Free Born of Treasure (Treasure Chronicles Book 2) by Jordan Elizabeth Page B

go see your father. He’s in the field behind the barn preparing with the others. We needed the biggest space, what with so many people attending.”
    “Father, I’m home!” Amethyst skipped toward the closest barn, swinging her skirts around her legs.
    Clark grasped Georgette’s hand when she moved to follow. “What’s wrong, ma’am?”
    Georgette sighed. “I understand that Zachariah loves the army and wants to move up in the ranks, but is that the right life for him? I’d always hoped he’d attend a university, become a doctor or a lawyer. He loved his schoolwork.”
    Clark linked his arm through hers as they trailed after Amethyst. He knew how cruel the army could be, hunting a teenage boy to use as a test subject, killing innocent Tarnished Silvers to get what they wanted. “Zachariah has to make his own choice.” Freedom was the best opportunity a man could have. Clark knew—he’d been denied it as long as he could remember. Running wild in a mining town didn’t count for anything special.
    She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Are these the type of people he should associate with? He’s not a poor farmer or a fifth son. We’re able to give him anything he wants.”
    “He needs to find his own path.” Those words couldn’t help Georgette, but she couldn’t control her son’s life no matter what she wanted for him. Clark’s mother had hated the dangers of the mine, but she’d never forbidden him from that work.
    “You could go work on a ranch,” she’d told him whenever he came home coughing.
    “I can’t leave you,” he’d said, and his mother had never pressed.
    Garth emerged from behind the barn and hugged Amethyst. He waved to Clark and Georgette before stepping back around.
    “I hate these people,” Georgette hissed. “I’d love to turn them out with a whack to the head, but the government would come after me. Do you know they abuse our Bromi? No human being deserves such ill treatment.”
    “The ranch hands? They were honest men. You got new ones?” Garth had introduced him to all the workers. They were men with hard luck or who wanted an outdoor life. They appreciated Garth’s fair pay and time off. Some ranches had the men working sunup to sun down, and sometimes at night, with little sleep and no days of rest.
    “No.” Georgette wrinkled her nose.
    “Run!” Amethyst darted around the barn, one hand holding her skirts up and her other one waving overhead.
    “The army,” Georgette continued. “They’ve been here insisting on having this huge Hedlund Day celebration. The government won’t let us touch them.”
    “Here?” The word choked in Clark’s throat. Some army men… they might not know about him. Figurehead Zachariah had no idea. Only an elite few knew all the government’s secrets.
    “Run,” Amethyst shrieked a second time.
    A man in a blue uniform darted past and seized her arm. She tripped, but he caught her against his chest.
    Clark froze. These army men
were
after him. Why had he thought the Treasures could protect him? Wealth didn’t count for anything against the government.
    He’d brought them all down on him.
    The front door of the house opened and three men in uniform dashed out, their laser rifles pointed at Clark. More men darted from around the house and barns, flooding the area.
    He couldn’t run. They’d shoot him before he took more than two steps. His heartbeat thudded. He’d never been this trapped.
    Stupid
.
    Clark pulled his two pistols free from his belt and cocked them.
    Eric appeared in front of him. “Run, Clark! You don’t belong to them.”
    “What is this?” Georgette screamed. Garth ran after Amethyst and grabbed the man holding her. Another army man pulled him away and pinned his hands behind his back.
    A slow clap sounded from the front door. Captain Greenwood—
the
Captain Greenwood—sauntered onto the porch.
    “Woo-ee, boy, you’ve certainly led us on a merry chase.” The captain hooted a laugh. “It’s been