Holding Out for a Hero

by Ana Leigh

  She couldn’t even find the spot she was looking for in a small area, yet he had succeeded in following their trail all the way from the ranch.

  After a few minutes, she began to feel uneasy that he hadn’t returned. Surely she would have heard some commotion if he’d been attacked. Should she remain here, or try to find him? She started to rise to her feet when he returned leading his horse, and she sank back down in relief.

  “Thank you,” she said, when he handed her his canteen. The water was warm, but it felt good going down her throat.

  “You’d be wise to sip it slowly,” he advised. “Especially on an empty stomach.” He handed her a stick of jerky.

  “Where’s the army patrol?” she asked as she chewed on the jerky.

  “There’s no patrol.”

  Jenny stared at him in disbelief. “Then it was another gang that attacked us last night.”

  “No. It was me and Captain Masters.”

  “Oh, no—was he killed in the gunfight?”

  “No. Both of the Carson brothers were killed, but Slatter and Kansas got away. When I woke up this morning I made a quick trip back to Perdition to—”

  “Perdition?”

  “A nearby town Slatter and his gang had frequented. But there was no sign of them. By the time I got back to the water hole, Masters had left. He’s probably out looking for you. Where’s your aunt?”

  “Hidden. She hurt her ankle and can’t walk on it, so I’ve been looking for a better place for us to hide.”

  Jenny raised the canteen to her mouth again and Rico saw the condition of her wrists. The bruises on her face were another indication of what she had suffered as Slatter’s prisoner.

  “You look as if you could use some medical treatment yourself, ma’am.”

  “My knee could use a cleansing. It was scraped open.”

  “May I see it?”

  She untied the torn strip from around her leg and poured some water over the ugly gash.

  Rico examined the wound, then went to his saddlebags and returned with a few medical supplies. “This is the best I can offer.” He knelt down on one knee and began to treat the scrape.

  His touch was gentle, and the hand gripping her calf was warm and surprisingly comforting. But surely the tingle that raced up her leg was due to the wound, not the excitement of his touch.

  There was compassion in his warm eyes when he met her confused stare. “Take a deep breath, Miss Jennifer, because this is going to sting.”

  Jenny sucked in her breath when he applied iodine to the open wound, and bit her lip to keep from crying out.

  “How did this happen?” he asked.

  “I scraped it on a fallen branch,” she managed to mutter through drawn gasps.

  The stinging gradually subsided as he covered it with gauze, and then ripped another strip off the bottom of her torn gown and tied it around her knee.

  “That should hold until you get back to the fort. Now, I suggest we get Miss Andrea and get out of here. I’ve trailed Slatter and Kansas to this area, and my instinct tells me Masters is somewhere around here, too. I hope to God we meet up with him before they do.”

  As disheartening as his information was, Jenny couldn’t help but feel secure with him. Rico Fraser generated a confidence that she had to admit wasn’t arrogance, as she’d once believed. This man was as comfortable in nature as any four-legged creature that roamed it, or one of the mighty pine trees reaching to the sky.

  “So you think those outlaws followed us?”

  “I know they did. I crossed their trail a time or two. Between their footprints, Masters’s, yours, and your aunt’s, I thought I was in a parade. And if I was able to find you, so can they. As clever as it was, leaving that marker and arrow in the direction you were going, it can also help them pick up your trail.”

  “I left it for myself so I wouldn’t keep walking in circles. But how did you know I did it?”

  “A man would have used a knife and marked a tree.”

  Considering she’d had nothing else to use, his criticism was irritating.

  “How silly of me. The next time I need to escape from outlaws, I’ll remember your advice and ask one of them for a knife.

  “Or instead of looking for water and safe concealment, maybe I should just wait for you to come along and find me. As I recall, you said you were better than any other scout.”

  He chuckled. “I guess I did say that.” He grinned and added apologetically, “But you weren’t supposed to take me seriously.”

  His contrite grin soothed her bruised feelings. She grinned back. “I didn’t. I attributed the remark to your vanity, sir.”

  Amusement flashed in his dark eyes. “And I’ll attribute your sharp tongue to the fact that you’ve been through a harrowing experience. So where did you leave your aunt?”

  Pride goeth before the fall, Jenny thought woefully. “Well—there’s another problem, Mr. Fraser. You see, I don’t…ah…that is to say—I’m…lost.” She almost choked on the last word.

  He shoved up his hat. “You’re what?”

  “I can’t find where I left her.” Humiliated, she lashed out defensively, “Well unlike you, sir, I’m no Daniel Boone.”

  The sudden sound of a rifle shot ended the discussion. Rico shoved her to the ground. “Stay down. I think Slatter might have just located your aunt for us.”

  “Dear God, do you think he shot her?”

  “Either her or Captain Masters.” A few more shots rang out, “They must have found Masters.” He grabbed his rifle from the sling. “Stay here. I’ll come back for you.”

  “Not on your life. I’m going with you.” Jenny followed him as he raced away.

  Andrea’s screams led them to the spot. Masters’s body lay near to where two men were struggling with her. Fixed on their intentions, the outlaws were unaware of Rico’s approach.

  “Hold her arms more steady,” Slatter shouted, ripping at Andrea’s clothing. Suddenly he grabbed at his neck.

  “Dammit!” Slatter shouted. “The bitch broke open my wound and it’s bleedin’ again.” He pulled the bandanna from around his neck and started to bind his shoulder with it.

  “Stay here and don’t make a sound,” Rico ordered Jenny. He moved closer and took careful aim. He hit Kansas in the head, and the outlaw slumped over, dead. Rico swung his rifle to take aim on Slatter, who was already running for his horse. His first shot barely missed Slatter, but as the outlaw swung himself into the saddle, Rico’s next shot hit him in the leg. Slatter released Kansas’s horse and slapped it on the flank and kicked his own mount into a gallop after it.

  Rico had already burst from cover and pursued him on foot. He got off another shot on the run, but Slatter had disappeared into the trees. Frustrated, Rico turned back to join the others.

  Jenny rushed to Andrea’s side and gathered her sobbing aunt in her arms. “Don’t come any closer,” she called out to Rico. “Find something I can put on her. Her clothes are all ripped.”

  Rico took off his shirt and tossed it to her, then knelt down to examine Masters. One of the shots had caught him in the upper left shoulder, the other in the fleshy part of his left thigh. Rico put his ear to the captain’s chest. “He’s still breathing.”

  Andrea sat up. “He’s alive?”

  “He is right now.” Rico rolled Don’s body over and found an exit wound in the shoulder. “It’s a clean wound. Looks like the bullet went right through him.” An examination of the leg wound was even more encouraging. The bullet had only grazed the thigh, though it was bleeding heavily.

  Rico pulled off his bandanna and tied it in a tourniquet around Masters’s thigh.

  Andrea crawled over as Rico cut away Masters’s shirt and used it as a compress on the shoulder wound to slow the bleeding.

  “He’s lost so much blood,” she said. “Do you think he’ll survive?”

  “Time will tell, ma’am. At least we don’t have to dig any lead out of him. We can’t move him right now, so I’ll have
to get my horse. If I’m not back in ten minutes, release that tourniquet on his leg.”

  “What if Slatter doubles back here while you’re gone?” Jenny asked.

  “I doubt he’ll try. He probably thinks it’s the same bandit gang again.”

  “And if you’re wrong and he does double back?” Jenny pursued.

  He drew his Colt and handed it to her. “You know how to fire a gun, don’t you?”

  “Of course.” She took it from him and Rico started off on a run. “I just can’t hit what I aim at,” she murmured.

  Andrea had been kneeling at Don’s side, and she now looked up with a smile. Tears glistening in her eyes. “He’s still alive, Jenny. He’s still alive.”

  True to his word, Rico rode back on Bucephalus a short time later, leading another horse. “I found Masters’s horse. It hadn’t strayed too far.”

  He dug a flint out of his saddlebags and handed it to Jenny. “Get a fire going while I take care of Masters. I’ll need some hot water.”

  Jenny looked helplessly at the flint in her hand. “Don’t you have any matches? I don’t know what to do with this.”

  “Then I reckon it’s time you learn,” he said.

  “I can do it,” Andrea said. “Stumpy taught me how.”

  Rico pointed to the nearby trees. “I’m sure there’s plenty of dry wood over there, Miss Jennifer,” he said as he quickly unsaddled the horses and tossed down the saddlebags. “You’ll find some jerky and coffee in these, ma’am, and also you ought to find more to wear.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Fraser,” Andrea said.

  He grinned at her. “Name’s Rico, ma’am. I’d be obliged if you’d call me that.”

  She smiled at him. “I’d be glad to, Rico. And I’m Andrea.”

  By the time Jenny returned with an armful of broken branches, Rico had succeeded in reducing the blood flow to a trickle from Masters’s wound, and Andrea had found a shirt and pair of jeans in the saddlebags. Andrea quickly got a fire started, and while Rico waited for the water to boil he cut her a length of rope to use as a belt.

  Rico was still shirtless. A trail of dark hair tapered from his muscular chest to his flat stomach. Jenny stared with fascination at the play of muscles in his arms and broad shoulders as he lifted Masters and carried him over to the shade of a tree, where Andrea had spread out a blanket. Every motion appeared effortless.

  Don still hadn’t regained consciousness, and his breathing was ragged by the time Rico finished tending the wounds. He then folded a bandanna into a sling to take the pressure off Don’s shoulder and keep him from trying to use his arm.

  Andrea remained at Don’s side the whole time. “All we can do now is hope for the best,” she said when he finished.

  “How much water do we have left?” Rico asked as he went to his saddlebags for a shirt.

  “We’ve used up your canteen and Captain Masters’s is about half full.”

  “I know where there’s fresh water.” He grabbed his rifle and the canteens. “I’ll be back within an hour. Don’t budge from this spot while I’m gone.”

  Jenny sighed. “I hope Slatter doesn’t turn up here while Daniel Boone is gone.”

  “Jenny, we all owe Rico a debt of gratitude. He’s saved all our lives. They shot Captain Masters; Slatter would have killed you back at that water hole; and those savages would have raped and killed me, if it weren’t for him.”

  “Oh, Aunt Andrea, of course I’m grateful to Mr. Fraser. Immensely grateful. But from the time we met, he’s rubbed me the wrong way. And I must say, I think it’s much too soon for you and Mr. Fraser to be on a first-name basis. I find it exceedingly improper,” she huffed.

  Andrea smiled knowingly, but said only, “Don’t you think that under the circumstances, it would be ludicrous to conform to drawing-room propriety?”

  “Drawing-room propriety is what keeps us from being animals,” Jenny sniffed.

  For the first time in days, Jenny saw a twinkle in Andrea’s eyes. “Keep up that attitude, honey, and you’ll end up an old maid like me.”

  She turned back to minister to her patient.

  7

  Jenny had dozed off and woke to discover that not only had Rico returned, but Don Masters had regained consciousness.

  “He’s so hot, Rico. I think he’s running a fever,” Andrea said worriedly when Don slipped back into unconsciousness.

  “I figured he would, but I don’t have anything to give him for it,” Rico said.

  “May I use some of the water and put a cool compress on his head?”

  “Sure, it might make him a little more comfortable.”

  A short time later, Don regained consciousness again. He attempted to get up, but Rico restrained him.

  “Don, please remain still or you’ll start those wounds bleeding again,” Andrea implored.

  Barely able to talk, he said weakly to Rico, “We should get out of here. We’re putting the ladies at risk.”

  “His three men are dead, and Slatter’s too wily to take the chance of coming back alone. Miss Jennifer wounded him with a knife and I put a couple of slugs in him with a rifle, so he’s probably dug in somewhere nursing his wounds. He might even be dead.”

  Andrea glowed with a restored optimism, the terror and hardship of the past two days put behind her. That was so like Andrea, and Jenny envied her aunt for always having that ability to move on.

  Although immensely relieved and grateful that Don had survived, she couldn’t generate any enthusiasm. They were still in the middle of nowhere with no food or shelter, and dependent upon a man who was no better than a bossy bounty hunter—who was approaching her now with two dead fowl dangling from a piece of rope.

  “Now that your nap is over, Miss Burke, perhaps you could dress these quail while I gather more firewood.”

  She refused to tell him she had barely slept last night due to keeping watch while Andrea rested. “Dress them in what, Mr. Fraser?”

  His laugh was as irritating as the smirk that ended it. “Prepare them for cooking, ma’am.”

  “I’m not stupid, sir; I know what you meant. But we have no pots or pans, utensils or seasonings.”

  “Just pluck them and gut them,” he said impatiently. He shoved the quail and a knife into her hands, climbed on his horse, and rode away.

  Jenny stared aghast at the dangling dead birds, and Andrea hobbled over to her. “I’ll do it, Jenny.” Relieved, Jenny handed the fowl over to her.

  The rest of the afternoon passed slowly. Despite Rico’s confidence that they had seen the last of Ben Slatter, Jenny was wary that he would suddenly pop out from the trees.

  It was dusk by the time Rico finally returned with two sizable stones and his horse loaded down with a pile of wood.

  He handed them a handful of nuts from his saddlebags. “Here, these will take the edge off your hunger until the quail is roasted.”

  He shaved the bark off two of the tree limbs and whittled the ends into a point. Then he slid a bird onto each stake, placed the stones into the rim of the fire, and rested the stakes on the stones to roast the fowls.

  “Perhaps you could keep turning them over to keep the meat from burning,” he said to Jenny.

  “Why, thank you for that advice. It might never have occurred to me,” she replied sweetly.

  She hadn’t fooled him for a minute. “Is there something bothering you?” He appeared too amused to be riled by her attitude.

  “Bothering me? Of course not. Just because I’ve been kidnapped and brutalized by a madman; a friend has been shot and might possibly die; I’m hungry, tired, and need a bath; I’m being pursued by a man who intends to rape and kill me; and I’m dependent upon another who treats me like an idiot…why should something be bothering me?”

  For an instant she saw a flicker of compassion in his eyes. Or had she imagined it? Because he said, “Trust me, Miss Burke, I know what I’m doing.”

  “I have to; I have no other option.”

  He grinned. “And th
at’s what’s bothering you the most, isn’t it, your ladyship?” He walked away before she could get in the last word.

  “See, what did I tell you?” Jenny declared to Andrea. “Isn’t he conceited?”

  “He’s just teasing you, dear,” Andrea said.

  “Teasing, indeed! Then he’s very ill-mannered. I’ll be glad when we’re no longer under his dominance.”

  “Right now I’m thankful we are,” Andrea said. “Just remember to keep turning those stakes, honey.” Her aunt kissed her on the cheek and limped back to the side of her patient.

  Deep in thought, Jenny hugged her knees to her chin as she gazed into the fire. Hopefully, if Don was strong enough to travel in the morning, by this time tomorrow they would be back at the fort. It would be too much to hope that she’d be home, where she could sit down at their table and eat a delicious meal cooked by Andrea, and take a hot bath and climb between the clean sheets of her own bed. Funny, how she’d taken such things for granted. Despite her discontentment with living on a ranch, she had to admit that her life—with the exception of never knowing her mother—had been a physically easy one. Her relationship with her father had blinded her to these blessings in her life, for the Lord knew it would be unbearable were it not for Andrea’s companionship.

  She glanced over to where her aunt was sitting at Don Masters’s bedside. Andrea’s eyes were closed. Was she sleeping or praying? The poor woman had done little of the first and a lot of the second these past couple days. Although only ten years older, her aunt was more like a mother to her. Another thing you’ve always taken for granted, Jenny, she scolded herself.

  “What in hell are you doing?”

  Rico rushed to the fire and yanked the burning stakes off the hot stones.

  “Good Lord, woman, can’t you even do a simple task!” he shouted as he stamped out the flames.

  She jumped to her feet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t notice the stakes were on fire.”

  “Of course you didn’t, because you weren’t paying any attention to them.”

  She flinched under his scathing glare. “I said I was sorry.”