Eben and Josiah.
“I dinnae want to die!”
His stomach lurched at the sound of her voice.
Bethie!
She stood, tied to a stake beside him, still pregnant and stripped to her shift.
Mattootuk stood near the fire pit, laughed at Nicholas, a knife in his hand.Then he strode toward Bethie.
And Nicholas knew.They weren’t going to kill him.It was going to be like last time.They were going to kill Bethie and force him to watch.
“Take me! Let her go! Take me, Mattootuk! It’s me you want!”
Mattootuk laughed.
Then Nicholas felt a knife pierce his skin.He looked down, saw Lyda, his blood hot on her hands.
She said one word.“Fire.”
Nicholas bolted awake, jerked his knife from its sheath.
The cabin stood before him, dark and quiet. A breeze whispered through the new leaves on the beech trees, raised goose bumps on his sweat-drenched skin. Except for the swaying branches, nothing moved in the darkness.
But something wasn’t right.
He trained his senses on the forest around him, got slowly to his feet.
The distant screech of birds frightened from their night perches.
The faint smell of smoke.
Nicholas ran out from the shadows that had concealed him to the north side of the cabin.
The northern sky glowed orange. A wall of flames as high as the forest and perhaps a mile wide raced toward the cabin. It was a good half mile away, but it was moving fast, driven by the wind.
Mattootuk!The bastard must be on the brink of death to attack them like this.
They had only minutes—if it wasn’t too late already.
Nicholas dashed for the stables, shouted as loudly as he could. “Bethie, wake up! Fire!”
Roused either by his shouts or because they sensed the fire, the geese began to shriek.
He kicked their pen open as he passed, leaving them to scatter in a flurry of feathers. But he knew it would not save them.
Inside the cabin, Bethie sat up, heart pounding.
The geese!
Nicholas!
She leapt to her feet, grabbed the rifle, ran to the barred door, listened, expecting to hear the sound of fighting.
A horse’s frightened whinny. The cries of birds. The lowing of cattle.
A fist pounded on the door, startled a shriek from her throat.
