Wild Roses Read Free Page B

follow her to the gates of hell if she asked them to. Following Ella to Philadelphia and trying to rescue her could be just as dangerous, and she could not willingly push them into the middle of that.
    â€œ I have to do this. You do not,” she said as she started to stuff her clothes into a small carpetbag.
    Joshua looked at his three friends, who subtlely nodded, then looked back at Louise, smiling faintly over her unusual agitation. “If you go, we go.” The other three youths nodded again.
    â€œThat is so good of you,” she murmured, and sat down on the settee. “This could be very dangerous. Ella and I were not victims of female hysteria when we told you that her life was in danger.”
    â€œNever thought it.”
    â€œThose people in Philadelphia want only one thing—Ella’s death. They will not see any of us as an impediment to that plan. They will sweep us all aside if they can. You know they will feel free to be rid of you, seeing you as no more than half-breeds and outcasts. They will see me in much the same light. I know I have always jested about it, but I truly did leave Philadelphia in disgrace. There are many people back there who still suspect that Robin Abernathy was my lover and that I killed him in a fit of jealous rage. What I am trying to say is that, although I am a Carson and the Carsons are highly placed in that society, I am not. I will be no protection for you.”
    Joshua moved to sit next to Louise, lightly patting her tightly clenched hands. “If you’re fretting that we’ll do something we don’t really want to because we feel we owe you, stop it. I won’t say that a sense of obligation ain’t part of what’s prodding us, but there ain’t no shame in that. Ella treated us kindly and that little miss sure as hell doesn’t deserve to die just so her kin can take what don’t belong to them. We don’t want you doing something dangerous without us and you don’t want us in danger either. Ain’t no choice though, so why don’t we just all agree to watch out for each other and get down to the business of saving poor Ella.” He flushed when Louise impulsively hugged him and then scowled when the others laughed.
    It was almost noon before they had everything ready for their rescue attempt, and Louise cursed softly as they rode away from her small ranch. The train now had a two-hour head start. Although they could take a more direct route than a train, and the one Ella was on would make a lot of stops, catching up to it was not going to be easy. Getting Ella off of that train could well prove to be impossible. Even if they were able to snatch Ella from her captors, that would not put an end to the danger she was in. It would only postpone the inevitable confrontation. Louise had the sinking feeling that the time had finally come to face the threat that had hung over them all for three long years. All she could do was pray that they could successfully eradicate it and that they would all survive.
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    An ear-splitting scream erupted from Ella, and Harrigan pulled away from her so quickly he nearly fell out of his seat. He glanced at the other passengers in the train car and flushed slightly under their accusatory stares. When he looked back at Ella she was no longer asleep but sitting calmly and tidying her hair. His first thought had been that she had suffered from some terrible nightmare, but his initial stirrings of sympathy abruptly faded. He now suspected that it was just another one of her ploys intended to discomfort him.
    â€œYou seem to have recovered from your bad dream very quickly,” he drawled as he relaxed in his seat.
    â€œBad dream?” Ella looked at him, feigning innocence, and could tell by his narrowed eyes that he did not believe her act. “Ah, that. Yes, it was rather horrible. For one brief, terrifying moment, as I woke, I feared that I been thrust into the pits of