Riverbreeze: Part 3 (32 page)

Robert slowly stood up and wiped his face. Jamie was right; Evelyn could help. He must get a hold of himself and not waste time moaning and crying. He looked at Abigail who was also crying and visibly trembling.

“I’m so sorry.” She said.

He took control of himself, straightened his spine and said, “Thank you. Will you take care of Robin for me while I’m away?”

“Of course.” She said readily, wiping her own tears away. “And I’ll finish making supper. If you and Jamie are going to go look for her, then you need to eat first. You’ll need your strength.”

“No, there’s no time for that. Just pack me some dried venison and dried apples.” Then, with a renewed sense of determination, he climbed the stairs two at a time intending to speak to Jamie and Evelyn, but he heard Robin crying in his bedchamber so he changed direction and hurried to his son.

Robin was sitting in the middle of the bed, crying his eyes out. He rubbed them sleepily, but when he saw his father he reached out to him with his little hands. “Daddy, I scared.” He whimpered.

Robert went to him quickly, feeling momentarily angry at Elizabeth for leaving him alone while she had followed her own selfish reason to go outside. He hugged his son, holding him close and rubbing his back. “’Tis all right, son. I’m here now.”

“Where Mama?” Robin asked in a tiny voice.

Robert swallowed hard. Controlling his voice, he answered calmly, “Mama had to go away for awhile, but she’ll be back soon. I’m also going to have to go away, but Abigail will take care of you. Can you be a big boy for daddy and not be afraid?”

Robin nodded his head, putting his thumb in his mouth and clutching his stuffed beagle to his chest with his other hand.

Robert kissed him on the forehead. “Good lad. I love you, Robin. Daddy loves you very much. Always remember that.” He didn’t know why he felt compelled to say that, but just in case he was killed during this rescue, he wanted Robin to know how he felt.

Robin just nodded again, still sucking his thumb, comforted by his father’s words.

“Stay right here. I’m going to call Abigail to take you downstairs to the kitchen.”

He did that, yelling down the staircase. Abigail came running and Robert told her to watch over Robin and never leave him out of her sight. She agreed and took the little boy downstairs to the kitchen where she continued to prepare sacks of food for Robert.

All right, Robert thought. What was he going to do first? Where was he going to look? He couldn’t find Wesley with the help of Owasewas so how was he going to do it alone or even with Jamie’s help? Could Evelyn actually sense Elizabeth’s whereabouts? And then if they did find her, how could he alone or he and Jamie fight two crafty Indians and Wesley and Burnett? They could shoot two of them quickly enough but then the other two could shoot back while he and Jamie tried to reload their pistols.

But then he had an idea. Why hadn’t he thought of this sooner? The ruby necklace! Maybe all Wesley wanted was the necklace. He should have given it to Wesley that first night and maybe all this wouldn’t have happened. Robert was loath to give up that necklace. It was rightfully his, but to save Elizabeth he would willingly hand it over.

With that decision made, he went to the corner of the room where he pried up the floorboard and pulled out the flat box. He opened it and stared at the necklace for several seconds. He remembered the portrait of his beautiful mother wearing this necklace and how the painter had managed to make the stones sparkle in the painting. He remembered, after his father had died, how Wesley had ordered him and Jamie into the hall and right in front of them, with a smirk on his ugly face, had taken the portrait down and methodically slashed it over and over again with his dagger, first to her heart, then across her face, then across her neck and so on. He was suddenly furious, a rage coming over him so strongly it felt like his head might explode. He knew then that he was going to kill Wesley; he knew it in his heart and he didn’t care. And then he would take back the necklace.

He got up and quickly went to Jamie’s bedchamber. He stood in the doorway watching Jamie comfort Evelyn. “Is she all right?” He asked quietly.

Jamie turned towards him. “For now.”

“Are you going to come with me?”

“We’ll both go.”

Robert was stunned. That had come from Evelyn. She sat up, dried her eyes and added, “I know she’s still alive. I can feel her in my heart. I need to go with you.”

Robert nodded. “And I’ve got something to bargain with.” He held up the box.

Jamie recognized it and gasped. He hesitated only a second and then he nodded.

“Let’s go.” Robert said.

Chapter Forty-Six: A Ray of Hope

The afternoon wore on and on, and Robert felt overwhelmingly frustrated and desperate. There were only two other times in his life when he had felt like this; the most recent time had been when Kathleen had just given birth and lay bleeding to death right in front of him and the second time was when he was trying to escape from Wesley at the age of twelve. How ironic that now, nine years later, he was trying to find Wesley and couldn’t.

Once the decision was made that Evelyn would accompany Robert and Jamie, the three of them had saddled the horses, Pisador, Apollo and Penny, and as Robert and Owasewas had before, they started at the spot where Elizabeth had been snatched. The location was easy to find; there were scuff marks in the dirt at the side of the small cottage and something else, much more interesting, tufts of fur, scattered like dandelion seeds on the ground. The brothers examined them closely and determined that they were tufts of wolf fur, most likely from a wolf fur mantle that one or both of the savages were wearing.

“Do you think Elizabeth purposely did this?” Robert asked Evelyn, feeling hope and excitement. Had she plucked at the savage’s mantle and left a trail?

Evelyn nodded. “Yes. She can be very resourceful at times.”

“Wonderful!” Now Robert felt energized. He spoke rapidly. “Let’s go, but slowly. Search every inch of ground. I would also say watch for broken branches, crushed foliage and footprints, even though the Indians are careful not to leave any sign of their passage. Wesley would but even he may have learned a few tricks from those savages.”

“Right.” Jamie said, looking determined. He nodded and smiled at Evelyn, then made a clicking noise to his horse and nudged Pisador to start walking. Evelyn followed, already searching the ground as she rode along.

Robert noticed that Evelyn was still pale, but holding up well. Every once in a while she grimaced and held her stomach as if she were in pain, but she never complained. Robert wondered if Jamie even noticed he was so focused on looking for the trail. (Robert continued watching Evelyn because she was his link to Elizabeth). However, one time Jamie did notice and immediately he stopped to ask Evelyn if she was all right. She said yes, but her face was pinched and her posture was suffering as if her stomach hurt too much to sit up straight.

What did that mean
? Robert thought.
Was she feeling her own pain or Elizabeth’s
? He wanted to ask, but not yet. They were having good luck, finding tufts of fur every fifteen or twenty feet as they moved deeper into the forest.

Two hours into the search the tufts stopped. The trail went cold. They searched and searched for another hour from the last tuft of fur, five feet out in a complete circle, then ten feet round, then twenty, then thirty, then forty and even further. Nothing. No more tufts, no broken branches, no footprints, no more clues. Robert let out a great wail of frustration and despair. He had been so hopeful; he had praised Elizabeth’s resourcefulness; he had pictured himself and Jamie coming upon them and rescuing her and then killing everyone with four single shots. How childish of him to think it would be that easy!

“What do you want to do now?” Jamie asked. “We’re willing to continue to search, but Evelyn is not well.” He had maneuvered his horse next to Evelyn and rubbed her back for a moment.

Robert looked at her and his fear magnified a hundred times. She didn’t look well at all. She was suffering, in fact. Now he asked her, “Evelyn, is it Elizabeth’s pain that you’re feeling?”

She nodded, slow tears rolling down her cheeks. “I think so. Sharp pains right here…” She touched her abdomen below her waist. “And nausea, like a terrible stomachache. I’m afraid of what it means.”

Robert was immediately filled with sadness. “I am too.” He said quietly. He looked back at Jamie. “Take her home. This is futile. I’m going to inform the sheriff, then the Paulette’s, then Nick. They can spread the word up and down the river. Then I’m going to get Owasewas again. I can’t think of what else to do.” Even though he had thought that he would never return to the Powhatan village again, he was out of options other than searching blindly for hours and hours, possibly for days.

Jamie looked at him with sympathy in his eyes. “Are you sure?” He said.

“Yes.”

After Jamie and Evelyn turned around to go back to the house, Robert took off at a gallop in the direction of the sheriff’s place. He was losing hope; he was afraid that Evelyn’s pain meant that Elizabeth was losing the baby. He didn’t want to give up and he wouldn’t until Evelyn told him that she was gone, but it was so difficult to go on.

No. No! He mustn’t despair. Elizabeth needed him; she was most likely afraid, sick, in pain and helpless.

He spurred Apollo on through the forest, jumping fearlessly over fallen logs and small creeks and splashing through shallow marsh land at the boundary line between his property and Huett’s.

As he approached the house, he noticed several servants in the field, most likely planting tobacco seeds in seed beds.
I should be doing that
, he thought. He and Jamie had only finished planting about one thousand seeds out of six or seven thousand. They still had a lot of work to do, but unfortunately that work was now at a standstill. They could have used Roger’s servants to finish the planting, but they had sent them back to Roger to spread the news of Elizabeth’s abduction. Dolnick and Nathan were capable of doing the work, but Robert still wanted them to stay close to the house, just in case.

He knocked on the rough wooden door and waited, shifting his feet impatiently. He was about to knock again when Huett finally answered the door after several long minutes.

Huett was dressed in everyday clothes, rough linen shirt and worn wool breeches. He was wiping his hands on a large square of linen toweling and Robert wondered if he had interrupted Huett’s dinner. He didn’t care.

Huett was clearly surprised to see him. “Robert!” He exclaimed, then his expression turned serious. He was all business as he asked. “What has happened? Please come in.” He added at the last minute.

“Thank you, but no. Elizabeth has been abducted.”

“What! Are you sure?”

That made Robert mad as hell. In a harsh voice he said, “Yes, I am sure. It was Wesley and his savage accomplices.”

“I am so sorry.” Huett said. “You know I’ve put out a hue and a cry, and everyone is keeping an eye out for them, but unfortunately no one has reported back to me.”

Robert sighed. “I know.” He said, realizing he shouldn’t take out his anger on the sheriff.

Huett put his hand on Robert’s shoulder. “I’ll put together a search party. ‘Twill take some time and I can’t promise we’ll find them, but I’ll do my best. We’ll find her, Robert. Do not lose hope.” He squeezed Robert’s shoulder again.

“I’m trying not to—“ He stopped short, swallowing hard. He didn’t want to break down in front of the sheriff. “Thank you.” He said once he had control of his voice again.

“I will also send an official missive to the governor, informing him of this crime.”

“I appreciate that, Sheriff.”

“What are your plans now?”

“I’m heading to the Paulette’s place. I’ll ask them to spread the word up the river. Then I’ll have Nick spread the word down the river.”

“Tell them to come here and anyone else who can spare the time. Hopefully by morning we’ll have the whole colony looking for your wife.”

Hopefully
, Robert thought as he said good bye to Ned and rode off to the Paulette’s. Hopefully, his friends and neighbors would spread the word quickly, and hopefully, they would band together to search the entire colony. But could he really hope for that? Men had their farms to tend; it was tobacco-planting season; it was also the time of year when hogs were hunted, butchered and salted. The men needed to tend to their animals and their families. They couldn’t take time out to search for one insignificant girl. Could they?