Chapter Fifteen

Samuel took his shirt off and wrung the rain from it. The moon slipped in and out of the now empty clouds, allowing the occasional sight of the creek, swollen from the earlier, raging storm. Samuel had stopped to let Zeus drink and allow himself a moment to stretch his legs. He had turned southwest an hour before the sun dropped below the tree line.

The CT&G Railroad Company had settled a small town in Wakulla County. If Nash wanted any supplies, that would probably be his last chance. Samuel expected him to stay away from the coastline, to avoid the many fishing villages. Sopchoppy was about as far south as he would risk. So…Sopchoppy was where Samuel would head. Once he hit the rail line, he would just follow it on into town.

Samuel stretched his arms over his head and tried to ease the tension in his shoulders. He was tired, but there would be no stopping. He needed to get to Sopchoppy ahead of Nash and alert the storekeepers.

Samuel knelt by the creek and refilled his canteen, capped it, and then bowed his head. He spoke his prayers out loud as if he spoke not to the King of Kings but to a trusted friend and advisor.

“Lord, you know my needs. You know what’s in my heart, and what I plan to do when I find this man. I ask your forgiveness now; forgiveness and the strength to do what has to be done to save others. I thank you, Lord, for bringing me Kathleen. And if this doesn’t end in a good way, Lord, at least I’ve known the love of a good woman. In the name of your Son I pray, Amen.”

****

Kathleen became aware of her surroundings slowly. Her damp blouse and petticoat clung to her aching body. Something was hovering above her face. She could feel a rising panic. Her heart began racing, and she opened her mouth to scream. She was stopped by the Sshh in her ear. She jerked to a sitting position, which slammed her face into the cold, wet blanket. She began to fight the blanket, swinging her arms wildly and whimpering as she fought.

Suddenly the blanket was gone, and she could just make out the hulking outline of the man. All the fight whooshed out of her in one long exhale as her memory returned. She was being kidnapped. By a murderer. The man who had killed her sister.

“Be still,” he commanded, as he wadded up the blanket and threw it aside.

Kathleen’s mouth was as dry as cotton. “Water, please,” she whispered.

As she drank from the canteen he handed her, she didn’t think water had ever tasted so good. She lowered the canteen and noticed she was wet. All over.

“Why am I wet?”

He reached out and touched her face. It was cool to the touch.

“Rain,” he answered. “The rain has cooled your fever. How does your arm feel?”

When Kathleen extended her right arm, she saw the bandage around the elbow. Her every muscle was sore from the hours of riding and lying atop a horse, so it was hard to tell if the spider bite was still paining.

“All right, I suppose,” she answered cautiously. She was unsure how to interact with the man. She was sure he would kill her, with no hesitation, if she gave him a reason. And then there was the “voice” that kept telling her to be quiet. Maybe that was the fever. Of course. It had to be the fever. She must have been delirious.

“Here, eat this.”

Kathleen looked at his outstretched hand. She had no idea what he was holding but was sure she didn’t want it.

She was about to tell him what he could do with it when the voice said, It’s all right. It’s just jerky. Suck on it until it softens.

Kathleen jerked her head from side to side, searching for the owner of the voice. There was no one there. She was alone with the man. She must be losing her mind. Yes, that was it. Twenty-four hours and already she was crazy.

The man could see Kathleen’s confused face, as she turned from side to side, as if looking for someone. Just then, softly, as if from far away, sounded the call of an owl. The man froze, waiting for the answering call. But none came. The big man shivered, as if from the cool night air.

The moon broke free of the thin wisps of leftover clouds, and Kathleen could see his face. No, it was not the night air. The big man was frightened.

****

Howard Wilkes was tired. He was wet and tired. And worried. What if the rain washed away the trail? But then, Ol’ Albert just kept dragging him along, so they must be on the right track. He’d never known Albert to fail. They’d probably been four hours behind Samuel Hinton when they got to the cottage. Samuel was on horseback so there was no danger of overtaking him. They’d found the partially burned skirt lying in the yard. It took Albert about three whole minutes, running around the area, to pick up the scent. That had been a day and a half and one hellacious storm ago.

Howard had seen the wild look in Samuel’s eyes when he’d jumped out of the truck.

“Ya know, Albert, if I was a bettin’ man, I’d say that boy was in love with the schoolteacher.”

Albert turned to look at the deputy, threw back his head and howled in agreement, then started urging the deputy in a southwesterly direction.

****

Samuel was headed west. He’d hit the rail line about an hour ago and figured he couldn’t be more than five to ten miles from Sopchoppy. He’d eaten the last of the biscuits he’d snagged from the pantry. By his calculations, it was about two in the afternoon. He hoped to make it before nightfall. He didn’t think Nash would come into town until the stores opened in the morning.

A long four hours later, the sun dropped below the horizon. Samuel rounded a large bend in the tracks and saw light ahead. He looked up at the evening star that was just beginning to twinkle.

“Thank you, Lord. Me and Zeus are about worn out.”

Zeus raised his head and whinnied.

Samuel looked around as he rode into town. He passed a small station office that was closed. He pulled up Zeus in front of a small building that had “Sheriff” painted over the door, but there were no lights on inside. He directed the horse to a large two-story building. It appeared to be the general store and the hotel. He tied Zeus to the rail out front and climbed down. There were two other horses tied to the rail. Samuel’s hand slid down to his holster and loosened the hammer strap on his Colt, then gently lifted the rifle from the scabbard.

There was an old gentleman behind the desk tucked up under the staircase. He looked up as Samuel’s boots echoed on the wood porch.

The first thing the man paid attention to was the star on Samuel’s chest; then he took in the guns.

“Howdy, young man, what can we do for you? Need a room, or just some grub?”

“Sir, can you tell me if you have a sheriff?”

“Well, yes. In Crawfordville, about fourteen miles north of here. They keep an office here, but there’s hardly ever a deputy there, unless of course we have trouble.” The old man wasn’t sure he wanted to know whether or not they were about to have trouble.

“Well, are you the only general store in Sopchoppy?”

“Yessiree! I’m the only old fool tryin’ to make a livin’ here.” The old man grinned.

Samuel chuckled. “Well, then I guess you are the man I need to talk to.”

The old man waited patiently while Samuel tugged a waxed pouch from his shirt pocket. He carefully extracted the flyer, now very creased. He turned it around to face the man.

“Have you ever seen this man before? He is a Choctaw Indian, possibly half white. He’s a pretty big fella, about my size, only a little fuller around the chest. Goes by Nash, or Nashoba, for wolf.”

The old man looked at the flyer. The moment he raised his eyes to Samuel’s, Samuel felt a tightening in his stomach.

The old man began to speak. “Well, I don’t rightly recall…”

Samuel slammed his large hand down on the countertop.

“Mister, I’m tired, I’m hungry, and I’ve been trailing a woman killer for almost forty-eight hours. If you are about to tell me a lie, I suggest you think it over really well. This man has kidnapped another woman and is headed west with her. Now, I know he trades in moonshine, ’cause he killed the one man in Tallahassee that he’d been selling to for years. I don’t give a hoot if you’ve bought his liquor before, but if he comes through here again, he may be inclined to want to erase all his past dealin’s with folks. Permanent like. Now, I’m gonna ask you again. Have you seen this man before?”

“Well, now that I look again…”

Samuel let out a long, exasperated breath. “Lately, like in the last two days?”

“No. No, sir, I haven’t bought, I mean, I haven’t seen him in over a year.”

“So he has been here before, right?”

“Yes,” said the old man, as he stepped back out of Samuel’s possible reach.

Samuel shook his head. “I’m not gonna hurt you, sir. But I can’t promise you that he won’t. I’m hoping he’ll make this his last “public” stop before he heads to Pensacola. He’ll need some things, especially since he’s got the woman with him.”

Samuel’s chest tightened just saying those words aloud. He’d been pushing forward, trying not to dwell on Kathleen or her possible condition. But speaking those words drove fear into his heart and mind. He couldn’t remember the last time he was afraid. He’d given his own life and safety over to the Lord years ago. And he was just going to have to trust the Lord now.

“Sir, I could use a bed, just for a few hours. I’ll be up long before daylight. And any warm thing from the kitchen will do me. Will you be here, minding the store all night?”

“Nah, we don’t get much night traffic through here. The swamp to the west usually keeps most travelers from moving around at night. The train comes through at eleven thirty tonight, and then not again until tomorrow afternoon, around three. So I’ll be closing the doors after the train rolls through.” As he spoke, he took a key from one of the hooks on the wall behind him. He handed the key to Samuel.

“Number two, top of the stairs, to the right. Has a window that looks out on the street. You can take your horse around back, and the boy there will feed and water him. My old lady will run you up something hot in a few minutes.”

“How much?” Samuel stuck his hand in his pocket.

“Oh, let’s just say this one’s on me. Seein’ as how you warned me and all.”

Samuel just looked at the old man. “All right, sir. But if he shows, and I’m not close by, don’t let him get his hands on you. He’s very strong. And very dangerous. You understand?”

****

Kathleen was so tired she couldn’t sustain an intelligent idea, and her every muscle ached, but she was alive. At least for now. The sun had dropped below the tree line an hour ago. The temperature was falling, and the light was fading fast.

The man stopped his horse. He hopped down and walked back to her. He was still keeping her hands tied to the pommel, and her wrists were raw from the constant chafing of the rope.

“There is a village about three miles from here. We are going to pick up a few supplies. You will keep your head down and your mouth shut. Do you understand?”

Kathleen looked at the man in disbelief. If he believed she was going to just pass up a chance to tell someone she was being held against her will, he was the delirious one.

She raised her head defiantly, and then nodded yes.

The man let out an exasperated breath. He saw the tightening of her jaw before she nodded. Obviously she didn’t understand. He would help her. He loosened her hands from the pommel, grabbed her by the waist, and jerked her off the horse. He held her with one hand while he open-handedly slapped her with the other.

It all happened so fast, Kathleen was not prepared. The first blow slammed her mouth shut, and she bit into her tongue. She could see the second blow coming, and could do nothing to stop it.

She was dazed, and her mind was running in slow motion. This must be how Mary Elizabeth felt before she died. Oh, Samuel, I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you.

Kathleen gathered all her strength and took a deep breath, preparing herself to fight back, when the voice filled her ear.

“No, dear, it’s not the time to fight. You must think!”

Kathleen allowed her knees to buckle, and the man let go of her arms. She dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, curled up on her side, and lay still, expecting him to kick her.

The man knelt down, grabbed her arm, and jerked her to a seated position. He swiped her wild hair away from her face.

“Now do you understand me?”

Kathleen raised her eyes to meet his. There was no remorse in his eyes. Think, the voice said to think.

“I’m wearing a partially burned petticoat and only one shoe, there is a dirty bandage around my arm, and my face must look horrendous. Do you honestly think no one will notice?” She tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, as she spat out a mouthful of blood.

The man just knelt there, staring at her with blank eyes, as if she spoke a foreign language.

It was all she could do not to flinch when he stretched out a massive hand and pushed her hair away from her face again. And when he continued to stroke her hair, as if he were petting a dog, her stomach gave a mighty heave, and she vomited on his moccasins.

The man jumped up and took several steps back, as she pulled herself to a kneeling position and continued to heave. Finally, empty and weak, she rolled away and collapsed.

At this point, she didn’t care if he killed her now.

She was surprised when the man shook her awake. She was surprised that she had actually slept. It must have been the sleep of exhaustion. It was still dark, not the black of night but the gray of coming dawn. Her sleep-fogged brain tried to take in his words.

“Did you hear me?” he growled.

She tried to answer him, only to find her tongue so swollen it was difficult to speak. She must have taken a chunk out of it when he slapped her.

She tried again. “No, what did you say?” It was painful to speak, and to her ears it sounded as if she spoke around a dishcloth.

“I said, I am going to tie you to a tree before I go into town to get supplies.”

She was awake now. He was leaving her here, alone in the woods, tied to a tree? What if he never returned? She would starve to death, or be eaten by something wild. She could feel the panic begin to rise. She didn’t want to die here, alone. Her breath started to come in small gasps. She had raised her tied wrists to grab his arm, ready to beg him not to leave her, when she saw it.

Across the clearing was a woman. A tall woman, with long dark hair.

And then Kathleen heard the whisper. All will be well. Let him go.

She didn’t think it strange that she was seeing the woman; after all, the woman had been whispering in her ear since the beginning of this nightmare.

She turned to the woman and said, “All right, but are you sure it will be okay?”

The man whirled around and looked behind him. There was nothing. He turned back to Kathleen and shook her.

“Who the hell are you talking to?”

Kathleen’s confusion was clear, even to the man.

“Don’t you see her, the woman with long black hair?”

“There is no woman,” he shouted, as he shook her again. “NO woman, do you hear me?”

The message was clear: Sshhh.

She looked into his eyes and saw his fear. “That’s right. Yes. No woman.”

The man dragged her over to a small oak. He threw a blanket on the ground and set her on the blanket with her back against the tree. He untied her wrists but wound a rope several times around the tree and her middle before tying it off on the back side of the tree. He dropped a canteen down beside her.

“I’ll be back.” And he was gone.

Kathleen looked for the woman, but there was nothing but trees. She held her breath and listened intently, but the only sound echoing through the forest was the sad call of a lone owl.