Loving River

My River

Micah hissed in pain as Zane struggled to free his deputy from beneath his horse. "That was a lousy shot." Micah moaned.

Zane sighed and leaned back. "Look, pulling on you isn't working. I'm just causing you more pain."

"What're you going to do? Leave me here and go for the girl?"

Zane sighed and ran his hand through his hair in frustration.  Just several hours before, Zane had been in bed dreaming some rather fascinating dreams regarding his new wife, River. True, he'd never life out any of his dreams but he had enjoyed the life-like dreams. Now here he was in the middle of the nowhere, his wife had been kidnapped by his father. His deputy's horse had been shot from under him and each minute Zane spent struggling to free his deputy River was taken farther and farther away from him.

"Look, if I try to lift the horse a bit can you get your leg free?"

"I'll try."

Straining, Zane threw his back into lifting the horse. Several attempts later and Zane succeeded in budging the horse just enough for Micah to free his leg. "Is it broken?" Zane asked as Micah rolled up his pant leg to inspect the damage.

"I don't think so." Micah replied. "Doesn't hurt enough for that. I think it's just going to be bruised. I'll be fine." Slowly, Micah pulled himself to his feet and took a few tender steps to test his leg. "I'll be fine." He repeated, "We've got to get back to finding River. Each minute that passes is-"

"I know, I know." Zane ran his hand through his hair and gazed in the direction the River had disappeared. "We've got a slight problem though." Zane said turning back to Micah. "You can't get back to town without a horse, not with being hurt. And I can't go after River without a horse."

Micah swore under his breath. "Hefty really set us up good, didn't he?"

"That was his plan. So what are we going to do, Micah?"

"Well.."

"I want her back, Micah. I want my River."

"You'll get her." Micah promised. "Here's what we're going to do. We already know what direction they're going. They're right between our town and Fairview. We'll go back to town, send a wire to the sheriff. Then we'll get together a posse, and another horse. We'll completely surround them. They'll have no choice but to surrender."

"Except, he'll have River. He's nasty, Micah.  He'll use River against me. He might even-"

"Zane, we haven't got any other choices. Besides, River is a smart girl. She won't give up without a fight."

"Let's go. We're wasting time." Zane helped Micah mount. 

------

River knelt near the small creek that ran through the wooded area she was traveling through. She was tired and her head ached. She was trying to get away from Hefty and Krillan as fast as she could but the travel was beginning to take its toll. Cupping her hands, River drew some water and raised it to her lips. She hadn't gone far enough. She sipped some more water and stood. She couldn't waste any more time. She needed to move on. Any minute Hefty and Krillan might wake and discover her missing. They had horses, they could travel much faster then she could. More distance.

River began again. She wasn't sure how far away they had taken her. She wasn't even sure she was going the right direction. She had to get back though, she had to find Zane. She still couldn't remember certain things. Though it bothered her- the loss of memory- she was determined not to think about it. It would only upset her and she didn't need any distractions. "Ouch." she muttered as she tripped over a small fallen tree. River wanted to give up. She wanted to crawl into a dark cave and cry her troubles out. All of her life, River had lived in fear of Robert Krillan. All of her life, Krillan had made her life miserable. He had done everything he could to make sure her fear had continued.