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Ben nodded and pushed away from the counter. “Thanks. Nice meeting ya.”
He turned to leave but the woman’s voice stopped when she said, “Walter is as mean as the day is long.”
“Rose.”
“What?” she said, scowling at Graham. “It's true.”
“Maybe so but…”
“No worries,” Ben said, figuring Graham thought he’d be insulted by her talking badly about Walter. “I have no love for the man. After the way he’s treated Morning Dove, he doesn’t even deserve to breathe the same air as decent folk.”
He left the store with their agreement ringing in his ears. They had no love for the man, either.
Mabel’s Boarding House was two stories and looked freshly white-washed. Flowers swayed in the breeze all along the walkway, and the scent of cooking meat hit him before he even reached the house, his stomach growling a moment later. He spotted a livery stable and headed that way, regretting it when he saw the large tent at the end of the street. He froze when he heard the shouts and laughter coming from inside. The makeshift saloon was more tempting than it should have been, but he forced himself to keep walking, to ignore it.
He got Wind Chaser settled for the night and headed back to Mabel’s, hurrying to the porch. The sun was still sitting high in the sky. It was just past noon, if he had to guess. His plan was to find Walter’s place and watch it for a while before confronting the old bastard so he had time for a hot meal and maybe even a few hours rest, then he was going to get his girl back.
Thoughts of Morning Dove had kept him awake for days now and wondering what was happening to her nearly drove him crazy. She’d not said much about Walter, but he’d gathered from what she told him that the old man was apt to be cruel more often than not.
He knocked on Mabel’s door and smiled as she let him in. There didn’t seem to be anyone else in the house with them. This little town trusted strangers more than the folks in Willow Creek did.
Mabel showed him to a room before bringing in a pitcher of warm water and sun-dried towels to clean up with. When he sat down to a slab of meat big enough to choke a horse, he tucked into the food like a man starved, thoughts of Morning Dove running through his head.
He wasn’t sure how he’d get her away from Walter without a fight. He’d seen a small jailhouse near the mercantile and he remembered Aaron’s words, telling him to go see the Marshal.
Talking with the Marshal in Silver Falls was always an option, but even if he could leave with Morning Dove, it didn’t stop Walter from coming after her again and he knew he would, so he had to make a decision.
Did he run with her and hope for the best?
Or kill the bastard and hope like hell no one could pin the murder on him?
Chapter Ten
Morning Dove clenched her teeth to keep from crying out and dropped the basket of wet laundry she struggled to carry. Walter must have not washed a single item of clothing since the day she left. From the stench inside the house, he had not bothered to pick up a broom either. She had done nothing since she returned but clean and wash his clothes, and her back ached to the point she was close to tears.
Spending the day doing laundry left her hands dry and raw from the lye soap. The only comfort she had was the knowledge she did not have to be inside with him. He did nothing for days but eat, drink and make lewd suggestions to her, telling her what he was going to do once the sun went down. Thankfully, he drank himself unconscious before he could act on his urges.
She took a step closer to the line she hung his clothes on and grimaced before looking down at her leg. Her ankle was one big black bruise. The rope Walter had wrapped around it was so tight it all but cut her circulation off, and no amount of pulling made it loosen. She had searched everywhere she could think of for something to cut it with, but could not find a single thing. Walter took all the knives from the kitchen and only gave her one when she needed it to cook, but he watched her like a hawk until she finished and took it back, hiding it again.
The first night they had been back, she fed and bathed him, all but gagging when he forced her to take his hardened length in hand and give him a quick release. Thankfully, he had been satisfied with that and had tried nothing more. She prayed he would sleep after that and he did, but not before anchoring a heavy rope to the leg of the stove, wrapping the other end around her ankle multiple times and knotting it so tight she would never be able to pull all the knots loose.
She had shuffled around the house, dragging the rope with her everywhere she went. The abrasions to her skin were painful, and she had tried pulling it over her heel since the night Walter put it on her, but all she did was cause the tender skin on her ankle to bruise and bleed.
Cash snorted when he saw her. She smiled at him, looking toward the house to see if Walter was at the window. As usual, he was. He did not trust her out of his sight, with good reason. He knew the first chance she got to run, she would. Where she would go, she did not know. Just—away.
She should not have been so scared that first day back. She should have run the moment Walter went inside and left her to tend the horses and gone as far and as fast as Cash could go. Her cowardice that day was the biggest mistake she had made in years. Now she was stuck, tied like an animal, with no way out.
She looked away from Walter’s watchful eye and continued to hang his clothes on the line, her thoughts drifting to home. To Willow Creek. To Ben. Her heart gave a painful pinch the moment she thought of him. She had cried so many tears, she was numb. She laid awake at night, recalling every conversation they had the past few weeks. Remembering all the smiles he had given her and those three brief kisses.
Regret burned like acid in her stomach. She did not know if anything would have come of their growing relationship, but dreams of a future with him haunted her. Dreams of having a family, of them laughing in his tiny house while babies toddled and crawled on the floor.
Her eyes burned at the realization those things would never be. If she ever managed to get away from Walter, she knew Betsey and Aaron would take her in, but with Ben not there, the prospect of returning to Willow Creek was dismal. Not to mention, Betsey would forever know she was the reason her brother was dead. As much as she missed them, going back was not possible. She would be miserable, and so would they.
Truth be told, she could not see herself living anywhere around people. She was sure the treatment she received in Willow Creek would be the same regardless of where she went. Her best bet would be to find a small abandoned cabin and live off the land, just her and Cash. It would be lonely, but she was used to being lonely. She had lived a long time isolated here in Silver Falls with no way out, and doing so again would be no hardship. At least then she would not have to put up with Walter daily.
Thinking about him made the monster rap on the window with a heavy hand. She glanced his way before bending to grab another of his wet shirts from the basket and hanging it. She still had to cook and feed the animals, then keep Walter occupied by filling his glass with enough whiskey he would pass out and leave her alone, a task that would be pointless once the bottle was empty. When that happened, he would fill his evenings by entertaining himself with her.
The thought of it made her sick as she picked up the basket and headed back inside. Seeing Walter still peering out at her from the window, she wished for the thousandth time he had hung her from that tree right alongside Ben.
