1CHAPTER 2

The ride to Willow Springs started off slow. Buck still felt that it was wrong to leave his girls behind, but the ranch was in need and he had to fulfill it. This was something he signed on for while they were separated and in the end, he was doing it for them and for the rest of his family, a member of which was riding just as quietly along side of him.

Buck glanced over at Kid.

"How do you do it?" he asked.

Kid peered out of his daze and looked over at his friend.

"Do what?" he questioned.

"Just leave them? You have a beautiful wife and two little ones,

how does it not bother you to leave them?"

If the question had come from anyone else he may have taken it as an insult, but he was sure that his Kiowa friend had not intended it as such and looked for a good way to answer.

"Its hard, but I know it would be harder if I fawned over them every time

I had to go. I love my kids with all my heart and I just have to tell myself

that I'm doing this for them. As for leaving Lou, well, I made a choice.

I chose to stay with my wife and not go off to war, but in choosing that

I have to take care of her and this is the best way I know how."

"Does it get easier?" Buck inquired.

Kid shook his head.

"Not at all, but I know that in two days I'll celebrate coming home with them

and we'll sit and talk and laugh and be a family. Leaving is hard, but coming

home again is easy."

Buck understood Kid's point, but still found the separation unsettling. It was time away where he couldn't be there just to be there. Who doesn't know what lurks around the corner and with their past, that thought always scared him, but he tried to keep a positive outlook as his wife requested. He sucked up his fear and put on a smile. He was set on enjoying the ride and would simply think about how happy coming home was going to be.

Dani had laid Sally down for a short nap while she worked on the laundry. It was good to have something to take her mind off of Buck being gone. Though she had kept the strong face for him she was just as tangled up in knots about his leaving as he was. They hadn't been apart in over 6 months, Kid taking on the rides by himself so that Buck could be there when the baby came. Sure enough it was during one of Kid's trips away that Sally had decided it was time to make her entrance into the world.

Dani thanked the heavens that Buck could be with her through that moment. He sat beside her, holding her hand and wiping away the sweat through the whole ordeal. Even when the doctor tried to kick him out for the delivery he refused to budge. It was more his right to be in that room than the doctor's and Dani wanted him to be their regardless of how improper it was for the father to view such a thing. Nothing about their entire relationship was proper so why start with the birth of their child? He held on tight as she squeezed his hand and welcomed into their world little Sally Blackbird Cross. They had chosen Blackbird because of the full head of dark hair she had been blessed with upon birth. Buck hadn't left her side since and it was hard for her to put on a smile knowing he was going to have to leave now.

She latched onto the basket of wet clothes as she headed out to the awaiting laundry line. There was a stiff breeze this morning that could wake anyone from a dead sleep and she knew that it would help with the quick drying of the small pile she was going to hang. She placed the basket in front of the line and pulled out the shirt that lay on top. Grabbing a few clothes pins from the apron she was now adorning she pinned up the shirt and went about her dazed task not really paying attention to anything else around her. Her thoughts of Buck took her to a deep crevice of her mind and nothing seemed to penetrate it until she caught the sound of approaching hoof tracks. Assuming it was Lou she didn't think to look over the clothes until she realized she didn't hear the buckboard or either of the kids.

She pulled the sheet away to look behind the line as a man who looked not too happy approached her. Her instincts knocked her out of her daze as she stared the man down.

"Can I help you?" she questioned, the man staring with a

scraggily grin as he approached.

Dani began backing away from the laundry not truly waiting for an answer. Something told her this man was not a friendly salesman. She continued her steps toward the house as the dark man responded.

"Sure, ma'am. I'm looking for Jane Marks."

Dani's heart began to race as she no longer felt the need to be in this man's presence. Her first thought was for her daughter who was sound asleep in her bassinet in their room. She darted for the front door, the man now on her heels as she flew inside slamming the door behind her. She grabbed the shotgun that kept its guard behind the front door for occasions such as this one and pointed it in the direction of the intruder. As the door flew open she grabbed for the trigger but was roughly pulled by her hair to the ground behind her.

She didn't realize that while this man had pulled away her attention another one must have entered the house from the side door. The scraggily toothed man grabbed the shotgun muzzle pulling it forward and then pushing it into her stomach. The thought of her unborn child now flashing through her mind as her upper body jolted forward from the impact. She didn't make a sound, she didn't scream. She didn't want to alert them to the sleeping baby no more than 20 feet away from what was going on.

The second man kept a hold of her hair as the first man repeatedly kicked her in the side. She curled into a ball trying desperately to protect her unborn child. Though the hands on her hair were still present the kicking ceased. She didn't want to look up too afraid that her reaction would cause her to let out a noise and she wasn't going to let that happen. She could feel the hot breath upon her cheek and the hand so brutally ripping through her hair pulled her out of the fetal position and pushed her head up to meet the eyes of the man who called her 'Jane Marks' only moments ago. She was forced to smell the stench of his breath and stare deep into the eyes of a man who seemed to have no conscious buried within.

"Not so tough now, are you Jane?" he grunted out, the foul odor of

his breath catching her senses.

She fought everything in her body that told her to lash out at him. How she longed for her six shooter and that one bullet that would put this man on his back. She had escaped Jane Marks all those years ago and somehow these men now knew exactly who she was. She just stared at him, her will to keep her daughter alive being the only thing that kept her mouth shut.

"Not going to deny it?" the man added.

He raised the butt of the shotgun Dani had so hurriedly grabbed to protect herself with and smacked it down onto her temple. Her thoughts began to swirl in her head as the room went out of focus. She went stiff unable to move or react. "I'm going to enjoy this," was the last thing she heard before her world became black.

Lou was so happy to be out of the house and enjoying the crisp, fresh air. With the morning she had she was simply happy to be out of the house. After Kid left, Noah and Mary decided it was time to play with everything in the house including her knitting needles. Mary had punctured a small hole in her hand as she ran around the house sword fighting with her older brother. Since Kid introduced them to The Three Musketeers it was all they wanted to do anymore, so after landing uncomfortably on one of the needles Lou had to patch her up so they could continue their fight. Lou talked them into using two very small sticks instead of her knitting needles.

After breakfast she got her two little ones dressed and got them to sit semi-peacefully beside her in the buckboard as she trotted up the small hill to the Cross home. It was time to go shopping and Lou had been looking forward to the distraction since Kid had kissed her goodbye this morning. As the home came into view something didn't sit right with Lou. She noticed the half full basket thrown off to the side and wondered what would cause Dani to dismiss her chore so quickly. Lou hoped everything was alright with Sally. She didn't see either outside and didn't hear any crying from the baby. Perhaps it was the wind that knocked over the basket. Surely if something was wrong Lou would have heard it. There was a hill that separated their homes, but that hill didn't muffle the sound of the baby screaming. There had been nights where Lou could have sworn Sally was sleeping in the next room with how crystal clear she could hear it.

Lou slowly approached the homestead noticing the front door remained wide open with no one in sight. The tingles she got when something was wrong were now kicking in. She pulled the buckboard up to the house, but still allowed some distance between it and the front door. She grabbed the shotgun that Kid had mounted from under the seat and told Noah to sit very quietly with his little sister while she went and checked on Aunt Danielle. Lou slowly crept up to the door trying not to make too much noise, hoping that if there were intruders she could sneak up on them before they got a hold of her. She peered into the house now getting a glimpse of how disheveled the room was. She moved her right foot into the doorway when a glint of something on the floor caught her eye.

She kneeled down realizing that what she was looking at was blood and it trailed to the back of the small house. She looked back to her children who were watching her, keenly aware that something wasn't right and were being as quiet as possible just like their mother had asked. Lou looked back into the home afraid of what she was going to find at the end of that blood trail.

"Dani?" she called out hoping to hear an answer.

She heard nothing but her own feet hitting the wood planks below her. She took a few more steps along the trail and gasped at what she saw next. It couldn't be real. All that blood had lead to one thing, her friend balled up in the corner of her dining room covered in bruises and gashes. If it wasn't for the sandy blonde hair that poked out between the splotches of blood and bruises she wouldn't have even recognized her. Lou followed her instincts and ran to her side.

"Dani?" she questioned tapping her shoulder.

Dani didn't move, she didn't flinch. Lou now expected the worst as she stared, her own face paling at the sight before her. Dani's face was swollen, one eye bruised shut, her lips so puffy she wondered if she would be able to get any words out. Her tan shirt was now almost completely brown and trailing her eyes down her beaten body she could see that her skirt had been lifted revealing too much of Dani's thighs for Lou's liking. The gruesome image in front of her couldn't match the gruesome thoughts of what could have happened running through her mind.

"Danielle?" she again tried to nudge her friend.

This time she received a response though only that of a low groan.

"Dani? Are they still here?"

Dani shook her head though it seemed that small movement caused her even more pain letting out another small groan. Lou then heard a whisper escape from Dani's lips, but couldn't make out what she was saying. She pulled herself closer finally understanding the question being asked by the broken woman before her.

"Where is she?" Lou asked.

The response was so faint she once again strained to make it out. In reaction Lou headed into Buck and Dani's bedroom, leaving her own shotgun behind and retrieving Sally from her basinet. She returned to the dining room placing Sally in Dani's sight line. Though she couldn't see any change in Dani's expression she could feel the sense of relief pass over her with the sight of her daughter. Lou knelt down to her again.

"Can you move?" she questioned.

Dani once again painfully shook her head.

"I'll go get the Sheriff and the doctor. You hang on!" she informed her.

Though Lou didn't want to leave she felt she had no choice. She was now responsible for three little ones and there was no one within ear shot that could help. She couldn't carry Dani in her condition and she was afraid to try to move her for fear more damage would be done. Lou quickly ran into their bedroom grabbing the blanket from the freshly made bed and brought it out to the dining room. Balancing a sleeping Sally on her hip she placed the blanket over Dani, kissed her on the forehead and whispered in her ear.

"Hold on. I'm coming back. Stay strong."

When Dani didn't respond she knew she didn't have any time to waste. She ran out to the buckboard placing Mary and Noah and now Sally in the back.

"Noah, now you're in charge of little Sally. You hold on to her tight."

Noah nodded to his mother as the buckboard jerked forward. Lou knew she needed to drop off the kids with someone quickly if she was going to be any help to Dani. She knew the Cain's house was on her way into town and that was going to be her first stop.