Charles looked the five men over as he asked how he could help them.
Ginny grasped that the leader had lied, that they were strangers. Her anxiety increased.
“We’re here to take you safely to where you need to go.”
Charles was as angry as his look and tone sounded. “This wasn’t part of the plan. You’re supposed to meet me in Dallas.”
“Plans changed, Avery, and we had no way of getting in touch with you. This one’s better. It’ll save everybody a lot of time and saddlesores. Graham will meet you in Little Rock ‘stead of St. Louis.”
Ginny was more worried about Charles leaving with such crude-looking men than she was concerned about this unexpected event playing havoc with her own plans. “What’s going on, Father?”
Charles patted her arm and smiled. “Nothing for you to worry about, Anna. You boys will have to meet me in Dallas as prearranged; I can’t change my schedule. I have to get my daughter there and see her settled in before we take our little business trip.”
“Afraid that ain’t possible, Avery.”
“And why not?” Charles demanded.
“I have orders to bring you with me. And we’ve already been seen here. Too many dangerous questions will be asked. Too many suspicions aroused. You catch my drift?”
“Then you shouldn’t have come here. Everything was going fine, just like we planned. No one suspected me. This will bring trouble to me and to my daughter after we leave.”
“Can’t worry about that. The good of the cause is the only important thing. Ain’t that right?”
Good of the cause echoed across Ginny’s mind and alarmed her. She surmised Charles Avery had a deception of his own in progress, one he hadn’t told her about. He was vexed by this kink in his scheme, whatever it was.
“Get the goods and your gear and let’s move out fast. Bring her along.”
“She stays here. She isn’t part of this.” Charles grasped her hands in his. “Anna, you take the wagon on to Dallas,” he ordered. “You’ll do fine alone; you’re well trained. I have to go with these men. Don’t fret, girl, Steve will take good care of you if you need help. You do what you have to do.”
Ginny gleaned the clues in his words for her to carry on with her deceptions. “What’s going on?” she pressed in fear. “What’s wrong? You didn’t tell me about this trip.”
“Nothing to worry about, Anna, just do what you came to do.”
“Ain’t smart or safe to leave her behind,” the leader said. “Not after people get curious about you.”
“They wouldn’t have if you’d done as planned,” Charles scoffed.
“Time’s important, Avery; you’ll find out why very soon.”
“Nothing is as important as keeping my identity and mission a secret.”
“Too late to worry about that. Let’s get moving. Get your stuff ready to. pull out, too, Miss Avery.”
“I told you she isn’t coming with us. Anna stays here and goes on to Dallas on the wagontrain.”
“She’s coming with us, Avery. The law could be on to us anytime. We might need her for cover. You got the goods with you?”
“In a safe place. I’ll turn them over to Graham when I see him.”
Luther Beams had been observing the incident and catching a strange word here and there. He walked over and asked, “Got a problem, folks?”
“I’ll be leaving the wagontrain with my friends,” Charles said. “Anna is continuing on to Dallas with you and will wait for me there to join her. I trust you and Steve will look out for her?”
The gang leader fingered his gun butts. “No, sir, that ain’t a smart idea. Your daughter is coming along with us.” When Big L started to bring his rifle upward to ready it for trouble, the leader warned, “You don’t want to do that, mister, too many nice folks around here might get hurt. Why don’t you lay aside that rifle until after we’re gone?”
“What’s this about, Avery?” Luther Beams asked as he obeyed.
“Private business,” Charles replied.
From what he’d been told by the authorities who asked for his help, Big L realized what was taking place, but he dared not risk challenging five armed men who looked as if killing could be second nature to them.
“You two get your stuff and let’s get out of here. We need her along for protection. Nobody will follow and shoot if a woman prisoner is with us.”
“Prisoner?” A wide-eyed Ginny repeated the chilling word.
Charles comprehended he couldn’t change the men’s minds. He looked at Ginny. “I’m sorry, Anna, but you’ll have to come with us for a while. Don’t worry; you’ll be safe. I promise.”
“What about my things, Father? Are we taking the wagon with us?”
“Nope,” the leader answered for Charles. “We’re riding horses.”
“I don’t have a horse,” Ginny told the man who had been doing all the talking.
With a wicked grin, the boss said, “I’m sure one of these nice folks will lend you one. They don’t want any trouble with us.”
Ginny grasped his meaning, as did Big L and Charles. “Steal one?”
“Borrow is a nicer word, Miss Avery.”
That would entice the authorities to pursue them, Ginny knew. Once questions started being asked, the entire truth about her identity might be exposed. “Stealing is against the law,” she protested. “We’ll get into trouble.”
“You don’t have to steal; I will. Rollie, you and Slim find her a good mount. Avery, you and your daughter stuff some things in a bag. Now.”
“What about all my possessions?” Ginny persisted.
“The wagon will have to be left here,” Charles answered.
“What if they’re stolen before we return?”
Big L surmised that Anna didn’t know what was going on and was being taken as a hostage by the ruffians. “Don’t worry, Miss Avery; your friends will take turns driving your wagon to Dallas. Your belongings will be waiting for you at the company office in a few weeks.”
“Thank you, Mr. Beams, but I can’t put you all to such trouble.”
“Won’t be no trouble at all, miss. You’ve done plenty for others, so they won’t mind helping you out. You best go with your father and his friends; we don’t want trouble and injuries in a camp of women and children”. Steve will take care of everything when he returns from town.”
Ginny caught his hints. Fear gripped her heart as she thought about Steve getting weary of awaiting her, returning soon, and having a gun battle with these… outlaws. Nor did she want to endanger any of the people in camp. She had placed herself in Charles Avery’s care; now she was in the midst of his troubles. “You’re right. Thank you, sir.”
Ginny climbed into the wagon, lifted a cloth satchel, and packed clothes for the trail in it. From the corner of her eye, she checked to see if she was being watched. Not close enough, she concluded, for the men to see her drop extra cartridges into her skirt pocket for the holstered derringer strapped to her thigh. She was told to rush by the man at the tailgate.
Ginny realized she was helpless to disobey, but, thanks to Steve’s tough training and precautions, she wasn’t vulnerable in other ways. She would do as she was told and await the opportunity to escape. She must watch the route taken carefully so she could retrace it afterward. She admitted with sadness that she had misjudged Charles Avery in some areas; he obviously was up to no good and had used her as a protective cover for his “mission.” Yet he had tried to help her, to have her left there. His failure meant he had no control over these rough villains, a realization that frightened her.
Within five minutes, she and Charles were mounted and being led from the campsite. She was on a horse taken from a wickedly smiling Cathy King, as Ed was in town. Ginny waved to her four watchful friends and sent them a look that said she wasn’t leaving willingly.
The seven galloped south for miles to a stream and rode in it for a time. They veered northeast, with one man hanging behind to cover their tracks,
skirted Vicksburg, and headed northwest toward Arkansas.
Ginny feared no trail or clues were being left for anyone to follow and come to her rescue. She glanced back at the large city perched on steep hills, and its cobblestone streets. Her last sight of town was of the Greek Revival courthouse on its highest point. Before concentrating on memorizing their route, she thought of Steve Carr futilely awaiting her arrival in town to share the day and a glorious night together. What would he do when he discovered she had been taken against her will? He couldn’t quit his job and cast aside his responsibilities to chase after Charles Avery’s daughter. No matter what Steve felt about her, his duty and job would come first. She was sure he would allow the local law to take a course of action.
Steve paced at the corner of Clay and Washington streets as he watched for the Averys’ arrival. Time passed, too much. It was after the lunch hour, so Charles must have changed his mind about the diversion. He mounted up and rode for camp, to be told a shocking story there.
“What do you mean, Anna was abducted by her father’s friends?”
“Miss Anna was taken captive, Steve. I could tell she wasn’t involved in these evil doings. Mr. Avery tried to leave her behind, but that leader—a bad sort—wouldn’t let him. They stole Mr. King’s horse and forced her to go with them. She looked real scared and worried, but she didn’t have a choice. They hinted they would shoot up the camp if she refused or I challenged them, so both of us obeyed. They rode south hours ago. When you took so long, I sent one of the men to search for you in town. You must have missed him on the way back.” Luther related all he’d heard and seen.
“I have to go after them, Big L; you have to take over here.”
“Don’t worry about us; we’ll do fine. Just catch those devils and help Miss Anna. One more thing, Steve. As they were mounting up, the leader whispered a warning to me. He said if anybody followed them, Miss Anna would be killed. I think he meant it. Out loud he told me they’d release her soon. He lied and she’s in big danger. I don’t believe Mr. Avery has any control over them, but he don’t know it yet.”
They talked a few minutes before the troubled man gathered his possessions and supplies and took off after them.
Steve rode south, hours behind them. He speculated they were heading for New Orleans to exchange the stolen gems for arms and ammunition. That would give Avery access to a ship to transport his cargo to Savannah and into the clutches of the Red Magnolias. He couldn’t allow that to happen. He must not fail in this mission.
Steve rebuked himself for not keeping his mind on the assignment. If he’d returned to camp after getting the revealing telegram, he could have captured the gang and recovered the gems this morning. This case could be settled by now. Instead, both the villains and gems were gone. So was Anna. He wondered if she had promised to meet him in town to get him out of the way so they could join their contacts. Maybe what Luther Beams witnessed was nothing more than a pretense to conceal her involvement. Maybe she cared for him, suspected trouble, and had kept him out of danger with a pretty lie. Or was that too much to hope for, her love and innocence? He’d know the truth when he caught up with them soon.
CHAPTER 11
Virginia Marston and Charles Avery were ferried across the wide Yazoo River on a large raft that didn’t seem sturdy enough to the trembling female to bear their weights or to be safe in the tricky currents. Rolling hills of lush grass, wooded knolls, and sand-colored soil gave way to fertile black flatland of the delta region where cotton grew in abundance and the moist ebony dirt clung to hooves and was kicked up behind them. They journeyed westward of a dense forest of mostly pine, oak, and willow, with occasional magnolia and dogwood. They crossed numerous creeks where cypress with huge bases grew at their sides. They passed plantations at a distance, some repaired and some fallen into ruin during and since the bitter and bloody conflict with the Union. They saw fields of rice and corn. To Ginny, it looked as if the residents of this area were recovering slowly from the horrors of the war.
The group of seven traveled as fast as the terrain would permit and took few rest stops. The gang continued to watch for pursuers over their shoulders, and finally stopped concealing their getaway trail. They rode in close proximity that warned Ginny, along with Bart’s words, not to “make a break for it.” She was glad her body was in better condition now than it had been before her intense training period with Steve and from weeks of exertion on the wagontrain.
So far, the ruffians hadn’t given her trouble. The leader promised her safety on the trail and release in Little Rock, but she distrusted him and his men. Although the muckers talked and joked with Charles and he with them, an intimidating tension filled the air. Charles tried to mask his apprehension, but Ginny’s worried senses penetrated it.
She was afraid, but assumed it was best to put up a brave front. She discouraged any conversation and disdained all attempts at friendliness. She knew that haughtiness often kept even roughened types at a distance. She hoped that pretense would work for her. But every mile of the way she was conscious of the holstered derringer strapped to her right thigh and the extra bullets in her skirt pocket, cushioned by a handkerchief. She wisely did not expose it and wouldn’t until the right moment presented itself. She knew she could not take on five armed and dangerous men. She must wait to get one alone, disable him as Steve had taught her, and flee. She hoped she would remember the route they were taking and paid close attention to it.
By flatboat, they crossed the mighty Mississippi, a river to evoke wonder and terror. The ferrymen kept on alert for treacherous “boilings” and eddies in the swift blue currents and for ever-shifting sandbars. It was noisy at both banks where sucking and gurgling sounds chewed ravenously at land and debris and where vegetation was thick and verdant.
In Arkansas, they encountered a heavy tracery of rivers and streams in the lowland that would, Ginny prayed, slow their progress for a while. Yet the flat and open landscape allowed for a lengthy visibility, and she saw no one in pursuit. At dusk, the leader halted them not far inside the watery stateline: fifty miles from Vicksburg, the man she loved, and her possessions.
Ginny was exhausted and sore from a nerve-wracking and long ride. The food being cooked—fried salt pork and grits, served with strong coffee and warmed biscuits—did not appeal to her even though she was hungry. She knew she must keep up her strength, though, so she forced herself to eat. She heard frogs and crickets and saw fireflies flickering here and there. She studied her surroundings carefully in case she was compelled to flee trouble. This area did have sluggish creeks and stagnant ponds and names with “bayou” attached, but it was nothing like those in southern Louisiana, Georgia, and Mississippi. The terrain was called swampland, but it wasn’t what she’d imagined a real swamp to be. In spots the ground was wet, spongy, and densely vegetated, but she’d seen no uncrossable marshes, quagmires, alligators, poisonous water snakes, or other bog creatures she associated with one. Yet this area was spooky at night and fraught with hidden perils, so she must escape during the day when she had light to guide her steps.
An inquisitive fox darted back into the trees and vanished before one of the men could shoot it with his drawn rifle and a mean grin on his face. She hated to imagine how these men would act in a few days after they wearied of her arrogance. If they tried to ravish her, she would fight them to the death.
Death… Ginny trembled, thinking the word. They might silence her with death to protect their evil scheme. She might never see her father again, or Mathew Marston could be dead already. Steve could be murdered if he came after her. To stay alive and safe to return to her loved ones, she must remain alert and cautious and brave. She must depend on the skills her lover had taught her for protection and freedom. At the time, she hadn’t realized how important his tough training would become to her.
Ginny massaged her grumbling shoulders and neck and the muscles at the back of her waist. Riding horseback all day, she decided, was more demanding than walking an
d driving a wagon, or perhaps it was only a reaction to the activity. During the day, they had encountered boatmen, several riders, hunters, and fishermen, and had seen workers in fields, but she hadn’t shouted for help from sources she considered futile. She was in a perilous predicament, but she must survive and find her father and Steve Carr again.
Charles joined her away from the men. They lay on bedrolls beside each other. “I’m sorry I got you into this, Ginny,” he whispered. “Don’t be scared. Those men are hired to do a job and wouldn’t dare betray their boss. Don’t worry, they won’t harm either of us.”
He didn’t sound convinced to her. Ample space between them and the bandits and the excessively loud croakings of many frogs allowed them to speak softly without being overheard. The separation was permitted because the horses were close to the gang and Bart had pointed out that, “nobody’s fool ‘nough to escape into a swamp at night.”
“What is this all about, Mr. Avery?” she asked. “I have a right to know why I was abducted.”
He reasoned she would discover the truth soon, so it wouldn’t matter if he revealed it now. “I’m a carrier for the Red Magnolias. I have a crucial mission to accomplish for them.”
Ginny stared at him, his features visible beneath a threequarter waxing moon. She recognized the name of a powerful unit of Klansmen. During the journey, she had learned that most Invisible Empire members honestly believed they had formed the secret organization to combat Yankee and ex-slave terrorism in the vulnerable South. But as in all large groups of rebels, the Ku Klux Klan had members who went beyond protection and justice to obtain personal revenge and greedy desires. “Carrier? For what?”
Charles patted his waist, “Gems, mostly diamonds, worth a fortune. We’re exchanging them for arms and ammunition from Timothy Graham in St. Louis, and we’re hiring scouts to track down our enemies.”
“What enemies, sir?”
“Men like Sherman, who ravaged the South, and Loyal Leaguers, who are still ravishing our land. We’re going to punish them, kill them, so they can’t do this to anybody again.”
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