The lantern lighting her way, she circled around the vegetable garden. Fortunately, a near full moon had risen over the distant hills.

Stepping carefully through the tall grass and trying not to think about snakes, Emily headed for the water-pumping windmill. The wind had risen, and even from the distance, she could hear the windmill’s steel blades turning.

Overhead, the stars winked as if enjoying a private joke at her expense. Even the heavens seemed to think she was on a wild-goose chase, but still, she kept going.

Reaching the windmill, she stood on the muddy ground and looked up at the tall wooden structure that towered over her. Her light failed to reach the top, and the platform above was still in shadows. The windmill’s tail jutted out like a beak against the starlit sky, and the turning blades cast moving shadows, but there was nothing to suggest Ginny’s presence.

Nonetheless, Emily set her lantern down and cupped her mouth to call Ginny’s name, loud and clear. Holding her breath, she waited for a response, but all that could be heard were the whir of turning sails and the sound of water seeping over the sides of the large wooden storage tank.

“Ginny,” she called again. She was just about to turn back when she thought she heard something, and her heart skipped a beat. “Ginny, is that you?”

The answer was slow in coming. “Mrs. Knight?” The voice was so soft, it was a miracle it could be heard above the swishing sound of air and water.

Tears of relief blurring her vision, Emily stumbled back a step. Thank God!

Blinking to clear her eyes, she reached for the lantern, lifting it high to study the tall, open structure and the flimsy ladder clinging to its side. The tiny platform was at least forty feet off the ground.

“Can you climb down?” she called, the wind seeming to snatch the words out of her mouth.

Ginny said something, but Emily couldn’t hear what it was.

“You’ll have to speak louder. I can’t hear you.”

“I said I can’t.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“I’m right here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I’m scared.”

Emily tried to think. “Okay, don’t move. I’m coming up,” she said and slipped the lantern’s wire handle over her wrist.

Blowing on her hands, she rubbed them together and grasped the sides of the narrow wooden ladder. She lifted a foot to the first rung, and the rickety ladder shook beneath her weight. Swallowing her fear of heights, she climbed. Reminding herself not to look down, she checked the sturdiness of each rung before stepping onto the next.

She’d seen Big-Foot Pete climb this ladder to oil or repair the blades, and he had made it look so easy.

Grateful that the light from the lantern stayed lit, she kept climbing. The wind together with the force of air from the moving blades slowed her progress, but at last, she reached the small platform.