Vivid paused and said, "Lie still, Maddie."
"Nooo," she whispered. Maddie seemed to be fighting off great pain as she struggled to raise herself up so she could look into Vivid's eyes. "Tell Nate..."
Her words halted as she grimaced with the effort, "Tell Nate a man has the girls." She stopped again and forced out the word, "Hurry..."
Sheer will had fueled Maddie for the past few moments, but in the end her body won the battle. Before she could offer more details, her eyes closed and she slipped back into unconsciousness.
Vivid stitched the wound as precisely as she could, then she and Francesca carried Maddie into her bedroom and gently eased her atop the bed.
Francesca decided she would spend the night with Maddie and Vivid agreed.
"Did Maddie say who did this?" Francesca asked as they covered Maddie with a quilt.
Vivid shook her head, angered at the sight of Mad-die's bruised and battered face. "A man. Undoubtedly Cole."
The sounds of knocking at the door and male voices calling her name sent Vivid running to the door.
Nate, Eli, Joseph, and Adam Crowley were with a posse of men on horseback and atop wagons lit with lanterns and torches.
"Have you found the girls?"
"No," Nate said. "What happened to Maddie's window?"
When Vivid described what she and her mother had discovered, the three men hastily followed Vivid back to the bedroom.
"Aw, hell," Nate swore emotionally upon seeing Maddie's state. He went back to the doorway to try and collect himself. "Who did this?" he asked coldly.
"She said a man. She said to tell you a man has the girls. That was all she could manage."
"Well," Nate intoned, "I need some answers."
"Where are the hounds?" Nate asked as they stood in the night air on the front porch.
Vivid replied, "Mama and I asked the same question. We've neither seen them nor heard them."
Vivid stood shivering in the chill while Nate and the men searched the surrounding area. A few moments later. Vivid could hear frantic baying. The hounds sounded fine. Now if only the girls could be found so readily, she mused. Where are they? she asked herself for maybe the hundredth time. She knew Magic could take care of herself out of doors, and Vivid knew Magic would take care of Satin to the best of her nine-year-old's ability, but the weather had turned very cold in the last few days, the nights even colder. She prayed they weren't caught out in the elements. She prayed even harder that they hadn't been harmed.
Nate came around from the back of the house. "Found the hounds down in Maddie's root cellar. What the—" Nate was nearly bowled over by Maddie's hounds bounding up on the porch. One by one they crawled through the small tarp-covered opening cut into the bottom of the door and disappeared inside. Winded, Eli ran up saying, "I tried to pen them up but they wouldn't let me."
Vivid turned and went in after the canines. Dogs had no business in a sickroom, not even Maddie's dogs. By the time Vivid caught up to them, they were swarming over the bed licking Maddie's bruised face and cut hands and whimpering like children in pain.
"Mama, they can't be in here."
"I know, darling, but they know something is wrong. Look at them. Listen to them."
They were howling mournfully. Some were still atop the bed and others were seated on their haunches on the floor. All were keening.
Nate came up behind Vivid in the doorway, and for a moment neither said a word as the grief continued to flow from the dogs. Eli entered the room, as did Adam Crowley and the men who'd come along on the search. When Maddie stirred. Vivid moved over to the bed. One of the dogs, one Vivid knew to be Maddie's oldest and most beloved, took up a defensive position in front of his mistress, bared his teeth, and growled menacingly at Vivid's approach. Vivid stopped immediately. She heard Nate say, "Settle down, Blue, she's only trying to help. Come here."
The dog eyed Vivid, then Nate.
"Come here, Blue," Nate said firmly.
The dog reluctantly bounded down and sat by Nate, never taking his eyes off the bed.
Vivid moved to her side as Maddie began to move fitfully, calling out, "Run, Magic! Run!"
Nate came quickly to the bedside, and while Vivid poured some of the ground willow bark she'd been given by Anna Red Bird into a cup of water, Nate asked his childhood friend, "Where's Majestic, Maddie?"
"No! Don't hurt them!"
Vivid moved around Nate and lifted Maddie's head so she could drink. Vivid could feel the heat now burning Maddie's skin. She looked over at Nate's stoic face and said softly, "Darling, I don't think you're going to be able to get any answers tonight. She really needs to rest."
Nate nodded, but Vivid could see the worry and concern haunting his eyes. "We'll find them," she told him.
Vivid and her mother decided to spend the night sitting with Maddie until the fever subsided.
Reluctantly, Nate agreed with Adam and Eli that the darkness prevented any more searching that night. Tomorrow at dawn the search would resume and everyone prayed there would be more answers by then.
Nate held Vivid tightly as they shared a goodbye. She told him, "Promise me you will go home and try to get some sleep. You'll be no good to anyone if you don't rest.
Nate smiled through his sadness, "That sounds a bit like my speeches to you."
"You're right. So take your own advice."
"Yes, Doctor." He then looked down into her tired eyes and said, "When this is all settled, will you marry me? Right away?"
"Soon as we find the girls and I take a bath, yes. I will marry you so fast the speed will make your head spin." She kissed him lightly. "Now go home. We'll speak in the morning."
Chapter 23
Maddie spent a fitful night fraught with nightmares that made her cry out and thrash around, bringing either Vivid or Francesca to the bedside to ease her back to sleep. Vivid worked on bringing the fever down with the aid of cold water from Maddie's well. The well drew on the swift-moving Dowagiac River flowing on the outer acres of Maddie's land. Nate had explained to Vivid just the other day that in a few more weeks the river would begin to freeze, and once it and the other small lakes and ponds in the area were frozen solid, he'd promised to teach her to skate on the ice. As Vivid sponged Maddie down, Nate's promise seemed to have been made months ago. So much had happened since the fire, it made Vivid wonder if this place she called home would ever return to tranquility.
At dawn, Vivid forced herself out of the chair she'd slept in and walked bleary-eyed around the sleeping dogs and over to the bed. The skin on Maddie's forehead still felt a bit warm beneath Vivid's palm, but not as heated as before. Vivid was pleased. However, she was not happy that Blue was lying next to his mistress. She had spent most of the night getting him off the bed, but the moment she turned her back or left the room, he'd go right back to where he wanted to be. Vivid understood the dog's sentiments, but Maddie was ill and Blue was a dog.
Vivid made her way out to the front room where Francesca slept on the settee under several quilts; the air streaming in through the broken window made the room quite cold. Her snores rose softly on the dawn silence. Vivid smiled wearily and offered up a quiet thanks for her mother's spirit and guidance over the past few weeks. She'd been so unflappable, so gracious, she'd endeared herself to everyone around and had become part of the community. Vivid couldn't imagine having her leave and be thousands of miles away again.
Vivid quietly added more wood to the fire in the grate, then made a quick dash out into the cold morning air for a trip to the privy. She ran back and had almost reached the door when she heard a familiar bird cry. She looked up, searching the trees. The cry pierced the dawn again. Her heart leaped as she finally spotted Hector, soaring against the pearl-gray sky. If he was near, could the girls be far away? She glanced quickly toward the road but saw no one. She did see Hector begin one of his spectacular bullet-swift dives in her direction, and as he neared, Vivid ducked defensively. However, instead of flying by as usual, Hector
hit her in the back of the shoulder and nearly knocked her to the ground. She spun to see where the next pass would come from but he was already streaming over her shoulder and again bumped her hard as he went.
Vivid wondered if the bird had finally lost his mind. Hector was nearly full-grown now, and thanks to all the hares and vermin he consumed, was of good size. The talons could rip the flesh from a person's face and Vivid had personally witnessed how efficiently the hooked beak could tear at the flesh of prey. She'd also seen him play this game with the girls before—they called it "Duck!" But Hector didn't seem to be playing. The cries were different, angry-sounding, as if the bird was agitated or upset, and Vivid couldn't remember him attacking anyone this way, ever.
Hector had ceased his assaults and now soared high above, calling with a skin-chilling cry that, to Vivid's ears, sounded very similar to the keening sent up last night by Maddie's dogs. She thought that if she were a character in one of Nate's myths, she'd conclude that the hawk's strange behavior somehow related to the disappearance of the girls, but in real life there were no magic ravens offering guidance.
Or were there?
Vivid ran into the house and grabbed Maddie's shotgun. She fished out a handful of cartridges from the tin on the edge of a book-filled shelf and fed some into the gun. The rest she stuffed into the pocket of her shirt.
She could hear her mother stirring on the settee behind her. "Trabrasera? What's the matter, have the girls been found?"
In rapid Castilian, Vivid explained the situation.
Francesca moved to the broken window and tried to peer up into the sky. "Hector is here?"
"Yes, and I'm praying he knows where the girls are. Somehow, I don't know how, but you must get word to Nate. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm going."
They spent a precious minute discussing how Vivid could mark her trail, then Vivid ran to get her coat and gloves. She was halfway out the door when her mother called, "Take some of the dogs!"
"Good idea, Mama. I'm going to hitch Michigan and the wagon, you bring the hounds out front."
Vivid had no idea how her mother did it, but by the time Vivid and Michigan were ready, Francesca came out of the house with all but one of the hounds. She even had Blue.
Her mother asked, "Do you have anything in the wagon that belongs to either of the girls? Preferably something they've worn fairly recently?"
Vivid climbed back into the wagon bed to see. She tossed aside tools, tarp-covered blankets, a cot, canteens, and other miscellaneous items, but found nothing. Then she remembered. Quickly she went back to the bench, stuck her hand beneath, and groped blindly until she found Magic's blue bonnet and handed it to her mother. "It's all I have."
She watched her mother let each of the dogs sniff the bonnet in turn. Francesca saved Blue for last and let him get a good smell of the bonnet's wide strings.
Her mother said, "I don't know if this will help them, but I don't know what else to do."
They were now ready to leave. Hector had been soaring in the sky overhead while Vivid was hitching up the wagon, but now he stood perched high on a branch of a nearby leaf-barren tree, observing the proceedings. Her mother called up to him and then extended her covered arm. At the command, Hector flew down just as he'd been trained to do, and landed as gently as his large curved talons would allow. She kissed him on his golden curved beak, and speaking in Castilian, told the bird, "Bring back my granddaughters Magic and Satin and I'll buy you rabbits for the rest of your life."
She flung him into the sky and the strong wings propelled him up. Vivid slapped the reins against Michigan's back and they rolled out.
Vivid had many worries as she followed Hector's flight. Chief among them, could she control the dogs, would she be able to handle the reins for what might possibly be a long ride, and had she lost her mind. That had to be the reason that she was out following a bird. But at this point, she'd follow an inchworm if she thought it would lead her to the girls.
High above them, Hector continued to soar. Every so often, he'd fly a distance ahead, then circle back until he flew directly overhead again. Vivid swore he was leading her. She periodically checked his position to make certain they were proceeding in the direction he seemed to want her to go, and listened to his impatient-sounding calls. At one point, she shouted up to the sky, "I'm going as fast as I can."
The dogs, on the other hand, were as silent as assassins. Every few hundred yards, Blue, accompanied by two or three of the others, would peel away from the main party and, with noses down, sniff bases of trees and the leaf covered ground adjacent to the road. They'd investigate for a few moments and then, as if satisfied, head back and join the wagon. The only unconcerned animal in Vivid's party appeared to be Michigan. For the mule, it was just another drive.
Vivid had been stopping periodically to mark their trail by tying pieces of bandages to a roadside tree. If Nate was following he'd be able to find her.
They were traveling west, she thought. Her gloved hands were beginning to hurt from gripping the reins for the past hour. She dearly hoped they'd reach some type of destination soon because she didn't believe she'd be able to drive for much longer. She could now see the river flowing swiftly on her right. She'd only been to this wooded stretch of the Grove once, and at the time she'd been lost, so she had no idea where Hector would lead from here.
About a half-hour later, the bird flew off as had been his pattern. Vivid expected him to circle back as before but he kept going. When he was no longer in sight, she began to worry. The dogs seemed to be agitated by someone or something, too, so she pulled back on the reins and Michigan stopped. She sat a moment to listen. At first she heard only the rush of the river and the wind in the trees. Suddenly, the dogs bounded off into the brush, barking as they disappeared, and paying absolutely no heed to her shouted commands to return.
Filled with frustration, she knew she had to find the dogs, so she drove the wagon to a spot beside the road, tied the mule's reins to a small-trunked tree, and took off with the rifle in one hand and her bag in the other. She set off walking in the direction the dogs had taken and could hear them barking in the distance somewhere ahead. The path through the thick underbrush had to be no wider than a dinner plate. She pushed aside bramble bushes and stepped over large tree roots, glad she had on her denims. Were she in a skirt, she would have spent the whole time untangling herself from the spiny fingers and thorns.
The path ended at the top of a ridge. Winded and tired, Vivid stopped a moment to gaze down at the rolling meadow below. The beautiful vista set against the wide blue ribbon of the river took her breath away, then her heart stopped at the distant sight of a child running across the meadow as if her life depended on it. Vivid stood too far away to accurately determine if it was Magic or Satin, but she was sure it was one of them. Vivid's elation died as she spotted a man, Cole, running hard to catch the child.
Vivid began to run down the ridge. The barking dogs were bounding swiftly in the child's direction and closing fast. However, Cole was certain to get to the child first.
Vivid stopped and brought the loaded rifle up to her shoulder, sighted, and fired. Although she was still too far away to hit her target, the rifle's crack would let him know the child was no longer alone. Vivid saw him halt immediately and quickly glance around as if trying to determine where the shot came from, but blessedly the child did not stop running. The dogs were almost within striking distance. He seemed to realize this also and ran to a shack among some trees near the riverbank. The door closed just as Maddie's dogs reached it.
The dogs circled the shack, their baying carrying on the wind. Vivid started running, calling to the child still sprinting across the meadow. Vivid watched her stop and look back. Upon seeing Vivid, she turned and ran toward her. It was Satin. Vivid swept her up and held her tightly as they both cried.
"Are you hurt?" Vivid asked, moving her trained hands lightly over the dirty little face that looked so much like Magic's, and then over her th
in shoulders and arms. Vivid was so glad to see her.
Satin shook her head and said excitedly, "He's got Magic tied up inside! We have to rescue her!"
"I know darling, and we will, but I need to know some things first. You said it's a man. Do you know him?"
"No. He said he's our cousin."
"Tell me what happened?"
Satin and Magic had been so intent with their play, they had forgotten about lunch, but Magic, ever the woods woman, knew Maddie's apple trees still held the last of its fruit, so the girls went there to pick their lunch. While Hector hunted, the girls ate their apples and were about to head the mile and a half back home when they ran across Maddie, who was out gathering wood. Mad-die offered to take them home since it would be dark very soon, but she had to unload the wood from the wagon first. Satin, for all her mimicking of her big sister's ways, still had a strong fear of Maddie's dogs, so Satin rode in the wagon with Maddie while Magic walked with the dogs.
When they arrived at Maddie's the girls volunteered to help unload the wood. Because of Satin's fear of the dogs, Maddie penned them up. Hector, seeing the dogs penned, decided it would be a perfect time to introduce the dogs to the game of "Duck!" Hector's lightning-fast dives into the pen made the dogs frantic, and because Magic could not make Hector stop, Maddie took pity on her poor animals and put them in the cellar.
Satin said, "After we put the wood on the porch, we were ready to come home, but I had to go to the privy and Magic did, too, so Maddie told us to go ahead, she had to fetch a book out of the house for Aunt Gail. When we came back around to the front of the house, Maddie wasn't on the wagon, so..."
Satin's voice faltered. She looked into Vivid's eyes, and Vivid saw the fear. Vivid gently pulled Satin into her lap and held her tight. She kissed her brow and said softly, "What happened next, Satin?"
There were tears running down Satin's cheeks. "Mad-die wasn't on the wagon, like I said, so we went into the house to find her. The man—he was stabbing at Maddie with this big old knife and Maddie was screaming and trying to get away."