Heart Song Anthology Carolyn Faulkner (rooftoppers txt) 📖

than they thought. The cold turning their noses red in no time. They hurried to where they knew the barn was, but the snow made it hard to keep their bearings. They finally made it to the barn door and between the two of them, got it opened enough to slip inside before closing out the snow and cold. They heard the puppies’ cries while they struggled with the door. Hurrying to find them, the girls got on their knees. They cuddled with them, oohing and ahhing over their cute antics, crooning to the mama and the puppies laying in the hay. The girls snuggled down next to them in the warm barn and fell asleep hugging the puppies.

Soon enough, they heard their names being called as if from far away. Wiping sleep from their eyes they looked at each other. The wind was howling all around the barn and it was getting chillier. Some snow was filtering through the cracks, driven by the wind, and it was almost dark.

“Uh oh!” Sally moaned. “This is not good.”

Mindy quickly got up, brushing the hay off while running for the door. The snow had piled up outside and she couldn’t open it. They were stuck in the barn. She could hear Ike and Shaun calling their names, but they had no way to answer them. Sally ran to the door and the both of them tried their hardest to open it, but it just wouldn’t budge. They began pounding on it but knew that wouldn’t help either, the wind was so noisy. They were in big trouble.

Mindy thought of something. “There is the big bell on the peak of the barn with the rope that hangs down. For emergencies, remember? Quick! Let’s climb up and see if we can reach the rope to ring the bell.”

Sally fearfully agreed, tears forming in her eyes. “Are we going to freeze in here, Mindy?” Her little front and center. Thankfully, Mindy was able to stay big, but her little was fighting her to come out too. She was so frightened. Mindy took Sally by the hand and led her to the ladder that went to the haymow and followed her up. They walked to the front of the barn. Mindy looked through a big crack and saw the rope. She put her arm through, but just couldn’t reach far enough. She quickly looked around as she heard Ike and Shaun calling them again.

This time she could hear fear in their voices. They were panicking, she could tell. She looked around, found a stick and was able to fish the rope close enough, allowing her to grab it. She pulled as hard as she could, and the bell began to ring.

She heard Ike shout. “They’re in the barn, hurry!” She heard some of the other men’s voices yelling too. The girls hurried back down the ladder to the door, as the men began pounding on it, “Are you in there, girls? Are you okay?”

“Yes, but we can’t open the door,” Sally wailed. “I want my papa!”

“Damn it! Get out of my way.” They heard Shaun shout as he began to shovel in front of the door. Soon they heard more talking and shoveling. The men pulled the door open, running inside. When they saw the girls, they scooped them up and headed for the house, careful to follow what footprints were left. The snow was coming down sideways; the wind so strong it took the girls’ breath away. They thanked the ranch hands as they ran as fast as they could for the house, and the men hurried to finish their chores so they could get in out of the weather too.

Mindy felt so guilty for making their jobs harder, but the worst was yet to come. The men ran quickly into the house to find Nelda and Etta sitting on the couch sobbing. When they saw the girls, they jumped up and quickly removed the coats and boots, wiping their tears as they scolded them. “You had us scared to death, young ladies!” Etta declared.

The men carried them to the couch in front of the fire, getting them out of their snowy clothes and checking them all over, before they pulled their soon to be wives between their knees.

Ike was shaking. Not from cold, but from rage. He began to talk, but stopped, not willing to say anything when he was so angry. He pulled Mindy into his chest and onto his lap, as Etta brought blankets for the girls.

Sally was crying. “I am s-s-sorry, Papa.” She burrowed into Shaun’s chest. “I was so afraid,” she wailed, before her thumb went into her mouth and she began sucking it to everyone’s amazement.

Mindy had tears in her eyes as well. “I was a scared too, Daddy.” She looked up into his eyes. They were closed. She couldn’t tell what he was feeling. Finally, she felt him relax and wrap the blanket around her tighter. He began rocking her, whispering in her ear, “I have never been as afraid as I was tonight. Not since Afghanistan. I am just happy you found a way to ring the bell. Now sleep, little one. We will talk about this later. Punishment will be substantial. You realize that?”

Mindy nodded and snuggled into her daddy’s safe, strong arms and both girls fell asleep.

The girls woke an hour later to the smell of lasagna bubbling in the oven. Mindy stretched as the blanket fell away, exposing her breast. She heard a sharply indrawn breath, as her nipple peeked out from under the blanket. She pulled the blanket up as Ike came to sit on the side of the couch, adjusting himself to ease the pressure she had just caused.

While he was hard as stone, tonight he would not be getting relief. Tonight was not only the day before their wedding, it was going to be a night of severe punishment. He had calmed down, along with Shaun. They had spent the time