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 of 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
