Chapter Thirty-Five
“Ethan!” Hannah’s shout filled the air. “Ethan!”
He hurried from the Hawthorne family’s wagon, taking care not to disturb Richard, who remained sleeping. Ethan’s boots struck the ground hard as he ran towards his sister, raising a cloud of dust about his feet.
“Hannah?”
“Ethan!”
His sister rushed to him, Emily’s small hand clutched in her own. Ethan gasped at the sight of his sister’s red eyes and flushed face. Tears were creeping down her cheeks and wetting the collar of her dress, and Emily was crying as well.
“What’s happened?” asked Ethan, alarmed at the state of the two of them.
“It’s Grace,” Hannah gasped out.
“I want Mama!” Emily sobbed. “She—she—”
“Emily was with me,” Hannah said hurriedly. “She saw Grace and wanted to go to her. I didn’t see the harm in it.”
Ethan’s breath caught in his throat. Of course she hadn’t. Hannah didn’t know what Ethan did. His sister wouldn’t have realized there was any possibility of danger. Ethan struggled to find his voice.
“What happened?”
“I followed Mama,” Emily said, her lips quivering.
“She means Grace,” Hannah murmured, her eyes darting to Ethan’s expression.
He only nodded, not bothering to explain that he already knew. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except that Grace seemed to be in danger, and it took all Ethan’s strength not to imagine the worst.
“What happened when you followed her?” asked Ethan.
“There were three men.” New tears sprang to Emily’s eyes, and she struggled to speak between her broken sobs. “They—they came up behind her, an—and they took Mama!”
“Ssh.” His sister knelt and pulled the child into a hug. “We’ll find her. I promise we will.”
Hannah’s words were soft and gentle, calm even, but Ethan saw the fear in her eyes and the agony in her expression. Hannah might not know everything he did, but she knew enough to realize how dire the situation was.
“I’ll find her,” Ethan told them both. “I promise.”
“I’ll help you.” Derek’s voice came from behind him unexpectedly.
Ethan’s muscles tensed, the momentary urge to lash out eclipsed by his desire to see that Grace was safe and sound.
“The two of you should go quickly,” Hannah said. “I’ll tell the rest of the camp, and Amos can prepare a party to ride after her.”
“Be careful,” Ethan warned her. “Don’t take any of the men Bill brought with him.”
Hannah furrowed her brow. “What?”
“There’s no time, just know they can’t be trusted,” said Ethan.
He retrieved his rifle and ran to the nearest horse, which happened to be Richard’s. Ethan mounted the animal and urged it into a gallop. He didn’t know exactly where Grace might be, but he’d seen the direction she left. His eyes swept over the ground, searching for tracks in the earth.
The thunder of horses’ hooves sounded in his ears. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Derek was following him. Ethan clenched his jaw. He was still furious with Derek, but Grace’s safety was at risk. He had to take any help that was offered.
A pale white object lay amidst the grass ahead of them. Ethan pulled his horse up short, his breath catching in his chest. It was Grace’s boot. Derek brought his horse to a stop beside Ethan.
“She came this way,” Ethan said, his gaze sweeping over the forest. “When we left camp, did you notice if Bill and his men left their wagons?”
“They did,” Derek confirmed.
“Good. If they left all their possessions, that means they intend on returning to camp,” Ethan said. “They can’t have gone very far.”
Ethan coaxed his horse onward, his eyes fixed on the ground. He heard the faint burbling of a nearby river, and-
Wait, there!
His eyes found the prints of boots in the mud by the bank.
Ethan followed them, his heartbeat quickening with every step.
By his count, three men had taken Grace.
Could he and Derek best three men? Ethan didn’t think the odds were that bad.
He believed the two of them could likely fight the men off and save Grace, especially if they had the element of surprise.
The tracks continued until the ground became dry again.
Ethan dismounted the horse and crouched close to the ground, searching to see if any of the mud had been caught on a boot and smeared along the grass.
It was difficult to say because the soil was so dark.
He crept forward, still searching, his right hand remaining tightly gripped around his rifle.
“There’s a cave,” said Derek quietly, pointing.
Ethan’s eyes followed the direction of Derek’s finger. There was a place where the trees thinned out in front of a steep, rocky cliffside. Derek was right; there was what appeared to be a small cave.
It would be the perfect place to hide a woman; far enough away from camp that she wouldn’t been seen or heard, but near enough that Bill and his wretched men could easily go back and forth without raising suspicion.
“We’ll check it on foot,” Ethan said. “That will be quieter.”
Derek nodded and dismounted his horse. He had a pistol with him; it took a second for Ethan to recognize it had belonged to Pa.
Ethan led the way, his rifle ready as he approached the cave. Every sound, no matter how small, echoed loudly in his ears. The ground squelched beneath his boots and twigs snapped, but no one seemed to have heard as they continued on uninterrupted.
At last they reached the cave entrance. Ethan stood silently just outside, straining to hear anything besides the frantic beating of his own heart. He heard nothing.
Ethan gathered his courage and stepped inside the cave, his rifle at the ready. The ground inside the cave was smooth and well-traveled.
Ethan kept his back close to the cave wall as he crept forward one step at a time. Derek followed. It was only two of them against three men, all of whom were likely armed. And Grace would be somewhere between them all, possibly in the line of fire.
A harsh, masculine laugh rang through the air.
Ethan froze and inhaled deeply, reminding himself to breathe. His grip on the rifle tightened so much that his knuckles ached. He crept forward as carefully as possible, listening hard.
“You’re a smart woman,” Bill was saying. “So why don’t you just tell us where your pa keeps that heap of cash we know you have?”
“No. Return me to camp, and then I will tell you.” Grace’s voice trembled only a little. “I promise.”
“No, no,” Ian said. “We ain’t takin’ you back to camp where you can snitch on us to everyone.”
“That’s right,” the third added.
Ethan crept around a bend in the cave and peered around an outcropping of jagged rocks.
His eyes found Grace, sitting upright with her arms held behind her back.
It was impossible to say for certain, but he suspected her wrists were tied together.
The three men loomed over her, their backs to Ethan.
Grace was facing him, but she hadn’t seen him yet. His heart ached to let her know that he was there and rescue was close at hand, but he knew that he could not risk revealing himself to the men yet.
“I won’t tell anyone,” Grace insisted.
Ethan saw Derek move out of the corner of his eye. His head snapped in the man’s direction, anger boiling inside him. If Derek ruined this rescue, Ethan would never forgive him.
Derek soon disappeared behind another outcropping.
Ethan dared to take a step forward, his rifle ready. His boot struck a rock, sending it skittering across the ground with a faint sound. He froze.
Bill whirled around, his pistol raised. “You,” he hissed.
Grace gasped. Her eyes were wide with alarm and fear, but she was not yet defeated. Her chin was tilted up defiantly and her back was straight.
Ethan held his rifle steady. He could not let himself be distracted by anyone, not even Grace. “Bill,” he said. “Go ahead and let Grace go. I know that you and your men have stolen from around camp, and that you shot Richard Hawthorne. You should all be hanged.”
Bill chuckled. “You think we don’t know that? You think this is the first time we’ve had a little robbery go awry? Don’t threaten me, Ethan. You don’t know anything.”
“I’m not threatening you,” he said. “I simply propose that we all put down our guns and go our separate ways. We can pretend this was all just a misunderstanding.”
If it meant Grace would be safe, Ethan was prepared to do just that. He would leave the justice to God.
“No,” Ian said, “I’m afraid that’s not going to happen.”
Derek slowly crept from behind another outcropping. He had managed to work his way behind Grace unnoticed, the men’s eyes all on Ethan.
“A better question would be, what’s to keep us from killing you both?” Bill asked. “What do you think, Grace? Tell me where the money is, and maybe I’ll let one of you walk away.”
“No,” she said. “Don’t, I—I can—”
“Don’t tell him anything,” Ethan said quickly. “He doesn’t plan to let either of us go. We’re both stuck until one of us bends, and it won’t be me.”
Bill shook his head in mock dismay. “That’s real unfortunate.”
Gunfire rang out, and the third man, the one Ethan didn’t recognize, stumbled forward. Blood poured from his arm, and his gun fell to the ground with a clatter.
Derek had fired the first shot. As Bill turned to face him, Ethan fired his own gun. Bill moved out of the way at the last second, and Ethan’s shot went wide. The rocks on the other side of the cave cracked. Ethan charged forward.
Ian pointed his pistol at Ethan’s face, but Ethan slammed into the man before he could pull the trigger.
The gun fired, but the bullet sailed up toward the ceiling of the cave, the man now down on the floor.
Ethan’s fist collided with the man’s jaw, shooting pain lancing through his knuckles.
Grace yelled, and Ethan caught sight of her skirts sweeping across the cave from the corner of his eye.
Ethan stumbled upright. Bill ran at him, roaring in fury.
Ethan ducked his punch and drove his elbow into Bill’s throat.
Bill stumbled, but threw himself at Ethan, whose back collided with the cave wall.
The men fought, punching and kicking, and everything fell away, the world narrowing to a single thought: Grace.
Ethan’s throat and chest hurt, and hot blood dripped down his knuckles.
He was tiring, his movements growing more reckless with every passing moment, but he could tell that Bill was in the same boat.
Ethan drove his fist as hard as he could into Bill’s jaw and the man fell backwards.
He struck the ground with a dull thud. Ethan gasped for air, his eyes darting around the room.
Bill was unconscious, likely from his head hitting the ground. Ian lay groaning on the floor while Derek tied his wrists together. The third man was gone.
At the center of it all was Grace, her face pale and her eyes wide.
Her disheveled hair fell around her face.
Her usually carefully pinned bun had fallen apart into a cascade of curls.
Dirt stained her dress. Still, she was alive.
There was nothing else in the world that he cared about.
He ran to her, too choked with love for her to even speak.
Relief shot through him. Those monsters could have hurt Grace badly, and she looked shaken but—
But not badly hurt. She was alive.
Her face was jubilant, happy, and relieved. “Ethan.”
He cleared his throat several times before managing to speak. “Grace, are you hurt?”
“No.”
He sighed in relief and reached behind her, which confirmed his suspicions.
Her wrists were tied together with twine, the thin string digging into the fabric of her dress.
He pulled hard on the material, managing to break it.
Grace rubbed at her wrists once they were free.
Ethan winced at the red marks left behind and hovered, unsure what she might need from him.
“Ethan,” she said again, saying his name as if she could barely believe he was there. “Ethan, I just—I don’t…”
He could restrain himself no longer. Ethan wrapped his arms around Grace and held her close.
She was warm and soft in his arms, and he imagined holding her forever.
He buried his face in her neck and inhaled the scent of her, the fancy rose oil she used in her hair and the faint, lingering tang of sweat.
She was safe. She was whole and hale and here, and he’d made things right, or at least as right as he could make them.
“I knew you would come,” she whispered, her voice wavering. “I knew it.”
Ethan held her more tightly. “Of course. I always will.”
He tipped his head back and pressed a soft, gentle kiss against her lips.
Grace gasped against his mouth and then kissed him back tenderly.
Ethan was careful; he didn’t want to frighten her or ask too much of her.
In that moment when their lips met, it was as if Grace was his entire world.
He wanted nothing more than to hold her and kiss her for the rest of his life.
“I’m so happy that you’re safe,” Ethan murmured, leaning back a little. “So happy.”
And then he kissed her again.