More scuffling and dislodged mud. Someone slides down the embankment. “Too dark to see,” Zeke says, his voice so close I could probably reach out and touch him.

“We’ve got his gold,” Emmett says. “Let’s head back to Dalton, find a doc to look at my arm.”

“You mean my face!”

“That too.”

Boots stomp within inches of my nose. If he steps on me, I’m done for. Or maybe, if I’m quick, I can wrench him down by the leg and put my own boot in his face before he can say howdy.

I hold my breath, sure it’s a trick, but the boots step away, and the underbrush thrashes as Zeke scrambles up the slope. I’m quiet as a rabbit in a burrow with a fox nearby, and I stay that way long after their footsteps fade, listening desperately to the silence.

I feel more than hear the soft swoop of wings as a screech owl shadows down from the trees and lands in front of my face. His head twists as he calls out, like a crying baby. His eyes are huge and wide and golden, just like mine.

After a moment, the owl’s silhouette launches back into the sky, and I’m a little sad to see him go, like I’ve lost the night’s one beautiful thing.

He never would have left his tree if the brothers were still around. Still, I don’t move from my pile of leaves until morning quickens with the rising sun.

Chapter Twelve

I crawl out from under my leaf pile and creep back up the hill, where I pause at the camp’s edge. The brothers could be watching this very spot, waiting for me. But everything I owned in the world was here, and I have to see if anything can be salvaged.

I glance around for Peony, as if the brothers wouldn’t take such a perfect, beautiful mare. Tears prick at my eyes. She saved my life with her cantankerous ways. I don’t know how I’ll carry on without her.

If Mama were here, she’d remind me that things could always be worse, and she’d be right. The night was freezing cold, and I was afraid, so I left all my clothes on, including my coat and Daddy’s boots. I’ve got a full outfit, even if it’s filthy from hiding under rotting leaves. I still have Mama’s locket around my neck and nearly ten dollars in my pocket, so I won’t starve for a while yet.

But I’d give it all up to know Peony got away. I hope she’s halfway home to Dahlonega by now.