IN HOT PURSUIT
“I’m just going to hire ourselves a couple of horses, Jeremiah, while you keep Trent and Patsy in your line of vision,” Jasper said.
“They’ve stopped again. They’re talking to someone,” Jeremiah reported, shielding his eyes to get a better view.
Jasper pulled his hat down low over his forehead. “We need to be careful that we’re not seen and recognized,” he said to Jeremiah as he ran over to the stables.
“Jasper Riley!” one of the stable hands greeted him.
“Quick! I need your help! My brother and I left our pony trap in the meadow over yonder and it appears that someone has made off with it. I need a couple of horses to go in pursuit of the thief, as my brother has just spotted our pony trap in the distance!”
“Well now, that’s highly irregular, y’know, someone making off with your pony trap. Here, take these two horses – they’re not the fastest, but they’ll have to do under the circumstances.”
Jasper whipped out some coins and pressed them into the man’s hands. “I’ll be back shortly,” he said and swung himself up onto one of the horses, leading the other behind him. From his vantage point in the saddle, Jasper could see quite far, and he soon spotted Jeremiah following Trent and Patsy on foot. He spurred on his horse, and clicked his tongue and pulling the reins gently so the other one would follow quickly behind. He was soon right behind Jeremiah, who was keeping to the thickets bordering the path where Trent and Patsy were riding.
Jeremiah said nothing as he took the reins from Jasper’s hands and mounted the horse that his brother had procured so quickly, glad of the foliage that muted the sound of the horses’ hooves.
“Do you remember the way to Sweet Haven Ranch?” Jeremiah asked Jasper.
“I can’t say I do. I’ve never been there.”
“Of course, you have. So have we all,” Jeremiah said in a low tone.
“Really?” Jasper asked, looking bemused.
“Yes. Remember the owners – Serena’s parents – had a horse sale? We were just little boys, but the memory is quite vivid,” Jeremiah said.
“I wish I could remember, but I don’t,” Jasper replied.
“Anyway, I do believe that Trent and Patsy are headed there.”
“You remember the way there? After all these many years?” Jasper asked, looking at his brother with unconcealed admiration.
“I remember we passed Misty Creek along the way.
“Oh,” Jasper remarked, looking at the body of water that they were riding past.
A few hundred ahead, Trent and Patsy slowed their horses to a canter and entered the gates of Sweet Haven, while Jasper and Jeremiah dismounted, tied their horses to a tree and followed them on foot.
“We need to keep a safe distance, so as not to risk being discovered,” Jasper whispered, pulling Jeremiah back.
He looked up at the canopy of branches above them and imagined Serena riding through the avenue in happier times. They passed a paddock with horses and a lake could be seen sparkling in the moonlight in the distance.
“This property is so beautiful,” Jeremiah remarked, stopping to admire the horses. “I wish we could go up closer,” he said.
“Yes, I wish we could too,” Jasper replied. “Those horses must belong to Serena and I am so angry on her behalf. To lose all of this – because her safety as a woman was being threatened by that boor of a man…”
“And Patsy – whatever she is to Trent,” Jeremiah added.
The path widened as they approached the ranch house, and Jasper cautioned Jeremiah again. “Stay behind the trees and in the shadows,” he said, and Jeremiah turned around and nodded.
“We need to get close to the house in order to hear what Trent and Patsy are talking about,” Jasper whispered, “so we need to figure out how to achieve that without being seen.”
“Jasper!” Jeremiah said, pointing ahead as a sign came into view, and Jasper gasped.
“For sale! It says for sale!” Jeremiah said indignantly.
“We can’t let that happen!” Jasper said. “Serena will be heartbroken.”
“How can he sell her property without her consent?” Jeremiah asked. “Surely that’s not possible. Serena told you that she left the ranch to him in exchange for her safety – which he has begun to violate again. We need to understand why.”
They inched closer to the ranch house. “It’s a beautiful house,” Jasper whispered. “I feel Serena’s pain.”
“Yes, I do too,” Jeremiah replied, “because I’m certain she never wanted to give it up.”
“Shhh,” Jasper said, holding a finger to his lips, and both the men ducked into the undergrowth as Trent and Patsy reappeared.
“You said I’d get a share if I did my part!” Patsy shouted angrily. “I led you to her, didn’t I?”
“But you haven’t yet got her signature. I need the document signed or else we can’t sell… and then there will be no share coming to you!”
“You ruined everything by showing up there and threatening her!” Patsy said. “And it’s all because of your gambling debts that we have to sell the ranch in the first place.”
Trent gave Patsy a sharp look. “We will still walk away with plenty of money. But the woman has been difficult to get to lately. The plan was simple. I was to get her in a position where she would plead for her safety and I would then trade her virtue for her signature.”
“Well, all you did was put the Rileys on their guard.”
“Those Rileys! They have a knack of showing up when they’re least wanted!” Trent spat. “I almost had Serena where I wanted her today. I even had the little tyke Nathan right where I wanted him. She would have done anything I wanted…but those pesky Rileys had to show up right then.” He turned to Patsy. “We have to get the Rileys away from her. Or her away from them.”
“I have just the idea,” Patsy said triumphantly. “There’s been talk of her and Jasper Riley. I’ll tell Mrs. Riley I saw them together in the cottage…and she’ll be out of a job. Then, when she’s leaving Steephill, you intimidate her, and get her signature.”
“Smart girl!” Trent said approvingly. “So unlike Serena. She’s just weak and stupid.”
Jasper almost sprang out of his hiding place to assault Trent, but Jeremiah held him back.
“Don’t blow our cover now, brother,” Jeremiah warned in a low whisper. “We have all the information we need to protect Serena.”
“We need those papers – whatever they are,” Jasper said.
“First, we’d better get back to Serena and tell her about these new developments,” Jeremiah replied.
“What do we do about Patsy?” he asked as he and Jasper rode back to Steephill Ranch.
“We don’t do anything about her right now,” Jasper replied. “We alert Serena, that’s all, so that she doesn’t ever leave Nathan alone with her again.” He shuddered. “To think there were occasions that Patsy could have taken advantage of when Serena left Nathan alone with her.”
“Do we inform Mother and Father?” Jeremiah enquired.
“Not just yet. We don’t want to warn Patsy that we’re on to her. We just observe her closely,” Jasper replied.
“Serena and Patsy share a cottage,” Jeremiah remarked.
“I know. Serena will need to be very careful. I am prepared to watch that cottage day and night, if need be,” Jasper said emphatically.
“Or suggest to Serena that she ask for her living quarters to be changed,” Jeremiah suggested.
“That might be a good idea – considering the devious scheme Patsy is hatching – to tell Mother that she saw her with me…at the cottage.”
“One wouldn’t credit her with such meanness – judging from how she is on the surface,” Jeremiah mused.
“There was a time when Serena trusted Trent – so I suppose it isn’t hard to trust someone before you know the truth about them. Some of the most harmful people have appeared quite innocent, after all,” Jasper replied.
“Yes, I suppose you’re right, Jasper,” Jeremiah agreed.
* * *
Hours later, Serena stood by her bedroom window, looking out at the star filled sky and replaying everything that Jasper had told her. They talked about the conversation he and Jeremiah had overheard at Sweet Haven. A tear slipped down her cheek when she thought of her home with a sign announcing its imminent sale.
“I won’t let the sale go through if I can help it,” Jasper had reassured her before he hastily left, after urging her again to petition his mother for a change of living quarters.