Hannah Howell (28 page)

Clover tensed when he reached out to cover her hand with his. She longed for him to pull her into his arms, but he still made no move to do so. Her ordeal seemed to have put a wide gulf between them, yet she did not understand why. It should be bringing them closer together.

“Did they hurt ye, Clover?” he asked.

“No, save for a few bruises. The hurting was to come later.”

“When Thomas arrived.”

“Yes. Thomas has hired Big Jim and his friends to do the brutish work for him.”

“Here come your brother and the others, MacGregor, and some folk in a carriage,” said Willie, looking out the window. “Now you got some help to chase that varmint Big Jim.”

The riders and the carriage halted in front of the house. Clover suddenly realized that everyone would see her in her bedraggled state and stood with the intention of fleeing up to her room. But before she could accomplish that, her mother stepped inside the house, caught sight of her, and cried out in alarm. Agnes broke free of Colin’s guiding hand and rushed over to Clover. Molly was quick to follow. Clover sighed. She was not sure she was strong enough to endure another round of questions and explanations.

Ballard saw how pale Clover was, and the moment Agnes and Molly reached her side, he ordered, “Ye women take Clover upstairs. She can tell ye what has happened as ye tend to her. The boy can tell us anything else we need to know.”

“His name is Willie,” Clover murmured as she was led away.

“Willie, is it?” Ballard asked the boy.

He nodded. “The missus said she hated the name Morrisey done gave me so we decided on another.”

“We found the mare, Ballard,” Shelton said. “Now what the devil has been going on here?”

“Can you use some help?” Colin asked, Jonathan at his side.

“If ye are nae too tired to go riding after some vermin—aye.” Both men nodded and Ballard looked at the twins. “Fetch some water and take it up to your sister.” When they hesitated, he added, “Dinnae fret. Ye will get the whole story before the night is over.” As soon as they were gone, he turned to Willie. “Weel, laddie, tell us again what happened. Tell us everything ye ken.”

As Willie spoke, Ballard grew angrier and angrier. A lot of that anger was directed at himself. He had played the fool from the start. He should have seen that the missing mare was a lure to draw him away from Clover. He should never have left her alone.

“I should have seen the trap for what it was,” he muttered when Willie finished his tale.

“You cannot hold yourself responsible, Ballard,” said Jonathan.

“Nay? I should have listened to Big Jim’s threats more closely. I should never have left Clover alone. Shelton, Lambert, get us some fresh horses. Tell Adam what we are about and ask him to stay here to guard the women and the twins. I dinnae think we have much chance of catching the bastards, but I have to try.” He turned back to Willie. “Are ye staying the night?”

“Nope.” He grasped Ballard’s shirtsleeve and tugged him closer. “Can I be asking you something, sir?”

“If ye are quick.” Ballard saw Jonathan and Colin move away, giving them some privacy.

“Why didn’t you give your missus a hug when she come back? I thought folk like you did that sorta thing.”

“Because I am an idiot.” He sighed when the boy ignored that and waited for a better answer. “Weel,
maybe because Clover is a fine, learned, and pretty lass and I am an illiterate Scotsman with grand ideas and no money. Maybe because I failed her.”

“Nah, you ain’t failed her. She don’t think so neither. I be that sure of it. And you being what you are? Why should that matter? Hellfire, if your missus was one of them what care about money and fancy ideas, why would she be so nice to me?” He shook his head. “I be thinking that marriage mighta addled your wits.”

“There is a verra good chance ye are right. Are ye sure ye willnae spend the night here?”

“Real sure.” Willie held out the hunting knife. “You’ll be wanting this back, I reckon.”

“Aye. I see ye went after her weel armed. Clever lad. ‘Twill be dark soon. Do ye need someone to take ye home?”

“Nope. I can find my way. I will just go and say goodbye to your missus.”

“I owe ye her life, Willie, and from all that ye have told me, probably mine as weel.”

“I just helped a friend, MacGregor. You gotta help your friends,” he said, and dashed off up the stairs.

“Somehow I have to get that boy away from Morisey,” Ballard said.

His brother and cousin led fresh horses up to the door and without another word, the five men mounted and rode off toward Big Jim’s cabin, carefully following Willie’s surprisingly precise directions. Ballard had little hope of catching up with his wife’s kidnappers, but he had to try. If he could get his hands on
just one of them, he might be able to find Thomas. And eventually he had to get to Thomas.

This time Ballard knew he would have to kill Thomas Dillingsworth. The man had left him no choice.

The sound of the horses riding off distracted Clover from her muttered complaints about Ballard’s lack of welcome. “Is that the men leaving?” Clover asked as her mother tucked her into bed.

“Yes,” Molly answered, moving away from the window, shooing the twins out of her way. “The MacGregors, Lambert, Jonathan, and Colin have all ridden after those madmen who kidnapped you. I just wish I had faith that they will find them.”

“We must find Thomas.”

“What we need now is to get you a hot cup of tea and some bread and cheese,” Molly said as she opened the door, only to find Willie standing there. “Your hero is here. Go on in, lad.” She paused to add, “Before you leave, Willie, m’lad, you be sure to pick up the sack on the kitchen table.” She winked at the boy. “I suspect you are a clever lad and know how to keep your treasures safe from those what haven’t earned them.”

“Real safe, ma’am.” As soon as Molly left, Willie edged up to Clover’s bedside. The twins stepped back to give him room. “I just wanted to see if you was still all right. You were looking a mite sickly there for a bit.”

“I will be fine. I just need to rest. I suppose you are headed home now.”

He nodded. “It only makes trouble for folk if I try
to stay away. You ain’t got to worry about me, ma’am. I’ll be back for my lessons.”

“Be sure that you are. And be sure to pick up that sack. Molly is a very fine cook.” She touched his cheek. “If it gets to be more than you can bear, or you begin to fear for your life, do not hesitate to come here. Be careful on your way home.”

“I will, ma’am.”

“We will go with you for a ways,” said Damien as he and Clayton moved to his side.

“Oh, I am not so sure you ought to,” murmured Agnes. “You do not know your way around as well as Willie does.”

“We will go only as far as we know, Mama,” Damien said. “And we will be back before it gets really dark.”

“All right. Off you go then, but be careful.”

As soon as the boys left, Clover looked at her mother. “Do you still have the money from the sale of the furniture?”

Smiling, Agnes sat down on the edge of the bed. “I do, but ‘tis barely forty dollars, and that beast Morrisey wants sixty for the boy.”

“I know, but it would be a very good start. I will understand if you do not want to give it to me. ‘Tis all you have.”

“I have all I need because of you. The money is yours, Clover. And if you can think of a way to make it grow to sixty dollars, just let me know. Ballard has some coin. Together it might be enough.”

“If Ballard has much coin, he will need it to buy supplies and such. He has a lot of mouths to feed.”

“You do realize that Morrisey could raise the boy’s price again.”

“He could, but I have to try.”

“I know. Clover, about Ballard—”

Clover grimaced and wished she had not been so vocal about her hurt and confusion over Ballard’s lack of warmth. “I really do not want to talk about that, Mama. ‘Tis something Ballard and I will have to sort out ourselves. All I can say is that I really want to make this marriage work.”

“Because you love the man.”

“Yes, I do, curse him. I love him, but I will not play the fool for him.”

“Well, let us hope that he returns safely so that you two can sort out your differences.”

“She got away?” Thomas rubbed his temples. His head throbbed so badly he could barely see straight.

“Someone set the barn on fire and cut her loose while we was trying to fight the fire,” Big Jim explained.

“Fools!” Thomas hissed. “Now we must start all over again.”

“Ballard will be keeping a close watch on her now.” Big Jim looked around the cabin. “And we ain’t gonna be able to stay here no more. Fact is, we better get riding. MacGregor will be out looking for us and he ain’t gonna be alone.”

Thomas strode from the cabin, cursing when he heard the four men stumble after him. “We will go back to the inn tonight. You can bed down in the stables there. Perhaps by morning the four of you will have gathered together what few wits you possess and thought of a place where we can keep a close watch on Ballard MacGregor without drawing his notice.”

“Maybe we oughta just give it up,” Poonley said,
and hastily backed away when Thomas whirled to glare at him. “Just for a little while,” he added meekly.

“Never! I have not traveled to this godforsaken wilderness just to give up. Now ride. I hope you know more about eluding capture than you do about holding on to one small female,” he snapped as he mounted his horse and roughly spurred it to a gallop.

Ballard picked up the thick coil of rope left on the filthy cot and stared up at the piece still dangling from the ceiling. It looked so much like a gallows rope that he shuddered. He was not surprised to find that his prey had eluded him, but he cursed his poor luck anyway.

“You are dealing with a madman,” Colin said as he stepped next to Ballard and looked at the rope.

“I ken it. I guessed that he wasnae sane when we were in Pennsylvania. Still, I hadnae really believed that he would go this far. I cannae judge how a mon like him thinks, and that puts me at a disadvantage.”

“You are going to have to kill him.”

“I ken that too.” He threw the rope down on the bed. “First I have to find the bastard.”

“We will help you in any way we can.”

“Thank ye.” He turned to Shelton. “Find anything?”

“Nay, not a cursed thing. They hid their trail weel. Maybe we will find something in the morning.”

Ballard nodded. “We can try. Dillingsworth is clever, though. He will move again by daybreak. I had hoped to end this here, tonight, but it looks like it will be a long summer.”

Clover heard the door of her room open and watched Ballard enter. For a brief moment she considered feigning sleep, but decided that would be cowardly. No matter what lay unresolved between them, Thomas was a threat to both of them and they had to fight him together. She sat up and lit the candle by the bed. Ballard looked tired and she felt a bit of sympathy for him.

“You did not find him, did you?”

“Nay.” Ballard took off his shirt, moved to the stand that held the china bowl and pitcher, and started to wash up. “We couldnae find his trail either, but we will go back in the morning. The shadows may have hidden something.”

“And if you do find a clue or a trail to follow, Thomas will probably still elude you.” She slumped against the pillows. “He is quite mad and that makes him unpredictable, which only makes him more dangerous.”

“I will find him, lass. On the morrow I will send Adam into town to put out the word about those bastards. Nearly everyone in the county will be looking for them.” He walked over to the bed, sat down, and yanked off his boots. “I will have to kill Dillingsworth.”

“I know, and I am sorry for that. ‘Tis because of me you had to tangle with Thomas at all, so ‘tis because of me that you will have blood on your hands.”

“‘Tisnae your fault, loving. Ye did nothing to the mon except refuse to be his whore.” He took a deep breath and looked at her. “I failed ye, lass. I failed ye badly.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I left ye here alone and unprotected, easy prey for those traitorous hirelings. I should have been here with ye. Instead ye had to depend on a wee laddie.”

Clover suddenly understood what was troubling Ballard, why he had been acting so oddly. The man was sunk in self-chastisement. He truly believed he was at fault in some way. She reached out and smoothed her hand down his arm.

“You can be such an idiot.” She smiled when he regarded her in openmouthed surprise. “You really believe some blame for this rests on your shoulders.”

“And where else does it belong?” Ballard asked.

“On Thomas and Thomas alone.”

“Lass, Thomas didnae leave ye here alone. I did. I discounted Thomas as a real danger because he was far away and I didnae give Big Jim’s threats the weight they deserved.”

“Neither did I, but I do not blame myself. Neither should you. For mercy’s sake, Ballard, we are dealing with a madman. Our only error was in not realizing just how mad Thomas is, or how doggedly he would pursue us. Now we can see that in his madness, he has centered all his efforts on us. He is convinced that he must defeat you. Lord knows why. ‘Tis impossible to follow such twisted reasoning. You have become his personal demon and he will not stop tormenting us until he has vanquished you. You cannot be blamed or faulted for not anticipating that.”

Ballard lightly traced a scratch on her cheek. “I saw ye come back looking so bedraggled, knew ye had been through a harsh ordeal, and was ashamed that
yet again ye had had to face such danger alone. I didnae feel worthy of touching you.”

“Yes, you did seem to be acting in a particularly thickheaded way.” She met his sharp glance with a sweet smile.

“I was riddled with guilt. It can cloud a mon’s thoughts.”

“You have nothing to feel guilty about. You were coming after me; I could see that. What else could you do?”

He shook his head. “God help me, I have made your life a real misery.”

“What
are
you muttering about?”

“Ye turned to me for help. ‘Tis why ye proposed. And what have ye got? Ye nearly drown on the way here, ye get chased by a bear, nearly struck by lightning, and now my enemies are after ye.”