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permanently pressed repressed and depressed
I ran to the front door of the house... I was going to see if I could see anyone from the porch, but Gramma caught me first. She's a tough little thing. Tougher than me when it gets down to it. She looked me square in the eye and says,"Child, HE KNOWS what he's doin'. YOU STAY PUT!"
I hear the horses winny outside and get suspicious. I grabbed the pearl handled colt from the mantle in the drawing room and slip out from under Gram's watchful eye... I was right in my thinking. Wrong to act. The side door was adjacent to the corral, and I was seen. They were after the horses. One had roped Storm. I pulled the hammer on the revolver and aimed at the thief. No good. I was nabbed. A squaw they call 'Cotton' has a fistful of my hair and is dragging me backward toward the Hickorys...but as she pulled at me, the gun fell and misfired, drawing attention back to the house. Fights broke out. Gunshots and arrows in the dark... Jim was pierced in the thigh with a stray arrow, but he's gonna be fine. Just tender for a while. Nicky'll tend to him... There were losses on both sides, but more of them than us. Meanwhile, I'm wishing for about a million of Gram's 'I told you so's' and a healthy swat with a switch... I shoulda listened. I knew it too, but it wasn't about Owen knowing what he was doin'...I'd already figured as much.
Last edited by wylde on Fri Nov 23, 2007 7:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
They hadn't really planned on a raid... they had struck the village and were moving through. They came upon the ranch and had been sneaking around since dinner. This explains the presence of the women with them. Sure caught me offguard...
We head south... some of the mustangs were freed in the confusion, but the tribe had secured for themselves about four of them, one was Storm. They let me walk unbound, figuring I wouldn't get far, so I behaved and kept pace...but while we went I buried my hands in the pockets of Owen's coat to keep warm. I feel a kerchief in the left and a pocketknife in the right... there is hope.
Last edited by wylde on Fri Nov 23, 2007 8:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Owen and his brothers are fairly good trackers. Their grandfather, in his younger days, having saved the life of an old Kiowa chief was taught the old man's way of tracking. He then passed it on to his sons and theirs.
We finally stop by a stream secluded by birch trees to let the ponies drink. There they made camp. I'm weary. Weary and worried they'll think to search my pockets. I've got my eye on Storm who's standing in the stream cooling his hooves in the running water...
I stood dazed as I stared at the rippling moonlight on the water. I wondered what was happening at home. Home? Funny, that's the first time I'd ever thought of the ranch as home... I sat down by the bank, and for the first time since leaving Ohio, let teardrops fall.
I was awakened by the gentle nudge of Storm...he was rigged with a bridle and reins. I lean up my elbow and realize all is quiet. I see a couple of the men by the fire smoking a pipe, their backs turned to me. A couple of dogs sniffing around looking for leftover bones. Everyone else was asleep. I look at the guards, who still think I'm asleep, then to Storm...
I take hold of his mane and swing myself up to his back. Their preoccupation was broken by a barking dog. They rouse the others, but I'm off like a shot...I'm not sure of my heading and I don't care so long as I'm well the hell away from them...
Storm raced into the darkness with me in tow until the sun's rays broke on the horizon. It was also then, Storm and I broke company. He lost his footing on some rocks and threw me. When I didn't budge, he wandered off into the prarie. He was found at the south end of the ranch... so at least he had us headed back north. I wasn't far off...
My fall disturbed a snake's nest which irritated the mother... I was too groggy to see this, and was bit. I travelled in and out of consciousness, crawled when I could... pain spiked with fever, and I blackedout. In truth, I was fortunate. The snake had to bit through the leather of my boot, and so I didn't get the full injection of the bite. I might have died...but awoke once more in that charming little bedroom at the ranch. This time with Owen at my side...it was now December.
He'd been talking to me in my fever and in my sleep, and trying to keep me cool. I heard his voice a number of times throughout, and heard him now in my waking smile... He says to me, "Don't wander off...," grinning as stepped out of the room.
Last edited by wylde on Sat Nov 24, 2007 12:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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