A/N: Well I haven't written on this fic in a hot minute, so here we go! When we last left off, Mattie's attacker escaped from jail.
"Mama, you and Victoria go to Lawyer Daggett's please. Charles and I will head to the farm to get Little Frank." Her mother headed to the wagon, clasping Victoria's hand tightly. She turned to see LaBeouf staring at her. "What?"
"Mattie, please, go with your mama. I'll get Little Frank and be back soon." LaBeouf urged. He hugged her closely then kissed her soundly. "I love you. I will be back." She wanted to go with him, but knew she'd be nothing more than a distraction.
"And, I love you." She grasped his shirt in her hand and pulled his lips down to meet hers then whispered, "Come back to me." He smiled at her then got back in the wagon and headed to Ross Farm.
As he came closer to the farm, LaBeouf became uneasy. The house came into view and there was one candle lit in the parlor judging by the light filtering out. He stopped the wagon and tied the horses up to the porch. Before going in, he listened to the door. Hearing nothing, he slowly entered the house.
"Little Frank? You here?" He heard a bang, as if someone fell, coming from upstairs and drew his revolver. He slowly made his way up the steps. When he got to Little Frank's bedroom door, it was only open a crack. He peaked through the crack and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Frank, what in the Sam Hell are you doing? Didn't you hear me calling your name?" LaBeouf stood in the doorway and watched as Little Frank was gathering his blanket back off the floor.
"I was sleeping, but rolled off the bed. I didn't hear a thing. Where is everyone?" LaBeouf explained the situation and helped Little Frank get ready to head to Lawyer Daggett's homestead. "So, are you gonna go after the crazy son of a gun?" He asked the former Texas Ranger.
"Well, more than likely. I will be rounding up a posse and start tracking him in the morning. I'm about dead on my feet with all the traveling. Not safe to leave as I am. Your sister would pitch a fit. She already will when I tell her to stay put." Little Frank stopped as he was about to climb into the wagon.
"You can't do that! You and her? You're a team. You work better together. I'm surprised she's not here now. LaBeouf? Mattie will go with you, and so will I." The young man was stalwart to say the least, an attribute his sister had as well.
"Very well, but you will listen to everything I say. Do not be argumentative, I'll already have your sister for that." He chuckled and followed Little Frank up into the wagon.
With promises to return and be as safe as possible, Mattie set off with LaBeouf, Little Frank, and two sheriff's deputies, Horace Smith and Robbie Fenwick the following morning, just as the sun rose. Another posse was setting off in the opposite direction of where they assumed Wild Willy was headed.
"Now, listen up. We will be riding as far as we can until dusk each day until we find the bastard, so if you don't think you can handle it or abide by my orders, you'd best leave now. Understand?" Mattie beamed at her beau. She loved seeing him in his element. Since nobody spoke up, he started moving.
They travelled until noon, then stoped for a quick bite at a tavern on the outskirts of Indian territory. After they interrogated the tavern owner. Willy had passed through late last night. He'd wanted a place to stay for the night, but they had no room. The gentleman assumed he must have set up camp near by. "Only had a horse, far as I saw. Don't know how the old man thinks he'll survive." the tavern owner added as they mounted their horses again.
"Okay, so he seems to only be a few hours ahead of us if he camped out elsewhere. Search for signs of old campfires or disturbed earth, possibly a makeshift lean-to. Spread out by six feet or so. Everyone has a pistol, so fire off a shot if you find anything." Everyone moved except for Mattie.
"Charles?" She trotted to his side. "If Wild Willy doesn't have anything with him, he's going to be desperate enough to rob someone or someplace. The map here shows an old homestead to the west and a trading post just into the territory. Do you think we should send the deputies to one location, then Little Frank, you and myself can scout the other?" She watched as he scanned the copy of the map he had given everyone.
"My beautiful, intelligent girl! You're absolutely correct. How could I have missed that?" He looked up and saw her sitting proud as can be on her mare. "Let's scan our areas right quick, then we'll go over the schematics and venture to those two areas. But first," He leaned over and took her horses reins to bring her closer then got a kiss before departing.
Deputies Smith and Fenwick set off for the trading post as Mattie, LaBeouf, and Little Frank head towards the old homestead before indian territory. They knew they were getting closer when they saw 'No Trespassing' signs nailed to some trees.
"I'll go first and identify myself as the sheriff, okay? Little Frank, you will stay back 20 feet then Mattie, love, you will be about 15 feet to his right, okay?" The Ross siblings both nodded in agreement and watched as LaBeof left them in their positions. With one last smile at his betrothed, LaBeouf announced himself.
That's was when the shot rang out and he hit the ground.
A/N: Yeah, I know. Short, but trying to get back on this one. See ya soon