Like a fairy tale, all her girlish dreams had come true. It was still hard to believe. Sometimes at night she would awaken and just watch him sleep, knowing that he was hers, heart and soul. She would look at his hair, curly and dark against the white of his pillow, and remember how it felt against her fingers. She would stare at the muscles in his back and shoulders and would remember how they strained hard against her palms when he made love to her. And she would watch him breathe, the slow breath of sleep that was so like the way he would breathe words of love and passion into her ears. And sometimes, tears would trickle down her cheeks just because she loved him.
Hallie sighed and went to check the locks, as Kit had asked. Duncan had gone somewhere tonight. With everything bolted, she went upstairs, undressed, and got into bed, hoping Kit would wake her when he came home.
She closed her eyes, but not more than a minute later she heard a noise and opened them. Her heart beat fast when she saw the dark figure crawl through the window.
Oh, that man!she thought. He’s kidnapping her again. A beefy hand closed over her mouth and nose. She gave some token resistance. After all, she wouldn’t want this to be too easy.
Once again she was gagged, tied, and wrapped in the blankets. Lee could have been more original this time. She’d have to talk to him about it when he unwrapped her.
Of course, the figure had been burly, which Lee wasn’t. Hallie started to wonder, but then she remembered Duncan. Kit was using him instead of Lee, just to throw her off.
They reached the ground with a jarring thud, and Hallie decided she’d have to talk to that Kit about finding a more comfortable way to snatch her. She would insist on it. She waited for the sound of the carriage door, but instead she was heaved like a sack of potatoes onto a rock-hard surface. Her mind flashed with the cold gruel she would feed Duncan at her very next opportunity.
Her protest muffled against the gag and the chill of the air disappeared when something heavy covered her. A thud vibrated from in front of her, and she realized that this was a wagon when Duncan clucked the team and the reins jangled. She bounced along the hard wagon bed, knowing she’d be covered with bruises by tomorrow. She intended to plant some bruises of her own on those stupid men!
After much bouncing, the wagon finally halted and Duncan lifted her out. She wasn’t very happy with her treatment, so she tried to kick out at him, but he heaved her over his shoulder and carried her down some stairs. Obviously they weren’t going back to the Haven because they would have had to go upstairs first. She wondered where they were. This place didn’t smell very good, sort of old and burnt.
Duncan set her down, and then he did the oddest thing—he shoved her hard and she stumbled, falling in a heap of blankets onto the cold, bare floor. She yelled through her gag, but the sound was lost because the door slammed shut so loudly. She struggled to get out of the tangle, but no matter how she rolled, she was still caught.
She heard male voices and what sounded like the clink of coins before an outer door slammed shut. The click of the door signaled its opening. She heard the sliding shuffle of shoes.
It was then that she panicked. Kit wore boots whose heels clicked across the floor. He was too confident and proud to ever drag his feet.
Oh, my God! This is real!
Someone jerked the covers from her and she rolled onto the cold floor. Hallie looked up at the drawn, sunken face of Abner Brown.
He smiled and then looped a rope around her neck, tightened it, and tied it to a thick beam. He never said one word, he just walked out a narrow door.
She pulled on the rope, but it was a noose, so as she pulled, it tightened. If she kept pulling, she’d hang herself. She quickly scanned the room. It was a dark, partially burned room with no windows, like a cellar. Broken tables and a lopsided, charred cabinet were scattered through the room, and large areas of the floor were covered with rubble of burned wood and ash. A few battered coffins sat in a corner, and she realized that this must be what was left of the funeral parlor.
Her mind raced for a means of escape. A small door was barely visible in a shadowed wall. She remembered that the building sloped down the hill, which meant that she might be able to scoot out that door if she could somehow get free from this madman.
She had no idea how long she sat there, but any hope of escape disappeared when Abner came back, followed by a burly man with another bundle.
“Set her over there,” Abner ordered in an odd, raspy voice that had lost its whine.
The man dropped the bundle, and Dagny, tied and gagged, rolled against Hallie’s feet. Hallie looked at her sister’s eyes, fearing they would be dull again. They weren’t. Dagny stared at her before her frightened eyes darted back to Abner.
Gold coins clinked again as Abner paid the man and then closed the door, turning back toward the women. He walked over and tied Dagny as he had Hallie, again saying nothing. Then he stood back and eyed them.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” he told them. “Waiting and watching, and hiding,” he spat, “like some animal!”
Hallie mumbled through her gag, and he walked toward her. His watery eyes looked from one sister to the other. He grabbed the rope around Hallie’s neck and jerked it hard. The noose closed roughly on her throat then loosened, and she fell forward onto her stomach. She lifted her face from the dirty floor, looking up at him, panicked over what he would do next. He held the rope up for her to see and pulled again. Hallie cried out against the gag as the rope burned and squeezed her neck.
“Does that hurt?” he asked.
Hallie was silent.
“I can see it does.” He smiled and turned toward a table, where he grabbed a bowl and a basket and turned back around. Then he sat down on the floor and pulled a tinder from the bowl. He opened the basket and pulled a long, thin needle from inside.
Hallie tried to hide her fear at the sight of the instrument, thinking he intended to torture or stab them with it. But instead he placed a black ball on the end and then lit it, rolling it over the flame until it smoldered orange. He sucked in the smoke, holding it tightly with his head thrown back and his eyes closed. Then he expelled the air and repeated the action over and over, and the smell of the smoke, sweet and strong, made Hallie’s stomach lurch.
“How does it feel to be tied up like some animal?” His eyes teared, and he breathed gasping, shallow breaths.
Hallie tried to mask her fear, and she heard a muffled protest from Dagny. Turning her head toward her sister, Hallie frowned and shook her head slightly, warning Dagny to be quiet.
“I know what it’s like to be treated like an animal, hunted and forced to hide.” He took in more smoke. “You sent them after me, didn’t you?” He stared at Hallie as if she were dirt. “The night at the theater.”
