A frown flitted across Two Stones’s face. “I took only your body when they thought you dead, or nearly so.”
Sampson frowned, but the action made his entire face throb even more. “Who isthey?”
“The men who beat you. Two big men. They went back to the fires after leaving you.”
The two big men must have been Jedidiah’s guards. Fires? He vaguely remembered the glow of several campfires. But straining so hard made the rest of his thoughts muddle.
He didn’t have his sack. So what else could he send? A message? Maybe just telling Two Stones all the details about what had happened between him and Grace would be enough.
He took in as deep a breath as he could manage and started in. “You have to leave now to get Grace and the baby. If her father gets to her first, she might be in danger. Tell her…tell her what happened to me. Tell her I angered her father, and she and the baby are in danger. Tell her I know she didn’t want to go to the ranch, but it’s the only place safe right now. Make sure you bring the goat from the livery.” He sucked in a breath, ignoring the fresh burn in his ribs. “Take her and the baby straight to the ranch. We’ll meet you.”
Two Stones studied him as he spoke, and even now when he’d finished. Why wasn’t he moving?
Sampson did his best to glare. “Go now. You can’t wait.”
“Drink this first.” He put a hand behind Sampson’s head, and Sampson obediently lifted to drink from the bowl. He swallowed hard, pushing back the pain, until the full contents were gone.
As he lay back, his belly roiled. He was going to cast every bit of the drink back up. But maybe Two Stones would leave first.
His friend moved something beside Sampson. “Here is stew. More food in bag. Wood beside fire.”
“Thank you.” He finally let his body release the tension that had been fueling him.
Yet there was one thing more. “If she’s not sure I sent you, tell her…” He struggled for what would be important to her. “I met her near McPharland’s mine, where her father, Jedidiah, works. She was changing the babe’s diaper. I offered her a ride in my wagon to her father in Missoula. She told me about Ruby, that someone left the babe for her to raise. That night, we had to stay in that old trapper’s cabin near the Mullan Road.” What more could he tell? Something very specific. “I heated ham and biscuits for us to eat that night.” There, that should make her certain. Maybe he should add the last important detail, maybe more for Two Stones than Grace. “When we reached her father in Missoula, he made a show of us spending the night together and told us we had to marry. The deputy did our ceremony there in the hotel parlor.”
Saying so much had wiped out the very last of his strength, but he didn’t let himself close his eye yet. Instead, he watched Two Stones to see if the man had any questions.
He only nodded. “I will tell her.”
After throwing more logs on the flames, Two Stones stared at him one more time. “I will come back this way. If she comes willingly, we will see you before dark.”
The thought of Grace seeing him this helpless pressed. And the snow and cold wouldn’t be good for the babe. “Just get her safely to the ranch.”
“God be with you, friend.”
“And you.” His voice broke with the words.God, let Grace be safe. Help Two Stones get there in time.
* * *
Grace clutched Ruby close as she ducked through the hotel doors, out of the wind and snow still falling outside. She paused in the hallway to catch her breath and uncover the babe. They’d stopped at the livery on their way back from eating the midday meal at the café. Ruby loved to see the horses and goat, and Grace needed to keep busy while she waited for Sampson's return.
Where could he be? He'd been gone all night and morning, somewhere with her father. When he left, he’d said he expected to return before daylight.
The livery man said Sampson drove a full wagon, and her father rode horseback. With the heavy snowfall, maybe they'd gotten stuck somewhere.
Ruby fussed, her tiny face scrunching as it turned red. She needed a clean diaper and to eat, then likely a nap. Grace moved toward the stairs, but the hotel clerk called out, halting her.
"Mrs. Coulter?”
“Yes?”
He nodded toward the door on the opposite side of the hall. “You have a visitor, ma'am. He's waiting in the parlor."
Grace's heart leapt. Could it be Sampson? But why would he wait in the parlor instead of going up to their room? This parlor was where they’d been married. Did he have something special planned? Something to make up for being gone so much longer than he’d said?
A silly notion. She’d be disappointed if she started imagining things like that.
With her heart pounding, she crossed the lobby to the door that led to the sitting area. She pushed it open slowly, holding her breath as she peeked around the edge.
