Whispers on the Wind (A Prairie Hearts Novel Book 5) (34 page)

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

A
t the whimpering cry, Tabitha yanked open the back door to something huddled at her feet. She recognized the black hair instantly and hoisted Lan into her arms, relief surging into her heart.
Thank you, God! Thank you for bringing her here.

Stepping inside, Tabitha slammed the door, and threw the lock.

“Who is it?” her mother whispered, as if there were others around they had to be careful of alerting. “Is it the little girl?”

Tabitha nodded, the icy-cold child shivering in her arms. No telling how long she’d been hiding outside afraid to go for help. She carried her to the chair and picked up the throw, wrapping it around Lan’s shoulders and tucking it in. Holding her like a baby, she gently rocked back and forth. Lan fisted her reddened hands into the blanket. Frostbite could be deadly. “Mother, fix another cup of tea, so we can warm her insides. She’s half-frozen. Her teeth are chattering.”

Marigold hurried away. “I’m stoking the fire as well and will heat some of the leftover stew.”

“Lan,” Tabitha said quietly, some of the girl’s hair tickling Tabitha’s face. “Do you know where they’ve taken your mother?”

“Wagon,” she sobbed. “Going out of town.”

Please God, help Hunter find Bao—before it’s too late. Is she even still alive?

“Which way, Lan? Which way did it go?”

“Over bridge.”

Marigold hurried from the kitchen alcove with a cup, stirring the contents with a spoon. “Here we are. Nice and hot. Set her in the chair and wrap her up, then she can hold the cup. It’s weak, but will warm her fingers.”

We need to get this information about the direction of the wagon to Hunter. I wish Albert were here. Or Thom. Surely Win went with Hunter. Dr. Thorn is all the way down the street with his hands full. What to do, what to do . . .

Lan was reluctant to release Tabitha when she tried to set her in the chair. “It’s all right, sweetie. Nothing is going to hurt you now. You need to drink this. To warm up.”

Finally nestled back into the seat, Tabitha raised the cup to Lan’s lips when pounding on the front door made her hands fumble.

“What in God’s name?” her mother screeched from the other room. Whoever it was pounded again. Lan jumped to her feet.

Tabitha scooped her up. “Mother!” she called in a frantic whisper. “Stall! I’m taking Lan upstairs. I have a very bad feeling.”

Their gazes locked.
“Go!”

“Open this door!” a man’s voice demanded from outside. “I see your shadows in there. Open up! I need to speak with you.”

“I have no authority to do so, sir,” she heard her mother argue back. “I don’t live in Logan Meadows, although I’m coming to find the town quite charming. Do you live here? Where are you from? Have you seen how bright the stars are at night?”

It felt like ages before Tabitha ran back down the stairs. Her mother stood in the dim room at the door, the heavy iron teakettle still in her hands. “I’ll
not
do as you demand, so you can just go away this instant. You’re bothering me!”

When Tabitha arrived, relief and fear swept over her mother’s face. She stepped aside as if very thankful to hand the problem over to her.

Bolstering her courage, Tabitha took ahold of the pull and rolled up the blind with no intention of opening the door. The sinister eyes that glared back at her had to belong to the perpetrator of this horrible crime, searching for the one who’d gotten away. “My husband will be down in one second!” she barked, making the angriest face she could. “He’s known to shoot first and ask questions later! You’d better run while the gettin’s good. How dare you bother us at this time of night! Now get!”

An ugly sneer spread across his mouth. Slowly, he raised one hand until she saw a shiny revolver pointed right at the glass. “Open up or I’ll start shooting. You’ll be dead before you hit the floor. Then I’ll kill the other woman.”

She’d hidden Lan in her bedroom armoire. She pictured the silent tears streaming down the child’s face. She thought of Jake’s poor mother, her face battered and bruised. Mr. Ling and poor Bao. From somewhere she got the courage to laugh in his face. When she quieted, she stated flatly, “Go ahead, you filthy animal! Every man in this town will be on you like flies on the dung you are! How dare you threaten us like that!”

Her mother gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Tabitha called. “Why aren’t you shooting? Scared to hang?”

Tabitha opened her hand and the shade dropped down with a snap. She marched over to the lamp by the stairs and extinguished the flame, casting them into darkness. Black fear burned her insides. She wished she owned a gun. That would at least optimize their chances. If nothing else, she could shoot into the air in hopes of drawing someone’s attention.

“What are we going to do?” Her mother’s voice wobbled. “If he gets in, we’ll be dead before anyone can come to our rescue. I really don’t want to die just yet.”

“Maybe he took my words to heart and thinks Hunter is upstairs. Maybe he went away.”

“And maybe he didn’t.”

A startled screech burst from her mother’s mouth when the back door reverberated loudly. The man must have rammed it with something hard. She jumped into Tabitha’s arms, shivering like a puppy in a thunderstorm. He struck again.
He’s found the woodpile.
How long would it take until he broke through? What should they do? She’d not lie down like a lamb to slaughter.

She set her mother away with a firm hold on her shoulders. “We can’t let him get to Lan. The poor child has already been traumatized enough. I’m sure she can hear everything that’s going on.”

Crack!

“Do you have a gun?”

“No. But I do have a fire poker.” She hurried to the kitchen, and hefted the iron rod, which was not as long as she remembered. He’d have to be awfully close for her to be able to use the weapon on his head. She swallowed down her fear.

Crack!

Her mother skittered over. “The door’s weakening. What should we do? It won’t be long before he’s inside! Let’s scream for help from an upstairs window.”

“No one will hear us! Shady Creek is on one side making noise, on the other, the abandoned sheriff’s office, and next to that, the Bright Nugget where Farley is sure to be playing the piano. It’s up to us . . .”

Her mother nodded.

Crack!

“Go upstairs, into my room,” Tabatha commanded. “Shut the door and barricade—”

An idea struck her and she clamped her mouth closed. “Yes. I think it’ll work. Come on, Mother, we don’t have a moment to lose!” With the iron poker clutched in her fist, she bolted up the stairs and into her room. She threw back the covers, ignoring the embarrassing stains of her virginity and ripped off the sheet. “Sorry, Mother. I meant to change them before Hunter returned . . .”

“No need to explain, daughter,” her mother replied. “What can I do?”

Crack!

“Go to your room and bring me your sheet, quickly!”

Tabitha had never seen her mother move so fast. While she was gone, Tabitha quietly opened the door to her balcony. She lowered to her tummy and scooted out on the small deck, and tied one end of the sheet to the post, double and triple knotting the anchor.

Crack. Crackle.
Time is almost up.

Her mother was back. “What on earth are you planning? I’m not going down—”

“You will. He’s almost inside. Like you said, he’ll shoot us and take Lan. It’s her only chance.
Our
only chance.” She took the end of her mother’s sheet and tied it to the corner of hers, making sure it was secure. “It’s not all that far down. If you end up falling halfway, it won’t kill you. We’ll be down and he’ll be in here, trying to get into the bedroom. “Once we’re down, we’ll avoid the back of the shop and run across the bridge. Uncle Frank’s is only a couple of houses down. He owns several guns!”

“Yes. That’s a good plan.”

The splintering of wood made Tabitha bolt to the armoire and pull Lan from her hiding spot. “Here, sweetie,” she crooned into the child’s face, her eyes black with fear. With the starry night above, Tabitha scooped the girl up and held her over the bannister until Lan took ahold of the sheet. “Don’t worry, it won’t break. Now scurry down and we’ll be right behind you. Go on,” she prodded when Lan just hung there, looking down at the ground. “Go on, honey, we all need to get down.”
In time.

Crack. Boom. Crack.

“You better watch out, because here I come!” the nasty man bellowed, his crazed voice shooting up Tabitha’s spine. He wasn’t even trying to be quiet any longer. He must be deranged.

“Mother, go!”

“You go!”

Tabitha pointed. “I can hold him off better. Get to Uncle Frank’s!”

She didn’t have to say it twice. Her mother put her leg over the bannister and swung over. Pulling aside her skirt, she wrapped one leg around the sheet and began her slide. That was all Tabitha saw. When she heard boots on the stairway, she bolted to her bedroom door and tried to slam it closed, but the man had stuck one arm inside. Wedging her shoulder against the pulsating door, the weight of the iron poker in her slick palm filled her with frantic determination.

CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

H
unter leaned over the neck of his mount, riding for all he was worth. The rhythmic blows of the horse’s hooves beating into the ground as the gelding galloped back toward Logan Meadows was the mantra pounding into his brain.
Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I’m coming, Tabby, hold on.

How much time had passed? Hunter wasn’t sure. He did know that Sundstrom had no regard for life and couldn’t care less if someone lived or died. The thought of him in town with Tabitha turned his blood to ice. Still, the bounty hunter might not be there at all, or have anything to do with his wife, he tried to reason with himself. This ride could be all for naught.

Something in his gut told him that was not the case.

To get there as soon as he could.

From the corner of his eye, Hunter recognized an old barn he’d passed on the way out of town. He was almost there! Soon he’d pass Albert and Susanna’s house, across from Brenna and Greg’s. Then he’d cross the bridge to his destination.

Hold on, Tabby! Hold on!

Rounding the corner, the bridge came into sight. Across that was the bookshop, which was uncommonly dark. He thundered across the bridge. On a sheet hanging out from Tabitha’s balcony hung Marigold, her skirts flying like a flag. Lan stood nearby.

Sliding his mount to a halt, Hunter swung out of the saddle, letting the horse trot off toward the livery.

He ran beneath the woman. “Where’s Tabby?” he shouted up to her.

“Inside! Hurry! Go round back!”

That was all Hunter needed to hear. The broken-down door caused black fear to clamp his gut. He couldn’t lose her now, not now. Not when they’d finally found each other. These past three weeks had been the best of his life, and he knew Thorp wouldn’t even mind his saying that. Tabby might think of him only as a hero for now, but he’d win her love, someway, somehow.

Halfway up the stairs, he saw Sundstrom, pounding on Tabitha’s door, screaming through the one-inch gap that held his arm, so angry and mad with killing lust he didn’t hear Hunter’s approach.

Hunter heard the sickening snap of the man’s arm bone when, somehow, Tabitha must have struck it with some weapon. Sundstrom’s animalistic roar of pain was deafening.

“Get away from the door!” Hunter shouted.

Sundstrom turned in surprise, his broken arm dangling uselessly. With his good arm, he went for the gun holstered on his hip.

Hunter was fast. He killed the man with a single bullet to the heart.

“Tabby!” he shouted. He took the last few steps two at a time, then stepped over Sundstrom’s lifeless body and entered the room.

Tabitha, when he’d shouted for her to get away from the door, had flattened herself on the other side of the room by her reading chair. He was there in two strides and pulled her into his embrace, so thankful she was still alive.

“Hunter,” she breathed. “Hunter,” she said again, her voice thick with emotion.

He had no words, so he sought her mouth with his. He ran his hands down her back as she pressed closer. This room that had held such ecstasy last night had almost been her death chamber. The realization was too horrible to contemplate.

“Lan? My mother?”

“Outside and safe.” He pulled back to gaze into her eyes. “I found Mrs. Ling. She’s safe too and on her way back to Logan Meadows. I can’t believe you were—”

“Shh, I wasn’t. Because of you. Only because of you. I love you so much, Hunter. All I could think about as I was holding the door against that horrible man was that I was going to die and never be able to tell you that. That you’d never know. You’re everything to me! I love you so much it hurts.”

That was all he needed to hear. He kissed her again, passionately. “And I love you, Miss Hoity-Toity. I don’t know how I lived until I met you.” He chuckled even though the question was between them. “But, what about the letter we sent to the preacher, about calling the marriage quits after your mother leaves? What should we do about that? If he reads it, he may be mighty confused.”

“That’s easy. We’ll just ask for it back unopened.”

“What’s this I hear?”

They turned. Marigold, tousled from her climb down the sheets, had come back in and was standing only a few feet away.

“Where’s Lan?” Tabitha asked, still standing in Hunter’s embrace.

“She’s waiting outside. Susanna saw Hunter gallop by her house. She, Greg, and Brenna all ran down here to see what was wrong. Lan is with them. But I was worried about you, Tabitha. I figured it was safe to return since Mr. Wade was in here shooting his gun. He wouldn’t let that horrible man get the best of him, I was sure.” She glanced for a moment at the body on the landing. “But don’t try to change the subject on me. I don’t know what you meant about splitting up after I leave, but whatever it is, I’ll not stand for it! The two of you are perfect for each other. I couldn’t have made a better match myself, and that is saying something. I just want you to get busy and give me some grandchildren.”

She turned slowly to leave, but looked back around. “Oh, I guess you’d like to know I’ve decided to stay on until after Christmas. No use spending all that money on travel and not visiting for a good long time.” She smiled knowingly, and then quietly went out, stepping over Mr. Sundstrom to descend the stairs.

“Well?” Hunter asked.

“You heard her.” Tabitha’s smile reminded him of a mischievous fairy. “She rules the roost. I guess we best get busy making her happy.”

Never having enough, he kissed her again. “My thoughts exactly.”