Although it was hard to see anything in the dark room, I could make out Ebbie’s body lying motionless. Was he dead? I couldn’t help him. I couldn’t move.
“We’re walkin’ out the back door together,” the voice said with a snarl. “If you fight me or make any noise, I’ll snap your neck. You got it, girlie?”
Unable to speak, I nodded. The man grabbed the flashlight and began pushing me toward the back of the shop. The thought flashed through my mind that if we left the store, my fate would be sealed. As he kicked open the rear door, I bit his hand as hard as I could. His grip relaxed as he yowled with pain. I took the opportunity to push away from him and run. But before I could get far, he seized me from behind and I fell to the floor. He grabbed my wrists and sat on top of me.
The flashlight, which had dropped to the floor beside me, provided enough light for me to see my attacker. It was Tom Ford, the sheriff’s son. He lowered his face down close to mine, and I could detect the stench of stale cigarettes and something else. Liquor. A girl I’d known in school had a father who drank, and his breath had smelled the same way.
“You try that once more, and I’ll kill you before you have a chance to regret it. Understand?”
He let go of one of my wrists and slapped me hard across the mouth. I could taste blood. Fear kept me from being able to speak so I nodded to let him know I wouldn’t try to fight him again.
“Stop bawlin’. No one is here to feel sorry for you.” He grabbed my wrist and stared at me. “I saw you lookin’ at me the other day. You probably wonder what real men are like, don’t you? You don’t got nothin’ around here except them wimpy pretty boys. Tonight you’re gonna find out what you been missin’.”
“No,” I said, finally finding my voice. “Please. Please don’t do this.”
“Why don’t you cry out to that God of yours?” Tom said, his face inches from mine. “See if He’ll help you. I bet He won’t. No one’s here. No one listenin’ to you at all.” He cackled, and his laugh made my blood run cold. “If there was a God, He’d strike me dead, and He isn’t, is He? You people need a big dose of reality, and tonight you’re gonna get yours.”
He pulled me to my feet and took a gun out of his pocket, aiming it right at me. Then he yanked off my prayer covering. “Take your hair down,” he ordered.
With trembling fingers I removed the pins and ribbon that held my bun in place. Then I shook my hair out.
“That looks better.” He swung me around and stuck the barrel of the gun in my back. “Now get goin’. We’re not waitin’ around here so one of your Mennie friends can come to your rescue.” He sniggered. “’Course, they won’t help you none. They’re too busy hidin’ behind all that goody-goody religious junk. You’re on your own, girlie.” He picked up the flashlight and shoved it at me. “You keep that light in front of us. Drop it, and I’ll drop you.”
I held the flashlight tightly, the beam shaking in my trembling hands. Then he pushed me out the back door and toward the trees that surrounded our town. We were almost to the tree line when I saw his truck. It was familiar. Red, with a dent in the passenger side door.
“You . . . you tried to run me down on the road.”
“Sorry about that,” he said, keeping his voice low. “If I’d seen how good lookin’ you was that first day, I would have tried harder not to ruin the merchandise. I saw it was you the other day though. You and some Mennie man. If it weren’t for my daddy comin’ to your rescue, me and my friend Todd woulda had you then. I didn’t like havin’ to wait, but it was worth it. You won’t get away this time.”
“Did . . . did you kill Avery?” I had no desire to make him angry, but I had to know.
He actually hesitated a moment. “Didn’t mean to kill that old man. We was just playin’ with him.” The slight tinge of regret in his voice disappeared with his next statement. “Stupid old guy shoulda just stayed on the road. We wasn’t gonna run into him. He ran himself off the road. It was his own dumb fault.”
I could have pointed out that Avery had no way to know that, just as I hadn’t when I’d faced Tom’s truck barreling right for me. But my words would have been lost on him.
“You were in Kingdom the other night,” I said. It wasn’t presented as a question, but just a statement of fact. I knew it was him.
He hooted as if I’d just said the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “I was lookin’ for you. Didn’t plan to take you though. Not then. Had to check on somethin’ and see if I could get into town without too much trouble. Trial run, I guess. Easy as pie. After that, I knew I could come back whenever I wanted. Wasn’t sure where to find you tonight, but my daddy said you worked in the quilt store so I headed here. Nice of you to keep it unlocked for me. Even more considerate of you to walk right in like you did.”
I didn’t feel like talking to him, but for some reason I couldn’t shut up. My emotions were swinging out of control. “If . . . if you were just looking for me, why did you set our church on fire?”
He guffawed. I was beginning to realize that Tom Ford was either insane or on some kind of drugs. His eyes were wild and his physical actions jerky and uncontrolled. “I’d like to take credit for that, but it weren’t me or my friends. Only fire we started was at that Mennie house on the edge of town.”
I wasn’t really listening to him, since there was no way I could believe a word he said. However, if I could keep him talking, maybe I could stall him long enough that someone would find us. Before it was too late for Ebbie. And for me. I dug my heels in, unwilling to reach the truck. If he got me inside, all would be lost.
“H-how did you get into town tonight?” I asked, my voice sounding small and shaky. I hated it, but my entire body was trembling, and I couldn’t control it. “We have people watching the road.”
He laughed, his tone cold and harsh. “It was a little harder than the other night. I had a plan to distract your little friend sittin’ out there, but he helped me by fallin’ asleep. Great protection you people got.” He snorted. “Tonight took a little more effort. That Mennie won’t be watchin’ nothin’ for a long, long time.”
“Oh no. Jonathon. Did you . . . did you . . .”
“Kill him? Don’t know. Don’t care.”
We were almost to the truck when the fear that had enveloped me began to dissipate, and I heard Ebbie’s voice speaking clearly in my mind. “Do we try to protect ourselves, or do we walk through the crowd because we believe God is actually with us?” I began to say the only thing that came to me. “‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. No—’”
“Stop it,” Tom hissed. “Stop callin’ on your made-up God. You do that again and I’ll—”
“You’ll what?”
Tom whirled around, keeping his grip on me. I swung the flashlight toward the voice. Ebbie stood there, staring at us. A thin stream of blood ran down the side of his face.
Tom swore loudly. “I thought I took care of you, Mennie boy. Doesn’t matter though, does it? What are you gonna do about it? You got a gun or anything?”
Ebbie shook his head, not taking his eyes off me. “I don’t have a gun, but I won’t let you take her away.”
“And just what do you intend to do about it?”
Ebbie’s eyes bored into mine for a moment. Then he turned and glanced quickly behind him, toward the back of the restaurant. When he swung his gaze back to us, I saw something in his expression that made my heart drop to my feet. I suddenly remembered the story he’d told me about his mother being burned by hot grease, and in that moment, I knew exactly what he was planning to do. If he could get Tom to fire his gun, someone might come here and help me. But Tom wouldn’t fire into the air the way Ebbie had when he’d tried to get help for his mother. Tom would shoot Ebbie.
“No!” I cried out. “No, Ebbie. Please.”
“I love you, Hope. With all my heart. I always have, and I always will.”
“No!” I tried to fight, tried to get away, but Tom’s grip only tightened on me. He took the gun from my back and aimed it at Ebbie. Obviously, he hadn’t figured out what Ebbie already had. All I could do was whisper “‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.’”
“I don’t think I’d do that if I were you.”
I swung the flashlight to the right of Ebbie. I’d been so busy watching him that I hadn’t seen Jonathon advance toward us. He’d been beaten badly. One eye was closed, and the other was swollen. He had blood on his cheek, and his left arm lay useless against his side. In his good hand he held his rifle, and it was leveled right at Tom. I felt the young man tense and the arm he held across my neck tightened, making it hard for me to breathe, let alone quote Scripture. All I could do was repeat the familiar verse over and over in my mind.
“A Mennie with a gun?” he said. “You gonna shoot me with that, Mennie boy? I thought you pansies don’t like hurtin’ people. Seems you’re breakin’ all them religious rules you made up.”
“I don’t know about that,” Jonathon said, his voice thick with pain. “But I will not let you shoot my friend. And I won’t let you hurt Hope.”
“No, Jonathon,” Ebbie said. “This isn’t the way. Put the rifle down.”
“Yeah, put the rifle down, Jonathon. Besides, if you try to shoot me, you’re gonna kill this pretty little lady.” Tom laughed. “Don’t look to me like either one of you has a chance of stoppin’ me.”
“You don’t understand something,” Jonathon said, his voice flat and emotionless. “My rifle isn’t for looks or because I think it makes me look like a man. I can shoot the wings off a fly if I want to, and I can take you down without touching Hope. Easy shot. Let her go, or I’ll show you exactly what I mean.”
I felt Tom’s grip loosen a little. Then it tightened again. “Maybe I don’t understand what a crack shot you are, Mennie, but I do understand somethin’ else.” He swung the gun back up and put it next to my head. “You shoot me and my finger will twitch. You might get me all right, but you’re gonna kill her deader than a doornail. Now toss your rifle on the ground. Now!”
If Jonathon gave up his gun, Tom was either going to throw me into his truck and take off, or Ebbie was coming after me in an attempt to get help. Tom would certainly shoot him. Maybe both of them. My eyes locked on to Jonathon’s, and I could see in his face that he knew how serious our situation was. Almost imperceptibly, his focus slid down to the big heavy flashlight I had pointed toward him. When he gave me an almost indiscernible nod, I knew what he wanted me to do.
Although fear tried to put me back under its power, I prayed for courage and drew on every ounce of strength I had inside me. Without allowing myself to think about it, I swung the flashlight up and hit Tom in the face. When his hold on me released, I fell to the ground. Then I aimed the light right into his eyes, trying to blind him. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. I saw Tom point his gun at Jonathon, and I screamed. At the same time, Ebbie yelled and ran toward me.
Suddenly, a shot rang out. It frightened me so much, I dropped the flashlight. Someone cried out, and I screamed again. Who had Tom shot? I watched as Ebbie fell a few feet away from me. I reached for the flashlight, shining it at Tom as if it would protect us from his next bullet. The look on his face was a mixture of surprise and alarm. Then without warning, the gun fell from his hand, landing right next to me. He dropped to the ground and grabbed his shoulder. Blood poured out of a large wound.
All I could hear was an odd sound that seemed to go on and on. A wailing. It took several seconds before I realized it was coming from me. I scrambled to my feet. Ebbie! I ran over to him, falling on my knees next to his body.
“Ebbie? Ebbie?”
I heard a mumbling sound as he pushed himself up to his knees. “I-I’m okay. I stumbled over a rock.”
“You weren’t shot?”
“No. Jonathon shot Tom.”
I swung the light toward Jonathon, who was standing in the same spot, an odd look on his face. He shook his head. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t have time to pull the trigger.”
“That’s ’cause it was me.”
The three of us looked behind us. Sheriff Ford stood there with his gun drawn, a terrible look on his face. “I wasn’t sure until tonight that my boy was part of all the stuff happenin’ in the county, although I suspected it.”
He turned his head to look at me. “I knew he was the one who threatened you and that other guy on the road because I was followin’ him. That’s the real reason I showed up when I did. But when I confronted him he told me it was the only time he’d ever done somethin’ like that. That he had nothin’ to do with the rest of it. I wanted to believe him. I tried.
“But after the fire, I started worryin’ again. That’s why I followed him tonight. He’s not the only one who’s been up to no good. His rotten friends are behind a lot of it. Them boys is all goin’ to prison, I promise you that.”
“But . . . you just shot your own son,” I said. “How could you—”
“He was gonna kill you,” the sheriff said simply. “I had no choice. It had to stop. I couldn’t let it go on anymore.
“It’s my fault, you know. I taught him to despise God ’cause I was mad at Him for takin’ my wife away. I went to church, and I tried to do everything right. Then she ups and runs off with our preacher.”
He took a deep, shaky breath. “I pounded my hate into Tom for years. It was wrong. I just didn’t realize.” His voice broke. “I just didn’t realize,” he said again.
Tom moaned in pain, and I moved away from him. Sheriff Ford came over and picked up Tom’s gun, flinging it a few feet away. He knelt down to check on his son.
“You’re gonna be okay, Tommy,” he said. “Just a shoulder wound. Had to make sure you dropped your gun.”
Tom seemed to be in too much pain to answer. The sheriff stood to his feet and faced us. I kept the flashlight focused on him.
“That’s why you seemed reluctant to investigate the attacks,” Jonathon said. “You were afraid Tom was involved.”
The sheriff nodded. “I wish you’d quit shinin’ that flashlight in my face, young lady. You’re blindin’ me. I’ll turn on my headlights so we can see.”
I noticed for the first time that Sheriff Ford’s cheeks were wet with tears. I quickly clicked off the light. Within a few seconds, we were bathed in the glow of the sheriff’s headlights. As Ebbie had suspected, the sound of a gunshot had gotten the attention of everyone in town. Papa and Lizzie appeared in the clearing, followed by Aaron. The sheriff got on his radio and called someone.
Papa hobbled over to me. “Are you all right, Hope? Did he hurt you?”
I shook my head and reached out for him. As Papa’s arms went around me, I began to weep, and I couldn’t stop.