The men of the settlement had been tracking the three for days; across fields and valleys, through forest and marshland. Fernando knew that now they were close. All of the signs pointed to it. In his mind he could already hear the crack of their necks as they reached the rope’s end
Nando was not a vengeful man. Slights did not cut him deeply. He was not the kind to come out with a knife in the face of some insult. But his children had been stolen; his and the children of the other men. They were all so blind with hate, sorrow, and fear that they could not have seen the angels now even if they were to appear again and sing their song of love and salvation once more.