Chapter 14

November 29, 1849

I woke up next to Claire and found her eyes open looking at me. I reached out my hand and stroked her hair as we lay there, "How are you feeling? I asked.

"I hurt but not as much as yesterday. It will get better."

"Did anyone do anything else?", I asked, afraid that she had been raped during her ordeal.

"No, you got there before anything else happened. They might have, but the whipping I got from Thompson, saved me from that. The woman who bought me from him told the man who was guarding me to make sure I stayed there and wait until I was healed to start my training."

"What about Elizabeth? What is happening to her?"

"He hasn't done anything to Elizabeth yet. He seemed to be concentrating on Louise and me for his revenge. He still isn't letting her out of her hand irons and is keeping her under guard like us, but nothing else while I was still with them."

"You know I have to leave to go after Elizabeth. Josh is here and I want you to wait until you are both well and then go home to the claim. Willy and I will continue to go after Elizabeth and Thompson. "

"Elizabeth isn't the only one with him. He has a young oriental girl with him as well that he's taking somewhere. You have to rescue her as well."

"Claire, I need to concentrate on Elizabeth. I don't have anything to use to trace her with anyway. "

"Trace her with?"

I explained that I had used a dowsing rod with their rings to trace where they were. I think Claire thought I was making a joke. I got out the dowsing rod and used it to find the direction that Elizabeth was in. Opening my eyes I found it pointing to the east. "If I had a good map, I could find her on the map as well", I told her matter of factly. She looked at me as if she wasn't sure what to believe.

I woke up Willy and Josh and found out what Willy had learned last night. Willy had found that Richard Thompson was from Louisiana originally and ran with a group of southerners who wanted to make Oregon a slave state to balance the non-slave states of the north. He had left yesterday with two close associates going toward Idaho where they planned to set up a brothel near Fort Hall. He had two women with him and they thought that he was supposed to pick up some others at Fort Boise. The only description he had was that both women were small. They were being held in a wagon that was being pulled by a six-horse team.

I frowned when I heard that. A wagon being pulled with a six-horse team would be almost as fast as the riders. If they had enough horses to make up two teams they could move just as fast. I also worried about the two more men he had with him. Before I got hurt I would have had no hesitation about taking on three men. Now I didn't know if I was still fast enough to do that any more. Willy was a great rifle shot but his draw was really slow, although he usually hit what he aimed at.

Claire looked at us and must have seen my doubts, because she spoke up, "Take Josh with you."

"I'm not going to leave you here alone."

She looked at me, "I won't be. Have someone contact this house and tell them that the 'sun rises in the west and will never set'". She wrote out a name and I sent Josh to find the house.

The moment he left, I turned to Claire, "What is going on here? More secrets of the 'group'?"

She looked at me and remained silent. Before too long I heard someone coming to the door and Josh telling us he was coming in with visitors. He entered and I was surprised that the people coming in weren't women. There were three men with Josh. When I looked at Claire she just looked back.

"Who are you people and what do you have to do with my wife?"

The men looked at us and then at Claire who gave them a nod. One started talking, "We are members of the Society of Friends who run the Underground Railroad in this area. Thy wife is the leader of the Railroad in Oregon."

I looked at Claire and she looked back at me with a steady eye. "Claire, we have to talk about this when I get back. I told you before that we need to discuss things that will affect the family."

"Alex! This is from before we were married and it affects me only. It has nothing to do with the family and there has never been any traffic through our home. They will keep me safe and make sure I get home if you're not back by then." She looked at me, "Bring Elizabeth back to us. You need Josh and Willy to have the best chance."

I didn't want to agree with her but I had no choice. She was right. Having Josh with us would make it safer for everyone. I gave Claire a kiss and a hug, "We'll bring her back. If you're not here I will see you at our claim. I love you!"

Josh gave Claire a hug too and was kissed on the forehead. He blushed and backed away, "You be careful Josh and take care of your father. He tends to lose his common sense when one of your mothers is threatened."

Josh gave her a smile, "I will mom Claire. I'll try to control him the best I can."

I maintained a dignified silence during this conversation, but it didn't help my mood when I saw Willy with a big grin on his face during it. I turned and left the room going down to the livery stable where we had left our horses and gathered our gear together. I bought a small cask of powder before we left since I didn't know how much shooting we would be doing. Josh ran over to the hotel and picked up something for lunch and dinner. He came back munching on a piece of Johnny bread and bacon with a parcel under his arm and two more pieces of Johnny bread in his hand. Tossing one to Willy and me he saddled his horse and we started out.

There was only one way out so we knew which direction they had to have gone. We quickly started back over the trail we had traveled to get to Oregon. Every so often I used the dowsing rod and checked the direction that Elizabeth was in. It varied from time to time but always ahead. We continued riding hard the entire day until we couldn't see any more. Finally Willy and Josh persuaded me to get down and set up camp. I dowsed and felt rage and fear from Elizabeth but no pain. I worried what would happen if we didn't get there soon. Would the three men rape Elizabeth on the journey? I wasn't sure how she could handle that again. I wanted to catch the men before they got to the open plains before the Blue Mountains. I was afraid I would lose them in the wide open spaces.

I finally slept but kept waking up from nightmares. Finally I gave up and sat by the fire waiting for daybreak. I set up a pot of beans and cornbread for tomorrow's breakfast. Moving away from the fire I looked at the sky and the surrounding country, thinking about how much my life had changed in the last two years. Two years ago I was worrying about how I was going to pay my student loans and what sort of life I had to look forward to. I was barely working and not at all in my field of Electronic Commerce. I had no girlfriends and not too many other friends of any kind. Now I had three wives and three babies at home with an adopted son by my side. I had friends who were willing to face death by my side and was an important man in my town. I was living adventures that people only dreamed of in my time. My time? That was my time no longer. This was my time. Right here and right now, and I had no desire to go back.

November 30, 1849

Finally the dawn began to break and I woke up Willy and Josh. We ate and broke camp. I closed my eyes and dowsed for Elizabeth's location again. She was ahead and to the east and felt far away. We started out again and rode all day. I kept dowsing and felt that we were getting closer but very slowly.

December 1- 4, 1849

We kept getting closer every day and I felt Elizabeth's rage and fear grow more powerful every day. Finally I felt that we were getting close and I told Willy that we needed to continue riding after dark. He objected but I was inflexible. Josh argued with me as well but I told them both I was going on with or without them. Giving up they went with me at a slow speed and about an hour after dark we spotted a fire ahead on the horizon. Checking my dowsing rod, it pointed toward the fire and I told them that Elizabeth was there.

We rode closer and about a half mile away, dismounted and hobbled the horses. Taking our rifles with us we moved stealthily over the landscape toward the fire. I was hoping they would be as foolish as the sailors, but I was disappointed. A shot rang out from the area of the camp and we flattened out. I crawled forward and saw it was the party we were after. I saw that they had camped in a natural circle of rocks that provided both good cover and protection.

I sent Josh back for the horses and we waited for daybreak. I sent Willy around to the back and watched him do his disappearing act again in the brush. Josh and I took up supporting positions and looked to see if we could see anything moving. We hadn't fired yet and I was hoping that the slavers would think that they hadn't really seen anything. I was willing to shoot them without giving them a chance to shoot back. If I could ambush them and kill them all without warning, that would suit me just fine.

We stayed hidden until I saw a movement and saw a head poking out from behind a rock. I hoped that Josh wouldn't shoot until more than one person was visible. I was waiting for more movement when Josh shot and the man slumped down on the ground. Shots rang out aimed toward the rocks where Josh was hidden. I didn't have a shot so I waited. Suddenly Willy shot and I saw a man stand up and fall.

I spared a glance over in the direction that Josh was at and was relieved to see that he was behind another rock with his rifle loaded. I looked out and saw nothing moving in the camp. Suddenly I saw a horse come running out of the camp heading toward The Dalles. I quickly shot and missed. Josh shot as well and also missed. By the time we had reloaded the rider was out of range. Wondering who had escaped, we waited to see if there was any other movement.

After about an hour of not seeing anything moving I began to move closer and closer. When I almost got to the ring of rocks I saw Willy stand up and wave his rifle. I stood up then and went toward the wagon. I found the wagon barred and a lock on the door. Getting a pry bar out of the wagon tool box I broke a lock and opened the bar. Pulling the door open I found Elizabeth and a young oriental girl chained to the wall of the wagon. Running forward I hugged Elizabeth ignoring the dirt and smell in the wagon.

Elizabeth kissed me back and we hugged each other, forgetting about everything else. I heard a sound from the door and turned around to see Willy holding a ring of keys, "Think you might want to use these?' he asked.

I grabbed the keys and began trying them until the lock around her wrists released. She grabbed the keys from me and unlocked her feet and turned to the oriental girl and released her as well. I looked at her and saw she was a young girl, maybe 16 years old. Elizabeth gathered her in her arms and both moved to get out of the wagon. I hurried out of the way.

When Elizabeth and the girl got out they rushed over to the stream where they knelt and began to drink like they hadn't had anything for who knows how long. Finally Elizabeth lifted her head from the water and ran into my arms. She began kissing me, "I knew you would find me!" I held on to her like she was some fragile piece of china that would break if I held it too hard. I saw the young girl stand up and look lost. Looking at Josh I got his attention and pointed my chin at the girl. He approached her and she suddenly grabbed him and began crying. Elizabeth turned us so she could see the girl, "Her name is Sun Lee. She was stolen from Macao and brought here by the Huntly."

She spoke something in a language I didn't know and Sun Lee looked up. Releasing Josh, she bowed and spoke in halting English, "I thank you for rescuing me."

Elizabeth reached out her hand and pulled her to her chest, "She was abused by the crew of the Huntly until she arrived here, where she was sold to Thompson, along with the three of us. Where is Thompson? Did you kill him this time?"

I had to admit that I didn't know and I went around looking at the two bodies. Neither one was Thompson. This was it. This time I was going to hunt him down and make damn sure he was dead this time. He'll never threaten my wives or anyone else ever again.

"Alex, I'm worried. Thompson said he had a gang that was going to wipe out Cincinnati after he took care of us. What are we going to do if he comes after us now?"

I had to admit I didn't that I didn't have an answer for that. None of us did. I turned to Josh, "I need you to make sure Sun Lee is safe during the trip back to Cincinnati. She's your responsibility." I turned to Sun Lee and spoke slowly and clearly, "Do you understand me? If anything happens listen to Josh. He will do whatever it takes to keep you safe." Both nodded their heads in agreement.

Willy and I searched the bodies and the wagon without finding anything other than food supplies, cotton rope and weapons. I did find several sawed-off shotguns with lots of bird shot and caps. These were weapons for bartenders, designed to stop a fight without killing too many people. I also found some fuses and some small barrels full of what was supposed to be whiskey that had been adulterated with something. It tasted like peppers, with other things added as well. I poured the barrels out on the ground, with the exception of three barrels that seemed not to have been touched.

All of us were tired so we decided to spend the day resting up and preparing to return to The Dalles tomorrow morning. One thing I had found was soap and I decided that all of us needed a bath. Willy refused to take one with us and said he would act as a guard until we finished. We went to the stream and found a shallow pool not far from the camp. None of us in the family had any modesty around each other any more so we quickly stripped. I turned around and saw Sun Lee standing on the side of the stream still dressed. I looked at Elizabeth who went over and whispered something in her ear. She seemed doubtful but began to get undressed. Elizabeth came over to me and told me softly, "I had to reassure her that neither you or Josh would take advantage of her if she took a bath. It's going to be a long time before she trusts men again. She is strong though. There were four when they left Macao but only she survived the trip. The others either killed themselves or died of abuse. "