For his part, Mark didn’t know the woman at all. He’d seen her around town and knew what she looked like. However, the sightings were few and far in between. They didn’t move in the same social circles. It would have been nearly impossible, since Becky rarely visited town, other than to go to the market. She always did that during the day when he was at work.
Adam quietly wished he had talked about the woman more with his wife. Alice didn’t spread much of the town gossip to him and when she’d spoken of Becky, it was usually brief, just to let Adam know her friend was still alive. Other than that, she didn’t spread anyone’s business to him, unless she deemed it important for him to know.
Now it was Adam’s turn to tell her some news. News he didn’t think she was going to take well. She’d always considered Becky to be almost a sister, that he knew. He remembered her speaking of the young woman with affection and compassion.
They both slid off their horses and tethered them to the hitching post. Mark followed Adam up on the front porch to the door. He opened the door and went through. Mark closed it behind them.
“Alice? You here?” Adam called out. The house wasn’t huge so there weren’t many places she could have been. There were two bedrooms on the bottom floor and a loft where the younger girls slept and played. Other than that, there was the main room and the kitchen. The kitchen had a door that led out of the back of the house into the garden and the fields beyond. The stable and barn were on the opposite side of the house from the road.
“Adam?” Alice came out of the pantry, a towel in her hands. “What are you doing here? You should be at work.”
Adam lifted one hand and gestured to the couch in the living room. “Why don’t you sit, my dear? We need to talk.”
Alice looked fearful, coming toward them, her eyes moving from Adam to Mark and back again. “What in heaven’s name is this all about? Why is Mark here? You should be working, too.” She directed her last statement to Mark.
“Yes, I suppose I should,” Mark said. “But your husband and I are on a mission now and work will have to wait till tomorrow. Please, Alice, do sit.”
Alice pulled in an uneasy breath and sat down, folding her hands and the towel together in her lap. “Please don’t keep me waiting. You are worrying me. Are the children okay? They are at the schoolhouse.” Her voice had become taut as she thought about the trouble the children could be in.
Adam shook his head vigorously. “No, no, Alice. The children are fine. This isn’t about them.”
Alice visibly relaxed, the breath she was holding released in a loud sigh. “Oh! I’m so glad. Then please tell me what has happened.”
“We’re here about your friend, Becky,” Adam said. Alice gave him a strange, surprised look, drawing her brows together.
“Becky? Dupont?”
“Yes. Bruce’s sister.” Adam noticed that the mention of Bruce’s name made Alice grimace.
“Yes,” she responded in a dark tone that had traces of fear mixed in it. “What about her? What has happened?”
“I’m afraid she’s gone missing,” Adam said bluntly.
Alice blinked rapidly and frowned at him. “I’m going to need more information than that, Adam.”
Adam shrugged his shoulders, giving her a helpless look. “I don’t know more than that, Alice. That’s why I’m here.”
“How do you know she’s gone?”
“Bruce came into the Horse N Saddle and told Sam.”
“You were in the Horse N Saddle this morning?” Alice’s face turned to shock.
Mark shook his head, saying, “No, I was. I went in there for a cup of coffee before going in to work. I overheard Bruce talking to Sam about Becky bein’ missing. I went and got Adam. Seemed to me Sam wanted me to get him. You know Adam’s a local hero.”
Adam shook his head, chuckling. “No. I just have a problem with helping people who need it. If there’s something I can do, I’ll do it. Right now, that means gathering as much information about our dear Becky Dupont as possible.” He turned back to Alice. “I’m sure you know most of the town didn’t know Becky very well. Other than in passing.”
Alice nodded. “There was no way for her to make friends. She never got out of the house. That Bruce!” She spat out the man’s name in frustration. “He always made her miserable. He never cared for her. He thought of her… that is, he thinks of her as a servant or a slave. He thinks she owes him something.”
“I know. That’s what he was saying himself.”
Alice opened her eyes wide and stared at her husband. “He admitted he treats her like a slave?”
Adam shook his head. “The latter part. He was saying earlier how she owed him. That she has no skills or talents to put to good use.”
“I understand he might feel responsible for her. However, he should have done what he did out of family love and unity. Instead he did it so that she would take care of his lazy behind and dote on him all the time. He hangs that topic over her head all the time. She gives in to him easily because of it.”
“I imagine she does!” Mark exclaimed. “Just talking to the man for ten minutes made my blood boil. He’s really a terrible guy.”
“Yes,” Alice nodded soberly. “He certainly is. So you say she’s missing? Since when?”
“She went missing this morning, according to Bruce. She was there all night and in the morning she had vanished.”
“We were wondering if she was taken or if she just ran away.” Adam supplied.
Alice lowered her head, shaking it back and forth. “She would not run away. If she had, she likely would have come here. I tried to get her to come and stay with us for a few days. I would have let her stay longer, until she was able to live on her own. I was going to ask you, Adam, but that was a few days ago and I didn’t think of it again until now.” Alice shook her head. “What a shame. I wish I had remembered. I feel so guilty.”
“Don’t feel guilty. There’s nothing you can do about it now.” Adam shook his head. “You aren’t responsible for her.”
“I should have thought of her sooner.”
“No. You can’t blame yourself. Now is the time for you to help. Is there anything… anything at all that you can think of that would give us a clue where to look?” Adam leaned forward, as if anticipating hearing something very important.
Alice thought about it for a moment. “Well, I really couldn’t say where she would be.”
Adam sat back, disappointed.
“I’m sorry, Adam,” Alice said mournfully.
He shook his head. “It’s not your fault. Is there anything you can tell us about her that might help at all?”
“Well, she has been talking about getting out of the house more often.”
Adam raised his eyebrows. “Do you think she might have left Bruce? Just took off?”
Alice shook her head. “I doubt that. She would have told someone if she was going to leave. Probably me, since I am one of the few people in town who check up on her and visit her.”
“So there’s no chance she just left?” Mark asked.
“No, I really can’t see it. Did she take any of her things?”
“Bruce doesn’t know if she did or not. Apparently most of her clothes and property is there because her room wasn’t cleared out.”
“What about her stuffed animals?”
Both men gave her a quizzical look. “Stuffed animals?” Adam asked.
“Becky made a good many stuffed animals. They are all over her room. I have a feeling she was trying to fill the hole left by not having any friends other than me and a few ladies in town. She has never had a chance to go out and do anything. Bruce has never allowed her to have any fun at all. As soon as she left school, she became a recluse, stuck up in the house like a housekeeper.”
“More like a slave.” Mark gave them a look of disgust. “Even housekeepers get a day off and have their own lives. Her life is nothing but waiting on that man hand and foot.” He shook his head. “It makes me feel sic
k.”
“I feel the same way.” Adam stood up and paced the room. “If she didn’t leave on her own, that means she was taken. There’s no way someone took her for ransom money. Bruce doesn’t have any and wouldn’t pay for her if he did.”
“I agree.” Mark said.
“We can check with the other ladies she speaks to, can’t we?” Adam looked at Alice. She looked doubtful.
“I’m not sure who they are. She got random visits, I know that, after she left school. But I haven’t heard her mention anyone else coming to see her in the time I’ve spent with her. She’s a very lonely girl.”
“I can tell.” Adam put one hand to his mouth and stared at the floor as if the answers were written there. “I reckon we’ll have to scour the town and see if we can find her.”
“Is anyone else helping you?”
Mark and Adam looked at each other and both shook their heads. “Bruce is probably going to try to find her if he can get his face out of the beer mug. For all we know, he’s started drinking his whiskey or his vodka by now. When we left, he was already getting close to drunk.”
“He’d only been in there for an hour or two.” Mark mentioned.
Alice looked at them both. “He drinks all day. How could an hour or two make him drunk?”
“Emotional stress?” Mark suggested.
“Look at you, with your high-brow intelligence.” Adam had to tease his friend. Mark smiled at him.
“I think it made a difference. Plus, he probably knocked them back as quick as he could so he could numb himself.”
“That’s probably right,” Adam nodded. “I can see that. Either way, he’s in no condition to be visiting anyone or asking about Becky.”
“No one will tell him anything about Becky,” Alice surmised. “Everyone knows he is hateful to her. Everyone knows how he treats her. They’d probably be happy that she got away from him. I can only imagine what the people of this town would say to him.”
“I wonder, if everyone knows about Bruce and the way he treats Becky, how come no one ever stepped in and interfered?”
“It does seem strange,” Alice nodded. “Especially since she is such a lovely young woman. Very pretty. I think so anyway. It’s odd that none of the young men here took an interest in her.”
Mark snorted. “I’m sure if they did, they would have gone through her brother first and he wouldn’t let them talk to her. She’s been doing all of his housework and yard work since she was big enough to sweep with a broom.”
“Yes, she has,” Alice admitted. “It’s too bad none of them, if there were any, tried harder.”
“Bruce is a scoundrel. No one wants to deal with him. For all we know, he could have threatened the young men who were interested and they were scared of him. He’s a big man and he was probably very intimidating. The men who’d want to court Becky would be her age. That makes him about ten years older than any of them. I wouldn’t put it past him to threaten to kill them. Who wants a shotgun in their face because of a pretty young woman?”
Alice sighed. “Poor Becky. I feel for her. I really wish I knew where she could be. She needs to be nurtured and taken care of, not put through more difficulties. Oh, I just feel so sorry for her.”
Mark stood up, looking at Adam. “What do you want to do, Adam?”
Adam looked at his wife. “You are sure there is no where she might have gone?”
“I don’t know, Adam, I’m sorry. But I would suggest at least going to the Dupont house and seeing if her stuffed animals are there. I can come with you, if you like. I know what they look like. She named all of them. I would probably notice if one was missing.”
“Yes, that sounds like a good idea. We could use someone familiar with the house. I don’t think I’ve ever been over there.”
“No men have been there,” Mark said. “Bruce isn’t going to invite anyone there. Not to keep his sister safe. I’m sure he just didn’t want anyone visiting him. The only places he ever goes are to the Horse N Saddle and work. I don’t know anyone who is friends with him.”
“He’s got men he drinks and gambles with,” Mark said. “I’ve seen him at the saloon playing cards. He seemed to be getting along with the men he was with. But that doesn’t make them his friends.”
“The first thing we’re going to do,” Adam said. “Is go back to the Horse N Saddle to see if he’s still there. If he isn’t, Sam is bound to know where he went. If he is, we’ll tell him we need to see her room. Then we’ll go to his house. Whether he’s there or not, we’ll go to his house first. I want to see if her stuffed animals are missing. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BECKY CLEANS UP
BECKY CLEANS UP
When Kenny woke up the next morning, he pulled himself up off the couch and stretched out his bones. He was slightly disheartened by the sound of them cracking. He was only 33 years old. With a sigh, he swung his legs over and lowered his head to rest in his hands while he got his bearings. He chided himself for not building a new room on the house since his plan to take Becky from her home had been on his mind for months, since the first time he saw her when he visited the Lewinsky’s.
He shook his head vigorously to clear his mind and got up to make coffee.
Suddenly, he realized the smell of coffee was already in the air, as well as cooked eggs and toasted bread. He focused his eyes on the kitchen but Becky was not there. He turned and looked all around the small cabin, but she had to still be in her room.
He stood up and went to the door of his bedroom, which he had given to Becky. He knocked lightly on the door. “Becky?”
“Come in,” he heard her call. He turned the knob and pushed the door open.
Becky was on her knees, wiping the wooden floor with a washrag. She had moved the furniture around to get underneath them and had removed the rug from the floor beside the bed.
“Becky, what are you doing?” he asked quietly. “It’s so early in the morning and you are already cleaning. You don’t have to do that.”
“I have to pay for my room and board.”
Kenny chuckled. “I kidnapped you and you want to pay me for room and board.”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “You didn’t kidnap me. You rescued me.”
Kenny approached her, leaned down, and took the rag from her hands. He took that hand in his own and helped her stand. “You don’t need to do this. You are acting as if you went from one prison to another. This is not meant to be a prison. You know you can come and go as you please. You can even leave and go back if you want to. I only wanted to give you an option.”
“I understand. But, Kenny, I’m the kind of woman who must clean. It’s in my blood to stay neat and tidy.”
“Do you really think that?”
She stared at him for a moment. “I do.”
“Well, I want you to relax for a while. God knows you’ve done so much. Take a day or two. Relax.”
“I don’t think I should.”
“Well, I do.”
“But what will I do?”
“I have books you can read. You can explore around the cabin. Get your bearings, so to speak. I have lovely flowers coming in and the garden is ready to be reaped. I have a lot of work to do this afternoon, but I want you to stay here and calm yourself down. If you want a clean room, do what you must. But don’t think you are obligated to do anything like that. Let me take care of you.”
By this time, Becky had wiped off her hands and smoothed her dress. Her hair was done up in the bun with loose strands curling around her face. She looked at him closely. His eyes were a pure blue, almost like reflective glass.
Kenny noticed, when gazing back at her, that her green eyes had a circle of blue around them. He was intrigued and stared at her for a time. She blinked up at him without a word.
He reached down and touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers. It saddened him that she flinched when he touched her. He became enraged at the thought that Bruce may have been hittin
g her or intimidating her to the point that she wouldn’t want anyone to touch her.
“Has anyone told you what a beautiful young woman you are?” He asked.
Becky blushed, lowering her head in a bashful way. He picked up her chin with two of his fingers and made her look at him again.
“You have beautiful hair, a strong body, and the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen.”
“Thank you,” Becky whispered, unable to look him in the eye.
“I’m the one who should be thanking you. Or should I thank God that He put someone like you on this planet?”
“Oh, Kenny,” Becky giggled. “You flatter me.”
He smiled. “I can’t help it, woman. You are very beautiful.”
Becky was speechless. She had never heard those words from anyone, not even the men she had been able to see when she was a very young woman, in her teens. She’d rebelled against Bruce over the years, but stopped a few years back. It seemed useless to her. She felt destined to spend the rest of her life alone or with a man she despised. Someone her brother would choose or sell her to.
The thought made her shudder.
Kenny was silent for a bit before turning abruptly and leaving the room with a “Come on out here when you want to.”
His abrupt departure made Becky feel uncomfortable, as if she had done someone wrong. She picked up her washcloth and immediately went back to what she was doing, scrubbing her disappointment and sadness away.
She thought about what he said as she scrubbed the floor with a big rag. After only two or three strokes, she sat back abruptly. She left the rag on the floor and placed both hands on her hips. Bruce was not coming here. There was no reason for her to be working. She could take a break if she wanted to.
She slowly convinced herself that it was all right to stop cleaning for a while. It’s not like she could ever pay this man back for the service he did for her. She would continue to clean. Nevertheless, he’d made it perfectly clear he was not like Bruce in any way. He would not yell at her or threaten her. He was a gentleman.
Snatching The Bride (Family of Love Series) (A Western Romance Story) Page 8
