They had just put the baby back to bed and gone to lay down themselves when a noise woke Josey. Josey got up to check the door and saw a man standing there, outlined by the dim moonlight on the porch. Before she could open her mouth, the man broke the lock with his gun and entered through the front door.
Hank and George were still in the barn, sleeping. Surely they would hear and come running. "Well now, Slade, lookie what we have here…" one of the men said, his gold teeth snarling around his ugly lips. He was a big burly man with a belly over his pants, and gray whiskers barely hid the sagging mouth. The one called Slade was big and tall and seemed to dwarf the room as he came in. And then another smaller scrawny man came in.
These men obviously enjoyed a brush with danger, as they would surely hang if caught. Their unkempt appearance said they were with no army, as no soldier would appear this dirty unless he’d just come from a skirmish.
Josey took on an appearance of raw courage, to hide her perception of the pure danger she was in.
"What do you want?" Josey stepped into their faces boldly.
She gasped and tried to move away as the one called Slade, fingered the rim of her robe. His hands were grimy and his teeth almost the same. There was nothing pretty about these men, who wore rags, and breathed fire.
Slade smiled, and plopped himself at the table. "First of all, we’s hungry."
Josey tried to calm her racing heart and use her head. "All right, I’ll fix you something to eat. You didn’t have to burst into my house and scare a body to death to get some food. I believe in feedin’ the hungry."
"We’ll be takin’ as much as we can carry, in food, clothes, shoes, tools, weapons…" The skinny man with no name said. He looked about the house as though he had every right to.
Josey saw fear register on Rose's face.
"Fix us some grub and be quick about it," Slade barked.
"Yes sir." Josey nodded. "Come Rose, I’ll need help."
Rose didn’t hesitate to follow her into the kitchen. The men began rummaging through the rooms. They came out with clothes, shoes and one old pistol. Josey grimaced that they’d found their father’s gun, but she wouldn’t be objecting at this point. There was no fear of the gun, it no longer had bullets. Let them worry about that, she thought.
Gritting her teeth, she tried to think on how to rouse Hank and George.
The third man came into the kitchen with her father’s only white shirt and clean pants from the closet. "How do I look?" he asked the other men.
They laughed.
"Fine…fine…glad you found something that fit," Josey managed as she fried the bacon. Usually fried bacon would wake George every time. Rose must’ve caught on to what she was doing because she kept glancing out the window toward the barn.
Slade came barreling out of the bedroom and laced them up. "Hey, I got some shoes that will work. Man if that don’t feel good."
"Is this all the weapons you got?" The second man asked.
Slade shook his head. "Don’t fret Tal, we done got that gun from the one in the barn…"
Rose and Josey’s eyes widened in fear as they glanced at each other. They’d already been in the barn? Had they killed Hank and George? Rose’s face paled, Josey was shaking with fear, but she had to finish the task of cooking for them. Somehow.
"That’s one useless piece of artillery." Tal tossed the old gun to the floor.
"At least we got the old man’s rifle." Slade laughed. "Why…you girls didn’t think we’d just barrel in here without checking the place out first did ya. Thing is we sorta figured this place would support more than what we found. That old fella in the barn, he raised quite a fight. But we done him up good."
"You always could slit a throat cleaner than anybody I knowed." Tal laughed.
"George?" Rose’s voice rose with pure panic. "They killed George?"
Rose let the tears roll down her cheek freely now.
Josey nodded, hoping Rose wouldn’t say anything about Hank yet. Obviously they hadn’t gotten around to Hank. Or hadn’t found him. How could he have escaped? Where was he now?
Rose sobbed hysterically, Josey finished her task and went to stand beside her chair. "It’s okay, Rose…everything is going to be okay…
"I wouldn’t go promising what I couldn’t keep." Tal laughed.
"Look…" Josey turned on the men now. "I don’t know who you are, or what you want. But we are just two women trying to keep a farm up. Take what you want and go…please, you are frightening us." Josey shook with fear and rage building inside her. Her thought kept going to George and wishing there was something she could do.
"Oh we will, but we ain’t in no hurry." Slade said as Josey returned to the stove and brought out bacon and eggs.
The men sat down and ate in just a few minutes. None of them had any manners. They all smacked and grease ran down their chins. None of them seemed grateful. Had they merely asked, she would have fed them gladly. But bursting into her home, killing one of her family…she wanted them dead.
Rose dried her eyes, and then the baby cried. She ran to take care of him, but one of the men followed her.
Josey heard them talking.
"Well now, what we got here. A baby. Why ain’t he a cute one?"
As the man carried the baby out to the others, Rose followed, afraid he might hurt him. "Please…please don’t hurt him." she begged.
"Why, I like babies, ma’am." Tal said with a quick smile. "Lookie here at this little red haired fella. Ever seen hair like that?"
Now Slade turned on Josey, eyeing her with contempt and interest. "You cook a fine meal."
"Thank you." Josey’s voice grew weak. Now that they’d filled their bellies, what would they do with them? Would they kill them? Was there any way to stop them?
"Load us up some more food. Canned goods, salt meat, anything we can take with us, put it in this burlap bag here, and be quick about it." he instructed her.
"Yes…yes of course." Josey answered.
Josey drug the dirty bag into the kitchen and went through the pantry with all the goods she could load. She was slow to work, as she figured their next fate would not bide so well. Fear gripped her. What could she do to stall them? The butcher knife in the kitchen was there in the drawer. She considered trying to slip it into her apron but one of the men was directly behind her.
The third man, who’d been quiet came into the kitchen and eyed her. “That’s enough, can’t carry much more.”
Slade moved him aside and stared at her. "See if they got any knives." he instructed.
The third man went through the cabinets and drawers and drew out a butcher knife they used to whack off the heads of chickens. As Josey stared at him, he whacked the knife into the counter and laughed as her eyes rounded.
"That’ll do nicely." Slade laughed.
"Now, I guess the food alone was worth this trip." Tal said as he handed the baby back to Rose.
Rose put the baby in his crib again and returned to Josey’s side.
"Well, we better get at this we ain’t got all night." The third man looked at Slade with an evil grin.
"Ladies…" He nudged them into the main room.
While all three men came closer, Josey grabbed Rose’s hand.
"If you want to kill us, just do it and get it over with…please…" Josey burst out.
“Aw now honey…we ain’t about to kill ya…we jest need a little…comfort…if ya know what I mean." Tal laughed.
Slade pulled them apart. "Take her in there." He said pointing to Rose. "This one is mine…"
"Let them take you, Josey…don’t fight it…don’t let them hurt you Josey." Rose screamed aloud. The look on her face was pure terror, but not for herself. She could handle this, but Josey knew nothing. She had to save her somehow. The love she felt for her right now poured out in her scream.
Josey heard the words and they seemed to ring in her ears. For once Rose knew more about taking care of them, than she did. But Josey wasn’t sure she
could let a man take her against her will. Every ugly thought she’d ever had came to mind. The painted women in town. And now her, laying on the floor in front of a man who meant to have her.
But as Slade split open her dress with the butcher knife all courage fled and pure panic set in. "Let them have what they want…" How could she? Pure fear gripped her so intensely she almost fainted. His hands were everywhere, his mouth the same and the stench on his breath was so vile she felt her belly roil. But nothing prepared her for the violence that came after. He laid the knife on her bare thigh, he scraped the edge along her skin till blood ran down her leg and onto the floor. Josey squirmed with white hot fear and a rage that thankfully blinded her. He took out another knife from his back scabbard, and flashed in her face.
Rose was still screaming for her, and then there was a quiet from the other room that scared Josey even more. So much so she blacked out. She came face to face with the intolerance of her pain.
~*~
"Take your filthy hands off her, you bastard." Hank’s voice was low and murderous, as Rose lay silently taking the man’s hits across the jaw as he rammed her.
The man on top of Rose lifted slowly. He buttoned his pants and stood up to stare at Hank through the darkness.
"Who are you…where’d you come from"" The man snarled. Rose lay on the bed, her mouth bleeding, her breathing shallow. Hank stared at her then turned and shot the man dead.
With lightning speed, he rushed to Rose’s side, his gun aimed at the first man through the door.
"Josey…" Rose screamed through tears. "In the other room…please…help her." Hank flew to the door, and muttered thickly, "I’ll be back, stay here."
In a few seconds, Hank's voice pierced the air. "My God…oh my God…"
Rose heard him from the bedroom as fear held her still. What had they done to Josey? She had to know, she had to see.
"I’m so sorry, Miss Josey." Hank was saying as he fell on the floor beside her and cried out a horrible scream.
Rose didn't hear anyone but Hank, so she figured the men had left. And only the one in the bedroom remained. Hank was gone a few minutes and Rose was almost too afraid to move. Hank finally came back to her side. She lay panting, barely able to open her eyes as the man had slapped her about. He pulled her into his arms and held her tight.
When she was able to speak she asked, "How’s Josey?"
"I don’t know honey. She ain’t awake…We got to get some help. They killed George. They didn’t see me, so I hid and waited till I could get inside."
"Poor George, let’s go see Josey."
"Can you walk?" he asked.
"Yes…he just hit me a few times." Rose tried to laugh. "I guess he was trying to shut me up, but I was so scared for Josey." Rose shook as he helped her to her feet. "She…must have fought them…Oh dear God, why didn't she listen to me?"
As they walked up to the bed, Josey just lay there, and they couldn’t roust her. Rose saw the blood on her mouth, and at her hips and thighs. She turned her head. "Oh God…Hank…they pretty near killed her."
"I know, honey, we got to get the doc here fast. I don’t know what all he did to her, but we got to get the doc. I want you to come with me." Hank said lowly. "The blood on her leg…that ain’t natural. We gotta get her some help fast."
"But Josey…"
"Please…I don’t want you stayin’ here, Rose. They could come back." He yelled to make her understand. "Grab the baby and let's get out of here."
Rose’s eyes widened. "Yes…yes they could…okay, but we must hurry…look at her Hank. She…she…oh God, let’s get the doc. Should we take her with us?"
"No…she's lost a lot of blood. We better not move her until the doc has a chance to look at her. We'll hurry."
As they ran out into the night, Rose glanced toward the barn. "Should we…see about George?"
"No honey, he’s dead. Best let the doc take care of this." Hank instructed. "Come on, let’s get. We got to get her some help. Is the baby all right?"
"Yes…help…" Rose repeated, turning her head back to the house as tears ran down her face. "Oh God, Hank, I told her not to fight them. She couldn't do it. I should have known she couldn't. You think she’ll be all right till we can get back? They'll think she's dead if they come back."
Hank nodded. "We’ll be quick about this…I'd take her with us, but I don’t' know how bad she is, and I don't want to move her about."
With that he whipped Hard Tack into position and they were hitched and out of there before Rose could get her bearings. She was afraid for Josey. She was bruised on the face and other places that reminded her when they hit a bump. But her pain didn’t matter any longer. She would survive, she wasn’t as sure about Josey. She wanted to help her, to prepare her for the worst of these men, but she didn’t know how. And she was afraid they’d kill Josey. The reality of it all hit her and she screamed aloud. "I can't lose Josey too!"
"I know darlin'. Just try not to think on it."
Hank didn't know that tears were running down his own cheek as he whipped Hard Tack to move faster.
They rode fast, nearly turning over a time or two but Hank was a quick thinker and moved Rose over to the other side to keep from tipping. As they barreled into the doc’s yard that early morning, Hank ran to the door and beat his fist against it till the doc answered.
"What’s all the ruckus, Hank?" The doc yelled when he opened the door and recognized him. "It’s Josey and Rose…you gotta come, quick…" Hank’s voice rose, not bothering to wipe the tears from his eyes.
"Good Lord…what’s happened," The doc asked as he grabbed his bag and hefted himself into the buggy, seeing Rose’s mouth and eye swollen and blue.
"Jayhawkers…" Hank managed to say.
The doc shook his head and dabbed at Rose’s mouth with a bandage. "Hold that on there so it stops bleeding."
"How’s Josey?" he asked.
"Don’t know doc, she ain’t awake…they…" He couldn’t say the words.
The doc patted him on the shoulder. "Okay son, settle down. We’ll get them fixed up." After a long silence he asked, "Anyone else hurt?"
Hank hung his head and yelled his rage. "They kilt George…slit his throat."
"Did you get a look at any of them?" The doc asked.
"I killed one…" he said through a choked voice.
"Good. Maybe someone can figure out which bunch done this…this is terrible. Just terrible. As if this war ain’t enough."
Rose sat silent on the seat of the buggy, holding the bandage to her mouth and the baby in her arm worrying about her sister who laid on the bed at home, no longer her Josey…but a shell.
It was nearly sunup when they finally got back to the farm. The doctor rushed into the bedroom to see Josey. He closed the door and only let Rose in.
He tended her for a long while, dabbing her, blotting there, sewing and shaking his head with disgust and obviously angered at the men that did this. Later sitting by the side of the bed, holding her limp hand and shaking his head, he spoke to Rose.
"She wasn’t raped, not by a man but they used the knife on her instead, I guess she passed out and they decided it was no fun. They cut her up pretty bad, did a lot of damage. She’ll probably never have children, although I sewed her up as good as I could. But I cain’t do nothin’ with her mind. That’s the part they messed with most. Sometimes this happens when a woman is scared to death. They call this a stress induced coma. Ain’t nothin’ to do for her now, but feed her and take care of her to see if she snaps out of this. And only time will tell if she comes to. But if she don’t, we’ll have to find a way to feed her and keep her alive. Can you handle this?" He asked staring up at the tearful Rose.
Rose straightened herself and tried to smile. "Of course I can…she’s my sister, I’m not about to let her die, Doc."
"Good. Until she wakes up, she can’t eat nothing but soup broth, and water. But you see she gets that down. Shock does this. And they ain’t taught us near eno
ugh about how to handle this kind of thing yet. Now it’s up to God…you understand Rose?"
"Yes…" She nodded numbly. "I'll talk to him, too."
"Good, now I’ve done all I can fer her, let’s have a look at you." He turned his attention to her and began doctoring her wounds.
Rose stared at the doctor whose voice had grown gravelly and his eyes had grown sad. She guessed he had to see a lot of terrible things in his lifetime. She wondered how his heart could stand so much tragedy. Right now her heart was breaking for Josey.
After his examination he nodded with a smile. "You let ‘em take you, didn’t ya girl?" Rose half smiled.
"Why shore I did, Doc. Better than rapin’ me…"
"Then why did they hit you so?" he asked.
"I wouldn’t shut up. I was trying to tell Josey to just take it…to just lie still and it wouldn’t hurt so. But I don’t think she knew how…God I wish she knew how." Rose trembled.
"No…I guess she didn’t. But I’m proud you came out of it okay. She’s going to need you now. And Hank, I think that boy is as torn up as I’ve ever seen. I’m glad he got one of them."
Rose thought about Hank and nodded. "He sure fixed one of them, didn’t he?"
"He sure did. I’ll take the fella he shot back to town with me and let the Sheriff handle this from there. You can be proud of Hank fer that." The doc smiled sadly.
"How do you do it doc?" Rose finally asked, staring at the little man who could fix anything.
"Do what?"
"Fix so many people, take care of the dead, see to things. How does your poor ole heart stand it all?" Rose asked, wiping the last tear from her eye.
"Well, I do what I gotta do, Rose. Just like you will for a while now." he said. "This is for pain, you or Josey need it, take it. I’ll have some women in town come out and hep as much as they kin."
"Thank Doc…for everything." Rose reached up to kiss his weathered cheek. "Do you have any kin in the war?"
"Had one son, he died at Fredericksburg."
He smiled sadly at her now and they walked out of the room.
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