The Fire in Ember - DiAnn Mills [0]
IN EMBER
A NOVEL
DIANN MILLS
To the Birthday Club Girls
And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
Psalm 9:10
Contents
Cover
Title Page
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Also by DiAnn Mills
AUTHOR’S NOTE
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Copyright
About the Publisher
Share Your Thoughts
CHAPTER 1
1888 COLORADO
JUNE
A hanging is no place for a woman.
Bert cast a wary glance at the man who lifted a rope from his saddle horn and stomped her way. With her hands tied behind her back and a second man holding her shoulders, she had no hope of freeing herself.
“Horse thieves are hanged.” The man they called Leon gazed up into the branches of a cottonwood and pointed. “That limb looks sturdy enough to carry the likes of you. If it breaks, we’ll find another one.” He tied the noose around her neck.
“But he’s just a boy,” an old man said. “I’m not up to hangin’ a kid.”
“Billy the Kid started his murderin’ ways at fourteen.” Leon walked toward Bert. His breath reeked of liquid courage, and the swagger in his step meant she couldn’t reason with him. “He won’t even tell us his name. That means this ain’t the first time he’s broke the law.” He sneered, revealing a mouthful of black and broken teeth. “But it’ll be the last time.”
“Maybe he’s too scared to talk. You hit him hard,” the old man said.
Bert touched her tongue to the stinging side of her mouth where blood dripped down her chin. That had been Leon’s first punch. She glanced his way again through one eye. The other one had already swollen shut, and it throbbed in time to her pounding heart.
“In case you’ve forgotten, the boss’s been lookin’ for that horse nigh onto six months.” Leon tossed the rope over a branch. “This here’s his prize mare all right, and she’s wearing the Wide O brand.”
“All I’m sayin’ is you’ve taught the boy a good lesson. One he ain’t likely to forget. Let’s send him on his way and take the boss his horse.” The man held the bridle of the sleek mare she’d been riding.
Bert stared into the face of the haggard man who was attempting to reason with her executor. His lined face and bushlike silver beard showed his age. He couldn’t help her with three men determined to hang her. But maybe the others would listen to his reasoning.
Leon strode to Bert and grabbed her by the neck and out of the clutches of the man who’d held her shoulders. “Why’d you steal this horse?”
“I didn’t.” Bert could barely speak for Leon’s hand cutting off her air supply.
“Then where’d you get it?”
She couldn’t answer that.
“What do you men think?” Leon released his hold and shoved her backward onto the hard ground.
Bert knew what a beatin’ felt like, and she’d lived through enough to know she’d survive. But not a rope swung from a tree branch. A crow flew overhead. The bird opened its mouth and cawed as if it were voting on tying the rope around her neck. She pulled her attention from the crow to the other men for maybe a sign that one of them might agree with the older man.
The greasy-looking man who had held her for Leon glanced at a fourth man and nodded. “We agree with you. If’n this kid has already stole a horse, what else is he gonna do? Murder a man?”
“Let’s get ‘er done then.” Leon grinned. “How about a little whiskey to sweeten up this party?”
“This is wrong,” the older man said. “The boss