Taken Bride (The Secret Bride 3)

“Except this ‘madness’ also includes two women who I’ve become close to. I can’t just leave them here. And I get the feeling they are determined to stay.”

“Then we’ll allow them to do what they want. But you will not stay. Period.”

“I can’t leave without them. It’s not an option. What do you think Papa Rich and Scarecrow will do to them when they return and find me gone?”

“What Richard and Scarecrow will come home to find is the police waiting to arrest their asses.”

I sigh deeply. “You say that. But the police haven’t exactly been much help since the day we left Hallelujah Junction. I don’t really have faith in them.”

The truth of the matter is I don’t really have faith in anyone. Which I suppose is sad. Funny how I saw life in such a happier way when I was being told lies and mentally being held captive in a schoolhouse in a ghost town with a serial killer as a “father.”

Maybe Louisa was right about me—I’m broken. Just a freak. And the reality is… I belong here with Holly and Violet. They get me. They are me in a sick and twisted way.

“Ember….”

I lean forward and give him a quick, avoiding-the-topic peck. “I hear footsteps in the snow outside. Holly and Violet are here.”

14

Christopher

It’s been twenty-four hours since I arrived, and I’m going freaking crazy. Cabin fever is truly a real thing. The snow is falling softer now, but it dumped overnight and most of the day, and I’m not sure how easy hiking down the mountain is going to be for any of us. The women don’t have warm clothing, or at least not warm enough. They go out into the elements to collect wood with nothing but crocheted shawls over their thin dresses that hang off their narrow shoulders. At least they all seem to have rainboots to slip on and off when they do go out, but even those may not be good enough if we are sinking to our knees with every step.

Holly and Violet also seem to be malnourished, and though their strength and energy seem to be up, I still worry if they will have the stamina it will take to make it to the makeshift tarmac in the valley I was dropped off on.

The other concern I have is their respiratory system. Both women have a hack when they cough. Neither seems sick, but after staying in the chapel for one night, I clearly see the culprit. The fire is releasing too much smoke in the chapel. Though they have worked on a chimney of sorts, it’s neither completed nor all that effective. It’s blocking the snow from extinguishing the flames, but the amount of smoke now being trapped inside is downright dangerous. And based on their coughs… this is something they have been dealing with for a while.

Violet stands from where she’s been sitting and staring at the fire in silence for the entire day. “I’m going to get us some more wood.”

The rate we’ve been burning the wood to keep warm is keeping us up all hours and having to recollect to stoke the fire. And it’s going to be another cold one tonight.

“I’ll go,” I offer, needing to get up and stretch my legs anyway. Plus, my eyes are starting to burn from all the smoke.

She pauses, nods, then sits and stares at the fire some more. She has barely spoken since her conversation with me near the cliff. It’s very clear I am not one of her favorite people, and though I feel for her situation and am trying to be sensitive to her feelings, I will pick her up and carry her down the mountain if I have to if it means Ember agreeing to leave with me.

Ember has agreed, but I see her wavering. I think it depends on the moment for her. One second, she wants to run away with me this instant, but the next minute, she wants to stay with the sisters and feels obligated to keep them happy with whatever they need.

I’m scared that the longer we stay, the harder it will be to convince any of them to leave.

I walk over to Ember, who is peeling some potatoes, and kiss the top of her head. She stops to look at me. “Do you want some help?”

“I’m fine. It’s too cold for any of you to be out there without the proper clothing,” I say, reaching for my coat and hat hanging by the fire. “I’ll be right back.”

I need to check out the path I took up here to see if it’s even possible for us to leave anytime soon. I also reach for my satellite phone again in hopes that maybe, just maybe, I can get a signal.

I’m right in worrying about us sinking to our knees in snow, because the minute I walk out of the chapel, that is exactly what I do. I suppose it could be worse—it could be to our thighs.