Mountain Laurel by Jude Deveraux

Author:Jude Deveraux [Deveraux, Jude]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: ePub Bud (www.epubbud.com)
Published: 2011-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Maddie skirted the settlement rather easily. After her performance, she felt sure that any man she met would know who she was and would have

an opinion of her that wasn’t a true one. What would Madame Branchini have thought of her rendition of Carmen?

As Maddie made her way up the mountain, her

fears for Laurel increased. What if the man didn’t show up? What if this awful man who seemed to be the messenger for the kidnappers attacked her again? She had done what he asked the last time and this time brought him “something shiny,” but what if it wasn’t enough? She couldn’t very well tel him to wait just a minute while she made her way back down the mountain and got the last of the jewelry she had with her. She didn’t think Captain Montgomery would allow her to go alone for the third time.

Maddie tried to think of anything in the world

except ‘Ring. Even though she had not wanted him to accompany her on this trip, he had made himself useful. General Yovington had hired the three people who were supposed to protect her, but they had never been there when she needed them. But

‘Ring had always been there. He’d asked her where her manager had been when the Russian students

had kidnapped her, and she’d had to tell him that John had left her to her own devices. But Maddie knew that ‘Ring would never leave her alone. He would protect her with his life, just as Toby said he would.

She rode up and up for hours, never seeming

to reach the top of the mountain. She ate beef rolled in stale bread as she rode. She drank from her canteen without dismounting. The horse panted and Maddie slowed, but she didn’t al ow the poor animal to rest. She had to get to the man before sundown. He’d told her that Laurel would be there if she got to him before sundown.

It was late when she started to look at the sky with nervousness. The sun seemed to be dropping at an accelerated rate.

“I wish my father were here,” she said aloud to the horse. “I wish Hears Good was here. And Bailey and Linq and Thomas.” She sighed. “I wish ‘Ring were with me.”

She stroked the horse between the ears.

“Maybe he could have come with me. Maybe I could have shown him the route and he could have found some other way to get to Laurel. Maybe we could have made a plan to take Laurel and this whole horrible episode would be over. Then I could take Laurel home, go back east and sing for people who appreciate me. Appreciate me even when I have all my buttons fastened.”

Even as she said the words, she knew how

wrong they were. What if in the fracas that would no doubt ensue there were shots fired and Laurel was hit? She envisioned Laurel. She hadn’t seen her young sister in years but, along with a few photographs,

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