Logan froze. He knew that voice and the threat wasn't idle. It wouldn't take much to make the rancher shoot.
"We need help," Tessa pleaded. "She's hurt and there are mercenaries after us."
A horse walked out of the trees, ridden by a tall man of about 60. He looked at Logan, nodding his head. His gaze shifted to the blood soaked shoulder of the girl Wolverine was holding. She was obviously not Mexican.
"Logan." he nodded to the smaller man.
"Chapman." Logan acknowledged with a small nod of his own head.
"Collin, Dusty and Mike. Go to the riverbank and send the mercs back." he ordered. "Pete, take the girl back to the house and have Doc look at her."
Three mounted men came out of the trees and headed to the river. A fourth came out of the trees and dismounted. He walked over to Logan with his arms out. Logan began to growl in warning.
"Pete'll take her ta the doctor, Logan," Chapman said. "Yer in no shape ta take her yerself."
"I'm fine," Logan growled.
"Ya need ta heal," Chapman corrected. Gunshots in the distance told him his men were doing what he told them to do. "From the amount of blood on yer shirt, ya need a healin' coma ta recover."
"Don't worry 'bout me."
"Give the kid ta Pete, ya stubborn cuss. I ain't gonna hurt her. We've known each other fer too long ta play this game."
Logan looked at the young man in front of him. The kid didn't smell like he was going to try anything but this was Jubilee. He couldn't just hand her over.
He shook his head and looked up at Chapman. "Can't do it Jim," he told the old man.
"Can't we just lift him up onto a horse?" a man said from behind Chapman. "He's just a little dude."
"I wouldn't try it if I were you." Chapman warned as Logan's growling increased in volume. "I've known him fer twenty years. He ain't never been beat in a fight."
"Wolvie?" Jubilee said weakly. "I don't feel so good."
"Ya lost a lot of blood, kid." he told her softly. "I'm tryin' ta negotiate somethin' fer ya right now." He looked back to Chapman. "I promise I'll behave if ya let us stay long enough fer her to get a little stronger but I can't let ya take her from me. Gimme a horse and I'll carry her ta the house."
Chapman looked at him closely, coming to a decision. "Give him yer horse, Webber."
"Why me?" Webber demanded.
"Ya have the strongest animal."
"So? He's just a little runt."
"He's a hell of a lot heavier than he looks," Chapman told him. "Get off yer horse and help him get mounted." He looked back at Logan. "As I remember, you and horses don't get along too well. I'll help ya control yer mount."
Chapman and Webber dismounted. Tessa had been riding horses since she was very young but she never saw anyone do what Chapman did to the horse. He took off his shirt and tied it around the its nose.
"Why the hell are ya doin' that?" Webber demanded.
"I told ya, I know this guy," Chapman said, irritated. "When the horse catches his scent, it'll bolt. It thinks he's a predator. My scent on the shirt should keep it calm enough fer us ta get back ta the house without the dumb animal takin' off with 'em."
After a great deal of maneuvering and grunting on Webber's part, Logan was finally mounted on the horse with Jubilee settled in his arms. Tessa climbed up behind Chapman and the group rode off to the house, making sure Logan remained downwind of the rest of the horses.
Logan had to admit; Chapman was right. He was very weak. The wounds had mostly healed but the one in his belly. The bullet was still inside him but he could feel the small chunk of metal moving closer to the surface. It wouldn't be long before the sucker came out and when it did, the blood pooled behind it would come gushing out. Chapman would be able to handle it but he doubted Tessa would like it much.
By the time they got to the ranch house, the bullet was just below the surface. Someone had evidently called ahead. A middle aged man Logan recognized as the ranch vet came running up to him as they reined in. This man, Logan knew he could trust. He handed Jubilee over to him and slid from the back of the horse. He had taken half a dozen steps toward the house when the bullet popped free, followed by a goodly amount of dark blood.
"Oh, shit!" he swore as he fell to his knees, clenching his belly.
Chapman stooped beside him and looked at the sticky fluid dripping from his hands.
"Gut shot, huh?"
"Yeah," Logan groaned. "I hate when that happens."
"Can ya walk?"
"Just help me up." Logan said, testily.
When Logan woke, he couldn't remember getting into the house and to bed. He opened his eyes and looked around. Yeah, this was a familiar room. Last time he was here, he had been gored by a bull.
"Hey." Jubilee said from the door. "Nice ta see ya awake finally."
"Hey, Jubes. How ya feelin'?"
"Little sore," she shrugged as she sat on the bed. "Doc Davis put a coupla stitches in my shoulder and told me ta take it easy fer a few days. Tessa's been teachin' me how ta ride. It's kinda cool. She been ridin' like, forever. All the guy 'r droolin' over her like she's some piece of meat. We were goin' ta go out this mornin' but my ass is so sore, I don't think I could sit on a horse so I told 'em I'd keep an eye out fer ya. Everyone else is out doin' ranch stuff."
"Take a breath, darlin'." he interrupted.
"Sorry," she apologized. "Didn't mean ta get verbal diarrhea."
"How long have I been out?" he asked as he sat up and stretched.
"Day and a half," she told him. "Doc said ya got gut shot. He was kinda worried and the others were goin' on like ya were gonna die. Jim told 'em you'd be fine after yer coma."
"Jim?" Logan asked.
"Yeah," she said happily. "Jim Chapman. He says he knows ya from way back. He's kinda cool fer an old guy."
"Terrific." Logan grumbled.
"Why are ya being such a sour puss?" she demanded.
"Nothin'."
"Come on, Wolvie, ya can't fool me. I know ya too well. What's buggin' ya?"
He knew by the tone of her voice she wasn't going to let it go. Jubilee was about as pigheaded as they come.
"Jubes, Chapman and I go back a few. He's not very happy I'm here."
"Why?"
"Long story." he mumbled.
"I'll bet," she giggled. "Get up. You need a shower and a change of clothes." She got up and headed for the door. "There's a late breakfast fer ya in the kitchen."
He came into the kitchen thirty minutes later in clothes that didn't fit but at least he was clean. He found Jubilee sitting at the table, drinking a glass of orange juice and reading a book.
"Ya call the mansion?" he asked as he piled food on his plate.
"Not yet," she told him, not looking up from her book. "I wasn't sure when ya'd wake up so I waited. Ya want me ta call now?"
"Nah," he told her as he poured a cup of coffee from the pot. "I'll call after I eat."
"K" she said, still engrossed in her book.
"Whatcha readin'?"
"Lady Chatterley's Lover." she told him.
Logan choked on the mouthful of eggs. "What are ya readin' a book like that fer?" he gasped, trying to clear his throat.
"Tessa told me it's good," she said. "It's not too bad. Kinda PG."
"I'm not so sure ya should be readin' a book like that." he said, finally getting the egg unstuck.
"Why?" She finally looked up from the page. She saw what he was wearing and started to giggle.
"Don't laugh," he grumped. "It's all Jim had that would fit me."
Logan was resplendent in a very bright Hawaiian print shirt and brown shorts. It was light years away from the usual flannel and jeans he always wore. The colors were so garish that Jubilee liked them, and her taste in color ran toward the loud end of the spectrum.
"Back to that book." he changed the subject. "It has some things in it ya don't need ta know about yet."
"Ya mean sex?"
"Well," he stuttered.
"Logan, I've seen worse on cable TV. This is nothing."
"Still..."
"Wolvie," she sighed, "I love ya but ya can be so old fashioned sometimes."
"It's not old fashioned ta want ta take care of ya," he objected.
"It is if ya cramp my style."
"Jubilee?" he said in a low growl of frustration. She still hadn't talked about it and she need to. Things had happened to her while she was a prisoner of Bastion that he didn't know and it looked like he would never know. She never shut him out like this before. He suspected some of them. He knew, without a doubt, one of them, the one thing she would never tell him.
"Talk ta me, darlin'." he begged. He had been trying to get her to talk about it for three years.
"Don't go there, Logan." she told him. "There are things you don't want ta know."
She finished her orange juice and put the glass in the sink. She came over and gave him a one arm hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Don't forget ta call the mansion." she told him as she left him to his thoughts.
He exhaled loudly as she left the kitchen. Why wouldn't she talk to him? She had to know that he knew what happened. It wouldn't come as a surprise to him and he could help her overcome the trauma.
He finished his breakfast in a funk. Placing his dirty dishes in the sink, he grabbed a second cup of coffee and called the mansion. After arranging transportation to New York, he went out to the backyard. Jubilee was sitting under a large oak talking to Jim's grandson David.
Here was the bone of contention between Logan and Jim. Every time Logan showed up at the ranch, he was a few days ahead of a group of big guns. Last time he was here, David had been caught in the crossfire and was injured. Jim was still pissed at him for bringing trouble to his home and getting his only grandchild almost killed.
"You leaving?" Jim asked from behind him. Logan turned to look at the big rancher.
"I've called fer our ride," he informed him. "Should be here in a few hours."
"That the kid ya were tellin' me about?"
"That's Jubilee."
"Ballsy kid. Got in Webber's face when he wanted ta leave ya out fer the coyotes. Yer dead weight when yer unconscious."
Logan snorted in laughter. "That's Jubes," he chortled.
"Who's after ya this time?"
"They ain't after me this time. They're after Tessa."
"She the one that's got my men fergettin' ta do their chores?"
"Yep."
"Nice lookin' woman," Jim said. "Wouldn't mind seein' more o' her."
Logan looked at him astonished. "I never thought I'd hear ya say that, Jim. I always thought ya'd never get over Mary's death."
"My Mary's been dead fer fifteen years, Logan." Jim said sadly. "In all those years, I've never met a woman who could take her place. Tessa's a lot like her. Beautiful and kind, but hard when she needs ta be, and she knows ranchin'." He turned and looked at Logan. "I'm lonely," he told the shorter man. "David's grown now. I want someone in my life who can bring me the peace I've been lookin' fer. I think we all look fer that, especially you."
"Me?" Logan asked, surprised.
"Don't ya ever get lonely, Logan?"
"I get plenty o' female companionship." evaded Logan.
"I ain't talkin' 'bout gettin' laid, I'm talkin' bout someone ya can talk ta. Someone that knows ya inside and out. Someone that when ya make love ta her, ya feel like yer finally whole. That's what I had with Mary. That's what I'm lookin' fer now."
"The other half of yer soul," Logan murmured, his eyes intent on the dark haired girl under the tree.
"Yeah," Jim sighed.
Logan's head came up sharply as the scents of horse and sweat reached him.
"Trouble," he growled.
In the distance, a rider was approaching the house at a fast gallop. Chapman shielded his eyes with a hand, looking at the horse and rider.
"That's Pete," he told Logan. "He's supposed ta be ridin' herd today."
The rider skidded to a stop near the two men, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Five men," he gasped as he slid heavily from the horse, "in the sou'west pasture. Headin' this way. Lot's o' guns."