Chapter Twenty-Six
Alice
F ear plagues every cell in my body as I wait for word from Braxten and his brothers, the game of croquet offering little distraction. I’ve been doing my best to hide my worry, knowing it’s important for Hannah, but it has been hard.
Ryanne went to lay down, something Thatcher insisted on. The late night stress and midday heat were getting to her. It left only the four of us so we decided to team up. Hannah and me against Thatcher and Gwen. It seems we make a good team because once again we come out on top.
“All right!” Hannah cheers, giving me a high five. “Let’s play again!”
“How about some sweet tea first?” Gwen suggests, dabbing the sweat from her forehead. “This old girl could use a refresher.”
“Old girl?” Thatcher looks around in mock confusion. “I see no old girl here.”
“Oh stop,” Gwen snickers, playfully swatting at him.
His smile is infectious as he throws an arm around her shoulders. “A cold glass of sweet tea sounds like a darn good idea to me.”
“Me too!” Hannah says.
I nod my agreement.
“Great, I’ll go make us a pitcher. Be back in a jiffy.”
While she heads inside, I help Hannah gather up all the colored balls, both of us laughing as we race to see who can pick them up the fastest. One ends up slipping through my fingers, rolling toward the pasture.
“I’ll get it,” she says, chasing after it.
Turning around, I find Thatcher watching us, a look of genuine affection on his face.
“You doing okay, darlin’?”
“I’m trying to be,” I tell him honestly.
“That’s all we can do. At least for now.”
I nod, knowing he must be just as worried.
His attention suddenly shifts to something above my head, a look of concern following. “What in the high heaven…”
Looking behind me, I see a horse pacing wildly in the distance, the poor animal appearing incredibly distressed before it dashes across the road and into the woods adjacent from us.
“That’s not one of ours,” Hannah says, walking back over.
“It sure isn’t,” Thatcher agrees. “I think it might be Pete’s from down the road.” Pulling out his cell phone, he puts in a call to his neighbor, but gets no answer. “I better bring it here until I can get ahold of him.”
“Want some help?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I don’t want y’all past the property line. Wait here. I won’t be long.”
Hannah and I watch Thatcher head in the direction of where the horse was, eventually disappearing out of sight.
Hannah looks over at me and shrugs. “Wanna take some practice shots?”
“Sure.”
She lifts her mallet, pointing it toward the barn. “I’ll bet you I can hit my ball all the way past the pig pen.”
“I have no doubt you can,” I say on a laugh. “But show me anyhow.”
She does, sending the ball rolling past the barn.
I give her a round of applause, which seems to please her.
“Watch this one.” This time she really cranks back and smokes it. The ball hits a bump, veering to the left and bouncing over to the trees on the other side of the yard.
“Ooops. I didn’t mean to send it that far,” she giggles, running after it.
Dropping my mallet, I follow behind her, knowing she will probably need help finding it. “Watch your step,” I call out, remembering what happened the last time she ran across the yard.
She waves at me over her head, unconcerned, and makes it to the trees in record time. “I see it!” Her voice carries in the distance. “Holy moly, it went far. Too bad Papa Thatcher isn’t here to see this.”
At the mention of Thatcher, I glance behind me to see if there is any sign of him or the horse, but I find none. By the time I turn back around Hannah is out of sight.
“Wait for me please.” I jog up to the wooded area, wincing at the sharp ache in my side, a reminder that my body has still not fully healed. Once at the forest’s edge, I frown, seeing no sign of her. “Hannah?”
When I get no answer, I walk just inside the tree line, pushing a few stray branches out of my way.
“How far did you hit that thing?” Amusement fills my voice, but dies in an instant at the horrifying sight I come upon.
A deputy holds Hannah against his chest, his hand covering her mouth as she kicks and fights against him. I quickly register it’s the man Braxten had words with at the station yesterday, Deputy Pierce.
He points his gun at me. “Don’t make a fucking sound.”
“What do you want?” My voice trembles in fear.
“You.”
Confusion claims me at the response. Until yesterday I didn’t even know this man.
“Come with me quietly and I’ll let the girl go.”
My mind scrambles for a way out of this. I look to the right, the same direction Thatcher went, and wonder if I scream loud enough would he hear me.
“Don’t even think about it,” he warns, knowing exactly where my thoughts are. “Cause any kind of scene and there will be dire consequences for this little girl.”
“I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?”
“Look, I got no beef with you, but this family needs to pay and in order for that to happen, I need you to come with me. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” He turns his gun, pointing it at Hannah’s head now.
The devastating sight destroys me. “Please, don’t hurt her.”
“Then I suggest you do what I say and do it quickly.”
Hannah vehemently shakes her head, telling me not to do it, and the act of bravery only breaks my heart further.
My eyes close in defeat as tears fall helplessly down my face. “I’ll do whatever you say. Just don’t hurt her.”
“Walk this way…slowly.”
Knowing I have no other choice, I follow the order.
It throws Hannah into a frenzy. She kicks and fights even harder, forcing his hand to slip. “Don’t do it, Miss Alice!”
He wrestles with her, getting rough. “Settle the fuck down, you little shit.”
Anger replaces the fear inside of me. I run the last few feet toward them, my fists swinging. “Let her go, you bastard!” Using every bit of strength I possess, I manage to strike him in the face.
It stuns him for all of a second, giving me the opportunity to rip Hannah from his grasp. I shove her several feet away, her small body tumbling across the dirty ground toward the tree line.
“Run, Hannah!” I yell, just as I am grabbed from behind.
“You bitch!” His arms wrap around my waist like a steel band, painfully draining the air from my lungs.
“Alice!” Hannah sobs, her tear stained face covered in dirt as she struggles to her feet. “Leave her alone!”
“Run!” I scream again. “Go get help.”
This time she does as I say. Turning around, she runs as fast as she can out of the trees, calling out for Thatcher.
I continue to fight as I’m dragged in the opposite direction, hoping the struggle will buy me time. My feet kick his shins, nails dig into his arms, and teeth gnaw at his hand as he tries to silence me.
“Jesus christ,” he seethes, struggling to keep his grip. Just as we emerge from the trees, he yells toward his waiting squad car. “Get over here and help me, will ya?”
I don’t register the fact that he speaks to someone else until the passenger door opens and out steps the bane of my existence.
All the fight in me ceases, my body freezing in time as I stare into the face of my torturer. Someone my mind wouldn’t allow me to remember until this very moment.
“Hello, Alice. Miss me?” That sinister smile slips over his face, a smile I can’t believe I had ever forgotten.
I’ve been wrong this whole time.
“You’ve been a very bad girl. It’s time for your punishment.”
Those haunting words are the last I hear before I’m plummeted into darkness, one I had hoped I was free from forever.