Ida looked at Gemma for a moment, then they nodded. “We won’t say anything, but you have to tell him the truth, Annie. Give him the chance to show you it doesn’t matter to him.”
As she watched the man she’d married walk toward her, she realized with a jolt that she was in love with him. Telling him something like this would test his feelings for her.
And she didn’t know if she could stand to have him prove his feelings didn’t match her own by rejecting her.
Chapter 14
“We’ll be gone overnight for sure, but hopefully we can figure this out without needing to be out for too long. We’ve gathered a few old traps from some of the folks in town who were willing to help us solve who’s been stealing the furs from Hawkeye’s family. We’ll set up some traplines and hopefully catch whoever is doing this in the act.”
Annie seemed preoccupied and on edge as she tried to pack some food into a bag for him. She’d been like that ever since he’d found her visiting in front of the store earlier, and thinking about it, he realized she hadn’t looked him in the eyes once, since he’d walked her back home.
He really wished he didn’t have to leave right now when something was obviously bothering her. But the sooner they caught this thief, the sooner he could spend more of his time with his wife.
When she came over to hand him the food, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her into his arms. He was already bundled up with his heavy coat, but he was almost certain he could feel the heat from her body as soon as she pressed up into him.
He looked down and smiled. Bringing his fingers up to move her hair back, he wished he could take away the sadness in her eyes. “I promise I won’t be gone long. We’ll be staying tonight in the trapper’s cabin Hawkeye has set up for us, so you won’t have to worry about us. Robert and Calvin are staying here in town, so if you need anything, go to them.”
He trailed his fingers along the side of her cheek, marveling at the softness of her skin. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. “I wish you didn’t have to go. I’ll be worrying about you out there.”
“Colton will be with me, and so will Hawkeye. We’ll be careful.”
She opened her eyes back up and tried to smile.
“And I want you to promise me you won’t have moved Finnegan right into the house by the time I get home.” He grinned at her as she rolled her eyes.
“I can’t promise that. If it gets cold, I’ll need someone, or something, to snuggle up to so I can stay warm at night.”
He gave her a stern look. “You wouldn’t dare. Although with you, I honestly can’t say I’d be surprised if I did come home and find Finnegan sitting at your feet.”
He brought his lips down to hers, taking his fill before he left. Normally, when he would have to go out for a few nights, he wouldn’t care. It had never made any difference to him at all.
But it was different now. He had a reason to stay home.
And that reason had thrown her arms around his shoulders and was kissing him back with pure abandon. It was as though she was afraid she was losing him forever.
Pulling his head back, he struggled to regain his composure. “You make it very hard for a man to leave.”
Just then, a knock sounded on the door. He groaned inwardly and let Annie pull herself from his arms.
He turned back before he left, and it took all his strength to leave when he saw her standing in the middle of the room, hands folded in front of her and looking like her world was about to collapse around her. He hated not knowing what was bothering her. He briefly considered telling Colton they’d have to wait to set the traplines, but he knew Hawkeye would already be out there waiting for them.
“Keep the door bolted closed. And don’t try to go out on your own to put food out for that animal. Just stay put until I get home.” And he promised himself, when he did get home, he was going to find out exactly what was going on. Whether she wanted to tell him or not.
Gemma handed her a cup of tea, then moved to sit across the table from her. She’d stopped in to visit her friend after sending a telegraph to Miss Hazel.
“It’s good that you sent a message to Miss Hazel. I know she likely worries about all of us, and then to hear something like that must have been frightful for her.”
Annie nodded as she carefully sipped the steaming liquid. “Yes, I knew she’d be worried. And I’ve asked her to pass a message to my sister and mother that I’m fine, and to let them know my father isn’t out here.”
Gemma clenched her teeth together and watched her closely. “But how do you know for sure? I’m not trying to worry you, but what if he has come out here looking for you?”
Annie had thought about it a million times herself. Especially last night when she’d been home by herself. Every noise and creak made by the wind had her sitting straight up in bed. A few times, she’d gotten up and peeked out the window, afraid of what she’d see.
She told herself over and over that it was just the wind, or maybe Finnegan up next to the house. Truthfully, she didn’t think she’d slept a wink the entire night. She knew if she’d told Malcolm about her father, he’d have been furious that she hadn’t told him the truth.
But she also knew he wouldn’t have gone out to set up the traplines. He never would have left her alone knowing there was any possibility of her father looking for her. And when he found out she’d known she could be in danger, he was going to be even angrier that she’d been so foolish by not telling him.
Dropping her head down, she rubbed her hands over her eyes. “I don’t know. Part of me doesn’t believe he could be bothered coming to find me. It’s not like he ever wanted to be around me before. But another part of me says that’s exactly what he’d do, just to be spiteful and to remind me of how much he hates me.”
Gemma patted her arm. “Well, you know you can stay here with me tonight if the men aren’t back. I’d welcome the company. To be honest, I didn’t really like being alone last night either.”
Annie smiled at her friend, thankful to have someone like her so close. They spent the two hours visiting and baking together, trying to make the time pass quicker. Any time they heard a noise, they would go together to look outside. She was sure they were just letting their imaginations get the best of them, but it did comfort her to know Gemma was with her.
Suddenly, a loud bang on the door made Annie drop a pan on the floor, which echoed around the room. The women looked at each other in fear, then raced over to peek out the window. Somewhere along the way, Gemma had picked the pan up from the floor and she was holding it over her head while Annie pulled back the curtain.
She gave a sigh of relief when she saw Ida standing outside.
Pulling the door open, her relief didn’t last when she saw the tears in Ida’s eyes as she came inside. “I was hoping you were here. I stopped at your place first, but there was no answer. Oh, Annie, Gemma. I don’t know what to do! Lily is gone.”
Annie’s heart dropped to her feet. “What do you mean, she’s gone?” Her words had to be forced out past the clenching in her chest.
“She was playing outside with Winston this morning and I guess a couple of the kids started making fun of her. One of the girls who’d been with them heard it and she came to tell me. Lily got upset and ran off toward the bushes, and I can’t find her.”
Ida’s words were racing together, so Annie was having a hard time following what she was saying.
“I got a few of the other women in the village and we looked, calling her name, but it’s like she just disappeared. There are so many tracks in the woods where the kids play, so I just couldn’t figure out which ones to follow.”
Annie looked over Ida’s head to Gemma.
“I’m going to get Robert and Calvin. They can go out and help you look.” Gemma quickly threw her coat on and ran outside, leaving Ida alone with Annie.
“Don’t worry, Ida. These Mounties are the best, and I know they’ll find her.”
She said
the words, hoping the worried mother would believe her. Even though her own stomach churned with dread as she thought about the young girl alone in the cold and the wild, she had to give Ida hope.
That was all they had.
Chapter 15
Ida had gone back with Robert and Calvin, saying she had to be there to help look for her daughter. The three dogsleds had raced out of town, leaving Gemma and Annie standing on the side of the street with nothing to do but worry for the rest of the day.
When the Mounties hadn’t returned by the time the sun went down, the women knew it wasn’t good. Both Minnie, and Calvin’s wife, Faith, had spent the day at Gemma’s with them, until it was time for Olivia to be put to bed.
After the women had left, Annie and Gemma had spent the night sitting and looking out the window, hoping to see the men riding back into town.
The sun was just coming over the horizon, and Annie was sure she couldn’t spend another minute sitting around. They had no idea what was happening, but if the men weren’t back, that meant the child had just spent the night alone outside in the dark. The longer she was missing, the worse her chances were going to be.
“Someone needs to go find Malcolm and Colton. The more people they have looking, the better their chances will be of finding her. It’s too cold for her to be out this long, and she must have been terrified in the dark by herself…” The more she spoke, the more she upset herself.
Gemma nodded. “You’re right. But we don’t even know where the men are.”
Annie stood up from the table and went to grab her coat. “No, but sitting here isn’t going to find them. I have to do something, Gemma. I know too well how Lily was feeling, and now the thought of her being out there alone is killing me.”
Gemma stood and followed her to the door. “So, what will you do? You can’t ride a horse out into snow that deep. And the other Mounties took all of the dogsleds.”
“I’m going to head over to Mr. Larsen’s to see if he has any more we can use. There has to be someone around here who has a sled and a few dogs they could spare.” Mr. Larsen was the old man who lived on the edge of town who bred dogs for the sleds. Surely if anyone would have something they could use, it would be him. She’d met him briefly one day when they’d been in Mr. Harper’s store.
Grabbing her own coat off the hook, Gemma followed her out the door.
Annie stopped briefly to look at her friend in confusion. “Aren’t you going to tell me how silly this is and try to stop me?”
Gemma just looked at her and shook her head. “No, because I’m coming with you.”
The two women made their way up the street, and Annie tried to ignore the cold that was prickling her skin. The warm weather they’d been enjoying seemed to be giving way to the colder temperatures, and that made Annie worry even more. How could a little girl survive in the cold overnight?
When they got to Mr. Larsen’s, he was outside feeding the dogs. “Well, you ladies are out and about awful early. Is there something you’re needing?”
“We need a sled and some dogs.”
He scrunched his thick eyebrows together and rubbed his chin. The dogs behind him were all yapping and pushing at each other as they ate, their tails wagging rapidly as the food was devoured.
“Well, you know your husbands always use the sleds and dogs I provide, but they’ve all gone out and taken them. I’m not sure when they’ll be back.”
Annie fought against her frustration. “We know they’ve taken all the sleds they normally have, but we hoped you might have another one we could use. We need to find Malcolm and Colton. They won’t know about Lily being missing and since the other two men didn’t come back last night, that means she’s been out all night. They’re going to need all the help they can get.”
She really didn’t have the time to be standing her explaining it all to the man, but she needed to make him understand the urgency. He looked around as though he might just find one sitting beside him he’d forgotten about.
“I don’t reckon I have any other…oh, wait! I do have my old sled that I used when I first moved up here. It’s not in good shape but I’d imagine it could handle the weight of a small woman like yourself. But it only has room for one. I’m sure I have some dogs I could spare too.”
He looked back and forth between them. “Are you sure you ladies know how to drive a team? It’s not something you can just do without having some time to learn.”
Annie took a deep breath and tried to offer the older man a smile. “I can drive a team. My husband taught me, so you don’t have to worry. Can you get the dogs hooked up to the sled for me?”
Gemma took her arm and pulled her to face her as Mr. Larsen sauntered off in the other direction. “Annie, you can’t go out on your own. You don’t even know where to look! What if you end up getting lost and then everyone’s out having to search for you too?”
Annie knew that Gemma was right, but she wasn’t going to let herself listen to reason at this moment. All she could think of was Lily, and she was going to do whatever she could to help.
“I’ll be careful not to get too far off the main path. I just need to find Malcolm. He’ll find her.”
Somehow, she just knew that Malcolm could fix everything. She’d never had anyone she could depend on before, or who she could believe with all her heart could make things better just by being there.
But she believed it with Malcolm. She knew he wouldn’t rest until he found Lily.
She would head out to the village first and see how the search was coming along. She could offer some support to Ida, and ask Robert if he knew how to find Malcolm.
As she watched Mr. Larsen pull an old, derelict-looking sled from behind a shed that looked like it was about to fall down, Annie had a moment of doubt. Would that thing even hold together long enough for her to get out of town?
By the look on Gemma’s face, she was having the same thoughts.
“She’s old but she’s still got some life left in her.” Mr. Larsen chuckled as he wiped some dirt off the edge that had been lying on the ground.
“Are you sure this thing is safe?” Gemma reached out and gave it a gentle shake.
“It will be fine, Gemma. I’ll just have to be careful.” She was trying to convince her friend as much as herself.
As the man hitched the dogs onto the front, Annie tried to stop the voice in her head that kept telling her she was crazy to get on this sled. It was going to be a miracle if it held together long enough to even get her to the little village outside of town.
But she didn’t have any other choice. She wasn’t going to sit here doing nothing while Lily was out there.
Chapter 16
Malcolm stepped off the back of the sled and stretched, trying to get the tension out of his aching muscles. The past couple of days had drained him and all he wanted to do was see Annie. He knew she’d be worrying about Lily, so he’d come home to update her.
Robert had come out to find them yesterday, to let them know the girl had gone missing. The traplines had been forgotten as the men raced to the village to help. They’d spent the evening and all night out searching, but hadn’t found any sign of her. It was as though she’d completely disappeared.
His heart clenched as he thought about having to tell Annie they still hadn’t found her. He knew how worried she would have been since finding out, and he wished he had good news for her.
He was going to update Annie, have something to eat, then head back to the village to continue searching. Every hour that passed without finding Lily made things more worrisome. It had been cold last night, and a child out on her own would have a slim chance of survival.
But he couldn’t bring himself to believe that. And he knew he couldn’t tell Annie that either.
When he opened the door, he was shocked at the chill inside the cabin. He walked over to the stove and looked inside where not even an ember glowed. Where was she? And why did he have this feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach?
“Annie?” He called out, knowing full well he wasn’t going to get an answer. It was obvious she wasn’t here. He turned to go back outside, and just as he got to the hooks by the door, his eye was caught by something lying on the ground. Crouching down, he picked up the crumpled piece of paper.
As he smoothed it out, he realized it was a telegram addressed to Annie. He scanned the message, his heart pounding faster with every word he read.
Who was Annie’s father?
None of this made any sense. He went outside and stormed down the street to Gemma’s house. She had to be there. Banging on the door, he shook with anger as he went over the reasons for the message he held in his hand.
Gemma opened it, her face shocked as she saw him. She quickly poked her head out the door and looked past him up the street. “Is Colton home? Did Annie find you?”
He clenched his jaw in anger. “Where is she? And what is this about?” He held the paper up and watched as Gemma’s face paled.
“That’s not my place to tell you about. Right now, the most important thing is finding Lily. Annie went to find you.”
He had to shake his head at the confusion that was clouding his thinking. He hadn’t slept at all last night, and the night before in the trapper’s cabin hadn’t been restful either. He was sure he wasn’t hearing things right.
“She never found me. I just came here to give her an update because I knew she’d be worried. Colton and I both joined the search yesterday evening but haven’t found Lily yet.”
Gemma’s face fell. “Well, where is Annie then?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out. What is going on? And don’t tell me it isn’t your place to tell me. I want to know what this message is about. And I want to know where my wife is.”
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