LOVE IS MORE THAN A FEELING
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Rose sat in an old wooden
chair with Elisa in her arms. She had been held captive since early in the
morning. Now, it was night.
Cal had taken her, at gunpoint, to the abandoned
house just outside of town. Rose had carefully watched where they went, in case
she was able to escape.
The house wasn’t far from the falls; she
could easily find her way home if she escaped. But Cal had watched her
constantly since they arrived, not allowing her out of his sight for a moment,
even to feed Elisa.
He had stared when Rose nursed and cared for
the baby, but hadn’t touched her. She had feared that he would, tensing
whenever he came near her, but every time, Elisa had sensed her mother’s
distress and cried. For some reason, the baby’s cries made Cal back off.
Cal had backed her against the wall once, but
she had spit in his face, and he had slapped her, frightening Elisa again. It
was then that Rose had turned away toward the window, and had seen the boys
peeking in. Cal had seen them, too, and the expression on his face had sent the
boys running.
Rose hoped that the boys had told someone
what they had seen, but wasn’t sure they would have. The old house was
off-limits to the town’s children, and they might have kept quiet to avoid
trouble.
Cal was also worried about whether the boys
had told what they had seen. He knew that he had to get Rose away from Chippewa
Falls before anyone else showed up. He planned to take her back to Philadelphia
and secure a divorce between Jack and Rose, then marry Rose himself. Rose was
his, and no one took away what was his. She could keep the baby, but she would
be his wife.
Much to Cal’s dismay, things weren’t working
out quite as planned. He hadn’t counted on Rose having a baby—no one had told
him of this development. He supposed that Ruth knew, but she rarely spoke to
him these days, seeming to have forgotten that she was almost his
mother-in-law.
He also hadn’t counted upon the boys seeing
them. When he had first come to Chippewa Falls, working out his plan to take
Rose home with him, he had seen the old, abandoned house as a perfect place to
hide for a day or two. He hadn’t realized that the ancient building was a
magnet for curious children, or that they would be likely to be around on a
long summer day.
It would be difficult to get Rose out of
town, too. He had planned on taking her to the train station, and leaving on
the next train east, but he knew that she would raise a fuss if he tried to take
her from the town, and in the crowded environs of the train station, people
were bound to hear her. More than likely, Rose would go back to Jack, and Cal
would be arrested again. He had gotten away with shooting Rose—and it truly had
been an accident. Jack had been the intended victim, but Rose had gotten in the
way, saving the gutter rat’s life. However, if he got arrested again, he
doubted the judge would be so lenient. Kidnapping was no accident, and no one
would understand why he had taken Rose from her home.
They would have to walk to the next town,
where no one knew Rose, under the cover of darkness, and board a train at
night. He had no doubt that all of Chippewa Falls knew that Rose had
disappeared by now, but the farther away they got, the fewer people would be
likely to recognize her. Once away, she would be unable to escape, especially
with the baby to think about.
A little guilt played upon his conscience,
but he pushed it away. He was confident that Rose would see it his way, once
she went back to her old life. How could she prefer life in a small Midwestern
town to the riches and status he could give her? He could give her everything,
provide the life that every woman wanted. She might be infatuated with Jack,
but she couldn’t really love him, not when a life so much better waited for
her.
*****
Rose sat quietly, watching Cal drink brandy.
He had always liked his liquor, sometimes a little too much, but this amount,
nearly half the bottle, was making him drowsy. He rarely drank so much, and
Rose suspected that he was worried about the consequences of kidnapping her.
She sat in silence, keeping Elisa quiet by
nursing her, waiting as the alcohol took effect. When Cal finally dozed off,
she got quietly to her feet, putting a hand firmly over the baby’s mouth to
keep her quiet, then crept over to the window, making no sound that might
disturb him.
She had learned when they arrived that the
door squealed loudly on its hinges, so she sat down on the windowsill, grateful
that the glass was long gone, and carefully swung her legs over it, slipping
outside. Checking Elisa, she crouched down, crawling away from the house
through the grass and trees surrounding it.
When she reached the road, Rose broke into a
run, trying to blend into the shadows and find her way through the dark. Only a
sliver of moonlight shone in the night sky to guide her way, but she ran on,
hurrying down the road toward the falls. Eventually, it would take her back
into town.
She knew that Jack would be frantic with
worry—or would he? He had been angry with her when he’d left that morning. What
if he thought she had left him, or had been too angry to look for her? But he’d
look for Elisa, she reassured herself. He was angry with her, but not with the
baby. Even if he didn’t care that she had disappeared, he would still worry
about Elisa. She was the apple of his eye.
If she could only make it back into town
before Cal awoke and found her gone, she would go straight home. It didn’t
matter if Jack was angry or not. She would do whatever it took to patch things
up and resolve their differences.
As she neared the falls, Rose heard footsteps
behind her. Someone was running along the road, the footsteps staggering and
uneven. Cal. He knew she was gone, and was coming after her.
A quick glance behind her confirmed her
fears. It was indeed Cal. Putting on more speed, she tried to go faster, but
she couldn’t see where she was going in the dark. Her foot slipped in a rut in
the road, and she tumbled to the ground.
Elisa began to wail, telling Cal exactly
where they were. Rose quickly sat up, checking the baby for injuries, but she
was unharmed. Rose had cushioned her with her body, and the infant was only
frightened.
She would never be able to escape with Elisa
in her arms, Rose realized, and if Cal caught up to them, he might hurt the
baby. Hating to do it, but knowing it was necessary, Rose quickly bundled the
child in her blanket, then hid her in the bushes at the roadside. This part of
the road was well-traveled during the day, so if something happened to her, it
was likely that someone would hear Elisa crying and take her back into town.
Elisa cried as Rose placed her on the ground
and backed away, running down the road. Rose’s heart clenched at the sound, but
she kept going. For the sake of both of them, she had to get away.
Feeling her way along the dark road, Rose
headed for the falls, searching for some place to hide. She would never make it
to town, but if she could find a place where she would be hidden, she would be
safe. There were thickets of brush and trees near the falls, as well as rocks
and other places to hide.
Even drunk, Cal was faster than her. Neither
could see where they were going very well, but Cal was stronger and had longer
legs than Rose. He caught up to her as she reached the falls, grabbing her arm
as she came to the cliff.
"Let go of me!" Rose knew that
pleading was useless, but she couldn’t help it. She was frightened of what
Cal’s intent might be, and worried over the baby she had left in the brush. She
yanked at her arm, but was held fast by Cal’s drunken strength.
"No! You’re coming with me, now."
Cal pulled at her, catching her other arm. "You are mine, Rose! You made a
promise. No matter what you say, you are still my fiancée. You can’t escape it.
We agreed to marry, and we will."
"No!" Rose screamed, raising her
voice far more than necessary to get her point across. As he had caught her
other arm, she had seen lights approaching and heard voices.
Hearing Rose’s scream, her rescuers began to
run, their lights bouncing along the road as they came closer. Rose struggled,
kicking out at Cal and shouting for help.
Shocked at the sudden interruption, Cal lost
his grip on her. Rose broke free, turning in the direction of her rescuers.
In that moment, the edge of the cliff,
softened by recent rains, gave way. The soil and rocks had held for years, but
the combination of rain and the weight of two people had been too much. As the
four rescuers rushed forward, shouting, the edge of the cliff crumbled under
Rose and Cal, sending them both plunging downward.