Ellie did not want to blink as Curtis’s gaze caught her in a delightful web of emotions. He didn’t seem to think less of her for falling onto the train track, and she no longer felt embarrassed over her inadvertent state of undress. He was kind to his horse and treated Moses like a regular man. He was polite to Mama, and held his own with her brothers.
“Are you okay?”
Ellie started, breaking eye contact with Curtis just as he slowly pulled the door closed behind him. David looked at her with anxious eyes.
“Tired,” Ellie replied, realizing that she suddenly felt as if her limbs were made of wood.
“Time to go,” Linnea said, shooing her hands at David. He walked to the door and, after a single backward glance, let himself out.
Linnea turned to Ellie. “You get yourself off to bed.”
Ellie stumbled to her room, never before so glad for the sight of her pillow. But when she pulled back the covers, she realized her curtain was open. Was it worth the effort to get up and close it? She couldn’t see anything out in the darkness beyond the glass. Could anyone out there see her?
Uncomfortable at the thought, she made her way to the window to pull the curtains closed. The moon shone out over the landscape, making it look as if it belonged in a dream. Where was Papa now? She reached behind the fan on her trunk and picked up the carving of the tall man with one foot on the ground, one foot raised, as if dancing. She needed to finish this. Perhaps once it was done, somehow Papa would come home. Ellie set the carving back down and clasped her hands together on the windowsill. She wanted him here, at home, where he belonged. “Please,” she prayed. “Please help Papa find his way back.”
A movement in the eerie black and white landscape caught her eye. It came from by the tree at the side of the yard. Heart jumping like a jackrabbit, Ellie focused her gaze on the spot, trying to make out what she’d seen. Was it a wild animal? After losing a few chickens to predators, Papa had directed Jack and Jesse to reinforce the wire around the chicken run. Once they got going on it, the brothers tried to outdo each other until Papa finally told them it was good enough. As a result, no other chicken pen in the west was as predator-proof as the Ransom’s.
Ellie stared at the tree until her vision started to blur. Perhaps whatever it was had gone. But how could it have? Perhaps it had crept away in the shadows. She took hold of her curtains, one in each hand, ready to pull them closed, when the thing moved again. It was hard to separate it from the shadow beneath the tree, but it looked big, bigger than a skunk or fox. Ellie stared in horrified fascination as it moved again. This time it moved like a man.
Gasping in fright, Ellie yanked her curtains closed and backed up until she hit her bed. Losing her balance, she fell onto the mattress, her heart beating so wildly that she only had enough strength to pull her quilt around her in a cocoon. She huddled in the center of her bed, her ears tuned to any sound that might indicate the sinister approach of the shadowed figure. Had there really been a man out there? She wasn’t sure. Should she tell Mama and her brothers? They wouldn’t believe her.
What should she do? As she curled in on herself under the warm protection of her quilt, sleep eventually dragged her from her silent vigil.