Once Upon a Mail Order Bride - Linda Broday Page 0,113

they are many,” Ezekiel spat. “So too shall your punishments be many.”

The silence stretched, and Addie heard a quiet sob. Her mother?

“The wicked shall burn in an everlasting fire!” Ezekiel shouted, startling her. “You’re an abomination unto the Lord! God said, ‘If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee!’ I have been commanded to rid the world of an unclean soul. You, Adeline Jancy, will be cast away and burn in the deepest pit of hell for your sins.”

Terror gripped her. What was he going to do? Torture her first? “If I’m to die, I request time to relieve myself first. Mother can take me. Or don’t you trust her either?”

Again silence. Had he walked away? At last he spoke, and the sound revealed he hadn’t moved. “Very well.”

“And I wish to see. Remove my hood, please.”

“You’re in no position to make demands or requests. Wives must submit themselves unto their husbands, children to their fathers. For I am the holy one.” Someone grabbed Addie around the arms, and she found herself yanked from the wagon onto the ground. “Ingrid, you may get out of the wagon now. Take Adeline to the bushes for decency’s sake, but cross me, and you’ll share her fate.”

Lighter footsteps came toward Addie, and the bindings were removed from her hands. As she sat and rubbed her wrists, she heard Ezekiel mutter to himself, “Why aren’t there any rivers? I should’ve crossed one at some point. I must make Adeline obey my commands as the Almighty ordained.”

Gentler hands taking charge of her belonged to her mother, and they silently moved away from the wagon. A mesquite branch caught Addie’s face, the thorns delivering a stinging scratch to her cheek through the fabric. Tears sprang to her eyes, but after blinking several times, she discovered a tear in the black hood that let in light and allowed her a limited view.

“This is good.” Her mother stopped her and pushed her down.

Addie obeyed. For now. Her brain was whirling. She would try to get a clear picture of where they were before she escaped. Until then, she had no idea which way to run. “Mother, please remove this hood. We can both leave, and you can be free of this miserable life. You can’t be happy with him. He treats you worse than an animal.”

Her mother stayed silent. Ever dutiful. A caricature of the person she used to be.

“In fact, he cares more for a nasty cockroach than he does you.” Addie finished and stood. Angling her head, she was able to see her mother through the hole in the hood, and what she saw made her blood boil.

Ingrid Jancy’s battered face and black eye told the story of her latest beating at the hands of a man who’d once sworn to love her. But then, he’d never loved anyone other than himself.

“I’m sorry for you, Mother,” Addie said softly. “I wish I could’ve saved you, but I could barely save myself. You’ve taken the brunt of his anger far too long and it’s time to end this. You can if you want to. For years, he’s convinced you that you’re weak, but you’re not. Be strong and stand up to him. It’s the only way we can survive.”

Her mother’s expression didn’t change from the impassive blankness. If she heard, she chose not to listen.

They turned to head back to the wagon, and Addie picked her way across the rocky ground, grateful to be able to see out of the small hole. The wagon sat near a crumbling one-room shack sitting in the dusky light. Ezekiel had picked up some boards and was nailing them together. What was he doing? Something said it involved her and his plans to end her life.

“Hold your tongue,” her mother whispered. “And don’t sleep tonight.”

The quiet warning surprised Addie. Maybe there was hope for Ingrid, hope for them both, after all.

“Thank you, Mother.”

They went the rest of the way in silence. Then, in a move that Addie hoped was for Ezekiel’s benefit, Ingrid shoved Addie to the dirt at his feet. She cried out and rolled to escape a kick. Her mother resumed her silent place on the wagon seat. Slowly, Addie stood.

Ezekiel’s lips curled into a sinister smile as he whipped her around. In a flash, he bound her hands again, so tightly it sent sharp needles of pain through her arms.

When she could get her breath, she spat, “I’m not afraid of you.