Shadow of Hope: Book 4 - Shadow Series (6 page)

Zoe and Alfie played catch in the front yard by the stables, but Zoe missed her catch, and she had to chase the ball into the woods a few feet. It was sure hard to run in pantaloons and a dress.  She envied Alfie his trousers.

She returned, and purposely threw the ball to Alfie so that it would go over his head. It landed in some shrubs on the far side of the house.  Alfie was so much better at this game—he never missed a catch—so she knew it would make her feel better if he missed one too.  It would give her a chance to catch her breath, besides.

Alfie yelled as he ran for the ball, “You did that on purpose, Zoe!”  He grabbed the ball, but when he turned around, she was gone.   “Zoe?”

He looked everywhere but Zoe had disappeared.  He ran into the stable and found Jonas.  “I can’t find Zoe,” he cried.

“She’s probably hiding from you,” he said with a laugh.  “I’ll find her.”  Jonas came from the stable and yelled, “Zoe! Lemonade!”  but no Zoe came rushing out of a hiding place for the treat.

Jonas began to worry.  This wasn’t at all like Zoe.  “Zoe, you come here this instant!” he said making sure his voice was harsh and loud, but no Zoe.  Now Jonas began to panic.

“What happened?  Tell me exactly how it happened, Alfie?”

“We were playing catch, and she threw the ball too high, and it flew way over there,” he pointed to the side of the house.  “I ran, picked up the ball, and when I turned around, she wasn’t there anymore.”

Zoe was taken by surprise when the man swiftly covered her mouth and sprinted into the nearby woods, quick as lightning, with her under his arm.  He ran with her for quite a while.  She wiggled to get loose and even tried to bite his hand.  Finally, he lifted his hand from her mouth and said, “I’m not going to hurt you, Zoe.” He kissed her cheek.  “I’m your real father, and I love you.  You are
my
little girl, and I’m going to care for you.  You’ll be happy with me, you’ll see.”

“You aren’t my Papa!  I want to go home. Take me home, now,” she cried.

“No, I can’t. Please, just give me a chance,” he pleaded with her.

“Take me home!  I want to go home!” she cried, kicking him.

“I’m going to take you home right now,” he said. 

Zoe quieted.  She’d be home soon, and relief calmed her.

The man continued running with her until he came to his horse tied to a tree on the other side of the woods.  He placed Zoe onto the saddle and jumped up behind her.  “You’ll be home in a minute.”

He rode down several dusty lanes before reining in at the front of a run-down building that Zoe thought looked like a big outhouse.  He slid off the horse and pulled Zoe down to the ground, but he kept her hand tightly in his.

“This is your new home, at least for now.   Come inside. I have some sweets for you,” he said.

“I don’t want sweets. I want to go back to my own home!  I want to see my Papa and Mama,” she said, tears streaming down her face, “and Alfie and Joanna.”  She tried to pull away, but he picked her up and carried her inside, despite her kicking and screaming.  It was dark and dreary inside, and Zoe became even more frightened. She cried, screamed and kicked her feet.  “Take me home.  I don’t like you,” she said, beating him on the chest.

Samson set her on the bed and sat down beside her.  “See my skin? It’s brown like yours.  Your skin is a bit lighter because your real mama was white, but I’m your father.”

“No!  No! No!  I want to go home!” she cried.  “I don’t want you to be my father.”

“You’ll come to like me in time,” he said gently.

After Jonas and every worker in the stables searched a one-mile radius from the house, Ivy suggested they get the constable involved.

“I know who took her,” Jonas said, “It was Samson.”

“At least we know he won’t harm her.  Do you think he means to steal her from us, or do you think he’ll ask for money to get her back?” Ivy asked.

“I don’t know.”  Jonas sat on the porch with his head in his hands.  “Poor Alfie is in his room crying.  He thinks it was all his fault.”

“I’ll talk to him while you go and report this to the constable,” Ivy said.

“All right.” Jonas stood. “I’ll be right back.” He hugged Ivy.  “Please pray for our little girl, Ivy.”

“I will, Jonas.  I will.”

Ivy sat down on Alfie’s bed where he lay with his eyes open, staring at the wall. 

“It’s not your fault, Alfie,” she said, patting his shoulder.

He turned his head toward her.  “I took my eyes off her to run after the ball.”

“Well, that’s normal when playing ball.”

“It’s not, because before Jonas went into the stables to work he told me to keep my eye on her, and I didn’t.  It’s my fault,” he sobbed.

“Keep your eye on her, is an expression, Alfie.  It doesn’t mean you can’t turn to retrieve a ball.  It just means, to generally make sure she’s all right.”

“I didn’t do that, either.”

“It’s not your fault, Alfie. We’ll get her back. We’re all praying for it.”

“I’m praying, too,” he said.

Zoe refused any food that Samson offered her.  She lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling with her arms crossed over her chest.  She had stopped crying, and was now angry.  She told herself she’d wait until he was asleep and sneak out and go home. 

When night came, she watched Samson lock the door.  He had a lock near the doorknob, and another, new, shiny one, up high, out of Zoe’s reach.  Zoe sighed to herself, when he locked that one, too.  Her eyes flew to the window.  Yes, she could reach it.  She only hoped it would open. 

Probably due to her fright, Samson had left a small candle lit, inside a glass jar, on the floor, between her bed and where Samson had bedded down on the floor. 

When she heard Samson snoring, she got up, tiptoed to the window, and tried to push it open, but it wouldn’t budge.  She looked around for something to climb up on so she could reach the lock on the door.  There wasn’t even a chair in the one room house, just a bed, and a floor-to-ceiling cabinet.  Zoe went back to the bed and tried to think of another way to escape.

She decided to try and reach the lock on the door.  She gathered together all the blankets and pillows and bunched them up by the door. She stood on the top of the pile, but was short by about an inch.  She sighed, and looked around.

See noticed something sticking out from under the bed.  She silently dropped to her knees on the wooden floor and bent down to look.  It was a satchel, probably Samson’s.  She started to drag it out, but when she pulled it, a scraping noise caused her to stop. It would not do to have Samson wake up now.

She grabbed the sheet from the bed, she stuck it under the satchel, and then dragged it from under the bed.  Then she tiptoed to the door, rearranged the linen pile so that the satchel was on the bottom, under the sheet, and the bedclothes were on the top.  She climbed up on top, but the whole pile wobbled back and forth.  She steadied herself by grabbing hold of the doorknob.  When she felt steady enough, she reached up and unlocked the lock. Before easing herself down to the floor, she had to steady herself again. 

She shoved the pile aside and opened the door, taking the time to close it silently behind her.  She looked around, but it was dark out, and she had no idea where she might be.  She gave her eyes time adjust to the darkness, but she had no idea what to do next. She listened to the crickets and other nighttime sounds. She even thought she might have heard an owl. Then she heard a soft snort from Samson’s horse, so she walked to where it was tied. 

Never having ridden a full-sized horse before, she was thwarted by not being able to reach the saddle horn that she needed to hoist herself up.  Though she was eight years old, she was still small for her age, and once again, she looked around for something to stand on.  Zoe felt frustrated at having come so far, only to find herself still unable to escape. She started to walk around the house to look for something to stand on.   Should she chance going back inside to grab the satchel?

Zoe moved toward the back of the house, stumbled over something in the dark and fell to the ground. At first she was annoyed by the fall, but then she noticed what she’d fallen over—a huge rock.  It took her a while but she managed to get the rock to the horse by pushing and pulling. 

She was able to get onto the horse, but now wondered what she should do next.  Where would she go?