It's me again, please don't loose faith in me, I promise, I will finish this story. I have so much of it written on paper. Just give me your faith. Thank you so much I'm not too sure if you will like this, it seems a little off beat as far as my writing goes. Not the circumstances, but I think by the style. It feels vague to me. Perhaps it's just me. Please read on and let me know if you think the same thing. PS, I apologize for my impatience and not spellchecking.

KR

Kitty slept fitfully. She woke at every noise or movement. He had raped her. Devon had taken what he wanted from her and she was terrified. She had been Matt's woman for about 5 years now and he was the only man she had been with. Ever! Now her mind wondered if he'd ever touch her again. She felt dirty, no, that was too nice of a word. She felt filthy, and she felt as though she would never feel clean again. It was something she was going to have to deal with, but right now she needed to stay alive and hopefully Dooley won't let them get the upper hand over him again. When Matt finds out what that animal did to her, she knew he'd kill him with his bare hands. And she was hoping he would as well. The anger and hurt, the guilt and shame she felt were things she would have to deal with. Matt would surely stop loving her, he'd stop because it's the only way to keep her safe. No, she started to panic inside, but she forced that panic down. She didn't have time to deal with it right now. She had to figure a way out of this mess.

Matt lay there in the dark on his blanket, his eyes would not close for sleep. His heart was heavy, he could feel such sadness coming down, and knew that it was not his own, but that of the one woman he loved with his entire being. She was crying inside his mind and he wanted nothing more that to reach out and wipe her pain and fear away. He wanted to pull her into his arms and love her like there was no tomorrow. 'Please, God, keep her alive and safe.' He whispered to the stars above him. He had no idea that Festus was awake and pleading with the heavenly Father as well for her safe return to them.

"How long we gonna hold up here, Dev?" Mark asked looking over at the pretty redhead who ignored his attempts to get her attention. She would not look at any of the three men. She couldn't bare to see their sneering ugly faces.

"Until I feel like it's safe enough move on." Devon said looking at Mark whose eyes were still trained on the redhead. "What are you doing?" He asked Mark who was smiling at Kitty.

"Nothin' just admiring the view." He said with a lecherous tone.

"Well stop!" Devon said harshly and Dooley looked up from his coffee. He knew that tone with Devon, it meant more than just being in charge. Devon had his sights on that woman and Dooley feared that she would not make it out of this predicament alive.

Kitty continued to keep her eyes down, and sip the black liquid in her cup. She wanted to crawl under the rock and disappear anything to get out of here. She knew that Devon had been watching her but she refused to make eye contact with him or that little snake Mark. She knew his kind, she had met many-a-snake in her life. The wormy little creep was waiting for his chance to put his filthy hands on her and she would do whatever she needed to stop him.

Dooley kept his eyes on both men. He'd have to kill one of them probably, but if he didn't and they hurt her again, the big marshal would definitely kill them. He needed to get her out of there and back to her man and her town, before it was too late. He didn't know how long Devon was going to keep them there, maybe another day, maybe two, just to make sure that the big marshal back tracked and was truly gone.

She heard it again. She hoped it was a dream, but the scuffling was clear, sitting up quickly, she grabbed the hunting knife Dooley had stuck between the two of them. And looked towards the entrance of the cave. This time, it wasn't just a scuffle, the pistol went off and the shadowy figure grabbed his belly as he doubled over in pain, and fell to his knees. She held her breath as they third figure got up from the ground.

"You killed him." Mark said.

"So what?" Devon said. "He was in the way." He turned towards the redhead in the shadows. "Now there's no one to stop me." He said looking at Kitty who held the knife in her hands as she stood up. "You think you're gonna stop me with that?" He slowly approached her. "There is nothing standing in my way, little girl and you are mine now."

He grabbed at the knife and she swung hitting his hand and cutting it. He looked at the cut as the blood began to pool and laughed than angrily backhanded her across the face. Kitty flew over the bedding onto the dirt ground of the cave. She reached for the knife that flew from her hand but he was there before she could grab it.

Kitty sat on the horse. Mark looked over at the beautiful redhead. Her face was bruised as was her throat. Her clothing torn and tattered and her hair hung in dirty clumps in her face, and down her back to her waist. She held onto the horn of the saddle, trying to keep her balance. Every inch of her body hurt. Devon had used and abused her repeatedly the last two days. She had come to the realization that she was ruined and Matt would never love her again. She was tired, so very tired and was barely aware of Mark, grabbing her arm and pulling her back onto the horse before she fell to the ground. She said nothing but closed her eyes. Death would be better. Better to die out here than return to Dodge soiled and dirty.

As the sun hit the high sky, they came to the river's edge. The water wasn't deep, perhaps six inches in its deepest place, but it was cool and Kitty was thirsty. Mark knew that he wasn't going to touch the redhead, at least he wasn't going to get a piece of her, but he did help her down from the horse and she seemed far away. She never looked at him or Devon, she just walked towards the river and walked into the water, which was to the middle of her calves.

Mark grabbed her arm and pulled her from the water. "What the hell's wrong with you?" He said sitting her on the rock and moving her skirt up so he could take her shoes off of her. He then untied the strings and pulled the stockings off of her and laid everything on the rocks to dry. He then took her arm and walked her back into the water to cool her feet. Kitty sat on a rock in the river that was high out of the water and dangled her feet. She closed her eyes then took her slip and tore a piece off, big enough to wash the dirt from her face and throat. She then slipped the wet rag into the top of her bustier. He, Devon, had bitten her there and she had cried out in pain. Now she winced as the cold water hit the heated area of her breast. The tears fell down her cheeks. She leaned forward and cupped her hands than splashed water in her face. When she sat up, Devon was standing right there in front of her smiling. She tried to get up and he shoved her back down on the rock. Mark sat on the ground in the sand, he looked over at Devon as he pulled her up than shoved her down onto her belly as he pulled her pantaloons down over her hips, pushing his knee between her thighs, she cried out in pain as he bruised her thighs. Than she screamed as he took her from behind. Mark hid his face in his knees. He wasn't too sure if he wanted her. Not that she wasn't beautiful, but that he, Devon had seemed insatiable, and his tastes in games were brutal. Mark covered his ears as the woman screamed and fought Devon. He finally got up and walked away. He wasn't going to go up against Devon, he saw what Dev had done to Dooley and his brother Andrew and what he had done to that Taylor girl back in Lawton. She had dared to point a finger at him for raping her and he cut her face up and disfigured her for life. She lived in the darkness of her father's farm now. Never seeing the light of day because she was scarred. Her family were poor and unable to leave Lawton. But General Lawton had paid all their bills and even paid for seed so that they could survive. He paid them off and they said nothing more about what had happened. He was with the horses and he could still hear her fighting. 'Why don't she just let him do his business and it will be done with?' He said to the horses. He rubbed the horses mane. 'He's an animal.' He said softly then turned to the noise of Devon heading back towards him.

"Get her cleaned up, we ride in an hour." He said heading towards the coffee pot and fire.

Mark headed down towards the river where he found her laying in the water half sitting up and half laying there in the cold water. He knelt down in front of her. "Why do you fight him all the time? Just let him have what he wants, and he won't hurt you so badly." He said taking her by the upper arms and helping her to the dry rocks on the shore where her stockings and shoes were drying. Before sitting her on the rock, he reached under her skirts and pulled the bloomers up over her hips. He then sat her down and tied her stocking back up and put her shoes on her. She said nothing as she hid her face in her hands and cried. "Come on." He said gently. "We don't want to make him angrier." He said helping her up. He didn't know how his role had changed only that it had. He couldn't protect her, but he was no longer interested in adding to her misery. He took her arm and gently lead her over to the small camp Devon had set up so they could rest and eat. They would stay there a few hours and continue in the dark. They were closer to his home and he knew the way. He could travel like the Indian's by the stars. Best to sleep a bit and then move on.

He had only been asleep about two hours when he realized something was off. Waking up, he looked around for the redhead. She was gone. Mark was fast asleep in his blanket as the sun was setting and it was getting cooler. He got up and kicked Mark's boot. "Get up! That bitch took off." He said as he lifted his saddle from the ground and headed for his horse. Mark did the same, pretending to be drowsy. Truth was, he had watched her slip over to the horse and saddle it than lead it away before climbing onto it. He saddled his horse as quickly as possible and hoped that she had gotten far enough away from them that Devon would give up looking for her.

TBC

Stay tuned..Same bat channel, same bat cave. Thank you,

KR