Van checked on the mare’s fetlocks and doctored them with some of the salve his father insisted he take along just in case. He wrapped the horse’s legs in a few strips of Ollie’s sheet. The mare didn’t behave as if she was in pain or uncomfortable. But Ranger wouldn’t put weight on his sprain. Both animals received some of Ollie’s tonic.
Van waved Ollie a goodnight and laid out his bedroll near the tongue of Kit’s wagon where he could keep an eye on Ollie’s wagon and the horses staked on the rope line to his right.
The chill in the air drove him to snug down into the wool collar of his mackinaw. He lay down on his bedroll and folded the wool horse blanket over his legs. He closed his eyes and promised himself he’d rest for just for a while and then check on the girl and the horses.
»»•««
The click of a rifle being cocked and the smell of gun oil brought him full awake. Eyes open, moonlight reflected off the business end of the gun barrel a foot from his nose. His heart jumped into his throat and cramped his stomach.
A voice in the dark at the other end of the rifle warned him, “Twitch, and I’ll scatter your brains to kingdom come.”
Van blinked but didn’t move a muscle, not even to take a breath.
Ollie? Ollie had her gun. Would she hear they had a visitor, an unwelcome visitor?
“Don’t look for the old lady. I got her hog-tied and muzzled. All I really want is the mare. Told the kid I’d give her two bucks for her. But no, she wouldn’t have it. Shoved my balls up to my ears, she did.”
The owner of the voice jabbed the gun closer to his face. “The bay? Is he yours? He kilt my brother Donnie. Stomped him and bit him on the neck, shook him like he was a ragdoll, he did. I’m gonna kill him for that. Someone’s gotta pay. You ain’t much good without a horse, so I’ll kill you too.”
The gun barrel moved side to side and hovered over his heart. Van dared to take a breath and slowly slid his arm out from under the horse blanket.
Kit? What about the girl?
“Now, don’t you worry none about the kid, I got her tied to the mare. Figured the mare wouldn’t budge lessin’ I brought her along. Don’t need a female, especially a scrawny squaw. Squaws don’t appeal to me. They’s mean, hard to break. But they’s better than a goat. Smell the same, though. I’ll find a use for her. Put her to stud, put both’em to stud. That’ll settle both’em down good.”
The bastard laughed at his joke, and the gun barrel shook, the moon’s reflection blurring. The evil laughter spilled out into the frosty night, and the vapor of his breath formed a fog over Van’s head. “Well, I guess that’s about it. I’m done negotiatin’,” the devil said.
Van had one chance. He took a deep breath and grabbed the rifle barrel, giving it a good hard yank forward. It went off, the bullet hitting the dirt right above his discarded hat. Grit flew into his eyes, and gravel bit his cheeks. His opponent pitched forward.
Rolling out of the way, Van flung the gun aside. His attacker landed with a thud on his big belly. Van grabbed his sweaty ears, using them as handles to twist the bastard’s head, giving the devil no choice but to roll over on his back or get his neck broke. The assailant yowled and cursed, arms flailing. Straddling him, Van tossed the horse blanket over his shoulders and arms and pinned the bastard with his knees. Striking while he had the upper hand, Van drew back his fist and plowed it into the thief’s nose once, twice for good measure. Thud and grunt, the eyes of the thief rolled back in his head, and he went still…limp.
Van worried he’d killed him.
The horses, excited by all the commotion and the smell of fear in the air, sidled and whinnied. Fearing Maji would toss the girl off her back, Van dragged the man over to the horses, found the loop of rope on his discarded saddle, and tied the intruder up like a trussed turkey.
Damn, he’d never been so scared. Have to get the law up here, now. Well, hell. So much for peace and quiet. Shit!
The horses danced on one foot then the other, the whites of their eyes showing in the moonlight, ears pulled back. Van reached out a hand in the dark to the mare. “Whoa, girl, steady,” he said before daring to approach. “We’ve got ’im all tied up. I know, I know how you feel. I’m still shaking. He hurt you.” He touched the mare’s nose. She blew and scraped the ground with her hoof but stopped fidgeting. “Good girl. It’s over. He can’t hurt you now. I need to get your mistress off your back.” The mare shifted, throwing her head. “I’m not going to hurt her. Easy, easy,” he said smoothing his hand over the mare’s strong neck and down to her brisket.
He had one hand on the mare’s neck and one hand on the girl’s back and prepared to slide her off in one quick move to get out of the mare’s way. “Gonna ease her off now. Steady.”
“Maji, stand,” said the girl, her voice hoarse and labored. “Stand for me.”
The mare went quiet, head down. Van felt the horse’s neck muscles relax. He slid the girl into his arms, to cradle her.
“Steal Maji from me,” she said, her voice cracking with despair, her face pressed against his chest.
“No one’s going to steal your mare. She wouldn’t let them,” he said, once again stepping up on the crate and into her wagon.
He laid her down on her cot. Her eyes fluttered open. “You’re beautiful.”
He reached for her blanket and laid it over her. She’d passed out.
Hesitating to leave her, Van gave himself a mental poke. Ollie. Have to help Ollie.
Festering mad, face red, sweaty, and in her voluminous nightgown, Ollie Miller lay on the floor of her wagon wedged between two cots, her mouth stuffed with a wad of cloth, squealing and writhing. Van removed the rag from her mouth, which, as it turned out, was a pair of drawers. Holding them up, he decided they were way too small for Ollie, a child’s drawers maybe?
“Gunshot?” she said first. “Heard gunshot. Thought you or the girl was dead for sure. Kit? Kit? Is she…is she?”
“No, she’s all right.”
“He punched me,” Ollie wailed. “I punched him right back, I did. Made him mad,” she said, rambling on while he untied her bonds.
“Kit’s in her wagon on her bed. A little worse for wear,” he said. “The bastard had her draped over the mare’s back. She came to and helped calm the mare so I could get her down. But she’s out again.”
“So, he didn’t get Maji?”
“No, no he didn’t. I’ve got the blackguard tied up near the horses. They’re keeping an eye on him. I don’t think they like the smell of him. Are you going to be all right?” Van asked, helping her to stand.
Wobbly, she flopped down on her cot and smoothed a heavy coil of her red hair out of her eyes. “I will be,” she said and huffed. “Bastard took me by surprise. I was in here readin’ the latest penny dreadful, must’ve dropped off to sleep and he snuck up on me. Times like this I wish I was in a proper house with walls and doors I could lock.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said and backed up to leave. “You’re safe, Ma’am. I’ve got him tied up proper. I’ll keep watch. There were two of them. He said my horse, Ranger, got his brother Donnie down in the ravine. They jumped the girl and tried to hobble the mare. That’s when Kit lost her seat. Those two horses put up one hell of a fight.
“Ma’am,” he said, “we’ll have to bring in the law.”
She nodded and heaved a weighty sigh. “The law don’t have high regard for us travelin’ folk. But the sheriff in Pendleton is a fair-minded man. We don’t bother him, and he don’t bother us.”