Chapter Nine

Audrey wondered what was taking Rodger so long. He had said he was simply going to get them a bite to eat from the café and then they would go down together and see the sheriff here in Briggston. Audrey, of course, had gone straight to the station upon arriving to learn if the sheriff knew anything about Barnaby Wallace or the whereabouts of her daughter, but the man had been out of town and was due back quite soon. She hoped Rodger would hurry or she'd simply have to go speak to the lawman alone.

Nearly three weeks, Audrey and Rodger had been traveling together. Audrey was becoming more and more uncertain of her decision to accompany Rodger. His advances were getting harder to fight off and it seemed he was growing weary of taking no for an answer. But he did seem determined to help her find Penelope and, if for no other reason, Audrey was thankful for his presence.

Audrey was growing increasingly worried about her daughter by the day and yet her determination to find the girl had not wavered. Briggston made the seventh town they had stopped in and Audrey prayed that this town would be the one to hold the answers she so desperately sought.

Casting one last glance at the clock, Audrey determined that she could no longer wait for Rodger and she went to the door.. Stepping in the hall, Audrey glanced both ways but found that she was alone. Making her way down the carpeted staircase, Audrey saw a man enter the hotel lobby.

The sight of him had her stopping her tracks.

He was tall, around six and a half feet of broad, lean, trail hardened man. His dark hair was sticking out at messy angles beneath his sweat-stained leather hat and the same color hair covered his jaw and chin in a thick beard. There was a jagged scar upon his cheek that stuck out in sharp contrast beneath that scruff and his clothes were worn and dusty.

The man glanced up and his eyes met hers. His eyes caused Audrey's breath to catch in her chest. Never had she seen a man with such brilliantly blue eyes. They were a different shade from Rodgers, whose eyes were nearly the color of ice. This man's eyes were closer to the shade of blue of the autumn sky when it was free of clouds and shining brilliantly against the orange and yellow leaves.

Then, just as quickly as the man had looked at her, he scowled and averted his attention to the wiry man with thin-rimmed glasses at the desk. "Hello, Mr. Adams!" the concierge beamed. "How may I help you this morning?"

"We're ready to check out," the man, Mr. Adams, replied. His voice was just as rough and sharp-edged as the rest of him. Audrey shivered as she came to stand behind him to await her turn to speak to the man at the desk. She could only imagine the type of man this was in front of her. He certainly seemed the bad sort--it was intriguing to sit and imagine just what he had seen in his life.

"Is the little lady feeling well enough to travel finally?" the man behind the counter inquired.

Mr. Adam's grunted. "We wouldn't be checking out if she wasn't."

Audrey hid a smile behind her hand as the hotel clerk became quite flustered and began shuffling papers. Apparently friendliness wasn't Mr. Adam's strong suit. She tended to appreciate people who were raw and true to who they were--even if that meant gruff and mean. At least they were honest and you knew what to expect from them.

Unlike Rodger who seemed to be hiding something far more sinister than a friendly U.S. Marshall beneath his surface.

"I'll need the key to your room and for you to sign here," the hotel clerk announced as he pointed to an empty space on the hotel registry. Mr. Adam's snatched up the dainty fountain pen in a massive, calloused hand and scribbled down a few markings before tossing the pen back onto the counter. He shoved his hand into his pocket and fished around a moment before tossing a brass key beside the discarded pen.

"Thank you for staying with us, Mr....." the hotel clerks voice trailed off as Mr. Adam's disappeared out the door. The clerk muttered something under his breath about outlaws and their rudeness before turning to Audrey and granting her a beaming smile. "What can I do for you, miss?"

Audrey tipped her head. "I was wondering if you've seen the man I arrived with? He's a few inches taller than me, brown hair, mustache and wears a U.S. Marshall badge on his vest."

"No, I haven't seen him since he left after checking you both in," the clerk replied apologetically. "Would you like to leave him a message and I'll see he gets it when he arrives back?"

Audrey shook her head. "No, that won't be necessary. I'll just go see if I can find him myself. Thank you."

Audrey stepped out into the sun and glanced up and down the bustling streets of Briggston. She knew she stood no chance of located Rodger unless she simply bumped into him by happenstance and she wasn't willing to wait on him any longer. She would simply have to go back to the sheriff's office and talk to the man herself.

Minutes later, Audrey found herself standing in front of the jail. She stepped up onto the boardwalk, smoothed out her plaid skirt and knocked twice. The door was pulled open by a middle-aged man in trail stained clothes and a dusty face. His smile was friendly, however, and his brown eyes warm as he greeted her. Audrey recognized the sherrif's badge on his chest and she held out her hand.

"My name is Audrey Reynolds," she greeted him. "I stopped by earlier with my traveling companion but you were out of the office."

"Yes, I apologize," he lamented as he stepped aside and allowed her into the building. "I was taking care of some business. What can I do for you, ma'am?"

Audrey took a deep breath to steady herself and hold back the tears that threatened to fall whenever she spoke of her daughter. "I'm looking for someone, sir. My daughter. She is only eight years old and she's been taken from me...."

"Taken?" the sheriff demanded as he stood a bit straighter. "Do you know who took her? How long ago was this?"

"It's been about a month now, I suppose. I've been searching all over the territory for any sign of her. U.S. Marshall York is my traveling companion and he's been aiding me in the search. The only lead we have found so far is the name of a man who specializes in making young girls, and anything else he chooses, disappear."

The sheriff's friendly brown eyes became a little harder. "What is this man's name?"

"Barnaby Wallace," Audrey replied.

"I've definitely heard of him, ma'am, and I'm sad to say I haven't seen him. He doesn't come around my town because he knows I'd take him down in a heartbeat."

Audrey felt failure and despair settling in. She chewed at her trembling bottom lip and was going to excuse herself when the sheriff grabbed her forearm gently to stop her. "Ma'am, perhaps you can tell me what your daughter looks like? Maybe it wasn't Barnaby that got her and I could keep an eye out for her."

Audrey nodded. Of course that would be the logical thing to do! Her mind no longer seemed to function properly. It was too full of worry. "She's eight, as I said. She stands to about here--" Audrey indicated her chest. "--She has blond hair the same shade as mine and her eyes are like mine as well. Her face is littered with freckles, she's always smiling and inquisitive and... She was struck with polio has a young child and it damaged her left leg. She can't walk at all without a metal brace and she limps even with it....."

Audrey stopped speaking as recognition dawned in the lawman's eyes. "What is your daughter's name?" he asked quietly.

"Penelope. Penelope Reynolds. Oh, please tell me you know where she is!" Audrey gasped as she clutched at his hand. "I've been searching everywhere! Please tell me I've found my daughter!"

The sheriff let out a long breath. "Barnaby Wallace isn't who had her ma'am... and, honestly, the man who has her sure seems to care about the girl. He just doesn't fit the profile of a kidnapper..."

"Well he is!" Audrey exclaimed. "Now where is my daughter?"

"At the Regency Hotel down the road. She's with a man named Ansel Adams...."

Audrey didn't wait to hear more. She turned quickly and dashed to the very hotel she'd checked into that morning. She ran into Rodger in the entryway and he attempted to speak to her but she shoved past him and ran to the desk.

"Can..Can I help you, ma'am?" the clerk stammered as he nearly dropped a stack of papers he'd been organizing.

"Ansel Adams. I need to find Ansel Adams!" Audrey exclaimed as she bounced from foot to foot. Finally, she had found her baby girl! And she would see this Ansel man pay for taking Penelope away from her!

The clerk shook his head. "You saw Mr. Adams before you left here, ma'am. I'm afraid he's checked out and moved on."

Audrey couldn't stop herself from crying out with frustration and heartbreak! She'd been so close! That meant the giant man with a mean voice and blue eyes had her daughter.... But why?

"Audrey, why are you looking for Ansel Adams?" Rodger asked with a frown.

"Do you know him?" Audrey demanded.

Rodger nodded and smoothed his hand over his mustache. "I know of him. I've never officially met him, however."

"He has Penelope, Rodger. He has my baby girl!"

"No, I told you that Barnaby has..."

Audrey stomped her foot and threw her hand up to silence him. Anger flashed in his dull blue eyes and she saw his jaw tic with rage but she couldn't find it in herself to care. "Why are you so set on this Barnaby man?!" she demanded. "I'm telling you that Ansel has her! Ansel has Penelope! The sheriff himself told me so!"

"He was staying here with a young girl named Penny," the hotel clerk nodded in agreement.

Rodger seemed shocked, then outraged, then shocked again. He took several steps back and shook his head. "But all my sources said it was Barnaby..."

Audrey rolled her eyes at his persistence about that man with the odd name. Why was Rodger so certain that that's the man who had taken Penelope when there was evidence to the contrary right here?!

The sheriff stepped into the hotel and tipped his hat to them both. "Sheriff, why does Ansel have my daughter? Has he hurt her? The clerk asked him if she was well enough to travel.. Has he harmed my daughter?"

The sheriff offered a tight smile to an couple who stepped into the hotel. "Perhaps we should go somewhere a bit more private for our conversation," the sheriff stated.

The hotel clerk motioned toward a door to the right. "You may use my office."

Audrey's patience were wearing thin as they stepped into the tiny office and the sheriff closed the door. Rodger attempted to put his arm around her but Audrey sidestepped him. Something was off about the man and surely even he had to realize that now was not the time for cuddling! Now was the time for finding Penelope!

"Don't you want to sit?" the sheriff offered, motioning toward a chair. Rodger took him up on the offer but Audrey shook her head.

"I don't want to sit or relax or any other number of things, sheriff. I simply want to find my daughter."

"Miss Reynolds, there are a few things I don't understand about that. You see I had a long talk with Ansel because of some circumstances that occurred while he was here in town and, according to him, he saved Penelope, your daughter, from a terrible man who planned selling her to worse men.... He didn't say the man's name but he did say something that I find peculiar given your desperation to find little Penelope."

"What did he say?" Audrey demanded.

"That you sold the girl to whoever it was that had her and that that man paid a pretty price for her."

Audrey glanced at Rodger when she heard him let out a choking gasp and she realized his face had paled considerably as his blue eyes widened. "I would never have done that!" Audrey exclaimed. "Penelope is my life and she has always been my life! She is all I have left, sheriff. Her father died five years ago, he was murdered and taken away from me.... Please, I can't lose my daughter too." Tears poured from Audrey's eyes. "I just can't lose her...."

"I can offer you this bit of comfort, Miss Reynolds," the sheriff said as he handed her a clean handkerchief from his pocket. "Ansel seems to truly care about the girl and she seemed quite happy to be with him. She's not in any danger from him as far as I could tell."

Audrey took a small bit of comfort in that but then she frowned. "Then why was she unfit to travel before? What happened to her?"

The sheriff cleared his throat and leaned against the wall. "When Ansel first brought her into town he took her to the orphanage. She was there several days and I'm afraid the headmistress there beat her severely--so severely that she only recently received the doc's approval to travel."

Audrey's heart dropped to her feet and her blood boiled. "Where is this headmistress now?"

"Laid up in even worse shape than your daughter was. It seems Ansel didn't take too kindly to learning what she had done and he made sure she learned what that strap felt like. Since it was in defense of that girl and all those other children, and I saw the girl's terrible injuries myself, I didn't feel any need to punish Ansel for his actions."

Audrey's mind was racing... she had no idea exactly what she was supposed to be feeling. Relief at knowing her daughter was okay and with a man who seemed to want to take care of her. Confusion as to why anyone would think that Audrey sold Penelope to a traveling man. Anger at knowing her daughter had been beaten by such an evil woman. Fear for her daughter who was in the hands of an outlaw. These were only a few of the raging emotions in her heart.

"Where can I find Ansel?" Audrey questioned.

"I can't tell you because I don't know. He's a wanderer, ma'am."

"Is he a bad man?" Audrey asked, unsure whether or not she truly wanted to know.

The sheriff sighed. "That depends on who you ask. He isn't all out evil and he doesn't have a wanted poster but he's known to be a man who does whatever he wants to do whether the law would agree with his actions or not."

"Thank you," Audrey left the office and quickly went to her room. She began packing her things and heard the door close. Quickly she whirled and realized Rodger was standing inside the room.

"Where are you going?" he demanded quietly.

"To find my daughter, of course. I need to locate this Ansel Adams and the best chance is to leave now since I just saw him leave not over an hour ago."

Rodger shook his head. "You will leave the investigating to me," he warned, his tone hard. "I still believe that finding Barnaby will be our best option."

"You are not my keeper, Rodger. I appreciate all the help you have given me thus far but I am going to go find this Ansel Adams and I am going to figure out why he believes that my daughter was sold by me to some other man. And if that man happens to have been Barnaby Wallace, I will deal with him later. At this point, my only mission is to find my daughter. I will get to the bottom of all of this. You can either come along with me and help or you can get out of my way."

Audrey stared Rodger down. More and more it seemed the man was hiding something or had his own agenda. Audrey had no idea exactly what was off, what Rodger could possibly be keeping from her, but she did not trust him.

Why was he not leaping at the chance to find Penelope when he had vowed so vehemently to help find her? Why was he standing in her way and so stubbornly insisting that this Barnaby man was the culprit?

Rodger's nostrils flared as he glared down at her and his fists clenched. Slowly he relaxed his tense stance and let out a long breath. "Fine. Of course. I was simply a bit shocked to realize I'd been searching for the wrong man. We may have found her sooner if we'd have known." He offered a tight smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Let's go find Penelope."

A/N: Finally back to writing!! Chapters should come more often now! At least every other day if not more often then that :)