A Man With a Pure Heart Page 10

  Kathleen laughed. “If she’d heard me trying to play when I was her age, she would not be quite so impressed. Mother had her hands full trying to keep me on the piano bench long enough to develop an interest in music.”

  “Oh, I don’t have that problem with Charlotte. She loves singing, and twirling. Right now she believes if she twirls quickly her voice is louder. She nearly twirled herself through the French doors in the parlor last week. If I had her energy, I could get a lot more done each day.”

  When they entered the parlor, Charlotte was perched on the piano bench with a sweet, expectant smile on her little face.

  “Please, Miss Kath’een, can I sit and watch, please?”

  “Well, if you can be very still, I think that would be okay.”

  Kathleen sat gracefully and then waited until the men had taken seats.

  “Charlotte, tonight I will play a very old song called ‘Greensleeves.’ It’s about a young man and a young lady. The man loves the woman very much, but she does not love him, and he is sad.”

  Kathleen had played softly for several rounds of the chorus when there was a loud sniff. She glanced at Charlotte and found the child’s eyes shining with unshed tears. She turned and took Charlotte in her arms. “Oh, darling, what is wrong? Why are you crying?”

  The little girl whimpered. “Him’s sad ’cause she don’t wuv him.” And she promptly burst into tears.

  “Oh, Charlotte, please don’t cry. He found someone else to love him, and he lived happily ever after.” Kathleen turned to Edward and Mae with an apologetic smile.

  Edward rose and took the crying child in his arms. “All right, missy, come with Papa, and we’ll go read a story while Mama gets you dressed for bed.”

  Mae patted Kathleen’s shoulder. “Don’t fret, dear. She’s been known to cry when a flower fades. She’ll be right as rain once she’s settled in her papa’s lap. There’s nowhere she’d rather be, unless it’s Grandpa’s lap. She is their little heartbreaker. But thank you for the music. It was truly beautiful.”

  Kathleen turned to a smiling Samuel. “Don’t you dare laugh. I made that poor child cry!”

  He put his arm around her shoulder. “As Mae told you, Charlotte will be fine. We’ve always joked that she had enough tears to fill the oceans twice over. She gets her sensitive heart from her mama, but she will learn, as she gets older, what is important enough for tears.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I do, and besides, I need to get you home. I have a big day tomorrow.”

  They were quiet in the motorcar, each thinking about tomorrow.

  As Samuel brought the vehicle to a stop at Kathleen’s gate, she turned and said, “Thank you.”

  “For…”

  “For finding this beast. For finding peace for Mary Elizabeth, and for being the kind of man you are.”

  Samuel had no answer to that; he was the man God had made him.

  Once inside, Samuel laid a small fire and then joined Kathleen on the settee.

  She leaned into his chest and sighed deeply.

  “Now, I won’t have you worryin’ about this. I’ll have three good men with me, and this thing will be over before you know it.”

  Kathleen smiled up at him. “At least I can stop trying to remember to carry that darn pistol.”

  “Kathleen, it is always a good thing to be prepared. I know you’re not comfortable carrying the gun, but you do know how to use it, and you never know when you might need it. Heck, you could walk up on a rattler just going to the outhouse at night. Your safety is pretty high up on my list of important things, so do you think you could try getting used to it, for my peace of mind?”

  She looked into those golden eyes, and her heart spoke to her; there was nothing she would not do for this man.

  “Yes, love, for your peace of mind, I will carry the gun.”

  ****

  Friday morning dawned with clouds and a chill breeze. Kathleen donned a coat and scarf for her walk to school. Once she crossed through a small piece of woods to the main road, she had the company of a few college students who did not live on the campus at Florida Agriculture and Mechanical College. She had learned to recognize them from the blue uniforms required by the school. These young men and women were headed east, into town to attend classes, while Kathleen was headed west, to spend her day helping her little charges prepare for their higher education.

  ****

  Samuel looked around the table as he finished his breakfast. He was meeting with his team at headquarters in the early afternoon.

  Charlotte was her usual charming self, trying to cajole her papa into staying home and playing with her today.

  Edward smiled as he explained, “Now, sweetheart, if you were laid up in bed with an ankle that was swollen twice its normal size, and it hurt so much that you could not walk, wouldn’t you want the doctor to come and check on you?”

  Samuel could see her processing this information. She was very selfish where her papa was concerned, but she was also a loving child who wanted everyone to be as happy as she was.

  She finally raised a resigned face, with a smudge of jelly on the upper lip. “All right, Papa, you can go check on the hurt lady.”

  “Why, thank you very much, Charlotte, for being so gracious.” Edward chuckled. “Now, Samuel, could you meet me by the barn? I’ll just grab my bag.”

  Edward met Samuel, bag in hand, a few minutes later.

  Samuel smiled. “You better hope this next one is a boy. I don’t think Charlotte would like sharing her papa with another little beauty.”

  Edward shook his head. “You’re probably right.”

  Samuel looked into Edward’s eyes and froze. He immediately looked at the ground for a few seconds, and then raised his face slowly to meet Edward’s stare.

  “How is Mae? She feelin’ okay?”

  Edward had experienced this kind of thing with Samuel once before. He was not happy to see that odd look in Samuel’s eyes; as if he already knew the answer to the question he asked. Edward stood a little straighter. “Samuel, is there something you’d like to share with me?”

  Samuel just looked at him. This man loved his sister more than life itself, and there was nothing he would not do to insure her safety and happiness; he’d proven that five years ago. Edward had learned the hard way that we are not always in control of our lives, or our happiness; that the good Lord has a plan for each of us, and that sometimes we just have to leave things in His hands.

  Samuel turned to stare out across the fields. “How far along is Mae now? When do you think the babies are due?”

  Edward opened his mouth to answer, then froze. His mind had just processed what his ears had heard. “Did you say ‘babies’? Why did you say ‘babies’? Samuel, answer me!”

  Samuel turned back to the man he had come to trust and love. “You tell me. Could there be more than one? Wouldn’t you be able to tell by now?”

  Edward paled and slowly lowered himself to a bale of hay. Mae had gotten larger much sooner this time. She often seemed drained of energy, and they both attributed it to chasing after Charlotte. Good grief, what kind of doctor was he, that he could miss something like this? In his own wife?

  Edward stood slowly. He looked at Samuel, and he wasn’t sure what to say. He had questions, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the things Samuel seemed privy to.

  He finally spoke. “I think I’ll just go back inside now. Maybe give Mae a checkup.”

  Samuel patted Edward’s shoulder. “You’re a good man and a great doctor, Edward. And you know whose guidance to seek if you need help. All will be well.”

  Samuel observed a slight wobble in Edward’s stride, as he headed toward the kitchen door. Samuel grinned to himself. Two little boys to teach to fish. Boy-howdy, Garth Hinton is going to be one happy grandpa!

  ****

  Sergeant Wilkes had checked the rifles himself. The canoes, paddles, and push poles were all in good shape. Of the three men he’d handpicked for
this mission, two were strapping, farm-raised boys, so the rowing would be easy. The third man would take the truck back out to the main road and head west. He would take up a position about a mile west of the bridge over the Ochlockconee. His job was to watch the road.

  When Samuel arrived with the truck, Sergeant Wilkes and his men were glad to get started. Once loaded, the three deputies jumped in the back, while Sgt. Wilkes slid into the front with Samuel.

  “I’ll be glad when this day is over. A lot of women will sleep easier tomorrow night.”

  Samuel turned to Wilkes. “You do know that Hamish caused his own death by trying to alert the killer, right? There was probably nothing you or your deputy could have done to help him once he made that choice. Except maybe have died with him.”

  Wilkes nodded. “I know that. The old man was a fool not to realize the danger he put himself in, but that was no way for an old man to die.”

  The truck left the main road around four in the afternoon. By five, the four men had unloaded the truck and started the trek to the river, while Deputy Harris headed west on the main road.

  Samuel noted there was not much left of the bear carcass as they passed it. The others were impressed with the size of the skeletal remains. “You’d be even more impressed if you’d seen the size of the little old lady that took him down.” Samuel laughed. “I swear she’s not more than four and a half foot tall, and couldn’t weigh much more than eighty pounds, but when she held that rifle on me, I was sure she was all business.”

  The men followed the bear tracks till they located the cut-off Iris had taken. The girl had made no attempt to cover her tracks after she left the river, so the men had no problem finding where she had dropped her canoe. It was now coming on to dusk, so they launched the canoes and started the ride south.

  Samuel had reckoned Iris probably overestimated the distance she had rowed that night, rowing upstream, in the dark, and scared to death.

  “You fellas know how sound travels on water, so let’s keep the chatter down and find the opening in the brush, as much before dark as possible. Then we’ll give it an hour or so before we close in.” And with that, Samuel picked up his oar and started paddling.

  ****

  Nash took another look around the cabin. He wasn’t taking the wagon, since he’d be off-track most of the way. He’d rolled the blankets around the few items he’d be taking and tied them to the saddle on the spare horse. The sun had dropped below the tree line in the west. He figured to get to Mercers’ around eleven. He knew from previous experience the old man had his brood in bed by nine every night. They lived in a large cabin a couple hundred feet into the woods behind the business. His mind wandered to the night he’d taken the girl. It was the second time he had come in the night to get ammunition. She’d been in the outhouse out back. He’d seen the light from her lantern through the cracks. He would have waited until she’d returned to her bed, but when she stepped out of the toilet she’d raised the lantern to light her way. The light had reflected off the long curls falling nearly to her waist. The dark copper seemed alive, as her hair swayed above her hips. Two long, silent strides, a huge hand over her mouth from behind, and he caught the lantern with his free hand as she dropped it to struggle. He had used her for two days before she started bleeding. Then he’d taken her down to the river, carried her body a few miles past the bridge, and dumped her into the river for the gators.

  ****

  Samuel held up a hand. The deputy in the back of the canoe immediately stopped rowing and slowed the boat, as did the two in the canoe trailing them. He had spotted a break in the brush at the water’s edge ahead. The deputy quietly laid down his oar and took up the pole. He nosed the canoe over to the opening and held it there just off shore.

  All four of them could just make out the small cleared area and see how it narrowed to a trail about fifteen feet in. The last of the day’s light was fading fast, and that was okay with Samuel. They rowed back up the river about fifty feet and tied up to some low-hanging branches.

  “We’ll just wait here for another hour, and then ease on in.” Samuel could barely see three heads nod in the gathering darkness.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kathleen’s mind strayed again from the papers she was grading. It was almost dark. Samuel and his men would be somewhere on the river now. He had explained his plan to her twice. He was just trying to reassure her, but it was a wasted effort. She would not sleep a wink until she knew he was safe. Her stomach growled, and she remembered she had not yet eaten. She would go to the kitchen and find something to nibble on. Maybe that would settle her nerves some.

  ****

  Nash reached the main road and steered his horse around the lattice frame blocking the wagon track. This time of year it blended well with its surroundings; a few dead limbs woven through gave it the appearance of a brush pile. Not perfect, but enough to keep the average person from investigating the worn ruts behind it. He looked westward. The sun had dropped behind the tree line, and the light was fading quickly. Even so, he wasted no time crossing the main road and moving south into the woods. He’d stay in the cover of the woods until he neared town. No point in taking chances.

  About a mile east, and around a slight curve in the road, a bored Harris leaned against the truck fender, staring off into the west. The lime rock covering the roadbed made it visible for about a hundred yards, while all else faded into the oncoming darkness. He waited patiently for the two gunshots that would tell him the others had made the capture. The shots would also tell him the general direction of the cabin.

  He never saw the two horses cross the road and disappear quietly into the woods southwest of him.

  ****

  Samuel released the rope from the branch that had kept them stationary for the last hour and a half. Both canoes drifted back out into the southbound flow of the Ochlockonee. No one spoke as both canoes were edged into the opening along the west bank. The canoes were pulled silently from the river and placed side by side on the ground. The men formed a single line, with Samuel in the lead.

  Samuel took his time, taking care not to rattle the underbrush. His mind played a vision of Iris running along this path, unable to see but too frightened to be cautious. The girl had grit, that was for sure.

  After half an hour, Samuel sensed, more than saw, a widening to his left. He stopped and listened for several seconds. He could make out the shadow of the cabin across a small clearing.

  He was gone. Nash was gone. Samuel could sense no life force beyond his and the three men standing motionless behind him. Still, they crept cautiously across the clearing toward the cabin. When they approached the northeast corner, Samuel spoke one word softly.

  “Light.”

  The deputy at the rear lit the oil lantern he had been carrying, and passed it up to Samuel. Samuel held it high, and they could all see the well on their left. Samuel stepped to the open door of the cabin. He walked in and held the lantern high.

  The men behind him could see the shattered oaken bucket at the base of the far wall. There were indrawn breaths when their eyes landed on the length of chain still attached to the iron bedstead.

  Samuel’s attention was held not by the chain but by the absence of blankets on the bed. Nash was gone. He had taken his meager belongings and left.

  Samuel turned to the others. “Well, we’ve missed him. We may as well follow the wagon tracks out to the road and locate Harris and the truck. We can come back for the boats later.”

  It took them almost an hour to find the lattice frame covered in vines and limbs. Once around the frame, Samuel gave orders.

  “Bob, you head west, with the lantern, and we’ll head east. Whoever locates the truck first will come and find the others. When we get back to town, we’ll round up some dogs and come back and get a direction on him.”

  The three men with him could hear the frustration in Samuel’s voice.

  ****

  Nash heard the screech of an owl. He stopped hi
s horse and waited. He strained to hear the answering screech. The forest was silent. This was not a good sign. From somewhere in his early memories there was mention of a lone owl. He remembered sitting at the knee of an old woman as she told the young ones the history and legends of his people. The old woman’s face had reminded him of a dried apple, all brown and shriveled. She had told them if you heard the ishkitini, the horned owl, call in the night, you should listen for the answering call. If no second call came, then you would know it was the shilombish, your death spirit warning you.

  Nash shook his head; this was foolishness from an old woman whose tales had long since been forgotten. His mind knew this, but his shilup, inner spirit, told him to be vigilant as he neared the edge of town. He would get what he needed from Mercer’s place and head back west quickly. No need to test his luck. He was confident that the bitch was still lost in the woods, or at the bottom of the river; however, he continued to listen for the responding screech.

  ****

  Kathleen unfastened the brooch from her blouse and looked at the little watch face inside. It was almost one o’clock in the morning. Surely by now Samuel had captured the killer. Hopefully he would come soon to tell her all was well; only then would she be able to sleep. She shivered, not with fear but from the cool of the night. Oh, shoot! She’d forgotten to bring in wood, had not laid an evening fire, and the temperature had dropped drastically since sundown. Now she would have to make a trip to the woodpile.

  Kathleen was over half way to the pile of logs, stacked neatly at the far edge of the picket fence, when she remembered the pistol. She shook her head. Just how was she to carry a lantern, logs, and a gun? Samuel need never know. Kathleen propped the lantern along the upper edge of the fence and bent to pick up a piece of wood. As she lifted the rich smelling pine to lay it across her arm, she saw a large spider crawling up her arm. With no care for the consequences, she threw both arms in the air and screamed like a banshee.

  ****

  The men had traveled less than a mile when they located Harris; a quick two miles west to pick up Bob and they were on their way to town.