by Nathan Jones
Lisa burst into tears and threw her arms around the young woman, then turned in time to hug her mom and dad as they clustered around her. Skyler had to admit that his own vision blurred a bit at seeing his friends so full of joy. He took a moment to rest a congratulatory hand on Lisa's shoulder, surprised when she pulled him into the hug as well.
Glad as he was for her, considering the circumstances that was a bit uncomfortable. As soon as he could do it without throwing a damper on the celebratory mood, he excused himself to get back to patrolling the ranch.
The Hendricksons had almost all their animals back, along with most of the bandits' horses. Jared was going to pull through, and Randall seemed to have called it quits. Those were all reasons to be happy, but instead Skyler felt hollow and a bit homesick.
These were his friends, and he knew he was always welcome here. But he also knew that he had no place in Lisa's life, or at least not the place he wanted; which meant that any place he did have would be awkward and strained.
But there was a place he was welcome, where he had a place, and he found himself missing it more than he ever had, even after first leaving. He'd wanted to go back more than once, longed to see his family and friends again. Especially Tabby, even knowing he'd ruined any chance of a life with her.
In his determination to find Lisa and her family, he'd pushed those feelings away. But now that he'd found them, and this current crisis with Randall's gang seemed to be over, they were back with painful force.
Skyler missed his mom and dad, and Molly and Miles and Micah. He missed Brandon and Fiona and their children, and Logan and Mer and theirs. Including babies they'd probably had since he left. And he missed Keri, and their friends in New Emery, and all the ranch hands, and . . .
And Tabby. He could still picture her as she'd been the day he left, in her blue dress with its white ribbons, rising sun making a golden river of the hair falling in a wave down her back. Composed on her horse, somehow looking graceful and elegant even though she hated riding sidesaddle.
Achingly beautiful. Aside from Lisa the closest friend he'd ever had, and in many ways even closer since the Hendricksons left; Tabby had always been there for him, stayed by his side, even though he'd never been able to return her feelings.
And yet somewhere along the line he'd begun to do just that, return her feelings in full, almost without realizing it. Deliberately not realizing it, maybe, stubbornly holding onto his love for Lisa. Until finally he'd somehow ended up loving the girl he'd left as much as the girl who'd left him.
Then ended up losing both.
Feeling a sudden need to get away, Skyler retrieved Junior and headed out to search for signs of Randall's gang again. He called his plans to Fernando, who waved his assent, then headed out towards the gully.
It was still empty, as were all the other possible spots he'd previously searched. He rode out even farther, and the valley appeared eerily deserted around him in spite of the houses he passed. All hiding from the bandits, most likely. Although the time for hiding might finally be over, the danger done with.
Skyler drew rein on a hill overlooking the distant Hendrickson ranch. His work here was done, wasn't it? Aside from finishing off that field he'd promised he'd do for Mr. Ruiz, of course. Maybe once he'd made certain Randall was gone, or waited until the League patrol arrived, it was time to go.
Although he wasn't sure if that meant going back home, at least not permanently. Not yet; he wasn't sure he could bear to face Tabby, find her married and probably with a baby or at least pregnant. Not so soon after having his hopes for a life with Lisa crushed.
But a visit to see his family, carefully avoiding New Emery and running into her, sure did sound nice at the moment.
He headed back to report in, and take a shift on guard duty while Bob and Fernando caught a few hours of sleep. After dark he got more vigilant, considering Randall seemed to prefer night attacks in spite of being outmatched by Skyler's ability. But as with the quiet day, the night remained empty of anything but the noises of Lisa on patrol, and the animals uncomfortably crammed in their half-burned barn.
Around midnight Uncle Bob, still groggy from his all too brief rest, stumbled out with Fernando to relieve him and Lisa from their shifts. Skyler gratefully made his way inside to succumb to exhaustion, more at ease about leaving the guard duty to someone else considering the complete lack of any sign of Randall in the nearby area.
His sleep wasn't exactly peaceful, and he still woke a few times to listen warily for sounds of trouble. Trouble which never came; he woke shortly before dawn, just before Aunt Vicky knocked to wake him, and once again relieved Bob on guard duty.
The early morning was quiet, air crisp and invigorating. Lisa came out with him, looking exhausted in spite of the chance for the same amount of rest he'd had. He guessed she'd spent the night trying to sleep in the chair beside Jared's bed.
His heart went out to her, and he hoped for her sake especially that the trouble with the bandits was finally over. That she could get back to the life she'd had before Randall came sniffing around.
Shortly before sunrise, Vicky brought out breakfast for them. Skyler and Lisa ate it together on a hill that offered a good vantage of the surrounding area, watching the sun rise over the hills to the east.
“I've got something for you,” his friend abruptly said, breaking the slightly uncomfortable silence that had dominated the meal.
Skyler blinked. What was this about? “A gift? You didn't need to . . .”
“Yes, a gift.” For some reason her voice was sad. She began fiddling with her jacket . . . an inner pocket? No, she was tearing stitching: a hidden pocket. But why would a gift for him be in a hidden pocket that was sewn shut?
For some reason Skyler felt a strong sense of foreboding, even loss, as he watched her. “Lisa . . .”
“Just about got it,” she snapped. He heard a ripping sound, then she withdrew something small that glittered in the sunrise as she held it out to him.
He knew what it was even before he got a clear view of it. Knew what it had to be. And some ember of the hope he'd held since first seeing her, even knowing her feelings for Jared weren't going to change, flickered out.
When he silently took it he confirmed his certainty. A gold ring inset with a large emerald, bracketed by two smaller diamonds. Real and very valuable, if Trapper was any judge.
Had Lisa carried it in a hidden pocket all these years? Close to her, where she could constantly feel it through the fabric of her jacket and be reminded of him?
And now after all this time, surely to send a message, she was giving it back.
Sudden frustration gripped him, even more intense than when he'd learned of her engagement to Jared in the first place. If he'd left on his search a few months sooner, or better yet early enough to find this place a few years before his friend ever met the man, if he'd left immediately after the end of the war, or even during it . . .
Lisa might wearing this ring openly right now, rather than drawing it from its secret hiding place to give it back. It might be an engagement ring for their upcoming marriage.
Everyone back home were right, he was a fool.
“I told Jared we should have the wedding the moment we know Randall's gone for good,” she told him gently when he continued to say nothing. “He's still too weak to do anything but lay there and say his vows, but after coming so close to losing him I don't want to wait . . . I want to be his wife now.” She paused and snuck a glance at him before continuing. “That considered, I felt like I should return this first.”
Skyler grit his teeth and tried to give it back. “I don't take back gifts, Lisa. There were no strings attached, no expectations. I just wanted you to have it. I wouldn't even have minded if you'd sold it so your family would be better off.” That wasn't strictly true, but better she'd sold it years ago to buy herself nice things than, than this.
Lisa ignored his attempts to press it into her hands, giving him a look he'd learned to pay attention to when
he saw it from his mom, or Aunt Vicky, or Tabby, or Fiona, or Mer, or Keri, or . . . well, just about any woman he knew. “Sky, you big stubborn idiot,” she said sweetly, “if you've got two functioning brain cells to rub together in that thick skull of yours, this is a gift you will take back.”
For once, surprisingly, he pushed down his stubbornness. With barely any hesitation he closed his mouth and pocketed the ring. “I guess I should forego all the wistful things I want to say at the moment?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Unless one of them is “I'm so happy for you, Lisa. I hope your life with Jared is one of unending bliss”, then . . .”
This was really happening. The woman he'd loved for so long planned to marry someone else the moment the bandits were dealt with for good, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Or, well, there was something he should do. It felt like chewing glass, but Skyler met her gaze and pushed down his own selfish feelings to focus on how much he cared for his friend. “I'm happy for you, Lis,” he said quietly, with complete sincerity. “I hope your life with Jared is one of unending bliss. You deserve that . . . you deserve all the good in the world.”
Tears abruptly shone in her eyes, her smile making her face radiant; it was worth any personal pain to see her so full of joy. Without a word she took his hands and squeezed them tightly.
“Thank you, Sky,” she said. “I hope you'll-”
They both jumped at a distant shout from the south, whirling to see half a dozen people bolting towards the ranch. Skyler tensed and reached for his rifle, then paused when he recognized the homespun garb worn by the Ruiz family.
Exchanging a glance with Lisa, he bolted down the hill towards the approaching homesteaders, dread churning in his gut. Something was obviously wrong, and he didn't like to think of what.
The group was all men, or at least aside from Adalia's oldest younger brother, Carlos. They were brandishing guns or knives, clearly agitated, and as Skyler and Lisa closed the distance with them one man outdistanced the others, screaming at the top of his lungs.
It was Mr. Ruiz.
“Graham!” he shouted, and something in his broken, desperate voice made the dread in Skyler's gut turn to sick nausea. He wondered if he was really awake or if this was some nightmare as the homesteader continued.
“Graham! They've taken Adalia!”
Chapter Fourteen
Nightmare
“This is all your fault!” Mr. Ruiz screamed as Skyler skidded to a stunned halt, Lisa crowding behind him. The man's features were twisted with an equal mixture of fear, grief, and rage, and he strode forward like a furious bull ready to tackle him to the ground and trample him underfoot.
Skyler tensed, wondering if he was going to have to defend himself, but the homesteader paused ten feet away. The perfect range to hurl more accusations. “You're the one who made it clear she meant something to you, even if it was no more than as a bystander you were willing to risk yourself for! You're the one who picked a fight with a bandit gang and made it personal with their leader, so he'd look for ways to hurt you!”
“What happened?” Lisa demanded. “How do you know it was Randall?”
“Because they dragged my girl kicking and screaming out of the outhouse not an hour ago, then rode off with her slung across the back of one of their horses before we could stop them,” Mr. Ruiz spat.
Skyler stared at him blankly, horror temporarily replaced with confusion as he glanced back at the Hendricksons' barn. “Their horses?” he repeated.
“We captured most of their mounts, and they gunned down the rest trying to stop us,” Lisa clarified. “Where the blazes did they get more?”
“You think that matters right now?” The homesteader turned back to Skyler, remembering his fury. “Adalia would've been better off if she'd never seen you! Sure, those two scum in town might've said mean things to her, pushed her around. But in the middle of town that would've been the end of it! And now?” His face twisted with a sort of nauseated horror, and his voice fell to a whisper. “Now, who knows what they're doing to her?”
Skyler looked away, feeling like he was going to be sick. The man was right, this was all his fault. And if anything happened to Adalia he'd never forgive himself.
But they didn't have time for blame right now. He'd accept that later, along with whatever consequences came with it. For now, however, nothing mattered but the young woman in Randall's clutches. He stepped forward. “Do you know how many of them there were? Where they took her?”
Mr. Ruiz gave him a look of disgust. “You think I want your help, Graham?”
“I'm offering it all the same, and you wouldn't be here if you didn't.” It took everything Skyler had to meet the man's accusing glare, but he didn't look away. “He took her to get to me, so maybe he'll trade her back for me.”
Lisa gasped behind him. “No, Sky! We can figure out a way to help her without resorting to that.”
He ignored her, focused on the problem he'd caused. “Even if he doesn't, even if it's an ambush, maybe I can distract him by going in to negotiate, keep their focus on me while you and your people circle around behind them and rescue Adalia. I know how to sneak into an enemy camp, so if we know where they are I can find a way for you to get to her.”
“They headed west after grabbing her,” Mr. Lopez said, stepping forward to join his brother-in-law.
Back to the gully, then? Skyler would be leery about returning to a place where enemies had snuck past his defenses once, but maybe Randall figured he could guard it better in daylight. It was obvious he'd kidnapped Adalia to get to Skyler, so hopefully he wouldn't do anything to her until after he'd made his demands.
They still had time. He had to believe that.
A slamming door behind them heralded the arrival of Bob, Vicky, and Fernando. The homesteader immediately broke into a sprint at the sight of his family, calling out a flurry of frantic questions in Spanish. His dad quickly filled him in, while Lisa and Skyler told her parents what had happened.
“It sounds like a trap,” Bob said when they finished, expression grim.
That seemed pretty self-evident, since Skyler couldn't see anything else it realistically could be. “It does,” he agreed. “But we'll have to spring it anyway, for Adalia's sake.”
“You mean you'll have to,” Mr. Ruiz growled. “If he took her to get to you, then you'd sure as the blazes better offer yourself up if it means her life.”
Vicky whirled on the man in uncharacteristic wrath. “You want him to as good as commit suicide because you didn't defend your own, refused to help deal with this problem when you could, and you want to blame everything on the one person who has no stake in all this but is still willing to risk his life to help?”
The homesteader hesitated, taken aback. “I-”
She bulled forward, poking a finger at his chest and making him take a step back in spite of her tiny size. “This boy is as close as a son to me. You'll use him as a sacrificial lamb over my dead body, you-”
Skyler put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I'm willing to put myself at risk to get Adalia back,” he told her quietly. “But there's no need to talk about throwing myself to the wolves. We can plan something out.”
“What did you have in mind?” Mr. Ruiz asked. He still looked furious and on the verge of full blown panic, but at least he wasn't ranting anymore.
“Well first things first, we need to find where Randall's gone and how many men he has with him. Then I'll scout his camp and see if I can find a way to get in unnoticed. Once we have that, I'll confront Randall since like you said he took her to get at me. While I'm distracting them you can sneak in and rescue Adalia.”
“What about if he starts shooting at you, or tries to chase you down?” Lisa demanded. “We're not trading your life for hers.”
“You can cover me,” Skyler assured her. “I'll try to stay out of easy rifle range, and keep moving.” He motioned to the flak jacket she was wearing over her coat; they'd been trading it
between her and her dad depending on who was on sentry duty and who was resting. “Also I'll need that back, a bit of extra protection in case I do get shot.”
There were a lot of weaknesses to the plan, ones he didn't think it was wise to bring up since he couldn't think of anything else to do. Even with the weaknesses most of the risk was on his shoulders, where it belonged, and if they didn't do this Adalia would suffer for it.
He wasn't about to let that happen.
“We do have some experience creeping past Sangue where needed,” Mr. Lopez said reluctantly, speaking mostly to his brother-in-law. “If the kid really can find us a good way into the bandit hideout, and plays his part as bait, it's probably our best bet at getting Ada out safely.”
“Maybe,” Mr. Ruiz admitted, voice grudging.
Skyler nodded firmly. “Let's go, then.”
✽✽✽
The gully was still abandoned.
Skyler paused long enough in his scouting to find a spot where he could wave the Ruiz men and Bob and Lisa forward (Vicky had stayed behind to look after Jared and the livestock), then slipped into the bowl to see if he could find any clues about where Randall had gone.
As it turned out, there was no need to look hard; someone had used a knife to scrape a message on a large rock near the dead campfire, the words ragged as if every cut had been made with pure rage and spite:
GRAHAM
YOUR LITTLE FRIEND IS SAFE AND SOUND
SHE'LL STAY THAT WAY IF YOU HEAD DUE SOUTH
ALONE UNARMED AND ON FOOT
LET'S TALK TRADE
BE READY TO SEND US OUR HORSES
AND AS MANY COWS AS YOU THINK SHE'S WORTH
Well, that settled that Randall had Adalia and that he was using her to get to him. Skyler had assumed the man had some sort of ransom in mind, and it was a relief to have proof of that; the alternative would've been the bandits wanted to trade her for Skyler so they could kill him.
He began searching the bowl for tracks, confirming Mr. Ruiz's statement that it was three bandits on three horses who'd taken Adalia. If the rest of Randall's gang was lurking around, they had yet to show any sign of themselves.
