The Touch of Sage (45 page)

“
Give
’
er to me,
”
Reverend Tippetts said.
Winnery
dropped to his knees in the wagon, lifting Sage over the wagon wall and into Reverend Tippetts arms.
Reverend Tippetts dropped Sage
’
s feet to the ground, allowing her to stand on her own, but keeping a tight hold on her all the same.
Winnery
jumped out of the wagon and lifted her over one shoulder.

“
It
’
s dark,
”
Mary said, looking in the direction of the house.
“
Dugger
’
s done his job, but we ain
’
t got long.
”

“
Hurry,
”
Eugenia said, skulking toward the house.
“
Let
’
s get in there and get out quick!
”

Sage began to struggle.
Her screams, though muffled
,
were audible enough.

“
Hush, Sage!
”
Rose
ordered.
“
Be quiet.
We
’
re sneakin
’
here!
”

Winnery
tightened his hold around her knees.
Sage was caught
,
and she knew it.
She wouldn
’
t get away before the
y reached the house. Yet hope
burned within her, for the house was dark
,
indicating Reb was not there.

All at once, Forest Simmons
’s
lady dog came out of the barn, loudly barking.
In a moment,
several
wobbly-legged puppies followed her, yipping with excitement.

“
Oh
,
for cryin
’
in the bucket!
”
Mary grumbled.
“
Here
,
girl!
Here
,
lady!
”
she called to the female dog.
“
That
’
s a good girl,
”
Mary cooed as the dog ceased barking, licking Mary
’
s outstretched hand.

“
Get them pups back in the barn, Mary!
”
Eugenia ordered in a whisper.
“
Reb could ride up at any moment.
”

“
Yes, ma
’
am, Bossy Betty,
”
Mary grumbled, leading the mama dog and her pups back to the old barn.
“
I
’
ll shut
’
em in so they can
’
t bother us.
”

Winnery
followed the Reverend Tippetts,
Rose,
and Eugenia up onto the front porch of the house.
Eugenia pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“
Okeydokey,
Winnery
,
”
she said.
“
Bring her in.
”

Winnery
stepped into the house
,
and instantly the lingering smell of bacon filled Sage
’
s senses.

“
Let
’
s tie her up on the bed,
”
Rose
suggested.
“
We don
’
t want Reb too
startled when he first walks in.”

What?
Sage exclaimed to herself.

“
Yes,
”
Eugenia agreed.
“
That way he
’
ll find her when he
’
s all tuckered out and relaxed,
in
stead of before he
’
s had his supper.
”

Sage began to struggle, frantic to escape!
But
Winnery
held her tight and followed the others through the house to one of the bedrooms.

Eugenia lit a lamp and turned up the flame.
Sage fought to hold back her tears as she looked about the room.

The bed was large and comfortable looking.
It also looked as if it hadn
’
t been spread up in a month.
The quilts and sheets were twisted and rolled every which way.

“
Men!
”
Eugenia sighed with exasperation.
Sage watched as
Rose
and Eugenia quickly
spread up the bed
.

“
Now sit her right there,
Winnery
,
”
Eugenia ordered, pointing to the bed.
“
Don
’
t you think that
’
s the best place, Reverend?
”

“
Sure enough,
”
Reverend Tippetts said.
“
He oughta find her just fine there.
Eventually, anyway.
”

Winnery
rather indecorously dropped Sage on her sitter in the middle of the bed.
Instantly, Sage began to struggle, but
Winnery
drew another length of rope from his pocket.
Weaving the rope through the others around Sage
’
s body,
Winnery
secured her to the slatted headboard of the bed.
Sage squirmed and tried to twist, but Joss
Winnery
was good with a rope.
S
age knew she was still trapped—
would be until someone else came along.
She wanted to cry, knowing that
“
someone else
”
would be Reb.

“
That
’
s good enough.
Looks to hold her fine,
”
Reverend Tippetts said.

“
Let
’s just take this off,”
Rose
began, reaching out and removing the bandana from Sage
’
s mouth,
“
and fluff her up a little.
”

“
Miss
Rosie
, please,
”
Sage pleaded.

Rose’
s eyes sympathetically smiled over her bandana.

“
You
’
ll be just fine, sweet pea,
”
she said as she twisted a lock of Sage
’
s hair around one finger to dress up the ringlet.

“
Here, darlin
’
,
”
Eugenia said then.
Reaching into the pocket of her skirt, she withdrew the piece of paper Livie had given
her
before they lef
t the boarding house
.

“
Ya better quit fiddlin
’
around, Eugenia,
”
Mary said, entering the room then.
“
He oughta be ridin
’
up any minute.
”

“
Yes, yes, I know, Mary,
”
Eugenia mumbled.
She reached into her skirt pocket again, rummaging for something.
“
I need a safety pin,
”
she said.
“
Do you still have one holdin
’
your camisole together at the shoulder?
”

“
Yes
,
I do, Eugenia,
”
Mary grumbled, reaching inside the shoulder of her shirtwaist.
“
But I wish ya wouldn
’
t mention such things in front of the Rever
’
nd.
”

Mary
quickly produced a rather bent-
up safety pin
,
handing it to Eugenia.
Using the pin, Eugenia attached the piece of paper to the bodice of Sage
’
s dress.

“
Now, you be sure Reb gets this, Sage honey,
”
Eugenia said.

“
What does it say?
”
Sage asked.
What had Livie written on the piece of paper for Reb to read?
And how was she supposed to give it to him when she was tied up?

“
Oh, just stuff and nonsense,
”
Eugenia said.
She reached into her skirt pocket once more, producing a piece of hard candy.
Popping it into Sage
’
s mouth she said,
“
Here
’
s a peppermint to hold you over
’
til he comes home.
All right?
”

“
How could you all do this to me?
”
Sage mumbled, hurt and frightened.

It was Reverend Tippetts who answered.
Sitting down next to her on the bed, he patted her hands and said,
“
The Lord is love, Sage.
I
’
m on the Lord
’
s side…the side of good and right and true. The devil is hate…hate and unhappiness…and fear.
The devil
’
s usin
’ fear here, Sage. H
e
’
s tryin
’
to interfere with love…the right and true love between a good man and good woman. And I
’
m out to stop him cold in his tracks.
And if it means tyin
’
ya up and leavin
’
ya
here
so Reb
will
find ya
so’s
the two of you
can beat the devil together…the
n that
’
s what I mean to do.
”

Sage felt tears brimming in her eyes.
She was so apprehensive and so very anxious!

“
B
-b
ut
, Reverend,”
she stammered.
“
I
-
I
’
m he
re now. If you just untie me…
I promise to face him on my own.
”

Reverend Tippetts reached out, cupping her face in one hand.
“
Oh
,
ya
’
ll be facin
’
him on yer own all right, Sage.
And won
’
t this just make the story all that more interestin
’
?
”

He stood then and walked out of the room.

Winnery
touched the brim of his hat as he grinned at Sage and said,
“
Ya have a nice evenin
’
now, Miss Sage.
” Then he left too
.

Sage looked to
Rose—then to Mary and Eugenia—all still
wearing red bandanas over their faces
and
standing with hands clasped and slouchy shoulders like t
hree
guilty children.

“
I
’
ll never forgive you for this,
”
Sage said, fighting back tears.

“
You
’
ll thank us for it one day, Sage,
”
Eugenia told her.
“
I promise.
Trust us, Sage.
Only trust us.
Trust Reb too.
And trust yourself.
”

“
You look so pretty, Sage,
”
Rose
sighed.
“
You know we love ya, Sage.
You know we do.
And you look so pretty.
Reb
’
s gonna feel like a
child
on Christmas mornin
’
!
”