Author's Note: Thank you, to all you who have added my story to your favorites! I'm posting this early so you have something to read over your morning coffee, other than the newspaper. :) Happy Saturday!

Chapter Three

Mattie caught up with the Roberts Gang along the shore of Lake Worth. There were three of them, resting their horses and laughing. Harry was sitting with one of the men, fear written all over his face. As she approached them, her gun drawn, they instantly stood up. One of them reached for his gun, but Mattie was too quick. She dropped the reigns and cocked her pistol.

"Don't you touch that," she commanded. "I'll shoot if you do.

The man slowly let his hand fall to his side.

Mattie's heart was beating, and her mouth was dry, but she wouldn't let the men see her fear.

"Well, look what we have here," One of the robbers said showing his crooked yellow teeth as he sneered at her. "Ain't you a purdy little thing. 'Cept for the arm, but that don't really matter."

He turned to one of his comrades, the one who was staring at Mattie's drawn gun. He was not smiling.

"Ain't she a purdy little thing, Bill?"

"Shut up, Stanley." Bill said, stepping forward.

Mattie pointed her pistol at him, but he only looked at her.

"What is it you want?" he asked, his voice soft but menacing.

"I want you to release Harry Roberts to me," she said firmly. "And I want the man who fired the bullets that killed the woman back in Fort Worth."

"Haha!" the man named Stanley laughed in disbelief. "You hear that Ned? She wants the man who killed that school teacher!"

The man named Ned, who had watched this exchange silently, cracked a smile that sent a chill through Mattie's heart.

"Shut up, Stanley," Bill growled out. "If you say one more word, I just might hand you over to her."

That shut Stanley up, the smile falling from his face. He looked into Mattie's eyes, and she could see crazy in them. In actuality, he reminded her of Tom Chaney, and men like Tom Chaney were much more dangerous than they appeared.

Bill turned back to Mattie, a small smile on his face.

"That him?" she asked, jerking her pistol in Ned's direction.

"Well, Miss-?"

"Ross," Mattie replied, keeping her eyes on him.

"Well, Miss Ross," Bill said. "Harry is my son, and I have rights—"

"Stealing a child from his mother and killing a school teacher are not rights," Mattie interrupted him coldly.

That so?" Bill replied, still smiling. "Well I don't think I'll be giving my son to you. In fact, I think we'll be taking you along with us."

"How did you figure that?" Mattie asked stiffening. There was something in his voice that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Because there are four of us, not three," a voice whispered in her ear.

With a gasp, Mattie whirled around. But in that moment, she felt a sharp blow to her head and everything went black.

When she came too it was dark, except for the flicker of a fire a couple feet away from her. She was sitting with her feet were tied together.

Her head was pounding, and as she tried to move, unbidden thoughts entered her mind and fear coursed through her. Had they dishonored her? She couldn't feel anything so they must not have touched her, at least not yet. Relief washed over her, but it was short-lived. One of the men had left the fire and was approaching her. She shut her eyes tightly and hoped he would think she was still passed out.

Her heart stopped for a moment, but then he turned around and walked back. As soon as his back was turned, she began to pick the knot at her feet. It was a difficult procedure with only one set of fingers, but she had had a lot of practice.

"She's still out, Bill," Stanley called out. "Lee must have hit her harder than he thought."

"I hit her as hard as I meant to Stanley, now shut yer mouth," The man named Lee growled out.

"Jeezus, I'm getting tired of everyone telling me to shut up," Stanley grumbled.

"Then maybe you shouldn't be so stupid," Lee shot back.

"Don't call me stupid!" Stanley yelled, and Mattie saw him whip his gun out of its holster. He pointed it at Lee. "You call me stupid one more time, and I'll blast your brains out."

"STANLEY!" Bill bellowed, coming forward. "You put that gun away right now."

Stanley whirled around shaking his gun at Bill, who stepped back raising his hands.

"You're always picking on me! You all are!" Stanley's voice was shaking, and his eyes were wild. Whatever sanity he had had, it was long gone. "I'm not going to take it anymore!" he shouted. "I'm leaving this gang! Now give me the money!"

"I'm not giving you the money," Bill said, his voice deadly quiet. "Now put the gun down."

Stanley stared at him a moment and Mattie drew in her breath.

"No," Stanley said.

And then he shot Bill in the chest. Mattie screwed her eyes tightly together as pandemonium erupted, hoping in the flurry of flying, she would not be a casualty. She quickly finished untying the knot.

Leaping to her feet, she found Harry's hand and pulled him through the smoke and dust looking for Scout. She was suddenly grabbed from behind, and Harry's hand ripped out of hers.

"No," she yelped in a furor, kicking out her feet. As she twisted in his arms, she got a look at her attacker. It was the man named Ned.

"Let me go right now, you pig swine!" she yelled, but he was too strong, and too fast, and soon he was on top of her, fumbling with the buttons on the front of her dress.

"No! Get off me!" Mattie howled, beating his chest with her fist.

"Shut it!" Ned growled, smacking her across the face with his hand. He then reached down and hauled her skirt up, trying to find the buttons to her drawers.

Mattie tasted blood in her mouth from where she had just bitten the inside of her lip. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to the revulsion she felt from Ned's roaming hands.

As she struggled, she felt the cool handle of his pistol in the holster at his hip. Taking advantage of the blood pouring into her mouth, she spat it straight into Ned's eyes.

Ned howled, and in the moment his grip around her lessened, Mattie reached forward and grabbed his pistol. It only took him a second to realize what she had done, but it was too late. She pulled the trigger and Ned slumped down on top of her.

Desperately, Mattie tried to push him off, but his dead weight was too much for her. Sobbing, she wiggled her way out from under him and stumbled to her feet. She looked down to find that she was covered in Ned's blood and brains. Harry was standing not more than a couple feet away, holding one of the dead men's pistols in his little fingers, his eyes wide in horror and shock.

Choking back the wave of nausea that threatened to upturn the contents of her stomach, she was just about to drop the gun when the sound of horse hooves brought on a fresh burst of panic. Whirling around, she saw a man wearing a Stetson riding up with his pistol drawn.

"Drop your gun," she ordered shakily, pointing her pistol at him. "I've just killed a man and I will do it again."

But then she saw the man's face and the gun fell out of her hand into the dust.

"Mr. LaBoeuf?"

"What in tarnation have you gotten yourself into, Mattie Ross?" He demanded, dismounting his horse. The fringe of his coat flapped and his spurs clinked, and when he looked up she could see his familiar green eyes and blond mustache.

It was him.