The Fire in Ember - DiAnn Mills [112]
CHAPTER 52
Leah lifted her skirts and stepped down from the porch. On this Saturday morning, with a vibrant display of fall colors, came the promise of winter. A cool breeze greeted her face, a pleasant touch to a day spent baking bread, which had heated the kitchen far hotter than she liked. Now the loaves sat cooling on the table. Their pleasant aroma tickling her nose and stomach. She shielded her eyes from the sun and scanned the area for Ember.
“Ember, where are you?”
No sign of the tiny woman with the big heart.
Strange. Leah walked to the barn and peered inside. Only quiet greeted her.
The young woman had gone to the garden for any late ripening tomatoes. By the time Leah made the trek to the garden and saw the boot prints of a man and Ember leaving in the direction of the river, she wanted to scream. She knew this was not what Ember would have done of her own volition.
Leah followed the tracks to the river where two horses and another person must have awaited them. She raced all the way back to the ranch. Panic and near hysteria swept through her.
Who could she get to help? John had ridden off early that morning with a refusal to tell any of them where he was going. He said Wirt would be checking in on things this evening, which meant only God knew when John would return.
She hurried back to the house and pulled out pen and paper from her dresser drawer. Carefully penning a note about not being able to find Ember, she left it on the kitchen table in case someone stopped by the ranch.
Visions of what Ember’s two brothers might have done to her sickened Leah. She snatched up her rifle and ran to the barn to saddle her horse. Hopefully Wirt or Bob or Parker was in Rocky Falls. She prayed so. But not John. If Ember were … Leah refused to think about the awful possibilities.
John raised the binoculars to his eyes one more time. Besides being bored as the time crawled by, he’d seen nothing to indicate Victor Oberlander was involved with the cattle rustling or murders. Parker had been right; this might take days. He could have brought a book to read, but then he couldn’t keep his sights fixed on the Wide O.
His stomach protested the lack of food. But he didn’t think he’d get hungry before supper just sitting and watching the comings and goings at the Wide O. He hadn’t decided what he’d do come nightfall, when he couldn’t see a thing. Exasperation nipped at his heels. What a stupid idea.
Grass rustled behind him, and he whirled around with his rifle.
“Easy,” Parker said.
“Did you come to keep me company?”
“Not exactly.”
John didn’t like the tone in his uncle’s voice. “What’s going on?”
“Ember’s missing. Leah went looking for her when she didn’t return from the garden. And Leah saw Ember’s and a man’s tracks leading from the garden to the river. There were tracks of a second man and two horses headed west into the foothills.”
“Clint and Lester Farrar,” John whispered. “I’m heading to my place.”
“Do you want me to go with you or stay here?”
Strange Parker would ask John what he wanted him to do. John swung a glance at the Wide O ranch house and shook his head. “Ember means more than spying on Oberlander. I can’t lose her.”
Bert rode behind Clint on the back of his horse. She wished she’d fall … wished John, his Uncle Parker, Mr. Zimmerman, or Mr. Culpepper would ambush them … wished her brothers would change their minds about forcing her to hurt John and his family. Which could be worse, destroying a life or destroying property? Clearly, Bert had no choice, for life was more precious. But she despised herself for what lay ahead. More so, she despised her brothers for the power they held over her.
“Where are we going?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Clint said. “Tonight we have a job to finish, and you’re going to help us.”
Her heart plummeted. Evan and the other boys had left to drive the cattle