{Chapter 27}
Adam stared at the fire, reliving the awful scene in the bank yet again. The blood, the death, and the complete and utter heartbreak that he had endured. He thought he had let that go.
Lord, help me to release this hate… again. I suppose that it’ll be like this every once in a while. I’ll let it go, and then it will come back. I don’t want to feel this way. I want to forgive them. Maybe it is that I have forgiven them, I just can’t forget. Katie had told me that we weren’t meant to forget. I’m so confused about these feelings that I have. I need to feel the forgiveness for them that only You can provide, Lord. Help me, please.
The soft roar of the fire was the only sound he heard for a while, until a pair of dusty boots appeared in front of him.
“Katie’s been gone a while, Adam,” Toni’s voice said.
Adam looked up at her. “She said she was going to a walk.”
“And you let her go alone? What’re you thinking, Adam?” Toni sounded more annoyed than angry.
“She’ll be fine,” Adam sighed.
“Fine. Be that way. I’ll go find her myself.” Toni walked off in the direction that Katie had gone.
Adam sighed. Katie had told him that she would only be gone a few minutes. Maybe something was wrong.
**********
“Let me go!” Katie screamed into the hand that clamped over her mouth.
“Quit yer squirmin’, honey,” her captor said through gritted teeth.
She kicked and clawed, but nothing made his hold on her lessen.
She screamed so loud that tears escaped her eyes and rolled down her red cheeks. She knew what was happening, but there was no force inside her that could stop it. She kicked until her strength failed and finally her captor threw her to the ground. The side of her face scraped against a stray rock on the ground and cut her cheek. She rolled onto her back and saw two men above her.
“What should we do with her?” one said in a gruff, unnatural voice.
“I think we should think on that a minute,” The other said in the same tone.
Katie scooted back on her hands and tried to get away, but one of them grabbed her foot and prevented her escape.
Full of fear and out of energy, Katie broke down in tears.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded.
The men laughed.
“We’re not gonna hurt you. Just have a little fun with you, that’s all,” Her captor grinned.
His accomplice chuckled.
“P-Please…” was all that Katie could say - all that she could plead.
This only brought laughter from her captors. One still held on to her foot, and she tried to sit up. The other fell on top of her and her arms out to her sides by her wrists.
“Be still!” he growled.
“Let go of me!” Katie yelled, and with a new burst of energy, wriggled and squirmed to try to free herself.
She felt the hand on her foot let go, and fear pierced her heart. She screamed the only name that brought her and hope. “Adam!”
A loud plop came from near her feet.
“Get off her before I drop you like your pard there.” Katie couldn’t believe the owner of that voice was her cousin.
“Toni?” she looked past the man on her and saw Toni’s enraged face.
“I said to get off her.” Toni’s voice had taken on the tone of someone who would kill in an instant.
The man on top of her stood, and Katie scooted backward. Toni held a big stick in her hands, sound enough to knock a man out… as it did to the man who had been holding her feet.
“Alex Harrison and Marshall Heath. I should have known. You two are going right back to camp and we’re gonna treat you according to what you’ve done. If I were Uncle Mark I’d hang you both.” Toni lowered her weapon and looked between the two men.
“You ain’t gonna tell him,” Marshall said. “Are ya?” He added the last words threateningly.
“You bet your belt buckle I am. Now get your buddy and walk right on back to camp,” Toni demanded.
Marshall smiled and shook his head. “Not happenin’, sweetheart.”
Toni rolled her eyes. “Oh, I will beat you like a drum and you know it. Cut the pleasantries and get a move on.”
Alex groaned and started coming to. Marshall kicked his boot to rouse him quicker.
“Harrison, get up. We’ve got a squealer,” Marshall said.
Alex rode into a sitting position and rubbed the back of his head.
“What did you hit me with?” he asked.
“A stick,” Toni stated in a monotone.
“You’ve gotta arm on you.”
“And I’ll use it again. The two of you are going back to camp to face the trail boss,” Toni said.
“No we ain’t,” Alex protested.
Katie didn’t understand. They were with Mark, so why should they be afraid? Then again, Mark was cruel enough to punish his own men.
Alex grabbed at Toni, and she raised her stick again and whacked him hard on the head. Katie jumped and let out a little squeal. Alex fell back to the ground with a groan.
Marshall took off toward Toni.
Toni felt herself being slammed into a tree, and her head hit the trunk hard, causing her vision to go fuzzy. Marshall’s elbow pressed against her throat and cut off her breathing. She had dropped her stick, and now clawed at the man’s arm.
She saw Katie stand and come toward Marshall with a stick of her own, but not before Alex could come to enough to grab her foot and trip her. Toni must have not been as strong as she thought.
God, please get us out of this.
She tried to breathe, but air came from her gasping mouth.
“I won’t hesitate to kill you, woman,” Marshall growled.
Toni continued in her efforts to free herself, but to no avail. Katie was trying to free herself from Alex, but she wasn’t having any luck either.
Toni saw the dim world around her going black and knew she was losing consciousness.
Suddenly, an arm wrapped itself around Marshall’s throat and pulled him off her. Toni collapsed onto the ground and sweet air filled her lungs.
Thank you, Jesus!
“You say the word, Miz McBride, and I’ll snap his neck right now.”
Toni looked up to see Adam in the prime position to kill Marshall off right then.
“Na,” she shook her head. “Save him for Uncle Mark.”
Adam looked annoyed as he threw Marshall to the ground.
Katie watched as Adam shoved Marshall onto the ground with force.
“Move and I’ll snap your neck like a twig,” he growled at the man.
She tried to wriggle free of Alex’s grasp, but he held on tighter.
Adam caught sight of her and his eyes widened.
“What are you doing? You don’t think I’ll snap yours, too?” he asked.
Alex tightened his grip even more. Katie looked around but didn’t see Toni anywhere. How was Adam supposed to defend himself should both of the men decide to take him?
“Let her go, Harrison,” Adam demanded.
“Make me, Deputy.”
Adam shook his head. “You know, that’s a real dumb move. I’ve got the upper hand here. For starters, you look like you can barely hold yourself up as it is. Another thing is that you’ve got my woman. We both know how a man can get when you mess with his woman. So just let her go, and we can get on back to camp without anymore trouble.”
Alex laughed. “I don’t think so.”
Katie heard a loud crack near her head, and she jumped. Alex’s hold lessened until he let go altogether, collapsing back onto the ground.
“Maybe third time’s a charm,” Toni said from behind Katie where she held her stick.
Katie looked at the two men on the ground, and realized that her nightmare was over. She fell to her knees and started sobbing as all the trauma from the past half hour crashed on her all at once.
Adam knelt beside her, rubbing her arm with his hand.
“I’m so sorry, baby doll,” he whispered.
Katie put a hand over her mouth to keep from sobbing louder. Adam put both arms around her and pulled her into his arms.
Toni ordered Marshall to carry Alex back to camp while she clutched her big stick. All of them were regretting putting all their weapons into a locked trunk in the chuck wagon.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Adam continued to whisper the same apology to her as he lifted her up into his arms and carried her back to camp.
Katie cried on his shoulder for a few minutes, but stopped before they reached camp. All eyes were on her when they reached the circle around the campfire.
“What happened to Miss Katie?” Rawhide asked.
Toni shoved Marshall and Alex into Mark’s direction. Katie didn’t know how Mark would handle the conduct of his men, but she hoped it was just and fitting - even if that was wishful thinking.
Toni commenced to telling the whole campsite what had transpired. While she was filling them in, Adam carried Katie around to the back of the chuck wagon and set her on the tailgate, so high that her knees hit his chest.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
Katie shook her head.
Adam examined her cut cheek. “Looks like you’ve got a pretty good gash there. Hang on a sec while I get some water.”
A few moments later, he came back with a canteen and a clean, folded kerchief. Pouring a little water on the kerchief, he dabbed at the dried blood around her cut.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he whispered.
“It’s not your fault,” Katie said as she put her head down.
“No, it is my fault. If I had went walking with you…”
“Don’t you dare say that. It’s no one’s fault. We can’t go through life wishing we would have done things we didn’t. The only thing I’m concerned about is forgetting the whole circumstance.”
Adam dabbed at her cut again. “If I’d have been there…”
“Shut up, Adam,” Katie said sternly.
Adam sighed. “Did they… um… did they impair you?”
Katie shook her head, knowing what he was asking. “No.”
Adam heaved a sigh of relief. He finished cleaning her cut.
“Keep an eye on that and make sure it doesn’t get infected,” he told her.
Katie nodded.
Adam placed his hand on the back of her head and brought her face close enough to his so that he could lightly kiss the two-inch gash on her cheek.
“I’ll never let them near you again, okay?” He told her.
Katie nodded.
“I sure do love you, woman,” he said affectionately.
Katie remembered how he called her “my woman” and smiled. “I love you too.”
Adam smoothed a lock of hair out of her face and pulled her down to meet his lips. Katie remembered his kiss, and it hadn’t changed at all. She had no thoughts of Ben or betrayal this time. The kiss was sweet, innocent, and chaste in every sense of the word.
Happy Sunday! ;)