Page 55 of Heart of the Sun

“Me neither. Oh my God.”

She breathed out another startled laugh and I smiled, but it quickly dropped. My face felt as out of control as the horses had been moments before, my emotions just as runaway.

We stood, our bodies pressed together as our chests rose and fell with our quickened breath. Sweat gleamed on her skin and her eyes were still shiny with tears, but also with victory and she was wild and brave and beautiful, that same bright spirit I’d always been so enamored by shining before me.

Her lips parted and she brought her hands up between us, gripping my jacket in her palms as I leaned in, our breath mingling, lips—

“Hello?Hello?” Charlie yelled, a sob punctuating his call, the sound of his voice and memory of his existence causing me to jerk away from Emily. “Help!” he yelled. “Someone help!”

The world cleared, Emily blinking at me as I stepped away and ran my hand through my sweat-drenched hair. “Shit, Charlie,” we both said at once, her eyes widening.

I turned, rounded the back of the buggy and pulled the door open, before peering into the interior. Charlie was right inside the door, hands and feet bound and tied to the steel bar that connected the seat of the bench to the backer. His expression was wild, face red, eyes darting everywhere.

And next to Charlie sat a young woman wearing a traditional Amish dress and an unbuttoned coat, bound, but also gagged, her expression very similar to Charlie’s.What the hell?

“Oh, thank God,” Charlie said. “I couldn’t see what was going on. It felt like we were riding into hell!”

“Here,” Emily said, nudging me from the side where she’d come to stand as she too peered into the buggy. She brought the switchblade from the back of her waistband and held it out to me. “Katelyn Goodfellow gave this to me,” she murmured. “I’d almost forgotten it.” She’d wiped it on something at some point because only a trace amount of blood remained. Our eyes met as I took it from her, and I glimpsed her barely contained shock—perhaps at the memory of what she’d done—before I leaned in and cut Charlie’s bindings.

I moved aside as he practically threw himself through the door. I didn’t look back, but I heard the sounds of what I thought were him embracing Emily and murmuring jumbled words that blended together.

I cut the girl’s bindings too and when they fell to the floor, she pulled the gag from her mouth, sputtering before drawing in a big breath of air. “My papa?” she asked.

“He’s in the other buggy,” Emily said from behind me. “I knew I had to catch it. I knew he was in there.”

“Oh shit. Okay,” I said. We helped down the young girl, who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, and then we all hurried to the other buggy where I could now hear moaning from inside. I pulled the door open, and the girl let out a sob, ducking under me and climbing up into the compartment where an older man with a long beard was slumped against the wall, a large bruise on his head where he’d either been hit, or the injury sustained during the unexpected bumpy ride we’d all just gone on.

I stepped up and leaned inside to cut his bindings too and then the girl removed his gag and helped him out. He blinked as he obviously got his bearings and now that the gag was out of his mouth, I could see that he had a bloody lip making it obvious that he’d been beaten.

“Those men came to our farm,” the girl said. “They stole clothes off our line and food from our house. They tried to take me, and my papa fought them and so they hit him with their gun and tied us both up and stole our horses and buggies.” She sucked in a deep pull of air, appearing like she might start crying. Emily stepped over to her and put her arm around her shoulders. “You’re okay now. What’s your name?”

“Lavina. This is my father, Abram.”

“I’m Emily, and that’s Charlie and Tuck. Where is your farm?”

“Indiana. We’ve been traveling for four days.” The girl wrapped her arms around herself, her expression bleak as she looked away. I bit back a curse. I could imagine what had happened in those four days in the back of that buggy.

“You have a community there, in Indiana?”

“Yes,” Abram said. “A small community. There’s a prison a few hours from us, and I believe those men came from there. They were wearing prison uniforms. It’s why they needed our clothes. But then they put a gun to my head, and they took us too.”

“I’ve gotta sit down,” Charlie moaned.

“Oh,” Emily said, putting her arm through his. It looked like the guy was going to pass out. My gaze lingered on the place where their arms were linked, and I tightened my jaw so hard I bit my tongue. He hadn’t even asked her if she was okay. Didn’t even care to know what she’d experienced. “Here, there’s a curb over there,” Emily murmured.

I rubbed at my jaw, just beginning to notice that my throat felt sore from where the man had attempted to choke me out and almost succeeded. A shiver went down my spine as other scenarios—ones where he’d killed me and taken Emily—raced through my mind. “Were there other men or just the two who abducted you?” I asked Abram.

“They were the only ones that came to our community that I know of. Unless more have showed up since we’ve been gone.”

“You’ll want to get back to them. I’m sure they’re worried sick. And you’ll need to come up with a plan to protect your people.” At that thought, I turned, bending down so that I could see beneath the buggy where I’d watched the handgun slide.Yes!There it was, wedged between two sections of the undercarriage. I reached in gingerly and hooked it with my finger, sliding it toward me and then pulling it out. When I turned and stood straight, both Lavina and Abram stepped back, their gazes on the weapon. “Do you have any guns at all? Hunting rifles?”

“No. Guns are a form of violence and inconsistent with our beliefs.”

“Okay, then,” I said, glancing at his daughter staring at her feet, expression blank. Abram glanced at his daughter too, his troubled eyes returning to me. He obviously got my point but chose not to comment. “If not,” I said, “then it’s time to get creative.”

“What do you mean?”

I squinted off into the distance for a moment. “Off the top of my head? I’ve heard you can build a barn in a couple days.”

---