Everyone at the table set their attention on her face, waiting for an answer. "Yes, it did, but I'll be fine in a couple of days."
Genevieve nodded, and then glanced at Hank. "I'd like to meet with you later to discuss your new rules."
Caroline read fear on her sisters' faces. "You know what? Thanksgiving is next Thursday. We have lots of turkeys to hand out to our neighbors." She gazed at her father. "Could we have permission to deliver baskets of food to them?"
"It's a lovely idea. If Big Dog goes with you and I know when you leave and return, yes you may make your deliveries."
"I think we could also make a card to put in with the groceries. Should we do them today?" Genevieve said.
"Yes," Danielle said. "It'll be more personal."
The rest of the meal the girls discussed ideas for what to give away with each turkey.
Lottie added her ideas to this part of the discussion. "I would like to have everyone in my kitchen helping me make cookies this afternoon."
The light-hearted banter relaxed Caroline. She realized why Daddy had to put down the restrictions. She hoped her Uncle Gervais and Captain Farthington would let their hatred go, but feared someone would get hurt or killed before it all ended. She prayed she was wrong.
After breakfast finished, Caroline opened up the store and glanced around at the half-finished display in the window. The bag with the items she and Tam picked up didn't make it back to the post with her. She tied the two red ribbons Lottie gave them into bows and stuck them on both sides of the canned goods along with a few pinecones she'd found before she and Tam left the post on their disastrous adventure.
"Young lady," Mrs. Brown said from behind her.
Caroline spun around and tamped down the urge to tell the horrid woman to get out, but knew Daddy wouldn't approve.
"My name is Caroline. Do you need something from the store?"
"No, I'd like to know how you got bruised."
"My business is none of yours." She turned her back and walked over to where she kept her broom. She started pushing the bristles around the wood floor.
"You insolent child, I am not used to being spoken to in such a manner. If you hadn't wandered off into the woods with your boyfriend, you wouldn't have had your father half crazed with worry. Or cause so much disruption as you did yesterday. Your behavior is disrespectful to your father and is certainly not a good role model for your younger, impressionable sisters."
Caroline clenched her fingers around the broom handle. Heat flushed through her body at Mrs. Brown's untrue accusation. She drew in slow, steady breaths trying to control the rage she wanted to vent against the bitch of a woman. It didn't work.
She held the broom over her head. "Get out!" She stepped toward the woman ready to take a swing, but stopped when she saw Matthias standing behind Mrs. Brown.
"What the hell is going on in here?"
"She all but called me a harlot, Uncle Matthias."
"Put the broom down and go outside until you cool off."
Caroline gave him a dirty look and left. She found her father sitting on the lounge chair on the porch.
"Come here," he said.
She rolled her eyes and walked toward him. When he heard about her behavior, he would be so angry.
"Sit," he pointed at the wicker chair next to him. "What happened? I heard raised voices inside."
She pulled the chair closer to him and sat. "Mrs. Brown came into the store and gave me a lecture about my whoring ways."
"Calm down and start at the beginning."
Caroline related the events of the past few minutes. She braced herself for the lecture, but when it didn't happen, she was pleasantly surprised.
"You stay here until I get back." Hank walked along the deck and went inside the lodge. He returned in about five minutes. She jumped up and helped him to sit comfortably.
"Lottie is following through with her offer. She's upstairs packing Mrs. Brown's bag. Matthias will carry it downstairs in the morning."
"She's leaving?"
"I have informed her she no longer has a bed to sleep in at my lodge. As soon as we can find someone to take her back to wherever she came from, she's gone."
Caroline got up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Daddy. Everyone in the post is going to be more than pleased."
"I'd offer to find someone to take her out of here, but you won't let me off the post."
"You're damned right. I have a hard-enough time letting you out of my sight, daughter. I love you." He smiled and looked out over the quadrant. "Would you go down to the blacksmith shop and ask Big Dog to come see me at his first opportunity?"
"You wouldn't ask him to drive her someplace, would you? He suffered Madam Vellechamp's vicious wagging tongue over halfway across this country."
"Yes, and that's precisely why he's the man to do it. I'll pay him a bonus to drive the stagecoach, and he won't have her sitting next to him. Besides, I don't think he needs to drive her much further than Wausau. She can hire her own transportation from there or ask those who hired her to spy on us to pay for the rest of her way home."
"Did he fix the wheel already?"
"Yes, he did the first day. Even though Madam Vellechamp died, he wanted it ready in case an occasion came up where he needed to drive Genevieve someplace."
"I think Big Dog has strong feelings for Genevieve."
Hank grinned. "I've had those same thoughts. How about you? Do you have strong feelings for Tam?"
Her cheeks started to warm. "Yes, I've been waiting for you to rub the I-told-you-so in."
"I told you so." He reached over and squeezed her hand, and then he laughed out loud.
TAM AND JORY FOLLOWED Captain Farthington and his men's tracks until they finally caught sight of them. At dark, they pulled back and made camp next to a river in a place where a campfire wouldn't give their presence away. Tam got the fire started while Jory caught a couple of sizeable bass.
Jory pulled a small hatchet from one of his saddlebags. He readied a branch to rotate their supper over the coals. He cleaned the fish and slid them along the pole. Once the fish were roasting over the heat, he laid back on his bedroll. "You've fallen in love with Caroline Hughes, haven't you?"
"Do you blame me? It happened the moment I saw her. If you need me to confirm it again, yes, I'm totally head over heels in love with the lady."
"Are you going to stay?"
"If Caroline agrees to marry me, yes I plan to stay in Wisconsin. I've already gotten permission from Hank to ask her to marry me."
Jory snickered. "I saw the embrace and the kiss before we left the trading post, brother. I'd say she returns your affections."
The horses whinnied. Tam pulled the knife out from his boot sheath and motioned for Jory to keep talking. He moved across the ground silently, searching for what excited their horses.
An arm wrapped around his neck. When the sharp tip of a knife pushed under his chin, Tam froze.
"Don't Scots believe in bathing? I could smell you for miles." Luc pulled the knife back and chuckled as he relaxed his arm wrapped around Tam's neck.
"Luc! What the hell did you think you were doing? You scared the crap outta me."
"You should have waited for me. I have more of a dog in this race than you two do."
The two walked back to the fire. "What are you doing here, Luc?" He tossed a few more logs on the fire. "If you get caught so close to the border, we've got big trouble."
"My life. My fight, boys."
"We plan on sticking close to them until they cross into Canada. What are you thinking?"
"I've brought the curse of Farthington and Gervais down on Hank and the girls. If something happened to any of them, I'd never forgive myself. I owe them for what they've done for Josef and me."
Jory rolled out of his blankets. "Hank doesn't feel you owe him anything, Luc. He genuinely cares for you and your brother. If you go and get yourself killed or dumped into a prison somewhere, it would be another great lo
ss to him and his daughters."
"I can't sit back and wait for the bastards to attack the trading post. It's better for them to kill me than any one of Hank's daughters. I can feel the air churning toward a big blowout between the revenuers and the smugglers. Hank's trading post is going to be caught in the middle."
Tam shook his head. "There must be a way we can solve the problem without you throwing yourself on a sword, Luc. Your parents didn't send you up here to have you throw their dreams for you away foolishly."
"Give me an idea. Nothing comes to my mind. I'm guilty of what they accuse me. My fear is they will kill me before I go on trial. Gervais and Renald Martel will never let me testify. Their necks are on the line for more things than you can imagine."
"What do you mean?" Tam asked.
"I grew up in the Martel house. As you saw, Tam, my brother and I live in our own small house away from the family. When they caught me listening in on one of their strategy meetings, Renald insisted we be moved from the farm house."
"Your foster parents didn't object?"
He shook his head.
"How old were you at the time?"
"Sixteen years old."
"Does Hank know what's been going on at the farm?"
"No. Michel and Matthias are the two brothers who've kept in close contact with Hank. When Isabella died, hell broke loose. I swear her death is what's driving Gervais' hatred. Destroying the trading post is personal for Gervais. He wants Hank to pay for his sister's death."
Luc moved closer to the fire. He rubbed his hands together. "It's going to be cold tonight." He tossed more wood onto the flames until it roared.
"How much further is it until we reach Canada?" Jory asked.
Luc shrugged. "It's hard to say. They're not heading to the border where Tam and I crossed last week."
His comment startled Tam. "Where do you think they're going?"
"My guess is Escanaba, a port on Lake Michigan. I overheard Gervais and Renald talking about having hidden warehouses that make it easy to ship smuggled goods in and out without being seen. I've been around Escanaba. It's easy for me to understand why they chose the place."
"I don't understand how Canadians can smuggle to and from Michigan."
"They sail to the tip of Lake Michigan and down into Lake Huron. From there the ship crosses over the boundary to the Canadian side of the lake and they are officially in their homeland."
"Is that how Hank moves his goods?" Tam asked.
"That's the beauty of Hank's part of the business. He doesn't smuggle. His father realized the danger in the illegal workings of the lucrative business. He chose to use the trading post as a holding place for the goods. Hank stores them until he finds someone who wants to swap or pay for the merchandise. He gets his cut and the rest goes to each individual smuggler who belongs to their band."
Tam shook his head. "It's hard to believe what goes on behind the scenes at the trading post. What's Michel's role in all of this?"
"He works with the same band of smugglers as Hank. They're the men I've been involved with, too."
"Wow, I don't see how you keep it all straight. I thought all smugglers worked together."
Luc shook his head. "No, there's a lot of competition between the different bands of smugglers and a huge difference in ethics. Hank and Michel steal from the band that robs local citizens."
"They give back to the people who are robbed?"
"Partially. Hank's main part of the smuggling in this area is to provide space in the tunnels for the smugglers to store their goods. They use him as an in-between man who puts people together for the best prices. It relieves them from paying the high taxes."
"It sounds dangerous," Jory said.
"When your life is on the line, you pay attention, Jory. The revenuers have never figured out how the simplicity of our organization works. Since you're not going to be here very long, I don't want you involved. It isn't worth putting either of your lives in danger."
"I get your point, but you're our friend and we don't walk away from our friends when they need help. Besides, Tam and I have no idea where we are and can't find our way back to the trading post."
Luc threw up his hands. "You're both damned fools, but all right I'll take you with me."
Luc grabbed another log and tossed it onto the fire. "We follow them to their warehouses and then find Michel. He's the one we need to let know about what we've discovered. He's the only one I trust. We don't have enough authority to do much more."
"It sounds like a plan," Tam said.
"Yup, if they take a straight route, we should be close to the harbor by late tomorrow. We should make it back to the trading post for some of that turkey you keep talking about, Tam."
"Hank is going to worry."
"Caroline will, too."
Jory slugged Tam's shoulder. "If you're so worried about your lady, you go back and I'll stay with Luc."
Tam shook his head. "No, she wouldn't want me to give up before we get what we've come for."
Chapter Twenty
Big Dog moved the stagecoach to the front of the lodge. He climbed off the high seat, picked up Mrs. Brown's luggage, and tossed the canvas bags on top of the vehicle. He joined Hank at the end of the porch.
"I'm ready to leave, boss."
"I'm going with you."
"What? Are you sure you should? It'll be a long day."
"There's a doctor in Wausau. I'd feel better if he makes sure my leg is healing right."
"You have a good point. Let me get you inside first unless you think we can get you up top."
Hank stared at the coach and wondered why not. "Do you think you can get me up there? I'd much rather have your company than hers."
"We won't know unless we give it a try. Does Matthias know you're leaving with me?"
"Yes, he does." Hank stood and made his way down the porch and over to the coach.
"You wait here. I'll be right back." Big Dog hurried inside the building. He returned in a moment with Matthias. Between the two men, they got Hank up and onto the high seat.
He couldn't stop grinning. "Thanks." Finally, something he could enjoy for a change.
Big Dog pulled a couple of blankets from the back compartment and held them up to Hank. "It's going to get chilly as soon as we're on the road."
Penelope Brown stepped outside and saw where Hank sat. "You making sure I get out of your life, Henry?"
"I most certainly am. Now, get inside so we can go."
"Humph, don't worry I'm glad to be out of this madhouse."
Matthias opened the door and helped Penelope inside. "Ma'am," he said, and then slammed the door. He signaled Big Dog that he could leave.
"Are you comfortable, boss?"
"Yes, I appreciate getting away from here for a while."
Big Dog cracked the whip and the team of four pulled the coach away from the lodge and rolled toward the gate. They turned south toward the large town of Wausau. From his high advantage point, Hank could watch over his shoulder for anyone following them.
Finally, the coach bumped into town. Hank pointed out a hotel he'd used on previous trips. Big Dog pulled to a stop in front of the building. He stepped off the coach, lifted the luggage off the top, and opened the door for Penelope. She took his hand and left the vehicle.
She didn't acknowledge Hank again. Instead, Penelope walked up the wooden steps and into the River's Bend Hotel lobby. Big Dog followed behind her carrying her luggage.
He walked out of the building and looked up at Hank. "I can't get you down and back up onto the seat by myself. Do you still want to see the doctor and enjoy a meal before we return, or do you want to stay put and ride home up top?"
"I need to see a doctor. There's a medical building a couple of streets over. Let's drive over there and then you can help me inside."
"Is something wrong, boss? Are you in pain?"
Hank shook his head. "No, everything seems fine, but I'd feel better if a doctor checks out how my leg
is healing."
The coach rocked as Big Dog climbed back up top. Once they pulled alongside the medical building, Big Dog stepped to the street and went inside to see if a doctor could look at Hank's leg.
A tall, robust-looking man came out of the building with him and helped Big Dog get Hank down.
"I'm Roscoe Burke, Dr. Fallon's aide. Let's get you inside. Where are your crutches?"
Big Dog pulled them out of the coach and handed them to Hank. Roscoe walked beside him as they entered the building. The aide led Hank into an examination area while Big Dog settled on a chair in the waiting room.
Dr. Fallon introduced himself. Roscoe helped Hank onto the examination table. The doctor removed the splint and inspected the leg, especially where the bone broke. "It looks good. Whoever set the bone did a good job. How long have you been wearing the splint?"
"Two and a half weeks. How much longer do I need to have it on my leg?"
"You have three and a half more weeks."
Hank moaned. "That much longer?"
The doctor slowly bent his knee. Hank grabbed hold of the table and gritted his teeth.
"You need to have someone help you do this treatment every couple of days or your leg's going to become stiff. Is your driver available to do this for you?"
"Yes."
"Roscoe, ask the man to come in here."
Big Dog looked hesitant as Roscoe came into the room.
"I'm Dr. Fallon. Mr. Hughes' leg is healing well, but he needs therapy so it won't get stiff. Let me show you how it should be done."
Big Dog gazed at Hank. "This is all right with you, boss?"
"Yes, and when we get back to the post, you can show Caroline or Matthias so they can also help."
"Show ole' Big Dog what you want me to do then."
Dr. Fallon demonstrated the correct way to massage the leg's muscles and bend the knee.
"Let me give it a try, doc."
It took a couple of tries, but once the big guy relaxed and used his hands correctly, the massage eased the ache. Hank closed his eyes and almost dropped off to sleep.
"If you'll write down your instructions, I'll take care of him, doctor. How long does he need to wear the splint?"
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