Hunted Love Box Set: Big Game, Bounty, Captured (20 page)

Fuck. Whoever called the shots had Eric running scared.

Heart pounding in her throat, Kate made it to Ajax's side finally. Not quite able to believe her skin remained mostly in one piece, she stood and unhooked the quick-release hardware that secured the saddlebags to the back of the saddle along with the bedroll. The horse shuffled his feet a little when she dragged the heavy bag across his rump, but made no further objection. Grunting as the full weight of the bags settled onto her shoulder, Kate bent to make herself a smaller target again and hurried to get back to Jakob's side.

Panic gnawed at her while she fumbled the straps to open the saddlebags. She finally convinced her fingers to work and managed to unbuckle them and get the flap open. Various useful small items for camping came out first, like a magnesium fire starter and a water-proof sheet. Under a spare shirt and socks, a green plastic canteen came into view, and thankfully, it seemed full. The other bag held more camping and survival gear, including MREs, or Meals-Ready to Eat. And at the very bottom, a first aid kit. If they got out of this alive, she needed to teach Jakob how to pack. She'd expected better organization.

She snatched the plastic box with the first aid kit up and pulled at the plastic latches, but they refused to give way. Damn. She needed the stuff in that box to help Jakob. Giving in to the desperation pounding through her head, she snatched up a fist-sized rock and hit first one latch, then the other, breaking the plastic. The contents of the box fell out into the dirt, a few band-aids, a pair of latex gloves, two gauze pads, scissors, and a roll of first aid tape.

Kate sat back on her heels for a second, trying to figure out what to do. Jakob's wound still bled heavily, and that had to be stopped. She also needed an idea of the injury's extent. Decision made, hopefully the right one, she splashed a little water from the canteen and rinsed away some of the blood.

She caught a decent glimpse before blood filled the furrow on his scalp again. Tears of relief spilled over. It didn't look as horrible as she'd feared. Trembling fingers tore the gauze pads open and pressed them over the bloody injury. Blood saturated the gauze in seconds despite the pressure she applied, forcing her to blindly search for the spare shirt with her other hand. With more absorbent material in place over the gauze, she kept steady pressure for what seemed like hours. And through it, she prayed while desperate tears refused to stop. She resorted to making deals with God. If He allowed to Jakob to survive, she would give him up.

Ajax blew a little and shuffled his hooves, restless. The noise stirred Kate back to the present, reminding her they still weren't safe. The quarter-sized spot of blood that had leaked through the spare shirt hadn't increased in size for some time, so she replaced her hand with the first aid tape. Finally, with the bulky bandage securely in place, she turned to figuring out the next problem; how the hell was she going to wake him up?

The water in the canteen seemed the most likely possibility, but it also presented a vital resource in limited supply. The nearest source of more water was probably three hours of normal riding away. Even if she could get him on the horse, they'd be lucky to make half the usual speed riding double. So she'd better make damn sure to use the water they had sparingly.

The small lock-blade knife she kept clipped inside her front pocket made quick work of cutting a strip from the bottom of her shirt. Careful not to waste a drop, Kate saturated the fabric and squeezed a thin trickle between Jakob's lips.

He swallowed and groaned a little, encouraging her. The folded cloth still held enough water to wipe his face, and when she did, he groaned again, louder and stronger.

Ajax, clearly interested in what Kate did to his master, came close and extended his nose, blowing a little. The horse grunted and nudged at Jakob's leg, gently at first, and then harder when he received no response. Finally, Jakob moved one hand a little after Kate joined the horse's efforts to wake him.

She put a little more water on the cloth from her shirt and wiped his face again. His scant previous responses left her unprepared for him to grab her wrist in a move that resembled a striking snake more than anything.

"Kate?" His voice was faint, but clear.

Relief poured through her. He would be okay. "It's okay, Jakob. I've got you."

He opened his eyes just a slit, and winced at the pain it caused. "What the hell happened?"

"Someone shot at us. You have a shallow head wound." She kept her own voice down, wary of the sound carrying.

"Fuck." He winced again. "They still out there?"

For the first time since the ordeal started, her mind turned more to the shooter, more than only concern for whether bullets currently whizzed by or not. "He stopped shooting right after you fell. Hopefully he beat the hell out of here."

"We need to hole up." His low voice, almost a whisper, forced her to lean close to make out what he said.

"Yeah I know, and we can't do it here. You able to move?" Her bad leg gave a warning twinge, no doubt brought on by too long in the unusual position.

"No, but I'll deal." A deep groan accompanied his effort to sit up.

Kate hurried to slide her arm behind his shoulders to help steady him, and with her assistance, he finally made it. "Go easy. It won't do us any good if you knock yourself out again."

"No time for easy." He gave a low whistle, and Ajax came close. Jakob reached up and used the stirrup to pull himself upright, where he stood, unsteady and sick looking.

Doubt filled Kate. How the hell was she supposed to get them out of there and to a safe place to camp? And she couldn't very well leave him there and go for help alone. He'd be vulnerable to predators, both human and animal.

Jakob stood there clutching the saddle, while Ajax stood patiently, totally unlike the high-spirited horse she knew. "Steady me. When I'm up, tie my hands to the saddle. We'll have to go double so you can help me stay."

"We'd have to ride double anyway. Sunny took off." Saying that hurt, more than she'd expected. The horse she always chose as the steadiest of all her stock had panicked and bolted at gunfire. Should have heeded all those warnings about pride.

He didn't say anything though, just grunted and started to climb into the saddle. Kate kept her hands at his waist, trying to prevent him from falling. After what seemed like endless effort, he sat in the saddle, his balance precarious and dangerous. She hurried to cut one of the leather strips dangling from the front of the saddle for tying things in place, and looped the string around the saddlehorn and his wrists to help him stay in place.

Next came the hard part. Ajax sensed her nervousness and rolled his eyes a little, but he stood when she took up the reins and positioned him next to a rock the right height. He stood exactly where she put him, and allowed her to slide her leg over and mount from the rock. Cautious, both of the horse and flying bullets, she started him forward.

The way Ajax moved felt odd with his longer strides and higher front quarters, and made her worry she would slide off backwards. She fought the instinct to tighten the reins to keep herself on the horse, and forced herself to concentrate on moving with him.

"He's seat and hands, not so much leg. You'll do fine, just trust him." Jakob's head lolled forward as he presumably lost consciousness again.

Kate debated whether to attempt to wake him again. Despite the rule about keeping someone with a concussion awake, it might be easier for him if he didn't feel all the pain the ride was going to cause. She ended up wrapping her arms snug around his waist to make sure he didn't slip, and let him stay out. It might be a mistake, but she really didn't have a practical option anyway.

At least he'd given her a hint on how to control the horse more effectively. After a bit, she became somewhat accustomed to the feel of Ajax's gait, but she still hesitated to ask him for more speed, despite the need to get where they were going as quickly as possible. The horse seemed to sense the need and slipped smoothly into a faster gait, ignoring her direction to slow back to a walk. She seemed to have very little control over the big horse, except he readily changed direction at her urging. At least she had that.

Gradually, her nerves gave way to something like trust, as the horse navigated rough ground as smoothly as he moved when the going was easy. She could definitely see the appeal of having a horse like him for long trails.

Finally, the copse of trees along Cherry Creek came into view. Ajax sped up a little as if he sensed their destination lay close. Kate didn't even bother trying to slow him, as anxious to get the ride over with as he no doubt was. Carrying double took a steep toll on any horse over a distance. It was a quick way to do permanent damage.

It only took a few more minutes to get to the campsite they'd used when they hunted the mountain lion. She stopped the horse next to the fire pit and slid down. Now how the hell was she supposed to get Jakob down without hurting him? At close to eighteen hands tall, the top of Ajax's back was roughly six feet off the ground, and the saddle added another six inches. A fall from that height, even at a standstill, could cause serious damage.

No choice really. All she could was try to control his fall and prevent him from being hurt worse. She cut the string holding his hands to the saddlehorn, braced herself to take some of his weight, and tugged on his arm.

God, he weighed a ton. He nearly bore her to the ground with him, but somehow, she stood. She even kept his head from hitting the ground hard. For the first time, she felt like she might actually manage to keep them both alive.

Ajax blew, probably in relief, and turned to nudge Jakob.

Ever conscious of the rule to take care of the horse first, so the horse could take care of her, Kate quickly loosened the saddle girth and dragged the eighty pound saddle and rigging off his back. Everything else could wait a few minutes.

In too much of a hurry for modesty, she stripped off her own shirt and headed for the creek. Shirt soaked, she made herself slow down enough to watch her footing. She couldn't do anything for Jakob sprawled flat on her face with a broken ankle.

Finally, Kate reached his side and knelt to wipe his face with the cold cloth. After a moment his eyelids fluttered and he moaned. He opened his eyes a little, then seemed to think better of it and closed them again.

"Where are we?"

"Cherry Creek. Where we camped when we hunted the mountain lion."

No indication of whether he remembered or not, just a grimace of pain as he rearranged his legs.

"I'm going to get your bedroll out and get you a little more comfortable, then work on getting us set up here for a bit."

He lifted a hand in acknowledgement and remained silent again. Talking must make his head hurt. Understandable. With the bedroll ready, Kate managed to get him tucked in, minus his boots and jeans, after a good deal of help from him.

Tempted to bask in the accomplishment and catch her breath, she shook it off and moved on to the next task. The magnesium firestarter from his saddlebag came in handy, and thankfully they'd left a decent stack of firewood when they left Cherry Creek last time. The metal cup that fit over the bottom of the canteen was the only thing she had to boil water in, so she put it to work. The MREs in his bag might not taste great, but they would provide some nutrition until she could manage something else.

Tending Ajax came next. She rubbed his sweaty hide with handfuls of grass, then removed his bridle and staked him out to graze where he could reach the water as well. Night drew near by the time she finished setting up their camp and made them as comfortable as possible in the circumstances.

The last few minutes of full daylight, she devoted to checking Jakob's wound. It looked about as she'd expected, thankfully with no signs of infection yet. He could have used a few stitches, but his basic first aid kit didn't offer the necessary supplies. She washed the blood from the makeshift bandage in water she'd boiled and replaced it.

With more water set to boil, she turned her attention to her own injury for the first time. An angry-looking furrow plowed across her upper arm, the bullet having taken a sizable chunk of flesh with it. Just a flesh wound, but painful as hell. She washed it carefully with clean water, aware of the risk for infection if fibers from her shirt remained in the wound. She then added a bit of the antibiotic ointment from the first aid kit and another makeshift bandage.

Finally. All done. Fatigue made her shoulders sag. And she still had to feed herself and Jakob. One of the MREs contained meat with gravy. Something she might be able to concoct a broth from, since solid food probably wouldn't stay with Jakob. She set to work once more, and after what seemed like endless hours with her stomach growling, finally had a passable meal.

Jakob still slept, so she ate quickly while his broth cooled, and finished it off with a long drink straight from the creek. He responded readily to the wet cloth on his face again, and helped her get him to a semi-sitting position where she could support his shoulders. He would have drank the broth greedily had she not slowed him down several times, worried for the state of his stomach.

Supper finished, she heated more water for morning, checked on Ajax and fire, and settled in for a long night of keeping watch. The shooter was still out there, and she didn't like the idea of him walking right into camp while they both slept. Constructing a handful of snares from vine she'd collected as she gathered the firewood served to keep her awake for at least one hour.