The Captive Heart Read Online Free

their plots.
    â€œThat’s a fine-tempered mare,” Caleb said to Hershberger as he snapped the reins and his new buggy horse broke into a smooth pace. John Hershberger had brought him a two-year-old standard-bred mare to replace the one taken by bandits last fall. “You chose well, John. You always did have an eye for a horse.”
    â€œThey had another mare at the sale for a cheaper price,” John said, “but it wasn’t near as good as this one. All I did was pick the one you would have picked, Caleb. Anyways, it’s a lot easier to spend somebody else’s money.”
    Caleb chuckled at John’s little joke. He had known John Hershberger all his life and trusted him like a brother.
    Ira Shrock, sitting beside Domingo in the back seat, had remained silent up to now, his eyes nervously scanning the horizon as the surrey crossed the main road and headed into unbroken pasture on the other side of the valley. Now he leaned forward and revealed the reason for his nerves.
    â€œCaleb, what are we going to do about those bandits?”
    Caleb’s eyes went wide and he scanned the horizon himself. “What bandits?”
    â€œThe ones who attacked you on the way back from Saltillo. Have you already forgotten?” There was a trace of indignation in his voice, and a fear that he had not shown in front of the women and children. “They threatened us—and they said they would be back. What do we do if they come back, Caleb?”
    Domingo chuckled, answering Ira in High German. “Those two won’t come back here.”
    Ira looked around at him in surprise. “Well, they said they would. What makes you think they won’t?”
    Domingo shrugged, glancing at Ira from under the flat brim of his hat. “It was in their eyes. They know I am here, and they are afraid of me now.”
    â€œJah,” Ira said, his red face growing redder, “but mebbe this time they bring more of their friends.”
    Domingo shook his head. “I don’t think so, Herr Shrock. If you want to know what these men will do, you have to think like a bandit. They were defeated and had their weapons taken away—by a couple of farmers and a girl. Herr Bender even took one of their horses. They were shamed, and they knew their compadres would have no mercy. Men like that will not go back to camp and tell the truth about what happened. They will make up a grand lie about how they were attacked by an army of fierce warriors, and they were lucky to escape with their lives.” Domingo cast a wry smile at Caleb and added, “The last part is true enough—they are lucky to be alive.”
    But Ira was not persuaded. “I still think we have to do something, Caleb—for our wives and children. If men like that come with guns to Paradise Valley we will be at their mercy.”
    Caleb pondered this for a moment. “Ira, I have lived here for a year already and I have seen many bandits, but most of the time they only want food and water. Those are the only two who ever tried to do us harm, and Domingo is right—they probably will not come back.”
    â€”——
    The four men climbed down from the surrey in the shadow of the ridge on the opposite side of the valley and walked through the grass, smelling and tasting and seeing for themselves the quality of the soil and the lay of the land. Even in February the midday sun was warm enough, and a gentle breeze ruffled the prairie grasses. A gray hawk cruised high over their heads, riding the upward air current along the face of the ridge.
    â€œThis is a mighty fine parcel,” John Hershberger said, slinging his coat over his shoulder and gazing back across the valley at Caleb’s place. “If the weather truly holds like this, why, we can grow vegetables year-round, just like that salesman said.”
    Caleb smiled. “Jah, I’m beginning to believe it myself. Winter is nearly over and we only had