Killing Joe

Chapter 9

A jolt of adrenaline shot through Joe's body as, using his bare feet for leverage, he managed to push himself up into a sitting position. Twisting his head, he saw the two girls frantically trying to get out of their seats as the truck slowly started to sink.

And then with a loud click, first Betty-Anne and then April-May scrambled out of their seats, and to his mounting surprise, moved towards him!

"The back door!" the brunette yelled and reached past Joe for the latch; as she pulled on the handle, Joe swiveled his legs around and kicked at it – the back door swung open.

The two girls slid over the back seat and then as the cold, murky water started to fill the truck, grabbed Joe by his arms and pulled him out into the river with them!

Joe gasped as the cold water washed over him; choking and sputtering, he kicked his legs frantically, trying to stay afloat. The girls were trying to swim and keep a hold on him, but try as they did, the strong currents were threatening to suck them under.

The red-head looked at him apologetically and the teen knew in an instant they were going to let him go – and they did….

:O

The old Chevy car came to a halt on the bridge deck as two young men tore out of the vehicle and slid down the bank towards the river, oblivious to the torrential downpour that was drenching them. Both were in their late-twenties and similarly dressed in attire that screamed 'cowboy,' from their wide-brimmed hats to well worn boots.

"BETTY-ANN!" The first guy with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail, yelled as he skidded to a halt next to the quickly swelling river. He peered anxiously out over the water towards the slowly sinking truck.

"Lookey, Duane! There! There they are!" the second man with black curly hair, pointed as he grabbed his friend's arm.

Duane spotted the girls floundering close to the bank, and pulling off his boots, hurried into the water to help them. As he did so he noticed a third person being pulled under by the savage current. "CLINT!" he yelled over his shoulder to his buddy, "GET A ROPE!"

Immediately Clint was scrambling back up the slippery bank and towards the car, having seen the same thing even as he muttered, "Who the hell is that?" He tore open the trunk and pulled out a length of heavy rope. Quickly making a lasso, he was back by the river just as Duane pulled April-May, first, and then Betty-Ann out of the cold water.

"Y-you g-gotta s-save him!" April-May gasped as her dark brown eyes held Clint's. The man nodded even as he started to swing the lasso above his head, shrewd hazel eyes fixed on the blond head barely visible amid the dark swirling water. In a few more seconds the kid would either be drowned or out of reach….The almost blinding rain beat on his face but he refused to even blink, even as he muttered:

"I didn't win the state cattle roping contest three years in a row for nothing, April-May." The rope flew through the air, thrown by a master, and snagged Joe just as he slipped beneath the water. Yanking hard, Clint started to pull the teenager towards shore; Duane rushed back into the water and together they hauled Joe up onto the bank.

:O

Joe kicked furiously to keep his head above the water but it was a losing battle, and the already weakened and exhausted teen couldn't keep going. As he felt the tug of the current pulling him under, one more time, something sailed over his head and around his shoulders before pulling painfully tight. He felt himself being towed towards shore and then pulled out by strong arms and dumped on the ground.

Blinking up at his rescuers, the boy barely registered the anxious faces of yet two more strangers, before his eyes slid closed and he was out….

:O

"He's dead!" April-May wailed in Duane's ear as he leaned over the unconscious youth and pressed two fingers against the pale throat. He let out a soft sigh of relief when he felt a pulse, steady and strong.

"He ain't dead," he denied, straightening up and fixing the girls with a withering look, "just tired out. Now would either of you like to explain this?" He gestured vaguely at Joe and the almost completely submerged truck.

"Ah…w-well…" Betty-Ann slid a slender arm around the cowboy's waist as she snuggled against him, shivering, "i-it's l-l-like—"

Clint cut her off as he took off his jacket and wrapped it around the shivering red-head. "We need to get them warmed up first, Duane. Time for talking's a bit later!" He knelt down beside Joe, and gently worked the lasso off him – he saw the boy's hands were bound and quickly pulled out a small knife and sliced the bindings. "I think I just came up with a whole slew of new ones Duane, let's get these popsicles in the car."

Between the two men, they managed to get Joe up the bank and towards their car. April-May rushed ahead, opened the doors and then slid into the front passenger seat as Duane and Clint got the unconscious kid into the back seat, where Duane and Betty-Ann sat with him.

Starting the car, Clint turned the heat up on bust and slowly drove off the bridge. The windshield wipers were almost useless, as the rain seemed to get harder and the black-haired man leaned into the steering wheel to see the dirt road.

"We'll get a room for the night at the Sheila Flats Motel." He glanced at the brunette shivering beside him. "And once you're all nice and warmed up again, I am looking very forward to finding out what the hell is going on here."

April-May gave a small nod and then glanced over her shoulder at the occupants of the backseat. "H-how's the k-kid?" she asked.

"Cold," came the one-word reply from Duane. Nothing else was said by anyone for the rest of the ride into town.