Eppie pictured the baby version of Miracle, squalling and fighting her way into the world. There were many things she knew Micah wouldn’t tell her about the birth of their daughter. Judging by the lingering pain in his gaze, she would never know.
“She was worried about you.”
Micah’s smile faded. “I owe her an apology. I owe you an apology.” He sat up and took her hands into his, clutching them firmly but without hurting her. “I ran because I was afraid. I thought I’d lost you, that you’d made the choice to do what you could to regain your memory. It was cowardly, and believe me, I know what cowardly is.”
She shook her head. “You’re a fool, Micah. I never made such a choice. And you are no coward.”
“I’m more than a fool.” He chuckled without humor. “But I couldn’t lose you again.” The agony was clear in his voice.
Eppie knew his love would be an enormous thing. He loved her so much, it had survived death twice, and more than three years of her floating between two worlds. The strength of his love was now so clear it shone like the full moon outside the window.
“You didn’t.” She kissed his hand. “I’m right here.”
Micah closed his eyes and pulled her close to him. His heart thumped hard against her. Eppie breathed in his scent and thanked God she’d survived to find a man who loved her enough to battle death. Life, it seemed, triumphed after all.
They spent the rest of the day sleeping, talking and making love. In the morning, it was time to return to Plum Creek and to Miracle. The sun shone brightly on the forest floor, making the greenery sparkle. Eppie hadn’t felt as happy since she’d woken from the coma.
They rode the horses carefully down the mountain, with Micah showing her the side trail she would have found quite useful the day before. It took longer than the main trail, but the incline wasn’t as steep and they made it down to Plum Creek in three hours. It was a comfortable silence that lay between them during the ride, making Eppie feel as though she had finally found peace.
The house looked the same, with the beautiful flowers blowing gently in the breeze. Eppie looked for Miracle or Daisy to pop up or to come around the corner, yet nothing moved but the petals and the porch swing.
The good mood began to fade as a feeling of dread crawled up her skin. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she turned to look at Micah. His smile had faded to a frown; he was apparently feeling as apprehensive as she was.
“Something’s wrong.”
“Maybe they’re just worried about us.” Eppie shifted on the saddle. “We did both disappear up the mountain.”
Micah’s nostrils flared as he gazed around the yard. “No, that’s not it. Something’s wrong. There hasn’t been a sunny day all summer that Miracle hasn’t been outside with that dog.”
“Madeline is keeping her inside so she doesn’t go look for us.” Eppie wasn’t ready to believe her own excuse, but it was a reasonable one.
As they made it to the carriage house, the eerie sound of the wind whistled through the open door. Micah dismounted and came around to assist Eppie. His strong hands felt warm on her waist, but it didn’t chase the chill away.
Eppie swallowed, but just barely, past the lump in her throat. She walked slowly toward the back door, unwilling to speculate as to why she felt so uncomfortable.
When the door burst open, she jumped a foot in the air in fright. Teague stood there, his face a mask of fury and distress.
“Thank God. Get in here now.” He didn’t wait for them to respond. He turned around and disappeared into the house.
Eppie was glad for the split skirt as she ran for the house, terrified of what they’d find. So many scenes ran through her mind, from Miracle falling down a well to being bitten by an animal to her running away. She imagined so many awful things that tears were already falling from her eyes by the time she made it into the kitchen.
Madeline sat at the table with red-rimmed eyes, a cup of coffee in her hands. Teague stood behind her, arms crossed, the ever-present deep frown creasing his forehead.
Miracle was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is she?” Micah voiced the words stuck in Eppie’s throat.
Eppie’s terror over what had happened to their daughter knew no bounds. She had finally found where she belonged, had accepted the love Micah was willing to give, and had even fallen in love with the little girl who called her Mama. Now, it appeared, God was ready to shatter that happiness.
“Mathias took her.” Madeline’s voice was hoarse with emotion.
“Fucking son of a bitch.” Micah punched the wall. “He had no right to touch her. I told him that.”
“Who’s Mathias and why did he take Miracle?” Eppie felt helpless in the face of a stranger taking her daughter.
“The good reverend.” Micah spat. “Where did he take her?”
“I don’t know.” Madeline shook her head as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’m sorry I failed to protect your daughter. She was outside playing and I came in to get my hat. When I went back out, she was gone.” Her voice caught on the last word.
“I scoured the house and the property for her.” Teague finally spoke. “That’s when I found the letter stuck in the door.”
Eppie finally noticed the paper lying on the table, curled onto itself like a dead spider. Bile crawled up her throat as the claws of terror sank into her. She reached out and picked up the letter with her fingertips, unwilling to touch it more than necessary.
Mr. Spalding,
I warned you that your daughter needed two competent parents. Now it appears you’ve left her under the care of an accused embezzler and her convict husband. I cannot let that situation continue in good conscience. I’ve taken Miracle to a family with two parents of her kind who can take care of her properly.
Reverend Elmer Mathias
Eppie read the letter out loud, her fear shifting into rage. By the time she was done, she was ready to find a gun and shoot the pompous, self-righteous son of a bitch.
“He’d threatened this before?” she asked Micah.
Micah clenched his hands into fists. “Yes, he did, but I was always here to stop him. I never thought he was watching the goddamn house waiting for us to leave at the same time.”
“It appears that’s exactly what he was doing.” Madeline wiped her eyes. “I sent Teague down to send a wire to our attorney in Denver for help.”
“Attorney? Do you think this will become a legal fight?” Eppie was still learning about the world around her. The fact that a court could be involved hadn’t entered her mind yet.
“Absolutely. He’s kidnapped her, forced her to leave her home. You can be damn sure he won’t get away with it.” Madeline rose, her tears giving way to the same iron resolution Eppie felt. “Let’s go talk to the sheriff.”
“What the hell is he going to do? The boy can’t be more than twenty.” Micah scoffed. “He barely shaves.”
“I believe he’s twenty-five, and he’s honest, for one thing. He has a good heart. He can help us.” Madeline put her cup in the sink and turned to Eppie. “I’m so sorry, Elizabeth.”
Eppie swallowed the tears back, knowing if she let them out again, she’d have trouble getting them back in. Instead she hugged her friend quickly, then stepped back.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Let’s go find her.”
The four of them left the house together, ready to mount the search for the missing child.
Micah wanted a drink. The need was so strong, he had to keep swallowing the saliva that gathered in his mouth. Whiskey was a powerful draw and he barely resisted the urge to run into the house and bring a bottle of it with him.
Two things prevented him from falling back into the bottle.
Miracle and Eppie.
Miracle needed her daddy and he hadn’t been there to protect her. For that he might never forgive himself. Someone had taken her away from her family and he intended to make the reverend pay for his crime. First, however, he needed to find his littl
e curly-haired moppet and bring her to safety.
Eppie was the heart beating in his chest. She’d seen him in the throes of drunkenness before and no doubt she hadn’t forgotten it. The details were hazy for him, unfortunately, and he was embarrassed that he’d even succumbed to the lure of liquor. Yet the love he had for Eppie was stronger than any need for whiskey.
Teague hooked up the carriage horses and drove the women into town while Micah rode beside them on his buckskin. The faithful equine must’ve sensed his master’s anger, because he danced a bit when Micah mounted him. Micah had to remind himself that anger could and would cloud his judgment, to keep control over his emotions.
But oh, it was so hard. He kept imagining Miracle alone, crying and asking for her Daddy. Or worse, being beaten or punished for not listening to her “new” parents. The thought of anyone hurting his daughter made him want to howl in rage and frustration.
Eppie seemed to be having the same problem. Her jaw was clenched so tight as she rode in the carriage, he swore he heard her teeth grinding from ten feet away. Her normally vibrant skin was pale and washed out. She had been telling the truth when she said she’d fallen in love with their daughter. Obviously her feelings were as strong as his.
They had to find her or Micah didn’t think he could live with himself or his failures. Eppie and Miracle were the glue that held him together. Without them, he’d be a shell of a man, adrift in a sea of misery.
The sheriff had been on the job since the prior sheriff, the infamous Jackson Webster, had been jailed for his crimes. The young man had moved to town from a nearby rural area, eager to serve the citizens of Plum Creek. Daniel Morton had been faithful in that regard, earning the respect and loyalty of the town.
However, Micah had distrusted the law almost as long as Daniel had been alive. Just because the new sheriff was friendly and didn’t rob people blind, Micah wasn’t ready to throw away his hard-earned skepticism.
When they arrived at the sheriff’s office, Eppie climbed out of the carriage before Micah had even stopped his horse. She marched to the door and walked in, leaving Micah to follow.
By the time he entered the sheriff’s office, Eppie was introducing herself to Daniel. She’d never met the man, considering she’d been in a coma when he started the job.
“I’ve been hearing folks talk about you for the last month. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Archer.” Daniel was pleasantly bland, as usual.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sheriff Morton.” She glanced at Micah, controlled fear and anger in her gaze.
Daniel was a blond with bright blue eyes. He was fresh-faced and looked as though he hadn’t had one thing go wrong in his life. Perhaps that was one of the reasons Micah didn’t like him, if he were honest with himself.
In any case, the sheriff rarely had a harsh word for anyone and somehow managed to keep order in the small town without making enemies or putting in a hard day’s work. As far as Micah was concerned, if a man didn’t sweat, it wasn’t a hard day’s work.
“Mornin’, Micah.” Daniel nodded from his perch on the corner of his desk.
“Daniel.” He stood next to Eppie, marking his territory.
“Mr. Spalding and I have a problem and we need your help.” She took Micah’s hand into her cold one. “It appears Reverend Mathias has kidnapped our daughter.”
Daniel’s eyes widened. Two beats passed by. “Pardon me? He did what?”
Eppie pulled the letter from her pocket. “While Micah and I were out of the house, the reverend took it upon himself to kidnap our daughter.” Her hand shook as she held the paper out for the sheriff, yet her spine remained ramrod straight. “He needs to be found, arrested and charged.”
To Daniel’s credit, he only blinked once before he took the paper. Micah had expected him to scoff at their story and chuckle about how children tend to disappear for a bit, then come home when they’re hungry. Cynicism certainly had its roots deeply woven within Micah’s mind.
“Where were the two of you when he took her?” Gone was the silly, blank-faced boy and suddenly in his place was an alert man. Micah couldn’t have been more surprised.
“We were up at my cabin. Had some things to take care of.” Micah wasn’t about to reveal exactly what things they took care of.
Daniel nodded. “I’ve seen your cabin. I’d say you had more than a few things to do. Did anyone see Mathias?”
Madeline appeared in the doorway. “No one saw him. I had gone inside for two minutes to fetch my hat. Mathias must have been watching the house.”
The fact that the reverend had obviously waited until the girl was out of sight and alone made Micah’s fury surge anew. That sick bastard had warned him, as much as told him he’d take her away, yet Micah had been too stupid to listen.
His stomach churned to think of Miracle in the reverend’s filthy hands. She was barely a little girl, and so special, whatever the man had in mind for her couldn’t be any worse than what Micah imagined.
“You sure about that?”
“He’s come by the house lots of times telling me Miracle needed a proper set of parents. I always told him to leave.” Micah regretted that now. He should have already told Daniel what had been happening. “I was obviously a complete idiot.”
“He also came by when I was alone shortly after I woke up from the coma.” Eppie visibly shuddered. “Told me God had been punishing me for having a child outside the bonds of matrimony.”
Daniel frowned and glanced at the paper again. “He’s well respected in town.”
“Only by people like the evil blond triplets.” Micah mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” Daniel looked at him questioningly.
“Nothing. I can’t imagine his fire and brimstone sermons actually endear townsfolks to him. They tolerate him because he’s an old man who wears a minister’s collar.” Micah remembered the one Sunday he’d ventured to Plum Creek’s church. Even he’d been shocked by the ferocity of the reverend’s hell and damnation speech.
“While I don’t get to church much, it’s true what you say. He definitely can tell a hair-raising tale.” The sheriff rose and walked around to the chair behind his desk. “Let’s start from the beginning.”
Micah wanted to mount a search immediately. In fact, he had trouble restraining himself from insisting on it. Yet, Daniel showed common sense, and Micah recognized the younger man had a better plan than his. He always did have trouble with controlling his impulses.
Madeline proceeded to tell the story of her adversarial relationship with Reverend Mathias. He’d come to town when she’d been ten, a formidable man who bullied his way into the church when the elderly minister had passed away.
“He’d always spend his time judging other people, trying to force them to be what he expected them to be instead of who they were.” Madeline’s tone reflected an old hurt and anger. “My father tolerated him in the house because of his influence on the rest of the town. I’ve never trusted him. A spiritual leader should never judge, belittle or frighten any member of his flock.”
“I have to agree with you there.” Daniel took notes on a scrap of paper as she spoke.
“It only got worse when Teague and I, um, found each other. If Mathias had had his way, I would’ve stayed a spinster for the rest of my life. In his opinion, Teague isn’t good enough to be my husband or the father of my boys. He tried his damndest, pardon my language, to ruin our relationship.” Madeline had gained momentum and showed her anger instead of pain. “Reverend Mathias is a bigot, a bully, and apparently also a kidnapper.”
Eppie’s face had grown paler as Madeline spoke. “I didn’t know,” she barely whispered.
“I’m sorry.” Madeline put her hand on Eppie’s shoulder. “It never crossed my mind that he was bothering Micah or that he’d go so far as to kidnap Miracle.”
Eppie visibly swallowed. “He sounds like a monster.”
“He is.” Micah slapped his hand on the desk. “We need
to stop talking and start walking.”
“If we don’t get all the facts before we begin investigating, then we might miss something. I know you’re anxious to find your daughter. I can only imagine what you’re feeling, but please let me do my job.” Daniel kept a steady gaze locked on Micah.
Eppie swayed, and Micah took hold of her arm. “This is too much for you.” He was concerned about how she was reacting to Miracle’s disappearance.
“No, I’m not going home. There’s absolutely no way I will step foot in that house without Miracle in my arms.” Her voice was a lot stronger than her body. For that, Micah was proud of her, yet that didn’t make him any less concerned.
Daniel tapped his pencil on the desk. “Then we’d better get all the information we need. Micah, tell me about the reverend and his threats.”
Micah took a deep breath, swallowing the panic along with the bile that had risen up his throat. “He started coming round the house a few months after Madeline and Teague moved to Denver. Eppie, I mean Elizabeth, had recovered from the gunshot wound, but was still in the coma.”
He took a step back in time, remembering the first time he’d had occasion to meet the not-so-good Reverend Mathias. “It was a Saturday afternoon and I was outside working on the fence. Orion was still alive then. He lived with me in the house, puttering around doing small repairs and tending to the garden.”
“Who’s Orion?” Daniel paused, pencil in midair.
“He was the former sheriff’s servant, who became my friend and houseguest after Jackson Webster went to jail as he deserved.” Madeline’s vehemence surprised even Micah. Teague put his arm around her shoulders.
“If it were up to Mathias, I’d have been strung up.” Teague said quietly. “He as much told me that once.”
“I didn’t know that.” Madeline looked up at him with regret in her eyes. “You never told me.”
The corner of Teague’s mouth lifted. “I’m a big boy, Maddie. I can take care of myself.”
“I thought the same thing, big boy. Now look what happened.” Micah was starting to lose control of his emotions again. “He came by every month for the next two years. Every time, he kept after me about Miracle and a proper home. Goddammit, why didn’t I pay attention?”
The Redemption of Micah Page 18