The Circle Eight: Nicholas (17 page)

“I don’t care what the hell she said. Get out!” The girl jumped at his words and dropped the bag on the counter. Her shoulders remained back and straight as she made her way back out. This time she did look at Winnie and Nick, but simple curiosity was in her gaze.

She slipped through the door, leaving the store quiet as a cat. Winnie’s mouth tightened as she looked at the store owner.

“Perhaps you can tell me again how you don’t know Martha and there is no girl here?” She glanced at the sack now lying on the counter.

“I ain’t gotta tell you nothing. You get out of here now.” He reached for the sack but Nick snatched it instead. “Give that back.”

“Not until you tell us about the girl.” Nick held his anger back with more strength than he thought possible. He did it for Winnie.

The other man bared his teeth. “I don’t have to tell you nothing. Her parents threw her away. I bought her. Fair and square.”

Winnie gasped at the same moment Conklin’s words sank into Nick’s brain.

“Did you just say you
bought
her?” Nick’s voice had dropped to a snarl. He and his family never believed in slavery and didn’t hold with the practice of it. Child slavers were the worst and, considering what Benjy had endured, it was a surefire way to induce violence.

“You don’t like it, that’s too damn bad. I got a bill of sale.” Conklin yanked the sack from Nick’s hand. “Now get the hell out of here before I
call the sheriff.”

One thing Nick learned being in a family of eight siblings, he knew when to retreat and when to stand his ground. This was a time to retreat.

He tried to turn Winnie but she resisted. “It’s time to go,” he spoke quietly

“I’m not leaving her here.” Winnie hissed, her color high and her eyes suspiciously shiny.

“We have to. For now. We aren’t giving up.” He was able to move her toward the door.

“Don’t make me do this.” She started to pull back.

“For now, trust me.” He opened the door. “Please, honey.”

She closed her eyes and a single tear rolled down her cheek. “I want to
shoot him.”

“Me too.” He managed to get her outside before she spoke again.

“I hope you have a plan for what we do now.” Her fingers dug into his arm.

“We start by talking with Bertha again and finding out what son of a bitch was selling orphans.” His jaw hurt from gritting his teeth and his fists hurt from clenching them. Keeping his anger inside was like swallowing a bullet.

“Do you think she lied to us?” Winnie’s gaze searched the street for the girl, but the small figure was nowhere in sight.

“Maybe. Or someone else decided to make some money on the misfortune of children.” He would find out who and make sure they ended up in jail. Caleb and Brody would help him. As soon as he could, he would get word to them and get them on the trail of the bastard.

When they stood by the horses, she gripped his shirt with sharp fists. “She was sold, Nick. Sold!”

“I heard
, but we will make it right.”

“I told myself if she was happy I would leave her be and let her live her life. She’s not happy.” Fury flirted at the corners of her words, along with
pain.

“No, I don’t think anyone who gets bought is happy.” Nick put her up on the horse before she could break free and go shoot the son of a bitch Conklin.

“Leaving here now is tearing me up.” She placed her hand on her stomach. “I might be sick.”

“You can do it, Winnie.” He took the reins of both horses and led them away. Nick felt the man’s gaze following them. If they were lucky, Conklin would not punish
the child for their visit. Their initial visit did not go well and their opportunity to meet the girl had passed.

Someone had sold the girl, which meant there
was likely more than just one child involved. Maybe Fuller’s Home closed because they ran out of merchandise.

“We should also find out if Josie knew who owned Fuller’s.” Winnie had started to be herself again.

Nick hadn’t considered that but it was a good idea. They had to backtrack and find out what wasn’t said. Perhaps they hadn’t asked the right questions when they’d talked to Josie or Bertha.

“Do you have someone you can trust to send word to my family and Josie?
The post is going to take too long.”

She nodded tightly. “
Write what you need to and I’ll get someone.”

Nick puzzled through everything they’d been told about Fuller’s Home and Grace, who was now called Martha. There were some holes in what they knew.
Finding information had been too easy. At the time, it hadn’t occurred to him but now he recognized it had been obvious. Winnie had been eager to find her daughter after Nick suggested it.

No one could have possibly known of their plans until they spoke to Josie. From then on their journey had been too easy.
It started with the woman who made the hats.

“Not that I want to go back there but we need to go
back to the crazy hat lady.”

Winnie’s grows went up. “Do you think she’s part of this?”

“Maybe. She talked to you about Fuller’s pretty easy-like. I thought it was because she was cracked in the head, but maybe it was more.” Nick didn’t want to believe the strange woman was smart enough to outsmart them, but it wasn’t impossible.

“She was nice.”

“She was crazy.”

Winnie frowned. “I would hate to think she was untruthful.”

“I think everyone we talked to was untruthful. Bunch of liars.”

She turned to look at him. “Not Josie.”

“I don’t know her but if you say she don’t lie, then I believe you.” He didn’t think a dying woman would spread lies regardless. If Winnie trusted her, then Nick would.

“Thank you.” She blew out a breath, rustling the stray hairs that had escaped her coiffure. “I still might be sick.”

“Don’t do it on this side. I only got but one pair of trousers with me.”

It took a moment but she barked a laugh. “Sometimes I don’t like you, Nicholas.”

“We need to focus on finding the truth and being sick and womanly ain’t the way. Being smart is. Brody and Caleb taught me that.”

She inclined her head at him. “I bow to your experience here. I don’t have two Texas Rangers in my family to call on. I, um, don’t actually have a family. Not even Grace.”

“You’ve got me.” The words tumbled out of his mouth. He wanted to grab them out of the air and stuff them back in his mouth.

“I do?
” Her mouth formed that perfect O again.

“Yeah, you do. I don’t know if it’s enough but you’ve got me.”

She smiled, a genuine, heartfelt smile. “Thank you, Nicky.”

He didn’t want to complain about the nickname. It was his mother’s pet name for him and it had been a very long time since anyone had used it. Somehow it fit when he said it. God forbid his brothers hear her use it though. He’d never hear the end of it.

“Now let’s go see the crazy hat lady. This time I get to talk to her until she tells us the truth this time.”

“Don’t hurt her. We don’t want to be as bad as the bastards who owned Fuller’s.”

“I don’t plan on hurting her but I damn sure plan on scaring her.” He couldn’t wait to get back there, which was ironic, so he could make her tell the truth. Sometimes his size was an advantage he used wisely. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for Winnie.

That was the truth.

Rebecca could hardly sit in the saddle. Weariness dragged at her from the top of her head to her feet, including her heart. After sitting for three full days with Pops, he had passed on. She comforted the smallest Gibsons as best she could. They were all devastated by his loss, of course. He was old and sick, and his time had come.

Nothing she did had cured him of his disease, but she had made him comfortable. Tobias had growled and snapped at her no matter what she did. She decided to ignore him after the first two days. After the kiss.

He hadn’t spoken to her since Pops died. They had buried him quickly and with little ceremony. Rebecca packed her things and prepared to leave. He saddled the horses and held the door for her, as if
silently telling her, “Get out. You’re no longer welcome.”

They had ridden relentlessly forward, toward home. Toward the Circle Eight. She’d never felt so weary in her life. Even her hair seemed to be heavy on her head. Tobias ignored her, although he
was escorting her, albeit with obvious reluctance.

The sun had set at least two hours ago. They were riding in near pitch darkness, which was dangerous. She didn’t care. All she could t
hink about was her bed and her pillow. Her behind was numb along with her thighs. She had ceased to feel pain, only a bone deep weariness.

She did
n’t remember falling asleep but the sensation of sliding off the horse woke her up with a jolt. A strong arm grabbed her and stopped her descent.

“Jesus, girl, can’t you stay on the damn saddle?”
He pushed her back up into a sitting position. She blinked and tried to get her bearings. “Do I need to tie you to it?”

Rebecca felt the unfortunate sting of tears. She refused to cry in front of Tobias. If he was going to be her husband one day, she had to show him how strong she was.
This trip did not prove her theory about him being a hero, but to his credit, his grandfather had just died. She knew his pain well and it wasn’t to be taken lightly.

“No,
I’m tired is all.” She yawned. “Thank you for escorting me home.” She would use her manners. Even if her mother or Eva weren’t there, she would do them proud.

His response was a grunt. They plodded onward and she kept pinching herself to keep alert. A short while later, a few pinpricks of light shone in the distance. Her excitement grew when she recognized the shape of the land. They were on the Circle Eight.

“You’re welcome to spend the night at the ranch rather than ride back in the dark.” Her brother Matt might not like it, but Rebecca could make him see reason. Maybe.

“No.”

The man was impossible to talk to. Rebecca was going to have a lot of work if she was going to turn this man into a hero and a husband. For now she would focus on getting home, surviving her brother Matt’s anger, and saying goodbye to the taciturn Tobias.

Nicholas and Winnie stood outside the hat shop for ten minutes banging on the door. It was no use. The building was deserted. Perhaps from the moment they’d left.
Harriett Gregson had fled.

Winnie told herself not to jump to conclusions, but it was so very hard. This woman knew the owners of Fuller’s Home, and someone there had sold at least one child, if not more. Innocents who were caught in adults’ greed.

It had taken every ounce of strength she possessed not to snatch her daughter from Conklin’s store with force. Nicholas had been right, of course. She had to be smart. Now they just had to make sure he didn’t sell the girl before Winnie could get her daughter back. She would ask one of the boys she knew in the neighborhood to watch the store. Winnie was prepared to spend every cent she had.

For now they had to speak to Miss Gregson or Bertha. Obviously the milliner was gone so they would go back to the big house to speak to the former employee of the home. However, everything the nice older woman had told her was suspect.
Bertha had worked there. She had to know what happened to some of the children.

They made their way back to the palatial house on the hill, Winnie kept herself moving through sheer force of will. She really wanted to gallop back to Conklin’s store and take her daughter back through force. Her blood pulsed with the need to seek vengeance. Killing her father had been a side effect of her rage. Getting Martha in her arms, her real family, was an elemental imperative.

This time when they knocked on the fancy door, it took more than a few minutes for someone to answer. The maid they had seen earlier looked at them as if she’d never seen them.

“Can I help you?”

Winnie forced a smile to her lips. “I apologize for bothering you again today, ma’am. We need a few more minutes of Miss Bertha’s time.”

The maid’s mouth tightened. “
Miss Bertha is no longer employed here.”

With that, she tried to close the door but Nicholas’
s foot shot out to stop its progress. “Could you tell us where she went? Please.” His smile was more of a teeth-baring.

“I am sure I don’t know.” The maid looked at Nicholas’s foot. “I can call the master or the sheriff if you don’t remove yourself.”

“I can call the Texas Rangers if you don’t tell us where she went.” Nicholas’s words hit their mark.

The officious maid paled. “She was dismissed for not minding the children. I think she went to see a man she knows. A Mr. Fuller. That’s all I know.” She pushed at the door again. “If you don’t leave, I’m gonna get fired too.”
Her gaze pleaded with them to understand.

“Thank you.” Winnie took his arm and led him away from the door.
They had to find Mr. Fuller and Bertha, and send word to the Grahams. There was much to do.