Thursday's Child (Out of Time #5) (16 page)

“My dear!” Mrs. Goode called. “We're out of canapés!”

Elizabeth laid a grateful hand on Rose's arms and got quick directions to the path. She made her escape and wound her way through the garden, hoping Mary might show herself. But it wasn't to be. Eventually, Elizabeth found the footpath Rose had mentioned. It ran along the bank of the river and Elizabeth headed south away from the hunt and away from the house and the swamplands farther north.

Elizabeth walked down river and watched as the current rushed past. The Mississippi was mighty indeed. It had to be over a mile across here, looking more like a lake than a river. Flatboats, keelboats, steamboats and rafts traveled up and down winding their ways around the snags and shoals that made piloting the river the stuff of legends. She could just imagine Tom and Jim or Huck riding on one of the rough-hewn rafts that hugged the shores.

The River was hypnotic. She walked on and on, pulled down river with the current that seemed to reach even on to the shore. She stopped once at a small footbridge that reached over a stream and played a game of Pooh Sticks. It wasn't quite the Hundred Acre Wood, but it was an enchanted sort of place. Calm and peaceful. It felt timeless. Maybe that was part of why the Old South thought their way of life would never change. Standing here now, she felt it too. Maybe it was the river or the heat of the day, but each moment seemed to last just a bit longer here, as if time itself was lingering, unwilling to move forward.

After another twenty minutes walking, the midday sun bore down on her with increased intensity. She'd left the cool canopy of trees as the path wound its way inland. In more sunlight than shade now, and having lost the cool breeze from the water's edge, the heat was becoming oppressive. The layers of her clothing felt suddenly heavier and constricting.

Elizabeth was about to turn back when she came across a small, quiet pond protected by a grove of shade trees. It was barely thirty feet across and clear. She could just hear the babble of a nearby stream. The pond must have been spring fed.

She knelt in the grass at its edge and scooped up handfuls of water to cool her face. Droplets ran down her neck and she wiped them across her overheated skin. A large rock sat nearby sloping down into the water. Perfect for dangling her feet. The idea of the cold water on her hot and cramped feet was too much of a temptation to pass by. She unlaced her boots and pulled off her stockings.

A contented sigh escaped her lips as her toes dipped into the water. She splashed more water onto her neck and face, succeeding in wetting the front of her dress in the process. Elizabeth unbuttoned the front of her blouse and pulled the damp edges of the cloth away from her skin and fanned herself.

It felt good, but she knew what would feel better. No one was around. No one would ever know. She'd have one heck of a time getting back into her corset though. But she hadn't had a real bath in four days and the clear cold water sang its sirens song so sweetly. Before she knew it, she'd shucked off every last layer.

Wearing only a smile, Elizabeth waded into the water, giggling at the strange sensation as her toes squished in the muddy bottom. Careful to keep her hair dry, she walked in deeper until the water came to her shoulders. She closed her eyes and listened to the quiet.

It was idyllic and just what she needed. If there were a pond like this near the house, she'd use it every day. She swam out to the middle of the pond letting the cool water renew her.

On the far side of the pond, a frog leapt onto a log and croaked at her.

“Well, hello,” she said.

“Hello, yourself.”

Elizabeth spun around in the water. The sun blinded her and she shaded her eyes to see who it was. A man stepped forward.

“Elijah! You scared me half to death. What are you doing here?” she demanded.

He lifted the hem of one of her petticoats that she'd flung onto a nearby bush in her haste. “I could ask you the same question.”

She frowned and he chuckled.

“Aren't you supposed to be hunting?” Elizabeth said as she treaded water and tried to cover herself at the same time.

“I am,” he said.

Elizabeth had a sinking feeling. Was the entire hunt going to show up next?

“I was bored and rode off,” he said, walking along the edge of the pond. “Then I saw what looked like a pair of ladies' undergarments hanging from a tree. What sort of man would I be if I didn't investigate?”

He was enjoying this far too much. Not that she could really blame him. She was the one who'd gone skinny dipping in the middle of a fox hunt.

He saw her nervous look and smiled. “Your secret will be safe with me, but…” He cocked his head to the side and listened. The unmistakable sound of hounds on the chase could be heard in the distance. “The others are not far and getting closer, I think. If you stay where you are…”

She knew the end of the sentence and she couldn't let that happen. Elizabeth started to swim toward the shore, but stopped. “You need to…” She waved her hand to shoo him away.

He smiled and nodded, but then a dark frown covered his face. “Come faster,” he said urgently as he strode to the edge of the pond.

Elizabeth stopped swimming. “Not with you standing there.”

He stepped into the water and reached out to her. “Swim!”

He was staring at something behind her and Elizabeth swiveled to see what it was. About ten feet away, the smooth surface of the water rippled just slightly. She stared at it dumbly for a moment before it lifted its head out of the water.

Elizabeth wasn't a screamer, but she let out a shriek to wake the dead. Snakes. Why did it have to be a snake?

“Swim!” The panicked edge to his voice was all the prompting Elizabeth needed. She turned back and swam toward the shore as quickly as she could. She splashed and kicked and then dug her hands into the muddy bottom to try to stand.

Eli had grabbed a long stick and held it in one hand, and extended the other out to her. He was knee-deep in the water, boots and all. “Hurry!”

He took another step deeper into the water and grabbed onto her outstretched hand and yanked. Her feet were sunk down into the muddy bottom and didn't want to let go, but Eli pulled until they both tumbled back onto the shore. She fell on top of him and he rolled her over away from the water's edge. He scrambled to his feet and jabbed the surface of the water with the stick.

Elizabeth climbed to her feet and could just see the brown and tan striped snake as it swam away to the far side of the pond where it had come from.

“Cottonmouth,” Eli said, watching it and making sure it kept going.

“Is it gone?” Elizabeth said not able to suppress a shudder.

“I think so.” Eli turned back and then immediately turned his head, averting his eyes.

In the excitement, she'd completely forgotten she was naked. She eeped and reflexively tried to cover herself.

“And now we have another secret,” Eli said.

~~~

Simon had had quite enough of the hunt and was happy to linger at the rear of the procession as it started off in yet another direction. He'd noticed Elijah veer off from the group a few minutes ago. Simon reined in his horse and broke off. He would learn nothing more following the pack and he'd put in more than enough time with James to ensure his interest in him as an investor. Not to mention that James Harper was a thudding bore. Not that he blamed the man for being obsessed about his business. It took that sort of drive to run a plantation the size of River Run, but none of that was getting Simon closer to understanding how Mary fit into all this. He'd paid his dues with James, now it was time to find out just what Eli was up to.

Putting aside Eli's embarrassing misconception about his visit to the brothel and his annoyingly persistent flirtation with Elizabeth, Elijah Harper was a man with a secret. Simon had studied him all morning and of that he was sure.

Simon urged his horse on and they broke into a canter to catch up to Eli. Although, he couldn't see him, he was sure he'd gone off in this direction.

Simon emerged from a thicket of woods when he heard the scream. It went straight to his heart.

“Elizabeth.”

He dug his heels into the horse's flanks and raced toward the sound. What the hell was she doing out here? His heart beat faster than his horse's hooves and he tried to control the fear that gripped his heart. He saw Eli's horse grazing on a small patch of grass and guided his horse toward it.

Simon dismounted his horse before it had even stopped. He heard a man's voice, Eli. “And now we have another secret.”

Simon crashed through the thicket to see Eli turn in surprise. And Elizabeth. Naked and frightened.

Instinct and anger propelled him forward. He closed the distance between himself and Eli in two quick strides. What the hell had he done to her? Simon grabbed Eli by the front of his shirt. His other hand coiled into a fist ready to strike when Elizabeth called for him to stop.

Simon's fist hung in the air, arm cocked like a crossbow ready to fire. Blood rushed through his head, fury coloring everything red.

Elizabeth grabbed one of her petticoats from a bush and wrapped it around her body as best she could. “He was helping me.”

Simon had an idea just what he was helping himself to.

Eli grasped Simon's wrist. “There was a snake.”

Simon turned to Elizabeth for an explanation. She nodded and Simon eased his grip. Eli pulled Simon's hand away and looked at him with unbridled disgust.

“I was swimming,” Elizabeth said, “and there was a cottonmouth.”

Simon rushed to Elizabeth's side and shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around Elizabeth's shoulders. “Were you bitten?”

She shook her head. “No, thanks to Eli.”

Simon hated being beholden to anyone, much less a man like Eli Harper, but he truly was now. Elizabeth could have been killed. He turned to Elijah. “I am grateful for that. But I have to wonder why you were here at all.”

Eli glared at him and then spoke to Elizabeth. “You don't have to stay with him, you know.”

Simon stepped forward angrily. “And just what do you mean by that?”

Eli stood his ground. “A man who raises his hand against a woman doesn't deserve her.”

What the hell was he going on about?

“I saw you arguing at the race,” Eli said. “I saw you grab her.” He nodded toward Elizabeth.

“It isn't what you think,” Elizabeth said, but before she could protest further the sound of approaching riders came. She grabbed her clothing and scurried behind a large bush.

Men's voices rose in the distance and the hounds bayed in a frenzy.

“Elijah!” a man's voice said from behind the thicket.

Eli glared at Simon and made sure Elizabeth was hidden, and then answered. “Here.”

The man pressed his way through the undergrowth. He was in a state of near panic. “The hounds have found something. You have to come.”

“You don't need me to bring him to ground.”

“It's not the fox,” the man said, the color gone from his face. “It's a body.”

Chapter Fourteen

Simon watched Eli and the other man ride off, torn by the desire to follow them, and needing to stay and apologize to Elizabeth and reassure himself that she was indeed all right.

“Did he say a body?” Elizabeth said as she poked her head through the bushes.

“Yes.”

“You should go.”

“I will, I just—”

Elizabeth's head disappeared and suddenly his jacket flew over the bush. He barely caught it before it landed on his head.

Elizabeth parted a few branches of the bush and her face appeared again. “Body. Evidence. You've got to go.”

She was, of course, correct. Finding a body now, here, could hardly be a coincidence.

“All right,” he said. “But for God's sake, be careful on your way home.”

Once her promise was secured, Simon rode off after Eli. He found him and the other riders not far from where he'd left Elizabeth. The huntsmen struggled to control the dogs and pull them away, while most of the riders had dismounted and gathered near a young oak. Some covered their faces with handkerchiefs and as Simon neared them, he understood why. The acrid odor of decaying flesh couldn't be missed.

Simon pushed through the crowd until he saw it. Instantly, he felt the urge to wretch. Only the head and a small part of the upper torso of the body were visible in the shallow grave. Last night's storm must have unearthed it and animals had done the rest. It was already in an advanced state of decomposition. The flesh slagged off the bones and the skull had only a bare resemblance to the human it had once been. Judging from the hair and clothing, what he could see of it, it was a woman. The sickening feeling in his gut grew stronger.

James, his own face a ghostly pale, stared down at the body in shock and horror. Eli seemed one of the few to have his senses about him and had ordered a man to ride to town to get the constable.

“Who is she?” one of the men asked.

If anyone knew they weren't willing to answer.

“All right,” Eli said. “I think everyone should go back to the house.”

That seemed to rouse James from his stupor. “Yes, yes. I'll stay here with…” He glanced at the body again and then turned away. “With Wallace and Gaughran.”

Wallace nodded, but turned and vomited.

“I'll stay,” Simon offered.

James seemed to be having trouble processing and stared blankly at him for a moment before nodding. “Gaughran and Cross. The rest go with Eli.”

As the others rode off, James stared down at the body, transfixed in horror. It was, of course, a natural reaction to such a thing, but Simon couldn't help but wonder if there were more to it.

“Do you have any idea who she is?” Simon asked.

“No,” James said quickly and pulled himself away and then added almost angrily, “Of course not.”

Gaughran wiped his mustache with his handkerchief and said, “Perhaps, we should wait upwind?”

Simon fought down his revulsion and observed what he could about the body. Forensic science was still in its infancy and any sort of identification would be difficult. From what little he knew of such things, she'd been dead several weeks, although, with the heat, it could have been more recent than that. The grave was shallow, dug in haste. He leaned in a little closer.