by Linda Broday
“My—Ezekiel—became enraged. I’d never seen him out of control like that,” Addie continued. “He grabbed me by the throat and choked me until everything went black. When I came to, he demanded to know where Zelda had taken the boy. I wouldn’t tell him anything, and he ordered the men to take me to the whipping post. They tied me there to wait until morning for my punishment.”
“Dammit!” Ridge tightened his arms around her, so in love with this brave woman he’d married. She’d suffered so deeply. “You don’t have to say any more.”
“You have questions, Ridge, and I want to answer them all. I expected the worst with the sunrise. Ezekiel ordered everyone to come watch. A good many wouldn’t look at me. He told them that I killed Jane Ann and stole her baby. He said if I revealed where the baby boy was, he’d be merciful and let me go. I told him hell would freeze over first.
“He handed Pickens a whip and ordered him to give me the first ten. Pickens delivered a few, I’m not sure how many, and the fiery pain running through me was so intense, I could barely draw breath. I think I lost consciousness for a bit.” Her voice was strangely flat, with no emotion. It sounded more like she was reciting a recipe from memory than a tragic story.
“Enough, Addie,” he begged. Her gaze had clouded, and he knew she couldn’t hear him.
“A circuit judge rode into town, and it turned out to be Judge Mabry from Waco. The judge made Pickens stop the flogging, then he and Ezekiel went behind closed doors to talk. After which they held a hastily arranged trial. One by one, five men stood and testified they watched me refuse to help Jane Ann, and while they ran for others to take charge of the childbirth, I killed her and got rid of the baby.”
“Did Mabry let you speak and tell your side?”
“No. All I was allowed to do was sit. So I sat there and listened to the judge sentence me to ten years in prison. He lowered it to three after Ezekiel convinced him that I posed no further threat.”
Ridge suppressed a chuckle. “He didn’t want you locked up and out of reach quite so long.” Now, having men waiting outside the prison to grab her made sense.
“Absolutely. He’s desperate to find the boy. No matter what they do to me, I’ll never tell,” Addie spat. “When all this came out, my mother was full of despair. She begged Judge Mabry to place me in solitary confinement, away from any guards who preyed on the women prisoners. She protected me the only way she could.”
“At least she did that much.” Pitiful little, in Ridge’s opinion. “So now what?”
“I suppose we wait. I wrote to Zelda after our marriage and haven’t gotten a reply, which worries me. I’d like to find out how she and the boy are faring.”
Ridge moved her hair aside and kissed the back of her neck. “Say the word, and I’ll take you to her.” Her scars showed above the edge of the towel wrapped around her. He silently called Jancy every name but the Son of God. New Messiah, his ass!
“I know.” Addie’s words were soft. “I want to make sure it’s safe first. Ridge, what are we going to do with Tiny and Pickens? We can’t keep them locked up forever.”
“Jack’s going to load them up in a few days and take them to Lost Point. Sam Legend will do what he can under the law to hold them, but he’ll probably have to turn them loose.”
“Then we’ll be in the same situation as before.” Addie let out a sigh. “When will we be safe from those hunting us?”
“I wish I knew. We’ll just have to stay on our toes. If it’s within my power, I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
“It’s crazy, sitting around discussing this.” Addie rose. “Let’s do something fun. Want to watch King perform?”
“You’re not going without me, and I’m getting hungry. We need to eat.”
But Addie was already heading for a large cedar tree for a private moment.
By the time she threw on his shirt and he tugged on trousers, the sun was full strength overhead. A few clouds began to gather as they ate the ham he’d packed, and he hoped a storm wasn’t brewing.
After they ate, Addie led King over, grinning wide. “Prepare to sit and be amazed.”
He never ceased to be amazed where his lady was concerned. “I’m ready.”
She pulled a red streamer from her saddlebag and took the bridle off King’s head. The horse seemed to know what was coming. He pricked his ears and nickered, his tail raised high.
“Come, boy.” Addie raised the streamer high and began to make a series of turns, laughing and calling him. King followed every movement exactly, intent on his mistress. Clothed in only his shirt, Addie stopped in front of the buckskin and lifted her arms high. King lowered his front legs, bent at the knees, his head dropping to only inches above the ground.
“Very good,” Addie murmured. She lowered her arms, and when King stood tall, she ran, trailing the colorful streamer behind her.
Ridge clapped. He’d never seen anything like this. “You have an amazing friend,” he called.
She laughed and used the ribbon to put the buckskin through a series of intricate turns and circles. The bond between woman and animal was so strong, Ridge got a lump in his throat watching them work together. Damn her father for refusing to let her have a horse. She was worth more than a thousand Ezekiels.
How Ridge loved her. She was his whole world, and he doubted she even knew it.
* * *
After hours of swimming in the clear pool and making love in the grass, Addie’s bones had turned to exhausted masses of quivering jelly. She could get used to being Ridge’s wife. This had been a perfect day, despite the dark clouds building.
A weight had lifted from her shoulders to have her past out in the open. She had nothing more to hide. Her marriage seemed solid. Not perfect, but it now had a firm foundation of honesty on which to build.
She lay naked on her stomach, soaking up Ridge’s soft touch and whispers of love. Groggy from the emotion-filled hours they’d passed together, she felt like a sleepy kitten and didn’t want to move.
“We should head for home.” Ridge kissed his way down the long curve of her back, then patted her behind. “We’ll probably get drenched before we get there, from the looks of that sky.”
“I don’t care. This has been the best day of my entire life.” Ridge had declared his love for her, loudly and clearly. She hadn’t mistaken that. Addie stood, clutching the towel. “We’re quite scandalous out here in the open, naked as jaybirds, me letting you do all manner of things.”
“Do tell, Mrs. Steele.” He gave her a threatening scowl and started toward her, teeth bared in pretend play.
Addie shrieked and ran, laughing and dodging his long reach until he finally caught her. Breathless, she stared into his face. It was a lot more fun being in his arms than playing a child’s game. She caressed the lines around his mouth and those that slashed through each cheek, saw smoldering passion in his gray eyes. He’d had so little reason to be happy since going on the run, and she planned to change that.
Ridge studied her for a long moment, as though committing her face to memory, and traced the curve of her lips. “Addie, I hope you know how very happy I am to have you by my side. I want to make sure you understand the depth of my feelings for you. Not only now, but every minute of every day.”
His solemn words touched her in ways nothing else in her life ever had. Although he still couldn’t speak of love, this came awfully close. And if he never could, this would be enough. Shaken, she leaned toward him, and he claimed her lips. The kiss held promises of long nights in his arms and more days of carefree abandon. Ridge Steele was her anchor in the storms, her bright spot when things grew dim.
Addie blinked hard. She could face anything as long as he was beside her.
When he released her, she let her gaze sweep over their oasis. “I wish we could stay here. Build us a house and live in this bit of paradise.”
“Me too. Maybe one day we will.” Ridge gathered his clothes, glanced at the frightening clouds, and began to dress in a hurry.
Addie handed him his shirt, and in no time made herself presentable. They packed up, and as they rode away, she turned around to stare back at the oasis until the sandstone formations around it blocked her view.
Midafternoon found them at the little creek that ran across their property. Despite the cloud cover, it was a hot, stifling day with ripples of a strange current riding on the wind. They dismounted to water the horses and wade in the stream to cool off.
The angry clouds frightened Addie, but she knew they’d soon be home. Wrapped up in each other, they didn’t notice the wind picking up speed until it was swirling around them.
“This is making me nervous, Ridge.”
“We need to go.”
A sudden gust hit them, nearly knocking Addie off her feet. She grabbed Ridge to steady herself. The horses were in a panic, running and pawing the ground, letting out loud screams of terror.
Ridge raised his arms to try to calm them, and Addie ran to help. She’d never seen King in such a state. The wind shrieked, whipping her hair, and black clouds flattened, dropping lower—almost forming some kind of shelf. She’d never seen a storm this fierce or a sky so utterly terrifying.
Like Cob, King refused to settle. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he ran each time she came near.
“What’s wrong with them?” she yelled over the wind.
“They sense the weather change.”
Before they made any headway in calming the animals, the horses broke away and galloped toward home.
A sense of doom filled Addie. They were stranded at the creek with a storm swallowing them up.
Ridge put his arm around her. “We have to find shelter.”
“Where?” No cave was in sight—the ground around them was flat as a table, with nothing in which to ride out the storm. “Home isn’t that far away. We can walk.”
“No time to make it. The storm will catch us in the open.” The wind snatched Ridge’s hat away and tore at his and Addie’s clothes. The loud rumble of a steam engine came from behind them, even though the nearest tracks were hundreds of miles away.
The temperature suddenly plunged, and Addie’s ears popped.
Ridge turned to face the wind and froze. “Run, Addie! Run!”
She followed his gaze and could only stare at the huge, twisting, whirling black snake that hung from the clouds, coming straight for them.
Twenty-One
The horrible sound grew louder and louder as the tornado gobbled up the ground like an angry beast. Ridge grabbed Addie’s hand, and they started running. Their only hope of survival rested in a ravine some distance to their right. Only one problem—the tornado was moving faster than they could run.
Sheer terror seized Ridge. He’d once seen the carnage left after a twister and on the people caught out in it—their clothes in tatters, hide stripped from them, and objects embedded in their flesh. One man even had a small sapling driven through his skull, as though the hard bone had been made of paper.
His legs pumped hard, and he gripped Addie’s hand. “Faster! Faster!”
“I can’t!”
The whirling wind grabbed them, trying to pull them back. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, let it win. A rock smacked into his back, jarring him. A whole scrub oak ripped from the ground, roots and all, hurtled past them.
The ravine lay about twenty yards away now. They had to make it.
The deafening roar vibrated his internal organs and sent a shock wave through him. Ridge kept his eyes glued to that bit of hope, lengthening his stride, pulling Addie along. Almost there, she stumbled and went down.
He cursed, set her back on her feet, and grabbed her hand again. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, praying to reach the ravine in time. If they could make it to that, they might have a chance.
Had he found the life, the woman, the love he wanted, only to lose it all?
No, he couldn’t let that happen.
The suction pulled them back, and at times he wondered if they were moving forward at all. The powerful wind tore at his clothes, sand stinging his eyes and filling his mouth until he could barely breathe.
The yawning edge of the ravine was now in sight. Just a little farther. Run faster! Ridge’s chest burned from pure desperation. They had to make it. He would cheat this monster of its prize.
As they closed the gap to the last five yards, his body shuddered. The roar behind them magnified, the tornado nipping at their heels. Panting, his heart hammering, he missed a step and crashed down on one knee.
* * *
Addie screamed when Ridge went down, but the wind gobbled up the sound. In that moment, she knew they weren’t going to make it, and she had no time left to bargain with God for their lives. At least if they were going to die now, she was going to do it by Ridge’s side.
Ridge recovered from the stumble and kept running. Addie clung to him with a grip of steel. She wouldn’t be the weak link, the one to kill them both.
The vicious wind whirled, lashing and ripping at them. Helpless in its grasp, she could see nothing through the sandy, choking air.
She kept moving, praying for some kind of miracle.
In the bedlam, unable to hear anything, she glanced at Ridge. If he spoke, it was wasted breath—she couldn’t hear or speak. He seemed to have something in mind, though, and she would follow him to the ends of the earth if it called for that. If it was to their deaths, so be it, as long as they left this world together.
She wished they’d had more time to be husband and wife, time to figure out these new roles. Maybe had a child of their own. She would’ve liked being a mother.
Her thoughts went to Bodie, and she prayed he was safe. Maybe he could take over the farm and live there. She’d like that.
Ridge’s hand gripped hers harder, as though he was preparing for something.
Jump!
Addie didn’t know where the word came from, but she pushed off into the air with her feet, and for a moment they were both airborne.
Then she was falling, falling, falling, the earth yawning big and swallowing them whole.
She landed hard, Ridge’s arms around her, shielding her with his body. The shrieking, angry wind moved over them, the suction of the powerful vortex trying to yank them up and out of the crack in the land. Terrified, she gritted her teeth and clung to Ridge with both hands, shaking and cold, her hair whipping about her face. She wished she knew what the outcome would be. Having that knowledge would’ve help her bear whatever she must for as long as she had to.
Then mercifully, the tornado passed. The sound began to fade, and rain and hail pounded them.
“Are we alive?” Addie asked.
Ridge grinned, his face inches from hers. “We made it.”
“It looks like we did.” She kissed him, grateful to be alive and in one piece.
A hailstone larger than a silver dollar struck her arm, the pain sudden and sharp, the hit sure to leave a bruise. If that was the worst injury she got, fine and dandy with her. She moved back a little from Ridge and saw they had leaped into the ravine. She’d been lying flat on the bottom, with Ridge on top to weigh her down. Once more, he’d saved her life.
The hail and rain fell around them as he stood and pulled her to her feet. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
Addie followed a burning sensation to her arm and noticed blood trickling across her skin from scrapes and cuts. “I must’ve landed on a rock after we jumped. But other than that, I think I’m okay. How about you?”
“Nothing broken, but my back hurts. Something struck me when we were running.”
“Turn around.”
“Probably nothing.” Ridge presented his back to her, and she gasped in horror at the sight th
rough his ragged shirt.
A jagged piece of metal about two inches wide protruded from his right shoulder blade. Lord only knew how deep it went into the muscle. A mass of blood covered the wound. She described it to him. “It’s bleeding pretty bad.”
“Can you pull it out?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. But I need to find something to use as a bandage first.” For once, she regretted wearing trousers. A dress and petticoats would’ve provided oodles of material.
“What’s left of my shirt will do. I can go without one. The house isn’t that far.”
“Do you think the tornado got Bodie? Or the house?” Her stomach clenching, Addie grabbed hold of the metal, gave it a quick yank, and flung it. Ridge let out a yell and doubled over in pain. More blood flowed, but at least it wasn’t gushing. The metal obviously hadn’t gone too deep after all. She wadded the shirt into a ball and pressed it hard to the wound.
When Ridge could speak, the words came through clenched teeth. “I guess we’ll find out about Bodie and the house when we get there. The boy’s smart. He’d know to hide until the tornado passed.” Ridge winced at the pain. “I’m not worried about the town. Set in that canyon like it is, the high walls will protect it. Not sure about the Lassiters and the McClains though, out here with us.”
“I hope they were spared.” She refused to think about anyone else having to endure that devastating wind.
“How bad?” Ridge craned his neck, trying to see.
“I’ve seen worse.”
“Wrap it and let’s go. I need to get back and see what’s left of our place.”
“Not yet.” Addie held the compress firmly against him for several minutes more. Finally, at Ridge’s insistence, she lifted it and saw that the blood had slowed some. She bound the shirt tightly around him, her mind on King. Had the tornado gotten her beloved horse? When she finished, she took Ridge’s hand and let him pull her from the six-foot-deep ravine. The hail had stopped, but a light rain was still in the air. Addie shivered in the cold.
