She said nothing as he went to guard the door and continued with her task.
There came a thud from the preacher’s room. Then a faint, “Help.”
Delcie grabbed a towel and dried her hands. The children played at the kitchen table. “Stay there.” She rushed in to see what the matter was.
The preacher was on his hands and knees by the bed. “I seem to have fallen.”
She went to his side. “Were you dizzy?”
“I confess I was, but I thought I could ignore it.”
“Can you get up if I help you?”
“I believe so.” He grabbed her hand and staggered to his feet. He was so unsteady she feared he would fall again. She held him firmly to keep him from toppling over. “Sit down on the bed.” She managed to get him to a place where he could sit. He collapsed, moaning and holding his head.
“Lie down. You need to rest.” He lowered his head to the pillow, and she lifted his feet up and pulled a blanket across him. “Maybe it’s best if you call someone to help you before you try to get up.”
The preacher caught her hand. “I can’t thank you enough for your kindness, but I don’t want to become a burden.”
She chuckled. “I consider it a great privilege to be able to offer you hospitality. Doesn’t it say that by entertaining strangers we might be showing hospitability to angels? Now, you’re not exactly a stranger, but…”
He chuckled. “And I’m certainly not an angel either.”
“Is there anything you need?”
“No, but thanks.”
She hurried back to the kitchen. The table was empty. Laura was in the dining room taking orders, but where were the children? Had they gone with her? Her eyes went past the worktable and saw the back door standing open.
“No,” she wailed, or at least she tried to, but the word caught in her throat and all she managed was a strangled gasp. She rushed to the door, hoping, praying the children were right there.
But they were not.
She scanned the yard in seconds, saw the flash of movement by the shed. Kent. Running. She should have been more firm about instructing them to stay inside. In fact, it might have served her well to scare them with the thought of bad men out there.
Her throat constricted so she couldn’t call Kent’s name. Instead, she raced after him.
Her skirts tangled about her ankles and she yanked the material free and held it out of the way. She reached the shed and skidded around it. At what she saw, she stopped so suddenly she almost fell on her face. Her heart slammed into her ribs with enough force to hurt fiercely.
Two men on horseback, each holding one of her children. She knew in a glance these were the men who had beaten the preacher so badly.
But seeing Kent struggle and Sally squirm and cry obliterated any fear and caution she might have otherwise felt.
She flew at them, slapping at the nearest rider, the one who held Kent. “Put them down. Let them go.”
Both men laughed.
She grabbed Kent and yanked at him. “Let him go.”
The man kicked his horse and turned it to face her. She pushed at the horse’s head. “Get that animal out of my way.”
The second man rode closer, reaching for her.
She stepped aside and made a lunge toward Sally.
The man kicked her in the chest.
She ignored the pain and clawed at his leg while trying to get Sally. No one was going to take her children. Not while she drew breath.
The first rider—the one the preacher had described as tall, with dark long hair—dismounted, keeping Kent tightly corralled in his arms. Delcie glanced at the boy. The man held him so tight she wondered he could breathe. He fought the constraining arms in desperation. The man handed Kent to the other man—the one with sandy-colored hair.
“Emmet, hold this brat while I take care of this wildcat.”
Delcie knew he meant her. A fleeting fear of what he meant to do skittered through her brain, quickly replaced with realization that the sandy-haired man struggled to hold both children. She attacked him with renewed force.
Harsh, cruel arms encircled her, making it impossible to use her arms. But not impossible to use her feet, and she kicked both forward and back. Using every bit of strength she had.
The dark-haired man laughed, his fetid breath assaulting her nose, but she turned away and kept fighting.
He grabbed a rope and, despite her squirming and fighting, managed to tie her wrists together