The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,310

say it,” he muttered. “Don’t say anything. You sit down. I’m going to go see if the women are in the root cellar. If you’re a mind to keep talking, then say a prayer to that God of yours that they’re all still alive.”

With that, he strode out of the kitchen with his jaw set, his shoulders hunched against a blow that never came.

Letty stood up. Startled by his revelation, she didn’t know what to do, but then the baby kicked again, and her answer came. She watched Robert Lee from the kitchen window, praying as she’d never prayed before.

“Please God, You know my heart, and you know I’ve done wrong. But please don’t let the girls be harmed. Please, Lord. You took Eulis from me. Don’t take them, too.”

Robert Lee disappeared down in the cellar.

Her eyes were burning with unshed tears.

Alice saw Robert Lee first. Even though she was bound and gagged, she started to cry as he untied her.

“Oh, law… you’re a sight for sore eyes,” she said. “We heard gunshots! What happened? Is Letty all right?”

“Letty’s fine,” Robert Lee said, and took out his knife and cut the bindings at Mary’s ankles.

Little Katie was bound and gagged and lying face down. He picked her up and deposited her in Alice’s lap before untying her. She was so traumatized she wasn’t crying.

Delilah seemed to be the worse for wear. There was blood all over the front of her clothes. When he untied the gag that had been on her mouth, he saw that she’d also been beaten. His hands were gentle as he pulled the bindings from her face and hands.

“He hit you,” Robert Lee said, lightly touching the side of Delilah’s swollen nose. “Can you breathe through it?”

There were tears in her eyes as she nodded.

“Good,” he said. “Maybe it’s not broken.”

As soon as Delilah’s hands were free, she put both hands to her face, tracing the shape of her features and thankful that they felt almost normal. From the way her head and face was throbbing, she had imagined the worst.

“I’ll carry Katie,” Robert Lee said. “Can you ladies make it up the steps?” he asked.

The trio stood, wincing as the feeling began to come back into their arms and legs.

“Let’s get out of here,” Robert Lee said, and led the way up and out of the cellar.

The longer Robert Lee stayed down in the cellar, the more frightened Letty became. She was at the point of going to see for herself when T-Bone suddenly appeared from the forest and hobbled toward the cellar. Letty remembered then what Robert Lee had said—that the pup had come after him.

She swallowed past a knot in her throat. Twice now that dog had helped save her, too. Once from a rattlesnake—and now from a snake with two legs. And from what she could see, the dog was injured.

Then she saw Robert Lee emerging from the cellar carrying little Katie in his arms. She held her breath, waiting, praying—then they came up one by one with Alice in the lead—then Mary—then finally Delilah.

Letty’s eyes were burning as she headed for the door. When the women saw her, they ran past Robert Lee with their arms outstretched, smothering Letty with their cries of relief.

She never looked down at the body of the man who’d held them hostage, nor did the women as they embraced each other, continuing to laugh, then cry, then embrace each other again.

Robert Lee handed Katie to Alice.

“I’m going down to get the sheriff,” he said, and rode out of the yard without looking back.

“What’s wrong with Robert Lee?” Alice asked.

Letty couldn’t look at him without feeling a sharp pain near her heart. He’d asked if she trusted him. She’d answered yes without hesitation. But was it just trust—or was it something more that she felt for this man?

“I reckon he’s a bit upset at having to shoot that man,” Mary offered, eyeing the dead man near the steps.

“Alice, you and Katie go on in the house,” Delilah said. “She doesn’t need to be seeing this.”

Alice gathered the little girl up and hurried inside.

Delilah, on the other hand, had no problem with the body at her feet.

“Damn shame you can’t kill a man twice,” she muttered, then kicked at the bottom of his shoe before stepping up on the porch.

Mary put her arm around Letty’s shoulders and urged her up the steps.

“Come on, darlin’. You need to get off your feet. This has been a bad morning all