Sharon Poppen (30 page)

“Son-of-a-bitch! My finger! You bit it! You bastard!” The sheriff roared in agony.

Things happened so fast Hannah had trouble believing her eyes. Drake’s hands were free. In a horrible moment of regret, Hannah remembered that they had not searched Drake. They’d tied him and threw him on the horse, but never searched him for hidden weapons. Now, he wielded a Navaja-Flick-knife. The handle was small, but it flicked out a deadly pointed blade.

The sheriff’s baby finger was covered in blood and dangling from his hand. Cooper looked at the flick-knife now buried in his forearm. His son Tim ran to help his father. Drake, who’d managed to come to a sitting position, grabbed the boy. He pulled his knife from Cooper’s arm and held it against Tim’s neck.

Liam managed to slip from his saddle. He and Daniel rushed toward Hannah.

“Stay back,” Drake growled, “or the boy meets his maker.”

“Stop! For God’s sake! Do what he says,” Cooper begged.

The sheriff had dropped to his knees and was desperately trying to stop the bleeding and keep his finger attached to his hand. “You son-of-a-bitch! You ‘bout bit it off!”

“Shut up, lawman! Shut up or I kill the boy.”

The sheriff bit his lip and glowered.

Aside from a lot of heavy breathing, not a sound challenged Drake’s order to shut up.

“That’s better.” Drake smiled. “Now, if Hannah will come help me up, I might let this young’un live.”

“No!” Liam took a step forward.

Tim yelped and a small dot of blood appeared at the tip of the knife. A rivulet of blood crept down the boy’s throat.

Hannah motioned for Liam to wait.

“Oh, God,” Cooper moaned. “Not my boy. Do me. Not my boy.”

Drake ignored everyone as he watched Hannah. He spoke with his eyes and it was a demand.

She walked toward him.

“Help me up.” While keeping the knife against Tim’s throat, Drake managed to roll to the side of his good leg. “Listen, pussy, grab me under my right arm. Boy, you do the same to my left arm. Then ease me up. You do it right or you die. Got it, boy?”

Tim managed an adolescent, “Yes.”

It was slow and it was awkward, but Drake made it to his feet. Standing on one leg and using Hannah as a crutch for his bloodied leg, he gave orders. “All of you, except young Tim here and the lovely Hannah, mount up and head for town.”

“Not without my boy,” challenged Cooper.

A fresh gush of blood appeared at the tip of the knife still at Tim’s throat. “Pa, go. Don’t cross him. Take Josh and go to Ma and the girls. Go.”

Drake was in control. The men had no choice. Cooper helped the sheriff up into his saddle as Daniel forced Liam up onto his horse.

“Don’t,” Daniel whispered when Liam resisted his help.

As they rode off, Liam held his ground and locked eyes with Drake.

Drake smiled, licked his lips, and pressed them against Hannah’s cheek, while Daniel grabbed the reins to Liam’s horse and forced him to join the defeated posse.

Once the men were out of sight, Drake told Hannah to take him over to a nearby Cottonwood tree. He leaned against it and released Hannah. “Go get some rope from one of the horses,” he told her.

The thought crossed her mind that perhaps she could knee Drake so fast that the knife would fall away from Tim’s throat. Then the importance of the word ‘perhaps’ robbed her bravado. She couldn’t risk it. When she returned with the rope, Drake had her fashion a loop and secured it tightly around Tim’s throat, loop it over a thick branch, and tie it around Drake’s left wrist with the end draped into his hand.

Once that was done, Drake pulled the knife away from the boy, but kept it open and held tightly in his right hand. He issued a warning. “All I have to do is sit down and you’ll swing. So be a good boy and don’t try anything heroic.” He nodded toward Hannah. “And, if you’re a real good boy, I might share a real treat with you.” He laughed. “You like that?”

Tim glared.

Drake laughed again and then got serious. “We need to get moving. Sooner or later those fools are bound to find their cojones and turn around. Woman, give me your gun.”

Hannah hesitated just long enough for Drake to ease down against the tree. Tim gagged and went up on his toes. Hannah handed her gun over.

“That’s better. Now strip down.”

“What?”

“You heard me. You fooled me once with hidden guns, this time I’m going to make sure.”

Hannah glanced toward Tim and back to Drake with a plea for him to not make her do this.

“Strip!” He inched further down the tree.

Tim was on the tips of his toes.

Hannah unbuttoned her shirt and then hurried out of everything except her panties.

“Everything.” Drake smiled.

Hannah closed her eyes, but at the sound of a gurgle from Tim, she pulled them down and stepped out of them.

“That’s my girl.” He ran his hand holding the rope across his crotch. “Now, look what you’re doing to my pole.” He patted himself. “Patience, you’ll have it. Soon.” He eased back up releasing the strain on Tim, who came back down on the soles of his feet and coughed in relief.

“Now, Miss Hannah, tie that piece of rope around your ankle, and then tie it to the horse’s leg.” Once she’d done it, he told her to lay herself across its saddle, face down.”

“If the horse bolts and tosses me …”

“It won’t be pretty,” said Drake. “So, I suggest you do as you’re told, quickly so no one spooks the horse.” He aimed the gun at the ground in front of the horse. “Want to test it out?”

Hannah mounted up in the position Drake wanted. Aside from the embarrassment of her exposure, she knew that one word, one loud noise and the horse would bolt. She’d be thrown to the ground, and at best, be pulled through the brutal Texas sand. Or worst, she’d be trampled to death. She refused to accept either fate. She made a promise to herself.
I might die, but not before I see you take your last breath.
So loud did she scream this to herself, she had to risk a glance to be sure Drake had not heard her.

At the moment, Drake was talking to Tim. “Listen up. I’m going to loosen the rope and allow you to come over to me. We’re going to mount up and get the hell out of here. But, boy, you cross me in any way or try to escape, this gun goes off and Hannah will be at the mercy of a crazed horse. You hear me!”

“I hear you,” Tim glowered, and then the rope slackened until he could walk to Drake. He helped him mount his horse, and then climbed aboard his own.

“South,” directed Drake and they moved out.

*****

They’d gone about two miles, when Liam reined his horse to a stop. “NO!” he shouted. “This is wrong.” He turned his horse around.

“My son,” groaned Cooper.

Liam pulled up alongside him. “Do you honestly think that Drake is going to let your boy live? Do you?”

Cooper moaned.

“He’ll use him, brutally, until he serves no more purpose, and then Drake will kill him.” Liam turned to the sheriff. “Tell him what he’ll do with Tim then.”

Cooper looked over at the sheriff.

“TELL HIM!” Liam demanded.

“He sometimes eats his kill.”

Cooper leaned over the side of his horse and vomited through moans of fear and disgust. Eventually, he lifted his head and wiped his mouth with the blood stained sleeve of his wounded arm.

“I’m going back!” Liam shouted and shot a challenging dare at each man, including young Josh. He turned and spurred his horse.

Daniel shook his head slowly and called to his brother. “Wait, I’m going with you. Damn!” He gave orders to the others. “No time to debate my brother’s decision. Sheriff, you take Josh and head to town. Cooper, we’re going to need you. Coming?”

“Yes. I gotta get my boy.”

“Pa, I’m going too.” Josh pulled his horse up alongside his father.

“Son, the sheriff needs you.” He raised his hand to stop Josh’s protests. “No time. Go.”

Reluctantly, Josh urged his horse over toward the sheriff and they headed toward town.

When he was sure his son had obeyed him, Cooper looked across at Daniel. “Let’s ride.” He galloped after Liam with Daniel at his side.

Chapter 39

Justice

Drake rode between Hannah and Tim. They’d started off in a vigorous trot, but the jostling increased the flow of blood from Drake’s gunshots. At one point, he halted long enough for Tim to fashion a makeshift tourniquet around his upper leg.

Tim used his own belt. While he worked getting it around Drake’s thigh and cinching it tight, Drake kept his gun pointed in the direction of Hannah and her horse.

“It’s the best I can do.” Tim stepped back.

“It’ll have to do,” said Drake. “Mount up and let’s go.”

As they rode, night fell and a full moon took over the sky allowing the trio to travel as well as before the sunset.

Hannah could see that the belt wasn’t helping much. She wondered how Drake could lose so much blood and keep going. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Drake’s arm seemed to be sagging, bringing the gun barrel down until it pointed at the earth instead of her horse. Almost as if he read her thoughts, the arm came back up and the gun bore down on her, again.

“Not yet,” growled Drake. “I’ll see you dead, before I head for hell.”

They rode on in silence. Hannah was so deep in thought trying to conjure up an escape for both her and Tim that she almost yelped at feeling the edge of a knife blade. The small dull blade was sawing at the rope attached to the horse’s leg. Her nude body was draped over the saddle in such a way that her head faced Drake. She couldn’t see Tim, but she knew it was him. She strained her neck up and noticed Drake’s head lolling down toward his chest as if sleeping. The hand holding his gun, hung at his side pointing toward the ground. Just as the rope give way, Drake’s head jerked and his arm came back to the ready with the gun pointed back at her.

“BOY!” Drake glared at Tim who’d managed to ease his mount just behind Drake. “What’re you doing back there? Get up alongside me.”

Tim did as he was told, but instead of easing up to Drake’s right, the boy maneuvered his horse between Drake and Hannah.

“What the hell? Get back.”

“No,” Tim challenged him.

“You little …” Drake fired, but his aim and reflexes were slow.

Tim’s horse reared up as if to buck, but a tight hold on the reins kept the horse down as Tim eased her back away from Drake.

Drake’s bullet grazed Tim’s shoulder.

Hannah’s horse reared and dumped her onto the ground. As it galloped off, it spooked Drake’s mount. A woozy Drake dropped his reins and was thrown to the ground as his horse reared and followed after Hannah’s horse.

Hannah watched Drake’s gun fly out of his hand and land between the two of them. His eyes rolled back in his head, but he instinctively grabbed for the gun.

Aiming at Hannah, he worked at steadying his hand. “Now, you die!” He fired. He missed.

Hannah squirmed back while wiggling deep into the coarse Texas terrain. The grit scraped her breast and stomach raw.

Drake aimed at her again and suddenly jerked his aim up at Tim’s horse. Tim had reared his horse up over Drake’s body. Drake fired wildly. The bullet struck the horse in the chest just as Tim jumped from his saddle. Hooves smashed into Drake’s face, and the horse collapsed down onto Drake. A gush of air rushed from Drake’s crushed lungs leaving his lifeless body buried under the horse.

Tim rushed to Drake to be sure he was dead and then ran to Hannah who was still on her belly and staring at what she could see of Drake’s body in the moonlight.

“Ma’am, how can I help?” Tim knelt beside her with his hands out, but not quite touching her.

Hannah looked up at the boy. With Drake dead, the urgency of their peril was replaced by embarrassment on both sides. Hannah remained on her stomach, but smiled at Tim. “Could I have your shirt?”

He scrunched his eyebrows. “My shirt?” Then he nodded. “Oh, yeah. Sure.” He pealed it from his body and laid it over her back. “Can you get up alright?”

“I think so.”

Tim waited, ready to help.

“Ah, could you give me a moment?”

“Oh,” the boy blushed. He jumped to his feet and turned his back. “If you need me, just yell.”

Hannah got up and buttoned the shirt over her bleeding skin. It was long enough to provide her with a degree of modesty. “Thank you. You can turn around now.”

“Are you hurt?” She saw him look down at her bloody thighs.

“Just some scraping. I’ll be fine.” She took his hand and kissed his cheek. “You were so brave. Thank you so much.”

He blushed again and turned to look in the direction the horses had taken. “I don’t see the horses, do you?”

“No. And with all this moonlight, they’ll probably run until they tire and maybe find some water.”

In the distance, several coyotes began howling at the moon. Hannah and Tim listened as they took stock of their situation.