Elizabeth Drake

Chapter Eight 2

“Good, now we can feed you.” Fanny smiled as she sat down.

A quick prayer was said before the food was passed to each person. To Elizabeth’s surprise, Ryan did not take the same large portion of food that Jarred took.

“Are you not hungry?” She asked as he helped himself to a small share of the bread.

“I had a lot of dried beef,” he answered, watching her pile the potatoes in front of her. “Are you looking to eat our host out of house and home?” Elizabeth looked at the huge amount of food on the table and then over to Fanny.

“She can eat whatever she wants. So, can you.” Fanny came to her defense in a pleasant way. “One thing that we have on this farm is plenty of food.” Her eyes glanced up to her handsome husband and he smiled. “Jarred has found a great way to irrigate all this rain that continues to fall. We get what we need, and the plants don’t drown.”

“I have to agree. It is impressive.” Ryan almost smiled a little as he joined the conversation.

Jarred thought about pointing out that the roast they were eating was a relative of Gabby’s, but he was not sure that Elizabeth could handle the truth. Fanny watched Ryan’s blank expression as he ate the roast. She was almost waiting for a compliment, but he said nothing.

“This is delicious,” Elizabeth whispered as she took another large bite of the succulent meat. Fanny smiled in response.

“Are you returning to the city?” Jarred asked, continuing the meal.

“For the night,” Ryan replied. Fanny was waiting for him to continue, but he remained silent.

 “It is getting late and the roads are not good. You are welcome to stay here if you would like,” she offered.

The idea seemed possible to Elizabeth. The Sanderson’s had a lot of room and no children just yet. So, she looked over to Ryan. His eyes finally left his plate long enough to look at her.

“No,” he stated flatly. “We had better keep moving.”

“Why not?” Elizabeth asked bravely. “If they are offering and the roads are thick with mud…”

“I said no,” Ryan glared at her as the room fell silent. Looking over at Fanny, he tried to soften his appearance with a slight smile. “We appreciate the offer.” His gaze looked to the window behind Fanny as he saw a horse coming up the drive. “You have company.” Jarred looked out the window and saw the single rider. The familiar gray horse gave away the rider.

“That is Robbie Lara. I wonder what he wants at this time of night,” Jared stated.

“Hurry up, Miss Drake. We need to be on our way.” Ryan set down his fork and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Elizabeth was becoming annoyed with his constant directions, but she did what he commanded. There was something about his manner that she found concerning.

“What is it?” She asked as she set down her fork.

“Just finish,” he ordered.

“I did.” She smiled as she looked from Fanny to Ryan. “Is there a problem?”

Jarred and Robbie walked into the dining room. Robbie had received a few blows to the face, and he held his stomach in a hunched over fashion.

“A couple of men came into town looking for you two,” Robbie looked at Ryan as he spoke. “I said that I didn’t know where you were.”

 “Did they go to the factory?” Coming to his feet quickly Ryan reached over and grabbed Elizabeth’s arm.

“Yes, and they came into the pub and were asking if people had seen you.” The swelling on the side of his face gave Elizabeth a retched feeling of guilt. “No one was answering.”

“You need to leave,” Ryan spoke directly to Jarred. “Take your wife and get out of here.”

“What?” Fanny asked.  “Why do we have to leave?” Ryan felt like he was surrounded by idiots. Elizabeth saw the annoyed look on his face.

“Fanny,” Elizabeth began. “They have been here before. They know that you and I are friends.”

“Come on,” Ryan took Elizabeth by the hand and started to drag her out of the room. “Dinner was delicious. Now find someplace to go!”

“I am so sorry,” Elizabeth called behind her as she was drug through the house. Ryan did not look back. He showed little remorse for Robbie, but he did place his hand on his shoulder as he walked past.

“Thank you,” he nodded his head. Robbie nodded back to him quickly as Ryan continued to the door.

“Go over the hill, there is a road that doubles back to town on the other side. It might give you a chance to pass them unseen if they are headed this way.”

“I am sure they will be.” Ryan pulled Elizabeth closer. “You had better get out of here,” he looked over to Jarred.

“Come on Fanny,” Jarred called to his wife as Ryan and Elizabeth left the house heading toward the carriage.

“I want to ride in front,” she said as she climbed up to the driver’s seat. There was no time to argue.

“Get moving!” Ryan pushed his hand against her hindquarters and practically threw her into the seat.

A slight cry escaped her chest as Elizabeth landed hard and turned to look at him. He sat down quickly, releasing the brake and taking the reins. Calling out with a whistle, the carriage moved forward as he turned the horses back toward the road.

“My bonnet,” Elizabeth called as she reached up to her hair.

“It looked ridiculous anyway,” Ryan answered as he whistled to the horses again and snapped the reins. Within seconds, the carriage was at top speed up the dark hill. Elizabeth could not see anything without the lamps lit and the mist hanging heavily around them. The horses hurried on despite the thick mud that clung to the road.

“How can you see anything?” She asked as the carriage went over a bump. Grabbing on to the side of the seat she waited for an answer. Ryan had really wanted her to ride inside the carriage. At least he could make his way through the dark in silence.

“If we go off the road, you will know it.”

“Do you think Gatler will go there?” She asked. Looking back, Elizabeth listened for any noise from the farmhouse.

“Without a doubt,” he replied.

“Will he hurt them?”

Ryan knew the truth just as well as Elizabeth did. So, he was not about to answer her. It did not seem to matter though as the horses pulled them around to the top of the hill. The realization of where she was heading slowly came to Elizabeth. The bare surroundings seemed almost surreal to her as she peered through the darkness.

***

It was her silence that drew his attention. When Ryan looked at the small plot of land on the hilltop, he realized what had made her quiet. The small shadows that rose out of the ground were the remains of her home. Elizabeth did not make a sound as the horses hurried on. Only a few charred pieces of the walls and the chimney still stood. The darkness hid the rest of the destruction. Her eyes held the sight of the burnt home until they were too far past to see anymore.

Even as Ryan searched the night for some remnants, he could see that it was all gone. The woman beside him lowered her head but did not cry. It was almost as if she were running out of tears. For a moment he was not sure if she was breathing. As a last resort, he placed his arm around her shoulders.

Elizabeth almost refused the gesture. The hurt was too deep. She was as stiff as stone when Ryan tried to pull her closer. Just as he thought about removing his arm, she gave in and leaned against him. She did not cry, but she held on to him tightly. The horses had slowed their pace considerably, but they had begun the journey down the other side of the hill.

When the faint sound of a gunshot rang through the night air, Ryan let go of Elizabeth to snap the reins once again. They sped on through the night and raced down the other side of the hill. The sound of the gunshot was far off in the distance. To their best guess, it had to come from the Sanderson’s house.

“Dear God,” Elizabeth whispered.

“You can pray later. Right now, I need you to help me find that damn road!” Ryan searched every gap in the trees.

“I can’t see anything!” Elizabeth peered through the darkness and leaned forward in the seat.

“Just keep looking!” Ryan wanted to slow the horses as they reached to bottom of the hill, but he had no idea how far away the road was.

The only way Ryan was going to get Elizabeth to safety was if they got out of Caterwood. At least back in Burdery there were a thousand places for her to hide, but in the small town she was as trapped as a rat.

“There!” Elizabeth yelled as she pointed in front of her.

“Where?” Ryan looked in the direction that she was pointing, but he did not see the road.

“Turn!” Elizabeth yelled as Ryan forced the horses to make a hard right. The two wheels on the side of the carriage lifted off the ground as the horses sped around the corner. The tilt of the carriage caused Elizabeth to scream as Ryan held on tight.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the carriage lifted higher and higher. Ryan pulled hard on the reins as Elizabeth lifted further off the seat. As he pulled the team to turn to the left, the horses sped on and the carriage slammed back into the mud. Elizabeth crashed back onto the seat as the rig straightened out. Her breath was caught in her chest and her hands were gripped onto the seat.

“Are you alright?” Ryan tried to look at her. Elizabeth made no comment as she held her hand to her chest. “You should try to give me more warning next time,” Ryan whispered.

It took the full length of the road for Elizabeth to get over the experience. When they reached the main road that lead to Caterwood, she was finally able to breathe normally. Ryan looked both ways for any sign of Gatler and Harland before he led the horses onward.

They pushed the team hard as they headed toward Burdery. The darkness surrounded them completely as the horses ran at a good pace. Elizabeth watched over her shoulder for anyone that might come up from behind them, but she could hardly see in the darkness.

“We are fine,” Ryan said. “But we need to slow down. These horses are not used to this kind of exercise.” He tried to look at Elizabeth, but she was concentrating on the road behind them. “We are not going to make it to Burdery tonight.”

“What do you mean?”

“Gatler will be sure that we went straight back. If we stop for the night at that little town where you bought the dried beef, he will pass us by.” Ryan kept the horses at a quick pace, but not a full run. Elizabeth did not like the idea of staying in a strange place with him.

“Aren’t we far enough ahead of them to keep going?”

“Yes, but their horses are not pulling a carriage. They can move faster than we can. They will catch up to us if we keep going.” Even though he was not tired, and he wanted to press on, Ryan knew it was a bad idea to keep going. “We have to stop for the night.”