Wooly dropped to his knees beside the dead man. “Everett?” He shook the body. “Everett?” He straightened and glared up at Duncan. “You shot my brother, you murdering—”
“I wasn’t even aiming at him!”
Everett’s brother didn’t believe Otto Duncan. He raised his rifle and shot the slave hunter in the heart at point-blank range. Another lantern crashed to the ground and light swarmed through the cavern as the oil spread over the floor.
Racing footsteps echoed from the cavern walls and Buster emerged from the darkness where the dogs feasted and fought over their venison. He grabbed the rifle from Everett’s brother.
Wooly shouted in protest.
“Sorry, fella,” Buster said, “but I need this.” He scampered out of the way when the man grabbed for him.
Joseph raised his rifle. “I wouldn’t try it. Haven’t you lost enough today?”
Wooly looked up at Joseph, and it was obvious in his drooping eyes and lined forehead that the fight had gone out of him. He returned to his brother and sank onto a slab of rock, burying his face in his hands.
“Don’t worry,” Buster said over his shoulder to the man. “Your dogs can lead you out the same way they led you down here.”
“Not so fast,” Joseph said. “Maybe not. Are there more of your Golden Circle friends coming?” he asked the grieving man.
Wooly looked up at him. “We know who you are, Rickard, and we know the people who live here. This town’s doomed.”
“I think that answers my question.” Joseph joined Buster as he gathered the other rifles. “How far have you followed this cavern, son?”
“Miles up the way.” Buster wrapped his arm around the rifles. “Couldn’t help myself.”
“Any other openings?”
“Sure are.”
The snarling hounds fought over their venison as Joseph studied the wild-haired man. “Think you could escort this man out closer to Plymouth?”
Buster selected a rifle from those he held and gave the others to Joseph. “Be glad to. What about the Frasiers?”
“One thing’s certain. They can’t stay here.”
* * *
With as much gentleness as she could muster, Victoria helped the strapping little boy into the world while Heidi cut the cord under the watchful eyes of his father. The baby had strong lungs and looked pink and perfect.
Buck and Francine were bonding as a new family when Victoria thought she heard movement downstairs. She reached for the pistol in her pocket and warned the family to hush as much as was possible with a new infant. She gestured for Heidi to remain where she was and then stepped out into the hallway.
The man who came up the stairs had skin blacker than a cloudy midnight, with broad shoulders and muscles that rippled with health.
“Isaac, what are you doing here? It isn’t safe for you. Is all well down in the cavern?”
“Yes’m. Two of the killers are dead. Kinda shot each other.”
So those had been rifle shots she heard. “Is anyone else hurt?”
“No, all’s good so far.” He glanced toward the door behind her. “The baby?”
“He’s strong and has good lungs.”
A white grin brought out the handsome features of Isaac’s face. “We gotta leave with them, Capt’n says. I come to help them with their furnishings and animals. I’ll be goin’ as their slave, along with some others.”
“I don’t think that’ll go over too well with Francine or Buck.”
“No’m, but if somebody’s gonna pose as my master, I’d like it to be them.”
“Of course, but why do they have to leave? Have you heard of more trouble?”
“Yes’m. Gotta get the family away. Trouble is coming to Jolly Mill. Heard it from one of Duncan’s posse. We can’t let our friends get hurt.”
“Did he say who betrayed them?”
Isaac shook his head. “Ain’t no telling. That young Johnston boy, he already rounded up the animals and they have the wagon and buggy at the other side of the mountain. We can build our friends furniture when we reach Kansas.”
Another friend, Washington, joined Isaac and announced that others were on their way to help carry food and as many items as they could through the cavern. They had built an extra boat, and with the Frasiers’ seven horses, they would have transportation.
Victoria prayed they could all escape this place in time so that promise would be realized.
Chapter Eighteen
Joseph climbed into the basement of the Frasier home to the sound of footsteps thumping across the wood floor above him. He frowned and took the stairs to the ground floor and found people. Everywhere. Most of them were dark skinned, but he caught sight of Audy Reich in the kitchen, packing foodstuffs.
With a grin, Joseph realized that Gray had carried out his hasty orders—the Frasiers must travel with them now that danger had arrived. But Mrs. Reich?
As if she’d heard his thoughts, the lady turned and gave him a sweet smile. “Captain, don’t even ask me why, because I don’t know for sure, but you know how the Lord works sometimes. I told the mister I just had to get back here and make sure everything was okay. So he brought me.”
“You’ve seen the baby?”
“That’s the first place I went, and do you know I wasn’t the least bit surprised it was a boy and that he was here already? A woman doesn’t have a brood of young’uns without learning a thing or two. The Frasiers’ little’un’s gonna get to know Auntie Audy mighty well on this trip.”
“I appreciate your help, but it was dangerous for the two of you to travel that section of road.”
“Not to worry, Captain. Deacon and Ellen Fritz traveled with us, and we both know Ellen could outshoot me if we were to enter a contest—not that I would do something so unladylike, of course, though I can’t speak for Ellen. And that Ellen’s as strong as a man, and well nigh as tall, not to mention her hands are—”
“I’m right here, Audy, I can hear you,” came a querulous voice from behind the stairwell, where Mrs. Fritz was packing jars of food into a wooden box.
Mrs. Reich gave an ornery chuckle. “Captain, you’ll want to see the baby, of course, but I’m sure you’re looking for your...for our Victoria.” An impetuous grin traveled across the intrepid lady’s tanned face. “She’s safe, watching the road from the front porch.” She nodded to her left.
“Thank you, Mrs. Reich.”
He could hear her humming softly to herself as he crossed to the front door. He opened it to find Victoria seated on the same carved bench she’d occupied earlier, watching over the town, eyes narrowed, arms crossed, shoulders straight as she held herself erect. Waiting for a battle, no doubt, or to raise the warning cry in case other men with evil intent should ride in with more dogs trained to hunt slaves. Joseph could easily see her as a warrior princess; she had a passion for righteousness. She also had beauty.
“Is everything packed, Audy?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Not yet.”
She turned to him, eyes filled with relief. “No more trouble with that man?”
Joseph wanted to reassure her that all was fine, but something about Wooly’s silence as he’d walked away with Buster had suggested a dark and simmering hatred.
“Joseph?”
He grimaced. “We’ll see. His last name is Phillips. He never told me his first name. I told Buster to walk him to one of the cavern entrances east of here and warned him that if he returned to harm anyone he would be shot.”
“We need to leave as soon as the Frasiers can get their things together. I tried to help but Audy wouldn’t allow it. Have you seen the baby?”
“I needed to see you.” Joseph stepped up behind her and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Word has spread that you saved mother and child.”
She looked up at him, her eyes so blue as they reflected the sky that he could easily lose himself in them. “We can’t know what would have happened, but Buck and Heidi were excellent under pressure. Matt
hew Joseph is blessed with good parents, and we hope he will have many more brothers and sisters.”
Joseph’s hand tightened on her shoulder. “Matthew Joseph.” He smiled and suddenly wanted to meet this newborn baby.
“I wish you’d come earlier. I had to resort to threats to convince Buck and Francine to leave their home for the safety of their baby and future family.”
He sank down beside her on the bench. “Their lives could be in danger.”
“That’s what convinced Buck. He has to protect his family. Isaac said he’s traveling with them as their slave, but do you think it’s safe for anyone to travel on the open road right now?” She made a wide gesture with her arms.
Joseph took advantage of her flair for the dramatic to collect her hand and grasp it in his. “No, I don’t,” he said. “I think we all need to travel through the backwoods, along the rivers as far as we can.”
She turned to stare at him as if he’d just swallowed a toad. “All the way there?”
He squeezed her hand. He wanted her safe, no matter what it took. “All the way. If we travel openly, we may or may not be attacked by the slavers, but we could also be attacked by the abolitionists. Both are guarding the borders and both sides can be dangerous.”
She squeezed his hand and pressed her forehead against his shoulder. “Will this nightmare never end?”
He kissed her hand and released it, then placed his arm around her. She eased into the embrace as if she knew she had always belonged there, and she did. How empty his arms had felt for so long. How tempting to make up for lost time by kissing her right here on the front porch in sight of the whole town.
But he heard a quiet movement at the window behind them and sensed someone looking out at them. He was pretty sure he heard a feminine chuckle.
“I managed to get Phillips to admit that more of the Golden Circle thugs were on their way here,” he said. “Buck and Francine are apparently well-known in that group, proving it’s impossible for two white people to travel through Missouri with a large group of Africans without word spreading.”
“Then why did it take so long for them to be found after they settled?”
“Because most of their neighbors are honorable people who wouldn’t betray them.”
“But so much traffic passes through here,” she said. “With the atmosphere in this state, how can anyone feel safe?”
The door opened behind them. “The last thing I want to do is tear you two apart.” Mrs. Reich’s voice no longer held her characteristic humor. “We’ve packed as much as can be carried.”
Joseph rose and helped Victoria to her feet. He gazed at the house Buck and Francine had built with their own hands. “This would be a difficult place to leave.”
“What bothers me the most is who might decide they have a right to this place and just move in,” Victoria said.
“Gray suggested emptying it and burning it down to keep that from happening,” Mrs. Reich told them as she turned to go back inside. “But I think too much love went into building it to burn it down. I think it can withstand whatever happens here.”
Joseph led the way through the front door and picked up Victoria’s bag.
“I can carry that,” she said.
“Don’t forget you’re still weak from your injury. Don’t overdo it.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Going to start bossing me again?”
“Protecting, my love.” The word slipped out, spoken by the heart. He watched Victoria as her eyes widened, and he braced himself for rejection if he’d gone too far.
* * *
Perhaps it was merely power of suggestion, but Victoria’s legs did feel somewhat weak all of a sudden as Joseph’s endearment flowed through her like the warm nectar of honeysuckle. She wanted to step up to him and allow him to wrap her in his arms and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe and murmur those words of love again.
“Joseph?” came Buck’s voice from the back parlor doorway. “Everyone’s in the cave except the three of us and Buster.”
“And where would he be right now?” Joseph asked.
“Right here, Captain,” Buster called from the parlor. “Saw Phillips out of the cave. The dogs caught up with us and followed him out. I’m waiting for y’all to hightail it out, then I’ll cover the floor so’s no one can ever find this opening. And even if they do, they won’t know about the one below.”
He closed the trapdoor over them as they stepped into the moist cave.
“He’s going to join us on the other side of the mountain, I suppose?” Victoria asked.
“That’s his plan.”
Buck turned to Joseph and Victoria. “I’m going to rush ahead and see about Francine and little Matthew. The women were taking care of her, and the men are using the litter I built you to carry her, but I just want to be sure.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else.” Joseph clapped him on the shoulder. “Matthew, is it?”
Buck turned back and held his new friend’s gaze in the lantern light. “Matthew Joseph Frasier. I figure with those names, the boy can’t lose.” He turned away, whistling into the darkness, a man too happy about his newborn son to grieve the loss of his home.
Joseph chuckled and Victoria sighed with satisfaction. That was as it should be.
As the two of them walked alone through the darkness with only Joseph’s lantern to light their way, Victoria felt many things fall into place. She loved being reunited with the Frasiers and was thrilled that they would be a part of her new life. She also felt her resentment against the two young Johnston scoundrels drift away. Buster might be impulsive and often arrogant, but he wasn’t mean hearted.
“I love this place,” she said.
“The cave system?”
She looked around. “Well, it’s pretty nice, too. A little dark. I was talking about Jolly Mill. I can only pray the ruffians won’t destroy it.”
“You’re right, we can only pray. I think you’ll like our village in Kansas. It’s in a hidden valley surrounded by fertile fields. You’ll have a lot of patients to care for, but you’ll have Heidi to help you, and Buck can learn more from you.”
She smiled. “And you?”
“Hmm? What about me?” His tone was all innocence.
There was a skittering of rocks up ahead, which must mean they were drawing closer to the others.
“What’s your life going to be like now?” she asked.
“No more wagon trains for me. The town will be a nice size once we arrive with this last group.”
“You’re a natural leader, though. Are you not even planning to take more wagon trains West?”
He walked beside her in silence for a moment, holding the lantern high as the sound of movement drew nearer. “If I did, would you go with me?”
“You said yourself that I’ll have plenty of patients in Kansas.”
“If you’re staying, I’m staying.”
Her steps faltered, and immediately Joseph slowed with her, bracing her arm with his hand.
“You need to rest.”
“Later. Joseph, what did you mean about staying?”
He stopped and turned her to face him. “From now on, I’m going to be wherever you are. If you decide to leave Kansas and return to St. Louis—”
“I’m not going to do that.”
“If you do, I’m going with you.”
She felt a jolt of hope, followed by the same hesitation she’d experienced several times with him on this trip. “You left me before, Joseph.”
He raised his hand and cupped her cheek, gently, as if she might shatter. “When I was twenty, I had certain priorities. One of them was to honor my father.”
“I seem to recall that you once promised to always love me.”
“I kept that promise. I always loved you. And now my first priority is to not leave you unless you tell me to.”
She couldn’t break her gaze from his dark eyes and the assurance she saw in them. She watched until his face drew so close t
o hers that she closed her eyes. She was unprepared for the gentle force of his kiss, or the sense of vertigo, as if the two of them spun on the earth alone, with no one else but them.
The sound of footsteps brought her back to reality. She pulled away, still disoriented by the dark surroundings. Again, she stumbled.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You really do need to rest. You haven’t recovered from your illness, or from the wound.”
“I’ll rest when we reach where we’re going.” She turned and continued along the path that had been carved into the cavern floor by countless footsteps, but her weakness betrayed her. The serenity she’d felt after delivering little Matthew dissipated as they walked through the darkness in silence. Her thigh ached, and she realized Joseph was right. She wasn’t as strong as she wanted to think. That was true in many areas of her life.
“I think I should apologize about some of my comments in the past few weeks,” she said.
“About?”
“Against our Maker. How dare I protest God’s judgment?”
“Doesn’t a child sometimes complain about his parents’ judgments?”
Once again, something skittered quietly in the darkness, and this time it was behind them. Victoria peered over Joseph’s shoulder.
“And yet they always loved you,” he continued, obviously unaware of her distraction.
She shifted sideways to get a better view. Something jagged and white reflected against the glow from the lantern. It appeared to be a stalagmite, but it couldn’t be. A stalagmite jutted upward from the cave floor, where minerals collected from dripping water. But no water dripped here. The formation jutted sideways, partially in the light, partially in the shadow. The formation looked fresh, white.
“He has a tight hold on you,” Joseph continued.
She looked up at him and smiled, but out of the corner of her eye she saw the formation move. She gasped and grabbed his arm. “What is that?”
A pile of rocks shifted. A human shadow loomed, holding that formation like a bludgeon, its whiteness reflecting crazily in the lantern light.
A man with wild white hair raised the weapon. Joseph caught her in his arms and wrenched her away from the intruder as the stalagmite glanced off his shoulder.
Hannah Alexander Page 23
