Chapter 8

Elise was still wearing her worn out gingham dress when she settled into the private railway car her father arranged to be added to the train for her traveling comfort. She smiled at the setting that was in stark contrast to the passenger cars in the front of the train.  The stagecoach took a total of three days to reach Oklahoma City, with only the one night spent at a way station.  They arrived late in the afternoon, only to be hustled onto the train so it could keep on schedule. She was tired, hungry, and dirty.  She would have preferred to be allowed to clean up, change into her traveling habit, and get a decent meal in her stomach before she continued, but that was not to be.

 After assuring the porter she would be fine for the next few hours and asking not to be disturbed, she quickly washed the dust from her face, neck, and hands with the water in the pitcher on the washstand and climbed into the inviting bed the car contained and fell immediately into a well-deserved sleep.

The rocking of the train as it eased into its journey toward the civilized east provided a relaxing sensation as she snuggled deep into the folds of her bedding.  She lost track of time as she dozed on and off while alternating between dreaming of returning to her life in Boston and rolling around in the way station haystack reveling in the lovemaking prowess of the handsome Pinkerton, Nate Kimble.  Of course, she had nothing to compare it to, but something inherently told her he was highly skilled in that department.

It was night when she felt the train shift its speed.  It was clearly stopping.  She pulled the curtain covering the small window away from the glass just far enough to peek out. Darkness permeated her surroundings.  She strained to remember if there should be a stop this soon, but could think of no reason.  Her trip west consisted of only a few stops per state.  She was certain they were barely out of Oklahoma if they were out at all. 

The sound of scuffling and muffled cries from the passengers put her on immediate alert.

She barely had time to lower the curtain before her car door burst open and a tall, masked man bounded in.  He wasted no time rummaging through her belongings in search for any valuables she might have.

“I expected to find better in such a fine traveling car as this,” he grumbled.

A second masked man appeared behind him and barked for him to hurry up.  When the first man complained about the lack of treasure in the car, the second man looked at Elise thoughtfully and then ordered she be brought along. She may look a sight, but he guessed that was a ruse to throw people off.  He was positive she was the one they wanted and assured the other robber that her parents would pay dearly for her return.

A very frightened Elise truly hoped the man was right.

***

Nate walked out of the telegraph office with a scowl marring his handsome features.  Not only were they unable to catch the Jefferson gang unawares in their own back yard, but a gang held up a passenger train going east and kidnapped the daughter of one of the most influential people on the east coast.  The president himself contacted the Pinkerton office to request they put their men on the case to get her back.  Since Nate and his buddies were already in the vicinity, he and Oliver were reassigned, while Joseph was to continue guarding the train against the robbery the Jefferson gang was sure to pull.  Nate could not imagine why his bosses would expect one man to be able to guard such a large sum of money against a gang of robbers; especially the wiry Jefferson gang. It was iffy enough with the three of them.  He decided to speak to the sheriff to see if there was a possibility of getting Joseph some assistance from his office.

Oliver caught up with Nate as he made his way to the sheriff’s office.  Nate filled him in on the new orders. Oliver was familiar with the Joselyn fortune and the influence they carried within the political arena. He shared all he knew with Nate; which was basically that the family was extremely rich with some living in Philadelphia and some in Boston.  Their orders did not state which family the kidnapped daughter belonged to.  They put their heads together while trying to think what debutante in Philadelphia would be traveling alone on a train through Oklahoma and came up empty.  They decided the foolish girl must be from the Boston side of the family. Nate expressed his confusion as to why the Joselyns would allow their daughter to travel by herself in such a way.  Oliver could think of no explanation.  Both shared the same opinion that the Joselyn’s recklessness put their good friend in danger and neither was happy about it.

***

The filthy rag had a pungent taste that reminded her of horse feed, dirt, and sweat. Elise did her best to keep her mind from exploring the possibilities of where that rag may have been prior to being used as a gag for her mouth.  When the gang produced a horse specifically for her, it was clear that she was their target right along. They covered her eyes with a blindfold made from a bandanna and tied her hands in front of her with harsh hemp rope, telling her to hold onto the saddle horn for security purposes. Although she could still see a bit of the outside world by looking through the gap between the scarf tied around her eyes and her cheeks, she was unable to see the faces of her captors when they removed their face masks.  Realizing this was for the best, she did not bother to reach up and remove the blindfold; which she could have easily done since her hands were tied together in front of her.  Curiosity about how they knew who she was and that she would be on the train occupied her time for most of the long ride to the humble cabin they chose to hide her in.

From the cryptic conversation that went on around her, she learned they were taking her to Mike’s home -the leader’s cousin-  just outside of Shawnee.  They were out of their normal territory and dependent upon Mike for shelter and secrecy.  One of the kidnappers, Juaquin, did not trust Mike and was concerned about the potential for him to blab their whereabouts.  They spoke heatedly about it for the better part of an hour before things calmed down again.

Elise was an excellent rider, be it sidesaddle or straddling the saddle as she did after traveling to the wild west.  More than once she considered trying to escape, but her excellent knowledge of horse flesh told her that she rode the slowest horse in the bunch and she would not get far.  Guessing the repercussions of such foolishness would be severe, she decided to be on the alert for a more opportune moment.  Instead, she pretended to flop around in the saddle like a novice struggling to maintain her seating.  It was best to keep her abilities hidden to better take them unawares, should the opportunity to escape arise.

Although she had a little exposure to shooting a gun, her talents leaned more toward archery.  In fact, she won plenty of ribbons in archery games over the years.  If only she had a bow at her disposal…

***

The fact that the conductor and his passengers were robbed by an unsavory looking gang and escaped with their lives seemed not to matter as he lamented aloud about how he was no longer on schedule because he received a telegram that insisted he return to Oklahoma City.  Nate found this type of thinking surprising. He wanted to voice the fact that he and Oliver were pulled from a very important assignment to protect the very same railroad that paid him whether he was on time or not from the notorious Jefferson gang to chase after a spoiled socialite who had no business traveling without protection, but Oliver beat him to it.  It seemed Oliver was just as disgusted with the turn of events as he was.

They gathered as much information as they could from the conductor and his passengers about the robbers and what happened before loading their horses into the stock car.  They were to be dropped off at the very spot the robbery took place.

Nate was paired up with a native tracker during the war and learned quite a bit about tracking from him.  Their hopes were that the kidnappers left a decent trail for Nate’s skills to be enough.  Sending for a professional tracker would take time they did not feel they had to spare. 

From Nate’s exposure to kidnapping, since he joined the Pinkertons, they never ended well. The kidnappers had already wired their ransom demands to the Joselyn family and were expecting them to be met within a few weeks.  A lot could happen to a young woman in the company of rough men during that time. If she was fortunate enough to make it home alive, she would probably be damaged for life.  The sooner they found her, the better.

Guilt crept over him as his mind settled briefly on his little tryst with the Paper Widow.  He could not understand why she would react in such a passionate manner if she was untouched.  Yet, he knew first hand that was the case.  Had he realized she was still pure, he never would have initiated their encounter.  That was not his style. The head games Lilith played on him when she led him on to think she was waiting for him to return to her from war when she was already married into one of the most prominent families in Philadelphia impacted him to the point that he doubted he would ever trust the words and motives of a female again. Even so, his lack of trust did not mean he lost his respect for them.  Whether she was a willing participant or not, had he known the truth of the situation, things would have happened a lot differently.

Although they were good friends.  Nate did not always see eye to eye with his buddies; especially Oliver. Never would he have listened to Oliver’s little coaching about poking the widow to relieve the pent-up tensions that accumulated over the months of trying to move past the hurt and struggles to forget Lilith.  The mere thought of using someone in that way repulsed him. In fact, it was because it looked like Oliver was making a move on the widow and he was prompted to spare her such treatment that he even offered to escort her outside.  Something happened when he saw her beauty in the moonlight.  All thoughts of Lilith, all anger and mistrust of women were pushed out of his mind.   An overwhelming desire to have her filled him with such a drive that he did not know if he could have stopped even if she asked him to.  He was with his fair share of women before, but never had he responded to one in such a way.  It both frightened and fascinated him.

He wondered how she was doing; both physically and psychologically.  Had he scarred her for life like the kidnappers would more than likely do to their victim? 

If only he could turn back time...

***

The conductor impatiently checked his pocket watch while he waited for Nate and Oliver to carefully lead their horses out of the stock car.  They watched with mild amusement as he signaled the engineer to move on almost as soon as their horses’ hoofs touched the thick green grass that lined the tracks.

“That man harbors some misguided dedication,” Nate mused as he eased himself into the saddle.

“I’ve been waiting until we’re alone to ask you how you feel about seeing the widow again,” Oliver said with amusement.

“She’s probably halfway home by now,” Nate replied.

“Do you seriously not now?” Oliver asked.

Nate experienced a twinge of guilt as he asked, “What should I know about the Paper Widow?”

“Didn’t you read the description of the kidnapped Joselyn girl?  It fits the Paper Widow to a tee,” Oliver insisted.

“Oh, hell,” Nate moaned.

“You seriously didn’t know?” Oliver said with unmasked amusement.

Nate shook his head as his mind whirled with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.  He thought he would never see the beautiful widow again.  Although he thought that was for the best, he also regretted not having more time in her company to figure out why he responded to her the way he did.  It looked like he was going to have that chance after all.  The fact that she was being held hostage by ruthless kidnappers worried him.  Had she not been a widow, they might refrain from taking advantage of her virtue.  He could only hope they realized her reputation as the Paper Widow and assume she was still untouched.  The thought of another man tasting her sweetness and reveling in her passion the way he did was enough to send a jealous rage through him that he could barely contain.