Chapter Eleven
Finn had been watching Neil’s ranch very closely for several days now.
He had kept hidden in the thick forest fairly close to the paddock where Neil kept most of his horses near the barn overnight.
He had made sure that he blended in well with his surroundings, wearing mostly green and nothing that could reflect the sunlight—besides the spyglass he used to scan the area and watch what was happening.
Finn had been waiting to see the results of his latest coup. Several days ago, things had looked promising when multiple horses suddenly got sick after they ate the special treats Finn had prepared for them.
Last year, he had found out from a native who specialized in herbal remedies that wilted red maple leaves were extremely toxic to horses.
Mixed in with some twigs of tansy ragwort placed near the rich green grass that seemed to sprout everywhere this time of year, it had been easy to disperse all along the fence lines and even in some of the hay the workers had put out during the early morning hours.
Enticed by the oats scattered here and there alongside the poisonous concoction, the horses had gobbled it all up like sweet candy.
Some ate more than others, and despite Finn’s hopes of getting even more animals sick, there had been more than enough to cause quite a stir.
By the end of day two, two of the horses had already succumbed to it.
Today, Finn had gone into town, casually chatting with random people, trying to find out if anybody had heard of any trouble at Neil’s ranch.
He wanted to disgrace his reputation as the best horse breeder in the area once and for all, so he hoped that rumors of his animals being sick would destroy his high standing.
It was a balmy spring day, and as usual, his wealthy appearance turned a few heads wherever he showed up.
Parading down Main Street, announcing his arrival with the clicking of his walking cane, he lifted his chin.
Men and women alike were drawn to him, probably because they envied him.
Finn never had trouble finding people to talk to.
Much to his surprise—and chagrin—not a single soul had heard about the dying horses at Neil Albright’s ranch, and the more people Finn spoke to, the angrier he got. In his mind, he had gone through great lengths to make all that happen, yet nothing had come of it.
By the time afternoon rolled around, he was ready to go home and drink a bottle of whiskey to drown his outrage before he’d think of a better plan to destroy Neil Albright.
He had to ruin Neil one way or another. He was sick and tired of people praising that man when he himself—a true land baron—had built an empire that was so much larger and so much more successful than Albright’s.
He needed to bring him down. He wanted to. He wanted to be above all else.
Spinning around on his polished heels, he stalked back to where he’d tied up his white horse near the general store. He had had enough disappointment for the day. But then something marvelous happened, which completely stopped him in his tracks.
Neil’s brand-new acquisition stepped out of the general store when he was just about to walk past the entrance. The young woman from the train station was holding several boxes with one hand and that small girl again with the other. Finn got instantly excited.
Who better to ask for information about the sick horses than her?
“Oh, what a beautiful coincidence to see you here,” Finn exclaimed, as he put on his most charming smile, hurriedly pulling his hat from his head.
He startled the young woman so much she almost jumped.
The little girl instantly hid behind her.
“I’m not sure if you remember me. We met at the train station.
I’m a good friend of Neil Albright, your soon-to-be husband. ”
He immediately noticed that the woman was seemingly still wearing the same clothes she had worn the day they’d first met. It gave him the shivers, but he tried to hide it and widened his smile a little more.
The young woman stared at him with a scowl on her pretty face. Finn was surprised that she apparently didn’t remember their memorable encounter a few days ago.
“Do you not remember the discussion we had where I offered you and your daughter a job at my house?” Finn reminded her, feeling very secure in himself. Surely a lady of her standing would remember his generous offer.
He was stunned when she scoffed at that.
“I remember,” she said, but then she didn’t elaborate, which forced Finn to continue the conversation.
“Well, how are things at the ranch?” Finn asked ever so politely.
“Is everything all right with the sick horses? All the people in town are talking about the devastating news,” Finn added extra loudly.
He wanted to make sure that the town folk near them would hear about it.
He also gambled on the fact that she wouldn’t know whether people in town spoke about it or not.
“Didn’t a few of them die of an unknown illness?” he added with mock devastation. “How awful!”
The face of the young woman took on a shocked expression, and Finn could clearly see that she struggled with that information. She looked around, seemingly embarrassed that the town folk would talk about them like that.
“I’m not privy to all the information,” Finn tried again when the woman didn’t speak, which started to really annoy him.
“So I was wondering if everything was all right with the mares and the foals? Your husband’s entire operation as a horse breeder could fail if he can’t produce any healthy animals anymore. How terrible would that be!”
Finn spoke even louder than before, and just as he anticipated, some of the people near them began to turn their heads and started to follow their conversation. If it wouldn’t have given away his ploy, Finn would have laughed at that.
Unfortunately, the woman would still not talk, and he ran out of patience. Since the audience surrounding them was growing, Finn put all of his effort into making this a public spectacle. It was his one chance to exploit Neil Albright for the useless breeder he clearly was.
“I’m a good friend of your fiancé,” he declared loudly, pushing out his chest. When the woman narrowed her eyes, clearly questioning that statement, Finn ignored it.
“Don’t you think it’s rude not to speak to me?
Neil would most certainly have something to say about it if I told him that you treated me so impolitely—”
“What’s your name again?” the woman interrupted him, which vexed Finn beyond measure, but then he saw her shy smile, and he knew that he’d gotten to her.
“My name is Finn Vale,” he offered with half a bow.
“Land baron and largest landowner in the region, if you remember.” He turned around to look at the small crowd that had gathered around them, and even though he didn’t see very many overly friendly faces, most of them looked curious, which was exactly what he was aiming for.
“Mr. Vale,” the woman said, but her voice sounded too quiet. If she admitted to their failure with such a meek volume, nobody would be able to hear about it.
“Oh, dear, please call me Finn,” he exclaimed loudly. “And please speak up! I can hardly hear you, sweetheart!”
The young woman visibly struggled with the way he so bluntly addressed her. Her eyes darted around. She didn’t like to be put on the spot like that, and Finn loved it.
“Mr. Vale,” she repeated louder, and the fact that she ignored his offer to call him by his first name offended him greatly. She had no idea who she was talking to. “I don’t know where you got the information that my husband’s horses are sick. Thankfully, they’ve all recovered.”
“Oh?” Finn said, when she called Neil her husband. When had they married?
To save face, he acted as if her statement were highly unlikely, shooting everybody a doubting look, but the woman had suddenly found her voice and continued.
“My husband has also found the cause for the sickness,” she declared, speaking both directly to Finn yet loud enough for everyone to hear, “which was poisonous plants that had been deliberately thrown into the spaces where the horses eat. Since they aren’t native there and clearly suspicious, we’re investigating who could be behind this criminal act.
Whoever did it clearly wanted to harm my husband’s reputation as the very best horse breeder in the region.
Thankfully, his expertise and knowledge quickly took care of the situation, and he still is. ”
She sounded proud of what her husband had accomplished.
When she smiled at the many faces around them and looked at the people who had gathered there, the overall response was one of relief and well-wishes that things would work out. Not what Finn had hoped for.
This was all wrong.
This woman had managed to turn his plan to make a public spectacle of her and her husband around on himself. Heat crept into his cheeks, which always happened when he was infuriated. His nostrils flared.
Could it actually be that his archrival, Neil, had informed his wife about Finn and their long-lasting feud?
Did she know that they weren’t actually friends but each other’s nemesis?
If that were the case and she had a little bit of intelligence in that pretty head of hers, was it at all possible that she’d figured out Finn’s ploy to poison Neil’s horses?
That couldn’t be true, could it?
Finn started to sweat. The several layers of hand-embroidered clothes suddenly seemed to suffocate him to the point that he had to loosen his silk cravat.
Then Finn noticed the small smile on her lips when she looked straight at him. His anger bubbled up to the surface, and if they’d been alone in some alley somewhere, Finn couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t have slapped the woman across her face.
“Well, I am so very glad to hear it,” he blatantly lied. He plastered a sickly sweet smile onto his face and tried to appease the people around them. “But just so you know, should you ever need any help, my offer for a job for you and your daughter is still standing. I am a man of my word, and—”
“She won’t be needing a job from you or anyone.” Neil’s voice boomed across the walkway. The small crowd split like the Red Sea for Moses, letting Neil walk through with strong strides. “And you would be the last person she’d work for.”
“Neil!” Finn exclaimed with a bright smile that nearly hurt his face. If he could, he’d just run in the opposite direction, but all those people standing around them kept him from a hasty retreat. “I’ve heard you’ve fixed your little horse problem.”
When Neil heard him say that, he almost stopped in his tracks, but then he came to stand right behind his wife. He picked up the little girl as if she were his own, then he glared at Finn, while he whispered into his wife’s ear, to which she nodded.
“What problem are you talking about?” Neil asked then, looking straight at Finn.
“Well, the sick horses, of course,” Finn exclaimed in a last-ditch attempt to make Neil look bad. He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Neil tilted his head curiously to one side. “How do you know about that?”