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This was the opportunity that she had been waiting for ever since she had returned to her house after finishing the evening meal. She had packed her things in her travel bag, had changed into warmer clothes for her night out in the open, and was now ready to make her escape.
Wearing a warm, lined jacket, she grabbed up her travel bag, in which she had shoved the barrel end of her rifle. Slowly, she opened the door, hoping it would not squeak.
She was in luck. There was not any sound at all.
The only thing she could hear now were the songs of the crickets, which seemed to get weaker as each night passed. She remembered back in St. Louis, how the chilly nights of autumn seemed to numb the songs right out of the crickets that she had enjoyed hearing all summer long.
She stopped and winced when she heard the yipping of a wolf. Its call of the wild was way too close for comfort.
Was this the same wolf she’d seen before? Or was it possibly another one that might be more aggressive?
She knew that she must get a grip on herself and be on her way. The longer she stayed in the Mormon community, the closer she came to being made Jeremiah’s wife.
She shuddered at the thought of that man touching her.
That thought gave her the courage to hurry onward. The very idea of marrying Jeremiah Schrock brought a sick feeling to the pit of her stomach. He was a deceitful man.
He had deceived her into believing that he was genuinely concerned about her, when all along he just wanted a woman he could coerce into being his third wife.
“Never,” she whispered to herself.
She moved cautiously away from the house, keeping alert for any movement in the night. She knew there were sentries posted in several strategic places in order to keep the community safe from the likes of Sam Partain and his men.
She was glad when she reached the corral where her horse was kept. She tiptoed into the corral and located the saddles that were stored in a small shed at its edge.
She grabbed a saddle and soon had her horse ready except for the travel bag that sat waiting to be tied to its back. After that was done, she took up the reins and led her mare through the gate, securing it behind her.
She cringed when one of the horses in the corral gave a loud whinny. Nicole stopped quickly.
She looked in all directions, praying to herself that no one had heard the sound. Thank goodness she saw no one, nor any lamp being suddenly lighted.
Everyone seemed to be fast asleep. She prayed they would stay asleep until she made her way into the shadows of the aspen forest that stretched away from the village on one side.
Her heart pounding, her knees weak from fear, Nicole kept walking her horse through the small community. She breathed a deep sigh of relief when she was finally outside its perimeters, standing with her mare in the shadows of the forest, where the moon’s glow was not able to penetrate the yellowing leaves overhead.
“We made it,” she whispered as she stroked her mount’s gray-speckled mane. “Now let’s get going.”
She had just put her foot into the stirrup when she heard a noise behind her. She stiffened and dropped her foot back to the ground when she realized what that noise was.
The snapping of a twig. Someone was close by.
She tried to mount the horse again, but jumped in terror when a hand came out of the darkness and grabbed her wrist.
She was turned quickly around and found herself face-to-face with one of the men appointed sentry tonight.
It was Jacob Jones.
“Please unhand me, Jacob,” Nicole begged, struggling and yanking as she tried to get free of his grip. “Please let me leave. I love the children and would love to be their teacher, but I learned today that Jeremiah Schrock plans to take me as his third wife. Jacob, I don’t want to marry Jeremiah. I could never be a third wife to any man, especially a man I could never love.”
Jacob gently dropped his hand from her wrist, allowing Nicole to step away from him.
“Nicole, I am not standing guard to keep you in, but to keep the evil men out,” Jacob said in a gentle voice.
Nicole could barely see his eyes. But she remembered that they were a striking blue color and always showed such kindness in them.
She also recalled his thin face, where reddish whiskers grew into a neatly trimmed beard. And as usual, he wore black, which blended into the darkness of night.
“Nicole, I will not force you to stay, but I fear for your safety if you leave. You know those evil men are looking for you,” Jacob continued in his soft voice. “You know they have no good intentions toward you.”
