“Men?”
Susie nodded. “Three of them.”
Her heart thumped in her chest. “Thr… three men?”
“Yes, and by the looks of them, I don’t know why they would come here, let alone ask to see you.”
Olivia’s pallor became pasty as beads of sweat gathered on her forehead.
“Olivia? Are you all right? I’ll come with you.”
Forcing a smile on her face, she answered, “Yes, I’m fine, Susie. You don’t need to come along.” She didn’t want to cause worry or tension in the place. If the men were the ones who accosted her, she didn’t want Susie or anyone else involved.
Susie stared at her with worried eyes. “Are you sure?”
Olivia nodded. “Yes. Maybe the marshal sent them.”
Hoping that was the case Olivia slowly made her way to the front door. She plastered herself against the wall beside the door and peeped out of it.
There was no doubt in her mind that the men were the same ones who had threatened her days before. Two of the men were broad shouldered, while the other one was short and stocky.
Why were they there? What gave them the audacity to enter the compound?
Dear God, what am I going to do?
Olivia wondered if she ran back to her room and locked the door, whether they would get the message she didn’t want to see them and then leave. But such callous men might just enter the building and cause mayhem just to pass their message.
He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty.
Remembering how Esther bravely went to see the king, Olivia decided that she wouldn’t cower behind a wall. Who knew what they wanted? Perhaps something had happened between Adam and Gabe and they had come to a compromise.
Finding it highly unlikely, she stepped away from the wall and, with Esther’s famous brave words on her lips, she walked out of the building.
“If I perish, I perish.”
Thrusting out her chin and placing her hands on her small hips, she said in a loud and clear voice, “What can I do for you men? Have you cowards come to threaten an innocent woman again?”
Laughing, the short man strode forward. “My, someone has had some guts thrust in them.”
Shaking his head, the other tall man came forward, “On the contrary, we’re here to threaten the orphanage and all the children in it.”
Olivia drew in a ragged breath and dropped her hands. “You wouldn’t dare.”
The three men, with half their faces still covered with dirty handkerchiefs, reached her.
Trepidation brimmed inside her when she saw the menace in their eyes.
“This is your final warning. We know the marshal was here the other day. You told him what happened, didn’t you?”
Not one to lie even in the face of fear, Olivia nodded.
The men shook their heads and one tutted. “That was very foolish of you. The marshal went to our boss’s office and gave him a black eye.”
Olivia gasped.
“Yes. We’re not the only ones capable of violence. Your marshal isn’t a saint, after all.”
Olivia stiffened. She had known that with the amount of fury in which Adam left the orphanage the other day, he would give in to violence. She was disappointed that he had resorted to that.
