by S. E. Smith
Wally had explained that the dogs had shown up just before dark barking and carrying on. When he had tried to come out to see what was going on, they had run into the house searching it frantically before running back to the door and scratching like crazy to get out. He was worried because Indy and Jake had not returned when they had promised. He had mounted one of the horses left by another cowpuncher and followed the dogs. They had lead him to Jonathan. It was too dark to risk returning and they had to wait until dawn. As soon as it was safe to head back to the ranch, Jonathan, Jacob, Carl, Wally, and the dogs had headed out. Jonathan became concerned when the dogs went right by the house and continued toward the western pasture.
Jonathan ordered Wally to remain at the house and to send one of the men if Indy or Jake returned. He, Jacob, and Carl continued on at a gallop. They made it to the western pasture by late morning. As they rode up, they saw Cal and Jake standing over a man who was sitting tied up on the ground near the fire.
Jonathan slid out of his saddle before he had even brought his horse to a complete stop. Jacob and Carl were right behind him. His face darkened when he didn’t recognize the man who sat with his knees drawn up in front of him and his head down. He did recognize two distinctive details about the man though. First, he was an Indian, or Native American as Indy liked to call refer to them as, and second, he was wearing clothes like Indy did. His stomach clenched as he absorbed the last detail.
“Where’s Indy?” Jonathan demanded in a harsh voice.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out, boss” Jake said, spitting into the dirt near the man who slowly raised his head to look at Jonathan.
A large bruise darkened his skin just below his left eye.”I didn’t know what they wanted. If I had, I never would have helped them,” the man said in a low voice.
A red haze covered Jonathan’s mind as his worst fear came to life. He jerked the man up and struck him hard in the jaw, knocking him over the log and onto his back in the dirt. Taking a step toward him, he was about to go after him again when he felt Jacob’s hand on his shoulder.
“Find out what happened before you kill him,” Jacob suggested quietly.
Billy struggled to sit up, wiping the blood from his busted lip on the sleeve of his shirt. “I’m telling you, man, I had no idea they were after Indy. I wouldn’t have lead them to her if I had known. Everyone is pissed at what her brothers did to her. Her and her grandfather were respected by everyone in town. Hell, Indy has helped Rosalie and me on more than one occasion when one of the kids got sick or Rosalie was having a hard time. They just said they needed a guide who knew the mountains,” Billy insisted.
“Do you know where they took her?” Jonathan gritted out.
Billy nodded his head. “I think so. Or at least I have an idea. I know that her oldest brother has been looking for her for months now. He had men all over the place for a while. I thought he had given up. I’ve been working in Anaconda for the past couple of months until I got laid off a couple weeks back. My wife is expecting again and she’s having a hard time. I’ve got her and the kids to think of. This man, said his name was Alex Gent, came into the bar in town a week or so ago asking for a guide who knew the mountains. He was offering a huge amount for a back country trip. I needed the money and thought it would be an easy trip up and back,” Billy explained.
Jonathan took a step closer to Billy, shrugging off his brother’s restraining hand. “That’s not what I asked you. I asked if you knew where they took her?”
Billy looked at the dark faces looking down at him and swallowed. “Yeah, they took her back to her brother. I overheard Gent say they were going to grab her and get back as fast as they could,” he said looking warily from one to the other. “I swear I didn’t know until they saw her. They were going to shoot her dogs and I stopped them. Rodgers, he’s one scary son-of-a-bitch, he hit me in the face and knocked me out.”
Jonathan drew his gun out of the holster at his side and checked the rounds before aiming it at Billy. Billy jerked back, trying to scoot back across the ground. His face turned white and his eyes grew huge as he stared down the barrel of the gun aimed at him. A trickle of sweat slid down from the edge of his hairline as he looked death in the face.
“Jonathan,” Jacob said, coming to stand next to his brother. He laid his hand on Jonathan’s outstretched arm. “He could lead us to her. We can still get her back.”
Jonathan’s finger trembled on the trigger of the gun as he drew in a sharp breath. Was it possible? Could they travel back the way Indy had come, to her world and find her? He drew in a deep breath before he slowly lowered the gun back to his side. He still gripped it as he weighed the possibilities. If the man could travel through from his world to theirs and the other men had returned with Indy there was no reason why they shouldn’t be able to follow.
Jonathan turned to stare at his brother before he nodded. “Jake, I want you and Carl to watch over things until we get back. Cal, can you handle being out here alone until they can send a couple of men to help you out?” He asked looking at the boy who had seemed to turn into a man before his eyes.
“Sure thing, boss,” Cal said confidently.
“I’ll get the horses ready for you, boss,” Carl said.
Jake spit again and rubbed the whiskers on his jaw, nodding. “Wally and I’ll make sure everything is running smoothly for you, boss. You just bring Indy back home where she belongs. She told me she loves you something fierce. I don’t think she is going to take kindly to being taken away.”
Jonathan’s heart clenched painfully in his chest at Jake’s words. He had only told her that he loved her once. He should have been telling her it every damn time he saw her. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“You are going to take us to her,” Jonathan growled out, reaching down and grabbing Billy by the front of his shirt and pulling him up. “What is your name?”
“Billy,” Billy replied looking relieved that he didn’t have a bullet between his eyes. “Billy Cloudrunner. I’ll take you to Sam. He’ll know where Indy’s brother lives.”
“You better not try anything or I’ll be the one shooting you,” Jacob growled out. “Jonathan, let him ride your horse. You can ride Midnight,” he said grabbing Billy by the arm and pulling him behind him to the horses.
Jonathan quickly removed his rifle and rope from his horse and transferred them to Midnight who shivered with nervous energy. Within minutes, the three men were heading up into the mountains. Jonathan couldn’t help but feel a shiver of apprehension at the thought of what they would encounter. He only hoped Indy would not want to remain there once he found her.
*.*.*
Rodgers shifted Indy slightly, easing the pressure on his arm where he had been holding her. He knew she was awake. She had woken several minutes before but tried to keep her breathing stable, making it appear she was still unconscious. He had to hand it to her, most people would have tried to fight. That would have ended badly for her because he would have to dope her up again.
“If you don’t fight anymore, I won’t drug you again,” he murmured in her ear.
Indy drew in a deep breath and opened her eyes. Her head ached from whatever he had given her and her arms and legs felt shaky. When she woke a few minutes ago, she hoped to learn more about their plans so she could try to escape. It would appear it was not going to be as easy as she had hoped.
“Why are you doing this?” She hissed out angrily. “All I want is to be left alone. And for crying out loud, don’t hold me so tight!”
Rodgers shrugged and pulled her closer to his body when she stiffened. He chuckled when she tried to elbow him in the gut. Instead of loosing his hold, he leaned in and drew in a deep breath letting his lips brush the skin of her neck. She immediately stiffened.
“Don’t,” he said in warning, squeezing her. “We should be to where the truck is parked by late this afternoon.”
“How long have I been out?” Indy asked fearfully.
�
��Almost twenty-four hours,” Rodgers replied calmly.
Indy looked down at the handcuffs clasped around her wrists. Her mind was quickly trying to calculate the distance they had traveled and the amount of time it might have taken for the dogs to alert Jonathan that something was wrong. She frowned when she tried to figure out how they had gotten so far. They must have traveled through the night.
“We did,” Rodgers said, answering her soft question. “Night vision goggles are wonderful tools.”
“Hayden must want me pretty bad if you are willing to risk your neck to travel through the mountains at night to get me back,” she responded bitterly. “You know it won’t do you any good. As soon as I get in front of a judge they are going to have to release me. There is no way he can prove I can’t take care of myself.”
“Oh, I don’t think you will be going before any judge,” Rodgers said in a low voice, keeping his eyes on the horse in front of him to make sure their conversation couldn’t be overheard. “What do you know of your brother’s plans for you?” He asked curiously.
Indy frowned and tilted her head back far enough so that she could look into his eyes. “Why?” She asked suspiciously. “Do you know something I don’t?”
Rodgers shrugged, enjoying the feel of his chest brushing again her back. “Just asking,” he replied before going silent again.
Indy looked back at the man riding in front of them. It was weird that she was more afraid of the slender man in front of her than the one who looked like he could snap her in two without getting winded. She thought about her older brother. What did she really know about him? He was rich, greedy even. He liked to live in luxury. He was smart, aggressive, but had a way of making people agree with him. He was also very ambitious. She shook her head as another thought came to her as she remembered the letter he had sent to her grandpa that she had found.
“He can’t use me that way,” she muttered under her breath.
“He can’t use you how?” Rodgers asked guiding the horse down the narrow path. He adjusted his weight, leaning back and pulling her with him as the horse stumbled a little on the rocky surface. “How do you think he wants to use you?”
Indy sighed and decided it didn’t matter if the man knew about the letter or not. “I found a letter in my grandpa’s things as I was packing up. I didn’t read it until I was on the trail. Hayden mentioned he wanted me to come live with him as soon as I graduated from college. To my face, he acted like he wanted me to continue on with my education but in the letter he told my grandfather he wanted to introduce me to some men. He felt I needed to be ‘married’ to the right man who could take care of me,” she snorted. “I don’t need any man taking care of me. I need a man who is my partner. A man who loves me. A man like….” Her voice faded away as her throat tightened with tears at the thought of never seeing Jonathan again.
“Like….” Rodgers asked in disappointment when she didn’t immediately finish her sentence.
Indy straightened her shoulders in determination. “Like my husband,” she said defiantly. “He’ll come after me. He won’t stop until he finds me.”
Rodgers bit back a silent curse. There had been nothing in the reports that said anything about Indiana Wild being married. Having a husband in the equation was going to complicate things, especially if he showed up too soon. His eyes narrowed on the man in front of him. He would bet his paycheck that Gent had no idea that Indiana was married. Hell, he doubted the man would give a damn. As long as he got his money, Gent didn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone or anything. The man worked just this side of the law. He never strayed far enough to get out of the gray, at least from what he had been able to discover. He thought to the information he had on Hayden Wild and Jerry Hammock. Neither man would be pleased to find out their prize wasn’t as ‘available’ as they thought.
Neither one of them said anything after that, lost in their own thoughts. The skies were just beginning to darken when they broke off the narrow trail onto a logging road. A short distance down it, Indy could see a dark black truck and horse trailer. Panic began to set in as she realized that if they got her in the truck, she might truly never see Jonathan again. She erupted into a fury of violence, slamming her head back into Rodgers’ face and throwing her leg up and over the horse’s neck. She hit the ground hard and rolled as dark curses filled the air around her. Struggling to her feet, she had only taken a few steps before she was gripped from behind.
“No!” She cried out, turning to swing her fists up at the man trying to stop her from escaping. “No!” She whimpered as he pushed her face down into the dirt road.
She looked up at the way they had come, searching the darkness for a familiar face. She gasped at the prick of the needle as it was pushed into her thigh. She fought against the drug as long as she could, wishing desperately that she could see Jonathan’s face.
“Jonathan,” she whispered before her head sunk down and darkness overcame her.
Chapter 14
Jonathan looked around as they slowly made their way through the narrow cut in the rocks. The moment they passed the entrance, the temperature appeared to drop twenty degrees. Even the horses were tossing their heads and looking around. Chester and Tweed trotted next to them. Both dogs heads were bent and their tails tucked under them as if they were trying to appear as small as possible. Jacob looked over his shoulder and nodded silently. He felt the change as well. Something was definitely unusual about the Pass they were riding through. Small rocks rained down periodically, echoing loudly. He looked up toward the top of the rocks and shuddered. Thick swirls of mist covered the opening above them with only an occasional glimpse of the sky peeking through.
“How much further?” He called out quietly to Billy who was in the lead.
Billy turned in his seat and grinned. “Not much. It’s spooky, isn’t it?” He asked. “I nearly shit my pants the first time my father brought me up here when I was a boy. I was supposed to go through to the other side and bring back a hawk’s feather,” he said turning back around.
Jacob waited impatiently. “Well, what happened? Did you get it?” He asked, kicking his horse so he could get a little closer.
“Nah, I found one a couple weeks before and stuffed it down my pants. I only made it far enough inside the Pass that my dad couldn’t see me. I hung out for about an hour and then ran out waving my feather,” Billy responded lightly. “He knew, of course. The only reason he didn’t say anything was because he had done the same thing.”
Jacob stared at Billy while Jonathan just grunted. He couldn’t blame Billy. He wanted to get the hell out of there as well. The place had goosebumps rising all over his body. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the mist surrounding them getting thinner. He ignored the hard, cold lump in his throat and stomach at what might lie on the other side. The only thing he cared about was finding Indy. If he had to travel to the depths of hell and back to find her he would.
They burst through the narrow cut one at a time, each pulling in a deep breath of relief. Jonathan turned to look at the entrance and was amazed to see it was almost invisible to the eye. He turned back in his saddle to look at Billy who was grinning at both of them.
“No one would ever find it unless they had been shown. The elders don’t talk much about it except to scare the young braves who are going through the right of passage to become a warrior,” he commented with a small shake of his head. “Not that there is much need for warriors anymore. Just trying to support a family is hard enough. I’d hate to have to go through what my ancestors went through. I probably wouldn’t have lasted a day.”
Jonathan nudged Midnight closer to Billy. “Where to now?” He asked.
This was taking longer than he anticipated. He had thought they would have caught up with the men who had taken Indy by now. They had ridden hard yesterday, pushing the horses, dogs and themselves before having to make camp for the night when they could no longer see in front of them. The horses and dogs needed to rest. Instead,
they had not found any trace of a fire where the men would have camped. Billy said the men had some type of thing they placed over their eyes so they could see at night. He called them ‘night vision goggles’. Neither Jonathan or Jacob could conceive such a thing but Billy had sworn that it was true. He said that must have been how they were able to continue in the dark. They had left their camp at dawn, foregoing anything to eat except the hardtack of biscuits and jerky that they carried.
“We head downhill toward the south. There is an old logging trail where I parked my truck and the horse trailer. If we are lucky, it will still be there. If not, we are on the backside of Sam Whitewater’s ranch. We’ll head to his place on horseback. It will take about another three hours to reach it that way, less than an hour if the truck is still there,” Billy explained, turning the horse he was riding slightly to the right and heading off in a southernly direction.
Jacob pulled back until he was even with Jonathan. “Did you understand half of what he just said?” He asked quietly.
Jonathan nodded. “Indy showed me images of some of the things he mentioned. I don’t understand how one can make the time shorter but right now I don’t care. All I want is Indy back at my side and to get back through that damn Pass in one piece,” he muttered moving ahead of Jacob.
Jacob frowned at his brother’s retreating back. Damn if he wasn’t going to have to ask Indy to show him some of those images. He would like to at least understand what he was getting into before he got wherever in the hell they were going. He fingered the gun at his waist, finding comfort in the familiar grip. He had to agree with his brother though, he just wanted to get Indy back so they could go home.