Love Me Again Read Online Free PDF Page A

questions.
    “If you ever want to talk Sissy, I’m here for you.”
    Carrying the lantern to light their path, Nick held it high because there was only a sliver of moon. Night sounds buzzed all around the two lone people as they walked arm and arm back to the house. Frogs croaked, crickets sung their songs, and an owl hooted from a nearby tree. Abby had always loved the peacefulness of the night.
    A twig snapped from behind them. Abby felt Nick stiffen and glanced back. She saw the silver tip of a pistol pointed at his back. A shadow of a man was all she could make out in the darkness.
    A firm deep voice whispered, “Don’t turn around. Just keep walking to the house.”
    Fear caused Abby to stumble, but Nick clutched her tighter. His soft whisper next to her ear made her jump. “Stay calm.”
    Abby wondered what the stranger wanted. The man must be up to evil or he would not need the gun. If it was food or shelter he sought, he would have asked. Never would they turn a person in need away from their home.
    The moment Nick stepped onto the porch Abby knew his mind was working frantically to think of a way to alert their father they were in danger.  When he hesitated a moment before opening the door, the stranger shoved Nick hard and he almost fell taking her with him. As soon as Nick opened the door, she saw her father si tting at the table reading his Bible by lantern light as he did every night. 
    The moment Jacob saw the serious look on Nick’s face, he rose from his chair slowly. He pulled his spectacles off his nose, folded them, and tucked them in his breast pocket. Pulling Abby to stand behind him, Nick faced the stranger to find not one but three men pointing guns at them.
    His tone serious, Jacob asked, “What do you want?”
    One man stepped away from the others, so Abby assumed he was their leader since he was older than the other two. Tall, with a deep scar cut into his cheek, the man looked ominous. His clothes were filthy and much too big for him. The young men wore clean clothes, but Abby could still see dirt on their hands and faces as if they had not bathed in days. Neither could have been more than sixteen or seventeen years of age.
    With a dirty hand, the man removed the wide, brimmed hat on his head, and threw it onto the table. “Anythang you have of value.” Greasy, matted hair stood straight up on his head. 
    “We have no money or valuables. If food or shelter is what you seek, we can oblige, but that is all you will get here.” Jacob’s voice was calm as if he had no fear of the strangers.
    “Billy, search the house and make sure no one else is here.” 
    Abby held her breath as she listened to Billy’s boots scraping across the wood floor moving from room to room opening doors. She began to relax a little when Billy returned.
    “No, Paw, it’s just them.” A strong pang of fear surfaced when he stopped next to the table and his eyes wandered over her. 
    Where was Cord? She knew he could not get far in his condition. For som e reason she didn’t believe he would leave them at the mercy of the evil men.
    The father looked at Abby and smiled revealing rotten teeth. “Hey, purty lady. How about fixin’ us some’n to eat?”  
    Abby’s stomach lurched and she clutched Nick’s arm. He gave her a gentle push. “Go ahead, Abby. Fix them something to eat so they can be on their way.”
    Immediately, Abby moved to the stove to light a fire in the old cook stove. It took three tries before she was able to set a match under the wood because her hands trembled violently. The only noise in the house was the banging of pots and pans as she hastily cooked a meal for the three strangers. Like Nick, she hoped the men would leave after they filled their stomachs.   
    “Kale, you and Billy see if you can find any money.” Their father sat down at the table and kept his gun pointed at Nick and Jacob. 
    It was hard for Abby to keep her attention on what she was doing. The sounds of the