Free Elusive Hope by MaryLu Tyndall Page B

party would cover more territory, find her quicker. Surely that would be better if she is truly in danger.”
    Mrs. Scott slumped into a chair and dropped her head into her hands.
    “No, I will not see our good name destroyed aga—” Mr. Scott halted midsentence, alarm rolling over his expression. “I will not risk her reputation.”
    “Very well.” Colonel Blake faced Thiago. “Are you willing to go after the lady and ensure no foul play is afoot?”
    “And bring her home.” Mrs. Scott lifted her tear-filled gaze.
    James raised a brow. “Only if she wishes.”
    Thiago stuffed hands in his pockets.“I cannot go, senhor. The emperor pays me to stay with colonists. I cannot abandon my work or there will be huge punishment. I will instruct someone else which way to go.”
    Blake faced the Scotts. “Will you compensate her rescuer? Offer some incentive?”
    Mr. Scott’s gaze skittered over the men in the room before he grabbed the lapels of his coat. “Whoever goes will have my undying gratitude, sir, as well as the satisfaction of saving my daughter’s life.”
    James shook his head. Had Mr. Scott’s grief, his desperation, of only a moment ago been merely an act? When the Scotts often bragged of their wealth, were they not willing to part with anything to see their daughter safely home?
    Later that morning, James stood before the assembled colonists, open Bible in hand, ready to give the Sunday message—a sermon on love and self-sacrifice, a last-minute change in light of the Scotts’ behavior toward their daughter. While the old carpenter, Mr. Lewis, played his fiddle and led them in the hymn, James tried to shake off the feeling of foreboding that had cloaked him since early that morning—since the middle of the night, in truth. Ever since he’d woken in a chilled sweat from a nightmare he couldn’t remember. He only recalled that it was terrifying and grotesque, and that it had draped a heaviness on him that had been accentuated by Magnolia’s foolish escapades. It was a heaviness he’d felt building ever since they’d arrived in this new land. Like an ominous cloud in the distance drifting ever nearer, blotting out the sun ray by ray by ray.
    Gazing across the faces, he caught a glimpse of russet hair glowing like polished mahogany in the morning sun. Angeline . He shifted his stance for a better view of the petite woman who always seemed dwarfed by the other colonists. Of course, it didn’t help that she’d sat all the way in the back, though he should be happy she’d accepted his invitation at all. If anything could improve his mood, it would be that charming lady. In fact, all the ladies of New Hope were present, Bibles in hand and faces alight with eager expectation of hearing God’s Word. What a welcome change from the women he’d been accustomed to dealing with back in Knoxville, both in church and out. As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion . The verse from Proverbs rose in his mind, reminding him of women he’d known who had lured men to destruction. Who had lured him to destruction. He’d made it his life’s goal not only to avoid such women but to clean the streets of them. Difficult to do in Knoxville, but much easier to accomplish in a new town, in a new utopia based on the Word of God.
    Opening his Bible, James began reading from 1 Corinthians 13. He’d been officiating the services ever since Parson Bailey had run off with their money on Dominica. Yet he still felt unequal to the task. Worse, he felt like a hypocrite. He wondered if God looked down on him, shaking His head in disgust that James dared to preach after his many failings on both the battle and mission field.
    His voice broke. Clearing his throat, he looked across the crowd. A shadow to the right caught his gaze. Dark mist rose on an empty stump like steam from a cauldron, spinning and curling and thickening until it took the form and shape of a soldier. A corporal, he