Footprints At Dawn (Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It was long past sundown and I was feeling cold, tired and sore. I felt sorry for the poor horse who I noticed was pulling the wagon at a considerably slower pace.

"How much longer?" I whined.

"Not long. Just up the road, in fact," Jack replied, slouching in his seat. I could tell he'd had enough, too.

I had no idea where we were. I completely lost my bearings after the sun went down, and our dimly moonlit surroundings were all looking the same.

With my legs tucked against my chest, I was positioned in the front corner of the wagon. I discovered it was the best place to be to prevent bouncing around like a beachball.

Another ten minutes or so later, the horse slowed down to a gallop, and the wagon veered off the road. The ground was uneven and I realised the horse was pulling us away from the road and over grassy land.

Wait a minute, I thought.

I suddenly realised where we were. The creepy house Nicholas and I slept in on our first night heading to Launceston.

I was terrified but relieved at the same time. The house was creepy enough without being stuck inside it with a maniac who had kidnapped me, but I was relieved that we'd stopped, and there was hope Nicholas would catch up and find me.

Jack guided the horse around the back of the house, just like Nicholas had done, having the same idea that the horse and wagon would be out of sight from the road.

After pulling the horse to a stop, Jack jumped down, strode to the back of the wagon and unlatched it, then pulled his gun from its holster and pointed it at me. "Get out and don't do anything stupid," he demanded. Throwing back the hessian blanket which was unsuccessfully keeping me warm, I stood, walked to the end of the wagon and jumped down. His focus shifted to my bare feet. "Where the hell are your shoes?"

"I took them off. They were wet." My answer was half true. They were wet from running through puddles at Launceston.

He glanced into the wagon, then back at me. "Then get 'em."

"They're not in there. They bounced out."

He moved closer to me, pointing the gun at my face, and I felt my heart rate increase. "Do you think I'm stupid? You threw them out, didn't you? Trying to leave a trail?"

That's exactly what I was trying to do. "No. I swear," I replied, trying to stay calm. "I watched them bounce straight into a ditch. No one would find them where they landed."

Actually, after I threw them, they landed exactly where I wanted them to; in the middle of the road. But I didn't throw them both at once. I waited until we were nearing a town, threw one, waited for the next town, then threw the other. I also threw out both my stockings and a hair ribbon.

I just hoped no one would pick them up before Nicholas would see them.

"Like I said, try anything stupid and I won't hesitate to use this. Do you understand?"

I nodded. For some reason the guy didn't scare me as much as Doyle did. If Doyle threatened to shoot me, I would believe him, yet, I didn't believe Jack's threats. There was just something about him.

Still pointing the gun at me, he moved to the front of the wagon and reached under the seat to grab a knapsack. Hoisting it over his shoulder, he gestured towards the back door using his gun.

Stepping through the cold, wet grass, I suddenly regretted using my shoes as breadcrumbs. And the last thing I needed was for me to accidentally stand on a rusty nail or broken glass.