“Gabe…I’m slipping. My arms…my fingers are muddy with muck and slippery. I can’t…I can’t…”
“You can, Birdie.”
»»•««
The tears coming down his cheeks trickled off his jaw as he’d elbowed his way down the throat of the old mine shaft. Jo kept calling to him and a good thing, her voice was all he’d had to lead him. God, they’d actually found them. He couldn’t believe it. Gypsy found them, or providence found them. He didn’t know whom to thank, but they’d found them alive.
He inched his way, half crawling on his hands and knees and stopping from time to time to wave the air in front of him. Jo’s voice was closer now. And Birdie, Birdie, she called his name, but her voice sounded funny, it didn’t echo like Jo’s. Something was terribly wrong. He stopped and waved again, his hand finding a warm body.
“Gabe, thank God,” Jo said, her voice hoarse.
“I have my hand on your shoulder, don’t move.”
“It’s Birdie, Gabe. She’s about to fall into the shaft. I can’t hold her much longer. Her hands are wet and slippery. I’m losing my grip.”
On his stomach, he inched closer to the opening. He could feel the cold air whooshing up out of the hole. He rolled onto his side, his hand on Jo’s ankle. He found her foot and the rock that kept her from following Birdie into the shaft. He turned his head to call back to her. “I’m going to grab Birdie by the wrist. When I say, you let go and feel your way to my legs, find the rope and crawl out of here.” He could feel her trembling beneath his hand. He patted her leg. “When I say, Jo, you let go.”
“Yes, Gabe, okay.”
“Good girl. Don’t let go, not yet. Not until I say.” He rolled back onto his belly and reached over the ledge, his hand following the length of Jo’s arm to Birdie’s wrist. He took hold and prayed he could pull this off.
“There. I have your wrist Birdie. Birdie? Answer me, Birdie. Talk to me.”
Birdie sobbed into the darkness. She had one hope now. She had to muster up enough strength to hang on. Her fingers were numb, her feet burned with cold, but Gabe had found her. She could do this. She had to do this. “My arm hurts.”
Beside him, Jo hesitated. “Go ahead, Jo, get out of here. I’ve got her now.”
“Jo…Jo?” Birdie cried.
He took Birdie’s arm with both hands and called out to Van. “I’ve got her, Van. Keep the rope taut.
“Tell him, Jo. Tell him to keep the rope taut.”
If the rope came untied where they’d spliced it together, if it slipped off of his waist, if it frayed and weakened, he would die with Birdie at the bottom of this old shaft. They had a life to live. He had to get her out of here. Their lives together were just beginning. This had to work…it had to.
Jo’s hands patted down his back to his hip, his thigh, and then his ankle. She stopped. He felt her lift the rope from between his legs. “Tell Birdie, I’ll see her outside,” she said.
»»•««
Crying and laughing, slobbering like a drunken fool, Birdie babbled incoherently. “You found us. I can’t believe it. Jo? Is Jo all right? Where’s Jo? Get her out of here, Gabe. Get her out of here.”
“Gypsy found you,” he said, his hands tightly gripping her wrist.
Nose running, she sniffed and swallowed her tears. “Good ole’ Gypsy,” she said on a giggle.
Sobering, Birdie hung her head. “I’m in a real fix here, Gabe. You’ve helped me out of some scrapes, but I think this one tops them all.”
“Yep.” Huff, grunt. “Okay, Birdie, I’m braced, and Van has the end of the rope tied to his horse, and the other end is around my waist. We’re going to haul you out. I’m going to put my other hand under your shoulder, in your armpit, and when I give Van the signal, he’ll haul back on the rope and drag us out of here.”
“Gabe, no, don’t try it. You’ll fall too, Gabe. There’s nothing under me. I can’t find anything to latch on to.
“And Gabe…” She hesitated to say it, but she had to. “I’ve wet myself.”
She heard his deep, heartwarming chuckle and felt his hands shaking. “I think I would’ve wet myself too if I was in the fix you’re in.”
His fingers dug into the flesh of her arm. He huffed and shifted his position and his grip. “Van and I explored this old shaft when we were kids. Van found himself in the same predicament you’re in right now. And yeah, I think he wet his pants too. Only then, we had a torch, and we could see a little bit. There used to be a ladder. Must’ve crumbled into dust by now.”
“Okay, now, if you can, swing your other arm up and grab my wrist. Even if I start to slide forward, whatever you do, don’t let go. He’s tied me off with his horse, and he’s ready to pull us out when I shout. Hang on Birdie, here we go.”
Birdie squeezed her eyes shut. With all her might, she swung her dangling arm up, and her fingers found Gabe’s forearm. She dug in.
“Ready,” Gabe shouted. Miracle of miracles, they started to move up, first her shoulders, then her chest, and then her hips. “Whoa,” he shouted.
“Birdie, put your hands on my shoulders,” he said, and his voice, soft as a whisper and warm in her ear.
Birdie couldn’t stop sobbing, her body trembling.
“Take your time. You’re safe now, Birdie. The stars are out, and a big ol’ moon’s coming up. Let’s go look at the moon.”
Chapter Seventeen
“They’ll find them.”
The voice drifted out of the dark, taking him by surprise. Adella? Buck knew who it was. He couldn’t see her, and yet he knew. She stood outside the light from the lantern he’d carried with him to the bathing pool.
“Come join me, Adella. I could use the company. I can’t sleep.”
“It’s warm tonight,” she said, stepping onto the platform in her slipper-encased feet.
Her silver hair was in a braid over her shoulder, and she was dressed in a light blue wrapper. Adella Millican hadn’t changed much since he’d first met her out there on the streets of Baker City. She’d been a girl of fifteen. Hell, it was almost twenty-eight years ago, but she looked like a kid tonight.
“I couldn’t sleep. Edditha left for a walk in the moonlight with Cornell. I don’t understand my daughter at all sometimes. I guess he’s going to leave before daylight for Baker City to go get his father and bring him out here. I don’t suppose Doreen or Rafe are sleeping either. I lay in bed for a while thinking about Gabriel and Van out there looking for those girls. Then I thought of you, and how worried you must be. And I put myself in your place, and thought if Jo were my daughter I’d come out here to this wonderful place to search for a little peace of mind.”
He offered her a smile and a nod. “You’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”
“I have, Buck, I have indeed. I’ve come to the conclusion I need to make myself happy. Edditha is old enough to know what she wants. I don’t need to worry about her, and she doesn’t want me to worry about her. She and Gabriel are a little confused right now, but they’ll figure it out once Birdie and Jo are back here safe and sound. And they will get back here safe and sound, Buck. Van and Gabe will see to it.”
Buck hoped she was right. “From your lips to God’s ear.”
She sat down next to him and tucked her knees up into her chest like a little kid. Buck put his arm around her shoulder, and she snuggled into his side. “Listen to the sounds the water makes. Petra taught me how to listen. I didn’t always pay attention to such things. I heard a frog plunk in the water a few minutes ago. The breeze started up. The ripples echoed out and licked the deck. We have crickets by the thousands, all of them singing in chorus. A pair of owls have a nest up there in the tree. Another couple have a nest over by the barn. They converse with one another, back and forth. The bats are busy tonight, diving and dipping over the water, chasing a meal.”
Adella squeezed his hand. “I see Petra everywhere, out here by the pool, inside the cabins, in the house and the garden. I didn’t know her, but I see
the woman’s touch, Petra’s touch.”
Her observations caused his heart skip a beat. “Yeah, she’s here. She called it paradise. She didn’t want to go. She fought hard, but the cancer spread fast. It’s been hard for all of us to go on without her.”
Beside him, he heard Adella take in her breath. She held it for a few seconds and then sighed. “I didn’t really love Mr. Millican. Oh, I respected him, had a high regard for him. He was a kind man, and he took good care of me, gave me a lot of latitude. But I think I disappointed him by not giving him a son. He was middle aged when I married him. After he passed on, my life continued on much the same as it had when he was alive. Edditha though, she misses him. He doted on her—called her his princess.”
They sat listening to the owls and watching the bats. Adella broke the companionable silence. “From my short acquaintance with your Jo and Birdie-Alice, I would say they are two young women who know how to take care of themselves. I admire your daughter, Buck. She’s beautiful, intelligent, and capable. And Birdie, I’d wager anyone who tried to do her harm would soon be sorry. She’s quite a feisty young woman.”
“Birdie’s the spitting image of her mama Doreen, is what she is. Doreen could handle even the roughest sidewinder.
But some men are animals. They can’t be stopped. I can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t stop thinking about Jo with a pole-cat like that hurting her…breaking her…”
Adella held his face between her hands, forcing him to look deep into her eyes. “I came out here because I felt it would help to reason this out. I think someone is trying to make a point. It’s a cowardly show of force, taking those girls. Whoever took them did it to strong-arm you into compliance, for whatever reason.”
She lowered her hands to his chest, and he savored the warmth and comfort they offered. Her calm, rational voice soothed his soul.
“Kidnapping the sheriff’s daughter, that’s a big mistake. This person obviously doesn’t know who he’s dealing with. Let’s assume he’s a stranger to this part of the country. He had to have help. I think we can assume whoever helped him knew the girls and followed us. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn the dunderheads who did the actual kidnapping had their own grudges against you, or against the girls. No, I don’t believe any harm will come to those girls. They want to scare them—scare you. I don’t doubt for a minute the girls are uncomfortable, and their dignity sorely tried, but they’ll not suffer for long. Van and Gabriel will have found them by now. Whoever took them had to know Van and Gabriel wouldn’t stand around wringing their hands. They would track them down.”
Buck stared into her eyes, wanting to believe every word she said. He put his lips to hers and held his breath. The kiss was soft and warm—a sweet kiss meant to soothe his worries. He pulled back and put his forehead against hers. “You smell good, Adella. And you make damn good sense.”
“Lily of the valley and orange blossom.”
“Hmm, I like it. I like the kiss too.”
“Hmm, me too. I started fantasizing how it would be to kiss you, make love with you, Mathias Buxton, when I was fifteen. I have never stopped. I believe the real thing is going to be so much better than I could ever imagine.”
Buck heard himself chuckle. “Are we going to make love, Adella? I thought it was just a kiss.”
“I want to make love, Buck. But only if you want to.”
“Oh, lady, I want to. And it comes as a complete surprise to me. I didn’t think I’d ever want another woman. But I want you. But not out here. I’m too old, and these hard boards are murder on these old bones.”
“I can’t think of a better way to spend a night worrying than to spend the night worrying together in your bed.”
“What will your daughter think?”
“After today, she can think whatever she likes. She’s a woman grown. She has to live with her decisions, and I will live with mine. I’m going to live out my fantasy tonight.”
“Whoa, I don’t know if I can live up to your dreams, Adella.”
“We’ll take it one step at a time, Buck, one step at a time.”
Chapter Eighteen
They were kids again, sitting around the campfire laughing and joking. Jo and Birdie had their heads together whispering. Gabe watched them. But they were no longer little girls, although they still giggled and kept secrets. He didn’t know how it happened, but his little sister, Jo, no longer resembled a beanpole. She had a shape, a very alluring presence about her, and a haughty confidence, not unlike their mother, Petra.
And Birdie, well, Birdie-Alice, her curvaceous little body, her bubbly personality, and energy, enticed, incited, and inspired him to conjure many a lustful fantasy. Even now, with her hair looking like a hawk’s nest and her face and hands streaked with mud, he couldn’t stop thinking about all the wicked things he wanted to do with her.
“You two want to share, ladies?” Van asked, serving himself another oatmeal raisin cookie from the tin of picnic food they’d brought with them.
Jo huffed, and Birdie bit her lower lip. “Jo has something she needs to tell you both.”
Jo jabbed Birdie in the ribs with her elbow. “No, I don’t, Birdie.”
“Yes, you do, Jo. Tell Gabe and Van about your letter.”
“I already know about the letter,” Van said, lying back against the boulder behind him. “I saw it the day it arrived. I know it’s from the school in Cherry Grove. I’m guessing you got the teaching position. I’ve been waiting for you to make your announcement.”
“She hasn’t made her announcement, you dumb duck, because she doesn’t think you and Buck can run the hot spring without her,” said Birdie before she chucked a small pebble over Van’s head.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, she’s right, I don’t think we can. But I don’t think Jo should give up her dream of being a teacher either. You need to talk to Dad.”
Jo shook her head. “I’d planned on talking with him today, but I got derailed.”
It took Gabe a second or two to correlate the facts. “Wait a minute, what teaching job? When did you apply for a teaching job in Cherry Grove?”
The tin of cookies came around, and Jo helped herself before passing it on to Birdie. “Mama helped me with the letters right after my graduation from teacher’s college. I didn’t send them out. Mama died, and I decided to stay home. But Birdie, unbeknownst to me, found the letters and sent them out right after New Year’s. I received three responses, one in April and two in June. Two thank you’s, but we’re no longer seeking a teacher, and one offer from Cherry Grove Ascension School for Girls. I have a position if I want it. But I have to accept or decline by the end of July, which is only a week and half away.”
Gabe stood up to take the cookie tin from Birdie. “Well, you have to accept, Jo. Dad will insist. I know he will. And I insist, but only if this is truly something you want to do.”
Jo finished off her cookie and accepted the canteen of water Birdie handed to her. She wiped her lips and swallowed before saying, “Oh, I know what Dad will say. But who’s going to cook and clean, mend, and do the laundry? Who’s going to help Dad with the booking, write the advertisements, and make the reservations?”
“I guess Dad. He and Mom did all before you came along, he can do it again, and I’ll help him,” Van said. He rolled over on his side and propped his head up with his hand going to his ear, elbow bent and forearm resting on the ground. “Jo, working from dawn to dusk, serving and slaving, is not what Mama wanted for you, and it’s not what Dad, or I, want for you. Go, be a teacher. You’ll be wonderful at it. We’ll figure things out. You have to talk to Dad right away. You don’t want to lose out on this opportunity.”
“I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to talk to him. Then things started to fall apart, losing the cattle and the reservations.”
Birdie gave Jo a punch on the arm. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, show Buck the letter.”
“All right, all right,” Jo said, rubbing her shoulder. “I’ll
show Dad the letter as soon as we get home.”
Gabe tossed an apple to Birdie and then one to Jo. “And you’ll tell him you’re taking the job?”
Jo caught the apple with one hand. Birdie fell over backward off the log in her attempt to catch hers. After helping Birdie back up on her perch, Jo said, “Yes, Gabe. I’ll tell him I’m taking the job. I’m tired. I’ll save this apple for breakfast.”
Gabe got to his feet and said, “Van laid out the picnic blanket for you two. We’ll sleep here up against this boulder. And we’ll try to keep the fire going. I think we’re pretty sheltered here.”
»»•««
The night turned chilly. Gabe returned her stockings and shoes, but her feet were a mess, caked with mud and slime. She sat for a moment, mindlessly rubbing the crust off her feet. Lost in thought, she pulled her stockings on. Jo lay curled up on the blanket, her hands beneath her cheek, eyes closed. Birdie crawled over beside her and lay down on her back to stars at all the stars.
Across from her, Van pulled his hat down over his face. Gabe got up and put another dried branch on the fire. He looked her way, then sat down, his back against the boulder, head down, chin to chest.
Birdie closed her eyes but couldn’t keep them closed. The darkness she found there behind her eyelids brought back the frightening sensation of sliding into an abyss. When Jo started to puff her delicate little snore through her fluttering lips and Van started to saw logs, Birdie couldn’t stand it; she got up and stepped outside the fire’s light into the moonlit landscape of sage and pine trees.
“You shouldn’t be out here by yourself, Birdie,” Gabe said, coming up behind her. “If you have to go, you should ask me or Van to go with you. You know the rules.”
After her heart settled back down into her chest, she said, “You’re a fine one to talk about rules, Gabriel Buxton. You don’t get to tell me the rules, I know the rules, I’m not ten years old. I’m almost twenty, and I go when and where I like.”
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