The Rancher Meets His Match (11 page)

             
J.W. just sat there for a long time staring at the wall, of pictures of his daughter and finally to the most recent picture of Josey, Hilary and himself.  Cook had taken the picture without him even knowing.  He handed him the picture a few days later.  He told him, he took the picture because he hadn’t seen J.W. smile in a long time and because he wanted to play with the new digital
camera,
he’d just bought. 

             
They looked like a family in the picture.  He ran his finger over the faces of the two beautiful women in his life.  He had finally found a woman who could best him and still be a mother to his teenage daughter and he might lose them both.  He stuffed the picture in his shirt pocket, and got up to leave the room.

             
Reid stood in the doorway.  “You love my sister, don’t you?” 
He
asked although it was more of statement than question.  J.W. answered in a low voice “Yeah, I guess I do.  I need them back Reid.”  “I know man, I know.”  Reid said.  “We’ll get them back.” He promised. 

             
Josey, walked for hours before she found anything familiar.  She was tired and dirty.  Her feet hurt.  She had blisters on them where the socks had bunched up.  The boots were great for riding but they weren’t very good for walking.  She had briar scratches all over her where she hid from the men chasing her.  It was the only place she could hide and it worked but she was cut up really bad. 

             
She found the creek that ran through their ranch and followed it, south.  She knew where she was now, she found the little spring off the creek that was cold. She knelt down and got a drink of water.  The water was good and it felt so good to drink.  Her mouth was already parched.  Her throat was dry and she could barely swallow at first.  She walked all night to get here. She hadn’t stopped anywhere.  She realized it was getting daylight and she knew she needed to continue walking.  She got up and started up the hill careful to make sure no one was around before going out into the open.  She walked until she couldn’t walk anymore.  She sat down against a tree facing the creek.

             
Taking off her boots, she knew before she even removed the socks that her feet were bleeding.  She had bloody blisters all over her feet.  They burned when the air hit them.  She washed her feet in the creek and let them soak for a while before drying them off and putting her socks back on.  She didn’t want to put her boots back on but she knew if she had to
run,
she would need them on.  So she put them on.

             
She sagged against the tree and fell asleep.  She fought it but it came.  She was exhausted and nothing could have stopped h
er from sleeping.  She awoke suddenly
.  Her eyes went wide with panic. 
She stood up to run, but was caught in a steel grip. 
She felt the whispers in her ear calming her.  Realization finally hit and she stopped struggling.  She recognized the voice of the boy who now held her.  She stopped fighting and he loosened his hold she turned around and fell into his arms, crying.

             
Heath wrapped her in his arms and let her cry.  He held her and whispered to her that it was alright.  “Can you ride?” he asked.  She nodded her head and he helped her to get on his horse.  They headed to meet up with the rest of the search party.  She leaned against him.  She was exhausted.  He took note of the black circles under her eyes, the scratches covering her arms and face, and the dirt that covered her entire body. 

             
He wrapped his arms around her more securely.  “You can sleep, I won’t let you fall.” He said.   He knew the moment she finally fell asleep.  Her body sagged against him. She began to mumble in her sleep and he listened.  She mentioned Lisa and Hilary.  She also said something about someone named Frankie.  The fear when she spoke his name was in the way her body tensed.  Then she relaxed and she began mumbling.  The last thing she said was Heath.  He almost stopped the horse in his tracks. 

             
The
way she spoke his name, nearly knocked him for a loop.  She was still too young, but he wanted to kiss her, he wanted to hear her say his name like that again.  He wanted her but she was too young and he respected her, he cared about her.  She was more than that.  Soon she would be old enough to date and he would have to watch her go on date after date with other boys.  He didn’t know if he could do that. 

             
They rode until finally they came up on the meeting spot where they had parked the ranch truck with the
cook’s
wagon.  J.W. came running to them startling the h
orse but Heath was an accomplished rider and he knew how
to calm the horse.  Then before Heath knew it, she was taken out of his arms.  J.W. pulled his daughter down and into his arms.  He showered her face with kisses.  He hugged her to him so tight she had to tell him “Daddy, you, I can’t …. Breathe.”  J.W. loosened his hold on her, “are you ok? What happened? Where’s Hilary?” he asked. 

             
Josey tried to speak but fell into his arms exhausted.  He carried her to the truck and laid her down across the back seat of the truck.  He got a blanket and covered her. 

             
They ate while they waited for her to wake up.  They needed to find out where she had come from and where Hilary was.  He was glad to have his daughter back but there was still a piece of him missing.  Hilary had become so much to him and he needed her.  He took the picture out of his pocket and looked at the woman whose smile had reawakened something in him.  The picture was of the three of them.  Josey was on his back and Hilary had come to his rescue to get the girl off him while laughing the whole time. 

             
He ran his finger over Hilary’s face and didn’t notice the man shadowing him until he sat down beside him.  He took the picture from J.W. and studied it for a minute then handed it back.  Willy could see that there was something between his sister and J.W. and it concerned him. He didn’t want to see his sister heartbroken.  “What are your intentions for my sister?”

             
J.W 
looked him in the eye and answered without hesitation.  “I’m gonna marry her, if she’ll have me.  I love her and I don’t think I can live without her.  I will find her, and when I do the people who took her and Josey will see that they have made the biggest mistake of their lives.”  J.W. stood up shoving the picture back into his pocket.  He walked over to the
cook’s
wagon and fixed a plate for Josey. 

             
He woke her up offering her the plate and a hot cup of coffee.  “I know you’re tired and you’re hurt but I need to know where Hilary is.” He said looking at his daughter with mixed emotions.  He brushed a stray hair behind her ear.  “She saved me you know.  I thought she was behind me but they must have caught her.  She had a small
pocketknife
and she cut my ropes and told me to run.  I didn’t even look behind me to see if she was following me, I just kept running.” She took a bite of food and swallowed it down with coffee.  “I honestly don’t really know where we were.  I kept walking until I came to the creek and I followed it south that’s when Heath found me.”

             
“It’s alright, Darling.” He kissed the top of her head and let her finish her food.  He found Heath sitting on a log staring at the ground in deep thought.  Bubba trailed behind J.W. as he walked up to Heath.  “You rested up, boy?” He asked, and Heath nodded his head.  “Well saddle up and show me where you found Josey, I’m going to see if Bubba and I can back track her trail and find where she walked from.”

             
Before they could ride out Josey got out of the truck and hollered.  “I forgot to tell you, Lisa’s in on this.  I think they are drug dealers, I overheard some of their conversation. She owes them money and she told them, you would pay it.  I hate her!  She never cared about me at all she was after your money that’s all.  She never wanted to get to know me.”  She started to sob.  Samuel held out his arms for her and she went into them.  “I’ll take care of her J.W. look after my boy, will
you
?”  J.W. nodded and turned his horse and spurred him into a run.  Hilary’s brothers jumped up, ran to their horses and mounted up following them. 

             
They caught up with him about a mile out.  “What are you three doing here?” He asked.  “You don’t think we’re going to let you look for our sister without us, do you?” Reid said.  The sheriff came over the walkie talkie.  “J.W. don’t you go riding in there without my men do you hear me?” 
“Sheriff you have my word that I will report to you if I find something, over and out.” 
J.W., Heath, and Hilary’s three brothers rode on until they came to the creek.  Heath showed them the place where he found Josey sleeping and J.W. sent him back to camp.  Bubba sniffed around while J.W. and the others looked for tracks.

             
Bubba barked and headed north, stopping and smelling the ground ever so often and letting out another bark.  They followed him until they came to a wooded area that was overgrown.  J.W. told the men that they weren’t far from the gully where the fence had recently been cut and cattle had been stolen.  They continued following the dog
that
was definitely on the trail of something.  When the ground got softer, they could see the boot prints his daughter had left.  They passed the gully and the fence where it had recently been cut.  There were new tracks, J.W. noted.  These tracks didn’t belong to an
eighteen-wheeler
they belonged to a 4x4 pickup.  They followed the tire tracks until they ended hidden amongst the trees, you could not see it from the road. 

             
J.W. reported back to Sheriff James and he sent men out to find them.  They ran the license plate and the
VIN
number.  “Registered to a Frankie Sinclair out of California,” the sheriff’s deputy informed them.  Sheriff James got back on his horse and told his men to do the same.  He told J.W. to wait but he
refused,
as did Hilary’s brothers. “Alright fine, but I don’t want you getting in the way of my deputies, you got that?” he pointed his finger at J.W.  “I got it Sheriff, but just so you know.  Ain’t nobody gone stop me from getting to Hilary.”

             
Hilary watched and listened as Frankie and Lisa tried to figure out what to do now that they’d lost Josey.  Frankie was worried that he wouldn’t get his money.  Hilary decided to use that to her advantage.  “Why don’t you just let me go?  J.W. doesn’t ca
re anything about me. I’m just his
horse trainer.  My family is poor, so you have no use for me.  I won’t tell anyone about you.  I promise, although, I can’t really say the same for Lisa.” She said glaring at Lisa.  “How selfish can you be to put your only child through something like this?  Are you out of your mind?” She spat at her.

             
Frankie laughed.  He found it funny that Lisa was such a terrible mother.  He made her mad when he laughed at her, which made him laugh harder.  Hilary had hit the nail on the head.  Lisa was selfish and nuts. Still he wanted his money.  “How do you suggest I get my money now?” he said glaring at Lisa. “Hmm?” he jerked her up and through her back down.  “Do you have to keep doing that?”  Lisa screamed at him.  “I told you, you will get your money.  She’s more than just a trainer to him. I’ve followed them, they are always sneaking around kissing and holding hands when people aren’t around.  I’m telling you she means something to him.”

             
Frankie turned his glare on Hilary whom he had tied to
a tree.  “Well, now, I guess someone was trying to pull one over on poor old Frankie,” he sneered
.  Hilary chose to ignore him.  He grabbed her around the throat cutting off her air.  He let go expecting her to answer but she spit on him instead.  He wiped the spit from his face and punched her.  “You should not have done that.” He growled at her, then, hit her again.  “I may just let my men have you for that.”  He spat on her.  “Then we’ll see if your rancher still wants you.”

             
“You will never get a dime you piece of worm shit.” She spoke through gritted teeth.  She set her jaw and readied herself for the next
blow.  He hit her several times
until she couldn’t see out her eyes from the swelling, but still she didn’t let him have the last word.  She continued to taunt him, one word after another.

             
When he began to ignore her
,
she started on Lisa.  “How’s it feel Lisa, are you proud of being a worthless piece of shit that no one wants around?” Lisa cut her eyes toward her and then
rolled them back in her head, but Hilary didn’t stop. She continued
spit
ting
hateful words at her.  No daughter deserved to be put through all the crap Josey had been put through because of her mother’s selfishness.