Page 52 of Crimson Storm

I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I couldn’t help it. I’d intended to ask them for the loan of a buggy to get us closer to the Bastion. A happy reunion with my family was so far above and beyond my expectations, I could hardly believe it was happening.

But when the door did open and my father came inside and saw me there, it was just as Mamm had said. His tired face crumpled, and he moved toward me, literally falling to his knees in front of the dining chair where I sat and reaching for my hands.

“Forgive me, daughter,” he said in a choked voice. “I’m so sorry for what I did, and I’m happy to have the chance to tell you.”

I shook my head, almost too choked up to speak. “Dad... it’s okay. I understand. You were afraid.”

“Have you come home to stay?” he asked, turning his head and apparently just now noticing the three strangers in his house.

“No. We’re just passing through. I came to ask for help. We’re in trouble. We’re on our way to a safe place, but we need transportation.”

“You must stay here,” Mamm insisted. “This is a safe place. This is your home. And we want to hear about where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing all this time. We’ll help you with whatever the trouble is.”

“I’m afraid you can’t.”

Dad rose and pulled out the chair on the other side of me, joining us at the table. Shane stuck out his hand. “I’m Shane Eastwood. Nice to meet you, sir.”

“It’s nice to meet you, son.” My father studied Shane’s brown eyes then turned to me with a quizzical look. “Tell us what’s happened.”

I explained how Kelly and Heather and I had been falsely arrested and held at the Safety Center and how the circumstances of our escape had put us in grave danger.

“The Amish community can’t help us now,” I said. “And I wouldn’t want to bring suspicion on you and Mamm and get you in trouble with the law for harboring fugitives.”

“Are you a foo-ji-tive too, Shane?” five-year-old Daniel asked, clearly enthralled by the exotic sound of the word.

Shane shook his head. “No. I’m just trying to help Abigail and her friends.”

“She’s a vampire now,” Daniel announced. “But that doesn’t mean she’s bad.”

Shane grinned and riffled the much younger boy’s hair. “I know that. I’m glad you do too.”

“Thank you for helping my daughter. You’re a good man,” Dad said.

Shane ducked his head, looking embarrassed by the praise. “Just trying to do what’s right, sir. Also, I’m looking for my parents who are vampires, so Abigail is helping me as much as I’m helping her. Hopefully we’ll be able to heal our relationship too.”

My father nodded gravely. “There’s nothing more important than family. I hope you find them.”

We spent the next hour catching up before I had to regretfully announce it was time to go.

“Can’t you stay just one more day?” Mamm pleaded.

“Each day that passes increases the chances we’re caught here,” I said. “I can’t have that happen. And Shane has to get back home to California. We need to get to the vampire stronghold before daybreak.”

Dad pushed back from the table. “Noah and I will hitch up the horses to the old buggy. I was about to pass it down to him since we recently got a new one. You may take it and return it when you can.”

“I have a friend where I’m going who can arrange to return it to you,” I said, thinking of Kannon. He was familiar with the area and the location of my village. I could give him directions to my family farm when we reached the Bastion.

“No need,” Dad assured me. “I have a friend who owns a farm very near to the highway just over the state line. If you leave the buggy and horses with him, he’ll see to it they get home again.”

“Thank you. And thank you for the clothes, Mamm—and your hospitality.”

She had asked my sister Rachel to find some plain clothes for each of us to wear as we traveled the rest of the way. They would complete the illusion that would hopefully keep us from being recognized during the rest of our journey.

“I only wish I was able to feed you and the other girls,” Mamm said. “But I understand why I can’t. At least I was able to meet your young man and fatten him up.”

She patted Shane’s shoulder and cleared his empty plate and bowl.

“Oh—no—we uh... we’re just friends,” I told her, but he winked at me.

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