Aundy (Pendleton Petticoats #1)(33)
Author: Shanna Hatfield

“Any ideas on why Ashton would kidnap Aundy, kill her sheep, shoot the boy, and try to run her off the place?” Kade asked, wishing he’d paid more attention to Ashton at dinner the other night. He’d been so busy trying to ignore the two Raines sisters, he hadn’t noticed much else.

“Not really. There has to be something he wants real bad on the farm. Why else would he try to run her off?” Garrett asked, thinking aloud. Watching Ashton fawn over Aundy had rankled Garrett more than he cared to admit. Whenever Ashton got close to her, waves of jealousy washed through him until it was all he could do not to punch the man in the face.

If he really did take Aundy and was behind all the terror at her place, he’d do a lot more than break Ashton’s perfect, aristocratic nose.

Seething with anger, Garrett realized he should have told Aundy the truth the other night. She’d hurt him when she pushed him away, but instead of talking out the problem, making sure she knew how much he loved her and asking her to marry him, he’d kissed her with a ruthless intensity and stormed out the door.

If he was truly planning to love Aundy for the rest of her life, he would have to learn to let go of his pride and resign himself to the fact that she was anything but a typical woman.

Most women he knew were content keeping a home, raising children. Something in him knew Aundy would want more. Too bright and lively to stay in the house and be completely domestic, she wanted to be outside doing, learning, succeeding on the farm. Garrett would have to give her plenty of room to spread her wings if he didn’t want to lose her altogether.

He loved her too much to consider the possibility of a future without her in it.

Thoughts of telling her how he really felt spurred him closer to Dogwood Corners.

“What if he isn’t there? Then what?” Garrett asked Kade as they galloped down the road.

“Then we’ll go to town and round up a posse and find him,” Kade said, not wanting to drag more people into something that could quite likely end with gunfire.

Stopping at the point where the road met with the lane up to Ashton’s stately home, Kade looked around the group, hoping things went better than he was expecting. “Here’s what we’re gonna do…”

A sharp pounding behind her eyes roused Aundy. Trying to remember what she’d done to hurt her head, she recalled arguing with Ashton before everything went black.

Opening her eyes slowly, she realized she was lying face down on a bed. Cautiously looking around without moving, in case Ashton was nearby, she saw an unfamiliar room.

Listening carefully, the only sound she heard was her own breathing. Deciding she was alone, she rolled onto her side to discover her hands tied together in front of her with what appeared to be Ashton’s handkerchief.

Holding the knot up to her mouth, she yanked and tugged at it with her teeth. She almost had it loose when the creak of a floorboard let her know someone was right outside the door. Rolling onto her stomach, she made sure to tuck her hands beneath her then closed her eyes.

Footsteps thudded across the floor and stopped next to the bed. She could smell Ashton’s cologne, a scent she now found nauseating. Everything in her wanted to jump up kicking and screaming. Instead, she pretended she was still unconscious, carefully taking even breaths.

“Maybe I hit you a little harder than necessary, my dear,” Ashton said, putting a hand to her head. When she didn’t move, he withdrew his hand and paced the floor. “You stupid farmers just don’t take the hint. I tried multiple times to buy you all out, but you just don’t listen. First, it was that idiot Nash family holding things up. Trying to get rid of J.B. didn’t work. Who knew the old coot would recover? I thought for sure when I spooked Erik’s team and the wagon crashed, I’d be able to pick up his place for a song. Except he had to go and leave the land to you, the most stubborn, unreasonable female I’ve ever encountered. I only offered to marry you as a last ditch effort to get the land. I could have enjoyed the benefits of marriage for a while, and when I got bored, you’d have just disappeared. Now, I’m going to have to marry you and kill you all in the same day. Then I’ll finally have my land and my gold.”

Stunned by the words pouring out of Ashton’s mouth, Aundy had to bite her tongue until she tasted blood to keep from saying anything. What gold was Ashton talking about? Suddenly the shiny rocks she pulled from the creek made sense. Ashton didn’t want the land, he wanted the gold that was in the creek running through both the Erickson and Nash properties. She couldn’t believe he’d been the reason J.B. was injured and that he’d essentially killed Erik.

What if he’d gone after Garrett? Maybe he had and she didn’t know about it yet. The thought of anything happening to him made Aundy renew her determination to survive this ordeal just to tell Garrett how much she loved him.

“Rest while you can, dear Mrs. Erickson, because as soon as the preacher arrives, you’re marrying me, signing over the farm, then you’re going to tragically fall down the stairs and break your lovely long neck,” Ashton said, patting Aundy on the leg as he strode from the room.

The man had completely lost his mind.

Waiting for the sound of his footsteps to die away, Aundy sat up and tugged at the knot holding her hands captive. Pulling it loose, she quickly worked her hands free. Getting to her feet, a wave of dizziness almost dropped her to the floor, but she balanced herself by holding onto the dresser and waited until her vision cleared. Although her head felt like someone was trying to split it in two, there was no way she would sit around doing nothing while Ashton worked on his scheme to kill her.

Walking to the windows, she hoped the room was one that opened onto a balcony. Staring outside, she sighed to see nothing but blue sky and a long drop to the ground.

If Ashton thought she’d obediently do whatever he said, he really didn’t know her at all.

Looking around the room, trying to decide what she could do to escape, she began working on an idea.

Kade and Garrett were ready to ride up the lane to Ashton’s house and execute their plan when Pastor Whitting waved and rode up beside them.

“Good afternoon, gentleman. Going to visit Ashton?” the pastor asked with a cheery smile.

“Something like that,” Garrett muttered quietly, trying to be civil. The pastor hadn’t done anything to incur his wrath. “What brings you out here?”

“Ashton called and said he had a special matter that required my immediate attention,” Pastor Whitting said, looking skeptical. “He wouldn’t say what that matter was, just that I needed to hurry. Since I was going to come out anyway to check on Nik and Aundy, I thought it was easy enough to stop by.”

“Say, Kade, I have an idea,” Garrett said, looking from Hank to the preacher.

A few minutes later, Hank was dressed in the pastor’s clothes, his revolver hidden beneath the light coat, while the pastor wore Hank’s denims, neckerchief, and western hat.

“I always wanted to be a cowboy,” the pastor said, mounting Hank’s horse and grinning broadly.

“Just remember, you stay far back, out of the line of fire,” Kade said to the pastor before falling in line behind Hank who was riding Pastor Whitting’s horse.

Halfway up the lane, Garret, Kade, Fred, and Pastor Whitting split up, urging their horses past the trees to flank the sides of the house without being seen. Hank continued right up the lane to the front door.

Since he couldn’t recall ever meeting Ashton, they hoped Ashton had never seen Hank around town or at Aundy’s place. He would pretend to be a Pastor Whitting’s nephew who stopped for a visit on his way through town.

Adjusting the narrow brim of the wool crusher hat on his head, Hank decided this was probably as close to being a man of the cloth as he was ever going to get. Looping the reins of the horse around a hitching post at the bottom of a set of broad steps leading up to the front door, Hank straightened his coat, tucked Pastor Whitting’s Bible in one hand, and took a deep breath.

Walking sedately to the door, he knocked loudly and waited, praying their ruse would go undetected by Ashton.

Knocking again, Hank cast a glance over his shoulder, pretending to be studying the expansive yard instead of scouting to see if the men were in place. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Kade wave briefly from the edge of the shrubbery, and turned his attention back to the door.

Hearing footsteps approach, he plastered a huge smile on his face.

“Yes? May I help you?” Ashton asked tersely as he opened the door and saw a stranger standing there.

“You sure can,” Hank said, offering his friendliest smile. “My uncle said you called this morning and requested his services.”

“Uncle? The only person I called was Pastor Whitting,” Ashton said, clearly annoyed.

“Yes, that’s right. Pastor Whitting is my uncle. I recently graduated from seminary and am on my way to minister my own little flock near The Dalles. I decided to stop and visit my dear auntie and uncle for a few days. He was just coming to see you when he was unavoidably detained with an emergency, so he asked me to offer my services and see if I may be of assistance.”

“Oh,” Ashton said, not caring what preacher performed the ceremony as long as the result was a legal and binding marriage to Aundy.

Giving all his help except for the cook the day off so he’d have fewer witnesses around, Ashton decided his plan was coming together quite nicely. If the bride would wake up from the little bump on her head, he could get on with his quest for the gold in her creek bed.

“May I come in?” Hank asked, thinking Ashton Monroe looked like a pretty-faced lunatic. The strange, feral gleam in the man’s eye made Hank want to turn around and run out the door. Knowing Aundy was most likely somewhere in this monstrosity of a house, Hank swallowed back his fear and did his best to convince Ashton he was Pastor Whitting’s nephew.

“Certainly,” Ashton said, ushering Hank into a large gathering room overlooking the front yard. “I asked your uncle to come because today is going to be my wedding day and I wanted him to do the honors.”

“Wedding, you say?” Hank asked, perplexed. If Ashton was getting married, then he probably wasn’t plotting evil. “Surely you want to wait for my uncle, then. He should be available tomorrow.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. It must take place today. Right now,” Ashton said, taking Hank by the arm and pushing him down into an overstuffed chair. “The bride is somewhat reluctant. Young and scared of her matrimonial duties, I suppose. I’m afraid if I wait any longer, she won’t be cooperative at all. You know how women can be.”

“Yes, I do,” Hank said, grinning broadly and nodding his head while wanting to black both of Ashton’s deranged-looking eyes. “I’ll just wait here, then, while you bring down the bride.”

“Perfect,” Ashton said, walking to the door. “I have a house servant who will stand as witness. I’ll fetch her as soon as my bride is ready.”

Hank nodded his head, feeling a trickle of sweat slide down his neck as Ashton closed the door. Getting to his feet, he walked to the window and looked outside. A slight movement from the tree line reminded him there were four men outside ready to rush in at his signal, although he sincerely hoped the pastor stayed back as Kade advised.

Ashton Monroe seemed completely unbalanced and dangerous. Hank had once watched a cat play with a mouse before devouring it. The cat swatted at the mouse, let it loose like it was free, and then caught it again and again before finally killing it.

He thought Ashton did an admirable job at being the cat.

Hearing loud thumping, Hank stuffed the pastor’s Bible in his coat pocket and opened the door to see Ashton, his face distorted with fury, tearing down the stairs.

“What’s the matter?” Hank asked, wondering what had happened.

“My bride seems to be playing games with me,” Ashton said, quickly putting on his pleasant lord of the manor face. “It may take a moment or two for me to find her.”

“What’s your bride’s name?” Hank asked.

Ashton glared at him.

“I can help look for her if you tell me what name to call out,” Hank offered with an indifferent shrug.

“Aundy. Aundy Erickson,” Ashton said then ran down the hall toward the back of the house.

Glancing upstairs, Hank caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye and saw Aundy peaking over the stair railing from the landing.

Stepping into the foyer, he motioned for her to hurry and she ran down the stairs without making a sound.

“Get outside and run for the trees, Garrett and Kade are there,” Hank whispered, opening the door and giving Aundy a push. “I’ll try to keep him distracted.”

Picking up her skirts, Aundy ran down the steps and started across the yard when she heard Ashton scream her name from inside the house. Pouring on more speed, she looked ahead to see Garrett leap over a row of shrubbery, sprinting her direction.

Watching Aundy run toward Garrett, Hank turned to see Ashton racing down the hall, a rifle in his hand.

“Oh, did I see her run down the hall?” Hank asked, hurrying toward Ashton, intentionally stumbling into him, dragging them both to the floor.

“You, fool, get out of the way,” Ashton yelled, giving Hank a shove and rising to his feet. Hank yanked the rifle from his hands as he ran out the door, so Ashton pulled a revolver from a holster on his hip and aimed it at Aundy’s retreating back. “Stop or I’ll kill you right now.”

Aundy continued running. She was almost to Garrett when the pop of the gun let her know Ashton had fired the weapon. Garrett grabbed his arm and dropped to his knees with the impact of the bullet.

Sinking down beside him, Aundy looked back at Ashton in fear. Running toward them in a weaving pattern, he would soon be at her side. She knew there were others hidden behind the shrubs, but what she didn’t know is what Ashton would do if someone else threatened him.