Chapter Thirty-Two
Madelaine couldn’t believe what was happening. She’d never seen anything like this before. Ever. She’d ridden in on Tinsel, but she’d left her behind the schoolhouse next to the church, where she would be safer. At least, she hoped so.
The town was absolute mayhem. She ducked, crouched, and ran to get away from all the chaos surrounding her as people screamed, yelled, and shouted, darting this way and that, all the while trying to avoid burning buildings and falling debris.
It looked like the world was ending. Was this the rapture?
Whatever it was, the terror couldn’t possibly distract her from the peril Luke was in.
The second she heard Phineas’ voice, as cocky and obnoxious as ever, she knew where to find him.
She gasped, and her heart almost stopped when she finally caught a glimpse of her husband, in the midst of fights and total chaos, among a leering group of derelict men.
She saw Caleb on the other side of them, fighting—seemingly for his life.
Too many of the wrong men surrounded too few of the good ones, and when she ran closer, she heard the nasty words coming out of Phineas’ mouth, and they instantly made her nauseous.
She screamed as loud as she could, “Nooooo!”
All heads in that group turned toward her, and when some of them stepped back to look at her, she had a better look at Luke and saw how bruised and battered he was. Ezra was right there with him, and she saw the evil pull of his mouth when he noticed her.
Madelaine acted on blind faith that God would protect her, or maybe out of mindlessness. Whatever it was, her legs moved before her brain could talk them out of it. Her heart pulled her with all its might to Luke as she ran straight toward the group.
Then something else happened which surprised her even more.
Several groups of men ran toward the group in the middle of Main Street, surrounding and overtaking her as she went.
Madelaine recognized some of their faces—these were townsfolk, sons, and young men—also racing toward the gang holding Luke hostage. They came from all sides.
She had no idea where they’d come from, but she thanked the Lord for sending reinforcements.
Madelaine watched as a new wave of chaos broke loose when all the members of the gang dropped whatever they were doing and scrambled to get away as quickly as possible.
They dispersed in multiple directions, most of them running away, some having to fight their way free.
Amidst all the mayhem, the ones that held Luke let go of him, and he dropped to his knees.
Madelaine got there just as he tried to get up.
“What on Earth are you doing here, woman?” he asked, but there was no anger in his voice.
“Saving you from these criminals!” Madelaine supported his weight as best as she could to help him stand up.
Luke scoffed at that but didn’t say anything.
He made a noise as if he was in pain, and although he didn’t seem strong enough to walk at first, he grabbed her hand with a firm grip as she pulled him back in the direction she’d come from.
Madelaine took the lead, pulling Luke along as she went. They managed to hide in different places along the way—behind stacks of firewood, in stalls, and even underneath a large crate, but nobody seemed to follow them. Everybody was preoccupied with something else, which worked in their favor.
Luke didn’t fight any of her decisions; he just went along with whatever direction she chose.
Madelaine took him back behind the church, then toward the schoolhouse where Tinsel was.
She’d found an overhang where someone had stored some hay over winter, so her mare was protected, and she even had some food to munch on.
Both buildings stood at the very end of the small town, so they were unharmed, since the attacks had happened more on the other side of town. Madelaine pulled Luke inside the back of the empty schoolhouse.
“Maybe we can hide here for a minute to catch our breaths,” she said, as icy clouds formed in front of their mouths with every breath they took. Luke nodded and slowly slid down one wall, all the way to the wooden floor.
“Are you hurt?” she asked, worried that his injuries might be worse than what he let on. The most obvious injury was his left eye, which was pretty swollen. There was blood on his eyebrow above it.
“Just a little,” he said, with a crooked smile. She was relieved when she saw that he was joking with her.
Daylight was fading fast, and the room they were in was already dark, but the single window toward the front provided enough visibility for them to see and move around.
Madelaine quickly realized that this was used as a storage room, and the shelves lining one whole wall contained several items that could be useful.
The first thing she grabbed were woolen blankets. There was an entire stack of them, and they smelled a little musty, but they would have to do for now.
“Here! Put this around you!” she said to Luke as she draped the blankets over his legs and body. “You should put one behind you and sit on one as well, it’ll keep the cold out of your bones,” she said softly.
“What about you?” he asked, his voice still raspy.
“I’m just trying to see what we could use. We might have to stay here overnight,” she said. She had no idea if that was true.
“We might?” Luke asked. Madelaine took it as a genuine question.
“Yes! I don’t know if we can return to Timothy’s place right now,” she said hesitantly.
“Where are Belle and Simon?” Luke asked.
“Mary took them and Buster to their hiding spot to keep them safe. I left to go find you,” Madelaine explained, rubbing her hands together as she blew warm breath onto her frigid fingers.
“Grab all of the blankets and come here,” Luke said as he slowly stood up, supporting himself on the wall behind him.
Madelaine carried four more blankets over to him, and he spread two of them out beneath them.
Then, he pulled Madelaine down as he got up himself.
Luke draped several blankets over her, tucking her in as best as he could before moving to explore the room.
Madelaine wanted to protest, but she struggled to give up the warmth the blankets provided.
Luke came back with several candles, some used, some new, and he stacked them all up in a bucket he found at the bottom of the shelf.
Much to her surprise, he’d also found some matches near those candles, and before she knew it, there were seven candles lit up inside the bucket, providing extra light and warmth.
When Luke finally returned to his spot, he pulled her close to him, draped his arm around her, and covered both of them with the shared blankets. Madelaine didn’t complain.
“Forgive me,” he said quietly, “but if we want to survive here tonight, we need to share as much body heat as we can.”
Madelaine nodded. She hoped that the room was dark enough that it wouldn’t reveal her blush. “How are you feeling?” she asked to distract from it.
“I’m fine. Couple of bumps and bruises. I’ve had worse,” he said, but when he tried to play it down by shrugging, the shoulder movement made him wince.
“I was so worried about you,” Madelaine said, snuggling a little closer to his side. “I never thought that Phineas could be so callous,” she added. Her body trembled with fear when she thought about how close Luke had come to being shot.
“I was worried about you, too,” he said softly. “Leaving you back at the ranch, not knowing what was going to happen to you and the little ones…” He broke off and turned his head to press his lips against her hair.
Madelaine closed her eyes and inhaled his scent. Despite their current, uncertain situation, she’d never felt so safe. Feeling his arms around her was deeply reassuring.
“What will happen now?” she asked, genuinely worried. “I wonder what will be left of the town tomorrow. I hope they didn’t destroy more ranches. It’s all so very terrible,” she sputtered with a shuddering breath.
“Right now, we can only wait and see. I don’t even know if we can pull off the original plan anymore,” Luke admitted. “I doubt the auction is going to take place tomorrow.”
“You need to recover first!” Madelaine scolded, and when she heard his soft chuckle, she turned her head to look at him. “What’s so funny?”
“Gangsters won’t wait for me to get better just so I can take my time before I come and arrest them,” he said with a smile.
Madelaine felt his hand on her arm as he drew gentle circles on it.
She wondered if he was aware he was doing it.
“I’ll have to go after them, regardless of how I feel.
After today, we might even have lost our opportunity to catch them for good.
They might disappear again for a while. They’ve done it many times before. ”
Madelaine intertwined her fingers with his. “Do you mind if I pray for us?” she asked, hesitantly looking up at him.
“Do you think He’s listening to me?” he asked ruefully. “I have turned my back on Him for many years. I have denied Him, scolded Him, completely forsaken Him…”
“He has not forsaken you!” Madelaine said firmly.
“He is good, Luke. God is good, and He knows of your pain, of your grief, and your anger. Pour it into Him, so He can carry your burden for you. He is just waiting for you to come back to Him, so He can fill you with His light and with His love again. Please give him a chance.”
The warmth in his eyes took her breath away. “Will you allow me to pray with you?”
“Please do,” he whispered. Their faces were so close their noses were almost touching, and for a split second, Madelaine forgot what she was about to do.
Holding his hand with both of hers beneath the blankets, she smiled at him.
“Thank you,” she said, then she closed her eyes and lowered her head.
“Heavenly Father,” she began. “Thank You for keeping us safe in this perilous time. Thank You for filling my heart with gratitude for my amazing husband, who protects us, looks after us, and even fights for us, keeping us safe, cherished, and blessed in Your grace. Please continue to shine Your light on him, protect him, give him wisdom and strength, so he might learn to love You again, as we love him. I thank You for bringing him into my life. Amen.”
When Madelaine opened her eyes to look at Luke, she didn’t expect to see what she saw.
Luke’s eyes were a little moist, and the expression on his face was one of great hope. Searching her face, he swallowed hard. “Love?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.
Madelaine blushed. She thought about what she’d just said, but then she smiled at him. What was the point in denying it?
“Love,” she confirmed.
His gaze fell to her lips, and he slowly tilted his head to one side.
“You love me?” he asked, breathless. His voice sounded slightly different than before, and it made her heart race wildly. She couldn’t think straight, but goosebumps spread on her skin, and tingles crawled down her spine when she felt his breath on her lips. She could only nod.
“I love you, too,” he said breathlessly. “Very much.”
Luke closed the distance between them, pulling her closer to him. He gently pressed his lips against hers. He didn’t force or push her, just stayed there, slowly deepening the pressure, until Madelaine leaned fully into him and her mind went blank.