Nick's coming… but you know - I had to add a little suspense… Chianna
Disclaimer: All things Barkley belong to the PTBs and I am not making one red cent on any of it.
Summary: Nick can handle any trouble square on. But what happens when the avenging brother of a dead bank robber goes after his own brand of revenge: An Eye for an Eye.
Eye For An Eye by Chianna
Chapter 6
There is an old saying that goes, "Beware of what you wish for." Heath's final plea "Please, God, let him find me," was answered, but unfortunately not by the person the young cowboy intended. Instead, Rawlston, who had been tracking his victim's progress soon pulled his horse off the path and over to the tree that had afforded Barkley some protection.
Dressed in an oilskin, Rawlston pulled up his collar and tugged down his Stetson. Dismounting from his horse, he took in a scene that marked the possible dissolution of his perfect plan. The boy was lying in the mud, soaked to the skin. His horse stood above him, but shied slightly as the stranger approached, pawing the ground as if in warning.
"Whoa boy. I don't mean him no harm – at least not right off." Barkley's chest at least was still rising and falling, if a bit shallowly. "Thought mongrels were hardier than thoroughbreds."
Rawlston got his answer as Heath's hand instinctively reached for the gun in his holster, even though his eyes were still shut.
"Ahh, it looks like Tom Barkley's brush colt has still got some kick left in him." The bushwhacker halted the hand's progress by pressing it into the mud with his boot. "A little life left in you is good kid, but I'm gonna have to object to 'ya pulling a gun on me."
Rawlston could see the young man's eyes struggle to open, but he was not worried. The combination of the water mixed with blood from his head wound running into the boy's eyes and the poor light would be adequate to camouflage his features. But taking nothing for granted, he pulled down his hat so as to shield most of his face in shadow.
"Back…to finish me off?" the blond weakly asked.
The man looming above him chuckled. "That head wound must be pretty bad if you forgot our conversation of yesterday. I want you to get back home, boy. I want your brother Nick to find you. But now it looks like we have a problem. You look plum tuckered out and you've still got five miles before you get home."
"My…pleasure…'ta ruin….your plans."
No doubt about it, Rawlston thought. The kid was fading fast. The fallen man wasn't gonna like the news that he was going to impart.
"Well now, I have 'ta say that I was a bit concerned that my best laid plans, as they say, were about to go awry. You can imagine my concern. But, I took quite a ride up the trail. I'm here to tell 'ya that brother of yours is on his way. Going kinda slow though. Must not be in too much of a hurry. Do have to admit that it's kind of strange that he's taking an ambling ride like that in this weather."
"If you think… I'm gonna lay here quietly while you lie in wait for my brother."
Rawlston was surprised at the fight left in the boy at the thought of something happening to his precious older brother.
"Tempting – very tempting – Barkley. I'll have to think on that. But you know that would cut the game off much shorter than I anticipated. Let's keep my options open." Reaching down, Rawlston made a grab for Heath's neck. Not knowing what to anticipate, Heath tried to raise his uninjured arm to protect himself. The big man easily knocked it away and surprisingly, relieved the cowboy of the bandana that was tied around his neck.
Confused, Heath didn't have long to figure out what his attacker intended to do with the bandana. Winding it around the fallen man's wrist, he tied it tightly and then secured it to the young man's belt. Heath sincerely doubted that he could have gotten up, even if that hand had remained loose. His other arm lay completely useless at his side. His pain clouded mind could not grasp what the other man intended.
Upon securing Barkley's one good arm, the older man went to work on his own bandana. Seeing this, Rawlston's intent was telegraphed to Heath faster than a lightening strike. Trying to wriggle away from the other's approach, Heath only had his good elbow and feet to give him any purchase. For truly the first time, Heath felt an all-encompassing, overwhelming fear. But not for himself.
Suddenly Heath understood why the stranger wanted to tie down his one good arm.
Resolutely, Heath snapped his jaws shut as tightly as he could, but his effort was for naught. Rawlston knelt next to the young man. He chuckled as he witnessed the youngster's grim determination to prevent the inevitable.
"You could make this easier on yourself, you know." Steely eyes spit cold blue fire back at the older man. "Never you mind. We'll make short work of this. Open wide for your medicine." With that, Rawlston lifted his right knee and placed it on Heath's chest, leaning on the fallen man with much of his weight. As an involuntary gasp escaped the cowboy's lips, the attacker jammed the knotted bandana into Heath's mouth and tied it behind his head. As Rawlston shifted his weight to get off of Barkley, he heard a sickening snap.
Unable to hold back, Heath groaned into the bandana as he felt the stabbing pain of at least one of his ribs giving from the pressure exerted upon it.
Rawlston stood up and stepped back as if to admire his handy work. Even in the fading light, he could see the pain in the young cowboy's eyes – pain and fear. Soon, finally the last shred of whatever was left of Rawlston's humanity - and possibly his sanity - was shed like a snake's skin, never to return to him again. Maybe at some later time he would remember that he was doing all this to avenge his brother. But for now, he was only aware of reveling in his own ability to control another's fear and fate.
However, if Rawlston could read minds, he would have realized that the man at his feet might be broken in body - but far from broken in spirit. He misread Heath's fight and dread – the cowboy had not feared or resisted so much for himself as for what he was concerned lay in wait for his beloved older brother.
"Not so high and mighty now Barkley, are 'ya. 'Fraid that brother of yours will amble right on by without ever knowing that you're lying just a few yards from the road? Or are you worried that I'll plug him before he can come to your aid? Let's just see how this will all work out." Heath heard metal freeing itself from its leather holster and tried desperately to see through the gloom. He could just make out a silvery gleam as the gunman turned toward him.
Closing his eyes, Heath only hoped that the shot that would take his life would be loud enough to carry a warning to his brother and put Nick on his guard.
Seeing the resignation on the boy's face, Rawlston laughed cruelly. "You and your brother are not getting off so easy." Pointing the gun to darkening sky, Rawlston, pulled the trigger three times, climbed on his horse and rode quickly away.
Heath's confusion at still being alive was short lived. All he could think of was the picture of the rifle snug in the leather sheath on the bush-wacker's saddle. He feared that even now, the bastard was lying in wait, using Heath as a tethered Judas Goat, to lure his brother in for a kill. Looking up, he was sure now that the famed Barkley luck was deserting them. The lingering drizzle gave way to clearing skies and the brilliant full moon that would lead his brother straight to him and into the well lit sights of an assassin's bullet.
bvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbv
Three gunshots boomed in the still, heavy air. Though sounds in the hills were hard to gauge, Nick was sure that he was less than a mile from where the shots originated. Thankful for the full moon that lit his way, Heath's older brother urged Coco into a gallop, instinctively knowing that the sound would lead him to his brother. Just a few minutes later, his efforts were rewarded when he thought he saw the shape of a horse just about twenty or so yards off the road.
"Heath, are you out there boy?" Silence greeted the dark cowboy's booming inquiry.
"Charger, is that you?" As if to answer, the horse nickered, but held it's ground. Nick threw himself off his horse and ran threw the scrub brush to where the horse stood. With his eyes on the horse, Nick tripped over something just as he had almost reached Charger. He heard a muffled groan and his head snapped down to see his brother lying in the grass and mud at his feet.
Nick dropped to his knees, in shock at what he could make out of Heath's condition. "Oh my God, Heath. What happened?" His hands roamed gently over his brother's body. He untied Heath's right hand from where it was secured to his belt and checking the black stain on his brother's left shoulder that he feared was blood and the reason why his other wrist was not tied as well.
Heath's head was shaking from side to side trying to say something through the bandana gag. In his shock, Nick realized that he needed to take off his brother's gag if he expected him fill him in on what happened.
"Settle down Heath. This knot is wet and I can't get it untied if you keep thrashing around." Finally, he pulled the hateful gag from his brother's mouth and cradled his brother's head.
Through his abused lips, Heath whispered fiercely, "Run, Nick…It's a trap…Ambush!"
TBC…