Newton (Prairie Grooms Book 9) (15 page)

“You do that, dear. Oh – and don’t forget your book!”

Arya looked at the chair she’d sat in earlier. She hadn’t realized she’d set the book down. She picked it up, gave Polly a quick nod and went upstairs to her room.

Once inside, she set the book down and plopped onto the settee. She was restless and … and bored, that’s what it was. Newton had been going to Ryder’s place to work all day, leaving her to her own devices. They made up for it at night, but she wondered how long she could keep this up. She missed him during the day to the point where it hurt, and didn’t know how to explain it to anyone but him. Thankfully, he understood and told her that he felt the same. But that did nothing to fill her days.

Maybe tomorrow she’d ask if she could go to Ryder’s with him. But what to do in the meantime? She stood and paced the room a few times before an idea struck. She smiled, then hurried into the bedroom to don her buckskins.

When she went downstairs everyone was still bustling around the dining room, following Polly’s orders. No one noticed her standing there, or saw her leave. And once she was outside, she didn’t head down the street, but went behind the hotel. There was the open prairie, with a few trees dotting the landscape. Yes, this was more like it – this, she was familiar with. And she had Newton’s knife with her, and a canteen of water. What more did she need?

With a determined gleam in her eye, Arya set out.

N
ewton trudged into the hotel
, sweaty, dirty and in desperate need of a hot bath. He ignored the men milling about except Seth, who nodded in greeting as he passed. He nodded back and headed upstairs. He’d get cleaned up as best he could for Arya’s sake, spend some time with her, then usher her down to dinner. Or … maybe he’d just have dinner brought up to their room. He’d rather spend the evening alone with her. Being away from her all day was driving him mad …

“Arya,” he called as he entered their hotel room. “Where are you, darling?” He couldn’t wait to hold her in his arms, kiss her, carry her to their bed and … “Arya?” he took off his coat, set it on a chair and went into the bedroom. “Arya, where are you?”

Well, wherever she was, it wasn’t there. “Hmmm … she must be downstairs in the kitchen,” he mused. “Well, best get cleaned up.” He went to the pitcher and washbowl and scrubbed the grime from his face and hands, stripped off his shirt and washed a few other places before changing out of the rest of his clothes.

Only afterward did he notice Arya’s dress draped over the back of a chair near the armoire. His heart stopped. “Oh no.” He walked over to the armoire, opened it – and sure enough, her buckskins were missing. “Arya, you didn’t!” Looking down, he spied her good new shoes, but not her moccasins. “Blast it, woman! Wait until I get my hands on you …”

He certainly hoped she hadn’t gotten it into her head to go looking for her people. No, she wasn’t that foolish. She’d probably gone hunting. He’d been telling her they’d go, but then he’d gone to work for Ryder to start making some money – the Cooke brothers being essentially unavailable now that Duncan was in town – and it had slipped his mind. He couldn’t really blame her – but on the other hand, she should have told him she was going, or at least left the message with someone.

Newton changed his clothes and then went downstairs, hoping against hope that Arya was still in the hotel. If she wasn’t, he’d have to go search for her. It was getting dark and he didn’t like the thought of his wife wandering around on the prairie outside of town by herself.

“Have you seen my wife?” he asked Seth as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

“No, I haven’t. I thought she was in your room.”

“Blast,” Newton grumbled, glancing around the lobby. “No, she’s not there.”

“What’s wrong?” Seth asked.

“She put on her buckskins.”

Seth’s eyes widened, immediately grasping the import of that. “Oh.”

“Indeed.”

“Where do you think she went?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. I just hope she didn’t go far,” Newton turned toward the dining room. “If she’s not with Mrs. Upton, I’m going out to look for her.”

“I’ll help you,” Seth offered.

“Jolly good, but let me check the kitchen first,” he called over his shoulder.

He went into the kitchen to find Mrs. Upton putting the finishing touches on a platter of roast chickens. “Howdy there, honey! I hope you’re hungry!”

“Famished, but first things first. Have you seen my wife?”

“Not since this afternoon. Why, did you lose her?”

He chuckled. “Hardly, but she’s not in the hotel.”

“Have you checked down at the mercantile? Maybe she’s playing checkers with Wilfred.”

Word must have spread about her walloping of the sheriff earlier. “Hmmm, perhaps I’ll do that.” Conceivably, she’d done a little hunting, come back to town, then decided to grab a game or two. “If she comes back before I do, tell her to stay until I return.”

“I’ll do that, honey. And don’t worry, she’s got to be around here somewhere.”

“Let’s hope.” Newton left the kitchen and returned to the lobby. “I’m going to check the mercantile,” he told Seth. “If she’s not there, then let’s go.”

Seth nodded and came out from behind the counter. “I’ll get my coat and guns in the meanwhile.”

By the time Newton reached the mercantile, he was starting to feel unsettled, as if his insides were quivering and there was no way to stop them until he had Arya in his arms. He went inside to find Wilfred behind the counter, filling an order for Fanny Fig. “Howdy, Newton. Be right with ya.”

“I don’t need anything – I’m looking for my wife. Have you seen her?”

“Afraid I haven’t. Not that I mind, she’d only run me right off the checkerboard if she were here.”

Newton smiled. “Yes, she’s quite taken to the game, hasn’t she? Thank you.” He turned to leave.

“What’s the matter, Mr. Whitman?” Fanny asked. “Did you lose her?”

Newton stopped and fought against a sigh. “No, Mrs. Fig, I did not.” He glanced over his shoulder at the woman. “You haven’t seen her, have you?”

“No. And if you ask me, you’d best keep a better handle on her. The way she runs around town all day, it’s plumb shameful!”

He turned. “Madame, my wife does nothing of the sort.”

“She’s in here playing checkers with
men,
Mr. Whitman. I’d say that makes her exactly of the sort
.
”

“Fanny,” Wilfred warned. “Mind your own business.”

“Seeing to the welfare of this town
is
my business. That woman ought not to be allowed to philander about all day.”

Newton’s anger flared. “Mrs. Fig, my wife does
not
philander, as you put it. She’s curious about everything and still learning our ways. There’s nothing wrong with Arya learning how to play checkers.”

“With
men
!” she crowed, as if it were grounds for a stoning.

“I learned how to play whist from a woman, what difference does it make?”

Fanny looked him up and down in disdain. “Well, I can see you’re not the gentleman I once thought you were.”

“Fanny.” Wilfred’s voice was unusually low and quiet. “Ya shut yer mouth right now, or I’ll be having a talk with yer husband.”

Fanny’s eyes widened. But mercifully, her mouth closed.

Newton’s had been about to let her have it with both barrels, but Wilfred’s threat had given him the seconds he needed to calm himself. Instead he said, “Madame, we can discuss my character another time. Right now, I need to find my wife.” He bowed slightly, turned on his heel and left. Let her think what she would. He had more important matters to attend to. Like fetching Seth and making sure Arya was safe.

A
rya stood
on a small rise and watched the sun set. She should be getting back to town, but couldn’t pull herself away from the sight. Besides, she was a little embarrassed that she hadn’t caught anything. But there was always tomorrow. If Newton could be gone from sunrise to sunset, then she could too. Perhaps tomorrow she’d take one of Newton’s guns with her – then she’d have no problem bringing something home for dinner.

She sighed as the sun’s last rays warmed the chill of loneliness in her heart. She missed her people and she missed her husband, even if she had just seen him that morning. She sighed at the thought … and froze.

“Well now … what have we here?” a voice drawled behind her.

Arya’s muscles tensed. She sensed more than one man and was almost afraid to turn around. But turn she did.

“Woo-ee, we hit the jackpot!” said another. Thankfully, there were only two of them. One was older, about the age of Newton’s father. The other, who’d just spoken, was even younger than she was. Both were equally dirty and mean-looking.

“What’s a woman doin’ out here alone?” the older one asked as he looked her over.

“Who cares?” said the other. “Let’s have her!”

Arya backed up a step, snapping herself out of shock.

“Shut up!” the older said. “Can’t ya see yer scarin’ the poor dear?” He turned back to her. “We’re sorry, missy. My young friend here ain’t used to bein’ ‘round women. He don’t know how to act.”

Arya stood straight. Her best chance was to run, get as far from them as possible. She was sure she could outrace them if she had to, though it was better if she didn’t give them any reason to chase her in the first place. “I am going home now.”

“Home? You live ‘round here?” the older one asked.

“Clear Creek.”

“Ah yes, good ol’ Clear Creek,” he said with a scowl. “I hate that place.” She raised her eyebrows at that, causing him to correct himself. “That is to say, er … I’d rather live someplace else.”

“You do,” the younger one said with a laugh.

“Shut up, Johnny,” he said and smacked him in the chest.

“Oof! What’dja do that fer? Who cares where ya live, Clinton?”

Arya watched the pair argue as she slowly sidestepped around them, one hand on the knife at her belt.

Clinton cracked Johnny in the ear. “I said shut up! Can’t ya see I’m talkin’ to the lady here?” He turned back to Arya. “Beggin’ yer pardon, ah … Yer Grace, but we ain’t never met a duchess before.”

Arya froze.
Duchess?
They thought she was …

“So ya understand,” he continued as he closed the distance between them. “Yer kinda special to folks like us –”

Arya turned to flee – and saw two more men approach. Trapped! She bolted … but too late. Eight hands grabbed her, and she kicked and screamed, but to no avail. Within seconds they had her disarmed and pinned to the ground, and soon she was bound and gagged.

“Get the horses,” one of them barked. “We gotta get out of here.”

“I want my money!” Clinton demanded.

“You’ll get yer money once we get our ransom,” one of the newcomers growled.

“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even know ‘bout this!” Clinton declared. “I want my money, then I’m leavin’!”

Johnny laughed. “You ain’t goin’ nowhere! We’ve waited a long time to have our revenge. Yer as much a part of this as any of us.”

Clinton scowled, and his voice dropped. “I gave ya a tip that there was money to be had by grabbin’ yerselves a duchess,” he said flatly. “I predicted she’d venture out at some point to get shut of the town. And guess what – I was right.”

Johnny spit. “Yeah, yer right, dang it.”

Arya watched one of the others grab Clinton by the collar. “All right, so ya got us the duchess. You can have yer stinkin’ money when we get her back to camp, Moresy – but only half, for findin’ her. If ya want the other half, yer gonna have to see this through.”

“That ain’t the deal we made, Spider.”

“Is now. Gotta problem with that?”

Moresy wasn’t intimidated. “Matter of fact, I do, Spider. I told ya these high-’n-mightys were in town. I told ya who they were, and that this here gal would bring a hefty ransom. That was all I promised. I don’t want no part in no abduction, ‘specially when it involves the Cookes! Double ‘specially since this is the second time this has been tried, and we know how the first one went! Especially Johnny, here.”

“Don’t even talk ‘bout that one if ya know what’s good fer ya!” the other man hissed. “I say what goes on here, and I say yer in too deep to just walk away. We got her and you helped. And yer gonna see this through, or yer gonna get what she’s got. Which’ll it be?”

Arya studied them. The one called Spider wore an eye-patch. He was unshaven, even dirtier than the others, and looked like he’d been camping out on the prairie for some time. The fourth man, who hadn’t yet spoken, wasn’t in much better shape. These were outlaws, no doubt about it, and she was at their mercy.

But she still had two advantages. One, they apparently thought she was Cozette! And two, they wanted to hold her for ransom, so they didn’t dare kill her or hurt her too badly. She wasn’t yet sure how she could use either one to her benefit, but it was better than nothing …

“I never shoulda helped Johnny break any of ya out,” Clinton sneered. “Without me, ya’d still be rottin’ in prison!”

“But we ain’t now, are we?” Spider replied. “I admit, I’m grateful fer what ya did, but I already paid ya back fer that little favor.”

“Little?” Clinton barked. “Ya call killin’ two guards on that prison wagon little? I’m gonna get hanged if’n I’m caught!”

“Then ya best see ya don’t get caught,” Spider advised.

“Which is why I want to get as far away from here as possible,” Clinton said. “I don’t want nothin’ to do with this no more!”

Spider nodded slowly, smiled, then punched him in the face.

Clinton fell to the ground, out cold.

Spider bent over him, then nudged him with his boot to double-check. “Ain’t askin’ ya what ya want.” He turned to the silent fourth man. “Put this yella dog on a horse. I’ll take the lady. Let’s get back to camp.”

Arya struggled, but it was no use. Spider picked her up, tossed her over a shoulder and headed for a small stand of trees about fifty yards away. What was she going to do now?

N
ewton and Seth
went to the church first to check if Arya was there, but neither Preacher Jo nor Annie had seen her since the day before. The two men searched from one end of town to the other, but came up empty-handed. “There’s no help for it,” Newton decided. “She’s out on the prairie somewhere.”

“Well, then we start tracking,” Seth told him.

Newton was less than pleased with that, but then he wasn’t pleased he had to go looking for her in the first place. The silly woman should have known better than to stay out so late. It was already dusk, and tracking would be difficult. They’d no doubt meet her as she was returning to town, but he was still going to give her a piece of his mind.

“Let’s get a lantern,” Seth suggested. “It’ll make things easier.”

“Horses?”

“No, she can’t be far. We just need to know which direction she went.”

Newton sighed heavily. “I’ve a right mind to turn her over my knee for this.”

Seth laughed. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten where your wife came from already? I think she can take care of herself out there.”

Newton chuckled. “Of course she can, under the right circumstances. But she’s only one woman, and if …” Newton began to choke as his stomach turned to ice.

“What is it?”

Newton’s legs gave way as if they’d just been kicked out from under him. “Oh no. Oh no. What the bloody …”

“Newton!” Seth said in alarm and pulled him to his feet. “What’s wrong?”

“Arya,” he rasped. “It’s Arya.”

“Arya?” Seth said, confused.