The gates creaked open and the sliver of clearance between the two looked like hope. But would the enemy take this opportunity to move, while the gates were open? Her gaze darted to the tree line again. Still, no movement could be seen, and the women passed through the gates without incident.
Jacob rushed to Dawn and lifted the beam balancing the buckets on her shoulder before the gates even had time to close. When he wrapped his arms around her tightly, she melted into him, allowing her tears to fall.
How could this be the life that she had brought them to? With danger pressing in, the station walls seemed taller and closer than ever, so much of their freedom stripped away. Mary was no longer at risk of starvation, but now she was at risk of being killed in an attack. Traveling with Jacob, she had tasted freedom, tasted what it would be like to have a family. And now her heart yearned for it more than anything.
CHAPTER 14
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
EPHESIANS 6:12
“I will keep them safe,” Mrs. Abbott assured him before she closed her door behind him a little later the day the women risked the trip to the spring. Jacob had full faith that the woman would do her best to ensure the safety of every single person under her roof, but it did little to ease the knot in his middle. If they were to come under attack, no one could guarantee their safety save for the good Lord above.
Jacob fell to his knee at the edge of the porch. God, I know I have had little time for You for quite some time, but please do not hold that against me. Please forgive me of my transgressions and keep Dawn and Mary. Jacob stood and took a deep breath before he started toward Elijah’s cabin, where Edmund and several other men convened to discuss next steps.
Behind him, an eerie scream rent the air. Jacob turned on his heel to see tiny objects flying over the back wall of the fort. Arrows. They were under attack! “Get inside! Get inside,” he screamed at the few people who had been milling about, but who now seemed to be frozen in fear. Then he took off running toward Elijah’s.
As he neared, Morgan exited the home and ran past without acknowledging him. Still, Jacob went inside. “They are attacking the back wall!”
Edmund nodded. “Morgan has gone to determine the risk and report back.”
The minutes seemed to tick by, one minute for every ten as they awaited the man’s return. Elijah, Boone, Edmund, and several others all filled the small space, leaving no room for pacing. Jacob flicked his gaze from man to man, but no one spoke. Instead, an eerie silence fell over the station as her inhabitants took cover from the assailants. Only gunshots and an occasional shout came through the open doorway.
Finally, Morgan’s build blocked the sunlight streaming in. “There is a small band of Indians attacking the back wall, causing more of a raucous than a threat. It cannot be all of their men. I believe it to be a ruse to draw us out.”
Elijah frowned. “We will send out a small group to test the waters. See what their plan is.”
“I will go,” Jacob volunteered as he stepped forward and pulled himself taller. Perhaps this was his chance to finally prove himself capable in battle. And he could not imagine sitting around waiting for another moment longer.
Edmund shook his head. “You have a wife and…” He stopped and looked to Elijah. “I will take a handful of the single men with me. Just in case. There should be little threat to life, but I would not want to risk someone with a family simply to provide a distraction.” He turned back to Jacob. “You and the others should stay here and provide defense should this draw the rest out.”
Jacob’s jaw clenched, but he did not protest. The man had a point, though if Edmund considered Mary his, then he, too, was a family man. Did he still not see the girl as his own? As it was, what happened if he were to be killed?
While a group of men readied themselves to venture outside the fort, the rest of them prepared to defend the structure from the inside. All along the walls were portholes that allowed for a rifle barrel to be pushed through. A man was stationed at every porthole as well as in the four turrets at the corners. Another group stood at the ready within the fort, ready to defend the gate.
Jacob found himself at a porthole near the back of the fort. Despite not knowing how the events would unfold, he sat preparing balls and patches. If he had that much ready to go, he would only need to measure his powder between shots. Hopefully, it would not be needed, but ’twas better to be prepared and not need it than to need it, and not be prepared.
Still, Jacob kept an eye on the front of the fort. The gates opened, and Edmund led the group of volunteers out on their horses. Immediately, shots volleyed. Edmund and his men swung their horses around, their mounts eating up what little ground they had covered. But then a couple new riders joined them. Two Indians came flying up through the ranks on their quick little speckled steeds. “No,” Jacob screamed as they whooped and hollered their blood-curdling battle cries, torches in hand.
The men protecting the gate could not safely fire upon the Indians until they had passed their own men. Even after they did, they somehow continued on without taking a hit. Jacob stepped forward for a better vantage point, his eyes widening as the two riders split off in opposite directions and cast their torches onto the porches closest to them.
“Dawn!” Jacob abandoned his post and sprinted toward Mrs. Abbott’s cabin where one of the torches landed, the orange flames already beginning to grow. “Fire! Fire!”
There were others much closer, but he yelled, anyway, in hopes that it would draw out Dawn and the others. Someone was there with a bucket of water before he even reached the porch. Then there was Mrs. Abbott with a blanket, beating the flames into submission. Still, his legs pumped.
By the time his boots hit the porch, the flames were out and his breaths came heavy.
“Jacob. Come in, darlin’.” Mrs. Abbott motioned him into the house as she shook out her blackened blanket.
Finally, Jacob came to his senses. He glanced toward the entrance to ensure that all danger had passed. The gates were closed, and people milled about the now-deceased Indians and their horses. The men must have finally hit their mark. All seemed under control, so Jacob took the opportunity to go to his wife.
As soon as he set foot in the house, Dawn came to him and wrapped him in a hug. Mary ran up and latched her little body around his leg. “Everyone was so scared.” Dawn pulled back enough to look up into his face, tears in her eyes.
How was it that they had been brought to this same situation with her in tears and clinging to him for comfort twice in a single day? And would it even be the last? For the day was not over yet.
“I know,” Jacob whispered and tightened his embrace. He nestled his face into her neck while he held Mary close with his other hand. What would he have done if he had lost either of them?
Jacob clenched his teeth. He had to find some way to ensure their safety, whether it was removing them from the fort and the turmoil this land carried, or eradicating the threat. But even if this threat was eliminated, what about the next?
