A Man to Call My Own

Chapter 40

CHAD SPUTTERED AWAKE, COUGHING, and couldn't see for a moment. When he moved pain shot through the back of his head, bringing back the memory of an explosion of pain that had knocked him out. He realized water had been thrown on him to wake him when he saw Leroy standing next to him with an empty bucket in his hand.

"That the way you settle up your debts?" Chad growled. "By sneaking up on a man and—"

"I found you here, I didn't lay you here," Leroy spit out, looking slighdy offended.

"Sorry," Chad mumbled as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

" 'Sides," Leroy added. "I was only joshing with you earlier. You could have left me out there to rot that day, but you didn't. I reckon that squared us."

"You happen to see who broke their gun over my head?"

"No, but I'd stop jabbering if I were you and saddle up. There's fresh tracks from four mounts, with one horse toting double."

"Then they'll be slowed down."

"Not really," Leroy said as he picked something out of his teeth. "I seen your lady friend walk this way not long 'fore you did, and she ain't here now. She can't weigh more'n a speck of dust."

Chad turned pale, shot to his feet, swallowed the groan as he ran for his horse in the front of the stable. He grabbed the first saddle he found. It wasn't his.

"Want some company?" Leroy called after him.

"If you can be ready by the time I let my pa know that Marian's been abducted. You see which way they went?"

"They haven't tried to cover their tracks—yet. Since they dealt right handily with you, they probably figure they'll be a couple hours ahead of anyone who might follow."

Chad grimaced at how easily he'd been taken by surprise. "Do they? How long was I out?"

"I'd say close to an hour. Figured you and the gal was having some fun, so I didn't want to intrude too soon. But I just got plain nosey when y'all took too long to make another appearance."

Chad wished Leroy had gotten nosey sooner. Hell, he wished he had, then he might have caught up with Marian before she reached the stable. He couldn't begin to guess why she had been taken. If it had been just one man, then it wouldn't have nefarious implications, but four? Buffaloing him meant they didn't want anyone to know about it.

"You have an extra gun?" Chad asked. "Mine are up at the house, and I don't want to waste any more time here than I have to."

"You kidding me?" Leroy chuckled, and opened his bearskin coat wide.

They rode hard, but so did the men they were chasing, so they weren't gaining any ground catching up to them. Chad developed a sick feeling in the pit of his belly as the day wore on. The more time it took to rescue Marian, the more time there was for bad things to happen to her. And then darkness fell, delaying them even more.

Leroy had wanted to make camp for the night and pick up the trail in the morning, but Chad wasn't about to stop until he found Marian and knew she was all right. He knew he was acting stupid. They couldn't very well follow tracks in the dark, could even end up losing the trail completely. But they'd reached open country before dark, and he hoped that a campfire would give them away.

It didn't. A light from a window did. The trail led straight to a farm located in the middle of nowhere, miles from any town. Other than the light from the house, the whole place had an abandoned look to it. Broken barn doors, sagging porch, fields barren of crops. Whether anyone lived there on a regular basis was doubtful, but his prey were definitely there now.

They found the four horses they had tracked, in the barn, unsaddled, merely tied to a post near an old stack of hay. They'd leave their horses there while they worked their way toward the house without being seen. They didn't talk. Both men knew what to do.

And then Leroy spotted another horse and said quietly, "Its not abandoned, this place. Someone lives here."

As soon as he said it, the stack of hay started to move. Both men watched it for only a moment, figured some animal had made a bed under it, but nothing wild, since the horses nearby didn't spook. They turned away and started out of the barn. A muffled mewling sound brought Chad's eyes back to the haystack, in time to see a shape rise out of the center of it. The light in the barn was too dim to make out what it was at first, until the lighter golden hair caught his eye.

He swore under his breath. Leroy said conversationally, "Looks like they left her out here while they went to get some grub. I wonder why?"

Chad rushed to Marian, who had pushed her way out from under the hay. "Are you all right?"

he hissed. "Answer me!"

She couldn't answer him yet. He was still untieing her gag. "I'm fine," she was finally able to say, "I think."

"What the hell do you mean, you think?" he demanded, starting to shake her.

"I can't feel my hands, they've been tied up so long."

Some of the tenseness went out of him. He untied her hands, then her feet. It was a wonder she'd been able to push up onto her knees to let them know she was there.

"Do you know who they are?" he asked when she was finally standing on her feet.

"The men who robbed that train I was on. They found out about the painting I did of one of them. They wanted to make sure I didn't make any more."

"But they didn't hurt you?"

"No, not yet. Bilks wanted to. I don't think the others really did. But there was talk of cutting off my hand instead." She shuddered, saying it.

He spared a moment to hug her. "You're fine now."

"I know," she said with a sigh.

"Why they leave you out here?" Leroy asked.

"The owner of the farm didn't want to disturb his wife with whatever they ended up doing to me. They decided to wait until his wife went to bed before any final decision was made, and hid me out here, warning me not to make any noise."

"I'll get you out of here—after I kill those sons of bitches," Chad said. "Wait here."

"No!" She grabbed him back, starting to tremble. "No, don't leave me alone here. Let me go with you."

"Mari, this won't take long—"

"No! Do you have any idea what it was like, listening to those men talk about killing me! If you don't stay with me, I'm leaving on my own. I am not staying here alone, not another minute!"

Leroy chuckled softly to himself. "She's got her gumption back. I can handle these outlaws myself. You go on and get her home."

"There's four of them, Leroy," Chad reminded him.

Leroy grinned. "Child's play. I'm looking forward to busting some heads. Think there might be a reward for this bunch?"

"More'n likely. The railroad usually offers a reward for anyone who's disturbed the progress of one of their trains, to discourage any future activities of that sort."

"Then leave these fellas to me. They might make up for that five hundred you cost me."

Chad rolled his eyes. "They're all yours."