Chapter 25
Chloe’s heart hammered as she and Silas hunkered in the shade of the trees near the edge of the grove watching a group of riders cautiously approach from a distance.
Her heart soared with relief when she recognized the outline of the lead rider.
Nathaniel! A handful of others were with him.
Silas grabbed her tightly from behind, wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her up against him, his other hand grasping his revolver.
Though it felt as if her heart would surely pound out of her chest, she spoke softly and as calmly as she could manage. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want Nathaniel to die. She didn’t want anyone to die. “Silas. You’re outnumbered. You’re not going to get away. You need—”
“Quiet,” he hissed.
He held her so tightly she could barely breathe. Her head tucked under his chin, she grimaced at the stink of his sweat and fear, the sourness of his breath as he lowered his head and spoke gruffly.
“They’re going to let us go,” he ground out. “With you as my hostage, they got no choice.”
Her heart sank and she shook her head. “Silas, they won’t. Just listen to me—”
“Told you to be quiet,” he growled.
She couldn’t believe this was happening.
Her childhood friend, the one who she’d played with, laughed with, the one she’d run away from the orphanage with so that he wouldn’t have to be alone …
it all came down to this. Warm tears filled her eyes.
She felt hollow, cold, and terrified, and yet moments later, a sudden sense of calmness came over.
“Silas.” She tried to turn her head so she could look up at him but all she could see were the whiskers on the underside of his jaw. His Adam’s apple bobbed and she noted a sheen of sweat on his neck. “Remember the time we climbed up to the roof barn and I almost slid off?”
A deep grumble erupted from deep in his chest. “What about it?”
“You remember?” She tried to squirm a little, to give herself some breathing room but the arm wrapped around her middle just grew tighter.
“What about it?”
Despite the terror of the moment, she couldn’t help the flash of memory in her mind’s eye.
She’d slid from the roof peak and down the shingles, slick with the morning’s rain, scrabbling for a hold where none was to be had.
She’d slid over the edge, fingers tightly grasping onto the edge as she dangled over.
She looked up at Silas, eyes wide and mouth in a silent scream.
She blinked and returned to the present. He hadn’t responded.
“You saved me then, Silas,” she murmured. “Do you remember?”
He remained silent, eyes narrowed on her face. She wondered if he recalled anything of their past. She kept talking. “And the time you protected me from Miss Abernathy when she threatened the switch because I stole an apple from the kitchen table?”
He grunted.
“Don’t do this, Silas,” she urged. “You saved me so many times, now it’s my turn to save you.”
He snorted a laugh. “Save me? For what? A lifetime in prison?”
“Silas, listen to me—”
A shout from one of the riders cut her off.
“Throw down your weapons!”
Nathaniel! Her knees weakened with both relief and terror. Lord protect them, please!
His arm squeezed so tightly against her waist she couldn’t fill her lungs. She gasped and tried to stomp on his foot, to kick at his shin, to no avail. Her head spun. He shook her. Hard.
Stop it,” he snapped before slightly loosening his grip. His lips close to her ear, he growled at her.
“This is all your fault, Chloe, you know that, don’t you? You’re a traitor! You turned me into what I am! Didn’t our friendship mean anything to you?”
“It meant everything, Silas,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. “It was good until we met Everett, wasn’t it?”
The riders slowly came closer. Her arms pinned to her sides, she watched with horror as Silas lifted his gun again and aimed it in the direction of the riders, his thumb pulling back on the hammer, the cylinder clicking loudly in her ear.
“Don’t you come any closer!” Silas shouted. “I’ll kill her, you hear me?”
“You do, you’ll be signing your own death warrant.”
Nathaniel spoke with quiet force in a tone she’d never heard from him.
That tone promised the truth, the power in it unyielding.
Her knees sagged with relief. He’d come looking for her!
How he’d found her here, she didn’t know.
All she knew was that he was here. There might still be some hope for her.
“I know Everett Kane is dead!” Nathaniel continued. “I don’t want to kill you, Crowe, unless you force me to, you hear me? Let her go!”
Chloe heard a sound escape Silas’s throat and then his lips lightly brushed her ear again. “This is all your fault,” he hissed.
“No, no, Silas, it’s not. It’s yours and Everett’s—”
He squeezed her so tightly the air left her lungs in a rush. For the first time, she felt truly and utterly terrified that he would kill her before this was over. Just when she began to see stars and her head swam from lack of air, he slightly loosened his grip.
“You betrayed me,” he snapped. “Me and Everett both. Sent us to prison! You know what it was like in there? I ain’t goin’ back!”
Despite the situation and a growing sense of doom, not only for Silas but for herself, she twisted her head upward slightly, her gaze on his whiskered chin.
His eyes darted downward as anger coursed through her.
“This is not my fault, Silas and you know it!” she insisted.
“You got yourself into this, blindly following Everett … now he’s dead and if you’re not careful, you’ll be dead soon too. Don’t you understand that?”
Her heart racing, Chloe saw that Nathaniel had roughly a handful of other men with him.
She watched him turn to the others and say something she couldn’t hear.
Nathaniel nudged his horse forward but the others stayed put, every one of them holding a rifle or revolver, all of them pointed in their direction.
She and Silas were hidden in shadows against the trunk of a large cottonwood, so she wasn’t even sure that Nathaniel or the others could see them, but she and Silas could see all of them.
Would Silas shoot? There wasn’t much cover for any of them out there.
Even so, Silas was outnumbered. Despite the fact that he had kidnapped her and threatened to kidnap Eliza, Chloe had to try.
Silas again pointed his revolver at Nathaniel. Her heart leapt into her throat. “No!” She tried to scream, but nothing above a whisper escaped her throat. “No!”
Struggling in Silas’s arm, she tried to knock his aim off with her thrashing, but he continued to point his revolver at Nathaniel, his finger squeezing on the trigger.
No! He couldn’t kill Nathaniel! “ “No!” She struggled harder until Silas growled and roughly flung her away.
She landed hard on the ground, the air knocked from her lungs.
“Stay down, Chloe!” Silas shouted.
Fighting back a growing terror, she saw Silas once again point his gun at Nathaniel.
The image evoked something deep within her.
She’d been afraid most of her life. She couldn’t be afraid like that anymore.
It took everything she had to scramble quickly to her knees and then onto her feet staggering a little as she did so.
Without thinking, she stepped toward Silas and placed herself in front of him, just out of arm’s reach, blocking his aim.
Her head swam crazily and her heart thundered so hard in her chest she was amazed she hadn’t passed out.
Still she stood, facing her old friend, her arms slightly outstretched, praying for the safety of Nathaniel and the others.
“Get out of the way, Chloe!” he ground out, eyes wide with confusion. He tried to reach for her but she avoided his grasp. “Chloe!”
“No, Silas, no! You can’t kill them, you can’t kill any of them! I won’t let you!” He stared at her with wide eyes. “Would you really shoot me, Silas?” she managed, voice trembling.
He grimaced, his eyes nearly wild as he glared at her. “Step out of the way, Chloe.”
His voice soft but filled with threat, he jabbed the gun barrel at her once again.
“Get out of the way,” he snarled.
“Chloe!”
This time the warning came from behind her. Nathaniel! Her heart lifted and she almost smiled, warm tears filling her eyes. Nathaniel … “He’s alone!” she called out, her voice shaking as she spoke as loudly as she could manage. “He’s alone Nathaniel!”
“Chloe,” Silas moaned. “Don’t make me shoot you.”
Behind her, Nathaniel shouted. “Chloe, get away from him! Crowe, drop your weapon!”
She and Silas locked eyes, hers slightly blurred with tears, his filled with anger and desperation. “Silas, please,” she said softly. I don’t want you to die.”
He stared at her for several moments, and then had just started to lower his gun as he stepped forward. She breathed in inward sigh of relief. Just then, he reached out and pushed her roughly down to the ground once more, his gun raised, his finger squeezing the trigger.
She landed hard once again, nearly biting her tongue, tears in her eyes as gunfire broke out.
She flattened herself against the ground and covered her head with her hands, praying that Nathaniel was safe, that Silas hadn’t shot him from the saddle, hadn’t killed him like Everett had killed his father.
Bullets took off bits of bark and small branches, sending them flying over and around her.
Over the roar of gunfire, she heard shouting.
“Hold your fire! Hold your fire!”
Suddenly the gunfire ceased. The air hung with the acrid scent of gunpowder. Even over the ringing in her ears, she heard the sound of shouts, horses approaching, the footsteps crunching on soil and quickly approaching where she lay. A hand grabbed her arm.
“Chloe!”
She suddenly found herself pulled into Nathaniel’s embrace and she flung her arms around him, holding him close, pressing the side of her head against his chest, trembling with relief that he wasn’t hurt. Oh God, thank you God!
He gently pushed her away, still grasping her shoulders. His eyes swept over her and she knew he was looking for injuries. Other than what she felt was surely a goose egg growing on her for head, she was all right. Shaky and trembling wildly, but all right. “I’m … I’m all right, Nathaniel.”
He bent down, his eyes on the level with hers, searching her eyes. “Don’t you ever do that again,” he said, his voice soft but filled with an emotion she hadn’t heard from him before. “Promise me that, Chloe. You’ll never do that again.”
It suddenly dawned on her that he was speaking of something in the future. Hot tears filled her eyes. “Does that mean … Does that mean you forgive me?” He pulled her close again, wrapped her in his arms, and rested his chin on top of her head. His voice rumbled from deep in his chest.
“I forgive you, Chloe,” he said, his voice firm and yet edged with tenderness. “And I think it’s about time that you forgave yourself as well.”
She looked up at him, and even though she couldn’t see his face through the tears blurring her vision, she offered a tremulous smile and a nod, her voice locked in her throat but a myriad of feelings flowing through her, one after another that made it impossible for her to say anything more even though her heart blossomed and assured her of the truth.