The Ranch (Book 1): Troubled Times

by Brian Quest

  “Well, I’m glad that they did a great job, but we still have to make some changes. Anyone have any ideas that will keep the house, and more specifically the girls, safe?”

  Thomas looked as if a light bulb went on in his head and said, “Why don’t we make single shutters for inside the window, with old fashioned slide latches? You know, kind of like pioneer cabin doors, but for the windows? That way during the day they can have them open to let light in, and at night it will keep intruders out…or at least slow them down. They’d have to make an awful lot of noise to break in.”

  Impressed with his friend’s quick thinking, Andrew said, “It will take a little time, but it should work. We’ll start with the windows upstairs. Obviously whoever it was knows that there is usually someone downstairs and that the girls were alone last night. Keith and Stewart, go measure the windows and get started on the shutters and latches.”

  “Yes, sir,” Stewart said, and they left the house to do their job.

  “Tonight, and every night from now on, no matter what, we have to have someone in here with them. Thomas, you and I will have to keep more vigilant watch outside. That means that between Stewart, Keith and James, we will have a constant rotation for in the house. The other two will help us on the grounds.”

  “Sounds like a plan, Boss,” Thomas started. “I’ll go help the guys with the window covers. We should have enough old doors and wood to get all the windows in the house covered. If we keep a good pace, we may be able to get them all done and up by nightfall.”

  “Just be careful. Rushing causes accidents.”

  “Sir,” James said, “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to take the first watch tonight.”

  Andrew wasn’t sure how he felt about James being in charge of his daughters’ safety. He didn’t know if he could trust him at all let alone allow him to protect his girls. After taking a moment to think about it, Andrew looked at James and knew that at some point he would have to be the one to stand watch. He said, “That’s fine. No funny business. You stay right here in this house and keep a tight eye on them. You see or hear anything, you ring that bell.”

  “Yes, sir. I won’t let you down.”

  It only took a second, and then Andrew had a thought, “Speaking of the bell, Debbie, why didn’t you ring it last night to get our attention?”

  “Honestly, Dad, I didn’t want to open the door and risk whoever was out there hearing it. Not to mention the fact that we had no idea what was going on and we didn’t even know if you were alive.”

  “Well, you won’t have to worry again. You will be safe from now on.” Andrew paused and then said, “Why don’t you girls go up and clear the floor in front of your windows? As soon as the shutters are done we will want to hang them.”

  “Okay, Dad.”

  The house was a flurry of activity all morning. By lunchtime, all of the windows on the second floor were covered, and they were working on the downstairs windows. It wasn’t long before the entire house was able to be shuttered in; including reinforced doors. Andrew was impressed with how quickly they got the job done. So as a special treat, he asked Debbie and Connie to make their special pizza. Unlike the pizza that you normally would get at the store or delivered from the local pizza shop, all of the ingredients were either handmade or grown on the ranch. They used sauce made from the tomatoes in their garden, along with fresh herbs, beef sausage from their cattle, and cheese curds from their milking cows. On top of that they spread out fresh tomato slivers, mushrooms, green peppers and onions, all grown with love in their garden. The pizza crust was a specialty of Connie’s, and when cooked over the fire in the fireplace, turned a flakey golden brown.

  Andrew rang the bell and one by one the guys filed in, smiling at the smell from the other room. They knew instantly what that scent meant and couldn’t be happier to get such a treat. Everyone grabbed a plate and napkin and went to the living room. Once everyone had their pizza and drinks, they sat around eating and telling stories. Debbie knew it was a distraction so the younger girls didn’t worry, but she knew that deep down, her father was concerned about whether the people tapping on the windows the night before would return.

  Even with a fire burning in the fireplace, Andrew could feel that it was growing frigidly cold outside. When it was time for him and the others to make their rounds and keep watch outside, he layered on as many clothes as needed to keep warm and then kissed his daughters goodnight. He looked at James and said, “Well, this is your chance to prove to me that I can trust you. Don’t mess up. If one hair on any of these girls…”

  “I got it. I got it. I won’t let you down. Your girls will be safe.” James cut Andrew off.

  Feeling as though he were being hurried off, Andrew kissed his girls again and glared at James. He didn’t want to leave the house, but knew it wouldn’t be right to make the other guys go out in the cold for him while he stayed warm indoors. He reluctantly left the house, standing outside the doors long enough to hear James lock the regular door and slide the lever on the additional door. When he got about twenty yards from the house, he turned and saw the girls closing the shutters on their bedroom windows while James took care of the windows on the first floor. That made him feel a little better, and he continued his walk to the front of the ranch.

  James entertained the girls by getting them to play charades for a while. Amy and Beth were having so much fun. Soon it was obvious they were growing tired, so James suggested that all the girls go on up to bed.

  “But it’s still early,” Connie said.

  “I know, but it’s been a long day and you guys were up most of last night. So I think it will do you good to get some good sleep.”

  Debbie didn’t like being told at the age of seventeen that it was time for bed, but decided it was better not to argue with him. She ushered her little sisters up the stairs and got them into bed. She said goodnight to Connie and then went into her room and closed the door. With her candle in hand, she looked around the room and hated that giant chunk of door covering her window. Knowing that her father would be furious, she still walked over to the window, slid the latch and pulled open the big shutter. From her window, she had a view of the front of the ranch, and in the distance she could see the small speck of light from her father’s lantern as he made his way along the fence line. She looked to the sky and instead of a vast expanse of stars, she saw the swirling clouds and the moon, just a sliver, peeking through from time to time.

  Not wanting to get in trouble, she closed the shutter and locked it. She opened her closet door and instead of grabbing a pair of pajamas, she opted for a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt. It was chilly in her room, but she felt safer without a blanket on her to trip her up if she had to get out of bed fast. She wasn’t sure why, but she had a weird feeling as she blew out her candle and lay back on her pillows. She slowly drifted off to sleep, although she tried to fight it.

  It seemed like she was asleep for only an instant when she felt a hand clamp down over her mouth. Her eyes snapped open and she instantly started to struggle against the grip of the person hovering over her. It took her a moment to realize that the person was talking to her in a whisper.

  “Shhh. It’s me, James.” He said, still holding his hand over her mouth. “I need you to come with me, but that means I will have to take my hand off of your mouth. Can you promise me you won’t talk above a whisper? I don’t want to startle the girls.”

  Debbie nodded her head and when James moved his hand, she whispered, “What in the world are you doing? You scared the heck out of me.”

  “I need your help.”

  “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

  “I heard something outside and I rang the bell once, but nobody responded.”

  “Oh, my gosh. What should we do?”

  “I need you to come with me.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “We need to make sure the guys are okay.”

  “But, if someone is out there…”
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  “Come on, we gotta go. We need to find your dad. We will go out your window.”

  Debbie didn’t feel good about what was happening and couldn’t understand why he wanted her to go out the window. “Why? Can’t we use the door?”

  “We need to get out without being seen. This window leads to the trellis. We can climb down and find everyone.”

  “But what about the girls? Who will watch them?”

  James was on top of his game and had an answer for everything. “I already told Connie to keep an eye on Amy and Beth. She’s in Amy’s room now with both of them.”

  When she heard that, she felt a little more confident that James was on top of things and whispered, “Let me get my shoes on and grab my extra coat.”

  “Hurry, we may not have much time.”

  Debbie thought that last comment was a bit odd, but was so worried about her father and the other guys that she did as he said and hurried.

  Soon, James had Debbie climbing down the trellis ahead of him, and in short time they were making their way through the darkness. James made sure to keep his hand on her arm, and at first it made her uncomfortable, but she finally convinced herself that he was just making sure she didn’t hurt herself as they rushed through the ranch. He led her toward the back of the ranch, and Debbie had no clue where they were going. It wasn’t long until it became painfully obvious what was going on.

  As they reached the stream, there in the shadows stood three men, each a little bigger than the other. Fear began to take hold of Debbie’s mind and body and she began trembling. Before she could scream, James’ hand gripped her mouth once again. One of the other men pulled out a roll of duct tape and placed it firmly over her mouth.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THE SUN SHONE BRIGHTLY, and the first hints of frost were evident when Beth opened the cumbersome shutter on her window. She made her bed as she always did before going down for breakfast and then looked at her watch. She smiled knowing that she likely was the first of her sisters to be awake. Beth went to Amy’s room and woke her little sister by opening the shutter and saying, “Rise and shine!”

  “Awwww, I was having a good dream!”

  “Come on, let’s wake up Connie and Debbie and go make breakfast. Maybe we can convince Daddy to let us spend some time outside today!”

  That sparked a smile from Amy, and Beth helped her make her bed. Both girls went to wake Connie, and then the three of them moved to Debbie’s room. When they opened her door, they noticed the window was open and she wasn’t in her bed.

  “That’s weird,” Connie said. “She must already be downstairs.”

  “It’s cold in here!” Amy said.

  Connie went to the window and closed it, not really sure why Debbie would have her window wide open when she wasn’t in the room. Although it was odd, she didn’t really think to worry about it. Together, Connie, Beth and Amy went downstairs, sneaking past their father who was sleeping on the couch, and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. Connie expected to see Debbie in there, and when she realized that Debbie wasn’t, she went and woke her father.

  “Dad, get up.” She shook him gently and then said, “Debbie’s gone.”

  Andrew sat straight up and said, “What do you mean, Debbie’s gone?”

  “We went to wake her for breakfast and she wasn’t in her room. Her window was wide open.”

  “Maybe she was in the bathroom?”

  “Dad, come on, I wouldn’t wake you saying she was gone if there was a chance she was in the bathroom. She isn’t here…at least not in the house.”

  “Okay. You and your sisters make breakfast. Where is James?” Andrew asked.

  “I don’t know. I thought he’d be down here with you.”

  Andrew was beginning to panic, but didn’t want his daughter to worry just yet. So he said, “Okay, you girls go in and make breakfast. I’ll go gather the guys and we’ll find out where your sister is. James must already have gone back to his bunkhouse to sleep.”

  “Okay.”

  While the girls prepared breakfast, Andrew hurried out of the house and straight to Thomas’s bunkhouse. He knocked and shouted, “Thomas, I need you out here right away!”

  Thomas came to the door and pulled it open, “What’s going on?”

  “Debbie is gone. Is James at his place?”

  “I don’t know. The last I saw him, he was still at your place.”

  “Well, he’s not there now. Come on, we have to find her. Meet me at the house.”

  “You got it, Boss! I’ll get Keith and Stewart, and then we’ll go see if James is sleeping in his bunk. Maybe she just needed some air and went for a walk.”

  “No, she knows not to do that, at least not without telling me first. Hurry and get the guys, we can’t waste any time.”

  Thomas first went to wake the twins, hoping they had seen James recently, but neither one of them had seen him since the night before. In a frenzy, the three men ran to James’ bunkhouse and pounded on the door. When no one answered, they tried opening the door but it was locked. All of the shutters had been drawn closed and the windows were locked as well. They knocked again and then kicked the door in.

  “There’s nothing here,” Keith said.

  “What do you mean, nothing?” Thomas asked.

  “I mean nothing. His stuff is gone. All of it. His clothes, his personal items…everything.”

  “This isn’t good,” Thomas said. “Come on, we’ve gotta get to the house. We need to find our Debbie.”

  The three men ran to the house and filled in Andrew and the girls regarding what they had discovered. The three sisters held hands as they sat on the floor in front of the fireplace. Thomas, Stewart and Keith stood by, waiting for instructions from Andrew. After a moment he finally spoke.

  “Keith, I want you to stay here with the girls. Thomas and Stewart, you come with me. We are going to find them.”

  “Dad! We want to help look for her!” Connie shouted.

  “No, stay here where you will be safe.”

  “No way. I’m coming with you.”

  “She can stick with me,” Thomas said.

  Andrew knew there was no point in fighting it. Connie was not going to sit by and wait. “Fine, Connie, you go with Thomas.”

  The group headed out to find Debbie while Keith, Beth and Amy stayed behind. Not wanting to feel like they were doing nothing, the three of them decided to do the household chores and make stew so that when the others returned they would be able to warm up and eat. Keith knew, just as Andrew knew, that it was James who took Debbie.

  While the family was out looking for her, Debbie lay tied at the hands and feet, with a gag in her mouth. She was terrified and when she looked across the small clearing in the woods, she could see James and the three other men. She knew they were talking, but was just far enough away that she couldn’t hear them. The way they were huddled together, she could tell they were scheming, and that worried her even more. All she could think about was her family and getting home to be with them.

  As she lay there helpless, Debbie looked at the four men sitting on tree stumps around near what she wished was an active fire pit and began planning her escape. She knew if she could just loosen the rope keeping her hands and feet tied together, she would be able to get away. She struggled against the ropes, trying to be careful to not let them see her wiggling around. James had held her while one of the others had tied her hands, and when that happened, Debbie held her wrists together, side by side. Now that she was separated from the men, she turned her wrists so that her hands were facing each other, palm to palm. She was almost free from her binding, but when she looked toward the men, she could see two of them coming toward her. It was dark in the thick woods, the sun unable to penetrate the thick cover of trees, so she couldn’t tell if it was James right away. She stopped moving and turned her wrists back so they were side by side again.

  “What are you doing over here? You know I can’t let you go, right?” James asked.<
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  Debbie struggled against the tape over her mouth, trying to plead with James. She knew he didn’t want to hear anything she had to say at that moment. She stopped trying, and just lay there.

  “You can’t get away, and you need to stop trying,” he said and then nodded at the man next to him.

  In one swift movement, the large man lifted Debbie and tossed her over his shoulder. He walked easily under her weight and led her deeper into the woods. When he felt that she was moved a safe distance, he set her down and went back to get the other three men. As a group they set up camp deep in the trees, farther out than Debbie ever had gone. She never was really afraid of the dark as a child, but at that moment, the darkness terrified her. She knew it was morning, but even so, the shadows of the woods made her feel as if it were the dead of night. She lay, curled in a ball, praying that she would make it out of the situation alive.

  While Debbie lay there, hoping to escape, her family was rushing through the ranch, searching frantically for her. The checked every inch of every building, and then spread out, calling her name.

  “What if we never find her?” Connie asked Thomas, not sure if she even wanted an answer to the question.

  “We will find her. We have to find her.”

  “But what if we don’t?”

  From behind her, Connie heard the familiar voice that always soothed her, “We will find her, Connie. I have no doubt about that.” Andrew said.

  Connie went to her father and hugged him tight. “Oh, Daddy, I don’t know what I would do if we didn’t.”

  “Don’t think like that. I have faith that we will find her, and you should, too. Besides, when have we ever given up?”

  “Never,” Connie said, a more confident look spreading over her face. “Come on, let’s keep looking.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  THE SUN BEGAN SETTING, and the woods started to take on an eerie darkness that caused Debbie to cower. She never liked being so deep in the forest, and feared that once darkness fell, the bears would be out in full force. It was close to time for hibernation, and bears had a tendency to be more aggressive as they searched for food. The air was cold, and with no direct sunlight, Debbie was growing colder by the minute. Being out as far as they were, James decided to take the tape off of her mouth because it wasn’t likely she would be heard.