Horse and rider galloped through the stormy night, the howling winds whipping all around them. The storm was growing with magnitude and seemed to have no intentions of calming. They moved as one, the woman laid low over the mighty horse's broad back and moving only to shift in tune with the dark beast whenever he changed direction.
She lost track of time easily, but the one thought that kept repeating through Faith's mind was that she had to reach Little Wild Cat in time. There was no doubt in her mind that the lost Indian child had to be him, and she wished his mother had sent word to her the moment he'd been discovered missing from camp. She knew his people would have known the storm was coming, so why hadn't they called for her?
As lightning cut through the sky and hit a tree just a few feet from where they ran, she knew why. The tribe tried to avoid the white people at all costs, and they had known that she was going to visit Hansel. Only if they had realized just how much danger Little Wild Cat was in would they have sent for her. She smirked. Even then they would have first tried their own finest warriors.
Thunder boomed through the dark sky, blending with the sounds of the pounding hoofbeats beneath her. It became a cry within her blood: She had to reach him in time! She had to reach him in time! She had to reach him in time!
Then, suddenly, the mountain loomed before them. {Hold on, kiddo,} she thought as her horse continued on the path she'd told him to take, running swiftly around the side of the mountain to the route that wound to the top. {We're coming.}
The night had become so black that she couldn't even see her horse's head in front of her eyes unless lightning flashed. Evidently her steed could see no better for suddenly he rose up onto his back and pawed the air. Her fingers grasped his mane tightly as Faith called to him to calm down. Slowly he returned all four hooves to the ground but still shifted restlessly beneath her.
Lightning filled the sky again, and she could finally see what had happened. A rockslide blocked their way. "We've gotta go around the side of the mountain," she told him. "I'll have to climb." He limped slightly as he stepped again, and Faith cursed as she realized that he'd stepped on a sharp rock.
She dropped in a single, fluid movement to stand beside him and ran her hand lovingly down the white blaze that broke up his otherwise solidly black face. He blinked at her and tried not to shake as thunder shook the earth. "It's going to be okay," she told him. "You didn't abandon me, and I'm damn sure not going to abandon you."
Faith led the way around the mountain, calling Little Wild Cat's name at the top of her lungs and keeping a steadying hand on the side of her stallion's neck. She tried not to worry about how badly he'd hurt himself and winced inwardly each time she felt him flinch. One trouble at a time, she reminded herself, was how ya took down a whole wagon train.
Her feet suddenly ran into something. She tried to kick it out of her way, and it moaned. She peered down just as lightning split the sky again and found the Malloy twins blocking her way. She didn't know which had moaned and was about to step around them when she remembered Carlos' plea. There had been tears in his brown eyes when he'd begged her to save Trina.
She hadn't made it in time to save the stubborn woman who should have known she couldn't save the kid, but that didn't matter. Still the image of the tears in the Mexican's eyes made Faith stoop just long enough to check for heartbeats. Both still breathed, though their pulses were faint. Faith stood again, fresh determination filling her face and giving her an even more fierce expression as lightning lit up the mountainside.
"Stay here," she told her steed, her words softened by the gentle kiss she placed on his nose. She had no choice. She had to climb, and she could barely see the nose in front of her own face.
{Time to get down to basics.} She remembered the climbing and stealth lessons she'd been given by the Indians and began to strip, freeing herself of everything that slowed the white man down. Her boots were the first to come off, and she dropped them to the ground beside her stallion. Then she shrugged out of her black duster and draped it over his back. She removed her gunbelt, dumped the bullets into her palm, shoved them into her pocket, and then hung the belt and all it carried carefully around her best friend's neck.
"Hansel," she told him only, knowing he'd understand her perfectly as he always did. She stooped and removed a bowie knife from one of her boots. Then, with a gentle pat on the side of his neck, she stepped over the fallen twins and blindly searched the side of the mountain until she found her first holds. As she began to climb, she gave an eagle cry before taking the knife in her teeth, and Little Wild Cat finally gave up his hoarse screams for he knew help was at last on the way . . .
Carlos clung tightly to his horse's mane, praying that it would not misstep in the pitch blackness that was only lit when the lightning cut jaggedly across the sky. He felt the others breathing down his neck and prayed that they would be in time. He heard a horse whicker up ahead and realized that they were almost upon them. Lightning cut across the sky, illuminating his worst fear: Trent and Trina laying motionless upon the ground and a horse standing over them, as though he was guarding their lives.
Stifling the scream that rose and threatened to bubble over hysterically, he climbed off of his horse and raced to his beloved's side. His trembling fingers found a pulse, and he thanked God for that. He gathered Trina close even as one hand reached out to check for the pulse of the other. He lay so still against his sister.
{Please let him be all right! Don't punish him for me!} he cried inwardly, knowing full well that some would find it wrong that he loved both of the Malloys as family but only one of them as his true love. He was now touching that one. He would never dare to allow him to know exactly how he felt and knew that he had to continue to pretend that she was the one.
Carlos pulled both the twins into his arms and held them close to him while time ticked by and the storm raged on. He knew Faith had to be somewhere above their heads for it was her horse who stood guard over the Malloys. He murmured words in Spanish, calling to them to awaken and praying that they would be all right, as he rocked them in the storm. He had no idea how long he had been there when he heard the other men riding up.
Jack dismounted and turned to wait for Hansel. He would not have his beloved honey bear fall into the muck and mire he could feel his boots squishing. He shivered from the unexpected cold.
Lighting filled the air again as Hansel swung down beside his Gypsy. Before Jack could touch him, however, he saw his sister's horse, standing still and alone like a giant, black silhouette against the side of the mountain. He rushed to him, for once not paying any attention to the grime that splattered his purple boots. "Where is she?" he asked, reaching the stallion's side and noting, in the light from another bolt of lightning, Faith's jacket, boots, and gunbelt.
He followed the horse's gaze up, but the lightning was gone again before he could find his sister. With his heart in his throat, he prayed that she would be all right. He said a prayer for Little Wild Cat, too, and for the Malloys, who he presumed were the people Carlos was holding, but his main concern was for his sister. Though he wanted the others to be saved as well, he would sacrifice them all for Faith's well being.
Bobby laid a gentle, reassuring hand upon Hansel's shoulder. "She'll be okay," he told him. "This is Faith. She can beat the heck out of a tornado."
The horse whinnied suddenly. Bobby looked at him but dared not touch him. "Not you, old boy," he assured, then turned his attention to Carlos. His gentle touch moved from Hansel to the Mexican as he knelt beside him. "How are they?"
"They're not responding, but their pulse is good. Their hearts beat. They must have fallen from up there." His eyes went up, up, UP in the dark. Even as they went upward, lightning struck again, revealing Dawson standing beside the huge, black horse and something falling from the sky. "What the -- ?!" Dawson exclaimed, but the rest of his words were muffled by thing landing on his head. He pulled it off, held it out, and realized, with great surprise, that it was a shirt! He held it out to Hansel for inspection just as something else fell on his head. The second thing turned out to be pants!
"We need to get them out of this rain," Jack told Carlos, "but there's nowhere safe to go except back to town and we're not leaving Faith." He had to hide a smile from his face as Dawson held out the pants in shock. {She must be naked,} was all he could think. What kind of a woman would climb the side of a mountain naked in a Hell of a storm like this one? he wondered. It made him eager to meet her all the more.
"Faith's okay," Hansel announced with a grin. "She's stripping!"
Dawson slowly shut his mouth with a grin. He already knew Faith was one Hell of a woman, and he wondered at her audacity at being naked against the storm's elements. Only she would dare to face them in all her glory!
Bobby hovered beside Carlos, one reassuring hand feeling limp against the Mexican's muscular shoulder. If only Hank were here, he would be able to save the Malloys on the spot! As it were, his beloved was gone, his light shot out of his life far too soon and leaving his world as dark as the night that wrapped around them, and the boy he had left in his stead, though Bobby could not have loved the lad more if he had been his own flesh and blood, was unable to help any one, including himself, on a night like tonight.
There was nothing more that they could do to help the Malloys tonight other than getting them out of this storm, but he would never expect Hansel to leave Faith or their new men to abandon them if Jack were not chased away by Derek and if the boy, Dawson, had any stones at all. "We could take them," he told Carlos, "and the others could come after Faith saves Little Wild Cat." His words were full of confidence he didn't feel.
For just a moment, Bobby considered his gift. It was possible that he could form a makeshift shelter for the Malloys, but that would require revealing himself to the others. He'd never dared to even tell Hank of his gift; revealing himself to the others was completely out of the question.
Jack knew Hansel would not leave and figured Dawson was just as adamant about staying. "If you'll get up on your horses, I can hand them up to you. You can take them back to town. Hansel won't leave Faith, and I will not leave Hansel. As soon as she rescues the child, we'll bring her back to town."
Carlos nodded and then realized that the man talking to him could not see his nod. "Do you think you can lift them?"
"Do you think you can hold them?" Jack returned. He realized he looked small, but he was very strong despite his build. He flashed a toothy grin at Carlos even though Carlos could not see him.
Carlos climbed into the saddle, debating on whether or not he should hold Trina, as would seem fit for outward appearances, but could not stand the thought of Bobby holding on to Trent. "Give me Trent please," he asked Jack, "and, Bobby, if you would please carry Trina?"
"Of course," Bobby assured Carlos. Without a word to Jack as to debate the issue for he felt the Gypsy would probably insist he could handle the full weight himself, Bobby moved to where he had seen Trent laying in the last flash of lightning, slipped his hands around his left side, and waited for Jack to move to the other side.
Jack slipped his hands under Trent's still body on the right side. "On the count of three," he said, "we lift him upward and, Carlos, you pull. One . . . Two . . . Three . . . " Together Jack and Bobby lifted Trent. Carlos reached down and pulled his beloved up into his arms. Once he had Trent settled securely, Carlos turned his horse and headed for town, trusting Bobby to follow with Trina.
Bobby walked over to his mare and stroked her neck reassuringly. She was spooked by the storm but waited loyally for him nonetheless. Lifting one of the flaps of his saddlebags, Bobby pulled out a long-necked bottle and tossed it to Jack in a flash of lightning. "Give that to Faith as soon as she gets back down here," he told him, closing the bag. He then mounted and led his old girl to take a few steps closer to the fallen woman.
Jack had deftly caught the bottle. Now he turned it around to where he could see the label in the next lightning flash: tequila. He chuckled even as he stuck it down the back of his pants to hold it safe. He struggled to pick Trina up. It turned out that she was a little heavier than he had expected. He wondered at first if it was because of her duster, and then the gun fell to the ground. It appeared to be a small cannon. The impact against the ground caused the gun to fire, and the bullet ricocheted off the side of the mountain.
The sudden loudness caused the already frightened horses to whinny and rear. Jack looked at Bobby, hoping he was going to be able to bring his horse back down before the hooves struck him and the unconscious girl.
Dawson narrowly missed getting caved in the head by the flying hooves of Faith's horse, and Jack had to roll out of the way as Hansel's horse also reared. He could hear a horse thundering madly away in the direction of town. A lightning flash revealed no rider. "Bobby?" Jack called out even as his hand began to reach in the place where the horse had last stood, carrying the young man, before taking off. He prayed that he was all right.
Bobby groaned as he forced himself to pick up his head. Bessie had always been easy to spook, but he'd had no choice but to bring her out tonight. With all that had been happening to Hansel lately, he hadn't been about to let his friend go off without him on such a dark and stormy night. "Damn," he moaned. "Jack, if you had to shoot, couldn't you have waited until we got the heck out of the way?" Teasing laced his voice, however, as he struggled to pull himself together.
"Wasn't me, my friend. That darn cannon that woman's toting liked to have took my foot off too! Now what do we do?"
As soon as another lightning flash revealed that his naked sister was continuing her way up the mountain, Hansel raced to Bobby. As Bobby tried to stand, Hansel caught his arm and helped him to stand the rest of the way. "Bobby," he asked, having seen, through another brilliant flash of lightning, that Jack appeared unscathed, "are you all right?"
"Y-yeah," Bobby answered. "Bit dazed but . . . I'm all right. I've got to go get her."
"Bobby, Bessie ain't gonna stop running until she's home. She'll be there when we get there."
"I've gotta get Trina back." Lightning flashed again, but Bobby could see little more than he could before. He touched his forehead gingerly in the darkness afterward, and his fingers were sticky when he brought them away again. He wiped the blood off on his jeans.
"Stay there when you get there," Jack told him. "Get somebody to look at that gash on your head. Is there a town doctor?"
"Yeah, but he . . . He's very superstitious," Bobby offered in way of explanation. "He sees no one on full moons."
"So there's no one else?"
"No one worth a damn."
"We could use the Shaman," Hansel put in.
"You know how they feel about townspeople," Bobby reminded him.
"Yeah, but you're different."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are. You're my friend. He'll help."
Jack had followed the conversation and wondered what Hansel had to do with the Indians. He had already been wondering why Faith was willing to risk life and limb to rescue one of theirs. "Do you know how to get there?" Jack asked him. "Take Hansel's horse. You can always send some one after us, or if we have to, we can walk it."
Hansel shook his head. "He won't make it in there that way. He's gotta have something that will tell them he comes from us. He goes in there riding Tonto, they'll just think he stole 'im. He'll never make it pass the first boundary." He turned slowly, with a thoughtful expression, to face Faith's stallion.
Bobby fell back away from Hansel, a horrified expression on his face. "No way!" he exclaimed, his eyes seeming suddenly so big that they appeared to be ready to pop out of his head.
Dawson had been quietly observing everything that had been going on around him. He didn't know what to do to help. He held on to Faith's clothes and waited for an opportunity. He didn't realize until every one was looking in his direction, how close he was standing to the big, black Devil. He gulped and slowly backed up from the horse.
The black stallion looked at the blonde kid with even darker eyes. The boy smelled of his mistress. His long tail swished as his eyes zeroed in on the boy, and he gnashed his teeth meaningfully together. He grinned wickedly, lightning dancing in his dark orbs.
Dawson almost ran to get behind Jack. If that horse was hungry and was going to eat somebody, it was going to be that damn Gypsy and not him! The horse's following whinny sounded like laughter that burned Dawson's ears.
Jack's eyes got big, looking at the Devil of a horse. "Nice horse?" he offered. "Don't bite me." The horse's dark eyes looked into his dark eyes, and he could swear that the horse winked! Jack stifled a laugh.
Hansel watched his new lover face down his sister's horse and had to smile when Tornado winked at him, a clear sign of his rarely-given approval. He wrapped an arm around Jack's shoulders and stepped close to his side. "He's mine," he told him with a grin. The black stallion returned his grin, then bobbed his head up and down, his mane shaking with the movement.
Bobby laughed shakily at the horse, and for affirmation, Jack squeezed Hansel in a hug.
Carlos had not gone very far when he heard gunfire and then the sound of galloping hooves about to overtake him. The galloping hooves passed him, and in a flash of lightning, he saw the racing horse was riderless! Somewhere back along the dark trail, the blasted horse had thrown Bobby and Trina! He turned his horse around and headed back, praying the whole while that they had not been killed.
Bobby watched the interaction between the Gypsy and Faith's horse and wished the woman's steed would go so easy on him. He stepped forward nervously and wiped more blood away from his eyes.
Tornado immediately swung his head in Bobby's direction. His ears laid back, and his lips pulled away to reveal his teeth.
"Nice horse?" Bobby tried as it seemed to have worked for Jack.
A low sound came from the horse's throat. Bobby had never thought horses could growl, but he stepped cautiously back nonetheless.
"Tornado," Hansel spoke soothingly as he laid a gentle hand on the big horse's neck, "we need a favor."
In answer, Tornado turned his teeth on Hansel. His mistress' brother was never to be harmed and she'd left him with strict orders to do as he asked, but he didn't like the direction this conversation was taking one bit.
Hansel stepped closer, his eyes locked with Tornado's, as old lessons came back to him. His voice dropped softer with each word he spoke. "I know you're worried about Faith. We all are. You remember Bobby. He works with me at the inn."
Tornado whinnied, long and low, in a sound of clear disapproval.
"Yes," Hansel said with a sigh and hung his head slightly, "Derek is a mule's ass." He stepped closer again and wrapped both arms gently around the huge horse's neck. "But we're not here to talk about Derek. We're here to help Faith, right?" Then, suddenly, his voice changed, and he whickered.
Dawson took it all in, wondering if he would write about it later. In a flash of lightning, he had seen the gunbelt hooked around the horse's neck. He knew it was Faith's. "You might want to take the gunbelt off," he told Hansel just in case he didn't see it.
Jack didn't move one bit closer to Tornado. He was expecting the horse to live up to its name and explode at any moment. Only Hansel had any faith in the horse. He made sure that he was out of the way in case the horse decided to explode.
Bobby's eyes had shot round when Hansel whickered, and now they grew ever larger as the blonde started to . . . communicate with the horse, was all Bobby could think to call it, for as he whickered and whinnied, Tornado occasionally put in a whinny of his own.
Hansel's hands worked soothingly over Tornado's neck as he talked to him in the equine language he'd been taught as a young boy by an old Indian. He could feel the others' eyes on him and heard Dawson's comment though he chose to overlook it. The gunbelt would be proof that Faith had sent her horse. He'd never whispered to a horse in sight of any white person other than Faith. He wondered what they were thinking but kept his full attention on Tornado. Were they believing what they were seeing, or did they think he'd completely lost what brains he had left?
Jack wondered what surprise Hansel was going to pull next. Not only was he a great lover, but he could also talk to animals! Now maybe, at last, some one could talk to Willow and tell Jack what Willow was thinking and saying? He'd ask him about it when they got back to the hotel. He realized his mouth was open, and he closed it.
Dawson shook his head in disbelief. He had read accounts of others who could talk to animals, but he'd never thought he would actually see it face to face. Yet here was Hansel, who'd seemed like a rational guy, doing just that and talking to a half-crazed horse! Dawson knew the horse was answering him, so if that made Hansel crazy, Dawson was crazy too. He wasn't about to go there. Maybe he was crazy and this whole, insane adventure was punishment for having laid in the arms of an Angel? His body was already sore, and he knew he would be worse off tomorrow from all the unusual things he had put it through.
Weakness fluttered through Bobby, and his knees almost buckled. He valiantly fought off the effect of shock and managed to stay standing, watching Hansel in immense surprise and complete awe. He wished Hank could see the man and horse communicating as if there were no differences standing between them! His love had always believed such was possible but had never gotten to see it.
Bobby was glad for the darkness of the night as a silent tear rolled down his face. Maybe Hank could see this. Maybe he was looking down upon them even now. Tears swam in his brown eyes, but he held them in. He couldn't afford to cry here, not in front of two men who were still practically strangers or the horse who had to accept him if they were to have any chance of saving Trina tonight.
At last, Tornado nodded, and Hansel patted the horse as he pulled away from him. He looked at Bobby as he lifted Faith's duster off of Tornado's bare back. "He's agreed, but there are three conditions."
Bobby gave the horse a strange, contemplative glance as lightning lit the sky again. Hansel saw his tears, and his heart ached for his friend. He hoped the others did not notice or, if they did, they would think no less of the man for them. Of the three of them, only he knew what a great loss Bobby had suffered. At last, Bobby shrugged as he replied, "Whatever the horse wants."
"Actually there are four conditions," Hansel said as Tornado whickered. He patted him again. "But I'll take care of the snacks tomorrow. What you have to do is you have to ride bareback and let him lead the way, never attempting to command him. When he's dropped Trina and you off, he's coming back here if we're still here. He has to get back to Faith."
Bobby nodded. "I understand and agree." He moved cautiously forward and wondered if he should hold out his hand to the animal and let the horse sniff him. Knowing that was usually the best move to make with dogs, he did so.
Tornado took one sniff, then blew the air out of his nostrils. Hansel grinned. "Take a swim tomorrow," he told Bobby. "You smell like beer."
Jack burst out laughing. He couldn't help it! Bobby had to smell like beer; that was his job! He hoped that Hansel could teach him that gift. His grandmother had been able to talk to the animals, but it seemed to have missed him completely. "Now?" he asked.
Hansel held Faith's duster out to Jack. "Wrap her in this. It's wet but should still offer some protection."
Jack gently wrapped Trina in the coat and then picked the girl up. He waited for Bobby to mount.
Bobby eyed Tornado warily as he walked to the side of the horse. Hansel stepped back to the black stallion's side and placed a gentle, stilling hand on his neck, then nodded to Bobby. Bobby's heart thundered in his ears as he boldly took a handful of Tornado's ebony mane. The horse stood perfectly still, however, as Bobby mounted. The moment Hansel stepped away, Tornado shifted ever so slightly, and Bobby gulped as the world spun about him. Sitting astride this animal was far different from riding his little mare!
Jack thought the horse looked like a keg of dynamite about to explode despite knowing that the horse had given his word. He stepped slowly forward and lifted Trina so that Bobby could reach her.
It was at the moment that Trina left Jack's arms and was in Bobby's arms that Carlos arrived back. "Madre de Dios! Who's shot now?!" he moaned, desperately holding on to Trent.
Jack was quick to reassure him that the gun had gone off accidentally and no one had been hurt. "There's no need to go into town. There's no doctor available. Follow Bobby. He's going to get help."
Dawson wondered if this nightmarish adventure would ever end with them being safe as he watched the two ride away. He prayed that the Shaman would help despite the fact that they were all not Indian. He glanced back up into the dark, wishing that he could see Faith and know that she was safe, even as some more rocks tumbled down from the side of the mountain. He knew she was up there, but he couldn't see her and the not knowing scared him worse than he'd ever been scared in his entire life.
Hansel watched Tornado shoot off into the night with Bobby holding on to his mane with one hand and Trina with his other arm for dear life. He knew horses did not lie -- that was a human fault -- but couldn't help worrying if Bobby would survive the ride. Poor Carlos was doing his best to keep up, but Hansel hadn't thought to make Tornado promise he wouldn't outride the Mexican. After all, he'd thought Carlos would be half way back to town by now. Knowing he'd done all he could to help them, Hansel turned back around, his eyes immediately going up the mountain.
Hansel had barely felt Jack move beside him when thunder exploded again. It seemed to shake the entire countryside, and then the lightning struck! Hansel didn't even hear the scream that poured from his frightened mouth as it hit the side of the mountain and illuminated Faith for just a few seconds.
Faith cussed a violent streak as the lightning hit below her, tossing her against the mountain like a ragdoll. She managed to keep only one handhold, and her feet dangled in the open. Little Wild Cat screamed, and she hoped the tree was not going.
Dawson was so scared he almost fainted! There was Faith! She was hanging, almost falling! His heart was in his throat. He gasped, trembling, and realizing, for the first time, that he was in love and that if she fell to her death, he'd never get over missing her. He screamed her name, wishing he dared to go up to help her but knowing that he'd be more of a hindrance than a help.
Jack reached out and grabbed a hold of Hansel. He didn't doubt for one minute that Hansel would go up the side of the mountain if he thought he could be any help to his sister. Jack knew he would be nothing but a hindrance just as he himself would be.
He closed his eyes and prayed, wishing for about the millionth time that his grandmother was alive and there to help. She had been the heart and the backbone of their people. She had been gone for so long that it felt like a hole in his heart that would never go away. He had not been complete since he had found her dead, and now his one chance of becoming complete again was trembling like a leaf at his hand.
"You can't help her," he whispered, "but we can do what we can to be ready in case she does fall. We'll catch her, break her fall." He didn't stop to think that if she fell from that height on top of them, they'd all be an oily spot.
"I can't lose her!" The words were a strangled gasp of a cry that broke from Hansel's throat. Faith had kept him alive almost his entire life, and the thought of a life without her in it was unthinkable to him. Words swirled around him: Faith's own boasts as well as the brags of all the people who had come to know her and be tolerated, if not liked, by her. They had all thought she was unbeatable, but now as he watched his sister in the flashes of lightning that danced across the night sky, hanging on to the side of the mountain, for the first time, Hansel truly considered her mortality. "She can't die!" he cried as he watched her naked limbs flailing about in desperate attempts to purchase new ground.
In that moment, Hansel knew he had fucked up. He'd wasted the last few years of his life trying to make Derek happy when he should never have stopped being with Faith. He had abandoned his sister, and now he might never have a chance to make it up to her. {Damn you, Derek, and damn me too!} Then, with his very next breath, he prayed, {Please, Father Sky, don't take my sister!} Tears filled his blue eyes as he watched Faith helplessly and prayed for her safety and life.
To Be Continued . . .