Mose stayed at Zeke’s right hand as he knew he would.
“Have ye tried mounting since the last time?”
“Nope.”
Toby stumbled toward them. Skin ashen. Blood streaked his shirt.
Anger seized Zeke’s heart. “Where is she?” He grabbed Toby’s shoulders.
“The dog.”
“Nellie?”
“Chained and beaten.” Toby came out of his stupor. “She’ll live, I think, but who would do that to a dog?”
Cold fury settled in his soul. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins and handed them to Toby. “Take care of Nellie. I will be back.”
He untied Copper and prayed his leg would hold. Two tries had him in the saddle.
He gave Mose a nod to take the lead. Mose could track anything across any terrain. Growing up in the woods could do that for a person. Zeke grew up in Norfolk. Unpaved streets did not equal wilderness despite the wild stories that came out of the taverns.
If he had any chance of finding the woman he loved, he needed Mose. He did not stop to examine that thought. Its truth rang through his spirit and deepened his resolve. He had to find her. Once he’d gained the crossroads just south of the tavern, he paused to scan the ground. Three sets of prints remained in the sludge. Two horses and one set of footprints. Any relief he felt that she was on foot and couldn’t have gotten all that far flew by the wayside at the two sets of hoof prints.
“Mr. Smith!” Zeke glanced behind to see who had hailed him. Several of the men from the forward wagons trotted toward them. Followed by the large Hagbard.
“Need some help?” Baldwin asked.
“We cannot let harm come to our Miss Beti.” Curd said.
Behind him Baldwin nodded his agreement.
“What do ye know?” Zeke demanded.
“Only that she cannot be found. And after what ye said to her, we are not surprised.” Baldwin bristled with hostility.
Zeke said nothing. Beti would be surprised at the loyalty she’d earned among these people.
“Where’s ye sidekick?” He challenged Hagbard.
“I am uncertain.” Concern radiated from the man, and once again Zeke thought he wouldn’t want to meet him on the battlefield.
“Zeke!” Mose yelled from the edge of the forest.
Mose held up the tape Beti used to strap her rifle. “What do ye see?”
“Looks like a scuffle.”
Zeke examined the marks, and like he did the night before a battle, Zeke prayed for guidance and gave himself over to cold anger. It didn’t work to let white hot emotion rule his thoughts. That route let to mistakes and misjudgment. Beti could afford neither.
“This way.”
They rode slow and steady through the woods. Her captors made no effort to cover their tracks. It was clear enough that Zeke could read the signs himself. Mose remained in front with Zeke and Hagbard directly behind. Curd and Baldwin brought up the rear. After two hours, evidence of another horse and rider appeared on the path.
No one said a word until nightfall.
Just as the last ray of sunlight filtered through the gray trees, Mose alighted to retrieve a lantern from his saddlebags. He raised the warm glow up as if to ask the question. Continue? Every man nodded his agreement, and they kept moving steadily through the forest.
He’d never known a driving force as the one that pushed him now. He could not rest. He could not stop and he would not stop until he had Beti in his arms. Then he’d deal with the men who dared touch her.
Sixteen
The man released a finger from her nose, and Beti gulped air.
“We ain't gonna get paid if she’s dead before he gets here.”
“Shut yer bone box.”
Betty recognized the men from the tavern yard. Fear froze all heat from her body, and she began to quake. The shorter one, the man called Kurt, tightened ropes about her wrists and tossed her belly first over a horse. He slid a probing hand down her backside. She kicked at him as her stomach sickened.
Please, Lord. Save me. Prayers erupted from her panicked spirit. A silver streak shot through the brush.
“Stop that,” Harry said.
“If the boss is gonna kill her. She shouldn’t go to waste.”
“I said, no.”
