Suddenly, an officer riding a tall bay gelding rode up alongside her and reached down, grabbing the reins forcefully. “Whoa, senorita! Where are you going in such a hurry? Well, in a hurry with this little runt pulling you.” He laughed at the mule.
As if it understood him, the mule flattened his ears and reached back and tried to bite the horse that stood next to him. The officer frowned slightly, then pulled his horse back enough that it was out of reach of the mule. Then he returned his gaze to Olivia.
“It isn’t safe to be traveling these roads at night,” he continued.
Olivia forced a smile to her face. “But, senor, it is not night yet. I still have plenty of light to carry me forward.”
“And where are you headed?” She hadn’t heard the other soldier that had ridden up on her right side and flinched when she heard his voice. “Ah, no reason to be afraid, senorita,” he said, smiling to reveal slightly yellowed teeth and a gap where he had lost a tooth, either in battle or a barroom brawl. She didn’t care.
“I’m traveling to my sister’s home. She needs some supplies given the chaos that has occurred around here.” She prayed her lie was convincing enough.
“You won’t make it much further before it is dark, senorita. Why don’t we just help you make camp here.” The officer’s voice cut in again, and sweat began to build in the palms of her hands.
She turned back to him, trying to plant the sweetest smile possible on her face. “That is so kind and generous of you, sir. But I must decline. I intend on getting to my sister tonight. The moon will be out soon enough to guide my way.”
Before she realized it another soldier appeared at her elbow, having dismounted his horse. “Now that isn’t a very cordial way to behave, senorita.” He spoke in a low voice, but the intentions in his eyes were obvious.
Olivia turned and tried to jerk the reins free from the officer and smacked the mule’s rear hard, but he wasn’t fast enough. He only made a few steps before the officer leaned down again and jerked her to a stop.
When she looked up at him, her heart raced in fear. This man had nothing but ice for a soul. “That wasn’t a very nice thing to do, senorita,” he said softly, his eyes holding malice and something else. Anticipation?
The soldier standing near her grabbed her arm and held it in a tight grip as he began to pull her from her seat. She grasped the wood on the seat tightly with her other hand and pulled hard to free herself from his grip, but he was far stronger than her. And it didn’t help when the officer on the horse next to her grabbed her by her hair and pulled her towards the soldier.
It hurt, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her pain. But she could no longer maintain her grip on the seat and tumbled off, landing on her hands and knees in the mud. The men laughed at her, and she grabbed the wagon to pull herself upright.
The officer had already dismounted and grabbed her by her hair once again, hauling her up to face him. He was a good head taller than she was, but she refused to lift her eyes to his face. He chuckled and she could smell the stench of tobacco and whiskey. He put a finger underneath her chin and lifted it, but she still refused to make eye contact with him.
“Look at me, senorita,” he said calmly. When she didn’t comply, he yelled, “Look at me!”
She couldn’t stop her flinch and the men all laughed again. Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet those of the officer, and she saw a man who had lost his soul altogether. Whether he had lost it in the battle of the Alamo or never had one to begin with, she didn’t care. A man with no soul was dangerous. Because, for him, the only source of joy was witnessing and inflicting pain upon others.
She needed to get one of her shotguns. She had one on the other side of the wagon that she should have grabbed when they had approached her, and she had another at the back of the wagon, underneath the tarp. Grandfather had always driven home the point that it was better to be over prepared than under. But at that moment, neither option was going to help her.
The officer smiled at her and released his tight grip on her hair and instead pinned her against the wagon with his body, holding her firmly in place. “It is very dangerous out her for a beautiful woman such as yourself. We will protect you on your journey,” he said, still smiling and glanced at his other two comrades. “Won’t we, hombres? We will protect you as long as pay us a small fee.”
Olivia was trying to control the tremors that were starting to take over her body. “I am poor, senor. I do not have any money.”
“Then we will make arrangements for you to pay in another way.” His voice was so repulsive she nearly threw up.
Suddenly his hands were on her breasts and he buried his face against her neck, mumbling about his approval of what he held. Olivia had to take action and save herself. She drew her knee up hard and fast and the officer cried out in pain, stepping away from her. She turned on the guard next to him and before he knew what had happened, she planted a solid blow to his chin with her right fist, and he stumbled backwards, stunned.
She raced to the rear of the wagon where she was brought up short by a hand striking her hard across the face. She had forgotten about the third soldier. But he clearly hadn’t forgotten about her. He yanked her back up and struck her again, and this time she tasted blood in her mouth. When he held her upright and sneered at her, she felt dazed and disoriented from all the strikes to her head and face. He had a sharp, angular face, making him appear even more frightening than he already was.
“You just made a big mistake, senorita,” he said, his accent heavy.
He slammed her against the back of the wagon and began ripping at her dress, the buttons popping all around them. Olivia was too proud to beg, and she knew it would do no good. These men were intent on violating her, and only sheer force—or a miracle—was going to save her now. She twisted and clawed, trying to free herself from the soldier whose smell assaulted her nose and his filthy hands grabbed at her clothing. Finally, she was able to rake her nails down his face and he yelped in pain, stepping back from her.
The other guard had recovered from her punch, unfortunately, and he quickly took the place of his comrade. She heard her dress rip and felt the cold air on her skin and fought even harder. She wasn’t going to let this happen. She refused to let it happen!
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the officer step around the back of the wagon, having regained his composure. He pulled away the guard and held her at arm’s length, his hard, large hands keeping hers at her side. His grip on her wrists was punishing, and she slowly came to realize that she would not be able to defeat this man. Not without her shotgun.
“You are very pretty, senorita. It pains me to see you in such distress.” She gasped in surprise as he flipped her around and bent her over the back of the wagon. “So I just won’t look at you.” He laughed, and the guards joined in his laughter as he began tossing her skirts over her head.
Oh, dear God. Not like this. Please, not like this. That was when her mind suddenly kicked in and she remembered her shotgun. With her skirts over her head, her movements were concealed and she began to reach under the tarp.
Whack!
The sharp slap to her bare behind was not only painful, it was horribly mortifying, and she fought against the sting of tears. She would not let these men win.
Whack!
The second smack helped jerk her body forward slightly and she could feel the butt of the gun with her fingertips. She just needed him to continue his current line of torture a little longer...
Whack!
“See, hombres, she just needs to be tamed, that’s all. Now she will take me gladly, and you’ll thank me afterwards, senorita. Because you’ve never had it as good—”
Olivia whirled and aimed the shotgun directly at his most vulnerable spot. “I’d be very careful with what you do next, soldier.” She spoke calmly, even though her heart was racing.
The officer backed away from her, but then his eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t shoot me. I
’m an officer. There would be dire consequences for you and your entire family.” He began to move towards her again, a hesitant light in his eyes, but still soulless.
She cocked the gun. “Do you want to find out the answer the hard way?” she demanded.
The other two soldiers, seeming to have finally caught on to what was happening, reached for their pistols. “Tell your men to stand down or I will make you a eunuch, do you understand me?”
The officer waved his hands at the two soldiers, motioning for them to stop. “Good,” Olivia said, praising him as if he were a small child. “Now, I want all of your guns loaded in the wagon. I said now!”
The officer glowered at her for several long moments, and Olivia feared that he was going to try to order his men to move on her even if it cost one of them his life. He was so angry at her that he might be willing to make that sacrifice. But as long as his manhood was at stake, perhaps he wouldn’t take the risk.
Finally, he nodded and his men stepped forward and tossed the guns into the back of the wagon. Olivia was doing her best to hide her shakes by steading the shotgun with both hands. Slowly, she moved around the wagon and walked backwards towards the front.
“All three of you, turn around and get on your knees,” she ordered, as she quickly gathered the reins of the three horses they had been riding. She couldn’t take the chance they would follow her. She swiftly tied the reins to the wagon as the men got on their knees, cursing her with every foul name she had ever heard, and some new ones she hadn’t.
Carefully, she climbed into the wagon, keeping her gun leveled at them. “You stay on your knees and don’t get up until you no longer hear my wagon. Or I will shoot you.”
“You little bitch.” The officer growled and he began to stand.
With a calmness she couldn’t explain, she fired the shotgun quickly, and buckshot whizzed just over his head, knocking his hat off his head. He ducked down quickly and resumed to kneeling, his hands searching his head to be certain he hadn’t been struck. “I will find you and make you pay for this, whore!” He screeched at her.
Sitting twisted in the seat so she could keep her eyes, and her gun, on the men, she smacked the reins hard on the mule’s rear and it leapt forward with a jerk, already spooked from the gunshot. None of the men turned around, but she waited, watching them, as the mule moved faster than she could ever remember.
When they were several hundred feet from the men, she quickly turned the mule and headed into the dense wooded area for concealment. There was barely enough room for the wagon to fit between the trees, but she knew it thinned out only a short way ahead and she would follow that path to get to Angie’s house instead of staying on the original trail where they could watch her.
She didn’t think the officer would actually come looking for her. But there was a small possibility he would, and she could leave nothing to chance.
A sense of calm purpose was all that Olivia felt as she continued on the route she had chosen. When she reached the area that thinned out, she stopped the wagon just long enough that she could untie the horses and slap them on the rear, spurring them to run. Whether they ran back to their masters or to graze in the wild, she didn’t care. She couldn’t have three horses staying at the home in case a soldier might come by to inspect their area.
As she climbed back up into the wagon, the clouds that had been gathering turned into loud thunderstorms, as lightening arced through the dark sky and rain began to pour down. Olivia was both miserable and grateful for the rain. It made the travel that much more difficult, but at least it would wash away her trail and, should those soldiers seek revenge, they wouldn’t be able to track her. And, best of all, it would wash their horrible scent from her body. At least she prayed it would. But it could not erase it from her memory.
With the feeling of cold water dripping on her chest she looked down and realized her bodice had been ripped open. As if in a trance, she tried to gather the material together as best she could to cover her nudity. It was as she did so that she noticed the bruises on her wrists and forearms. She couldn’t remember how she had gotten them. She knew why it hurt so much to sit—that memory was very clear in her mind.
And, yet, she still felt nothing. She needed to get to the house where she would be safe with Cade. She looked at the sky again. It was way past dark, and he would be angry she hadn’t held to her word. With determination, she clucked to the mule and slapped the reins, and he took off at a bone-jarring trot where each bounce reminded her of the degrading humiliation she had just endured.
Chapter Thirteen
Where was she? “I’ll be home before dark,” she had said. It was now far past sunset, and the rain was pouring down in buckets. The only way he could see anything outside was when the giant streaks of lightening lit up the sky.
Perhaps she had seen the dark clouds and decided to stay in town with her sisters. It would be the smart thing to do. But deep inside he knew she wouldn’t have made that decision, no matter how sensible she was being. She was a woman of her word, and if she said she would come back to him, by God, she would find a way to come back to him.
A thousand different scenarios were playing through his mind, and none of them were good. Unable to take the restless wanderings of his mind, he slid to the edge of the bed and grabbed the makeshift crutch he had built for himself. Taking several deep breaths, he stood with a groan, slowly putting weight on his injured leg.
He leaned heavily on the crutch, trying to catch his breath as he fought through the pain. Gradually it eased, and he stood fully upright and began to hobble his way to one of the windows. His leg protested every step, but he blocked out the pain in his mind. What if Olivia was out there and needed help? It was insane for a woman to travel alone during these uncertain times, especially in the dark!
Something caught his eye, a glint of some sort. He watched it as it moved closer and closer, and he could finally see the harness on the mule clearly with Olivia driving the wagon forward, urging the mule to pick up the pace. Relief washed over him, but was quickly replaced by anger. How could she be so foolish? Didn’t she realize the danger she had put herself in?
She pulled the mule into the shed, getting the wagon under cover from the rain, then got down and began to quickly unhitch the mule and put him in his stall. Then she hurried to the back of the wagon, tossed the tarp back, and grabbed a giant bag of something.
He opened the door for her before she could try to do it on her own. She hesitated a moment before stepping inside, then moved in and looked at him with startled eyes. “What are you doing out of bed?”
“What are you doing out in the dark?” he demanded, his jaw clenching and unclenching with his anger.
“Oh,” she said, and moved past him to the small pantry where she placed the bag. “I was held up longer than I planned. I’m sorry I wasn’t back sooner.”
She emerged from the pantry with an apron on, something Cade thought odd, but he didn’t give it much thought as he still had the anger bubbling inside of him for taking the huge risk she took. Before he could say anything, though, she was already past him and going back out to gather more items from the wagon.
Realizing that a conversation with her at this point was going to be futile, he held the door for her as she continued bringing in the supplies.
She smiled at him when she had finished. “Thank you. Now, let’s get you back to bed. You already exercised earlier today and we don’t want to put too much strain on your leg.”
Now he could talk. And that was exactly what he was going to do. “Do you realize the danger you put yourself in? Do you even comprehend how dangerous it is for a woman to travel alone, much less alone at night? What were you thinking?”
“Time got away from me,” she said, her voice quivering slightly.
“You’re chilled to the bone. I can get to the bed on my own. You need to get warmed up.”
Olivia nodded at him, but didn’t speak. Cade took a long hard look at her and cou
ld see—nothing. Her face was blank and vacant, devoid of all emotions. In the flickering firelight it was hard to see much of anything, but he felt he couldn’t leave her to go to the bed. “Olivia? What has happened? Did you get some news?”
His heart was thundering. What if she had found out that his dear sweet Bella was dead? Dear God, what had she discovered?
With fear gripping his heart, he reached out and grabbed Olivia’s arm and she flinched hard. Why was she afraid of him again? He thought they had resolved all of this and they were in a better place.
He let go of her arm and stared at her with both fear and concern. “What did you learn today?”
Olivia shook her head and touched his arm, as though to reassure him. “Bella is safe. They are using her to get the cooperation of Texian sympathizers. They threaten that they will kill her if someone doesn’t come forward with information. Inevitably someone always does. It is a clever ruse. From what my sister has heard, Bella is treated very well as long as she plays her part.”
Relief rushed over Cade so intense he nearly fell. Olivia’s hands reached out to grab him and steady him. “You must get into bed.”
He nodded and turned towards the bed, then turned back to Olivia. “So she is no longer in San Antonio?”
“No. They’ve headed East. They are trying to get close to General Houston to engage battle.”
“She cannot be in the middle of a battle! It is no place for anyone, much less a child!” Cade’s fear had mounted again.
“I know, I know,” Olivia said soothingly. “But Houston is a very shrewd man. They will not get close enough to him.”
Cade’s eyes searched Olivia’s. “Then what is it? Tell me. What is it that has you so disturbed tonight?”
She shook her head but wouldn’t make eye contact with him. “I’m not disturbed, but thank you for your consideration. Now, to the bed.”
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