Gathering up her mother’s patchwork quilt, she took one more lingering look at the bed and room she’d shared with Nathan. Then she headed to the kitchen to put together some food supplies for herself.
She took a half-filled potato sack and added a dozen red Rome apples from the harvest, along with some carrots. Then she filled several smaller bags with some sugar, flour and salt, placing them inside the larger bag. In one of her linen kitchen hand towels, she wrapped up half the corn bread she’d made earlier in the day. Adding it to the potato sack, she set it next to her carpetbag and quilt. Finally she took two canteens down from the pantry, filling the first with fresh milk and the second with water.
As she carried the food supplies and quilt to the barn, she decided where she’d go. Nathan had told her about the abandoned miners’ shacks up in the mountains. If she could get to one of them before the first snowfall, she might be able to take care of herself and the baby. Going into the mountains might put Blackwood off her trail. No one would think a pregnant woman would flee into the mountains.
No, Blackwood wouldn’t look for her there. He’d head for the next town. A place with people and help, not an isolated cabin in the mountains.
Inside the barn, she saddled Ribbons, careful to stand on a box to lift the saddle from the stall fence to the mare’s back. Nathan hadn’t wanted her to lift anything these days, but she’d need to learn to take care of things for herself from now on. After strapping the quilt and food bag onto the saddle, she led Ribbons back to the house.
She had two more things to do before she left.
First, she took a small bundle from the bureau top and placed it in the carpetbag. Inside lay a pair of very sharp scissors, some clean twine, several baby blankets and all the tiny clothes and diapers she’d made in the previous months. Sarah had advised her to have the supplies at hand, just in case the baby decided to come before she or Dr. Dawson could get to the farm.
She set the bag on the kitchen table then pulled out a piece of paper and penned a quick note to Nathan. Tears clouded her eyes. They spilled over to run unchecked down her cheeks. One splashed on the paper just as she signed her name, causing the ink to run a little.
This was no time for tears. Blackwood could find her at any moment. She wiped them away, lifted her bag and left the only home she’d ever really known.
As she rode Ribbons behind the house toward the woods at the foothills, she prayed that someday Nathan would forgive her for taking another child out of his reach. At the wood’s edge she paused, looked back and tried to memorize the house surrounded with the rose bushes Nathan planted for her, the swing on the back porch swaying from the wind, and the fields laying fallow from the fall harvest.
Wiping at the tears once more, she started Ribbons into the woods.
* * * * *
Nathan threw open the farmhouse door. “Laura!”
Nothing but silence. The panic he’d felt at the mercantile doubled. He took the stairs two at a time, praying she truly was resting like she’d told Sarah.
The room was empty. Her carpetbag was missing from the corner. He opened the drawers. Some of her clothing was missing too.
She’d left.
He sat down hard on the bed. Why?
He glanced around the room. Her mirror still lay on the bureau. The book she’d been reading lay on the bedside table where she’d left it last night.
Something spooked her. Had she gotten another letter? Some news that the senator’s murderer was headed to Doverton?
And where had she gone? No one had seen her since she’d left Rachel at Sarah and Frank’s place. He’d had Tom stay with the wagon at the livery when Billy found him and said Sarah wanted to speak to him. Once she’d told him that Laura had walked back to the farmhouse, he’d retraced her steps just to be sure nothing had happened to her on the walk home. With each step, his unease had grown.
He opened the top bureau drawer. She’d taken the bundle of baby clothes and equipment for the birth with her. At least she remembered her condition for a moment before she left.
So where did she go? She couldn’t have gone far on foot.
Her horse.
He ran back down the stairs, then stopped when he saw the folded paper on the table. He snatched it up.
Dear Nathan,
I don’t know how to tell you this, but I must leave you. Believe me when I say I want nothing more than to stay on the farm with you and Rachel forever, but if I stay I would be placing you both in mortal danger.
Please don’t put yourself in further danger by trying to follow me.
I’ve taken supplies and should be all right.
I know how terrible you felt when Kirsten left and kept Rachel from you. After our baby is born and capable of living without me, I’ll send him or her to you. I know it will be safer with you than me.
I never told you this, but I love you very much. That’s why I’m leaving you now, to protect those I love.
Love,
Laura
Damn. How could she love him and still leave? When he found her, he was going to set her straight on a few facts. First, he was going to explain that you didn’t confess your love, leave a cryptic message, then just disappear. Second, she was his wife and her place was always with him. Finally he’d tell her very pregnant women did not go off by themselves, to who knows where, leaving their husbands to come after them.
He tucked the note in his pocket as he stomped out to the barn. Just as he feared, Ribbons and her saddle were gone. At least she wasn’t on foot. Of course riding a horse in her condition wasn’t much of a sound decision either.
He shook his head as he saddled Blaze. What was she thinking? After all these months, he’d learned Laura was a practical-minded woman. She normally made intelligent decisions and thought them through. For her to leave like this something must’ve frightened her. Until he had all the facts, her disappearance needed to be kept a secret.
Secrets. He’d learned long ago secrets in this town were as nonexistent as a snowstorm in July. He hated trying to keep secrets, but this time Laura and their baby’s lives might just depend on it.
As he walked Blaze out of the barn, Tom pulled the wagon up the drive. Nathan held up his hand to stop him from climbing down. He tied Blaze to the wagon to keep him from trampling any tracks Laura left. He needed some clue which way to look.
Carefully he stepped along Ribbons’ hoofprints from the barn to the porch.
“See anything, Nathan?” Tom asked from his perch on the buckboard.
“She led her mare to the house. That’s where she mounted her.” He glanced back down the road that led east toward Doverton. No hoofprints. He scanned the area to the southwest, in the direction of the next town. No prints. She didn’t head to Pine Bluff. He’d thought for sure that’s where she’d go.
Then he looked to the west, toward the mountains.
His heart sank. The prints were deeper because of Laura’s added weight. His sensible, practical, ready-to-deliver wife had headed into the mountains—alone.
“Tom, stay there.” He dashed into the house, grabbed Rachel’s cloth doll that Laura had made her and some of her clothes and rolled them in her winter coat. Then he threw himself together a bedroll from the blankets on the bed, grabbed his sheepskin coat and headed back down the stairs.
“Take these to your ma. Tell her and Frank I’m going after Laura.” He grabbed the young man by his coat sleeve. “And Tom, it’s important no one but us know she’s left town. Understand?”
“Sure thing, Nathan.” Tom watched him mount Blaze. “Don’t you worry about the farm, I’ll take care of everything, and Ma’ll take care of Rachel.”
Nathan nodded to him. “I know, son. I’m counting on all of you.” He spurred Blaze in the direction Laura had gone.
“Good luck, sir. I hope you find her quick!” Tom yelled after him.
Nathan prayed he did too. A glance at the sky told him the storm neared the mountains. He’d be lucky if he
found her before the first snowfall descended upon them.
* * * * *
Laura led Ribbons haphazardly through the trees and thick underbrush. The cool autumn breeze picked up, whipping the edges of her sweater against her thighs. A chill ran through her as she peered through the trees at the sky. The clouds grew thicker and the light was fading. As they moved steadily upward, she searched for some sort of shelter. Even for a city girl, she knew enough not to get trapped out in the open for the night. She just hoped she’d find an outcropping of rocks or a small cave farther up the mountain. She doubted any shacks were close enough for her to use.
Her back ached, probably from all the worry and the day’s physical activity. What she wouldn’t give to hear Nathan ordering her to go to bed for a nap. She stopped Ribbons for a moment, straightened her shoulders and massaged the small of her back. The baby seemed quiet today, as if it somehow knew the danger that followed them.
“You know,” she gently rubbed her tummy as she talked to her child, “I know you don’t understand what’s going on or why I’ve altered your daily routine, but I promise I’ll take good care of you through all of this. You have to do your part though, by staying right where you are until it’s time for you to make your appearance.”
She took a few minutes to look down the path they’d just traveled to see if anyone followed.
No one.
In the back of her mind she’d selfishly hoped to see Nathan riding through the trees. Thank goodness he was safe at home with Rachel, probably thanking his lucky stars she’d left. She’d only been gone less than a day and already she missed him. How pathetic did that sound? She’d made her decision and somehow she’d endure anything, even self-pity and loneliness, as long as she knew Nathan and Rachel were both safe.
She opened the water canteen and drank several small gulps. Then she took an apple from the potato sack tied to the side of her saddle to eat as she started Ribbons up the hillside. Once she found a place to spend the night, she’d unload the supplies and hopefully find Ribbons enough grass to graze.
“Lord knows you’ve earned it, girl. You’ve had to carry a pregnant crazy woman up a mountain. The least I can do is find you food for the night.”
Another hour of riding and she’d given up hope of even finding a shelter. Raindrops began to filter through the leaves and her spirits dipped even further. Then, up ahead and off to her left she saw something that looked like a cave. She pulled on Ribbons’ reins to head her in that direction and see what it was. As she rode closer, she discovered that it wasn’t a cave at all, but actually several dead trees that had fallen in such a way as to make a natural lean-to. By the thickness of the bushes and vines growing around and over the trees, they’d been there for quite some time. Enough brush-covered branches overhung the entrance to provide protection from the rain, and the ground inside looked to be quite dry.
She gave it a good kick. Nothing moved.
“Seems solid enough. What do you think, girl?”
The mare whinnied and shook her head.
Laura sighed. “You’d probably say yes to anything right now, to get me off your back. Okay, we’ll spend the night here.”
Carefully she slid off Ribbons’ back and held on to the saddle horn for a few moments, not trusting her legs to support her weight after a day of riding nonstop. After resting against her side a moment, she hobbled Ribbons near a grassy patch so the mare could graze but not wander off. Then she slowly walked around the lean-to, easing the ache in her back and legs some.
Once she had her sense of balance, she untied her supplies and quilt from the saddle. She spread the quilt on the driest area of ground beneath the branches and placed her bag of food stores on top. Finally she loosened the cinch and let the saddle fall to the ground, then dragged it up under the lean-to for the night.
“I’m not sure how I’ll get it back on you in the morning, girl, but I can’t afford to have you injured or it ruined by leaving it on you all night.”
She took the blanket off her horse and rubbed her down with it. It wasn’t as good as a brushing back at the farm with Nathan, but it would have to do for now.
The thunder began slowly, like the sound of a distant train rumbling over the earth. Laura sat cross-legged on the blanket, her back against the saddle because it was the only comfortable position she could find. She washed off two carrots beneath the rain dripping down from the overhanging branches. Along with them, she ate another apple and half the corn bread she’d brought with her. She shivered as the wind turned cool and blew into the lean-to.
“I don’t think I could’ve waited much longer to find this place.” She talked to Ribbons just to hear her own voice. She never realized how frightening the quiet could be. “It’s as if God knew I’d someday need it and provided this spot.”
She sighed and shifted her position a bit. At least her back wasn’t hurting anymore. All day the ache had come and gone. She wondered if they were the early pains Sarah said she had when she carried her babies.
As the rain fell harder, she drank the last of the water from her canteen then hung it on a branch to fill with cool rainwater for tomorrow. She stretched out on one side of the quilt and pulled the opposite side up around her.
Her body ached in places she didn’t know existed. What she wouldn’t give to be snuggled next to Nathan in their bed back home.
Home. Her mind drifted back to that night he’d told her about his experience during the war.
“Have you ever seen anyone die like that?”
“Once, a long time ago.”
She’d remained silent.
He brushed his hand over her face. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head no and pulled away. “I can’t.”
“Maybe you should. I felt better telling you about that boy.”
“I just can’t, Nathan. Please don’t ask me to.” She turned on her side. “I’m tired. I think the baby and I need to sleep now.”
Why had she refused? Why hadn’t she told him about Nigel and the senator’s murder then?
Because she’d been afraid. Not afraid of Blackwood, but afraid Nathan would hate her for keeping a secret that endangered them all and send her out of his life.
You don’t know that he would’ve done such a thing.
No, but she’d learned her lesson at the hands of her aunt and cousin as a frightened, lonely, grieving child. Once her parents died no one ever loved her enough to protect her again.
Her eyes grew heavy and she couldn’t stop yawning. The baby began to move and kick in its nightly routine of exercises, but Laura’s weariness from the long day kept them from bothering her.
“At least Nathan and Rachel are safe at home,” she murmured as her eyes closed.
* * * * *
Having ridden as far as he dared with lightning all around him, Nathan found shelter for the night under a group of evergreens. Years of camping and trapping in these mountains taught him that after the thunder and lightning stopped, the worst part of his night would be sleeping in the cold rain. He’d prepared for that as best he could. With his oilskin poncho and sheepskin coat, he’d stay fairly warm and dry. He built himself a small fire out of dry branches he’d collected the last hour of his trek through the forest. As he huddled by the fire, he worried if Laura had found a safe, dry shelter for the night. The rain was actually a blessing in disguise—the wolves and other predatory animals would stay in their dry dens instead of prowling after her and Ribbons’ scents.
The idea comforted him and his thoughts turned to Laura’s habits that had become so familiar to him. When she cooked, she’d sing an old hymn in a light, airy voice. If the work required more effort, such as scrubbing the floors, she’d sing a loud, bawdy tune only men in saloons had business knowing. He chuckled at the memory of the first time he’d heard her sing one. He’d nearly choked on the cup of coffee he’d been drinking.
“Woman, where in the world did you learn that?” he asked after he
finished sputtering.
She’d blushed and given him an innocent grin. “From one of our boarders at the boardinghouse.”
“Oh really?” Hot anger that she’d known a man who would teach her such songs.
“Old Mr. Hargrove was a teacher at a university. He loved to drink a little too much. More than once I had to help him up the stairs to his room. He loved to sing songs from when he was a sailor. And I just sang along with him.” She’d sat back on her knees on the floor and smiled sort of sadly. “It made him happy. He died after living in the house for about six months.”
All her singing had nearly driven him crazy at first, but now the night’s silence seemed oppressive without it.
He sure did miss it.
He shifted beneath his poncho. He also missed the way her round body fit snugly against his when they sat together on the porch swing after dinner. He missed the lusty longing that filled her eyes when she lay beneath him in their bed.
Hell, he just plain missed the woman.
Sitting back against his saddle, he pulled the brim of his old leather hat farther down to cover his eyes. In the morning he’d need to be sharp in order to find his wife. His tracking skills would be put to the test with this hard rain all but obliterating her tracks.
She’d better be taking care of herself and the baby so there would be something left for him to yell at when he caught up to her.
* * * * *
Inside the Silver Nugget saloon, Nigel sipped his whiskey and listened to the storm rumble outside. He’d spent the afternoon and evening traveling by horseback from Doverton. He’d arrived in Pine Bluff just ahead of the cloudburst that made the roads outside impassable with mud and trapped him in this backwater burg—all for another dead end.
CantrellsBride Page 23
