A Bride at Last (11 page)

The pinched lines surrounding Silas’s mouth deepened.

“What about Richard? Do you know where he is?”

“He went to tell the judge Anthony’s missing.”

She hesitantly placed a hand on Silas’s arm. If only she could smooth away the furrows in his brow, but she felt her own worry lines pinching in around her eyes. “It’ll be all right. We’ll find him.”

He gazed up at her from his slumped posture, his green-hazel eyes drawing her into his worry. “So he didn’t come by?”

She swallowed and shook her head.

Silas pushed off the wall and paced. “But
I
wouldn’t have left without seeing you first.”

He wouldn’t have? Her hand crept up to her throat, where a sudden lump had stuck. He wouldn’t have left Missouri without saying good-bye
to her
?

Silas pivoted and walked back toward her, gesticulating. “I didn’t leave the orphanage without saying good-bye to Jonesey . . . of course I didn’t say anything he’d have interpreted as me running away either, just a good-bye of sorts.” He about-
faced. “And you mean more to Anthony than Jonesey meant to me. . . .”

“I’m lost.” Who was this Jonesey, again? And why did it matter? “What does this have to do with anything?”

Silas stopped pacing and walked toward her. “You’re the person who matters most to Anthony—he’d not leave you in the dark.”

So Silas hadn’t meant he personally would miss her—just if he were in Anthony’s position, he would’ve stopped by. Her stomach sank lower, if that was even possible. And why did she even care about Silas missing her—or rather that he wouldn’t—when Anthony was in trouble?

“When I was in his place, I would’ve made sure I’d seen you at least once before I left for good. Surely he’d do the same.”

Left for good? She’d been girding herself for the last day she’d see Anthony, but to never know what became of him? Her knees grew weak. “But he hasn’t, so—”

“If he told you he was running away, you’d have stopped him, right?”

“Of course. He’s only a boy.” She looked at the wall clock at the end of the hallway. “When did you say you found him gone?”

“Right before we were to leave for the hearing. Last I saw him was lunchtime.”

How far could a boy have gotten in less than an hour? But if he’d hopped the train . . .

She glanced past Miss Jennings’s room. Mr. Tanner and Miss Leeright shouldn’t mind taking her students too much. “Let me get the children switched over so I can help—”

He caught her by the wrist. “No, don’t jeopardize your job. It’s not long until school’s over.”

She looked at her hand caught in Silas’s grasp. How could she continue teaching knowing Anthony had disappeared? “I could help you find him.”

“I’m hiring a horse so I can look around town.” He blew out a breath. “You stay here, and I’ll go wherever you think I should look first.”

“It’d be easier to show you.” She opened the door. “Class—”

“No.” He placed his hand on top of hers on the doorknob.

The heat of him trapped her against the door, and her breath momentarily disappeared. If it hadn’t been for the nightmarish information he’d just told her, she might let herself dream about him inching closer, his mouth descending—

Wait
. She glanced to the side, and her whole body flushed. The eyes of half her students focused on them. “You need to step away from me,” she whispered.

His hand dropped, and he used it to rub his left eye. He blinked hard, shook his head a little, and backed up. He looked pained, maybe distracted. Hopefully distracted enough to miss that her face was likely bright pink. “I don’t want you to lose your job, Kate. You were close enough to that before Anthony did this.”

She stared at him, his face full of concern . . . and handsomer close up. Did he truly care what happened to her since it wouldn’t affect him or Anthony? “You’re right, I might get in trouble, but surely a boy’s life is more important than a job.”

Silas shook his head. “Please don’t get fired. Give me places to look, and if I haven’t found him by the time school’s over, you can give me more suggestions.”

Did he think she’d only give him suggestions? She’d be out looking the second her last student left. Staying now went against her every inclination, though Anthony’s well-being was soon going to be none of her concern.

No, Anthony would always be her concern, even if only in prayer.

“All right.” She closed her eyes to think since Silas was still close enough for her to see the dark green rim around his
golden irises. “Check the shacks at the end of Fifth Street—they used to live in the one with the peeling green paint. And maybe the shops on Main? He likes to look in the windows, especially at the toy store, but I can’t imagine he’d just sit there waiting . . .”

“That’s enough to start.” Silas turned and left without even a wave.

A small hand wriggled into hers. Arvilla blinked her doll eyes up at her. “Can we pray for Anthony before school lets out?”

The sounds of children fidgeting in their seats reminded her how far away that was.

“Momma says we can always pray, even when we can’t do anything else.”

Kate nodded. “Your momma’s right.” As much as she wanted to look for Anthony right now, she had children to tend, a job to keep.

Oh, God, please let us find Anthony. I’m sorry
I railed at you last night about taking him away from me. And I thought I knew where he
was going then. This could be so much worse.

Silas rubbed at the ache behind his eyebrows. He threaded his way toward the school steps amidst a sea of exiting children, grabbed the swinging door, and turned down the hallway.

Kate flew out of her classroom, hat and umbrella in hand. She gave him a once-over, and her frown deepened. “You didn’t find him.” She barreled past him, pinning her hat on as she walked. “We’ve got no time to lose. The sun’ll be down before we know it.”

He reeled a bit, then gave chase. “We need to wait for Richard. He could’ve found him.”

Please, God, let him have Anthony. Even if I
don’t get to keep him, at least he’d
be safer with Richard than on his own, where who knows what kind of slimy men could take advantage of him.

Not that Richard isn’t slimy . . .

Kate’s heels tapped faster against the tile floor. “We can’t wait around and twiddle our thumbs. Every minute, he gets farther away—”

“You don’t even know where I’ve checked yet.”

“Doesn’t matter. Anthony might have hid from you both. He’d come out for me.” Her skirts swished against his shin when he caught up. “But go ahead and tell me where you’ve been, who you’ve talked to, where you’re planning to look now.”

“We need to see what Richard knows first—”

“I can look while you wait for him.”

She shouldn’t go looking alone. He’d tried to find the house she’d mentioned, which had been in a rather rough neighborhood. “You don’t like listening to reason, do you?”

“Reason?” She flung out her hands, her umbrella hitting the wastebasket beside her. “What does this have to do with reason? Anthony’s out there alone.”

“Your job—” He shook his head. “Don’t you think Mr. Kingfisher will care where you go without a—”

“I go where I please.” She planted the umbrella’s point in a crack of the tile and straightened.

“All right.” He hadn’t the time or brain power to fight with her. And who was he to tell her what to do anyway? “I couldn’t find the shack on Fifth you mentioned. Maybe they painted it? But I looked around that area, from First to Seventh and from Main to Cypress.”

“I’ll go to the house first, then.” She turned. And with that she was gone. Reckless woman.

He trudged out behind her into the cool fall air.

Richard moseyed up the road from the east, whereas Kate had turned to the west.

“Kate!” Silas hollered after her.

She kept going.

He whistled loudly.

She turned and glared at him, but at least she spotted Richard and came barreling back.

If only the man had Anthony in tow. Did the boy have enough know-how to survive on the streets? The pickpocketing skill might indicate he did, but still . . .

“I take it you know nothing more about Anthony’s whereabouts than we do?” Kate said as she marched toward Richard.

He shook his head. “He wasn’t at the courthouse.”

“Where else did you look?” Silas rubbed the pinched spot between his eyes.

“I didn’t have time to look anywhere else.”

No time? What else had he done since they parted? Buy a drink?

He knew how dependent one could be on alcohol, but a boy’s life was at stake. “You do realize that every second he’s gone, the farther he gets?”

Kate stopped in front of Richard and crossed her arms. “No more dillydallying. I’m checking the southwest corner of town where Lucinda and Anthony used to live. Where will you two be going?”

“I figured the creek.” But that’s not where he’d go if Kate was headed to the house on Fifth.

Richard licked his lips. “I’ll ask around the railroad. See if anyone saw him get on.”

Silas closed his eyes. If the boy had jumped a train, did they stand any chance of finding him?

“And if either of you catch him, you bring him straight to me.” Richard’s ugly mug turned sly.

“Why would we bother to bring him to you?” Kate huffed. “We can meet at Mrs. Grindall’s for dinner if we haven’t found him before then and discuss where to go next.”

“As long as you go with one of us.” Silas held out his hand as if his gesture would stop her. “It’ll be dusk soon. You shouldn’t wander the streets alone after dark.”

“You can take her.” Richard pulled a piece of paper from his chest pocket. “But as I said, you bring him to me at the railroad if you find him before dinner. I have a ruling stating he’s mine.” He unfolded a piece of official-looking paper and dangled it between them.

Silas blinked. Was he hallucinating? “Did . . . didn’t you inform the judge Anthony was missing?”

“Sure I did, but I’m done lollygagging. You’ve had your week to say good-bye. Once we find him, I don’t want to sit around twiddling my thumbs again waiting for another hearing.”

“I can’t believe it.” Kate stared at the ruling as if she’d never seen paper before.

Richard thrust it at her. “Here, read it. I had them make two copies.”

Silas forced his mouth to move rather than just hang open. “Why did you go through with the hearing without me there? Or Anthony?”

“What did it matter, you’ve got no proof of being his father—”

“But the boy should’ve had his say,” Kate sputtered.

“He evidently didn’t want to go home with either one of us. A young’un shouldn’t have much say anyway. He obviously doesn’t know what’s good for him, considering how he’s run off.”

Kate read the paper in silence, then handed it to Silas. But he didn’t need to read it to know it contained exactly what Richard said it did. Her ashen face and limp expression told him the truth of it.

Why did his heart slow so much at this news? Hadn’t he been preparing himself for this likely outcome? “This doesn’t change the fact that Anthony needs to be found and minutes are being lost.”

But if they did find him, would the boy not do this again sometime later if he had to go home with Richard?

“Let’s go, then.” Kate shoved the paper at Richard’s chest and gave him a cold, hard look. “We’ll meet at dinnertime.”

What if she found the boy first?

Another reason to follow her. She’d mentioned Anthony would come out for her if not for him.

And somehow he doubted she’d simply hand the boy over to Richard.

Twenty minutes before Mrs. Grindall and Myrtle would have dinner ready, Silas had followed Kate far enough to know she was heading to the house where she’d been boarding. After leaving the school, he’d trailed her as she swept through neighborhoods she shouldn’t have tromped through alone. Though she hadn’t found Anthony, he’d made the right decision by following her instead of going to the creek.

Now standing in front of Mrs. Grindall’s unimpressive boardinghouse, his gaze landed on Lucy’s window. What if the boy had left a clue in the room he’d overlooked? What if the note Anthony had shoved under his door hadn’t been the only thing he’d written?