His Winter Rose and Apple Blossom Bride (39 page)

Chapter Fourteen

“A
shley! Ashley, wake up. Please wake up.”

The panic in Piper’s voice drew her back from the edge of the nightmare. She flicked on the lamp, hurried to open the door.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Tati. She and Wanda are missing.”

“Missing?” She tried to comprehend what Piper was saying.

“The girls were having a sleepover at Wanda’s. Wanda’s mom said they went outside to play on the new swing set. When she went to check they were gone. With a storm blowing in and all those cougar reports, everybody’s worried. A search party has been formed. They’re going out to look. I thought you might like to help.”

“Yes.” Ashley scrambled for clothes.

“Jason and I are supposed to coordinate things so we’re leaving immediately. Once you’re ready, you and Rowena can check in and see where you’d be needed most. She’s making coffee.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“Pray, Ash. They’re just little girls and they’ve already been gone for over an hour.” Piper didn’t say all the things that could go wrong. She didn’t have to. Her face telegraphed her worry.

Ashley knew the dangers of being lost in these woods as well as she. The nights were frigid. Hypothermia was only a matter of time. And then there was that cougar. There had been reports of stalking, animals ravaged. If they didn’t find the girls soon...

A new thought rushed in, supplanting all the others. Ashley grabbed her socks, rushed downstairs.

“Piper,” she called as her friend was about to close the front door. “Where is Wanda’s home?”

“If you didn’t take the turn at the top of the hill that leads here but kept going across the hills you’d come to it. There.” She pointed.

“Okay. Just one more thing.”

Piper frowned, but waited.

“Do you know where Ned Ainsworth lives?”

“That’s funny. I’d never heard of him until Ida was talking about him yesterday,” Piper mused. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just tell me,” she begged, unwilling to get into it now.

“I can’t. I don’t know. Hang on.” She pulled out her cell phone, dialed. “Ida, can you tell me where Ned Ainsworth lives? You were talking about him yesterday. Michael did? Oh. Okay. Thanks.” She flipped the phone closed. “He’s on an acreage past Prime Vista Road.”

“Where’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s only recently been opened to public traffic. Past Lookout Point somewhere.”

“Piper?” Jason stuck his head in the door. “We have to go, honey.”

“I’m coming.” She hugged Ashley. “You and Row take your cell phones. The coordinating center is my number at the town office. If you find anything, call there. Be careful, okay?”

“You, too.”

The door closed behind her. Ashley bent to pull on her thick socks, dragged on ski pants, then a pair of warm hiking boots she’d purchased a few weeks ago. She turned to find Rowena capping a couple of thermoses.

“How long till you’re ready?”

“Just have to put on my coat.” She pushed cups, thermoses, some cookies and a couple of wrapped sandwiches into a backpack. “In case we find them and they’re hungry.”

“Good thinking. I’ll get my car. Meet you out there.”

Thankfully, Ashley remembered she had a full tank of gas. Rowena had barely closed the car door before they were heading out of the yard and down the road Piper had indicated.

“Um, do you know where we’re going?” Row asked as she buckled her seat belt.

“I have a hunch I want to check out.” Even the thought of it kept her fingers clenched around the steering wheel, but though the old clammy fear threatened to swamp her, Ashley refused to back down. Not now. If he’d taken the girls she was going to know, and then she was going to stop him.

For good.

Rowena said nothing more as they bumped and slid down the rutted hill, perhaps because she was too busy hanging onto the armrest. When they finally came to a small narrow track, Ashley shifted into four-wheel drive.

“Ash, are you sure this is where you want to go?”

“I’m sure.” Then, because she couldn’t bottle it inside anymore she told the whole story, how she’d seen Ned several times, how the fear had overtaken her life, driven a wedge between her and Michael. “It’s probably a stupid idea and one I’ll regret, but I’m going to face down Ned Ainsworth, Row. If it is him, if he’s taken the girls, I’m going to get them back. And then I’ll make sure he never does it again.”

“And if it isn’t him? What if you’re wrong?”

Ashley didn’t have an answer to that. She pulled into the yard, turned off the engine.

“I have to do this, Row. For Tati, for Michael, but most of all for me. I should have done it long ago.”

“Your hands are shaking.”

“Everything I own is shaking. I’m scared stiff and I can’t catch my breath, but I’m not leaving here until I know.” She glanced at her friend. “Will you come with me to the door?”

“Try and stop me.”

They walked through the drifting snow that blew off the roof and covered the path. Ashley rapped on the door, then stepped back, praying as she never had before.

“Nobody seems to be home. But there’s a truck in the shed.” Rowena tried the door handle of the house. “It’s open.” She pushed inside, glanced around. “There’s a fire going. I’d guess he’s around here somewhere.”

Ashley remained glued to the doorstep. Suddenly she heard a noise. She wheeled around. Across the yard at the edge of a cliff, a hand appeared. Ned. Grabbing onto the saplings he pulled himself up. A child lay across his shoulders.

“Rowena!”

Ashley raced across the snow, falling several times in the swirling drifts, but each time picking herself up until she was within three feet. Then fear took over and she froze.

“Help her,” he gasped.

“What have you done? Oh, what have you done?” She lifted the child from his arms, pushed back the hood. It wasn’t Tatiana.

“Take her to the house, Ash. I’ll help him,” Rowena ordered.

Ashley didn’t understand why he needed help, but she did understand the splint on the little girl’s arm. She pushed inside the house, laid the child on a sofa.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” she whispered as the eyelashes fluttered. “What’s your name?”

“Wanda. You have to help Tati. She hurt her head when we fell into the water.”

“Water?” Ashley’s blood ran cold. The falls were near here, weren’t they? Tons of rushing water—enough to sweep away a little girl if someone didn’t stop her.

“We didn’t mean to go out of the yard,” Wanda sobbed. “We only wanted to get one of the big sticks from the tree—for the snowman’s arms. I slid down the hill and Tati had to rescue me. But we couldn’t stop. She went in the water and then I couldn’t see her for a while. When she got out she had a big cut on her head. She said her tummy hurt.”

Ashley shared a worried look with Row, who was helping Ned sit. How badly? she wanted to ask.

“They must have fallen down a ridge,” Ned’s gruff voice explained. “I found tracks to a cave. I’m pretty sure the other child is in there.” He rose, wavered a little, grabbed a chair to support himself. “It’s rough terrain. I slipped myself.”

That’s when Ashley saw his blood-soaked leg and the gash that needed stitches.

“I can’t get her alone. One of you will have to help me.”

“I’ll do it.” Rowena found the first aid kit he pointed out and began wrapping his leg.

Ashley took a deep breath. “No, I’ll go. She doesn’t know you, Row.”

“Whichever of you is going, we have to hurry. I saw cougar tracks following hers.” Ned reached for his rifle but grabbed the mantel instead, then collapsed in a chair. “You’d better call for help,” he whispered just before his head lolled back.

“He’s out,” Rowena muttered. She made sure his leg was elevated then began removing Wanda’s coat. “Let’s have a look at you, sweetie.”

Ashley heard and saw everything as if through a fog. Her gaze rested on the man who’d filled her dreams for years. That coat—she knew that coat. It was older, more ragged now, but it was the same horrid shade of green.

She gasped at the sight of the faded, shabby crest on the right arm, thought back to that April day. It was as if she was young again. She felt those arms close around her, relived the terror of being shoved in that car.

“Ash, what’s wrong with you? Call Piper. Get us some help up here.”

Ashley dialed automatically, explained.

“Ned Ainsworth’s. We have Wanda. Her arm, I think. We need Michael, some rescue people and some medical help. I’m going after Tati,” she whispered, staring at Ned’s unconscious body.

“No. Stay where you are.”

“I can’t. Ned says he saw cougar tracks. I have to get Tati. I have to, Piper.” She hung up, slipped the phone into her pocket and pulled on her gloves.

“Ashley, you can’t go down there by yourself,” Rowena protested. “You have to wait for help.”

“I can’t leave her alone, not with that cat out there. I’ll use the rope he used to climb down.”

“Take the rifle.”

“I don’t know how to use it, Row. And even if I did, I can’t climb with it. I’ll figure out something else to keep her safe. Just get some help down there as fast as you can.” She saw a box of matches and a flashlight on the mantel. They went into her pocket. She zipped it closed, saw Wanda’s dry coat and tucked it into a bag that she slung over one shoulder. “To keep her warm. Okay. I’m going.”

Rowena hugged her. “I’ll be praying, Ash. You know that. God will be there with you. Just call on Him.”

“I have been since we left Piper’s.” She glanced around once more, then let herself out.

The snow fell harder now. The wind swirled it around, almost obliterating Ned’s bloody tracks. She gulped down her fear, kept her focus on the point where she’d watched him climb over the ridge. Once there, Ashley dug the rope out of the snow and began her climb down.

“Our relationship wasn’t a total write-off, Kent. At least you taught me the basics of rock-climbing,” she muttered as she lowered herself over the precipice and began feeling with her boot for something to use as a toehold.

Slowly, carefully, she crept down, thankful for the security of the rope to support her. Her arms ached like fire. Finally she was at the bottom. She whispered a breath of thanks. It was darker here, somehow colder, though the wind wasn’t nearly as sharp. Ashley eased away from the wall, took her bearings then sought for something to show her where to go.

A cave, he’d said. She glanced around, thought about calling, then decided that might draw the cat’s attention, if it wasn’t already nearby.

“Lord, I don’t know where to go. Please help me find Tati. And bring Michael soon.”

She stepped forward, saw drops of blood and decided she was on the right track. The rocks were slippery, the loud rush of water blocking out most sounds. It was getting more and more difficult to see, too. The forest above shielded out so much light. She moved quietly, praying constantly for help.

When she found nothing Ashley’s hope began to flicker. Where was Tati?

Out of the corner of her eye she caught movement. The cougar? She couldn’t tell right away, not until it snarled a warning.

“Where is she, God? Please help.”

Fear, the nemesis she’d never been able to shake, crept upon her, more cunning than the cougar. She could hardly breathe, her throat began to close as her fingers clenched inside her gloves. Every nerve tautened until she wanted to run.

But that would draw the cougar.

I am holding you by your right hand—I the Lord your God—and I say to you, Don’t be afraid; I am here to help you.

The words she’d read last night returned with crystal clarity.

“Don’t be afraid,” she whispered, forcing her eyes to peer straight ahead. “Don’t be afraid. God is here.”

Like a beam of sunshine, peace crept into her heart and swelled as she repeated the words over and over.

And then she heard it, softer, quieter than usual, but that sweet lilting voice was Tati’s.

“And God if you could s-send Ashley, too, I’d really like it. She knows about being scared and I’m really s-scared right now.”

“Tati?” Ashley crept forward, into the opening of a cave so small she had to bend to get inside. “Honey, are you in here?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you crawl over here so I can see you?”

Silence, then a little sob.

“I don’t want to. It hurts too bad.”

“Okay, you stay put.” She crawled on hands and knees toward the voice. “Tell me where it hurts, sweetie.”

“My head. And my side. I fell into the water. I’m c-cold.”

“I know. Wanda told us. I brought her jacket. Do you think we can take yours off so you can wear hers?” Finally she reached the little girl who was lying on the ground. “Hi.” She grinned, so relieved to see that precious face.

She removed Wanda’s coat from the bag and with the utmost care helped Tati remove her damp sweater and jacket. She zipped up the dry one, pulled the hood over her head.

“Now you just wait there. I’ve got some matches and I”m going to try to light a fire to keep us warm. Okay?”

“I want my daddy.”

“Oh, he’s coming. He didn’t know you were here so he was looking for you somewhere else, but I phoned Piper and told her and she said he’d come right away.”

“W-Wanda doesn’t like o-other kids to wear her stuff.”

“She won’t mind this time.” Was her voice quieter? Ashley wished she’d thought to tuck Row’s snack into this bag. “I have to get some bark to start the fire. I’ll be just outside the cave so if you need me, you yell and I’ll come. Okay?”

“Uh-huh. But I won’t be afraid now that you’re here.”

“Good.”

Ashley crawled back out of the cave, gathered a few branches and some twigs and carried them back. Twice she thought she saw the cat sneaking through the woods nearby, twice she repeated the words that had comforted her and broken the grip on the fear that had obsessed her.

Something else glimmered in the back of her mind, some memory that hadn’t quite cleared. There was no time now to think about it, but later...

“Ashley?”

She hurried back to the cave, found Tati weeping.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

“An animal, it was looking at me.”