Victor stood there in shock as the gunman aimed at the injured man in the pit and fired. He then pointed the gun back up at Victor. "Put your hands on your head." Eduardo commanded in Spanish. Victor just looked at him puzzled and replied, "No comprendo Espanola."
"So you don't understand my language, eh gringo? I said put your hands on your head" snarled Eduardo.
Victor put his left hand on his head but shrugged his right hand pointing to the crutch.
"Ok." He said indicating that Victor could use his right hand for the crutch.
Eduardo signaled Victor to walk around the paddock to the front yard. He and the other man left standing followed at a close but safe distance behind him.
Miguel was agonizing over what to do and was ready to try a run to the barn. He was hoping that both the men looking after Jorge would chase him and he could get two in one trap. That would leave maybe three men left standing. He watched and waited. When he saw that one man was busy holding his mother and the other two were still busy with Jorge, he bolted for the barn. He skidded to a stop only a few feet into the run when three more men came into view. They were basically between him and the barn. He would never make it. When they saw him, one yelled and the two nearest Jorge jumped up to give chase. He was close enough to the forest to duck back in quickly. He ran as hard as he could because he knew these men could catch him. He knew of a few hiding places that if he could reach them in time, he would be safe. Even as he was running for his life, he knew that was Victor they had captured.
The Tracys were running slowly and carefully through the almost darkened forest. Suddenly, Alan who was in the lead jumped back crashing into John. Scott and Gordon could not stop their forward momentum and rear-ended John. Before anyone could complain to Alan, a frightened burro galloped past them. Stunned, they looked at each other, hesitated, then continued on. This time Scott took point. Scott wasn't quite as quick as Alan when Miguel plowed into him. But since the boy was probably half his weight, Scott was able to stand his ground. He grabbed him by the arms.
When Miguel ran into Scott, he thought it was another of Jorge's men. All he saw was a dark haired man dressed in black. He started punching and kicking as hard as he could. He would put up the best fight he could muster. He broke free from the first man's hold, but there were three more who descended upon him. He was quickly subdued. He thought this was it, his life was over, then one of them spoke.
"Take it easy, we aren't going to hurt you, what's happened, what's going on?" Scott asked pinning one of his arms while each of the brothers had another limb. "If you relax we will let you up" he continued.
Miguel succumbed to the brute force. Maybe he could escape if relaxed their grip enough. Scott sat back rubbing his stomach from a well placed punch and looked at Miguel. Miguel finally took a good look at Scott. His eyes wandered down and saw the blue sash on Scott, then he noticed the colored sashes on the other three. It dawned on him that these men were the blue soldiers. Just in a different uniform now. Before he could say anything, he heard crashing through the forest closing in upon them. A look of fear crossed his face and in a flash, the four Tracy brothers were up and had their guns drawn and aimed at whom or what would come around the bend. They were prepared for this collision.
The two rebels rounded the corner and slid to a halt when they encountered not one frightened boy but four heavily armed men in black. Instinct took over and they quickly turned and ran. Since they had come around a bend, they were out of sight before any of the brothers could stop them. They didn't pursue them but turned to Miguel.
Scott spoke first. "Do you speak English?"
Miguel nodded yes.
"Now do you mind telling us what is going on here?"
Miguel once again was torn by a difficult decision. He needed help desperately but if these men are Victor's friends, then they will take him away. It didn't take long to make the decision however since Victor will die if they don't help.
"They have my mother and Victor. You've got to help me, please!" he cried.
"Ok, show us the way." Said Scott.
Victor was ushered over to the front door. Eduardo looked to Jorge, who was still out cold and said. "Jorge will enjoy killing this one. He deserves it." He looked to Jose who had a struggling Teresa, "Tie these two up."
One of the two men that Victor knocked out in the paddock was slowly coming to. He struggled to regain consciousness and ended up coating himself in more muck. "Get your ass over here!" Commanded Eduardo. He had no desire to take over the leadership roll of this merry little band. He had all the intentions of letting Jorge have all the headaches. He would just reap the rewards. But since he was a natural, and had a mean streak as nasty as Jorge, he took charge automatically when Jorge was out of the picture. As the now awaken muddied man came over, Eduardo barked, "Go get cleaned up." His attention was quickly distracted as the two men who ran after Miguel came back out of the woods. "He's got help, four soldiers, dressed in black and well armed," one of the men was able to blurt out between breaths.
"Quick." He said and pointed to Victor, then Jorge, then Teresa. "Get them into the house. Gag and secure them" referring to Victor and Teresa. After they completed their task the men poured back out of the house, and Eduardo told them to go to different hiding places.
Victor, on the floor and gagged, lay on his side with his feet drawn up behind him tied to his hands. He felt like one of the rodeo steers that cowboys wrangle and tie for a timed score. In this position, it was just a matter of minutes before his bad knee started to throb. He tucked his chin and moved his jaw around trying to remove the gag. He couldn't see Teresa as she was on the bed, and he had back to her. But he could still hear her working against her bonds as well. He did have a view of Jorge however and hoped that he would stay unconscious for a while longer.
As they came near to the boulder that Miguel has so many times hid behind recently, they slowed down. Miguel signaled them to go slowly and quietly. He peered around the rock and saw a strange man at the house. He didn't recognize him.
The brothers all took turns peering around the rock and assessing the situation. They fell back a few yards and hunkered down to discuss the situation. Miguel stated. "I know of at least six men. Jorge, the two who chased me, the one holding my mother, and the two who had Victor. I think there are more but I am not sure."
"Do you know who these people are?" Gordon asked.
"Jorge, he killed my father and has forced my mother to be his woman. The rest are just mercenaries, rebels."
Alan whispered in Scott's ear, who was sitting right next to him, "This isn't our fight. We're not here to get in the middle of a domestic dispute. We're here to find Virgil."
Scott just shushed him quiet as he listened to Miguel.
Miguel continued volunteering the information. "Victor and I set many traps. I know the barn trap has not been sprung yet. But I am almost sure they know about the paddock and the pit. There is a leg noose down that path," and he pointed to an opening across the yard. "I don't know if that was sprung or not. The one down that path was sprung, I heard it." He said lastly pointing to the path with the sack trap.
"What is the barn trap? Scott inquired.
"I chopped a small hole, just big enough for me, in the back of the barn. Victor wrapped rope around the poles supporting the barn in the front and fed the rope through the hole in the back. I was to lure someone there, then when they came after me I was to dive through the hole and either Victor or I would pull the rope that would take out the poles. We would trap someone under the roof of the barn then."
Scott thought to himself then said, "I think we can still use that. Do you know of any other traps still unsprung?"
"Just maybe the leg noose. I didn't see anyone use that path." Miguel said.
Scott sat pondering, "Let's see. They know how many of us there are. Not good. They know we probably know the layout of the house and property because of Miguel here. Not good. We don't know exactly how many of them there are. Another not good. But I would say that makes us just about even." Scott said optimistically.