Damaged Hearts (8 page)

~XII~

“So what do you think of this dress?”  Angel asked Kat attempting to draw her attention back to planning the wedding.  “I know you prefer your denims and a new flannel or chambray shirt but it’s just not going to work for your wedding day.”

“Oh Angel, why does it have to be so complicated?  I mean sure you’re making a commitment to the person you’re going to supposedly spend the rest of your life with; but why can’t it be done comfortably?”  Kat stomped her foot.

“Kat, listen to yourself.  You only get married once.  Rick is going to see you in nothing but britches and unfeminine shirts on a day to day basis for the rest of your lives.  Why not give him the opportunity to see you dressed up in something a little more pretty just this one time.”  Angel soothed.

Pulling out and discounting piece after piece of clothing.  Nothing seemed to fit; either the color was all wrong, or the style emphasized the wrong parts of her body, or the fit was totally lacking.  

“Maybe this was a warning sign to stay with what I know.  The single life while lonely at times, is quite uncomplicated but for the most part comfortable.”  Kat grumbled to herself.

“That’s it!”  Angel finally announced.  “We have to go into town.  Nothing here is right for you for our wedding day.  I’d like to have something pretty that fits a little bit looser over my big belly and we need a perfect dress for you.  You never did promise Rick, so let’s get ourselves to town.  Besides, if we get there and back fairly quickly, they’ll never know we left.”

“Oh alright.”  Kat agreed, knowing Angel would not be satisfied with less than what she saw as perfect.  “Let me go saddle the horses while you get changed.  You definitely can’t ride in that.”  Kat laughed looking pointedly and Angel’s skimpy chemise.

Heading to the barn, Kat thought on what Angel had said.  She guessed that her sister was probably right about letting Rick see her in something feminine and frilly at least once.  While part of her loathed the idea of putting on a corset and a dress, another small part of her secretly hoped they could find something to make her look if not beautiful, then at least passably pretty.  Rick deserved that much from her.

Walking into the barn, her eyes had not fully adjusted to the darkness when an arm came around her and a hand covered her mouth.  Instinctively, she bit down hard on the hand but the person had thought ahead and was wearing thick leather gloves.  Her hands were quickly tied behind her back and a dirty rag was shoved into her mouth before she could yell out for help. 

Just as her eyes were becoming accustomed to the dark, a burlap bag was pulled over her head.  Letting her body go limp, she hoped to become more of a burden to slow down her unknown attacker.  Instead, she was slung over their shoulder and carried out of what she knew must be the back of the barn. 

Struggling, she tried to escape or make enough noise to alert someone that something was wrong.  Just as she wondered about the dogs, she heard growling and a yelp as her attacker jolted her hard, having viciously kicked one of her would be rescuers.

After flinging her over the saddle her kidnapper mounted behind her apparently kicking the horse viciously, in hopes of escaping the ranch undetected.  As they started to move, Kat began to struggle even more in earnest, thinking that this might be her only opportunity for escape.  Angel would be coming out the door shortly so they could go to town but it would take several precious minutes to let Star out of her stall and clip reins to her halter before leaving in search of either the hands or the men that were in town.  Kat just prayed Angel got help instead of trying to follow them on her own.

Groaning to herself, Kat figured she could probably feel every time that the horses’ hooves hit the ground through the saddle horn digging into her ribs.  From what she could tell, if her bearings were correct, they headed west towards the La Plata Canyon.  She had not spent a lot of time exploring that area but if that was truly where they were headed, there were only a few people that could have possibly kidnapped her. 

The direction of thoughts paralyzed her with fear.  Dear God, she hoped she wasn’t right.  If she was, then that meant the rundown cabin was still partially standing and her life, or what there was left of it, was about to become hell again.

She stopped struggling and began praying, deciding that it was better to conserve her strength and hope the opportunity arose to get away, than it was to tire herself out and be more vulnerable than she already was.  She knew that her chances were slim that Rick would know where to go to find her.  Eureka Grange where her ranch was located at wasn’t exactly right next door to the La Plata Canyon; besides that the canyon was huge, much larger than the Sunnyside Canyon where her cattle had been hidden.

All she could do was look for an opportunity and hope like hell that Rick could track her as well as he could track missing cattle.  With any luck, maybe one of the dogs was still alive.  She knew that both Belle and Wolfe had an excellent nose on them and could track anything from cattle to horses and hopefully even her.

She lay strung over the saddle with her head on one side and her feet on the other for what seemed like hours.  Her long hair seemed inclined to snag on every unseen bush or tree in the path.  At the rate she was going, if they ever stopped she would be too dizzy and sore to attempt escape.  All the blood was in her head and it felt like none of it was in her feet. 

Eventually, she felt her captor pull up the horse right before she was pushed off the saddle to the ground.  She landed with a bone-jarring thud and lay there not moving.

After hearing her captor dismount, she held her breath as he toed her unmoving form with his boot.  She let out a involuntary groan of pain, unfortunately telling him that he hadn’t killed her on the ride or by dumping her on the ground.  Seconds later, her captor grabbed up her and dragged her to a nearby tree securing a rope around it and her middle at one time.  After he made sure she wasn’t going anywhere, she heard him turn and relieve himself somewhere close to where she was tied. 

George walked down a little deer trail to the river, drinking deeply from his canteen before stopping to fill it with fresh water.  Coming back up the trail he whistled to himself content that tonight he’d be having himself a fresh young thing instead of his old worn out wife.  He pulled the sack from Kat’s head and knowing that they were too far away to worry, he pulled the rag from her mouth too.

She spat at him, her eyes glaring daggers through him.  “I should have known it was you.  I couldn’t be lucky enough for you to be dead so I’d never have to lay my eyes on you again.”

He lazily let his eyes roam over her body.  She had lost several buttons from her shirt in struggling and that only added to the nasty gleam in his eyes.  He thought to himself about taking  her right there on the ground and to hell with waiting for tonight but he knew he had to put more distance between the two of them and the people that were sure to be hunting for her.  He wasn’t too concerned with her sister finding them but he was more than a little worried about the thought of going up against either Rick or Matt Jamison; or both of them.

“You better just watch your mouth woman.”  He threatened.  “You already know how much rougher I can be!” 

“What more can you do to me, George?  Kill me?”  She baited.  “I’d rather be dead then live through satisfying you again!”

“Sorry to disappoint you but your father has other plans for you.”  He said, letting his hands roam cruelly over her as he untied the rope from around the tree and jerked her to her feet.  Unfortunately, her numb appendages would not support her weight and she fell against him giving him more opportunity to crudely fondle her breasts before throwing her up into the saddle of the horse that he managed to steal when he kidnapped her.

Thankfully, Nugget was well trained and somewhat used to her riding him.  With her feet tied together by a rope that ran under the horses belly and her hands still tied behind her back, chances were slim to none that she could ride well enough to get away should she manage to get the horse loose from George.  At least though she wouldn’t run a huge risk of falling off and being drug under the hooves.

Grabbing the lead rope, George mounted and kicked his horse into a gallop.  Kat, having no choice leaned forward and hugged the horses middle with her legs.  Having spent a large amount of time riding bareback gave her the edge she needed to stay in the saddle with the fast pace he set.  After about half an hour or so, he slowed the horses to a walk to cool them down, drawing Kat’s mount up near his.

“Just so you know Kat, I intend to avoid your claws this time when I have you.  To give you something to look forward to, picture yourself tied to the bed fully clothed as I rip your shirt off you and feast on your breasts.  My earlier feel gave me an idea that they are a lot more plump then they were fifteen years ago.”  He sneered.  “But then again, last time I had you, you were a little girl with nothing but buds just starting to blossom.  Now, you’ve filled out into a woman worth sinking my dick into.”  He crudely rubbed at his crotch.

“Yeah well, you always were a man worth sticking my knife into!”  She ground out, kicking Nugget enough to throw George off balance.

After righting himself in the saddle and getting his horse back under control, he jerked her horse close enough to snake an arm around her and pull her into the saddle in front of him. 

Grunting as she landed in his lap, he proceeded to give her a taste of what she dreaded might happen that night.  Pinching her nipple roughly through her shirt, he commented, “Not so high and mighty now are we?”

He tied the lead rope of the other horse to the saddle which left one hand free to roam her body and humiliate her as much as possible while still controlling his horse with the other hand.  Having her hands tied behind her back gave him several advantages; pushing her breasts out for his enjoyment, keeping her from obstructing his advances and giving him further enjoyment of being able to rub his hard cock against her stationary hands while imagining them stroking him.

She knew struggling would only cause further invitation for him to continue his cruel treatment so she sat as straight as possible and tried not to cringe with the more painful of his torture.  It was all she could do not to jerk away when he slid his tongue in her ear and then down the outside of her throat. 

“Just think how much fun you have to look forward to.”  He laughed as his free hand cupped her down below and his hand holding the reins moved up to her breasts pinching yet again.

She purposely let her mind go blank as she refused to respond.  Last time she was held by this mad man, she learned it was best not to let him know how much he hurt her.  His lust seemed powered by his ability to inflict pain and she was determined not to let him feel or see her flinch.

Giving up on his torture for now, knowing it would be so much better where he could lay her out flat and have two hands for fun; George kicked the horse into a run contenting himself with squeezing and pinching her breasts viciously, finally eliciting a reaction from the pain he caused her.  Knowing from just a slight flinch how much it did bother her, he continued this for quite some time before he got bored and his hand got sore from the angle.

He licked and bit her on the side of the throat “Just think how good I will get to feel tonight ripping you open as I shove my huge hard meat into your tight sheath.  It’s been a long time and I bet you are almost as tight as you were that first time.”

He kicked the horse again not caring about the weight it carried, eager to get to the cabin where he would get to spend his first of many nights on the way to Sedona satisfying his sadistic urges. 

~XIII~

Knowing that they were going to town, and not wanting to draw as much attention to herself as Kat normally did, Angel chose to dress in a split skirt for riding.  Now that she knew more about

Kat’s history, she could quite understand why she strove to keep herself as unfeminine as possible.  She also now knew just how strong of a person her sister really was and her fear or hatred of men, depending on how you looked at it, was very understandable.  If she was right though, Rick just might help her get past that and even possibly give her a reason to move forward.  Thinking about how much Kat loved children, Angel rubbed her belly, she hoped that her sister and Rick would have one soon and give Matt’s child a playmate.

She ran down the hall stopping briefly to grab her leather gloves, before heading out the door to the barn.  As she stepped off the porch, the first thing she noticed was that the horses were not tied to the hitching post where Kat normally took them if she was saddling more than one. 

Suddenly, scared beyond belief, Angel ran inside the barn yelling her sister’s name.  Seeing Star and Dusty still in their stalls, she looked down at the ground.  As she suspected, there were signs of a scuffle.  After looking around further, she noticed Belle lying next to a stall door breathing hard.  Kneeling, Angel slid her hand down the dog’s side.  Belle lifted her head; seeing the dog’s pain glazed eye’s Angel spoke softly as she continued her examination.  “Hell and damnation!”  She muttered feeling what she figured was two maybe three broken ribs.

Scratching the dog on her head, Angel stood up told the dog to stay and headed for the bunkhouse silently hoping that James or Frank were there.  She ran the short distance now wondering where Wolfe might be.  As she pounded up the stairs and through the door, Frank jumped up from his spot at the table and James looked up from the harness he was mending. 

“What’s all that racket for Miss Angel?”  James asked alarmed at the look on her face.

“Someone came and took Kat when she went out to saddle the horses.  Belle is hurt and I’m not sure where Wolfe is.”  She told them breathlessly.  “We need to saddle some horses and one of us needs to go get Matt and Rick while the other two of us follow the tracks and see if we can find my sister.”

She turned and ran back to the barn almost tripping over a bleeding, limping Wolfe in the process.  “James...Come quick and bring some towels she yelled.”

“Oh Wolfe, who did this to you?”  She cried looking at her pet.  Running her hands over him much like she did Belle, she concluded that whoever it was had somehow managed to shoot the dog without anyone hearing it happen.  Wolfe was very lucky though, the bullet had hit his shoulder instead of his heart.

James and Frank came out of the bunkhouse with towels and some medical supplies and looked in wonder at the dog lying on the ground.  “Here ya are Miss Angel.”  James said kneeling down beside her.  “Frank, go quickly and get Miss Angel’s and two other good horses saddled.  As soon as we got this dog’s wounds dressed, we have to do as she said.  After you saddle the horses, take one of them and ride as fast as you can to get Mr. Rick and Mr. Matt.  Miss Angel and I will try to use what light is left to follow the tracks and hopefully find Miss Kat.”

James quickly took over treating the dog first fishing the bullet out, then packing the wound.  He carried the dog into the bunkhouse and closed the door hoping without much faith that it would stay there until they returned.  As he came out of the bunkhouse, Angel came out of the house carrying some supplies, a coat, and a bedroll. 

After securing everything to Star’s saddle, Angel turned and went back into the barn and proceeded to bandage Belle as best she could, hoping to secure the dog’s ribs until she or Kat were able to work on the injuries further.  She turned to James, “You know who it is that has her don’t you?”  She asked without needing an answer.

“Your guess is the same as mine Miss Angel.  I’m afraid that George has kidnapped her again.  I just hope we can find her before any further humiliation is done to her.”  He answered gravely.

They mounted up and rode around to the back of the barn, Angel and James both looked intently at the tracks before kicking their horses into a trot and then to a ground eating canter.  The horses were young, full of energy, and ready to run and both the riders were silently hoping that Frank found the men quickly and got them hurrying behind them.

After twenty minutes or so, they slowed the horses to let them breathe and shared ideas.  “From the pattern of the shoes, it looks like he took Nugget since he was closest to the back of the barn.  Angel started.  “Nugget’s tracks didn’t suggest that he had any additional weight on his back but the other horse did so I figure George must have had Kat on his horse with him.”

“You’re probably right Miss Angel.  Although it’s just shear bad luck that he didn’t take GoldDust.  The way I see it, your sister could ride that horse of hers blindfolded with her hands tied behind her back.”  He replied with a touch of awe.

“He is her pride and joy.  She rescued him as a colt and brought him back to health before training and gentling him.  For the longest time, he was more of a big puppy then a horse.” 

Angel smiled remembering back.

“Your sister is a remarkable woman, Miss Angel.  She has done a lot to be proud of and from the looks of things; she has come a really long way after starting with nothing.” 

“You don’t have to tell me James.”  She said.  “She took care of me when I was a baby and she was only thirteen.  We have been on our own my entire life and she never let me want for anything.  There were years when we lived off of whatever she could kill or dig up in the forest and whatever cast-offs her employers gave her.  One of her worst employers was where she got Dusty.  He was a mean, loud drunk and she took care of his stock for next to nothing but he let us stay in a tiny shack on the back edge of his property as part of her wages.  He finally drank up all his money and was being forced to sell off his stock to pay his debts.  Kat convinced him to sign over the papers on Dusty instead of paying her and for some reason he did.  All the rest of the horses were taken by the Army.”

“Miss Angel,” James started.  “No matter what happens in the next few days, I just want you to know that as long as I’m alive I will do everything I can for Miss Kat.  Ever since my wife and child were killed, she has been the only one to offer to see past what she saw on the outside and give me another chance at being a human.  George Jenkins and Sheriff Fairchild both need to be done away with if Miss Kat is going to have a chance at happiness with Mr. Rick, and I may just have to be the person to do it.”