Chapter 2 - A Fishing Hole Surprise
School would soon be starting so Nat and Adam rode back to the same spot one afternoon, a couple of days later. They took nothing with them because this time, instead of fishing, they decided to take a swim in the deep pool that had been Adam and John's fishing hole. The brothers stripped down and jumped in the water from a swinging rope that Nat had tied to a tree branch.
The August sun was hot when they came out of the water so it wasn't long before they were dry enough to put their clothes back on. Of course, they didn't simply don their clothes. They pushed and shoved each other as only brothers can while dressing. They were about to put on their boots when a twig snapped behind them. Both boys turned to find a stranger holding the reins to their already saddled horses and his own in his left hand and a pistol pointed directly at Adam's head in the other. He wasn't nearly as tall as their father, but he was at least 25 years younger and all muscle. His curly red hair stuck out from under his Stetson and his cold, blue eyes starred at them from under the brim.
"Boys, if you don't want to see your brains splattered all over the rocks here, you'd best do as I say," he ordered while smiling menacingly. "Start strippin' 'cause yer goin' fer another swim."
The stranger never loosened his hold on the horses nor let his eyes stray from them as he kept the pistol aimed directly at Adam's head. Nat nodded at Adam to obey. The gangling brown-haired youth and the red-haired small boy were soon naked and their clothes were tied in two bundles with their boots in the middle, which the man told them to toss his way. Again they obeyed and watched as their clothes were tied around his saddle horn. The stranger, now mounted, started forward, his pistol still aimed at them, forcing the brothers to turn toward the water and start swimming across. He stopped at the water's edge as they climbed out on the opposite bank, still within pistol range.
Despite the obvious advantage the stranger held, Nat still hoped for a chance to grab for the pistol and their horses when the stranger brought them closer, but instead the man again dropped the reins momentarily and expertly lassoed each boy while never letting the pistol waver. Taking the reins of their horses again, the man tossed a pair of handcuffs to each of them, the smaller one for Adam, indicating they should put them on and snap them shut. Then he threw leg irons to them to put on as well. The man tightened the ropes once the cuffs were in place and swam the horses forward across the pool until he was within a few feet of the boys, the ropes holding them tied securely to his own saddle horn instead of their clothes, which he'd dropped on the ground close by the boys' own mounts. Nat realized there was even less he could do.
"Unsaddle and remove the bridles from your horses and tie your clothes bundle in your saddle blanket, " he instructed loosening the ropes just enough so they could awkwardly obey due to the shackles. "Now loop the bridle and clothes bundle around your saddle horn and pick up your saddle. Yah've got some walkin' ta do," he continued as he slapped their horses and sent them on their way along the far bank. "I got a nice place picked out fer us to become better acquainted. Ain't nobody will spot us unless they know where to look."
Nat and Adam trudged forward under their burden, having no idea where they were headed when he told them to stop. He tossed them a couple of small shovels, one larger than the other, that had been wrapped in what they'd thought was his bedroll and directed them toward the bushes at the side of the trail. They pushed through and found themselves in a small, hidden clearing with another clump of bushes in the center. It was here that their kidnapper, for there was no other word Nat knew of to describe him, told them to dig. An hour later, their clothes and saddles were buried under the bushes in the middle of the clearing. Their captor tightened the ropes again, steering them back toward the trail they'd been following in a northwesterly direction since they left the Saw Creek behind them.
By Nat's estimation, they were now in a spot of open land at the far southeastern edge of the Sanderson ranch, about two miles from where they started. At least he thought they walked that far, judging from how tired he felt and seeing that Adam was about ready to drop where he stood. They might be on open land between the edge of their own and the O'Brien property on the far side of the creek. His folks had never fenced it completely, letting the stream act as a boundary, although they'd put up some posts to mark where their land ended along the east side of Dillon land. The road letting people planning to picnic a way to get to the banks came through on the near side. It was also one of the ways wagons and riders came through from Nebraska to pick up the road from Hays to Dodge that ran by the part of the ranch closest to the house.
Their destination was a cave opening hidden by brush a half mile further on. Next to it another outcropping of rock and bushes hid the spot where their captor told Nat to tether his horse and unsaddle him, substituting a simple rope halter for the bridle so the horse could be tied down in the hidden area. To the casual observer there was nothing and nobody there. Nat glanced at Adam and could see he was trying to hide his fear. Whatever the stranger had planned for them, it wasn't good. At best they would be held for ransom. At worst, they could be dead before anyone at home knew they were missing. If only he'd told someone back home exactly where they were headed. All their ma knew was they were going swimming by the new fishing hole and would be back well before supper.
The man herded them inside, using the ropes around them to steer them to where he wanted and to keep Adam from falling over. Two trees, about a foot apart, grew up through the roof of the cave. The man stopped a yard in front of the smaller one and walked around it toward the far side, pulling on the rope holding Adam as he moved while letting the rope holding Nat remain a bit slack. When he'd made a circuit of the tree, he yanked on the rope, shoving Adam hard against it, knocking the wind out of him and effectively securing the small boy to it. When Nat went to check on his brother, the man, who had yet to introduce himself, hauled the young man to his feet by the rope that still encircled him and forced him back a step or two.
"Boy, tie him up nice 'n' tight to that trunk, if you don't want me ta shoot yah both, so's his legs are straight out in front of him and he's facing the other tree. When yer done, I'll let yah move to the other tree. Sit with your back against it so's yer toes kin almost touch his toes. Do anythin' but what I tell yah, and yer little brother will be dead."
Nat obeyed. Silently nodding for Adam to sit still while he bound him to the tree. He made the knots appear to be so tight that Adam, understanding his brother's intention, cried out as if he were in pain. When he was done, he moved toward the other tree, watching the man to see what he might do. What he did was yank on the rope with which he'd lassoed Nat, throwing him to the ground in the process. Only then did he stuff his pistol in his belt. Pulling the rope tight, he walked around the larger tree encircling the older boy with another coil of the rope with each circuit. Each time, he pulled the rope tighter. By the time he'd circled the tree five times Nat couldn't move. The man secured the rope, making sure Nat was seated just the way he'd been told. He pulled his cuffed hands between two coils of the rope and then tightened the rope even more.
The man then turned to Adam. He untied all of Nat's loose knots and retied the coils so that Adam also couldn't move. All the boys could do was turn their heads from side to side or stare at each other or the man. The man said nothing as he grabbed hold of a strap from a table, which stood halfway between them and the entrance, where both boys could see it. Only then, holding the strap in his right hand, did he sit on a chair by the small table, facing the boys.
"I reckon I'll let ya say somethin' if yah want. "Let's hear what yah got to say, big brother."
"Let Adam go, he's only a little kid. If you're looking to collect a ransom, my folks will pay just as much for me or him as they would for both of us. Also, why'd you make us bury our clothes and saddles even after you set our horses free?"
"It interests me that yer willin' to put yer little brother ahead of yerself. I plan to use that, but I ain't gonna set either of yah free and I don't want a ransom from yer people no matter how much they're willin' to pay. To answer yer question, gettin' rid of yer clothes just makes it harder fer yah to escape and harder fer anyone to find yah, supposin' I wanted yah found while still alive. Also, I won't have ta waste time havin' yah bare yer back and bottoms fer a proper whuppin' with this strap when I think it's time."
The kidnapper was about to continue when Adam cried out, "It don't matter what you do, our pa will find us! He won't quit until he does!"
Yer little outburst suits my purposes too. You boys might just be the best pair yet. Now that the preliminaries are over with, it's time I introduced myself and explained why yer here. Then yah kin tell me more about yerselves. The name's Red Butcher. You boys are the latest to take part in my little experiment to see what older brothers are willin' to do to protect their little brothers and what kind of faith yah got in yer parents, yer pa in particular. I'll untie yah one at a time, but leave yah shackled and cuffed, and set yah to work at whatever task I think needs doin' at the pace I think yah need to do it. Sometimes it won't be no actual chore, just what I feel like havin' yah do at the time. If yah disappoint me, I'll take it out on yer brother's hide with the strap. The amount of food and water the other gits also depends on how well yah perform, as does permission ta relieve yerselves. After dark I'll shackle yah up top. I ain't about ta let yah sleep in the same room as me. Other than that, all I want from yah is some background information."
Adam, feeling every inch the scared five-year-old, cleared his throat and managed to squawk out his name and age when Butcher pointed at him and asked. Nat, who was feeling helpless despite having turned 16, an age when he should by his reckoning be able to keep his little brother safe especially considering their father's reputation for doing just that, was only slightly more forceful when giving his information. By continually threatening each boy in turn Butcher, if that was indeed his name, learned Nat's age. That he was adopted along with his sister Abby before Adam and their younger sister Maria were born and that the family lived on a nearby ranch. Their captor never asked what their father did for a living or how important he was to the nearby town.
"Oh that's excellent. There's 11 years between yah. Yer the best pair yet. Nat you've got the brown hair to Adam's red just as it should be. The others weren't quite right when it came to age or hair color. I don't care if yer folks are as rich as Rockefeller. Money's not what I'm after. Let's see how close yah come to the ideal in yer reactions."