“I’m going with you,” Stephen told Sam.
A few minutes later, the two trotted their horses toward the wagon, pulling up short of it when they spotted the rifle pointed at them.
“Stop your horses right there or I’ll shoot you out of your saddle,” a woman yelled, her tone a menacing warning.
They stepped their mounts back some, not wanting to scare her. “Good day to you, Madam. No need to fear us. We’re from New Hampshire traveling to Kentucky—the Wyllie family and Bear McKee. I am Sam Wyllie. Most just call me Captain Sam.”
Stephen saw Sam taking in the astonishing sight of her as he spoke. Even at a distance, the woman was stunning. It didn’t surprise him that Sam would take notice. Her high cheekbones and strong jaw made her look almost noble and reflected the inner strength he heard in her voice. She wore a stunning blue floral gown that seemed incongruous on a woman driving a wagon in the remote countryside. Her pale skin made her dark blue eyes all the more intense. The only concession she seemed to have made to practicality in her appearance was her hair. Woven into a long thick braid, her black hair hung down her back.
She lowered the rifle as Stephen and Sam approached cautiously. “Pleased to meet you, Sir,” she told Sam when they reached her. She nodded politely towards Stephen.
“You’re alone?” Sam asked.
“Yes. Highwaymen killed my husband yesterday morning. There were three of them. They ambushed us.” She swallowed hard and took a steadying breath, obviously fighting tears. “We always knew it was possible that hostile Indians might attack us, although my husband was quite skilled with weapons and we brought trade goods to bargain for our safety. But I never even imagined white men might murder us. After they killed him, one of them tried to attack me. Then they stole my husband’s horse and saddle and most of my valuables.”
“How did you manage to stay alive through this appalling ordeal?” Stephen asked.
She extracted an impressive dagger from a sheath at her waist. “The one that touched me got a belly full of this. I presume the other two were cowardly, so they took off. Or maybe they couldn’t stomach killing a woman.”
Stephen got angry just listening to her story. Murdering, assaulting women, stealing, and horse thieving were not to be tolerated. “Don’t worry Madam, you’re among Christian men now,” he said as he dismounted.
She climbed down reached out to shake Stephen’s outstretched hand. She yanked off a sturdy glove and extended her hand to Sam after he too dismounted. “Captain,” she said. “I’m Catherine Adams.”
“How were you able to make it this far alone Mrs. Adams?” Stephen asked.
“I had no choice. We do what we must. Before we left Boston, I would never have dreamed I could survive a day in the wilderness alone, much less kill a man. But I’ve learned a good deal since then, everything from hitching up a wagon team to building a cook fire.”
“Where are you headed?” Sam asked.
“I didn’t want to go deeper into unknown country alone, so I turned the team around and headed east, hoping I’d encounter some respectable people like you before nightfall.”
“You’re not alone now. When you’ve rested and eaten, you can tell us all more about what happened. I’ll help you unhitch this team,” Sam offered.
“Pull your team closer to that creek down there,” Stephen suggested. “We’ll make camp here.”
As she met the rest of their group, Catherine seemed especially delighted to meet Jane. And Jane took to her as if they were long-time friends.
“To be able to talk to another woman is a blessing,” she said, as she worked the dough for dinner biscuits. “I haven’t talked to another woman for weeks. I’ve been so lonely…especially after… my two youngest girls died last month.” She fought back tears.
“I’m so sorry,” Catherine said. “How horrific that must have been for you.”
Silence hung uncomfortably between them. Finally, she was able to speak without crying. “God will help me through this valley. He’ll lead me out of it.”
“You seem to be a woman of exceptionally strong faith. I wish I could say the same for myself,” Catherine said.
“Someone once said that without faith we are much like stained glass windows in the dark. Only with the light of the Son can our inner beauty shine through.”
“That’s so inspirational.”
“Catherine, my sincere sympathies on the loss of your husband.”
“I’ll miss him. I still can’t believe he’s actually gone.”
Catherine’s voice seemed unnaturally calm and it didn’t seem to Jane as though she were grieving as a wife normally would after losing her husband. Maybe that was because Catherine hadn’t loved her husband.
“Death is so hard to accept,” Jane said. “I keep thinking there must be something I can do to bring my daughters back. I just can’t figure out what it is. It makes me feel guilty, even though I know there is nothing I can do, of course. It doesn’t make any sense, I know, but it’s how I feel nevertheless.”
Martha ran up and gave her mother a hug. “She is so beautiful Mama,” Martha said staring at Catherine. “May she braid my hair like that?”
“Of course she can, but tonight she’s much too tired. The poor darling needs some rest and some peace and quiet. Now go tell the others our meal is nearly ready and they need to wash up.”
Along with hot biscuits, the group enjoyed a dinner of roasted rabbits and the last of the sweet potatoes Jane had brought. As they finished, she smiled, pleased that every member of their group tried to make Catherine feel welcome. Even Stephen made her feel at ease, although he didn’t say much.
“You could make a decent cowman if you knew how to throw a rope,” Sam said, as he observed William practicing his throw after they’d eaten. The loop missed his practice target and fell limply to the ground.
“I can throw a rope just fine. Getting it around the neck is my problem,” William said. He gathered the rope up in loops.
“That’s because all you’ve ever practiced catching is women, and most of them weren’t running too hard,” Sam chided.
“I’m about to get some practice catching the male species. At first light, I’m going after those two bastards that murdered Mrs. Adams’ husband. Where do you suppose the closest jail and judge would be? Cat Springs?” William asked.
The only one that seemed surprised by William’s announcement was Catherine. “You can’t just go after those murderers. They might kill you too. I don’t want you to risk that. Please don’t go,” she pleaded.
“My honor requires it, Mrs. Adams. I may not hold an official title now, but I’m still a lawman and it’s my duty to uphold the law. I’m morally obligated to go after them. My brothers will agree.”
Catherine looked around. “Will none of you stop him from risking his life?”
“He’s right,” Stephen said. “They need to be found or they might attack us further down the trail. They killed your husband in cold blood and they will do it again. Better for us to go after them, than risk their ambush later.” He turned to William. I’m going with you.”
Jane’s heart sank, but Stephen was right. The killers needed to be found.
“They have almost two days lead on you. You don’t know where they’ve gone,” Catherine argued.
“William is an excellent tracker. So is Stephen,” Sam said. “Stephen grew up tracking in the mountains and hills. Once they find the campsite where you were attacked, they’ll know where the killers are headed.”
“I’ll go too,” Bear volunteered.
“No,” Stephen said. “I want you here to help protect my family.”
“I wish you and William would reconsider,” Catherine said.
“Wyllies don’t let murderers and thieves get away with their crimes,” Jane said.
“You’ll be well protected. Sam, Bear, and John will stay with you and the children,” Stephen told Jane. “It won’t take us long to find the killers.”
; She did not say a single word to him. Nor did she that night.
But she thought about him. About what had happened to her family. She missed her girls. She yearned for a baby to hold and care for. She missed the way Amy would tug at her apron, wanting to be held. She wanted their happy home back.
And, she missed loving her husband. She missed the feel of his strong arms around her. She missed their conversations. She longed to be back in his arms again.
She missed their life.
Could she forgive him?
The next morning, they all agreed to meet at Cat Springs, about one week west of their current location. The night before, Catherine had written down a detailed description of the two men and their horses. She also gave them the approximate location of the attack, and a list of their stolen belongings, including a description of her husband’s horse. William read the list over and put it in his waistcoat pocket.
The two left as the sun came up behind them, the strong new rays falling across their backs.
Jane said a silent prayer to the sound of the horses’ hooves as they galloped away. She didn’t want either one of them hurt. Stephen sat his stallion straight and rigid, his shoulders broad, ready to take on the burden of hunting down the killers. She realized she had put a terrible weight on those shoulders.
“How can you just calmly watch them ride off after murderers?” Catherine asked.
“I’m not calm.” In fact, her stomach was tightening with apprehension. But, Stephen and William were in God’s hands, on the side of righteousness, and they’re Wyllies. She told herself not to fret. As much to convince herself as Catherine, she said, “But I will not worry. Those murdering thieves better start worrying though.”
“Why haven’t you told him?” Catherine asked after she learned Jane was with child, the reason for her fussy stomach.
“Our two girls died less than a month ago. We’re both still grieving. We’re having a difficult time coping with their loss. I wanted the pain to ease before I said anything about this son.”
“How do you know it’s a son?”
Jane caressed her tummy. “I just do. For some reason, I know this child more than the others I’ve carried. I’m not sure why yet, but I know he’ll do something important with his life.”
Catherine blinked away tears. “I lost our first baby last year in Boston. That’s one reason I wanted to leave on this trip, to get away from that memory. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to have another. The doctor wasn’t sure.”
“I’m so sorry Catherine. You will be blessed with another child if you are intended to have more.”
“First, He will have to bless me with another husband when I return to Boston. But this time I’ll marry for love, not for my father. Since I was fifteen, Mr. Adams was the man my father thought I should marry. When the time came, I wasn’t given a choice. Everyone, including me, took it for granted that I would marry him. He was a nice enough man, with a lot of ambition—that’s why we were on our way to Kentucky. He wanted lots of land for a timber business. But something was always missing from our marriage. I guess it was love. I’ll not marry again until I’m sure I’m loved.”
“Why do you want to return to Boston?”
“What choice do I have? That’s where my family is. I hope to meet up with a respectable family like yours traveling north that will let me travel with them to a city on the east coast. I can take a coach home from there to Boston.”
“You have another choice. You can come with us. You’re welcome to join our family.”
“That’s generous of you. But I won’t be a burden to anyone and I have no one in Kentucky,” Catherine protested.
“You won’t be a burden and you’ll have us. I could use the help and company of another woman. Keeping up with all these men and children by myself is beyond a challenge. Please stay with us, Catherine. I’d be deeply disappointed if you left.”
“How do you know we can be friends? How can you trust a woman you barely know with your children?” Catherine asked with a glance at the playing children.
“Just as I know my unborn son. I do,” Jane said.
“I would be honored to be your friend.”
“Maybe I need you. I never conceived of the extreme difficulties and dangers we would face. It’s beyond anything I could have imagined. You’ve found that out too. We’ve both lost loved ones. Had I known what it would be like, I would have stayed in my home. It was small but comfortable.” Remembering their cozy home, she barely kept her anger in check.
“I know you’re still angry. That bitter anger spawned by the death of a child was part of the problem between me and my late husband.”
“Stephen should never have taken us on this journey,” Jane continued. “Maybe I should have refused to go. But I didn’t have the heart to void his dream. And he seemed unstoppable, as he is now. I begged him to turn around. But he won’t turn back. For Martha and Polly’s sake, I’ll make the best of it. Please stay, Catherine. I admit I need you.”
Catherine refilled her coffee cup, waiting a moment before responding. “I’ll stay temporarily, until William and Stephen come back. I feel responsible that they’ve left you and I have to be certain they’ll return safely. But before I make a final decision, I want to talk to the others first.”
“Agreed. And they will return safely.” She prayed she was right and remembered Stephens’s words. Nothing on earth is as strong as my love.
Chapter 27
It was the first time Stephen had joined William in a pursuit of lawbreakers. He’d heard stories of his brother’s uncanny instincts for tracking down criminals. Funny, William couldn’t seem to track a deer or any other animal without his or Sam’s help, but his brother had a sixth sense for the criminal mind.
It took until noon to get to the site of Adams’ murder, a lonely stretch on the road leading to Lancaster, between the villages of Coatesville and Gap. They studied the area for some time. Fortunately, it hadn’t rained since the murder and they found several valuable clues. Catherine had buried her husband, but not the man she killed.
“It must have been hard on her to dig a grave and bury a husband alone,” William said.
They gazed at the lonely plot of rock-covered earth. There must have been a couple hundred rocks on the grave.
“You’re right, but she strikes me as the kind of woman who could manage,” Stephen said. “She certainly tried her best to give him a decent burial. This must have taken her hours.”
Wolves had left little of the other man but his boots, bits of clothing, and his gun. “His initials are carved on the butt,” William said. “D R T. If he’s related to the other two, and that’s a definite possibility, their surname name would start with a T.”
“Unless he stole the gun from somebody else,” Stephen suggested.
“That’s a possibility, but I don’t think so. The same initials are carved on this knife.” William put both in his saddlebag and mounted his horse. “We’re done here.”
“They won’t be hard to track,” Stephen said.
“No, the hoof prints of four horses lead away from here—the horses of the two we’re after, Adams’ steed, and the dead robber’s mount. And these guys are lazy. They make their living robbing decent folks—too lazy for anything difficult, like climbing these hills through the timber to make them hard to follow. My bet is they’ll just follow the road to their next victim or town.”
“Hope it’s not more victims,” Stephen said.
They rode on through desolate country. Concentrating on following the killers’ clear trail, William barely spoke a word. That suited Stephen who was lost in thoughts of Jane. The landscape also fitted his mood perfectly. Empty and lonely.
He missed her love. Could he ever get it back?
They followed the tracks until dusk when they made camp near a natural spring. After a cold dinner of jerky and day-old biscuits, they stretched out to sleep.
“Thanks for coming along,” William said into t
he darkness.
“No thanks necessary.”
“Just the same, I’m glad you’re here.”
Stephen waited a moment before replying. “I’m not sure I’m glad we’re here.”
“What do you mean?” William asked.
“I don’t mean chasing these murderers. That had to be done. I’m talking about this journey.”
“West is where your dreams are, where our futures are, all of ours—even Jane’s, although she may have forgotten that in her grief.”
“Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?”
The question hung in the darkness between them for several moments before William answered. “There’s nothing to forgive, so no. Dreams always require sacrifices. The important thing is to not let those sacrifices be for nothing.”
“By God, I won’t let them be.” He rolled over on his pallet and tugged his blanket over his back, signaling the end of their conversation.
Out of his grief came a new resolve to find what he had come for—his land and their future.
At dawn, both men climbed into the saddle, eager to follow the path of their prey once again.
“This is like tracking a herd of cows,” William said after they had gotten underway. “They’re not hard to follow.”
Stephen resented the analogy. “These bastards are more like skunks than cows. Mr. Adams was following a dream of going west, just as we are. These whoresons turned it into a nightmare. Left his wife a widow, robbed her of her possessions.”
By late afternoon, the road forked at the western end of the valley they had just crossed. William dismounted and dropped the reins. Trained to stand still when the reins were on the ground, the gelding took the opportunity to munch a few blades of grass, snorting loudly between bites. William hiked a short distance up the road and back again, studying the ground, while he did the same in the opposite direction.
Romancing the Wilderness: American Wilderness Series Boxed Bundle Books 1 - 3 Page 18
