Page 16 of Follow the Lonesome Trail
“What were you planning to do with her if you managed to pull this fool scheme off? Hm? Kill her and bury her out back?”
A chorus of “No!” and “That’s not fair at all…” rang from the barn, at which Constance felt great relief.
“Just as soon as you turn her back over, they’re gonna know exactly who kidnapped her and no matter what Morrow agrees to do, the lot of us are going to jail, if not to be hung.”
“Gid, we didn’t…”
“But we thought…”
Constance frowned at the lack of response from their older brother.
Then Tate said, “What do we do, Gid?”
Constance didn’t hear his response because a voice behind her said, “Where’d you come from?”
She screeched a little and spun around to face a fourth copy of the three men in the barn, only this one was a bit smaller. He couldn’t be older than seven or eight at the most. When she didn’t say anything, the boy repeated his question.
Constance stuttered, but finally managed, “The train.”
“The train is miles and miles from here, lady. You could'na walked that far. Where’s your horse? I love horses, we’ve got three, one for all the others, but I’m gonna get one next month for my birthday, Gid said so. Do you like horses? They’re ‘bout smarter than people most times, I think, but Tate says his is dumber than a mule, which is awful mean to Rufus, cause he’s smart and…”
“Walter, just take a breath, will ya?”
Constance jumped again, her heart rate slowing when she realized Tate had just come out of the barn.
“Ma’am, if you’d go back in the house now, we’d appreciate it,” Tate said, raising an eyebrow. He didn’t look pleased.
Gideon walked out behind him and stopped short at seeing Constance.
“Ma’am, why don’t you…”
“Yes, yes, I know. Go back to the house.” Constance felt tempted to stomp her foot, but resisted the urge. Instead, she stalked her way to the house and slammed the door.
The bed Constance wasnotsleeping on was surprisingly comfortable. She shifted and it squeaked a little beneath her, but the mattress was gentle and the quilt frayed and soft at its edges. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Every once in a while, lightning would brighten the room. She shivered beneath her blankets.
Her erstwhile kidnappers had offered her dinner which she’d refused to eat out of spite. Gideon told her that they would all be sleeping in the barn so she could have some privacy. Surprisingly thoughtful considering they were all a pack of feral outlaws. Possibly excluding young Walter. But if he stayed here with the rest of them, he was sure to turn out just as crazy as the older three.
She tossed and turned in bed a while longer, then jumped when she heard voices following the next boom of thunder. The sound made her jolt upright. She waited for a moment, then heard a shout again. Constance got up and put her blouse and skirt back on over her underthings and wrapped the quilt around her shoulders. Her bare feet made nary a sound on the floorboards as she crept forward. The door had been left open in an attempt to cool the house and she paused, taking in the sight of the four brothers sprawled on the porch.
Thunder rumbled again.
“I win!” Walter practically shouted and all three of the others shushed him. Marsh, who was lying flat on his back with his feet high on the porch railing, handed him a penny wordlessly.
“That was a long shot,” Tate huffed in a pseudo-whisper.
“Was not! I can always tell.” Walter sounded smug as he stacked the penny on top of a neat little pile laying in front of him.
The chair where Gideon sat creaked a little as he rocked it. “You’ve got to admit, he never loses.”
“We oughta take him to a side-show. Maybe we could make it rich off him.” Tate rubbed Walter’s hair so that it all stood on end.
Gideon laughed quietly. “There’s a thought. We could use him to make us some loot and then pay off the note.”
“How come you didn’t think of that a day and a half ago?” Marsh grumbled.
“Well, I might’ve if you all hadn’t been in such a hurry to…”
Constance unconsciously shifted and the floor creaked beneath her feet. Four heads spun in her direction.
