The Secret of Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 4) (19 page)

Forty-Two

     
L
uc Almquist sat upon Avalanche at the end of the road that led to Stavewood. It was early morning, not long after dawn. He checked the mills and saw that the flashy red roadster was not in the lot. Then he rode around and checked the stables. Romeo was not there. With both the car and the horse gone it was unlikely that Louisa and Talbot were together. That was to his advantage, he thought. He needed to find Louisa alone. She was out already on an early morning ride, but where?

      He rode along Billington Pike looking for her on the main pathways. He galloped into the woodland, checking every trail where they had been together but found no sign of her. He grew impatient and rode out to Fawn Lake but was not surprised to find that she was not there either. He cut through the woodland towards Billington and the cottage. Maybe she had ridden out to see Katie and the baby.

      He dismounted and strode up onto the wooden porch. James and Katie had taken Fiona home and the cottage was closed and vacant. He looked up at the facade. The tiny chalet was painted a cheerful, butter yellow and adorned with white gingerbread trim at the peak where the porch posts met the roof. It didn’t surprise him that the cottage had become so popular with the local women as the place to have their first babies. But however charming the place was, it didn’t matter to him. Louisa was not there. He needed to find her quickly and with no one else around. He held the reins of his stallion and looked down the road.

      “She’s got to be somewhere, ‘Lanch,” he said to the horse. He threw his leg over the saddle and started towards the Elgerson Ranch as the late morning sun rose over the trees.

      He slowed his horse to a trot at the great archway that guarded the entrance to the ranch and rode up the pathway towards the corrals. He saw Mark there in his familiar, tan colored hat, and he rode up casually.

      “Morning!” Mark Elgerson tilted his head back as he saw Luc approach. Luc dismounted and greeted Mark with a handshake.

      “That’s a fine fellow there,” Luc said, pointing to a young pony in the open corral.

      “Just getting up on his feet,” Mark said, smiling proudly. “Avalanche looks good.”

      “How’s Katie and the baby?” Luc looked off across the enclosure.

      “Great. We got them moved into their new place last night.” Mark noticed that Luc held his hand in a tight fist as he rested his arm on the corral fence. He was certain that he had not come out to discuss babies and young horses. “What can I do for ya?” He tried to look Luc in the eye but Luc avoided his gaze.

      “Well, Mark,” he started, pushing the dirt around with the toe of his boot, “I was wondering if maybe Louisa was here.”

      Luc clenched his jaw tightly. So that was it, Mark thought. First Loo’s strange visit in the early morning and now Luc was here looking for her. That fellow from New York City might be around but there was definitely something going on between his sister and big Luc Almquist. He chuckled to himself. It was about time she found what she needed and he could not help but relish the fact that she had found it right here at home. Whatever they were up to, he could not think of a better man than Luc.

      “She’s not here but it’s funny you should mention her.” Mark smiled, watching Luc’s reaction. It was apparent that he was quite uncomfortable.

      “Oh? Why’s that?” Luc still avoided his gaze, preferring to watch his boot rearranging the dirt.

      “She was here earlier, quite early in fact. Looking for you.”

      “Me?” Luc forgot himself and turned to face Mark.

      “Yep. She wanted to know if I knew where you were camped. I told her I had no idea. I think she went to the town hall in Billington to see if they knew where to find you.”

      A wave of panic crossed Luc’s face and he swallowed hard. He coughed and cleared his throat.

      “Ah. Well then, maybe I’ll see her in town.”

      Mark smiled, watching him clench and unclench his jaw.

      “Thanks, Mark,” he said and mounted his horse. Once he reached the road, Mark could hear Avalanche’s hooves thundering. He shook his head and chuckled.

    
Forty-Three

     
L
ouisa stared out the window at the landscape rolling by and bit her lip. The trip was taking forever and she couldn’t get to Blue Falls fast enough.

      Louisa sat upright in her seat. She had to calm down and think clearly. Once she reached the county seat she would find out about Luc. The sound of Polly Polka’s voice in Billington still echoed in her head:

            “There is no one named Luc Almquist working for the county out of our office.”

      Louisa tried to tell herself that there had been some kind of mistake. The government made mistakes. It had to be difficult to keep so much information on so many people. In Blue Falls there would be a clerk who would tell her that, of course, Luc Almquist worked for them. In fact, he was one of their best cartographers. He was what he said he was and exactly who she imagined him to be.

      Louisa sighed deeply. As much as she wanted that scenario to be the truth, she knew there was a possibility he was not who he said he was. In years past, his family may have come around at fairs and log rolling contests, but they lived miles away and who really knew him? The sinister image of the man in the black parka filled her mind and the voices of the men at the gazebo were still fresh in her memory. Could Luc be one of them, watching the house with them, working for them?

      Nothing else had mattered when she was with him and the memory of his arms around her brought tears to her eyes. “I’m so much in love with him,” she admitted to herself and she choked back her feelings. Louisa pulled out her handkerchief and blew her nose quietly. She had looked into his warm, brown eyes and trusted him, knew him, loved him. Now she was not sure who he was. Instead of the loyal and wonderful man she believed in, he could be her worst enemy. Had she wanted to find love so badly she had been completely blind?

      Louisa shook her head. She couldn’t sit trapped on the train with her emotions running wild anymore. She pulled her notebook from her pocket and decided to distract herself with her notes.

      She wrote a short description of her pink slipper floating in Fisher Creek and how it had surfaced there after disappearing in the underground channel. Jude Thomas had to have known about the whirlpool because he knew exactly where to put the gazebo. There was no way for Louisa to be sure of exactly how he found it, but if she was going to write a chapter about Jude and the passageway she would have to imagine it as best she could.

      In
The
Secret of Stavewood
he could have found it as a child, perhaps falling or jumping into the swirling water of the Towhee River. He would have been swept underground in the strong current and emerged in the cavern, alongside Stavewood. From there the water would have pulled him along to the whirlpool where he’d have been sucked under the rock wall only to come up in Fisher Creek close to his aunt’s home. At some point he had the idea to turn it into a secret passageway into and out of Stavewood. It was a perfect way to escape after the train robberies. In the mind of a criminal and a man whose heart was filled with anger and hatred for her father, it was a very clever plan. It had worked beautifully for a long time.

      Diabolical, Louisa thought. Luc and the men at the gazebo came back to her mind. Louisa laid her head back against the seat of the train and closed her eyes. In her emotional exhaustion she fell into a restless sleep.

      When the train finally pulled into the station at Blue Falls she stopped at the ticket counter and got directions. She considered hiring a carriage to take her to the city offices but she felt agitated and restless, so she decided to walk as quickly as her legs would carry her. In the thoroughfare she dodged cars and carriages and men on horseback. The streets of Blue Falls were crowded and filled with every type of vehicle imaginable.

      On the edge of a large landscaped lawn in the center of the city stood the county offices and the courthouse. Louisa hurried up the stone stairs.

      Inside she found the main directory desk and ran up to it, waving at the receptionist.

      “Excuse me,” she called. At first the woman ignored her, but then eventually turned to her.

      “You need to go to the back of the line,” she said.

      Louisa looked at the other side of the desk and saw a dozen people waiting dutifully. Her heart sank. She walked around and took her place in the ranks of people in line. She fidgeted impatiently for nearly a full hour in the echoing, marbled halls of the building.

      “Good afternoon, can I help you?” The receptionist looked up at the clock in the lobby past Louisa drearily.

      “I’m trying to find some information about an agent, a cartographer actually, who’s been doing some surveying near Billington. It is imperative I find out about him,” Louisa blurted out.

      “A cart…? What?”

      “Cartographer. A map maker.”

      “Try the Bureau of Land Management on the third floor.”

      Louisa huffed. Instead of standing in line she would have been better off searching the building offices. She hurried for the stairs.

Forty-Four

     
L
uc rode hard into Billington. Mark said Louisa had been by quite early but Luc expected the town offices had only been open a short while. If he was quick enough he could catch her before she got into town and could get her alone. However, he did not see her anywhere along the way.

      He galloped up to the town building and contemplated how he would approach Louisa if she was inside. He jumped from the saddle and bounded up the town hall steps.

     “Good morning!” Polly greeted him cheerfully and stood up from her chair, smoothing her hair. “How may I help you?”

      “By any chance, was there a young woman in here asking about a cartographer this morning?”

      “Why, yes. Yes, there was!” Her face beamed with recognition. “Let me guess. You are Mr. Almquist. Is that right?” She was sure he had to be the man the young woman had been looking for, and with good reason, Polly thought.

      “Yes.” He eyed her suspiciously. “That would be me.”

      “I knew it!” she nearly squealed. “She said you were tall, and yes you are! And handsome, that’s what she said!” It was clear Polly was delighted.

      “She said that?” He looked her in the eye. “What else?”

      “Well, let’s see.” Polly screwed up her face. “Oh yes, she wanted to find you. She asked where you were making your maps. That’s it.”

      “Yes, and?”

      “Well, Mr. Almquist,” she said, leaning into him to speak confidentially, “You apparently told her you were working for the city of Billington. But I don’t have any record of that. I sent her to Blue Falls.”

      Luc’s shoulders stiffened. “When was she here? Exactly?”

      “I’d say an hour ago, more or less.” She could see the young man was visibly angry.

      Luc rode over to the train station and checked the schedule. If she had caught the train he had just missed her. Even worse, the train from Blue Falls would not return until the following morning. The man at the ticket window remembered Louisa clearly. She was gone.

      Luc stood on the station platform looking down the tracks. He could ride to Blue Falls, but it would be almost a full day’s journey and she would arrive long before he got there. It would be hard on Avalanche and there would be nothing gained. Luc sat down on a bench and hung his head. All he could do was wait until she arrived in the morning and meet her then.