Marblestone Mansion, Book 10 Read online

  “Not everyone,” said Blair. “She has never done anything like this before.”

  “Besides,” said McKenna, “you forget Lillie Mae knows these men. They are from Peyton where her family lives.”

  “I know,” said Abigail, “but who is to say the duchess is not in Peyton?”

  “She is dead,” Cathleen muttered. “Cameron is certain of it.”

  Abigail decided not to belabor her opinion, although she was convinced she was right. No one was going to convince her that the duchess was not behind the kidnapping…no one ever could.

  “Why do they not call?” Cathleen asked.

  “Perhaps they know it is Sunday and the banks are not open,” Claymore suggested.

  “They mean to keep her all night?” Cathleen gasped. Once more, tears began to roll down her cheeks. “I cannae…”

  McKenna put her arm around her sister-in-law. “‘Tis pointless to think the worst. Perhaps the Sheriff has found her by now and she is on her way home.”

  “Yes, yes,” Abigail agreed, “and they have arrested the duchess.”

  “Next,” McKenna teased, “Abigail will blame it on the ghost.”

  Abigail huffed and Cathleen wiped her tears away and smiled. “Have you learned who he is yet?”

  “Yes, I have,” Abigail said in a revolted tone of voice. “He is Mr. Gantry McBride, though I do not know where he has come from or why he watches me.”

  “Are you quite certain he watches you?” Claymore asked.

  “I most assuredly am,” Abigail shot back. “He is everywhere I go lately.”

  “Well, I do not blame him. You are a very handsome woman.” Claymore said taking his blushing wife’s hand. “Shall I…”

  “Shhh,” the reporter said. At the sound of horse’s hooves beating on the dirt road, everyone stood up.

  Alistair hurried to open the front door and look out. He quickly stood aside as Cameron came in first, followed by Ben, the judge, Geddes, and Knox. “We dinna find her,” Cameron said as he crossed the foyer and then the parlor to his wife.

  Cathleen sunk back into her seat on the davenport. She put her hands over her face and began to cry, which brought tears to the eyes of some of the other women.

  “Did they call?” Cameron asked. He was disappointed when Claymore shook his head. “Where is my brother?”

  “Choppin’ wood,” McKenna answered. She watched him go toward the back of the house, sat down, and tried to comfort Cathleen.

  Justin got up, walked to the back window and watched his uncle approach his father. He couldn’t hear what was said, but the sorrow filled expression on his father’s face said it all. Before he realized she was beside him, he felt Blair take his hand. “We best eat somethin’. Your mother will not be pleased when she gets home, if she hears we dinna take good care of you.”

  “I am not hungry.”

  “Well, I am. Will you not come to the kitchen with me?”

  “How can you be so kind after what I said to you?” he asked. “I said I hoped someone would take you.”

  “I remember. I also recall tellin’ you to get lost a few times over the years. I did not mean that either…not literally.”

  Justin finally smiled. “A few times? You said it constantly.”

  “Aye. Now, let’s pretend we love each other and go get somethin’ to eat.”

  He nodded and decided he was hungry after all.

  Ben decided he was hungry too and followed Justin and Blair to the kitchen.

  *

  Hannish split yet another log, picked up the largest piece, and split that one as well. “No sign of them at all?”

  “There were tracks leadin’ from the waterfall, but we lost them. Brother, we saw no blood. The sheriff asked that we be ready to go out before first light in the mornin’. He is convinced they are still in the area and I agree. They cannae have gone far.”

  “You dinna find Traitor either?”

  “I called for him, but nay, he dinna come. I pray he is with Leesil.”

  “Would he protect her, do you think?”

  Cameron shook his head. “I have no idea what that dog will do.” He took the axe out of his brother’s hand, and then embedded it deep in the tree stump so the children could not get it loose. “Come inside. They might call thinking they can hide in the darkness when you deliver the money.”

  When the brothers got back inside, McKenna was admiring the painting of the castle. “We think to rebuild it,” Cameron told his sister, as he put an arm around her.

  “I would love it if you did. More and more, I miss the greens and blues of Scotland.”

  “As do I,” Cameron admitted. “Yet, we have a very good home here and a life worth livin’.”

  “Tis true,” she agreed. “Comin’ to America was not a mistake. Yet…”

  “Yet, we call Scotland home?” Hannish asked when he joined them. “‘Tis what I thought this mornin’ too.” He turned around and went back to his seat near the telephone. “I was wrong. Home is here with Leesil and the children.”

  “You are not going back to start rebuildin’ the castle?” Cameron asked.

  “Nay. Leesil is right. ‘Tis wrong to be so far away when my family needs me.”

  “Like now?” Cathleen asked.

  “Aye, like now.” He took a forgotten breath and then closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, Alistair had a tray of drinks and was offering one to Judge Mitchel.

  The judge took the drink and then joined his wife standing in front of the painting. “Tell them, my love.”

  “Tell us what?” Hannish asked.

  McKenna could not help but grin. “Nicholas and I would very much like to go to Scotland…with your permission, of course.”

  “Truly?” Hannish asked.

  “Aye,” McKenna answered. “We have talked of it at great length and he agrees that our half Scottish children should know from where they come.”

  “What say you, brother?” Hannish asked.

  “I say ‘tis the answer to a prayer.” Cameron took his sister in his arms and kissed her cheek.

  “‘Tis settled then.” Hannish was glad for the temporary relief from his worries. Now he could tell Leesil he was not going…if he ever saw her again.

  *

  A nearly full moon was rising in the east as darkness closed in around it. The reporter finally gave up and went home. The telephone stopped ringing, the food was put away, the dishes were cleared and washed, and those that could, went off to try to get some sleep. Those left in the parlor dwindled down to Hannish, Cameron, Cathleen, Justin, Blair and the Whitfields.

  “Cathleen, can you not try to sleep,” Cameron asked. He wasn’t surprised when she shook her head.

  “How certain are you the duchess is dead?” Abigail asked.

  “I am positive,” Cameron answered. “She shall not darken our door ever again.”

  “How can you be so certain?” Abigail pressed. “Women like that do not simply do us a favor by dying. And besides, your brother is convinced she is not dead.”

  Cameron rolled his eyes. “I see no way of convincing you. Only time shall bear me out. You shall see. She is gone, and gone for good.”

  “Perhaps now is not the time, my dear,” Claymore suggested. He paused when Ronan came in the room.

  “Mrs. Whitfield, I forgot to give you a message from Mrs. Swinton.”

  “Loretta?” Abigail asked.

  “Aye. She said to say they raised one hundred, twelve dollars and thirty-five cents for the orphans today.”

  “Good grief, I forgot about the parade,” said Claymore.

  “That is wonderful,” Abigail told Ronan. “Thank you.”

  Upstairs, Beverly cried out. It was a good sign that her travail would soon be over, and Marblestone would have a new child to adore and dote on. There was that, at least.

  A few minutes later, a baby cried and a moment after that, Dugan flew down the stairs. His hair was disheveled, his clothes wrinkled, and h
is grin was so wide Abigail feared he would hurt his face.

  “‘Tis a boy!” Dugan said louder than he meant to. His voice echoed throughout the house. “And Beverly lives.”

  Indeed, there were smiles and congratulations all around. Even an exhausted Millie came downstairs to congratulate him, and then went to talk to Alistair in the foyer. Naturally, everyone else quietly listened.

  “How is Prescot?” Alistair wanted to know.

  “The doctor gave him something to help with the pain and he drifts in and out of sleep,” Millie answered. “Doctor McCormick says tonight will tell the tale.”

  “What about you? Can you sleep?”

  “Nay, my place is with my husband.”

  Alistair put an arm around her and walked her back up the marble staircase. Hannish went back to rubbing the back of his neck, Cathleen leaned against Cameron’s shoulder and closed her eyes, while Justin got up and went to the foyer to look for any sign of his mother…or his dog.

  *

  Leesil found the darkness even more disturbing. Still sitting with her back against the wall and Traitor’s head in her lap, the hours seemed endless. She still considered Earl the most dangerous, and Pete was a close second. Pete seemed eager to prove his manliness, and now all three of them were sitting round the table getting drunk. Earl hadn’t said much for the past hour or so, and that worried Leesil the most. In the dark, she couldn’t tell what he was looking at or thinking.

  At last, the moon moved high enough in the sky to shed some light through the broken window and the open door. Instead of watching her, Earl looked as if he was deep in thought. It was hard to tell if that was a good thing or bad.

  Pete took another long drink and then passed the bottle to Willis. “You thinking about Susan?” he asked.

  Willis finished taking a drink, set the bottle on the table, and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. It was obvious from the look on his face that he was neither used to drinking nor liked the taste. “I was thinking about how mad my pa must be by now.”

  “You think he’ll come looking for you?”

  “I doubt it,” Willis answered as he handed the bottle to Earl. “Pa’s got plenty to do now that I’m not there to help out. Maybe he will miss me…someday.”

  “What about you, Earl?” Pete asked. “Your pa…”

  “He will not care until he finds out what we done. Then he will be ashamed of me. I’d rather not see that look in his eyes.” Earl took a long swig of the bottle and passed it back.

  Pete took another long drink. “I do not care what my pa is thinking. He might come looking for me just to get the horse back, but we shall be long gone by then.” He suddenly started to laugh. “So old Jeb Flynn shot himself.” Willis chuckled, but Earl said nothing. “Crazy old man never did a day’s work in his life.”

  “He deserved to die,” Earl was just drunk enough to say.

  Pete sat up straighter on the barrel. “You killed him?” He stared at Earl for a long moment, relaxed and grinned. “Well I’ll be a son of a gun, you did kill him.”

  “So what if I did. He was a stupid drunk, and killing him was the only way I could get Lillie Mae to go home so she couldn’t recognize us.”

  Pete slowly turned his attention to Leesil. “She can recognize us.”

  “Thanks to you,” said Earl.

  Earl’s admission made Leesil fear him that much more. Maybe shooting Prescot wasn’t an accident after all. She watched Pete take another drink and that is when she noticed something odd. When he put the bottle back on the table, there was still the same amount of liquid left. She more carefully watched and noticed Willis wasn’t drinking very much either, but Earl was having his fill.

  At length, Earl could hardly stand up straight, found a place on the floor and lay down. Not long after that, he began to snore. Pete put the cork back in the bottle and smiled. Willis sat at the table with his head drooping a little, but Pete was wide awake.

  She hadn’t meant to, but Leesil drifted off as well. How long she slept was hard to guess, and when she heard the shuffling of shoes, her eyes shot wide open. The moon had risen a little higher in the sky, giving off even less light through the window and door than before, but she could tell that two of them were up and about. Earl was still on the floor snoring, so it had to be Pete and Willis.

  First, she saw the silhouette of one go out the door and then the second one. Leesil held her breath and waited. Exactly what the noise was outside, she wasn’t certain, but she guessed they were mounting their horses. The sound of the horses walking away was unmistakable, however. Again she waited and again she held her breath until she was convinced they weren’t coming back. All she had to do now was get up and run.

  *

  It was one a.m. when Hannish said, “Brother, if you are to search again tomorrow, you need to sleep. I shall wake you the moment there is news.”

  Cameron resisted the idea for just a moment, stood up, and helped Cathleen stand. “Come along, Blair. There is no use all of us staying up.” He offered his hand and helped his daughter up too. The three of them slowly climbed the stairs together and went out of sight.

  “We best go home too,” said Claymore.

  “You can if you wish,” Abigail said, “but I am not leaving.”

  “There are plenty of empty bedrooms upstairs if you wish to stay,” Hannish suggested. “There is no point in all of us staying awake. Alistair will take you up.” When Abigail nodded, Alistair showed them to an unoccupied room.

  Next, Hannish turned to his son. “I suspect it useless to send you to bed.”

  “I would not sleep, Father,” Justin answered.

  “Nor would I.”

  “Will you pay the ransom?”

  “Aye. I would gladly give all I have, and then some, to get your mother back. If only it were that simple.”

  *

  Getting up with her hands tied together was not that easy for Leesil, and she almost fell, making more noise than she intended. She was almost up when Earl started to wake and Traitor growled at him.

  “Hush,” she whispered, but Earl was already starting to sit up. As quickly as she could, she sat back down. It took him a moment to remember where he was, and another moment to notice Willis and Pete were not lying on the floor beside him.

  “Where did they go?” Earl asked.

  “They dinna say.”

  “When did they leave?”

  “A while ago.”

  Still drunk, Earl struggled to stand up. He patted his pocket and when he didn’t feel the wad of bills, he stuck his hand in and turned his pants pocket inside out. Next, he felt for his gun. At least he still had that. He drew his pistol, and went outside. Earl made his way through the foliage, and just as he suspected, all three horses were gone. For a long moment, he stared at the empty space where the horses had been.

  Earl Flood had no money, no horse, a gun, and a woman he thought he might have to kill. What happened next took him completely by surprise. Leesil stood just inside the door with the axe handle in both hands. When he walked back in, she mustered all her strength, wielded the axe handle as hard as she could, and caught him right across the left temple. Earl Flood fell to the floor, and when he did, his gun slid across the floor.

  Leesil stared at his lifeless body for a moment, dropped the axe handle, picked up the gun, and fled out the door. She hurried around the back of the shack and headed into the rugged terrain. “Go toward the moon,” she muttered as she tried to navigate the woods in the moonlight with her hands tied. She stepped on something sharp and had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. She paused just long enough for the pain to subside and then pushed on. Terrified that Earl was chasing her, or that one of the others would suddenly grab her like Earl did in the foyer, she constantly looked back.

  If she had to, Leesil was prepared to shoot.

  She fled through the bushes, made her way around trees, and forced herself to put as much distance between her and the shack as she could. Finally too e
xhausted to take another step, Leesil stopped behind a tree, gulped for air, and bent forward to try to catch her breath. When she felt a little more rested, she lifted her right foot. She felt the place that hurt the most and could tell by the wetness that it was bleeding. Sweat was beginning to run down the sides of her face and she took a second to welcome the slight breeze.

  As soon as she could breathe normally again, she quieted so she could listen. She couldn’t remember ever being in a forest alone before, and certainly not after dark. The breeze slightly rustled the leaves and made some of the tree branches sway. Somewhere in the distance, an owl hooted, and then she heard the sound of water. For a moment she was about to panic. Was that the same water she heard from the shack? Had she run in a circle? She searched the sky for the moon, and decided she had not gone in a circle, yet, she didn’t recall them crossing water when she was blindfolded.

  At least, she heard no branches breaking, no horse’s hooves, and no shoes hitting the hard ground.

  Even so, they could still be out there looking for her. Holding the gun in her tied hands was slowing her down, so she shoved the gun under a bush and headed for the sound of the water. As the bushes grew thicker, their shadows hid the ground from the moonlight, and twice more she stepped on something that hurt. She desperately wanted to stop and find a way to untie her hands, but she was still too petrified.

  With no way to see the flatness of the land, her next step was an abrupt step down. It caught her completely off guard and made her fall flat on her face. Angry and frustrated, she turned over on her back. A tear rolled down her cheek, but it was not the time for self-pity. She reached for something to grab hold of that would help her get up, but the branch she chose broke off.

  Leesil rolled back on her stomach, used her elbows and tried to stand up, but her foot was on her skirt and wouldn’t let her stand. There was nothing she could do, but lay back down, turn over, lift her skirt, and try again. Leesil twisted and turned, wiggled and pushed until she was finally standing upright again. She paused for just a moment to make certain she couldn’t hear anyone coming, and then once more set out to find the water. This time, she was determined to be more careful.