River

Thomas

Well, there he is, the man himself. I was just wondering when I would get the chance to talk to Gregor, and I find him waiting for me outside my office when I get back from the stables. I glance across the street and see a throng growing at Samuel’s office under our rooms. Word must have traveled fast that the doctor is back in town - I am sure there are more people there now than when I dropped him off. Poor guy.

When I make it to my office Gregor smiles and shakes my hand. “Good to see you, Thomas. What has happened at Ellis Cliffs?” He doesn’t explain how he knew I would be coming here, but since word has already obviously spread of our return, it couldn’t have been hard to guess.

“Mrs. Ellis is about the same. Too tired to get out of bed. There didn’t seem to be anything else Samuel could do for her, so we decided to come back.”

He glances over at Samuel’s office. “Good thing, it seems that half the town needs a doctor.”

I snort, then open the door. “Would you like to come in?”

“Yes, please,” he says, “I have something else I need to discuss with you.”

“Has anyone heard anything from Stephen and Margaret?” I ask him as we are sitting down.

“Not yet. I brought Dalila to Homochitto yesterday. She seems fully healed.”

Huh. That seems quick, but I guess I don’t really have much experience in that sort of thing.

I’m tired, and had been thinking of trying to power through some paperwork, but I think I’m glad Gregor has something else to talk about. I’m not sure I’d want to try to focus on paperwork right now. I’m still thinking about Nancy.

“So….” I prompt him.

“It’s about Mason,” he says, much to my surprise.

“The brigand?”

“Yes. I know where he is going to be in the next day or two. I’m hoping that the militia will be able to apprehend him.”

Gregor

He seems tired, or perhaps it is that he seems more mature. The happy-go-lucky fellow I first met seems to be settling down. I believe that his experiences in life are helping him grow up. His militia experience, his move to Louisiana, and probably most of all his love for Nancy, all seem to be contributing to this more serious demeanor. It is reassuring. I am glad that I can lay this situation at his feet.

I tell him basically everything. Obviously not the part about how my hidden guardian angel is giving me all my information. For that I just tell him that Mason was overheard making plans. But I tell him about Moses and Jake being lined up to watch, about two of my employees having been threatened into cooperating with watching my house, about how I plan to go to the club for the next couple of nights to give the impression that Rosalind will be alone in the house. I even explain that Mason had abused Rosalind while I was traveling, because I had angered him during my journey by foiling a robbery on the Trace.

“Wait, that was Mason?” Thomas asks. He has certainly heard and engaged in the ongoing gossip about my first encounter with Samuel Duncan and Henry Postlethwaite.

I nod. “And he has apparently been holding a grudge against me ever since. I believe that once he has enough information, he will make a move. I would expect it to be either tomorrow evening or the next, while I am at the club. If the militia can be in place, he can be apprehended.”

Thomas nods thoughtfully. “This sounds like a good plan to lure him in. Will Rosalind be safe, though?”

It is the main part of the plan that I dislike. I have to leave her alone, and I hate it. “All I can do is make sure people are watching, and rely on you and the militia to grab him before he can get anywhere close to her. And hope for the best.”

“Well,” he says, “I think you have lined everything up. I’ll talk to the members of my unit tonight. I’ll be seeing them at the club at dinner time.”

“You’ll see me there as well,” I say.

“Yes, it’s part of the plan.”

He looks at me, sees the anxiety in my eyes. “It will be all right Gregor. You have done well, making these arrangements. We can take care of it. We’ll keep her safe.”

Gregor’s

Part of him wishes that he could just tell Thomas where Mason is right now and avoid the whole thing, but there is no legitimate way for him to have the information about his hiding place. He needs to lay this trap, lure Mason out into the open, so that he can be apprehended by the authorities without Gregor himself seeming suspicious.

He has also considered simply going alone to confront Mason immediately, but he does not wish to risk that going badly. He would neither want to be injured by Mason, nor to have to kill him personally. Furthermore, if he angered or injured Mason, it would make him more erratic and unpredictable.

No, he is convinced that the trap he is laying is the best plan, the safest, the most likely to be effective.

As he finishes his conversation with Thomas, I tell him, “Darling, David is finishing at the mercantile nearby, and will be moving to your street to begin observing your house shortly.”

“How close is he?”

“Close enough to hear you, and to see you leaving Thomas’s office.”

“To the north?”

“Yes.”

He carefully opens the door, keeps his face to the south so that he does not meet David’s eyes, and says loudly, “Okay, thanks for returning my carriage, Thomas. Good to see you back in town. I’ll see you tonight at the club for dinner.”

“It worked, David ducked behind a corner when he realized you were coming out of the office, to make sure you didn’t see him. He heard you making plans to be at the club tonight.”

“Perfect,” he thinks, and proceeds straight south towards Silver Street and Under-the-hill without glancing around, resisting even staring across the street at the crowd of patients threatening to overwhelm poor Doctor Samuel Duncan.

Mason

I approach the north end of the dock from the little grove where I spent my night. It looks like a little lover’s tryst has been taking place there, and I spent the night in comfort with the blankets and pillows they left behind for me. The little path they have worn into the brush made it quite easy to find. I almost wished they had come across me in their den, whoever they are. That could have been amusing, I could have scared the man away and had a bit of fun with the woman. Although I suppose it is just as well not to get distracted right now. I am eager for my plan to proceed smoothly.

I see Stu working on the dock, carrying boxes that have been unloaded from a flatboat. When he puts his box down, I whistle to get his attention. When he looks up I beckon him over. I am hoping to avoid being seen, since there being a reward complicates things for me.

He moves my way, and I silently lead him along the path to the grove. He looks around when we get there. “Convenient, isn’t it?” I say. He just grunts in response.

I sit down on the big rock in the middle of the grove. “Well,” I ask, “what has been happening?”

“David and Ben are doing what you said, from what I can tell. I saw David leave a couple of hours ago, and Ben seems to be keeping his eyes out for Gregor. Gregor had come to the dock, left for a while, and now he’s back. As far as I can tell he doesn’t have any idea that he’s being watched. He isn’t doing anything unusual that I can see.”

Good. It’s going to be much easier if he is too much of an idiot to be on the lookout for trouble.

“Is there a way for me to get up into town without going past the docks?” I ask him.

He considers, then ducks behind the trees to look up the hill. He points. “If you go along back this way, you should come up on the north end of town. There’s a bit of a scramble up the hill, but it’s doable.”