Frontier Gift of Love (American Wilderness Series Romance Book 5) (21 page)

“North,” Garvin answered. “They took three of our horses.”

Bear scanned the area around them. Tied to long lead ropes, Stephen’s wagon team grazed on the leaves of dried brush. Another saddled horse stood nearby tied to a tree. “Whose horse is that?”

Harry spoke up. “It’s mine, Sir. Take him. He’s big, stout, and has a lot of go in him.”

“Harry, I thank ye for the borrow of yer horse. Get Stephen’s wagon wheel replaced as soon as you can. Then two of ye drive Stephen’s wagon team. The other two drive the wagon we brought. After they’ve eaten, take the children and the family’s belongings back to Sam’s at once,” Bear ordered.

Stephen untied George and then leapt onto the stallion’s broad back. “How long ago did they leave?” Sensing Stephen’s urgency, the horse turned in a tight circle and pranced, ready to run.

“Perhaps thirty minutes,” Garvin answered. “Here, take one of my pistols. You may need it.” Garvin extended the pistol up. “It’s loaded.”

Stephen stuck the weapon in his belt. Sam had drilled into them that there was no such thing as too many weapons in the wilderness.

Bear rode Harry’s horse over to Stephen’s wagon and spoke to Little John who still stood with the girls. “Can ye help these men guard yer cousins and take them to yer house?”

“Yes, Sir,” Little John told Bear. “Uncle Stephen, do you want me to tell my Pa anything?”

“Tell him we’ll need to dig two graves,” Stephen answered. “Nobody steals my wife and lives. Let’s go!”

He and Stephen took off. As the pitiful sound of the lasses’ weeping faded, Bear’s anger grew.

They both leaned forward and pushed their mounts to run even faster.

Early that morning, after profusely thanking Colonel Logan and his wife for their warm hospitality, William and his family pulled out of the fort’s enclosure and took the road headed south. The weather was cold, but no snow fell from the sky and the wind, thankfully, was not blowing at all. William could tolerate cold, but a frigid wind always made him miserable. They were all dressed warmly and in a cheerful mood knowing they would arrive at Sam and Catherine’s sometime that afternoon.

Riley slept on a warm blanket in the back of the wagon. It always amazed William how much a dog could sleep. Yet they could come awake instantly when they sensed danger.

Nicole rode in her favorite spot, in front of William, her little legs dangling on either side of his saddle. “Go, Smoke, go!” she said, pointing ahead.

William glanced over at his smiling wife. “Are you excited to see Sam, Catherine, and Little John again?” he asked.

Kelly looked up at him and said, “Of course. I miss all of them. And Stephen, Jane, and the girls too. It will be wonderful for all of us to be together again.”

Kelly’s gold tresses sparkled in the sun. When she turned her pretty blue eyes toward the road again, he found his gaze dropping from her eyes to her shoulders then to her curvy breasts.

The day he met her, when he rescued her from her attackers, she had been so thin. It was both the worst day of her life and the best day of his. He thought that perhaps he began loving her that same day. And every day since then, his love only deepened and grew stronger.

She grinned at him playfully, and looked as though she were wondering what he was thinking.

He wished he could tell her. He winked instead.

“You did bring your fiddle didn’t you?” Rory asked him.

William hoped her father had missed the silent exchange between them.

“Indeed. I know a number of Christmas hymns and carols, including, ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’ and ‘Joy to the World’,” William answered gleefully. Playing Christmas music on his violin always made his heart sing.

“I love those songs. You taught them to me,” Kelly told her father.

McGuffin broke out in song, his rich baritone voice, filling the woods around them and Kelly soon joined in.

“Joy to the world! The Lord is come;

Let earth receive her king;

Let every heart prepare him room
,

And heaven and nature sing
,

And heaven and nature sing
,

And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.”

Even Nicole tried to join in, repeating the word ‘sing’ each time her mother and grandfather did.

William didn’t join in himself. He was enjoying listening to the three of them too much, especially Nicole.

The rest of the day passed quickly and peacefully as the four enjoyed the quiet and often spectacular scenery. At one point, they passed through a deep glen with steep limestone sides covered here and there with wood and brush growing right out of the rocks. Some of the limestone shelves rose to nearly fifty feet above them. Other areas flaunted large snow-covered meadows. Wild game often grazed in these fields, pawing through the snow to find dried grass.

Eventually, the scenery turned to heavier woods and looked like a winter wonderland. That’s when William knew they were nearing Sam and Catherine’s land. He and Kelly had made this trip only once before, but he recognized some of the landmarks that signaled they were on the enormous parcel of land. Even after Catherine gave Stephen and Jane a thousand acres, they still owned nine-thousand acres.

“We’re getting close, Nicole,” he told his little girl and tugged her close. She smiled up at him. He winked and kissed her rosy cheek.

Riley barked once, froze, and pointed his nose straight ahead.

William’s head jerked up. Two men and a woman rode toward them. He wondered who they were and if they were headed to Fort Logan. “Rory, is your rifle loaded?” he asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“Kelly, yours?”

“Yes, and my pistol too.”

“Both of you keep your weapons within easy reach. We have no idea who these people are,” William cautioned. “Kelly, take Nicole.” He pulled alongside the wagon bench and handed over his daughter. “Put her in the back.”

Kelly leaned into the wagon and sat Nicole down on a folded blanket. “Take a nap now honey.”

Tired from their exciting journey, Nicole laid her head down at once.

Peering down the road, William continued to study the strangers.

The two men suddenly stopped their horses and appeared to say something to the woman. William thought he saw her nod. She looked strangely familiar, but from this distance, all he could see was that the woman had an abundance of long red hair.

Kelly stared ahead. “That woman looks a lot like Jane.”

Kelly’s younger eyes must be better than his. “Are you certain?” he asked.

“I’ll be able to tell you for sure in a few more feet,” she answered. After a couple of minutes she said, “It is her! But I don’t recognize the two men.”

“What would Jane be doing on this road with two men we don’t know?” Rory asked. “Something’s wrong.”

William had his suspicions, but he hoped they weren’t true. “Act as though you don’t recognize her. Hopefully Jane will catch on and remain quiet,” he told them. “Let’s just see what those two men have to say.”

William pulled out his rifle and kept it across his lap as the three riders drew closer.

“Greetings, good folks,” one of the men called out as they approached.

Jane stared straight into William’s eyes. He gave her a subtle nod.

“Good day to you, Sirs, and lady,” William replied.

“It is a fine day,” the same man said. “Where are you headed?”

“Oh, we’re on our way to Crab Orchard to visit my wife’s sister for the holidays, but I think we took a wrong turn somewhere,” William lied. “There’s another fork up ahead somewhere that should get us there.”

Riley growled at the two men from deep in his chest. When he lifted a lip and snarled at them the two men quickly started on their way again.

“Well, you good folks have a pleasant journey,” the same man said and kicked his horse.

The three moved past them, and Jane stared straight ahead, her wide eyes the only sign of her unease.

When they were five yards or so away, William whispered to Kelly, “Get in the back and lie on top of Nicole.”

Kelly quietly did as he told her and then he nodded to Rory, who raised his rifle as William did.

“Hold it right there!” William yelled, cocking his rifle. “You men put your hands in the air. Now!”

Rory cocked his rifle as well. “We have two long rifles pointed at your backs. We don’t miss,” he said in a gruff voice.

The two men did as they were told.

William addressed Jane. “Get back here Jane. Wait in front of the wagon team.”

She rode her horse to the front of the team and turned to face them. “They are escaped prisoners of Sam’s,” Jane told him. “Be careful William. They just said they would kill all of you if I said a word to warn you.”

“Toss your pistols to the ground,” William told the two.

They each tossed one pistol.

“All of them!” William shouted.

Two more pistols hit the snow.

“Dismount and lie on the ground, face down.”

The man who had remained silent until now spoke up. “Mister, what’s got into you? You don’t look like a robber to me.”

“Shut up, Crowell. He’s no robber,” the other man said.

“So, he’s Crowell,” William said, as the men dismounted. “What is your name, Sir?” he asked the other.

“Wesley Dixon,” he begrudgingly replied. “And just who the hell are you?” Dixon started to roll over.

“Keep your face down!” he ordered. “I’m Sheriff William Wyllie of Boonesborough. And more importantly, the brother-in-law of the woman you have stolen. Jane, did these men harm you in any way?”

“Not yet, William,” she said, her voice hot with anger, “but I have no doubt they would have.”

“Why did they abduct you?” William asked her, keeping his eyes on the two men.

“I’m not entirely sure what the whole story is. Our wagon broke a wheel, and Stephen went to Sam’s to get another wagon early this morning. Sam’s four men came along taking these two to the jail at Fort Harrod. Stephen asked Sam’s hands to stay with us until he could get back with Sam’s wagon and a new wheel. While Stephen was gone, Sam’s men untied their prisoners to allow them to answer nature’s call. Then that man,” she pointed to Dixon, “managed to steal the pistol of one of the hands. Then the bloody bastard held the gun to my head.” Her voice broke and she swallowed before continuing. “They forced me to go with them.”

“Why didn’t Sam’s men help you?”

Jane pointed to Dixon. “They were afraid he’d kill me. And I believe he would have. The other one, tied them all up.”

“Are your children safe and sound?” Kelly asked.

“They were when I left,” Jane replied, “but they were all crying and scared out of their wits, and cold from spending the night in the open air.”

He dismounted and moved to stand in front of the two men, his rifle pointed at Dixon’s head. “Why did you take this woman from her family?”

Enraged, William’s jaw quivered while he waited for an explanation.

Rory got out of the wagon and pointed his weapon at the other man’s head.

“I wanted to trade her for a signed deed,” Dixon finally said. “The deed to Wyllie Mountain in New Hampshire. We tried to reason with Captain Wyllie, but he wouldn’t listen. So we thought if we took his son to our
cabin perhaps he would listen to reason and accept our more than generous offer. But he found the boy and even though we hadn’t harmed a hair on his head, he took us prisoner, beat Crowell, and threatened us with severe penalties and imprisonment. Then we encountered Captain Wyllie’s brother and his family’s broken down wagon on the road. When the hands greeted the family, I figured out that it was Captain Sam’s brother and his family. When we escaped, I saw a chance to try again. But this time I thought to get his brother Stephen to persuade the Captain. If we held Stephen’s wife, I thought he would fear for her life and could be more persuasive with Captain Wyllie than we were.”

“Is my nephew unharmed?” William demanded.

“You kidnapped Little John?” Jane asked, incredulous and bristling.

“It wasn’t kidnapping per se. More like a trade. We just wanted to exchange him for the signed deed. We were never going to hurt the child. Or you,” Dixon answered. “Actually, we’re trying to help your family by paying top dollar for the land. But
Bloody Hand
wouldn’t listen.”

“What fools you are,” William said. “Sam earned that name for a reason. Frankly, I’m surprised he didn’t run you through with that big knife of his for kidnapping his son. And this woman’s husband will justifiably want to string you up from the nearest tree. You know, I just might let him. He
can
be quite ‘
persuasive’
.”

Crowell whimpered and Dixon’s mouth twisted into a sneer as he said, “You wouldn’t dare. We work for some exceedingly powerful men back east. I assure you they are well connected to those at the highest levels of our government.”

The insolence in Dixon’s voice made William’s temper surge. “I have news for you—this is Kentucky—and we don’t answer to men from back east.”

“And our government does not employ kidnappers!” Rory bellowed. “Or men who abduct women!” He flashed Dixon a look of utter contempt. “They deserve to be shot, William.”