Chapter 20

Meanwhile in the forest

"Now don't you blame yourself for what happened sugar," Honey fluttered above the deer's cave trying to ease Orchid's pain of loss. "That blasted storm could've overpowered all o' us here in the forest. I myself was no match for them ragin' winds blowin' against my wings."

Orchid could only gaze up at Honey with a saddened frown. Suppose she was right about the storm; there didn't seem to be any point in arguing about it. But she couldn't bear to stand the thought of what would happen if her adoptive child ever got lost at the very bottom or never had made it to land. Even with Juniper safe by her side, she hated to have to lose another child despite not being of their own kind. No other baby cow like Grace should ever deserve to be mistreated cruelly, neglected, ignored, picked on, abandoned or be held captive by bad men.

"I know," answered Orchid truthfully, "But she was like another daughter to me and a sister to Juniper. We both loved her."

Little Juniper reared her tiny head upward to her mother feeling just as heartbroken as she was about Grace. She wanted to cry, but kept it in to keep her mother from seeing them. Why did she have to disappear from them like that?

"If it makes the both of you feel better, I'd be more than willin' to form search groups to find out where she might've gone to," Honey insisted.

You can do that?" asked Orchid hopefully. Juniper perked up.

"I can try," replied Honey, "What other option is there? I'll be back before yah know it."

And with that, the bluebird flew off into the distance to find whoever may be able to help her on this expedition to the whereabouts of Grace.

Back at the cabin

Later that night, Grace struggled frantically to get comfortable against the leg of the bed she was tied up to. But with being restrained in a tight position, each move made the ropes feel tighter than usual. Now her entire body was aching from being forced to sit up straight all afternoon.

To her surroundings there was not much to see but the two black trunks which sat in the right corner. The room was about the size of the shack Lewis confined her in. But at that time, he had allowed her to move about a little; right now she was going nowhere. Darkness was everywhere around her, making her edgy. On the bed, Lewis was snoring lightly like a tiny bumblebee buzzing its wings, but that was the least of her problems. The bandits could be heard sleeping in the fireplace area. The unpleasant smell of cigarette smoke still wavered in the air filling her nostrils.

This was all beyond hope. Even if she thought of a way to escape, each entrance was locked up good and tight. And there was no way Tuck would fall for any of her tricks, he seemed too smart for that. She would have nowhere to escape to. This time it was serious; with her freedom forever taken away, she realized that no victory was to be cherished. She would never succeed in thinking of an escape plan, being untied, or finding some other way to get out of this mess before she is taken further away. Maybe it was better this way. Maybe she was never meant to be with a loving family. This was her life now.

Grace could feel her mouth water beneath the gag. Although she wasn't quite hungry, she was thirstier and would give anything to have a sip of refreshed water from the flowing river. She hadn't had a drop to drink all through the day. Oh what was she thinking? There was no way she would desire what she needed. After all, Lewis did mention that he would not give her food or water for ten days. Ten days! She could never take that long without water!

Every muscle in her body ached more, and she longed to move up and stretch out her four legs. But there was nothing she could do to relieve the pain. Anger began to flare in her heart; one way or another she would have to stand up to her owner someday. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday she'd have to. As Honey told her, folks like Lewis and the bandits will someday be the ones begging for mercy. Hopefully that day won't come so slowly now.

She'd never forget that lofty tone in Lewis's voice as he said he would give her fifty hits with his whip for running away from him. It had been mixed with malice, fury, and disappointment. Overcome by fear and sadness in her heart, Grace sunk her head down and she shook with great heaving sobs. Her hope of being with a loving family had shattered into a million broken pieces after being recaptured. Would her "owner" really remember to give fifty hits after the ten days were up? With escape out of the question, her one last hope was rescue. For so many hours, she had been too tired and frightened to think straight about what was most important.

Grace felt confident that rescue was inevitable and would only be a matter of time before the forest critters formed a search party or that the lawmen could miraculously ride this way by luck. She hated Lewis with all her heart and couldn't stand how he had treated her for the past two and a half months. Worse yet, she couldn't stand to think about him wanting to drag her all the way to outlaw town, home to every untried desperado in the west; the one place where the law can't touch them. It made her sick to think about having to live the rest of her life as a captive while probably slaving away at some other ranch. That's what he is planning to do with me! Grace thought with frustration. By the time Lewis and the bandits take her away to outlaw town, she would be forced to work without rest until she could no longer take it. And if she couldn't work anymore, it is likely for her that she'll end up as the next main course on an outlaw's dinner plate.

It didn't seem to matter anymore if she would ever be rescued or not. With tears filling her eyes, it felt more like years since she had been living under the wrath of Lewis and his brutality. Wherever she had traveled with these men, every land had no path or end. It was easy to get lost in the forest, desert, and town without knowing where to turn to. Grace trembled violently while still tied against the bed. She screamed for help again but it was muffled underneath the gag. Nobody would ever hear her out in these woods; it was hopeless.

All she could do was sit here and do nothing until it would be time to move out of this place. Once again, she tugged at the ropes which made the leg of the bed creak softly. Lewis stirred and snorted, but did not wake. They would never loosen a bit; Lewis tied them real tight to prevent escape. Grace shook her head in agony as more tears poured down her cheeks, soaking her gag. Her future would never be hers to decide. Whatever happens would be up to Lewis to take care of that, and no amount of false hopes was going to change that either. Grace moved her tear-stained face down slowly as she fell asleep throughout the rest of the night. Moonlight sauntered through the window of the room shinning down upon the lonely figure.

That one morning

At first light during the early morning hours, Grace opened her eyes groggily halfway to find that she was in the same room with Lewis still asleep on the bed. She must have fallen asleep herself, but couldn't remember how long though. In this new room, it had been hard for her to tell how many hours or days had passed since this ever happened. She moved her neck left and right to ease the pain from having it slumped all night long.

A few minutes later, Grace could hear movement in the fireplace which meant that the bandits were already awake and ready to cook breakfast as usual. But what happened next was a moan of disappointment.

"Aw dang, we ain't got no more bacon, biscuits, or coffee in our bags!" she heard one gripe.

"Then we'll just have to go out and find a town close to here," suggested the leader. "I'll leave a note on this table in case Lewis wakes up and finds that we're missin'. He'll be alright." Since Sam knew that Lewis might still be recovering from the alcohol effect, he reckoned it would probably not be a good idea to disturb him for other good reasons.

After that moment, Grace heard the men walk out the cabin door and mount their horses to take off in search of more food supplies to last for the next couple of weeks. She jumped at the thundering of hooves which rumbled loudly in her chest for twenty seconds before coming to a stop. So far, Grace had feared loud noises from thundering hooves, lightening strike, gunshots, and the crack of the whip. All of them represented something terrible happening to her.

Grace could feel and hear Lewis turn on one side of the bed snoring soundly like a buzzing bee. It was now becoming irritating to hear, yet she couldn't cover her ears. Right now she wished she were outside in the sunshine singing one of her favorite folk songs with her friends. The poor calf snapped to attention when she heard the floor of the cabin hall creak from each footstep growing closer. Seeing that it was Tuck poking his head in, Grace turned her head away with her eyes closed.

"Well look at what the cowboy dragged in," he jeered, stepping in for a closer look at the calf's frightened face. "If ya ask me, I ain't ever seen a runt like you look that good in ropes. Boy you sure are one messed up troublemaker."

Those words made Grace boil deep inside like food sizzling in a frying pan. Everything negative and unkind said about her wasn't true at all. She turned her head to the other side when his foul breath reeked over her. If it weren't for these blasted ropes binding her, she'd give this Doberman thug a great big kick in the rear. That surely would teach him a thing about loyalty to others. After every dishonest deed he had committed throughout this trip, it was nothing more than an act to please his masters and be rewarded with a tender meal. There was nothing loyal about Tuck or what he had said; he was nothing more than a coward and a fool. If only she had the courage to say that to him, except that all she could do was moan softly.

"Huh, what's that?" said Tuck viciously with his head lowering closer with a furrowed brow. "You wish to congratulate me and my masters on our success? Why I thought you'd never agree to that." He finished, putting his paw to her cheek. Grace flinched away from his touch.

In truth, Tuck knew that if he removed the gag, all he would hear from this calf would be insults and back talking. The shouts would even be loud enough to wake up Lewis on the bed, and he didn't want to take any chances of waking up the entire neighborhood with her bloodcurdling screaming. With nothing more to say to Grace, he decided to run outside and keep a lookout for any familiar riders on the trail. Glad that it was over, Grace tugged at the ropes without success. There had to be a way out of here sooner or later.

That afternoon

"Well what do ya know, another fine day in the forest," Lewis yawned as he stretched out his arms and cracked his back. He acted as if nothing strange had happened; he was now wide awake and ready for a new day. Stepping off the bed, he walked outside with a pile of clean clothes, possibly to bathe in the river close to this area out of view. It had only taken about half an hour for him to come back and find a note on the table for him to read:

Lewis,

Me and the boys have rushed out to search for the nearest town to stock up on more supplies for our trip. Hope you don't mind us leaving you behind; wouldn't want to disturb your rest. We'll be back in a short while so don't go anywhere.

Scar Face Sam

Placing the note back on the table, Lewis could only chuckle lightly, knowing that he had nothing to fear from the letter. He never did like to have anyone disturb him from a nice peaceful rest; especially when one is recovering from an illness or long hike in the wilderness.

"Well while the gang is out runnin' some errands, I better start workin' on brandin' my calf. Let's see now, there's got to be somethin' here I can use to…wait a minute. The back yard is fool o' ranchin' tools; I could use one of those." Lewis's footsteps could be heard running outside.

With him gone, Grace had no idea what he meant about working on branding his calf, but whatever it was made her nervous. His surprises always made her cringe. First with that whip, and now this new word called branding. What was it?

Unable to see what was happening, Lewis came back in with wood for the fireplace and lit it up with a lighter. In a matter of seconds the fire was ready and what Grace didn't see was him placing a long iron rod over the fire as he sat down waiting for it to turn red.

Author's Note: Sorry about the long update. There has been a problem with the uploading device in the Documents section recently. I have to thank one of my friends doodlegirl for the same helpful advice given by another member HC247. I'll give them credit for helping me out with updating. If any of you readers are having trouble uploading, PM (private message) me and I'll help as well.