“Where did you get that?”
The pounding resumed.
“Open this door!”
She barely heard it.
Her eyes remained fixed on the silver.
“That belonged to my father.”
The mountain man looked at her.
“I know.”
The room seemed to tilt.
She took one step backward.
He did not follow.
“Who are you?”
His face tightened.
Before he could answer, a voice came through the door.
“We don’t want trouble, mountain man.”
The mountain man looked toward the door.
“That’s unfortunate.”
The woman caught his sleeve.
“Wait.”
He stopped immediately.
Her hand looked tiny against his forearm despite her own substantial build.
She realized she was gripping a man she had met less than an hour earlier.
A man who possessed her dead father’s ring.
A man who somehow knew the men outside.
A man who had built his home over a secret spring in a wilderness no ordinary traveler should have been able to find.
Her heart pounded.
“You knew who I was.”
He did not lie.
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more than she expected.
“When?”
“When you gave me your name.”
“That was at the door.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“You were freezing.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No.”
His voice remained low.
“It isn’t.”
Another blow hit the door.
The woman jumped.
The mountain man looked toward the window.
Five shapes moved beyond the frosted glass.
Maybe six.
He looked back at her.
“Put on the boots beside the stove.”
“What?”
“If they come through that door, there’s a second way out.”
Her eyes widened.
“You have another exit?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Under the spring.”
For a moment she simply stared.
“What kind of cabin is this?”
The smallest hint of a smile touched his mouth.
“Mine.”
Even terrified, she nearly laughed.
Then the door shook under another blow.
The humor vanished.
The mountain man closed his hand around the signet ring.
“I need you to trust me for five minutes.”
The young woman’s voice sharpened.
“You’ve been keeping secrets from me since I arrived.”
“Yes.”
“And you expect trust?”
“No.”
That stopped her.
He continued.
“I expect you to decide whether staying beside me is safer than going outside.”
The honesty hit differently.
He was not asking for faith.
Only judgment.
She looked toward the door.
Then at him.
“What did my father have to do with you?”
The mountain man’s expression changed.
“He saved my life.”