CHAPTER 7

In the kitchen, Louise removed her jacket and blouse and waited for the water to warm so she could wash the pile of dishes accumulating in the sink. Outside, Alex was digging a grave for Jack's body. It was too dark to see into the yard but she knew he would be quick with the task. She felt an immense loss yet her eyes were dry and she could muster no anger for her keeper over what he'd done. Where she imagined there should be pain, she felt only numbness.

When she had put the last dish away, she made for the stairs to go gather her laundry, but Alex stopped her. "Do you remember who you belong to Louise?" She saw in his cold blue eyes that he was angry with her.

"Of course. I belong to you." He only continued to stare at her. "I didn't ask Jack to come here. I sent him away." She swallowed, waiting to see what he would do.

He nodded, seeming to accept what she'd told him. "Come," he called her to his side and began to remove her corset.

"I have chores, Alex." She resisted him. She didn't want this now. Jack was still in her thoughts. What she wanted most was to be alone.

He ignored her, ripping at her garments. She pushed against him but he only drew her closer. "I don't feel well, Alex." But he was already pushing her down onto the floor. "Please," she uttered but he didn't stop. It did not take long before the pleasure drove everything else from her mind.

Buck and Jake had to help Jimmy back to the train. He'd soaked himself with whiskey and could barely stand let alone walk.

"Teaspoon ain't gonna be happy. We shouldn't have let him get this wrecked," Buck told Colter as they struggled to lead their friend through the street.

"He was determined. We weren't stopping him." He looked around. The snow had been cleared and the streets were beginning to fill up with people. "I heard they arrest folks for public intoxication in cities like this. Let's be quick."

"If the streets are clear, maybe the tracks are too."

"Let's hope. I don't think this one can afford another pitstop."

Their intoxicated friend just grunted something and proceeded to trip over his own feet while they dragged him towards the train station.

The train was already full of passengers when they boarded. The three men got some disapproving looks, but they managed to get back to their sleeping car and deposit Jimmy into bed. Jake stayed with him while Buck went to let the others know they were back.

"Buck, thank god," Rachel greeted him. "We thought you boys might have found some trouble."

"Nothing like that. Pretty sure Jimmy is gonna find himself with a bad hangover when he wakes up though."

Teaspoon just shook his head. He knew his boy was hurting but if he didn't get his head on straight he'd be of no use to them in Boston. "I might know of a concoction or two that could help with that. I'll see what I can get them to whip up in the dining car. We're taking off in the morning, we'll be there by noon tomorrow," he told Buck before heading out to find Jimmy a hangover cure.

"How are you doing?" Rachel asked, when it was just the two of them. "You miss Ike?"

He took a seat next to her on the sleeping cot. "I know he wishes he could be here. Noah too. And Kid and Cody. I'd feel a lot better if we were going into this all together, like we used to."

Rachel took his hand and squeezed it in her own. "I know what you mean."

"I think about Lou, all those months... Jimmy's right, we let her down. She will never get that time back. The things that were done to her can never be undone."

"No. But we'll put a stop to it, Buck. He's not getting away with it."

'Louise…' Someone called her name. That's when she realized she was riding fast. Wind in her face. 'Louise.' She turned to see and tumbled from her horse. The ground came rushing at her.

'Lou!'

Her eyes flew open as she jerked herself from the dream. Closing them again, she tried to bring back the images. Who was calling her?

Only darkness.

She knew Cara would not be coming today. They'd occupied enough of her time already this week. How she wished she didn't have to heat and pour her own bath. All she wanted was to soak her bones in steaming water while someone washed her hair. She felt so tired. And sad, she realized as she flung the blankets off. She remembered why, and crawled back under the covers.

"You're crazy. I ain't drinking that!"

"That's what you should have said last night."

Jimmy choked down the hangover elixir that Teaspoon had got for him.

"Hair of the dog," the old man said, slapping him on the back. "See you at breakfast." Jimmy nodded, knowing he had to pull his shit together. Today! They would be in Boston today!

Lou. Fuck. What the hell would he do when he found her. Kill that man, obviously. But after that? How could he make up for abandoning her as he had? He had sworn, to himself at least, that he would protect her from any more pain this world could hurl at her, and he had broken his word. And she had suffered. Was suffering. Would probably continue to for a long time, maybe always.

"Grrrr," he growled and rammed his fist into the cabin door, splintering the thin wood into pieces. "Shit." He was gonna have to explain that sooner rather than later.

Cara went through the motions of her daily routine. This morning she had gone to check on Jack and was told that he did not show up for his shift last night. Next she tried the boarding house, but they hadn't seen him since yesterday as well. Perhaps he had chosen to run as Louise had encouraged him to do. She did not want to consider the alternative. But as she visited her other clients and went about her chores, she knew in her gut that something bad probably happened. And if that was so, she was at least partly to blame. And if Alexander had done something to Jack, would she be next?

The sun shined brightly overhead when the group arrived in Boston, but the air was bitter cold.

"Beats Nebraska in January, that's for sure," Jake commented as they shuffled out of the train and congregated on the platform amongst the other travelers.

Jimmy breathed deeply and let the cold wash over him. The fresh air revived him. Between that and Teaspoon's little miracle cure, he was feeling more or less back to normal.

"Let's find Miss Kelly."

Rachel glanced around the lobby of the boarding house. She'd stayed in similar places in the south and out west when she'd been a younger woman. It wasn't surprising when the housekeeper told her that Miss Kelly was out working and wouldn't be home until late in the evening. It was common for women that stayed in such places to work themselves round the clock to save enough money for better housing, or more often to afford themselves that fancy dress and some spending money in hopes they could land a decent husband.

"I left a note," she told the men when she came out of the boarding house. "There's no way to know where to look for her now. I suggest we check into the hotel and wait for her to come to us."

"Oh no," Jimmy shook his head. "I just spent weeks sitting in that train. I can't spend another minute waiting in another tiny room.

"I'm with Jimmy," Buck added. "I need to stretch my legs."

"Why don't we head to the hotel, check-in, drop off our luggage, freshen up. Then we'll all get something to eat and we can take a walk around the city before we come check in on Miss Kelly again?" Rachel suggested.

"Fine with me," Jimmy agreed. There was no sense lugging their bags all over the city and, if he was going to see Lou tonight, freshening up wasn't such a bad idea.

After a couple hours of lamenting in bed, Louise managed to pull herself together and by late morning she was bathed and dressed. She ate her breakfast at the kitchen window, staring out at the fresh mound of dirt under which Jack's body was buried. It was all wrong. This yard was not the place for him to rest.

As the sun crept along the clear sky and Alex's waking grew closer, she grew more agitated. She had spent the day steeping in her emotions and she wasn't ready for him to take away her pain, her guilt. Not yet.

She went to the only place she could think of where she felt closest to Jack, where the force that pulled her to Alex might dissipate for a little while. She went to The Plain Jane.

She knew where to find the key to open up the boat and how to stoke a small fire in the cabin's wood stove so that she wouldn't freeze. The room was small, so it warmed up quickly. Sitting at his desk, she slowly sorted Jack's possessions. He had all the accoutrements one would expect of a sailor: maps, compasses, notes on sea levels and tides. The thought of Jack never again being able to take to the sea finally brought forth Louise's tears. Perhaps she'd not grown as cold as she'd imagined.

Amongst all his things, she found a small journal. He wrote everyday, almost religiously. Louise opened to a random page and began to read. A lot of what he wrote were observations on his students and their progress. He mentioned maintenance that he planned to do on Jane, fishing spots, where to find the best sunset, places to return to and explore further, plans for a long trip once he'd saved up enough to quit working for a while. She consumed his stories eagerly and eventually came to the day they met. He described her in great detail.

He described how eager she was to be bedded, and how uninhibited she acted for a woman of her class. Louise bristled at his written words. But quickly his language changed and he claimed to have fallen in love. He thought of her every moment, teetering on obsession. His desire to be with her overpowered his rational sense. And when they were intimate, the need to release inside her was too great. Though he knew better, he couldn't stop himself.

She slammed the book closed. What she'd taken for love had been Alexander's tampering the whole time. When she had first gone to bed with Jack she'd thought it her choice, her own will. What a fool she was.

He'd told her many times; Jack was an object. Like any tool that had served its purpose, it was to be discarded when no longer needed. But she had felt love, believed in their love. Some of it had to be real. Didn't it?

She convinced herself her child was conceived in love. She wanted it to be true.

"No. NO!" she screamed, overcome with anguish. In her rage and despair she flung Jack's diary into the air. She swept all his belongings off the desk, pulled the drawers from their places and smashed them against the cabin walls. She stripped the blankets from the bed, the place where they'd acted out their sick sham of loving. She wailed, but it was not Jack she cursed. It was Alex. This one fantasy she'd clung to, a memory of love, he'd taken that too.

The walk to the hotel was short, as Teaspoon had made sure to find a spot that would be near to Miss Kelly's home. It was a simple five story building with single rooms occupying the first three levels and suites on the upper floors. Each floor had its own washroom for the guests to use as well. The men shared a fourth story suite while Rachel got her own room directly below them. The furnishings were sparse and simple but the rooms were clean and warm.

At first Jimmy and the other boys had been anxious to drop their bags and get back out into the city. But they soon realized it had been weeks since any of them had a proper bath or shave. Knowing Miss Kelly would be working till sometime in the evening, they decide to take advantage of the extra time and wash the grit of their travels off properly.

Once bathed, shaved, and dressed in fresh clothes, they were more than ready to find a place where they could all get a late lunch. They stepped out into the afternoon air to find the formerly sunny sky now overcast. It had just begun to snow, but already you could see that the flakes were sticking to the cold ground.

She was shivering when she woke up and Louise realized the fire had died out. There were only some small lingering embers left in the blackened stove. It was dark in the cabin. After her outburst that left the room in disarray, she cried herself to sleep. How long she had slept after her fit or what time it was, she didn't know. She only knew Alex had not come to collect her.

He had no patience for her grief over a human. He made that known. Last night he had reminded her again and again who she belonged to. She sat quietly and thought of these things while her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She was able to find the lantern, unbroken thankfully, and the matches to light it. Once she could see, she sifted through the mess she'd made. The blanket she pulled around her for warmth. The diary lay across the room where it had hit the wall. She wanted nothing to do with that. She wished she'd never found it in the first place. Glancing around at the walls and the items piled on the floor, she realized there was nothing here for her. Jack was not here. The time for the two of them to be together was in the past.

It occurred to her to clean the mess she had made before returning home. She did her best to straighten the bed. She gathered the desk drawers that weren't smashed to bits and began placing Jack's belongings back into each one, fitting them back into the desk. The rest she simply piled up in one corner of the room. At last she picked up the bothersome diary and placed it on top of the desk with the other papers. Scanning the room one last time and finding it adequately restored, she put out the lantern and walked away.

Unlike so many times in the past, the closer she got to home, the less she wanted to be there. Usually the thought of Alex waiting for her elicited a kind of euphoric anticipation. But tonight she felt strange. The comfort she'd sought by going to the Plain Jane had not come. Instead her thoughts lingered on the life she might be growing inside her. In all probability she was with child. How could a mother give her baby over to a monster to raise, to use. The night was cold and it had started to snow, but she dallied on her walk back to the brownstone.

They chose a restaurant close to the boarding house. The windows were covered with thick curtains to help keep out the chill, but that didn't stop Jimmy from staring as though he could see right through them. He could barely sit still, knowing the answers they sought were so close, knowing Lou was somewhere out in this vast city. Finally the food came and he could distract himself with the hot stew, bread and butter. He barely tasted any of it but it did warm him to the core. After dinner, they ordered coffee and lingered at the table, enjoying the coziness of the restaurant while they waited for evening.

"Well, let's give it a go," Teaspoon suggested after they'd sat for a bit. The sun had set early as it was midwinter. He hoped that the young woman they'd been waiting on would have returned by now. The short walk to the boarding house only took a few minutes. Once again, the men paced outside as Rachel went in and inquired about the girl. Several minutes later Rachel exited the building accompanied by an attractive young woman with red hair and light blue-gray eyes. She was almost as tall as Rachel, but thinner with pale skin and freckles that covered the bridge of her nose.

"Cara, this is Marshall Hunter and these young men here are Jimmy, Buck, and Jake. Boys, this is Miss Cara Kelly." Cara nodded at each of the men as Rachel introduced them.

"We should find a private place to talk," she told them.

Cara was exhausted but determined. She was worried about Jack, about what may have happened to him. And about Louise, who she hadn't seen since yesterday. She was also acutely aware that the story she had for them was incredible and that no sane person would be quick to believe her. But they had come all this way to find Louise, so maybe…

"How did Louise go missing?" she asked once they'd settled themselves into a large booth in the corner of their hotel lobby. She cradled a large mug of steaming tea in her hands and looked at the people across from her expectantly. She knew they were impatient to find their friend, especially the tall, menacing looking one called Jimmy.

"Does it matter? She did. Now we're here. Where is she?" he demanded.

"Jimmy," Teaspoon cautioned.

"No, it's alright," she told them. "It's just… The man she's with, he's not… This is very hard to explain in a way you'll believe."

"It's alright Cara," Rachel assured her. "Please just tell us what you know."

After taking a deep breath, she started by explaining the strange things that had stoked her suspicion. Then she described her investigation into Grayson's office and the journals she had found. "It's all in that desk, written plain as day." She glanced around the table and was met with skeptical stares. "I can take you to Louise during the day and you can see for yourselves. But," she removed a small paper from her purse, "I'm warning you, she won't remember you. And he won't just let you take her." She smoothed the paper out flat on the table. "I took this from one of his books. Regular weapons don't work and…" She trailed off as she realized how insane she must sound. Hot tears began to spill down her cheeks. "I know how it sounds. I know!

Jimmy snatched the paper off the table. It was nonsense about drinking blood to become more powerful, immortal. Only sunlight and silver…consecrated objects. "What the hell is this? Did you bring us here to fuck with us?"

"James Hickok, you watch your mouth," Teaspoon warned.

"I've been patient, Teaspoon, but I've reached the end of my rope." He turned to the strange woman. "Take me to Louise, now."

She shook her head. "I won't. Come back in the morning and I'll show you where they live. I won't go there till the sun's out." Distraught, she jumped up from the table and quickly ran out of the restaurant. Rachel ran after her.

Jimmy cursed and made to go after them but Teaspoon yanked him back down to the table. "You'll only make it worse in this state."

"We can't let her walk away! She didn't even tell us where Lou is, just that crazy story."

"She believes it," Buck stated after having stayed silent all through the conversation. He took the page that Jimmy had discarded and read it for himself. Vampires were a European legend and he didn't know much about them, but he wasn't as quick to discount Miss Kelly's story as the others. "Something must have happened to make her believe." He held up the paper. "I don't think she wrote this herself."

Jake, who'd been observing like a fly on the wall, finally spoke up. "Maybe it's for the best. If this guy, or whatever, isn't around during the day, we go in and get Louise out of the way, go back for him later. Ain't that better than confronting him with her there? I mean, she's less likely to get hurt the way the girl wants to do it. Right?"

The three other men just stared back at him. Even Jimmy couldn't argue. If they barged in guns blazing, who knows what might happen.

"Alright," he capitulated. Noticing Rachel walking towards them he asked, "then what's the plan?"

"We can meet her back here at seven tomorrow morning," she stated, sliding back into the booth. "She is convinced that Alexander Grayson is what she told us. She's terrified of him." There was even more to Cara's awesome story, but she felt it may be more than Jimmy could handle.

At home, Alex was waiting as she expected. He bade her sit and eat straight away. She took her place at the table obediently as he served her a bowl of steaming soup. She was relieved to see it was only vegetables and generous portions of beef in a savory broth. It had been several hours since she had eaten so she devoured it eagerly. When she finished, he poured her a large glass of water.

"Tell me where you went," he asked, as she sipped her water.

"Don't you know?"

"Then tell me why."

"I felt," her eyes traveled to the window that looked into the yard but the curtains had been drawn closed, "sad."

He shook his head disapprovingly. "If you feel sad, come to me."

"Maybe I wanted to feel sad, to feel something...real. Maybe I don't want you to take that from me as you've taken everything else!" she snapped.

Quickly she felt her body lifted and the next thing she knew she was being pinned against the wall, his weight pushing against her, holding her up. "Do you feel this?" he asked. His erection pressed into her stomach.

"Stop." She brought her hands up to push him away but he easily subdued her.

"Let it go, Louise." He breathed against her neck and the rush of cool air sent wet heat rushing to her center. "The impertinence, that stubborn will, just, let, go."

"You…" She tried to speak but her head felt fuzzy. She felt the familiar prick against her neck and gasped. Her eyes closed and she saw lightning flash behind her lids. A kind of storm raged inside her and the force of it obliterated all resistance.