Chapter 6
Carefully lifting her grey skirt, Elizabeth made her way down the stairs. At the bottom, Elizabeth listened carefully for any sign of her grandmother or sister. When only silence greeted her, she let out a sigh of relief, and quickly made her way through the house to the front door. Stepping outside, she didn't see anyone about on the farm. Sarah and her grandmother must still be in town at the sewing circle at Mrs. Collins's. The sun still shone brightly slightly off to the west. There was still a few hours before sunset. That gave her just enough time...
Lord...she could not believe what she was about to do. Three days had passed since the dinner at the Spencers, and tomorrow was the beginning of the fair. Since her incident in town, her grandmother had forced her to stay on the farm, saying she had made enough of a spectacle of herself. Elizabeth did not find this much of a hardship as she spent time with the animals and did a few sketches in her room, but her heart remained heavy with concern for Burt.
Luke Spencer had kept his promise and came for some of the hogs yesterday. And despite how desperately Elizabeth had pleaded, her grandmother remained firm in resolve to sell Burt. Elizabeth knew this meant he was as good as dead.
This left Elizabeth with only one recourse; for the first time in her life, she was going to purposely defy her grandmother. She might not be able to control the fact that Lucky loved her sister, or that the farm was no longer going to be her home, but she would not allow Burt to be slaughtered for someone's meal.
With wild curls flowing behind her, Elizabeth ran toward the barn, almost losing her footing on the ground still damp from the earlier afternoon rain. But at the sight of a farmhand by the barn's entrance, she quickly hid behind one of the haystacks recently piled in front of the barn. When the man had passed, she slipped into the building and found her bicycle which she had hidden earlier along with some rope in the horse stall. With an eye on the barn entrance, she loosely wrapped the rope around her neck. Then guiding her bicycle to the barn entrance, she took one last glance around to make sure she was still unseen, and finally sat on the seat. Riding as fast as possible, Elizabeth made her way on the wet grass away from the farm until she came upon the dirt road. She was heading toward the fair grounds just outside of town, where Mr. Spencer had said he would drop off the animals with some of his farmhands.
After riding for a good thirty minutes, she could finally just barely make out the sight of a grouping of wagons, and men. Jumping off the bicycle and leaving it behind in some bushes, she made the rest of her way on foot. With her heart racing a mile a minute, Elizabeth approached closer to the clearing where the fair was to be held, hiding behind trees in between bursts of running.
Finally when she was close enough, she cautiously peered out behind one tree trunk and saw the men were all hooting and hollering on the far side of the clearing. Bottles of spirits were in a number of their hands, and they were obviously either already, or quickly becoming half seas over! So engrossed were they in their rowdy behaviour, Elizabeth supposed they would likely never notice someone making their way toward the animals...
When she was sure all the men's backs were to her, Elizabeth stepped out from behind the trees and headed towards the fenced area housing the hogs. Approaching the fencing, Elizabeth allowed her eyes to wander over the animals. Where was Burt? She looked for a plump rose-coloured pig with a white patch on his back.
There! He was way over on the other side near the far end of the fencing. Making her way around, she kept her eyes on Burt, hoping he wouldn't move. "Burt!" she whispered when she judged she was close enough for the pig to hear, "Stay still, you hear!"
The pig's pale blue eyes looked up at Elizabeth and as she knelt down before him, she could have sworn they lit up in recognition. "Yes. I'm here, Burt. But you must stay quiet." Through the opening in the fencing, she felt his cold snout affectionately rub her hand. Then removing the rope from around her neck, she tied it loosely around Burt's head. Using it to gently guide the pig, she directed him toward the fence gate.
Looking around, Elizabeth was relieved to see the farmhands had still not caught sight of her. Then undoing the latch for the wooden gate, she struggled to let Burt out while keeping some other rather obstinate hogs from leaving at the same time. But she was soon to discover where the term "pigheaded" came from. As if they were working together, four large hogs determinedly rushed the slightly opened gate at once and soon Elizabeth found her precarious grip on the gate slipping, allowing the gate to fly wide open. Watching in horror as pig after pig ran out of the pen, she let out a small exclamation, "Oh heavens!"
Disaster had struck again! What was she to do now? Only one thing came to mind-
RUN!! She tugged at the rope in her hand to get Burt's attention, and then she started to run as quickly as it was possible with a hog trailing behind her. As she arrived to where her bicycle was hidden, she heard the loud shouts behind her, "Hell and damnation! The hogs are loose!"
Without looking back, Elizabeth quickly got onto her bicycle and started to peddle off with Burt still following behind her. She didn't take the main dirt trail as she could not risk being seen, so she made her way through the nearest fields...which just happened to be Moreno land! She knew without a doubt that if one of Moreno's men caught her, she was in deep trouble. As she rode slowly along the wet grass, glancing back once and a while making sure Burt was still following on the rope, she prayed like she had never prayed before...
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
As he rode out of town with Sonny, Francis and Johnny, Jason's alert gaze moved over the empty fields. It was early evening, and most folks were likely still at their dinner tables. Only a few cowboys, and farmhands could be seen about. Probably heading toward the fair grounds. Turning his head slightly to rest his eyes on Sonny, Jason asked in frustration, "Why the hell didn't you tell me all this before, Sonny?"
Sonny shrugged and pushed back his hat with one hand. "I told you I was havin' trouble with Moreno."
"You never said anything about Deke or the land. I thought Moreno wanted the saloon."
Sonny sighed as he applied a little pressure on the reins to slow his horse to a trot. "He wants both, but he wants the land more. As I said Moreno tried to buy it from Deke but he wouldn't sell to him or the Quartermaines. My Pa may have been a drunk but he was as ornery as a mule. He reckoned you would come back for the land some day."
Jason's hands tightened on his own reins and his eyes hardened as he asked, "And you think Moreno killed him for the deed to the place?"
"Yep. There's no way Deke would have gotten drunk and then walk all the way down to the livery stables, only to fall on a pitch folk. He always got roostered up in a group. Hell that's why he loved the saloon. Folks were always about. No...he must've been meetin' someone. Anyway, by the time I came back to town to claim the saloon, Moreno just happen to have the deed to the land."
Jason ran through the details of the story in his mind once again, and then asked, "But how did he get the signature, Sonny?"
"Damn forgery. Admit it looks mighty like Deke's but that cousin of yours helped me prove it's not real."
Jason nodded. His cousin, Ned, one of the few family members he could tolerate was a damn fine lawyer. But Ned was a Quartermaine in many ways, and wasn't always to be trusted. Especially if his own self interest was on the line.
"So explain to me again why we're going over to Moreno's tonight?" Jason asked with his eyes on the horizon. The sun was beginning to set, making the uneasiness he was feeling intensify.
Sonny shrugged. "He said he wants to make me an offer and from what Johnny said, he seemed mighty anxious to make your acquaintance 'gain."
"Sure did, Jase!" Johnny called out from ahead of them, "Moreno said Sonny should be sure to brin' ya along..."
"I don't like it, Sonny. Why the hell did you agree to meet on his land? It could be a trap." It was a trap. Jason was as sure of that as he was of anything. Moreno likely thought he could get rid of them both at the same time. But Jason knew Sonny wanted peace...mostly to keep Carly safe-not that she would ever want anyone to protect her, hell, she'd even be damned mad if she ever found out someone tried to-and Jason understood Sonny's need to protect the woman he loved, but he also knew with some folks peace was not possible. And from what little he knew about the man, he'd be willing to wager Moreno was one of these folks.
"No. He wouldn't try somethin' tonight. With the fair tomorrow, there's too many folks about the area." Sonny's eyes glinted with determination, "I just want all the trouble to end."
There was no dissuading Sonny when his mind was made up like this. He had more than his share of Deke's stubbornness. Jason knew he'd just have to make sure they stayed out of trouble. He began in warning, "Perhaps you're right, but at the first sign of-" However, he was abruptly cut off.
"Would ya lookie there at the shindy!" Francis shouted out in astonishment.
Tipping back the rim of his hat, Johnny began chuckling. "If that don't take the rag off..."
Jason and Sonny turned toward the scene which had captured their friends' rapt interests. There, in the left of the clearing just beyond the fencing and other structures being constructed for the fair, were at least a dozen men chasing after countless numbers of hogs. The men were slipping and sliding all over the place on the wet grass. It seemed just as a fellow approached a pig, he lost his footing, and the lively pig would easily escape.
Sonny's deep chuckles mingled with Johnny and Francis's laughter. "Some damn hand must've not closed the fence properly! If they don't catch those hogs before dark, they'll never get them. Lord...when the farmers hear 'bout this, there'll be hell to pay."
Despite the uneasiness he still felt about Moreno, Jason lips curved slightly at the ridiculous sight of grown men being bested by a group of hogs.
After a moment, Sonny wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes, and said, "We best get going. 'Sides at the rate those boys are goin', they'll still be here on our way back."
Urging their horses on faster, the men soon galloped past the chaotic scene, and rode down the trail toward Moreno's property. They were just getting off the main trail and heading into Moreno's lands when Johnny pulled hard on his reins, forcing his horse to come to a sudden stop. "What the hell was that?!"
Immediately, all four men had their guns drawn. As his attentive brown eyes searched the whole area, from the muddy trails behind them to the fields covered with prairie grass before them, Sonny asked tersely, "What, Johnny?"
With his gun Johnny pointed toward a group of trees and large bushes a distance off to the right down a slight incline. "I thought I heard...screaming...or something coming from that way."
Turning his horse toward the shrubs, Jason said in an undertone, "Stay here. I'll have a look."
The three men watched as their friend moved toward the bushes until they could only just make him out. He then disappeared into the trees.
As he rode through the trees, Jason kept a look out for anything unusual. On the ground he could make out some small foot prints and another marking...made by a wheel of some kind. There also appeared to be some kind of animal's foot prints. But Jason couldn't quite follow any of the markings because they seemed to go all over the place.
Moving closer to the bushes, his sharp eyes were suddenly drawn to an object poking out from the bottom of one green shrub. He dismounted from his horse, and with gun raised, he ordered, "Get out here, where I can see you!"
When there was no answer, he moved closer toward the bush, until he could finally identify the object...a wheel. As he made his way around the shrub, he discovered it wasn't just any wheel-it was a bicycle wheel.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Lord...help her! As the footsteps came closer, Elizabeth tightened her arm around Burt's plump body, and kept her hand over his snout trying to prevent another squeal from escaping.
She had just been riding among this grouping of bushes and trees, when she heard the sound of riders approaching. Immediately she had thought of Moreno's men. Jumping off the bicycle, she tucked it behind a bush, and then ran over to Burt, who was running excitedly about, to guide him into the little space within one of the bushes. After a bit of a struggle, he complied like the fairly well behave pig he was, until the moment she followed him into the bush and accidentally pushed him into a sharp branch. At his squeal, Elizabeth was absolutely certain she had drawn the attention of the riders. But left with little choice, she grabbed the pig to still his movements and hush his squealing, and stayed where she was within the thick shrub.
She was just whispering a few soothing words in the pig's ear, when she heard the sound of hooves on the ground just off to her side. Shortly afterwards, the sound of footsteps followed. Through the little spaces created by the arrangement of the leaves, she was able to see a pair of black boots and the black trouser clad legs of their owner moving toward her.
The boots came to a stop a short distance in front of her. "Get out here, where I can see you!" While keeping her hand over Burt's snout, Elizabeth almost squealed herself in fright at the sudden command. In the silence that followed, Elizabeth held her breath...
Then the boots began to move again but this time slightly off to her side toward the direction of...Oh no! Her bicycle!
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Jason immediately recognised the red bicycle. How many such contraptions could there be in this county? So what did it mean? Those small foot prints were likely the girls...Was she still somewhere around here? Had something happened to her? He recalled the anger Sorel had directed at the girl the other day. Had Sorel harmed her? Damn!
With only the slightest of movements, Jason's gaze swept the area, listening carefully for any strange sounds. But he heard and saw nothing except the singing of birds, the soft rustling of leaves, and the chirping of grasshoppers. He had just taken a few steps to make his way back to the other men, when he caught the sound of rather loud rustling...
Turning quickly around, he focused his attention on one particular large, dense bush. There it was...the leaves on that shrub were moving slightly more than those on nearby bushes. Slowly he approached the bush with gun outstretched in one hand. "I know you're in there! Get the hell out here now, or I'll shoot."
Within the shrub, Elizabeth's eyes widened in fear, and some recognition...why did that voice sound familiar? She gave herself a mental shake. What was she to do? Did she really even have a choice...the man, whoever he was, knew someone was in here.
"I'll give you 'til the count of three. One...two..."
Lord...he was counting awfully fast wasn't he?! Elizabeth blurted out, "Please don't shoot sir!"
Jason froze in his tracks at the sound of the female voice. Well, that answered his question as to where the girl was... "What the hell are you doing in there, Miss-" What was her name again? It was in that letter...Elizabeth...
"Webber," Elizabeth finished for him in a whisper as a realisation struck her. Oh heavens...that voice...it was that man...Jason Morgan!
As he stood just before the talking bush, he could now just barely make out a form among the thick leaves. "Get out here, Miss Webber!" Jason growled impatiently as stuck his hand into the bush to give her a hand.
Unfortunately, the sudden movement of his hand frightened poor Burt and the pig's ensuing panic gave him enough strength to break free of Elizabeth's hold on him. In the next moment, the animal was flying out of the bushes right at a shocked Jason.
"What the-?!" was all Jason managed to get out before he was knocked to the ground by the highly excited animal.
An alarmed Elizabeth followed Burt out of the bush, only to see the large man fall backwards onto the muddy ground. "Oh dear!" But her attention was immediately called back to Burt as he ran right over the man, and down the field. "No! Burt, wait!"
Disentangling herself from the shrub's branches, Elizabeth had just begun running after the pig when her foot got caught on something.
"No you don't." Jason growled from the ground.
Looking behind her to the ground, she saw that the something which had her ankle was a hand! His hand! Despite her fear of the very angry man before her, Elizabeth was far more concerned about Burt, who was getting farther away with each passing moment. "Let go of my ankle! I must catch Burt before he does harm to himself!" With that, she attempted to yank her foot away from the man's tight grasp, but to no avail. Iron chains would have been easier to get out of!
Jason was a little caught off guard by the girl's fierce command, but said evenly, "You're not going anywhere 'til you explain what is going on here!"
Desperate now, Elizabeth entreated him, "Please sir, let me go after Burt. I beg of you."
After a moment, Jason slowly let go of her ankle, but before she could run, he had leapt to his feet and grabbed onto her arm. Turning her around, he looked down into her big pansy eyes and asked, "And who the hell is Burt?"
Elizabeth was rendered silent for a moment by the man's intense scrutiny. Then finding her voice, she said, "H-he's my-"
"Pig?" Sonny finished for her as he, Johnny and Francis made their way toward them on foot. While each man was leading his horse with one hand by the reins, in Sonny's other arm was a struggling Burt. He snorted at the sight of Elizabeth.
"Oh Burt!" Elizabeth exclaimed happily. As the hand on her arm eased slightly, she ran over to the pig. Seeing the animal's distress, Elizabeth asked the vaguely familiar dark haired man, "Please sir, let him down."
Sonny's amber eyes wandered over the tiny lady from her wild hair that was half dressed up and now filled with leaves, over her pretty face, down her extremely stained grey shirtwaist and skirt, to her almost unrecognisable muddied black shoes. "If you say so, miss, but I suppose you should keep a hold on this," Sonny remarked as he handed over the end of the rope to Elizabeth, "It was the only way we caught him." Turning to Jason, he said, "When you didn't come back after all that time, we came lookin' for you, and found that pig instead...then we heard your voices." Placing the hog down, he asked, "What is goin' on here Jase?"
But Jason didn't answer as his attention was on the girl and her pig. As soon as the hog reached the ground it had made its way to Elizabeth, who immediately embraced her friend. "Lord...Burt! Why did you run like that? Do you know what would have happened if one of those farmhands found you? And after all the trouble I..."
All four men watched in astonishment as the girl continued to speak to a pig of all things. And the pig seemed to be actually paying heed to the gal!
Johnny started to chuckle... "Don't that take the rag off the bush?!" Soon Francis and Sonny added their own laughter.
The rumbling laughter brought Elizabeth's attention away from the now calm Burt, and up to the four giants before her. Oh heavens! Standing up quickly she tentatively moved her eyes from the three amused faces to the one very irritated one.
For the first time in a long time, Jason was caught off guard by a situation. And he didn't like it. Narrowing his eyes, he demanded, "What the hell is going on here?"
Swallowing hard, Elizabeth tried to speak, "I-I..." Oh dear...all of a sudden she felt at a loss for words. The man was terribly frightening glowering down at her like that! What would he do to her and Burt?
Sonny noticed the girl's slight shaking and pointed out to his angry friend, "Jase...you're scaring her...the girl's shakin'." Turning to the girl, he said gently, "We're not gonna hurt you, miss. We just want to know what you're doin' out here all alone." Looking up at the rose-purplish sky, he noted, "It'll be dark soon, and you shouldn't be out here in the dark." When the girl still did not reply, with a smile, he asked, "What's your name miss? I'm Sonny Corinthos."
Elizabeth blinked. She did not know what surprised her more, the fact this man was the owner of the house of sin her grandmother and so many of the other woman in town were so set against, or those amazing dimples on the man's cheeks! As she saw him waiting patiently for a reply, she said softly, "It's Elizabeth Webber, sir."
Sonny's dimples deepened. "It's Sonny, darlin'." Then motioning at the other three, he continued, "And these men are Francis, Johnny, and Jase."
As Elizabeth's eyes wandered over the men, Johnny grinned and said, "Oh the gal's already met Jase, Sonny. She's the one who dumped Sorel on his arse!"
Sonny's eyebrows rose. So this was the girl he had heard so much about from the boys and Carly. He felt his temper flare at the thought of that big brute Sorel threatening such a wee thing. Why the girl looked like a waif! He had the urge to cook one of his huge meals and feed her...
Still uneasy about the evening's events, Jason got to the matter at hand. "Sonny we can't stand here all night." Turning to Elizabeth he demanded abruptly, "Tell us why you're out here."
Elizabeth realised these men were not going to let her go without an explanation of some sort. Taking a deep breath and gripping the rope tightly in her hand, she began quietly, "I...I was..." Oh, she could not tell them the truth! What if they forced her to return Burt?! "I was simply going for a pleasant ride with Burt."
Francis exclaimed in disbelief, "You're tellin' us ya took a pig for a bicycle ride?! And on Moreno land at that?"
Seeing that none of the men believed her, Elizabeth tried again... "I was taking him to...the Spencer farm...they've bought him and wanted me to deliver him."
Shaking his head, Jason asked in disbelief, "On a bicycle? You're goin' to have to do better than that, Miss Webber."
Placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, Sonny prompted gently, "Miss Webber, we mean you no harm. We just wanna help you."
The kindness in the man's eyes, made Elizabeth reply honestly, "I meant no harm sir...honestly...I simply wanted to save Burt. But Grams wanted to sell him at the fair, and I couldn't let that happen. So I...I went to the fair grounds and..."
Jason's blue eyes widened as he concluded, "You're the one who let all those hogs out tonight!"
As she saw the surprise cross all their faces, Elizabeth nodded her head shamefully. "I did not mean to...but it just happened. I feel horribly...but I couldn't let poor Burt be..." Glancing at Burt, she lowered her voice to a whisper, "slaughtered and eaten."
Francis asked in confusion, "Why would ya go to all that trouble for a damn pig?"
Elizabeth was silent a moment as she stared down at her feet. How would these men understand? It was not likely any of them would ever know what it was like to be lonely... Finally raising her eyes, she replied simply, "He's my friend. I would do anything to help him."
While Sonny, Johnny, and Francis glanced at each other, Jason stared down at the girl before him. Once again she had taken him by surprise. Her simple declaration of loyalty surprised him. Loyalty...it was something he hadn't found a lot of ...especially in those he had expected it from...and yet here it was in this girl. And for a damn pig!
As the silence stretched out, and the man with the unsettling intense blue gaze continued to stare at her, Elizabeth finally found enough courage to ask him, "C-can I go now, sir?"
Looking at the darkening sky, Sonny said to Jason, "We should've been at Moreno's by now. I think one of us can escort the girl home, and the rest can keep the meeting."
With a tilt of the rim of his hat, Johnny volunteered gallantly, "I'll take the gal home."
"Na. You'll bore the gal with your tall tales. I'll take her home," offered Francis.
Johnny took exception to Francis's comments. As the two men began to argue, Elizabeth broke in, "But I can't go home just yet..."
"Where else would you go?" Jason asked in irritation. Damn...this girl was making his head ache.
Elizabeth pointed to Burt, "I have to get him to the pond."
"Pond?"
Nodding, Elizabeth replied, "Yes. The pond by the Quartermaine orchard. It's the only place I can think of to keep Burt for awhile until I find him a real home."
Jason recalled his first encounter with the girl...the apple orchard. So that was why she was there...she was at that pond. He remembered he used to swim there as a young lad...but..."You can't keep that pig there. The farmhands will see it."
Elizabeth's face fell in disappointment. Where else could she possibly take Burt?
Seeing the girl's distress, Sonny suggested, "Why don't you give him to me? I'll keep him out back in the saloon where the horses are kept 'til you can find him a home."
Raising her eyes to Sonny's handsome face, Elizabeth searched his eyes to determine if he was being sincere...and she could see he was! For the first time in a very long time, Elizabeth smiled. A big beaming smile. "Oh thank you sir! Burt will be easy to care for...you'll see. And I will find someone to take him as soon as possible. Thank you!"
All four men's eyes widened in surprise. The girl, who they had judged as merely pretty, was now a radiant beauty! What a smile could do for a gal!
Sonny grinned back at Elizabeth. "You don't need to thank me, Miss Webber. Just stop with the "sirs" and call me Sonny and we'll call it even."
With a shy smile, Elizabeth nodded, "Thank you...Sonny," She hesitated before daring, "And you need not call me Miss Webber...most people call me Lizzie."
Sonny saw how the girl cringed slightly as she said her name. She obviously didn't even like it. "Lizzie...no, you said earlier your name was Elizabeth...why don't we just call you that. It's a much more fitting name for such a pretty young lady."
Elizabeth's eyes widened and then she blushed. She couldn't believe he had just called her pretty. She knew he was just being nice...but still...and she liked the sound of her full name... "Yes...I would like that... thank you."
Jason had watched the interchange with a twinge of amusement...leave it to Sonny to charm the shiest of girls. But he was also a little uneasy. Girls like this were not on a first name basis with saloon owners...this could lead to trouble. Trouble...had there been anything else but trouble with this girl?
But as she spoke shyly with Sonny, Jason felt something come over him...but he couldn't quite put a name to it. Shaking his head at his fancy, he looked over at the sinking sun. Jason was about to tell Johnny to take the girl back home when he heard the sound of horses.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Carefully lifting her grey skirt, Elizabeth made her way down the stairs. At the bottom, Elizabeth listened carefully for any sign of her grandmother or sister. When only silence greeted her, she let out a sigh of relief, and quickly made her way through the house to the front door. Stepping outside, she didn't see anyone about on the farm. Sarah and her grandmother must still be in town at the sewing circle at Mrs. Collins's. The sun still shone brightly slightly off to the west. There was still a few hours before sunset. That gave her just enough time...
Lord...she could not believe what she was about to do. Three days had passed since the dinner at the Spencers, and tomorrow was the beginning of the fair. Since her incident in town, her grandmother had forced her to stay on the farm, saying she had made enough of a spectacle of herself. Elizabeth did not find this much of a hardship as she spent time with the animals and did a few sketches in her room, but her heart remained heavy with concern for Burt.
Luke Spencer had kept his promise and came for some of the hogs yesterday. And despite how desperately Elizabeth had pleaded, her grandmother remained firm in resolve to sell Burt. Elizabeth knew this meant he was as good as dead.
This left Elizabeth with only one recourse; for the first time in her life, she was going to purposely defy her grandmother. She might not be able to control the fact that Lucky loved her sister, or that the farm was no longer going to be her home, but she would not allow Burt to be slaughtered for someone's meal.
With wild curls flowing behind her, Elizabeth ran toward the barn, almost losing her footing on the ground still damp from the earlier afternoon rain. But at the sight of a farmhand by the barn's entrance, she quickly hid behind one of the haystacks recently piled in front of the barn. When the man had passed, she slipped into the building and found her bicycle which she had hidden earlier along with some rope in the horse stall. With an eye on the barn entrance, she loosely wrapped the rope around her neck. Then guiding her bicycle to the barn entrance, she took one last glance around to make sure she was still unseen, and finally sat on the seat. Riding as fast as possible, Elizabeth made her way on the wet grass away from the farm until she came upon the dirt road. She was heading toward the fair grounds just outside of town, where Mr. Spencer had said he would drop off the animals with some of his farmhands.
After riding for a good thirty minutes, she could finally just barely make out the sight of a grouping of wagons, and men. Jumping off the bicycle and leaving it behind in some bushes, she made the rest of her way on foot. With her heart racing a mile a minute, Elizabeth approached closer to the clearing where the fair was to be held, hiding behind trees in between bursts of running.
Finally when she was close enough, she cautiously peered out behind one tree trunk and saw the men were all hooting and hollering on the far side of the clearing. Bottles of spirits were in a number of their hands, and they were obviously either already, or quickly becoming half seas over! So engrossed were they in their rowdy behaviour, Elizabeth supposed they would likely never notice someone making their way toward the animals...
When she was sure all the men's backs were to her, Elizabeth stepped out from behind the trees and headed towards the fenced area housing the hogs. Approaching the fencing, Elizabeth allowed her eyes to wander over the animals. Where was Burt? She looked for a plump rose-coloured pig with a white patch on his back.
There! He was way over on the other side near the far end of the fencing. Making her way around, she kept her eyes on Burt, hoping he wouldn't move. "Burt!" she whispered when she judged she was close enough for the pig to hear, "Stay still, you hear!"
The pig's pale blue eyes looked up at Elizabeth and as she knelt down before him, she could have sworn they lit up in recognition. "Yes. I'm here, Burt. But you must stay quiet." Through the opening in the fencing, she felt his cold snout affectionately rub her hand. Then removing the rope from around her neck, she tied it loosely around Burt's head. Using it to gently guide the pig, she directed him toward the fence gate.
Looking around, Elizabeth was relieved to see the farmhands had still not caught sight of her. Then undoing the latch for the wooden gate, she struggled to let Burt out while keeping some other rather obstinate hogs from leaving at the same time. But she was soon to discover where the term "pigheaded" came from. As if they were working together, four large hogs determinedly rushed the slightly opened gate at once and soon Elizabeth found her precarious grip on the gate slipping, allowing the gate to fly wide open. Watching in horror as pig after pig ran out of the pen, she let out a small exclamation, "Oh heavens!"
Disaster had struck again! What was she to do now? Only one thing came to mind-
RUN!! She tugged at the rope in her hand to get Burt's attention, and then she started to run as quickly as it was possible with a hog trailing behind her. As she arrived to where her bicycle was hidden, she heard the loud shouts behind her, "Hell and damnation! The hogs are loose!"
Without looking back, Elizabeth quickly got onto her bicycle and started to peddle off with Burt still following behind her. She didn't take the main dirt trail as she could not risk being seen, so she made her way through the nearest fields...which just happened to be Moreno land! She knew without a doubt that if one of Moreno's men caught her, she was in deep trouble. As she rode slowly along the wet grass, glancing back once and a while making sure Burt was still following on the rope, she prayed like she had never prayed before...
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
As he rode out of town with Sonny, Francis and Johnny, Jason's alert gaze moved over the empty fields. It was early evening, and most folks were likely still at their dinner tables. Only a few cowboys, and farmhands could be seen about. Probably heading toward the fair grounds. Turning his head slightly to rest his eyes on Sonny, Jason asked in frustration, "Why the hell didn't you tell me all this before, Sonny?"
Sonny shrugged and pushed back his hat with one hand. "I told you I was havin' trouble with Moreno."
"You never said anything about Deke or the land. I thought Moreno wanted the saloon."
Sonny sighed as he applied a little pressure on the reins to slow his horse to a trot. "He wants both, but he wants the land more. As I said Moreno tried to buy it from Deke but he wouldn't sell to him or the Quartermaines. My Pa may have been a drunk but he was as ornery as a mule. He reckoned you would come back for the land some day."
Jason's hands tightened on his own reins and his eyes hardened as he asked, "And you think Moreno killed him for the deed to the place?"
"Yep. There's no way Deke would have gotten drunk and then walk all the way down to the livery stables, only to fall on a pitch folk. He always got roostered up in a group. Hell that's why he loved the saloon. Folks were always about. No...he must've been meetin' someone. Anyway, by the time I came back to town to claim the saloon, Moreno just happen to have the deed to the land."
Jason ran through the details of the story in his mind once again, and then asked, "But how did he get the signature, Sonny?"
"Damn forgery. Admit it looks mighty like Deke's but that cousin of yours helped me prove it's not real."
Jason nodded. His cousin, Ned, one of the few family members he could tolerate was a damn fine lawyer. But Ned was a Quartermaine in many ways, and wasn't always to be trusted. Especially if his own self interest was on the line.
"So explain to me again why we're going over to Moreno's tonight?" Jason asked with his eyes on the horizon. The sun was beginning to set, making the uneasiness he was feeling intensify.
Sonny shrugged. "He said he wants to make me an offer and from what Johnny said, he seemed mighty anxious to make your acquaintance 'gain."
"Sure did, Jase!" Johnny called out from ahead of them, "Moreno said Sonny should be sure to brin' ya along..."
"I don't like it, Sonny. Why the hell did you agree to meet on his land? It could be a trap." It was a trap. Jason was as sure of that as he was of anything. Moreno likely thought he could get rid of them both at the same time. But Jason knew Sonny wanted peace...mostly to keep Carly safe-not that she would ever want anyone to protect her, hell, she'd even be damned mad if she ever found out someone tried to-and Jason understood Sonny's need to protect the woman he loved, but he also knew with some folks peace was not possible. And from what little he knew about the man, he'd be willing to wager Moreno was one of these folks.
"No. He wouldn't try somethin' tonight. With the fair tomorrow, there's too many folks about the area." Sonny's eyes glinted with determination, "I just want all the trouble to end."
There was no dissuading Sonny when his mind was made up like this. He had more than his share of Deke's stubbornness. Jason knew he'd just have to make sure they stayed out of trouble. He began in warning, "Perhaps you're right, but at the first sign of-" However, he was abruptly cut off.
"Would ya lookie there at the shindy!" Francis shouted out in astonishment.
Tipping back the rim of his hat, Johnny began chuckling. "If that don't take the rag off..."
Jason and Sonny turned toward the scene which had captured their friends' rapt interests. There, in the left of the clearing just beyond the fencing and other structures being constructed for the fair, were at least a dozen men chasing after countless numbers of hogs. The men were slipping and sliding all over the place on the wet grass. It seemed just as a fellow approached a pig, he lost his footing, and the lively pig would easily escape.
Sonny's deep chuckles mingled with Johnny and Francis's laughter. "Some damn hand must've not closed the fence properly! If they don't catch those hogs before dark, they'll never get them. Lord...when the farmers hear 'bout this, there'll be hell to pay."
Despite the uneasiness he still felt about Moreno, Jason lips curved slightly at the ridiculous sight of grown men being bested by a group of hogs.
After a moment, Sonny wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes, and said, "We best get going. 'Sides at the rate those boys are goin', they'll still be here on our way back."
Urging their horses on faster, the men soon galloped past the chaotic scene, and rode down the trail toward Moreno's property. They were just getting off the main trail and heading into Moreno's lands when Johnny pulled hard on his reins, forcing his horse to come to a sudden stop. "What the hell was that?!"
Immediately, all four men had their guns drawn. As his attentive brown eyes searched the whole area, from the muddy trails behind them to the fields covered with prairie grass before them, Sonny asked tersely, "What, Johnny?"
With his gun Johnny pointed toward a group of trees and large bushes a distance off to the right down a slight incline. "I thought I heard...screaming...or something coming from that way."
Turning his horse toward the shrubs, Jason said in an undertone, "Stay here. I'll have a look."
The three men watched as their friend moved toward the bushes until they could only just make him out. He then disappeared into the trees.
As he rode through the trees, Jason kept a look out for anything unusual. On the ground he could make out some small foot prints and another marking...made by a wheel of some kind. There also appeared to be some kind of animal's foot prints. But Jason couldn't quite follow any of the markings because they seemed to go all over the place.
Moving closer to the bushes, his sharp eyes were suddenly drawn to an object poking out from the bottom of one green shrub. He dismounted from his horse, and with gun raised, he ordered, "Get out here, where I can see you!"
When there was no answer, he moved closer toward the bush, until he could finally identify the object...a wheel. As he made his way around the shrub, he discovered it wasn't just any wheel-it was a bicycle wheel.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Lord...help her! As the footsteps came closer, Elizabeth tightened her arm around Burt's plump body, and kept her hand over his snout trying to prevent another squeal from escaping.
She had just been riding among this grouping of bushes and trees, when she heard the sound of riders approaching. Immediately she had thought of Moreno's men. Jumping off the bicycle, she tucked it behind a bush, and then ran over to Burt, who was running excitedly about, to guide him into the little space within one of the bushes. After a bit of a struggle, he complied like the fairly well behave pig he was, until the moment she followed him into the bush and accidentally pushed him into a sharp branch. At his squeal, Elizabeth was absolutely certain she had drawn the attention of the riders. But left with little choice, she grabbed the pig to still his movements and hush his squealing, and stayed where she was within the thick shrub.
She was just whispering a few soothing words in the pig's ear, when she heard the sound of hooves on the ground just off to her side. Shortly afterwards, the sound of footsteps followed. Through the little spaces created by the arrangement of the leaves, she was able to see a pair of black boots and the black trouser clad legs of their owner moving toward her.
The boots came to a stop a short distance in front of her. "Get out here, where I can see you!" While keeping her hand over Burt's snout, Elizabeth almost squealed herself in fright at the sudden command. In the silence that followed, Elizabeth held her breath...
Then the boots began to move again but this time slightly off to her side toward the direction of...Oh no! Her bicycle!
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Jason immediately recognised the red bicycle. How many such contraptions could there be in this county? So what did it mean? Those small foot prints were likely the girls...Was she still somewhere around here? Had something happened to her? He recalled the anger Sorel had directed at the girl the other day. Had Sorel harmed her? Damn!
With only the slightest of movements, Jason's gaze swept the area, listening carefully for any strange sounds. But he heard and saw nothing except the singing of birds, the soft rustling of leaves, and the chirping of grasshoppers. He had just taken a few steps to make his way back to the other men, when he caught the sound of rather loud rustling...
Turning quickly around, he focused his attention on one particular large, dense bush. There it was...the leaves on that shrub were moving slightly more than those on nearby bushes. Slowly he approached the bush with gun outstretched in one hand. "I know you're in there! Get the hell out here now, or I'll shoot."
Within the shrub, Elizabeth's eyes widened in fear, and some recognition...why did that voice sound familiar? She gave herself a mental shake. What was she to do? Did she really even have a choice...the man, whoever he was, knew someone was in here.
"I'll give you 'til the count of three. One...two..."
Lord...he was counting awfully fast wasn't he?! Elizabeth blurted out, "Please don't shoot sir!"
Jason froze in his tracks at the sound of the female voice. Well, that answered his question as to where the girl was... "What the hell are you doing in there, Miss-" What was her name again? It was in that letter...Elizabeth...
"Webber," Elizabeth finished for him in a whisper as a realisation struck her. Oh heavens...that voice...it was that man...Jason Morgan!
As he stood just before the talking bush, he could now just barely make out a form among the thick leaves. "Get out here, Miss Webber!" Jason growled impatiently as stuck his hand into the bush to give her a hand.
Unfortunately, the sudden movement of his hand frightened poor Burt and the pig's ensuing panic gave him enough strength to break free of Elizabeth's hold on him. In the next moment, the animal was flying out of the bushes right at a shocked Jason.
"What the-?!" was all Jason managed to get out before he was knocked to the ground by the highly excited animal.
An alarmed Elizabeth followed Burt out of the bush, only to see the large man fall backwards onto the muddy ground. "Oh dear!" But her attention was immediately called back to Burt as he ran right over the man, and down the field. "No! Burt, wait!"
Disentangling herself from the shrub's branches, Elizabeth had just begun running after the pig when her foot got caught on something.
"No you don't." Jason growled from the ground.
Looking behind her to the ground, she saw that the something which had her ankle was a hand! His hand! Despite her fear of the very angry man before her, Elizabeth was far more concerned about Burt, who was getting farther away with each passing moment. "Let go of my ankle! I must catch Burt before he does harm to himself!" With that, she attempted to yank her foot away from the man's tight grasp, but to no avail. Iron chains would have been easier to get out of!
Jason was a little caught off guard by the girl's fierce command, but said evenly, "You're not going anywhere 'til you explain what is going on here!"
Desperate now, Elizabeth entreated him, "Please sir, let me go after Burt. I beg of you."
After a moment, Jason slowly let go of her ankle, but before she could run, he had leapt to his feet and grabbed onto her arm. Turning her around, he looked down into her big pansy eyes and asked, "And who the hell is Burt?"
Elizabeth was rendered silent for a moment by the man's intense scrutiny. Then finding her voice, she said, "H-he's my-"
"Pig?" Sonny finished for her as he, Johnny and Francis made their way toward them on foot. While each man was leading his horse with one hand by the reins, in Sonny's other arm was a struggling Burt. He snorted at the sight of Elizabeth.
"Oh Burt!" Elizabeth exclaimed happily. As the hand on her arm eased slightly, she ran over to the pig. Seeing the animal's distress, Elizabeth asked the vaguely familiar dark haired man, "Please sir, let him down."
Sonny's amber eyes wandered over the tiny lady from her wild hair that was half dressed up and now filled with leaves, over her pretty face, down her extremely stained grey shirtwaist and skirt, to her almost unrecognisable muddied black shoes. "If you say so, miss, but I suppose you should keep a hold on this," Sonny remarked as he handed over the end of the rope to Elizabeth, "It was the only way we caught him." Turning to Jason, he said, "When you didn't come back after all that time, we came lookin' for you, and found that pig instead...then we heard your voices." Placing the hog down, he asked, "What is goin' on here Jase?"
But Jason didn't answer as his attention was on the girl and her pig. As soon as the hog reached the ground it had made its way to Elizabeth, who immediately embraced her friend. "Lord...Burt! Why did you run like that? Do you know what would have happened if one of those farmhands found you? And after all the trouble I..."
All four men watched in astonishment as the girl continued to speak to a pig of all things. And the pig seemed to be actually paying heed to the gal!
Johnny started to chuckle... "Don't that take the rag off the bush?!" Soon Francis and Sonny added their own laughter.
The rumbling laughter brought Elizabeth's attention away from the now calm Burt, and up to the four giants before her. Oh heavens! Standing up quickly she tentatively moved her eyes from the three amused faces to the one very irritated one.
For the first time in a long time, Jason was caught off guard by a situation. And he didn't like it. Narrowing his eyes, he demanded, "What the hell is going on here?"
Swallowing hard, Elizabeth tried to speak, "I-I..." Oh dear...all of a sudden she felt at a loss for words. The man was terribly frightening glowering down at her like that! What would he do to her and Burt?
Sonny noticed the girl's slight shaking and pointed out to his angry friend, "Jase...you're scaring her...the girl's shakin'." Turning to the girl, he said gently, "We're not gonna hurt you, miss. We just want to know what you're doin' out here all alone." Looking up at the rose-purplish sky, he noted, "It'll be dark soon, and you shouldn't be out here in the dark." When the girl still did not reply, with a smile, he asked, "What's your name miss? I'm Sonny Corinthos."
Elizabeth blinked. She did not know what surprised her more, the fact this man was the owner of the house of sin her grandmother and so many of the other woman in town were so set against, or those amazing dimples on the man's cheeks! As she saw him waiting patiently for a reply, she said softly, "It's Elizabeth Webber, sir."
Sonny's dimples deepened. "It's Sonny, darlin'." Then motioning at the other three, he continued, "And these men are Francis, Johnny, and Jase."
As Elizabeth's eyes wandered over the men, Johnny grinned and said, "Oh the gal's already met Jase, Sonny. She's the one who dumped Sorel on his arse!"
Sonny's eyebrows rose. So this was the girl he had heard so much about from the boys and Carly. He felt his temper flare at the thought of that big brute Sorel threatening such a wee thing. Why the girl looked like a waif! He had the urge to cook one of his huge meals and feed her...
Still uneasy about the evening's events, Jason got to the matter at hand. "Sonny we can't stand here all night." Turning to Elizabeth he demanded abruptly, "Tell us why you're out here."
Elizabeth realised these men were not going to let her go without an explanation of some sort. Taking a deep breath and gripping the rope tightly in her hand, she began quietly, "I...I was..." Oh, she could not tell them the truth! What if they forced her to return Burt?! "I was simply going for a pleasant ride with Burt."
Francis exclaimed in disbelief, "You're tellin' us ya took a pig for a bicycle ride?! And on Moreno land at that?"
Seeing that none of the men believed her, Elizabeth tried again... "I was taking him to...the Spencer farm...they've bought him and wanted me to deliver him."
Shaking his head, Jason asked in disbelief, "On a bicycle? You're goin' to have to do better than that, Miss Webber."
Placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, Sonny prompted gently, "Miss Webber, we mean you no harm. We just wanna help you."
The kindness in the man's eyes, made Elizabeth reply honestly, "I meant no harm sir...honestly...I simply wanted to save Burt. But Grams wanted to sell him at the fair, and I couldn't let that happen. So I...I went to the fair grounds and..."
Jason's blue eyes widened as he concluded, "You're the one who let all those hogs out tonight!"
As she saw the surprise cross all their faces, Elizabeth nodded her head shamefully. "I did not mean to...but it just happened. I feel horribly...but I couldn't let poor Burt be..." Glancing at Burt, she lowered her voice to a whisper, "slaughtered and eaten."
Francis asked in confusion, "Why would ya go to all that trouble for a damn pig?"
Elizabeth was silent a moment as she stared down at her feet. How would these men understand? It was not likely any of them would ever know what it was like to be lonely... Finally raising her eyes, she replied simply, "He's my friend. I would do anything to help him."
While Sonny, Johnny, and Francis glanced at each other, Jason stared down at the girl before him. Once again she had taken him by surprise. Her simple declaration of loyalty surprised him. Loyalty...it was something he hadn't found a lot of ...especially in those he had expected it from...and yet here it was in this girl. And for a damn pig!
As the silence stretched out, and the man with the unsettling intense blue gaze continued to stare at her, Elizabeth finally found enough courage to ask him, "C-can I go now, sir?"
Looking at the darkening sky, Sonny said to Jason, "We should've been at Moreno's by now. I think one of us can escort the girl home, and the rest can keep the meeting."
With a tilt of the rim of his hat, Johnny volunteered gallantly, "I'll take the gal home."
"Na. You'll bore the gal with your tall tales. I'll take her home," offered Francis.
Johnny took exception to Francis's comments. As the two men began to argue, Elizabeth broke in, "But I can't go home just yet..."
"Where else would you go?" Jason asked in irritation. Damn...this girl was making his head ache.
Elizabeth pointed to Burt, "I have to get him to the pond."
"Pond?"
Nodding, Elizabeth replied, "Yes. The pond by the Quartermaine orchard. It's the only place I can think of to keep Burt for awhile until I find him a real home."
Jason recalled his first encounter with the girl...the apple orchard. So that was why she was there...she was at that pond. He remembered he used to swim there as a young lad...but..."You can't keep that pig there. The farmhands will see it."
Elizabeth's face fell in disappointment. Where else could she possibly take Burt?
Seeing the girl's distress, Sonny suggested, "Why don't you give him to me? I'll keep him out back in the saloon where the horses are kept 'til you can find him a home."
Raising her eyes to Sonny's handsome face, Elizabeth searched his eyes to determine if he was being sincere...and she could see he was! For the first time in a very long time, Elizabeth smiled. A big beaming smile. "Oh thank you sir! Burt will be easy to care for...you'll see. And I will find someone to take him as soon as possible. Thank you!"
All four men's eyes widened in surprise. The girl, who they had judged as merely pretty, was now a radiant beauty! What a smile could do for a gal!
Sonny grinned back at Elizabeth. "You don't need to thank me, Miss Webber. Just stop with the "sirs" and call me Sonny and we'll call it even."
With a shy smile, Elizabeth nodded, "Thank you...Sonny," She hesitated before daring, "And you need not call me Miss Webber...most people call me Lizzie."
Sonny saw how the girl cringed slightly as she said her name. She obviously didn't even like it. "Lizzie...no, you said earlier your name was Elizabeth...why don't we just call you that. It's a much more fitting name for such a pretty young lady."
Elizabeth's eyes widened and then she blushed. She couldn't believe he had just called her pretty. She knew he was just being nice...but still...and she liked the sound of her full name... "Yes...I would like that... thank you."
Jason had watched the interchange with a twinge of amusement...leave it to Sonny to charm the shiest of girls. But he was also a little uneasy. Girls like this were not on a first name basis with saloon owners...this could lead to trouble. Trouble...had there been anything else but trouble with this girl?
But as she spoke shyly with Sonny, Jason felt something come over him...but he couldn't quite put a name to it. Shaking his head at his fancy, he looked over at the sinking sun. Jason was about to tell Johnny to take the girl back home when he heard the sound of horses.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
