Chapter 4
"You will not succeed." Gabriel Nunez never did know when to be quiet.
"Cierra la boca, Nino," one of the horse thieves growled at him.
"Senor Ruiz is the most powerful man around. You will not succeed,' he repeated, ignoring the man.
Another of his captors walked over and squatted on his heels in front of Gabriel. "Are you loco or just tonto, Nino?"
Gabriel smiled at him, but it was full of contempt and lacking in amusement.
"Or maybe both."
He stood up and walked over to a man who was sitting by the fire. He leaned over and said something to him, then walked
away. The man got up and walked over to where Gabriel was sitting with his hands tied behind his back. This man was very
large. He looked fat, but it was all muscle.
He grabbed Gabriel's shoulder and lifted him to his feet. Gabriel stood up straight and squared his shoulders. He glared
right at the man facing him. The man brought his left fist to connect with Gabriel's jaw. Gabriel's head snapped around. He
brought it back around and stared straight ahead. This man started to hit Gabriel in the face with punches from left and right.
After a while he realized Gabriel wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of crying out.
He stepped back and seemed to be thinking for a moment. Then he stepped forward and hit Gabriel's nose with the heel of
his hand. He let out an involuntary cry of pain as blood streamed out of his nose. The brute smiled evilly at him, then started
throwing punches to Gabriel's stomach. He didn't stop until Gabriel finally crumpled to the ground. He hadn't lost
consciousness though.
The brute took a step closer and kicked him in his unprotected mid section. He did this several more times before walking
away, chuckling to himself.
Gabriel held onto consciousness for only a few minutes before everything around him went dark.
*******
Brigid poured tea into cups with shaking hands. She managed to do this without spilling any. After handing one of the cups
to Alandra, she sank into a chair across from her.
"What happened?"
Alandra shook her head. "I'm not exactly sure. There was a crowd gathered by one of the paddocks this morning. Gabriel
wasn't among them."
"Maybe he was still sleeping," she suggested hopefully.
"I don't think so," she replied, shaking her head again. "I just have a feeling something has happened to him." She looked
miserable.
Brigid started to stand up, but Alandra stopped her. "Brigid, don't be stupid. You don't even know where he is."
"If you didn't want me to try to find him, then why did you come here?"
"I was hoping he was here or that you knew where he was. But I don't want you to go out there and get yourself in
trouble."
Brigid just stared at the floor. Alandra set her cup of tea down and left. Once she was out of sight, Brigid walked to their
small barn behind the house and led out her horse. She saddled her, then mounted and rode her down the road.
When she was out of sight of the town, she cut off of the road. She didn't really know where she was headed, but she did
know that she had to do something.
*******
Keneth Ruiz was waiting for her when Alandra rode up to the stable. "Where have you been?" He demanded.
"I went to see Brigid Mackenzie."
"Why? And why didn't you take Juan with you?"
"Because I knew something was wrong with Gabriel and thought she should know. And I did not have time to find Juan."
"You're right about that first one."
"What has happened, uncle?"
"Well, as soon as we find him, we're going to have a trial for horse theft."
"What?" She was so shocked that she couldn't say anything else.
"My mares are missing and so is he. You're a bright girl. What does that make you think?"
"No, uncle. I know he couldn't have done it. He's just not like that."
"Maybe you don't know him as well as you thought. Go in the house and stay there until I tell you otherwise."
"Yes, uncle. I am sorry I upset you."
He turned away as she started to walk to the house. Just as she reached it, a man stepped in front of her, with his hat in his
hands. "Felipe," she greeted him in surprise. The hands rarely came near the house. "What is it that you want?"
He seemed very nervous. "I know Gabriel is your friend too, senorita, so I thought I would come to you. After dinner he
was going to the bunkhouse. But when I arrived, he was still not there. Then, this morning he was still gone. I am worried,
senorita."
"What do you think has happened, Felipe?"
"I do not know, senorita. But what the senor says he did, I know he did not."
"I know it too, Felipe." She thought of something just then. "Ride into town as soon as you get a chance to and find Jacob
McCarty. He's a friend of mine and he'll try to help us."
"Si, senorita."
She walked into the house and up to her room, unsure of what else she could do.
*******
Gabriel's eyes opened to the bright glare of the midday sun. He closed them again to escape the feeling of nausea that
quickly came over him. It didn't work though. When he had finished retching, he was so weak that he almost slipped back
into the darkness that threatened to envelope him. It was only his incredible amount of tenacity that allowed him to hang
onto consciousness.
He must have passed out again because the next thing he knew, one of his captors was placing a plate of food beside him.
"How do you expect me to eat that?"
"With your mouth," he replied, sarcastically. "It would be a better use for it." With that he walked away.
Gabriel looked at the food, then turned away groaning. He thought that he would be sick again. He rolled over on his side,
but felt a fire burning along his ribs and returned to his former position.
He was starting to slip away again when he heard voices coming from what seemed far away.
"What do we have here?"
"It would seem to be a senorita and a pretty one at that, Enrique."
"So she is, Francisco."
"Let me pass," a young, female voice demanded.
He recognized that voice! "Brigid," he said weakly.
The captor who seemed to be the leader of the bunch heard him and realized this was someone he cared about. He could
use this to his advantage. He stood up and walked over to the two men. "Come on," he said to Brigid. "I think we have
someone here you want to see."
Her eyes widened with fear and she would have leapt from the saddle if she hadn't been surrounded by these men. Under the
circumstances, she allowed them to lead her horse forward. Brigid didn't begin to struggle with them until they started to lift
her from the saddle. Once they finally had her feet on the ground, she saw Gabriel and her knees almost gave out on her.
She started to run over to him, but was stopped by the leader. "Get out of me way!" She nearly screamed at him. Her
Scottish accent only came out so strongly when she was upset or excited about something.
He was taken aback by the strength in her voice. Not many men talked to him like that, and certainly no woman ever had.
Brigid took advantage of his moment of hesitation to run around him and to Gabriel. She dropped to her knees beside him.
There was dried blood from the numerous cuts on his face. His bottom lip was split and his right eye was swollen shut.
There was also a cut above the same eye.
"You look a lot better than I feel," he told her and tried to smile.
"You look awful."
She noticed his shirt was torn in several places. She unbuttoned it and pulled the remains from his bloody body. There were
cuts and bruises in several different places. He put his hand around hers and she looked at him. He was trying to smile, but
she could tell that it hurt him to do so.
Suddenly, she felt someone grab her arms from behind and drag her to her feet. "Get your bloody hands off me," she
screamed at her still unseen captor.
Gabriel tried to sit up, but the tearing pain in his stomach left him incapable of doing so. "Let go of her," he protested
weakly.
Brigid was struggling to get out of the man's grasp when a large man walked over to Gabriel and looked like he was going
to start kicking him. She stopped trying to get away and stood still.
The leader of the group walked over to her and said gently, "We are not going to hurt you."
She let him lead her over to the fire and sat down. Then, he walked back over to Gabriel and squatted on his heels beside
him. "If you cooperate with us and do exactly as we tell you to, nothing will happen to her." He looked over at the fire where
Brigid was sitting. "However, if you behave the same as you have been, I might give her to one of my men."
Gabriel's face went white with mixed anger and fear. He turned to look at Brigid, but he had to close his eyes against the
blinding pain. When he opened his eyes again and looked at him, his face was unreadable. He nodded his head. The leader
stood up and walked back over to the fire.
"He's going to cooperate with us for you," he told her.
"What?" She asked, astonished. She had never known him to change his thinking about anything.
His smile looked quite evil. "I promised him that I would keep my men away from you if he did."
Her hand came from out of nowhere to connect with the side of his face. He swung his head back around and put his hand
to the corner of his mouth where her slap had drawn blood.
She stood up and started to run back over to Gabriel, but one of the captors stepped forward. "Let her go," the leader told
him, waving his hand.
She sank to her knees beside Gabriel. "Are you bloody stupid?"
He could tell she was upset. She only used the word bloody when she was. "What are you talking about?"
"You know what. Why did you tell him you would do what they told you to?"
"To protect you."
"And you think I need protecting?" She asked indignantly.
"Yes, you do, mi amor. You don't know what they would do to you."
She knew he was right. She sat down on the ground beside him and reached over to push his hair out of his face. He
reached up and grabbed her hand, then brought it down to his lips. He kissed it and she smiled down at him.
Brigid took her cloak from her shoulders and draped it over him. Then, she laid down beside him.
*******
Alandra was looking out the window when she saw Felipe ride off to town. She looked around the rest of the yard, but
didn't see anyone. She sighed in relief.
She turned around and stopped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
Juan did not look up when he answered, "Your friend is in trouble."
"Yeah, I know that. Uncle thinks he stole the horses."
"He's not in danger from senor Ruiz. At least not for now."
The visions came again at once. Gabriel laying on the ground tied up. Then, Brigid running over to him. She shook her
head, then looked at him. "Will you help me, Juan?" She was almost pleading with him. "I need to find him."
"Si, senorita. I will." With that, he turned around and walked away.
*******
Jacob stood up and walked to the door when he heard someone knocking. The man standing there was a young man
dressed in the clothing of a gaucho. "What do you want?" He asked, somewhat surprised by his visitor.
"Senorita Pelioso sent me."
"Is she in trouble?" He asked, concerned.
"No, senor. But Gabriel is missing and she is worried about him."
"What does she want me to do?"
"I don't know, senor. She just told me to find you."
"All right. I need to find a horse, then I'll come with you."
"Gracias, senor."
Jacob grabbed his jacket and his hat, then walked to the stable with Felipe.
Please please please review. Yes, I am begging. But seeing that I have reviews makes me happy.
