Chapter 4

The flames didn't bother the girl as she jumped over them, not caring that her bare feet were getting burnt on the hot coals of the burning floor. Her kitten was the only thing she had left, and she had to rescue her. Hurrying through the smoke as she tried not to breath it in, she found the bed under which the kitten was and quickly pulled out the box she had hid her in. Tearing off the lid, she picked up the kitten and held it close against her, the kitten meowing sleepingly from the drugs she had given it so it would be quiet and not found. Pulling out her gold necklace that was in the box too, she wrapped it around her wrist so she couldn't drop it and stood up as the flames took a hold of the bed she was standing next to. Starting to get scared as the flames continued to engulf the house, she held onto the kitten tightly as she hurried back towards the door then remembered the box of cash hidden under the floor near the to hide it from robbers. It was still there, she knew the bandits hadn't taken it because they didn't know where it was. Holding the kiten against her chest with one hand, she lent down and pulled up the burning plank. Quickly she threw it aside, then felt around under the house until her fingers touched the hot metal and grabbed the small metal strong box. Standing up, she held both against her tightly as she tried to get to the door to get out..

Smoke was filling her lungs, burning her eyes as she tried to find the way back out stumbling with exhaustion and disoriented from the fire and heat. I have to get out, I have to! Forcing herself forward, she could hear the roof starting to give and she lunged forward, hoping to find the door, but all she found was a wall as cinders and ashes rained down on her as the roof began to collapse. Lord, get me out of here! She begged, as she started to see black from lack of oxygen. Faintly, she saw a parting in the smoke, and beyond that, the whiteness of the snow outside. She rushed forward towards it as the rest of the roof collapsed in with a crash, expecting it to be just an illusion of the flames, but instead found that she was indeed out of the cabin. Hurring off the porch, she gasped from the searing pain in her feet as they touched the freezing snow. Gasping with pain, she coughed horsley again then tried to move forward. Struggling away from the cabin holding onto tight to the kitten in her arms now wide awake and squirming, she again saw the blackness. Trying to fight it she moved a couple more steps forward then finally succumbed to the blackness of unconsciousness that she could fight no longer, collapsing in a heap on the snowy ground.

Sadie gasped as the roof collapsed in, then from in the smoke she could make out the silhouette of the girl staggering back out of the cabin. 'She made it!' Breathing a sigh of relief, she freed herself from Dutch's grasp and ran forward to help the girl get away from the fire. She had almost reached her when the girl suddenly collapsed on the ground, not moving as she lay face down in the snow. Sprinting faster towards her, the slushy snow making the going hard she could hear Dutch and Arthur with the horses running behind her. Almost falling over as she stopped next to the girl, she knelt down and rolled the child onto her back then felt her neck for a pulse, hoping that the girl was still alive. 'Thank God. She's alive.' She whispered, more than to herself then to the others then as her glance when from the girls face to her chest saw what the girl went back into the fire for. 'She went back for a kitten and a metal box? What the heck was she thinking?"

'Obviously she wasn't, but they must mean something to her if she would risk her life for it." Dutch remarked as he took off his overcoat and handed it to her, kneeling beside the child and Sadie to help the woman with the girl. 'Here, wrap her in this.'

'Thanks.' Gently she picked the bloodied girl up by the shoulders and wrapped her in Dutch's coat, then glanced down as a sparkle of gold caught her eye. Wound around the girl's hand was a gold necklace and locket, the hot metal burning into the girls wrist. 'Damit, you crazy kid.' She murmured as she unwrapped it and placed it in her pocket as she heard Arthur stopping near them with the horses. 'We need to get her back to camp, and quick.'

'I'll take her.' Dutch offered as he took a good look at the kid. The girls face was bruised and swollen so much that it was almost impossible to figure out how old she was. Judging by what he could see though, he guessed that she was about fourteen of fifteen. Way too young to have to deal with the trauma she would have had already experienced. Even though he was a hard leader of a gang of murderers and thieves, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. 'Damn those O'Driscolls, hurting a child like this. I swear, when I get my hands on them-'

'That's going to have to wait.' Arthur interrupted as he felt the temperature drop, and he could tell another blizzard was in the air as he glanced at the clouds overhead. 'We need to get back, and soon. I'll go get the stuff we got from the barn and load it onto the horses. We don't want to be here when this storm hits, or if those low lives decide to come back and have some more fun.'

'Agreed.' His attention momentarily taken off the girl, he glanced up to see the black clouds closing in that Arthur had been looking at. 'Grab that other horse blanket Mrs. Adler, we can wrap the girl in that too. We need to get her as warm as possible. We don't have much time, so let's get moving.' While Arthur and Sadie sprung into action, Dutch tended to the girl, binding his bandana around her burnt wrist and trying to make her as comfortable as possible, then he heard the kittens sad meows as the tabby nudged against the girls face. Looking down, he saw the kitten stopped nudging her and was instead trying to bundle up in jacket next to the girl the poor thing shivering in the cold. If that kitten meant so much to the kid that she would go into a burning building to rescue it, the least he could do was keep it alive for her. 'Come here, you little rascal, we better get you warmed up.' Picking it up, he placed the kitten into his big coat pocket, then grabbed the metal box that the girl had gotten and stood up, placing it in the saddlebag on his horse next to them.

'Here we go.' Sadie hurried back over with the blanket as Arthur loaded up the horses with the supplies they had found, and rolled the girl tightly up inside it to try and reduce her exposure to the cold. The kid was already weak enough from loss of blood and her injuries that she didn't need to get pneumonia or hypothermia in the bargain too. Seeing the horses of the dead men milling around, she took a quick glance at them. 'What about the O'Driscolls horses? Do we leave them?'

'Yes, we don't have time to be bothered with trying to take a herd of horses with us.' He picked the girl up, placing her across the front of his horse, then mounted and moved her into a more comfortable position leaning against his chest with her head on his shoulder in case she woke. 'I'm guessing, they'll be back, sooner or later. If they're dumb enough to steal stock in this weather, they can take their fallen comrades mounts too.' He glanced at the horizon that was the best route for the O'Driscolls to take the stock, glad to see that it was deserted for the time being. 'We better get moving. Now.'

The three of them started their trip back towards camp as the snow started to fall again, the wind beginning to pick up with a howl that rustled the trees and blew in their faces. The snow and ice crunched under the horse's hooves, the sound mingling with the jingle of the tack and the wind. The storm began to get worse as they travelled further down the mountain and they tried to stay in the shelter of the trees as much as they could. The horses were feeling the cold too, shivering underneath the riders as they tried to stay warm.

They were just over halfway back when Arthur began to get the feeling that they weren't alone. Glancing around, he couldn't see anything in the trees, but still he trusted his instincts. He had never been wrong before, and he knew that if the O'Driscolls had gone back to what was left of the cabin and found their buddies burt corpses, they would start coming for them in revenge. 'I'm starting to get the feeling that we're not the only ones who are out here Dutch.'

'Funny thing that, I'm getting the same feeling.' Through the trees, he could see a group of riders starting on the ridge to their left above them, eyeing them with hate. If there was one thing on earth he couldn't stand, it had to be Colm O'Driscolls men. 'I wondered when they'd turn up.'

'Those blasted O'Driscolls, come to finish off the job.' Sadie snorted as she quietened the horse, the stallion starting to get nervous and jumpy from her disposition. They were the only people who were idiots enough to hunt them down in this type of weather. 'What do you think we should do? Wait here and hope they don't find us?'

'Well.' He pulled his horse to a stop in some trees, all the time watching them warily. He knew Arthur could look after himself, but he had to think of the girl and Sadie. 'This storm is only going to get worse, and if we stay here, we won't be able to find our way back to the camp. We'll have to keep moving and try to keep our distance, but if they come looking for trouble then they'll find it.' Turning in his saddle, he looked at Sadie. She needed to be kept safe, and out of the line of fire. 'I want you beside me, Mrs. Adler, that way you should be safe if they start shooting at us.'

'Alright.' She guided her horse beside Dutch's, knowing that she wouldn't be much help to them if she got shot. 'They'll get what's coming to them if they decide to mess with us though. '

'I hope they do.' He nodded, then looked down at the girl he was holding on the front of the saddle. 'I'm not going to be able to help you if they decide to go for us, so I hope you can handle it Arthur.'

'Don't worry, I've got us covered from those degenerates.' Arthur took one last glance in their direction, then returned the binoculars he had been using back into the saddle bag and grabbed out the rifle. 'I think we better get moving, before they spot us.'

No sooner had the words left his mouth then a rifle cracked from up on the ridge and a bullet whizzed over Dutch's head. Kicking his horse forward, he held the girl securely against him as he guided the horse with his right hand. 'Too late for that, let's get out of here.'

'Your darn well right about that.' Arthur thumped his spurs into the horses sides as he took aim and fired with his rifle, bullets from the enemy raining down like hail around them. They had the higher ground which made it harder for him to get them, and they knew it. 'Those good for nothing maggots!' His rifle barked again, and he saw with satisfaction one of them fall from their horse and go rolling down the incline, then stop when it hit a tree. 'Want your one way ticket to hell? Come and get it!'

The bullets flew overhead as Dutch kicked the horse to go faster, the horse straining itself for every step as it slushed through the snow, mud and ice flying off its hooves. 'Hurry up and kill those damn menaces!' He yelled as a bullet tore a hole in his hat, then tried to shield the girl with his body. The kid wasn't going to get more injured on his watch, and neither was Sadie. 'That's too close for my liking!'

'I just got another one of the idiots.' Arthur replied, watching another one fall from the saddle, the remaining three bolting away before they too joined their dead comrades at the bark of his rifle. 'Looks like they're giving up.'

'Thank goodness.' Sadie rode up closer to Dutch as they watched them remaining O'Driscolls turn tail and flee. Riding on, she looked down to check on the girl as they held the horses to a canter. 'How's she doing?'

'Well, she's still breathing.' He replied as he felt the girl move and stopped his horse in the cover of a thick glade of snow covered bushes, now a couple of miles away from where the gang had started shooting at them. 'We'll stop and rest the horses here for a few minutes, we've run them hard enough for the moment. Mrs. Adler, the kids waking up too.'

Sadie grimaced as she thought of the pain that would hit the girl when she woke up. The girl had already been injured badly by the O'Driscolls, and the burns she had received from going back into the cabin would only make the pain worse. She would be in total agony, and there was nothing they could do about it. 'I hoped she wouldn't wake till we reached camp, she's going to be in a lot of pain. Just be careful she doesn't freak out when she sees it's you holding her, she's already terrified enough of men.'

'Thanks for pointing that out." He remembered the punch the kid had given him, his face still smarting from the well placed right hook. "I'm already acquainted with that fact.'

The girl could faintly hear people talking as she slowly came around, the wave of pain hitting her like a train at full speed. She coughed, a hard wracking cough because of the smoke she had inhaled and suddenly wished she hadn't. A stabbing pain in her ribs made her eyes flash open, panting for air. She looked around wildly, everything looking kind of hazy to her, but she could faintly make out that she was being held on a horse by a man, and instantly she began to panic.

'Hey, hey, take it easy. Your alright.' Dutch soothed as the girl looked at him with terrified pain filled eyes, smoothing the hair away from her face with his gloved hand. Holding her close against him so she didn't fall off the horse, he tried to reassure her. The poor kid had already been through enough, she didn't need to hurt herself any worse. 'Your going to be okay. You can trust me. I won't hurt you.'

Sadie could see the girls fright and moved her horse over closer to Dutch's so she could place her hand on the girl, hoping her presence would soothe her. She didn't seem to be so scared of her, unlike she was of the men and she could understand why. 'Your alright honey. I'm right here, and your safe now. He's not going to hurt you.'

The girl nodded as her eyes began to water, partly from the pain and partly from relief that she was away from the horrible men who had killed her family. Slowly she started to calm down, trying not to breathe deeply because of the pain in her ribs. She had forgotten that she had been injured during her attempt to get away from them a few days before, and guessed from it that she had at least a couple cracked ribs for her trouble. Feeling another flash of pain overtake her, she closed her eyes as she choked it back, the pain coursing through her body.

Dutch could see from her eyes she was in pain, but there was nothing he could do about it, at least not straight away. Deciding to let the horses rest for a little longer, he tried to make her more comfortable by shifting her a little bit, sitting her up more so she could breath easier. Stroking her hair with his gloved hand, he hoped that it would try and make her relax some. It had always worked with Jenny when she had been scared or hurt. Slowly, he could feel the tension leaving her body and her head sank into his shoulder. 'There you go. See, I'm not so bad after all.' The girl nodded slightly, then coughed again, wincing as she did so. 'So, what's your name honey?'

The girl opened her mouth to reply, but instead of words coming out, she could only manage a tiny rasp. A little frightened, she realized she couldn't talk and the result of her screaming was that she could could only make tiny sounds instead. She could guess that she had stripped her throat when she had been screaming. Despite that though, she tried to make out her name by lipping it out him.

'Joanna Stallan?' The girl nodded to him, then tried to make another word that he guessed to be kitten. 'Your kitten is fine, she's safe and warm in my pocket.' The girl made a motion that she wanted to hold the tabby, so he gently pulled it out of his pocket and placed it on her chest, wrapping it tightly under the coat. 'There you go, you just rest now, we're taking you back to our camp.' The girl nodded again as she placed her arm over the kitten to keep it in place then rested her head back again on his shoulder, closing her eyes to try and block the pain of her injuries. Dutch turned back towards the others as he picked up the reins in his free hand. 'Alright, these horses have rested enough, let's get moving again.'

Sadie moved her horse forward next to Dutch as the storm began to get worse. Darkness was falling around them as night began to set in and that, combined with the blowing snow, made it hard to see where they were going. 'How much further till we get back? It's turning into a real blizzard out here now.'

'I know.' Dutch replied as the horses canter was reduced to a trot because of the weather. Pulling his coat tighter around because of the cold, he peered ahead to see if he could identify any landmarks telling them what way to go. He wasn't even sure if they were still headed in the right direction, but hoped they were. 'It shouldn't be much further. I hope." He added under his breath. Guiding his horse on down the trail, he continued searching for anything to guide them back to camp as the track they had been following was rapidly beginning to get covered by the thick snow. Cursing as the trail disappeared, he looked back at Sadie and Arthur, hunched down as much as possible to preserve body heat as they tried to keep their horses following after him. Knowing that they were depending on him to get them back, he continued looking, looking for any sign of the camp at all. They had to get back, they had to make it or they would all die in the blizzard. As they came out of the trees, a small flicker of light appeared in the distance. Sure that he was seeing things, he dropped the reins and rubbed his eyes. There it was again, flashing more brighter this time. 'There! Up ahead! The camp!' He kicked his horse to go faster, but the horse only cantered for a couple of steps then trotted again, almost dead from exhaustion. 'We've made it!'

Sadie lifted her bowed head as she tried to see what he was looking, blinking in the blinding snow as the wind blew it into her face. 'I see it! Come on, let's go!'

'Thank God.' Arthur spurred on by the thought of getting back to camp hurried his horse on forward to catch up to Dutch and Sadie. 'I thought we'd be gonners for sure this time.'

'Not this time Arthur, not this time.' Dutch pulled his horse to a stop out the front of the main building where most of the gang were holed up, trying to keep warm in the cold weather. Patting his horse, he turned to Arthur who had stopped beside him. 'Mr. Morgan, would you mind taking this girl please so I can dismount?'

'I'll take her.' Sadie interrupted, already off her horse and beside his in a heartbeat. 'I'm strong enough, and she's not too heavy anyway.'

'Alright, thankyou, Mrs. Adler.' Dutch handed the girl down to her, the girl waking up from the pain as she was passed down off the horse. He could see her wondering what was going on, and he was quick to reassure her. 'It's okay Joanna, Mrs. Adler has got you. We made it back to camp, and you'll be nice and warm soon. Getting off his horse, he saw Hosea coming out of the cabin and coming over to them. 'We made it Hosea, we made it .'

'Glad to see you back. We were getting quite worried when the storm blew in and you guys hadn't returned.' He looked around, noticing that it was just there horses and there was no cattle with them. 'Where's the steers? Did you manage to find the place?'

'Oh, we managed to find it alright. Someone else beat us to it though. They got the cattle, whatever else they had and her family too.' He motioned to the girl bundled up in Sadie's arms, the girls head resting wearily against her shoulder. 'We did get some stuff though, whatever we could find. There's no point going back their, the house is burnt to the ground by now, and the O'Driscolls that took the stock would be long gone by now.'

'Those blasted men.' He spat the words out like they contained venom. 'Was there anyone left besides her?'

'No, she's the soul survivor.' He motioned for him to come closer so the girl couldn't hear what he was about to say. 'Mrs. Adler found her parents and brothers in the loft of the barn. They'd been dead nearly a week, and they're deaths weren't pretty ones. If you and a couple of others could go back and bury them like you did for Jake Adler when the weather clears, I'm sure Joanna would be mighty grateful.'

'Alright.' He nodded. 'Arthur, Charles and I'll take care of it. But for now, you three go and get warmed up, I'll take care of the horses and bring the supplies in. I will warn you though, Micha is not in a good mood and it's not going to get any better with you bringing another kid back, pardon me for saying so.'

'Thanks for the heads up.' Dutch handed his horses reins to him, Arthur doing the same. 'Appreciate it.'

'Anytime Dutch, anytime.'

Joanna moaned softly in Sadie's arms as she felt herself getting carried into a building, her eyes opening as she heard the many people inside talking. Looking around, her brown eyes widened as she saw just how many people their was the big log cabin and they grew silent as they turned to gawk at her. She knew she must look a sight, wrapped in a horse blanket and blood dried in her brown, tangled hair. Suddenly though, she pressed against Sadie as a man started to approach them whimpering in fear as he towered over them.

Micha snorted as he saw the girl in the bundle Sadie had carried in, not at all pleased that there would be another kid around the camp. The kid would just be another useless burden like that widow was, another thing for him to complain about. 'What the heck did you bring her here for? We already have enough mouths to feed. We don't need another worthless idiot burden, this is not an orphanage or welfare department we're running here.'

'I'd watch your tongue if I were you.' Arthur stepped forward. He was sick of how high and mighty Micha pretended to be, prepared to bring him down a few notches but Dutch stopped him before he could throw a punch.

'Her family was killed, Mr. Bell, and she has nowhere else to go that I know of.' Dutch replied authoritatively as he put a hand on Arthur's shoulder to stop him decking the guy. 'The O'Driscolls got to her family's ranch before we did, so, we're taking her in until something can be done with her. How long that will take, I don't know, but she's staying until other arrangements can be made.'

'Great, just great.' He snarled with contempt, his sarcastic comment nipped the air like the cold wind outside. 'So, you go on a trip to find food, and you find another useless beggar to feed! Tell me at least you got a few cows for us to eat, or something more edible than this blasted kid.'

Dutch shook his head, trying to not show he was getting angry at him. 'They stole all of them, and everything else, the pigs. We did find some canned goods though, and horse blankets.'

'Oh yay, we can eat beans and vegetables then, can we?' He replied as he walked closer to them. 'We don't even have enough food for ourselves, let alone a runt like that. You should have left her for the O'Driscolls to finish her off, she would have been dead in another day. Instead, you bring her, another worthless burden along.' Looking down at the kid, he spat on the ground. 'What on earth were you thinking when you brought her back here? Look at her! She's as dumb and useless as your grandmother, and that's an insult to her.' Hearing a meow from under the blanket the girl was wrapped in, he found the source of the noise as Sadie tried to back away from him and yanked the kitten out from under it. Laughing tauntingly as he saw the girl look at him, he held the feline up by the scruff of the neck 'Well, I do complement you, useless kid. At least you brought some meat back, as quaint as it is.'

Joanna had been burying her face into Sadie's shoulder the whole time the man had been yelling about her. Maybe he was right, maybe they should have left her there to die if she was going to be the cause of so much trouble. Whimpering louder with fear as he walked closer, she began to shake in terror as he continued to shout. He stood in front of her and the woman that had rescued her as he and the man fought over her, then without warning, he grabbed her kitten from her grasp. Suddenly, she snapped. No one hurt her tabby, especially after everything they had already been through together.

Her eyes flaming with anger, she found strength she thought she didn't have left in her as she jumped out of the woman's arms, her mouth contoured into a hideous snarl. The blood-soaked blankets fell off her to reveal her hideously injured body as everyone in the room gasped at her appearance, but she didn't care. With another snarl, she leapt forward at the man before anyone could stop her from knocking him to the ground. She began to beat him in the face with her fists as he tried to get her off him, then felt Sadie trying to pull her off him. Turning around, she lashed out at her and made her jump back, then, went for the mans throat with her teeth as he tried to hit her back. Holding on tightly, she continued to bite down hard on his windpipe and started to shake her head like a dog with a rat, trying to tear his throat out. The man howled in pain as he let the cat go and tried again to get her off him, but Joanna was far from finished. Spitting out his neck when she found she couldn't kill him like that, she again began to punch his face. Pounding harder and harder she didn't let him have the chance to protect himself, the sound of his nose breaking as she gave him another right hook a pleasure to her ears.

'Alright, alright! That's enough!' Dutch tried again to pull her off him, but the girl turned again on him and went right on bashing him up. Suddenly, he saw the look in her eyes and realised that if they didn't stop her, she would kill him. Going for her again, he, Arthur and Sadie pulled the bloodied girl off Micha. The girl hissed and growled, trying to get away from them to finish him off as they dragged her away from him. Knowing the reason she had acted like that, he tried to calm her down. 'Easy, easy girl. Your kittens fine, see? She's all right.' He picked up the cowering, dirty kitten as the girl sank to the ground, gasping for air from the exertion of fighting as those in the room looked on in horror. Motioning to them that he had it under control, he handed her the kitten as Arthur stepped back and let Sadie and him take over. 'No one-' He glared at Micha who was nursing a broken, bleeding nose as he panted in pain from the beating he had received. He was looking at the girl with utter contempt in his eyes and Dutch could tell it wouldn't end well later on down the path. 'No one at all is going to hurt your cat, or they'll have me to deal with. Okay?'

Joanna nodded as she held the cat against her, burying her face in its fur as she shivered with cold, fresh blood running down her back and arms from her wounds. A couple of tears dripping down her cheeks, she whimpered as the pain of her injuries came back, threatening to take her down like a wolf bringing down a deer. She could see the way the man was looking at her, and then she felt Sadie place a hand on hers to let her know it would be okay. Even with her reassurance though, she knew that there was going to be trouble with him later. She could feel it.

Micha glared at her as he held a handkerchief to his bleeding nose. The kid had made him look like a fool in the way that she had brought him down so easy and had nearly ripped his throat out with nothing but her teeth. One thing he prided himself in was the fact that he had never lost a fight, and now he had lost his first, and to a girl barely a third of his size. "A kid like that can't stay here! She tried to kill me! Who knows what she is capable of, and with a temper like that-'

'You started it.' Arthur replied sharply, looking at him. 'By taking her cat.'

'Maybe we should have let her kill you.' Dutch replied simply as he walked over to him, then looked him in the eye. He had had more then enough of him being a bully to the other members of the gang, and it pleased him somewhat that the girl had taken a stand against him, even if it was out of anger. Still, he didn't condone that behavior in a child, but under the circumstances he thought it justified. 'You leave her alone, Mr. Bell. That child has been through a hell of a time, and she doesn't need any more people to be afraid of. I know what she is capable of. She already killed two men today, the blasted O'Driscolls who had taken over her house, and I do not need you to be her third kill. You are to stay as far away from her as possible. Do you understand me? '

'You'll be sorry later that you brought this animal into your care.' He snarled defiantly as he stared Dutch back. He hated that kid, and he would make her pay. 'You will be sorry.'

Dutch grabbed Micha by the front of his coat and pulled him to his feet, his face blazing with anger. 'Get out of here. I don't want to see you for the rest of the day.' Turning him around, he pushed him towards the door as the others stared on in amazement. 'Get.'

'Woah!' Hosea exclaimed as he was almost knocked over trying to enter the cabin, shaking his head as Micha hurried off, disappearing into the smaller cabin that housed the other men. Turning back to the others, he saw the looks on their faces and wondered what on earth had happened to make Micha flee like that. 'Uh, what did I miss?'

'The kid just whipped his butt for taking her kitten, and badly.' Abigail replied as she walked over from the others to the girl huddled up next to Sadie, who was trying to reassure her. Kneeling down next to her, the girl pulled away as she tried to put her hand on her shoulder. 'Hey, easy there. I'm not going to hurt you.'

Dutch saw the other gang members still gawking at her and shook his head in exasperation. 'Don't you all have something else better to do then stare at her all day?' He watched as they began to murmur, and then silenced them by holding up his hand. 'Go and get your stuff done, we still have a camp to run. There is nothing to be seen here.' Slowly they began to disperse, and Dutch went back over to the girl as he saw her shying away from Abigail. 'Joanna, there is nothing to be scared of. Miss Roberts isn't going to hurt you.'

'That's right.' Sadie added as the girl pressed closer to her. 'Miss Roberts is a good woman. She only wants to help you, okay?'

Stifling back a sniffle, Joanna turned cautiously to the woman sitting behind her. The woman smiled kindly at her as she grabbed a handkerchief and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She made a tiny smile back, then looked up to Dutch, lipping out the words 'Thank you' to him. She knew he would mean what she meant, thanks for saving her, and thanks for bringing her back to at least two people who would look after her.

"Your welcome, Joanna.' Dutch smiled at her, which was a rare thing for him to do, but the kid did deserve some kindness. Goodness only knew what the O'Driscoll boys had put her through in the time that they had been there. 'You'll be safe here, we'll make sure of it. I need to leave now, Mr. Morgan and I have business to attend to, but I'll come back and see how your doing later, okay?' The girl nodded, still holding onto her tabby kitten. 'Mr. Morgan.'

'Let's get you cleaned up, shall we?' Abigail asked as the men left, the other people in the cabin going about their work. She extended her hand forward to the girl, but the girl shrunk back again. "Come on, I won't hurt you."

"Its okay Joanna, you can trust her.' Sadie prompted. "You don't need to be scared.'

Joanna contemplated a little on what they said, then nodded as she took the woman's hand as she held onto the kitten with her other. Slowly, the woman helped her to her feet but as soon as she was standing upright, waves of pain shot up her legs because of the burns on her feet. No sound came out of her open mouth as she tried to scream from the pain, then she sank back down to the floor as she started to cry again.

"Oh, Joanna, I'm so so sorry.' Sadie apologized as she picked the girl up instead, kicking herself because she had forgotten her feet had been burnt in the fire. 'Where do you want me to take her, Abigail?'

'Just give me a moment, I'll find out.' Abigail turned around to look for Susan. "Miss Grimshaw, where can we put the girl?'

Susan looked up from the stew she was trying to stir over the fire. "She can have my cot in the loft, it's warmer up there and she'll be out of the way so we don't disturb her.'

'But where will you go then?'

"I'll take Mrs. Adler's place in the shack. That's if she wishes to swap. Would you be okay with that?'

"Sure, I don't mind.'

"Then it's settled.' She quickly tasted the stew then added some extra salt to it, and walked over to them. 'There should be some bandages and stuff in the bags up there, and you should be able to find some clothes for her too after she's cleaned up.' Looking down at the kitten, she shook her head as she saw how dirty it was. 'That cat needs a bath if it going to stay in here. We can't have muddy animals messing up our living quarters. Would you mind letting me clean her?' The girl shook her head. 'Please? She needs a bath to get rid of all that dirt sweetie.'

'Let me try.' Sadie could see Joanna wasn't about to let her kitten out of her sight. 'Joanna, you kitten needs to be cleaned honey. You don't want her to get sick do you?' The girl shook her head again, then finally relented. 'Good girl.'

'I'll take good care of her, I promise.' Susan gently took the kitten from the girl, then gave her a pat. Even though the other women thought she was hard, she had a soft spot for cats and she could tell it meant a lot to the girl. 'It won't take me long to get her cleaned up, then I'll bring her back to you.'

"Alright." Joanna lipped to her as Sadie began to take her up the stairs to the loft. She looked around at the big loft, bags and boxes stacked neatly against one wall, and on the other was a row of cots. Wincing, she was laid down on the one closest to the chimney and the two women set to work.

'You've had one hell of a time, haven't you?' Abigail muttered as she began to remove the blood encrusted nightgown, trying not to open more wounds in the process. The girl was covered in gashes and scratches, her body so thin she looked like she was just a skeleton, her ribs and other bones clearly visible underneath what skin she had left. The girl grimaced in pain as she tried to examine the rest of her body to see the extent of her injuries. The skin around her wrists had been torn off, obviously by the girl trying to get free of being tied up with rope and in a couple of spots, the muscle was visible. Her feet were just as bad, black charred burns from running on the burning planks leaving their mark on her heels and toes. What parts of her body weren't covered in the patchwork of gashes was covered in huge black and purple bruises, the girls face just as equally injured with her black eye and more bruises. The girl had obviously fought hard against the men, and this was the result. A torn, bruised body and she could only guess at the mental wounds too. She shook her head in disgust as she finished examining her, Sadie coming back over with the medical supplies. For a girl so young, she had been brutality attacked by those pigs. 'We're going to get you fixed up and feeling better in no time at all honey, I promise.'

Sadie looked on as Abigail began to expertly bind the dressings over the girls wounds, just as angry about how the girl had been treated. Even she, with limited medical knowledge could tell the girl was malnourished, and she knew that it wasn't from the time that she had been at the mercy of the O'Driscolls. The girl looked like she hadn't had a square meal in months. She wondered just what her treatment from her family was too, for her to get in this way she had obviously not been treated well by them either. Feeling rather stupid just standing around doing nothing while the other woman took care of Joanna, she began to look for way to help Abigail tend to the girl. 'What do you want me to do?'

'You could try to get that dried blood out of her hair for a start.' Abigail glanced over briefly at her, pausing bandaging the girls hands for a moment. 'Just use a damp, warm cloth. That should be the trick. We don't want to wet it too much though, or she'll get a chill. She's already cold enough from exposure.'

'Don't worry, I won't.' Grabbing some water that had been heating next to the stone chimney, she poured some into a basin then dampened a cloth and went to work. The girls hair was in a matted mess, and untangling it was a nightmare but eventually she managed to get it finished and had tied it into a braid to keep it out of the way. 'All finished now.'

'Good.' Abigail was tying up the last bandage on the girls leg, then grabbed one of Tilly's old nightgowns for the girl to wear. With Sadie's help, they put it on the girl, then tucked her in under some blankets to keep her warm. 'There you go honey, all nice and warm now.' Glancing down at her, she smoothed the girls hair back to reassure her. 'Feeling a little better?'

Joanna nodded sleepily, the warmness of the blankets and the medicine they had given her to dull the pain taking their effect on her weakened body. Looking up at both her and Sadie, she lipped a 'thank you' to the pair of them, then started to look around for her feline pet. 'Kitten?'

'I'm sure she's fine.' Sadie understood the girls question without words, having become quite good at lip reading already. Hearing a person coming up into the loft, she looked over to see Susan walking in, holding a fluffy clean kitten. 'Here she is.'

'See, I told you that I would take good care of her.' Susan sat the kitten down next to Joanna, the now grey tabby nudging the girls face with her nose. 'She's all feed and clean now. I thought she was a brown tabby at first from all that dust she was covered in, but no, she's a grey. What's her name, Joanna?'

'Miracle.' She lipped a reply, then opened her mouth to yawn, again no sounds coming out. It frightened her a little that she couldn't talk, but guessed it was because of all the screaming she had done earlier. It was no wonder she had lost her voice, her terrified screaming had been loud enough to wake the dead. 'Thank you.'

'Your welcome. Now you get some sleep honey. When you wake up, we'll have some dinner ready for you.'

Joanna nodded as her and Abigail left the room. She saw Sadie about to leave too, and tried to grab her with her bandaged hand. 'Stay.'

'You want me to stay?' The girl nodded, her eyes pleading her not to leave. 'Alright then honey, I'll stay since you want me too.' Dragging a cot over, she sat down next to har and started to stroke her hair as the girl began to drift off to sleep. Watching her sleep, Sadie began to wonder just what on earth those men had done to the girl. She could guess from the wounds on the girls body that the girl had tried to fight back, whatever it was. It made her blood boil to think of what the girl would have went through, and it only made her hate towards the O'Driscolls grow. She would get her revenge on them, all she had to do was wait and be patient..