A/N: The character of Hannah Dobbs who is introduced in this chapter is the original creation of Jan in Va. Used with the permission of the original author.

Chapter 4

Todd and Matt were startled awake by the sound of Tuber cursing and yelling. As he opened his eyes and sat up, it only took Todd a minute to realize that the cop was gone.

"Get your asses moving!" Tuber bellowed at the two brothers. "We have to find the son of a bitch before anybody else does! He couldn't have gotten very far…he was here ten minutes ago when I went to take a piss."

Tuber pulled his gun from his holster and Matt grabbed a rifle from inside the tent. The three men hurried towards the dense woods. It didn't take long for Tuber to spot the figure of a man not far ahead of them. Matt saw him too and raised his rifle taking a shot.

When the man kept moving, Matt took careful aim and fired again. He saw the other man stumble and then fall forward into the overgrown brush.

"I got him!" Matt crowed as he crashed through the brush towards the spot where he had seen Starsky fall. He skidded to a stop startled when he almost fell over the side of a deep ravine that had been hidden by the overgrown foliage. He cursed when he realized that his prey had fallen into the ravine and lay at the bottom, his left arm twisted at an unnatural angle.

"Fuck!" Todd grumbled as he joined his brother at the edge of the ravine. "How the hell are we going to get him out of there without breaking our necks?"

"Why don't we just leave him there?" Matt suggested "He looks dead anyway. Ain't that what that McFarland guy that hired us wanted?"

"You stupid bastard!" Tuber growled. "We won't get the rest of the money unless we bury him according to the plan!"

"Don't yell at us!" Todd snapped, fed up with Tuber ordering them around. "You're the one who tied him back up last night! You should have remembered to tie his feet!"

"Well, I sure as hell ain't climbing down there to get him out," Matt complained with a shake of his head.

"Neither am I." Todd declared

"You two assholes are going to do exactly what I tell you to do!" Tuber said "Or maybe he won't be the only one buried up here where nobody will ever find the bodies!" he smiled coldly "I doubt if anyone would miss either one of you. We'll go back and get the ropes out of the car so we can get down there and get his body."

The men continued to argue as they walked back to their hidden campsite. They retrieved some heavy ropes from the trunk of Todd's van. Unknown by Tuber, Todd still had their prisoner's gun hidden in his jacket pocket. The three men walked back into the woods, heading in the opposite direction from where the cop's body had fallen. Todd had remembered that there was another way into the ravine but they would have to hike through the woods to get to it. As they walked, the ground slowly began to slope downhill allowing them to easier access to the far end of the ravine where they could walk back to where the cop had fallen. When they finally got there, they were startled to discover that Starsky's body had disappeared.

"Where the fuck did he go?" Todd snapped, looking around the area with an annoyed frown. "He sure as hell looked dead to me."

"Maybe some animal already found the body and drug it off." Matt suggested a bit nervously. He knew that there were bears and coyotes up here on the mountain. Even a couple of mountain lions had been spotted from time to time. There was a hint of fear as he looked around as if he expected a wild animal to suddenly pounce. A rustling in the bushes accompanied by a low growl made him jump. 'I'm not wasting my time looking for his body." Matt declared firmly. "I'm going back to camp."

"So, am I." Todd said siding with his brother.

Tuber glanced up at the darkening sky. A storm was moving in. They would go back to camp and he would take care of these two losers and then continue searching for the damn cop's body alone. A thin smile tugged at his lips, then the money would be all his and he wouldn't have to share.

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Hannah Dobbs pushed a strand of long dark auburn hair out of her face as straightened up from gathering the herbs and plants that grew wild in the woods. Plants and herbs that she used for her homemade remedies. Mountain remedies that had been passed down in Hannah's family from generation to generation. Now Hannah was the last of her line in these mountains and, unless she married and had a family someday, those secrets would die with her.

Hannah's eyes clouded with sadness as she thought about her parents, both dead now for almost six months. Hannah had been alone since then. She had been born and raised on this mountain and had never been outside its boundaries. She was lonely but this was the only place where she felt safe and protected. The thought of leaving the mountain terrified her.

Angel, her two year old German Shepard, pricked her ears forward and growled softly alerting Hannah to possible danger. Hannah stopped and listened. She could hear the sound of voices nearby. Strangers seldom came to this part of the mountain so she felt alarmed for a moment. She gave a hand signal to silence Angel who immediately obeyed and moved to stand close to her side. Her curiosity aroused, Hannah moved silently through the foliage, stopping and peering through the heavy brush in amazement and disbelief. A man's body was sprawled at the bottom of Devil's Gorge. She listened to the conversation of the three men on the ridge above. She knew that the only other way into the ravine was to come in from the opposite end. That was a good thirty minute hike. That gave her enough time to hide the injured man.

Cautiously, she slowly took a step closer, her heart pounding frantically in her chest. The man's clothes were torn and dirty and his face was cut and heavily bruised. What appeared to be a burn covered his right cheek from just below his eye down to his jaw line. The man had obviously been beaten and beaten badly over a period of time. The left side of his face was covered with blood that was still seeping from a jagged wound across his left temple that disappeared into his hair line.

Hannah didn't know who the man was. But, she knew she had to help him if she could. She could see his chest rising and falling with each labored breath he took. Hannah stood there deep in thought for several minutes. She knew she couldn't move the man by herself. She would need to make a makeshift pallet to get him back to her cabin. But, she couldn't leave him lying in the open while she made her preparations. She had no idea where he had come from or how he had got there but it was obvious that he hadn't come willingly, not with his hands tied behind his back.

With her mind made up, Hannah stepped forward and quickly untied the man's hands. She carefully eased him over onto his back. His left arm was twisted at an unnatural angle, obviously broken. Gently, she placed the injured arm over his chest and let it rest there. The man moaned slightly but didn't open his eyes. Moving to the man's head, Hannah grabbed the man's shirt and began pulling him back towards the woods behind her. It was slow going, he was heavier than he looked, but finally Hannah had him safely hidden from view. Returning to where he had been lying, she picked up the length of rope that had bound his hands and draped it around her neck in case she needed it later. Then she used a broken branch with the leaves still attached to cover up her tracks and the drag marks she had made.

She looked up in alarm when she heard the sound of voices in the distance. She darted out of sight in the heavy brush, peering out carefully. She caught her breath when she saw three men, two of them armed with guns, walking down the ravine from the far end. She ducked out of sight as they drew closer.

Hannah listened to the conversation between the three men. When she saw the badge pinned to one man's shirt a new fear made her heart pound harder. If one of the men was the law then who was the man she had found? Somehow, Hannah instinctively knew that the injured man wasn't dangerous but these men were. She remained silent as the men argued between themselves about continuing their search for the missing man. When she heard the comment about the wild animals in the area, Hannah grinned as an idea suddenly occurred to her. Making sure to keep out of sight, she shook the bushes in front of her while at the same time giving Angel a hand signal. Angel bared her fangs and began to make a deep, menacing growl in her throat. Hannah's ruse seemed to work at two of the men immediately decided to return to their camp. Hannah remained hidden, breathing a sigh of relief as the men disappeared out of sight. She knew she didn't have much time. She had to get the injured man back to her cabin before they decided to return and continue their search.

"Stay." Hannah said, ordering Angel to stay with the injured man and protect him until she returned. The dog immediately lay down next to the man and rested her head on her paws. Hannah turned and walked deeper into the woods until she came to the spot where she had tied her horse, a big bay draft horse named Buddy. Swiftly untying the big animal, she led him back to where the injured man lay. Hannah pulled the faded, threadbare blanket that she had used as a makeshift seat from the horse's broad back. Spreading it out the ground, she quickly tore off several long strips. With that task finished, she searched the surrounding area until she found two long, heavy branches that were perfect for her needs.

The sound of gunshot echoed in the distance, startling her momentarily. Gunfire was not uncommon here in the mountains. Everyone hunted to supplement their meager diets. But, the memory of the three men she had seen made her afraid for her own safety as well as the safety of the injured man she was determined to help. She worked quickly to get him ready to mover. She fastened the blanket between the two branches making a makeshift stretcher. Laying it as close as possible to the injured man's side, she gently rolled him to the left and slid the pallet underneath him. When she rolled him back over, he was lying on the blanket. Hannah carefully positioned him and used a strip of material she had left to tie his broken arm securely to his chest so it wouldn't be jarred anymore than necessary on the rugged trip back to her cabin.

With her patient ready to be moved, she used the rope looped around her neck and used it to fasten the two branches over the horse's rump. Finally, she grabbed a handful of mane and pulled herself onto the horse's broad back. Clucking softly, she grabbed two hands full of mane and held on as Buddy made his way back home. It was as if the big draft horse knew that he was hauling a precious cargo and had to move slowly. Angel trotted along beside the injured man still protecting him from harm. It was dark and a storm was brewing when they finally reached the small clearing where the Dobbs cabin stood. Hannah guided the horse up to the front porch and then jumped down.

Quickly she checked on the injured man. He was still alive but his breathing was heavy and labored. She knew that she needed to get him inside where she could care for him properly. Unfastening the branches from Buddy's rump, she angled that end of the makeshift stretcher so that it leaned against the porch. She slapped Buddy on the rump and watched as the big horse galloped across the clearing to the rundown barn and disappeared inside. Hannah knew he would stay there until she was able to tend to him.

Grabbing the opposite end of the stretcher, Hannah lifted it until it was parallel with the porch and then pushed it forward so that the man was now lying on the wooden planks of the porch. She paused for a few minutes to catch her breath. Hannah was a petite woman but years of working the fields with her father had left her stronger than she looked.

Finally, she climbed up the steps to the porch and grabbed the other end of the stretcher. Pushing the front door open with her backside, Hannah pulled her burden into the cabin. She knew he was too heavy for her to get on the bed, so she pulled him over beside the bed and made him as comfortable as possible. Angel followed and lay down in her usual spot in front of the fireplace. Resting her muzzle on her front paws, her eyes followed Hannah as she moved around the cabin.

Quickly she gathered up her supplies, bandages, several of her homemade medicines, scissors and a pan of warm water from the bucket that set on the back of the old wood burning stove. Moving back to the man's side, she knelt down and looked closely at his face. In spite of the bruises and cuts, Hannah could see that he was a handsome man with thick, dark curls and an olive complexion.

She started cutting off the torn and ripped clothing trying hard not to look at the private parts of the man's body as she undressed him. Thankfully, she was able to keep his underwear intact and her virtue unmarred. Even though she was in her mid-twenties, Hannah was still a virgin and had never seen a man's naked body before. Her father had kept Hannah and her mother isolated and secluded here on this mountain determined to keep his only child an innocent who would remain with them so she could care for him and his wife in their old age. Dying in their late forties had never been part of his plans.

Using the water and a bar of handmade soap, Hannah carefully washed the grime, dirt and dried blood from the man's body. Besides his obviously broken arm she was certain that he also had some broken ribs from the sound of his harsh, raspy breathing. She hoped he didn't have any internal bleeding or injuries. That was the one thing she was not equipped to care for.

Once she had his body clean, she set the broken arm and made a homemade splint to immobilize it until it healed. She also wrapped several pieces of material around his chest and fastened it tightly to support any broken ribs he might have. With those tasks done, she turned her attention to the rest of his injures. The bruises, while painful, would have to heal on their own. He had some deep cuts and lacerations that needed stitches. That Hannah could do. She carefully threaded a needle with some heavy thread and went to work. Relieved when she finished, Hannah rocked back on her heels and looked at her handiwork with satisfaction. She had cared for his injures the best she could now all she could was wait and watch for infection. Satisfied that he was resting as comfortably as possible, Hannah rose to her feet and began to prepare her evening meal.

As she sat at the tiny wooden table eating her evening meal, she glanced over at the man lying on the floor. If he lived she knew that eventually he would leave and she would be alone again. Suddenly, that idea was no longer appealing but the thought of leaving the mountain and looking for a life elsewhere was terrifying. And, if he died, she would bury him on the hill behind the house beside her folks.