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He smiled.
Eliza was waiting for him.
Chapter Twenty-eight
The familiar dirt road that led to the Campbell’s home resonated under the pounding hooves of Thomas’s stallion and mimicked the pounding of his heart. It would be only a few more minutes of riding before they reached Eliza’s home.
Only a fragment of the moon shone in the December sky. The horse’s breath plumed into large white clouds as it exhaled into the brisk air. Thomas yanked on the reins and Nathaniel rode up next to him.
“Is this it?” Nathaniel asked, looking at the tree-dotted landscape around them.
“No, we’re still a half-mile away. But I want to leave the horses here—we’ll be able to keep silent and stay out of view of any soldiers if we travel the remaining distance on foot. We can go around the back.” Thomas slid off his horse.
Nathaniel nodded. “How many guards do you suppose Martin will have posted?”
“I don’t know.”
Thomas moved quickly as a stinging urgency flashed through his body. He secured his horse next to a towering oak and Nathaniel did the same then fastened his pistol and a small dagger around his middle.
“I have no idea what to expect.” Thomas glanced around him, clutching his own weapon in his fingers. “I don’t even know for certain if she will be here, but it’s the most logical place to check first.”
“I’m right behind you.”
Thomas took Nathaniel around the back, the same way he and the girls had left in early October. The house rested, quiet and dark. Only a few candles glowed through the windows in the parlor, and another flickered in the kitchen.
Cautious of every movement, Thomas crept toward the house, crouching low. Knowing he may be close to Eliza made his pulse surge.
The modest window by the backdoor provided the needed view. He rose slowly and peered into the dimly lit parlor.
“I don’t see any guards inside,” he whispered into the glass as Nathaniel knelt beside him.
“That doesn’t mean they aren’t around the front.”
“Right. Let’s check there first, before we try and go in.”
“I can do that. You stay here,” Nathaniel said.
Thomas ducked down and shook his head. “No, I’ll come with you. It will be safer if we move together.” He didn’t want his best friend stumbling upon a group larger than he could take on himself.
They crept in silence around two more corners of the house until the front came into view. A lone soldier paced back and forth a few feet from the doorstep, wearing a long black cloak. His arms were folded around his middle as if trying to keep warm. He didn’t seem to be interested in keeping watch. His musket was propped by the front door and his sword was lounging on the front step behind him. When he turned in their direction, his gaze at the ground, Thomas squeezed his pistol’s wooden handle so hard he could have produced sap. A guard out front had to mean Eliza was inside.
His memory pricked to life.
“I know him,” Thomas said. “He’s the one that was after me and the girls the night I came to rescue them.”
“He’ll be an easy one to bring down.” Nathaniel’s mouth twitched upward.
Thomas’s arms and legs cramped. Only this man stood between him and Eliza. But where was Samuel? Inside? There wasn’t time to be worried about that now. “Follow my lead.”
Nathaniel gave him a quiet smack on the shoulder. “I’m right behind you.”
The blow to Donaldson’s head was quick and hard and Thomas moved back to let Nathaniel close.
He checked the soldier’s pulse then rolled him onto his back. “Nice hit, Thomas,” he whispered.
“Nathaniel, I need you to keep watch here and alert me the minute anyone arrives.” Thomas lodged his pistol at his side. “I’m going in for Eliza.”
Muscles buzzing, he opened the front door, careful to be silent as he closed it behind him should the enemy still lurk within.
