Chapter 7

We slowed and stopped at a small clearing, the man got down and helped me down. He started walking around gathering sticks for a fire, "We're stopping here?" I asked. "Yeah, why?" he asked. "Well, there's a cabin back here somewhere," I explained still mad at my captor. "That cabin is another five hours from here, it'll be dark soon and it's real easy to get mixed up in these woods," he explained. I gave a deep sigh, "So who are you to the Mills?" he asked. "Just like you said I'm the help," I answered raising my brow. "No, you're not," he said with a smile shaking his head. "How do you know?" I asked getting mad and sitting on the log next to him. He leaned over looking directly into my plain brown eyes, so much so that I lost my breath and myself in his blue eyes. "You're too uppity, to be the help," he answered with a smile. My eyes widened in anger, he laughed, "Well, who are you?" I questioned back. "Benjamin Allen, my older brother Oliver was supposed to marry Lizzie Mills," he explained. Those names were like a dagger in my heart. "What are you going to do with me?" I asked. "Nothing you can leave, whenever you want," he told me. I was confused, "But you told me," I began. He interrupted me with, "Yeah, I told you to get away from that house, before they came back," he said.

I looked into the fire, "So what do you know of Lucille Mills?" he asked not looking at me. I instantly sat up straight, "Um, I know she hated when people called her that," I told him. "I know, that's why I always called her Lucille," he replied. "I also know she didn't want to marry that man at the door," I said the melancholy returning. "Then why was she engaged to him?" he asked still not looking at me. "Because the first man who purposed never came back," I shot at him with calm anger. He chuckled, "And what do you know about that first man?" he questioned. "I know that she prayed every night, that you would come back. I know that she felt abandoned and alone with everyone making choices for her," I told him. That got him he sat up, "What makes you think it was me?" he asked. I got up reached into the knapsack I had gave him the note he wrote, "Where did you get this?" He asked. "A stupid little girl kept it waiting for you," I shot back, my anger growing. "You don't even know what you're talking about," he said with a cold glare. Before we could say anymore, we heard a branch snap, we looked up. He stood in front of me, gun drawn, out of fear I grabbed his arm. He whispered, "Get on the horse." "No," I whispered back. "Don't argue," he whispered again. "I'm not leaving you," I said. "You are a stubborn woman," he shot back. "Ben," we heard someone yell. He whistled and heard a response, "It's my brother Charley," he said putting me at ease. Charley came out of the woods and closer to the fire, "Holy crow, Lucy?" he questioned. I smiled at him, he was probably about fifteen and trying to dress as a farm hand just as Ben was dressed. "She followed me," he said trying to hold back a smile. I looked at Ben then Charley, "No, no," I said. "What's happening back in town?" Benjamin asked. "The police came and questioned father, he said the McNally brothers quit three weeks ago. The police caught them setting fire to her house, but Harry and Fred got away," he said out of breath. I looked at the ground, I kept seeing my family alone in that house burning. "Sorry," Charley replied looking around. "So that's the plan," Ben began. "The plan?" Charley questioned. "Their going to pin it on pop," Ben replied with a pause, "Charley, you should go back, if anything goes wrong come find me," Benjamin added. Charley stayed with us that night, "I hate to tell you this but we only have one blanket," Ben said. "Why do you hate to tell me that, you're the ones going to be cold," I shot back. "It's a pretty big blanket," Benjamin assured me. "This is ridiculous, you told me I had to come with you and now I have to sleep under a blanket with you?" I asked. "I won't tell if you won't," he replied. I rolled my eyes and lay down. The blanket smelled horrible. I laid there not sleeping, instead praying for morning and some kind of justice to what was happening in town.

Charley left early for town, "Ready to head out, my lady," he joked. "Like you didn't grow up with privilege," I scoffed back. "I grew up working on the ranch, my father is a rancher not a business man," he said. I assumed Mr. Allen had a lot of ranch hands to work it for him. Would he have really betrothed Lizzie to a rancher, to live a hard life of working on the farm? "I didn't know," I said quietly. "It's not a criminal sentence, I like riding my horse all day," he replied packing the horse with the blanket. "I didn't mean it like that," I shot back trying to prove I wasn't stuck up. "Oliver, was never one for the ranch. He was going to be a doctor," Ben said. That explained it, "Why didn't he like being on the ranch?" I asked as we walked down the road. "I don't know, didn't really have a knack for it I guess," he explained. We walked side by side down the road, "How long will it take to get to your parent's house?" I asked. "About another day or so," he said. "And what's going to happen when we get there?" I asked. "We? It looked to me like you were already going to run away," he replied. "So you're just going to abandon me again," I seethed. "Abandon, is that what you think happened?" He asked. "When is your wedding?" I asked. "Wedding?" He questioned back. "Maggie Smith, I heard you were courting her," my words burning. He shook his head, "Who told you that?" He asked. "My mother," I answered. "Well, your mother lied," he retorted. I stopped walking, my mother had turned on me so much that she lied to force me into marriage with Samuel. "Can you keep up," Ben called. I shook my head, "Here," he said grabbing me and putting me on the horse. "We'll make better time if you ride," he told me and started walking. "I didn't blame Oliver," I said. He looked down, "My heart hurt for him that day," I told him getting choked up. "Look, I'm not kidnapping you so you don't have to give me a sob story," he said not looking at me. "It's not a sob story, I hated coming to tell him, but I didn't want him to just hear it around town. My sister loved him, I thought he," I trailed off whipping away tears. "Thought he what?" he asked bitter. "I thought he deserved one of us telling him to his face, he deserved to hear it from us," I said tears rolling down my cheeks. Benjamin stopped the horse and came closer and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze he looked up at me. "Don't pretend you care about me," I said pulling my hand away. "Considering you lost your family yesterday, I'm not even going to respond to that," he said turning back to the horse. "You never came back for me, you asked me to marry you and nothing," I yelled my voice cracking and squeaking from exhaustion. "Your father told me…." he shouted and stopped. "Told you what?" I snapped back and jumped down. "Nothing," he replied. "No, you told me once you don't hide anything," I scolded. "He told me to come back when I had a home for my family and a job," he said coldly. "So, for two years you just forgot about me?" I asked trying to understand. He stomped back in front of me, "I never forgot about you, I was building our house and our own ranch, when I heard you got engaged," he said looking down at me. We were face to face, "You built me a house," I broke first. "Yeah and a lot a good it did me. You galavanting around with Sam," he yelled. "I didn't want to, my father made me," I told him sobbing. He didn't say a word went back to the horse and started walking again.

It started to pour when we reached the cabin, he put the horse in the lean-too on the side of the cabin unsaddled him and we went inside. It was cold and dusty but dry, there were blankets and beds. "I'll start a fire," he said and went back outside to the wood pile. This cabin was mostly used for my dad, brothers and the Allen's to hunt and fish in the river nearby. My dad hadn't been here much in the last four years. Ben came back inside, "My dad hasn't used this place in years why is there a wood pile?" I asked. "Beats me," he replied kneeling down to start a fire. "Look I'm not going to tell anyone, you kidnapped me and it sounds like they got the men who killed my family, so why don't you tell me the truth," I told him getting angry. "I still use this for hunting and fishing, and no one has kidnapped you. Feel free to leave anytime," he said looking over his shoulder. I nodded and looked on the stove; there were a few loaves of bread and some cold soup in a big pot. "Did your mother know?" I asked turning around. "No, Ida made all that," he replied. I was a little taken a back, "The girl you're courting?" I asked. He turned around, "What's with the questions?" he asked. "What's with kidnapping?" I shot back. "Ida is our cook at the ranch, my mother can't handle cooking for all of us and the ranch hands. So, we have Ida, that's where the food came from," he said frustrated. I sat down, "Don't pout," he scolded. "I'm not pouting," I said. "No one has kidnapped you, I told you, you can leave whenever you please," he repeated. I pulled out my knapsack full of the canned food I had stole away, "Now who's hiding food," Ben paused, "Why did you have a sack ready to go and a rifle by the back door?" He asked. "I told you I was planning on leaving, if my father made me go through with the wedding," I explained looking down. "Where would you have gone?" He asked a little condescendingly. "I found the path in the woods, so I was going to hide here," I answered. Ben got a nice fire going and it began to warm up in the cabin, he took the big pot and put it on the spit over the fire. I put my head back in the chair looking out the window at the rain. "If you want to go," he said. I looked back at him, "I'm not going in the rain," I replied quietly. We ate in silence and after I went to one bedroom and lay down and tried to quietly cry, till I fell asleep.