Page 106 of Winterset
There was only one placethat I knew Kate would be safe: Summerhaven.
It was not a permanent solution—she’d likely be safe there for only a few weeks, until Markham surmised that I’d sent her there—but the distance from danger would buy us a bit more time to find her a long-term solution.
Kate would leave first thing tomorrow morning, as we had decided. Charlie would accompany her to ensure her protection, but the rest of us—Mrs. Owensby, Bexley, and me—would remain here to maintain an appearance of normalcy.
Rain pelted my study window as I sat at my desk, and I pulled out a piece of paper to write a letter to my family.
I’d been estranged from them for more than two years now, but I knew that if I asked for their help, they wouldn’t hesitate. Not because of their feelings for me but because it was Damon’s nature to help those in need. Hannah’s and Mother’s too. If I asked, Damon and Hannah would hide Kate and keep her safe indefinitely. And Mother would help her find a permanent situation. She seemed to know everyone in England.
I need only find the right words to ask.
A daunting task, considering I hadn’t read any of their letters or written to them in over two years. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to read their letters. I did. More than anything, I wanted to feel like they loved me. Like they needed me. Like I belonged.
But I didn’t.
My whole life, I’d been the spare son. The child my parents had borne to protect the family’s legacy in case their first son met some untimely fate. I was the secondary plan, the reserve, the afterthought.
In my last months at home, none of my family members had even thought to tell me of Father’s failing health or that Summerhaven had been on the brink of ruin. I’d only learned the truth when I’d read a letter that Damon had written to Hannah in an effort to prove his unworthiness and win her heart—something I still felt ashamed of.
I was a burden to my family.
That was why I’d separated myself.
It hurt like the devil every day, knowing I did not belong, but I knew they were better off without having to worry about me.
That didn’t matter right now though. Only Kate mattered. And I would do anything to protect her, including humbling myself to ask for my family’s help.
I dipped my pen into the inkwell and began:
Dear Damon,
I write you this letter in desperation ...
From there, I poured out my soul about my feelings for Kate, then described her perilous situation with Markham. I begged Damon to help her. Then I gave Charlie the letter as well as money to hire a private messenger to deliver it immediately. It would likely arrive only a day before Kate did, but at least they would have a little time to prepare for her comfort.
And in case Markham was monitoring my movements, I wrote a second letter, a decoy letter, to a fictitious family in France, demanding that they send Kate back to Winterset within the week, which I instructed Charlie to deliver to the postmaster.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of panic and packing. I stayed at Kate’s side all day, afraid to let her out of my sight even for a moment. Markham had said he would give me a week to deliver Kate to him, but I didn’t trust him to keep his word. Which is why I had Bexley stand guard at the front door, Mrs. Owensby watch the servants’ entrance, and Charlie patrol the grounds with a gun.
When night finally came, Kate retired to the priest hide in the attic to sleep—the hidden spot seemed safer than her bedchamber—and I retired to my study.
Outside, it stormed. Lightning struck, illuminating the room, and several seconds later, thunder rumbled in the distance. The worst of the storm would likely pass tonight, but it would make Kate’s journey much more difficult in the morning. It would probably deter other long-distance travelers though, and that thought brought me comfort.
If we could just make it safely through tonight.
I walked to the window and pushed back the curtain. With the cloud cover and heavy rain, I couldn’t see much outside. But every time another bolt of lightning flashed, it illuminated the grounds: the barren trees, the empty fountain, the stone sentinels that sat atop the gate posts.
Then a different sound caught my notice. A noise inside. A patter of footsteps.
I went directly to the study door and peered into the entrance hall, locking eyes with Charlie, whom I’d asked to take the first shift guarding the front door. Charlie nodded toward the library, and I followed his gaze just in time to see Kate slip inside.
Worried, I followed after her, lightly knocking on the library door and then peeking inside. “Kate?”
She was curled on the small sofa, a blanket around her shoulders, shaking. “Oliver?”
“I heard you run to the library and wanted to check on you. Are you all right?”
She nodded that she was, but her eyes were wide with fear.
