaw and eyes scrunched against the wind. It was much too dark to see anything more. He was a handsome man made ugly by his mean motives. What a shame.
Her biggest concern was that there was nothing she could do until they reached their destination. But what then?
Lost in the methodic rhythm of the ride, Ellie’s lids grew heavy. She fought to keep them open. It had been a long day, and the myriad of emotions began to take their toll. Her head bobbed up and down as she struggled to stay awake. As if aiding in her battle against repose, her brain painted vivid pictures in her mind of what might lay ahead. She shuddered at the possibilities—rape, torture, murder. She’d rather be dead than have Jeb be the one to take her virginity.
A fearful pain stabbed at her temple.
Perhaps if she flung herself from the horse. No, that wouldn’t work as an avenue of escape. At the very least, she’d break a leg, or her neck.
Death wasn’t a choice just yet. She had a future planned with Ty, and hoped to see how things turned out, if he’d speak to her after this stunt.
But would there even be an “after”? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t think of a solution. But she wasn’t a quitter. She’d learnt that from Pa.
Lost in thought about escape, Ellie found herself yanked back to the present when Jeb reined his mount in front of a ramshackle cabin. Nestled between the trees and shrouded by overgrowth, it provided the perfect hiding place. Ellie heaved a sigh. Ty would never find her here.
Even if he was the expert tracker he claimed, the light snow that continued to fall would hamper his efforts. It would erase all traces of the path they took. No one in his right mind would venture out in the dead of night anyhow. Distress brought a choking lump to her throat.
Jeb slid to the ground and jerked Ellie with him like she was a rag doll.
“Well, little missy, it looks like you and me are gonna have some time to get to know one another better.” He pulled her closer against him, peered down at her and winked. Whiskey soured his breath.
She trembled in his arms, partly from the cold, but mostly from revulsion. She looked away, not wanting to see his taunting mug.
He grabbed her chin and whipped her face forward. “Don’t turn away from me. Just because you’re a high and mighty Fountain, you’re no better than I am.”
She spat at him. Droplets of spittle ran down his chin.
Jeb shoved her away and slapped her so hard that the mass of curls Cook had secured at the back of her head fell free and spilled to her shoulders. A searing flame burned beneath her left cheek and tears welled in her eyes.
She glared at him with all the hatred she could muster and pulled herself up to her full height while trying to mask her fear.
Painful fingers bit into her flesh as Jeb pulled her toward the cabin. She was no match for his strength, and fighting him was useless. For now, she’d play along until the time was right to make a move. There had to be a way to gain her freedom and she was desperate to find it.
How absurd that the mystery deed flashed through her mind, giving her more reason to fight. Curiosity might kill her, but Jeb Bryant wasn’t going to.
* * * * *
Ty pushed his hat back and rubbed his throbbing forehead. Where else could he look? If he was a child, he’d sit down and cry in frustration.
The street had emptied quickly when the dance ended, and there was not another soul to be seen. A light snow began to fall, causing him even more concern for Ellie. She wasn’t dressed for winter weather. There was no other choice but to involve the Sheriff.
Going home without Ellie wasn’t an option. Ben would be furious, and rightfully so. He had asked Ty to escort his daughter to keep her safe. It didn’t matter that Ty was more than pleased to comply. This whole thing was his fault. He shouldn’t have danced with Clare Smith no matter how she insisted. His attention should have been fully devoted to Ellie. He wanted to kick himself.
He left the buggy tied in front of the livery and hurried to the Sheriff’s office. His heavy footfall against the wooden walkway echoed in the silence. The once dirt thoroughfare of Main Street now bore a coat of white that sparkled in the sporadic moonlight.
Ty snuggled down inside his jacket and prayed wherever Ellie was she was warm. He burst into the office. “Sheriff, you’ve got to help me.” The barred doors stood open and the cells empty.
A dozing Andrew Gamble dropped his propped feet from the desk and bolted upright in his chair. “Jesus, Ty, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Ellie. She’s disappeared and I can’t find her.”
“Disappeared? When, how?” He wiped the sleep from his eyes.
“She got her feathers ruffled at the dance, and the last I heard, she went outside for a breath of air. She never came back.”
“What happened to upset her?”
“Me. I danced with another gal.”
Gamble sighed and leaned back. “Is that all? She’s teaching you a lesson. She probably caught a ride home with someone else. I’m sure you’re frettin’ over nothin’.”
Ty’s brow arched. “You really think so?”
“I’d bet you a day’s wages. A jealous woman is worse than a case of poison ivy.”
“Maybe you’re right. I just hate to go home and face Ben if Ellie isn’t there.”
“She’ll be there, or she’ll turn up afore long. Trust me.”
“But…”
The Sheriff rounded his desk and rested a hand on Ty’s shoulder. “If by some chance I’m mistaken, you hightail it back and we’ll get a search party together; but I’m bettin’ that she’s already home having a good laugh at your expense.”
The picture the Sheriff painted made Ty’s blood boil. If Ellie was back at the ranch, she was gonna get an ear full from him.
* * * * *
The cabin door creaked loudly when Jeb opened it. Ellie’s upper arm throbbed where his fingers embedded themselves in her skin. He flung her through the open portal with such force she lost her balance and pitched forward onto a bed.
Dazed, she sat up and pinched her nose to block the smell of rising dust. Surely a long time had passed since anyone had used the place.
“How do you like your new home?” Jeb jeered.
In the cloaked moonlight it was hard to see much of anything, but this was not her home. It never would be. Her insides trembled but she held her chin high and glared up at him. “I’m only here until someone finds me.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” he spat. “There’s no way anybody’s gonna find this place. Even if they had a clue I took you, thanks to the snow, there aren’t any tracks to follow.”
Cold air blasted through the open door. Ellie shivered and fought the growing lump in her throat and stifled a sob. Jeb was right, but she wasn’t about to show defeat. Someone had to find her, they just had to.
Her chin drooped to her chest until she remembered she was a Fountain and raised her head up with pride. There was no way she was going to give Jeb the satisfaction of being a whipped pup.
“What? No smart comeback?” He lit the kerosene lamp and slammed the door shut.
Ellie bit her lip and turned her face away.
The log walls of the cabin were bare except for a shelf in the far corner where a few canned goods stood. Dead insects dangled in the cobwebs crisscrossing the corners and provided winter fodder for the trap’s creators. Ellie shivered, thinking about the spiders hiding somewhere in the room. She wanted to laugh, worrying about something she could step on. The biggest threat stood right in front of her.
Her hands felt gritty from the nasty bedding. She brushed her palms together, stood and turned her gaze back to her captor. “What exactly do you think you’re going to accomplish by this?”
Jeb looked at her leeringly and licked his lips. “Oh, I have plans for you, don’t worry. The main reason you’re here is
to convince your Pa he wants to sell Fountainhead.”
Ellie threw her head back and forced a laugh before responding to his inane plot. “You’re an empty-headed fool if you think this is going to work. Once you let it be known you’ve abducted me, the Sheriff is going to arrest you. You can’t cart a body off like this. It’s wrong.”
“Well, I don’t think the Sheriff is gonna be involved, at least where I’m concerned. No one is going to suspect me. Everyone knows Josh and I go everywhere together. Remember, I sent him back to the crowd with instructions to make himself seen. People will assume I was still at the dance when the darling Ms. Ellie Fountain disappeared. If I remember correctly, you came outside all alone. No one followed you. I was just mindin’ my own business, having a smoke when you interrupted me. Of course, I have to admit you made my plan a whole lot easier.” His laughter filled the cabin’s hollowness.
“But, you were alone up on the mountain when I was doing target practice.” She clutched at anything to make him re-think his actions.
“Yeah, but evidently nobody knows that but me and you. That was a rare occasion, and one I rather enjoyed.” He stepped toward her. His lustful gaze stirred a feeling of nausea in the pit of her stomach.
Ellie glanced around the room, searching for something with which to defend herself. There was nothing. She inched backwards until the bed blocked her path, her heavy heartbeat echoing in her head. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and hoping her voice didn’t tremble, pressed her palms against his chest and glared up at him.
“Jeb Bryant, if you dare touch me you’ll die, and that’s a promise. It may take time but somehow, somewhere, I will kill you myself.”
Chapter Seventeen
Oblivious to the cold, Ty snapped the reigns against the mare’s back, urging her to move faster. As the buggy bounced across the rutted trail, an occasional snowflake drifted inside, reminding him how cold Ellie might be. It wasn’t safe to push the horse to a full trot in clouded darkness, but he was lost in thought and in a hurry to get home. His mind whirred around as quickly as the spokes in the wheels. He prayed he’d find her when he arrived, but dreaded she might not be there.
How would he explain this whole business to Ben? Even if Ellie had come home on her own, Ty still had to face his boss and answer any questions he had. He heaved a huge sigh, wondering how.
Before he realized it, the large “F” on the ranch gate loomed overhead. His breath quickened in anticipation as he drove beneath it.
Light from the house filtered out into the compound, but there were no strange rigs parked there. Maybe whoever brought her home had already left. His eyes looked to heaven, hoping, praying.
He steered the buggy into the barn. Normally, his compassion for animals would have driven him to un-harness the mare and brush her down, but his need to find out about Ellie took priority. He headed for the kitchen door. He paused on the porch and took a deep breath before entering.
Cook stood at the stove, putting ingredients into a big pot on the stove. She turned, wiped her hands on her spotted apron and smiled warmly. “Well, I wondered when you young ‘uns would get home. Ben and I waited up so you could tell us all about the dance.”
Ty’s heartbeat ceased for a moment, and he swallowed hard before asking the obvious, “Ellie’s not home?”
Cook’s brow furrowed. “Isn’t she with you?”
“I was hopin’ I would find her here.”
“What on earth happened?” Cook asked, sinking down onto a nearby kitchen chair.
“We had a little fallin’ out and she disappeared. I looked everywhere I could think before I came back to the ranch.”
“Maybe she went home with Betty Jo,” Cook said, looking hopeful.
“No, Betty Jo was there with me. She said Ellie stepped outside. I searched but couldn’t find her.”
Cook clasped her hands together and peered up at Ty. “Oh, dear. Where could she be? It’s freezing outside.”
He shook his head, his chin dropping to his chest. “I don’t know. I’m stumped.”
Taking a big breath and loudly exhaling, he lifted his head. “I’ve got to tell Ben. Where is he?”
“In the parlor.”
The thought of facing Ben turned Ty’s mouth as dry as cotton. He paused in the doorway, licked his lips and swallowed in an attempt to muster up enough saliva to speak. How did one tell a father you misplaced his daughter? “Ben, I need to speak to you.” Ty’s crackling voice betrayed his forced bravery.
The older man turned his attention away from the latest copy of the Sparta Gazette and peered over the spectacles resting precariously on the bridge of his nose. “What’s the matter, Ty? You look as though you just robbed the bank.”
Ty swallowed again. “I wished I had. It would be easier to explain given my state of finances, but…I came home without Ellie.” He blurted it out before his courage faltered. “She left the dance and I couldn’t find her anywhere. I didn’t know what else to do. The Sheriff had me convinced that she had probably already come home.”
The wrinkles in Ben’s aged brow deepened. He stood, and swept the room with his hand. His voice faltered. “Well, as you can see, she isn’t here. What in tarnation happened?”
“I’m not sure myself. I shared a dance with another gal and reckon I riled Ellie’s temper. The next thing I knew, she was madder than a wet hen and wouldn’t have anything to do with me. Betty Jo said Ellie went out for a breath of air, but she didn’t come back. I looked everywhere, Ben, and there was no sign of her. What else could I have done?”
Ben ran his fingers through his mane of gray hair. “Lordy, that girl will be the death of me. I should never have forced her into goin’ to that blasted dance.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Ben. She wanted to go. It was me. I should never have danced with someone else.”
The older man plopped back down in his chair and looked helplessly up at Ty. “It don’t matter whose fault it is at this point. We need to find her. Did you say you talked to the Sheriff?”
“Yep, he told me to come on back to the ranch…that Ellie was probably here having a good laugh at my expense. Damn, I wish that was true.”
“So do I, but—”
“Don’t worry, Ben. I’ll find her. Sheriff Gamble told me to come back to town if she wasn’t here, and he’d get a posse together to search for her.”
“Well, you aren’t going by yourself. Let me get my boots on and I’ll ride back into Sparta with you.” He started to rise.
Ty put a hand on Ben’s shoulder and gently pressed him back into his chair. “I think you should stay here. Ellie might come home or send word and you should be here if that happens. Besides, it’s cold outside and you just got over a bout of the ague.”
“Maybe you’re right…” Ben chewed his bottom lip and appeared lost in thought. Finally he looked up at Ty, and with a hopeful tone in his voice, asked, “Are you sure she didn’t go home with a friend?”
“I’m not sure about anything at this point. I just know she didn’t go home with Betty Jo. There probably isn’t much we can do before sunup. It’ll take a while to gather the men, but I’ll bed down in town so I’ll be there to get an early start.”
Ben’s eyes narrowed with worry. “What about the Bryants? Were they there?”
“I saw Joshua talking with a gal when I was looking for Ellie. And you know where one Bryant twin is, the other isn’t far away.”
“Well, at least that’s a relief.”
Ty turned in the doorway. “Like I said, I’ll find her Ben. I promise.”
* * * * *
Ellie stood defiantly, staring at Jeb. “I mean it. You back off or else.”
Jeb laughed but took a step backwards.
Ellie held her ground, praying. The silence that followed was awkward, but more disturbing was his scanning gaze, head to toe, slowly and suggestively.
Cupping his chin with his forefinger and thumb, as if pondering her harmless threat, he finally spoke. “
I’ll leave you alone for now, but don’t think for a minute it’s because of anything you said. I plan to take my time pleasurin’ you, but time is somethin’ I don’t have right now. I’ve got to hightail it to the house and be available when the Sheriff calls for volunteers to search for the poor, lost Ellie Fountain. I’m going to be a good citizen and help out.” His laughter bounced off the log walls.
Ellie rolled her eyes. “You, a good citizen? You couldn’t be if you tried, Jeb Bryant. You’re scum, and you’ll never get away with this ridiculous scheme.”
His eyes beaded, piercing her with their heated anger. He stepped forward, shoved her down on the bed and glared at her. “I’m sick of your holier-than-thou attitude,” he barked. “Look around. You ain’t goin’ nowhere. Your fate is in my hands. I’ve got all the shutters nailed closed, and I have a nice sturdy lock for the door. There’s enough food to do ya for at least a day or two, until I can get back with more supplies. Seein’ as how I aim to keep you here even after your Pa signs the papers, I need to stock up. And don’t think about trying to escape because even if you did manage to get out, you’d probably freeze to death before you found your way home.”
He turned, opened the door, and went outside to his horse. Illumination from the lamp lit a pathway, enabling Ellie to see him pull a bundle from his saddlebag. He marched back inside and threw a huge wad at her.
“I thought you might need some more suitable clothes. Although I must say you look ‘specially pretty in your finery, but that dress you’re a wearin’ might not be warm enough for your current livin’ conditions. There’s a stack of wood there in the corner but I wouldn’t be too quick to burn it. You wouldn’t want to run out before I get back, and I’m not sure when that will be.”
Without another word, he spun on his heel and left, pulling the door closed behind him. The padlock on the other side snapped shut with a disturbing clank.
Ellie’s didn’t know whether to feel relief or cry as she heard Jeb ride away. The severity of her problem surged into a headache.
Ellie's Legacy Page 15
