Blake left John with Ellie and Lydia about a mile outside of Cranston in a copse of trees near a shallow stream. There was protection in the trees and plenty of clear, sweet water. It hadn't taken him long to find the telegraph office, send the telegram and pick up supplies from the mercantile. He'd never thought anything about telling people he was a U.S. Marshall until today. The kid running the telegraph had been so excited to meet a real live Marshall, Blake was afraid the kid would open his mouth to anyone that would listen.
He replayed the conversation over in his mind. He'd told the boy not to mention Blake's name, or the contents of the telegram to anyone, including the sheriff. The last thing they needed was to have Angel Cooper waiting in Red Valley for them when they got there. He was trying to be as careful as he could, after all, it wasn't just his and John's lives that could be in danger. It was all of his friends and family including Ellie and Lydia. Shoving those thoughts aside, Blake turned all of his attention back to his surroundings. The last thing he needed was to get ambushed.
"We're going to split up from here." Blake told Ellie and Lydia after he and John had divided up the supplies he'd purchased in Cranston.
"What do you mean split up?" Lydia could feel the panic start to rise in her chest and she fought hard to keep her voice steady. "Wouldn't we be safer if we all stated together? You know, safety in numbers."
"No." John answered her before Blake could. He was secretly glad to be alone with Lydia. They had talked a lot over the past couple of days, and she never ceased to amaze him. She wasn't like so many other women he'd known. Her head wasn't empty, she was very intelligent, and he could see a spark in her that was drawing him to her. "In this case, we will be better off to split up. It's harder to track multiple people, especially when those people don't want to be tracked."
"Oh," was all Lydia could say. Her face began to blush when she realized she and John would be completely alone for....
"How long will it take us to get home?" Ellie asked before her cousin could.
"I figure anywhere from one to two weeks, depending." Blake answered.
"Depending on what?" Ellie and Lydia asked in unison.
Blake looked over at John for a second before answering. "It depends on the weather and if they are any good at tracking us." He thought it best to stop his answer there. He was pretty sure that Ellie could handle the entire truth but he really didn't think her cousin, Lydia could.
Ellie reached over and grabbed her cousin, giving her a hug. "It will be alright. John will take care of you and protect you with his life."
Lydia took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "I know he will. I love you Ellie, I'll see you at your parent's house soon." She gave her cousin a quick hug then walked over to John. "I guess we need to get going." He simply nodded, mounted his horse, and pulled her up behind him.
They watched them ride over the ridge, then Blake mounted up and held out his hand for Ellie to grab. He effortlessly pulled her up behind him. His eyes closed for a second when she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her firm breasts against his back. "Hold on," he said in a tone sharper than he meant to use.
John and Lydia had taken the southern route back to Red Valley while Blake and Ellie had taken the northern route. It was late summer, so the days were still very warm but the nights were quite cool on the northern route making it necessary for Blake to build a fire and sleep next to Ellie. By the end of the third day, dark, ominous clouds began to roll in, hanging low in the sky.
"It's going to rain before long, we better look for shelter tonight, or we're going to get wet." Blake lowered his head, speaking in Ellie's ear. He'd thought it would be a good idea for her to ride in front of him today. He just didn't think he could go another day with her breasts in his back and her thighs cradling his backside. He'd been wrong, that had not been torture, having her ride in front of him was torture. He had to wrap his arms around her to hold the reins of his horse. If they did anything other than walk, her breasts would bounce on his hands and try as he might, there was no other way he could hold his hands.
"Are you sure? The clouds don't look that bad to me."
An hour later, they had found shelter in a cave that was only about six feet deep and about fifteen feet wide. It was really more of an indention into huge boulders. Thank goodness it was big enough for them and their horse. Ellie had gathered firewood while Blake had been hunting for their dinner, he was lucky enough to shoot a rabbit. They had supplies but it was better to save them if they could.
Ellie lay there facing the fire, Blake was laying behind her. Both of them were lost in their thoughts, staring at the flames while listening to the rain fall just a few feet away. "Is there something bothering you?" Her soft voice was barely audible over the rain.
"No, why?"
"Well, you've barely spoken to me since the night Lydia and I were taken from the train." Ellie shivered as a chill crept over her body.
Blake sat up and threw more wood on the fire to help ward off the chill, then laid back down. "I just don't have a whole lot to say. Now, close your eyes and get some sleep. We'll be leaving at dawn." He lay there with his body as close to hers as he could get without touching her. It seemed like his body was beginning to crave hers more and more with each passing minute. But his head kept screaming at him that this was Ellie, the little girl next door Ellie. His childhood best friend Ellie. Frustrated, he forced himself to relax and go to sleep. He had a sneaking suspicion he was going to need it.
Blake just couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched, He stopped his horse Scout again. Sharp turquoise eyes scanned the landscape and just like every other time he'd looked, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Why do you keep stopping?" Ellie whispered as she brought her hand up to shade her eyes from the bright noonday sun. Oh, what she wouldn't give for one of her hats or even a bonnet.
"I'm just taking in the scenery." Blake answered nonchalantly.
"You think we're being followed, don't you?"
Blake let out a heavy sigh, he should have known. He couldn't hide anything from Ellie. "I feel like someone is watching us." All he could see was sharp jagged mountains off in the distance with huge boulders jutting out of the earth on one side and forest on the other. There were tons of places to hide and ambush them. He had thought it would be better to ride just outside the tree line. The forest was terribly thick in some places and he really didn't want Scout to step in a hole and come up lame. But now, he wasn't sure.
He turned the horse toward the trees when he heard a gunshot then felt a searing pain in his left thigh. Scout sidestepped and threw his head back and forth several times showing his agitation. "Hold on!" Blake said through gritted teeth as he kicked his horse urging him to the tree line to give them some measure of cover.
Ellie heard the shot then felt the horse sidestep before he settled down. "Who's shooting at us?" Ellie asked as Blake urged the horse into the trees to get them out of the open. "Oh my God, do you think they found us? How could they have tracked us so quickly with all the rain we had?"
"It's probably not Angel or any of his men. This part of the territory is full of thieves and outlaws." Blake stopped in a spot that was thick with undergrowth. "Get down and stay here, sit down and don't move! I'll come back after I find out who is shooting at us." With one arm, he swung her off Scout, unsheathed his rifle, and handed it to her.
Ellie opened her mouth to say something but he was already gone, so she sat down in the thick under growth with the rifle across her lap and waited; one hour went by and then another half hour. She kept telling herself that Blake had been a Marshall for a long time and he could take care of himself, everything was going to be okay. Another half hour went by and that's when the panic started to set in. What if something happened to Blake and he wasn't coming back? It would be all her fault! If she had just kept her big mouth shut on that stupid train, she and Lydia would be home and Blake wouldn't be risking his life to get her safely back to her father. It was all she could do to keep her tears from falling. "Ellie? Ellie?" She heard her name and stood up to see Scout picking his way over to her.
"Blake!" She ran as fast as she could over to him. He had just dismounted and turned around when she flung herself into his arms, dropping his rifle on the ground. Strong arms caught her as she stood on her tiptoes and wound her arms around his neck bringing his mouth to hers in an adrenaline fueled kiss that quickly deepened as her mouth opened to his. Their tongues met and swirled as his hands slid down her back to grab her backside bringing her closer to him. His mouth left hers to lick and nip down her neck, only to be stopped by the collar of her blouse.
Nimble fingers quickly reached up undoing several buttons, exposing her chest and the tops of her creamy breasts. Those same nimble fingers slid down to cup her breasts, running his thumbs over her pebbled nipples. Blake dipped his tongue between her breasts then licked his way back up to Ellie's full lips, whispering her name. As soon as he uttered her name, it was like someone throwing a bucket of ice water over him, Blake let her go and backed up a couple of steps.
All Ellie knew was that the man she had loved her entire life was holding her and kissing her with as much passion as she felt. Strong arms grabbed her bottom sending electric shocks through her entire body. She felt his mouth leave hers and his fingers were at the collar of her blouse then his calloused hands were on cupping her and his warm velvety tongue was licking between her breasts before making its way back to her waiting lips. Blake whispered her name and then she was being pushed away, again.
It took a few seconds for her passion fogged mind to clear. "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"
He could see the confusion and hurt on her beautiful face. Her eyes were still slightly glazed with passion and her lips were swollen from his kisses. Blake looked at her blouse then down at his hands. He didn't even remember unbuttoning the damn thing. Disgusted with himself, he turned to walk away.
Ellie turned away from him unable to bear the look of disgust on his face another second. Pain stabbed through her at the thought. All Blake could see was the little girl with a scared face that lives on the neighboring ranch. She reached up and slowly traced the C shaped scar that had been on her face almost her entire life. The sound of a grunt and twigs snapping brought her attention back the current moment. Ellie turned her head to see Blake down on all fours, trying to stand back up. All thoughts of his rejection left as she rushed over to help him. It didn't matter what he thought of her, she still loved him.
"Blake! What happened?" It was then that she noticed his bandana was tied around his left thigh.
"Do you remember the gunshot we heard?" He didn't wait for her answer. "Well, it hit me in my thigh."
"And you didn't say anything?" Ellie asked in disbelief.
"I did. I told you to stay put while I went and looked for the fool."
"You know what I mean Blake Weston!" Her fingers brushed his away and untied the bandana looking to see how bad it was. His pants and bandana were soaked with blood. "I've got to clean this. Can you ride until we can find some fresh water?"
He had broken out into a cold sweat and his face was turning pale. "Yes. You get on and I'll sit behind you." Blake limped over to Scout and held the reins.
"No, I'll sit behind you."
"You're not sitting behind me. I found where the stupid fool had been when he shot but I didn't find him. That means he could still be out there and it's my job to protect you! Now mount up!" It was all Blake could do to keep his voice firm and then get up on his horse.
It took about an hour before they came to a small river that had several cave like areas that were deep enough to get them out of the weather. Ellie got Blake off his horse and over to a place she had picked out. She grabbed the saddle bags and a blanket off Scout then went back to where Blake was laying on the soft grass, just outside the hollowed out spot in the rock.
"You're going to have to take your pants off so I can get a good look at this and clean it. The last thing we want or need is for you to get an infection."
"I can't."
"Yes you can! Now, take them off!" Ellie looked up to see a smirk on his lips.
"Ellie, I'm not wearing any drawers."
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