Page 54 of The Heart’s Charge

Leaving a sheet half secured on the clothesline, she ducked around the flapping fabric that had hidden her from view and marched over to the cluster of boys who’d been too busy plotting their own demise to pay attention to who might be listening. And thank God for that!

The five boys jerked their faces toward her, their expressions varying from guilty to embarrassed to mutinous. The mutinous one concerned her most. Focusing her full attention on Rawley, she wagged her finger as she approached.

“You are children, not worms, and you will not purposely put yourself in danger. Is that clear?”

Rawley’s chin lifted and his eyes narrowed as he stepped away from his compatriots to meet her on the field of battle. “It’s been over a week, and we still ain’t got a clue as to where Wart and the others are.” His gaze darted over to Alice and Ruby sitting beneath a tree near the house, a picture book stretched over their two laps. “It’s takin’ a toll on Al.” He looked at his gang. “It’s takin’ a toll on all of us.”

Heads nodded in agreement.

Katherine’s heart ached for the boy. She fretted over Wart and the others too. Mark and Jonah didn’t even know how many boys in total were missing. Stolen children forced into an unsavory situation—the horrible possibilities didn’t bear thinking about. She had to focus on hope. Not only for herself, but for those around her. She wasn’t a warrior like the Horsemen. She couldn’t fend off evil with her fists or a gun. All she could contribute was prayer and a steady diet of optimism.

“I know waiting is hard,” Katherine soothed, “but Mr. Wallace and Mr. Brooks will find them. We just have to be patient.”

Rawley huffed and crossed his wiry arms over his chest. “Look, Miz Katherine, you and Miz Eliza are nice and all, and I gotta admit that the eatin’s been real good around here, but me and the boys are gettin’ itchy. We don’t belong in a place like this. All the rules and schoolin’ and stuff. I only agreed to stay until I was healed up, and I am now. Good enough not to slow the boys down, at least,” he qualified when she raised a brow in challenge. “Truth is, we can go places Brooks and Wallace can’t. We can do more to help Wart and the others out there than we can hidin’ out here.”

“And who will take care of your boys if you get taken?” she asked, making a desperate appeal to his protective nature. It had worked in the past. But this time he just smirked.

“You will.”

Katherine’s mouth hung open, her protest evaporating on the breeze.

“He’s got you there.”

Mark! Katherine turned, thankful to see him. Rawley would listen to him, surely.

“Of course I would take care of you boys,” she said, pivoting back to Rawley and his cohorts, taking the time to smile at each one. “Every one of you is welcome here anytime. For as long as you wish. No strings attached.” Her gaze zeroed back in on their leader. “But that doesn’t give you permission to recklessly endanger yourself.” She glanced over her shoulder at Mark. “I overheard him plotting to use himself as bait to try to lure the kidnappers out. Tell him that’s a horrible idea.”

“I can’t.”

Katherine’s stomach clenched. “What?”

Mark shrugged, his gaze as apologetic as his jaw was firm. “It’s a good idea. One we would have tried days ago if Jonah or I could pass for a ten- or eleven-year-old boy. But since neither of us is that clever with disguises, we took the option off the table.”

“Well, put it back on. I’m volunteerin’.” Rawley jutted out his chin, daring Mark to naysay him.

Mark took the dare. “Nope. Even with both Jonah and I watching, there are too many factors outside our control. If the snatcher spots one of us, he could decide you aren’t worth the trouble, put a bullet in you, and dump you on the trail to halt our pursuit.”

Katherine shivered, her imagination painting the scene in vivid detail. He won’t let him do it, she told herself. Mark was not the type of man to endanger a child, not even to save others.

Rawley, on the other hand, was just wild enough not to care. The rebellious gleam in his eyes made it clear he wasn’t one to abide by an adult’s ruling if he didn’t agree with it. And he obviously didn’t agree with this one.

Mark acted as if he didn’t notice the rising insubordination. “Besides,” he said offhandedly, “neither of the snatchers would consider you an easy mark. Not after the way you stabbed that horse and fought your way free. These types of criminals go for the easy pickin’s. Safer that way.”

A bit of the fight faded from Rawley’s gaze, but he wasn’t fully convinced yet. “It don’t hurt to try. If nuthin’ else, bein’ back on the street will let me keep an ear to the ground. There’s other fellas that ride the rails. They mighta heard somethin’. Seen somethin’. Can’t learn nuthin’ hiding out here.”

You can’t get hurt hiding out here either. Katherine had to bite her tongue to keep the words from escaping.

Things had been quiet over the last ten days. Mark’s and Jonah’s presence proved a comfort to the children and a deterrent to anyone bent on mischief, yet she couldn’t deny the truth of Rawley’s words. They’d made little progress in their search for the missing boys. And while she insisted on guarding the children in her care, she couldn’t neglect the ones who’d been taken. They needed to be found. Soon.

Mark had grown unusually quiet. Katherine glanced his way. His face looked far too thoughtful, as if he were actually considering Rawley’s plan.

She touched his arm. “Mark, you can’t. . . .”

He didn’t look at her. He addressed Rawley instead. “Jonah just returned from town. He’s in the barn seeing to Augustus. Go fetch him, and we’ll talk.”

Rawley nodded and strode off to the barn, his gang flanking him.

Katherine yanked her hand away with enough vigor to jostle Mark’s arm. “You can’t seriously be considering putting those boys in danger. They’re children!”