Chapter 24
“Find her, Nathaniel,” Dalia told him, her hands on his shoulders. “Bring her back.”
He winced. He and Lillian had headed for the boarding house as soon as Thomas left to gather some riders to form a posse. He’d shown his mother the note Chloe had left behind. “Even though she was married to the man who murdered Father?”
His mother gave him a soft smile. “That wasn’t her fault, Nathaniel. You know that.”
He glanced at his sister, leaning against the wall at the kitchen doorway, arms crossed over her chest, nibbling on her lip, her gaze darting between him and their mother. “I’ve got to get a search going,” he muttered. “We’ll find her.”
Dalia reached for his hand. “You be careful. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you.”
He lifted an eyebrow and shook his head. “I won’t. But she wouldn’t have fled if she didn’t believe Kane and Crowe are in the area. I’ve got to get to the orphanage. For all I know, Chloe has already been there and left. If the child is there, I’ll have Thomas bring her back here.”
“Wouldn’t she be safer staying at the orphanage?” Dalia asked.
“No, I don’t think so. You read the letter. Chloe thinks she was being watched, and her instincts on that matter are to be taken seriously. Whether we find Chloe and Eliza at the orphanage or not, I’ll send Thomas back here. Amos and Barty will be here too, to keep you and Lilly safe.”
He knew Amos, the town blacksmith could shoot.
For that matter, so too could saloon owner Barty Dooley.
He knew that between the both of them and Thomas, they would keep his mother and sister safe, along with Eliza and Chloe, if he got to the orphanage in time.
Riding overland, it was even possible that they could get to the orphanage before Chloe and the buggy did.
If not, he would find and follow their buggy trail until he found them both.
He glanced at Lillian and started to leave, but his mother reached for his hand once more, looking up at him, her eyes imploring.
“Nathaniel, I know you care for her, for both of them, so don’t let your anger blind you to the truth.”
He nodded but said nothing as he left the house.
He mounted his horse and rode back to the sheriff’s office, where a handful of riders had gathered with Thomas.
His mother’s words rang in his ears. The truth.
What was the truth? He knew parts of it.
What he did know for sure was that he had grown more than a little fond of Chloe and Eliza both.
In fact, he realized with a start, the thought of not seeing Chloe again, nor Eliza, filled him with a sense of emptiness he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
Was this what love was? This ache in the chest, the hollow feeling in one’s stomach, the uncertainty and the worry and a confusing bundle of other emotions all at once?
His mother had told him not to let his anger blind him to the truth.
She was right. He had allowed his thirst for revenge against the man who had killed his father blind him to what he still had, and what he might continue to have in his life if he could just stop focusing only on revenge. He also needed to focus on hope.
He pulled up in front of the sheriff’s office and eyed the handful of men mounted and ready to go, rifles tucked into scabbards, guns on their hips.
“All right, I’m not sure what we’re up against, so everybody keep a sharp eye.
We’re heading for the orphanage first. Chloe was headed there to pick up her daughter. ”
“And if they’re not there?” Amos asked.
“We keep lookin’,” Murphy Walton shrugged.
Nathaniel gave the livery stable hand a nod.
“That’s right.” He looked over the small group.
“We’ll watch for tracks. If those outlaws are in the area, we need to deal with them once and for all.
They’ve caused enough havoc in the region as it is.
My main priority however, is getting Chloe and Eliza back safely. ”
Barty spoke up. “If we had more men we could split up into two groups, one group heading to the orphanage and the other looking for and finding any tracks of outlaws.” He glanced at the others. “It be quicker that way, that’s for certain.”
“Sure,” said Layton Rawlings, the hardware store owner. “But we don’t know how many of them there are. Do we think it’s just two of them or the entire gang?” He glanced around at their small group. “Do we have enough men?”
Nathaniel heaved a sigh and looked at the others.
He eyed brothers Seth and Roger Hanscom, riders from the Dawson ranch to the south of town.
He also nodded to Pete Evans, a former Army captain who’d been a sniper in the War Between the States, now working as foreman of the Davison ranch to the east. His eyes and aim were as sharp as ever.
Nathaniel nodded. “It’ll have to be. We don’t have time to send riders to neighboring towns. They’re too far away. We’ll wait and see what happens if we find tracks.”
Spencer Talbot, the mercantile owner nodded. “Sheriff, if you don’t mind me saying so, I think it might be a good idea if we waited just a little longer and gathered more men. We don’t know what we’re up against.”
Pete Evans snorted as he lifted his old but well cared for British imported Whitworth breech-loading carbine with its telescope gadget attached to the barrel.
“Elsie here can take care of them,” he said with a nod.
“My eyes ain’t as good as they were twenty years ago, but I can still drop anything in my sights at eight hundred yards. ”
Every eye was on Pete now. No one disputed his claim.
“We’re up against time,” Thomas said, eyeing the men around them. “Chloe could be in real danger and it’s most important to keep her and her child safe.”
The men nodded somberly. Every single one of them had faced tough times.
Every one of them could shoot, and most of them were good hunters.
Other than Pete though, Nathaniel knew most of them had never shot at another human being.
“Just remember, those outlaws are going to fight back, and they’d just as soon kill you as look at you.
So if you have to shoot, hit your mark.”
Nods again.
“If any of you has had a change of heart, just say so right now. I won’t hold it against you” No one moved. “Fine. Then let’s get going.”
He urged his horse away from the sheriff’s office and headed north.
Soon, the group was galloping cross-country, the only sound the pounding of their horse’s hooves.
He swept his gaze all around him as he went, feeling the bunching and lengthening of his gelding’s muscles beneath him, his heart pounding, his mind filled with a myriad of emotions.
For his part, Nathaniel was horrified at the thought of losing Chloe or Eliza, and it was then that he accepted the truth, no guessing and no confusion.
He loved her. He loved both of them and he was determined to get them both back safe and sound.
In less than an hour they were at the orphanage. Nathaniel couldn’t have been more relieved to learn that Eliza was still there. He spoke privately to Bethany, the matron, and quickly explained the situation.
“I think it’s best that she stay here,” Bethany said.
“No. I don’t want to put any of you or other children in danger. Two of my men will take her back to town. We’ll have her guarded at my mother’s boarding house. She’ll be safer there.”
She frowned, but nodded. “I’ll have Eliza get ready to leave.” She headed for the door and then stopped. “If Chloe left town before you did she should have been here by now.”
Nathaniel saw the worry in her eyes. He’d felt the same when he’d learned that Eliza was still here.
Something had happened to Chloe between the boarding house and the orphanage, he knew it.
They would have to backtrack and look for her trail.
She might’ve gotten lost, never having driven here on her own, but then again …
“I would suggest you keep the children inside for the rest of the day,” he said.
Bethany nodded. “We’ll do that. Good luck to you, Nathaniel. I know you’ll do your best to keep them both safe.”
Less than fifteen minutes later, Thomas, Amos, and Barty headed back to town, Eliza tucked in front of Thomas in his saddle. Before he’d left, Thomas had leaned down and spoken softly to Nathaniel.
“I’ll get her back to town safe and sound, Nathaniel, I promise. I’ll guard her with my life if I have to.”
Nathaniel could only nod and then smiled up at Eliza, who gazed at him with wide, worried eyes. “Everything’s going to be all right,” he told the child.
“Please bring my mama back, Nathaniel,” she said, eyes shining with tears. “Please.”
As they rode away and their horses broke into a gallop, he prayed he could keep his promise to the child. He rode southwest with the others, hoping and praying to find Chloe safe and sound.
*
After an hour searching along the two-track trail that should’ve taken Chloe from town to the orphanage, one of his riders spied faint tracks leading away from it.
“Why would she have taken her buggy off the trail?” Murphy asked.
Frowning, Nathaniel rode toward him to see for himself. Indeed, why would she—
“Found horse tracks!” Seth shouted from thirty yards or so away.
A little further on, behind a small hillock, they found the buggy but no horse and no Chloe. His heart in his throat, Nathaniel searched for any sign of her to no avail.
“Why would she unhitch the horse?” Roger asked, scratching at the whisker stubble on his chin, eyes squinting against the mid-afternoon sun.
“I have no idea,” Nathaniel murmured.
“Over here!”
He turned to Murphy leaning over in his saddle and pointing to the ground. Nathaniel walked his horse over and looked down. Two horse tracks. He frowned. “Only two?”