“Well, let us hope that he returns safely so that you two can sort out your differences.”
“She got away?” Thomas rubbed his temples. His head throbbed so badly he could barely see straight.
“Someone set the barn on fire and cut her loose while we was trying to fight the fire,” Big Jim explained.
“Fools!” Thomas hissed. “Now we must start all over again.”
“Ballard will be keeping a close watch on her now.” Big Jim looked around the cabin. “And we ain’t gonna be able to stay here no more. Fact is, we better get riding. MacGregor will be out looking for us and he ain’t gonna be alone.”
Thomas strode from the cabin, cursing when he heard the four men stumble after him. “We will go back to the inn tonight. You can bed down in the stables there. Perhaps by morning the four of you will have gathered together what few wits you possess and thought of a place where we can keep a close watch on Ballard MacGregor without drawing his notice.”
“Maybe we oughta just give it up,” Poonley said,and hastily backed away when Thomas whirled to glare at him. “Just for a little while,” he added meekly.
“Never! I have not traveled to this godforsaken wilderness just to give up. Now ride. I hope you know more about eluding capture than you do about holding on to one small female,” he snapped as he mounted his horse and roughly spurred it to a gallop.
Ballard picked up the thick coil of rope left on the filthy cot and stared up at the piece still dangling from the ceiling. It looked so much like a gallows rope that he shuddered. He was not surprised to find that his prey had eluded him, but he cursed his poor luck anyway.
“You are dealing with a madman,” Colin said as he stepped next to Ballard and looked at the rope.
“I ken it. I guessed that he wasnae sane when we were in Pennsylvania. Still, I hadnae really believed that he would go this far. I cannae judge how a mon like him thinks, and that puts me at a disadvantage.”
“You are going to have to kill him.”
“I ken that too.” He threw the rope down on the bed. “First I have to find the bastard.”
“We will help you in any way we can.”
“Thank ye.” He turned to Shelton. “Find anything?”
“Nay, not a cursed thing. They hid their trail weel. Maybe we will find something in the morning.”
Ballard nodded. “We can try. Dillingsworth is clever, though. He will move again by daybreak. I had hoped to end this here, tonight, but it looks like it will be a long summer.”
Clover heard the door of her room open and watched Ballard enter. For a brief moment she considered feigning sleep, but decided that would be cowardly. No matter what lay unresolved between them, Thomas was a threat to both of them and they had to fight him together. She sat up and lit the candle by the bed. Ballard looked tired and she felt a bit of sympathy for him.
“You did not find him, did you?”
“Nay.” Ballard took off his shirt, moved to the stand that held the china bowl and pitcher, and started to wash up. “We couldnae find his trail either, but we will go back in the morning. The shadows may have hidden something.”
“And if you do find a clue or a trail to follow, Thomas will probably still elude you.” She slumped against the pillows. “He is quite mad and that makes him unpredictable, which only makes him more dangerous.”
“I will find him, lass. On the morrow I will send Adam into town to put out the word about those bastards. Nearly everyone in the county will be looking for them.” He walked over to the bed, sat down, and yanked off his boots. “I will have to kill Dillingsworth.”
“I know, and I am sorry for that. ‘Tis because of me you had to tangle with Thomas at all, so ‘tis because of me that you will have blood on your hands.”
“‘Tisnae your fault, loving. Ye did nothing to the mon except refuse to be his whore.” He took a deep breath and looked at her. “I failed ye, lass. I failed ye badly.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I left ye here alone and unprotected, easy prey for those traitorous hirelings. I should have been here with ye. Instead ye had to depend on a wee laddie.”
Clover suddenly understood what was troubling Ballard, why he had been acting so oddly. The man was sunk in self-chastisement. He truly believed he was at fault in some way. She reached out and smoothed her hand down his arm.
“You can be such an idiot.” She smiled when he regarded her in openmouthed surprise. “You really believe some blame for this rests on your shoulders.”
“And where else does it belong?” Ballard asked.
“On Thomas and Thomas alone.”
