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“I don’t like threats.” His voice had dropped to a menacing growl. “Not even from pretty women.”
Something in his tone and manner frightened her. She’d never believed Mason capable of hurting her physically. But he was a strong man, and she’d become an inconvenience. He was capable of killing her with his bare hands and dumping her body in the bog where nobody would find it.
Her fingers groped for the door handle. Finding it, she half tumbled out onto the edge of the road, righted herself, and took off running—not back the way they’d come, but following the road farther along the dike.
“Gerda! Come back here, you little fool!”
Gerda kept running. Even in a dress, she was fleet of foot. But her pregnancy had sapped her endurance. Her sides were already throbbing. She paused, losing precious seconds to catch her breath. Was he running after her? At first, she couldn’t tell, but then she heard the pounding of rapid footfalls behind her. He was coming fast, gaining on her. Her only chance was to hide.
By now, it was dark, the moon still unrisen behind the mountains. She veered off the road, not to the left of the dike, into the bog, but to the right, into a neglected field where tangled weeds and grass grew to the level of the road.
As Gerda stepped off the dike, she realized too late that the weeds were tall, growing hip high from the solid ground beneath. She tumbled forward and plunged straight down. The distance wasn’t far, and the weeds cushioned her fall. Still, she landed hard enough to hurt.
Stunned, she lay still as Mason called to her.
“Gerda! For God’s sake, come back here. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but all I want is to see you safely home.”
His voice sounded close, almost directly above her. But she had landed in the shadow of the dike. From where he stood, he couldn’t see her. She lay still, hearing his voice grow faint as he hunted her down the road. Then as he came to the end and turned around, she could hear him clearly once more.
“Listen to me, Gerda. I didn’t mean to scare you. If I don’t see you by the time I get back to the auto, I’m going for help. Don’t be afraid. I’ll be back.”
Gerda lay still until she heard the engine crank and start up. Only as the sound died away did she struggle to her feet. She felt vaguely sick. Her hands and the front of her dress were covered with burrs and stickers.
The moon had come up in the east. She could see her way now, but she had no good place to go. From this side, the dike was too steep for her to climb up. She would have to forge her way through the tall weeds to get back to the main road.
She took a moment to clear the stickers from her hands. Then she began pushing forward through the tangle. It was hard going—so hard that she began to rethink her reason for running away from Mason. Maybe he hadn’t meant to hurt her. Maybe she should’ve answered when he came looking for her. But it was too late to change that now.
She’d scarcely covered a dozen yards when the pain struck, like a giant fist clutching her body below the waist, clawing and twisting. With a cry, she doubled over and felt a gush of fluid down her legs. She reached under her skirt. Her hand came away bloodied.
As another pain seized her, she dropped to her knees. “No!”she gasped. “Please, God, no!”
* * *
Kristin was eating a late supper of baked beans, ham, and a slice of the fresh bread a patient had brought her, when she heard a loud pounding on her front door. Another emergency, she surmised wearily. But this was what she’d gone to school for.
She answered the door to find Mason, looking frantic. His eyes were wild, and a lock of chestnut hair had fallen over his forehead. Outside the gate, his auto was still running.
“What is it, Mason?” she asked, genuinely concerned. “Is your mother—”
“It’s not my mother. It’s Gerda. We were talking out by the bog; she got scared and ran away from me. Now I can’t find her. I think she’s hiding from me. But she trusts you.” He swallowed hard. “We can’t just leave her out there, can we?”
“No, of course we can’t. Let me grab a jacket and my bag. I’ll be right out.”
As an afterthought, along with the other things, she found an old pair of boots to take along. If Gerda had fallen into the bog, the boots would come in handy. She also found a flashlight.
What had the girl been thinking, running off in the night? Kristin could imagine what might have happened. But she would have to get the details from Mason. With luck they would find Gerda on the dike road or walking back to town. But given her pregnancy, anything could go wrong.
While Mason drove, Kristin slipped off her shoes and pulled on the boots she’d brought. It never hurt to be prepared. “Tell me one thing, Mason.” She spoke over the noise of the engine. “Once and for all—could Gerda’s baby be yours?”
“No.” Mason answered without hesitation. “I swear it by all that’s holy. I’ve done some despicable things in my life, but bedding that girl isn’t one of them.”
“All right. I believe you. But for her sake and for yours, you’d better hope we find her safe.”
The drive from the house to the bog road took about twenty minutes. They’d kept watch all the way, but so far there was no sign of Gerda. At Kristin’s suggestion, Mason parked the auto by the fence, next to the main road. If Gerda was afraid, the sound of the vehicle on the dike could keep her from coming out in the open.
Leaving her bag under the seat, Kristin climbed out of the car, turned on her flashlight, and started along the dike. Mason followed her with his own flashlight. “Keep quiet unless you see something,” she cautioned him. “If she’s really afraid of you, we don’t want her to hear your voice.”
“You know I’d never hurt her.”
