Rocky Mountain Dreams & Family on the Range by Danica Favorite (summer beach reads txt) 📕

All this time, Nugget had probably known where the silver was.

“Thank you, Caitlin.” Joseph bent and gave the little girl a hug. “I promise, we’ll do everything we can to find Nugget.”

Please, Lord, don’t let this be a broken promise. Nugget had to be safe, she just had to be.

“I know where we’re going,” he told Wes, who was already headed for the horses.

Joseph looked over at Frank. “Are you coming?”

The older man nodded slowly. It was clear he still couldn’t wrap his mind around Slade being behind everything, but hopefully, during the ride, with Wes to help explain what he knew of the man, it would become clearer.

Now he just needed to pray that they’d reach Annabelle and Nugget in time.

Chapter Twenty-One

When they reached the turnoff for Nugget’s father’s cabin, they didn’t turn, but rode on.

“The cabin’s that way,” Annabelle said, twisting to get Tom’s attention.

“We’re not going to the cabin, Miss Know It All.” He yanked on Annabelle’s hair in imitation of Slade.

What was it with these men and her hair? At least it gave her an excuse to pull out yet another hairpin to leave as a marker. She dropped an extra one, and another closer than what she ordinarily would have in hopes that they’d pick up on her clue and keep going.

What must her father be thinking right now? Had they gotten word of Joseph’s death? Did he know Slade was the culprit, or would her father be wondering who could have taken her?

Did they even know they were gone?

Annabelle pushed those thoughts out of her head. She wasn’t going to give up. She simply couldn’t. Too many bad things had happened already, and she wasn’t going to let this have the same end.

They reached an outcropping of rocks, which must’ve been the other side of where Joseph’s father had built his cabin.

“There!” One of Slade’s men pointed in the direction of a rock formation.

Tom dismounted, then yanked her off the horse. “Walk.”

She did as she was bade, eager to catch up with Slade and to check on Nugget.

When they got to the base of the formation, Slade turned toward Annabelle. “Get the kid to tell me where the silver is.”

Annabelle started toward Nugget, who raced into her arms. “That man is mean.”

“I know.” Annabelle hugged her tight. “Is the silver here?” she whispered.

Nugget nodded. “Papa said I shouldn’t tell anyone.”

How could she convince a child to betray her father’s confidence? Worse, how could she get the information about the silver to Slade in such a way that he’d let them live, at least long enough for them to escape?

“You know that the mean man is going to hurt us if you don’t tell him?”

Tears ran down Nugget’s face. A child so young should not be responsible for all the things she’d had to face.

With a look braver than her age, Nugget wiped an arm across her face, took Annabelle’s hand, then tugged her in the direction of Slade.

“In that cave,” Nugget said, pointing at a small fissure in the rock.

Slade went to the spot Nugget indicated, staring into it. He tried squeezing into the space, but his body was too big.

“How’d he get the silver out? Is there another entrance?” He returned his attention to Nugget.

She shook her head, then said quietly, “I got the silver for him.”

If there was anyone Annabelle wanted to hurt more than Slade and his men, it was Nugget’s father for putting a child in this position. How could he?

Slade, though, had no such thoughts, as a wicked grin crossed his face. “Then get it for me.”

Nugget glanced in Annabelle’s direction. “Annabelle has to come with me. There’s enough room. Mama used to come so’s the bats wouldn’t get me.”

Bats. Annabelle swallowed. Well, if she had to choose between bats and bullets, she supposed bats were the best option.

“You wouldn’t be trying to pull anything, would you?” Slade got right in Nugget’s face, but the little girl remained unmoved.

“She’s a child,” Annabelle said. “What exactly do you think she’s going to pull?”

Slade turned to his men. “Where’s the dynamite? Let’s just blast it out.”

The men whispered amongst themselves, then Bart came forward. “Slim used it all on Joseph. There isn’t any more.”

For a moment, Annabelle was sure Slade was going to shoot him on the spot. Then Slade looked over at the one she presumed to be Slim.

“Then Slim had best get in to town and get us some more.”

Slade returned his attention to Nugget and Annabelle. “I guess it’s time for you to prove there’s really silver in there. Go in and get me some silver.”

Nugget scrambled into the cave, and Annabelle followed, barely able to squeeze into the tight space.

“Nugget?”

Annabelle could hear a soft scrape, then a light shone in the distance.

“Crawl on your belly to my light.”

She did as the tiny girl ordered, finding herself in a large cavern.

“Papa told me to come here if anyone ever tried to get me to tell them where the silver is.”

Nugget shone the lantern around to indicate an empty cavern that had shiny flecks of some sort of mineral adorning the wall. Unfortunately, it wasn’t gold or silver. That much Annabelle knew. “Mama called it my secret house.”

Annabelle closed her eyes. They were safe for now, but once Slade realized they were not coming out, he’d just get dynamite and blast them out.

“But how do we get out?”

Nugget shrugged. “Papa always came.”

“But your papa is dead. Is there any other way out?”

Annabelle took the lantern and looked around for some sign that the cavern had another exit. Every fissure in the cavern appeared tighter than the one they’d just entered. Nugget went to one of the spaces and pulled out a blanket.

“I want my mama,” she said, plopping down on the hard ground and wrapping the blanket around her.

Annabelle joined her and pulled the little girl into her lap. “I know. I want my mama, too.”

Because her mother would know exactly what to do. She