And Here I'll Stay

by Rita Hestand

  Joe composed himself quickly, but the pain in his heart seemed to reach out to everyone just then. He cleared his throat and nodded, then reached to touch her shoulder, "We will, I promise you that."

  She nodded and her and Pearl went inside.

  Garcia and the Sheriff and two deputies rode into the yard.

  "Heard about them taking Anna." Burt Newton, the Sheriff of Wayward told him. Burt was a tall man with a thin build, but a rough looking face. His beard covered a scar he'd gotten once for tangling with some rough outlaws. He was tough as nails and Joe was glad to have him with him. "We're geared up, know which way we are headed?"

  "Yes," Joe answered, his emotions beginning to set in now.

  "Sorry son, we'll do everything we can to get her back. They must have struck out for here from town on foot, then. Pretty clever, no one would suspect that."

  "That's how I figured it. On foot they wouldn't have alerted anyone here to their presence. Since they didn't come storming into the yard, they had to be on foot. But they got some horses here unfortunately, enough to keep them going a while too." Joe told him.

  "Your good stock?" Burt asked.

  "Yeah, three of them were."

  "They probably been talking to people in town. Trying to find someone they could steal from to get away once more. They had to know the way they came into town we were alerted to them. Anyway, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, guess we better ride then figure out what we're gonna do."

  Joe nodded.

  They rode out and Maria and Pearl watched from the window.

  Garcia and Stucky told the ladies they'd be in later for supper, and not to worry.

  "We will worry until she is home." Maria told Garcia.

  "I know," he smiled and patted her arm. "Miss Anna prayed for the men, it is sad that she did not pray for herself as well."

  Maria wiped a tear away, as Garcia leaned and kissed her cheek, "Do not cry, Joe will find them."

  She looked a bit shocked, but smiled, "Yes, you are right, he will!"

  Chapter Twenty-One

  It seemed as though they rode for hours, to Anna. They had long since passed the Catholic church where she said her prayers that morning. She had even seen the Father out tending his garden as they passed. He glanced up as they rode by. That was good, maybe he could tell Joe she was alright. She knew Joe would be after them soon. She sent up a silent prayer that he wouldn't get hurt or his men with him. She knew they would come. The love she held for Joe had made a bond that she knew would never break. She felt confident and strong now, knowing he loved her.

  Still, she wasn't at all sure how to handle this situation, and she figured the only thing she could do was give them a bit of trouble every chance she got.

  They must have ridden a good twenty miles before they made camp under a clump of trees.

  Unconcerned about anyone catching up to them they built a fire and asked her to prepare them a meal.

  "What do I cook?"

  "We got beans and fatback, there's coffee too." The lead man told her, as he beamed a frown at her. He brought them from his saddle bag and handed them to her. "You behave yourself and you might not get hurt."

  "Why did you bring me?" she asked.

  "You saw our faces; saw we killed your man there. We don't plan to hang. That old man hadn't of tried to stop us we wouldn't have killed him. And you'll make a good shield if they do catch up to us. They won't shoot too much with you in the middle of us. You're a right fair lookin' woman. I'm sure somebody will want you back."

  "He'll kill you!" She taunted them.

  "Who?"

  "My husband. You won't get away with this."

  "He's a tough ombre, huh?" one of them laughed.

  "Tough enough." She claimed.

  "So are we lady," the big man said. "And we'll kill you if you give us any trouble. You're in deep trouble right now, lady. I happen to know there is more ways to kill a man than shooting him."

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "You kill something your enemy loves, you kill them too. And despite what that town back there says, I got a feeling that the two of you are very close."

  "What do you know about me and him?" she glared at him. "I've never seen you in my life!"

  "The gossips were really busy, especially a woman called Susan. She sure wants your man. But just from the spite of her talk, I could tell, it's you your man is in love with. And that's a good thing for us. He'll use his head if he even catches up to us."

  "Are you going to ever let me go?" She asked.

  "Maybe, if you behave and don't give us reason."

  "Will I be dead or alive when you let me go?" she asked staring into his eyes now.

  "Depends on you and yours."

  "You won't kill me." she whirled around at him. "I'm your shield, remember."

  The young one laughed, "Oh, she's got some sass about her, don't she? I like a woman with sass."

  "Fix our supper and shut up!" the big man told her as he shot the young one a glance.

  She went to work making supper, making it tasty as she could. All of them agreed it was good. "Damn, this almost taste like home-made. I hadn't had beans like that in a while," the young one spouted. "I mean especially just old canned beans."

  She smiled, "I put a little wild onion I found in them."

  "They sure were good."

  "She might be worth keeping, cooking like that." The middleman said. He was shorter, stouter and looked to be part Mexican. He said very little.

  Anna watched them, trying to figure out a way to distract them and get away. It wasn't going to be easy. The big man was watching her constantly.

  Anna was scared but angry too. She found paradise in Joe's arms and now these men planned to take that away from her. Anger spurred her on. She'd find a way to best them yet.

  But that night as she lay on the blanket, they gave her, she wanted to cry badly. She missed Joe so much and she knew he'd be after them soon. She was afraid of what might happen. She realized in the blink of an eye she could lose everything dear to her.

  The problem was these men were clever. They had walked all the way from town to the ranch to steal the horses. Someone had told them about Joe's horses, they didn't just stumble onto the ranch, they were headed for it. She knew who that someone was, too. It was Susan. Oh, how she wanted to ring her neck right now.

  These men knew they had to have been conspicuous coming into town. They knew to get away they had to out smart the law and everyone else.

  But the one thing they hadn't planned on was having her with them. They didn't know the hell she could put them through with her antics. She'd wait and figure out just how to best them.

  They didn't know what a menace she could be.

  Early next morning, she cut one of the cinches on one of their horses.

  Then she cooked fatback for them to snack on.

  The coffee woke her up and when she went to wash the dishes by the stream. It felt so good; she washed her face while she had the chance. The young one followed her. He was about to get fresh with her when she bumped him into the stream with her hip.

  He came up wielding his gun at her.

  "Why you," he came out of the water with the gun pointed straight at her. He cocked it and then the big man came to see about them.

  "What's going on here?" he bellowed.

  "She pushed me in the stream." He yelled still aiming at her and brushing the water from his face.

  "Put the gun up, we need her right now." The big man insisted.

  "Why'd you try that?" he asked her.

  "He was getting fresh with me."

  "Leave her alone Quinton," the big man told him.

  "But you said we could have some fun with her," the kid hollered.

  "Later, not now. Before we kill her, not now." The man chuckled, staring at her with a leering smile and walked off.

  Anna felt a shiver go up her spine. So, they intended to kill her. Then she had nothing to lose.

&nbs
p; She'd use a different strategy. "Quinton, I’m sorry I pushed you in the stream. But I'm married."

  "So, you ain't gonna see him again." The kid protested. "You might as well make your mind up to that."

  "I'd rather just be your friend." She told him.

  "Frank just said he's gonna kill you, ain't you scared?" Quinton asked.

  "We all have to die sometime." She remarked.

  "I don't understand you. Most women would be scared to death, especially of him." Quinton protested her attitude.

  "He can only kill me once, then what?" she asked. "He won't have a shield then. They'll kill him for killing a woman."

  "Who will?"

  "The Sheriff and my husband and his men. They are coming."

  "You think you're that important?" Quinton laughed.

  "No, but those horses you stole are." She remarked.

  "Horses, what's so grand about them?" he asked blindly.

  "They are worth a lot of money. My husband will want them back."

  "You mean horses are worth more than you to him?"

  "Maybe, I guess we'll find out, won't we?"

  As they got back to camp Quinton wasted no time in telling Frank about the horses and their value. Frank seemed to study on that. He gave another glance at the horses, from their hoof to their snout.

  "Maybe we should sell 'em." Quinton told him.

  Frank turned on him then, "You think we can stop long enough to sell horses, kid? Are you out of your mind? We robbed that bank; we took prize horses from that barn and now we got her to worry about. No, we'll use them as we intended to all along. People would wonder where we got them anyway."

  "But we could sell them and get some more cheaper ones and still have some money. I mean you hid that money somewhere and it might be some time before we get back to it."

  Frank studied on it a minute. "I'll think on it, kid."

  "We'll get the bank money; first chance we get to double back. Besides, if those horses are that good, we might need them."

  "She said they'd want them back."

  "Who?"

  "Her husband and the Sheriff." Quinton sighed with exasperation.

  "Well, that won't happen. Besides, they got to catch up to us first."

  "Don't listen to her kid, she's just trying to mess with you is all." Frank told him.

  When they were ready to ride again, they mounted, and Frank put her behind him. She could see he didn't trust her.

  But not long after they started out, the kid's horse balked at a snake and the kid went sailing through the air as the saddle came lose.

  Anna almost laughed.

  Quinton checked his horse and saddle then saw where it had been cut at the cinches.

  "She messed with my saddle," he complained.

  Frank frowned, "Girl, you want to live a while you better stop messin' with us."

  Anna nodded, "Okay, okay. But a good cowboy always checks his cinches first."

  Frank frowned, "She's right from now on check everything. You give me one more ounce of trouble and I'll do you in now. Understood? I don't make promises I can't keep."

  "Yes, I understand." she said meekly as though he scared her.

  She knew she should be afraid, but it was very comical the way Quinton fell off his horse. But she put on a shy, demure face now, to satisfy Frank.

  She didn't know the other one's name, and he hardly spoke. When he did it was in a whisper and usually to Frank.

  Quinton sent her a frown and got back on his horse after he fixed the cinch.

  They traveled a long ways before stopping again, and Anna was hungry now.

  When they stopped to eat, she suggested they hunt down a rabbit or something.

  "We ain't got time to go hunting, you'll fix some more beans and be thankful to get that." Frank told her. "I guess you ain't never been on the run before, but you'll learn."

  Silently she wondered how far behind Joe and them were. She had to come up with some kind of idea of how to distract them so she could run away, that might slow them down if they had to look for her for a while.

  She didn't know for sure where they were, they hadn't passed any towns in a long while and she realized they were taking to the hill country. She hoped Joe and the Sheriff could track them. Maybe she could leave them clues.

  She tore a couple of buttons off her blouse and tried to leave them in open spaces so they could see them.

  She wasn't sure they would as they were too light colored.

  She found a bandana in one of the saddlebags that evening when she went to pull another can of beans out. She told them she needed to tie her hair up with it.

  Frank reluctantly let her.

  She made supper and washed the dishes, then tore the bandana edges off and put them where they could be seen, from the creek to the campsite.

  She then climbed into her blanket and tried to go to sleep. So far, they hadn't bothered her much and she was thankful, but if Joe and them caught up to her, things could change quickly.

  She heard them talking later that night.

  The other man, whom she didn't know his name asked, "How we gonna get the bank money, where did you hide it."

  Frank eyed the man, as though he didn't trust him either. "We'll get it, don't you fret about that William. We got to throw these people following off our trail, then wait a bit and go back after it."

  "Why didn't we just bring it with us," Quinton complained.

  "Because if they catch us, they won't find the money. That's why. They can't convict us of robbery without the money."

  "But we killed a man, we'll probably hang." Quinton informed them.

  "They won't hang all three of us. We're gonna divide up if they get close, all of us going different directions. The trick is whoever isn't caught will go back and get the money then spring us from jail, if they catch us. If they don't, we'll meet up where I left it."

  "You think anyone's following us?" the third man asked.

  "I don't know. If they are, they aren't close yet. But she thinks they are coming." Frank told them. "It seems we got two things they want, the horses and her."

  "Then they will come." The third man told them.

  "Probably."

  "Who is gonna take the girl if we split up?" Quinton asked.

  "Me," he told them.

  "Why you?"

  "Because I ain't got a thing against killing a girl. That's why."

  "What about the horses?" Quinton asked.

  "We could each take one, so we'd have a fresh mount, or we could leave them, hoping they'd go home and not follow us any further."

  "But they'll want her for sure," Quinton told him.

  "Maybe not. I got an idea."

  "What kind of idea?"

  "The kind you wouldn't think of. If they get close, we'll make it look like we buried her."

  "Hey, that's a smart idea. Then they'd take the horses and go home."

  "That's my thinking exactly."

  "If they go home what do we do with her?"

  "Ain't sure yet. We could have our way with her then kill her, or we could keep her. She ain't a bad cook. But the best thing would be to take her on with us about a hundred miles or so from here and dump her. If she makes it home, fine, if she dies between then it weren't us."

  "That's for sure." The kid chuckled. "But she's sneaky, we'd have to always be watching her."

  "Yeah, I know. We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out."

  "At least we got some ideas now." Quinton smiled.

  "I wish we hadn't left that money too, sometimes."

  "Where did you bury it?"

  "I didn't exactly bury it."

  "What do you mean. What did you do with it?" William asked. "The last I saw of it was at that church."

  "I stashed it in that Catholic churchyard we passed. I told you I was going for some water. Well, I did, but I got the idea to stash it while I was getting it."

  "But what if someone finds it."

  "They won't
. I put it in the cradle where baby Jesus was lying out there in the yard, under the straw."

  "Oh man, that's good."

  "It'll be easy to get it."

  Anna heard this and almost gasped. The yard had a statue of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus, she remember thinking how beautiful it was. The money was hidden in the yard of the church. The priest, would they kill him? She hoped not.

  She tried to close her eyes now. She didn't want to hear any more.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The next morning, she cooked the last of the fatback and coffee and after washing up a bit at the stream she walked back to camp to find them all up and moving about.

  "That was the last of the fatback and the beans are gone too." She announced.

  "Not to worry, we'll be passing a town soon and we'll let Quinton go into town and get some more supplies." Frank eyed her as he walked around her.

  She nodded.

  "If your husband and the Sheriff are following, how come they haven't caught up yet?" Frank studied her expression hard.

  Anna didn't feel like sparring with the man, she looked up at him with a grimace. "I don't know. This isn't the same road we left on, maybe they lost your trail. Or maybe they are closer than you think."

  "Well now, that would be something, wouldn’t it?" Frank eyed her expression. He seemed to be always looking for something in her face.

  She paled but recovered quickly. "He won't give up."

  "Who?"

  "My husband." She told him firmly.

  "Why not?" Frank asked coming closer.

  "He worked hard to get where he is today. He knows what it takes to make it in this world. And he knows anything worth having, is worth fighting for." She told him.

  "You, for instance?" Frank raised a brow and looked at her for the first time. All of her. "Well, set your mind to rest. I've figured out what I'm going to do. And it will destroy him, and you."

  "What's that?" she asked.

  "I’m going to bury you!"

  Her jaw dropped, her color drained and her heart skipped a beat as she heard his words. He was going to kill her now.

  She swallowed hard. "Then go ahead, get it over with!" she shouted. "Go on, I'm tired of listening to your threats. Just do it and get it over with."