marrying anyone, ever. Would she even be alive to see the sun rise on the morrow?
“We best be up and away from here before sunup,” said the one she’d heard the others refer to as Earl. “When they find her missing, they’ll come looking.”
Another answered with, “This herd’s been resting for days. We could rouse them now and head west toward Colorado. We’ll deliver them to the reservation, collect our pay, and be on our way to California before anybody can catch up with us. I’ll bet we can find someone to give a good price for her too.”
“Don’t be in such an all-fired hurry to sell her, Porter.” Lester fixed glittering eyes on Emma. “A man’s got a right to some leisure time first, don’t he?” He grinned around a mouthful of food.
A frigid blast of terror washed over her, swamping impending sobs to frozen silence. The hands with which she clutched her knees felt icy, and she was too afraid even to shiver.
Lord, please help me. I’ll never be stupid again. I’ll listen to Papa and Maummi, and I’ll be nicer to Rebecca too. I promise.
Lester shoved a last bite of meat in his mouth and tossed his plate away into the grass. He stood and seemed to grow to giant-size stature when he took a step toward Emma. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for a rough hand to snatch her up.
“Pardon me, please.”
A voice, not too distant, echoed down from above. For the span of half a heartbeat, she thought it might be the Lord calling to her in answer to her plea. But then she realized the voice wasn’t deep and resonant and Lord-like. Instead, it was soft and quiet and intimately familiar.
“Papa!” She didn’t mean to shout, but the name tore from her throat of its own accord. Her eyes flew open, and she wildly searched the surrounding hills.
Luke lay flat on the ground behind the ridge, listening to the rustlers’ conversation. The circling ridge magnified the sound so he could hear most of the words. Anger built like a hot ball of fire in his gut, but he did not move until he heard Jonas’s voice. Only then, when he was sure the rustlers’ attention would be elsewhere for a second or two, did he raise his head and look down into the camp. His gaze was drawn to Emma, who shouted “Papa!” in a terrified voice that squeezed his heart in his chest.
He took in the scene before him in an instant. Emma crouched on the ground, just inside the ring of light from a low-burning fire. The three who had been seated leaped to their feet, scanning the opposite hillside for the source of the voice. Lester, the one who had kidnapped Emma, pulled a pistol from the holster at his side.
“Who’s there? Show yourself!” Lester shouted.
“I am Jonas Switzer.” The answer rolled down the hillside. A dark silhouette rose from the ground and stood upright. “I will fetch my daughter home now, please.”
To Luke’s right, a quiet crack echoed in the silence as Griff, starting his descent down the hill, crept across a dried root. He froze, as did Morris beyond him. Luke watched the men by the campfire. One head turned briefly to glance around but then fixed again on Jonas.
Lester’s arm swung wide as he leveled a pistol on Emma. “I’d better see your weapons tossed down that hill or I’ll shoot this here girl.”
Jonas’s arms spread wide. “I carry no weapon.”
With an effort Luke forced his gaze away from the sight of the vulnerable girl huddled on the ground and traced his path down the hill. He could do nothing to help her from here. He needed to be closer. A big boulder ten yards in front of him would provide some cover, and beyond that a shallow crevice in the ground, dark with shadows. Then there was no cover at all for the thirty yards between that and the man who stood with his gun pointed at Emma.
Luke grasped his Winchester in one hand and belly-crawled to the rock as quickly and silently as he could
“You expect me to believe you came after your girl without even a gun to back you up?” A bark of laughter echoed around the bowl. The nearest cattle stirred, and the rumble of bovine voices created a low hum that was repeated from various corners of the herd.
“We are Amish. We do not bear arms against anyone.”
Luke didn’t pause behind