Part 17 (1/2)

Preacher's voice. Preacher's footfalls, pounding along the path. Then he was there, standing in front of her. No blood to be seen. ”Addie? Are you all right? Is it Sophia? Is she-?” ”Sophia is well.” She bent, catching her breath. ”All is well.” She hiccuped a laugh. All is well? Charlie is possessed by some demon

monster. All is not well. But right now, it is. Preacher is fine. Unharmed. Preacher came over, face drawn in concern, hand resting on her arm as she found her breath.

”It's all right,” she said. ”We were only worried about you. Me and Sophia.”

”Sophia and I,” Preacher said.

Addie burst out with a real laugh then. No matter how dire

the situation, he could not fail to correct her grammar, as gently as if they were at the supper table, saying grace. When she laughed, Preacher gave a crooked smile and shook his head, murmuring an apology before saying, ”Well, you've found me. And I did not find what I was looking for.”

”The mayor and Mr. Dobbs? I saw them a ways back. Returning to town.”

”They've finished their mission then,” he whispered beneath his breath.

”What mission?”

He looked startled, as if he had not meant to speak aloud. ”They were out here for something. I know not what. Come. Let's go back to town.”

As they began to walk, Addie thought about the blood on Dobbs's boot. He had not hurt Preacher, but he had hurt something. Some animal? She recalled stories of dark magic, with animals sacrificed to the Devil.

”Perhaps we ought to find where they've been,” she said.

”That's what I was trying to do.”

”No, you were trying to find where they were. I can track where they've been.”

He hesitated. ”All right then. I don't want to leave Sophia for long, but if we can discover what they were doing, we ought to.”

PreAcher Addie was indeed able to track where the mayor and blacksmith had gone.And when she found out, Preacher wished to G.o.d she hadn't. He wished he hadn't asked. Wished he'd found this on his own, before she'd arrived. A merciful G.o.d would have made sure of that.

She'd tracked Dobbs's and Browning's footsteps back to where they'd left the main trail. It had taken time, but she'd eventually determined that they'd taken a secondary one, little more than a half-cleared path through the trees. Preacher had not known where the trail led. Addie had. He was certain of it. But it was not until they saw the cabin ahead and he said, ”What's that?” that she said, ”Timothy James's place.”

Timothy James. An odd creature, like most who made their living in the forest. Preacher had heard whispers about Timothy James, that he'd come here fleeing the Mounties, that he'd been caught with a little girl. Preacher had been furious-if there was a man like that in their midst, they ought to warn the children. But Dobbs said it wasn't true. Timothy James was merely odd. Preacher had always wondered if Mr. Dobbs's reluctance to drive the man out had anything to do with the fact that he brought in good furs and he accepted less than market rates for them.

Now, seeing that cabin ahead, Preacher knew where Browning and Dobbs had been going. What they'd done there. He'd told Addie to wait while he ran ahead.