Lessons of Love (42 page)

Cole
rode ever onward, faster and faster, the mantra of
Jolie
,
Jolie
,
Jolie
, pounding through his brain in time with the beat of the horse
’
s hooves. He
’
d been riding
for two days straight, stopping only twice to get a fresh horse, never sleeping, never wasting time to rest, and was now only an hour
’
s ride from Natchez. His blood burned with rage and hatred for Gregor. He couldn
’
t believe the man had been bold enough
t
o try and sell
Jolie
at Lily
’
s. The incredible amount of evil and stupidity of that act left him stunned.
‘
Jolie
,
Jolie
,
Jolie
’.

“
I
’
m coming little one. This will all be over soon kitten, and so help me, Gregor will pay
for every bit of your pain.”

The
forest on either side of the road was a green blur as he urged the exhausted horse ever onward until he reached the outskirts of Natchez.
Cole
went to the first liver
y stable he found and gave the stable hand enough silver to ensure the proper care of his
horse before heading off in the direction of Lily
’
s. The brothel was in an area known as
‘
Natchez Under the Hill
’
and
Cole
’
s mind worked at formulating a plan as he st
rode through the dark streets.

The closer he got to Lily
’
s, the more lively the town aro
und him became. This was the area where no respectable person would be seen. Ladies never came here and gentlemen arrived discretely, concealed in their carriages until they could quickly slip inside their favored place of business. While it was true that
Lily
’
s catered to the high end of gentlemen, it was a whore house none the less, and certainly belonged in the heart of the red light district, though it wa
s in the more
‘
elite
’
section.

As
Cole
came upon his destination, he still had no plan in mind. The
mantra that had accompanied his ride still beat in his brain. All he could think about was
Jolie
. Did he simply storm the place and carry her out? Doing so could cause innocent people, including his wife, to be hurt.
Cole
also wanted to keep
Jolie
’
s time
here a secret. The matrons of New Orleans would feed on this little tidbit of information like sharks for weeks, tearing her reputation apart like bits of flesh from her bones if they found out about his wife
’
s abduction. All the hard work that had gone i
n
to establishing their place in society would be lost. It wasn
’
t for him he worried, oh no, it was for the gentle born woman whom he had wed. Wed and treated so badly. Wed and allowed to be abused. Wed only to be sold into sexual slavery like a whore. What
had he done?

Cole
was still standing before the brothel, torn with indecision, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled, ready to attack, only to come face to face with Jonathan. “
So what
’
s the plan
Cole
?”

Cole
looked from Jonathan to the four oth
er heavily armed men standing in a group behind him. His jaw clenched, as he searched for an answer he didn
’
t have. He just wanted his wife. He let out a rush of breath, shaking his head, intent on confessing his lack of ideas to his main man, when Jonath
a
n simply grasp his shoulder in a firm grip and squeezed for reassurance. “
Just pull your hat down low and follow my lead.”
Jonathan knew
Cole
could be recognized by some of the gentlemen present, and certainly by most of the girls, but knew he himself woul
dn
’
t be. He planned to create a distraction, get upstairs, find
Jolie
, and take her out the back way before an
yone knew what was happening.

“
Mason and George, you two order up some whiskey then start a big noisy brawl while
Cole
and I go upstairs. Paul,
follow us. Joseph, you clear the back hall so we can take Ms.
Jolie
out that
way without her being seen.”

Jonathan knew
Cole
was physically exhausted and emotionally crazed. He was riding on rage and instinct, and that wasn
’
t a good thing. Taking the lea
d was the best thing he could do for his friend right now. The men all knew the layout of Lily
’
s from their years of work at the brothel, and Jonathan was going to use it to their adva
ntage. “
Oh, and one more thing, i
f anyone sees Gregor, shoot him on sigh
t.”
That said he walked purposefully towards Lily
’
s with the others at his heels, bursting through the door into the main saloon and motioning for
the men
to take their places.

As soon as Mason and George had begun the requested fight, and the guard
’
s att
ention was focused on restoring order, Jonathan,
Cole
, and Paul made their way upstairs. It was common practice for the women to leave the doors unlocked while entertaining in case there was trouble, and Jonathan boldly began to open each door he came to,
looking over the occupants of the room before shutting it again and moving on. He saw
Cole
pass him and reached out to stop him, but ended up with a fist full of air. Turning, Jonathan saw what had caught
Cole
’
s attention. A door on the left at the end of
the hall was open
and Doc Martin was rushing in.

Jonathan sprinted after
Cole
who shoved the doctor aside and burst into the room to find
Jolie
lying motionless on the floor, an empty bottle of Morphine near one of her hands. Gregor was also in the room,
in a rage and in the process of beating one of the servants who was screaming over and over that she
’
d only left
Jolie
for a moment.

Cole
rushed to
Jolie
’
s side, kneeling down next to the doctor and pulling her into his arms. He picked her up and held her
close, his ear pressed to her chest. Was she breathing? Was her heart beating? Doc Martin reached for
Jolie
and
Cole
let out a roar, no one would ever touch her again. The doctor looked at him undaunted, determined to get through to the crazed man before
him.

“
Damn it man put her down so I can examine her! I might be able to save her.”
At his request, the horrid words sinking into his brain,
Cole
reluctantly placed
Jolie
on the bed and took a step back, frozen with fear, then snapped out of his stupor a
t the sound of Gregor
’
s voice expressing
his outrage at their presence.

Turning fast, without a thought,
Cole
stepped up to Gregor and put the gun to the evil man
’
s head pulling the trigger twice. Gregor went down in a heap at his feet, stone cold dead. N
o one in the room showed an ounce of remorse at his passing. Lily grabbed the servant girl, Melly, and pulled her to her feet. Then she looked from
Cole
to
Jolie
to Doc who was listening to
Jolie
’
s he
art with
a worried expression.

“
You
’
ve got to get out o
f here, all of you.”
Lily quickly went to the chest at the foot of the bed and pulled out a quilt. “
Wrap
Jolie
in this, and take her to Doc
’
s. You go with them Melly, and stay there till I come for you. Keep yer mouth shut. No one will ever hear what went
on in this room. Gregor was a vile, evil bastard
,
and I
’
ll tell the sheriff it was self-
defense. Now go on, all of you, bundle up
Jolie
and get out of here.”

“
Lily you can
’
t take the rap for this.”
Cole
looked torn between doing as she said and doing what
he thought was right. Everything inside him wanted to simply take the easy way out and whisk
Jolie
into the night like none of this never happened, but it
wasn
’
t the decent thing to do.

“
Listen to me
Cole
.
Jolie
needs doctorin
’
and I need you out of my br
othel before the sheriff comes and makes a ruckus. It
’
s bad for business. He
’
s a friend of mine, a special friend. Nothing ties you to this place anymore so let it go. Grego
r has the deed in his pocket.”

“
I never signed... ”

“
If you don
’
t say anything, n
o one will ever know. Now get out and save yourself. Go live that respectable life with your wife.
She seems like a sweet girl.”

“
I really do need to get her to my clinic
Cole
. I
’
ve got some medicine to counteract the effects of the Morphine. I also know
she needs you in order to survive
Cole
. There wasn
’
t an ounce of life in her while she was here. If they take you away for Gregor
’
s murder, she
’
ll wish
the overdose had killed her
.”

“
Lily... ”

“
Just take care of her
Cole
and be happy.”

Cole
searched her
eyes for one more second but found no uncertainty or fear. He nodded and picked up
Jolie
, while Jonathan spread out the quilt, then laid her back down and bundled her up head to toe before cradling her close to his heart. Then
Cole
, Jonathan, Doc Martin,
Melly and
Cole
’
s men disappeared out the back way into the blackness leaving a dead Gregor behind.
 

Nineteen

Cole
held
Jolie
tightly in his arms as he carried her down the back stairway and out of Lily
’
s. He clutched her to his chest, whispering despera
tely into her ear. Pleas
for her to live, to fight, to come back to him. Tearful vows of love interspersed with more pleas. This time
,
ones for forgiveness. He rocked and held her in the wagon while Doc Martin drove to his clinic through the black night, fe
ar filling him at
Jolie
’
s utter lack of movement or response. Her breathing was so shallow, her skin so pale. Would she ever wake up from the overdose
of Morphine she
’
d swallowed?

Their arrival was a blur, as were the days that passed. Time ceased for h
im, as did conscience thought for the world around him, as
Jolie
struggled to survive. She had lain still as stone for almost forty eight hours and then her body had begun to react violently to her ordeal. After two days of stillness, she came to life, and
those days for
Cole
, were almost worse than before. Her body became consumed by the agonizing grip of drug withdrawals. She
’
d thrashed about, screaming and sweating, clawing at her skin, then shivering violently, teeth chattering, as she was wracked by ch
ills. Hour after hour, day and night she suffered, and
Cole
suffered with her.