Free Jake, Devils on Horseback, Book 2 by Beth Williamson

freedom he’d been searching for.
    Elliot smiled as he smashed the bones beneath his boot. Those damn Johnny Rebs would be his so very soon.

Chapter Four
    The mill stood at the other end of town backing to the river, a hulking building nearly twenty feet tall. The weathered boards had been constructed well to create a solid building. Jake was impressed with the outside alone. He expected the inside to be just as impressive. From what he could find out, Gabby’s father had designed the current mill water flow and had made numerous improvements with his own hands. Some kind of accident earlier that year had left him unable to walk. Jake figured Gabby had learned her fierceness, passion and drive from her father.
    The sound of hammers and saws rang through the morning air—Zeke and Lee were over at the church while Gideon assisted at one of the ladies’ houses in town. No doubt Allison was fluttering around Zeke as they worked. As Jake walked toward the mill, he felt someone watching him again. The same person who had been watching him since he’d arrived in Tanger three days earlier. A chill raced up his spine. Whoever watched him didn’t do so out of curiosity. There was malevolence in that stare. Jake whirled around and saw nothing but Marchison’s store. No one was there or anywhere within at least three blocks. He stared hard at all the windows overlooking the street like silent sentinels.
    After a few minutes, he started walking again, resolved to investigate the mysterious watcher another time. Darkness would be a better cover to snoop around anyway. Besides, he’d promised Gabby he’d be there and he sure as hell didn’t want to let her down.
    “We’ll meet soon, stranger, I promise,” he muttered.
    When he arrived at the mill, Jake knocked, curious to find out what was making the racket on the other side of the door. No one answered his knock, so he tried the knob, which opened under his hand. He poked his head inside.
    “Hello? Anybody here?”
    An older man with salt and pepper hair and a stooped back walked past the door and barely gave Jake a glance. He was covered in an off-white dust Jake assumed was flour.
    “Gabby!” The man shuffled toward the other side of the room. “You got a visitor.”
    Jake stepped in and the great hulking machinery in front of him spun, turned, and made a thwapping sound as grain was ground into flour. The wheel mill outside turned with the water as it powered the mill. He looked up and saw pulleys and wheels in an intricate symphony of machinery moving in time with each other.
    “Jake.” Gabby appeared beside him wearing a huge leather apron, smudges of flour and grease on her cheeks, and a frown marring her beautiful face.
    Just the sight of her made Jake lose his ability to speak for a moment as he lost himself in her dark eyes. She cleared her throat and he jumped at the sound.
    “Good morning, Gabby.” He pointed up at the mill’s equipment. “Impressive. I’ve never seen one up close before.”
    She swiped a hand across her forehead. “It’s a design my father helped with down in Guenther’s Mill in San Antonio. It separates the middlings layer—” She stopped and shook her head. “That’s not important. We haven’t had a decent speed in the mill for months, not since the waterwheel was damaged. Harvey would drown if he even tried to get out there.”
    Jake smiled. “Can you explain to me how the mill works? It would help if I knew what needed to work so I could fix it.”
    “Are you really interested in the mill?” She narrowed her eyes.
    “Absolutely. I’m from a long line of drunks and cotton pickers.” Jake shrugged. “I’ve never even been inside a mill, but I do want to learn about it.” He knew it was the right thing to say when Gabby’s eyes lit. The strange thing was, he meant what he said.
    “Okay, but if you become bored, don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.” She started by giving him a tour of the mill, explaining how the