Naomi awoke in the darkness, her heart pounding as the remnants of her dream clung to her like an icy mist. The morning light coming through the window was still barely more than darkness. She should get up and start coffee and the morning meal.
But as she slipped quietly into her shoes and wrapped a shawl around her, the desperation from the dream pressed like a weight.
This had been different from the others.
She saw Eric as though looking down at him from the sky. He rode between two other men, away from Fort Benton, away from the mountains. Toward the east.
She couldn't tell who the two other men were. But then a voice spoke, deep and resonant. It had been Jonah’s voice, or at least that was what she'd thought in the dream. His words...
She sucked in a breath as they resounded in her heart now.
If you really choose Eric, you'd better go after him.
She stepped into the main room and eased the bed chamber door shut behind her, breathing out a prayer.Show me what to do.
No voice boomed around her, like in her dream. Nor a quiet whisper in her mind.
She headed toward the cookstove and her morning ritual. She needed to build up the fire .
As she worked through each familiar task, her mind strayed through one awful possibility after another. Maybe Eric really had decided to go east. Why, though? Was it the roughness of the trail to Fort Benton, sleeping in the cold for two weeks? Perhaps he'd simply missed the comforts of civilization. Had she scared him off when she said she’d like to stay here in the mountains? He hadn’t seemed to like the idea, but surely he would come back and talk through things with her. Once he saw how important this land had become to her, how peaceful and inspiring the mountains were, he would feel the same.
Maybe he'd received a telegram from his father, begging him to come back to the business. Or maybe commanding him. Was Mr. LaGrange the kind of man to give an ultimatum—get back to your work or you're through here?
Would Eric give in to such an ultimatum?
The door to Dinah and Jericho's room opened, and Jericho emerged, stretching his broad shoulders as he moved towards the door leading outside. His face softened when he saw Naomi by the stove, and with a gesture that was both habitual and comforting, he offered her a small wave accompanied by the words that signaled another day on the Coulter ranch. "Mornin', Naomi."
Naomi worked for a normal tone. "Good morning, Jericho."
A few minutes after the door closed behind him, Dinah stepped out of the room, her long hair in a fresh braid and her expression filled with the softness of sleep.
She approached the kitchen area and patted Naomi's shoulder as she reached for an apron to begin her usual tasks. "How did you sleep?"
Dinah's question was innocent enough. A casual greeting that went barely deeper than if she'd said,Good morning.But it was too close to the mark, and Naomi couldn't bear up under this weight much longer. Maybe Dinah would know what to do.
She stopped stirring the johnny cake batter but kept her hands on the spoon and the bowl. "I keep having these dreams. I don't know what they mean."
Dinah must have caught the tension in her voice, for she halted her work, turning to face Naomi with a scoop of flour in one hand. "Tell me."
Naomi swallowed. Did she dare? Dinah might think her batty. Or love-sick. They'd not had one of their girl nights in so long. How long had it been since she'd confided a secretto her sister?
She could trust Dinah though. If anyone would listen without judging, her twin would.
"They're always about Eric not coming back. Usually it's Jonah showing up here with a full wagon and no Eric. He says Eric decided to go back east since he was so close."
Worry drew Dinah’s brows close and clouded her eyes. But she didn't say anything, so Naomi continued.
"Last night's was a little different. And...worse." Her breathing came hard just thinking about it. "I saw Eric riding away from Fort Benton with two other men. Then I heard Jonah's voice saying that if I really chose Eric, I'd better go after him."
Her pulse surged through her chest. "I don't know what's happening, Dinah, but something's wrong. Yesterday when I was reading to the children, I had this overwhelming panic that came out of nowhere. It was like dread just settled over me, and I knew something wasn't right with Eric."
Dinah's eyes glistened, and she set the flour down, grabbed Naomi's shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "Oh, Naomi."
Naomi couldn't let herself cry, not when the men would come in any minute. And crying would not help her know what to do.
She rested her hands at Dinah's back for a few seconds, then pulled back, fortifying herself with a deep breath. She squared her gaze in her sister's. "What should I do? I can't carry on here as if nothing's wrong.Somethingis wrong."
Dinah swallowed. "Have you prayed? Has God given you any insight?"
