“Is that why you asked for the tintype?”
“It wouldn’t have made any difference at that point what you looked like, but I was curious.” He leaned over and planted a kiss on her lush, full lips.
“When I saw the tilt of that chin, signaling a bit of defiance, those bright, intelligent eyes and that spark of spirit, I was determined to bring you out here, I had to meet you.”
She swatted him “You’ve already confessed you thought I was plain enough to remain unmarried for a sufficient time to get your office straightened out and your papers organized”
“And my plan has worked well so far. You’ve done an outstanding job organizing my office and you aren’t married yet.” He twined a curl round one finger. “Despite fooling me and being far more attractive than I was led to believe.”
“Yes, it was my plan to deceive you right from the start with that ugly tintype. I purposely made myself as homely as possible in order to secure the position,” she said, and stretched, eager to change the subject. “I’m ready to get cleaned up, shall we head down to the bathhouse?” Then she caught herself and shook her head. “I don’t suppose we can go traipsing down there together. Everyone will know what we’ve been up to!”
He chuckled. “We’ll need to be sneaky. I’ll go down there first and clear anyone out on the pretense that after my trip out to the Flying A Ranch, I need a good soaking.”
He gave her an alley-cat smirk. “I’m not as young as I used to be and if I complain about my bones being jangled on the back of a horse, no one will pay any attention.”
“I’ll follow you down. We’ll bar the door and enjoy a long, hot soak.” She suggested.
“Just give me ten or fifteen minutes.” He said.
“They will know though, won’t they?” She felt her cheeks turn red.
He nodded. “But this is my town, so no one will say a thing. They might think it, but they’d never say it.”
“I’ m a ruined woman,” she whispered as he slipped out the door.
And not the least bit repentant either she realized. When she considered the choices she’d made in her life it always seemed she was happiest when she was doing something everyone else told her she shouldn’t.
Chapter Seventeen
Stealing Beauty
Prudence decided to wear her flannel nightgown beneath her wool coat to the bathhouse. The day had been warm but it would cool down by the time they came out into the evening air.
She smiled at the idea of what they might do within the confines of the hot, steamy tub for an inordinate amount of time. Truly, she was becoming as lewd as a strumpet in a whorehouse. She should have felt ashamed at that realization but instead she was titillated.
She glanced around, more out of curiosity than embarrassment, and she discovered Gerritt was right. Since the bathhouse was closer to his house than the town, no one was around. She pushed the door open and scanned the shadowy interior.
“I’ve got a surprise for you, darling.”
A nasty smelling cloth covered her mouth and nose and thick arms gripped her from behind.
“And I’ve got a surprise for you— you meddling bitch.”
She couldn’t scream, she couldn’t call for help and her efforts to fight back were useless, as she slipped into a murky darkness.
***
Prudence shivered, her arms and legs felt so heavy, she couldn’t move them. She wondered if she was back in the mine because the cold, wet gloom was so impenetrable, she couldn’t see a thing. Then, off in the distance, a tiny flicker of light began to illuminate the shadows.
The light seemed to move closer and closer and then became so bright— it hurt her eyes.
Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. A foul taste coated her tongue and she realized the blazing light she stared was the sun. She was lying flat and could hear the sound of water lapping.
She struggled to move and discovered her hands and feet were bound. She was in a boat but it was impossible to twist around to see who was holding her captive. Tears rushed to her eyes but she blinked them away.
Crying would serve no purpose except to make her feel more vulnerable.
“Settle down, bitch,” a man’s voice demanded. It seemed familiar and she knew she’d heard it before.
“Who are you?” She asked, the words scraping against her scratchy throat “And what do you want?”
There was the sound of water again, a regular tempo, and a sense of being propelled forward which meant she was probably in a rowboat or canoe. But why?
“No reason for you to know that,” the man growled. “What I want is for you to be gone. Since you have a kinda knack for surviving, I decided it was best for me to just take you someplace and make sure you never come back.”
Prudence now wished she’d never asked the question. Being told that someone wanted to get rid of her had a chilling effect. She wanted to dissolve into tears, maybe beg for her life, but she needed to calm the butterflies whirling through her belly and figure out who could be trying so hard to eliminate her.
“I don’t believe I know who you are,” she worked to put a note into her voice that indicated she was hoping for a polite introduction like they were meeting on Sunday at the Methodist church instead of during a kidnapping. Well, actually, her kidnapping.
“You don’t need to know anything except you’ll never see your lover again.” He made that word sound dirty and disgusting.
She swallowed and tried not to picture what had happened to Gerritt, who’d preceded her into the bathhouse. Was he stretched out in a pool of blood, stabbed or shot? She hadn’t heard the sound of gunshot, so this man had probably used a knife. That thought brought silent tears to her eyes.
Gerritt could be injured and there was no way she would be there to comfort him. She managed to control her weeping, afraid if she started to sob the man might push her out of the boat and let her drown.
“What did I do to deserve this sort of treatment? Do I even know you?” She wanted to keep the man talking so she might be able to unravel his identity. If she could determine who she was talking to she might be able to figure out why he’d kidnapped her. And that might give her some way to negotiate or escape.
“You kept me from finding something that would have earned me a lot of money. The people who wanted it don’t like to be told no. You must have hid it or something. I’ve been in that office and searched for it over and over again. I know the plans were there before you came.”
Her brain was still fuzzy, but she couldn’t recall putting anything away that might have precipitated a kidnapping. There were so many plans for projects. She’d done what the professor hired her to do, organize the mess. She had hoped her efforts would make it easier for the professor to find things. Of course, it if deterred a robbery, then that was also a measure of success.
“And the professor kept bragging about how smart you were, how you went to a fancy business school and could do all sorts of things.” The man grunted. “Some things are better left to men and not god-damned meddling women.”
A flash of temper stung her and she clenched her teeth. She hated the way men argued that a woman wasn’t capable of doing something because of her sex.
“I did attend a very prestigious business college and I was one of five women to graduate in my class.” She paused to consider his words. “But, surely you don’t intend to murder me because I’ve learned a trade.”
Her voice stumbled at the word, murder.
The man barked a vile laugh. “I don’t intend to murder you at all, Mrs. Worthington, although at some point in the future you’ll probably wish I did.”
Relief did not wash over her at his words.
“You’re a trinket, and a valuable one at that. Women are scarce in this territory. They bring a high price from the right bidder. So, I’m going to sell you and make a tidy profit.”
Prudence bit her lip as a surge of frigid liquid that used to be her blood rolled through her body. Sold?
Like a piece of meat, or a possession or a harlot. Harlot! That’s what this man intended to make her.
Tears filled her eyes and she didn’t bother to hold them back now. There was no point in pretending she wasn’t terrified. This man had taken her, and even if Gerritt managed to survive the attack, how would he know how find her?
“Don’t be getting your hopes up about the professor rescuing you neither. I sent the Steaming Meemie and two wagons out this afternoon, all in different directions. If he survived that crack on the head I gave him, he’ll still have to figure out which way we might be headed. Even the professor can’t be every place at the same time.”
There was a sneer in his voice.
“Plus, there’s a little surprise waiting for him up in the hills. If he wakes up, he’ll have his hands full trying to protect his townsfolk.”
“Why do you hate him so much? Did he do something terrible to you?” She was confused, because in the time she’d known Gerritt, he’d never been mean or uncaring. He seemed to be proud of the town he was building, cared enough about his employees to attempt to make their jobs safer and easier, and he’d been excited about the ways he could use his knowledge to help others.
A grim laugh echoed around her. “It isn’t none of your business, bitch, why I’ve sold you off. All you need to know is you won’t be spending any more time with your precious professor.”
“I’m afraid the professor won’t be looking quite as hard for me as you imagine. Of course he’s grown fond of me”, she gave a deep sigh of resignation. “But I’m a convenient bedmate, he told me so this afternoon. I was informed I should expect nothing more than a tumble once in a while.”
The man guffawed. “If I had more time, I’d try out some of that convenience myself.”
Prudence shuddered and her stomach squeezed tight at the thought of being raped. Of course, if he didn’t take her today, it was inevitable another man would tomorrow. She was being sold like a poor Negro in a slave market in the south. It was despicable, but she didn’t doubt the man told the truth. She’d learned a lot about the dark side of human nature in the past few years. Too much.
She’d watched a woman who professed to care about her family grow hard and cold and mean because she couldn’t deal with the loss of her only son. She’d seen men terrified of a woman who could compete with them for a job use ugly names, demeaning slurs and patronizing treatment to keep the females in their place. She’d watched war widows forced to sell their homes and move their children in with other family members because they were too poor to take care of them.
She closed her eyes, exhausted from talking with a man who’d decided her life was nothing more than a way to line his pockets with gold.
The voice of Hester Worthington, her mother-in-law, echoed in her mind. The warnings of how Prudence would suffer some dire fate, be murdered by heathens, captured by outlaws or left to die of thirst in some desert in the Wild West.
She’d wanted Prudence to remain on the farm back east because her daughter-in-law was an unpaid servant and a convenient target for all her anger and frustration at a loss she couldn’t accept. Hester had blamed Prudence for Eli’s death, despite the fact that he’d joined the army against her wishes. No explanation could ever dilute the poison she spewed at Prudence. No doubt she’d be happy to know the daughter-in-law she despised had disappeared into the wilds of Montana, just as Hester had once predicted
Perhaps the woman had cursed her.
At least she’d had a small taste of paradise in her short time in Montana. Gerritt had made love to her passionately, and he’d admitted he loved her. That was a precious gift. And she wasn’t dead yet.
Whatever happened to her, she’d scheme, plan and wait. Any man who purchased her would be well-advised to sleep with one eye open and a loaded gun beneath his pillow.
She’d survive and someday she’d escape and discover if Gerritt was still alive. No man, or mountain or number of miles from the man she loved would deter her.
She wondered if they’d stay on the river all night. Was her captor headed for a camp? Or a private rendezvous? That thought made her shiver with dread.
The sun was low in the sky when the man put the oars in the boat as they moved faster through the water. The boat began to bob and Prudence could hear the water rushing around them, faster and faster as if they were entering a rapids.
She tried to sit up, but the combination of having both her hands and feet tied made her unable to move.
“If we’re going into the rapids you should untie me. I can swim, but if we tip over, I’ll drop right to the bottom of the river.”
He didn’t respond.
“I won’t be worth a thing to you if I’m dead,” she warned.
He seemed to need a few minutes to digest this piece of information, then the boat rocked. A thick arm holding a knife appeared above her and she stifled the urge to scream. The rope binding her hands was cut and the boat rocked again.
“Turn around and I’ll release your legs. Having you gone is reward enough for me but the man who bought you will hunt me down and skin me alive if I don’t deliver the white woman he wants.”
Little comfort there, she mused. Twisting on her bottom, the boat rocked and she grabbed the side and held her breath when she discovered the identity of her captor.
It was Gerritt’s bookkeeper, Alfred Heisman. What in the world would make him want to kidnap her? Why did he think she threatened him or had hidden something he wanted so badly?
Then she recalled details from one of the last letters Gerritt had sent before hiring her. He’d inquired about her skills in accounting, asked if her training involved maintaining ledger accounts.
She’d been proud to inform him that she did indeed know accounting, and it was one of the classes she’d excelled in at the school. She’d even bragged about it at the dinner the first night she’d arrived in Jubilee. Now it was clear to her why Alfred Heisman considered her a threat.
She ripped away the rope wrapping her feet and squeezed her hands together to get the blood flowing again.
“You’ve been stealing from Gerritt, haven’t you?” The calm confidence in her voice shocked her.
His response was a long, cold, hard look that made her feel as if icicles were sliding across her skin.
“You knew if I audited the account books, he’d discover your perfidy.”
Heisman picked up one oar and tried to use it to guide the boat. The water was getting choppy and Prudence grabbed the edge again.
“You do know how to navigate through the rapids, don’t you?”
He swallowed hard and she thought his face appeared a bit paler. “I can handle this, you just shut the hell up!”
He grabbed the other oar and tried to move them closer to the main part of the river stream. He had one oar in the water, but the other one was too hard to handle in the current, so they slid sideways and the boat banged against a rock.
The boat moved faster now, jumping as if a hand hurled it up out of the brown, churning water, then shoved it back down again in angry retribution. Icy cold water soaked them and whitecaps slapped against rocks visible on the sides of a small passage. The river was high with snowmelt and a recent storm had dumped enough water to raise the level even higher. Submerged trees and snags edged the riverbank.
He had to get them through that narrow passage or there was a good chance the boat would be caught by the rapids and flip over. She didn’t relish the idea of being sold to a strange man, but drowning was not the better choice.
“The center,” she directed, pointing. “It drops down there between those rocks.”
Heisman pulled on the oars, trying to get them into the main channel, but the force of the water fought him.
The boat hit one of the huge blocks of granite jutting into the water, made a splintering noise and dumped them both into the glacial water. Prudence watched Heisman bob up and down as he struggled to grab hold of the boat again.
She rememb
ered swimming in Lake Ontario while growing up, and the way Eli had taught her to float on her back and let the water hold her up.
She tried to float, stretching her arms and legs out on both sides. She was grateful she wasn’t wearing the corset, multiple petticoats and heavy gown she usually wore. She’d be on the bottom of the river already. She still might end up there.
The water filled her nose and mouth as the current grabbed her. Her elbow struck a granite outcropping and a bolt of pain shot up her arm. She didn’t have time to worry about it though, as white water yanked her down, then flung her up again like she was a rag doll. She didn’t fight it, but kept praying that by some miracle, she’d float down the river to calmer water.
And just when she thought the river was going to claim her as another victim, the raging torrent spread out into a placid pool. She flipped onto her stomach, tried to get her bearings and forced her aching arms into painful strokes toward a small, rocky beach.
After what seemed like centuries, she dragged her waterlogged, tattered body onto the small gravel beach. Tall trees seemed to scrape the sky and despite being grateful to be alive, Prudence wondered how she’d ever find her way out of this wilderness.
She couldn’t stop shivering, too dazed to even crawl more than a few feet onto the beach. She knew she needed to get up and run into the woods. The last she’d seen of Alfred Heisman, he’d been dragged down the river ahead of her. She needed to hide, because Heisman would be searching for her. He’d made it clear she was a precious commodity.
She coughed, trying to expel the water she’d swallowed. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, her elbow dripped blood and her right wrist brought tears to her eyes when she tried to move it. Her teeth chattered so loudly, she was terrified that alone would give her location away.
But she’d managed to escape. And despite all the odds she faced, she vowed she’d find a way to return to Jubilee and the man she loved. She’d battle grizzly bear, wolf and mountain lion if that’s what it took. Although, she had no idea how she’d manage if one of those creatures actually stepped into the small clearing. Hands and teeth wouldn’t be too effective against claws and fangs.
Prudence and the Professor Page 19