His Brother's Bride (11 page)

Seventeen

“Ma!” Adam knelt beside her.

“Get out,” she rasped. “Hurry!” The rumble had turned to a loud roar.

“You're hurt!”

He tried to tug on the rock, but she knew it was too heavy for him. “Get out, Adam!” What if a rock fell on him too? She couldn't bear the thought of her boy being hurt or worse. It was only then she realized the roaring she heard was in her head, and that the rumbling had stopped. No more rocks fell, only bits of gravel. Fear still rattled between her ears and pumped through her veins.

She wet her lips, her cheek smashed into the dirt. “Adam, listen to me.”

The boy kept trying to dislodge the rock, and each time it moved a tiny fraction, she moaned in agony. “Adam, stop!” He sat back on his haunches, then crawled up where he could see her face.

“It's stuck, I can't move it.” Tears streaked through the dirt on his face, and his little lips quivered.

She reached out and took his hand. The pain got the best of her, and her teeth began chattering. It was taking all her effort not to cry out. “Listen, Adam. I need your help. You have to go home. Get your pa and show him where I am, can you do that?”

He shook his head. “I don't know how.”

“I'll tell you how,” she said, stopping for some quick breaths. “But you must listen carefully.”

❧

Cade sat on the front porch chair, his elbows propped on his knees. Where were they? He'd been home for a long time, and the sun was finding its home on the horizon already.

He told himself she'd lost track of time. He told himself she was only running late. But a thought kept snagging him like a burr on fleece. A thought he tried to avoid until now. He recalled the words he'd spoken to Emily this morning. He'd made it clear he had something to say to her tonight. Something important.

He was going to tell her he loved her. That he wanted them to be a real family; that he wanted her to be his real wife. All day long he'd thought of little else. But the thought that had lingered in the back of his mind since he'd come home to an empty house, the thought that he'd shoved away each time, surfaced with the stubbornness of a mule.

Maybe Emily didn't want to hear what he had to say. Maybe he'd scared her off with his promise of something important to say.

No, he wouldn't think it, wouldn't let the words form in his mind. Not yet. The sun still had a sliver poking up over the land. It wasn't dark yet. There were a dozen reasons she might be late.

Cade watched the sun melt silently into the prairie grass. He watched the darkness fall over the ground like a smothering shroud; heard the crickets and cicadas start their oscillating songs.

Maybe she really didn't have feelings for. . .

She probably went over to the Stedmans' again today and—

Mara. If Emily weren't over there, her friend might know where she was.

He ran to the barn and saddled up Sutter, noticing for the first time that Bitsy wasn't in her stall. Now, worry clawed at his insides. This was just like last time when she'd taken Adam to a cave and gotten lost. At least he could scratch that worry from his list. She wouldn't go against his decision to keep Adam away from the caves.

He swung himself up on Sutter and took off across the field toward the Stedmans'. His heart threatened to burst from his chest as he rode. He was starting to think either she or Adam had hurt themselves. She knew better than to be riding at night.

When he arrived at the Stedmans', they were just finishing supper.

“Cade, what brings you out tonight?” Clay asked.

“Can I get you some coffee?” Mara asked. Her cheeks were too pink, and her eyes drooped tiredly.

Cade stepped through the door and shook his head no. “Have you seen Emily today, Mara?”

She looked down at the floor before meeting his gaze again. “What's wrong, Cade?”

“She isn't home. Wasn't there when I got home and still isn't. Adam's with her. Have you seen her?”

She looked at her husband before answering. “She was by this afternoon. Around three o'clock.”

“Did she say where she was going?” Cade asked.

Her jaw went slack, and Cade thought her face grew even more red. When she wavered on her feet, her husband led her to the sofa. “She's been sick today,” he explained to Cade. “I told her she shouldn't be up fixing supper. You all right, Angel?” he asked his wife.

“I'm fine.” Mara settled back against the sofa and closed her eyes, rubbing her face like a tired toddler. Beth must've been washing the supper dishes, for he could hear the clanking in the kitchen.

“Sorry to bother you like this, but I'm worried about Emily and Adam.”

“Of course you are. I–I think I might know where they went,” Mara said. “I think they went to a cave out toward the cotton tree grove.”

Cade shook his head. “I told her not to take Adam to the caves; she wouldn't do that.”

Mara studied her hands as they picked at the ribbon on her dress. There was only one word for the expression on her face. Guilt. Could Emily have gone against his decision? No, she wouldn't risk Adam's safety any more than he would.

“I was supposed to watch Adam this afternoon, but with me being sick. . .I think she went ahead anyway.”

Cade's thoughts seemed to be flowing as slow as molasses. He couldn't make sense of what Mara was saying. The Emily he knew wouldn't go against him that way for no good reason.

He shook his head again. “She must've gone someplace else. Emily wouldn't defy me like that.”

“Mara?” her husband asked. His gaze trained on his wife's face, he seemed to see something Cade was missing. “What's going on?”

Mara wet her lips, meeting her husband's gaze, then Cade's. “I promised I wouldn't tell.”

At her words, hope stirred in his heart, but at the same time dread twisted his gut. “They might be in danger, Mara. I need you to tell me anything you know.”

Mara bit her lip, then met his gaze. “She's been looking in the caves for some stolen loot that was buried there years ago by your grandfather and hers. She didn't want to take Adam—she hasn't since you told her not to,” she said in defense of her friend.

“Stolen loot?” Cade wondered if Mara's fever had gone to her head. Even her husband was looking at her funny. But it was getting late, and Emily and Adam might be hurt.

She sighed, clearly reluctant to go any further. “I guess I better start at the beginning.”

Cade cut her off. “I want to hear all about this, but not right now. If you're right about the cave, there's no time to lose.”

Clay stood up. “I'll go with you. You be all right, Mara?”

She nodded.

“Thanks,” Cade said to Mara.

“I'm sure they're fine,” Mara said.

Emily and Adam would be home if they were fine.

❧

The two men rode their horses out across the Stedman property toward the cotton tree grove. There was a cave on a small cliff over there. He'd never been in it, but he feared it was the one Emily had gotten lost in before. Maybe her lantern had burnt out, and they were just lost, like before.

When they reached the cave, they dismounted the horses and untied the lanterns. He couldn't see or hear anything suggesting Bitsy was tied up nearby, but he had to search the cave anyway.

“We'll need something to mark our way; this is a deep cave with lots of tunnels,” Cade said.

“I think I have some corn kernels in my pocket,” He checked and nodded. “We can drop them as we go.”

They split up inside the cave, each with a handful of kernels and a lantern. Cade called out for Emily and Adam, but all Cade heard was his own echo and Clay's calls. He got almost dizzy with all the turns and twists in the tunnel. In places he had to crawl. He could see footprints in the dirt, but he knew they could be weeks old. When he finally worked his way back to the entrance, Clay waited there.

“They can't be in there,” his friend said.

Cade shook his head, knowing he was right.

“Where else?”

“There are plenty of caves.” He tried to ignore the hopeless tone in his voice. “Hard to tell which one they might have gone to.” It was pitch-black out now, and he realized he'd been gone for a couple hours. “Maybe they're home now.”

“I can go check if you've a mind to keep looking.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “I'll be at the cave by the fallen oak back by Wallen Creek,” Cade said as he mounted his horse.

“If they're at your house, I'll come for you. And if they're not, I'll come back and help you look.” Clay took off on his mare, and Cade set off for Wallen Creek.

As he rode, he called out for his wife and son. If anything had happened to them. . .

A long while later, he exited the cave. It had opened only to one small room, and there was no sign Emily had even been in this one. He waited outside the entrance, his back propped up against the rough, moss-covered stone.

God, please help them to be all right. Take care of Emily and my boy, and please help me find them.

It was torture waiting here for Clay's return. He fought the urge to go and search other caves, but the truth was that, he wasn't sure of their whereabouts. He'd seen other caves in passing, but this land was not as familiar as his farming acreage. How would he find them in the dark with only a lantern to guide his way
? I need Your help, Father.

He lay his head against the hard stone and closed his eyes. What was that loot Mara had mentioned, and why had Emily been looking for it? Why had she taken Adam along? It just didn't add up, and he wished he'd let Mara finish the story. A lot of good it had done him to rush off. Now here he sat just waiting—

“Pa!” The cry came from a short distance away and accompanied the sound of hoofbeats. His heart thudded in his throat. His son was all right!

He rose to his feet, his legs trembling beneath him. When Clay's horse came into view, he saw his son, safe and sound in the circle of his friend's arm. Adam's face was wet, streaked with dirt and tears, but otherwise he looked all right.

“Adam.” He felt the sting of tears in his eyes at the sight.

“You found them.” Cade said as the horse drew to a halt in front of him.

Clay shook his head, but his son spoke. “Ma's hurt, Pa. R–real bad.” The tears started again as he drew his son off the horse and into his arms. The boy's little arms wrapped around his neck.

“I g–got lost, and it got dark.”

“I know, I know, you're all right now. Papa's got you.” He met Clay's gaze.

“Best I can tell,” his friend said, “they were in a cave, and it started to collapse. He said a rock fell on Emily's leg, and it was too big to move.”

His gut clenched hard. “How bad is she hurt?”

Clay shrugged. “She was conscious at least.”

His son loosened his hold and leaned back to meet his gaze. “She said to go home and get you, but I g–got lost.”

Hope stirred when he realized Adam knew where she was.

“Do you think you can find the cave, Son?”

“I don't know.”

At Cade's request, he described the terrain, narrowing down the location to a few areas. His description of the cliff made him think right off of Potter's Ridge.

He looked at Clay. “Let's mount up. I think I might know the area he's talking about.”

They rode the short distance to the ridge, Adam safe in his arms, and Cade thanked God for his son's safety. But Emily's injuries. . .
Lord, keep her safe 'til we find her.

❧

“It's no use,” Cade whispered. They'd searched the ridge over and again, and there was no cave there. Adam had said the entrance was small, but even so, they'd searched the walls on foot, even looking behind all the brush.

Clay had stopped, his lantern hanging in his hand, his gaze trained on Cade. Shadows played over his features, and Cade thought how weary his friend looked. Pity shone from the depths of his eyes. “Your boy's tuckered,” Clay said.

Cade looked down and saw his son had slumped against a rock and fallen asleep. He sighed. She wasn't here at Potter's Ridge. Worry filled his belly with a burning sensation. He hated thinking of her lying in the dark somewhere suffering.

“We can keep looking if you want to,” his friend said.

Cade's gaze swung across the darkened land. The trees were black against the starlit sky. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack to continue searching tonight. Maybe Mara had i
nformation that would help them locate the cave. Or maybe Adam would be able to find his way back to it in daylight.

“No,” Cade said. “It's useless.” He hated even saying it. Felt like he was betraying his wife to leave her out there all night.
Dear Lord, protect her tonight. Be there for her in a way I can't.