Lark stepped out from her cover, gun cocked and aimed. “Let her go.”
A string of cuss words answered her.
“I said let her go.”
“You drop that gun, or I’ll kill her. It won’t take much—just a slice from ear to ear or a quick snap. Less blood that way.” Moonlight glinted off the blade of a knife. “Just give us that there horse and a steer to butcher, and we’ll be on our way.”
Lark nodded and started to lower the gun.
“That’s right.” The man chuckled. “Now give my friend a hand with the mare there. Meanwhile I’ll bring this little filly under control.” He grabbed Del tighter around the neck and started to drag her toward the brush.
God, help me. Forsythia let her knife fly.
The man dragging Del grunted and stumbled forward, pulling her to the ground with him.
The other robber let go of Starbright and faded back into the woods.
“Get off me, you worthless piece of . . .” Del struggled, trying to push the man away.
Forsythia rushed forward. Lark helped pull the body off Del so she could stand up.
“What happened?” Del wiped tears off her face. “I thought for sure he was going to kill me.”
Lilac arrived. “Forsythia threw her knife.”
Lark felt for a pulse at the side of the man’s neck. “She sure did. Bull’s-eye.”
“I-I didn’t mean to kill him.” Shaking, Forsythia fell to her knees.
Lark jerked the knife out of the man’s back.
Good Lord, deliver us.
Lark wiped the knife blade on the man’s filthy and now bloody shirt. “You saved your sister’s life. I didn’t dare shoot for fear of hitting Del.” She gathered the sisters into her arms.
“I went over to see what was bothering Starbright, and that piece of trash grabbed me. I at least screamed before he got his hand over my mouth. He nearly suffocated me.” Del dug in her pocket for a handkerchief and blew her nose, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Forsythia, you saved my life.”
Forsythia leaned against Lark, Lilac rubbing her back. “I-I killed a man, a human being.”
“You nailed him right between the shoulder blades.”
“All I could think—he was killing my sister.”
“They thought they could sneak in, steal our horse, and be gone before anyone noticed. After all, a woman was the only guard.” Lilac hugged Forsythia. “They sure underestimated us.”
“What are we going to do with the body?” Del shuddered again.
“We’re going to take his knife, see if he has a pistol or any money. Then we’ll drag him into the woods and let the animals take care of the rest.” Lark set her jaw.
“You don’t think we should bury him?” Lilac asked, her eyes wide.
“No. This might not be the Christian way, but that other man might return and bring friends, so we can’t take the time. We’ll do what I said, then yoke the oxen, eat something, and be on our way. I think we should start praying for another wagon to travel with. We won this time, but there’s safety in numbers.”
“But I killed him. Pa would be horrified.” Forsythia couldn’t stop her hands from trembling. Hands that had just taken a human life.
“He’s the one who taught you to throw a knife,” Lark said.
“I know, but the Bible says ‘thou shalt not kill.’”
“True, but the Israelites went to war, and God backed them up. In fact, He fought their battles for them. I believe He was right here protecting us.”
“You really believe that?” Forsythia breathed a bit easier. Maybe there was hope for her after all.
They all stared down at the body. Confederate pants, blue Union shirt, hat of no account, and boots that might have been stolen, since a bit of shine remained. Lark dropped to her knees by the body and handed Forsythia the knife. Flinching a bit, Lark dug into the man’s pockets, pulling out several coins. The pistol stuck in his pants she handed to Del, then unbuckled his belt that held ammunition and gave her that too. A sheath with another knife was strapped to one calf and hidden in his boot. Patting his chest, she found a small leather bag on a rawhide loop. Inside hid a gold piece, probably stolen. The back pockets yielded a filthy rag. The knife in one boot made her check the other. Lark shook her head at several bills folded over each other. Confederate money, worthless now.
“Isn’t this stealing?” Lilac asked.
“Could be called that on one hand, but we can use it better than some coyote. If his buddy comes back, you can be sure I don’t want him to have this. It’s all stolen anyway, I suspect.”
“I have a thought,” Del said. “Since he can no longer use his boots, what if we pulled them off and left them someplace others might find them? We could leave the gold piece in there too.”
“Good idea. Come on, let’s drag him out of here and pull off his boots where we leave the body. Boots were priceless during the war, and these still have a lot of use in them.”
Huffing and puffing, they dragged the body to a willow thicket by the river.
“Let’s at least say a prayer over him.” Forsythia shuddered again. “It’s thanks to me he didn’t have time to repent and ask God’s mercy for himself.”
Lark removed her hat and said a brief prayer. Then they left the body there, Lilac carrying the boots back to the wagon.
By the time dawn drew a faint line of yellow across the horizon, they were on the road again. As the sun shot higher in the sky, dark clouds formed in the west. A wind kicked up, lashing the trees along the road.
“Go on ahead and see if there might be somewhere for us to get out of the storm,” Lark told Forsythia. “But hurry back. This storm looks to be right fierce.”
Forsythia nodded and nudged Starbright with her heels. Fat drops were kicking up puffs of dust on the road by the time she rode back. “There’s a big grove
