the dog out of sight, I had no guarantee that anyone or
anything would stop him before he did something rash. So I
decided I would hold onto the axe. Todd was right. It was
better to overreact if it meant I increased my chances of
being safe. I glanced at the two horses in their stalls. The
smaller one would be easier to ride bareback. I wished I
had taken the time to learn to ride a horse, but now was not
the time for regrets. It was time for action. The smaller one
would have to do. I hurried over to the stalls.
Kent ran into the barn and came to an abrupt stop
when he saw me. In the stall beside me, Storm neighed at
the sight of the stranger.
Kent shook his head. “Ann, I came back for you.
Aren"t you happy to see me?”
“Go away!” I yelled.
He looked shocked.
“I want to be here,” I continued. “I love Todd.”
“What has happened to you out here? Have you
gone mad?”
Why doesn’t he leave?
I felt the tears welling up in
my eyes but forced myself to stay focused.
I’m so scared!
I
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gripped the axe.
I don’t want to use it. Lord, please don’t let
it come to that. Just send him away.
“Please, leave,” I sobbed despite my best effort not
to.
“Ann, I wouldn"t hurt you. I love you. I want to marry
you. It should have been you. Rebecca got in the way.
She seduced me, as I"m sure Todd seduced you. Can"t you
understand that I never wanted to end our courtship?”
“It doesn"t matter what happened, Kent,” I said.
“We"ve already made our choices. You have to move on.”
He glared at me. “Are you preaching at me?”
What?
He moved forward a step.
I moved back.
The horses neighed.
“I"ve had enough of people reminding me that I need
to move on,” he spat. “What I need is to get back to the way
things were a year ago. You can"t honestly stand there and
tell me you like it here.”
“Yes, I can.”
“No, Ann! You"re not supposed to like it here. Todd
forced you out here and kept you a prisoner against your
wil . I"m here to save you.”
I shook my head and rapidly blinked through my
tears so I could keep track of him. “I want to be here.”
“No!” He lunged for me.
I shrieked and swung the axe. I wasn"t aiming at
him. I was trying to stop him from getting closer to me. It
worked. He immediately backed away. I had to get out of
the barn but how? I glanced at Storm. If I could get on her
back, I could ride out of here. Trying to steadily my hold the
axe in one hand, I reached for the latch on the stall door with
my other hand. My hand shook so badly, I couldn"t open it.
To my shock, he grabbed the axe. I tried to hold
onto it. I gripped it with both hands and leaned back, hoping
gravity would work to my advantage, but he was too strong
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for me. He pulled the axe toward him and I fell back when
he yanked it out of my hands. I sat on the ground in shock.
I watched as he held the axe.
Oh God, what is he going to
do?
He shook his head. “Do you think I"m going to use
this on you?” He put the axe gently on the ground. “I don"t
want to hurt you, Ann. I want to marry you.”
“I"m not yours.”
“We can change that. You ran away with Todd. Run
away with me.”
“No.”
My fingers felt a solid object. I gripped the rock in
my hand. I managed to stand up. I had to get out of here!
“You have to love me, Ann!” He grabbed me by the
arms and tried to kiss me.
I threw a rock at his head with as much strength as I
could muster.
He screamed and let me go.
I turned to the stall and tried to shake the door open.
It wouldn"t budge. I wasn"t thinking clearly enough to unlock
it. I swung my leg over the side of the door. If I could hop
on the horse, I could get out of here. Just as I made it
halfway over the door, Kent grabbed my foot. I slipped and
grabbed onto Storm"s neck. The horse bucked back in
protest, but I managed to hold onto her. Kent lost hold of
my foot but held onto the hem of my dress.
He started to climb the stall.
“Let me go!” I screamed, kicking at him.
Suddenly the sound of a gun shot pierced through
the air. Startled, Kent let go of me, and I fell into the stall
with the horse. Storm bucked again but I rolled away from
her in time to avoid being stepped on.
“Get away from my wife.”
I was so grateful to hear Todd"s cold voice that all of
my energy departed. I just cried silently in the stall while I
watched them.
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Kent grabbed his ear. Blood seeped through his
fingers. He slowly backed away from the stall, his hands up
in the air. “It"s not what it looks like.”
Todd"s horse moved closer to Kent. Kent continued
to walk back until he was against the wall. Todd sat on
Lightning, his gun trained on Kent. He shot an anxious
glance in my direction. “Are you alright?”
I was so relieved to see him that I could only nod.
Turning his attention back to Kent, he clenched his
jaw. “I ought to kil you for attacking my wife.”
“Don"t...I...” Kent"s voice shook. “I won"t come back.
I promise.”
The next sound I heard was Patches" barking.
“How do I know you"ll leave her alone?” Todd
demanded over the barking.
“Look at you. You"re ready to kil me. I don"t want to
die.” Kent touched his bloody ear. “I understand now. She
wants to be with you. I thought I was rescuing her but I
wasn"t.”
Patches quieted down.
“You told her parents you would leave her alone.
But here you are. I don"t believe a word you"re saying. I
think you"l say anything to get out of trouble.”
Someone called out, “Mr. Brothers?”
I stood up to see who it was. I blinked in surprise. It
was Kent"s father. Kent hustled over to him. Todd finally
relaxed his hold on the gun.
“Son, you have caused much grief to your mother
and I,” his father sadly said. “Mr. Brothers, I apologize for
trusting my son to stay away from your wife. Kent, get your
horse. I want to talk to Mr. Brothers.”
Kent nodded and left the barn.
Todd leaned over and helped me out of the stall. He
slid off his horse and set the gun aside on the ground. With
one arm around me and one hand on the horse"s bridle, he
led us to where Kent"s father stood.
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Mr. Ashton"s face was glum. “I"m sending him to my
brother in Ireland. My brother is tough. He won"t let Kent
get away with anything, and if Kent hopes to get his
inheritance, he will have to abide by my brother"s rules.”
“Do you believe he"l stay away from here?” Todd
asked.
“If there"s one thing Kent loves more than women,
it"s money. He won"t give up that inheritance for anything or
anyone.”
“I believe you, sir.”
“I"m sorry. He was raised better than this.” He shook
his head. “Good day, Mr. Brothers, Mrs. Brothers.”
I nodded to him. I was speechless. A year ago, I
wanted to be with Kent. Now, I couldn"t imagine being with
anyone but Todd. I leaned against him, grateful he was
mine and I was his.
We watched Kent and his father leave. Once they
were out of sight, Todd returned the horse to its stall. I
hugged the dog, grateful that he went to find Todd for me.
The dog did have blood around his mouth, but he looked
unharmed. Patches must have bitten Kent"s arm and when
he couldn"t stop Kent, he ran to get Todd. When Todd saw
the blood on Patches" mouth, he knew something was
wrong. The pieces of the events that occurred were easy to
put together.
Todd walked back to me.
“He got you for me,” I said.
I stood up and hugged him.
He held me tightly against him. “I was never so
scared in my entire life,” he whispered. “I almost kil ed him,
Ann. I came so close to pul ing the trigger.”
I tightened my hold on him.
We stayed there for the longest time, just holding
onto each other, still shaky but relieved.
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Ann’s Point of View
One night in late April, I had a nightmare that I woke
up and was next to Kent.
He smiled his usual charming smile at me. “I wil
never go away, Ann. I won"t take no for an answer. You
belong to me.”
I bolted up in bed, my pulse racing as I struggled to
determine whether or not I was still dreaming. It was
disturbing to have a dream where I kept waking up only to
realize I was still dreaming. That had been happening a lot
lately. I glanced next to me and saw someone lying next to
me. My mind, stil caught up in a dreamlike state, couldn"t
register who it was. For a moment, in the moonlight, the
person almost looked like Kent.
“Ann, are you alright?” he asked, sitting up.
I screamed and fell off the bed. I quickly squirmed
under the bed and closed my eyes.
Make him go away.
I
held my breath, willing him to leave the house.
“Ann? It"s me. Todd.”
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Todd? I opened my eyes and saw Todd kneeling by
the bed, his concerned expression immediately bringing me
relief.
I released the sobs I had been holding in. “I thought
you were Kent.”
He moved close to me and held me in his arms.
“What did he put you through?” I could hear the anger and
pain in his voice. Though he tried to hide it, I knew he was
furious at Kent for what he did. “I"l never forgive myself for
not leaving that gun behind the woodpile.”
I held onto him and continued crying. “We didn"t
know he would come back. There was no way to know.”
He kissed the top of my head and tightened his hold
on me. “I promise that the gun wil always be there for you
in the future. I"l get a gun for the house and another one for
when I"m in the fields.”
The next day, he did just that.
Sometimes, I went to the barn with him while he
worked to make necessary repairs or to take care of the
horses. I didn"t know what I could do to help him, so I
mostly sat and watched him work. He taught me how to ride
Storm since she was a gentle horse. If I ever needed to ride
a horse to escape, I would know how. Lovemaking took on
another dimension. It was one of the few things that took
my mind completely off of Kent. I discovered that the simple
act of being intimate with Todd wasn"t only exciting and
pleasurable but it was also comforting because I knew he
loved me and did everything he could to keep me safe.
***
Fortunately, Barbara came over as often as she
could. Her presence and words brought me great comfort.
“I don"t understand why I"m stil afraid,” I told her in
May when we sat at the kitchen table while Molly played
with her doll.
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“Give yourself time, Ann. What happened to you
was traumatic for any woman. It will take time before you
can feel safe when you"re alone.”
“I"m glad you"re wil ing to spend so much time with
me,” I admitted. Mrs. Carson had made regular trips to visit,
and my trips to town with Barbara to help out at the Coley"s
store did much to alleviate my anxiety, but I felt closer to
Barbara than anyone, except for Todd.
“This time of year, the men are out in the fields a lot,”
she replied. “It can get lonely, so it"s real y no trouble for me
to be here. As busy as children keep me, it"s stil nice to
have another adult to talk to.”
“You"re due next month. Is your mother coming to
your place to help you?”
“She wil stay for a month to help out, yes. It would
be nice to have you come by for a visit too, and I should be
healed enough in a couple of weeks to come out here.”
“I do want to be there when your baby is born. I
would like to know what to expect. I know you"ve described
it but I want to see the birth, if that is alright?”