Captive Trail (15 page)

But to whom were those words aimed? Was this prayer? Did the Father God hear such desperate thoughts? She couldn’t remember the English prayer Adele had begun teaching her and Quinta. The nuns knelt when they prayed, but Sister Adele said you didn’t have to do that. You could just talk to God and He would listen.

Taabe clasped her hands so tightly, her fingers hurt. “Please hear me,” she whispered.

Ned walked to the cluster of nuns with Quinta hanging on his arm. She lifted her feet, putting her whole weight on him while she peppered him with questions about home.

“Is my mustang all right? Has Diego ridden him? Does Papa miss me?”

“Here,
chica
, you’ve got legs of your own. Use them.” Ned
laughed and plopped her on the ground. “Your papa’s fine, and we all miss you.”

“Tell him I’m learning to sew. He’ll like that.”

“I will.” Ned grinned and addressed Sister Natalie. “Ma’am, the man I brought today speaks Comanche. I thought maybe we could speak to Taabe Waipu and learn a little more about her background.”

“Yes, I’m sure that would be helpful.” Sister Natalie turned and looked to the doorway, then frowned. “Sister Adele, please find Taabe and ask her to come to the parlor.”

Sister Adele hurried off, and Sister Natalie smiled at Ned. “Our guest is making great progress in her language lessons, but there is still much to be learned. Won’t you bring the … gentleman into the parlor?” She eyed Trainer, taking in his worn buckskins, tangled hair, and scruffy beard. “Sister Riva, some coffee for our guests, please.”

They had been seated with Sister Natalie only a moment when Sister Adele appeared in the doorway. She glanced at Ned and Trainer, then approached her superior and spoke in hushed tones.

Sister Natalie rose. “Excuse me a moment, won’t you, gentlemen?” She glided out the doorway with Sister Adele in her wake.

Ned heard quiet murmuring in the hallway, but he couldn’t make out a word. Perhaps they were speaking their native French. He hadn’t liked the way Sister Natalie’s eyebrows had quirked when Sister Adele came in and whispered to her. Not one bit.

“What’s going on, do you s’pose?” Trainer asked.

“I’m not sure. I expect we’ll find out soon.” Ned rose and paced the room. Maybe Taabe was ill again.

Sister Natalie returned, and Ned stepped toward her before Trainer could get up.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Bright, but the young woman you’re seeking is no longer in the house.” Ned blinked at her. “Excuse me?”

Sister Natalie smiled apologetically. “It seems I was mistaken when I said she would be able to meet with you. She’s not in the mission just now.”

“Not …” Ned eyed her. He was sure he’d seen Taabe in the shadows of the doorway when he first drove up. She was standing back, behind the nuns, and his pulse had quickened with anticipation. Then Quinta had distracted him, and he’d had to introduce Trainer. Something had happened in those moments.

“Here, now!” Trainer’s loud voice seemed out of place in the quiet, dim adobe. “What is going on here? I rode a good many miles to see this young woman. Why can’t you produce her?”

Sister Natalie’s brown eyes hardened. “As I said, Mr. Trainer, I was mistaken. Our acquaintance is not in the house just now.” She spread her hands in supplication.

“Well, where is she?” Trainer glared at her.

“Not here.”

“Is she out back, or in that barn yonder?”

“I assure you she’s not,” Sister Natalie said calmly. “I am sorry to disappoint you.”

Ned shot a glance at Sister Adele. She stood near the door with her hands folded, but she kept her eyes on the floor. Something was up. The nuns had closed ranks, and he could think of only one reason—to protect Taabe. Sister Natalie had met him at the door and invited them in to see the young woman. Now she claimed Taabe had left—of all the insane notions. He knew she was here. They wouldn’t hide her away and refuse to let him see her, would they? The girl had seemed happy here. She’d always come out to talk to people who wanted to see her and ask about captives. She’d given no
impression she wanted to leave until her birth family came and claimed her. Only one thing was different this time. Trainer.

Ned looked at the buffalo hunter. Trainer’s breath was too shortened, his face too red. He was angry, but why? He’d be paid for his time, whether he saw the girl or not.

The hair stood up on the back of Ned’s neck.

“Sister Natalie, I’m sorry we’ve disturbed your day,” he said.

“What?” Trainer reared back and eyed him. “You’re going to just leave it at that? These women are up to no good.”

“I’m not sure what you are suggesting, Mr. Trainer,” Sister Natalie said, “but I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“Yes,” Ned said. “We need to keep our schedule.” He clapped Trainer on the shoulder. “Come on, we’ll be at the fort soon, and I’ll get you some dinner.”

“Hold on,” Trainer said. “I want to know what happened to that girl. Did she run away, or what?”

“Sorry. We aren’t supposed to stop here—it’s not a regular stop on the line—and if we’re late with the mail, we’ll get in all kinds of trouble.” Ned steered the shaggy man toward the door. “If the girl’s not here, we’ll just have to forget it.”

“I could stay here and look for her. I’ll bet I could track her. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll walk to the fort when I’ve finished.”

“No, Mr. Trainer, you will not.” Sister Natalie’s voice had gone cold. “When I tell you the person in question is not here, you can rest assured that it is true. I cannot tell you where she has gone, but I tell you one last time, she is not in this house. Please do not come back. Good day.”

Ned propelled him outside and toward the stagecoach. He glanced back at the three nuns standing like blackened statues under the eaves of the adobe. He longed to know what had happened, but a stronger instinct told him to get Trainer
away from the mission. Brownie, who had joined him at the Bright-Garza station, replacing Henry Loudon, had climbed down and stood near the mules’ heads. He eyed Ned curiously as they approached. Ned yanked open the door of the coach.

“Get in, Trainer.”

“Leave me here. I could—”

“No. You heard the sister. They don’t want you here, and this is private property.”

“But she thought the girl was here when we came. Either that nun is lying—which I wouldn’t be surprised to hear—or something’s happened to the girl. She’s run away or something worse.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Been snatched, maybe, or hung herself in the barn.”

Nat stared at him, shocked by his bluntness. “How could you think that?”

“Easy. Those captives can’t adjust when they come back. If she did herself in, she wouldn’t be the first. And if they’re trying to hide something like that—”

“They wouldn’t,” Ned said. “They’d be deeply grieved. But I’ve met this girl several times. She isn’t like that. She wouldn’t hurt herself.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. It’s more likely she got back enough strength to travel and decided to go back to her people.” As Ned almost shoved him into the coach, he met Brownie’s quizzical gaze. “Let’s go,” he said, and climbed quickly to the driver’s box. He shook out the reins and set the mules into a quick trot. “Make sure he doesn’t jump out.”

Brownie’s eyebrows shot up, but he immediately looked back. “Trouble, Ned?”

“Maybe.” Ned gritted his teeth and reached for the whip. He wouldn’t make it easy for Trainer to jump out. And his first act at Fort Chadbourne, once the mail was taken care of, would be to consult Captain Tapley about Isaac Trainer and the incident at the mission.

Dear Lord, what have I done to that poor girl?

W
e’ll take you back to our home station tomorrow,” Ned told Trainer when they’d barreled in to Fort Chadbourne a half hour early. He’d punished the mule team, but he’d make Mr. Stein, the station agent, understand why. “And I’ll make sure you’ve got your through ticket back to Fort Phantom Hill.”

Trainer looked toward the fort’s parade ground, his eyes narrow slits. “I might just decide to stay here a while. Where’s the best place to get a drink?”

“Probably yonder.” Ned pointed toward the town that had grown up around the fort. He knew at least three saloons had opened, along with the trading post, a blacksmith shop, and a laundry. Probably more businesses had popped up since the last time he’d paid attention.

“Your outfit is paying my expenses, you said.” Trainer waited, not smiling.

“Yeah.” Ned reached in his pocket and took out two dollars. “This should get you a meal and bed. And breakfast.” With
the ten he’d promised Trainer for coming and the price of his ticket back to Phantom Hill, Ned would be strapped for cash until he got paid again. And for nothing. Less than nothing—for endangering Taabe Waipu, unless he was mistaken.

Trainer took the money and walked toward the saloons, staggering a bit as he got his land legs under him.

Brownie came around the back of the stage. “We taking him back tomorrow?”

“Yes. And we’re not stopping at the mission.”

“What happened there?”

Ned sighed. “I’ll tell you when we eat. Right now I need to go see the captain.”

Stein was already unloading the mail sacks, so Ned walked over to the fort. His discussion with Captain Tapley didn’t satisfy him.

“I’ll have Trainer brought in later and talk to him, if he’s sober,” the captain said. “I’ll see if I can get anything pertinent out of him. He may have seen captives in some of the Comanche bands when he was out hunting. He might even give us an idea of where this young woman came from.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Ned’s chest felt as though a stack of rocks sat on it. “She saw him, and she hid. She’s afraid of him. That means she knows who he is—she’s seen him before. So if he saw her, he’d recognize her too. And that might be bad.”

The captain leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “It may just be that she’s afraid he’ll give away her whereabouts. Or it could be something more sinister. Perhaps there’s bad blood between Trainer and some of the Comanche.”

“I wish we had a good translator.” Ned shook his head. “That’s all I was trying to do.”

“I know.” The captain sat forward. “We’ll keep an eye on Trainer and make sure he doesn’t leave the fort tonight.”

“Maybe my shotgun messenger can help,” Ned said. “Brownie Fale—he’s a good man. He’s over with the Steins now. Maybe I’ll ride out to the mission this evening and talk to Sister Natalie. I think without an audience, she’d tell me what’s up. I can borrow a mule from the stagecoach’s string.”

“I’ll lend you one of my horses,” Tapley said. “I’ve got a good gelding that will get you there quickly.”

An hour after sunset, Ned rode into the mission’s dooryard. He knocked at the door and called softly, “It’s me, Ned Bright.”

A moment later, the door opened a crack. One of the nuns stood within; he couldn’t tell which in the darkness.

“I’m alone, Sister. I came to see if everything is all right.”

Sister Adele let out a breath. “Mr. Bright, come in. You are always welcome, of course. We hoped you’d understand our rudeness this afternoon.”

“I think I might, but I’d like to talk things over with Sister Natalie, if she doesn’t mind. But first, is Taabe all right?”

“Yes, but she has chosen to remain in hiding until the stagecoach has passed tomorrow, in case your passenger comes by again. At least, I think that’s what she meant. She was quite frightened.”

Ned nodded. “She knew Trainer’s face.”

“That is what we think. She can’t express to us why she fears him, but she obviously thinks that showing herself to him will put her in jeopardy. We respect her judgment.”

“Of course.” He held out a stoppered jug. “Frau Stein sent you some milk. She said that if you want to keep a cow, she’ll start looking for a likely heifer for you.”

“How kind of her.” Sister Adele smiled. “If we’re going to have children living here, it’s almost a necessity. Please thank her and tell her we accept.” She led him farther into the house. “You are a friend, Mr. Bright. If you’d like to wait in the sitting room, I’ll inform Sister Natalie that you are here.”

Ned had paced the small room only half a dozen times when the older nun joined him. Close behind her came Sister Marie with a tray.