For one long second\u2014<\/p>\n
no one moved.<\/p>\n
Rain pounded the roof.<\/p>\n
Thunder rolled above the barn.<\/p>\n
The horseman sat in the doorway like death itself.<\/p>\n
Cold.<\/p>\n
Patient.<\/p>\n
Waiting.<\/p>\n
Then Hale smiled.<\/p>\n
A slow, cruel smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always were brave, Clara.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes shifted to the two terrified women in the hay.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut bravery won\u2019t save them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman in the green dress tightened her grip on the knife.<\/p>\n
Her whole body shaking with rage.<\/p>\n
The man beside her never lowered the shotgun.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet off that horse,\u201d he said coldly.<\/p>\n
Hale laughed under his breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd let you shoot me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lightning flashed again.<\/p>\n
This time it lit the man\u2019s face clearly.<\/p>\n
Scarred cheek.<\/p>\n
Wet hair.<\/p>\n
Eyes full of fury.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already know I will.\u201d<\/p>\n
The barn went silent except for the storm.<\/p>\n
Then Hale\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
His hand moved slowly toward the rifle strapped across his saddle.<\/p>\n
The woman saw it first.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel\u2014!\u201d<\/p>\n
The shotgun fired before she finished his name.<\/p>\n
The blast exploded through the barn.<\/p>\n
Smoke.<\/p>\n
Thunder.<\/p>\n
Splintered wood.<\/p>\n
Hale\u2019s horse reared violently as the shot tore through the saddle and knocked the rifle clean from his hand.<\/p>\n
The weapon flew into the mud outside.<\/p>\n
The horseman cursed and grabbed for the reins.<\/p>\n
The man with the shotgun stepped forward instantly.<\/p>\n
Boots crunching through wet hay.<\/p>\n
Pumping another shell into the chamber.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet down!\u201d he barked.<\/p>\n
The two women in the back dropped lower into the hay.<\/p>\n
Clinging to each other.<\/p>\n
Clara didn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n
She stood beside Daniel with the knife still raised.<\/p>\n
Rain blew through the open doorway.<\/p>\n
Cold and sharp against their faces.<\/p>\n
Hale finally regained control of the horse.<\/p>\n
But now he looked less certain.<\/p>\n
Less untouchable.<\/p>\n
Blood trickled down one side of his hand where wood and metal had torn into him.<\/p>\n
He glared at Daniel through the storm.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019d die for women who aren\u2019t even yours?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel took one more step forward.<\/p>\n
Shotgun still aimed square at his chest.<\/p>\n
Then Clara answered before he could.<\/p>\n
Voice shaking.<\/p>\n
Fierce.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not his property.\u201d<\/p>\n
A beat of thunder shook the barn.<\/p>\n
Then Daniel spoke.<\/p>\n
Low.<\/p>\n
Steady.<\/p>\n
Final.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes never left Hale.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re under my roof.\u201d<\/p>\n
He lifted the shotgun a fraction higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that makes them mine to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For one long second\u2014 no one moved. Rain pounded the roof. Thunder rolled above the barn. The horseman sat in the doorway like death itself. Cold. Patient. Waiting. Then Hale smiled. A slow, cruel smile. \u201cYou always were brave, Clara.\u201d His eyes shifted to the two terrified women in the hay. \u201cBut bravery won\u2019t save […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}