Mary yelled as the tent was lifted off them.
“Nothing here!” It took her a moment to clearly understand the words said in the heavy accent.
Her eyes flung open as heavy hands settled on her. While Mary screamed, she stared in shock into the face of a barbarian. He didn’t look different from the humans she knew. His skin was brown, and there were paintings under his eyes, but… he was human. And then he opened his mouth, sneering at her. She tried to pull away from him, but he grabbed her.
“Mama!” she cried as another of them grabbed her mother and brother.
She struggled as her captor led to where Samuel knelt. She gasped. Her stepfather had been hurt. His eye swelled, and there was blood spluttering from his nose.
“You!”
Hannah took a step back as she turned to a man. He was bigger than her captor. She had seen him lead the attack on the wagon. He was… beautiful, was the first word that came to her mind. He was tall, just like the other barbarians, his brown skin seemed to glisten under the sun. His chest bare, a necklace hung from his neck, with a white object. She gulped as she realized what it was. It was a tooth. Of a human?
“You are the one,” the barbarian said taking a step towards her.
She wrestled against the other’s hold but he was firm. With every step the barbarian took towards her, her heart pounded, threatening to explode. He stood before her, she flinched, turning away as he caressed her face. His hands were rough, but warm. He lifted her face, and she stared into dark eyes.
“The spirits are cruel,” the barbarian said.
“Chief?” the man holding her said.
He was a chief? The chiefs were said to be murderers. They were vicious and took from her people.
“We have nothing to give you! We are merely missionaries!” Samuel spat.
“Nothing!” a barbarian kicked against the wagon. All their belongings had been tossed into a pile. Most of it were Bibles, and religious books Samuel hoped to sell when they got to California.
“There’s nothing here!” one of the barbarians joined them. He wore a scowl. “No food! No jewelry! No gold! Dead horses! Nothing!”
The chief grinned, making him the most handsome man Hannah had ever seen. “We found something!” Then louder he announced, “She comes with us!”
“No!” her mother cried as the chief lifted her, flinging her over his shoulder. Her weak punches on his back were useless. She struggled but his hold was firm.
“Mama!” she cried.
Her mother stood up to go to her, but was held back by one of the barbarians.
“Let me go!” Hannah yelled as she was placed on a monster horse, facing the barbarian. He ignored her, and in a language, she did not understand, the horse set off. She pulled away from him, falling off the horse, and everything went dark.
Chapter 3
Bang! Bang! Something throbbed in her head as a fierce pain overwhelmed her. Her throat was parched, like she had been starved of water for eons. Her eyes opened, with a wince at the pain in her head. She was staring at the ground. It was in that moment she realized she was moving. On a horse.
Her memories returned, and she jolted. A firm grip held her down, and as she struggled, she realized with fear that her hands were tied behind her back.
The wagon. Barbarians. Her mother. The brute. She struggled harder. She yelped into a cloth over her mouth as she was pulled up from where she lay over the horse. Now, she sat on the horse, staring right at the muscled chest of a barbarian.
Hannah gulped as her eyes drifted up to his. It was him. The barbarian who had kidnapped her, placing her on his horse. Her attempts to punch him were useless, her hands were tied firmly by the binds.
“Let go of me barbarian!” Her words came out muffles. She glared at him, but his lips tilted in a grin.
“You can scream all you want, no one will hear you. No one will come for you,” the barbarian said in surprising clear English.
As she looked around the terrain, dread overwhelmed her. He was right. They were in the middle of nowhere. The bare lands seemed to go on forever, with surrounding mountains. There were no wagons. No humans. Not even animals, except for the circling birds, curious about them. They were alone.
Her shoulders relaxed, not in defeat, but in acceptance of her situation. What did he want with her? Why had he taken her? Not her stepfather, her mother, or her stepsiblings? She was of no value to him. Her entire family was of no value. They had no money or jewelry to give them, they knew this since they had ransacked the wagons.
Unless… she gulped. They wanted to feast on her. Perhaps the rumors were true that they were cannibals. But she was a bonny lass, and had gotten even skinner since they set on the journey. If they wanted a good meal, they would have taken Samuel with them.
