Grace’s jaw dropped unconsciously. “How can you treat such a book so?”
Keats looked at her with a leering smile that made Grace shiver. “Man that gave it to me said it would save my soul. It doesn’t seem to be working,” he chucked the remnants of the book in her direction. “You can have it. Maybe you’ll find something worth reading. Just don’t read aloud I hate the sound of it. ‘Sides I have another book.” He picked up a book and waved it at her.
A shock ran through her.
“Recognize this? Got it from your school house when no one was around, I like this paper better anyway.”
Grace picked up the treasure he had tossed at her. She glanced over at Mrs. Keats. The woman was staring blankly into the fire. None of this seemed to bother her. Grace opened the Bible. I want to read what Mitch had me read. Now if I can only find it.
Grace paged through the Bible, her eyes searching. I know it is somewhere in Psalms...Her eyes scanned the pages, and suddenly she stopped. Words had never come more to life than the ones before her.
He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murders the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor when he draweth them into his net. He crouched, and humbleth himself that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He has said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; He will not see it. Arise, O Lord, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble…
God, I don’t know if I am humble but please don’t forget me. Don’t leave me in this lion’s jaws.
Grace read chapter after chapter that seemed to come from her own heart. Promises she wanted to cling to, she held them to her heart.
Oh God, hold up my goings in thy paths, that they footsteps slip not I have called upon thee and you wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me and hear my speech. Show they marvelous loving kindness, O though that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. Keep me as they apple of thy eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings…The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee…Unto thee O Lord, do I lift up my soul…let not my enemies triumph over me…let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. The Lord is my light and my salvation who shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life: of whom shall I be afraid?
She glanced up at Keats. How can I not be afraid?
He looked over at her. Grace’s eyes dropped instantly back to the book. At last, she found what she was looking for.
“Be merciful unto me, oh God, be merciful unto me for my soul trusteth in thee:” I have nowhere else to turn God. You are my only hope. “Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpassed.” Will they ever pass? “I will cry unto God oh most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.” Please save me from this and don’t let anyone get hurt. He shall send from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul is among the lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword”. Grace glanced up. Yes, she was among the lions, their words hurt and they were mad enough to be set on fire. “Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: Let thy glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps;” They most certainly did. I should have known. I should have seen it coming. “my soul is bowed down; they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah. My heart is fixed, O God my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up my glory; awake psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations, For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God above the heavens: Let thy glory be above all the earth.” Grace finished reading. How in the world could David say such things? How can he praise God when he is in such dire situations?
Grace glanced up perplexed, suddenly she realized that Mrs. Keats was asleep and Keats sat on the other side of the fire staring at her with unblinking eyes. Grace shivered. Looking about her she saw a blanket beside her. Taking it, Grace turned her back on Keats. He can stare bullet holes in my back if he likes, but I am not going to lie awake and look at him. Grace unfolded the blanket and pulled it over her head she clutched the Bible to her chest repeating to herself over and over again…I will not be afraid. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed I will make You my refuge. And in the still eerie silence of the night, Grace fell asleep, exhausted.
Chapter 32
Both Mr. and Mrs. Keats were sleeping the next morning when Grace woke up, her heart pounding in her chest to the rhythm; Get away, get away, get away.
Silently, she slipped to her feet and edged towards the entrance of the hideout. Grace knew she had to escape and that was the only way out. At the edge of the bushes, she heard a gun cock.
She cringed with disappointment.
“Grace, you take another step, and you are dead.”
She paused one step, and she could be out. He had a horse, and in a moment he would be after her. There would be no place for her to hide. Her shoulders relaxed, and she stepped backward.
“Keep coming this way.”
Grace turned around and walked back towards him. She stopped several feet from him.
“What exactly do you plan on doing? It’s obvious you don’t intend to hold me for ransom.”
“I am waiting for your father, we have unfinished business. Hopefully he gets my note to come alone. Otherwise, I hope you are ready to meet your Maker.”
Grace flinched. “What if he doesn’t get your note and he comes with a posse?”
A smile twitched at his mouth. “Then I get to play target practice with your little cowboy friends. You got a particular favorite?” he said, taking a swaggering step towards her.
Grace shook her head.
“So you wouldn’t mind if I empty my gun into Mitch or your pa?”
Grace found her heart speeding up, and mouth dry as a wave of nausea and dizziness passed over her. She dropped her eyes to the ground, and they came up expressionless.
Henry chuckled. The sound made Grace want to cringe.
Changing directions she walked towards the small lone tree. Keats turned to stirring up the fire.
Grace examined the scrawny looking tree. Its uppermost branches peeked over the cliff’s ridge. Maybe she could see something from there, something hopeful, perhaps a way to escape? The branches grew really too high for her to climb and it was near impossible to shinny up in a dress. Reaching up as high as she could, Grace closed her hands around it and placed her feet against the trunk. The climb was tedious, and Grace found that it required all of her strength to do it, but she managed to get on the first branch. Quietly, she began exploring other branches, making her way up.
“Henry, where is Grace?” asked Mrs. Keats awaking from her slumber and looking around the entire camp.
“She is right over… Where in the.” Keats swore, “is she?”
Grace instinctively hid herself behind the tree as much as possible, but there wasn’t much to hide behind.
“Get down here right now!” Keats yelled at her.
Quickly as she could, Grace slipped through the limbs and onto the ground where they were waiting for her.
Grace was surprised by Mrs. Keats’s sudden attack. She screamed a flurry of words in French as she sprang at Grace freely hitting her with fists and open palms.
“I hate your father! I hate him, I hate him, I hate him! He is going to die. Die! DIE! He killed my daughter!!! What right did he have to do that? What right do you have to still be living! You should have died a long time ago you and your whole family. I hate you!”
Grace was on the ground trying to defend h
erself. The attack had been so unexpected that Grace had been caught completely off guard.
Keats suddenly pulled her off. “Save it for later,” he said shoving her aside.
“I will not!” the woman screamed at the top of her lungs. She ran to the saddle bags and pulled out a gun. “I am going to go get him right now!”
“I told you we wait for him until noon!” Keats yelled back coming over to her. Forcefully he took the gun from her hand, and she burst into tears. “Go make us something to eat.” He picked up a coil of rope and walked back to Grace who had barely begun to sit up. Grabbing her dress, he wrenched Grace to her feet, pushing her against the tree. Hard.
In a few moments, Grace was completely bound to the tree. She could barely see the entrance to the cave over her shoulder.
Keats leaned in. “Now do you see why we joined forces? Just in case I miss,” and he held the muzzle before her eyes, his finger pressuring the trigger.
Grace stomach turned, and she shivered in fear.
“Your father has until noon then we all disappear forever.”
Grace shivered with fear.
Keats turned and walked away. Grace bowed her head. Dear God. What am I going to do? Please keep Father safe. Please Lord, please!
The sun steadily crept up in the sky. Time was running out fast.
Grace wasn’t sure which she dreaded more: the thought of her father coming to rescue her; or the thought of him never coming.
“It is time to pack up camp,” said Keats his voice bitter with disappointment.
“You promised me we would finish him off.”
“We will eventually. I got to imagine he will chase us if we have his daughter.”
“I want him now, for Charlotte!” the woman pleaded.
“I tell you, it’s taking him too long.”
“We can’t leave, not yet, Henry. Just a few more hours, for Charlotte’s sake please.”
“I am sick and tired of hearing about your Charlotte! You have a new daughter, okay, be happy.”
“I don’t want her, it’s not the same. Henry, please wait!”
“Fine, but then we kill the girl.”
“You can’t kill her!”
“We are going to have a hard enough time getting the two of us out of here without dragging her along. He must have a posse with him, that’s why it’s taking him so long.”
He slung a gun, pointing it at Grace.
Grace turned her face away. If it was coming, she didn’t want to see it. Dear Lord God, into your hands I commend my spirit, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil...for you alone...are with me.
“No, Henry!”
A shot rang out. Grace waited for the pain to start that would signal the end of her life. A second shot shattered the air. This time Grace opened her eyes, she felt no pain. Is death this easy? Mrs. Browning lay on the prairie grass, her eyes turned towards the heavens pain grasping her body. “Charlotte my darling Charlotte,” she gasped and then the woman was dead. Horror swept over her. The ropes that tied her to the tree were the only things keeping her standing.
Oh God, what now?
Keats walked towards her. “Now, with her out of the way, I get to decide what do I want with you?” There was no remorse in his voice no sense of pain or loss just a calloused hardened man. “Your father is a man of passion, isn’t he? Now do I want a father that is panicking for the safety of his kidnapped daughter? Or do I want a man in blind rage coming down the war path after me? What do I want?”
Grace looked down at the ground. A man in a blind rage would be easy to finish off. The chance of her surviving was slim. If he kills father, he’ll kill me. If he kills me, he will kill my father. Keats stood before her, one hand fingering his pistol, the other his knife.
The blade of steel struck the tree and inch from her neck. Grace started away from it, but her bonds held her there fast.
“Guns don’t make you jump. I think I will take my own sweet time.”
The zing of a bullet landing next his foot made Keats jump.
“I guess you are going to have to wait for later,” he said moving to cover.
Grace was panicking as she watched bullets fly.
“God, what can I do!”
“Pray Grace…pray.”
Grace clenched her eyes shut and prayed the most fervent prayer in her life, and still the bullets raged on.
The silence was sudden. Grace didn’t dare open her eyes. She didn’t want to open her eyes into a nightmare. Two more shots rang out making her jump. The sound of boots coming towards her made her heart flutter in her chest. The knife was pulled out of the tree. God help me be strong! Her bonds were loosed.
“Grace, it’s me, you can open your eyes,” there was a tender concern in his voice.
At the familiar voice, Grace’s limbs melted beneath her.
“Am I going to have to make it a regular habit of catching you?” He asked, holding her gently up against him.
“Mitch,” she whispered. Then a strange and sudden blackness conquered her.
Chapter 33
Mitch held her in his arms. She was so limp and cold that it was as if she was dead.
“Grace? Grace!”
She didn’t respond.
He turned her face so he could see it. The expression was peaceful, her lips were turning blue.
“No, no!”
Quickly he laid her down in the shade.
“What’s up Mitch?” called a familiar voice.
“I think she’s in shock. I need help!”
In moments the posse was surrounding them both blankets and advice being given liberally.
They waited, but still Grace did not respond.
“We have to get her to a doctor,” said Clem.
“But how we can’t take her out in this sun. She will die for sure.”
“We wait for night. Then get her to the nearest ranch and make her comfortable there.”
Mitch took the lead again. “All right. Jip can you make a stretcher that we can carry it between horses. Clancy, Hank find a ranch we can take her to, one of you come back and tell us where it is the other goes to get the doctor. Clem, can you dig graves for those two?”
Two hours passed. Jip came and stood beside Mitch handing him a plate of food.
“Stretcher is ready, the bodies are buried, and I made us something to eat.”
“Thanks, Jip. Just put it down, and I will eat it in a little while.”
“Before the flies do?” asked Jip sarcastically.
Mitch didn’t reply. Jip sat down.
“I just want to see her move again,” said Mitch in a quiet whisper letting go of her hand his fingers brushing her fingertips, hoping for a reaction. There was nothing.
“If she dies we will have one very sad and large funeral.”
Mitch shook his head. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
“Her mother so ill she can barely move her father having a heart attack after the news. If she dies I am afraid they are both goners, only her brother left. What a nightmare.”
“I said, I don’t want to think about it!” snapped Mitch.
Jip was silent. It was rare that Mitch snapped.
“I am sorry I shouldn’t have snapped at you, I was wrong.’
Jip smiled and pushed the plate towards him.
“I know, so am I. Now just eat something, you will need your strength.”
In a few minutes, three riders came in.
“Mitch, the nearest ranch was the doctor’s house. He came with us.”
“Thank God.”
The doctor slowly examined Grace. “You men did an excellent job. Right now there is nothing I can do for her. Are any of you gentlemen this girl’s relatives?”
There was a unanimous no.
“If possible, it would be good if some of her relatives could be brought to my house.”
“I’ll go telegraph her brother,” offered Hank. “I don’t know if he�
�ll make it but her parents surely can’t.”
Mitch looked at Grace. God please, she has made it through so many things, don’t let this be the end. I know she isn’t too young to die; you never are, but please don’t take her from me. I have lost so much already, please don’t take her, too.
He looked up at Hank, “Hurry. She might not have much time.”
Hank was up, off and away. Mitch watched him go, then wondering and aching, he leaned against the tree memorizing every feature of her face. It was pale and drawn with pain, but he knew it might be his last chance. His heart was burning with anguish.
“Doctor how long can she…” Mitch asked unwilling to finish his question.
“A matter of hours, a few days. But the days are torture, it is better if they aren’t left in pain like this.”
“Is it possible for her to recover?”
“It is rare to see a case of shock, but in all my days I have never seen one like this. It will be a miracle beyond my comprehension if she survives more than a few hours. I’ll do my best for her, but I won’t give you hope. I am going to go home and make arrangements to make her comfortable there. I will see you in a few hours men.”
Hours? What are those? All I know is that every second feels like an eternity.
When the sun was low in the sky, the men placed Grace gently on a stretcher and carried her to the doctor’s house. The room in which she was laid to rest faced the east. Lace curtains covered the windows, and a vase overflowing with fragrant flowers sat on the dresser.
The doctor took her pulse. It was still the same as when he had left. Coming out he looked at the worn men seated in his living room. “She will need to be watched throughout the night for any changes whatsoever.”
“I’ll take the first watch,” offered Mitch. He had ceased to care what anyone thought a long time ago. Grace had been the most important thing on his mind, and he was going to do everything to keep her safe.
The doctor looked at him doubtfully. “All right you may.” He waited for Mitch to leave before continuing to address the men. “Are they attached, or do they have an understanding between them?”
Sufficient Grace Page 19
