“All right, all right! I’ll call you Clove for short. That do? Cloves would just about suit you.”
The woman made no reply, but, instead, turned and gazed stolidly at the three girls who sat in the rear seat and who were listening to this conversation with wildly beating hearts. Half an hour ago they had known that the man driving was not taking them home, but he had put them off with excuses that he had to stop some place first. Now Belle leaned forward and looked at him squarely.
“Mr. Richmond,” she said firmly, “we want to know the meaning of this. We are not going home. This is nowhere near the X Bar X. Where are you taking us?”
“Well, now, I wouldn’t just say you’re not goin’ home,” the man drawled. “Let’s say you’re not goin’ home yet. That sounds better. Now what else did you want to know?”
Belle felt the blood leave her face. She turned to the others.
“Don’t be frightened,” she said in a low voice. “He may be just trying to scare us. He won’t dare keep us away long. Dad would kill him!”
“He would, hey?” The man laughed nastily. “So sure of that, Miss Spitfire? Maybe there’s others around that can do a little killin’ on their own hook.”
Ethel gave a slight scream and began to tremble. Nell, taking her cue from Belle, clenched her teeth and remained silent.
The man spoke to the woman at his side.
“When were they coming?”