Part 14 (2/2)

”Alonea”herea”yes,” he began. ”Do not leavea”ever. We come.”

He seemed to feel that was settled. She was to wait herea”alonea”until someone came for her.

”How many suns? Not know,” he continued.

”Butawho will come? Laramie saida””

”Laramie come,” he nodded in a.s.surance, and Ariana's troubled mind grasped at that promise.

But her sense of relief was short-lived.

”Maybe yesa”maybe no,” he went on calmly, making her heart race again.

”If nota”I come,” he finished, then sat quietly as though waiting to see if she had any more questions.

She sat trembling, looking down at her folded hands.

”Food,” he said, pointing at the supply against the rock wall. ”Water,” he continued and pointed to the opposite wall and up against the ceiling. It was the first Ariana had noticed the little ledge and the small clay pot that sat on it. From somewhere above, water continued to drip, drip into the container. That was her water supply.

”Sleep,” he said again, and he rose like a shadow and turned away from her again.

She knew better than to call a second time. She was alone in a deep, dark cave, somewhere in the bowels of the earth. And she was to waita”just waita”silentlya”patientlya”until someone came for her. Ariana felt terror rise in her throat until she felt she wouldn't be able to breathe.

All through the night Laramie pressed his mount forward, the two animals on their tethers following obediently at his heels.

At times he hid his trail by traveling along the sheltered rock shelves; at others he left deliberate little clues as to which way he was heading.

He was glad for the snow. By morning, and the discovery that they were gone, much of the trail would be covereda”just as it had been when his pa and Sam had brought the girl to the camp.

Laramie smiled. It seemed rather ironic. A snowstorm had kept her would-be rescuers from finding hera”and a snowstorm might also defeat her enemies.

Laramie pulled his hat down over his face to protect himself from the bite of the whirling ice crystals and urged the rangy buckskin on.

Chapter Fourteen.

Waiting ”Lord, it's been seventy-two days,” Laura Benson reminded G.o.d in a quiet conversation with Him as she rolled crusts for an apple pie. ”Seventy-two daysa”without any word.”

She blinked away tears that welled up in her eyes. ”I've tried to be patient, Lord. Tried to trustabut sometimesait gets so hard.”

The tears refused to stay in check and squeezed out from under her blinking lids and rolled down her wrinkled cheeks. She reached for the hankie in her ap.r.o.n pocket and quickly dispensed with the telltale marks of weeping.

”They say no news is good news, Lord,” she continued. ”Help me to really believe that.”

Ariana huddled in her corner. She was thankful for the warm furs beneath her and the woolen blankets she could wrap her body in. She wasn't sure if she shook from the cold, dank interior of the cave or from sheer terror, but she trembled just the same.

”If only I had my Bible,” she said to herself for the twentieth time.

But you do, an inner voice prompted. Haven't you been busy with memorization for the past weeks? You have much of the Bible within you.

With a start of surprise, Ariana realized it was so. She had memorized many sections of Scripture during her days of confinement. Perhaps the long stay in the small cabin would not be for nought.

She pulled the blanket more closely about her shoulders. ”Where should I start?” she asked herself. ”Wellawhy not at the beginning? I'll gradually work my way through the Bible, recalling every portion I have learned.”

”Genesis, chapter one. In the beginning G.o.da”

Ariana stopped. The few words had given her much to think about.

”In the beginning G.o.da” she repeated slowly. The words seemed to echo off the dark walls of rock.

Ariana spoke them again. At least her own voice was something with which to fill the stillness.

”G.o.dain the beginningaand always,” she mused to herself. ”Wellaif He has always beena”and I fully believe He hasa”then I guess He must know all there is to know about what's going on. Even now. Even in this cave.”

The thought brought comfort to Ariana.

She reached down one hand to feel the softness of her bed. Someone had taken a good deal of trouble to prepare it for her. Spruce and pine branches intertwined to make a soft layer beneath her. Soft moss covered the boughs. Then the thick fura”likely buffalo, Ariana guesseda”and then the warm, though scratchy, blankets of wool.

Yes, she could not complain about her bed. It was much more comfortable than the rough wood bunk in the cabin.

Ariana let her gaze travel to the little stock of supplies. Here again her needs had been met. True, it was not especially tasty food that had been stored in the cave. But it was palatablea”and nouris.h.i.+ng. Pemmican. Dried berries and fish. And her own biscuitsa”which would soon be as dry as the berries, she thought wryly.

And water. She had a good supply of watera”though at first the constant drip, drip had threatened to drive her mad. But the water was cold and fresh, and she had no trouble convincing herself to drink straight from the small earthen pot.

Ariana looked at the little stack of candles. So far she had relit a new candle from the old one seven times. She had no idea how long one candle burned. She had no idea whether it was now day or night in the outside world. She had even less of an idea how many hours had crawled by since she had been brought to the cave. She only knew that it seemed like a very long time.

And now her thoughts turned again from the cave and back to the Scripture.

”In the beginning G.o.da” she said again and smiled to herself. ”And in the end, G.o.d as well,” she went on. ”And in the middle, and in the past, and in the futurea”G.o.d. For always and evera”what a wonderful truth.”

”In the beginning G.o.d createda.” She stopped again and let her eyes drift over the eerie walls of the cave. The flickering candlelight cast funny dancing shapes over the roughness of the rock.

”You did this,” she spoke to the G.o.d she knew shared her abode. ”You made this. Why? Why this strange little room way back in the rocks? Did you knowa”even thena”that somedaya?” Ariana let her voice fade. It was too big an idea to even think about.

Suddenly the cave no longer seemed menacing. It did not even seem as cold and clammy as before. Ariana had the comforting knowledge that she was not alone.

The severity of the storm made travel more and more difficult for Laramie. At the same time, it would make his trail harder to follow. He began to wonder if he shouldn't change his plans and head straight for the cave and Ariana.

At length he decided against it. He and White Eagle had laid their plans carefully. To change now might mean a disruption that could be costlya”even deadly.

Laramie pulled the collar of his heavy coat up more closely to his chin and nudged the buckskin with a blunted spur.

He lifted his face to try to judge the time of day. It was hard to tell with the sky so overcast. He turned his thoughts back to the camp behind him. Had they discovered his absence? How had his pa responded? Laramie could easily guess. Were they already on his trail?

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