Chapter 10 - The Pass
Amos returned during a blizzard.
He entered with a pistol.
Gideon stood slowly.
Maeve pulled the children behind her.
Amos wanted the deed.
Maeve told him it was already recorded.
His face collapsed.
Everything he had done had failed.
He pointed the weapon toward Gideon.
Maeve stepped between them.
“No.”
Gideon's voice sharpened.
“Maeve.”
She remained.
Amos stared at the niece he had once starved into obedience.
“You think you're somebody now?”
Maeve answered quietly.
“I always was.”
Outside came horses.
Deputy Hollis.
Amos panicked.
He fled through the rear door.
The deputies followed.
Nobody fired.
Hours later, Hollis returned.
Amos had been arrested at the pass.
This time, he would not return.
Maeve sat beside the hearth afterward.
Her hands finally began shaking.
Gideon knelt before her.
“You stood between me and a gun.”
“I wasn't thinking.”
“Start thinking next time.”
She laughed shakily.
Then cried.
Gideon held her.
May you like
And Maeve allowed herself to be held.
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