By Historian
CHAPTER FOUR
After the hooded villains left the sawmill, Julia inched closer to the whirling blades. As she did, one thought came through her mind: Where is Becky?
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Becky walked into Mueller’s General Store and saw a group of people crowed around something. She walked up to the counter and asked Mr. Mueller what the attraction was.
“Floating soap.” he replied. “I have a cousin in Cincinnati who works where this is made. He wrote to tell me about it and I ordered some.”
Becky strode up to the crowd and asked for a look Sure enough, a bucket was filled with water and a piece of soap floated atop the water. She broke free from the crowd and returned to the counter. “Two cakes of that soap.” she announced. “What’s it called?”
“Ivory Soap.”
“Two cakes of that Ivory Soap and the things on this list. Please deliver them to the ranch tomorrow.”
“Very well.”
Just as Becky walked out of the store, she saw Henry mounted on his horse, Buck. “I saw Atalanta tied up outside.” he said. “Did Julia ride into town too?”
“Yes.” Becky replied. “But I don’t know where she is.”
She then mounted Atalanta and just happened to look in the direction of the sawmill. “That’s strange.” she observed. “The sawmill seems to be running, but it’s been closed down for almost a year.”
The two rode toward the mill, and as they approached, they recognized a bit of horseflesh. “That’s Lilybelle.” Becky noted.
“But where’s Julia?” Henry asked.
“Let’s look inside.”
They dismounted and went inside and were met by the terrifying sight of Julia lying bound and gagged on some wooden contraption that was sliding slowly and steadily toward the whirling steel saw blade.
“We’ll have to stop the blade somehow!” Becky exclaimed.
“How?” asked Henry.
“That!” Becky pointed at a bucket white “fire” painted on it in large white letters.
The bucket was heavy, but close to the boiler of the steam saw. Henry picked up a small log and used it to open the door to the boiler’s firebox. Julia began to make frantic noises behind her gag as Henry helped Becky to pour the sand into the firebox. The blade slowed down some but continued to spin and by now had almost reached Julia’s feet.
Henry picked up the log and began to pound at the pipes connecting the boiler and the saw. Becky grabbed another log and began to do the same. Finally, both saw and bent stopped short with the blade near Julia’s knees. She breathed a sigh of relief, as did Becky and Henry.
The two rescuers then went about setting Julia free. They pulled at the knots and the ropes came of. Julia then sat up, but shook her head when Henry tried to remove the gag. That chore she reserved for herself.
“Are you all right?” Becky asked.
“I am now.” Julia answered, somewhat hoarsely.
“What happened?” Henry asked.
“I don’t know. I was rendered unconscious and awoke bound to that contraption.”
The “contraption” was wooden plank, to which two narrower pieces of wood were nailed, which provided a place to tie each leg.
“I have no idea what those scoundrels wanted.” Julia said.
Despite the grim situation, Becky smiled. No matter what, Julia would never use a word stronger than scoundrel. “Let’s get out of here.” She said.
The three left the mill and mounted their horses. “Becky, you were saying earlier that the mill had been closed for about a year.” Henry stated. “Who owned it?”
“Colonel Dalton.”
“Emma Dalton’s husband by any chance?” Julia asked.
“Yes.” Becky replied. “The autumn before you two came to town, he went to rescue a party of travelers stranded in a rainstorm. He died from the pneumonia he contracted as result.”
“Interesting.” Julia said, and left it at that.
“Never mind that.” Becky said. “We must report this incident to the sheriff.”