The wind is whipping around me, and though we aren’t in blizzard conditions yet, we aren’t far from it. I know we aren’t getting off this mountain anytime soon, but I can at least reach out to the authorities and let them know Richard and Scarecrow are headed toward Wyoming, but more importantly… they will return here for the wives.
The wives.
The very thought of Scarecrow thinking Ember is his wife makes me ill and full of rage. If he even dared tried having sex with her… I would have cut off his other leg.
I still may.
“Please don’t take her away from us,” Violet says, walking up to me on the edge of the cliff as I search for a signal.
I turn to face her, surprised to see her outside without her sister or Ember. Something about her mousy and scared actions tells me this is out of her normal, to be so bold as to approach me.
“We can all leave,” I say again, trying to reassure her that I meant it when I said we would all go together.
She shakes her head. “That’s not what I mean. Even if Holly and I do go with you, I know Ember will be forever gone. With you. I’m asking you not to do that. I don’t want to lose her. Please.”
“You won’t lose her,” I assure. I can see the pain in her eyes as her lip trembles. “I see that Ember cares about you and your sister very much. We won’t abandon you. I want to help you get a better life. A life that you deserve.”
“I don’t understand why you think leaving this mountain is a better life.”
I glance down at the phone and see there is still no signal. I try to not show my frustration in the fact that I have to remain on the mountain another minute and give a fake smile. “It’s better. Trust me.”
I’m not giving her my full focus, and maybe I should, but at this moment in time, I’m standing on a cliff on a mountain in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm that could last God knows how long.
“Did it ever cross your mind that maybe Holly and I wouldn’t want to leave?”
I refocus on her, clearly seeing that she wants to have this conversation, and though it’s damn cold outside, and we’re getting soaked, she’s determined.
Taking a calming breath and putting the phone away, I ask, “Why wouldn’t you want to leave?”
“This is our home.”
“With Scarecrow,” I say with a snarl. Even the sound of his name and me having to say it makes me sick.
Her eyes glance down to the snow piling up around her booted feet. “He’s our husband.” She looks up at me. “And he’s Ember’s husband too.”
Her words slap me in the face, and I clench my jaw not to shout obscenities back at her. “No. He’s not.”
She nods slowly, her eyes locked with mine. “But he is. You not liking that fact doesn’t change the reality.”
“Just because he made up vows, forced her to say them, and had some person claiming it so under God does not make it a legal wedding.”
“Isn’t that how you and Ember got married? So, are you saying she’s not your wife too?”
This little pixie of a woman with her too-pale face and hollow eyes is pissing me off. I don’t want to stand discussing this in the falling snow anymore.
I begin to walk back to the chapel. “We should get inside. It’s really coming down, and we’re going to get frostbite or hypothermia.”
She reaches out and touches my arm as I try to pass her. She pauses, as if she’s surprised she actually touched me—a man—but then she swallows back any uncertainty, straightens her shoulders, and stares back into my eyes.
“Do you want to know why Holly and I married Scarecrow?”
I don’t say anything, but I remain standing in place.
“We married Scarecrow, because our pa deemed it so. But it wasn’t a bad thing to get away from that situation—with our pa. Did we exchange one evil for the next? Maybe. But you know what? Holly and I welcomed the second evil.”
“I’m sorry you had to do that,” I say genuinely.
“Did you ever stop to wonder why Ember married Scarecrow?”
I don’t answer but know exactly what she’s going to say next.
“Because she welcomed the second evil.”
I turn to walk toward the chapel, afraid what I may say next to the woman.
She takes a few quick steps so she can block my way. “And you want to bring her back and force her into the evil she was escaping. Is that fair? Is that truly what’s best for Ember?”
My face heats regardless of the cold temperature. “Richard and Scarecrow deserve to be in prison. Period. End of discussion.”
“And what do Holly, Ember, and I deserve?”
“Peace.”
“Then don’t take Ember away from us. Don’t take her back to your world. Your world.”
“We’ve been out here enough.” I reach for her arm to assist her back into the house, but she pulls away from my touch as if I burned her skin.
She doesn’t say another word but marches ahead of me back to the chapel.
Back to her world.
12
Ember
Violet storms past me and walks over to the fire where Holly is, ignoring that I stand right by the door. She’s upset, and it’s the first time I’ve ever seen her this way.
“Holly,” she snaps, “I think we should go get some wood from the barn. We need—” She looks over her shoulder at me. “—some space.”
Christopher also walks into the chapel. He’s taking deep breaths, and I know him well enough to know he’s doing everything in his ability to not yell. We both step out of the way as Violet and Holly walk outside, and the coldness coming from them is far greater than the chill from the open door.
“She’s right,” I blurt to Christopher as he enters the chapel more. I heard the entire conversation between Violet and him.
“No, Ember. She’s not right. She’s scared. I understand that… or at least I’m trying to. I’m trying my best to understand what you are all feeling.”
“But you don’t, and you never will. That’s the problem and will always be the problem. You and I come from two different worlds. We’re different. And I don’t see that fixing simply because you come up here and demand we all three leave with you.”
He peers over his shoulder at me. My heart falls to the pit of my stomach at the hurt I see in his eyes.
“I want to be with you, but I can’t just…. I hated New York.” I pause and take a deep breath. “I wanted so badly to be the wife you deserve, but that place was swallowing me up whole. I felt trapped there. I felt like I was drowning in thick mud, and no matter how hard I tried to fit in… I didn’t. I missed Hallelujah Junction. I missed my old life. I didn’t want to tell you that, because I was scared you’d think I was crazy. I mean… maybe I am crazy. How could I possibly miss a place that held me captive? But I did.”
“It’s normal for you to miss what you’ve always known.”
“It was more than that. It was more than the Stockholm Syndrome the therapist mentioned.” I take another deep breath to drum up the courage to finally tell the entire truth. “I fantasized about you and me back in the schoolhouse. I missed our chain around our ankles. I missed the time it was just you and me… connected. I liked that we shared the same air as we took each breath. I liked that I had to walk with you in cadence as the metal jangled around our feet. I missed the warmth I felt from your body at all times because there was never any space. I missed our captivity. I missed you,” I confess, unconsciously reaching out a hand, beckoning his touch.