Chapter 5

Grace rushed into the living room, a room that used to be such a big part of her life. There stood her father towering over Jacob as Jacob shook in fear. Her father was raising his hand as if to strike her brother. “Stop!” Grace yelled with conviction. Matthew, her father raised his head and lowered his hand till it came to rest at his side. Catching sight of his daughter whom he hadn’t seen in five years, he evilly grinned.
“Who do we have here?” He knowingly asked.
“You know who I am,” Grace retorted. She glanced at her father’s hand which had grabbed Jacob’s shirt tightly.
“Go to your room,” his father commanded him. “I will have a talk with this little visitor.”  Jacob turned to obey but was stopped by his sister’s words. “No, he shall stay here. Come here, Jacob. Don’t listen to him.” Grace held out her hand to him, and he quickly ran over to grab it. Grasping it tightly, he turned and looked at the man he feared so much. Their father laughed, “Is this the kind of respect I get? I searched for you for months after you ran off. I cried myself to sleep for weeks worried that you were lost and afraid or that someone had found you and was doing horrible things to you. And this is what I get. Even Jacob can tell you this is true. He knows that I was really upset and heartbroken when you left.” With this, Jacob nodded.
“You told everyone I had run off?! You liar! You lied to them! And then you faked it. How could you? You hired me off. You hated me! How could you?!?” And with this, Grace almost burst into tears, but she composed herself and continued, “What have you done to my brother? What have you done to your son?” With this her father darted across the room towards her waving his fist at her telling her she was wrong, and her brother was wrong. That he was a good person and that he only had their best intentions in mind.  Grace looked down on the brother she so dearly loved. “Jace, we must get out of here. My horse is in the barn. Run!” she whispered. Jacob looked at her and then took off towards the barn. Grace looked at her father, turned towards the door, and ran with all that was in her.
Reaching the barn, she saw Jacob with Freedom. He had started to saddle her up. Working quickly, they finished saddling the horse. Jacob jumped on and reached down to give his sister a hand up. As she reached for it, they heard their father as he ran into the barn with a horsewhip. Grace flew onto the horse almost too late. As she turned her horse to leave, her father raised his fist in anger and shouted, “I’ll find you! You can’t get away from me! I’ll get you, and you won’t want to be alive when I do!!”
Freedom galloped out of the barn. She seemed to know that speed was necessary. Grace noticed Alex on the side of the fence looking at them. He held up his hand, but Grace made Freedom sail past him. She hoped he would soon understand why. Galloping up a hill and then down, Grace urged Freedom on as Jacob held tightly onto Grace’s waist. They soon reached Smalltown. Smalltown was indeed a small town. It consisted of a small, brown church, which also served as the meeting hall and school, a mercantile, a restaurant and hotel, and a blacksmith and horse boarding place where what helped make up with small town. There was also a sheriff/doctor/dentist office on the far side of town. To this Grace directed Freedom towards. She jumped off as soon as she got to the front of this small building and raced inside. The sheriff happened to be out, so Grace jumped back on Freedom and urged her on out of town.
After a while, looking back and seeing no one, Grace pulled her mare into the shade of some trees. This way they were hidden at least some. She sighed. What an adventure... and now we will have to be running for the rest of our lives... “How are you doing, Jacob?” Grace quietly asked.
“Okay,” he replied although he didn’t seem too sure if he was alright or not.
“That was quite something. But listen, do you hear something?” With this Grace turned her head and saw the sheriff riding his horse along. He was whistling and could have been on holiday. He seemed to really be enjoying himself. “Sheriff!! Sir, can you wait a minute??” Grace yelled as she ran towards him. The Sheriff turned and looked. Seeing the young woman running towards him, he stopped and turned his horse towards her.
“What may I do for you, young lady?” he asked.
Nearly out of breath, Grace breathed heavily and replied, “He’s after us! Please help!”
“What? Who?”
“Matthew Verge. My father.”
“Grace Verge? Is that you?  I have been suspicious of your father for years. Here he comes right now. Hold on Miss Verge.” Turning his horse towards the angry man, the sheriff put up his hand for Matthew to stop.
“What do we have here? Why are you chasing these children, your own flesh and blood too?" You could tell the sheriff wasn’t too happy.