The Rancher Meets His Match

by Pamela Ladner

  The conversation finally ended, and lunch was over. Willy asked J.W. to show them around so Hilary could get back to her training. She needed to begin working with the new horse and Josey was having a fit to ride Pep. So they got up from the table and headed outside, going their separate ways.

  Josey, saddled up Pep, talking nonstop the whole time about what a beautiful horse he was. Hilary was working the future cutter on the lunge line on one end of the arena and Josey and Pep were on the other. She enjoyed starting new horses. She was concentrating on the young colt, when she heard Pep squeal. She turned to see what had happened and was hit with a powerful force from behind that knocked the air out of her, preventing her from screaming. She got to her knees gasping for air. Someone grabbed her from behind twisting her arm behind her back and covering her mouth. She heard duct tape being ripped and seconds later the hand over her mouth moved and someone else put duct tape over it. They wrapped the duct tape around her wrist behind her back then she was tossed over the shoulder of a very large man that could make J.W. and her brothers look small.

  Once she realized what was happening she had a sudden boost of adrenaline and she fought to get away. She had to get to Josey. She had to find J.W. and her brothers. She managed to wiggle her way free from the man only to get hit, hard by his very large fist. Her last thought was of Josey, right before she blacked out.

  Chapter Thirteen

  When Hilary awoke, she was deep in the woods, surrounded by men with guns. Most of the men looked citified and she was sure they would stick out like a sore thumb in town. She immediately thought of Josey and she scanned the area for her. Josey was tied to a tree to the right of her, but she wasn’t looking at her, she was looking at someone else. Hilary followed her glare to a nervous looking Lisa, sitting by the fire.

  Hilary thought, I should have known that Lisa would have something to do with this. She didn’t speak a word careful not to draw attention to herself. She reached as far as she could with her hands tied behind her back to get the small knife out of her right pocket It was a pink browning knife and it was very, very sharp. She had cut herself with it several times. Once she got it, it took some time just to get it open then she leaned back against a tree careful to conceal the knife and went to work trying to cut through the duct tape. It was thick and tough going but she finally got it. She managed to cut a slice out of her hand too.

  She waited until it was dark and everyone was sleeping then she snuck over to where Josey sat and cut her loose. She told her to run and don’t stop until she got to the ranch. She stood up to follow, but they caught her before she took two steps.

  Frankie, the one that seemed to be the boss held her jaw in his hand and squeezed tight, shoving her head backwards until she hit the tree. The blow to her head hurt badly but she managed to stay awake this time. He started hollering, waking his men up, and telling them to chase after the girl. Hilary hoped and prayed that Josey would make it back to the ranch.

  An hour later, the men came back. They lost her in the dark and they wanted permission to start after her at dawn. Frankie scowled but nodded his acceptance. They all crawled back into their tents and lay back down for the night. Hilary noted that Lisa slept in Frankie’s tent, how convenient for her, she thought.

  When J.W. noticed the horses were running loose in the arena and Hilary and Josey were nowhere in sight he called all the men. They searched the grounds thoroughly, every last inch of it. No one could find any trace of the two missing females. Hilary’s brothers were beginning to get mad and J.W. was getting the blame. Willy started hollering at him but J.W. was in no mood to argue. His daughter and the woman he loved were missing and this was only complicating things. Willy shoved him into a stall and J.W. tackled him. The two men were rolling around on the barn floor, throwing lick after lick when Justin and Reid found them.

  They were tempted to let it go on just to see who would win. J.W. was giving as good as he got. They knew that Willy had let his hotheadedness get the best of him and they struggled to pull the two men apart and calm them down. “Stop it this is not going to help us find them. Did anyone look for a note?” Justin said trying to get the two to think. “I’m going back to the arena and I’m going to check every square inch of it until I find something. I would appreciate it if the two of you would stop fighting and help me.”

  They all spread out searching for anything that would give them a clue. J.W. went to get the horses that were still running around the arena. In all their searching, no one had bothered to do anything with them. He started taking the saddle off Pep when he noticed the saddlebags. He hadn’t thought about them before, but he did now. He searched through the packs pulling everything out, then finally just dumping the contents on the ground. A piece of yellow paper caught his attention. It was pinned to the flap. He picked the piece of paper up and realizing what it was he dropped to his knees, calling out to anyone who would listen. “God, no, oh please no.” he cried.

  The letter pinned to the saddlebags was a ransom letter:

  We have your daughter and we will kill her and the woman if you do not get us $200,000.00 in cash within the week. Someone will contact you by phone and schedule a meeting place.

  Sincerely,

  F.

  Justin, took the yellow slip of paper from his hands and read it. “Willy!” He shouted. He handed the note to his brothers and they each read the letter. “We have to call the cops.” Justin said. “Where are we gonna get that much money in a week?” Reid asked and looked down at J.W. whose jaw set in a hard line and was balling his fist up so tight his knuckles were white. “I can only get that kind of money if I sell my stock or take out a mortgage on the ranch. It may look like I have a lot of money but it’s all tied up in this ranch.” J.W. told them. They shook their head to acknowledge they understood.

  Samuel walked up behind J.W. “Boss, Sheriff James is on his way, I called him as soon as they went missing. What is it? Did you find something?” Samuel Knew J.W.s looks and he knew that it was bad news. Reid held out the yellow paper with the ransom note on it. “J.W. found this in Peps saddlebags.” He said.

  Heath ran out to them yelling. “Sheriff’s here!” Then he ran back to tell the sheriff where they were. The boy was talking nonstop about how they found the horses in the arena and no women. J.W. was sure that the sheriff had almost all the information by now but he still didn’t know about the note. “We found this a few minutes ago, Sheriff. It was in the saddlebags on Hilary’s horse. Josey was saddling him when we left them.” J.W. told him.

  Sheriff James noted that J.W. was trying hard to remain calm. Yet, he could see through the set of his jaw and the white of his knuckles that he was trying hard to conceal his emotions and it was definitely a struggle that he was not winning easily.

  Heath listened quietly to the conversation between the older men. He was beginning to worry about Josey, and he didn’t know why she had suddenly became so important to him. But he knew that they had to find her and Hilary or J.W. would go mad. He didn’t want to be around if that happened. He had seen what he could do when he lost his temper. He had an idea and decided to share.

  “Sheriff, do you mind if I say something?” The sheriff nodded. “Well it seems to me,” Heath said, “that they must be somewhere on this ranch. I mean think about it. They didn’t come in here with vehicles or we would have noticed. They had to have walked in. I mean there’s thousands of miles on this ranch, with a lot of places they can hide.” J.W.s head popped up. “He’s right. They have to be somewhere on this ranch. We need to start looking for them.” J.W said, “Sam, get me a map of the ranch!”

  Samuel ran to get the map and bring it back to the men. He spread it out on a barrel that stood just outside the arena for barrel racing. They pointed out all the places that they thought would be a good idea. There were a couple of places where the road met with a wooded area. They decided that they would be the best places to start.

  “J.W I don’t have enough men to cove
r all that ground.” The Sheriff said. “But I have men, Sheriff and they know this place backwards and forwards.” J.W. said. The sheriff scratched his beard. “I don’t like to do it but I’m afraid I have to J.W. You’re right your men do know the place better than any of mine do. I tell you what, I’ll do it but no one makes a move until my men get there. I want to spread them out where I can have at least one of my deputies in the same vicinity.”

  They discussed everything that was going to happen within the next few hours. They discussed, what to do if they came upon armed men, and what to do if they found them unharmed. Everyone carried a radio and reported to the sheriff if they found anything. They saddled up good horses and explained to the deputies how to handle them.

  “What I can’t figure out is how anyone got Hilary without going through, Bubba.” Reid said. They all looked at him suddenly realizing the dog was also missing. How had anyone gotten past Bubba, the dog was very protective of his owner. They started to look for the dog. He would have been easier to miss than a woman and a girl and no one had really been looking for him the first time they combed the area. They spread out calling him. J.W found him behind the barn. He was lying behind a pile of manure, and was bleeding from the head. He whimpered when J.W. kneeled down beside him. “Reid,” J.W. shouted, “back here!”

  They all came running. J.W. was picking him up and carrying him toward the house. He laid him down on the porch. “Heath, get me something to stitch him up, Samuel get me some clean towels and tell cook to get me some warm water.” J.W. ordered the men. “I’m gonna need one of you to hold him while I stitch him. I don’t want to get bit.” He said looking at Hilary’s brothers. He knew the dog would be more comfortable with one of them. Justin knelt down and lay the dogs head in his lap. He ran his hands down the dog’s body and spoke calmly to him.

  J.W. cleaned the wound but the bleeding wouldn’t stop. He told cook to bring him some tea bags. The wet teabags helped to stop the bleeding. He finally got the dog stitched up and got up. He got Bubba some food and water. After a few minutes the dog was up and moving. He was weak but he was better. He whined and cocked his head at J.W. as if to say what’s going on? What happened? Where’s Hilary?

  “It’s ok, boy,” J.W said, petting the dog, “we’re gonna find them.” J.W. looked around at all the men around him. He looked each one in the eye before finally saying to them; “We start early in the morning. Have the horses ready by five.” He turned to go in and held the door open for the dog that was on his heels. Bubba followed J.W. to his room where he began packing things into his saddlebags. Then they headed to the kitchen and added more stuff to the bags. J.W. knew he would get no sleep so he didn’t even try. He, went to the coffee pot, putting coffee on and headed into his office.

  J.W. just sat there for a long time staring at the wall, of pictures of his daughter and finally to the most recent picture of Josey, Hilary and himself. Cook had taken the picture without him even knowing. He handed him the picture a few days later. He told him, he took the picture because he hadn’t seen J.W. smile in a long time and because he wanted to play with the new digital camera, he’d just bought.

  They looked like a family in the picture. He ran his finger over the faces of the two beautiful women in his life. He had finally found a woman who could best him and still be a mother to his teenage daughter and he might lose them both. He stuffed the picture in his shirt pocket, and got up to leave the room.

  Reid stood in the doorway. “You love my sister, don’t you?” He asked although it was more of statement than question. J.W. answered in a low voice “Yeah, I guess I do. I need them back Reid.” “I know man, I know.” Reid said. “We’ll get them back.” He promised.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Josey, walked for hours before she found anything familiar. She was tired and dirty. Her feet hurt. She had blisters on them where the socks had bunched up. The boots were great for riding but they weren’t very good for walking. She had briar scratches all over her where she hid from the men chasing her. It was the only place she could hide and it worked but she was cut up really bad.

  She found the creek that ran through their ranch and followed it, south. She knew where she was now, she found the little spring off the creek that was cold. She knelt down and got a drink of water. The water was good and it felt so good to drink. Her mouth was already parched. Her throat was dry and she could barely swallow at first. She walked all night to get here. She hadn’t stopped anywhere. She realized it was getting daylight and she knew she needed to continue walking. She got up and started up the hill careful to make sure no one was around before going out into the open. She walked until she couldn’t walk anymore. She sat down against a tree facing the creek.

  Taking off her boots, she knew before she even removed the socks that her feet were bleeding. She had bloody blisters all over her feet. They burned when the air hit them. She washed her feet in the creek and let them soak for a while before drying them off and putting her socks back on. She didn’t want to put her boots back on but she knew if she had to run, she would need them on. So she put them on.

  She sagged against the tree and fell asleep. She fought it but it came. She was exhausted and nothing could have stopped her from sleeping. She awoke suddenly. Her eyes went wide with panic. She stood up to run, but was caught in a steel grip. She felt the whispers in her ear calming her. Realization finally hit and she stopped struggling. She recognized the voice of the boy who now held her. She stopped fighting and he loosened his hold she turned around and fell into his arms, crying.

  Heath wrapped her in his arms and let her cry. He held her and whispered to her that it was alright. “Can you ride?” he asked. She nodded her head and he helped her to get on his horse. They headed to meet up with the rest of the search party. She leaned against him. She was exhausted. He took note of the black circles under her eyes, the scratches covering her arms and face, and the dirt that covered her entire body.

  He wrapped his arms around her more securely. “You can sleep, I won’t let you fall.” He said. He knew the moment she finally fell asleep. Her body sagged against him. She began to mumble in her sleep and he listened. She mentioned Lisa and Hilary. She also said something about someone named Frankie. The fear when she spoke his name was in the way her body tensed. Then she relaxed and she began mumbling. The last thing she said was Heath. He almost stopped the horse in his tracks.

  The way she spoke his name, nearly knocked him for a loop. She was still too young, but he wanted to kiss her, he wanted to hear her say his name like that again. He wanted her but she was too young and he respected her, he cared about her. She was more than that. Soon she would be old enough to date and he would have to watch her go on date after date with other boys. He didn’t know if he could do that.

  They rode until finally they came up on the meeting spot where they had parked the ranch truck with the cook’s wagon. J.W. came running to them startling the horse but Heath was an accomplished rider and he knew how to calm the horse. Then before Heath knew it, she was taken out of his arms. J.W. pulled his daughter down and into his arms. He showered her face with kisses. He hugged her to him so tight she had to tell him “Daddy, you, I can’t …. Breathe.” J.W. loosened his hold on her, “are you ok? What happened? Where’s Hilary?” he asked.

  Josey tried to speak but fell into his arms exhausted. He carried her to the truck and laid her down across the back seat of the truck. He got a blanket and covered her.

  They ate while they waited for her to wake up. They needed to find out where she had come from and where Hilary was. He was glad to have his daughter back but there was still a piece of him missing. Hilary had become so much to him and he needed her. He took the picture out of his pocket and looked at the woman whose smile had reawakened something in him. The picture was of the three of them. Josey was on his back and Hilary had come to his rescue to get the girl off him while laughing the whole time.

  He ran his finger over Hilary’s face and
didn’t notice the man shadowing him until he sat down beside him. He took the picture from J.W. and studied it for a minute then handed it back. Willy could see that there was something between his sister and J.W. and it concerned him. He didn’t want to see his sister heartbroken. “What are your intentions for my sister?”

  J.W looked him in the eye and answered without hesitation. “I’m gonna marry her, if she’ll have me. I love her and I don’t think I can live without her. I will find her, and when I do the people who took her and Josey will see that they have made the biggest mistake of their lives.” J.W. stood up shoving the picture back into his pocket. He walked over to the cook’s wagon and fixed a plate for Josey.

  He woke her up offering her the plate and a hot cup of coffee. “I know you’re tired and you’re hurt but I need to know where Hilary is.” He said looking at his daughter with mixed emotions. He brushed a stray hair behind her ear. “She saved me you know. I thought she was behind me but they must have caught her. She had a small pocketknife and she cut my ropes and told me to run. I didn’t even look behind me to see if she was following me, I just kept running.” She took a bite of food and swallowed it down with coffee. “I honestly don’t really know where we were. I kept walking until I came to the creek and I followed it south that’s when Heath found me.”

  “It’s alright, Darling.” He kissed the top of her head and let her finish her food. He found Heath sitting on a log staring at the ground in deep thought. Bubba trailed behind J.W. as he walked up to Heath. “You rested up, boy?” He asked, and Heath nodded his head. “Well saddle up and show me where you found Josey, I’m going to see if Bubba and I can back track her trail and find where she walked from.”