Will of Steel

by Lynn Landes

  They make quick work of the mess and Donovan watches as they thoroughly clean the land around the house and barn to disperse the kerosene poured around them. Today he thought about killing a man for the first time out of rage. They came to his land, to his home, to kill the people he loves. It occurs to him that they really have no concept of the depth of rage Jordan must feel.

  Before they leave, he gathers the men who are left and asks the Pastor to lead them in prayer.

  “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress. I will never be shaken.”

  “Amen,” the gathered men say.

  “I feel shaken, Pastor,” Donovan says as he watches the carriage with the five shackled men drive away.

  “That’s to be expected, Donovan. You faced the enemy inside that we all war with and you won.”

  “I thought about it, pulling the trigger. They came here to kill my family and everything I worked for.” Donovan glares and takes a step towards his horse.

  “No one would have blamed you if you had, Donovan, but today you showed us all what it means to walk the truth of the Lord’s word. He will take up your cause and see to it that justice is done. It is bad for us to carry anger, bitterness and resentment. Hold your family close and give thanks.”

  “I will.”

  Chapter 43

  “Are you okay, Erin?” Jordan asks as she watches her play with a new kitten near the barn.

  “I guess so,” Erin sighs and they both watch Donovan giving Tony a riding lesson in the corral.

  “You can tell me anything, Erin,” she smooths a long dark curl out of her eyes.

  “I know,” she whispers and stands up, dusting her skirt off. “What happens now? Now that the bad guy is caught. Do we go home? Are we staying? What about school and Tony?”

  “Wow, that’s a lot of questions? Walk with me?” she holds out a hand and they stroll together towards the gardens. “Let’s work while we talk.” She grabs two baskets and hands one to Erin. “We need to pull the weeds.”

  “Why?” Erin asks with a frown at the garden.

  “If we let them grow, they will strangle out all the new growth and we can’t have that,” she smiles as she kneels and Erin drops beside her to help. The impact of her words strike her heart. “Very good, just like that!” Jordan smiles at her and nudges her.

  They work silently for a few minutes and Jordan glances over at her sister. “I need to go home, at least for a little bit, Erin. I have things to take care of. A home, and the business…” my own garden needs weeding, she thinks.

  “I don’t want to leave.” Her beautiful blue eyes fill with tears, “I like it here!”

  “Me too,” Jordan sighs and glances around. “It seems a dream, doesn’t it? The house, the land, the barn with all the animals, but it is really the people that I’ve grown attached to.” A new dream settles into her heart and she thinks about buying some land of her own. A place to create a home for them, hopefully not too far away from the people they’ve come to care about.

  Ryder is laughing with his father and pats Tony on the shoulder, praising him. Tony is beaming at them and her heart stumbles again. “What am I going to do?” she whispers.

  “I think we should pray about it and God will show us what to do,” Erin scrubs at her eyes and stands up when Ryder shouts for Erin. It’s her turn for a lesson.

  “I’ll carry these to the compost bin, go on, love.” She skips off happily and Jordan is smiling as she carries the baskets to the bin behind the barn.

  The past few days no one has spoken about the coming separation. It is inevitable, they must go home, but after the attack Donovan and Loren insisted they stay as long as they want. Ryder informed her the paperwork wasn’t completed yet for the sale of the equipment to U.S. Steel. But even that excuse will be gone soon. A glint of light catches her attention and steps to investigate it.

  Ryder glances up as his father lifts Tony down and calls for Erin to come ride. She jumps up and runs toward them with a delighted look. “Coming,” she giggles and slows to a fast walk as she gets close to Tony.

  “Be careful, hold on tight, Erin, and no jumping!” Tony points at her and she sticks her tongue out at him.

  “Jumping is fun, Tony,” she giggles as Donovan swings her up into his arms.

  “Jumping is fun, peanut, but not until you’ve had more training. You wouldn’t want to hurt the horse, would you?” Ryder asks.

  “Of course not,” she grips his face in her hands and sighs heavily, “I’ll wait.”

  “Good girl,” he sits her on the horse and his voice fades as hands the reins to his father and turns towards Jordan. He is watching her when she glances away from them and walks towards the back of the stables. He calls to her, but she doesn’t hear him over the sound of Saint barking.

  This is no usual greeting bark, it’s a warning call and Ryder whips around to see what is causing Saint to bark. He is shocked by a large snake on the ground. “Get back!” Ryder shouts at Tony, not sure if the snake is poisonous or not.

  Saint shoves his large body in front of Tony’s and growls menacingly at the snake, smacking his paw at it.

  “Saint, NO!” Ryder shouts and runs over causing the dog to back up. He keeps Tony’s body behind his.

  Donovan plucks Erin from the back of the horse, setting her on her feet and hurries from the coral with her hand securely in his. “Let’s go help.”

  “It’s dead,” Ryder frowns in confusion at the smashed head of the corn snake.

  “I don’t understand,” Tony whispers. “Where did it come from?”

  ***

  Jordan steps up to the barn door and stares at the scarf hanging on the hook outside of the back entrance. Her eyes widen as memories flood her mind. Reaching out she touches the rose-colored silk scarf and remembers her mother. Her finger slides down until it hits the scorched, rippled silk. Jordan jumps back in horror and covers her mouth with a hand.

  Something's not right. Why would her Mother’s scarf be here? Run, her mind screams but it occurs to her that he would expect that. Instead, she forces herself to pick up her mother’s scarf and smells it.

  “Oh, Mama,” she lets the tears flow and thinks about Erin. Keeping her safe is all that matters. A glint strikes her eyes a second time, and this time her stomach drops. Several personal items of her parents are scattered along the dirty barn floor. She follows them, picking up her father’s pocket watch, a jade earring from her mother’s jewelry collection, a hand-towel from the kitchen of her parent’s home.

  “Treasures for you, Jordan,” Orson says. Her heart thunders in her chest as she turns to look at him. The sun shines behind him, casting him in a black shadow. She squints and whirls, releasing a scream of terror and takes two steps before Orson swings the whip he stole from the wall, wrapping it around Jordan’s waist, he jerks hard as a second scream erupts. The air rushes from her lungs when he slings her to the ground with a laugh.

  Jordan’s head slams into the hard dirt, causing her ears to ring for a second, and she struggles to catch her breath. A second later his hands are around her throat and he is laughing as he squeezes the life from her. He’s wearing her Jade broach on his jacket! Rage bolsters her and instead of fighting his hands, she rips the pinned broach free and stabs at his eyes.

  She misses his eyes but the pin rips through his cheek causing him to scream. Instead of dropping her, he allows her to rake down his face, savoring the pain. “It won’t be that easy, Jordan,” he laughs at her weak struggling as her face turns blue.

  His laugh is cut short when a beast of a dog bursts through the doors, followed by a child. Orson yells in surprise and drops her coughing form to the ground, stumbling back away from her body. Saint chases him, grabbing Orson’s leg he shakes it with his massive head, causing the man to scream in pain and drop his drawn pistol. Donovan bursts into the barn and grabs his whip from the ground, snapping it he catches Orson around the u
pper arm and together with Saint they pull him into one of the stalls.

  Ryder drops to his knees beside Jordan as she coughs and he helps her roll over. She sucks air into her lungs and watches through teary eyes as Donovan, Tony and Saint force Orson into a stall. Ryder talks softly, soothing her and helps her to her feet. She pushes away from him and runs over just to watch him fall into the ground.

  Tony grins and looks at her. Saint is barking like mad when Ryder reaches the stall, followed by Loren and Erin.

  Jordan walks over to hug Tony. “What is this?”

  “A rat trap,” Tony laughs as Orson screams in outrage.

  “Let me out of here! I’ll kill you all!” he rages.

  “Jordan! Are you okay?” Ryder asks grabbing her by her upper arms and tilting her face to his. He sees the bruises already forming around her throat and he is thankful the man is in a hole.

  “I’m okay,” she pulls away from him to glance down at Orson. Jordan walks slowly around the hole as he spins watching her every movement from the bottom. One hand to her throat she stares into the eyes of the madman.

  Loren pulls Erin and Tony back as Donovan shouts for his stable hands.

  “Bring me a rope!” Donovan orders as Loren and the children step away from the stall into the barn.

  “You’ll never be free of me, Jordan!” Orson shouts.

  “Let’s go, you don’t have to listen to this, Jordan,” Ryder says and tries to guide her from the stall.

  “Hey Jordan, do you hear their screams at night? Lil’ Erin does. Her screams are my favorite. Did you know her voice breaks at a certain point and nothing but air comes out?” His laughter causes Erin to burrow in Loren’s skirt.

  Hatred flickers in her eyes and he grins at her. Jordan’s eyes never leave Orson’s as she allows Ryder to walk her towards the large stall door. The moment they are close, Jordan shoves Ryder from the stall, slamming the door, and slides the latch into place, locking him from her.

  “This isn’t done yet,” she turns away as Ryder spins, stunned by the turn of events.

  “Jordan, open this door!” Ryder shouts through the bars on the top of the stall door. He falls silent when she picks up a glass bottle marked kerosene. “Jordan, listen to me, you don’t want to do this.” She smiles and pops the cork, staring down at Orson’s glaring face and tosses the bottle into the hole, savoring his scream of shock. Three more bottles crash around him and she ignores the sound of Donovan shouting for her to open the stall door.

  “Dad! Get the keys!” Ryder shouts.

  “Not yet,” she turns and all the sound fades away when she spots two oil lanterns sitting on the shelf with a box of matches. She strikes the match and lights the lantern, sliding the glass down over the flickering flame.

  Jordan moves around to the back of the stall, facing the door as they push it open. Ryder stares at her and Donovan moves inside the stall, watching her as she glares down at Orson.

  “Listen to the filth coming from his mouth. We need to be free of him!” Her hand holds the trembling lantern and Orson leaps at the side of the hole, screaming for their help and drawing their eyes.

  “Not like this, Jordan,” Ryder walks slowly around the edge of the hole towards her but he isn’t fast enough. She tosses the lantern into the hole and it shatters against the ground.

  Orson wets his pants and leaps back, expecting an eruption of flames followed by agony, only to stare in confusion at the shattered glass. The barn falls quiet for a moment until she laughs.

  “How did it feel, expecting death, Orson?” she laughs at his look of outrage.

  Ryder and Donovan stare at her in surprise. “There were two lanterns. One was lit, one wasn’t.”

  Tony and Erin step into the entrance of the stall and jump when they hear his screams of anger. Tony pulls Erin into his side, always protecting her.

  “I’ll kill you!!” Orson roars and leaps at the sides of the dirt walls, clawing his way, to no avail. He slides back into his hole.

  “No, Orson. You will hang from the neck until dead and we will never think of you again. We will live a beautiful life, full of joy and happiness without the threat of you.” She turns and walks from the stall into the barn where Erin and Tony wrap their arms around her waist.

  They walk back to the house with her and Loren tends to her wounds.

  Ryder watches her go and stares down at the man and the flickering lantern on the ground. For a second he thinks about it. Taking the lantern and finishing what she started. The bruises on her throat leave him trembling with rage. She almost died. Not sure what to do about the mixed feelings of rage, anger and confusion, he turns to his father and finds him glaring at the man in the hole.

  “Accidents happen all the time, Son. No one would need to know,” Donovan says as he picks up the burning lantern.

  “Dad!” Ryder gasps, only to laugh at the look of shame on his father’s face.

  “You don’t have what it takes.” Orson shouts obscenities as they blow the lantern out and replace it on the shelf. They walk from the barn into the fresh air, leaving the stable hands to watch over Orson until the Sheriff arrives with the doctor.

  “You scared me for a minute, Ryder,” Donovan says.

  “I scared me too,” Ryder glances away in shame.

  “Will they be okay?” Donovan asks.

  “I don’t know. I hope with enough love all things are possible,” he grins at his father’s soft laugh.

  “It’s about time, Son.”

  Chapter 44

  “Mother, let me in. She needs me,” Ryder insists as he listens to Jordan’s heart wrenching sobs.

  “No, she needs space, son. She’s grieving her family, probably for the first time and she doesn’t need you confusing or pushing her.” Loren places a hand on his chest. “Go home. Give her some space.”

  “I can’t stand it, Mom,” he looks at her and runs a hand over his bearded face in frustration.

  “I understand, but you have to give her some time,” Loren insists and guides him away from the door and to the stairs. “Go home.”

  Ryder leaves reluctantly and the kids watch him go from the window in the living room. Saint huffs from the window beside them, and Erin giggles and kisses his head. “It’s okay, he’ll be back.”

  “Erin, it’s time for your bath,” Loren calls from the doorway. Mrs. Perry guides Erin upstairs to the opposite side of the house. They are giving Jordan the space and time she needs.

  Tony sits down and rubs Saint, “You did good today, Saint. I’m so proud of you,” he whispers and rubs the dog.

  “You didn’t do bad yourself, Son,” Donovan says from the door.

  Tony blushes and looks away. “Thank you.”

  Loren walks in and sits down nervously clasping her hands in her lap. Donovan walks over and sits next to her and places a hand over hers to reassure her.

  “Anthony, we’d like to talk to you about something,” Loren starts and glances at the child in front of her. Her heart trembles with hope.

  Donovan draws out the paperwork from his adoption and places it on the wood table in front of them. He rubs a big hand over it, smoothing the documents. “We’d like for you to know that we want to adopt you for real. I mean, I know the papers are legal already, but we’d like to make this real. What I mean to say is…” he glances at Loren and she smiles and grips her husband’s hand.

  “We want you to be our son.” Loren tears up as hope and joy floods into his body. A moment later, the sound of Erin’s laughter causes him to slump.

  “I can’t. They need me.” He looks up at them and the tears in Loren’s eyes almost causes him to change his mind. “I made a promise and I have to be true to my word. It’s all I have.” Tony stiffens his spine.

  “We understand, son. You’ve kept your word. Tony, they are safe. It’s also okay to follow the plan the Lord has for you as well. If you change your mind. You’ll always have a home with us.”

  Tony nods and throws his arms
around them, hugging them, sniffing back tears. Before running from the room, Loren weeps into his neck.

  “What do we do?” she asks.

  “We just need to trust the Lord,” Donovan whispers.

  Chapter 45

  “Good Morning, I’m here to see…”

  “Jordan,” Ryder calls with a smile, “this is unexpected. Come into my office,” he guides her inside as she smiles weakly at him.

  “Thank you. I hope you don’t mind me dropping in. I was buying our train tickets to go home and I thought I should see if I needed to sign anything before I leave.”

  “Home?” Ryder’s smile fades as his eyes trail over her face, noting the scarf tied around her bruised throat. “You’re leaving?”

  “Yes,” she drops her eyes to her hands. “I have to go home. It’s time. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

  “Don’t go!” Ryder sits beside her and takes her trembling hands in his and she looks up at him with tears shining in her eyes.

  “I have to go back. I have a business to sell, a home, friends…”

  “You have friends here, hopefully more,” his deep voice draws her eyes. He stops pushing when he sees the confusion and fear in her eyes.

  “I can’t do this right now. I need to finish this, make sure the children are okay, safe and… please say that you understand,” Jordan sniffs back tears.

  “Of course.” He releases her hands and she feels the cold instantly.

  “I have your papers here.” Ryder stands stiffly and moves to the desk and grabs her signed and sealed documents. “Inside you will find everything in order. They have transferred your money from the sale of your business to your bank. You will never have to worry about money again.” He smiles at her as she takes the papers and nods.

  “Thank you,” she holds them to her chest and stares at him. “Ryder, thank you again for… being my friend when I really needed one. For keeping me sane and reminding me what’s important. I hope you’re happy.”