Chapter 4

Eddy walked Cashe out of the barn and Joe followed with Cochise. They had their bedrolls and some light supplies. They mounted their horses as Hoss and Sam walked up to them. "You be careful. Ya hear me?" Hoss stated. He was worried. He wasn't sure why he wasn't riding out with them but his gut told him to stay with Sam.

Sam walked up to Eddy, "Ride safe, little sister."

"Always." Eddy answered.

"And you look out for her!" Sam called to Joe.

Joe tilted his hat at Sam and answered with a smirk. "With my life, ma'am."

Eddy blushed, tapped the side of Cashe and took off. Joe followed her lead and took off after her.

Sam looked at Hoss, she had to say it. "I got a bad feeling about this."

Hoss placed his arm around her. "Joe's with Eddy and they'll bring Pa and Adam back."

"I hope you're right." Sam sighed.

It was nighttime. Joe and Eddy were no longer running at full speed, even though they wanted to. They were over half way through a clearing, that had a creek on the other side. Joe knew that if they got to the creek they could follow it for a good two hours before having to call it a night. The two of them had been riding for two almost three hours at a steady pace.

Eddy stopped Cashe and looked around at the scene. It was beautiful. She looked up at the dark sky and saw a bright full moon. There were also big clouds scattering across the sky. She took a deep breath. The breeze that was slowly picking up caused her to shiver. She reached in one of her saddle bags and pulled out her light blue jacket.

Joe slowed Cochise when he noticed Eddy had stopped. He turned his pinto around and rode up to her. "Honey, you okay?" He asked, concern apparent in his voice.

Eddy looked at him and smiled. He had never called her honey before. "Yeah, just a chill." She answered as she did a button up and looked at Joe. "I think we should get moving."

Joe nodded, "It's a bit of a ride, but I know a place where we can rest a bit."

Eddy nodded, she trusted him.

Sam had spent the last hour tossing and turning in bed. She just couldn't seem to fall asleep. Now she found herself sitting out on the porch, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders to keep the night chill off.

As she stared up at the bright full moon, she heard the front door open. She turned her head and watched as Hoss made his way on to the porch. "I reckon I heard you get up. Couldn't sleep?" he asked, as he sat down beside her.

She shook her head and sighed. "No."

"Wanna talk about what's troublin' ya?" Hoss asked, concerned.

Sam sighed and looked down at her boots. She hadn't told the whole story and why she didn't want to return to Trinity. It wasn't that she didn't want to find her parents killers, no she wanted that more than anything in the world. Her reason was simple, there was someone back there that she never wanted to set eyes upon again.

Hoss looked at her and knew something was troubling her something fierce. He reached out and gently placed a big, comforting hand on her shoulder. "Sam, you'll feel better if ya just talk about it."

Sam looked back at Hoss and saw the concerned look in his gorgeous blue eyes. She knew he was right, she had to tell him. She took a deep breath and then started to talk. "Hoss, I never told the whole story when I told you, your Pa and Adam all about Dawson."

"What do ya mean?" Hoss asked, his brow furrowing.

"I was telling the truth when I said I suspected he's the one behind the fire. Although I don't have any real proof. But I left out his son..." Sam shuddered when she thought of Calvin Dawson. "Calvin. You see, Cal's in love with me and wants to marry me..." She suddenly stood up and started to pace in front of Hoss. "But, I don't love him and I can't stand to be around him. He knows how I feel but he's determined to marry me anyway. He's just like his father. They don't stop until they have what they want. Dawson wants our land and Cal wants me." Sam stopped pacing and looked down at Hoss. "That's why I'm pretty sure Dawson and Cal set that fire. I figured they thought if we lost everything, Pa would sell to him and then I'd have no choice but to marry Cal. But Ma and Pa..." Sam's voice became choked up and tears filled her eyes and then spilled down over her cheeks. "They got trapped inside the house and couldn't get out in time."

A sadness washed over Hoss' features as he listened to Sam's story. He stood up and pulled Sam into his strong arms. "I sure am sorry all this happened."

Sam buried her face into Hoss' chest and wrapped her arms around him. "Hoss, Cal has men out looking for me." she confided as she pulled back and looked up at him. "I found out when me and Eddy were in Tucson. Billy and Rooster were in town asking around about me. I managed to convince Eddy we had to move on before they found me."

"Eddy don't know about all this?" he asked, as he released her from his arms and they both sat back down on the porch.

"No. I mean she knows how Cal feels about me but she doesn't know he has men out looking for me to bring me back to Trinity."

Hoss hadn't known this pretty gal long, in fact it had only been about half a day, but he suddenly felt very protective of her. He'd be damned if he let Calvin Dawson or any of his men anywhere near her.

Hoss looked at her. "Don't you worry none, I won't let any of them near you."

Sam smiled at Hoss. He really was a wonderful man. He hardly even knew her and he was willing to protect her from Cal Dawson and his hired... kidnappers would be the preferred term in this case.

Ben and Adam had called it a night. They had a fire going and were both drinking a cup of coffee. Ben looked over at his oldest son. "What plans do you have, son?"

"I was thinking, we should take a look at the Thunderbolt and see what evidence we can find. Then talk to the town sheriff."

"Now Adam, you know what Sam said about the sheriff." Ben pointed out.

Adam sigh. "You're right Pa. But we need more information before we can go to a marshal."

Ben nodded. "Well, we need to get some sleep before we complete the ride to the Thunderbolt."

The two men finished their coffee and climbed into their bedrolls. They left the fire going and put their gunbelts and hats beside them. Their horses were tried up near the camp, with their saddles off.

Joe and Eddy were riding alongside the creek now. Eddy was behind Joe and she half slumped over. She was tempted to go to sleep on Cashe and have him follow Joe. It wouldn't have been the first time she had done this. There was a couple occasions when Sam was in a hurry to get out of a town.

Joe looked back at Eddy. He could see how the day had wore her down. He looked up at the sky and knew it was very late. "Eddy?"

"Mm?" She mumbled.

Joe had an idea. It was at least another good hour before they got to where they were going to camp for the night. He knew that Eddy and Sam had been up since very early that morning. "Let's stop a second." He said and they guided their horses to the side of the creek.

"What are we doing?" Eddy asked.

"Jump down and climb up on Cooch. I'll ride and get us to the camp and you can sleep." Joe said and waited.

Eddy was a little nervous of the idea but was too tired to fight. She jumped down from Cashe, took the lead and handed it to Joe. He helped her up in front of him and tied Cashe's lead to the saddle horn. Joe wrapped his arms around Eddy to keep her firmly in the saddle with him.

Eddy felt her heart pound and knew that she was starting to get short of breath. She couldn't describe the feeling, but she knew this was right, that this was where she wanted to be. She took her hat off and rested it on the saddle horn. She turned to look at Joe. "Thank you." She said softly.

"Any time." He said. He wanted to kiss Eddy but the crack of thunder in the distance stopped him. He looked behind him and could just make out the faint outline of the storm. He knew where they were camping they could take shelter. There was a small and rundown abandoned shed. Not a cabin, just a shed. The cabin had been destroyed by a storm last year.

Eddy rested her head on Joe's chest and shoulder. As they continued on, she started to fall asleep.

Sam and Hoss were still sitting on the porch. Hoss was holding Sam in his arms now and she was resting her head on his chest. "I just hope they're okay." she muttered.

Hoss gave a slight smile. "I'm sure they are." He said and looked down at her.

That's when it happened. She looked up at him and slowly their lips met. It was like the whole world stopped. Their hearts skipped beats and their bodies tingled. It was the perfect kiss. Their souls met on lover's lips.

When their lips parted Hoss was about to say something when a shot rang out. Sam screamed as Hoss fell backwards, limp on the deck. With tears in her eyes she wrapped her arms around him. "Hoss!" she screamed as she noticed the blood on the right side of his head. "Oh God, Hoss!" She started to cry.

Suddenly a pair of arms grabbed her, pulling her away from him and away from the house. "Hoss!" She screamed. "Let me go!" She turned and looked at who was pulling her away. Her heart dropped and she went white. "Rooster..." She said coldly.

"Now, now." Rooster smirked and held tight as Sam started to fight. "Hey, Billy?!"

"Yeah!?" Billy called from the barn loft.

"Great shot! Now get the rope and get down here!"

Sam, at this point, was able to get one arm free and hauled off and slugged Rooster. He shook it off. "I forgot how feisty you are."

"You're going to find out just how feisty I can be. Now let me go!" She screamed. "You ain't taking me anywhere."

"Oh, but I am. I'm taking you home to your future husband. I don't think he'd like you cuddling up to big man over there."

Sam turned and looked at Hoss. "Let me go!" She screamed again, but Rooster held her tight.

Billy walked up to them, "This enough rope, Rooster?" He asked, holding a roll of rope.

"Yeah. Now let's tie her up and take her back. Leave 'Big Man' there for the rest of them to find."

"No!" Sam yelled and started to struggle as the two men tied her up. Once they had finished tying her up, they threw her on Rooster's horse. He jumped up behind Sam and Billy climbed up on his own horse. Sam turned around, tears streaming down her cheeks as they started off. "Hoss!" she yelled again. But he never moved.