Black Water
Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat.
A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all! It's insane to know I've been working on this story for a year now. Anyway I hope you all like this next installment!
Regardless of most of them having left the silence feels heavy and strained. The hairs on the back of her neck stand up, something is wrong.
Chapter 10
Ren shows Lory and the rest of the men the newly discovered petroleum resource and Lory marks the spot on his land map along with a not of how much wood and wire will be needed to fence off the area. Sawara, Yuusei and Shin'ichi make sense of the surrounding horse tracks and which way the horse thieves were traveling in. The Sioux's horses tracks and these men were easy enough to decipher between since most Indian tribes don't weigh down their horses with tact. The men, five in total head north west with six or Lory's horses. The trail is easy enough to follow the men obviously not worried about being followed or getting caught. This idea bothers and worries Ren and he voices his opinion. The others discredit it as some kids who got in over their heads and he just hopes they're right. Just before sunset they make it to an encampment with a makeshift corral, the horses grazing inside nonchalantly but the rest of the camp seems empty. They lay back and wait a bit to be certain, covered by the surrounding trees. After about ten minutes Yukihito spots a young boy who seems quiet frantic trying to mount one of the corralled horses bareback. Seeing no signs of anyone else the men trickle into the camp toward the young boy. The boy hears them approach and ducks behind the herd of horses putting them between him and Lory's posse'. He glances at the men and his face at first shows relief then concern. He rushes forward once again frantic.
"Are you guys from LME Ranch?" The boy asks quickly clearly worried.
"Yes, those are my horses behind you son." Lory replies taking in the boys appearance. He looks to be about eight or nine years old and now he seems even more agitated than before.
"No, you have to go back now, it was a trick! Head back to the ranch now before it's too late!" The boys climbs over the flimsy fence and stands in front of Lory's horse.
"These men were after a woman at your ranch, I heard them talking last night but before I could get away to warn you I was caught and they tied me up, I only just got loose." The boy rubs his wrists, Lory notices the rope burns.
"Tell us the rest on the way." Ren says reaching down a hand to help the boy onto his mount in front of him.
"Shin'ichi and Yuusei stay behind and bring the horses back with you."Lory orders all seriousness now. With the boy settled they begin racing back to LME Ranch.
At LME Ranch
Reino congratulated himself as LME's backdoor finally came into view. The ranch looked relatively empty his plan working like a charm. Reino pulls on his reins bringing his horse to a stop and circles to face his men. All loyal men who do not question his decisions. Reino thinks back to the young boy Uesugi Hiou who he hired at Sulpher Springs as a chore boy. The boy had sorely disappointed him, spouting about kidnappers and warning the ranch hands. Reino had Miroku tie the boy up until the task was done. Stealing this woman would get him in good with the Sioux and the distressed look on that stupid man Sho's face would be a much added bonus. The image made him all warm and fuzzy inside.
"Stick to the plan."Reino tells his men then advanced toward the ranch. They ride up to the backdoor splitting into groups; Reino, Miroku and Daisuku stay at the backdoor while Shizuru and Kiyora circle back to the horse stable. When the other two disappear from sight Reino clears his throat then yells.
"Hello the house! Anyone home?!"
The door swings open seconds later and reveals a crowd. A short, petite woman leads the group her curly auburn hair pulled high and cascading around her shoulders. Behind her a young girl with a similar hairstyle and frilly pink dress clings to the woman's skirt and peaks around her. Standing tall over both of them is a thin dark skinned man with an air of mystery around him. Reino smiles hopefully.
"Thank god someone is here, we've been lost in this territory and are in great need of direction. Could you help us out?" The young woman beams a radiant smile happily and sidesteps.
"Of course, but first come in and rest a bit, you men must be exhausted."
"Thank you Ma'am." All three take off their hats and dust off a bit then step into the house. As his eyes adjust to the sudden change of lighting he glimpses another woman making her way slowly toward them leaning on the wall frequently to help her along. His eyes slide over her, resting on her heart shaped face framed by short black hair and her golden eyes which capture his attention seemingly drawing him in and his heart jumps into his throat.
Thinking back to the telegram, the Kyoko from that note had received a broken leg from her run in with the Sioux. Her slow movements and slight limp had her pegged as Kyoko for sure.
'Found her.'
In the Horse Stables
Hikaru handles the foal with care as he dumps another bucket of water over his blackened mane. Using Jelly's concoction the little guy is nearly spotless. He hears one of the horses in the back most stall stamping and causing a ruckus. He dismisses it as horses tend to throw little tantrums throughout a day. But something else feels wrong the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he hears the hay behind him crunch. As he turns around he sees boots then WACK! Darkness...
Shizuru takes the man he just pistol whipped arms and Kiyora takes his legs. They lean him against the nearest post and tie his hands to the other side of the support beam. Kiyora checks to make sure the man is breathing. Then they leave to saddle a horse for the woman, recover their horses and wait for Reino.
Back in the House
Reino puts his hat back on and smirks an evil grin. The hat signaling that they had found the woman. Miroku slips behind Sebastian and pulls his gun pressing it against his back. At the same time Daisuku pulls his weapon and points at the woman who opened the door and the little girl. The woman pushes the girl behind her skirt protectively.
"No one will get hurt as long as you come with us, Kyoko." Reino says evenly his eyes never leaving hers.
Kyoko's throat is bone dry from fear and her heart pounds wildly in her chest. She tries to swallow and push the fear down into her stomach so her words won't come out shaken.
"I'll go with you, just don't hurt anyone." Surprisingly she sounds strong.
Reino smiles a sickening grin of victory and the two men take the others and tie them to different heavy pieces of furniture across from each other in the living room.
Kyoko kneels down to the crying Maria and gives her a comforting pat and an attempted hug.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine Maria. Tell Ren for me that I'm sorry I wasn't more vigilant." She stood as tears threatened.
"I've caused you all nothing but trouble, I'm sorry." Kyoko says to her friends. Jelly shakes her head vigorously and smiles up at Kyoko.
"You'll be back soon, my honey won't stand for this and neither will Ren or the others."
Kyoko nods a few tears slipping through down her cheeks.
Reino grabs Kyoko's arm and pulls her along back out the way they came. Jelly yells after her.
"Ren will find you Kyoko!"
Reino puts Kyoko on one of the horses from Lory's stable. Riding sidesaddle to accommodate her broken leg. Reino holds her reigns, they move with him in front pulling her behind him and the other four pulling up the rear. Kyoko's eyes stay glued on LME Ranch until it vanishes from view. She clutches Corn close to her chest as the tears threaten again.
1 Hour Later
Lory's posse' of ranch hands thunder up to the house dust clouds racing around them. Muffled shouts from the house reach their ears as the noise from their horses dies down. Lory and Ren jump off their horses barely stopped and scramble into the house finding Jelly, Maria, and Sebastian all tied to their respective furniture pieces in the living room. Lory moves to untie Jelly, Ren unties Maria and Yukihito unties Sebastian who had been working at his ropes and was close to doing it himself. Meanwhile all three talking at the same time, the men unable to decipher with everyone talking at once. Then in unison they all yell.
"They took Kyoko!"
Just then the boy Hiou walks in with Hikaru who holds his head muttering about getting pistol whipped.
Through tears and snot running down her face Maria whimpers.
"She went with them to protect us, they had guns." Maria says to Ren who hugs her tighter to him. Through gritted teeth and whitened knuckles Ren mutters in a dangerously low tone.
"We'll get her back, I promise."
A/N: This chapter was a blast, I hope no one has a problem with the jumping around. Please R&R I need motivation!