Once Upon a Mail Order Bride - Linda Broday Page 0,110
wrist and yanked her around to face him.
She stared into the face of the devil, smelled alcohol on his breath. The blood in her veins froze, and memories of a dozen beatings raced through her head.
“You thought you could hide from me!” Ezekiel drew back a hand and slapped her face.
Addie’s head whipped back, pain shooting through her.
“You disgust me, prancing around in those men’s clothes like a jezebel, living with outlaws and killers. I taught you the Word of God, tried my best to beat the spite out of you, but you spurned the hand that fed and clothed you.” Spittle flew from Ezekiel’s mouth and left droplets on his brown goatee.
The vile stream of hate circled her head, his words a flock of vultures diving in to peck and maim her.
Still addled from the slap, Addie had trouble getting her wits about her. She had to think. Had to get away, had to get to Ridge. He wasn’t here. She had to save herself. But Ezekiel’s grip was like a band of steel. She jerked hard against his strength, trying to break his hold, her efforts futile.
Ezekiel shook her. “Where’s my boy? I want him now.”
She took a deep breath and lifted her chin. “He’s far from your clutches. I don’t care what you do, I’ll never breathe a word.” She gathered up a wad of spit and let it fly. The glob landed square on his nose and across part of one sunken cheek, trickling down his skin.
Addie held her breath. What she saw in his eyes filled her with terror.
“The sight of you and your devil ways sickens me!” He jerked her around and tied her hands behind her, then took a black hood from inside his shirt and threw it over her head. Her world turned pitch-black and reeked of sweat. He dragged her along, tripping and stumbling, and when she sprawled on the hard ground, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and strode on.
To where?
The snuffle of horses reached her, and a second later he tossed her onto a wooden floor—no, the bed of a wagon. Her right elbow took the brunt of the hard landing, and pain stole her ability to breathe for several long moments.
“What are you doing, Ezekiel?” The timid voice belonged to Addie’s mother.
“Whatever I have to in order to find my flesh and blood,” Ezekiel snapped.
“She’s your flesh and blood!” Ingrid Jancy cried.
“Silence, woman! This…this devil worshiper is no daughter of mine.” The wagon shifted as Ezekiel climbed into the seat, then they were moving.
If her mother had been stronger, together they could’ve stood up to Ezekiel. But he’d beaten the fight out of Ingrid years ago. No, she would be no help.
Addie didn’t know where Ezekiel meant to take her, but the black foreboding choking her said she would never walk away. He wouldn’t let her live. The darkness in his own twisted, demented mind would demand he put an end to her.
The wagon jolted over the rough ground, taking her farther from the man she loved. A quiet sob rose. She’d never see Ridge again, ride to their hidden pool, or make love until dawn. Never again sit and read with Bodie or train with King. No more good times and bad to share with her friends in Hope’s Crossing. Tears rolled down her face inside the hood.
Everything that made her life worth living was slipping away, and she couldn’t stop it.
She worked feverishly at the rope binding her wrists. If she could get free, she had a chance. Only the knots wouldn’t budge, and the painful slick wetness at her fingertips told her she’d ripped her fingernails down to the quick. She had to think of something else. She felt along the wooden bed for something, anything to use as a weapon.
Her situation was dire, but she wouldn’t give up until the last shred of hope was gone and life had left her body. She’d survived beatings, three years in prison, survived a tornado, survived too many things for her life to end now. Like this.
Inch by inch, she ran her hands along the sides but encountered only some useless small scraps of wood and a bundle of paper. The only things that might be helpful were two large boxes wrapped in what felt like burlap. If her parents had been on the road awhile, the boxes probably held supplies for the trip.