Chapter Thirty
As soon as they had covered her face with that stuffy sack and tied her wrists and ankles together, Poppy stopped screaming. She had run out of air so quickly, but she also knew she needed to listen. It was the only thing she was able to do.
It was gut-wrenching to hear Sophie’s screams and wailing nearby without seeing what they were doing to her. At least, she was still able to hear her.
They carried her and Sophie away, once again up and down corridors and stairs through several opened and closed doors. Finally, they left them somewhere, which they announced by slamming yet another door shut and locking a heavy-sounding lock.
They were back in the dark and quiet, but at least it didn’t smell as musty as the first room they had been in.
This time, they had dropped Poppy face down onto a pile of sacks, it seemed.
They were slightly softer than the bare ground she had to sit on before, but the several ridges and bumps made it impossible to turn any which way.
Having her arms bound behind her back, she could only move her head to the side.
Poppy knew that Sophie was somewhere near her. She could hear her crying, but she couldn’t reach her. By the sounds of it, there was quite a bit of distance between them. Poppy wanted to scream. She was so angry, but she couldn’t do that to Sophie. She needed to be strong for her.
“Shh, it’s okay,” Poppy cooed, trying to calm her little sister down, but as soon as Sophie heard her, she started wailing and struggling—possibly against her own restraints.
Sophie was too little to fully understand any of this, and Poppy’s heart broke for her that she couldn’t do anything for her sister in that moment.
Despite being absolutely terrified herself, she tried to sing softly to Sophie, even though her voice cracked every so often due to her own panic. But after a long while, Sophie’s sobbing seemed to quiet down.
Poppy could only hope that she had fallen asleep. Sleep was the best thing that could happen to her in this situation.
Poppy had no idea how much time had passed or whether it was day or night.
The cloth covering her face was too tightly woven to peek through the fabric.
It also made her sweat quite a bit, and she realized that it was better to keep breathing in short bursts to not lose all the air inside too quickly.
Her wrists and her ankles were sore. The rope they had used to restrain her was rough and started to rub her skin raw on all of her limbs.
Poppy had to lay as still as possible. She wasn’t able to loosen the bindings anyway.
She had tried—the entire time since they had dumped her here on that pile of something.
When Sophie started whining again, Poppy’s eyes filled with tears. She was too angry at the fact that she couldn’t even console her sister in all of this. As the tears rolled down her cheeks, she whispered a desperate prayer to her.
“Sophie, sweetie! Why don’t we pray? I think that will make you feel better. Shall we do that?” she asked, crying into the fabric over her face. She didn’t even know if Sophie was able to hear her.
“Heavenly Father, take my life and let it be. I am devoted only to Thee. Shine Your golden light on my little sister. Fill Sophie with your mighty grace and give her strength so she can praise You. Guide us through this trying time. In Your spirit and in Your truth, and in the glory of Your name, amen.”
She didn’t hear anything. No crying. No rustling. Just silence.
Poppy had always been strong. She had always had to be for Sophie. But in that moment, she didn’t feel strong at all. She was tied up, blindfolded, destined to go back to the place she had sworn never to return to. Poppy felt defeated, and she couldn’t take it anymore.
This time, she prayed silently because she didn’t want to scare Sophie more than she already was.
I am weary, Father. I am fearful. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me or what will happen to Sophie.
I know that You’ll never leave us. I know that You’ll walk us through the fire, but I’m so scared.
God, please, do what You need to do, but please keep Sophie safe.
Please, God. She is innocent. All of this is my fault.
Whatever happens to me, please protect my sister!
She kept praying, but at some point, Poppy was so exhausted that, even though she fought it, she passed out.
***
She startled awake when several hands suddenly grabbed her, ripping her violently from her almost peaceful slumber. There was yelling and screaming and only darkness.
At first, Poppy was completely bewildered because she couldn’t see anything, but then she heard Sophie’s cry, and everything came crashing back.
Her mouth was so dry, and every part of her body hurt.
But that was nothing in comparison to the terror she felt in that moment, when she heard several male voices yelling at each other and Sophie’s cries in between.
Her heart raced so fast she thought she’d faint again, but she had to keep it together for her sister.
She prayed with all her might that they wouldn’t separate them.
Heavy footsteps seemed to carry them through a maze of walkways until Poppy finally felt the chill of cold air. Was she outside?
Then they shoved her sideways onto a hard surface. Her hips bruised, and she banged her knee against something hard. She heard several creaks around her, which sounded like wood, and whatever she was laying on swayed slightly. Was this a wagon? Where was her sister? She couldn’t hear her anymore.
“Sophie!” she screamed. Ice-cold sweat covered her body as she strained to listen in between all the other loud noises surrounding her—footsteps, something hard being shoved close to her head, muffled voices, creaking, pounding, clanking, and even the breathing of somebody close by.
Then she heard Sophie’s whimper, and Poppy released a choked sob.
“Sophie!” she called out to her. “I’m here, sweetie! Don’t be scared!”
Her body was jerked around violently when the planks underneath her moved back and forth and to the side. Poppy couldn’t make out where she was leaning.
Somebody whistled right above her, something like leather straps slapped against something, and the jolt of the moving vehicle made Poppy’s head slam against whatever wall was in front of her.
Sophie screamed as if she were startled. Was she blindfolded, too?
There were several men in the wagon. She could distinguish between three different voices, one of them being Finn himself. One man kept answering from behind her, so he probably sat next to Sophie while Finn seemingly sat above her and alongside another man.
Poppy never knew that being disoriented could be so utterly and completely horrifying, but she couldn’t allow herself to panic, even though all of this mayhem threatened to overwhelm her completely.
Not now. She needed to stay with it. Maybe there was still a way out. Somehow. She had to hold on to hope.
She had to.
Poppy held back the tears that threatened to fall again.
Dear God, give me strength!
As much as she wanted to console Sophie, who was whimpering somewhere near her feet, she needed to hear what was going on around her, even though the creaking and rattling of the wagon made that so difficult. She needed to stay vigilant for any possibility that may present itself.
A small voice in the back of her head told her to give up, not to cling to hope, not to hold on, but Poppy refused. The louder the voice inside her head got, the more she fought against it.
I am with God! I am not alone! I will never give up! I will fight ‘til my last breath!
Poppy pushed aside the immediate anger bubbling up inside of her and tried hard to stay focused.
She knew that she and Sophie were in the back of a wagon because she could smell something like carrots or cabbage.
Some kind of produce. There was also the distinct scent of hay, which instantly reminded her of when Neil had explained to her about the various different mixtures and which worked best.
Neil.
Poppy swallowed a sob. She feared what Lucy may have told him. Poppy had no idea if they had spoken since she had left and if she had kept her promise not to tell him about the brothel.
Does he wonder where we are? Does he miss us? Is he looking for us?
Or has he already forgotten about me?
It was too much. Poppy couldn’t take it.
With the grace of God, she had changed their lives around into something so beautiful for her and Sophie, who had been so happy there. And then it was ripped away from them in the blink of an eye. Poppy hadn’t even questioned it.
She tried to swallow the growing lump in her throat, but there was too much shame and guilt. Her mind was spinning.
Had she fallen for the oldest trick in the book? A scorned lover spewing lies to remove her from the ranch and take her away from Neil?
Poppy struggled not to cry when different images popped into her head. The house and the garden, the horses and the workers, Benson and Barley, Paul and Neil...
Oh, how much she’d miss it. She had fallen in love with all of it.
With all of them.
A sob lodged in the back of her mouth, and her heart clenched so hard she nearly winced.
Was it finally breaking?
Or would she finally admit that she hadn’t just fallen in love with the ranch?
Would she finally accept that her heart had been captured by the man who had fought with her tooth and nail until they had ultimately learned to work together?
A wail clawed its way up into Poppy’s throat, and something deep inside her soul cracked wide open.
The man who, right before her eyes, had turned into the most caring and loving person she had ever met.
The man who had given her a home, friendship, and knowledge about things she never knew she wanted to learn about.
The man who had given her the most beautiful life and a promise of a bright future.
The man she had fallen in love with.
The man I left.
The wagon jerked in that moment, as if it wanted to shake her on purpose.
Poppy let the tears fall.
Too late now, Poppy! Your fate is sealed.
Utterly defeated, she started to listen to the voices of the men again.
Finn hadn’t stopped talking so casually and even cheerfully about how great he was, as if they were taking a leisurely drive through a park on a Sunday afternoon, goading the other men to laugh with him. Only the one next to him did.
“Once we’re done here, we should go to that little saloon at the end of the road if they are still open,” Finn exclaimed. “We should have a few drinks to celebrate yet another successful business transaction!”
“Are you paying?” the man next to him said, chuckling. “You don’t pay me enough to go drinking with you.”
“Ah, but of course!” Finn replied. “I might even pay you a bonus for tonight. All of you! It’s a special delivery after all. Right, sweetheart?”
A hand suddenly patted Poppy’s shoulder. She jerked back and promptly banged her elbow against the wooden side wall. She stood the idea of Finn touching her. It made her instantly nauseous.
Finn laughed so loudly it almost hurt her ears, but then she picked up something else. There was a new sound, but it was too faint to make out exactly what it was. Poppy strained her ears.
It seemed to come from behind them.
And it got louder.
Hooves?
Poppy nearly jumped out of her skin when a shot rang out, too close to them. Several others followed, but they seemed to come from different directions. It was very confusing.
The men yelled over each other. It sounded like utter chaos.
Then the wagon took a sharp turn, and Poppy was suddenly thrown to one side. She was lucky that she slammed against the wall with her shoulders, not her face. She could hear Sophie scream, and then Poppy felt her fall onto the back of her legs.
Right after that, they were thrown around again. It was beyond painful, as all of her limbs and joints seemed to crash against every hard surface, and Poppy couldn’t see where she should shield herself. Another hefty bang against her head made her see stars.
Then there was a loud crack—one that Poppy immediately recognized—when something on the wagon broke.
More shooting. Men screaming. Horses squealing.
Then the world began to tilt, and Poppy and Sophie both screamed as they slid over to one side. Poppy suddenly felt only air around her before she landed on something hard. Sophie landed on her back with a thud.
“Sophie? Sophie!” Poppy called back to her, and she felt her sister’s tiny hands hold onto her forearm with all her might.
“Sophie, sweetie! It’s okay! I’m here. I’m here,” Poppy called to her. The relief she felt took her breath away. “Thank you, God! Thank you!”
Poppy still couldn’t see, and she had no idea if Sophie had been blindfolded or not, but amidst all the mayhem that went on around them, when she felt her sister’s hands on her arm, she knew that this was their only chance.
“Sweetie, you’ve got to listen to me!” she said to her as calmly as she could. “You need to untie my ropes. Can you do that? Can you feel my arm?”
Sophie replied with a whine, sobbing hard.
“Please, sweetie! You need to stop crying. Don’t you want to get out of here?” Poppy assumed that Sophie had nodded, because she got a little quieter. “Then you need to help me, please! Can you feel my arm?”
Sophie’s tiny fingers grabbing her arm squeezed it a little.
“Good girl!” Poppy told her. “That’s right. Can you find the rope around my wrist?” At first, Sophie didn’t move, but then she slowly slid her tiny fingers up toward her shoulder. “The other way, sweetie. You’re doing so good! Can you find the rope?”
Sophie followed her instructions slowly, but with growing confidence the more Poppy guided her along.
When something too close to them shattered, Sophie jumped and almost lost contact with Poppy’s arm, but she was able to calm her down enough to continue.
Her tiny fingers struggled to loosen the thick rope.
“Keep going, Sophie. Please hurry!”