Page 82 of Mail-Order Lady

Her hand gripped the windowsill as she strained to see through the darkness. Where was he? Had he run into trouble out there?

Movement near the tree line caught her eye. A figure pushing up from the ground. Stumbling.

Robert.

Relief flooded through her chest, but it died just as quick. Something was wrong with the way he moved—unsteady, like he’d been hurt.

She fumbled with the window latch, her fingers clumsy against the metal. It wouldn’t budge. She tried again, pressing harder, and the wood finally gave.

With the window open, she leaned out and kept her voice low, just loud enough for him to hear. “Robert!”

He looked up, his face pale in the darkness. “Clara?”

“Sutton is on the other side of the house. He has my mother at gunpoint. He made us go inside.”

Robert took a step toward the house, then stopped as he glanced at the trees behind him. “You have to get out. All of you.”

“What?”

“There’s fire.” His voice rose. “Blasting powder. Get everyone out. Now!”

A gunshot cracked through the night.

Robert jerked forward and dropped.

The scream tore from her throat before she could stop it. “Robert!”

He didn’t move.

She gripped the windowsill so hard the wood bit into her palms. No. No, no, no. He had to be alive. He had to be.

But he lay so still on the ground. Too still.

Kate’s hand closed around her shoulder. “Clara⁠—”

“I have to get to him.” The words came out strangled. She needed to climb through this window. Needed to run to him. To see if he was breathing. If he⁠—

“You can’t.” Kate gripped both shoulders now. “He said to get everyone out.”

Fire.

She forced herself to step back from the window. Every part of her body screamed to climb through it. To run to Robert. To see if his chest still rose and fell. If his eyes would open when she reached him.

But Kate’s grip on her shoulders held firm. Turned her toward the door.

Fire. Robert said they had to get out.

She forced herself into motion. Down the stairs.

At the bottom, Kate nudged her toward Bea’s chamber beside the washroom. “You wake Bea. I’ll get Rose and Mandie.”

Clara pounded on the door, and Bea opened immediately. Her explanation probably didn’t make sense. She had to get to Robert. Maybe through the study window that faced that same direction.

Sutton couldn’t see that side of the house from where he stood with her mother. But if he had gunmen surrounding them…

That same gunman who’d shot down Robert.

A new cry strangled her throat. She had to see if he still lived.