For a moment, the storm seemed to recede. Naya could hear only the fire and the slow beating of her own heart. She looked at the man standing between her and the door, at the scar on his cheek, the worn coat, and the hand he kept close to his side rather than reaching for her.
She had expected him to become angry when the men came.
She had expected him to decide that protecting her was no longer worth the trouble.
Instead, he waited for her to choose what happened next.
“I don't want to go with them,” she whispered.
Calder nodded once. “Then you won't.”
Another blow struck the door, hard enough to rattle the latch.
“Last chance, Calder!”
Calder reached for the rifle.
Naya flinched at the movement, but he paused and looked at her. “I'm not going to hurt you.”
“I know,” she said, though her voice shook.
He lifted the rifle from its brackets and checked the chamber with practiced care. Then he set it within reach on the table, keeping the muzzle pointed safely away from her. His eyes never left the entrance.
“Tell me what you remember about the man outside,” he said.
Naya drew a shaky breath. “His name is Harlan. He worked with the men who came to our camp. He told them where to find me. He said they had been paid to take me somewhere far away.”
“Did he say who paid them?”
She hesitated. “A man from the settlement. I heard them call him Mr. Voss. They said he wanted me brought to him before the snow came.”
Calder's expression hardened.
“Voss,” he repeated.
“You know him?”
“I know of him. He has been buying land and hiring men to drive families away from the valleys. But I didn't know he was involved in your capture.”
Naya's hands began to shake more violently. “He said I would be safer if I obeyed. He said my people had already agreed.”
“Did they?”
“No.” Her answer came quickly, with a flash of anger beneath the fear. “No one agreed. They took me while I was returning from the creek.”
Calder nodded slowly. “Then what he said was a lie.”
The man outside struck the door again.
“Stop whispering in there! We know you're hiding her.”
Calder stepped closer to the entrance, but Naya caught his sleeve.
He looked down.
“Please don't go outside,” she said.
“I won't unless I have to.”
“They have guns.”
“So do I.”
“That doesn't mean you have to fight them.”
“No,” he agreed. “It means I have to keep them from forcing their way inside.”