Amish Refuge. Debby Giusti

through the bramble. The deputy followed close behind.

      Pulling in a ragged breath, Abram searched the forest. He had to find Miriam. He had to find her before Serpent did.

      * * *

      Miriam’s heart nearly exploded in her chest, seeing Serpent follow her into the woods.

      She couldn’t outrun him, but where could she hide?

      Her breath hitched and a roar filled her ears, nearly drowning out his footfalls as he trampled through the underbrush.

      Overhead thunder rolled and the forest darkened with the encroaching storm.

      A lump filled her throat and she struggled to keep the tears at bay. She couldn’t cry. Not now, not when she needed to outsmart the snake that was so heinous.

      More footsteps sounded. How many men were searching for her?

      Abram had been right. She should have stayed undercover at his farmhouse instead of throwing herself into harm’s way. More thunder rumbled as ominous as the situation she was in.

      A cluster of rocks was visible through the pines. Would they provide a hiding spot?

      Carefully she picked her way through the bramble, averting the twigs and branches that would snap if she stepped on them. Any sound would alert Serpent.

      She gulped for air, her lungs constricting with the tension that made her hands shake and her heart lurch.

      Careful though she tried to be, her foot snagged on a root. She toppled forward and caught herself just before she landed in a pile of dried leaves. Thankfully, at that very instant, a bolt of lightning crashed overhead and a blast of thunder covered the sound of her fall.

      Regaining her footing, she scurried behind the rocks, willing herself to meld into the outcrop of granite. The skies opened and rain fell in fat drops that pinged against the rocks, the trees and the floor of the forest.

      A deep guttural roar sounded, like a wild beast’s bellow. Serpent was standing only a few feet away on the other side of the rock, venting his anger. If only he would be deterred from coming closer.

      More footsteps. Her heart nearly ricocheted out of her chest. She flattened her hands and cheek against the granite trying to disappear into the stone.

      “I know you’re here.” Serpent’s voice, laced with fury.

      Could he hear her heart beating uncontrollably in her chest?

      “Pearson?” another voice called, deep and demanding.

      Serpent grumbled.

      “There he is.” Abram’s voice.

      Relief swept over Miriam.

      “You’re on a wild-goose chase,” the first man said as he drew closer.

      “I saw something,” Serpent replied.

      The deep-voiced man snickered. “You saw that skunk standing at your backside.”

      “What!” Serpent groaned.

      The putrid and unmistakable stench of a skunk’s spray filled the air.

      Leaves rustled wildly, followed by the sound of footsteps racing back to the roadway.

      “Looks like Pearson learned his lesson about chasing varmints in the woods.” The deeper voice chuckled.

      “He has other lessons to learn,” Abram said, his tone sharp and without the joviality of the other man’s. “Tell him to leave me alone.”

      “I’ll tell him,” the man answered. “Although I doubt it’ll do any good.”

      The voices became fainter, but even though the danger subsided, Miriam continued to tremble. Serpent had been too close.

      Abram would come to get her, she felt sure, when the men had left the area. She and Abram would return to the farmhouse where she would remain until the roadblock was lifted.

      But would Serpent continue to search for her? And if he found her, what would happen then?