Amelia’s stomach clenched so hard she coughed. Did Poppy mean what it sounded like?
“Grampa’s downstairs. Outside.” She’d left the three of them in the shade. Kat had promised to watch Pa and Poppy. “With Kat.”
“No, Gampa gone. Kat gone.”
Gone?
Amelia’s breath jammed into her breastbone.
How long had she been upstairs lingering over items in Zach’s room while Poppy and Pa were unsupervised? At least Poppy hadn’t wandered away. She tightened her arms around the child, grabbed the shirt off the doorknob, and rushed downstairs.
By the time she reached the bottom, her heart pounded with racing emotions—fear for Pa’s safety, anger at Kat for not watching, and dismay over her own failure.
Amelia circled the house. But there was no Kat and no Pa.
“Kat!” The name roared from her mouth.
No one answered.
“Kat!” Desperation carried the word into the sky, into the distance, and—please, God—to her ears.
Jostling Poppy on her hip, Amelia trotted to the cookhouse. “Gil.” The man was sprawled across the table. He lifted his head, his eyes unfocused and bloodshot. He’d be no help.
She slammed the door as she exited.
No Kat. No Gil. Worst of all, no Pa.
“We are going to find Gampa.” She’d have to take the child with her, which would hamper her pace. But she had no other option.
“We go, Mama.”
“Yes, child.”
Where to begin? She turned full circle, scanning the scene for any clue.Please, God, let him be by the garden or the grove beside the trail or on the hill looking at the mountains.
No sign of him. Of any other human. The emptiness sucked at her soul.
I am not alone. God promised never to leave me nor forsake me.
“But it sure would help if Kat were here too,” Amelia muttered.
“Kat go to horsey. Me not go.”
Alarm bells thundered in Amelia’s head. Was the girl injured? How far had Pa gone?
A flicker of movement to her right jerked Amelia’s attention in that direction, even as her heart kicked into a faster beat.Not Sobel. Please, not him.
Leather reins shivered over the top rail nearest to the barn. Someone moved in the shadows, and then Kat emerged.
The strength fled from Amelia’s legs. She stiffened them.
“Kat? Where have you been?” Anger, fear, and relief made her words hard and unnecessarily loud. She didn’t give the girl the opportunity to answer. “Pa is gone, and Poppy was alone. She might have wandered off. I left you to watch them.”
Remorse flashed through Kat’s dark eyes, perhaps a touch of hurt. Then her chin jutted out.
Already regretting how she’d spoken, Amelia swallowed back her anxiety. “I’m sorry to be so cross, but when I think of what could happen—” A shudder rattled her teeth.
“They were busy digging a hole by the house. I thought they’d be all right for a few minutes. I only wanted to say hi to the mustang.”
