A Cajun Dream (The Cajun Series Book 5)

by Claire, Cherie

  “We haven’t been able to find him,” James answered, sending a chill through Amanda. “He is either fast on his way to Texas or waiting to make a move of some kind.”

  A silence fell about the trio and Amanda heard the children playing pirates on the other side of the house.

  “I want you both to be extremely careful,” James instructed them, his voice taking on its usual paternal tone. “Don’t ever be alone. Stay near other people, populated areas. Don’t venture anywhere by yourself.”

  Both Amanda and René assured him they would take extra precautions, but Amanda couldn’t help feeling comforted that her father was equally concerned for René’s safety as well as her own.

  James turned to walk toward the buggy, then stopped abruptly as if he forgot something important. “Oh, there is something else.”

  Amanda waited for the additional piece of news, but when her father hesitated, she feared another dose of ill tidings were on the way.

  “I uh...I have....” James smiled at his inability to form words. If Amanda wasn’t mistaken, a blush began to spread about his cheeks. “I have asked Virginia to marry me,” he finally said. “And she has agreed.”

  Amanda’s jaw fell open for the second time that morning, and she stood staring, at a loss for words.

  “That is, of course, if you approve.”

  Amanda threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Her father was going to be fine, after all. “Of course I approve. It’s about time.”

  “Some of us need a little encouragement. Someone to open the curtains and let some light into our lives.” James tightened his hold on Amanda, pressing his cheek lovingly against the blonde curls. “I love you,” he whispered.

  “I love you, too.”

  When he released her, René extended his hand. “The Baieonne? The one with the bright red hair?”

  “Yes,” James answered, staring thoughtfully down at their united hands.

  “I wish you the best of luck and all the happiness in the world,” René said proudly.

  “Thank you, my boy.” James placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. “With a handshake like that, I wish for you a long career in politics.”

  Amanda giggled and René sent her a puzzled look. “Not you, too?”

  “You would be great,” she agreed.

  “Think about it,” James said before entering the buggy. “You’re a natural. Most politicians would kill to have your kind of charisma.”

  René placed an arm about Amanda’s shoulders. “We’ll see.”

  James whipped the horses to action and the buggy started toward the road. “Next Saturday,” James shouted back to the couple. “The wedding is Saturday.”

  Amanda watched the buggy slowly disappear from sight, still shocked by the morning’s revelations. When she gazed back to René, in the hopes of finding someone to share in her astonishment, she found him frowning, a pensive look on his face.

  “You really would make an ideal politician. But if you’re not interested, my father would not mind you saying so.”

  “What?” he asked absentmindedly. René dropped his arm and walked silently toward the path leading to the stables. His unusual silence unnerved her. A shudder passed down her spine, as if Henry Tanner was breathing down her neck.

  “Is something wrong?” She hoped the fear she was experiencing was unfounded but René silently stared at the horizon.

  Behind them Alcée emerged from the house, a grim expression on his face as well. The two men exchanged glances but said nothing. Amanda held her breath as they both looked back toward the stables.

  Then Amanda heard the noise. The sound was hard to discern, at first, but by the time it was repeated they all knew of its source. It was the cry of an animal in the jaws of death.

  “Dear God,” she whispered, at the same time recognizing the faint smell of smoke riding toward the house on the wind. “The stables are on fire.”

  Alcée shouted for his family and they all bolted into action. Everyone grabbed pots, pails and anything big enough to hold water and ran toward the stables. Even the children did their part, bringing up the rear with water jugs and their fishing pails.

  Amanda fell back to help Pierre, but René instantly grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward.

  “Stay with my family,” he shouted. “I’ll take care of the boys.”

  René picked up Pierre and followed the group down the path. When they made the clearing, everyone paused momentarily as the red, violent flames of the fire became visible.

  “The well is several feet behind the western wall,” Alcée shouted to Etienne, who was leading the pack.

  Picking up her skirts, Amanda followed the parade of water from well to building, never taking a moment to wonder if the fire was abating. Like everyone else, Amanda kept her head bent down, concentrating only on moving water from one place to another.

  No one spoke as they each placed their pail on the ground, pumping water from the well, then quickly running back to spray the water against the side of the building. After several trips, Amanda failed to comprehend who was by her side as she ran from one place to another. When the footsteps sounded from behind, she imagined it to be any one of the family members.

  She threw her pail beneath the spout and began pumping furiously. If only the well wasn’t so far away, Amanda thought, then the trail of water would be faster. If only there were more people.

  Suddenly, a fear gripped her heart, an unsettling feeling that whoever was standing behind her was not welcome. She kept pumping, knowing her anxiety was unfounded. After all, who else would it be besides family?

  The pail filled just as the thought of Tanner causing the fire raced through her mind. Amanda moved to turn, to face the presence at her back, but never got the chance. As she briefly caught an image of Tanner’s menacing face, she felt a lightning pain at the back of her head and her world turn instantly black.

  A Cajun Dream

  Chapter Seventeen

  René dropped Pierre at a reasonable distance from the fire and bolted inside. While the others ran water from the well to the building, René released each horse one by one, covering its eyes to lead him from the burning stables. The poor Vaughn horse had been the closest to the fire and never stood a chance. René covered his own face with a horse blanket to avoid the awful smell of its burning flesh.

  With the last of the horses rescued, René grabbed the saddles lining the wall furthest from the flames. He started for the office, but Alcée intercepted.

  “Get out of here,” Alcée shouted. “The building’s going to collapse.”

  René felt the burning in his lungs and followed his uncle into the clearing. As he looked back at the stables, René realized all hope was lost. The fire burned with such ferocity, the heat tinged his skin even though he stood several hundred feet away.

  “There’s nothing we can do,” Alcée said, letting his empty bucket hit the ground at his feet.

  “Tell everyone to stop,” René said. “Tell them it’s useless.”

  Alcée walked to the line of people emerging from the woods and the well and began to parlay the information. René watched as first Marie, then Etienne and T-Emile caught up to Alcée, dropping their pails at the news. Alexandre stood to René’s right and Colette was at the building throwing water on the stable’s wall with Pierre. René scanned the horizon and found no one else. In the distance, he heard the sound of horses galloping away.

  The knowledge hit him like a lightning bolt.

  René yelled to Alcée, but Alcée only looked back puzzled, too far away to hear anything over the noise of the fire. René reached Colette first and grabbed her anxiously. “Where is Amanda?”

  Colette looked back over her shoulder. “She was right behind me.”

  For a moment, René hoped he was mistaken, that the thought of Tanner setting fire to his stables to steal his wife away was absurd. He ran toward his family and the woods, praying Amanda would emerge from behind a tree. But th
e closer he got to Alcée and his parents, the more he feared the worst. His mother turned and called Amanda’s name.

  “Where is she?” René yelled to the group.

  Alcée shot him a worried glance that caused René’s heart to stop beating. Silently, Alcée ran toward the woods, René at his heels.

  Her pail sat by the well, filled to the brim, but she was nowhere in sight. To the left were marks in the dirt as if someone had dragged another person away. René followed the path to the dirt road that led to the LeBlanc house. There the marks disappeared, but wheel tracks made it clear a horse and buggy had just passed.

  René felt his chest constrict. He forced himself to breathe. He knew he had to think, to formulate a plan, but the thought of Amanda stolen away by a murderer was more than he could bear. René leaned over, placing his hands on his knees. He had to concentrate.

  “I’ve sent T-Emile for the Judge,” he heard Alcée say behind him. “He’ll have the sheriff and every man in town after him.”

  René took a deep breath and straightened. “Where’s Mary’s Blessing.”

  Alcée grabbed his arm as he headed back toward the stables. “You’re crazy if you think you can face Tanner alone. He’ll kill you.”

  “Then so be it,” René said, pulling his arm free.

  “What good will you be to her if you’re dead?” Alcée shouted at his back.

  René spun around hard, sending Alcée a determined stare. “Not if I kill him first.”

  When René hit the clearing, the other members of his family were still searching the area anxiously for Amanda. T-Emile was saddling one of the horses he managed to round up.

  “Tell the Judge I have gone to Port Cocodrie,” René yelled to the youth as he helped him on to the horse. “Tell him to send some men to the Bay, but have him comb the area in case I’m wrong.” T-Emile said nothing, but kicked the horse into action and rode away.

  René then scanned the horizon until he found what he was looking for — the fastest horse in St. Mary Parish. He moved cautiously toward the mare, careful not to spook the horse already scared from the fire.

  “Come on Mary,” René coaxed. “We have a job to do and I can’t do it without you.”

  As if the horse could read his mind, she cooperated, letting René pass a rope around her neck and lead her toward a saddle. René instantly tossed the saddle on to her back and tightened the girth. Mary’s Blessing stood poised, waiting to take action.

  “Where are you going?” Etienne called to René.

  “Amanda is in trouble,” René said before mounting. With those final words, René rode off toward the south, and the dark waters of Côte Blanche Bay.

  Philip leaned against the pub’s wooden post along the outside of the building, careful not to appear too attentive. He had watched the men’s movement to and from the ship for almost an hour, and finally realized their business. He took another sip from the cheap rum he purchased, wincing as it burned a path down his throat. Philip despised poor liquor, not to mention seedy port life, but he knew he must appear as one of the merchants enjoying a little libation after finishing an exhausting day of exporting goods, when money flowed freely in his pockets.

  The men took no notice of him, and began discussing their next course of action. Philip glanced down at the ground, pulling his hat low about his face but leaning an ear in their direction. He was just about to realize their destination when the sounds of a horse riding in from the north blocked out all conversation.

  “Merde,” he muttered to himself.

  The interruption caused the men to look up and notice for the first time that others were in hearing distance. They boarded the ship and disappeared. Philip angrily turned toward the source of the noise, wanting desperately to give the intruder a solid piece of his mind.

  As the man headed toward the light of the inn, Philip noticed something familiar in his gait. He knew it was only a matter of time before he followed her here, but Philip was surprised that René dared venture to Port Cocodrie by himself. Philip staggered toward him, wrapped an arm about his shoulders and pretended to be very drunk.

  “It’s about time you got here,” he shouted into René’s surprised face. “I hope you don’t mind, but we started without you.”

  René tried to move him away, but Philip held tightly to his arm. “Play along,” he whispered, leading René into the pub.

  The saloon’s patrons were few due to the early afternoon hour. A couple of Americans sat by the back wall, talking loudly and laughing, and a lone boatman sat to their right eating a dinner of fish stew and ale. All three men looked up as Philip and René entered the pub.

  “Relax,” Philip whispered, and then gave him a hard slap on the back. René fell forward slightly and sent Philip an angry glance.

  “Two rums,” Philip shouted to the bartender in his heavily accented English.

  The bartender pointed to the bottle of rum Philip grasped in his right hand. “Oh,” Philip said with a drunken laugh. “Give us two more anyway.”

  He turned and grabbed René’s shoulders again, pulling him into a chair as far from the others as possible. He fell into the opposite chair and began laughing again, while the bartender placed two glasses of rum before them. Philip threw the man a coin in payment. “Keep the change.”

  When the bartender was out of earshot, René sat forward. “Just what the hell is going on?”

  Philip raised his hand in caution and handed René the glass. René eyed it suspiciously, then accepted it. Philip tapped his glass against René’s and offered a toast. “A votre santé.”

  René burrowed his brows and Philip imagined the boy was beginning to think he really was drunk. “I don’t think you understand...,” René began, dropping the glass to the table.

  “I understand that these men are watching us,” Philip said quietly, “and if you don’t drink that rum they will get suspicious. If you want to help her, you’ll follow my lead.”

  René’s eyes intensified. “Do you know where she is?”

  “Drink,” Philip instructed sternly.

  René took a deep breath, smiled as if enjoying himself, and tilted the glass back.

  “Another round for my friend,” Philip yelled to the bartender. Quietly, he added to René, “She’s here in Port Cocodrie.”

  René immediately rose to leave, but Philip grabbed his forearm, keeping him in place. The bartender brought another round, eyeing the two carefully. “Thank you my good man,” Philip said, offering up his best smile and placing another coin in the man’s hand. “My friend is new to the area, just arrived from the Opelousas Poste. I’m trying to show him a good time.”

  The bartender grunted and left, this time without glancing back. “Listen closely,” Philip told René. “There’s a boat docked out back. If I’m not mistaken it’s Captain Marenga’s ship out of the West Indies. He’s a man with a price on his head in the States. Deals in the black market and slavery. White slavery, too, if you know what I mean.”

  René again tried to rise, but Phillip tightened his hold on his arm. “Hear me out, son. If you want to save Amanda you must think with your head and not with your heart.”

  “Just tell me where she is,” René whispered heatedly.

  “Tanner has her in the Inn, on the third floor, but probably not for long,” Philip explained. “I was eavesdropping on the ship’s men until you came barreling in here. Because of you I was unable to hear where they are headed.”

  “They’re not heading anywhere with my wife,” René said so intensely, Philip felt the goosebumps rise on his flesh.

  “Your head,” Philip warned him again. “Use your head. She’s surrounded by many men, including Tanner, and the ones on the ship will not be happy losing such a prize. They’re rough men, René. They would just as soon kill their own mother as kill you.”

  René said nothing, staring down at the glass in his hand. “I have a plan,” Philip said. “Are you interested?”

  “Who are you? First
you try to bribe me at my stables, now you’re willing to help rescue my wife against a pack of cut-throats.”

  Philip couldn’t but help smile at the absurdity of it all. “I am Philip Vanier. Her mother was my sister.”

  René sat back slightly in his chair. “What is your plan?”

  “Tanner has two men on watch at the front entrance. My room is on the first floor, at the end of the hallway, next to the back set of stairs. While I entertain the men at the front entrance, you enter my room through my open window and sneak up the stairs.”

  René nodded as he considered the instructions. “I need a gun.”

  “I have one underneath my coat.” While Philip refilled both their glasses with rum, he slid the pistol beneath the table to René’s lap. René accepted the weapon and discreetly placed it within his own waistcoat.

  “Bon,” Philip said. “You’re using your head. But be careful. It’s half-cocked and loaded.”

  “Are you ready?” he asked, rising.

  Philip joined him, stretching lazily. “I think you’re right, my friend,” he said loudly. “We need some women.”

  Philip hoped René had the good sense to play along, and was grateful when the young man smiled. “Only a hag would like the sight of you now?”

  “In my condition, I wouldn’t know the difference,” Philip laughed back.

  The two agreeably left the saloon, stumbling along the path that led to the inn. When they were safely out of reach of the saloon’s intruding lamplight, Philip pulled René aside and pointed toward the end of the building.

  “My room is the second from the end, the one with the torn curtains. Wait a minute or two for me to get the attention of the man at the door, then try to make it up the back stairs.”

  René agreed and turned to leave, but Philip grabbed his sleeve once again. “Use your head,” he warned René in a tone that was now devoid of all merriment. “We all want her safe, but you will fail if you let your heart think for you. Remember the saying, ‘Fools rush in.’ ”

  After testing to make sure the pistol was safely lodged inside the waistband of his trousers, and hidden by his waistcoat, René headed off into the darkness. Philip prayed his plan would work, and that the boy would take his advice — for the sake of them all.