“Well, I reckon I best learn my letters.”
“We can start that now. Are you finished eating?” He nodded and she started to clear the table. “Upstairs in the third bedroom on your right you will find a slate and chalk on the table by the bed. Bring them down and we can get started.” She smiled and shook her head as he bounded up the stairs.
Clover was just wiping off the table when the kitchen door slammed open. She screeched, whirled around, and came face to face with Big Jim, a wide leer on his face. Two of his disreputable friends blocked the door behind him.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“Why, sweet thing, I done come to take you to your man,” Big Jim answered.
“Ballard would never send you after me.”
“Not that bastard. Your fine, pretty man from back home. Come along now, he be waiting on you.”
She tried to run but he reached for her, grabbed her, and tossed her over his shoulder. Her struggles had no effect on him as he carried her out the door. Through the curtain of her tousled hair she caught a glimpse of Willie and prayed the boy would have the sense to go alert Ballard and the others.
Big Jim tossed her across his saddle, and before she could scramble free, one of his cohorts bound her wrists and stuffed a filthy gag in her mouth. She felt someone tightly bind her ankles and knew she could not escape now. Big Jim mounted up behind her and, to her disgust, rested his beefy hand on her backside as he rode. She tried to see where they were going, but her hair obscured her vision. All she could do was try not to be sick to her stomach and pray that Ballard would find her before it was too late.
Clover could not restrain a groan as she was dragged off the horse. Her whole body ached and she was nauseated and dizzy. Big Jim picked her up and carried her under one arm like a sack of grain, took her inside a foul-smelling cabin, and roughly tossed her onto a filthy cot.
It took her several moments to recover from her ordeal. She cautiously opened her eyes and looked around. She could hear the men talking just outside the door. She grimaced as she studied the cabin; the place was little more than a hovel. If she was not rescued soon, she could contract some very unpleasant, if not fatal, disease here.
Big Jim entered the cabin, strode over to her, and yanked off the gag. “So you are awake, huh?”
“Might I ask what you think you are doing?” she snapped.
He untied her wrists and ankles. Before she could massage some feeling back into her feet and hands, he looped a thick rope snugly around her neck several times. For a brief moment she was terrified, certain that he meant to strangle her. She struggled tocalm her fears when he stood on the cot and tied the other end of the rope to a hook in the ceiling. Even if she stood on the bed, she would never be able to reach the knot. The rope around her neck was wrapped too tightly for her to try to work it off over her head. If she tried to move too far or too fast, she could easily hang herself. She was trapped.
Clover wished she had regained the feeling in her hands and feet so that she could inflict some hurt on Big Jim before he stepped out of reach.
“There, that ought to hold you.” He jumped off the bed and grinned at her. “You can just sit there and think on what’s to come.”
“And whatisto come? Is there some reason for this madness, or have you just completely lost what little mind you have?” She gritted her teeth against a hiss of pain as her hands and feet tingled painfully back to life.
Big Jim’s two friends, who had entered the cabin in time to hear her tart remark, chuckled. “Shut up, Poonley. You too, Toombs,” Big Jim snarled at them. “Has Ben gone?”
“Yup,” answered the shorter of the two men. “He and that feller ought to be here before nightfall.”
“And then the fun begins.” Big Jim poked Clover in the ribs. “You and us are gonna have a fine old time, and that big dumb Scot ain’t gonna be around to help you this time.”
“I thought we was supposed to tell MacGregor we got her,” said the short man.
“Shut your mouth, Poonley. We’ll be telling that fool when we feel demmed good and ready.” Big Jim reached out to stroke Clover’s hair. She jerked away from his touch. “You ain’t gonna be so demmed highand mighty soon,” he said. “Once that feller what’s paying us gets here, we’ll work that haughtiness right outta you.”
“Ballard will make you pay dearly for this,” Clover warned. “He will hunt you down.”
“That be just what we want him to do. You are the bait in a trap, woman. You will bring that bastard right to our door, and this time we will have the advantage. He ain’t gonna be so tall and cocky when we get done with him. Not so pretty either. I aim to enjoy taking him down a peg or two, and I know our new friend will too. He be right eager to see you too.”
“And who is this new friend of yours?” she asked, a cold knot forming in her stomach.
“That fancy man of yours from back in Pennsylvania. Me and him met in a tavern in Langleyville and found out we had a lot in common. We both owe your man.”
“Thomas Dillingsworth is in Kentucky? I find that very hard to believe.”
“I ain’t no liar!” Big Jim yelled, and shook his fist at her.
“You ain’t supposed to touch her till Dillingsworth gets here,” Poonley reminded him. “That man was real firm about that.”
“All right. Ain’t no need to ride me so close, Poonley.” Big Jim glared at Clover, then moved to the table where the other two men were sitting. “You hear me, woman? That fancy man of yours is on our side now. Hell, he be paying us good money. Now, you be a cute little thing and I be looking forward to having my turn at you, but truth to tell, I ain’t surewhy that man be going to so much trouble to get his hands on you.”
