“Timothy Elgerson, you are a fool,” he said, aloud, to himself. “If that woman thinks she can leave me to spend my nights dreaming of having her while she denies me at every turn, she is very wrong. She will bewitch me no longer!” He headed for his bath with determination.
At the breakfast table Rebecca was dressed and enjoying her breakfast, her cheeks glowing with pleasure. Elgerson stalked into the room and stared at her angrily.
“Timothy?” she asked, totally bewildered by his mood.
“Haven’t you worn that dress once before?” he asked in a raspy voice.
“Yes,” she replied, feeling a bit offended by his tone.
“If you need more things to wear I’ll get them for you. Since you have decided to refuse me touching you, then at least perhaps you can accept that I dress you to please the eye!” He slammed the door behind him as he left the room.
Rebecca was stunned. Was he still drunk? Why ever would he make such a remark to her after their night together? Suddenly she gasped and her fork fell to the table.
He didn’t remember. He had assured her that it didn’t matter who she was and made love to her in a drunken state, too inebriated to even recall it.
“You stupid fool!” she called after him.
He heard her voice behind him and turned to have it out with the frustrating female once and for all. He’d show her who the fool was!
“Mister Elgerson!” One of the farm hands called to him, standing out in front of the open stable. “You ought to take a look at this!”
Timothy stood firmly in the doorway to the yard and decided that the impossible Rebecca could goad him no longer. She would not provoke him in any way. He stomped out to the stables.
Rebecca threw her napkin on the table and ran up to her room. “You are impossible, Timothy Elgerson, and I was a fool to imagine you might actually care about me.” Rebecca paced the room cursing in her anger. “How dare you take me to your bed in your drunken state and use me like that and not even recall it! I might as well have been a prostitute. Then at least I would have cash and not just these dresses to please your eye!”
She threw open the window to shout out into the yard and saw Timothy standing with a group of men and closed the window quickly in frustration.
“Timothy Elgerson, you are a beast,” she hissed through clenched teeth. She wished she had a broader vocabulary with which to curse the man.
She stormed down the hall with determination and found the butler arranging clothing in Timothy’s room.
“I would like to post a letter as soon as possible, could you please tell me how I might go about doing that?” she asked the man irately.
“I can take care of that for you, Miss,” The girl always seemed so sweet, but it was apparent she was very perturbed.
“Fine,” she stated. “I will prepare a letter immediately. Where might I find the paper to do so?”
In minutes he supplied her with writing materials. Rebecca closed the door to her room and wrote a letter to Emmy requesting that she wire her money at her earliest convenience. An explanation would be given once she had arrived at home. She knew Emma would gladly send her fare and she could leave the impossible Timothy Elgerson behind.
She sealed the envelope and set it upon the writing desk before her.
Overwhelmed with emotion, she began to sob pitilessly. Her anger spilled forth, making her feel frazzled and the night’s previous experiences continually came into her mind.
“I did exactly what I promised myself I would not do,” she said to herself. “I let myself go to him and what have I got for it? He will go ahead and marry Octavia, although honestly, I can’t imagine why. I will go home and have to explain everything to Emmy. I will still have nothing, except debts to her and, of course, you, Timothy Elgerson. I hate you!” She threw herself on the bed, knowing that although she said it out loud, her heart said something else to her. Yet, she could not stay and the thought of the trip home alone terrified her even more, knowing what possibilities it might hold.
Mark passed Rebecca’s room trying to see why the men had gathered outside and tapped quietly.
“Rebecca, is everything okay?”
“I’m fine, Mark. Thank you,” she replied, upset that the boy had heard her.
He opened the door slightly and was overcome with concern.
“Rebecca, why are you crying? Please, don’t cry. It’ll be okay.” Mark was so fond of the woman he would do anything to make her happy.
“I’m just sad.” She dried her eyes and pulled a shawl about her shoulders.
“Whatever’s wrong, we’ll fix it. Pa and me. We can fix anything!”
“No, Mark, it’s not that simple. As soon as I can make arrangements I will be going home, back to England. I’m sorry.”
The boy was devastated. Since Rebecca had arrived, the house was happy again, possibly happier than he ever remembered. His father had shaved, not just for the party, but every day since and he ate regular meals with them. Pa looked happy for the first time. The staff was content with the family home and he believed that if she should go he’d be back out at the cabin, with Stavewood closed up again, and his father rarely around.
“No!” The boy shouted. “You can’t leave! I need you to stay!”
Rebecca took the boy by the shoulders and faced him squarely, sighing deeply.
“Mark, I cannot stay. I have to go home. This is your home, but not mine. I don’t belong here and I will have to leave. Please try to understand.”
“But you do belong here! Since you came here everyone is happy now. Please, Rebecca, please stay!” He pleaded with her and began to cry, hugging her fiercely and clinging to her pitifully.
“Mark, please.” She tried to soothe the boy and stroked his face.
“You’re going to leave me just like Mom did, and you’ll go away and never come back, just like she did. I heard you and Pa this morning! I know he’s mad at you like he was with her. That’s why you want to go away. He’s making you want to leave like he did with her!” He sobbed violently.
She made the boy look at her and continued.
“Mark, that is not true. Your father did not make her leave. They may have been angry with one another, but what happened to her was an accident. You can’t blame your father for that. He loves you and I know your mother did as well!”
The boy pulled away from her and ran down the stairs. Rebecca followed him quickly, wanting desperately to make him understand.
When Mark reached the yard Timothy intercepted him and caught him mid-step, he didn’t want the boy anywhere near the stables. It was nothing he wanted the boy to see.
Rebecca ran up behind him and looked at Timothy, who was obviously upset.
“Take him inside, Rebecca,” Timothy commanded, and Rebecca knew something was terribly wrong.
‘Pa, she’s going to leave!” the boy blurted out. “Please Pa, don’t make her leave!”
“Mark.” The man squatted down to face the boy eye to eye. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Timothy Elgerson looked up at Rebecca seriously. With the commotion in the barn his mood had changed and he felt his remarks in the morning light had been an overreaction to something the woman knew nothing about. Rebecca stood facing him obviously emotional and concerned, but he had no time to address the problem now.
Rebecca took the hysterical child to his room and sat reading to him until he had dozed off.
Once the boy was sleeping soundly, she slipped quietly from his room and swiftly went out to the barn. A group of men were loading the chestnut onto the back of a wagon. The lifeless animal’s throat had been cut and exposed.
Rebecca covered her face in horror and Timothy heard her gasp. He directed the men to cover the animal, put his arm across her shoulders and led her into the yard.
“What happened?” she looked up at him in shock.
“Not sure. Someone went after the horses last night,” he replied, looking at Rebecca frankly.
&
nbsp; “Where’s the other horse?” Rebecca knew that the stable closest to the house held only the chestnut and the huge Arabian.
“I don’t know. Both stalls were open and the chestnut was left in the stall. I’m hoping he ran off. He’s not easy for anyone, including myself, to handle. It’s possible he just broke free. A couple of men are off getting the sheriff. I expect him anyway with news of Octavia and her mother.
“Rebecca, I need you to stay as close to the house as possible, and I don’t want you anywhere outside unless one of the men is with you. I’m sorry for my mood this morning. I had a bad night and I guess I wasn’t myself.”
Rebecca looked at him searchingly. He clearly had no memory of them together and she suddenly felt less infuriated and something more tragic. As she watched his worried face and the concern in his eyes and listened to his genuine apology with no memory of their night together, her face grew serious. Rebecca admitted to herself, clearly for the first time, that she was in love with the man and she felt her heart breaking.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to trap you here. Mark said you wanted to leave and you are free to do that when this has all blown over if you like.” He stopped mid-sentence and looked into her eyes. Timothy struggled to continue. “But, right now I think it’s best you wait. Whoever went after those horses may have meant it for a message and I’m afraid they may be after you.”
What was it he saw in her eyes? Disappointment, because she felt trapped? No, it was something else. He found himself wanting her again and struggled to clear his head. His stomach lurched and his head pounded and, if he wasn’t mistaken, the woman looked at him as though she felt something for him. “No. That’s impossible,” the man thought. She turned him down at every advance. When this was all straightened out he’d let her go and, in time, the torment would cease.
“I understand, Tim,” she replied without hesitation. “You have enough to think about without worrying about me.” She gathered her skirt and walked back to the house slowly.
He watched her delicate steps as she crossed the lawn, wondering why she wouldn’t let him care for her. Why did she keep him away? More pieces of his dream floated back to him, as they had forced their way in all morning, despite the horse, and he wanted more than anything that the dream had been reality, but it was not.
Sheriff Carson and two deputies arrived to witness Timothy Elgerson observing the girl cross the lawn and dismounted from their horses. The entire county was buzzing with gossip about the handsome Timothy Elgerson and his beautiful visitor, the lawmen’s wives included. They waited for the man to notice them and he turned and strode towards them with obvious concern on his face.
“Your men told us about the horse. What the hell is happening here, Tim?” the sheriff asked.
“Someone got to them during the night I suspect. The Arabian is missing and they cut the chestnut’s throat.” Elgerson’s voice cracked. It was widely known what the horse had meant to him.
“I’m sorry, Tim. It was a fine and beautiful animal.” Carson struggled for the right words.
“What happened at Weintraub’s?” Timothy could not think of the chestnut right now.
“Let’s take a look at that horse first.” Ben Carson was still going over Octavia’s possible involvement in his mind. He just didn’t think the woman had anything directly to do with Rebecca’s kidnapping, but he felt that she knew more than she had let on.
The two men walked back out into the yard and Carson related his conversation with Octavia to the big man.
“I just don’t think she had any idea what I was talking about until I mentioned the station at Hawk Bend, and then I knew something was not right, Tim. I have to figure she knew somehow that the girl was out there. Maybe someone mentioned seeing Rebecca out there. I’m just not sure. It was plain to me that if she had any information she didn’t know it involved Rebecca until I talked to her.”
“So you are thinking that Dianna and Finn were involved?” Elgerson wasn’t sure he was comfortable with the fact that Ben had possibly given information to Octavia. He liked and admired the sheriff immensely, but didn’t always agree with his methods.
“Hardly seems possible. But I have to say I’m leaning more that way all the time. It looks as if Dianna was around last night and had Finn with her, although Octavia never actually saw him. She told her they were riding out to take a look at some horses.”
Timothy looked hard at the sheriff, uncomfortable with the implication of the remark.
“I had the same thought, Tim,” Carson replied, as if reading Elgerson’s mind.
“I’m taking a ride back over that way now to see if any of the neighbors saw Dianna and Finn. I’ll let you know what I turn up.”
Ben Carson rode away from Stavewood at a quick gallop and Elgerson stood watching the man in exhaustion, and then went into the stable to dispose of the horse.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Rebecca sat in her room staring at the letter to Emmy, struggling in indecision. If she stayed at Stavewood until the mystery of her kidnapping was solved, as Timothy requested, she would then be here when they discovered the truth about her. Although her frustration with the man had not been resolved, she tried to put it aside and look at the situation clearly.
If she left Stavewood now, as quickly as possible, perhaps the threat they all faced would simply go away. She decided not to post the letter, and write another. In the evening she would approach Timothy and ask to borrow passage from him. She would ask only what she required to make the trip. She reasoned with herself that she had survived the trip from England with little more than the cost of the tickets, and therefore could return in a similar fashion. She would ask for as little as possible. If she could make him understand that her remaining at Stavewood was a threat, he might agree and she would travel back to England.
Rebecca was overcome with a hollow feeling at the thought of leaving the beautiful home she had grown to love. She decided to check on Mark and perhaps try to make him understand before she approached Timothy.
She gathered up her feelings of hopelessness and walked along the hall, listening to the disconsolate sound of her own footsteps and entered the boy’s room.
Mark was no longer sleeping on the bed and, thinking he might have gotten hungry, Rebecca went down to the kitchen to find him, checking Timothy’s room and the study on the way. Unable to locate the boy, she looked out into the yard and then returned to the upper floor by the back stairs and called to him. She did not receive an answer so she called throughout the main floor. When he did not reply she became concerned that he may have gone out to the stables in search of his father, but as she crossed the yard she was overcome with a feeling of dread and quickened her pace.
Reaching the barn, breathing rapidly, she found Timothy tying a tarp over the chestnut on the wagon and tried to calm herself, not wanting to sound panicked.
He looked up and could see her concern.
“What’s wrong?” He stood up and studied her face.
“I took Mark inside after he was so upset and waited until he had fallen asleep. I went to check on him but I can’t find him anywhere.”
As Timothy raced across the yard to the house, Rebecca struggled to follow him, explaining that she had called throughout the house and he hadn’t replied.
Elgerson bellowed for the boy, stopping the cook in the kitchen and questioning the maids he found dusting the upstairs rooms. When Mark did not answer he ran out of the front door and began to call the boy’s name loudly from every direction surrounding the house. Rebecca checked every closet and hiding place in the main areas of the home that she thought he might have hidden away in, while listening to Timothy’s unanswered calls. She tried to put away the vision of the slain chestnut and fear gripped her tightly.
Timothy ran back into the house, checking with her before sprinting out into the barn. With the stallion missing and the mare dead, he yelled back to Rebecca that he was going out to the stables to look for the
boy there and would return with horses.
Rebecca stood in the yard and tried to imagine where Mark might have gotten to, preferring to think that he had simply gone off somewhere to hide, disappointed with her talk about leaving.
She dashed back into the house and instructed the staff to continue to search anywhere the boy might have hidden himself again and hurried to the creek where she had gone when she wanted to think.
As she searched the banks and frantically called him she began to blame herself for his disappearance. Whether he was hiding or had run away, or the terrifying possibility that someone had taken him, it all came back to her. Whoever might be after her may have taken the boy. Her thoughts were overwhelming.
When she heard horses in the direction of the house she ran through the brush towards the house where Timothy had returned with Ben Carson and his men, but not Mark.
Elgerson wondered if the boy may have headed for the cabin and the sheriff and deputies decided to scout the woods since it was likely he was traveling on foot.
“What if he’s not on foot, Tim? What if he’s not left on his own?” Rebecca stood beside the stomping horses and looked up to him, her face pale with worry.
Timothy looked down at her, terrified at the thought and the men decided that only one man should check close to the house while the others widened their range. Rebecca stood wringing her hands frantically beside the horses.
“We’ll find him,” Timothy tried to assure himself as well as the anxious, young woman.
Rebecca rushed back to the house and changed from her inhibiting dress into the clothing she had arrived in. She returned to the woods surrounding Stavewood, calling for the boy until her throat was raw. She could hear the deputy call out Mark’s name occasionally in the distance and the sound of Birget’s frantic cries for the child kept her from losing her bearings in the deepening shadows of the thick woods. It occurred to her that the decision had been made that she stay close to the house, but thought that perhaps if someone had taken Mark and found her instead, they may let him go.
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