Chapter 22 #2
Lillian spoke up. “Nathaniel—”
“Get out,” Nathaniel ground out, anger and grief and disappointment reeling inside him.
“No, Nathaniel,” Lillian argued, tears shining in her eyes. “You can’t send him away! You can’t make him leave! He’s done nothing wrong and neither has Chloe—”
He exploded, his face hot and heart pounding with fury. “She was … is married to the outlaw who killed our father! How can you say that?”
“Can’t you see how terrified she is of him?
” Her cheeks splotched with color now, her eyes wide, she gazed at him, imploring, gesturing to the note.
“She turned them in, Nathaniel! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?
” She shook her head. “Or that she’s been running all these years, so terrified of him that she placed her daughter in an orphanage to keep her safe—”
“Abandoned!” Nathaniel snapped, so hurt by Chloe’s lack of trust he couldn’t think straight. “She abandoned her daughter in an orphanage to keep herself safe!”
The look in his sister’s eyes prompted him to stop.
The dismay he saw in her eyes made him feel guilty, but he …
he was right, wasn’t he? He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm his temper.
“Chloe’s known all along, Lillian, ever since I told her about Father’s murder.
She knew that her own husband and friend had been the ones to kill him and she didn’t say a word! ”
A tear spilled from Lillian’s eye as she looked up at Thomas. “Do you know anything more, Thomas?” she asked gently. “If you do, now would be the time to speak.”
So stunned he could barely breathe, Nathaniel turned once again to Thomas, who wore a pained expression, his shoulders slumped. He saw regret in Thomas’s eyes and realized his sister was right. Even so, he couldn’t help but feel deceived.
“He’s dead, Nathaniel.”
Nathaniel blinked. “Who’s dead?”
“The outlaw. Everett Kane. He’s dead. Died not long after I broke away from their gang.”
Dead? The man Nathaniel had been looking for all these years was dead? He shook his head, confused. “How?”
Thomas glanced at Lillian, received her encouraging nod and turned back to Nathaniel.
“Not long after I left them behind, I saw one of his old gang members in a town in western Oklahoma … in a saloon.” He paused and glanced at Lillian before turning back to Nathaniel.
“He got shot during a robbery. Stagecoach I think. I was told Kane died a few days later.”
He shook his head, not believing it. “Why haven’t I heard about that?”
“Don’t know, but it sounds like Silas took over the gang after that and they wanted to keep that part quiet.” Thomas shrugged. “Maybe to keep their reputation.”
Lillian spoke softly. “Mama will want to know about this. You need to tell her.”
“I’ve got to put a posse together—”
“I can do that,” Thomas interrupted.
Lillian stepped forward and reached for Nathaniel’s hand. “A few minutes shouldn’t matter, Nathaniel,” she said softly. “The man who killed Papa is dead. I think you should be the one to tell Mama, don’t you?”
Finally, he nodded. He would go to the house and tell his mother and then go look for Chloe. He looked up at Thomas, warily eyeing him.
“You gonna fire me?” Thomas finally asked.
Nathaniel didn’t reply for several moments. He could hardly think straight. “No.” He heaved a sigh as he rubbed his forehead, his thoughts whirling. “So Chloe doesn’t know her husband is dead.”
Lillian shook her head. “How could she? We just heard about it from Thomas.”
He didn’t want to care about Chloe. He was upset at her for lying to him. Well, perhaps she hadn’t exactly lied, but she’d deliberately deceived him, all of them—
“The man who was her husband is dead,” Lillian murmured once more, as if saying it again made it even more real.
She peered up at Nathaniel. “She can feel safe now, but she doesn’t know.
” She paused and “glanced up at Thomas and then back to her brother, eyes wide. “But what if she isn’t at the orphanage? What if she’s already been there, took Eliza, and now they’re running away? ”
He said nothing, trying to tamp down his emotions, to feel nothing, at least for a little while.
After all, she had left him a note. A note!
She hadn’t had the courage to tell him in person.
Despite his disappointment about that, he cared about her, even after her betrayal.
Her husband might be dead, but Silas Crowe was not.
His mind spinning, he glanced down at the letter lying on the desk.
“Why didn’t she just tell me?” he murmured.
“She was probably afraid to, afraid of how you might react.”
He frowned, turned to his sister and realized she was right.
How was he reacting now, learning the news from Thomas?
Furious. Bitter and feeling betrayed by both of them.
His sister was right. This was not Chloe’s fault.
She was terrified of Everett Kane and Silas Crowe.
Even so, if she’d told him in person, he would likely have reacted as he had just moments ago.
“You’re right,” he sighed. At that moment a sense of calm came over him so quickly it nearly took his breath away.
The man who’d killed his father was dead.
That news gave him a bit of relief, but Crowe was still out there.
He also realized something else. Much of this situation with Chloe was his fault.
He had exposed her to his anger and hatred of the outlaws involved in the murder of his father.
She knew he was bitter about the incident that had changed not only his life but that of his mother and sister.
His anger must have scared her and he’d had no business doing that.
His sense of vengeance against those who had done the deed had frightened her away and now she was out there somewhere, likely afraid for herself and her daughter …
He turned to Thomas. “We’ll need to ride to the orphanage and get them, bring them back home. Then we’ll go after Crowe and the others.”
Thomas’s eyes grew wide and he glanced uncertainly at Lillian before turning back to him. “You mean I still have a job?”
“Yes, you still have a job,” Nathaniel grunted. “I had no right to …” He shook his head and remained silent for several moments. “Ride to the orphanage, Thomas. If they’re already gone, find out when they left and what direction they were headed.”
“You can’t go after her or the outlaws alone, Natty,” Lillian said, reaching for his arm.
He paused. She was right. “I’m not going to.” He turned to Thomas. “Before you leave, go to the hardware store and tell Layton to gather some men. Have them meet me here in thirty minutes.”
Thomas glanced at Lillian before he turned for the door and left the sheriff’s office. Moments later, Nathaniel picked up the note Chloe had written and thrust it in his pocket. “Let’s go tell Mother,” he sighed.
“But where—”
“I’m going after them, Lilly,” he said, his voice hard. “You stay at the house with Mother. Wait for Chloe and Eliza there and don’t go anywhere.” He shook his head. “You keep them in the house with Mother and Millicent.”
Lillian’s eyes grew wide with fear. “But you don’t know if the outlaws are out there, and if they are, what if there are too many of them?
” She shook her head. “You read the note. Chloe thinks they’ve been watching her.
They might be watching you as well.” Tears filled her eyes.
“You might be riding into a trap just like Papa—”
“No, Lilly,” he said, wrapping her in his arms. “I won’t.
I’ll be prepared and ready, and I’m not going alone.
” He released his sister and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“I’ll have a couple of men stay at the house to make sure you and the others stay safe.
The rest of us will see if we can find their camp.
They’ve got to be close.” He paused, lips pressed together as his heart pounded.
He glanced at her again. “I’m going to put an end to this once and for all. ”
“And Chloe?”
Chloe. He realized at that moment that the thought of losing her left an empty hole in his heart. As disappointed as he was that she hadn’t confided in him, he nevertheless knew that his fear of losing her was even greater. He loved her.
Perhaps if he had tried harder to see past his thirst for revenge against the outlaws, things wouldn’t have come to this.
She wouldn’t have been afraid to tell him.
His own stubborn anger and hatred had led to this and he needed to take the blame.
It was also at that moment that he realized how much Chloe and Eliza had come to mean not only to him, but his family.
“Natty …”
“I won’t let anything happen to them, Lilly,” he promised, his tone firm. “If I have any say in the matter and God is on my side, they’ll be coming back here, to stay with us.”
“God willing,” she murmured, eyes shining with tears.
He nodded. “God willing.”
His sister looked up at him, worry plain to see as she wrapped her arms around him, gave him a brief hug, and then let go.
She hurried from the room and he followed after stepping to his rifle rack.
He snatched his Winchester from it, and then left his office, heading for his horse and the boarding house.
“Hang on, Chloe,” he murmured. “Lord, keep her safe, please. Let her know I’m coming for her and give her courage …”