Page 74 of His Perfect Bride
“Clearly Augusta brought it with her.” Sage dusted the dirt off the end that had been stuck in the ground.
Something about the clues and the methodical nature of Augusta’s placement of them didn’t make sense. It seemed too planned and too thought-out for someone who’d been kidnapped and whisked out of the house against her will.
Jackson’s features creased with a scowl. “The big question at the moment is what is Augusta trying to tell us with a fork?”
The charm bracelet with the wordhopeand the picture of the bridge had both been fairly easy to decipher. But a fork?
Sage rubbed off more of the dirt. “Is there an eating establishment—a dining room, pub, or hotel that she might be leading us to?”
The three of them fell silent as they stared at the fork. A loudcak-cak-cakechoed above them as a hawk with gray wings and a light pink chest circled overhead.
“A fork.” Jackson spoke the word slowly, as if in doing so he could unravel Augusta’s clue.
She started a list. “Silverware. Eating utensils. Spoons. Knives. Forks.”
Pastor Abe snapped his fingers and met Jackson’s gaze. “Forks.”
“Forks?” Jackson’s voice still held confusion.
“The Forks.” Pastor Abe nodded up the river. “The Great Forks.”
“Yes.” Jackson’s face took on an animated light. “That is it.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“The town of Lytton to the north of here used to be known as Forks or Great Forks, because that’s where the Thompson and Fraser Rivers meet.”
So Augusta had placed a fork near the bridge to let them know that their next destination was the Forks, also known as Lytton. “How far away are we?”
Jackson seemed to be calculating the distance in his head. But Pastor Abe spoke before Jackson could. “It’s a full day’s ride.”
“Can we make it by tonight?” she asked.
Pastor Abe looked at the position of the sun. “Maybe. If we leave now and ride hard.”
“Then let’s go.” Excitement shimmered through Sage. If—when—they finally located Augusta, what would she say when she learned about the wedding?
Sage pressed a hand to her chest to still the sudden rapid beat of her heart. Should she have waited and gained permission first? Obviously, she couldn’t change what she’d done now. But maybe she would have to explain to Jackson that they needed to wait to make their marriage real until after they found Augusta and had her approval.
She’d seemed open to Sage liking Jackson, and she hadn’t been opposed to them spending time together. But that didn’t mean she’d welcome Sage into her family as a sister. What if Augusta didn’t give them her blessing? Would they get an annulment?
Protest rose inside Sage at the prospect. But she had come to the colonies first and foremost to be a lady’s maid. She couldn’t abandon Augusta. At the same time, she doubted Jackson would support her continuing in that role now that she was his wife.
Regardless of the dilemma, they had to leave right away and continue the search. Augusta’s life might depend on them. And they couldn’t waste another moment.
Twenty-Six
Sage awoke with a start.
They’d finally stopped moving. Thank the Lord.
A gentle kiss against her neck brought her back to the realization that she was riding with Jackson on his horse.
After leaving the bridge earlier in the day, she’d started off on her own mount. The traveling, though, had been difficult, and for most of it, they’d ridden single file because of the narrow trail. When they hadn’t reached Lytton by the time darkness had fallen, she’d asked to keep going, hadn’t wanted another night to pass for poor Augusta in captivity.
Both Pastor Abe and Jackson had reminded her that there wouldn’t be much they could do for Augusta so late at night anyway. But Sage had pleaded with them to continue, and they’d agreed only if Sage was willing to share a horse with Jackson. She hadn’t needed much convincing to join him while Pastor Abe guided her horse behind his.
She’d been exhausted by that point from the stress of staying away from the edge of the road and the trauma from her fall earlier. Her sleeplessness of the previous night had probably also caught up to her.
