Roderick's Purpose - Ellie St. Clair Page 0,14
know for nothing? How could you? You will pay for this,” she said, looking around the room, her gaze coming to rest on Roderick and she pointed a finger at him. “All of you. Now, where is he?”
“We did not lie,” McLaren said, his face unmoving. “We have him in our custody — the custody of the North-West Mounted Police, that is. We transported him to Winnipeg, where he could be dealt with amongst the most serious of prisoners. You will be reunited there, as I promised. You will take the next train, and travel there to meet him before continuing on to Scotland.”
She was silent, but her stare said all as she glared first at McLaren and then Roderick.
“Let us go, then,” she said, making her way to the door.
“Do you have anything to collect before we begin the journey?” asked Roderick, standing to follow her, though his instincts made him want to step away from her and the anger that practically shimmered off her skin.
“No,” she said. “Everything I need — everything I have — is with me.”
Neither man was aware of just how true those words were. All Gwen needed was in her saddlebags — and what was next to her skin. Her future was sewn into the shift that hugged her curves. She pressed a hand to her bodice every now and then to reassure herself that it was still there, though if it hadn’t dislodged in her tumble with Roderick, it never would.
Roderick helped her back up onto a horse that belonged to the Police, transferring her few meager belongings into the saddlebags. Her own horse would remain at the barracks, he told her. “I assume it’s not actually yours anyway — not bought and paid for, I mean,” he said, and she sniffed, refusing to meet his gaze. He was right of course. She had seen the horse tied to a fencepost a couple of years ago. She had petted the animal, expressing her appreciation for the fine mare. When they made camp that night, Doc returned with her as a ‘gift.’ Gwen had felt guilty for the loss of whomever they had stolen the horse from, but when she suggested they return it, she had received Doc’s withering stare, the one that told her not to betray any emotion, for, he told her, it reminded the rest of the gang that she was a woman, and therefore not as capable as the rest of them.
So, she had kept the horse, and every time she rode her, she’d felt a twinge of guilt.
“Tell him to take her back to Brandon,” she said quietly.
“What was that?”
“Tell the sergeant to take her to Brandon. She belongs to someone there. I’m sure they will know who. She is a rather magnificent mare.”
She wouldn’t look at him as she said the words, admitting to her crime. She also didn’t want him to see the emotion in her eyes as she separated from the animal. It was silly, really, but the horse had come to mean something to her. She had chosen not to name her, as she didn’t want to become attached for it seemed nothing in her life lasted very long, but it hadn’t mattered. Roderick didn’t seem to notice anything was the matter, however, as he simply nodded, and made her come with him as he talked to the sergeant.
Soon they were on their way, Callum riding with them as he would lead the horses back to the barracks. It wasn’t a long ride to Troy, where the train would meet them, particularly because they had to push the horses near a gallop to get there. If only they hadn’t taken so long with her at the station, she told him with an eye roll, and surprisingly, he seemed to agree with her.
“Too many procedures,” he said with a shrug, and she realized that perhaps he was not quite the staid law officer she had initially thought.
Roderick was rather silent for most of the ride – primarily because of their speed, of course, but she sensed that even if they had slowed, he had lost some of his joviality. Clearly, he was angry about his role in accompanying her all the way to Scotland, which she could understand. She didn’t particularly look forward to the journey over the ocean, and he would have to make it both there and back. Gwen didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she actually somewhat missed his constant chatter.