Free Elusive Hope by MaryLu Tyndall Page A

sight of Thiago entering the hut, James punched to his feet, grabbed the letter off Blake’s desk, and glanced at Magnolia’s parents huddling in the corner. Finally they would get to the bottom of this. Mr. Scott’s usual bombastic expression was absent, replaced by fear and shock as he held his sobbing wife by his side. Light from two lanterns attempted to wash away the early morning gloom that had saturated the town hall ever since the Scotts had dragged Colonel Blake and James from their beds just minutes before, waving a piece of foolscap through the air and rambling some nonsense about a kidnapping.
    James rubbed his sleepy eyes and glanced out the window where the rising sun painted a verdant green over the dark canvas of the jungle. The scrape of the colonel’s chair sounded, pulling James’s attention back to the matter at hand. He cleared his throat. “What I’m about to say must remain within this group. Is that clear?”
    Thiago raised his dark brows.
    “It would seem that Miss Magnolia has run away.”
    Mrs. Scott burst into sobs.
    “Apparently with Hayden Gale,” Blake added.
    Mr. Scott patted his wife’s back in an attempt to calm the poor woman. “I am not convinced that she went willingly, I tell you! She loathed the scoundrel. Told me so herself on many occasions.”
    “But you can vouch this is her handwriting?” James asked, holding up the paper.
    Mr. Scott nodded. “No doubt forged under duress.”
    “Perhaps,” Blake said with a frown. “Yet I’m having a difficult time believing Hayden would kidnap Magnolia.”
    Mrs. Scott lifted moist, red-rimmed eyes. “Surely you remember that this man was a stowaway. He made advances on my precious girl before.”
    James tightened his jaw. Accusations that were never proven, but he wouldn’t upset the poor woman further.
    Releasing his wife, Mr. Scott thundered forward. “I demand you send out a search party at once.”
    Blake raised a hand. “Yet you do not want the lady’s reputation besmirched, do you?”
    “Yes, yes, that’s right. Which is why we must tell everyone she has been kidnapped.”
    “I will not do that, sir,”Blake said.“I will not ruin a man’s reputation on pure speculation.”
    “But you’ll ruin my daughter’s on it?” Mr. Scott raised his voice, his jowls quivering.
    “Not speculation…her own words,” James said.
    “Preposterous! She would never run away with a man.” Mr. Scott’s face reddened. “She’s a good girl.”
    Not a girl at all , James thought. A grown woman . Even if it was the first kind word he’d heard Mr. Scott say about his daughter in all the time he’d known the man. Still, he doubted Hayden had anything to do with this. From what James could tell, the disdain between Hayden and Magnolia was mutual. The more likely scenario was that Magnolia had followed Hayden, hoping to get to Rio to make her escape. In fact, if James knew Hayden, the man was probably dragging her back to New Hope as they spoke.
    “That charlatan has taken her. Kidnapped our baby!” Mrs. Scott wailed.
    The colonel circled his desk. “Magnolia did not hide her hatred for Brazil or her desire to go home. Is it possible she saw this as her chance to do just that?”
    “Alone with that…that rogue? No, no. Not my Magnolia.” Mr. Scott gazed out the window where a breeze brought in the smell of rice cakes and mangos being prepared for breakfast. Yet something in his eyes, a flicker of apprehension, told James the man wasn’t altogether sure of his statement.
    “Hayden is no rogue,” James said. “He has more than proven his good character over the past few months. Besides, I agree with Colonel Blake. Until we know the facts, we should stick to what we do know.”
    “Humph.” Mr. Scott took up a pace across the hut. “Very well, then, at least send Thiago to bring her back.” He waved at the Brazilian guide as if he were a fly on the wall. “He will suffice.”
    Blake’s brow furrowed. “But a larger