Footprints At Dawn (Book 2)

Chapter Fifteen

"Wait, confront him?" I exclaimed. I was shocked Nicholas was even considering such a thing. We didn't know who the guy was or what he wanted. "I thought we were just going to wait patiently for him lose us?"

"We were," he replied, placing the water bowl back on the window sill, Teddy done with drinking. "But I have a feeling he's not going to give up too easily. If I talk to him, ask him what he wants, then maybe we can come to some sort of agreement and then hopefully he'll just go home. I can't risk him seeing you or following us all the way to my father. I have to do something."

"But Nicholas, what if he's dangerous?" I asked, adjusting Teddy in my arms.

"That's why I want to confront him in town, where there are witnesses."

"I want to come with you, but I know you'll want me to stay here."

"Yes, like I said, we can't have him seeing you. I'm sorry." He placed a hand on my shoulder.

I sighed. "Please be careful. Do not be alone with this guy. Out in the open at all times or amongst a crowd. Promise?"

"I promise," he said, as he leant in to give me a kiss on the cheek. He then looked down at Teddy and briefly scratched the top of his head. "I'll bring us back some supplies and something for him to eat. I'll try not to be too long."

He smiled at me and before I could force a smile back, he was gone.

* * *

As Nicholas pulled Ace to a stop in front of an inn, Nicholas glanced around for any sign of the mysterious man.

There were a few buggies parked outside, and it was possible the man had either stopped for a drink, or stopped to check if perhaps Nicholas and Matilda were inside.

After taking Ace to the shade of a nearby tree, Nicholas entered the inn. The place stank of booze, cigarettes and unwashed travellers, who most were sitting at the tables and some on stools at the bar. He wasn't surprised that the inn was busy; being the only place to stop for a drink for miles. But it made it a lot harder to identify the man, who he hadn't even had the chance to see up close.

Still standing at the doorway, Nicholas scanned the room, keeping an eye out for anyone with dark hair. Unfortunately, most of the men had dark hair, and they were keeping their heads down, most likely too drunk or too tired for socialising.

There was one man, however, sitting in the corner with his head up, looking directly at Nicholas. When their eyes met, Nicholas recognised him immediately.

"You," Nicholas mumbled to himself. Storming over to the dark-haired man, finger pointed, Nicholas said to him, "You have been following me and I demand answers."

"I don't know what you're talkin' about. I'm just sittin' here, minding me own business."

"I passed you on the main road this morning, then I see you sneaking around at the Valentine property. Now you're coincidentally here in a small town I was heading for." The man scoffed, not willing to admit to anything. "You're a friend of Constable Doyle's, aren't you? I have seen you around town with him."

"So?"

"Did Doyle ask you to spy on me? Make sure I'm not doing anything illegal, such as hiding a certain person who escaped from a holding cell?"

The man leant forward in his seat, placing his elbows on the table. "No, he didn't, actually. But when I passed you, I saw you with a woman, and I thought for sure it had to be that Fletcher girl. So I turned around and followed you to the Valentine house. I saw her waitin' in the garden. It was her. No doubt about it. And I can't wait to tell Doyle. There's a reward for anyone who finds her, ya know? Dead or alive."