shrugged her shoulders to loosen them to prepare for a big throw.
I felt a little smug as I watched her toss, but an arm came out of nowhere and wrapped around my waist, jerking me off my feet. My lungs sucked in air, and I screamed. The hand slapped across my mouth. My skin pricked and I started to fight, kicking and hitting back, even though I was off the ground.
Lacey turned, and her eyes widened. She grabbed a rock and ran toward us, screaming so loud the birds scattered across the water.
The man holding me struck out, hitting her in the side of the face. She went down hard, and I stilled, shocked.
Then he was moving. Fast through the weeds until he reached a four-wheeler. The hand at my mouth hurt, and tears flowed down my face. I couldn’t fight. He was too strong. My chest ached, and my heart started hitting my ribs. I couldn’t see, and my vision went all fuzzy.
He shoved me into the front seat; a rope was already attached to the dash. He tied my hands, and I tried to jump away, but then we were driving wildly over the rocks and up the mountain.
I turned toward him. He was old—probably around twenty-five with brown hair and a big nose. “Don’t hurt me,” I whispered.
He turned and looked at me, and his hands were dirty on the wheel. “I won’t. Just need a bride.”
Chilly pins snapped down my spine. “I’m only ten.” What was wrong with him?
He shrugged and turned back to the narrow trail.
I gulped, my stomach hurting. Stranger danger. It was true. How was I gonna get free? I twisted against the ropes around my wrists, but I couldn’t get them loose. I wanted my dad. Right now. My dad would punch this guy and get me free. “Who are you?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“Jareth Davey,” he said. “I live in the mountains.”
I didn’t know any of his family. Did he have family? How could I get free? We drove for hours up and around the wild hills of Idaho, crisscrossing and going higher and higher.
Was Lacey okay? I hadn’t seen if she’d hit her head when she fell. I hoped she was okay and had run for help. My dad would find me.
But what if he didn’t? I was almost too scared to even move. Maybe this was a bad dream. It had to be.
I heard motors in the distance. Dirt bikes and four wheelers. Were they looking for me already? If Lacey had gotten to the family, they’d be looking right away. All the campers all up and down the river would be. Then a helicopter finally roared above.
“Shit,” the man said, jerking a hard right and heading for an old cabin set against some rocks. I hadn’t even seen it until we were almost there. He parked the four-wheeler under a bunch of trees, undid my rope, and picked me up again.
I started fighting him, punching his throat.
He didn’t seem to notice.
Then we were inside a one room cabin with a mattress on the floor and a kitchen with hotplate and pans.
I started to shake. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I needed to throw up. I could see through the slats of some of the boards to the forest outside. If I could just get free, I could run.
He set me down.
I backed away, toward the counter with the hotplate.
He shut the door and turned to face me. “We’re married now.”
No, we weren’t. I panicked and grabbed a cast-iron pan to hold in front of me. It was so heavy that my arms shook. Could I lift it high enough to hurt him?
He chuckled and moved toward me, so much bigger than me that I felt really small. But I swung. As hard as I could, I hit him in the ribs.
He jumped back, his face turning red. Then he lunged at me.
The door burst open, and a boy rushed inside, colliding with the man so hard that they hit the opposite wall.
I screamed and dropped the heavy pan. I recognized the boy from seeing him around town, but he was in high school. He hit the man in the face several times so rapidly I could barely see it. It was like he’d gone wild. The man hit back, and blood sprayed. Then the boy grabbed the pan I’d dropped and hit Jareth full in the face. The man slumped once and passed