Kaki Warner by Miracle in New Hope Read Free Book Online

sounded, he had to admit that things had occurred that were beyond his understanding. “I don’t know what else to tell you, Doc. It happened exactly the way I’m telling you.” He gave a weak smile. “If she’s not real, then Hannah must be a ghost come to haunt me.”
    Doc didn’t smile back. “Stranger things have happened.” Rising, he went to stir a pot of chili simmering on the stove.
    Puzzled by that cryptic remark, Daniel leaned back in his chair, his mind retracing again all that had happened since the avalanche swept him under.
    Hearing her voice under the snow—was that even possible?—especially with his bad ear? Then hearing her again by the woodshed and, later, inside the cabin. Her voice had been as distinct as if she had been standing right beside him. Yet there had been no one there.
    Then seeing her by the woodshed. She had looked almost ghostly, standing there in the swirling snow—yet real, too, from her teary eyes all the way down to the scuffed, overlarge boots. How could he have made all that up?
    He had spoken to her. She had answered. And even though they had been yards apart and her mouth had been covered by a scarf, he had heard her as plainly as if she had been only a foot away. Not since the explosion had he heard a voice that clearly.
    And what about Roscoe? The hound seemed to know whenever she was around. How could he do that if she wasn’t even there?
    But there were odd things he couldn’t ignore, inconsistencies that kept circling in his mind. Roscoe might have stayed by her side, but he never saw them touch. And when she disappeared, she didn’t leave behind a single track in the snow. There was no rational explanation for that.
    Either Hannah was a ghost. Or an angel. Or a demon. Or he was insane.
    He didn’t like any of those options. Determined to get to the bottom of it, he waited for Doc to refill their cups and then return the blackened coffeepot to the stove. “How did she die?” he asked, as the old man settled into the chair across from his.
    “They’re not sure.” Seeing Daniel’s confusion, he explained. “They were traveling up from Santa Fe. Lacy and Hannah and her uncles—”
    “Lacy?”
    “Hannah’s mother. Her father, Pete, died just after they moved here two years ago. Cut his arm on a rusty nail. Week or so later, his jaw locked up, and two weeks after that, he was dead of severe muscle spasms. Nasty way to go. Hannah was probably four at the time and took it really hard. Like it was somehow her fault.” The old man must have realized he was wandering, and pulled himself back on track. “Anyway, last December, Lacy and Hannah and her uncles were coming back from Santa Fe when one of their wagon wheels lost a rim. Luckily, they made it to the trading post at Volker’s Crossing that night and were able to buy a new wheel the next morning. While her brothers put it on, Lacy and Hannah went into the store to pick up supplies. Hannah was right beside Lacy one minute, then gone the next.”
    Daniel remembered the girl had mentioned a man. “Her mother didn’t notice anything? Anybody hanging around who might have taken her?”
    Doc shook his head. “Probably just wandered off. Hannah was like that.”
    Which Daniel knew too well. “So what’d they do?”
    “Started looking. Even offered a reward. Lot of folks passing through that day, trying to get over the mountains before the big snows hit, and several pitched in to help. Checked the woods, the creek, all the outbuildings. Nothing. Tom even hired two Cheyenne trackers, but they came back empty-handed, too. After a week, the weather turned bad, so they gave up and came home. Lacy was a mess.”
    And still is
, Daniel thought, remembering the look on her face. Some wounds never healed. Even now, he couldn’t hold a child in his arms without feeling an urge to weep. “What do you think happened to her?”
    Doc shrugged. “Maybe she stumbled on a late-hibernating griz. Or wolves. Or fell down