Father or Foe? Part Two

 by Abigail Hadley

Part Two of Three

Chapter one: To the Future

 

Riley

"Riley, it's nearly eight 'o'clock, I really think we should head back." Chad said, weary from a long day of riding.

"No, Andi told me not to come back without Lilly, and I don't intend to." 

Riley was a patient, loving man, but when he was stuck on doing something, he was very stubborn.

"Yes, but it's been almost twenty-one hours since she said that." Chad let out a long, loud yawn. "She probably forgot she said that and is wishing you were home."

"I know, but Andi can be very stubborn, like that time she wanted a lamb as a pet. She wouldn't give up even when..." Riley cut off.

"Chad, do you see that?"

"See what? My eyes are not working very well after no sleep last night."

Riley reined in Dakoda and dismounted. He walked over to a clump of brush and pulled an object out.

He excitedly held it up.

"It's Lilly's bracelet! Chad, it means we're on the right track!"

Riley fingered the beaded bracelet. His fingers paused over Lilly's name.

"Chad, I don't know what Andi will do if we can't find her." he chocked a sob back. "I don't know what I'll do. I wouldn't know what to do." Riley crumpled to the dusty ground, crying.

Chad dismounted and slung a comforting arm around Riley's shaking shoulders.

"You will know what to do if you choose to focus on God and his plan through it."

******

Andi

Andi paced the kitchen floor. Ellie sat on a chair trying to think of something to say.

Jerad burst into the room; Lottie close on his tail. 

"Mommy is Daddy home yet with Lilly?"

The four-and-a-half-year-old's eyes held a mysterious twinkle. 

A tear slipped down Andi's cheek.

"No, little man. He hasn't."

Ellie rose and crouched next to Lottie.

"Susie is out in the yard watching Uncle Mitch if you would like to sit with her."

"Yay." the little girl clapped her hands and ran to the screen door, calling to 'red' to help her with the door.

Jerad sighed. "Does she have to call me 'red'? It makes me sound like a color."

Andi chuckled.

"Sweetie, she can't pronounce your name yet. So, she just... shortened it. But you can still be nice and open the door for her."

Jerad huffed. "Fine."

"Jerad Riley Prescott, is that the way you talk to your mother?" Andi gave her young son the 'mother' look.

"No. I meant to say, "Yes, Ma'am"." he said before he rushed to the aid of his sister.

******

Toledo

Toledo shifted his position in the saddle.

"Oh. Why did I have to pick a small town over a hundred miles away?" he groaned.

He spared a glance at the sleeping angel in his lap.

I wonder if she's always like this. She is very beautiful. Just like her ma.

"I could have taken a train, but oh no Toledo wouldn't do anything that stupid, as to lead them right to the station, ask if anyone's seen somebody with a little girl. And if they had, which way did they go?" Toledo sighed. "But I just had to drop the tiny bracelet thing."

Toledo reined in Sultan. A beautiful river lay in front of them.

"Oh, finally some water!"

He dismounted and lay Lilly, now Calandra, underneath a large cedar.

After drinking his fill, he woke Calandra. Digging in his saddle bags he found a tin mug. It was very squished and dented but it worked. He then scooped some water up and slowly helped Calandra drink it.

"There you go Callie. Does that feel better?"

The girl squealed and held her hands up to Toledo. "Up, up." 

He picked Callie up and held her against his chest. He began patting her back subconsciously. He sat down under the oak tree.

After gazing across the river for a few moments at the beautiful sun beginning to set, Toledo began to feel a twinge of guilt. Just a twinge, but it was there, nagging at his mind.

He glanced down at the girl. She was asleep, her thumb half in half out of her mouth. Her long black eye lashes rested against her cheeks. She looked content with her new "Daddy".

"Come on Toledo, do you really want to go back to jail for another lifetime? Or do you want to take the child back? If those Carter brothers catch wind of my trail, my hide'll be hanging out in the sun to dry." 

He slammed his fist into the tree trunk. Callie stirred in her sleep. She found her thumb and began sucking on it again.

"This is my pay-back for all those years Justin Carter had me locked up in a cell. And the pain Andi's little cousin inflicted upon me. I will follow through with raising this girl as my own." he seethed through his teeth. "No matter whether those boys come after me."

******

Andi

Ellie came from the girls' room after putting Lottie to bed and sat across from Andi at the kitchen table. Grasping her sister-in-law's hands in her own she looked into Andi's eyes.

"They will come back soon. Don't worry." 

"I'm just wishing that I had obeyed Riley and stayed in the house with the kids. Lilly wouldn't have been kidnapped if I had!"

Andi yanked her hands free and stood up from the table. She grabbed the coffee pot off the stove and poured herself a cup. Her hands shook.

Why did I have to treat Riley so horribly? It's not his fault that she's gone. He actually told me to stay inside, so it's my fault!

Ellie put a comforting arm around Andi's shoulders. Just then the two women heard a couple horses coming up the driveway.

Andi dropped her mug on the counter, not minding that it spilled, and dashed out the door. Riley and Chad had just dismounted and handed the reins over to Carlos to put in the corral with the other horses.

Andi's heart told her that her baby girl was not with them, but her eyes searched every possible place, anyway. 

Riley started walking towards his wife. He had tears in his eyes for the news he was about to share.

"NO! Riley tell me that you found her." she screamed.

"We found no trail to follow." Riley sighed. "It was a dead end."

He rushed to his wife and caught her before she collapsed to the ground. He swung her into his arms and carried her into the house. He sat Andi into a chair.

"No, no, no, no, no." Andi mumbled over and over again.

Chad moved across the room and encircled his wife in a hug. Chad had tears running down his face. He felt helpless to his sister's needs.

The next month passed slowly. Every week for a while men mounted horses and rode around hoping that they could find a trail. Or anything at all for the Prescott's and Carters.

A year passed and Andi finally accepted the fact that Lilly was truly gone. As the twins- or now Lottie's- third birthday approached, Andi talked with Riley in the solitude of their bedroom.

"I'm ready to put this behind me. Lilly is not going to come back." Andi sucked in a deep breath.

"We have spent a lot of time just trying to find the kidnapper, who is probably miles away. If not in a different state entirely."

Andi glanced in the cradle that lay at the end of the bed. A sweet little girl stared back up at her, her blue eyes clear. A few months ago on February 16, Andi and Riley were blessed with a girl, Sarah Joy. At first Andi tried to stuff Sarah into the gap in her heart that Lilly had left, but that just created more pain.

"Riley, let's move on and give the future to God."

Riley sat next to her. He wiped his eyes free of the tears that had gathered there.

"Yes, it is best to leave the past behind us." he looked deep into Andi's eyes. "But we will NOT do it the way your father did it after Kate left."

Andi nodded. "I don't want Lottie to find out the hard, bitter way that I did."

******

 

Chapter Two: In the Future

July 1904

 

"That's it Callie. Now let's do it again." Toledo Mcquire talked to his eighteen-year-old daughter, Calandra.

"But Papa, I already mastered pickpocketing. Can't we move onto something more exciting?" she gave him a sly smile. "Like swiping jewelry?"

Toledo had move across the state from where he had picked Lilly- or now Calandra- up nearly seventeen years ago. And now he was teaching her to be the craftiest, most beautiful, swindler in the county. She learned fast, and was smart, but most of all she was fast.

"Alright but know that you can't swipe every piece of jewelry that strikes your fancy."

"I know Papa, you've told me a million times! And I'm getting bored of you not letting me go where I will. You won't even let me go across the state with my friend Jannet." she wined.

Toledo sighed.

"Number one: she is not a true friend. You only have her because of the little trinkets in her house you can swipe easily. Number two: You would be going to a place that would seek me out and kill me if they saw me." he cleared his throat. "So, if you want to see your dear Papa alive, you will obey me."

Toledo had grown to love the little girl he had taken like a father. But he never once said anything about her heritage. He didn't want her to think he didn't love her and run away. 

Calandra had grown to be a pretty woman, and many had asked for her hand in marriage, but Toledo had turned every last one down. He still needed her help for one last mission.

He stared at Callie, wondering if she would be the right person for this job. It will be a really risky job for everyone involved. And he needed to get it done before his rivals in rustling got to the place first.

Callie caught his gaze. "Why are you staring at me Papa? Do I have something on my face?" her hands went immediately to her face and began wiping away whatever was on there.

"No, my sweetheart. You don't have anything on your face." he smiled. "I was wondering if you would be up to a job. One that- if done right- will get us a load of cash."

"Yes, of course I would! Are you kidding? You never ask me to accompany you on any important missions. I wouldn't miss this for the world." she paused. "Well, maybe."

When Toledo didn't say anything, she spoke up.

"What's the mission and where?" 

Toledo gulped and stood. He crossed the room and faced Callie. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"The mission is rustling cattle from a huge ranch on the other side of the state. And then we would herd them back down to here, were we will sell them. But we will also keep a few to slaughter for beef and leather." he said.

Callie grinned.

"That sounds exciting! When do we start?"

Toledo always loved her sense of adventure and willingness to do anything that was asked of her. But sometimes she lost her head and started arguing. She could be very stubborn-and loud- during those times.

Just like her mother. Toledo thought.

"We'll leave as soon as you can pack and saddle up your horse." 

"I'll be back in five minutes! Or less!" Callie called over her shoulder.

Toledo talked to himself in the empty room.

"And then we'll ride to the Circle C."