taken on the same shade of blue. Although they were driving a fair distance from the shore, she could vividly picture herself walking with Tom in the low tide at sunset.
“Victoria Cole,” she scolded herself, “you stop all of your wallowing this instant.” She would only make herself miserable if every time she looked at the ocean she remembered Tom.
Instead, she adjusted her hat and fortified herself for meeting Nathaniel. The drive had been rather long. And the cab was getting stuffy. She hadn’t realized the dock was so far from the hotel.
Twisting as best her garments would allow, she glanced out the back window. She expected to see some evidence of Provincetown. When the glimpse showed her nothing but sand dunes, she sat forward with a start.
How far had they driven? She scooted across the seat from one window to the other, searching vainly for any sign of Provincetown or a steamer. Where were they?
Perhaps she’d misunderstood. Perhaps they were traveling to another location on the Cape. Maybe they weren’t riding on a steamer after all but were taking a train.
Even as Victoria tried to make sense of where the carriage was going, Theresa’s words came back to her, that Nathaniel was at the dock buying tickets. And when Nathaniel had mentioned they would ride on a steamer to Falmouth, he’d made it sound like they would leave from Provincetown.
A bubble of panic formed in Victoria’s chest. What if the driver had mistaken her destination?
As much as she tried to convince herself that nothing was wrong, dread began to gnaw at her. She pulled the fan out of her pocket, flipped it open, and fanned herself. Yet the air seemed even staler than before, and the gentle breeze she created did nothing to ease the perspiration forming on her brow.
She needed to question the driver. He would set her mind at ease. He would assure her of the plans. If they were off course, she could direct him back. That was easy enough.
She tugged on the bell pull and waited for the driver to respond to her call. After several long moments, she pulled it again, this time harder. When nothing happened, she sucked in a deep breath, reached for the door handle, and rattled it. She pushed it harder, and it didn’t give way.
“Stay calm, Victoria,” she admonished herself as she slid across the seat to the other door. Her fingers closed around the latch, and she silently prayed. Please let the door open. She pressed harder, and…it didn’t budge. She yanked on it again. Both doors were stuck. Or locked.
Had the driver purposefully locked her inside?
She probed at the edges of the window, looking for a way that she might be able to pry it open. Then she searched the rest of the carriage but couldn’t discover any other way that she might exit.
With a frustrated cry, she pounded her fists against the glass. “Let me out this instant!” When the vehicle continued to roll down the rocky road without slowing, Victoria beat against the front of the carriage in hope that the driver would hear her and stop.
But no amount of noise made a difference. She banged one last time against the front panel before collapsing into the seat. She was breathing hard, and her hat had fallen off.
The driver was clearly ignoring her because there was no way he could miss all her racket. If only he would stop, she could get answers. But something in the pit of her stomach told her everything she needed to know.
Although normally optimistic, she had the feeling all the positive thinking in the world wouldn’t get her out of her current predicament.
She’d been kidnapped. And this time Tom wouldn’t be coming after her.
Chapter 19
Tom gave another heave, but the chair scooted only a fraction. Although he had just two feet to go until he reached the door, the distance seemed a mile away. He heaved again and again, as he had been for the past thirty minutes since his captor had left the room.
His skull throbbed. The open wound at the back of his head stung. And dizzying blackness threatened him every time he moved. He’d awoken to find his hands tied to the spindles behind the chair, his feet bound to its legs, and his mouth gagged.
Of course, he hadn’t moved right away, not even to open his eyes. He’d wanted to learn as much as he could about his situation before alerting anyone to his wakefulness.