Nugget looked at her with big, watery green eyes. “I promised my papa.”
“Then at least tell me how he got in.”
Shadows crossed Nugget’s face, and she’d liked to have thought that it was because Nugget was carefully considering the idea. That meant there had to be another way.
“Papa came in from the big rock.” Nugget pointed, and when Annabelle swung the lantern, her heart sank. The big rock was bigger than the two of them put together.
“Some other bad men came for Papa once, and he told me to stay in here until it was safe.” She walked to the spot where she’d found the blanket, then pulled out a canteen. “The food’s gone, but Papa left us water and this lantern.” Nugget held up the lantern that illuminated the cave.
This was not what she was looking for. But maybe, if she got Nugget to tell more of the story, she’d find out something that could help them. “How long were you in here?”
“Ages.” Nugget let out a long, dramatic sigh. “But then Papa pushed the big rock out of the way and he saved me.”
“Annabelle!” The echo through the cave reminded her that they didn’t have ages. They had only as much time as the men had to bring dynamite in from town. Which, if they rode hard, only gave them a couple hours.
She turned toward the opening from which they’d come. “We’re still looking. It’s all a bunch of rocks.”
“You best find me some silver.”
If only Annabelle and God had been on good enough terms that He would listen to her prayers. But maybe...
Lord, please help us. Help me find a way to save us. To save Nugget. You saw fit to save me when all of these good people died in spite of all my prayers. Why did You have to take Joseph, too? And now to leave me in this situation where only You can save us? This time, if You have to take someone, let it be me instead of a little girl who hasn’t done anything wrong.
Because that, of all things, was her greatest fear. That somehow, God would once again take someone she loved and leave her behind to regret.
Annabelle took Nugget in her arms. “They’re not going to be patient much longer. Please, if there is silver, tell me where to find it.”
The little girl looked up at her with tears in her eyes. “You don’t believe me?”
But this...breaking a child’s heart, was probably the worst of all her sins. Faith was supposed to be about believing in things unseen. These men had never seen the silver. Joseph had never seen the silver. But they were all willing to fight for it. How much so should her faith be?
She couldn’t even believe in silver when she was supposed to believe in God.
“I just...” Annabelle hated the way her heart churned. “I’ve seen no evidence...no...”
A voice inside the back of her head asked her if she hadn’t seen evidence, or if she hadn’t seen the evidence she’d wanted to see.
Annabelle took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Nugget. If you say there’s silver, then I believe.” She had to choose to believe.
Annabelle looked Nugget in the eye. “I know your father said to wait here for him, but what did he say to do if he didn’t come?”
The uncertainty in the child’s eyes didn’t give her any comfort. But Annabelle had to do something. Otherwise, sitting here, thinking about the men after her... Men who’d killed Nugget’s father. And Joseph... No, she couldn’t think about him. Not now. Otherwise, the pain might completely immobilize her.
Nugget’s voice piped up. “Papa said for me to sing some songs so I wouldn’t miss him so much while I waited for him to come. I could sing one my mama taught me.”
The earnestness in the small child’s voice gave Annabelle the strength she needed to keep fighting. “That sounds like a great idea.”
As Nugget began singing “Rock of Ages,” Annabelle looked around for something to use as a lever. If the rock moved one way to get Nugget out before, surely she could find a way to make it work again.
* * *
Joseph slowed his horse just before the turnoff for the cabin. Maybe his pa had left more clues there. Something to tell him where to find the secret rock house or Monkey Rock.
Lord, please. Help me find Annabelle and Nugget.
Something glinted off a rock in the sunlight and caught his eye. He stopped and looked closer. The letter A, made out of Annabelle’s hairpins.
“Frank!” He twisted in his saddle and waved at the other man. “I’ve found something.”
Without waiting for Frank’s answer, Joseph jumped off the horse and picked up the pins. He searched the area around where she’d left the clue. She’d been here, but which direction did they go?
Frank joined him where he stood and examined the pins. “I’ve always appreciated that she didn’t worry herself into a tizzy the way so many ladies do. I just wish...” He shook his head.
Joseph put his arm on the other man’s shoulder. “Don’t wish. We’re going to find her and Nugget, and we’ll bring them home safely. Then you can tell her all the things you wish you could have told her.”
Like that fact that he was kidding himself to think he could only be her friend. No other woman would have the kind of gumption Annabelle did. And in the face of being kidnapped, she still found a way to fight. She’d given his sister her heart and loved her in spite of all the reasons a respectable woman wouldn’t be so kind to Nugget. Even though she had to face her own grief to do so.
If anyone could hold her own against Slade and his gang, Annabelle could.
Joseph held up the pins. “Annabelle left us some clues. Do any of you see anything that looks like a monkey rock?”
The men scanned the area, and Joseph’s stomach sank at the realization that none of the rocks in the area looked like a monkey.
“I found another pin!”
Frank’s shout gave Joseph more hope. Annabelle had left them a trail. Surely as they followed her clues, they’d find a monkey rock.
They were headed east, by the looks of things. He turned toward the other men. “What’s east of here? Anything that would be like a monkey?”
Wes’s face turned white. “I know where they are. It’s not monkey rock, it’s long key rock, and it looks like a long key.”
He watched as the other man shook his head slowly. “I can’t believe the silver was there the whole time. He even tried to get me to buy the claim off him, said he needed to send money home. Said he didn’t want just anyone to have it.”
Hearing of his pa’s honor, or what looked to be it, caused Joseph’s gut to churn in an unfamiliar way. No matter how much he thought he knew about his pa, it seemed like there was always something more to be learned. Just as he’d been unable to fit Annabelle into a box, so too, had he failed to do so with his pa.
Joseph went to his horse, prepared to travel to Long Key Rock, but as he headed in the direction of the pins, Wes stopped him. “That’s the way they went, but I know a back way. They won’t be expecting us from that direction, so maybe we can get a jump on them.”
Wes turned toward the men who’d ridden from camp with them. “Someone get the sheriff.”
They followed Wes through a tight canyon, so tight that they could barely fit their horses through. If Joseph had been in charge of navigating the passage, he would have been tempted to turn back. It seemed to be nearly impassable as his horse slipped on some rocks.
“Careful!” Wes called behind them. “We’re almost there.”
A large boulder blocked their path. Wes jumped off his horse. “We’ll lead the horses through here. Funny, I don’t remember this boulder being here before.”
They managed to squeeze past the boulder, and from there, Wes’s description of being almost there didn’t seem to be so far off. The canyon opened up, and to their right stood a large rock formation. Ahead, nothing but sheer cliffs and the edge o
f the mountains. From his vantage point, facing the villains directly seemed almost the smarter choice.
“We can tie up the horses here.” Wes gestured at a tree with well-worn ground. “Looks like this is probably where someone else did.”
That someone being his pa? Or someone else? Joseph examined the rock formation that Wes said was the rear of the rock where they’d likely taken Annabelle and Nugget. He clambered up the pile of debris. Piles of rock had been dumped here and there, almost as if someone was searching for silver but hadn’t found it yet. Someone had been prospecting here.
The other two men joined him, scrambling up the rock, looking for a way to sneak around the front. A fissure in the rock appeared to be almost large enough for a man to squeeze through. If his pa had hidden silver in here, he’d made it nearly impossible for anyone to get to it. But maybe that was the challenge. The way he’d kept it safe all this time.
And why two people were in grave danger.
Joseph peered into the rock opening. Could there be a way through here to where Annabelle and Nugget were being held?
A sound, almost like someone calling Annabelle’s name, reached his ears. Joseph squeezed in deeper. Could they have escaped?
“Annabelle....” The word echoed to his ears.
They were there. Had to be.
He squeezed back out of the cave and motioned to Wes and Frank. “I can hear someone calling to Annabelle through here.”
Without waiting for their answer, Joseph returned to where he’d positioned himself.
“I’ve got a lantern.” Wes’s voice sounded behind him, and light filled the tight space.
Joseph pressed against the wall, realizing there wasn’t enough room for two men to walk comfortably in the space, which dead-ended only a few feet ahead of him.
“Annnnnnnaaaaabellllllleeee....” The voice came again. “Bring out my silver, or we’re going to use dynamite.”
Dynamite. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as the air grew distinctly colder.
In a cavern like this, who knew how stable the rocks around them were. Dynamite could get them all killed.
A child’s voice singing “Rock of Ages” echoed through the cavern. Nugget.
“Give me the lantern.” He reached back to Wes, who handed him the light.
Joseph held it up, shining it against each side of the rock around them. Surely there was some passageway to lead them to the girls.
* * *
Light seeped through the crack of the boulder that Nugget had said her father pushed aside to get her out. Was it one of Slade’s men? Or someone come to save them?
“Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee.”
Though Nugget’s childish voice spoke of Christ, Annabelle looked around for a hiding place in the rock they were already hiding in. Was there a deeper place for them to find themselves in?
A small voice inside her told her to have a little faith. And she was reminded that she needed to simply believe.
“Annnnnaaabellleee....” Slade’s voice came from the other end, though sounding closer than his previous threats had been. “Bring out my silver, or I’m going to use dynamite.”
Surely he wouldn’t be threatening dynamite if he was sending someone else in through the other side.
“Nugget.” Annabelle got the little girl’s attention, and indicated to the rock. “I see light coming from there.”
The little girl jumped up. “Papa!”
She ran to the boulder and clawed at the crack. “Papa, we’re here. The bad men are trying to steal our silver.”
“Nugget!”
Joseph. Tears clogged her throat at the sweet sound of a voice she’d never imagined she’d hear again. Annabelle closed her eyes and breathed a simultaneous prayer of relief and prayer for his safety. Against these evil men, Joseph would be no match.
Still, he was alive. All the regret over his death could be erased. She could love him, and let him love her in return.
If they got out alive.
She spoke low and urgently, not wishing for their voices to echo back to Slade. “We’re both here, and we’re safe. But I don’t know for how much longer. Slade is threatening to use dynamite if we don’t bring out silver for him.”
“Papa moved the rock out of the way to get me out of here,” Nugget added.
“Who else is there?” Slade’s voice called out. He yelled something to his men, probably to either look for the other entrance or ready the dynamite. Neither would end well for them.
Annabelle knelt in front of Nugget. “Can we send some silver their way? If we tempt them with something, it will give Joseph more time to get us out of here.”
Nugget looked in the direction they’d come from, then back at the boulder. “But Papa said...”
“If there’s a lot of silver, it won’t matter if we give them some. Besides, it’ll give the sheriff a way to find them.”
The little girl examined her like an older, wiser, person would. Weighing the risks and benefits of her plan. But mostly, she looked like she wanted to cry.
Nugget nodded slowly, then walked over to another rock. “Behind there.”
It looked like any other rock in the place. Part of the many piles of rocks that seemed to lead nowhere. But she trusted Nugget. Annabelle pushed against the rock, but it didn’t budge.
“Help me.”
Nugget joined her, pushing with all the might the little girl had. Her face reddened with the exertion, but nothing seemed to move.
From the direction of the other boulder, Annabelle could hear sounds of scraping at rock, but no movement.
“Annnnaaabellle....” Slade’s voice threatened.
“I’m trying,” she called back. “Truly. I just need to move this rock.”
She pushed harder, using all of her strength. Nugget grunted as she helped Annabelle push against the rock, which began to move slightly.
Finding silver would give them more time for Joseph to get through the other entrance.
“Dynamite can move the rock.”
His voice sounded closer, like he’d managed to find a way through the tiny passageway.
Nugget seemed to realize that, too, as she cast a worried look in Annabelle’s direction.
“Come on.” She motioned to Nugget, and pointed at the other boulder.
They moved to the other boulder. “Slade is coming,” Annabelle said in a harsh whisper.
“Push!” Annabelle said loud enough for Slade, or whoever he might be sending after the silver, to hear.
They gave a couple of shoves at the rock, just as Slade entered the larger cavern.
Annabelle’s heart stuck in her throat, and she willed it to go back to normal. To cling to the hope that Joseph would find a way to get them out.
Slade’s clothes were torn and covered in dust from using a pick to get to them. Dirty, messy work, and he clearly wasn’t happy about having to do the work himself. And, she noted, he’d had to leave his gun behind. Maybe they stood a chance after all.
He tossed the pick at them as he held up the lantern. “What kind of trick is this? There’s no silver here.”
Annabelle shook her head. “Nugget says it is. She said her father came for her from behind this rock, so it must be here.”
Slade looked even more imposing than ever. “That so?” He shone his lantern around the rock. “Yes, we’ll need some dynamite.”
Hopefully Joseph had heard.
Nugget tugged on Annabelle’s skirt. Annabelle looked down at the little girl, who looked terrified at the prospect. “Papa said—”
“I don’t care what that no-account papa of yours said,” Slade roared as he spun in their direction. “All’s he had to do was give me some silver and we’d have been square. But
that lyin’, cheatin’—”
“Enough!” Annabelle gave him a stern look. “There’s no call to use such language.”
Then, she looked down at Nugget. “Or dynamite. Clearly, with these tunnels, this is an established mine. We need to dig out the access to the silver, and when we have a better sense of the layout, then you can dynamite where appropriate. If you randomly blast things, you’re going to make an awful mess, and I’m sure it’ll be that much harder for you to get your silver.”
Slade leaned in at her, his eyes gleaming with enough avarice to make her wonder how anyone could have seen anything other than what a cold, hard man he was. His laughter rang through the cavern, surely carrying through to the other tunnels where the others could hear. They were in grave danger.
Slade kicked the pick. “Start digging.”
Annabelle took the pick and started swinging it, aiming for the gap in the rock where she knew Joseph would be, but far enough away that she wouldn’t strike him with debris. She hoped.
“Help. Please,” she said the words as quietly as she could, but Slade immediately jumped up.
“Who you talking to? Who’s there?”
Annabelle spun. “I suppose your praying was just for show, so you have no idea what it looks like to truly pray.”
Her own words shamed her. How long had she merely given lip service to her faith? Making people think she believed when she had none? Even now, her faith was weak, so weak she could hardly defend it. But here, in the cleft of the rock, she had to believe that she was in the protection of a greater rock.
“Your God’s not going to help you. He didn’t help your family. Didn’t help mine. You think you’ve uncovered some elixir to make Him listen?”
She closed her eyes, trying to drown out the shame of his words. But just as the familiar darkness threatened to overtake her, another truth sprang to the back of her mind. And her mother’s voice came to her, clearer than anything else she’d heard in a long time.
It said in Isaiah, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Rocky Mountain Dreams (Leadville, Co. Book 1) Page 21