Kate Kingsbury - Mistletoe and Mayhem

Baxter patted Cecily’s outstretched hand. “I’d better go along and help him.” He turned to go, then paused. “Oh, by the way, that photographer chap came by with the photographs from the banquet. I left them in your office.”

Cecily nodded absently, her thoughts still with the missing baby. “Thank you, dear.”

Just as he reached the door someone rapped on it from outside. Baxter stood back to let the maid pass then rushed out into the hallway.

For a moment Cecily had forgotten why she’d sent for the maid, but then Madeline spoke, coming forward to sit next to her. “I don’t need brandy,” she said, sounding less confident than she had earlier. “I just need my baby back.”

Cecily studied her friend’s face, then nodded at the maid. “Have Pansy and Gertie returned yet?”

“No, m’m.” The maid looked worried. “They’re both missing.”

Cecily’s stomach lurched, and she made an effort to calm herself. Expecting the worst would not help matters. “They are probably helping in the search. Tell Mrs. Chubb to serve the midday meal as best she can. I’m sure Pansy and Gertie will be back shortly.”

“Yes, m’m.” The young girl curtsied and quietly left the room.

Cecily looked at Madeline. “They’re all right, aren’t they?”

Madeline looked down at her hands. “I don’t have any signals that tell me otherwise.”

Not exactly comforted by that, Cecily had to accept the fact that she could do nothing but wait… and pray.

“Where is she going?” Pansy was panting so hard she could barely get the words out. As it was, her voice was carried away by the wind, drowned by the rustling branches. Ahead of her, Samuel was following Tess, but now all Pansy could see of the dog was a flash of white at the tip of her tail as she disappeared in the brush.

Afraid of being left behind, Pansy lifted the hem of her skirt and plunged into the prickly shrubs and grasping weeds. The wind tugged at her cap, and strands of her hair blew across her eyes. She swiped at her face, then yelped as a greedy bramble grabbed her hand and carved a deep scratch across her knuckles.

Samuel must have heard, as he paused and looked back. “What’s the matter? Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she shouted back. “I’m just trying to keep up with you.”

His “Sorry!” floated back to her on the wind, and thankful to see him waiting for her, she lifted her skirts higher and leapt over a clump of blackberry vines.

Samuel held out his hand as she approached. “Come on. Tess has gone in here somewhere.”

She looked around, but could see nothing but solid, gnarled tree trunks, low-hanging branches, and undergrowth thick with ferns, thistles, and scratchy brambles. “Is she lost?”

Samuel took hold of her hand and led her into the damp shadows of the woods. It smelled of decaying leaves and wet earth. She felt cold and frightened, trying not to imagine the lifeless body of that little baby.

What would she do if they found the baby lying dead on the ground? Faint, that’s what she’d do. Samuel would have to bring the baby back. She couldn’t touch the baby, not if her life depended on it. She felt sick at the thought, and hastily directed her mind to think of the ocean and the sands, and summer walks along the beach.

Samuel whistled, the shrill sound making her jump. An answering bark made her nerves tighten. Tess sounded urgent. Could she have found something?

“Tess?” Samuel quickened his pace, moving toward the direction of the dog’s barking.

Stumbling after him, Pansy prayed as she’d never prayed before. Head down, she bumped into Samuel as he stopped short, holding up his hand.

“Shhsh! Wait a minute.”

It took all her courage to peek around him. She caught her breath when she saw Tess, a few yards ahead of them, digging frantically in the soft earth, dirt flying from her paws.

Pansy gasped and clutched Samuel’s coat. “You don’t think it’s…” She gulped, unable to say the words.

Samuel stretched his hand out behind him and found hers. “Let’s hope not.”

Tess paused to snuffle in the ground, then started digging again, spraying clods of earth in the air. Samuel started to creep forward, but Pansy tugged her hand loose, unable to move from the spot.

Samuel had covered about half the distance when Tess suddenly stopped digging and backed away, tail wagging and a proud look on her face. He hurried over to her, while Pansy clutched her stomach and prayed she wouldn’t be sick.

Samuel paused, looking down at the hole Tess had dug. Then he squatted, reaching down with his hand.

Pansy moaned and shut her eyes.

She heard Samuel’s voice, and he sounded relieved. “Look, it’s all right. It’s only a bone.”

She forced her eyelids up just a bit and saw Samuel still squatting by the hole, holding up a very dirty bone. “She must have buried it here some time ago,” Samuel said, getting to his feet. “It’s amazing what dogs can remember.”

Feeling weak in the knees, Pansy stumbled toward him. “Thank goodness it wasn’t the baby,” she said, when she reached him.

“Yeah.” Sam threw the bone to Tess, who sniffed it, then promptly walked away. “But now we have to go on looking for her.”

Pansy grabbed his hand for comfort. “Let’s just hope we find her alive.”

Samuel nodded. “God willing, we will.”

“I’m coming with you.” Gertie jutted out her chin and stared up at Clive. “Just try and stop me.”

Clive’s lips twitched in a reluctant smile. “I’ve got no intention of trying to stop you from doing anything. I know my limitations.”

Gertie wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but she rather liked the way he said it. “Well, all right then. Let’s go and look for that baby.”

Without another word, Clive turned and strode off across the lawns toward the woods.

Following behind the big man, Gertie had trouble keeping up. She was not exactly dainty herself. In fact, she was taller and bigger than most other women she came across, but the man charging across the grass ahead of her managed to make her feel strangely weak and fragile.

It was not a familiar feeling for Gertie, and she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it. She was used to taking care of herself. And her twins, come to that. Her first marriage had turned out not to be a marriage at all, since Ian was already married-something he hadn’t bothered to tell her until his real wife had spilled the beans.

Her second marriage was cut short by Ross’s death, leaving her alone again. Everything that had happened to her in her life had given her the stamina and fortitude to get through anything, and she was proud of that. Much as she loved Dan, she knew that if she had to, she could manage quite well without him.

Yet whenever she was with Clive, she felt like surrendering all that stamina and control, and just letting herself be protected and guided by him. He was a quiet man, never said much, but she could feel the power of him, that hidden strength that made her want to lean on him and trust that he would make things right for her.

Her thoughts startled her. She could never think of Clive that way. Not like her and Dan. Yet she had to admit, whenever she was with Clive, she felt an inner peace, as if she could stop trying to be in charge of the world and just allow him to take over.

He had reached the edge of the woods, and stood waiting for her to catch up to him. “I don’t know where to start looking,” he said, as they started walking down the trail side by side. “I can’t imagine anyone bringing a baby in here, unless he intended to harm her.”