Rose(113)

“Oh,” said Zac, apparently satisfied.

“Now let me see, where was I? Oh, I remember. He walked all the way around the castle looking for a way in, but everything was covered in vines. And the vines had lots of long, sharp thorns.”

“Like cat’s claw?” Zac asked.

“Ssshhh!” Rose said. “Did you hear that? It sounded like gunshots.”

“Probably Monty getting a turkey. He said it was time you cooked another one.”

But Monty wouldn’t shoot that many turkeys. Nor would he miss that many times.

“Something’s wrong,” Rose said. She jumped up and ran to the door. The boys followed. Outside the shots were much louder. And there were a lot more of them.

“It’s the camp,” Tyler said. “Somebody’s attacking the camp. I’ve got to go help.”

“Wait!” Rose said.

“They’ll need me.”

“They may come here,” Rose said.

Tyler froze.

“They wouldn’t come here unless…”

“There may be two groups of them,” Rose said, unwilling to allow her mind to finish Tyler’s thought. “Anybody who would attack the camp would attack the house.”

“I’ll go find out,” Tyler volunteered.

“No. The men can take care of themselves. We’ve got to be ready in case they come here. Get every gun you can find. And all the ammunition.”

“Do you know how to shoot?”

“Well enough. Don’t forget, I’m a colonel’s daughter.”

“Can I shoot, too?” Zac asked.

“I want you to load.”

“But I want to shoot.”

“This is no time to argue. Tyler and I may not be able to leave the windows. Someone will have to load our guns. Can you do that?”

Zac nodded, his eyes positively dancing with excitement. This was nothing more than an adventure to him, like a battle from one of her fairy tales.

“Quick, try to hide the bull. But if you hear them coming, get back here as fast as you can.”

Rose checked the field of fire from each of the windows while Tyler gathered the guns and ammunition.

“I’ll cover them from our bedroom,” Tyler said. “You cover them from the kitchen.”

“I want us all in the same room,” Rose said. “If we have to make a run for it, I want us all together.”

The stack of rifles and boxes of ammunition in the middle of the floor amazed her. Hen and Monty must have stocked the house in case they had to withstand a prolonged attack. Tonight she was grateful they had.

Zac burst into the room.

“They’re coming!” he shouted. “I heard them coming along the creek.”

“How many?” Rose asked.

“Hundreds,” Zac replied.

“You sit right here in the middle of the floor. Keep the lantern turned down low. No matter what we do, don’t you stop loading. Our lives may depend on it.”

Zac didn’t look like he was having as much fun now. Sitting in the middle of a dozen boxes of rifle shells took away some of the excitement.

“I bet they’ll go for the horses and the corral.”

“We can’t help that,” Rose said.

“I could sneak out behind the house—”

“No!” Rose said, her voice almost a shriek. “I can’t risk your being out there without cover.”

Rose heard panic in her voice, and it shocked her. How could she expect the boys to remain calm if she didn’t? She would need all her concentration. Still she felt the fear rising in her like oil up a wick.

She would not panic. Her father had been an officer. He had endured many battles, but he had never panicked, not even under fire.

Neither would George. And he would be depending on her to keep her head, to make sure that nothing happened to his brothers. She thought of what these two boys meant to George, what they meant to her, and started to get mad. She didn’t know who was about to attack the house, but only base cowards attacked women and children.

Anger slew her fear.

“When you see them coming, pick out one man and aim for him,” Rose told Tyler. “Don’t even glance at anybody else. It’ll ruin your aim.”

Her father had taught her that. Pick your target, he would say, and forget there’s anybody else out there.

“Start over here with me,” she told Tyler. “Change to the other window if they go around.”

The raiders burst into the yard at a gallop. They seemed to pop out of the darkness without warning.

Both Rose and Tyler fired as fast as they could. The attackers, apparently expecting to take the house by surprise, were driven back in confusion.

“Keep firing,” Rose ordered as she handed her empty rifle to Zac and picked up another one. “We’ve got to keep the pressure on them.”