Chapter Thirty-One

"Jail?" Ance growled and clenched his fists tightly. "He's in jail?"

The robust, full-figured woman in front of him adjusted her bustier and fluffed out her skirt. "Aye. The foolish lad got himself tossed in jail. I got his wire just yesterday."

Ance rubbed his tired face as he cradled a slumbering Penelope in his arms and stood in the dimly lit entry way of Big Madge's brothel. It was a fancy brothel with velvet trimmings on the furniture and red shades over the lamps. Ance had ridden hard for three days to get here after tracking Barnaby's tracks west a while and realizing the man had taken Audrey to a fort he liked to stay in when not selling his wares.

The fort was old, abandoned by the military and beginning to show its age but it was well armed and nearly impossible to simply walk into. Ance had needed help. He'd needed a safe place for Penelope and the only other place he could think of was here. He didn't think Audrey would approve of Penelope living in a brothel while he was gone but Ance wasn't the type of man who had many people to turn to for help.

Madge reached forward and pushed a strand of blond hair from Penelope's face. "The little lass looks plumb tuckered out, Ansel. Why are ya runnin' 'round in the middle of the night lookin' dog tired yourself and packin' a wee gal like this while lookin' for that roamin', lyin', cheatin' son of mine?"

Ance adjusted the load in his arms and sighed. "I need Irish's help."

Madge snorted before waving a man upstairs at the sound of a lightly chiming bell. "Elsa is ready for ya now, Matthew," she urged. Matthew cleared his throat, tugged at his collar and then bounded up the grand, heavily polished staircase, taking the steps two at a time.

Ance shifted his feet. "I'm in a hurry, Madge, and I need your help too."

"What do ya need me to do, lad? I'm runnin' a business here and don't have much time for favors."

Ance nodded. "I understand that, Madge, but I have to go rescue this one's mama," Ance tipped his head toward Penelope. "And I need a safe place for her to stay."

"Here?" Madge's green eyes widened and she laid her hand over ample bosom as her red painted lips formed an circle and she shook her head. "This is no place for a wee lass such as this one, Ansel! And just where is her mama?"

Ance grunted. "Do you have a spare bed where I can lay her down? She's heavier than she looks."

Madge appeared torn a moment as she rubbed at her rouge-covered cheek. Finally she nodded. She waved a woman sitting on a chaise lounge in the corner. "Watch the desk for me, Marie. I'll be down in a moment."

Ance followed Madge down a back hallway to a bedroom behind the kitchen. She pointed at the small but tidy bed in the corner and Ance gently laid Penelope down. The girl whimpered but didn't wake. Ance removed her brace to allow her to sleep more comfortably and then pulled the covers up to her neck.

He was quick to sink down in the chair beside the bed and lay his tired head in his hands. Three days it had been since Audrey had been taken. Three days since Ance had slept. Three days since he'd been able to do more than simply pick at his food. Three days that he had been afraid to close his eyes for fear that he'd see images of just what those bastards might be doing to his woman.

They would break her... Ance was going to get her back, come hell or high water, but he couldn't help but think that the woman she came back as probably wouldn't be the same person she'd been before.

Ance was tired. For three days he and Penelope had ridden from sunup to sundown. For three days the girl had cried daily, rarely slept herself and constantly rambled on about her mother. When she did sleep, she often woke up screaming from the nightmares of the sights and sounds she'd seen and heard because of Barnaby's men.

Ance nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He quickly sat up straight and realized Madge was standing there appearing quite concerned with a shot glass of whiskey in her hand. Ance took the offered drink and downed it quickly.

"Ansel, just what is goin' on with ya, lad?"

Ance let out a long sigh, his mind far too tired to focus on the anger that he had been so consumed with for days. "I made a mistake, Madge, and now someone I care about a whole hell of a lot is in a hell of a lot of trouble."

Madge went to the small gilded mirror on the far wall and raised a brow as she tidied up her hair. "And just what kind of trouble are we talkin'?"

Ance cracked his knuckles and popped his neck. Sure he wasn't the type to open up and have chats but Madge needed to know the truth and, hell, she was a friend of sorts--though Ance would never tell her that. He didn't want folks knowing he considered them friends.. He had a reputation to uphold.

"I took a job for Barnaby a few months back. The job was to take some goods into Indian Territory to sell and make a handsome profit doing it--"

Madge turned on her heel and paused in her examination of the crows feet showing beside her green eyes. "I never have cared for that snake of a man and I've told ya not to be doin' business with the likes o'him!" She shook her head. "Why can't you and that son of mine ever listen to good sense and begin' makin' your money the honest way."

"By selling ourselves for a few pokes?" Ance inquired dryly as he scratched at his bearded cheek.

Madge laughed lightly, her full face and large chest bouncing as she did so. "Ansel, lad, I don't have to sell myself these days. I turned a pretty profit doin' so durin' my time but now I have other ladies make the money for me." She wiggled her brows. "Nowadays when I lay with a man it's for the sheer fun of it."

Ance shook his head and if the circumstances of his visit here had been different, he probably would have chuckled. Instead he leaned back in the chair and ran his finger over the scar on his face. "I realized while taking the load for Barnaby that this girl here was part of it. At first I wasn't gonna step in since bad things happen every day and we all get dealt a certain hand in life... but then one of the other men tried to force himself on her while Barnaby was asleep and I couldn't let him. I saved the girl, and after a failed attempt at leaving her in an orphanage I decided to keep her with me."

"Ansel Adams as a papa," Madge's eyes sparkled with amusement. "I just never would have pictured a thing like that."

Ance shook his head and let his gaze go to the sleeping angel upon the bed. "Me either." He turned back to Madge. "With Irish's help her mama caught up to us and then we realized that we had Barnaby on our tail wanting revenge since I stole Penny away from them. I took the girl and her mama to Old Man Thompson's for safe keeping while I went after Barnaby but Barnaby must have realized what I was going to do because he rode in just after I rode out. Audrey hid Penelope under the floor which is all that saved her from being kidnapped or killed... Old Man Thompson and Audrey weren't as lucky. They killed that crazy bastard and they took her with them."

Madge was quiet a moment before filling a second shot glass with whiskey and refilling the one still held loosely in Ance's hand. "Sounds like a mess, Ansel," she acknowledged and they down their shots as one. "And now ya want to leave the lass here with me while ya go rescue her mama from Barnaby? Ya must really love that woman if you're willin' to risk yourself so. That's not the Ansel Adams I know."

"Love don't have a thing to do with it," Ance grumbled. "I promised to keep them safe and I failed. I might be a rude, anti-social, son of a bitch but I keep my goddamn word, Madge. I promised this girl here that her and her mama would see their ranch again and I aim to keep that promise."

"Whatever you say," Madge cooed gently as if she were consoling and angry child.

Ance growled as he sat his shot glass on the small table and crossed his arms over his chest. "Will you let Penny stay here or not? If not then let me know now so I can think of somewhere else. I don't have a long time to wait."

"Have you thought of the possibility that this Audrey woman might already be dead?" Madge questioned.

Ance shot to his feet and clenched his fists. His nostrils flared as he pointed a finger into Madge's face. "She's not dead, dammit! Barnaby needs her because he knows good and well I'll come for her. He's using her to get to me."

"Get your damn finger out of my face, Ansel Adams, before I remove it from your person," Madge warned with a flash in her green eyes that told him she was quite serious.

Ance lowered his finger but didn't back away. "Will you help me or not?" he snapped.

"Fine," Madge relented. "The lass can stay here and I'll see that she is taken care of 'til ya get back. Now, I'm only doin' this because my son is so fond of ya."

"Your son is a pain in my ass," Ance growled.

"We all have our legacies," Madge agreed. "Fergus' will be known as the man who was a pain in all our asses."

"You said he's in jail?" Ance inquired.

"Two counties over. His wire didn't say what he'd done wrong but knowin' my boy, it had somethin' to do with swindlin' money or beddin' women."

Ance nodded. He looked toward the bed and smiled at the sight of Penelope sleeping so peacefully. Stooping low, Ance placed a tender kiss to her brow, though the girl never moved. She truly had been exhausted. He grumbled when he saw Madge watching him knowingly with amusement in her eyes. "You love them both don't you, Ansel?"

Ance swallowed hard. "Yeah."

"I was in love once," Madge sighed. "Fergus's daddy was the only man I ever did fancy myself in love with--then the bastard ran off with a red-headed twit in a corset laced far too tight." Madge snorted. "I'll take care of your little girl, Ansel. You go get your woman. Love is a rare thing and, while it doesn't always last, it's best to hold onto it while ya can."

"I don't want to wake her," Ance stated, blaming the tightness in his voice on fatigue instead of the emotions weighing so heavily upon him. "If I write a note will you see that she gets it. She can read a bit but might need some help."

"I'll do whatever ya need," Madge laid a gentle hand on his arm. "Don't ya worry about her none, Ansel. She'll be well taken care of here. And she'll learn the fine art of runnin' her own business."

Ance shook his head. "That's one of the things I'm worried about."