Louisa tossed the reins over the hitching rail and stepped up onto the porch, throwing her arms around her brother’s neck. Mark hugged her hard and she caught her breath, caught up in his strong embrace. She leaned back and studied his face. He was her best friend, her protector and the one always on her side. He had gone away when she was a child and nothing could be right until he had returned. There could be no Christmas and no joy while he was gone and she had made everyone wait for him. Louisa looked at the jagged scar on his neck, still obvious above his open collar. The bullet had nearly taken his life. Louisa looked back up into his eyes and was overcome with thankfulness that he stood alive in front of her.
“It’s good that you’re home,” he said. He held his jaw tight and swallowed hard.
“Saints in heaven!” Colleen burst through the wooden screen door, letting it slam shut with a sharp smack.
“Loo, darlin’!” Colleen ran to Louisa and flung her arms around her beloved sister-in-law. Her curvy figure was warm and welcoming. “Ah, it’s good seein’ ya,” Colleen said in her delightful brogue.
Louisa put her arm around Colleen’s petite shoulders and the two women walked into the house with Mark behind them.
“Can I fix you something to eat?” Colleen filled tall glasses with cool cider and set them on the long table.
Louisa wished she had room in her belly for more food. Colleen’s cooking was the finest she had ever eaten. “Maybe later,” she replied, smiling. “Birget and Liv already filled me up this morning.”
The three of them relaxed over their cider, enjoying each other’s company and Mark set his empty glass onto the table. “I can take you up to the cabin, and the place where they held Mom, where that shack was. I haven’t been up in years so I don’t know what you’ll find there now. The boys get up there sometimes to hunt. Pa and Roland too.”
“I want to get out and see Roland and Emma and their boys, too,” Louisa said, “but I’m eager to get started on my research first. I took some notes on the train, but didn’t get to see Hawk Bend Station and I’d like to see that too. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“No, not at all. I’d like to get up there anyway. Someone should check on things from time to time. We had some trouble with the dog. And a while back we found the garden dug up.” Mark shook his head. “I keep meaning to get up there.”
“Ach!” Colleen exclaimed.
Louisa could see there was more to the trouble Mark had mentioned, but it was clear that Colleen found the subject upsetting.
“We’ll talk on the ride,” Mark said.
They looked up to the sound of a buggy in the yard.
Mark and Colleen’s daughter, Katie, climbed down from the wagon, assisted by the lanky, young driver. In a brightly colored, smocked blouse and long light brown braids, Katie waddled up to the porch, heavy with child. Behind her, the lean man touched her shoulder protectively. He smiled shyly at the family around the table and said, “I tried, but there was no keeping her away. We rode out to Stavewood first looking for you and they said we could find you here.”
“Loo!” Katie stretched out her arms over her bulging belly.
Louisa was overcome by the sight of Katie so obviously expecting. Her niece was always the feisty, skinny kid on the back of one of Mark’s fine horses, racing through the fields and causing mischief. She was the wild child that climbed trees to heights even the boys would not risk and who would swing out the farthest on the rope over the river. “Well I never!” Louisa exclaimed.
“I know,” Katie blushed, patting her belly. “This is James.” Katie smiled up to the young man. “You two have not met yet.”
Katie’s husband pulled off his tweed cap self-consciously and offered Louisa his large hand. Somehow Louisa thought he was perfect for the spirited Katie, warm and kind and a bit knock-kneed. He looked very much like an overgrown child and stood as uneasy as a newborn colt.
“How are you feeling?” Colleen fussed over her expectant daughter. “It will be soon. I can tell.”
Louisa watched mother and daughter sharing their anticipation enthusiastically. Colleen Elgerson could have no natural children of her own and had taken in Katie as an infant against the odds. Children naturally sought out her attention and, over time, she became the most requested mid-wife in the county. It was a title once held by Louisa’s grandmother, Isabel. Katie rubbed her belly and Louisa tried to imagine what the young mother-to-be must be feeling. In the time Louisa had been away, Katie had married and now was about to have a child very soon. She did not look afraid or nervous in any way. Katie was glowing and James looked at her affectionately. It was clear he loved Katie completely. Louisa took a deep breath and tried to imagine how Talbot would feel about having a family. She quickly dismissed the idea. They would begin their publishing company. That would be the child they would fuss over together.
“You can say hello to the Vancouvers first. I need to drop off a few things there anyway,” Mark explained, mounting his horse alongside Louisa’s. “Then we’ll ride up to Hawk Bend Station and start there.”
They found Roland Vancouver cutting lumber on sawhorses in the yard. He stood up straight and grinned at them emerging from the path that led from Mark’s ranch to his own property. Even as a young girl, Louisa had appreciated Roland’s rugged, good looks, his interesting dark demeanor and cautious smile. He was older now but still as handsome. She always saw him as the strong prince that had rescued her mother’s cousin, Emma.
“It’s good to see you!” He kissed Louisa’s cheek and led her and Mark into the big Dutch Colonial home. It was lovingly maintained and Louisa thought back to the story of how Roland, her father and the men from the mill had built it. It was perfectly situated on the edge of the woods overlooking Fisher Creek, flowing in the distance.
“Let me look at you!” Emma Vancouver hugged Louisa and Mark warmly. She was dressed in a pastel pink, spring dress, flowing in soft scallops around her ankles. It was a color that Louisa had always associated with Emma, feminine and as soft as a whisper.
“Rebecca says you’re home to write her story. How wonderful!” Slender Emma set out bowls of freshly sliced peaches in rich cream as they sat around the big table in the open kitchen. “I can tell you the story of how she decided to answer the ad again if you like.” Emma laughed.
“That one I remember pretty clearly,” Louisa said. “Let’s see. You thought she had lost her mind. Oh wait, her bloody mind, as I recall. Then, a couple of years later, you got on the boat yourself.”
“I did,” Emma smiled a kind, beautiful smile. “I was worried sick over her. That ad was short and very businesslike. I was terrified for her, but you know your mother. She felt all along it was something she had to do. I was very shocked because she was always quite level-headed up until then. I guess the heart knows when the time is right.” Emma looked lovingly at Roland. “I’m sorry you missed the boys. Eugene and Walter are at school and Ottland’s just up the way at the cabin.”
“I’m sure I will get to see them all,” Louisa said. “I’ll be around for a while.”
“Ready to ride?” Mark pushed back the big wooden chair and got to his feet. Louisa hugged everyone warmly and they mounted up.
Eight
Louisa fell in behind her brother as they rode along the back trails into the hills and towards Hawk Bend. An eagle soared in lazy circles high overhead and a formation of geese flew north towards Canada. She’d ridden with her brother hundreds of times along the trails surrounding their estate sharing their thoughts and each other’s company. While her father and Roland were the most rugged of men, Mark possessed a gentler spirit and shared many of her interests. He had always been her closest friend. Louisa sat back in the saddle enjoying the late morning ride, feeling contented and at peace for the first time in a very long time.
“You want to tell me now what’s going on with the dog?” she asked as she pulled up beside her brother. “I noticed there was a new pup at your place.”
> “Yeah,” Mark replied. “I didn’t want to talk about it at the house. Colleen was sick over it and Katie was so distraught that James and I have both decided not to bring it up too much.”
“I like James. He seems a good fit for Katie,” Louisa interjected.
“That young man calmed her right down. She’s crazy over him. It seemed an odd match to us at first. She had the pick of any fellow in the territory but I certainly could do far worse in the son-in-law department. James can be pretty shy and you know how the family can be overwhelming, but he stuck it out. He’ll be a good father to their baby.” Mark cleared his throat.
Louisa looked down at her watch thoughtfully and imagined Talbot meeting the family.
Mark noticed her checking the timepiece. “Are we in a hurry?” Mark asked.
“No, no, not at all,” she replied. “Tell me about the dog.”
“We got Bumble Bee just after you left.”
“You named your dog Bumble Bee?” Louisa suppressed a chuckle.
Mark scowled. “Colleen named him that. I wanted to call him Rex, but no. And she was right. He was just like a damn bee, always into her flowers, snorting and sniffing all the time. He had yellow fur, too, that just kept getting longer. It was a silly name but damn, he was the best dog.”
Mark adjusted his hat, setting his forefinger into the crease as he tilted it forward. “One night, just around sunset, he saw Colleen coming back from milking and he pushed the screen door open. He was running out to her but he must have heard or seen something in the woods and he took right off. A few seconds later I heard a shot.”
Mark narrowed his eyes. Louisa slowed her horse alongside him and looked down at the rifle tucked into its sling on his saddle.
“That was last fall. I never saw anyone but it reminded me of all the trouble when Jude Thomas was around.”
“It’s been a long time since anything like that has happened, hasn’t it?” Louisa asked.
“Yeah. Boy, but I remember what it was like.”
“I heard all the stories about how he killed Love, Corissa’s horse, and tried to steal Cannonball.”
“What a problem that guy was,” Mark said. “He was the one who took all of the horses from the old Weintraub ranch and left them to die in that ravine. I still have nightmares about that place.”
Louisa pulled her leather notebook from her hip pocket and scribbled into it briefly.
Mark saw that the book was thick and leather bound with a narrow strap that slid into a loop on the cover. It was a fine grade buckskin and obviously expensive.
“I feel better riding out here with you today. I just needed to take a look around.”
“Sure,” Louisa nodded as she wrote.
“Well,” Mark pointed ahead. “There’s Hawk Bend Station. We’ll stop there first and then head up to the cabin afterwards.”
Nine
The rugged log station had changed little over the years since Rebecca Elgerson had first arrived there. She had gotten off the train one stop before her scheduled destination in Billington which was just a short distance away. She’d been very close to reaching the town safely and avoiding her terrible ordeal.
Louisa slid from Romeo’s back. “I took a walk back to coach class on the train coming in and it was horrible. She must have been at the end of her endurance.” In her mind’s eye Louisa could see the forlorn faces of the riders on the train.
“After she had been kidnapped and I found her all beaten up, she told me that she hadn’t eaten almost anything in days,” Mark said, as he stepped up beside her. The two stood looking at the log building, imagining the pain Rebecca had endured. “She got off here,” he went on. “It was raining that night. Really hard. Jude’s cousin, Finn, was here and told her to come inside. He was a simple guy and he was always kind like that.”
Louisa walked to the station platform and stepped up.
Mark tied up the horses and stood alongside her, pausing for a moment to gaze at the tracks disappearing into the distance.
“He had her go inside and he gave her something to drink. She didn’t know what it was, but I’d bet it was brandy. She’s never been any bigger than a sapling anyway, but she was so weak and frail by that time that it went right to her head.” Mark pulled off his wide brimmed hat.
“Right, and she fell asleep,” Louisa said. “When she woke up she was in the back room.” She turned and walked into the station with Mark close behind her.
“Mornin’, folks.” An elderly man greeted them from the ticket counter.
“Morning, Jeff.” Mark tipped his hat. “You remember my sister Louisa. She’s visiting from New York City and writing a book about our mother. Would you mind very much if we looked around?”
“Gosh, no!” Jeff replied. “Just watch your step over those broken boards in the floor there.” He pointed to a roped-off area where the floor was damaged. “We’ve been waiting more than six months for the railroad company to come and repair them.”
Louisa nodded and stepped boldly into the back room. There was a narrow cot and several cabinets for storing paperwork. She pulled out her notebook and sketched the room layout onto one of the pages, then pressed down on the cot with her fingertips and thought back to her mother’s stories.
When Rebecca had awoken there, likely hung over and terrified, Diana Weintraub was there. Diana was dead and gone before Louisa was born, but she could picture the woman, rough and as big as any man. Louisa took a deep breath and walked back to the main room. She made several notes in her book describing the station and then closed the strap.
“Thank you,” she said seriously to Jeff, who nodded, and she walked outside. Louisa looked off into the pines imagining her mother there, young and afraid. On the platform Mark continued the story.
“They took her from the station here,” he said. “Diana had convinced her she was taking her to meet Pa, but instead she took her up to that shack and beat her.”
Mark turned and looked at Louisa. She had a faraway expression that told him she was lost in the details of the story they were reliving. It was a look she started getting as a kid when she first became interested in writing. Louisa nodded and climbed onto her horse. “Show me where the shack was.”
They rode for nearly a mile towards a clearing in the middle of a densely wooded area. Louisa knew they were not far from the hunting cabin her father kept nestled deep in the forest.
Mark pointed off into the woods. “I had laid some snares, off over there and there.” He pointed into the woods.
“You did?” Louisa’s horse stepped up beside him, keeping pace. “I never knew you did any trapping.”
“I did, but never after that day. I was up here alone at the cabin, after my mom had died. Pa was crazy with grief, and I guess I was too. Anyway, we weren’t getting along. I wanted my mom back and he couldn’t fix it. You know how he is when he can’t make things right.”
Louisa knew. Her father was strong, in body, mind and heart, but, when he could not use that combination of his gifts to help the people he loved, he could become overwhelmed. She also knew that the death of his first wife, Corissa, Mark’s natural mother, had devastated him.
Mark continued. “Stavewood was just about empty and he brought me up here to live so he could close the place. He had some business and he had to leave me up here alone until he could get back. Kids from school had been trapping and bragging about it. I wanted to fit in so I figured while I was there I’d make good on some trapping myself.”
Louisa listened closely.
“I was out checking the traps when I heard screaming. Terrible screaming. I thought it was an animal caught in one of my snares. It was awful. It turned out it was Mom in the shack here, but I was so shaken up by it that I never laid another trap again.
“She had been beaten and was all tied up. I took her back to the cabin and took care of her for days by myself. Eventually she felt better and better and she stayed with me until Pa came back. I liked her right away.” M
ark smiled thoughtfully.
“She always says you saved her life,” Louisa said.
“I’m glad I could.”
“Tell me about the shack,” Louisa said, as the trail ended and they reached the clearing.
Mark cursed under his breath and Louisa could see that a wide area had clearly been excavated. Thick roots in the hard packed earth were exposed.
“Someone’s been digging here too,” he said, sliding from his horse’s back. He circled the edge of the clearing, examining the ground and then inspecting the overturned soil. She dismounted and walked up to him.
They stood for several minutes, each lost in thought and he began again to tell her what he could remember.
Mark described the ramshackle building, his mind flashing back to another time when he had stood here confused and afraid. Louisa listened quietly taking several notes.
“Let’s get over to the cabin,” Mark said.
“You go ahead,” Louisa said. “I’ll catch up with you. I want to sketch a little map of the clearing.”
“I won’t be long,” he said. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I’m fine. I’ve got the Old Maid in my boot.”
She heard Mark chuckling as he rode into the woodland.
Ten
Louisa paced the clearing silently with thoughts of her parent’s story filling her mind. Her mother had been kidnapped by a woman who wanted her daughter to be married to Timothy Elgerson and was not about to let a mail-order-bride ruin her plans. In her youth Louisa had always listened to the stories as fairy tales but now the reality overwhelmed her. For a moment she envisioned herself captive, terrified and alone in the now long destroyed shack and she shivered. She began to understand how much her parents had survived to be together now. She finished her sketch of the clearing and put her notepad back into her knapsack.
The Secret of Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 4) Page 4
