Desperate (Harris Trilogy Book One) (29 page)

He rolled off of her. Heavy breathing filled the air as he fought for control. Pulling the cover up to her neck, she flipped to her side, and began to cry.

Where was Jacob? Why had he not come for her? She tried to make out his face in her mind but it was David’s face she saw. Even after all Jacob had done for her, David was the one she loved.

****

For several hours, Kate and Slade had been on the last leg of their journey. Exhaustion was taking over from not sleeping all night. Unfortunately, she was also extremely depressed because her attempt to escape Slade had not been successful. She felt she had been so close to getting away from him. 

“I need to relieve myself.”

“Don’t try anything stupid. I’d hate to have another performance of last night.”

She felt the blood drain from her cheeks. Thoughts of his hands on her last night, and the look of desire in his eyes caused her to shiver. If she wouldn’t have begged him to let her go, he would have raped her. But then again the possibility Bob Lewis would refuse to pay for soiled merchandise might be the real reason he stopped. Both men thought she was a virgin.

She dismounted and moved behind some rocks for some privacy. She dropped her pants and underwear feeling the cool air on naked skin. Something caught her attention. Under an overhanging rock protecting them from the cool weather grew a cluster of gray mushrooms with dark brown spots. Grandmother Monroe had told her they would make a person so sick they would wish they were dead.              She peered around the edge of the rocks, and saw Slade tightening the cinch on his saddle. Her heart beat so loud she could hear it in her chest. She picked a handful and dropped them into the pocket of her pants.

“Hurry up. We haven’t got but about another hour of daylight.”

A quick chill ran up her spine at the tone. She had to calm her nerves so he
would not suspect her of trying another escape. She stepped out from behind the rocks, and returned to her horse as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

As dusk approached with the col
d, it was time to set up camp. Tonight they could have continued traveling since it was a clear night allowing a small amount of light from the sliver of moon, but the horses were exhausted. The many days of hard travel had taken its toll on the weary horses. 

Slade busied himself
building the campfire while she prepared their simple meal of rabbit stew. She slipped the mushrooms from her pocket and tore them into tiny pieces so Slade would not know she had added them to his plate. Not sure how many to put into his food, she decided on two. Adding all of them crossed her mind hoping to kill him, but then she had second thoughts. Even though she hated him with all her being, she couldn’t bring herself to purposely cause his demise. Her hands shook as she stirred them into his stew. The thought of being caught was almost overwhelming, but she knew she had to do something drastic or they would reach Bob Lewis’ plantation tomorrow night. No doubt Slade would thrash her good if he found out she tried to poison him. 

The night was
cold and a breeze was blowing. The smell of Slade’s expensive cigar wafted over her and her stomach roiled. She had come to hate the pungent smell. For the rest of her days she would always associate the smell of cigars with Slade.

She
shivered from the cold and fright. Thank goodness she had the coat to ward off the chill, but tonight it wasn’t enough. She wished she was home with her grandfather sitting near the fireplace with a roaring fire, enjoying a warm meal. Just when everything was going perfect with her grandfather and Jacob, she managed to get kidnapped. It seemed luck had not been on her side. Well, she was about to change that luck.

She
counted to ten to calm her nerves before carrying the plate over to Slade who was enjoying the heat from the fire. Still fuming, he took the plate without saying anything.

Calmly, she sat down next to him
with her plate and began to eat. Chances were it would be her last decent meal, so she planned on eating all her stomach would hold. Afraid he would be able to see the fear in her eyes, she kept her head lowered. It took all her willpower not to watch as he devoured his food.    

After their meal
, he tied her hands and then tied the rope to her wrist and his wrist joining them together. He stretched out beside her on the ground, which was a little too close for her comfort. She really detested him. She prayed, “Please God, let this be the last time I have to lay next to him.”

It was not long before she heard his loud, obnoxious snores
. Exhausted after all the days of riding, he dosed off in seconds. Even though she was extremely tired because she had not slept any last night, she forced herself to stay awake so she could put her plan in action. 

Any minute he should start
retching from the poison mushrooms. It was not long before they took effect. He shot up in his bedroll to a sitting position. From where she lay she could hear the rumblings of his stomach. A smile played at the corners of her mouth. Fast as lightening he bolted from his warm bedroll dragging her with him because they were still tied together at the wrists. Dropping to his hands and knees, he began to vomit. 

The urge to flee was strong, but she
forced herself to stand by and watch. It was too soon to try to escape from him; he would get even sicker if she just waited. 

Suspicious, he slanted a look at her.
“What have you done to me?”

Moan
s of agony filled the quiet night. Terrible pain gripped his insides. Sweat pour from his face, and dripped from the tip of his nose to the ground. 

He
clutched the rope joining them together and jerked her to the ground. “What did you give me?” For fifteen long minutes he threw up until there was nothing left in his stomach. Then he collapsed into a heap on the ground, too weak to move. 

N
ow it was safe to make her escape. The man was as weak as water. However, she was cautious as she inched closer to Slade stretched out on the ground pale as a sheet. For a moment she felt pity for him, but not for long because she thought about the terrible treatment he had subjected her too. Not to mention the fact he was taking her to Bob Lewis. 

One more time the thought of killing him slipped i
nto her mind, but she couldn’t commit murder. Instead, she struggled to push him onto his side which took some effort since he was a big man. Her hands trembled as she tried to remove his knife to cut the ropes from her wrists. She almost fainted when he wrapped his hand around her wrist stopping her. 

Voice
no more than a raspy whisper, he asked, “What did you give me?”

“
I poisoned you with mushrooms. You will die in just a few minutes.” Of course he felt like he was dying. She wanted him to think he was doomed to die to punish him for all the agonizing days he had put her through. 

Shoving his hand away, she
pulled the knife from its leather sheath, and cut the ropes from her wrists, then the rope joining them together. Every time he put his hand on her, she pushed it away. By his grip he did not have the strength to restrain her. He was much too frail. 

It took some effort, but Kate tied Slade’s hands behind him and then h
is feet. She removed the six shooters from his gun holster under his bedroll. She placed them in the saddle bag that also contained all the food he had brought for their trip. Without an ounce of remorse, she packed up everything in camp, leaving him nothing but the clothes on his back. She hoped she would never see him again because he was going to be one angry man when he regained his strength.

In the darkness s
he could just barely make out the shape of the horses restrained in a crop of trees to keep the wind off them. The shadows of the tree limbs moved eerily as the cold breeze blew. Moonlight gave off just enough light to help Kate make her way to the horses. The saddles were heavy and it was not easy to hoist them over the horses’ tall backs. She gritted her teeth and used all the strength she could summon to swing the saddles onto the horses. 

Her
hands were so cold they ached. She cupped her hands and blew her breath to warm them. The horse she had been riding was easy to bridle, not so Slade’s mount. A huge brut, it took some coaxing to get him to take the bit. She would leave him, but Slade might catch up to her if she left his horse behind.

She
led the two horses out to the road. Just a few feet seemed like a mile. An owl hooted from one of the branches overhead, and Kate almost fainted. Eyes searching, she looked for him but could not pinpoint his location. A hand over her pounding heart, she whispered, “Calm down.”  

Grateful for the little b
it of moonlight, she swung into the saddle with little effort. It was not much, but it was better than pitch dark. Back stiff, she felt tall sitting in the saddle. She was becoming quite the horseman.

She
took a moment to glance in the direction of the dying campfire. In the darkness she couldn’t make out Slade’s form. Was she doing the right thing letting him live? What if he tried to kidnap her again when she got back to Richmond? No, the authorities would take care of him as well as Bob Lewis for kidnapping her.

It would be a long time before the mushrooms wore off so she hoped it would be days before he could ev
en attempt to follow her. With that much of a head start, he shouldn’t be able to catch up. Anxious to be on her way home, she turned the horses in the directions they had traveled.

Fea
r pushed her to ride all night. Two nights without sleep had her mind in a fog. It would feel great to shut her eyes for just a few minutes. That was a luxury she couldn’t afford. She needed to put as many miles between her and Slade as possible. 

Worry for her unborn child had her chewing her bottom lip.
The stress she had endured couldn’t be very healthy. She had considered telling Slade she was with child, but was afraid he would tell Bob Lewis. If Bob Lewis found out she was carrying another man’s baby, he would probably kill her. The man was much too selfish and jealous to raise another man’s child. 

Kate decided to pick up
the pace. Both horses were tired but she was much too eager to get home. For several miles she galloped until her horse became winded. She halted to change mounts. Slade’s horse was not so easy to control. Every time she put her foot into the stirrup, he would move to the side. After several attempts she was finally able to hang on long enough to struggle her way into the saddle. She galloped several more miles feeling she was that much closer to home. 

Beyond
exhausted, she wanted nothing more than to stop and rest. If she stopped, she would probably fall asleep and she couldn’t risk a long delay. Maybe tomorrow she would feel safe enough to rest.

O
n her journey with Slade, she had paid close attention to her surroundings so she would be able to find her way home. She had no idea what time it was or how many miles she had ridden. If the mushrooms did what her grandmother said, he was still sick. They were pretty potent. Then her worry returned. What if she didn’t give him enough for his size? Perhaps she should have given him more mushrooms.  

T
he temperature had risen several degrees so she removed her heavy coat and tied it to the back of her horse with her bedroll. The sun was high overhead so she estimated it was about noon. She pulled some hard tack from the saddlebags so she would not have to stop to eat. There in the bottom of the saddlebag were Slade’s cigars. She fished them out and threw them to the ground. It gave her a little satisfaction to get rid of something he loved. 

A woma
n traveling alone was not safe. She decided to keep one of the six guns close at hand so she left the saddlebag hanging on the saddle horn. 

In the distance she heard pounding hooves
approaching. She nudged Slade’s horse in the sides with her heels and galloped into the forest. Leaning low over the pommel, she watched a squad of gray, clad soldiers race in the direction she had just come from. In a hurry, the Confederate soldiers’ horses left a trail of dust in their wake.

Rather than
call out to them for help, she decided to stay concealed among the trees. Horror stories about women being raped by lonely soldiers had spread like wildfire. Not sure they could be trusted, she wouldn’t take any chances. After the silence returned to the forest she trotted from her hiding place and pressed on.

A
ll day and night Kate had been in the saddle. Her legs and back ached terribly. The pain was almost unbearable. It was time to change mounts again. She had been riding her mount for approximately two hours and he needed a break.

Slade’s horse was no longer so hard to control because he wa
s nearly as exhausted as she was. Her legs gave way under her when she swung down from her horse. On shaky legs, she struggled to rise from the cool ground. Pain shot through her legs causing her to wince. She decided to walk while leading both horses. She was so bow legged from being astride a horse, she wondered if her legs would ever be the same again. 

By the time Kate heard the approaching
rider he was almost upon her. With all the swiftness she could muster, she threw the reins over Slade’s horse and tried to mount. Her bottom had just touched the saddle when she felt a powerful hand jerk her from her precarious perch.