Dancing with the Devil

Chapter Eleven

Audrey sighed. "What are you staring at me so hard for, Irish?" 

Irish grinned sheepishly and crossed his legs on the dirt in front of him. "Tryin' to figure out what a beautiful lass such as yerself was doin' out here in the middle o'nowhere with no food and drink." Before Audrey could reply, he continued, "And also tryin' to ponder my wee mind about what woul have ya lookin' over your shoulder and tremblin' at every noise in the brush." 

Audrey peered out into the darkness before letting her gaze return to their small fire. She shivered as she remembered the scent of burning flesh that had filled the air after she'd shoved Rodger into that fire just a few nights before. 

She spared a quick glance at Irish and realized the man was studying her carefully as he picked at his teeth with a twig he'd sharpened while they'd been sitting. Audrey chewed her lip. She couldn't tell him the truth. If anyone knew that she had potentially murdered a U.S. Marshall she would be lucky if she didn't end up with a rope around her neck....

"I wandered away from my traveling party as we were making our way from Briggston to Grandy," Audrey lied. "I'm afraid I got lost and turned around and they must have been unable to find me." 

Irish laughed lightly. "I'm an Irishman, love. We make our livin's lyin' to folks and so we're pretty good at detectin' lies ourselves. Don't ya worry your wee head about it. I'll take ya to Grandy just the same. I'm a bit of a nosy lad--least that's what I've been told a time or two." 

Audrey felt her shoulders sag with relief. She'd been worried that Irish wouldn't be so accepting of her lies. He reached in a sack beside him and pulled out a bottle with the same label on it that was painted on his cart. "For the low cost of only two dollars a bottle, I can have ya cured of anythin' that ails ya; be it spiritual or physical." 

Audrey snorted as she took the bottle and examined it in the firelight. "What exactly is in this?" 

"A little of this, a bit of that, a wee bit of whiskey and a good helpin' of opium." 

Audrey's eyes widened as she shook her head at the Irishman. "Dear Lord, Irish! Are you trying to cure them or kill them?" 

Irish's laugh was hearty. "Either way they won't be plagued by their ailments any longer, will they? Ya know ya remind me a bit of my friend Ansel. He was just as cynical of my wee little venture here... said the exact same words you did, as a matter of fact." 

Audrey nearly leapt to her feet but somehow managed to keep from doing so. "Ansel? Ansel Adams? He's your friend?" 

Irish's expression became guarded as he removed the beans from the fire and stirred them with a spoon. "He may be. Why do ya seem so interested?" 

Audrey weighed her choices. She could trust this man with the truth and hope that he would help her or she could keep the truth hidden and lose the only lead that she might possibly have in finding Ansel Adams and her daughter. 

With a deep, shuddering breath and a squaring of her shoulders, Audrey met his gaze. "Ansel has my daughter Penelope. It is my belief that he rescued her from a man named Barnaby Wallace after a man named Rodger York sold her to him..... I am desperate to find Penelope, Irish. Will you help me?" 

Irish was clearly surprised. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped and then he hurriedly poured the beans onto two tin plates and handed her one. "Ansel doesn't take kindly to folks huntin' him down, lass. Ya may want to give the man his space." 

"He has my daughter!" Audrey exclaimed, setting her plate of beans aside. "Please, help me! Or at the very least tell me where he may be with her so that I can continue in finding him myself." 

Irish sighed and shoveled a spoonful into his mouth. "Calm yourself, lass. Ansel had your wee Penelope when he saved my life a while back. He killed those three bastards attemptin' to hang me for no good reason and then we rode on into Briggston together. That's where he left your daughter, lass. He left her at the orphanage. Ya must have missed her somehow." 

Audrey shook her head. "No, he left Briggston less than a week ago with my daughter! The headmistress at the orphanage beat Penelope so severely that she nearly killed her--" Audrey's blood boiled as she recalled the story. "--and Ansel rescued Penelope and then left with her. Where would he go, Irish?" 

Irish scratched at the red stubble covering his chin and sighed. "That certainly won't help Ansel's opinion on women and their monstrous ways..." he clicked his tongue. "I can't say for certain where he'd head, Audrey, but I can take ya to Grandy and we can see if we can't figure things out. Ansel and I have a handy knack for runnin' into each other from time to time--hopefully we'll get lucky and he'll be there waitin' on us." 

A/N: There should be a reunion coming up soon! I wonder how that will turn out...........