“Dammit!” Jonathan said. “Those bastards are going to find all our shit! They’re going to clean us out! Our food… our weapons… everything!”
“I don’t see that we can stop them, Jonathan. There are way too many of them!”
“Not if Eric were here, there wouldn’t be, but he isn’t, so yeah, you’re right. Man, we are so screwed if we lose all our stuff!”
“Maybe they won’t take it,” Vicky said. “Maybe they’re looking for someone, and they got the wrong place. Do you think they could be soldiers? They look like they could be to me.”
“Maybe, but I’m not willing to let them know we’re here so we can ask them. They seem to know what they’re doing, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t shoot us on sight. We need to try and slip out of here before they start looking around, because now that they’re inside the cabin, they’re gonna know that someone’s been living there. If they come up this way and I’m still here, I’m screwed, because I can’t run. Besides, we need to find another way down to where we heard that shooting and see if we can find Shauna.”
“There is a way on the other side of the ridge above us, if we can find a route that Tucker can handle. There’s no way I could help you walk that far as steep is it is, but Tucker could carry you while I lead him. Shauna and I were up there just the other day. It looked like another small creek down in the ravine on the other side, and she said it had to run into the main creek somewhere.”
“Then that’s the way we need to go, but we’re going to have to be real careful slipping away from where we are right now, especially with Tucker. He’d be easy to spot from down there if they start glassing these slopes, and he may get agitated and make noise. Go ahead and lead him a bit farther back in the woods and wait for me there. I’m going to watch these guys just a moment longer and then I’ll crawl back over there and mount up.”
“You should come now, Jonathan. Why wait?”
“Because I want to see what they’re going to do when they finish searching. I want to make sure they don’t just leave afterwards, because if they do, we might have other options.”
“I wouldn’t count on it, Jonathan.”
“I’m not, and I won’t be long. Now go! Take it slow and keep that horse quiet!”
Vicky did as she was told, and Jonathan turned his attention back to the men raiding Bob Barham’s cabin. He now saw that three of them had discovered the old man’s grave out there in the meadow, and were standing there looking at it, no doubt reading the inscription on the wooden marker that bore the recent date of his passing. He knew it wouldn’t fool them into thinking no one still lived there though, because there were dirty dishes in the sink and the coals in the wood stove hadn’t even had time to burn out since breakfast. Jonathan then saw a couple of the others that had been inside come out onto the porch carrying the rifles and shotguns they’d found in there. They leaned them against the railing and went back for more. After several trips, they had stacked the ammo cans and the bags containing magazines and the handguns out there as well. Jonathan knew it must have looked to them like whoever lived there had an arsenal and was seriously prepared for anything, and it was the truth. However, all those preparations had done them little good in the end, as they had been caught out and surprised by this silent and swift-moving band of invaders, who had now taken possession of it all without firing a shot.
As he watched them, Jonathan noticed one man walking towards two of the others while holding something up to his ear. It was hard to be sure at that distance, but Jonathan figured it was a radio of some kind. He already knew there were more of the men than just those he could see at the cabin because of that burst of gunfire. Jonathan thought it quite likely that the one he saw with the radio was in contact with the rest. They would probably be coming here as well, and soon, so Jonathan knew it was time to get moving if he and Vicky were to avoid getting caught. He feared the worst for Shauna if she had indeed exchanged gunfire with any of this crew. She was far outnumbered and outgunned and had likely been as surprised as he and Vicky at their sudden arrival. All he and Vicky could do was try and find her down there in the direction from which they heard the shooting, but they had to be extremely careful to avoid being seen while doing so.
Jonathan crawled quietly back to where Vicky was waiting with Tucker. With her standing beside him, so he could put an arm around her while hanging onto the saddle horn with his other hand, Jonathan was able to get his good foot into the stirrup, and from there, swing his injured leg up and over. She passed the .45-70 lever action rifle up to him and then he was ready to go. “Just take it real slow and stop ever so often to listen,” he said, as she took the reins in one hand and began walking quietly in front of Tucker. “Try to keep to the heaviest cover that we can get through with Tucker. We don’t know that some of the others with them aren’t out here combing the woods already.”
The going was difficult as Vicky sought a suitable route up and over the ridge. She had to double back in places, taking advantage of the natural switchbacks she could find, and the higher they went, the more snow accumulation they encountered. Jonathan hated that they were leaving a visible trail in it, but there was little they could do about that now. At least it didn’t start from the cabin, as the meadow and surrounding areas down there were mostly free of snow until the next storm came through. Jonathan hoped that would buy them some time, as the men wouldn’t pick up the trail until they had time to expand their search radius well away from the cabin. Whether they would even do that or not, there was no way of knowing, but it was best to assume they would. Though he and Vicky stopped several times to listen carefully, they could no longer hear the men down at the cabin from up there where they were, and there was nothing else from the direction they’d heard that machine gun burst either.
Vicky at last found a way over the crest of the ridge and without pausing on the top, began picking a way down the other side that Tucker could negotiate. All of this was unfamiliar territory to Jonathan, but Vicky whispered back to him that she was sure it was the same way she’d gone with Shauna a few days before, and that she was certain they would find the smaller stream somewhere down in the forested ravine below. As he hung on to the saddle horn while Tucker descended, Jonathan realized that Vicky’s insistence on bringing the horse with them that morning had made all the difference. Jonathan had said it wasn’t necessary and that the purpose of going out there was to work on building up his strength, but Vicky argued that she couldn’t carry him back to the cabin if he couldn’t make it, and besides, it was no trouble to bring Tucker along, even though they were walking. Now, having the horse could mean the difference in life or death, because Jonathan knew he wouldn’t get far without him, even if his leg was getting better.
Aside from his concern over whether the intruders had already found Shauna, Jonathan doubted there’d be anything left to go back to at the cabin, not that they’d ever feel safe there again if there was. From what he’d seen of the way those men were ransacking it, piling everything up outside, he fully expected to lose everything, and probably the remaining horses as well. Taking inventory of what little they had with them, it was practically nothing: no food, no extra clothing, and little in the way of weapons and essential gear. The heavy-caliber lever-action rifle was a good hunting weapon and good for defense against large, dangerous animals, like bears, but with only a 5-round internal magazine, it was hardly suitable for combat against modern firearms. The Magnum revolver he carried was pretty much the same, while back at the cabin there were several assault rifles and high-capacity semi-automatic pistols, along with lots of magazines and ammo for most of them. All of that was out of reach now though, but at least he and Vicky had escaped with their lives—for now. Seeing the way those men breached the cabin door as if they were in house-to-house combat, Jonathan thought it just as likely they would have been shot on sight as taken prisoner, had the two of them been inside at the time. Whatever was happening at the cabin now though, was beyond t
heir control. Finding Shauna was the important thing, and as they descended down into the drainage of the smaller tributary, Jonathan could only hope they weren’t too late to help her.
Vicky stopped when they came into view of the small stream rushing over the rocks a hundred feet below. “This is it, Jonathan. It runs into the main creek about a mile farther down,” she whispered.
“I think we’re close to where that shooting was coming from. We’ve got to be extra careful from here on.”
“Yep, and that’s why you need to wait here with Tucker and let me go on ahead. I can move a lot quieter by myself.”
“It’s too dangerous to go alone, Vicky! We’ll tie Tucker up and leave him here. I can make it.”
“You can’t be serious, Jonathan! You’ll either have to use your crutches or lean on me. Either way is way too slow and will probably make too much noise. And what happens if we need to run? You can’t! I’m not going far, I just want to quietly climb down to the creek bank and look around. It looks like there’s plenty of snow down there. If Shauna was down there, there’ll be footprints. Give me the revolver and you wait here with the rifle to cover me. Believe me, I’ll hide if I see anyone other than Shauna moving down there. And I’ll be back here as fast as I can.”
Jonathan didn’t like it, but hearing her logic, there was little he could argue with. It sucked to be injured like he was, and every day since it happened, he thought about how stupid he’d been to slip and fall like he did. The broken leg had been a pain in the ass for him and everyone else that had to deal with him. Now he had to sit here and wait while Vicky did the dangerous job of reconnoitering ahead in a situation where she could run into a group of armed goons that she wouldn’t have a chance against alone. But they had to try to find Shauna at all cost. Even if they lost everything in the cabin and had to leave the area, if the three of them escaped with their lives they would find a way to overcome the setback and do whatever they had to do next.
As he watched Vicky work her way through the trees down the slope, Jonathan whispered quietly to Tucker to keep him settled down. Jonathan knew little of horses before arriving here in Colorado, but since his fall, when Bob Barham used one to move him safely down to his cabin, he’d learned the value of the animals that now played a huge role in his life. Vicky was an expert with them, and she had assured him that Tucker was smart and well-trained, and that he knew what to do, regardless of Jonathan’s inexperience. She had been giving him riding tips for days now, usually out in the meadow in front of the cabin, and the more time Jonathan spent on the horses, the more he liked it. He’d also savored the time he got to spend with her, although he doubted anything would come of it. She was being nice to him and helping him because they’d been cast together into a situation where helping each other was essential to survival. And he felt he was mainly on the receiving end of all that help, and it aggravated him to no end that he couldn’t be more useful, especially in a crisis like the one they were facing today. He was nervous when she disappeared from sight, and time seemed to drag by while she was gone. But then he saw her making her way quietly up out of the ravine. Shauna wasn’t with her, but Vicky was carrying something in her hand.
“I found it jammed into a crack between two boulders,” she said, as she handed the ruined deer rifle to Jonathan. It was the Remington hunting rifle of Bob’s that Shauna had left with that morning; Jonathan had recognized it instantly, because he had been looking forward to trying it out himself. Now, with a broken stock and bent barrel, the rifle was useless, but Jonathan was surprised to see that the scope was still intact. It could be removed and would be useful by itself, and he would do so before discarding the ruined weapon. “There were lots of footprints all around where I found it,” Vicky explained, “but they didn’t go any further up this way. It looked like whoever made them went back the other way, down towards the main creek. I looked everywhere nearby, afraid I might find a body, but there was nothing.”
Jonathan felt his stomach tighten into knots as he thought about what might have become of Shauna. “Did you see any blood in the snow? Any other evidence that she may have been hit by whoever fired those rounds?”
“No, I thought of that too, but I didn’t see any. I think they must have caught her somehow and taken the gun away from her. They must have her now, Jonathan! I wanted to keep going to see, but I didn’t want to leave you here wondering. But now I’m thinking I need to sneak back up to the other side of that ridge, where I can see the cabin again and see if they brought her back there. We have to know, Jonathan.”
“I agree, but you can’t do it alone. I’m going with you!”
“You can’t, Jonathan! There’s nothing you can do, because you can’t go on foot, and if we try and take Tucker back over there, there’s a good chance we’ll be seen. You said yourself that they’re going to know that the cabin was lived in. They’re probably going to be looking everywhere for us, and when they come, we’ve got to be ready to make a quick getaway. You’ve got to trust me on this, Jonathan. I just want to get one more look and see if I can spot Shauna. We have to know if they have her or not!”
Five
AS SHE WAS LED onto Bob Barham’s property, Shauna acted as if she’d never seen any of it before. Even though she’d noted Tucker’s absence from among the other horses, she made sure not to focus on any one area or to show any obvious interest to indicate she cared about any of it. She could see that the others that found the place while the five chased her down had already gone through the cabin and hauled out almost everything that was inside. They seemed more interested in the weapons than anything else, and when the one they’d been calling “Chief” saw the stash they’d stacked outside, he grabbed Shauna roughly by the arm and pulled her over to the side of the porch, where two of the men were taking an inventory of the guns and ammunition.
“Where did you people get all of this stuff, and what were you planning to do with it?” He demanded of her.
“I have no idea who these guns belong to! I told you, I’m not with anyone out here. I was at the ranch I told you about because I was looking for my daughter. I’ve never been here in my life!” She thought she sounded convincing, but when she looked at him again, the chief wasn’t looking at her, instead, he was staring at something amid the assorted pile of weapons, something that seemed to really pique his interest. “Hand me that rifle case, Jenkins! The brown one.”
When the other man passed it to him, Shauna felt a knot twisting in her stomach. She knew what it was, and so did the chief.
“Remington!” He said, as his eyes burned into hers with accusation. “It says Remington right here on the front of this case, but it sure feels awfully light for a rifle case! Let’s see what we have inside!”
He opened up the case and of course, found it empty. It was the case for Bob Barham’s Remington Model 700, and he knew as well as she did, even before he pulled out the owner’s manual Bob had tucked into an inner compartment, that the weapon that had been stored in there was the same as the 30.06 they’d taken from Shauna when they apprehended her.
“You have some explaining to do, lady, and this time, you’d better shoot straight. I don’t have any more time for games.”
Before she could say anything, one of the other men that arrived there first interrupted: “Chief, I think that rifle and some of the other nice hunting pieces we found here probably belonged to the owner of this cabin. We found his grave right out front, down there past the horse barn; freshly dug. This woman and her accomplices probably killed him.”
Shauna’s mind was racing as she considered how to respond to this. It was useless to continue denying that she’d been staying in the cabin, but since these men didn’t seem to know about Jonathan and Vicky and since the two of them obviously weren’t here, she wasn’t about to volunteer any information about them. She settled instead for a half-truth, as she knew she had to give them a lot more than she already had, because the rifle case had already proven she was hiding someth
ing from them.
“Okay look, I have been staying here. You know that now, but surely you understand why I wouldn’t volunteer that information. I have no idea who you people are, no matter what you said. You’re holding me against my will, and all I know is that these mountains are full of some very bad people.”
“There are bad people out here indeed,” the chief said, glancing out at the solitary grave marker in the meadow. “And it’s hard to say who they are.”
“Bob Barham was the owner of this cabin. He built it as his mountain retreat long before everything in this country started falling apart. He wasn’t murdered though. His death was an unfortunate accident. My husband and I buried him. He was helping us out, because like I said, my daughter is missing. Both of us came here looking for her, and it’s true what I told you about that ranch. It’s also true that the owners of that place were murdered by looters or bandits, whatever you want to call them. But before it happened, we found out from them where our daughter was headed. It’s a long way from here and Bob Barham was going to help us get there before he died, but it didn’t work out. So, my husband left me up here because he felt it was safer for me to stay here than to travel all that way through the mountains with him. We both felt this place was secluded enough that no one would find it, and they haven’t, until you came along today.
Feral Nation - Convergence (Feral Nation Series Book 6) Page 4
