“I think the Pinkertons are a good idea, Isaac. I’m glad that you’re not trying to go this alone. In fact, I’ve cancelled my trip. I want to be here to help in whatever way I can.”
“That’s so good of you, Lizzy. I recognize that I need help in this. I’ve always known my limitations, and this time it’s overwhelming me. I hate seeing her so injured. What kind of animal does such a thing—especially to a family member? But I keep remembering the way they treated her in Dawson City. They were always so cruel to her.” He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head. “I wanted so much to keep her safe.”
“She’s in God’s hands, Isaac. You told me that yourself. You gave her over to the Lord, and now we must trust that God has her.”
“But that doesn’t mean we sit idly by.”
“And you aren’t.”
Isaac met her gaze. “I feel so bad that I can’t do more.”
She reached out and squeezed his hand. “You are doing all that matters. You have been there for her from the start and continue at her side. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Isaac.”
“I just couldn’t go on if anything happened to her,” he replied.
“God will make a way in all of this, little brother. Do not limit Him, and furthermore, do not hinder Him.”
Addie woke with a start and glanced around the dark hospital room. The door to her room had been left ajar so that just a little light shone in from the hallway. It made strange shadows on the walls and caused her to pull the covers a little higher.
Her throat hurt from where Hiram had tried to strangle her. It made her think of the necklace, and its heavy weight around her neck. Why hadn’t she just given it to him?
She knew the answer. This was no great mystery. She saw the necklace as a means of procuring her own well-being—her rescue. She supposed she put more faith in that necklace than she put in God.
“I never meant that to be the case,” she murmured.
The medication they’d given her made Addie far too groggy to think clearly. She closed her eyes and tried to forget everything that had happened, but it seemed impossible to put from her mind.
Hiram was insistent that she had more money and that she give it to him. His tirade started with a few slaps to her face and then gradually became combined with fisted hits to her body. Addie hadn’t been treated in such a fashion since she was a child, and it was all too much. At one point, she started to fight back, hoping it would dissuade Hiram and Shep. Show them both that she was stronger now than when they’d last been together. But they were unimpressed.
“You’re gonna give me what gold you have,”Hiram hadtold her.“I can do this all day and night if need be. I doubt you’re as capable of enduring it.”
Addie made a dash for the door but forgot that Hiram had tied a rope around her. She felt her air cut off as he grabbed for her neck and held her in place.
“I ain’t got much patience left, Addie. Where’s the gold?”
Addie turned to fight off her assailant and woke to a nurse trying to calm her. “It’s all right, Miss Bryant. Please calm down, or the doctor will need to give you something.”
Addie opened her eyes and struggled to focus. For a moment, only Hiram’s image registered, but as she progressed into wakefulness, Addie saw the nurse’s concerned expression.
“I’m sorry. Just a bad dream.”
The nurse handed her a glass of water. “Here. Try to clear your thoughts and relax. It’s nearly morning, and the doctor will be by to see how you’re doing.”
“I’m fine. I just want to go...” She shook her head and fell silent. She wanted to go, but to where? She might have saidhomeat one time, but Hiram and Shep had taken that sweet cottage and turned it into a nightmare for her.
“It’s all right, Miss Bryant. Just relax.” The nurse’s voice was soothing. “You’re safe here. Your fiancé arranged for Pinkerton men to guard you night and day. No one will be able to get through to hurt you.”
Addie thought of Isaac and his comment that he knew everything ... that he’d visited her brothers in prison, and they had told himeverything.
No doubt they even managed to embellish the story and make it ten times worse. Although Addie knew that would have been hard to do. Her life in Dawson City had beennearly as bad as she could have ever imagined it. Of course, she was grateful not to have been sold to whatever man wanted her. Poor Millie had endured that. How she had still managed to go on living and feel the hope that it might one day be over, Addie couldn’t imagine.
The nurse made sure Addie was comfortable and then turned off the light. “Rest well, Miss Bryant. You are safe.”
Addie wanted to believe that, but never in her life had it really been true. She had longed for that sense of security, that feeling of protection, and yet it eluded her.
“There is rest in the Lord. Peace in His presence. Allow yourself to be comforted.”
She remembered the pastor speaking those words to his congregation once after a family from the church had tragically died in a fire.
