Chapter Nine

Victoria walked into the billiard room to see Audra standing on the verandah-the French doors were wide open. If it weren't for the fact that rain had just started pouring down, the Barkley matriarch would not have batted an eye. As it was, she walked past the furniture and joined her only daughter-who was watching the storm. She didn't have to have twenty/twenty to see the troubled look on the young woman's face. Though, Victoria kept silent-sensing Audra would talk when she was ready. When she did, her mother wasn't surprised to find out where Audra's thoughts had been.

"Do you think they're out in this? Do you think they'll find him?" Audra kept her eyes forward.

Victoria thought on the telegram that McColl had given her not two minutes before the rainstorm hit. She would have told Audra only the young woman would only stress out more than she was already. Victoria put her hand on her daughter's arm. "I'm sure all of them are keeping dry." She stressed the word all, not wishing to list all her sons' names, along with Fred's.

"He's supposed to be here." Audra's voice was low, almost a whisper. "There's no one to bellow and complain with me about the news we got today from Eugene."

'Please forgive Rebecca and I only, after discussing it at length, we decided we just wanted to get married and avoid all the hassle. We are on our way to New York for our honeymoon.' Victoria ran the first few lines of the letter they'd received from Gene just that morning through her mind. Her youngest had been courting a young blonde-haired student nurse for close to a year. She had a very wonderful bed side manner and, when not in school or working at the closest hospital to the college, she was working with a nearby orphanage. While she'd have preferred a wedding, she understood their decision.

"When it rains, it pours." Victoria removed her hand from her daughter's arm and joined Audra in watching the storm. "When it comes to Gene and Rebecca, I have been thinking. I don't think anyone should be surprised. Gene has never been comfortable around large weddings or receptions and, from what I've been able to gather from our talks, Rebecca hasn't been either."

A smirk appeared on Audra's face for a split second-as did a bit of laughter in her eyes. "I know, and I'm not shocked-not really. I just want Nick around to complain with me. It's no fun doing it alone." The somber tone that had been her companion before the comment returned. "They've got to find him; they just have to."

Victoria agreed, but standing around moping wasn't going to help the matter any. "Why don't you come up to the attic with me. We've got to go through all the items donated to the orphanage and other places."

"Thought you weren't going to do that until tomorrow." Audra turned around; confusion was in her eyes as she looked upon her mother.

Audra was right; Victoria had had other things planned. Still, her daughter needed a distraction. Truth be told, she did too. "No reason we can't do it now." Victoria started towards the hall which she could see-due to the fact that she'd never shut the billiard room door.

~oOo~

It might have been raining in the valley; however, all had been quiet in the mountains. That was something Nick was grateful for as he, Elizabeth and Tabitha had left the cave the first moment they dared and began the journey to her friends once more. After a long discussion, they'd made each other laugh when they'd both said, 'The sooner we get there-or to the cave closest to their home, the better off we'll be' at the same time. Thanks to the fact that her late husband had stored a couple pairs of snow shoes in the cave they'd used, Nick was now leading his horse -making it so the animal could follow him. It might not have made it a hundred percent better on the animal only it still seemed to help. He glanced at Elizabeth who had amazed him by insisting on using the second set of snows shoes and paving a path for her horse as well.

"If you can do it for your horse, why can't I do the same for mine?" Elizabeth spoke sharply and stood her ground while having a 'battle' with Nick when he tried to get her to continue riding her horse. She'd then softened her tone. "I'm sorry, let myself get agitated and I shouldn't have. I just want to help Belle. Tabitha will continue riding your horse. That is, if you don't mind."

Nick found himself admiring Elizabeth as they trudged forward through the snow. She'd never once complained and, more than once, had made some humorous comment in spite of the less than ideal circumstances. He had glanced back at Tabitha more than once. Every time there had been a look that said quite loudly, 'I'm trusting you and my mother on this'. It had felt rather humbling. Any other thoughts that had wanted attention were pushed off to the side when both the cave that Elizabeth had mentioned and Phillip' and Marie's home came into view. As the young widow had told him, the cave wasn't all that far from the Harrisons. It appeared to be; maybe, a mile away. Still, he looked up at the sky…there were clouds that had not been there before. They were rolling in fast and the wind was picking back up. He wondered if they had enough time to even make it that far. If another storm did hit, it's not like there was a rope for them all to hold onto. Before he could decide, Elizabeth was speaking.

"Let's take refuge in the cave. The snow is starting to ball underneath Belle's feet. She could use a rest and, even if she isn't signing anything to me, I think Tabitha would like a break from the cold as well." Elizabeth stopped and turned her face towards her stepdaughter before looking at Nick. "Besides, I think we're going to be getting at least another couple of inches of snow within a short period of time." Elizabeth then added silently, 'I hope that's all we get.'

Nick agreed, for he had the same concern-as his horse was having a similar problem. "Let's get into the cave and get a fire started." He headed for the cave only after Elizabeth signed their intentions to Tabitha, who immediately sighed with relief. She was starting to feel the cold, and she did want to feel the heat from a nice, warm fire!