Kaki Warner by Miracle in New Hope Page B

to kick his way out of the hobbles. Farther off, in the direction of the cantina, an out-of-tune piano plinked a sad tune.
    Defeat weighted the chill air.
    Tom sighed, his discouragement evident in the sag of his shoulders.
    Daniel understood his frustration. They might
want
to believe him, but there were too many missing pieces. Too many questions unanswered. And too many disappointments in the past.
    He was disheartened, too. Doubts pricked at him, slowly chipping away at his resolve. Even so, nothing thus far had changed his sure belief that Hannah Ellis was alive somewhere and waiting for someone—for him—to come get her.
    “Well.” Rising, he stretched muscles stiffened from sitting in the cold too long, then looked up into the sky. Not a star shone. The moon was just a faint glow behind a thick layer of clouds, and the air tasted like snow. “Guess tomorrow I’ll go up to the fort. Ask around. See if anyone remembers a wagon coming through with a little blonde girl who wouldn’t talk.”
    Lacy looked up at him. Firelight danced across her features, emphasizing the weary smudges beneath her eyes, the tense set of her mouth. Yet she looked as beautiful to him as any woman ever had. “You still believe she’s alive, Daniel?”
    Daniel.
Hearing the way she said his name in her gentle voice and seeing the hopeful trust in her face, made Daniel almost desperate to touch her, to smooth the worry from her brow and bring the light back into her fine eyes. Instead, he jammed his cold hands into his pockets and forced a smile. “I do.”
    “Then I’m going with you.”
    Tom let go another long sigh. “We’d best leave early then. It’s a long ride.”
    ***
    The next afternoon, they were five miles short of the fort when the storm hit. Within minutes, wind was howling out of the west, driving snow into their faces, and visibility had dropped to less than twenty feet. The horses grew fractious, slowing to find their footing and tucking their heads against the chilling blast. Squinting against the sting of icy pellets, Daniel studied Lacy, who rode ahead of him. She could barely stay upright, but hunched over the pommel, both hands clutching the horn for balance. Shivers ran down her bowed back.
    “Jackson!” he called, moving up beside her, ready to catch her if she started to slide.
    Jackson turned and shouted something. But between the noise of the wind and his bad hearing, Daniel couldn’t make it out. “We have to stop!” he yelled and pointed at Lacy.
    Jackson nodded and angled toward several large boulders beside a stand of firs. Three of the giant stones were clustered together so that they formed a three-sided windbreak with a narrow space in between. After helping Lacy dismount, Daniel sent her and Roscoe to wait between the boulders and out of the wind while he and her brother set up a shelter.
    Jackson untied the saddlebags and emergency supplies. Tossing several lengths of rope and the canvas to Daniel, he shouted, “Tie that over the tops of the boulders. I’ll picket the horses over there.” He pointed toward a small stand of wide-limbed spruces that would offer at least partial protection from the wind.
    Daniel nodded and set to work. By the time Jackson returned with an armful of firewood, the canvas was secure and he had a small fire ring waiting at the entrance of the makeshift shelter. While Jackson jammed fir boughs into the gaps between the boulders and Lacy cleared the area under the canopy of snow and rocks and sticks, Daniel started a fire and cooked supper.
    It wasn’t much. Leftover hardtack, a can of beans cooked with salt pork and onion, and dried apricots he softened in boiling water. When he saw that Lacy was still shivering, he gathered more snow and boiled the last of his jerky to make a broth in one of the mugs. “Be careful,” he said, holding it out. “It’s hot.”
    She flashed him a weary smile as she cupped the warm metal in her gloved hands. “Thank you.”
    They