“Hush now,” said Tallie. “It’s not proper for you to talk about those things. You ought not to say stallion.”
Sadie giggled. “All right then, gentleman horse.”
There was a moment’s silence as Tallie began to brush her mistress’s hair. Her touch was gentle, and Sadie felt the tension drain out of her.
“Mr. Harry knows about things like that,” Tallie said. “Maybe if he comes back, you can have Zeke ask him for some advice.”
Sadie felt a lump in her throat. “I don’t think he’s coming back, Tallie. He’s had all day yesterday and today. He’s probably halfway to Kentucky by now.”
“He left those mares.”
Sadie turned and looked up at Tallie. “What if he never comes back? Even worse, what if he writes and asks for his money? You know I can’t pay it back.”
Tallie was silent for a moment. “You been prayin’, child?”
Sadie was humbled by her simple question. “Yes. When I pray I get to thinking everything will turn out all right, but afterward I forget, and I get to worrying again. Tallie, I can’t count on Harry’s goodness. Men fail you. Even the Bible says so. And I failed him so badly, I don’t blame him.”
“Yes, men do fail you on occasion, but the Bible also tells you not to fret.”
Sadie inhaled slowly. “Tallie, will you pray with me now?” She grasped her cook’s hand and pulled her down on the quilt beside her. They murmured their petitions quietly. Tears rolled freely down Sadie’s face as she prayed.
“And help me to trust You more and to quit worrying so about Harry and the property and everything, Father. In Jesus’ name—” She heard a thud, seemingly from below them. “Amen,” she said quickly. “Did you hear that, Tallie?”
“I heard it. My menfolk left the house a half an hour ago.”
They both stood up. Sadie fumbled for her dressing gown.
“You can’t go downstairs like that,” Tallie chided.
Sadie hesitated then grabbed her gray housedress. “We could be robbed blind in the time it takes to do all these buttons,” she muttered.
“Let me take a quick look. It’s probably just Zeke checkin’ on things.” Tallie lit a candle from the flame of the oil lamp and headed for the door.
“I’m coming, too.” Sadie grabbed the poker that hung beside the hearth. She rarely had a fire in her bedroom fireplace, but the small poker Tallie’s son Ephraim had made for her seemed the perfect size for a defensive weapon.
“Watch out,” Tallie hissed. “You gonna get soot all over your clothes.”
“Well, Zeke took Papa’s pistol down to the kitchen yesterday. We don’t have anything else.”
Tallie said no more but tiptoed into the hall carrying the candle.
When they reached the top of the stairs she stopped, and Sadie pushed in beside her, staring downward. Light came from the parlor doorway, and they could hear low voices. Tallie blew out her candle, and they stood listening.
“No, don’t bother with that,” Mitchell said distinctly. Another male voice answered, but Sadie couldn’t make out what he said.
Sadie started down the stairs.
“Come back here!” Tallie whispered. “Where you goin’?”
Sadie stopped with one hand on the balustrade, looking up at her. “I’m not going to stand by and let my home be ransacked under my nose.”
“You ain’t even fully dressed, child.”
Sadie gave a soundless laugh. “I have to wear a corset to confront a thief?”
She hurried down the steps and to the door of the parlor. The small oil lamp was burning on her father’s desk, illuminating Dan Mitchell and another man. Mitchell was wearing the clothes she had given him, and the other man was dressed much as the sergeant had been on his arrival. He was larger, and the side of his face was scarred. In one hand he held a bulging cotton pillowcase, one Sadie recognized as having been on Mitchell’s bed. Many years ago her mother had embroidered it with magnolias. The idea of the filthy robber carrying off her mother’s delicate work enraged Sadie.
“You want these doodads?” the man nodded toward the porcelain figurines on the mantelpiece.
“Yes, but be careful not to break them,” Mitchell said. “Those knickknacks can be valuable. There’s a lot of stuff upstairs. I got what cash I could find before I was interrupted, but I saw a rifle and a store of lead balls in the old man’s room and a couple of knives, besides a pocket watch and a fine painting. I expect the girl has jewelry, too.”
“We’ll get those after,” the second man said.
“You’ll do no such thing.” Sadie stepped into the room.
Sixteen
Mitchell whirled, and both men stared at her.
“Well, now, if it isn’t the lady of the house,” Mitchell said, smiling as he stepped toward her.
“Stay back.” Sadie brandished the poker and held her ground. Her heart raced as she met the sergeant’s malevolent glare.
Mitchell laughed. “My, oh, my, we are fierce.”
“You didn’t tell me she was a firebrand,” the big man said. One step and he was so close that, before Sadie could swing the poker, he had it in his hands and twisted it, wrenching it away from her. He tossed it to Mitchell and jerked Sadie around so that her back was to him, and she felt something sharp at her throat.
“All right, Miss McEwan.” Mitchell smiled and paced before her as the larger man held her. “Moe doesn’t want to hurt you. Just tell us where the family fortune lies, and we’ll be gone.”
Sadie stared at him, too terrified to squeak. Family fortune, she thought. Either Tenley painted a very rosy picture of our life to this fellow, or he’s gotten the impression somewhere else. It was true her father had a large piece of land with prime river frontage. The house was adequate, but not opulent. The horses were the finest, but that was because her father had spent many years working hard to build up his breeding stock.
The man holding her squeezed her until she could barely breathe. “Where’s the money?” he croaked in her ear.
Sadie struggled to turn her head away. The stench of his breath was sickening, and his body odor made her feel ill. She hated the way he held her so tightly.
“Let me go,” she whispered. “I don’t have any money.”
Mitchell laughed. “I heard the slave boy say you sold several horses a week or so ago. Where’s the cash? There’s got to be more than we’ve found lying around.”
Sadie held perfectly still, trying not to visualize the carved pine jewel box on her dresser. In it lay the money she had left after buying the lumber and new windows. She had hoped to purchase winter supplies with it. Of course, they would find it sooner or later.
“Where is it?” Moe snarled in her ear.
Sadie gulped for air and managed to gasp, “He’s not a slave.”
“Oh, that’s right. Your brother told me his grandpa was a soft touch and freed them all.” Mitchell came close and leaned toward her. “He also told me your old man was well fixed. The sooner you tell us, the sooner we’ll be gone.”
“Tenley wouldn’t—” Sadie broke off as Mitchell raised his hand.
He’s going to strike me! She tried to pull back, but that meant leaning closer to Moe. She sobbed at her own helplessness and fear.
“Hold it, mister!”
Both men turned in surprise to the doorway. Tallie stood there in suppressed fury, and in her hands was Oliver’s old pistol.
There was an instant of silence; then Mitchell laughed.
“Tallie, Tallie, Tallie. Don’t expect me to believe that thing is loaded.” He started to step toward her, and the pistol fired with a deafening roar that made Sadie’s ears ring. One of the new windowpanes shattered. They all stood staring at Tallie; then Mitchell smiled.
“Well done, Tallie. Now we know how serious you are about protecting your mistress. We also know the chamber is empty now. Give me that thing.” He stepped forward and took the gun from Tallie’s nerveless hand. “These old pistols.” He s
hook his head as he examined it. “Single shot. Not much good once you’ve fired it.”
Sadie caught Tallie’s eye, hoping to see some reassurance there. Had she awakened Zeke and Pax, or had she only had time to go to the kitchen for the pistol? Tallie’s eyes were dull with despair. Sadie refused to let herself give up hope. Maybe Zeke had heard the gun’s report.
“What are you going to do with us?” she asked.
Mitchell looked up. “You got more ammo for this?”
Sadie and Tallie kept quiet, and he laughed. “Right. You know, Moe and I aren’t murderers, which is more than I can say for you, Tallie. You’d have blown my head off with glee if you could’ve held your hands steady.”
Moe let out a guffaw, and Sadie renewed her struggle. His grip tightened, and she hated having his hands on her.
“Easy now,” Mitchell said. He gestured toward the door. “Ladies, upstairs, please.”
“You want them in the heiress’s bedroom?” Moe asked, allowing Sadie to precede him into the hallway.
“No, put them in the room where I’ve been staying.” Mitchell came behind them, carrying the lamp. “We know there’s nothing worthwhile in there. It will keep them out of our way while we finish our work.”
Sadie thought of making a break for the front door, but Moe placed his hulk of a body between her and freedom. He cut the air before him with his knife and said, “Go on now. Get up those stairs.”
Sadie and Tallie went up in silence. Mitchell herded them into his bedchamber and took a quick look around. “I think they’ll be secure here, Moe, but let’s be quick.”
He took the key from the inside of the keyhole, and the two men went out. It was dark when they closed the door. Sadie heard the click of the key in the lock. Her knees went weak all of a sudden, and she felt for the edge of the bed and sank down on it.
“Tallie, we’d best pray.”
“That’s right,” Tallie said, walking to the window. “But we’d best be thinkin’ while we pray.”
“Do you think Zeke will help us?”
“Can’t count on it. If he was still up, he’d hear that pistol shot for certain. If not. . .well, when that man is out, he’s out.”
Sadie nodded in misery. “He said he didn’t sleep well last night so he was tired tonight. He’s probably down there in the cabin, snoring away.”
“Sawin’ logs,” Tallie agreed. “So it’s up to us.”
Sadie joined her at the window. “Too bad they finished the outside work and took the ladder down.”
Tallie grunted. “I be too wide to get through this window anyway. I’d bust the nice frame Mr. Harry made. But you now. . .” She turned to Sadie. “You can get out the window. I’ll help you.”
Alarm shot through Sadie as she eyed the window casement. “But there’s no ladder.”
“Bedsheets. Good, sturdy, linen bedsheets. Come on. We’ll tie them together. Hurry up. Those men won’t stick around long, and we want to put Zeke onto them before they get away with everythin’ you own.”
“Do you think Zeke can stop them any more than we did? I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“I don’t know if he can or not, but my man has a strange habit of thinkin’ when he needs to. Sometimes you’d guess he didn’t have a brain in his head, but when he wants, he can be smart as a steel trap.”
Sadie sobbed as she yanked the comforter off the bed. “Tallie, I left all the money Harry gave me in my jewel box. They’ve probably found it by now.”
“Well, we can’t help that.” Tallie knotted two corners of the sheets together. “You think this will be long enough, or should we tear them in two?”
“Don’t do that! Linen sheets don’t grow on trees, you know. I can jump the last bit, if I need to.”
“All right, but you be careful! Remember all the glass that was under the ladder? I think Zeke got most of it, but they might be a few pieces left.”
Sadie stared at the window. “I can’t go out that one, Tallie. It’s right above the front parlor window. Those hooligans might see me.” She went to the second window, on the sidewall of the house.
“That one’s above a parlor window, too,” Tallie said.
“Not directly, and besides it’s not where the broken glass was.” Sadie raised the sash.
Tallie brought the one chair over and planted it beneath the window. Sadie climbed onto it and stuck her feet out, clinging to the sheets.
“You hang on tight,” Sadie said.
“I will,” Tallie assured her. “It’s too short to tie around the bedstead. Maybe we ought to rip them, after all.”
“No! Besides we don’t have anything to cut them with, and they’re too stout to tear with our bare hands.”
Before Tallie could say anymore, Sadie lowered herself from the window frame. She dangled above the earth for a second, wondering if she could survive this escapade. She knew she didn’t have the strength to pull herself back up to the windowsill, so there was only one way to go. She inched downward as slowly as she could, hoping to touch the ground soon with her toes.
She heard Tallie moan, and Sadie called softly, “You all right?”
“Hurry up, gal. I’m no great shakes as a hitchin’ post.”
Sadie almost lost her grip when she reached the knot at the bottom of the first sheet. The bulk of the second sheet seemed too thick for her hands to grip firmly. She realized her legs were close to the side parlor window. What if the men were in there and saw her or heard her feet bump the wall? The sheets billowed out in a sudden breeze, and she slipped unceremoniously the last four feet, landing in a heap between the side of the house and a rosebush.
She held her breath. No sound came from within the house, and the parlor window was dark. They must not have returned to the room.
Probably tearing my bedroom to pieces, she thought bitterly.
“You alive?” Tallie called in a stage whisper.
“Yes. Now hush. I’ll get us some help.”
Sadie stood up and edged past the prickly rosebush, shaking out her dress. She lifted her skirt and prepared to dash around the corner and across the yard toward Zeke’s cabin. She rounded the corner at a full run and slammed into something firm but yielding.
“Oof!”
Sadie and the man she had collided with tumbled to the ground.
Seventeen
“Hold it!” Zeke yelled.
Sadie wanted to laugh, but she couldn’t catch her breath.
“It’s me, Zeke,” she gasped.
“Miss Sadie?” He clutched her arm then fumbled in the dimness, roughly patting her head. “Well, sure enough. Where’d you come from?”
“I dropped from the sky.”
Zeke shook his head and pulled himself to his feet then offered her his strong hand. “I thought I heard a gunshot.”
“You did. Tallie fired my father’s pistol at Mitchell and his thieving pal, but unfortunately she missed them both.”
“Do tell!” Zeke peered at her in the little light offered by the thin crescent moon. “Where are they now?”
“Probably stealing the cash Harry gave us out of my jewel box. They’re taking everything they can lay their hands on, Zeke! And the big fellow, Moe, has a knife.” She brushed at her skirt.
“Are you all right? Where’s Tallie?”
“I’m fine. She’s up in Tenley’s room. They locked us in there a few minutes ago, and Tallie let me out the window. I climbed down the bedsheets.”
Zeke laughed. “Well, well. Ain’t you some punkins?”
“It’s not funny, Zeke. What can we do? They’re robbing us blind, and the big man doesn’t care if he knocks a few heads together.”
Suddenly she heard hoofbeats, and she stared toward the barnyard. “What’s that?”
“Don’t worry, Miss Sadie. I woke Pax when I heard the shot and told him to get over to the barn and saddle Clipper and ride for town. There’s no horse faster than Clipper in these parts.”
“That was good thinking, if Pax
can handle him.”
Zeke smiled. “He’ll do, and he’s got the moonlight to guide him, praise the Lawd. I figured whatever was up, we’d need some help. Maybe I should have sent him to Kauffmans’. It’s closer, but the road is poor goin’ that way, and I figure there’s a chance Pax will find Mr. Harry at the inn.”
Sadie caught her breath. “Do you really think so? I expect he’s long gone.”
“Well, then, I allow Pax can raise the alarm in town.”
Relief swept over Sadie. “I’m so glad I found you! I was frightened for a while, I don’t mind telling you.”
Zeke pulled her up against the side of the house. Sadie followed his gaze and saw that a light had appeared in the parlor window. She held her breath.
Zeke edged toward the glass and peered into the room then ducked down beside her. “They’s goin’ through Mr. Oliver’s desk.”
“Oh, Zeke, there’s no time!” she whispered. “They’ll be out of here long before Pax gets back with help.”
“Listen now. They’re collectin’ a lot of booty.”
“Yes, I saw them with a pillowcase full earlier, and that was just from the parlor.”
Zeke stroked his chin. “They’ve got your papa’s rifle now and a pile of other stuff. So I asks you, Miss Sadie, how’s they going to carry all that stuff away from here?”
She drew in a quick breath. “The horses! They’re going to steal some horses and maybe the buggy or the farm wagon.”
“That’s right. For a quick getaway, I’m bankin’ on two horses.”
“What can we do?”
“Come on!”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the barn. When they reached the door he opened it quietly. Several horses whinnied and shifted in their stalls.
“Here now. Can you lead that first mare out in the dark without gettin’ stepped on? I don’t think we’d ought to light the lantern.”
Truly Yours Historical Collection December 2014 Page 12