When Bruce was out of earshot Rose said, “I think that young man has a crush on you, Fiona.”
“I know he does,” Clint added. “Rufus and I noticed it the other night.”
Clint didn’t know why he felt a sting of relief when Fiona said, “I hope you’re wrong. He’s a sweet kid, but...”
She was interrupted when Bruce came running back. “The Watkins haven’t seen Susie. I don’t know where else to look.”
Clint jumped to his feet. “Maybe she had to use the bushes.” He went around the wagon and headed toward the area near the creek where the women had designated as their private place. He called Susie’s name, but there was no answer. Alarmed, he came back to the wagon and hurried to find Zeke.
In minutes a crowd gathered. Men, led by Zeke, lit lanterns and began to search around the perimeter of the campsite. The women searched inside the wagons as Rose tried to calm a frightened Nina Fritz.
* * * *
“You, damn fool!” Luther yelled at Leo Carver as soon as they were far enough away from the wagon train that no one would hear him. “What did you have to grab her for?”
“I wanted to!” Leo stuck out his lip and stared at Luther. “She’s such a pretty little thing and she looked so cute with her skirt hiked as she pulled up her bloomers.”
“Hell! She’s a kid. How can you look at her as pretty?”
Leo shrugged. “It don’t matter. Anyway, nobody’s going to miss her. They’ve got plenty of kids on the wagon train.”
“I want my mama,” Susie whimpered.
“Hush, child.” Leo cuddled the little girl to his chest. “Your mama don’t want you anymore. She wants you to go with me.”
“No, she don’t.” Susie didn’t say anything else, but she couldn’t hold back the sobs as the horse plodded further from the wagon train.
“We’ve got to somehow get her back to her family without getting caught,” Luther growled. “We can’t afford to have them looking for us.”
“I don’t see why we can’t keep her. You said if we got Rose and the woman and kid you want, they’d think the Indians kidnapped them. They’ll think the same thing about this little girl.”
Luther grabbed Leo Carver by the arm, almost making him drop the child. “If we go back to camp with a little girl and not his daughter, what do you think Fillmore is going to say to his wonderful partner?”
“Wade should’ve come with us.”
“How could he? He was throwing up the whiskey he drank last night.” Luther shook his head. “You city slickers beat all. You can’t hold your liquor worth a damn.”
“I didn’t lose my liquor.” Leo’s voice had a pouty sound. “I was able to go with you.”
“A lot of good you did me. You didn’t get Fillmore’s daughter and you didn’t get Fiona or the kid for me. What the hell are you going to do with a little girl out here in the middle of nowhere?”
When Leo didn’t answer, Luther went on. “She’s too young to cook for us and she sure as hell wouldn’t be any fun...” His voice trailed off and he glared through the night at Leo. “Don’t tell me you like little girls.”
Leo leaned back and spewed his words at Luther. “So what if I do. It isn’t any of your business.”
It was silent for a minute, then Luther took a long breath. He was wondering how he could turn this information to his advantage. When he realized he was going to have to think longer, he said, “I guess you’re right. It ain’t my business.”
“You’re right. Now why don’t you ride on ahead to camp? Me and the girl will follow at a slower pace. Might make a stop along the way, then turn her loose. Then she might stand a chance of them finding her.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I was you. We don’t want her telling anybody about us.”
“You mean I should kill her?”
“No,” Susie screamed. “Don’t kill me.”
Luther reached over and slapped her. “Shut-up, kid.”
Susie shrieked and buried her face in her hands.
“Don’t worry, little one.” Leo pulled her against him. “I won’t let the bad man hit you again.”
“I don’t like him.”
Leo rubbed Susie’s back with his fat sweaty palm. “Neither do I, but we’re stuck with him. Now try to be quiet. Everything is going to be fine, you’ll see.”
Susie quieted down, though her little body still shook with fright.
“Like hell, it’ll be fine!” Luther sneered. “Time you get through with her, the kid will know what real pain is.”
Leo stiffened. “I won’t hurt her. She’s not too young to enjoy it.”
“Dam, Leo, if you like ’em so dang young, what do you want with Rose Fillmore?” Luther couldn’t help asking.
Leo chuckled. “Rose is different. I want her around for a long time, but I can’t help it, I need a different one now and then.”
“Lord have mercy. I never dreamed I’d ever meet a man like you. You’re worse than pond scum.” Luther turned his horse and headed toward their campsite, leaving Leo to do whatever it was he was going to do with the kid. Luther was thinking again of how he could capitalize on Leo’s weakness. He then thought of the family he’d left in Kentucky. He had three young daughters. Daughters he considered useless on the farm. Daughters he wouldn’t want around when he got back to the farm with Fiona and the boy. His common law wife, Jessie, wouldn’t be hard to get rid of when he returned. Women had accidents on the farm all the time and Jessie was getting pretty frail. Though only in her mid thirties, she’d faded fast. Weren’t much for a man like him to enjoy himself with anymore. He had to beat her every time to get a thrill.
A sly grin covered his face. It might work out for the best. Carver had snatched the little girl. Now he knew what the man was like. Probably had had his way with Rose Fillmore many times. No wonder the pretty little thing ran away with Larson. He was sure better looking than Carver. Women liked good looking men. Of course, when you was married, it didn’t matter much what she looked like after a while. All that counted was that she was there anytime a man needed his pleasure and when he wore her out, he could always find another one.
He laughed and said, “Don’t know what I’ll do with Fiona when she’s all used up. Maybe she’d bring a few dollars because some of those foreigners would pay a good price for a woman with yellow hair. If not, I’ll take her to the miners like I planned. They ain’t particular what a woman looks like as long as she can spread her legs.”
* * * *
When no sign of Susie was found around the wagons, Zeke asked half the men to saddle horses and the other half to stay behind to protect the wagon train. He didn’t tell anyone there was a possibility Indians had snatched the girl. He didn’t want to start a panic, but he knew if the Indians did have her, they’d probably never see the little girl again.
He cleared his throat as the group was all assembled. “There’s no telling what direction the girl took,” he explained as men were climbing into the saddles, “so we’re going to split up in pairs and search in different directions. I don’t think she could be more than a mile or so from the camp, but keep your eyes peeled for Indians.”
“Oh, my God!” Susie’s mother cried. “Please don’t tell me the Indians have my little girl.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Zeke said. “I only mentioned the Indians in case they come back to steal livestock.”
“I’m sure Susie wandered off, Nina. Kids get disoriented when we’re out on the prairie like this. Everything looks the same to them.” Clint reached down and touched her cheek.
“I hope you’re right. Oh, please God, let him be right.”
Zeke looked at Herman. “Maybe you should stay with your wife.”
“No sir. That’s my little girl out there. I’ve got to help find her. Bruce can stay with his mother.”
“I want to go look for Susie, too, Papa.”
“No, Bruce. Your mama needs you.” Herman climbed on a horse. “You take good care of her until
we come back with Susie.”
“Yes, sir.”
Clint said, “Your husband is right, Nina. We’ll come back with Susie.”
“That’s a fact. Hold on to it, Mrs. Fritz.” Zeke nodded toward Susie’s father. “You come with me, Herman. We’ll head out to the southeast. You others take a direction. If you find something which lets you know you’re on the right track, fire one shot and the rest of us will head in your direction. If you find the little girl fire two. You all know what three shots will mean.”
“Rufus and I’ll take east,” Clint said before the mother could ask what three shots would mean. It was a signal the men worked out among themselves at the beginning of the drive to let everyone know there was a dead body along the way and to keep the women and children inside the wagons. No one had expected they’d use it for one of their own. They sure hoped they didn’t have to tonight.
When all directions had been chosen, the men headed out.
Rufus and Clint had gone about a half a mile when Clint reined in his horse. “What have we here?”
Rufus stopped beside him. “What is it?”
“Looks like a kid’s bonnet.”
“Yeah. A little girl’s bonnet.”
“Look at this, Rufus,” Clint said as he picked up the bonnet and stood from his stooped position. “I see the tracks of two horses going in the opposite way of the train. We didn’t loose any of the extras, did we?”
“Not that I know of. Horses don’t usually run off unless they’re still wild or have been spooked.”
“These aren’t Indian ponies. They’re wearing shoes. Looks like they were carrying riders and going at a pretty good clip.”
“I’ll alert the others and we’ll keep following the tracks.” Rufus took his rifle and fired it into the air one time.
When they’d gone another mile, Clint yelled, “I see something on the ground up there.” He gigged his horse into a gallop and Rufus followed.
Reigning in and jumping from the horse, Clint looked at the little girl lying in the dirt. She was crying.
“Thank God, she’s alive, Rufus. Let the men know.” He reached for Susie and she shied away. “It’s all right, honey. It’s Clint. You know me. My wagon is in front of yours.”
She looked up at him with tears running down her cheeks, but didn’t move.
“You know. I’m Joey’s uncle Clint.”
She nodded. Though he knew she was scared, she held out her arms and Clint picked her up. “It’s fine now, Susie. We found you and you’re going to be all right.”
She buried her face in his chest and continued to cry.
Within minutes some of the searchers nearby caught up and began to assemble around them. Herman Fritz was one of them. He jumped from his horse. “Susie, baby, I’m so glad you’re safe.”
She turned toward him, but said nothing. She simply held out her arms and he took her from Clint.
“Daddy was afraid he wouldn’t find you. I’m sorry it took so long, but we didn’t know where you were. Are you all right now?”
She didn’t say anything. She only clung to his neck and sobbed harder.
“Well, don’t worry.” Herman’s voice was shaky, but he continued to talk to his daughter in a soothing voice. “You can tell us what happened when I get you back to your mama. She’s as worried as I was about you. It’ll do her good to see you sweet face again.”
Herman continued to talk as he climbed on his horse and rode back toward the wagons with his daughter in his arms. Most of the other men followed him.
“Did she say what happened, Clint?” Zeke looked at him.
“Not a word. She only cried.”
“Maybe by the time we get back she can tell us why she wandered off.”
“She didn’t wander off, Zeke.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Look at this.” Clint pointed to the ground.
Zeke got off his horse. After a quick examination of the dirt, he motioned for Mac to join them.
“I’ll be damned,” Mac said after a quick look. “That little girl was snatched and it wasn’t by Indians. These horses are wearing shoes.”
“That’s what I thought.” Clint looked toward the east. “I wonder why they decided to drop her here.”
“The little thing would have died out here by herself.” Rufus sounded disgusted. “Takes a lowdown fellow to do that to a kid.”
“Reckon how far they are from here?” Zeke looked at Mac.
“I don’t know, but I sure intend to find out.”
“Hadn’t you better wait for morning?” Clint asked.
“Nope. There’s almost a full moon and I can track at night when it’s like this. Besides, it’s beginning to cloud up in the west and we may be in for some rain. I don’t want to take a chance of loosing these scoundrels.” He mounted his horse in one swoop.
“Need any help?” Clint looked at him.
“I better do this alone. I’ll have a better chance of sneaking up on them.” Turning his horse to the east, he rode away.
“I guess we better get back to camp. I want to make sure the little girl is doing all right.” Zeke looked at Clint. “Do you think he did anything to her?”
Clint looked worried. “I don’t know. She wouldn’t say a word, but she was scared of me when we got here. After she saw who I was she came to me, but she was still shaking.”
“If he hurt Herman’s little girl, I hope Mac brings him back alive. I want the pleasure of killing him myself. I feel responsible for the child.”
“You couldn’t help what happened, Zeke,” Rufus said.
“I know, but I still feel guilty. You can’t help it when you have a whole wagon train of people depending on you.”
“Nobody is going to hold you accountable.”
Zeke shrugged.
Clint didn’t say anything more. He was wondering what kind of man would try to harm a little girl. Then he remembered Rose. “Damn,” he said under his breath. “I guess there are lowdown bastards every where in this country.”
Chapter 11
As soon as Herman arrived with Susie, the Fritz family moved to their wagon. Zeke started to follow them.
Fiona stopped him. “Zeke, where’s Clint?”
“He’ll be along in a little bit, Fiona. He was talking to Mac about the kidnappers. Is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure, but I think Rose is having labor pains. She keeps grabbing her stomach and biting her lip.”
“Godalmighty. What else can happen tonight?”
“Don’t concern yourself with it, Zeke. I’ll take care of her. You go ahead and help the Fritzes.” Fiona nodded to him.
“Thanks. I do need to find out what happened to the little girl if I can. Clint said she wasn’t talking.” He walked away.
Wondering why Susie wouldn’t talk, Fiona returned to Rose. “Now, my friend, it’s time you leveled with me. Are you having labor pains?”
Rose nodded. “How’d you know?”
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s get you in the wagon. You need to lie down.”
Rose took Fiona’s hand and stood. When she had taken only a couple of steps, she stopped. Water rushed out from under her skirt. “Oh, no. It’s happening, isn’t it?”
“Looks like it.” Fiona’s voice was calm, but her insides were churning. She didn’t know a thing about helping someone bring a baby into the world. “I’m going to help you to the bed in the wagon and then I’m going to get Mattie Watson. Maybe she’ll know what to do.”
“Thank you, Fiona.” Rose was at the small ladder leading into the back of the wagon. Before she could step up, a pain cut across her stomach and she let out a little scream.
Fiona didn’t have to get Mattie. The older woman came running up to them. “I heard Rose yell. Is she all right?”
“I don’t think so. Looks like her baby has decided to come early.”
“Oh, my Lord.” Mattie moved to the younger woman’s side. “Let’s get you inside and get
them wet clothes off. Did your water break, honey?”
Rose nodded.
“Then we better hurry. The little rascal could come anytime.” She took Rose’s arm and helped her up the steps and into the wagon. She turned back to Fiona. “Build up the fire and put some water on to heat I’ll yell if I need anything else.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Fiona was chunking up the fire under the large kettle when Clint rode up.
“What’s going on? Don’t tell me you’re making breakfast already.”
“Nope.” Fiona looked at him. “It looks like...”
Rose screamed and Clint dropped his horse’s reins. In two steps he was at the back of the wagon and climbing inside. “Rose, are you all right?”
Fiona grinned, though she felt some sadness. Clint was probably going to be as good a father as he was a husband. Rose was such a lucky woman. She had what every woman dreamed of. A man who was attentive to his wife and cared deeply about her needs and comfort. And to make it perfect, he was a handsome man with a well formed body. Fiona wondered what it would be like to lay beside such a man every night. Was he as tender in bed as he was around people? Did he hold Rose close to his hard powerful chest at night? Did he caress her with those large calloused hands? And what would it be like to be loved by a man like Clint Larson? No! Not like Clint Larson, but the man himself. Fiona’s body trembled at her thinking about it.
She was so deep into her thoughts she didn’t see Clint clamber out of the wagon. She jumped when he spoke right behind her.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you, but Mattie wouldn’t let me stay.”
“It’s all right.” She took a deep breath and moved away a few inches. “I put on some coffee. Thought you might like some.”
He smiled at her. “You’re so thoughtful, Fiona. How did we ever cope without you?”
She swallowed and turned to pick up the coffee pot and fill a cup for him. “I’m sure you got along fine.”
She was glad the conversation ended with Joey coming up. Benny was behind him. “I’m back. I heard they found Susie. Is she all right?”
“She’s fine, Joey,” Clint turned to the boy.
“Can we go see her?” Benny asked.
Fiona's Journey Page 10
