DEAD/ALIVE - Chapter Twenty Six
**Warning. Rape Scene**
Le Caprice Dress Shop
Joanie gave Kid a grateful smile, as she returned her attention to the customer. It was twenty minutes past closing. Kid had been waiting patiently, stretched out in a comfortable chair, his hat tipped back with his arms folded across his chest.
"No Ma'am. I'm sorry we don't have that in stock, but we could order it. Should have it at the end of next week at the earliest. I can write your order up over here," Joanie said, trying to gently guide the woman towards the counter.
"I don't know…" the woman said, stopping. "Maybe I should have my husband…I just don't know."
Joanie had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at Kid, who had dropped his head into his hands in exasperation.
"Perhaps you should have your husband come in. We will open again on Monday. It will give you time to think about it." Joanie smiled sweetly at the woman.
"I think you are right. Thank you dear. And thank you young man," she turned to address Kid, who quickly raised his head from his hands and straightened up, looking embarrassed.
"Ma'am?"
"My apologies for keeping you so late."
"Thaddeus if you would be so kind as to walk Mrs Wilhelm to her carriage."
Kid jumped to his feet.
"Thank you. Would you mind if I took your arm?"
"No Ma'am." Kid said as he obliged her by allowing her to slip her arm under his.
When he returned, he had a concerned look on his face.
"Weather looks like it's changing. You're the one that wanted to walk…We'd better get if we're getting."
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"You had to pick one of the coldest days to decide to walk," Kid teased.
"We could get a carriage, but I kind of like this…" Joanie said as a squeezed Kid's gloved hand. "Don't tell me this is any colder than a Wyoming winter day."
"It's a might drier out there, but there ain't anything like a Wyoming wind. Blow you right out of your saddle. Can't say that I'll miss that. Glad you like this walking because it appears as if all the carriage drivers were smart enough to get inside where it's warm."
The streets were unusually empty
"Well Mr. Jones I can think of a few ways to warm you up."
"Just a few?" Kid said with a smile.
Kid bowed his head lower, trying to fight off the increasingly cold winter air. His right arm was wrapped tightly around Joanie, pulling her close into his Sherpa as they hurried back to the Soapy's estate, before the temperature dropped further. He readjusted the packages in his gloved left hand.
Kid suddenly had an uneasy feeling, as he felt Joanie brush against his holster. He realized he couldn't reach his gun.
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PARKER HOUSE
The man entered the washroom, as Heyes pumped clean water and splashed it across his face before reaching blindly for the towel. After he dried his face, he caught a glimpse in the mirror of the man that stood waiting. Heyes looked back down to hang the towel, when his head jerked up as realization hit him. He spun around, reaching for his gun.
Heyes' gun had cleared his holster, but it was too late. Dan Dority had already crossed the short distance and with vicious blows drove Heyes to the floor. Dan's face loomed so close, he could feel his warm breath against his now bloody cheek. The last thought Heyes had before a hand roughly grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed his head on the floor was…Kid.
Dan slowly opened the washroom door and motioned to the man standing watch at the door for help. They got an unconscious Heyes to his feet. While the man steadied him, Dan made a half-hearted attempt to wipe some of the blood off Heyes' face before he threw the bloody towel aside. He slammed Heyes' hat on his head, and put on his coat, turning the collar up, satisfied if they moved quickly they could make it out the back door and get him out of the building undetected.
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Heyes woke up with his cheek pressed against the cold surface of the dark damp room. Grit clung to dried blood on the side of his face. He tried to muster enough spit to rid himself of the coppery taste of the blood and dirt that permeated his mouth. He instinctively tried to move a hand to wipe it away, but was unable to because of the ropes. He groaned as he pulled and struggled against the restraints.
He heard a chuckle, the scrape of boots moving close to him, and the sound of the hammer of a gun being pulled back and pressed painfully hard against the side of his head.
"You don't know how much I'd love to pull this trigger and blow your fucking head off. It would be so easy. Too easy. All Al asked was that I bring you and your partner back alive. I guess breathing constitutes being alive."
Heyes slowly closed his eyes. As the mental fog cleared, his mind began racing. How could they have been so stupid? How could they have thought Al Swearengen wouldn't come after them for what they did?
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Joanie realized Kid hadn't heard a word she had said. She opened her mouth to admonish him, quickly closing it when she saw the concerned look on his face. Kid instinctively knew something wasn't right, and started to quicken his pace towards Soapy's.
They had just passed an alleyway when he felt a presence close in behind them. With his right hand he roughly pushed Joanie away and swung the packages in his left hand, hoping to give himself the time needed to reach his gun.
"RUN!" He yelled at Joanie, before turning with his gun in hand to confront the person. He had miscalculated. The one person had quickly grown to five. He quickly fired two shots, each hitting their marks with screams of pain before his gun was knocked from his hand.
"THADDEUS'!" Joanie screamed. He could tell from the closeness of her voice she had not run.
"RUN!" He yelled to her as he fought to keep the men from dragging him into the alley.
Joanie stumbled after the men, frantically reaching for the derringer secured under her dress. She freed it just as one of Kid's attackers turned his attention to her. She fired a shot, hitting the man in the side of the head, clipping his ear. He screamed in pain and rage as he charged at her, knocking her to the ground as she fired her second and last shot. The shot missed, but it gave her time to push to her knees and frantically crawl towards Kid's gun. She had just reached it, when a hard kick sent the gun flying out of her reach. The man, with blood running down the side of his face, grabbed her by the hair and flipped her onto her back. He began dragging her into the alley, as she fought kicking, screaming and scratching at his hand.
The man pushed a bloody Kid to his knees, shoving a gun to his head. He drew back the hammer, before the second man grabbed his arm.
"No killing."
The man dumped Joanie beside him.
"What about this bitch?! She shot my ear off!"
Joanie curled close to Kid.
"Dority said no killing. Not even the whore."
Joanie's eyes met Kid's. Confusion was replaced with horror.
Dority?
Dan Dority.
Deadwood.
"I'm sorry." Kid said to Joanie, before the man raised his gun and hit Kid in the back of the head, dropping him unconscious to the ground, but not before the last sound he heard was Joanie scream.
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Abandoned Warehouse - Chinatown
"I get her first. Only fair since she damn near took my ear off." The man said as he tightened his grip on Joanie's arm.
"You can have her after me. I'll get her all broke in for you. I think she might have forgot what she really is…hanging around with these high and mighty rich folks. Come on Joanie, we are going to get reacquainted."
Dan grabbed Joanie roughly by the arm, as she sat back and started to struggle. There was no way she was going to win against Dan's size and strength, but she wasn't going to give in without a fight.
Joanie hadn't gone there in a while, but she went to the place she would go when her father first laid hands on her and every time after that. The smells were fresh and clean, away from the stench of sweat and sex. The sky was a deep blue, almost as blue as Thaddeus' eyes, which made her smile a small smile. Dan hadn't missed it and threw her onto her stomach before pushing into her harder and rougher. Her smile quickly disappeared as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut and bit the inside of her lip refusing to give Dan the satisfaction of hearing her scream out in pain.
"You ain't done whore." Dan said, yanking her naked body off of the makeshift bed and pulling her to her knees in front of him. "You know what to do."
Dan put his gun to the side of her head, "I feel one tooth…I'll leave your fucking brains splattered all over this room."
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"Kid? Kid?" Heyes whispered to his partner lying in a bloody heap. His voice was full of concern and pain. The ropes made it impossible to move to him, but Heyes continued pulling and tugged on them until he felt blood run down his hands.
Kid finally stirred and groaned. His eyes slowly blinked open. It took several moments before he became aware of his surroundings and Heyes.
Kid struggled to sit up.
"Joanie," Kid managed to choke out.
"Joanie?" Heyes looked confused. "She's not here."
Kid choked out a sob. The last thing he heard before he was knocked unconscious was Joanie scream.
Was she dead?
He couldn't breathe. Heyes saw sorrow and a rage he had never seen in Kid's face.
Kid began frantically fighting the ropes.
"She was with me," Kid choked out. "If they've hurt her." The idea caused him to fight even harder until he collapsed with exhaustion.
"It's Dority, Kid."
"I know. I should have pulled the trigger. If I had only pulled the damn trigger!"
"He's planning on taking us back to Deadwood. Alive."
"That leaves a lot of miles and time to figure out how to get the hell outta of this mess."
"We don't show up tonight…Soapy's going come looking."
"You have an idea where we are?"
Just shaking his head caused Heyes to squeeze his eyes shut in pain.
The door was yanked open as Joanie was pushed into the room, followed by Dan and another man.
"Tie her up," Dan said, addressing the man trailing behind him.
A cry died in Kid's throat as he took one look at Joanie. It was obvious what had happened to her. Her clothes were disheveled and ripped. Every step she took was slow and difficult. Joanie raised her head and locked pleading eyes on Kid before giving him a quick shake of her head.
Kid was shaking with fury. His blue eyes were dark with an insane rage.
Once Joanie's feet and hands were tied, Dan grabbed her by her chin and pulled her head around before kissing her roughly on the lips. He watched Kid's reaction with pure pleasure as he grabbed one of her breasts and fondled it
Kid fought to get up, "I...AM...GOING...TO…KILL …YOU." He said through clenched teeth.
"You do that," Dan said with a laugh. He released Joanie and shoved her in the back, causing her to fall roughly on her side. The man took the extra rope and tethered her to a nearby post, a safe distance from Kid and Heyes.
"Better get some fucking sleep. We're leaving tomorrow. Bright and early. Hope you all like cows. They'll be your traveling companions."
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Soapy looked from his watch to the front door. He crossed to the window and pushed the heavy drapes back. There was no sign of them. Kid and Joanie should have been back well over two hours ago. Kid had asked to leave work early as he wanted to escort Joanie home. She had wanted to walk instead of taking the carriage. And where was Heyes? He hoped they were all together and he was overreacting, but instinct told he wasn't.
Soapy quickly grabbed his coat.
"Charles!"
A man quickly appeared.
"Get some men together…saddled and ready."
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Soapy sent several men to the Parker House gambling establishment to look for Heyes, while the rest of the men searched for Joanie and Kid. As they rode the route back to Soapy's from the dress shop one of the men spotted some packages thrown haphazardly at the mouth of an alley. He quickly dismounted, and after a quick look down the alley motioned Soapy and the rest of the men to follow. The alley was dark except for the street lamps that lit the beginning and end of the alley. The man held the packages out under the lamp for Soapy to see. Stamped on each box was: Le Caprice. He spotted something white laying to the side. It was the muff he had given Joanie for Christmas.
There was blood on it.
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