Chapter 34
Sarah knew they didn't have much time before the group arrived.
Hopefully, they would be on foot though she knew having horses was common in the area.
The mayor himself lived on a large estate on the outskirts of town, but as far as she knew, they didn't have any livestock.
She couldn't imagine what his poor, docile wife was going through dealing with his power trip.
Grabbing her father by the arm, Sarah quickly escorted him in the direction of the house.
The last thing she wanted was him out there while she was dealing with the mayor and the others.
She wouldn't put his risk at life any more than she would the twins or her mother.
Sarah questioned whether she should wake the others or not.
She didn't want to scare them by the mayor’s arrival, but she also didn't want them to be startled and come out in the middle of a tense negotiation, either.
The decision wasn't hers alone to make. She needed to talk to her dad and see what he thought they should do as well.
The man had always offered her life-altering insight that sometimes Sarah was too bullheaded to see for herself.
One thing she knew for certain was that they needed to get back to the house as quickly as possible.
Any other conversations or decisions could wait until after that.
Moments later, they emerged on the road in front of the homestead and quickly jogged back up the steps and into the open living room.
Her mother was now awake and smiled at the pair when they walked in. The smile quickly faded, though, when she saw her husband and daughter’s expressions. Wiping her flower-covered hands on her apron, Connie quickly ushered the pair back outside onto the porch so as not to disturb the others.
“Tell me, what’s going on,” Connie said. “It has to be bad if the two of you both have the same look on your faces.”
“We just caught a man coming onto the property. I stopped him and asked him what he was doing and who he was,” Sarah said quickly.
“By stopping him, you mean you pointed a gun at him and made him give you answers?”
Sarah smiled. “You know I’m not going to let anything happen to anyone here as long as I’m around. So, yes, I threatened him, and he told me he worked for the mayor. Plus, he said he was scouting ahead to see what houses were empty.”
“I take it they’re going to be coming soon? The mayor and his men?”
“Yes. He told us they were a few miles behind him, so I don’t think it will be too long before they get here.”
“What are we going to do?” Connie asked.
“I need you to wake Adam. Have him help you with the twins and grab the guns to bring to me.”
“What do I do with the children?”
“Well, it’s basically morning time, and I’d rather they not be scared and worried about what’s going on,” Sarah said. “Go ahead and make them some breakfast, then take them down to the cellar. It will be safe down there.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll figure out what to do. Just make sure the kids are safe and that Adam is awake. I’ll fill him in on the rest when he gets here with the guns.”
“All right, just be careful.”
“I take it you've made your decision then?” Harry asked as Connie disappeared into Adam's room.
Sarah nodded. “I think the best course of action is going to be with a show of subtle force.
I want you and Adam both on the porch with your guns, but I will be the one to talk to the mayor when he approaches.
If anyone crosses off the road and onto that property line, I want both of you to shoot.
I'm going to make that threat very clear to the men when they arrive, but I wouldn't be surprised if they questioned our resolve.”
“Resolve? Hell, I'll shoot those sons of bitches for looking at me crooked if what you're saying is true and they shot an innocent man. Last I knew, being the town drunk wasn't supposed to be a death sentence.”
“It's good to see we are on the same page,” Sarah said. “I’m going to need you to keep that same mentality when the time comes. I don’t know what we should expect, just that they’re not the same people you used to know.”
“No worries there. This is about protecting our own.”
The conversation died down as Adam emerged from his room behind Connie, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
As soon as he saw the worried expression on Sarah’s and her father's faces, he was alert once again.
It was a good thing, too; they were going to need all of the help they could get.
It didn't take long for her to fill Adam in on what had happened.
She was happy to see his expression instantly went to one of protective rage. She could sympathize with how he felt.
No one was going to take their home away from them.
Time and time again on the road, they had witnessed people being less than human.
That wasn't going to spill over into the life they had started to create at the homestead.
She was ready to fight for their land against anyone who wanted to challenge them.
Sarah watched as Connie ushered the sleepy children into the kitchen and listened for their footsteps heading into the basement.
As her father emerged from his bedroom, she saw he was ready with two additional shotguns. He handed one over to Adam.
“Do you know how to use this thing, son?” Henry asked.
Adam chuckled. “It’s been a pretty long time since I’ve been around anything like this, but I think I’ll manage. My old man used to take me hunting all the time. It’s been a while.”
“Were you any good?”
“At hunting? Yeah, I did all right for the most part. I had a few deer heads hanging on my dad’s wall.”
“Really? You a trophy hunter, son?”
“No, sir. My pops was big on keeping the meat and using as much of the carcass as possible, but he said he was proud of me and paid a taxidermist for a couple of heads to be mounted.”
“Good man. I was never one for trophies, but just remember, these are men with guns. They aren’t going to run like a deer, but they might shoot back like a hunter.”
“Just so you remember, we’re just taking these guns as a precaution and for our safety. They’re for protection. The plan is that we do this without having to kill anyone.”
“I don’t want to kill anyone,” Adam said. “I will protect us from those men, whatever it takes.”
“That’s all we’re going to do. Unless they choose violence. If they decide to go that route, I just need to know you’re going to be able to do what will need to be done.”
“Trust me. If they’re coming for the property or anything on it, I’m going to put them down just as quick as they cross the property line.”
“Good. Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that, and we can resolve this peacefully.”
As much as she wanted to hear stories about Adam's childhood, another noise piqued her interest outside.
She raised her hand for the others to be silent as she listened.
It was unmistakably at the sound of people approaching on the road and making no effort to be quiet about it.
Drawing a ragged breath, she looked back at the others and gave them a nod of approval before setting out for the front patio.
The men hadn't yet appeared in front of the homestead.
She jerked her head, indicating Adam should stand on one end of the porch while her father took the other.
“You've got this, sweetheart,” Henry whispered to her. “You could charm the skin off a rattlesnake if you wanted to. That fat tub of lard should be nothing.”
She chuckled. “Thanks, Pops.”
Sarah waited and watched the road for the group to emerge.
As she did, she slowly started to take a step off the porch.
Despite the churning in her gut as the first of the mayor’s gang appeared, Sarah didn't let her unease show through.
Her entire life had been one big test leading up to that moment.
From working in the prison to taking martial arts, she was ready to defend her home and everything it stood for.
As the mayor and his potbelly emerged, Sarah stepped onto the road with one hand resting on her gun and the other on her blade.