by Jody Hedlund
“You stay here,” he said. “Here you will be safe.”
He spoke better English than she’d realized. “Safe from what?”
“From man who steals Pastor Abe’s wife.”
Zoe stared into his dark eyes, her heartbeat speeding at the mention of Abe’s name. “Do you know Abe?”
He nodded curtly. “Pastor Abe save my life. Now I save his.”
“Save his?” Was Abe in danger? If so, how?
Another gunshot cracked in the early morning air. The native glanced to the cliffs above him and then frowned. “I go now.”
“Where are you going?”
He started away from her, and she followed. She needed to know what was happening and if Abe was here. But before she could walk more than two steps, the native turned and glowered at her with a dangerous look, one that made her stop.
“Pastor Abe’s wife stay here,” he said louder, as if that would make her understand his instructions better. “Stay safe.”
She stood still, guessing if she attempted to follow again, he wouldn’t hesitate to tie her up. With a final warning glare, he spun and sped toward a section of crumbling rock, his steps as silent and stealthy as they’d been all along. She forced herself to remain motionless and watched his every move as he made his way along the rocks until he disappeared behind a boulder.
After he was gone, the reality of what had happened hit her. She’d been rescued—not kidnapped—by one of Abe’s native friends. And now the natives were spreading out and intending to join in a fight against Dexter and his men, a fight that apparently Abe was leading.
Her pulse pounded a new rhythm, one of thrill that Abe had cared enough to come after her. He hadn’t known Dexter had forced her to leave Yale. For all Abe knew, she was running away from him willingly.
But he’d come anyway. She’d been gone less than twenty-four hours, and he was already here fighting for her.
Just as quickly as the thrill came, a burst of cold dread replaced it. Abe was in danger. He was clearly planning to take part in a gun battle with Dexter and his men.
She glanced around for signs of the native who’d rescued her. Even though he’d ordered her to stay hidden, she couldn’t just sit down and do nothing. Her heart demanded she find a way to help Abe. Before it was too late.
thirty-three
We’ve got you surrounded,” Zeke shouted to the camp below. “No sense in fighting us.”
A bullet pinged against the cliff above them, sending a spray of rocks onto their backs.
Abe kept his head down as Zeke had instructed, hunkering behind the ledge away from the returning gunfire.
“I guess Dex isn’t planning to give Zoe up easily,” Abe whispered.
“Didn’t expect him to,” Zeke whispered back as he prepared his rifle for another shot.
“What do we do now?”
“We start aiming for the men.”
Abe shuddered. “I’d prefer not to take any lives.”
“I’d prefer it that way too, but I guarantee Dex’ll be shooting to kill.” Zeke positioned his gun on the ledge.
At the movement, another shot fired above his head, and Abe yanked him down. “Careful. Zoe won’t be happy if you die today.”
Zeke lay low for a moment before belly-crawling away. “I have to move to another place and distract them. Will, you get around to the others and tell them to start picking off Dex and his men one at a time while I keep them focused on me.”
“No,” Abe said. “I’ll go around to the men.” Will had returned unscathed from his last mission, but Abe didn’t want to chance the boy being out in the open again.
“I can do it.” Will’s freckled face was earnest.
“Zoe won’t be happy if anything happens to you either.” Of everyone, Abe could take a bullet. He was the most dispensable, the one Zoe would mourn for the least.
“Zoe still loves you, Pastor Abe.” As if he’d read Abe’s mind, the boy clasped Abe’s arm and squeezed. “Don’t you be worrying none about that.”
Abe couldn’t keep from worrying. The longer Zoe was away, the more Abe beat himself up for being a fool and not cherishing her the way he should have. “I still want you to wait here.”
“I’m smaller and can keep out of sight better.”
“And he’ll be faster,” Zeke added from his position farther up the cliff.
Abe counted all the reasons why Will should be back in Yale but finally shook his head in defeat. “Fine.”
Will grinned and began to wriggle away.
“Stay low and hurry back.”
The boy nodded and was gone before Abe could change his mind.
Zeke crept slowly along until he disappeared too.
Once he was alone, Abe dropped his head, all pretense of courage gone. “Oh, Lord God, I’m a peace-loving man, not a fighter. But I’m out here fighting for the woman I love. You gave her to me. She’s the only one I want. Please. I’m begging you. Protect her.”
At a soft crush of rocks next to him, Abe tried to gather his emotions into control so Will wouldn’t see him in such despair. “You’re back quicker than I expected.”
When Will didn’t answer, Abe cast him a glance and then swung around fully, surprise rushing through him at the sight of a native sprawled on his belly beside him. “Sque-is?”
His friend pressed a finger to his lips, his face taut, his eyes intense. The black paint on his face indicated he was ready to go into battle.
“What are you doing here?” Abe hissed the question. He hadn’t received a reply to the letter he’d sent, hadn’t seen his friend in months, hadn’t even known if the native and his tribe had survived the smallpox epidemic. And now here Sque-is was, as alive and fierce as always. Was his Indian friend fighting with another tribe? Would they soon find themselves in the midst of two wars?
“I help get Pastor Abe’s wife away from that lowlife Dex.”
“You’re here to help?”
“Hand Zoe over to us.” Zeke’s shout echoed in the canyon, cutting off Abe’s reunion with his friend. “Then we can end this without anyone dying.”
Another gunshot came from Dex’s camp and ricocheted against the cliff wall near Zeke’s new position.
“Maybe you should hand yourself over to us,” Dex called out in his cocky voice. “And we can end this without hurting Zoe.”
Abe drew in a sharp breath and closed his eyes. Dex was threatening Zoe. His stomach churned. He couldn’t—wouldn’t let anything happen to Zoe. He pushed himself up. He’d give himself over to Dex before he let Zeke do it.
Sque-is jerked him down so hard that Abe’s shoulder landed against the rocks painfully. “What are you doing?” The Indian’s eyes blazed with anger.
He tried to yank himself free. “I won’t let them hurt Zoe.”
“I have Pastor Abe’s wife. I helped get her away.”
This time his friend’s words penetrated his despair. “You have her? Now? Where?” He glanced to the rocky ledge beyond his friend and started to sit up.
Sque-is dragged him down again. “She is safe. We put bundle of branches in her bedroll so Dex does not know she is gone.”
Overwhelming emotion welled up within Abe, and for a moment he struggled to breathe past his gratitude. Lord. He couldn’t manage any more than the one-word prayer, but somehow he sensed it was enough for his heavenly Father.
“Give me your gun.” Sque-is reached for the rifle, and Abe, weak with relief, relinquished it all too willingly. “I shoot the bedroll. It will surprise them. Then my warriors attack the camp.”
“What if my friends start shooting your warriors? What if they don’t understand you’re helping?”
“You tell them not to shoot.”
Abe nodded. The plan was dangerous, especially for Sque-is and his tribe mates. Now that Will was moving among the men and instructing them to shoot to kill, Abe was afraid they wouldn’t understand who was friend and who was foe. What if they didn’t hear his warning above the comm
otion and the gunshots?
Zeke’s voice rang out again. “If I hand myself over, what guarantee will you give me that you’ll set Zoe free?”
Urgency prodded Abe. They had to act now before Zeke gave himself up. “Hurry,” he whispered to Sque-is. “Make the shot before Zeke ends up hurt.”
Zoe paused in her climb up the rocky path, hefting Violet in her aching arms and trying to catch her breath. She’d discovered the stairsteps that Abe’s native friend had just used to climb up the sloping cliff.
Even so, it was steep, and the closer she got to the top, the more exposed she was. She crouched lower until she was practically on her knees to keep herself hidden from Dexter and his men.
After the traveling she’d done with the natives earlier, she realized they’d circled wide and had taken her south of the camp, perhaps in an effort to join up with Abe.
Now, as a man attempted to bargain with Dexter for her life, Zoe tried to place the familiar voice.
“Free my sister, and I’ll give you all the gold you want.” The voice rang out again, the desperation within it tugging at Zoe.
Zeke?
“I want your gold and the claim,” Dexter called back.
In a fraction of a second, Zoe put everything together—the reason Dexter Dawson had decided to marry her in the first place, the reason he’d forced her to come along, and the reason why he hadn’t yet hurt her. All along he’d hoped to manipulate Zeke’s compassion in order to get his gold.
And in a fraction of a second she also understood what Zeke was doing—he was sacrificing himself to save her. He didn’t hate her anymore. In fact, he cared enough about her that he was giving himself up for her.
Tears rushed to Zoe’s eyes. Heedless of the tense battle that was about to ensue, she shouted out. “Zeke? Is that you, Zeke?”
“Zoe” came Abe’s worried voice from a short distance away. “What are you doing up here?”
She lifted her head carefully and searched for him, but the rocks ahead blocked everything. “Abe? Your native friends set me free. You don’t have to fight.”
At her call, confusion erupted in Dexter’s camp. She raised herself up until she was peering down at the river’s edge. The men rushed to her bedroll, threw back the covers, and found pine boughs. As they began to argue with each other, Indians charged out of the woods, their warlike cries filling the air and sending chills down Zoe’s spine.
Dexter and his men had no time to react before the warriors with their black-painted faces were upon them. When one of Dexter’s companions lifted a knife to attack, a gun sounded from Abe’s direction, and a second later, the man screamed, dropped his knife, and grasped his hand, blood oozing from his fingers.
For several moments, chaos ensued as Dexter and his men tried to fight the natives and exchanged gunfire with the men hiding in the rocky cliffs. But the battle didn’t last long before the Indians captured and subdued Dexter and his men.
“Zoe.” Abe’s call was closer.
She glanced up to find him scrambling down the stone path toward her. His hat was crooked, revealing tight worry in his features. Though he was dusty and dirty from the ordeal, he’d never looked more handsome.
When he reached her, he hesitated, his blue eyes reflecting the ever-brightening morning sky overhead. “Are you hurt?” He examined her up and down before doing the same to Violet.
“I’m not hurt and neither is Violet.” Only then did she feel the twinge of an ache forming behind her eyes, the beginning of one of her headaches. With all the goings-on, she wasn’t surprised to have the start of a headache and was grateful she didn’t have to be at the mercy of Dexter and his men while battling the pain.
“You’re sure?” Abe reached up as though he’d touch her cheek or hair. But then he dropped his hand and tucked it into his trouser pocket.
“Just a little tired, is all.” There was so much she wanted to say to him, so many things she needed to explain. But where did she begin?
“Violet?” Abe’s forehead still wrinkled with concern.
At her name, Violet kicked her legs and held out her arms toward Abe. A beautiful smile filled the girl’s face, one that would have melted the hardest of hearts.
The worry in Abe’s face smoothed away and was replaced by a smile. He reached for the babe, and she went into his arms with a delighted gurgle. Zoe only wished she could go to Abe as easily and that he’d welcome her as willingly.
Abe pulled Violet against his chest and pressed a kiss to her head. The sight of the two together made Zoe’s heart ache with such longing she wasn’t sure she could bear it. Even if Abe had come after her and Violet, she couldn’t assume everything would be better between them. After all, there was still that letter from Lizzy along with the uncertainty of the future. If only she could make him understand she wanted to be with him anyway, no matter what happened.
“Thank you for coming after me,” she finally said.
“Then, you didn’t leave with Dexter on your own accord?” He cuddled Violet against his chest and studied Zoe’s face, the anxiousness returning. “I thought after reading Lizzy’s letter you decided you didn’t want to be with me anymore.”
Shame pressed hard against her chest. “I set out to run off. But once I got down to the trail, I knew I couldn’t.”
His eyes were expectant, dare she even say hopeful.
“Before I could get away, Dexter forced me to join his group.”
“Then, he kidnapped you?”
“Aye, in a manner of speaking, using threats . . . threats to find and kill you.”
Once again, Abe’s expression grew serious. “We might not be able to put him in jail for stealing gold from miners coming down out of the goldfields, but surely we can convict him for kidnapping.”
“I hope so.” She wanted so much to throw her arms around Abe and hug him and never let him go. She wanted to shout out she loved him and that she’d never leave him again. But seeing him so real before her overwhelmed her—his presence, kindness, and good looks reminded her of how different they were. No matter her personal feelings for Abe or even how much he might care about her, she didn’t want to trap him into a relationship he might come to regret.
As though he sensed the inner turmoil rising inside her, Abe’s eyes softened. “Zoe . . .”
Before he could say anything more, Will called out behind her. “Zoe!” An instant later he barreled into her, throwing his arms around her and sobbing her name again. She closed him into her embrace and held him tight, letting her tears mingle with his.
“I thought I lost you,” he said after a minute.
“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” She sniffled, realizing just how much her presence meant to Will. Having no memory of his mum and having lost his pa, he was as much in need of her love and attention as a starving child was of nourishment. She supposed now that he’d had a taste of a real family, he was desperate to keep it.
She hugged him closer and met Abe’s gaze over the boy’s head. Abe nodded, as though to agree with her silent assessment. Oh, how she wanted to continue to give a home to Will, and Violet, and even little Lyle.
But she had to trust that if God had plans for her to take care of the children He put in her path, He’d provide a way, and if not, then He’d give each of the orphans new homes.
At the approach of a man coming down the rocky path behind Abe, Zoe sucked in a breath.
Will pulled away from her, and Abe stepped aside, giving her full view of the man she’d come halfway around the world to find. Zeke.
thirty-four
The young man climbing toward Zoe didn’t take his eyes from her—eyes she’d recognize anywhere.
Beneath the brim of his hat, his expression was sad, almost haunted. But otherwise, from what she could tell, he was robust, strong, and unharmed. His skin was tan, his muscles well defined against his tightly rolled-up shirtsleeves, and his movements as sure and confident as always.
From all appearances, his
life in British Columbia suited him. He’d never looked more handsome or healthy, certainly not the pale, half-starved young man he’d been in Manchester in the long days following his unemployment from the mill.
“Zoe,” he said as he drew near. “Are you alright?”
“Aye. Other than tired and hungry, I’m just fine.”
He stopped in front of her and swiped his hat from his head, revealing thick, dark hair so like hers in color and texture. The morning sunlight revealed the dark circles under his eyes and the pain in their green depths.
“I left Williamsville the day I got your letter.”
Hope blossomed to life inside her once again. “You did?”
“I couldn’t believe you were here, so close. I had to come see you.”
“I’ve been waiting for spring to travel to see you too. I have so much to tell you.” Abe stepped to her side, his shoulder brushing hers, and his eyes filled with encouragement, almost as if he were reminding her that he would stand beside her no matter what happened. With Violet in one arm, he reached for her hand and squeezed it. When he made a motion to let go, she clung to him, needing him now more than ever. In response he laced his fingers through hers, holding her hand even closer.
“I need to speak my piece first.” Zeke swallowed hard and then spoke in a rush. “I shouldn’t have left you behind the way I did. And I loathe myself for it.”
“I’m sorry too, Zeke—”
“No, Zoe. I left you with Father. And no matter what would have happened to me, I shouldn’t have run off like a coward.”
“It’s my fault you had to run off in the first place. If I wouldn’t have pushed you to go to the mill that day, you wouldn’t have gotten blamed for the fire.”
“But you were right to be concerned about me and the union men. They weren’t a good influence, and I’d have gotten into trouble with them sooner or later. They weren’t the kind of friends I needed. Real friends wouldn’t have set me up to take the blame that day.”
