by Angel Wolfe
Robert and James were not so easy to deal with. They never got along, constantly disputed his orders, and almost always questioned why they were supposed to do things his way. If it weren’t for the “Boss’s” orders, he’d have left them buried along the way and gotten two better outlaws somewhere else; ones that could follow orders without asking questions.
All four of them had their own job. Frank took care of the horses and any cattle that were rustled. George was the spokesman and did all the communication with the “Boss.” James was the camp cook and Robert took care of finding and hiding their trails. George and Robert had a wife and family back in town so had to leave from time to time to keep suspicion at a minimum.
James had a family a long time ago but he had turned to being an outlaw when they were killed by some renegade rebels two short years after the War Between the States ended. Only no one knew that bit of information.
Frank was just Frank. No one gave him much thought and he pretty much did his own thing. He was smarter than most people realized, it just took him a little longer to think about things and make a decision. Frank wanted a family of his own but knew that as long as he had to help George; that would never happen. It sure didn’t keep him from wishing and wanting though; all he had to do was figure out how to make it happen.
“Grub’s on!” James announced in a calm quiet voice. “Grab your cups and plates and come eat.”
“What’s for gr..gr..grub today James?” Frank asked. “Sure sm.sm..smells good.”
“You always think it smells good Frank” James chuckled as he dished out some of the beans on to Frank’s plate adding an extra square of the honey sweetened cornbread which was his specialty. Secretly, he liked the slower thinking young man and hoped that someday soon something would happen to get him back to the right side of the law.
“Whatcha got Cookie, more dried up hog food?” Robert grumbled as he knocked the ladle out of James’ hand. “I don’t reckon how we’re supposed to chase cows on that crap.”
“You don’t like it Bert; Go Home!” George said approaching with his plate in hand. “James, if you need more supplies; get me a list together and I’ll bring everything back from town. I have to head in and check on the family and if you and Frank can handle it, I’ll probably send Robert back too.”
“It’s ju..ju..just tw..tw..twenty head George.” Frank said. “I think me and Ja..Ja..James should be ok.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of Frank; your thinking” George shook his head.
“We’ll be alright George.” James interrupted after stealthily sliding his colt that he had secretly pulled moments ago, back into its holster. “I’ll make the list for ya while the dishes soak and then you and Robert can get headed back. It’s already getting dark and it’s a pretty good ride into town.”
Things got quiet as the men went to shoveling food instead of insults, each man thinking his own thoughts. The cattle slowly calmed down with food and water readily available and went to grazing rather than milling about. The occasional sound of a bluebird could be heard and every once in a while the sound of a hawk screeching and diving to catch an unsuspecting rabbit or prairie dog broke the stillness. After several moments, the sound of utensils scraping plates filled in the quiet and the men went back to squabbling before heading off to saddle the horses and harness the pack mule.
James watched George and Robert ride out and sighed with relief. He was unsure about what to do and when on the matter of Robert. Robert was the last of the renegade rebels that James had sworn to hunt down and deal with regarding the death of his family. He didn’t want Frank getting caught in the middle and really didn’t care one way or the other about George.
He’d almost had his opportunity at dinner but George had stepped in, the wait was getting shorter and hopefully before long he would be able to move on and attempt to do something with what was left of his life.
~IV~
The sound of cattle lowing got louder and louder as the four riders neared the mouth of the canyon. Rick motioned for everyone to stop and he and Matt dismounted. Making a sign that the women should stay there with the horses, Rick and Matt silently crept into the narrow ravine keeping as close to the shadows as possible. A few minutes later, Matt nudged him after noticing small shadow moving not far from them. Issuing a quiet explicative under his breath, he realized his mistake.
Rick didn’t specifically get Kaitlyn’s agreement before slipping off; he had just assumed she would listen to him and trust him to know what was better to keep her safe. Together, Rick and
Matt crept around the two women and had their hands over their mouths in a matter of minutes.
The men however had once again underestimated the women and ended up on the ground with a knife to their throats before they could utter a sound of protest.
Seeing that it was Rick she held to the ground, Kat couldn’t help but let the smile loose. She glanced at Angel momentarily and saw that she was letting Matt up. That short period of time when she dropped her guard gave Rick the opening that he needed.
In the same instant that she decided to follow Angel’s lead and let Rick up, she found herself unexpectedly thrown to the ground herself. “Not much to grin about now is there Kaitlyn?” Rick seethed as he held her firmly to the ground.
Having the history that she had and not being used to anyone else having the upper hand, Kat panicked and unconscientiously almost succeeded in burying her knife in Rick’s thigh before he secured her hands above her head in one of his large, strong ones. Enjoying this situation at first, he thought about drawing it out a bit longer until noticed the scared, almost nightmarish look in her eyes. Switching tactics he whispered, “Kaitlyn, I am going to let you up but you have to listen to me ok?” Then he noticed that she had not heard anything he had said.
“What did you do to her?” Angel asked concerned. She walked up as Kat started to thrash around seeming totally unaware of her surroundings.
“I didn’t do anything.” Rick answered just as concerned. “She had me on the ground with the knife at my throat and I turned it more in my favor. Next thing I know, she’s trying to bury her knife in my thigh so I trapped her hands and took away the knife. After that, she just sort of went crazy.”
“Get away from her and let me see if I can snap her back to reality. I think she’s having that old nightmare again.” Angel ordered without realizing how much she had just given away.
Rick did as she asked and stepped back out of the way where he could be near Kaitlyn but she couldn’t see him. “What happened?” Matt asked as he came up behind Rick.
“I don’t know, it’s like she’s trapped in some kind of nightmare. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Rick answered frustrated. “From the sounds of things she’s had a pretty rough past and it’s not the first time this has happened.”
The two men stood helplessly to the side as Angel spoke softly and calmly to her sister. “Kat, it’s Angel; I need you to look at me and listen ok. I’m here and nothing is going to happen to you. Rick and Matt won’t let anyone hurt you.” As she continued talking, the petrified look in Kat’s eyes slowly lessoned and a short time later, she blinked and began to look around wondering what had happened to her. Seconds after this, Angel was helping her up and the men slowly approached with questioning looks in their eyes.
Kat looked sheepishly up at Rick. “I am so very sorry if I hurt you. It’s an old reoccurring nightmare and when I happen to get trapped in it, I do things that I have no knowledge of when I come out.” She explained.
“Just what the hell just went on there Kaitlyn? What caused the nightmare?” Rick asked. “One minute we’re hunting your cattle and the next you’re trying to bury your knife first in my neck, then my thigh.”
“I’m really sorry Rick but I can’t explain it to you. At least not right now” she hedged. “I’m not real sure what happened to bring it on like that but I’m feeling better now so let’s go see about finding that stock.”
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“Wow Kat” Matt said. “You really gave us a good scare. Guess you gals showed us not to sneak up and grab you though.”
“So that’s what happened,” Kat said thoughtfully. “I couldn’t figure out what would make me feel threatened enough to actually go after someone with a knife like that. It must have been what triggered the nightmare and my defense mechanism.”
“Well Kaitlyn, if you’re not in the mood for explanations right now, let’s mount up, head into the canyon, and find the cattle. Maybe if we’re really lucky we can get ourselves into some serious trouble.” Rick ground out irritably.
“I agree with the riding into the canyon part but you don’t have to be so snide about the rest. After all, I didn’t choose to attack you.” Kat replied, starting to get a bit irritated herself. She stormed back to the horses and was in the saddle before Rick could argue further.
“Damn females” he muttered under his breath as he stalked back to Warlock and swung up into the saddle. “Let’s get going,” he said angrily as he kicked his horse into a trot and took the lead.
Kat followed behind him; Angel and Matt brought up the rear riding side by side talking quietly.
“She was terrified Matt, I’ve never seen her like that before.” Angel said. “It was like she was trapped in that old nightmare again; but she wouldn’t tell me anything after she came out of it. I’ve never seen her that bad off before and it’s got me really worried. She’s normally unshakeable.”
“If I hadn’t seen it Angel, I wouldn’t have believed it. I agree with you; she was scared beyond belief about something but I doubt if she’ll tell any of us about it.” Matt agreed. “That is what has Rick so fired up. She won’t trust him enough to confide in him. He’s been half in love with her since the first time I brought him to your place and he saw her working cattle. I think he fell hard, headfirst when she sold him her stock rather than admit defeat back when you guys were fighting with the county over the property lines.”
“If only Kat could see it. She won’t hardly look at a man let alone give herself half a chance to fall in love with one. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was scared of them.” Angel laughed.
They both knew Kat wasn’t afraid of anything. “How’s your neck? I am so sorry if I hurt you. Kat taught me self-defense a long time ago and she wouldn’t let up until I could roll two hundred and fifty pounds without breaking a sweat. I hope you’re ok.”
“The only thing you hurt was my pride sweetheart, only my pride” Matt replied. “You sure surprised the heck outta me though. Next time I’ll know better”
“I surprised the heck outta myself” Angel answered thoughtfully.
“So really Angel, what happened back there? You know you can trust me and I think I deserve to know.” Matt entreated.
“Well the best I can tell, she was already shaken up pretty good from you guys sneaking up on us and grabbing us from behind. Sheer reaction caused her to pull the knife and put Rick on the ground. When he reversed their situation and held her down pinning her hands above her head, she went crazy and then kinda blacked out in that nightmare.” Angel said thoughtfully.
“Something happened to her when she was pretty young and holding her to the ground must have brought it all out again. She hasn’t ever talked about it but I heard some people taunting her one time. I’m not real sure what happened but it really affects her from time to time and I think it has a lot to do with why she avoids men like she does.”
“Wow, I never knew any of that about her but it sure makes some sense about why she froze up and then went crazy like that.” Matt replied. “Don’t worry Angel, I won’t say anything to Rick unless he asks specifically; but if he does, then I’ll have to tell him.”
They rode deeper into the canyon in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Kat’s biggest worry was how she was going to explain everything to Rick later after things settled down. She knew he was going to ask and after almost stabbing him with her knife, twice, she figured he was entitled to an explanation why. She just wasn’t sure she was ready to trust him that much yet although, he was out here in the middle of the night helping her try to find twenty head of cattle that shouldn’t mean anything to him after purchasing over thirty head himself.
Rick motioned for everyone to stop. Kat sidled up next to him before stopping and looked up questioningly. “Listen” he told her quietly. “Your cattle are calling to us but I’m not sure how many men they have with them.”
“I guess there’s only one way to find out” she whispered back.
“No, there are actually several different ways to find out Babe. That’s why the four of us need to discuss it first this time and agree on something,” He admitted. “I’m sorry I tried to make the decision last time without talking to you first. It won’t happen again Kaitlyn and I’m really sorry I didn’t think first earlier. Like I told you before, we have a serious talk coming up but let’s get your stock first and get back into a more comfortable setting for all of us. I don’t like this canyon; if I remember correctly it’s a box canyon but there is a secret passage deep inside that not many people know about and I don’t relish the idea of possibly being snuck up on.”
“I totally agree with you there Rick” Kat replied. “And I really am sorry about everything. I didn’t mean to go all crazy back there and when we have time to talk later, I will try to tell you everything you want to know. I just hope you don’t hate me after I do.” She finished in a whisper.
“I could never hate you Kaitlyn.” Rick answered. “Now let’s see what the other two think about the situation.”
~V~
“Ok, so let me get this straight” Matt said. “You and Kat are going to take Wolfe, sneak further into the canyon, hide your horses, and try to see how many men they have with the herd. Then, if it’s feasible, you’ll send Wolfe back to us as a signal to come on in. Sounds simple enough. We’ll make sure to keep an eye out just in case. We don’t want anyone coming in and interrupting us rustling Kat’s own cattle.” He half joked.
The decision made, Angel talked quietly to Wolfe and Kat came up to her. The two sisters hugged and had a quick whispered exchange before Kat used hand signals to let Wolfe know they were leaving. The three of them worked quietly and steadily through the canyon.
They knew they were getting closer and there was a slight smell of smoke in the air. Kat motioned for Wolfe to lie down and stay put under a bit of sagebrush that would hide the dog should someone come up. Rick and Kat then snuck stealthily towards the camp. Lying on the ground behind a small boulder, they silently listened to two men talking.
“W..W..What do you think George will t..t..talk to the “Boss” about?” Frank asked James.
“I’m not real sure Frank” he replied “But I have an idea that he’s going to want these beeves moved outta here and taken to a buyer and soon.”
“James, d..d..do you know why we had to st..st..steal them from Miss Kat?” Frank asked. “She is so n..n..nice I don’t know wh..wh..why anyone would want to take something away fr..fr..from her.”
“It’s just the way it goes sometimes Frank.” James replied. “I agree that Miss Kat is a real nice lady and I don’t agree with stealing from her either but there are times when you do what you have to do to get by. I have to have a means to eat and I’m getting too old to work very hard anymore.”
“If you could w..w..work for somebody else James, w..w..would you do it?” Frank asked.
“Well Frank, I have a bit of unfinished business to attend to but if I could find a job that gave me a warm bed and food in my belly I’d probably take it. How about you? Are you going to be
Georges’ gopher the rest of your life or are you going to move on?” At Frank’s confused look he added, “Let’s put it this way Frank, if you had your choice what would you do with your life?”
“I w..w..want to have a wife and k..k..kids. I think if I could d..do anything, I’d want to have c..c..cows and make cheese and butter.” Frank answ
ered nodding as if he had just made a huge decision.
“Well that sounds really grand Frank. Maybe things will work out so that will happen for you.” James smiled.
While the talk between the two men had been going on, Kat came up with an idea that would help all of them. She and Rick circled around the would-be outlaws. When James went out into the dark to relieve himself, they then snuck in and caught Frank by surprise. “Drop your gun and stand up over there against that tree,” Rick ordered quietly.
“I…..I….I didn’t do nothing, hon…honest” Frank stammered as he backed up against the specified tree. “I even told Ja..James that it..it wasn’t right ta..taking Ms Kat’s herd.”
“I know what ya said to James, Frank.” Rick said pacing. “And I’m going to ask you a question that I want you to think very hard about before you answer.”
