Then three hard knocks shook the cabin door.
Naya jerked backward.
Calder's hand lifted from hers immediately, giving her space. His expression changed so quickly that the tenderness in his eyes seemed to vanish beneath an older, sharper vigilance. He turned toward the door, his shoulders squaring.
A man's voice came through the storm.
“Calder! Open up—we came for the woman you stole from us.”
The words struck Naya like a blow.
She knew that voice.
She had heard it before the journey through the mountains, before the cold nights and the locked wagon, before the moment when she had begun to believe that she might never see her home again. It belonged to one of the men who had helped arrange her capture.
Her hand slipped from Calder's coat.
For a heartbeat, she could not breathe.
The voice came again, louder this time.
“We know she's in there. Open the door, Calder.”
Calder moved between Naya and the entrance.
“Stay back from the windows,” he said quietly.
Naya stared at him, her face drained of color. “It's him.”
“I know.”
“He was there when they took me.”
Calder's jaw tightened. He glanced at the door, then at the rifle above the fireplace. He did not reach for it immediately. Instead, he studied the narrow gap beneath the door, listening for movement on the porch and beyond it.
“How many?” he asked.
“I don't know. There were several men that day.”
“Did you see anyone else outside?”
She shook her head, struggling to steady her breath.
Calder moved toward the table and placed himself where he could watch both the door and the window. “Go to the pantry. There's a second door behind the flour sacks. If I tell you to leave, take the trail down the east slope. Follow the creek until you reach the old mining road.”
Naya did not move.
“Calder…”
He turned toward her.
“Are you going to open it?”
“Not while you’re frightened and they’re standing outside.”
The answer was quiet, but it carried a certainty that steadied her more than any promise could have.
Outside, the man laughed.
“Don't make this difficult. We have papers. We have witnesses. The woman belongs with the people who brought her here.”
Naya's fingers curled into the fabric of her dress. “They said that before. They said I had no choice.”
Calder's gaze returned to the door. “You have a choice now.”
The words settled between them.