"That only works in books," Grace commented from where she sat at the foot of the bed watching her sister trying to pick the lock to the master bedroom door with a hairpin. The lock that the man had taken the key to.
Lillian pulled the hairpin from the door knob with a sigh of frustration. Her sister was probably right. She turned from the door to see Grace rubbing her left arm.
"Are you hurt?" Lillian asked, walking over to her sister and sitting beside her on the bed.
"It's nothing serous I don't think," Grace replied. "I just think my arm is going to be bruised along with the bruise you already noticed on my temple," she added, her hand absently moving from her arm to her temple where the barrel of the gun had been pressed against it.
"I shouldn't have let you and Mary Louise go out to milk the cow," Lillian said as she reached out and put her arm around Grace's shoulders.
"You didn't exactly let us. In fact, you tried to convince Mary Louise not to go out to the cow this morning. I'm the one who suggested going out to the shed. I should have listened to you and been more careful. I just hope Gabriel isn't the one that pays for my bad judgement."
"I know," Lillian said, looking back to the door.
If it wasn't for the fact that Gabriel was tied up downstairs, Lillian would be content just to sit and wait for someone to get them out of the room. She knew it wouldn't be long before Chuck or someone figured out that something wasn't right. Grace was due at work at eleven and hadn't missed a shift since she started.
The problem was, Lillian didn't know if the guy would be content to just leave Gabriel tied up as he was with leaving the rest of them locked away. In fact, she was quite sure he wasn't given his comment about needing to take care of the Mountie before he left.
"If anything happens to Gabriel, it's my fault. I'm the one who tied him up," Lillian said softly, her gaze fixed on the door.
"You didn't have a choice, Lillian," Grace told her sister, reaching out for her sisters right hand. "If you hadn't the guy probably would have killed us all."
"We can't know that for sure."
"You also couldn't have taken that risk," Grace said. "Gabriel knows that. He told you to go along with the bad guy."
"Gabriel wouldn't have been out here if he wasn't trying to look out for us."
"We just need to pray that he'll be okay," Grace replied. "Pray that we'll all be okay," she added, leaning her head on her sister's shoulder.
Even as he struggled to free himself, Gabriel listened for the sound of a gunshot outside. A gunshot that thankfully never came. Instead, the man came back inside, the coil of rope that Gabriel kept in his saddle bag in his hand.
Relieved that Apollo was still okay, Gabriel quit struggling, leaning back against the chair. He tried to catch his breath, even as the fugitive closed the door behind him. The fact that he had gotten more rope did not sit well with Gabriel.
"You thought I was going to shoot the horse, weren't you?" Jack asked as he shut the door behind him. He took the time to lock it, not wanting to be surprised if anyone else showed up at the orphanage.
Gabriel didn't answer but the man laughed anyway, clearly guessing what the answer was.
"That's sweet," Jack taunted. "However, shooting the horse would just make more complications for me," he told Gabriel as he walked toward him, gun in one hand and the rope in the other. "Besides it's not the horse's fault its owner doesn't know how to mind his own business."
"You're just a coward, terrorizing women and children," Gabriel retorted. "You think that makes you a tough guy."
Flipping the gun around in his hand, Jack backhanded Gabriel across the mouth with the butt of the gun. Gabriel's head moved to his left with the force of the blow, knocking his hat from his head to the ground. Recovering, Gabriel looked back up at his captor, trying to look defiant despite the fear he felt inside. He hadn't been this scared since he had been shot by the bank robber he was pursuing. Even then, the fear hadn't registered until he had been laying on the ground, bleeding from the gunshot wound.
"That's just the start of what I'm going to do to you," Jack told him staring down at the Mountie. "I guarantee that even if you manage to get free of the bindings after I leave, you will be in so much pain you won't be able to attempt to follow me."
"Once again, you're showing your bravery," Gabriel retorted. "Why don't you untie me and then take me on?"
"Because though I might have had some bad luck recently, I'm not stupid. Which is why I'm not going to shoot you either. I don't want you dead. I kill you, and there won't be a place on this continent that I could hide. Yeah, I'm already looking at time for assault. That's been the case since High River, but the force won't put forth as much manpower trying to hunt me done if you're still alive."
Raising the gun, Jack struck Gabriel with the butt of it once again. This time, the handle of the gun hit Gabriel's left temple, snapping his head to the right. Gabriel tried to stifle the cry of pain that threatened to escape. Any emotion he showed was just fuel for this guy's amusement.
Leaning down, Jack said quietly, "you might wish you were dead though."
Gabriel lost track of his captor as the man walked toward the kitchen which was behind him. He could taste the metallic taste of blood in his mouth from the first blow and feel the warm trickle of blood down the left side of his face from the second. Behind him, he could hear the fugitive rummage through drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. Gabriel wasn't sure he wanted to know what the man was looking for, though he was sure he was going to find out.
Despite the pain from the two new wounds, Gabriel struggled to free his hands. The fugitive no longer had a hostage, which meant if he could get free of the bindings, he had a chance to overpower this guy.
A few minutes later, the fugitive stepped back in front of Gabriel. "You know, I don't think I would have been able to tie your hands any better myself," Jack taunted. Reaching out, Jack placed the thumb and first finger of his right hand on either side of Gabriel's jaw bone, and lifted the Mountie's head. "Thanks to your girlfriend, what I'm about to do might not even be necessary but I'm going to enjoy it anyway."
"I still think you're a coward," Gabriel told him, struggling to get the words out with the hold the man had on him. The thought of trying to correct the man's assumption about his relationship with Lillian didn't even cross his mind.
"Perhaps, but I have the advantage right now don't I," Jack told him, finally letting go of Gabriel. He dropped the rolling pin he had brought back with him on the floor. The thud it made caused Gabriel to jump. Noticing the reaction, Jack smiled evilly as he picked up one of the remaining scarves.
"First, let's do something about that smart mouth of yours," Jack stated.
Stepping close to Gabriel, Jack put one hand on the back of the Mountie's head and stuffed a dish rag he had brought from the kitchen into Gabriel's mouth. Quickly, Jack used the scarf to create a cleave gag before Gabriel could push the rag out of his mouth. Despite knowing the futility of the action, Gabriel struggled against the guy as Jack tried to knot the scarf at the back of his head, the material of the scarf irritating the wound on the right side of his mouth created from the gun. He had no intention of just giving in to the fugitive.
Finally managing to tie knots at the back of Gabriel's head to secured the gag, Jack used the long ends of scarf to pull Gabriel's head back. As he had no leverage with his hands and feet bound, Gabriel could put up little resistence and soon Jack had the scarf secured around the top part of the chair. Now looking up at the ceiling, and only able to turn his head a little bit side to side, Gabriel breathed in and out through his nose trying to catch his breath.
"I need to get going, before anyone else comes along, but I have a few more minutes for you, Constable," Jack taunted, picking up the rolling pin he had brought back with him. He held the baking utensil up so that it was in Gabriel's now limited line of sight.
Gabriel felt a chill go up his spine as he struggled against his bindings. Laughing, Jack moved to the right side of the chair, drawing his arm back. With his victim unable to defend himself, Jack brought the rolling pin down across Gabriel's stomach. The fugitive relished the grunt that came from the bound Mountie as his breath was knocked from him. Jack lifted the rolling pin for another strike. This time, he made sure the rolling pin came down a little higher and more to the side so that it made contact with Gabriel's ribs.
Though the Mountie was no longer struggling to free himself, other than the grunt, Gabriel was trying not to show any other signs of distress. Jack vowed that would change before he left. He planned on having the Mountie moaning into the gag from the pain before he left.
In the cellar, Eleanor had found one of the lamps kept down there and lit it. Though the lamp didn't light up the whole cellar, it did give her and the children a point of light to gather around. She and the five children had done just that.
The little group was gathered together at the bottom of the cellar stairs. Fred had climbed into the woman's lap. The two girls were on either side of her. Christina and Vincent sat on the other side of the lamp facing Eleanor.
"Do you think Lillian and Miss Grace are okay?" Sophia asked, looking up at Eleanor.
"They're smart ladies. I'm sure they are just fine," Eleanor replied, hoping that she sounded more confident than what she felt.
"I shouldn't have insisted on milking Virginia," Mary Louise said sadly.
Eleanor reached out and put an arm around the young girl. "This isn't your fault sweetie."
"Yeah, if you hadn't gone out, he might have found a way to break in anyway," Christian supplied.
A loud bang from up above them made them all jump.
"Was that a gunshot?" Vincent asked, looking at Eleanor with wide eyes.
"There are plenty of things that could have been," Eleanor told the children, though she had to agree with Vincent's guess. It had sounded like a gunshot. "Let's try not to worry until someone comes for us and we know what is going on."
"When will someone let us out?" Fred asked.
"I'm sure it won't be long," Eleanor said, not sure that she really believed those words.
Sitting on the bed, both Lillian and Grace jumped as a loud bang sounded from downstairs.
"That was a gunshot," Lillian stated, looking at Grace. Her mind immediately went to the worse thought - Gabriel had been shot.
"Maybe Gabriel got free," Grace suggested trying to comfort her sister.
"Maybe," Lillian echoed absently, not really believing it.
Getting to her feet, Lillian moved toward the door. Pressing her ear to it, Lillian listened closely, trying to hear something. She couldn't make any sounds out though. The absence of footsteps on the stairs told her that Grace's wishful thinking was just that.
"Please Lord, keep him safe," Lillian whispered, closing her eyes as she leaned against the door.
Lillian soon felt herself being gathered into her sister's arms. Grace didn't try to offer further platitudes as she held her sister close. What she did do was add another short prayer to her sister's, for Gabriel's safety as well as the safety of the rest of them.
The two sisters stood together by the bedroom door. In the silence, the sound of a door closing downstairs found its way to them. Both hoped that meant that the intruder had left their home.
"I love him, Grace," Lillian confessed, as she leaned against her sister. The thought that she could lose him finally allowed Lillian to make that admission not only to herself, but to her sister as well. "I don't know how we'd ever make it work, but I love him."
"I know," Grace replied, softly as she hugged her sister tight. "And you're going to be able to tell him because we're all going to get through this," she added. Grace knew that for now, she needed to be the strong one.
Chuck left the Royal Brookfield feeling uneasy. His uncle might just be concerned that he was a waitress short, but Chuck was worried about where Grace was. It wasn't like her to miss work. Actually, in the time he had known here, she didn't tend to be late for things period, which considering that being on time usually involved getting five children ready as well, he found quite impressive.
Yet, today she hadn't shown for her shift which started a half hour ago. The fact that Gabriel had said he was walking her to work again today, made that fact even more worrisome. Surely, if there was some delay, Ronnie would have gotten some kind of word of the delay.
Walking across the street, Chuck walked into the North West Mounted Police Office. A quick look around told him that Gabriel wasn't in the office. Apollo also wasn't tied outside, though that could just be because the horse was still in his stall. Wanting to cover all possibilities, Chuck made his way to the door at the back of the office and knocked.
When there was no reply, Chuck tried the door knob. Not surprisingly, the door to the living quarters was locked.
"Gabriel, are you back there?" Chuck called through the door, even as he knocked one more time.
Apparently, Gabriel wasn't there. If neither he nor Grace were in town that made Chuck even more concerned.
Leaving the Police Office, Chuck made his way to the general store. He didn't expect to find Gabriel there, but perhaps Joe had spoken to Gabriel earlier today. Reaching the general store, Chuck immediately spotted Joe at the counter. The store owner had his ledger open but Chuck could tell that Joe was paying more attention to the customer in his store than the ledger.
"Morning, Joe," Chuck asked casually as he walked toward the counter. As he did so, he tied to discreetly take a good look at the guy who had caught Joe's attention.
"Morning, Chuck," Joe replied. "Not the best of days, weather wise is it?" he commented, clearly simply just trying to make small talk.
"At least it isn't raining yet?" Chuck replied. "I've got to ride out to the Clay ranch to take a look at a lame horse," he said, which wasn't exactly true. He had checked over the Clay horse yesterday, recommended a treatment and told Lucy's brother that he'd check back in a couple of days. Still, it was a mundane comment that shouldn't attract the stranger's attention, as Chuck thought the man looked a lot like the man wanted for the attempted robbery in High River.
"Yeah, not a ride, I'd want to make in the rain," Joe replied, as Chuck stepped up to the counter, putting his back to the customer.
"Does that look like the guy on the poster?" Chuck said as softly as he could.
"That's what I was thinking," Joe replied, his voice just as low.
"Grace never made it to work and Gabriel isn't in his office," Chuck said.
"Shall we detain this guy and go out there?" Joe asked.
"Exactly what I was thinking," Chuck replied as he started to move away from the counter. "If you see her, tell her I'll catch up with her when I'm done out at the Clay ranch," he told Joe in a regular voice, hoping that the conversation still seemed casual to the other man in the store.
As Chuck stepped out onto the boardwalk, he glanced around. Thankfully, there weren't many people out and about right then, which meant fewer innocent bystanders if this didn't go smoothly. Stepping to the side, Chuck stepped close to the building. Taking out his pistol which he had been wearing the last few days, he waited patiently for the stranger to step out of the store.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" he heard Chuck ask from inside the store.
The stranger's answer wasn't audible from outside the store. However, it wasn't long before Chuck heard footsteps coming toward the entrance to the general store. Shortly, the door to the store open, and the stranger stepped out of the store. Chuck let him take a couple of steps before cocking his pistol and speaking.
"Stop right there and put your hands up," Chuck commanded.
The guy did as instructed even as Joe came out of the store, his own gun out. The store owner also had some rope on him.
"Can't a guy buy some tobacco in this town?" Jack commented, glancing over his shoulder. Seeing two people holding a gun on him, he chose not to try for his own gun or to attempt running. Given the close proximity, he doubted that both men would miss. As much as he didn't want to be caught, even jail was better than being six feet under.
"Yes, but I have reason to believe you didn't come by the money that bought that tobacco honestly. Consider yourself detained until we can locate our constable," Chuck added, with a nod toward Joe.
Carefully the store owner approached the man. Gabriel had said there had been no reports of the wanted bank robber shooting anyone but Joe wasn't taking any chances. As Joe approached him though, Jack kept his hands raised and didn't make any sudden moves, clearly not making the assumption that Chuck wouldn't pull the trigger.
Joe first removed the man's pistol. He then tied the man's hands behind his back.
Their actions had started to draw attention. Though they kept their distance, people watched and whispered to each other. More than one bystander mentioned 'the guy from the poster' which told Chuck he wasn't the only one to make the connection to the man and the wanted poster.
"What are we going to do with him?" Chuck asked, his gun still trained on the stranger despite Joe having tied the man's hands. The guy had slipped away from Mounties' twice which meant Chuck wasn't taking any chances. "Without Gabriel, we can't lock him in the jail."
"No," Joe agreed. "However, I do have a storeroom I can lock him in for now," he said, holding onto one of Jack's arms.
"Okay," Chuck said. "Lead the way."