Newton (Prairie Grooms Book 9) (16 page)

Newton’s eyes were frantic. “Something’s terribly wrong. We’ve got to find her, now!”

Seth stared at him a moment, then nodded. “All right, give me a minute. I’ll get some help.”

Newton froze, eyes wide with terror – and not all of it his own. How he knew, he hadn’t a clue, but nonetheless he
knew
his wife was in danger. He could feel her fear, almost hear her voice in his head. “What’s happening?” Newton said as he sat down, hard, in the road.

“Stay there! I’ll go get Sheriff Hughes!” Seth raced down the street.

“Arya,” Newton whimpered as a chill went up his spine. Good grief, was this what Amon went through? He breathed slowly, trying to calm his racing heart. His eyes and ears told him he was sitting in the street in front of the hotel, but at the same time he could smell the sharp tang of late autumn, could feel the cold open air of the prairie on his skin.

“Arya …” She was out there, somewhere, and she was in danger. He could sense others around her, and an image of several men flashed before him.

That confirmed it. Whatever “it” was. He’d heard of this sort of thing – people connected in ways beyond the imagination, husbands and wives especially. He just didn’t realize he and Arya had such a connection. But now, it was obvious.

“Chase is saddling two horses, and the sheriff will follow us. Let’s go.” Seth helped him up off the ground.

Newton followed him into the dim light of dusk. If everything that was happening to him was real – and deep down, he knew it was – they hadn’t a moment to lose.

“
H
ow do ya spell ‘duchess
’?” Johnny asked.

“I dunno!” the fourth man snapped. “Go ask Clinton – he’s always braggin’ ‘bout how smart he is!”

“He ain’t as smart as Spider,” Johnny grumbled as he walked out of the firelight and into the darkness surrounding them. After spending an hour in the company of her captors, Arya was able to come to one solid conclusion. They were idiots.

“Whaddaya mean, ya don’t know how to spell it?” she heard Johnny whine somewhere off to her left. “Dagnabit, I’m trying to write this here ransom note!”

She knew what the word “ransom” meant, at least – the concept existed among the tribes as well. Once again, she tallied up her advantages. They didn’t know that she wasn’t Cozette. They didn’t dare kill her if they wanted to get a ransom for her. She wasn’t too far from Clear Creek – it hadn’t taken long to get from where they’d grabbed her to their hideout. They hadn’t blindfolded her, so she knew they were west of town, at the tree line. And they were as dumb as a herd of buffalo.

It wasn’t much, but it was what she had. She just had to figure out a way of using all that to escape and get back to town.

She glanced around the dim light of the fire. She was sitting on the ground, tied to a small tree. She could see their tracks from when they’d brought her here – they hadn’t even bothered to hide them. Newton should find her easily enough. She dreaded him being upset with her, but how was she to know she’d run into this lot?

“D … U … uh … let me think,” Clinton said. “… chess. Just like it sounds, ya idjit!”

“Stop flappin’ yer gums and get that note ready!” Spider bellowed. “I swear yer worse at this than the last gang I had!”

Last gang?
Arya thought. So he’d done this sort of thing before? Was he successful? She looked around again. She didn’t see her knife – correction, Newton’s knife – anywhere. She hoped they hadn’t lost it – it would be one more thing he’d be upset about.

She sighed and tried to think. As soon as she was loose, she’d have to run for it, as fast as she could. Once she got going, they’d have a hard time catching her – she was quick over open ground, and knew the ways of the prairie better than they did. She’d been standing still before, and it had still taken all four of them to tackle her to the ground. She wouldn’t make that mistake twice.

She decided to wait until they fell asleep, then try to untie her bonds and get away. The last thing she wanted was for Newton to stumble into their camp and get himself hurt. Not that he would – she’d seen him fight men of her tribe and fight them well. It was one of the tests he’d had to pass in order to marry her.

“How do ya spell ‘Triple-C’?” Johnny asked. “Do I just write three C’s?”

“Oh fer cryin’ out loud!” Spider snapped. “Give me that note!” They stepped into the firelight and Arya watched him snatch the paper from the younger man’s hand. “The pencil too – hurry up!” Johnny handed him the pencil. “Now turn ‘round.”

Johnny did. “Whatcha gonna do, Spider?”

“What yer too stupid to, that’s what!” He proceeded to use Johnny’s back as a writing desk. “Let’s see here,” he muttered to himself. “Bring ten thousand dollars … no, a duchess gotta be worth more’n that.” He scratched out what he wrote and started over. “Bring …
twenty
thousand dollars … in gold … to the old miner’s cave … on the ridge.” He jabbed the pencil against Johnny’s back.

“Ouch!”

“Quit yer gripin’! Bad enough I gotta do all the work ‘round here!”

“Yeah, just don’t work us all into jail,” Clinton sniped.

Spider spun on his heel. “Shut up or I’m gonna shut ya up permanent! The only reason yer alive is ‘cause ya helped Johnny here break me outta that prison wagon.”

Clinton rolled his eyes. “Among other things. Face it, if it weren’t for me keeping ya informed, you wouldn’t have that pretty little thing to ransom off. Besides, I figure ya need all the help ya can get after the last time ya tried –”

Arya watched in fascination as Spider balled his hands into fists, his body rigid. “That wasn’t my fault – we was overrun! They was everywhere! Who could stand up to …?”

“A chicken,” Clinton interrupted and snickered.

“That weren’t no chicken!” Spider argued. “There was men, lots of men! They had us pinned!”

Clinton shook his head, still chuckling. “That ain’t what they say in Clear Creek.”

“I don’t care what they say in Clear Creek!” Spider snarled.

“I remember when me and the gang I was with kidnapped some women from there a few years back,” Johnny added. “Woo-ee, what a night that was –”

“Shut up, Johnny,” the fourth man barked. “No one wants to hear that story again!!”

“Oh yeah? Well, how many men ya know done and grabbed the same woman twice?” He glanced in Arya’s direction, then began to walk toward her. Uh-oh. Thankfully it had been getting dark when they took her, so he hadn’t noticed she wasn’t the same one he’d tried to capture before. She just hoped it stayed that way. “Back then, it was my idea we take ‘em,” he bragged.

“Yeah, and look how that turned out,” a man said as he rode up. He dismounted, along with another man. Great – there were now six to contend with. Arya rolled her eyes. How many more would there be?

“Howdy, Spider. Been a long time.” The newcomer spit tobacco juice on Johnny’s boot.

“Hey!”

The man glared at Johnny. Johnny closed his mouth, took a step back and stared at the new stain on his boot.

“What do ya want?” Spider growled. “Ya got no business here.”

The newcomer glanced at Arya, and a chill went up her spine. “That’s my business over there,” he said with a nod.

Spider drew his gun with lightning speed. “We found her first!”

The newcomer chuckled, as if a child had pulled out a stick and pretended it was a pistol. “Now, Spider, calm yourself. We go way back.”

“Don’t matter to me. ‘Specially after ya double-crossed me, ya sidewinder!”

“That was a long time ago.”

“Not long enough!”

“I hate to interrupt yer flirtin’ and all,” Clinton began, “but by now ya gotta figger them townsfolk in Clear Creek know they got a missin’ duchess on their hands. They’ll have set out to find her.”

Both men glared at him. “So?” they said at once.

Clinton shrugged. “Suit yerselves.” He went to a coffee pot sitting on a rock by the fire, poured himself a cup and wandered off into the shadows.

The two other men faced off again and continued to argue. Which suited Arya just fine. The more they argued, the louder they talked, making it easier for Newton and anyone with him to find her. All she had to worry about was staying in one piece until then, and she was still fairly confident she could. But this new man was a concern – unlike the others, he might have half a brain.

Unfortunately, all she could do at the moment was wait and see.

“
G
entleman
, I don’t like this,” Sheriff Hughes announced. They’d been riding across the prairie with only the light of their lanterns to see by – the cloudy sky was blotting out the moonlight. “Seth, can you see anything?”

Seth held the lantern up and stared at the ground. “I can’t find the trail now. I had it, but now it’s gone.” He turned to Newton. “That wife of yours is a light-footed thing.”

“I’m aware.” Newton’s hands were like ice, his gut not much warmer. Thank Heaven the fear that hit him before had died down considerably, or he wouldn’t be able to function. He hoped it meant Arya was no longer in danger. If only there was a way to be certain …

“Newton?” Seth urged.

Newton jerked at the sound of his name. “Yes, what?”

“I said I think we should get more help. Maybe a few other men from town …”

“Can they track?” he interjected.

“Deputy O’Hare does a fair job,” said the sheriff. “But really, the best in the area is Ryder.”

“Who happens to be a good two hours’ ride away,” Newton said. “By the time one of us enlisted him and brought him back, the trail will have gone cold. No, we need to keep looking.”

“I’ll ride back to town and see who I can round up,” said the sheriff. “And you never know – maybe your wife’s wandered back to town.”

“No. She didn’t.”

“How can you be so sure about that, son?”

“I don’t know,” Newton said, his voice firm. “But I’m more sure than I’ve ever been.”

“All right. You two keep looking. I’ll come back here with whoever I can find, and we’ll try to catch up.”

Seth handed him the lantern. “Here – you’ll need this.”

Sheriff Hughes nodded, held the lantern up to light his way and left.

Newton glanced at the lamp in his own hand. “They’ll see us coming a mile away.”

“Yes, they certainly will,” Seth agreed. “If they haven’t already.”

“Then believe me when I say, I know my wife’s in danger.”

Seth smiled. “Newton, after what I saw you go through to get her, I believe you.” He dismounted his horse. “Give me the light.”

Newton handed it to him, then dismounted as well.

Seth held the lantern up and studied the ground around them. “Let’s see if we can’t find that trail again. At least then we’ll have something to work with. Then we just have to wait until the extra help arrives.”

Newton cringed at the thought. He wanted to keep looking regardless, but it was next to impossible in the dark. He knew that, and had to face that they might not be able to do anything until daylight. He just hoped and prayed Arya would be safe until they could find her. Wherever she was …

H
arlan Hughes had been
a lawman most of his life and wasn’t easily rattled. But for some reason, this incident had him on edge. “Cyrus!” he said as he burst through the hotel doors. “Have you seen my deputy?”

“No, can’t say that I have. What’s the matter? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I’m hoping not to. Arya’s missing and Newton suspects foul play.”

“What?!” Cyrus stood and came out from behind the front counter. “Where’s Newton now?”

“He and Seth are about a mile out of town, trying to pick up her trail. We need someone else who can track, so I came to find Bran.”

“Why, this is terrible. I have no idea where he could be.”

“Maybe he’s home eating supper, but I hate to waste time going all the way out there. Guess there’s no help for it, though.”

“What’s the trouble, Harlan?” Duncan said as he entered.

Sheriff Hughes turned to the sound. “Duncan! It’s Arya – she’s gone missing and we can’t find her. Bran O’Hare, my deputy, is the only one in town that’s a decent tracker.”

“Seems to me you shouldn’t need anyone to track the girl, not if she was raised by Indians. One would think she could find her way home … unless … oh.”

“That’s right – unless something happened to her, which is exactly what Newton suspects,” said the sheriff.

“I can help,” Cozette said as she joined her husband.

Sheriff Hughes stared at her a moment. “Thank you for offering, Mrs. Cooke, but this is a man’s job …”

Duncan cleared his throat. “Sheriff Hughes, have you forgotten who raised my wife as a child?”

Sheriff Hughes smacked himself in the forehead, dragged his hand down his face, then shook his head. “I plumb forgot. My apologies, ma’am – yes, you
can
help!” He quickly looked her up and down. “Not dressed like that, though.”

Cozette looked down at her bright pink gown. They had come into town with Harrison, Sadie, Logan and Susara to have dinner at the hotel. “This is true. I shall change. But into what?”

Harrison, having just arrived, took one look at the sheriff and blanched. “Oh no, what is it? I know that look, Harlan.”

“Arya’s missing,” Duncan answered for the sheriff. “He needs someone who can track.”

“That would be your wife,” Harrison stated.

“Quite so.” He turned to Cyrus. “I don’t suppose you’d happen to have a spare change of clothes here at the hotel that might fit her?”

Cyrus studied Cozette a moment. “Clothes, I’ve got. A gun belt might be another story.”

“Get what you have and we’ll see,” Duncan ordered. “Harrison, run to the mercantile and find a belt.”

“What are you going to do?” Harrison asked.

“Get some guns.”

Harrison nodded. “Right, then.” He took off without another word.

Sadie stared after him as she joined the rest. “What is going on?”

“I am going on a hunt!” Cozette said, her eyes set in determination.

“Hunt? For what?”

Cozette took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “For a damsel in distress.”

Sadie gaped at her. “Oh good grief, don’t tell me you’ve been reading those penny dreadfuls?”

“Fine – I shall not tell you.” Cozette lifted the skirt of her gown and followed Cyrus up the stairs. At the top, she stopped and turned, her hands gripping the bannister. “But I know that Arya is in danger.” She disappeared.

Sadie stood open-mouthed and stared at the empty staircase. “How would she know that?”

Sheriff Hughes shrugged. “How would Newton?”

Sadie slowly turned to face him as she belatedly realized Duncan had disappeared as well. “All I wanted was a nice dinner in town,” she said to herself.

“What’s going on?” Logan asked from behind her. “Where’s Duncan and Harrison?”

Sadie glanced over her shoulder at him. “I hope you’re not looking forward to dessert.”

“What?”

“We have an emergency. Arya’s gone missing. Cozette, Duncan and Harrison are going to help track her down.”

Logan gawked a moment, then shook himself. “What the Sam Hill …?”

Duncan came down the stairs, armed to the teeth. “Good, Logan, you’re here. All hands on deck.”

Logan stared in open-mouthed shock. “Duncan? What is all,” he waved a hand at the arms, “ … that?”

Duncan’s eyes darted over the weaponry. “A few things I picked up in England. I left them here at the hotel because … well, because Cozette and I thought we might go hunting near the tree line while we were here. It looks like we will be, at that.”

Logan studied the gun belt he wore. “I’ve never seen anything like that …”