"Man I'll be the first one here to call you crazy. If you let me catch ya cussing at a kid or roughing up a lady and God forbid that anybody mess with mine... Ya gotta whoop man's ass sometimes." Trace Adkins 'Whoop a Man's Ass'
Jonah jumped forward and caught Joe in his arms before she hit the ground, lifting her body and pulling her into his chest the same way a husband would his new bride.
Everything else in the world disappeared in that moment. All he could see was Joe’s face so close to his own. All he could feel was her body pressed so close to his. All he could do was simply stand there and hold her.
For five long years he had longed to touch this woman again. He had dreamed about holding her body…. Now he was and the moment was bittersweet because of the deceit that he knew she was guilty of. But still… She fit against him so perfectly, what had he been thinking when he’d let her walk away? Then he felt her shivering in his arms and the peace was shattered as he realized just how heated her skin was.
“She’s fevered bad.” He said quickly. Turning to Reb, Jonah motioned for him to take Joe from his arms.
“I can’t stand on my own, Jonah.” Bart argued and Jonah growled. He didn’t care if the damn bastard had to crawl. That truly wasn’t any concern of his. Instead of saying that, Jonah glanced around and found a long, thick stick on the ground. He wrapped his hand around the rough bark, his knuckles whitening as he gripped it tight, stood straight and looked at Bart.
The other man swallowed hard but met his gaze full force. Jonah sneered. “Well, Uncle Bart, I’d hate to have you fall on your good for nothing ass.”
He shoved the stick into Bart’s hand and Reb moved out of the man’s grasp and took Joe from Jonah’s arms. Bart nearly did fall as he tried to balance his weight, clinging to the stick like a lifeline.
“Reb, get them back to Clayton. I don’t like the boy being alone…. I’ll be along shortly.”
“What’re ya gonna do, Jonah?” Reb asked with a frown. Jonah glanced back toward the camp that they’d moved a short distance from.
“I’m gonna take care of these men. It won’t do to have them wake up in a few hours and come right back after us.”
“Why don’t ya help me get them to our camp and I’ll come back and help ya?” Reb questioned.
“I can handle them.” Jonah countered.
“Jonah, there are four of them and only one of you.” Bart whispered. Jonah glared at the skinny man and clenched his fist.
“I sure as hell don’t need your opinion on a damn thing, you stupid son of a bitch. If you weren’t already more than half dead, I’d beat you ‘til you were myself.”
Bart swallowed hard. “Clayton…..”
Jonah took a deep breath and turned his attention back to Reb. He saw Joe’s eyelids flutter and had a suspicion that she had regained consciousness but was choosing to play opossum. Or maybe she was simply too sick and weak to open her eyes. That was probably it since Jonah couldn’t think of any situation where Joe would be chicken enough to feign sleep to avoid confrontation. Either way, Jonah had a feeling she was hearing the conversation.
“Jonah, now I know ya were always plenty capable before but…” Reb began.
“I’m still plenty capable.” Jonah interrupted him and Reb shifted his feet.
“Ya ain’t ‘zactly spent the last five years honing yer skills or nothin’.” Reb countered. “Are ya sure ya don’t want to wait ‘til I can help ya out?”
“My skills are just fine,” Jonah replied. “These bastards threatened what’s mine and I’ll take care of them. You get Joe back to her son.”
Jonah could see the doubt and worry in Reb’s eye and he sighed. “I’ll be just fine, Reb. They’re all asleep so I’ve got the advantage. Have a little faith in me.”
Reb nodded and Jonah watched him carry Joe off into the forest with Bart hobbling along behind him. Jonah watched them until they faded from sight. Taking a deep breath to clear his thoughts and focus on what he knew he had to do, Jonah went back to the camp. The four men were still curled up and sound asleep on their bedrolls.
Moving silently, and careful not to step on any sticks this time, Jonah walked around the camp and gathered up every gun belt, rifle, bowie knife and pair of boots he could find, taking them to the edge of the woods and laying them in a pile.
He walked back into camp, found a cast iron skillet beside a set of saddlebags, and picked it and a rock up before coming to a stop beside the glowing campfire. Taking one more breath to steady his nerves, Jonah began to beat the rock against the skillet loudly.
“Wake up, ya sleepin’ beauties!” he hollered.
Instantly the four slumbering men came to alertness and began reaching for the weapons they no longer had beside them and scanning the camp for the intruder.
“Who the hell are you!” One of them yelled through swollen lips as he jumped to his feet. “And where’s our guns?”
“My name is Jonah Winchester, boys, and your guns are in a safe place.”
“Safe for who?” the man demanded with a snort and Jonah grinned as he tossed the rock to the ground.
“For me of course. I couldn’t give two shits in hell about what happens to the four of you.”
“Four of us…..” the man turned and looked at all of his men and then he let out a string of curses as he turned back to Jonah.
“Where’s Cliff?! Where’s the prisoners?!”
Jonah shrugged and tested the weight of the cast iron skillet in his hand. “If Cliff was that big guy you had over there acting as guard, then I’m afraid to tell you that he’s dead.” He said with a sigh. “And those prisoners were friends of mine so…..” Jonah shrugged.
“That was my damn brother!” One of the other men yelled and he ran toward Jonah.
“Gus, stop!” the first man exclaimed but Gus seemed to be on a mission. Jonah swung the skillet in his hand and caught the man hard in the side of the head. His neck snapped as his head twisted to the side and then he fell to the ground, rolling limply before coming to a stop and staring, unseeing, into the fire. Jonah winced. He hadn’t meant to kill the man….. Guess he was stronger, and more angry, than he’d given himself credit for.
Jonah looked at the three remaining men and was pleased to see they looked scared. “Look, we don’t want no trouble…” the first man who had spoken, and the man that Jonah assumed was the leader, stated as he held up his hands.
Jonah simply raised one shoulder. “It’s a little late for that, don’t you think? The minute you rode up to that cabin back there, laid hands on my boy and shot his mama, you opened yourselves up for an entire heaping load of trouble.”
The lead man seemed to realize there was no chance of simply walking away. Jonah saw him flick his wrist and then all three men ran at him.
The lead man got to him first and Jonah bent down and caught the man in his arms before tossing him over his shoulder and onto his back in the dirt. Jonah swung the skillet and caught the second man in the jaw. The third man tried to tackle Jonah but instead Jonah simply let the man’s momentum carry them both backward and then he grabbed the man by the arm and twisted roughly, eliciting a scream of pain from the man as his bones snapped. Jonah grunted as he threw the screaming man off of him, tossing him into the dust.
The lead man had gotten to his feet once again and he again ran at Jonah, who sidestepped him and sent him barreling into the third man who had just risen to his feet and looked as if he was about to vomit from pain. The second man, the one Jonah had hit with the skillet, was out cold and probably would be for hours.
The two conscious men got back to their feet, though they were wobbling and their legs were shaking. They shared a look of desperation before running toward Jonah at the same time. Jonah decided it was time to end the fight and he threw the skillet in an arc, catching the lead man in the temple and sending him sprawling to the ground before leaping into the air and delivering a bone shattering kick to the third man’s jaw. Jonah’s boots landed with a thud and he looked around him.
There was one man dead and three unconscious, not bad for five minutes of work.
Jonah walked to the saddlebags beside one of the bedrolls and found a long length of rope. It was time to get some answers. He hogtied the three men and then grabbed a canteen of water and walked over to the lead man.
Jonah poured the water over the man’s head, causing him to sputter awake.
“What the hell!” the man yelled as he struggled against the ropes holding him in place. Jonah crouched down and grabbed the man by the hair, lifting his head so he had to look at him.
“Who sent you after Joe and Bart?” Jonah asked calmly.
“Fuck you.” The man spat and Jonah patted his welted and swollen jaw, causing him to wince in pain.
“You should be nicer.” Jonah warned. “Now who sent you?”
“We’re just hired muscle…. I ain’t got nothin’ against either of those two.”
“So who hired you?”
“Are you going to kill me?”
“No.” Jonah replied honestly. “I don’t see the point in killing the middle man. I’d rather go right to the source.”
“It was some woman. She offered us a hell of a lot of money if we could bring Bart, Joe, you and some one-eyed bastard named Reb to her.”
Jonah wracked his mind trying to figure out who in the hell would want revenge on the four of them but no one came to mind other than Scarlett and she was busy serving a twenty year sentence in San Quentin out in California.
“Did she have a name, this woman that wants revenge?”
“Scarlett something or another. She carried on the way those hate filled crazy types will and I drowned out most of it but I did catch something about getting revenge for her murdered husband.”
Jonah’s eyes stared off into the forest as he let that sink in. Scarlett? How in the hell had she gotten out of prison? And now she was coming after those that she felt had done her wrong.
“What about my son?” Jonah asked, wondering if Scarlett knew about the boy. The man shook his head.
“She didn’t say nothin’ about a kid. That’s why we let him go.” He said proudly, as if expecting that fact to soothe Jonah’s temper.
“You left a four year old boy to fend for himself after shooting and kidnapping his mother and you think that makes you some kind of hero?” Jonah demanded, anger filling his gut.
The man shrugged and tried to grin, though it was more of a grimace with his lips swollen the way they were. “Do I look like the kind of man who’s got a real accurate moral compass?”
Jonah shook his head and then pulled his gun and brought the handle of it down hard on the back of the man’s head. He collapsed unconscious to the ground and Jonah stood and holstered his weapon.
“No. No you don’t.” he whispered. He took the time to put the men’s boots in the fire and stoke the flames, then found a sack to hold the guns and ammunition. He figured it would all be better off with him than with these men.
He unhitched all the horses and then fired off a shot, sending all but two of them, which he was holding by the reins, running scared into the dark woods. Whenever these men regained consciousness, and managed to get themselves untied, and regained the ability to get around with their addled heads and broken bones, they’d be leaving camp shoeless, weaponless and on foot.
Jonah spared one last glance at the three unconscious and hogtied men and then headed off into the woods to have a talk with Reb about the bad news he’d just received.
***
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Jonah, ya scared the shit outta me when ya fired that shot! I thought somebody had killed ya!” Reb exclaimed when Jonah entered their camp.
“Naw, I was just scaring off the horses was all.”
“Don’t tell me you left some of those bastards alive!” Bart demanded and Jonah nodded.
“Yeah, I did.” He replied, and then he turned away from Bart to focus on Joe and Clayton. The boy was knelt down beside his mother, who was still unconscious and he was gently stroking her face.
The image made Jonah’s chest ache.
Clayton turned to see him and Jonah sat the sack of guns down as the boy jumped to his feet and ran over.
“Jonah, ya have to save my mama! Ya just have to! She’s real sick.”
Jonah nodded. "I know she is, boy. I’m gonna do the best I can.” Jonah promised him. Reb pulled Jonah aside.
“She woke up for a few seconds when we got here. Told me to go to hell for bringin’ you ‘round and told the boy she was fine before passing back out… I believe it’s the fever takin’ its toll on her.”
Jonah nodded and pulled the flask of whiskey from his pocket.
“Now aint’ the time for drinking.” Reb warned and Jonah glared at him.
“I ain’t gonna drink it. I don’t told ya I wouldn’t make those mistakes again… Not now that I know about him.” He assured him as he looked over at Clayton, who was once again crouched down beside Joe.
Jonah went to Joe and crouched down beside her as well. She was pale, dirty and her face was bruised. Maybe he should go back and kill all those men after all… Then again they hadn’t killed her and they could have. They weren’t murderers, they were hired kidnappers.
He lifted Joe’s pants leg and saw the dirty bandana tied just above the top of her boot. He untied it and the sight of the wound shocked him. He heard Clayton’s sharp intake of breath and looked at the boy.
“Clayton, I need you to go over to my saddlebags and get a clean shirt out of there.” Clayton nodded and quickly ran to the other side of camp where Jonah’s saddlebags were laying.
Jonah could see that Joe’s wound was infected. The skin around it was red and swollen but nothing was turning green or oozing infection yet so not all hope was lost.
Jonah took out his knife and poured a bit of whiskey over the wound, causing Joe to moan and thrash her head. Jonah glanced at Reb and the man nodded as he bent down and held Joe’s upper body in place. Jonah put his knee over her good leg and then very carefully began to cut away the dirty flesh inside the wound.
He rolled Joe onto her side, as she cried out in pain and continued to trash around on the forest floor. Clayton stood silently in the shadows with his hands over his ears. Jonah didn’t look up at Joe’s face because he didn’t want to see her eyes if they were open. Hurting her like this was killing him but it was the only choice he had right now.
He cleaned the back of the wound as well and then poured whiskey over it again. He stood and quickly ran to his saddlebags, digging around until he found the ointment he always kept in there. It was something Reb had taught him how to make and had lectured to him to always keep handy. The stuff smelled like a mixture of turpentine and sock sweat but it was damn good at battling infections on wounds.
Jonah went back to Joe, she was once again lying there calmly and her eyes were closed. As gently as he could, Jonah covered the wound with a thick layer of the ointment and then motioned for Clayton.
He was proud of how well his son seemed to be handling things. His face was pale and his eyes wide and shining but he hadn’t shed a single tear or uttered a single whimper.
“Get your pocketknife out and cut me some long strips out of that shirt.” Jonah told him. Clayton nodded and quickly did as he was told. Jonah took the strips and tied them around Joe’s leg to protect her wound.
“You did good, Clayton. I’m proud of you.” Jonah told the boy and Clayton gave him a small smile.
“Is she gonna be okay?” he asked. Jonah nodded.
“I think she’s gonna be just fine.” He promised. He lifted Joe into his arms and carried her over to his bedroll. He laid her down and then motioned for Clayton to lie down as well. “Get some rest with your mama, boy. We’ve only got a couple of hours before dawn and then we gotta get back to the cabin.”
Clayton nodded and curled up to Joe, who mumbled something and wrapped her arm tight around the boy. Jonah covered them both with a blanket and then walked over to his saddlebags.
“Why’d ya leave some of them men alive?” Reb asked in a whisper.
“Because they were middle men. Don’t worry, they have no weapons, no boots and no horses. One of them has a broken arm, they all have cracked skulls and one of them probably has a broken jaw. They won’t be a threat to us any time soon.”
“Did ya leave ‘em tied up?” Reb asked and Jonah raised a brow.
“Of course. I’m not stupid.”
“That’s debatable.” Reb countered with a good natured grin. “Who are they middle men fer? Did they tell ya?”
“Yep. Scarlett.”
“Scarlett?!” Reb demanded, his blue eye widening. “Dammit, I thought she was servin’ a good long sentence over in San Quentin?”
“She was supposed to be.”
“Wonder who she had to bed to get outta that one.” Reb muttered and Jonah shrugged.
“She knew how to use her body, looks and charms to get pretty much anything she wanted so I guess it really shouldn’t be such a surprise.” Jonah glanced around. “Where’s Bart?”
Reb seemed surprised as he spun in a circle, scanning the camp. “I ain’t got a clue.”
“A horse is gone.” Jonah observed and Reb clicked his tongue.
“That bastard high tailed it outta here.” he exclaimed. “He musta been scared of ya.”
“Scared enough to run off in the shape he was in?” Jonah questioned and Reb shrugged.
“He musta known ya’d be real mad at him.”
Jonah nodded but it still didn’t feel right. Was there something more Bart had done that caused him to be so leery of Jonah? A thought entered Jonah’s head and he felt his blood begin to boil… If Bart had laid with Joe even a single time then he would hunt that man down and skin him alive….. Now Jonah knew he had no right to say anything to Joe about who she bedded because he hadn’t had any claim over her but Bart was supposed to be his friend and there were certain things that friends just didn’t do.
“Get some rest, Reb. I’ll take watch.” Jonah said and then he pulled a canteen of water from his saddlebags and went to Joe and Clayton. The boy was already sound asleep and snoring softly. Jonah’s lips curved in a small smile… Jonah was a snorer, at least Joe had told him way back when that he was, and apparently his son had gotten that from him.
Jonah sat down, leaning his back against the rock. Carefully he laid Joe’s head in his lap, telling himself it wasn’t because he wanted the comfort of her touch, it was simply so that he could give her sips of water more easily.
Joe’s tongue, shot out of her mouth, flicking against the rim of his canteen as he let the water droplets fall on her cracked lips. Jonah felt his pants get a little tighter at the provocative sight but he forced those kinds of thoughts from his mind.
He and Joe had quite a few conversations that needed to take place before he even thought about entertaining his body’s burning desire for the woman.
Jonah saw Reb settle down on his own bedroll and Jonah looked down at his sleeping son and woman as he put the canteen off to the side and tossed his hat on top of it. Yes he still considered Joe to be his woman. For some reason, despite the woman's deception, he simply couldn’t bring himself to hate her…. He loved her too much.
An owl hooted in the distance, filling the quiet night with its call as a gentle breeze blew, cooling Joe’s heated skin. Clayton snuggled up against his mama and laid his hand on Jonah’s leg and Jonah felt peace fill him. He was finally with Joe and their son. He was finally where he belonged. Despite the pain of the last five years and the chaos of the last few days, everything was right in this moment. He had all he cared about right there in his arms… And he would kill anyone and everyone who dared try to take either one away from him again.