“I’d be happy to.” Orla walked to the front of the wagon and talked to the horses. Ciara wasn’t sure if she believed that Orla could make a difference, but she was desperate enough that it was worth a try.
She helped Orla onto one horse before she found a rock big enough to stand on so she could get on the other. She’d have to be sure that when they stopped, she’d have some kind of mounting block nearby.
“Why do you look so sad, Ciara? You get to see Brogan again.”
“Brogan doesn’t like me, and that hurts my heart. I thought it better to never see him again but fate seems to have a different plan. The only thing we can do is make sure we survive the best we can and not worry. We’ll find some help, I’m sure of it. Let’s get going.”
Orla was in the lead, since her horse seemed to listen to her. In fact, it looked like Orla was having a nice smooth ride while Ciara was being bumped around. It would be fine once they stopped for the night, she told herself. They didn’t stop where they had stopped before because they made much better time than they did pulling the wagon.
“There seems to be a nice place ahead,” Orla shouted over her shoulder. “I’ll stop there, and you can tell me what you think.”
As they pulled up, Ciara assessed the area. Orla had been right. It was a pretty place with plenty of water.
“Good job, Orla. You’ve been a big help today, and I’m proud of you.” Ciara looked to the grass and didn’t relish getting off the horse. Orla was already on the ground.
“Do you need some help?” It looked like Orla was smirking.
“Stay close in case I fall. I never realized how tall these horses were. How’d you get down anyway?”
“I just stepped on one of the bags we have hanging from the rope and then from there it was a small jump. Try it.”
It was like a reversal of roles. Orla was the adult giving advice and Ciara was the child. She put her foot on one bag and then hopped down, stunned it was so easy.
First, they unloaded the horses then led them to water and let them drink their fill. Next they hobbled them so they could graze on the plentiful grass. There was plenty of firewood around. It was quite a difference from when they stopped on the wagon train. The ground had always been picked over, and it was hard to find wood for a fire. The temperature dropped. Ciara made the fire while Orla got the coffee ready to boil.
“I was thinking about making some flapjacks. If I make enough, we can have them tomorrow for breakfast and the noon meal. What do you think?” Ciara didn’t wait for an answer, just described the supplies she would need and started to mix up the batter. As she prepared the flapjacks, she couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to the wagon train they had been on. If it was this cold in Texas what must it be like crossing the mountains? She glanced over at her sister. Orla seemed to be getting too close to the fire; she must be frozen. “Why don’t you grab some of the blankets and we can sit on them instead of the cold ground?”
When the flapjacks were done, they both huddled near the fire with their coffee and their food. The fire made a big difference. Orla’s face wasn’t as bright red as it had been. The sun was setting and hopefully the moon would be as bright as it was last night.
She hadn’t been paying attention, and she should have. The next thing she heard was a man’s voice.
“Hello! I hope I’m welcome to share your fire.” He was an older man with a white beard and shaggy white hair. His coat was missing the all the buttons, and his stained trousers had holes in them.
Oh dear. He was terrifying. Where was the gun? She should always keep the gun with her . How stupid could she be? She was supposed to protect Orla. Fear washed over her as Orla grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
The man was coming, whether or not she welcomed his presence. She gave him a slight smile. “Where are you from?”
The man looked all around before he sat down. “Oh, I’m from here and there. Mostly where I can find a job. What are you two lovely ladies doing out here?”
Where is that gun? That was all that was going through Ciara’s mind. The man’s squinty eyes never seemed to leave Orla’s face. Orla must have noticed too; she squeezed Ciara’s hand again. “Let me check and see if we have an extra cup.” It was hard pulling her hand out of Orla’s grasp, but Ciara stood. She started to walk toward the supplies, thankfully spotting the gun.
She heard a rifle being cocked and whirled around to face the stranger.
“Now don’t be going and doing anything stupid. If you run or pull a gun, I’ll kill her. Your best bet would be to come back and sit down.”
A shiver went through her, and she couldn’t breathe, but she took a step and then another toward the fire. “I thought this was a friendly visit.” She held her voice hard and even.
“It’ll still be friendly.” A leering grin slid over his face. “You just might not like my definition of friendly. Tell me about yourselves.”
Ciara sank down next to Orla, who immediately grabbed her hand again.
“It wasn’t a suggestion. Tell me about yourselves.” If there was a voice of evil, it was his.
Ciara took a deep breath. “Our wagon wheel broke, so we are on our way back where we came from. There’s a town not too far away from here, and I’m hoping someone there can help us. In fact, I bet we’ll see people riding by soon.”
“People riding by soon was a good one.” His harsh chuckle made her skin crawl. “There ain’t nobody out here. There’s just the two of you and me. Now, I’d like some coffee.”
Ciara started to stand.
“Not you. I want the other girl to get me the coffee and get me food.”
Orla’s face was stark white, and her hand shook. Her eyes grew wide, and Ciara could see the terror in them. But she stood poured coffee into her cup and handed it to him. Then she took her empty plate and filled it with flapjacks. She put her fork on the plate and tried to hand it to him stretching her arms as far as they would go, keeping herself away from him.
The man laughed. “Come sit next to me, darlin’.”
Orla frantically shook her head. “I don’t talk to any sweet-talking man.” She marched back to where she’d been sitting and sat back down.
Ciara waited for the man to complain about Orla, but he didn’t say a word. He looked at her as if he was studying her for a moment before he ate.
“The name is Elmer. What great luck I’m having, finding the two of you. Too bad you don’t have your wagon, so you can each have your privacy.”
What did he mean? Privacy in general or was he talking about something sinister? Sinister, she decided, he was sinister. Somehow, she had to get to the gun and keep them both safe at the same time. She tried to relax and keep her face expressionless. After she accomplished that, she’d try to smile. Maybe she could lull him into thinking they were helpless. “I’m Ciara, and this is my sister Orla.” Usually she would have said it’s nice to meet you, but that wasn’t the case. How were they going to get out of this one?
He finished his meal and slurped the last of his coffee, and then he looked at both of them for a bit before he gazed at Orla with a glint in his eyes. “Either of you married?”
“No mister, we’re not,” Orla told him in a loud steady voice. She sat up straight and glared at him. “I think it’s time for you to go, Elmer. It’s easier to travel while it’s still light out.”
Ciara wondered how Orla had become so brave. And she was concerned that Orla would anger the man. She glanced around, looking for Elmer’s horse. There was no sign of one, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t one hidden somewhere. It was too cold for this man to be out wandering around. What was he doing here?
“I’m not going anywhere. I like it right where I am. We’ll be having a good time together later. Right now I’m so full I can hardly move, but don’t be fooled into thinking I can’t shoot you. Though I like the spunky one.” He stared right at Orla.
The two women exchanged terrified glances. Ciara was frightened for Orl
a; it was never a good thing when the bad guy liked a woman. Maybe when it got dark, she could hit him over the head with a piece of wood. He’d have to go behind the bushes at some point, wouldn’t he? They could get on the horses and be away in a flash. No, it would take too long to unhobble the horses and get on them. There must be something she could do, though. She was responsible for Orla, and she’d rather die than allow that foul man to take Orla from her.
“I can see you’re thinking, and I know what you’re thinking. There’s no way to escape except if you call death an escape. I want her.” He nodded toward Orla. “You look to be too much of a thinker. Thinking just gets women in trouble.”
Beside her, Orla shuddered, and Ciara wished there was something she could to. She reached over to grab a few more blankets.
“What you reaching for girl? I’ll shoot that hand right off. Don’t think I won’t.”
“Orla’s shaking and it’s getting colder. I was reaching for blankets.” Fear enveloped her as Elmer stood. He aimed his gun at her and then threw a long piece of rope to Orla.
“Orla I want you to take that rope and tie your sister’s hands behind her back. Maybe it’ll keep her from getting into trouble and making me kill her.”
It was as though Orla was frozen with fright. She didn’t move, but she made a couple of sounds of distress. Ciara elbowed her, and she seemed to come out of whatever daze she was in. She stood and caught the rope Elmer tossed to her.
“Nice and tight. If it’s not tight, I will tie you up too.”
Orla did what she was told, and she made those ropes tight. Oh, Orla, thought Ciara in dismay. How was she supposed to get out of these knots? She tried to sit as still as possible. She didn’t want to make this hard on her sister; it wasn’t her fault at all.
“Now put a couple blankets around her and then wrap them in place with the rest of the rope. I’ll make the final knot after I check your work.”
All he was doing was making Orla shake harder. This time when Ciara and Orla gazed at each other, it was if they were conveying their love for each other. They both knew the danger they were in, and it broke Ciara’s heart.
Elmer plodded over and examined Orla’s work. He smiled and nodded, and then he made the final knot in the rope. He seemed pleased with himself. Ciara hated him even more.
“Grab the rest of the blankets; we can use them.”
There had to be something Ciara could do. But she couldn’t move and didn’t have a single idea. She waited for Elmer to instruct Orla to lay the blankets down but he didn’t. Instead he added more wood to the fire put a rope around Orla’s wrist and then walked away with her running behind him to keep up.
Ciara was stunned. She was so angry, and tears flowed down her face. Harshly, she blinked them back. She didn’t have time for tears, only had time for action. She looked around and decided that maybe she could loosen her bonds by rubbing the rope against the hard bark of the tree behind her. She started to move when she felt something under her leg and paused. It was hard and cold, but it was taking too long to move enough to see what it was. There was no more patience left in her body, so she wiggled and gave one final jerk to the side. Finally after frustration and more frustration she saw a knife. Orla’s knife! Their father taught them how to defend themselves, but she didn’t know that Orla still carried the knife. It was another few minutes before she could grab it, and then it was forever before she sawed through.
Chapter Eleven
Exhaustion plagued both Brogan and Prince. They had traveled most of the night, but now clouds covered the brightness of the moon. Why couldn’t he just lie down and sleep instead of having to build a fire to make sure he didn’t freeze to death? He got down from his horse and dropped the reins, knowing Prince would follow him as he gathered firewood.
After grabbing what he could find, he set the kindling on the ground to light it. But he paused as he caught what might be the flicker of fire in the distance. It was pretty far away, but he couldn’t take the chance that he might miss Ciara and Orla.
He climbed back on his horse. “We’ll go slow, Prince, I promise.”
He rode half the time and walked the other half. He needed to be sure that Prince didn’t step into any gopher holes. Weaving through the woods, using the trees for cover, he made his way to the site. Finally, he got close enough to see it was just one woman sitting by the fire, but he couldn’t tell what she was doing. Why would a woman be out here alone? Brogan crept forward, leading Prince, and when Ciara came into view, he almost fell over.
He ran the rest of the way to her. She was wild-eyed and didn’t acknowledge him at first.
“Ciara, it’s me, it’s Brogan.” He repeated the words two more times before he took her hands in his. She started fighting, getting a few hard blows in. He stepped back and stood with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. “What happened? Where’s Orla?”
She looked at him in a strange way and tilted her head one way and then the other. “Brogan?” She didn’t wait for an answer; she rushed at him and wrapped her arms around his middle.
He pulled her tight to him and held her. She trembled from head to toe. Whatever had happened, it must have been bad. Gently, he led her to the blankets near the fire and sat her down. He sat next to her and rubbed her arms trying to warm her.
Pulling away, she shook her head. “We don’t have time. Brogan, we need to go. Orla is out there. We might find her before that man…”
Brogan stilled. “What man?”
“His name is Elmer, and he walked up to our fire trying to act as though he was nice. The next thing I knew I was tied up and he was hauling Orla away with him.”
“Did they ride double on the man’s horse?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t see a horse, but I’m sure he must’ve had one somewhere. He tied Orla’s hands in front of her and started walking and poor Orla had to run to keep up with him.”
Brogan frowned as his stomach churned. “How long ago was this? Do you know?”
“I’m not sure. It took some time for me to cut the rope. I’d say maybe a couple of hours.” She stopped trembling and stared at him. “Let’s go get my sister.”
He glanced around and realized there was no wagon. The horses were there but not the wagon. He turned and cupped her cheek with his hand and turned her face a bit so she was looking at him. “What happened to the wagon? Did he take it?”
Ciara took a deep breath and let it out. “No. The wheel broke, and I didn’t know how to fix it. We had no choice but to take what supplies we could carry and ride the horses back the way we came. We thought we’d maybe be welcome at the Kavanagh ranch.”
Brogan let go of her and looked up at the sky. The clouds were dispersing; maybe they could set out. It hurt that she said they had been traveling to the Kavanagh ranch and not his. He thought she had feelings for him but he’d been mistaken.
“Which way do they go? Will you be all right staying here? Do you have a gun?”
“That way, I’m coming with you, and my gun is around here somewhere. I’m not staying alone. Who knows how many Elmers are out there? I can ride one of the other horses.”
He stood and helped her up. “Find your gun and wrap a few blankets around yourself. It will be faster if we ride double. You don’t weigh much more than a bird. He thinks you’re tied up, so I don’t think he went too far, at least not for the night. I don’t know who this man is. I’ve never heard of anyone named Elmer in these parts. Prince can’t go any farther right now. Let me just put the saddle on one of the other horses, and we can head off.”
She got busy looking for her gun. When he finished saddling the horse, she was right there waiting for him. He mounted up and then held out his hand. “Put your foot in the stirrup so you can mount up behind me. Then I want you to wrap your arms around me and don’t let go.” She made it in one try.
He turned the horse around, and they started in the direction Ciara had last seen Orla. It was dark and slow go
ing. They made progress when the clouds passed, but there were plenty more clouds floating toward the moon. Not far from the sisters’ camp, the two sets of footprints became one and a horse’s hoofprints began. It was incredibly hard to keep his body from tensing up. He didn’t want Ciara to know just how worried he was. More than likely Elmer was one of those trapper type men that lived alone. He probably planned to keep Orla for good. They stopped and waited for the clouds to pass, and then they started again. This was all his fault. He should’ve insisted that they stay.
“I will get off the horse so I can see if I can find the tracks. They were visible before, but I think they turned off somewhere near here.” He swung her down and then dismounted. “Just stay where you are. Don’t walk around.”
Her silent nod worried him.
Once again, he had to wait for the clouds to pass, but as soon as they did, the moonlight showed him the way. “They turned through the bushes here,” he whispered. He put his finger to his lips to signal for her to be quiet. “They might be camped close to here. We will walk very, slowly.”
She nodded, and it was a relief to see she understood him. He grabbed his rifle and turned. He was glad to see Ciara had her gun out. After several slow, very slow, steps, he stopped and she ran into him, but she remained quiet. He pointed toward a fire and made eye contact with her. He didn’t want to get any closer until he knew what was going on. He wanted to make sure it was just Elmer and Orla, and they hadn’t met up with anyone else. Orla looked to be scared but intact. Her clothes were torn, though. She kept looking around into the dark while Elmer made the mistake of staring into the fire. Orla would be able to see them when they made their move, but Elmer would have to wait till his eyes adjusted to the dark. Elmer must think he was safe.
Making no sound, Brogan inched them closer, so they’d come up behind Elmer’s back. His rifle lay on the ground, and Brogan wondered what was going on. Every man knew not to stare into the fire, and they also knew to keep their rifle across their lap. They watched Elmer put some tobacco in a pipe then light it and smoke it. He was talking to Orla, but they couldn’t hear what he was saying. It couldn’t have been very nice from her expression.
Brogan: Cowboy Pride: The Kavanagh Brothers Book Three Page 6
