A Horsewoman for Harlan by Barbara Goss (the top 100 crime novels of all time TXT) 📕

Elise tried to make her way to where the children were preparing for the sack race, but she had to stop several times when women stopped for a few words with her.  She finally got to the stack of sacks surrounded by children, but Millie wasn’t among them.  At first, she felt panic, then she calmed, reminding herself it was a church picnic and not a strange place.  Millie was around somewhere.

She saw Sarah and Flora and asked calmly if they’d seen Millie.

“She was here a minute ago,” Sarah said.  “We were fighting over the same bag.”

Flora said, “She went to the outhouse.  She didn’t want to have an accident jumping in her sack after drinking three cups of lemonade.”

Elise inhaled.  “Thank you, Flora.  I’ll head over that way.”

After knocking on each of the four outhouse doors several times, Elise came to the conclusion that they were all empty.

She scanned the grounds thoroughly before becoming overly concerned again.  The tug-of-war was going on, so she couldn’t yell to Harlan, yet she wanted his help to find Millie.  She was starting to panic again.  Tug-of-war or not, she had to get Harlan.

After once more scouring the area, she ran to where the men were laughing as they yanked a long thick rope.  She grabbed Harlan’s shoulder, causing their team to slip over into the losing area.

Both Clay and Harlan looked at Elise with daggers in their eyes.

“This is urgent!” she cried.  “Millie is missing.  I can’t find her anywhere.  Harlan, I’m scared.”

Harlan and Clay dropped the rope and ran with Elise back to the picnic area.  “Are you sure?” Harlan asked.

“Millie,” he called.  “Millie!”

“Clay,” Harlan yelled, “check our buggy.  Maybe she’s upset and is sitting there.” He turned to Elise.  “Have you checked the outhouses?”

“Yes.  She’s not there.”

Harlan grabbed a bench, stood on it, and called for attention.  “We have a missing child.  Millie Tanner is missing.  Could everyone please help us look for her?”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and ran in a different direction, looking in trees and bushes and calling out her name.

When no one found Millie, Elise collapsed to the ground on her knees and cried,  “Dear Lord, please help us find Millie.”  Several others fell to their knees to join her in prayer.

Harlan and Clay had even walked through the cemetery and into the nearby woods, searching.

Elise felt sick to her stomach.  What could have happened to Millie?

When the sun had dipped beneath the horizon, it became impossible to search any further.  Millie was gone.  No one had seen anything suspicious, but several people had seen her go into one of the outhouses.

It was a quiet and somber ride home.  Elise cried all the way. Harlan drove, but his temples throbbed, either with anger or worry, and Clay was simply shocked speechless.

Harlan stopped the carriage at the front porch.  “I’m going to leave the buggy harnessed and off to the side, in case we need it again tonight.”

“Pa, look,” Clay yelled as he got out of the buggy,  “the stable door is wide open.”

“What?”  Harlan jumped from the buggy and ran to the stables.  “The lock’s been busted.” He walked in, lit a lamp, and exclaimed painfully, “We’ve been robbed.”

Elise was at the kitchen table weeping when Harlan barged into the house and growled,  “Where does that man you brought here live?”

“Do you mean T.J.?”

“Yes.  Where is he?  We’ve been robbed.  Our racehorse and several other horses are missing.  I think Millie may have been taken to give them more time to steal the horses.”

Elise’s brain felt frozen.  Why would he suspect T.J.?  She told Harlan, “He said he lives on the outskirts of Hunter’s Grove, not even ten miles from Russell.  All I know is that it’s a cattle ranch.

“Do you really think T.J. had anything to do with stealing the horses and taking Millie?”

“Of course.  It would take time to chisel off that lock, and he knew we wouldn’t be home before dark since we’d be searching for Millie.”

“Oh, no,” Elise felt a cold chill run through her,  “and I’m the one who brought him here.”  She burst into tears again.

“Clay,” Harlan ordered, “run back to town and get the sheriff and a posse.  I’ll meet you there.  We’ll find this cattle ranch.  If they hurt one hair on Millie’s head, I swear I’ll kill them all with my bare hands.”  Both men fled the house.

Elise knew Harlan was upset with her and rightly so.   She’d brought T.J., a complete stranger about whom she'd known almost nothing, to their home.  Talking to a stranger on a train was unladylike, and now she felt responsible for putting the most darling person in her life in danger.  The pain she felt was like no other she’d ever endured.

She felt as if it were all her fault, and she had to do something to fix things, but what?  What could she possibly do?

Millie stepped out of the outhouse, but before she could even close the door, a hand covered her mouth, and she was thrown under the arm of someone who whisked her briskly away.  The man ran through the cemetery where he had a horse waiting.  He stuffed a bandana into her mouth and tied her hands and feet. Millie didn’t make it easy for him to tie her up—she kicked and thrashed until the man finally slapped her across the face so hard it stunned her into momentary submission.

Once he had her lying across the saddle, galloping away, she dared not kick up a fuss or she’d fall from the horse and be trampled.  She wondered which fate would be worse.

It wasn’t a long ride, but he kept circling the woods outside of town.  He must have been waiting for