“Jonas!” Caleb called out first and then unclasped a corner and went inside.
He’d awakened Jonas from his sleep. His first in command sat up.
Shauna opened her eyes hearing her husband ask, “What is it?” She sat up instantly, seeing her brother’s pale face and fearful eyes. “What’s wrong, Caleb?”
“I dreamed of her, Shauna. She was screaming and there was darkness all around her. Someone was hurting her, and she was…” Caleb’s voice broke on a ragged gasp and his eyes glistened like aquamarines beneath a summer stream. “She was screaming for help. Screaming my name.”
“Let’s go.” Jonas stood up from his pallet and reached for his breeches on the floor behind him, but when he turned back to Caleb, his friend was already gone.
Caleb yelled orders to the men, shouting at them for moving too slowly. He knew he was going out of his mind. He could think of nothing but finding her. He had to. Please, Lord, He almost dropped to his knees. Please keep her safe.
He hardly spoke at all, and when he did, it was to yell at the other Warriors. His eyes were always far away, in some other place—until he spotted a Catcher. Then, like a tornado sweeping destruction across the land, he came alive in the arid, dusty plains. None of them could escape him once he set his horse after them, and when he caught up with their tired horses, he leaped from his mount to theirs and then knocked them to the ground.
Caleb’s fury was uncontrollable and unrestrained, and nothing Pastor Joseph had told him could sooth the rage within.
“Where are we going?” Shauna asked her brother once the last of the tents were being packed and the men were mounted, waiting to leave.
“South. If these men would start moving!” He finished the sentence like a peal of thunder and every Warrior in the camp jumped to attention and hurried about.
“Caleb.” Jonas laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We’ll find her.”
Caleb’s eyes shone in the moonlight like raging seas. “I know we will, because I’ll never stop looking until we do.” He gave his reins a hard tug that made his steed rise off its front legs. “Let’s go!”
Chapter 28
Willow feared her eyes would never open again. They were swollen shut from beatings and from crying. Time ceased to exist here in her dark little corner of the universe. Morning and night collided into the same mass of days. She couldn’t feel anything but horror, sorrow, and loneliness. Caleb haunted her thoughts, her dreams. In the gloom of silence she could hear him calling her name, but he sounded eons away, as if he were calling her from the crest of a deep chasm. When she closed her eyes, she could see his face, feel his touch on her skin. He raced toward her in her dreams, coming to save her. But she always woke, and he never came.
Yahweh never left her though. Even in the darkest days she could feel him helping her remember little things like Caleb claiming she meant more to him than life. Caleb’s God, who was now her God as well, gave her strength not to give up.
Though, she wanted to.
Drakar returned to her small, dark prison every few days to infect her anew with the heavy stench of his sweaty body. He never touched her. He struck her. Hitting her satisfied him. She fought to remember Caleb’s face, but it was fading in the long weeks she’d been imprisoned, and that made her fight to hold on even stronger. Still, each time she heard his heavy footsteps approaching her room, she called to the God of heaven and earth to help.
Drakar finally stopped coming. At night she thanked God and prayed for Him to rescue her. You are my only hope, Yahweh. Right now, You are all I have. Help. Please, help.
Her captor left bits of food by her door, and just enough water to keep her alive. He never let her out of her room, even to relieve herself, which reduced Willow’s already tiny chamber to a single corner.
She had forgotten what it was like to be a princess. That part of her life was dead and decades away. Now, she wore rags and had food thrown at her as if she were a dog.
But there were nights…some nights, when she felt so loved, it made her happy again and helped her to fall asleep.