Bumpy Roads

Annie's head bumped back and forth with the movement of the wagon. She wasn't sure if it was night or day with the burlap sack pulled over her head. All that she could smell was musty grain and dirt with a slight hint of horse poop every now and then. She could feel that the wagon was traveling fast from the movement of her body back and forth in the bed of the wagon. Aside from the noises of nature, the rattle of the wagon bumping it's way over the rocks and ruts in the earth had been the only noise she had heard since she was taken last night.
Annie wondered who kidnapped children in the back of a wagon? Surely a single horse would be more effective in a kidnapping scheme? The driver of the wagon hadn't spoken a word to her from the moment he had kidnapped her til now. She assumed from his strength, and his familiarity with hog tying, that it was a man who had kidnapped her.
Annie's father had disappeared years back while on a cattle drive, so when Momma died a few months back, it left her alone in the world. A local farmer and his wife (the McMann family) had taken her in when Momma died. It was summer, hot and dry summer, and since the McMann's cabin was small, they had her sleep in the barn. They were nice enough people, not her parent's, but nice enough.
The barn was where she had been taken from. Annie had been sleeping restlessly in the hot barn when she suddenly woke-up with a hand over her mouth. It seemed like it took a second for her kidnapper to put a bag over her head and to hog tie her. He picked her up, one hand sort of holding her head close to his shoulder while covering her mouth, the holding up her legs. She could hear the burble of the creek and felt occasional bumps and whacks from branches. The kidnapper then carried her over his shoulder for what felt like a short while sneaking through what must have been the wooded area down by the creek behind the McMann homestead. She was then tossed unceremoniously into the back of a wagon, where her journey began. She had tried at first to free herself but only found the ropes getting tighter around her ankles and wrists. Also, the bag over her head was not a new one, so all the dirt and grain particles were getting in her eyes and mouth making hard for her to breathe.
For Annie, it seemed like a long time tossing back and forth about in the wagon bed. For a while she contemplated escape routs, but it came down to her inability to free herself. She was getting tired of hitting her head and bouncing about. Mostly, though, she was tired of being quiet. Annie was a good worker, good reader when she could find something with words written on it, and good at following orders, but she was not good at being quiet. She remembered that her Momma would say that the only time she was ever quiet was when she was sleeping. She smiled to herself, breaking the silence by yelling: "Can I sit up? I am sure getting tired of bouncing back here with this bag over my head?"
There was a muffled guffaw as the wagon slowed down and then pulled to a stop.
"Whoa. Whoa. Pull up now." came a hauntingly familiar voice.
Annie heard a groan and felt the wagon tip slightly. The sound of boots hitting the dirt and then bag was removed from her head. The light was bright in her eyes. It took a minute or two for her eyes to adjust to the sun light, but when she could see, she knew the face looking down at her.
"Pa!" Annie let out with an excited scream.