Have you no more brains than a stunned mule, Wilkinson?” Pa asked, his fists clenched as he stepped toward Chet. “We settled this weeks ago. You’re not to see Serena, not now or ever.”
Chet’s gaze didn’t waver. He straightened and pushed back his weather-beaten hat. “I told her I’d be here, and I aim to keep my word.” He paused. “Although I discovered another matter over the past few days that should interest you.”
Pa’s eyes narrowed. “What might it be before I run you off?”
“You’ve been followed, and it might be a bit serious.”
Pa leaned against the door, disbelief pouring from him like a swollen water hole.
“Do you want to take a look at the tracks or blow a hole through me?”
Serena held her breath. Chet spoke calm, quiet-like, causing her to shiver. He had yet to glance her way, but then again, she didn’t expect him to.
Pa licked his lips. “You’d best not be lyin’ about this.”
“I don’t have a reason to.”
“All right, show me. Serena, get my rifle and boots.”
She felt riveted to the wooden step beneath her feet, but a second look from Pa spurred her after his things. A moment later she emerged from the cabin to see Chet had dismounted and tied his horse to the hitching post. Still, he avoided her.
“Let’s see those tracks and hear you out before you get going,” Pa said, reaching for the firearm and his boots. He glanced back at her and scratched his stubbly cheek. “You wait inside.”
“Pa…”
“Tend to breakfast, Little One. This ain’t easy for me either.” His gaze softened before he turned and ambled toward Chet.
Resigning herself to obey, she allowed one glimpse of Chet’s face. She met his smile and saw the love she’d dreamed about every night since she could remember. Her spirit soared, and without a word, she whirled and walked inside.
Ma stood in the cabin, still dressed in her nightgown, sleep etched on her face. “Chet’s here?” she asked, combing her fingers through tousled brown hair.
“Yes, ma’am. He and Pa are talking outside. Not all of it about me. Chet said someone trailed Pa here last night and—”
A rifle shot split the air. Serena’s gaze flew to her ma’s. Color drained from her face, and Serena felt her heart seemingly leap from her chest. They scrambled through the door. Fear for Pa and Chet ran deeper than anything awaiting them.
Not forty feet from the cabin, Pa lay on the ground, one hand clutching his side and the other wrapped around his rifle. Blood oozed through his fingers, forming a crimson pool beside him.
“James, no!” Ma’s screams pierced the air.
Serena lost any thoughts of danger, and despite her ma’s and both men’s protests, hurried to his aid with her ma close behind. She and Serena bent behind his head and each grabbed under an arm to pull him from the blood-caked earth toward the cabin.
With one hand on his rifle, Chet peered in the direction of the barn and helped drag Pa on to safety. Another shot clipped Pa’s leg.
“We got you, Talbot,” a man’s voice called in a heavy Mexican accent, “right where we want you.”
Raucous laughter rang from the barn, enough to tell Serena more than one man lay in wait. Terror ripped through her body. For a moment it paralyzed her thoughts, except for a need to help get her pa inside. She caught his dulled gaze before he closed his eyes with the pain obviously wrenching through his body.
Chet snatched up a pistol then his gun belt and powder horn from his saddle. He fired again just before another shot zinged over his head. Stepping inside the cabin after Serena and her ma, he slammed the door shut.
Ma gathered up clean rags and pressed them against Pa’s side. “It’s gone clean through,” she said, her features rigid and her hands trembling. “Good, I guess…no bullet to remove.”
Serena lifted her pa’s rifle from his arms and laid it on the table. “His leg’s not bad, Ma. I’ll wrap it.”
“Cursed bandidos,” Pa managed, biting his lower lip. “We should have chased them into Mexico and ended it.”
“They’ll wish they’d stayed there by the time I’m finished with them,” Chet said, staring out the window. “I counted three of them, Cap’n.”
Ma used her apron to wipe the sweat trickling down Pa’s face. She took a clean piece of muslin from Serena and dabbed at the blood running down his leg. “Who are they?” Ma asked.
“What’s left of a murdering bunch we chased across the Rio,” Chet replied, searching the area between them and the barn.
“We got two bloodthirsty Texans,” the unseen man called out, his boasting echoing around them. “You both come out and the women go free.”
“Do they think we’re stupid?” Serena asked, picking up Pa’s rifle and toying with it in her hands. God, help us. I’m scared, real scared. Bloodstains on the wooden floor tore at her senses.
“Give me my rifle,” her pa said, his words raspy and labored. He lifted his arm, but his strength failed him.
“No,” she replied, feeling a strange mixture of anger and courage. “You aren’t in any shape to help Chet. Besides, I’m a ranger’s daughter, and I know how to use this.” She turned her attention to Chet and hoisted the rifle into her arms. “Pa knows I’ve beat him a time or two at target practice.”
“Sere—” But Pa couldn’t finish. He’d passed out.
“All right,” Chet began, still keeping watch through the window. “We can handle this. Mrs. Wilkinson, I need you to keep the guns loaded for Serena and me. Looks like three apiece.” He glanced about him. “Do you know how to measure the powder and load them?”
“Yes,” Ma managed, not once taking her sights from Pa’s face. “I…I can keep them loaded.”
“Serena, take the window in the other room.” He motioned to Ma and Pa’s bedroom. She grabbed a pistol. The two guns were heavy, but at least she knew how to use them.
“What do you think they will try to do?” she asked.
“Shoot at us until they get tired, then most likely set fire to the cabin.”
Her gaze swung in his direction. “So what do we do?”
“Prayer would help.” The look he gave her pointed to the seriousness of their position.
Another rifle shot pierced the air and lodged in the side of the door. Thankfully, Pa had insisted on a heavy piece of wood.
From her position, Serena saw Chet haul a chair across the floor to the window and balance one of the rifles on it and through the window. Snatching off his hat, he propped it atop the trigger.
“I’m going out the back,” he said, grasping a loaded rifle and a pistol. “Keep ’em busy.”
She nodded while a hundred warnings darted in and out of her mind. She tried to pray, but all she could muster was a plea for deliverance.
Serena’s mind raced. Lord, I’ve never shot a man before. It’s killing, but if I don’t, they’ll kill us for sure. Meeting her ma’s gaze, she saw fathomless sorrow. Regret. Fear. Both of them had jobs to do. Help us, she prayed repeatedly. Pa looks terrible, and he’s losing blood. Ma’s as scared as I am. Lord, keep us safe. I can’t do this without You.
“Go, Serena,” Chet instructed, touching her arm. “Time’s wasting, and we don’t know what they will do next.” He followed her into the bedroom and pulled back the tiny flowered curtains she’d help Ma sew. “You have a clear shot of anyone coming out the barn. Don’t be afraid to hit them.”
She swallowed hard. An attacking boar looked a whole lot different than a man. Serena and Chet bent beneath the window, so close she could feel his warm breath against her face. Another time, another circumstance, she’d have welcomed his nearness.
“Serena,” he whispered, “we only have a few moments, but something needs to be said.”
She tore her concentration from the barn and into the beloved face of her ranger. Biting her lip to keep the tears from overcoming her, Serena waited for him to speak.
His finger traced her lips. “So many things I’d like to say, but I can’t. Pray without ceasing—like the Bible tells us to do. I love you. No matter what happens, remember that.”
“I love you, too,” she murmured. “God will deliver us. I know He didn’t bring us together to die today.”
He cupped her chin in his hand as if memorizing every feature about her. His ineffable glance spoke volumes. “Do not let them take you or your ma,” Chet said with deadly gravity. “I have an extra pistol.” He pulled the gun from his side. “If they get inside…use it on you and your ma. Don’t let them take you….Promise?”
She hesitated. Taking her own life and Ma’s went against God’s commands. How could this man of God ask her to do such a terrible thing?
“I’ve seen what they do to women,” he added, as though reading her frenzied thoughts.
And she clearly understood his meaning. “I’ll do my best.”
“You have a special strength, Serena, one God doesn’t give everybody. You are going to need it.”
He touched her lips with his and offered a faint smile. Without another word, he left her alone to ponder what manner of sin she dare commit—murder those men in the barn or take her and Ma’s life. Confusion and fear raged through her, leaving her stunned and cold. Your will, Lord. Whatever You want of me, I’ll do.
She watched the empty barnyard, blinking back the stinging tears. Chet loved her, and if she died this morning with him, the thought would help her take Jesus’ hand into eternity.
The rooster took his station on top of the well, calling in a new day. Then it grew quiet, not like other mornings. Pa had always said the waiting proved to be the hardest. He’d spoken the truth.
“We smoke ’em out,” a voice called, breaking the stillness, “kill rangers and have women for ourselves.”