Sorry, this one isn't the best, I skipped over the kidnappings a bit because they were all the same except Liza's.
Miserable. The Pontipee brothers were totally miserable.
It had been a month since the barn raising. One month since they had last seen their girls. One month of being totally and completely miserable.
Milly worried a lot about her brothers. They weren't themselves at all.
Frank's temper, which had cooled down a lot thanks to Sarah, was back and worse than ever. He yelled and fought with everyone, including a door that closed on his finger. This caused everyone to avoid him and made him mad that everyone was avoiding him.
Ben also seemed mad all the time. He would be fine most of the time but then he would just snap and yell at whoever made him mad. He spent most of his time out in the barn and only talked to Milly and Caleb.
On the outside, Caleb seemed okay. He mostly kept to himself and read his books, which was normal. Milly didn't even notice that anything was wrong until she saw his eyes all red and puffy one morning. He missed his sweet girl so much and the thought of never seeing her again was killing him.
Gideon was clearly trying to stay strong. He avoided the topic of the fight and of Alice. He left the room whenever it was brought up.
Dan surprisingly seemed okay. He told Milly it was because Martha never really was close to him in the first place so why should he be upset over something he never had. And yet, Dan would have his moments where his smile just seemed fake or his eyes looked like he was going to cry.
Now, Ephraim, Ephraim was in the worst shape. He had totally shut down. No one had heard him say a word in over a month. He would often just sit and stare at the ring box and try to wipe away the tears running down his face. He was broken.
Milly had no idea what to do. She knew they were missing the girls but after being banned from town, she just wanted to make her brothers happy again.
One day, Milly was walking around, bringing the brothers their lunches. She walked up to the barn where Ben was working when the snow started to fall. It looked lovely out. She walked over to Ben and smiled.
"Hello, Benjamin." She greeted cheerfully
"Hey, Milly." He mumbled
"It's wonderful, isn't it?" She said looking across the snowy yard.
"Not to me, it's not. I've seen too much of it. I'm getting out of here." Ben said bitterly
"You are leaving? I don't know what we would do without you. We would miss you so" Milly said sadly
"There are plenty to tend to the farm without me." Ben spat out before turning back to his work.
Milly walked out of the barn feeling awful, she wondered to where Adam was milking the cows and paused.
"What's wrong?" Adam asked sensing his wife's unhappiness.
"Benjamin says he is leaving. He said it's the winter but I know its not that. He misses his girl, they all do!" She spoke sadly
"I'm not sure why they are missing those girls. They hardly knew each other." Adam said chuckling
'But if one goes then another will and another!" Milly cried.
"Alright alright. I'll talk to them." Adam said gently putting a hand on her back to calm her.
That night Adam walked into the barn to find all his brothers, moping around like lovesick pull cats.
"If y'all could just see yourselves." He said with a chuckle. His brothers looked up at him sadly. "You all have been moping around for the last month. If you are so sweet on those girls go marry them!" Adam said like it was some new brilliant idea.
"Sure." Ephraim said, surprising everyone, "Just go marry them. Simple as that."
Dan nodded in agreement, "They wouldn't let us marry them in a thousand years."
Adam looked down at the Sabine Women book in his hands. "A thousand years huh? Why don't you do like those Roman's did with the Sabine women or sobbin' women or whatever they're called."
"What are you talking about?" Gideon said confused.
"These Roman's were in the same fix as you. They were opening up new territory and women were scarce. So what did those women do? They went down and carried off some Sabine women!" Adam explained.
"The Roman's? Are they the ones who settled up north of here?" Frank asked. All the brothers chuckled.
"No Frank. Those were the Mormons." Caleb said shaking his head, amused.
"This was in olden times. It really happened." Adam said waving his hands about.
"Are you suggesting we kidnap the girls?" Dan asked with a frown.
"Sure! But being in Oregon and god fearing territory, you'd have to carry off a parson along with them." Adam said.
The boys looked unconvinced. So Adam started to explain his master plan. About how the girls would want to come anyways and how the Sabine women had wanted to stay with their captures. Eventually, the boys agreed.
They grabbed their rifles and blankets. Ephraim also made sure to stick the ring box in his pocket.
So they headed out, sneaking into town quietly. Adam parked behind the church and whispered, "Hurry now and be quiet about it, or you'll have a rifle up your nose."
The boys all ran off, eager to see their girls and to take their brides.
Benjamin walked towards Dorcas's house. She was sitting on the front porch with her little sister, reading aloud. He stopped for a second to listen to her.
"Little red riding hood was walking through the forest. When all of a sudden the big bad wolf appeared. He wanted to carry her off into the-" Dorcas stopped suddenly and jumped up. "Why Benjamin!" She called happily rushing towards him.
Ben threw the blanket over her head and the tossed her over his shoulder like a bag of flour. He then started to run.
Dorcas's little sister watched in horror and called out for her dad, "Papa! Papa! The big bad wolf got Dorcas!"
Ben ran as fast as he could back to the carriage.
Ephraim was walking along the main street, trying to figure out what to do. He really didn't want to kidnap Liza but he also did want her to come back to the farm and marry him. Before he could decide what to do, a voice called out, "Ephraim?!"
A pair of arms wrapped around him and he turned to see the most beautiful sight of all, Miss Liza May. He grinned and without a word kissed her gently.
She pulled back, "What are you doing here?" She asked
"I'm here to get you!" Ephraim said smiling.
"Me? What?" Liza frowned.
"Before the fight, I got your father's and your brother's permission to marry you. I was going to ask you that night but we got banned." Ephraim slid onto one knee and continued, "I love you. I can't stand being away from you. Please run away with me and marry me." he opened the ring box and showed it to her.
Liza stared at him in shock "You can't be serious. Runaway?"
Ephraim nodded, "I love you and I can't live without you. I've been a mess without you but they won't let us be together. Please." He whispered the last word, a tear slipping down his face.
Liza was conflicted. She loved Ephraim so much but leaving everything, including her family, to be with him? This was crazy... Well, Ma always said love made people crazy.
"Okay. Let's do it" She cried wrapping her arms around him and kissing him deeply. Ephraim held her close, trying to pour as much love as possible into the kiss.
When they finally broke apart, he slid the ring onto her finger. "Come on." He whispered. She wrapped her arms around him. He quickly led her back to the wagon. They were the first ones back.
Adam raised his eyebrows at her coming willingly but didn't say a word. Ephraim sat in the way back and pulled her into his arms, setting her in his lap. He wrapped the blanket around her to keep her warm and kissed her cheek.
Liza heard a scream and looked up at Ephraim in concern to find that he wouldn't meet her eye. "What was that? And why are we waiting?" She whispered. She got no answer from her fiancee or his brother.
Frank snuck around the side of Sarah's house. He heard voices coming from the front. He saw one of Sarah's suitor's Carl standing in front of her. He stayed quiet and listened to them talking.
"Come on Sarah. Be a sport. One kiss." Carl was begging her. This made Frank's blood boil. He had been Sarah's first and only kiss so far, and he intended it to stay that way.
Sarah chewed on her lip but sighed, "Fine. But close your eyes." They both closed their eyes and Sarah stiffly and slowly leaned forward.
Frank hit Carl over the head, knocking him out. He tossed him to the side and yanked Sarah to him. He kissed her deeply, holding her close to him.
Sarah relaxed into his arms. She pulled back and opened her eyes, a smile on her face, "Why Carl that- FRANK?" She cried in shock.
Frank then tossed the blanket over her head before scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder. He tried to be as gentle as possible.
Sarah began to beat on his back, trying to get him to put her down.
Caleb was climbing over the fence into the yard of The Sander's Resturant, he wondered over to a window and peeked in. Ruth was baking, bending over the oven. It smelled amazing. Caleb's mouth was watering from the smell.
He examined the window where she would put whatever she was baking. It was rather large and already open enough for him to pull the small girl through. He just hoped that it would work
He watched as she came over to the window and placed a pie on the sill. She leaned out a lot, perhaps enjoying the cool November air. While she was leaning out, Caleb jumped forward and grabbed her arms, roughly pulling her into his arms.
He tossed a blanket over her head, ignoring her screams, and carried her bridal style out of the yard. He had to cover her mouth to keep her quiet as he hurried back to the wagon.
Liza watched in horror as Frank rushed to the wagon with a bundle in his arms. "Frank put me down!" She heard a voice cry. It was Sarah.
'What are you doing?" She cried out trying to stand. Ephraim pulled her back as Frank jumped in, sitting next to them and adjusting Sarah in his arms.
He was covering her mouth but Frank uncovered Sarah's head to let her see. Sarah's eyes widen in horror to see Liza there.
Liza was about to say something when Ephraim covered her mouth with his hand as well. He was very gentle but he held her to his chest, not letting her move. Her muffled protests made Adam laugh.
Liza couldn't believe that Ephraim was letting his brother do this. Kidnapping girls? Would this have been her fate had she told him no to running away?
Liza was broken from her thoughts by Ben plopping down across from them with Dorcas over his shoulder. He adjusted her so she was in his lap. Were all the brother's doing this tonight? Stealing the girls they once called dear?
Tears started to fall when she saw Caleb climb into the wagon with Ruth. She looked so small and scared in his arms.
All four girls were wrapped in blankets with the men covering their mouths to stop them from calling for help. All four of them were now crying and struggling to get free.
Adam was getting impatient, "Where the hell are Dan and Gideon?" He snapped.
More tears came as Liza realized that Martha and Alice were also being kidnapped as well. She then had to remind herself that she was here of her own free will. Ephraim hadn't kidnapped her. But she kept thinking, would he have?
Dan was really annoyed, this girl was going to be the death of him. He had found Martha pretty quickly but she had been inside Jeb's house for a long time now.
He was kneeling next to the front porch, well hidden, just waiting. He wanted her to just hurry up.
After that seemed like a year, the front door swung open and Martha came out. She was wrapped in a large coat, shivering She walked quickly, wanting to get out of the cold.
Dan waited till the door closed and rushed behind, throwing the blanket over her and hoisting her into her arms. She screamed and struggled but he covered her mouth and cheered running back to his brothers.
He climbed up onto the wagon but only counted five brothers, "Where's Gideon?" He asked sitting next to Ben.
Adam sighed and jumped down running off.
He found his little brother meowing outside the Elcott's backdoor with some random man sneaking up behind him.
Adam sighed and knocked the guy out just as he was about to attack Gid. "Hurry up!" He snapped
Adam walked away and heard Gideon meowing faster and louder. He sighed but then heard a girl scream and he smiled.
He ran back to the wagon and jumped into the driver's seat, snapping the whip. Gideon jumped on with Alice in his arms and they were off.
Liza heard yelling of the townfolks as they rushed out of town and she subconsciously leaned into Ephraim. She was mad and scared but she didn't want him to get hurt.
Caleb looked around the wagon and frowned. He had a pit of dread growing in his stomach. All the girls were crying and trying to get away. The boys had uncovered their mouths now that they were out of town.
"Why?" A small voice said. Caleb looked down at the small girl in his arms. She was crying, breaking Caleb's heart.
He opened his mouth to answer but no sound came out. He didn't know how to answer her.
What the hell had they done?
