Amalie didn't understand what was going on, nor could she understand why this man wanted to harm Deke. Perhaps he might tell her if she could only speak and ask. She said a silent prayer for her safety and Deke’s and that once they arrived at the destination, the surly man seemed to have in mind, she might get some answers from him.
Silas and Amalie rode for what seemed like an hour—but may have been longer—until they reached a small, ramshackle cabin in a meadow filled with wildflowers, surrounded by trees. Amalie had never been that far from the ranch house, and she knew if she escaped, she’d never find her way back. Her only hope—once she found a way to free herself—was that her sweet mare, Honey, would know the way home.
The man reined up his horse in front of the small cabin and said, “All right, missy—this is where we’re gonna be staying until your husband comes to find us. I got some food so we’ll be all right. Don’t you fret none. I ain’t gonna hurt you. Just need to get your husband.” He reached over and pulled the gag from her mouth.
Amalie bit back the angry words she wanted to shout at the man and slowly dismounted, gripping the saddle horn with her bound hands to keep from falling.
Silas motioned for her to go up the steps into the cabin, and Amalie asked, “What are we going to do—just sit here and wait for Deke to come so you can kill him?”
He laughed and replied, “That’s exactly what we’re gonna do. I’ve been waiting a long time to take my revenge on Deke Sperling. I don’t think it’s gonna be long now.”
Amalie wanted to scream at the man and do her best to flee, but with her hands tied, she knew she wouldn’t get far. The best idea she could think of was to keep talking to him. Perhaps she might get him to change his mind.
“You’re blaming my husband for bringing your brother in for trial, yet you’re willing to kill him. He was doing his job. Wouldn’t it be better to remember your brother by doing something good in his name?”
Silas laughed harder. “And what do you expect I could do that’s good enough for people to remember me or my brother?”
Amalie only shrugged. “Get an honest job, work hard, marry, raise good children, and donate some money to a good cause, maybe a local church or orphanage.”
“I don’t go to church, and I don’t know no orphanages,” Silas replied.
“There are a lot of orphanages. I grew up in one, and I know how important it is for the children to have even small advantages. Even something like a bushel of fresh fruit was enough to make our day. You could do that for them.”
Silas slowly shook his head and said, “I feel bad for you growing up in an orphanage. I grew up with my brother on our family’s ranch until my ma and pa died, and we lost the ranch. We’d have been all right if my brother hadn’t started hanging out with the wrong people, but that’s still no reason for your husband to hunt him down like a wild dog and drag him into town so he could be hanged.”
Amalie lowered her head and said quietly, “I’m sorry you lost your brother. I never had any brothers or sisters, so I don’t understand what you’re going through, but I do know that hating someone else only makes your life more difficult.”
Silas threw up his hands and said, “You sound like a nice lady, but please don’t start lecturing me or preaching to me because I don’t want to hear it. Your husband’s going to pay for what he did to my brother just like the sheriff and the judge paid.”
Amalie had begun to understand that she’d never change his mind, and she sat down on one of the rickety chairs in the cabin.
She dropped her head again and prayed that the man would not kill Deke and that her husband would rescue her before Silas decided she was too much trouble and killed her, too.
Silas pulled up the other rickety chair and sat across the small, wooden table from Amalie, saying, “You saw the rough terrain we traveled through to get here. Trying to run won’t get you very far. I’ll catch you. If you understand that and say you won’t run, I’ll untie your hands. You can make us somethin’ to eat. Nothin’ cooked because we ain’t starting a fire until the sun sets to hide the smoke. I got cans of beans and peaches and some jerky and bread. While you put that on some plates, I’m gonna go out and unsaddle the horses.”
Amalie nodded. “I won’t run.” She knew it was a lie because, given a chance, she’d run as far and fast as she could.
Amalie found one loaf of bread, a small sack of jerky, three cans of beans, and two cans of peaches, and she wondered how long Silas had planned to stay there; it wouldn’t be long before they ran out of food.
Amalie pulled two old tin plates from a wood crate on the floor, opened a can of beans, and was pouring the beans on the plates when Silas returned from unsaddling the horses.
“You don’t have much food here—what happens when we run out?” Amalie asked.
“Not to worry. I figure your husband will be here tomorrow, next day at the latest. By supper, he’s gonna know you're gone, and tomorrow, he’ll be out tracking us. Might take him a day or two, but he’ll be here. We ain’t gonna starve in two days.”
Amalie knew that Deke would come
