Mountain Laurel Read online

  She tried to move away from him, but he was still awake enough to keep a firm hold on her shoulders. “Where?”

  “I’m not going to tell you because as soon as you can you’ll follow me. Damn you!” she said. “Why did you have to come into my life and confuse me? I was fine before I met you. I was free. I had no one who thought he was my keeper, and now…”

  She gave a violent jerk and pulled away from him. He tried to follow her but sleep was too heavy on him and he fell back against the cot. She went to the trunk and got the map out, then stuck it down the front of her blouse.

  She went back to him, bent over him, and touched his hair. With effort he opened his eyes.

  “I’m afraid you’ll be hurt,” he whispered. “You’ll get lost.”

  “No, I won’t, and I’ll stay on the outskirts of the town. I won’t let anyone see me. I’ll be back before tomorrow night. Wait for me. And…” She smiled at him. “Don’t be too angry with me.”

  “I’ll come after you.”

  She could barely hear him now as sleep was overtaking him. She leaned closer to his lips. “Wait for me,” she repeated. “I’ll take care.”

  He didn’t answer her as he lay there, and she thought he was probably fully asleep now. As she looked at him she felt a great deal of regret. She was frightened of these men who held Laurel and she was frightened of some of these men who lived in the mountains, these miners who were far from home and the rules of civilization. She smoothed his thick, dark hair back from his forehead. She would feel a great deal safer with him along. And if he’d started in with all his talk and teasing, she’d probably have been able to forget her fears for Laurel for a little while.

  “I’m sorry, ’Ring,” she whispered to the sleeping man. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have to.”

  She started to pull away from him, but then, on impulse, she touched her lips to his. She had thought he was in a deep sleep, but instantly his strength returned to him. His right arm came up around her back, burying itself in her hair, and his left arm tightened about her waist. He slanted her head so that her mouth was firmly against his and then he kissed her.

  Maddie had kissed a few men before, but kisses had never much interested her. This one did. She felt as though she were drowning, that his lips against hers were taking her soul from out of her body. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her, as though that were possible, and then, of their own accord, her feet came off the floor and she stretched out on the cot beside him. But there wasn’t room for both of them, so she moved to extend her body fully on top of his.

  Abruptly, unexpectedly, his arms released her and fell to his side. Maddie nearly fell to the floor. She had to clutch his shoulders to keep from falling. She lifted her head to look at him and saw that he was at last asleep.

  Slowly, she got off him, but when she tried to stand, her knees gave way under her and she sat down on the floor. Her heart was pounding in her ears and her entire body felt weak and shaky.

  She sat there for a few moments, breathing rapidly, her eyes wide as she looked at the sleeping form of Captain Montgomery. She brushed the back of her hand against her forehead and felt the sweat that had broken out there.

  “Mon Dieu,” she whispered, and it was a few moments before she could remember who she was or where she was. Then, using her hands, she pushed herself up to a standing position. “I’ll be back,” she said to his sleeping body as she looked from one end of him to the other. “You can be sure of that. I’ll be back.”

  She went to the tent flap, gave him one last look over her shoulder, then went outside to where a saddled horse awaited her.

  Chapter 10

  Maddie skirted the settlement rather easily. After her performance, she felt sure that any man she met would know who she was and would have an opinion of her that wasn’t a true one. What would Madame Branchini have thought of her rendition of Carmen?

  As Maddie made her way up the mountain, her fears for Laurel increased. What if the man didn’t show up? What if this awful man who seemed to be the messenger for the kidnappers attacked her again? She had done what he asked the last time and this time brought him “something shiny,” but what if it wasn’t enough? She couldn’t very well tell him to wait just a minute while she made her way back down the mountain and got the last of the jewelry she had with her. She didn’t think Captain Montgomery would allow her to go alone for the third time.

  Maddie tried to think of anything in the world except ’Ring. Even though she had not wanted him to accompany her on this trip, he had made himself useful. General Yovington had hired the three people who were supposed to protect her, but they had never been there when she needed them. But ’Ring had always been there. He’d asked her where her manager had been when the Russian students had kidnapped her, and she’d had to tell him that John had left her to her own devices. But Maddie knew that ’Ring would never leave her alone. He would protect her with his life, just as Toby said he would.

  She rode up and up for hours, never seeming to reach the top of the mountain. She ate beef rolled in stale bread as she rode. She drank from her canteen without dismounting. The horse panted and Maddie slowed, but she didn’t allow the poor animal to rest. She had to get to the man before sundown. He’d told her that Laurel would be there if she got to him before sundown.

  It was late when she started to look at the sky with nervousness. The sun seemed to be dropping at an accelerated rate.

  “I wish my father were here,” she said aloud to the horse. “I wish Hears Good was here. And Bailey and Linq and Thomas.” She sighed. “I wish ’Ring were with me.”

  She stroked the horse between the ears. “Maybe he could have come with me. Maybe I could have shown him the route and he could have found some other way to get to Laurel. Maybe we could have made a plan to take Laurel and this whole horrible episode would be over. Then I could take Laurel home, go back east and sing for people who appreciate me. Appreciate me even when I have all my buttons fastened.”

  Even as she said the words, she knew how wrong they were. What if in the fracas that would no doubt ensue there were shots fired and Laurel was hit? She envisioned Laurel. She hadn’t seen her young sister in years but, along with a few photographs, her mother had sent sketches, watercolors, and pen and ink drawings of Laurel, so Maddie knew that she’d recognize her sister anywhere.

  No, she couldn’t risk it. She urged the horses forward. It was better this way, to go alone and give the man—or men—what they wanted. She would exchange letters with him and give him all the jewelry she had and whatever else he wanted. And if the man kissed her again, she’d smile at him. Somehow, that was the most difficult part for her to anticipate. She’d rather part with all her jewelry than give one kiss to a man she despised.

  She was so deep in thought that she wasn’t prepared when the man jumped out of the trees at her. She worked to calm her frightened horse, then thought that her father would be very disappointed in her if he’d seen her so easily surprised in the woods.

  “You’re late,” the man said, grabbing the bridle of her horse. He grinned at her, then ran his hand up her leg.

  Surreptitiously, she dug her heel into the far side of the horse and made it jump away from him. “Where is she?”

  “Who?”

  Maddie tried to keep from glaring at him. “You said that after my third performance I’d see my sister. I sang for the third time last night, so where is she?”

  “Around. You bring me anything?”

  Bullets. Poison. Whips. A firing squad. “I brought a pearl necklace. It’s quite valuable. It was given to me by the king of Sweden.” She pulled the necklace from her saddlebag and looked at it once before handing it to the man. She’d told ’Ring that money meant nothing to her and, in truth, it didn’t. Not money itself, but she loved beautiful things, and the pearl necklace, all the pearls perfectly matched in size and color, was an extraordinarily beautiful thing. He took it into his dirty hands.