“What’d you do to him?”
“Joseph?” Nugget’s whimper as she slid back into the protection of Annabelle’s arms made her heart hurt.
Slade smiled. “I didn’t do anything to him. Wasn’t my fault he couldn’t keep up in the storm. Just too bad about all the lightning.”
His yellow teeth stuck out from his tobacco-stained lips. “There might have been some dynamite involved. But in a storm like that, you never can tell. It’ll be weeks, maybe even months before they find the body. With all the rocks on top of him, and then the flash flood washing everything away, who knows where his body ended up.”
Familiar grief welled in Annabelle’s heart. Why, God? Why, when she’d finally agreed to opening up her heart, did He have to take away Joseph, too?
Sure, he was going to leave anyway, but it was so much easier to think of him as being away, where she could write him and stay in touch, than it was to think of yet one more loved one gone forever.
Nugget hadn’t spoken, but the wetness against Annabelle’s bodice said all that needed to be said. The little girl had lost both mother and father, and now a beloved brother had been taken, as well.
So unfair.
“Now…” Slade leaned in, so foul that she had no idea why she never saw how completely indecent he was. “Since we have that cleared up, why don’t you tell me what I need to know.”
He reached for one of the tendrils by Annabelle’s face, winding his finger in it. “It would be a shame for you and the kid to come to the same end.”
The sinking feeling in Annabelle’s gut told her they probably would anyway. If Slade was going to kill them no matter what, why convince Nugget to tell them what he wanted? It didn’t seem right for so much to be lost for Slade to win.
Annabelle pulled Nugget tighter to her chest. “She just found out her brother is dead. So back off for a minute or else we’ll both gladly take a bullet just to spite you out of getting the silver.”
“Don’t toy with me, you witch.” Slade used his grip on her hair to pull her head in toward his, their faces barely an inch from touching. “I will get my silver, with or without your help. I’m sure your father will do just about anything to get his precious daughter back.”
So much for her grand plan. Because he was right about her father. He loved her far too much to let her go easily. Tears filled her eyes as she realized how selfish she’d been in wanting to leave. She couldn’t let her father be hurt by all of this.
“All right,” Annabelle said softly. “I’ll do what I can to get Nugget to cooperate, but you’ve got to give us room. You’ve waited this long for the silver, surely a few more hours won’t make that much of a difference.”
If there was ever anything to convince Annabelle of the sheer evil in Slade, it was the way the light shone in his eyes at her offer. He’d thought he’d won. And if there was anything that ever prodded Annabelle into action, it was this.
She was sick and tired of everything evil and rotten in this world winning. This time, if it cost her everything, including her life, Slade would not win. She just had to figure out how to make that happen.
*
Despite the rain not letting up, Joseph returned to the stable and began saddling one of Frank’s other horses.
“You’re crazy to go out back out there,” Wes told him, handing him a bridle.
“What else am I supposed to do? Based on what you just told me, there’s no way that avalanche was an accident.”
He bent to check the cinch on the saddle. Wes grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at him. “Why do you think I’m asking you to wait?”
Joseph straightened and looked at the other man. “Someone tried to kidnap Nugget. Annabelle was accosted in the camp. And the man that her pa is trusting to keep us all safe just tried to kill me. You’ll forgive me if I’m not going to hesitate in making sure they’re out of harm’s way.”
Lord, I don’t even know how I’m going to do that.
“There’s no way you’ll beat him to the camp.”
Hopefully, Slade would be counting on the fact that Joseph was dead, and was waiting in camp for the storm to let up before doing anything. But why would he act now? They’d come no closer to finding the silver than they were when he first started looking.
Except…
The Bible.
Joseph shook his head. He hadn’t told anyone what he’d found in the Bible. Hadn’t had a chance. He’d have liked to have shown it to Frank or Annabelle, but for whatever reason, he hadn’t felt comfortable trusting Slade.
Maybe God had been protecting him more than he knew.
Joseph looked around for the saddlebag he’d had on the other horse. He hadn’t even thought about whether or not the contents had remained dry.
“Where’s my saddlebag?”
Wes pointed to a rack. “I hung it to dry. But what do you need with some old clothes and a couple of rocks?”
Rocks? “What about the Bible that was in there?”
“You really are a praying man,” Wes said with a grin. “Well, rest your mind about that. It wasn’t in there, so you must’ve left it at the camp.”
Joseph’s stomach turned. He’d put it in the saddlebag. Hadn’t wanted to trust leaving it in camp. Slade must’ve switched it out on the mountain. Joseph had his back turned, looking at his pa’s land. Plenty of time for him to have made a switch.
He should have been more careful. And he shouldn’t have assumed that Slade wasn’t paying attention to his Bible reading last night. Slade obviously knew what Joseph was looking at.
“No, that means Slade took it. Last night, I figured out that my pa had used it as a key for the location of his silver. I had it in my saddlebag until I could talk to Frank and see what he thought of the code my pa left. I couldn’t figure out what all the references to the places meant.”
The loss of color on Wes’s face was all Joseph needed to know. He turned and grabbed another saddle. “Then I’d best come with you. If Slade thinks he has the key to where the silver is, then there’s no telling what he’ll do to finally get it.”
Chapter Twenty
The men were poring over a Bible. How could a gang of kidnapping thieves get any more ridiculous?
Nugget had ceased crying, but she remained listless in Annabelle’s arms. Her brother’s murder must have sucked the last bit of life out of her.
Annabelle looked around for something to use as a weapon. If she got out of this alive, she would absolutely insist on having one of those tiny pistols to hide under her skirts. Fortunately, the men seemed to be focused more on the Bible than on them. Fine time for a Bible study. She supposed she should find comfort that something her father had taught Slade had sunk in.
If only she knew which cave they were in. The landscape would give them a clue, if she could convince them to let her outside for a moment.
“Slade,” she called, trying not to disturb Nugget. “I have to use the necessary.”
“So?” He slammed the book shut, and the men scattered.
“Could you please escort me out so I can take care of my needs?”
Her face was warm at the thought of discussing such a personal though fabricated matter with him.
“Nope.” His grin taunted her.
“Boss,” Tom whispered, “maybe you could get her to…”
She didn’t catch the rest of it as the two men put their heads together and began whispering furiously back and forth.
Nugget stirred. “Don’t leave me alone with them. They’re bad men.”
Annabelle shifted the little girl so she could whisper in her ear unobserved. “I want to look around outside so I can see if there’s a way to escape.”
“Don’t leave me.” Nugget’s wail nearly pierced her eardrum.
Slade looked in their direction. “Don’t worry, she’s not going anywhere.”
He sauntered over to them, Bible in hand. “But we might let her stop and do her business on our way to the silver.”
Or maybe t
hey could find a way to escape at that time. “If Nugget tells you where it is.”
“Don’t need the brat.” He sneered in Nugget’s direction. “There’s enough clues here that we’ll find the silver.”
He held up the Bible, and at closer look, she realized that it was the one Joseph had taken from his father’s cabin. Slade had probably killed Joseph to get it.
“Then let us go.” She said the words with as much bravado as she could muster, but in reality, she knew that Slade no longer had any reason to keep either of them alive. Especially since he had to know that she’d turn him in to her father and the sheriff when they got free.
“There’s a few pieces we don’t understand. But between you and the little one, we’ll get it faster. And I owe a guy, so I’d rather get the money quick-like, if you know what I mean.”
She looked down at Nugget, whose eyes had widened. Slade, too, drew his attention to the little girl.
“Where’s Nugget’s secret house?”
At Nugget’s indrawn breath, Annabelle knew once that location was revealed, Slade would have the silver.
So close. But she wasn’t going to give up. Not until the last breath had been ripped from her. She was done with letting evil take everything from her. Done.
“By the monkey rock,” Nugget said in a quiet, shaky voice.
The monkey rock. Completely not helpful in the description, since many of the rocks looked like shapes of other things. They were like clouds. People saw different shapes in all of them.
“Which is where?” He pulled Nugget out of her arms and shook her.
“Leave her alone!” Annabelle jumped up and reached for Nugget, but Slade was just as quick to keep her away.
He looked at the other men. “Get them ready to travel.”
Slade kept hold of Nugget, tying her to his saddle. Tom grabbed Annabelle.
“Be a good girl and don’t fight.”
Not likely, considering Slade was ready to leave with Nugget. She couldn’t let him take her. Hopefully on the way, she’d figure out how to get them both free. Right now, though, it wasn’t worth fighting, or even wasting her breath on screams no one would hear. Best to save her energy for when she could get Nugget.
As Tom dragged her outside, he whispered, “You even think about trying to escape, and we’ll kill the brat.”
The rain had stopped, leaving puddles everywhere, and the kind of mud a person could sink in. Maybe she could use it to her advantage.
Annabelle pulled a pin out of her hair and let it drop to the ground. Though tiny, the small rhinestone on the end would hopefully be a clue to anyone looking for them.
Once Tom had hoisted her onto his saddle, she managed to get another pin loose and dropped it into the grass nearby. Maddie had called those pins an unnecessary vanity, but at least they were distinctive to anyone who knew her. Slade hadn’t been around enough lately to know they were hers.
They headed east, and Annabelle memorized every bit of terrain. When she got out of this, she would be sure that the sheriff searched every inch for anyone else linked to Slade’s gang.
If someone spotted one of her hairpins.
As they turned out of the canyon, Annabelle recognized the landscape. Not too far from the cabin, and an easy journey to the camp.
“Can we stop for a moment?” She looked over her shoulder at Tom and gave him her most pleasant smile. “You never did let me use the necessary.”
Her skin crawled as she batted her eyelashes at him, trying to appeal to him in a feminine way. If Polly was mad at her because she thought he’d been flirting, then maybe she could use it to her advantage.
Tom gave a half smile back. Shy, like her being nice to him was an unexpected treat. Annabelle tried not to gag.
“Boss!” he yelled. “We need to stop.”
Gloating would only ruin her chances at this point. Though it would be easy for her to get away here, it still left the problem of getting Nugget free. She had no doubt that Slade would harm her in retaliation. Even in the fun games her family had played together, Slade was known to be a ruthless competitor.
Slade rode toward them. “What’s the problem?”
“The necessary.” Annabelle twisted her face into an expression that she hoped looked like she had to go really bad. Her mother would be horrified at how unladylike she was being, but if it saved her life, and that of a young child, surely it would be worth it.
He glared at her, then at Tom. “Now?”
“I’m afraid if I wait any longer, and all the jostling on the horse…”
Tom got off his horse. “Boss, if she ruins my saddle…”
“Fine.” Slade pulled out his pistol. “But if you try anything, remember I’ve got the kid.”
She swallowed, then scooted off the horse. “I understand.”
No, running away was not an option. Especially given that Slade had one hand on Nugget, and the other held a gun.
“I’ll just go behind those bushes.” She stared at him, daring him to argue.
“What happened to your hair?”
Annabelle reached up, realizing that with all the pins she’d taken out, it was starting to look a mess. She couldn’t afford for Slade to look too closely or start wondering about the missing pins.
“I told you, all the jostling is rather uncomfortable. I keep trying to push my hair back up out of my face, but it’s not as though any of you are taking care to make this an easy ride.”
The gleam in Slade’s eyes made her realize that he was enjoying every moment of tormenting her. The more miserable she said she was, the more he enjoyed it.
“We don’t cater to prissy spoiled brats here. Guess you’ll have to make do.”
She gave him the kind of haughty look she knew he expected from her. Though she was learning to be more than the child everyone thought her, now was not the time to prove she’d changed. The old Annabelle was exactly what Slade needed to see.
“When my father finds out—”
“We’ll be halfway to Mexico with the silver.” He leaned forward and ran a finger down her cheek. “And I haven’t decided if I’ll kill you first, or keep you around for entertainment for a while, and then sell you. Pretty golden hair like yours will fetch a mighty fine price.”
Slade rolled one of her curls around his finger, then gave it a sharp yank. Had he pulled any harder, she was sure she’d have a bald spot. It took every amount of energy not to kick him in the shins.
She brushed past him and headed into the bushes. She relieved herself as quickly as she could, then took three of her hairpins and fashioned them into an A. Maybe that would help anyone looking for her.
Now to find a place to leave it unobserved by the bandits, but in such a way that anyone looking for her would spot the clue.
As she walked back to the horses, every bandit’s eye was on her. At least they weren’t underestimating her abilities to try to escape. Because she would. With Nugget.
She spied a rock, that if she could just get the hairpins on it, would hopefully put them in view of anyone coming from the direction of the camp.
“Ouch!” Annabelle pretended to stumble on her way to the horse. She scooted toward the rock, pretending to try to right herself. Then, because it was so close, Annabelle went and sat on the rock, making a show of examining the foot she’d injured the day before.
“I do hope it’s not worse.” She glared at Slade. “It’s the same ankle I hurt yesterday. I should have listened to Gertie about keeping off it longer. Then maybe you wouldn’t have been able to kidnap us. We’d be safe in the cabin right now.”
Annabelle started to cry, thinking she’d have to fake the tears, but as they flowed readily, she realized what a mess everything was. Her words were supposed to have been a ploy, to distract the men from noticing her setting the pins for someone to discover them. But they were true.
Slade strode toward her, his face filled with disgust.
“Even if you’d stayed at the cabin, we’d still
have gotten you. Probably easier and without a fuss. You think your pa or Gertie would have objected to me taking you two for a ride?”
His confidence made her realize just how he’d fooled them all. If Slade had come to the cabin and offered to take her for a ride, she and everyone else would have agreed.
“Then why kidnap us?” She stared at him defiantly as he hauled her to her feet.
He grinned. “Because it’s more fun this way.”
With great ease, Slade picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. “Wouldn’t want you to hurt your foot any more, would we?”
How had she not seen what a bully Slade was?
Slade handed her to Tom, who helped hoist her back onto the saddle.
“No more delays,” Slade said as he tugged again on one of her loose tendrils.
Another hairpin clattered to the ground, and she couldn’t help but hope that was the first one her rescuers found. It would serve Slade right for his meanness to be the instrument of his downfall.
*
When Joseph and Wes arrived at Gertie’s, the rain had stopped, but the place was in an uproar.
“What’s going on?” he asked Gertie.
“Annabelle and Nugget are missing,” she said, looking over at Frank. “They were picking flowers, then the storm hit. I just don’t know where they could be.”
Polly slammed a pot to the ground. “I’ll tell you where they are. She’s run off with Tom, despite all of her protests about not being the sort to dig her claws into someone else’s man.”
He couldn’t believe that Polly’s petty jealousy was keeping everyone from looking for Annabelle. “That isn’t what happened.” Joseph glared at her, then turned to Frank.
“There’s a lot Wes and I need to catch you up on. But we’ll have to do that as we look for Annabelle and Nugget. Slade has them, and—”
“No, he doesn’t.” Polly stood and squared off with him. “I saw her ride off with Tom. Nugget wasn’t with them. He had his arms around her, and I can assure you, she was not upset about it.”
He stepped aside and addressed Frank. “Tom must be working with Slade. When we were on the ridge, Slade tried to kill me. He stole my pa’s Bible out of my saddlebag. I believe it holds the clue to the location of the silver.”
Love Inspired Historical November 2014 Page 90