Chapter 14

Water. The need for water was what teased Missie back to consciousness, her eyes flickering open with some forcing. She was hot, too hot and her mouth and throat were too dry. She needed a drink, she wanted a drink.

Water though she guessed was out of the question, the act of watching the ground going by beneath her turning her stomach. She closed her eyes again, letting herself slump against the horse. She didn't know where she was or how long she'd been sleeping for, a nagging worry in the back of her mind that she wouldn't be able to find her way back to the ranch if she were to escape.

'Hold up!'

She shivered at the shout, knowing it belonged to her father and she felt the horse slow to a stop. The rider whose horse she was tied to dismounted and she heard him walk away presumably to speak with the men.

'Miss, miss-'

A voice spoke to her softly, the girl flinching as a hand was placed on her shoulder.

'Miss, you've got to wake up.'

She forced her eyes to open, looking into the face of a boy who didn't appear to be much younger than her.

'Are you alright Miss?'

She tried to reply, the gag stopping her from speaking and the boy quickly loosened the gag for her. She gingerly opened and closed her mouth, her lips and cheeks burning from the rubbing of the corse rope. 'Just dandy.'

'Here, have some water-' He held a canteen to her lips, pouring a little water into her mouth. 'They'll have my hide if they catch me but I don't like the way they're treating you. How's that?'

'Better.' She replied when he took the canteen away for a moment. Her mouth and throat weren't as dry but she was still thirsty. Her Pa's words about dehydration and heat stroke were spoken through her mind, who knew when she'd get more water. She knew she needed to have as much as she could. 'More?'

'Here.' He glanced nervously over at the group of men speaking, a couple of them guarding the horses they were herding as they drank at the creek. They didn't seem to notice him back with the girl at least. He let her drink, the girl finishing half the canteen off before she looked like she'd had enough. 'That enough?'

'Thank you.' She really was grateful to him, the boy taking a drink himself before putting the lid back on. 'Where, where are we?'

'Headed towards Sacramento Miss I believe. Mike said there's horses that have to go to auction there.'

'How long have we been moving for?'

'Quite a few hours, we've been moving fast too.' The girls heart sunk when she heard that. The further they went from the ranch the less chance she had of getting back there. 'We're out of Ponderosa country now I heard one of them say.'

Great. Just great. 'Whose Mike?'

'The guy that runs this. We call him Big Mike since that was his prison nickname.' He looked back at the girl. 'Say, why are you here anyway?'

'I can guess a few reasons, none of them ending pretty.'

'What's your name? I'm Blake.'

'Missie. Missie Denning.' She looked at the kid, he didnt look like he had much meat on his bones and his clothes were pretty tattered. 'How old are you?'

'I'm ten.'

'What are you doing here?'

'My Pa works for Big Mike, says he'll earn enough money to be able to buy a ranch for us one day.'

The kid looked rather innocent, the girl wondering if he even knew what kind of work his father did. 'Have you got any food?'

'Some jerky. Here, you can have some.'

It was hard and tough but at least it was something she reasoned as she ate what he gave her. 'Thank you Blake.'

'No problem. I'll see if I can find something else for you later.' He placed his hands back in his pockets, looking over at the men again, 'Say, you're not as bad as Big Mike says you are. You're really nice. They told me to stay away from you but you're not mean or scary at all.'

'No, I'm not.'

'Why'd they have you tied up like that?'

'So I don't run away.'

'Run away? Why'd you do that? Mike said we were to show you hospitality, whatever that means.'

Hospitality my foot. She thought grimly. It wasn't hospitality on their part they had in mind. 'Because they want me to stay and I don't want to. I want to get back-' Where did she want to get back to? She couldn't say home, she didn't have one. 'Some folks will be getting worried about me being missing.'

'Your family?'

'Not quite, just some people I was staying with.'

'Was it the Cartwrights?'

'Yes, that's them. Why?'

'Mike doesn't like them much, they're bad men. He says we have to keep moving otherwise they'll come kill us. I don't want to be killed.'

'Blake, I promise you they wouldn't hurt you. They don't harm children-'

'I'm a man, not a child. Pa says so.'

'Regardless, they won't hurt you.' It hurt to talk, it truly did but if there was an iota of a chance she could get this kid to help her get away it was worth the pain.

'Then why did he say they'd be after us?'

'Because they took something they wanted to keep.' She tried to think of a way to explain it to the child that made sense to him. 'Do you have something you really like?'

'I have an old toy solider my Pa gave me.'

'Okay. Suppose then someone took that, what would you do?'

'I'd try and take it back. If they didn't give it back then-' He made a motion of punching someone. 'look out.'

'Well, the same goes for them. They only want to get back something that was taken from them.'

'That makes sense.' He thought about it for a moment. 'What are they like?'

'They're good people, Ben and his three sons. My favorite is Adam, he's the eldest. He always wears black but I don't know why.' She sighed. 'They're probably pretty worried about me right now.'

'I wouldn't be happy if someone took someone I liked.'

'I don't think they'll be happy either.' She knew they wouldn't be happy, only hoping that they would get to her in time. 'Blake, you best not mention we've spoken to anyone, okay?'

'Okay, I won't say anything. I'm not supposed to speak to you anyway. Mike said you were bad, that's why he hit you with that whip. He said if I didn't want to get it I'd stay away but I like you. I don't get to see girls much.'

'You be careful Blake, I don't want you getting hit either.' The sun was burning her back, she could hear flies buzzing around her and felt them landing on her bloodied back but there was nothing she could do to shew them away. 'You better put the gag back in my mouth and run before they see you.'

He nodded but opened the canteen again. 'Here, have another drink.'

She drank greedily again, thankful for the cool water. 'Thank you.' The boy placed it aside then fastened the gag in her mouth again.

'Sorry about this.' He apologised, feeling bad for doing what he'd seen the adults do to her earlier. 'But I promise to try and get you something good to eat later.'

She nodded to show she understood then the kid scurried off again, leaving her to her thoughts. She was feeling better after having a drink and something to eat, it made being in the sun easier a little. Pushing her pain to the back of her mind she started to think of how she was going to get herself out of this mess…

Adam took a long drink from his canteen as he looked around the surrounding landscape, holding Sport back at a halt. It was hot, sweat dripping from his forehead as the sun beat down mercilessly on his back. He'd been in the saddle for hours now and still didn't seem to be getting any closer to catching up with the men.

He replaced the lid on the canteen and started his horse forward again. He knew he'd have to go for water soon, he had a rough idea of the country he was going through. There was a creek somewhere near, guessing that's where the men had been headed. He'd been following their trail since the camp, it was easy enough with the amount of horses leaving tracks behind. He only hoped that the girl was with them and hadn't been taken somewhere away from the main group.

The sun was getting lower in the sky as he came to the creek, seeing the tracks near the water. They'd been here alright, they'd come to water the horses then moved on again. He looked around but there was no sign of them, dismounting to fill his canteen up as Sport took a lengthy drink. The men would have to stop to make camp soon, they'd been pushing hard all day just like he and the search party had. The horses would be tiring, he knew Sport was. He wanted to keep going on but knew his horse needed to have a break.

He heard hoofbeats behind him, his father riding down to the creek to join him. There wasn't much to say, Ben dismounting to fill his own canteen and water his horse.

'We're going to have to stop soon, you won't be able to track in the dark.' Ben remarked as he placed the canteen back on his saddle. 'The horses are tired, the men are tired.'

'I'm going on until I can't see the ground then I'll go by lantern light.' He'd had the foresight to pack a lantern in his saddlebags. 'You and I both know Pa the longer she's with them the less chance she has of coming out unscathed. I aim to find her before she gets murdered.'

'I know your worried Adam, we all are but you need to face facts. You can't run your horse into the ground, all the horses need to rest.'

'I'm aware of that and I'll rest him as soon as I've found their camp. We can't be much further from them now Pa, these tracks are only a couple hours old. If we push hard we might be able to find them tonight. There's still a couple hours of daylight left, I intend to make good use of them.' He mounted his horse again and started on again.

Ben sighed as he watched him leave, patting Buck's sweaty hide. Adam was right. The longer she was with them the worse it was for her. It made him sick to his stomach to think of what the men might do to her, so far they'd been riding all day and wouldn't have had a chance but as night approached he knew if they didn't find her soon they would take advantage of her. Men like the breed of the ones that were running with her father were like animals, they didn't care what they got as long as they got it. Lord, please keep that girl safe and help us find her.

'How are you going back there Miss?'

She flinched, her eyes welling with tears as the slap the man gave her on the back sting on her open wounds. She could hear his laughter at her expense but tried to block it from her mind. There was no sense entertaining her own misery, she needed to keep her energy for plans of escaping.

'I sure hope you're enjoying our hospitality, we're trying to make your stay as comfortable as possible.'

You pig- She didn't bother finishing off the insult in her mind as she felt the horse stopping again. She could hear someone yelling out instructions, the man dismounting and leading his horse over to where some others were tied. She winced as he roughly untied her, slinging her back over his shoulder again. Must be time to make camp.

'Hope you enjoyed the ride Miss.' The man remarked as he tossed her onto the ground next to a tree again. The girl was watching him closely, her eyes flaming angrily and he knelt down beside her. 'That look doesn't suit you, you know.' He touched the side of her face, the girl flinching away from him. 'Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Much.' He chuckled, his hand sliding up underneath her dress

. 'Your skin is so soft-'

'Slim, I told you I don't want damaged goods before it's my turn.'

Laughter rang out amongst the men gathered around, the girl knowing exactly what they were talking about.

'Both of you are wrong, I'll be having first go with the girl.' Another man shouted out. 'Only I'm not drunk enough for her to look good yet.'

'Well, if you're complaining I'll be happy to take my turn now.' Slim replied, licking his lips as he turned back to the girl. 'How about it darlin? You and me in the bushes over there?'

She moved her legs away then kicked him in the face with both feet, sending him flying backwards. Slim was stunned for a moment then come back at her with a fist. It connected with her face, her eyes watering. He lifted his hand again but someone came up behind him, grabbing his arm. It was her father.

'Don't you hit her again.' He growled, flinging him aside. 'That's reserved for me.'

'Come on Mike, I was only funnin her before we get started later.'

'Well that's later, not now. Go get the firewood.' The man rolled his eyes but made no move to get up. He waited for a moment then punched him hard in the face, catching him by surprise. 'Go and get that wood! Now!'

Slim hurried off, the girl glaring up at her father. She could still feel that man's grimy hand travelling up her leg, the thought sending shudders up her spine as she glared at him. Thanks, I think.

'You'll have to excuse Slim, he gets a bit excited when he hasn't had the company of a girl for sometime.' He purred, sitting down beside her. The girls cheek was red, a graze from the mans knuckles clearly visible. 'Nice shinner you have there.'

She was waiting, her father reaching up his hand to touch her and she kicked him back like she had the other man. Her fathers eyes flamed as he sat up, grabbing her roughly. 'So you want to fight do you?'

That probably wasn't the best idea. The thought vaguely entered her mind as she felt him repeatedly punch her in the stomach, gasping against the gag for air. You're in for it now. She realised as he rained down blow after blow on her already bruised and weakened body.

'That'll teach you.' Mike declared, giving the girl a final kick to the stomach then turned back to the men who'd gathered around to watch the spectacle. 'Get back to work you lot, nothing to see here!'

She watched as his boots walked away, leaving her on her own in the silence again. Darkness threatened to take her again yet wouldn't, her mind painfully aware of every aching and wounded part of her body. Brilliant, just brilliant. Congratulations you idiot.

Adam slowed Sport to a halt, looking at the tracks as the sun began to fall. The tracks split off in two different directions, and he frowned as he tried to figure things out. He dismounted, looking at the tracks. One group had horses that weren't being ridden while the others were all being ridden. Taking sometime to figure out the story in the tracks he came to the conclusion that five riders had taken off from the group with a decent amount of non ridden horses.

He went back to his horse, taking a drink from the canteen as he started to formulate a plan. The group of five with the horses probably didn't have the girl with them, he guessed that staying on the trail of the main group would prove to be his best bet. Mounting up again he glanced towards the horizon, the sun sinking down beneath the trees. He was running out of daylight and fast. He had to find the camp, and soon.

'Alright, we'll make camp here tonight.' Roy called out when they reached a small clearing with a pond, pulling his horse to a stop. 'Let's make it fast now folks, we're burning daylight.'

Ben dismounted, looking around at the surrounding area as he led his horse over to the water. He was worried for both Adam and Missie, wondering where they were. Were they safe? Was Missie alright?'

'We'll find her Ben.'

He turned to the Sheriff as he watered his horse. 'It's not just her I'm concerned about.'

'Adam?' His friend nodded. 'You know he can take care of himself, he knows what he's doing.'

'I know, I just can't help but feel worried. He's probably riding into the night to try and find her, I don't like stopping myself but I just hope he's not doing something reckless.'

'Ben, Adam is responsible. He'll be just fine. What we need to worry about is getting an early start to find those men before they get any further ahead.'

'Your right.' He sighed, leading Buck from the water to where they were going to picket the horses for the night. 'Let's just hope tomorrow we find Missie.'