Jeff was getting desperate. Time was getting short. He couldn't dismiss the possibility they had been kidnaped. Everybody knew the Randolph family was rich.
"Did they say anything you can remember?"
Essie was watching her father.
"Please, try to think."
Essie turned back to Jeff. "Aurelia said she wanted to ride Nightmare. But Juliette said not to be stupid, Uncle Monty wouldn't have brought his horse all the way from Wyoming."
Jeff felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The twins had gone to Madison's ranch. He only hoped to God they had gotten there safely. He stood up, went to the door, and beckoned to Violet. She called to Mr. Brown, and he began tracing his steps.
"Your father will be here in a minute," Jeff said. "I'm sorry I had to do this, but it's very dangerous for little girls to be alone."
"Is Daddy going to be mad at me?"
Only now did Jeff wonder what Violet had told Mr. Brown, "No. He'll be angry at the twins. All of us are."
"But I gave my word."
"It doesn't count when somebody asks you to do something wrong."
Essie didn't look like she was sure he was right, but she wanted to believe him.
"Why don't you go meet your father?" Jeff suggested. "I'm sure Miss Goodwin won't mind."
Essie escaped like a bird released from its cage. Jeff followed slowly, thoughtfully. He didn't look forward to spending the next twenty minutes closed up in a carriage with Violet's angry disapproval.
* * * * *
"You might as well say it and get it out of your system," Jeff said after they'd ridden in uneasy silence for ten minutes. "Then maybe you'll stop looking like you've just bitten into a sour pomegranate."
Violet didn't want to say what she was feeling. At first she was simply angry. Then she had been furious he had made her part of something she disliked so much. But she had been reluctant to speak because even though she didn't like his methods, Jeff had been successful where she hadn't.
The twins were his nieces. It was only natural he would be more concerned about their safety than protecting Essie's feelings. To a degree she felt the same way. Essie was safe. It was the twins who were in possible danger. Violet prayed they had made it to Madison's ranch unharmed.
"It won't do any good to tell you what I think," Violet said. "It's over and done with. Nothing I say can change it."
"So you're going to sit over there, glaring at me, not saying a word, enjoying your anger. How like a woman to use silence to make a man feel guilty when she can't do it with words."
Violet had a feeling Jeff was baiting her, saying that just to make her so angry.
"It has never been my purpose to make you feel guilty," Violet said with grim composure. She was determined to deny him the pleasure of seeing her lose her temper. "Not even when your own stubbornness and ill temper cause you to force your way into the dormitory. I didn't try to make you feel guilty when you did your best to upset me and the girls by running around indecently clothed. I have no intention of doing so now, even though I wish you had managed to find another way. Under the circumstances, I think success may have been more important that Essie's feelings."
She had the pleasure of knowing she had caught him by surprise.
"I expect you know Essie will never entirely trust you again."
He nodded. She thought he looked sorry for the loss.
"Wasn't there some other way?"
"Probably, but I couldn't think of it. What did you tell her father? Essie was worried he would be angry with her."
"He won't. He understood the importance of finding little girls lost in a city of more than thirty thousand people, most of them men."
"You really don't blame me?"
Violet couldn't imagine Jeff really cared what she thought. She was a Yankee, and Yankees by definition were a defective breed. That word still had the power to make her angry. But there was something new in Jeff's attitude, the tone of his voice, the way he looked at her, that was much more interesting and intriguing than her anger.
He actually did care what she thought of him. Really. Honestly. The great Jeff Randolph, the impregnable bastion of self-confidence, of indifference to the wants, feelings, and desires of the rest of the world, had cracked. And he had cracked because of a Yankee female.
She wanted to laugh. She wanted to dance about wildly until all her hairpins came loose. Instead she told her foolish heart to go back to beating in a steady dependable fashion. Jeff might truly care, but his mind was set on his image of the perfect southern belle. He was equally convinced Yankees had to have their horns and tail removed at birth. He might feel a physical attraction for her, but it would go no further than that.
"As I said, I can't blame you for succeeding where I failed."
"I would have blamed you."
His reply shocked her. "Why?"
"I always blame people who don't behave as I want them to, even when they succeed."
"Why?"
"Because I have no tolerance."
She wondered why he was telling her this. Confession may be good for the soul, but she was certain this was the first time Jeff had ever tried it. If his expression was any indication, his soul wasn't liking it too much.
"I always know the answers. I never cared about protecting people's feelings before. It seemed such a waste of time. It also got in the way of getting things done, of getting them done right."
"What made you change your mind?"
She was vain enough to hope he would say she had. Women didn't have much power. To be able to influence a man such as Jeff Randolph would add greatly to her sense of worth.
"I don't know that I have. I'll probably always act like that -- I have for so long I don't know how to behave any other way -- but I don't want you to dislike me."
"I don't."
She couldn't. She never would. Her problem was just the reverse. She liked him too much. And though she was trying desperately to control her feelings, they were growing steadily out of control. Moments like this didn't help.
He could make her so furious she was certain she'd never again be susceptible to his charm. Then just a tiny show of vulnerability would cause her to melt like an icicle on a stove top.
She was dangerously close to falling in love with this man.
The realization shocked her in so many ways, on so many levels, her brain felt paralyzed. She had to put a stop to this. Jeff might have occasional moments when he wasn't as hard as granite. He might even be thoughtful at times But he thought he knew better than everyone about everything, that Yankees were only a slight step up from wharf rats, and that all a stupid, spineless female had to do to achieve Madonna status was be born somewhere in Virginia.
Their arrival at Madison's ranch saved her from having to continue this conversation, a task for which she felt unequal.
"Do we have to disturb Fern?" Violet asked, mindful of Iris's injunction not to upset her sister-in-law.
"If anybody knows if the girls are here, it'll be Fern," Jeff answered.
But Fern didn't know. She hadn't left her bedroom all morning. And despite Iris's letter, Madison still hadn't returned from Leadville.
"If they came here, they could be anywhere," Fern said. "The boys are out riding with Monty."
"He's here?" Jeff asked, suddenly looking more hopeful.
"He's been coming every afternoon to ride with the boys. Today's Saturday and they're off from school. He was here before I woke."
Violet had caught the change in Jeff's expression. She decided it was a mixture of relief and anger. Unfortunately, she felt he had a right to the angry. Aside from the trouble and worry the twins had caused, they had exposed themselves to the possibility of serious danger. They had to be made to understand the gravity of what they had done.
"I'll go down to the barn to see if anybody has seen them," Jeff said. "You can stay here with Fern."
"I'm going with you," Violet said.
&nbs
p; "It's not necessary."
"I'm still going with you.”
Fern smiled, easing the worried look on her face. "You don't have to protect the twins from Jeff. They manage to get out of everything with very little damage to their spirits."
"Rose will be here soon," Jeff said. "We'll see how they like that."
"You didn't telegraph Rose they had run away?"
"I'm not such a sap head as that. I wrote her earlier. But I will telegraph her once I get the brats safely back at school. I haven't had a minute's peace this past month because of those two. This is worse than anything yet."
Violet didn't say so, but she agreed. It probably was time their parents came to deal with the situation in person.
"Sure, them girls are here," the groom told Jeff. "Turned up practically with the sun. I don't know who they got to bring 'em out this far, but Mr. Monty and the boys wasn't even down yet before they was saddled up and off."
"Where are then now?"
"Can't say, but I imagine they'll be coming over that ridge right soon. Mr. Monty's not one to miss his lunch."
Violet glanced at her watch. She was surprised to discover it was already past twelve. She had been so busy she was hardly aware of the passing time.
They didn't have to wait long. Two horses topped the rise at a gallop. Violet wasn't the least bit surprised to discover it was the twins. Three boys followed. Monty brought up the rear.
"Those gals sure know how to ride?" the groom observed. "It's rare females can handle horses like they can."
"They were born in the middle of a kidnaping, then spent nine years on a ranch in Texas," Jeff said. "I guess that explains why they're as wild as longhorns."
Violet turned to gape at Jeff. "A kidnaping?"
"Ask Fern sometime." He stepped out of the shadow of the barn, making himself clearly visible to the group galloping toward the barn.
Violet noticed a visible check in the twins' forward motion. They glanced at each other. One glanced back at Monty. Violet had to give them credit. They had guts. They didn't wait for their cousins or their uncle to catch up. They rode right up to Jeff at a gallop. For one terrifying moment Violet thought they were going to gallop their horses right over him. But he stood unmoving. They pulled up their rearing mounts only a few feet away.
"Well," Jeff said as the girls calmed their dancing mounts. "Do you want me to give you your beating now, or would you prefer I wait until we get back to the school?"
Chapter Sixteen
The twins lost color. They looked at each other, at Jeff, finally at Violet. She couldn't decide whether they were asking for her protection, or they wanted her to tell them if their uncle was serious. Violet could give them no answer. She didn't know herself. Jeff had a right to be angry. But to spank children not his own?
"Get down. Let the groom take your horses."
"We ought to unsaddle them," Aurelia said. "We rode them."
"You will. He's just going to walk them for a few minutes."
The girls dismounted and handed the reins over to the groom. He took them without a word. Violet looked up, expecting to see Monty and the boys. She was surprised to see they were still some distance away. Monty was now in the front and they were walking their horses. He was giving Jeff a chance to have his say in private.
Jeff glared at the girls. Violet couldn't detect any of the kindness or understanding in his face he had shown toward her and Essie. He looked more like a judge facing two convicted criminals before he sentenced them.
"Do you have any idea what you have done?"
"We only wanted to--" Juliette said.
"You have upset the entire school," Jeff said, brusquely cutting off his niece. "You have upset Miss Settle. You have also upset Miss Goodwin. Furthermore, she will undoubtedly receive a reprimand for failing to keep the two of you under control."
Violet hadn't considered that aspect of it, but she was certain Jeff was right. Miss Settle would be anxious to blame someone for this inexcusable lapse.
The twins glanced at Violet then back at their uncle. "That's not fair," Aurelia said. "No one can keep us under control."
"Worse than that, you forced Essie Brown, that poor child you deluded into thinking you were the two sweetest, kindest girls on the face of the earth, to tell a lie. All because you wanted to do something you weren't supposed to do in the first place. That's unworthy of a Randolph. If you're going to do something wrong, you should make certain you don't cause anybody else to end up taking the blame for it. But you were too selfish, too determined to get you own way, to think of that."
As usual, when faced with the consequences of what they had done, the twins were sorry. Violet didn't doubt the sincerity of their repentance this time. But she knew they'd be ready to do something just as bad a week or ten days from now. Still, she couldn't help but admire their spirit. There was nothing weak or spineless about these girls. She was beginning to think an unconquerable spirit was a Randolph family trait.
"Are you really going to beat us?" Aurelia asked.
"Don't you think I should?"
"Beat us here," Juliette. "If you beat us at school, we'll just have to run away again."
Violet could hardly believe what she heard, but she realized immediately it was true. If they received any kind of unusual punishment at school, Betty Sue would make continued enrollment at Wolfe School impossible.
Before Jeff could say anything more, Monty and the boys rode up.
"You finished giving them a piece of your mind yet?" Monty asked Jeff. He dismounted, seemingly unperturbed by the morning's events.
"He's going to spank us," Juliette said.
"Go take care of your horses," Monty said. "Come back here the minute you're finished."
Violet didn't like the tension she sensed between the brothers. Neither spoke while the girls went to their horses, but she could feel the antagonism building between them. She wondered for a moment if she should leave with the girls.
"You'd better stay, Miss Goodwin," Monty said. "You'll have to deal with the girls and the school when we're done."
"I'm afraid any action the school may take is out of my hands," Violet informed them. "I doubt I'll even be asked to offer an opinion."
"I still want you to stay."
Violet stayed. In their present frames of mind, she wasn't certain either brother was capable of making a sound decision. They seemed to bring out the worst in each other.
"I should have known you'd be encouraging them," Jeff stated.
"It's not encouraging them to run away to go for a ride with them," Monty answered. "Besides, they were already in the saddle when I got here."
"You knew they weren't supposed to be here. You should have taken them back."
"I might as well let them enjoy their ride. I knew you'd be along sooner or later to take them back."
"Fine. Let me be the ogre."
"It's a role you seem to enjoy."
"You shouldn't have let them go riding with you."
"Short of riding them down and taking them out of the saddle, there wasn't much I could do to prevent it. Besides, they broke out of that place for a reason. Maybe having a morning free will make them more willing to stay put for a while."
"It's more likely to make them think they can leave whenever they like."
Monty shrugged.
"They simply don't obey rules," Jeff said. "They think they're meant for everyone but them."
"They never have behaved," Monty said. "They've given Rose grey hair."
"And you've made sure she'll get some more."
"Stow it, Jeff. And you're not going to beat them."
"I never intended to. I ought to beat you instead."
The two men faced each other like angry bull elk. They didn't shake their heads or paw the earth, but they did glare at each other, their powerful shoulders bunched and tense, ready for action. Violet wondered if they would actually come to blows. She knew Jeff wouldn't back down just because he was missing an
arm.
"For grown men, you two talk a lot of nonsense," she said. "I don't know how you expect nine-year-old girls to behave when you can't do any better than this."
Jeff looked to Violet, then the twins before turning back to Monty. He made a gesture of disgust. "You can go to Monty next time they get in trouble," he said to Violet. "I wash my hands of them."
He stalked off leaving Violet to face Monty and five wide-eyed Randolph grandchildren. There wasn't much she could do except put a brave face on things until they got back to the school. After that, it would be out of her hands.
"I suppose the best thing to do is get some lunch," she announced. "Head for the house, and make sure to wash your hands."
The five children set off at a run. The twins, older than the three boys, were soon well in front.
* * * * *
Jeff was waiting for her when Violet reached the house. "You think I was wrong, don't you?" he said when the others had gone in."
"In various ways, you're both right," she temporized. She didn't approve of his being so harsh with the twins. Yet she knew Monty's indulgent attitude would only encourage them to continue to flout authority.
"Monty and I never agree on anything."
"Never?"
"Not that I remember."
"Don't you even like each other?" She would have beaten her brother senseless if it would have given him the will to live, but she loved him deeply.
"No. I guess not."
"But you're brothers."
"We can't help that."
Violet didn't know what to say. It was a concept she simply couldn't understand.
"I have to go back to the bank," he said. "I'll send the carriage to take you and the twins back to the school when you've finished lunch."
"Aren't you going to come with me to find out what Miss Settle decides?"
"Nobody likes what I've done. As long as Monty's here, he'll interfere. Let Fern deal with them, or Iris if she's not up to it."
"I like most of what you've done," Violet said.
She really did. She didn't agree with him on everything, but she agreed with his stern attitude. Life wasn't easy. It wasn't accommodating. If people didn't exercise some kind of control, they were in for a lot of trouble. And it was her experience when someone got in trouble, the people who suffered the most were the people who loved them. She didn't think that was fair, but it seemed to be the way things worked.
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