“Is This Seat Taken?” — Disabled Woman Sat Near a Widowed Father, Then One Detail Made Her Freeze in Shock
Chapter 7
They rode back immediately.
Mrs. Hale’s cottage stood empty.
The door was open.
Samuel jumped from his horse.
“Clara!”
No answer.
The little room where she had been sleeping was empty.
A ribbon lay on the floor.
Samuel picked it up.
His hands shook.
Eleanor looked outside.
There were wagon tracks.
“Someone took her.”
Samuel ran toward the road.
Eleanor followed.
“Samuel!”
He turned.
She was holding something.
A folded note.
The message contained only five words:
Bring the ledger to Bell.
Samuel crushed the paper.
“He has my daughter.”
Eleanor looked toward the distant hills.
“No.”
“What?”
“He has the child because he believes she has something he needs.”
Samuel stared.
“The medallion.”
Eleanor nodded.
“The matching medallion.”
Samuel understood.
Bell didn’t merely want the ledger.
He wanted whatever Edmund had hidden.
And Clara was wearing the key.
Samuel mounted his horse.
“Where?”
Eleanor pointed north.
“Bell’s old estate.”
They rode hard.
Meanwhile, Clara sat in a locked room beneath Josiah Bell’s manor.
She was frightened.
But she wasn’t crying.
A servant had taken the silver medallion from around her neck.
Clara watched him carefully.
Then she asked:
“Why does Mr. Bell want this?”
The servant looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
He frowned.
Clara’s voice became quiet.
“My papa always says people who lie look at the floor.”
The servant glanced downward.
Clara smiled faintly.
“You looked.”
The man sighed.
“He believes your mother left something hidden.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Clara leaned closer.
“My mama isn’t dead.”
The servant froze.
Clara saw his reaction.
“You know her.”
Before he could answer, footsteps approached.
Josiah Bell entered.
He was an elderly man with silver hair and a polished walking stick.
He smiled.
“Your mother was always troublesome.”
Clara lifted her chin.
“My father will find me.”
Bell laughed.
“I certainly hope he does.”
Then he placed the medallion on the table.
“Because your father is about to learn what your mother spent six years trying to hide.”
