Chp 13

Holding Georgie close to her side, Kitty stumbled out of the house and followed the two men as they led her and the child to their horses. If not for Georgie, she would've ran or fought or done something to try and get away from her captors. But she had the little boy to think of and she wasn't willing to take the chances with his life, as she was with her own.

When they reached the horses, Parsons forcibly pulled Georgie from Kitty's side and pushed her against the horse. "Get up there and be quick about it." He demanded.

Georgie screamed when he was torn away from Kitty and kicked Brewer in the shins when he attempted to grab him. Kitty yelled for them to let him go and struggled with Parsons, trying to reach the child. "Let him alone." She seethed. "He's just a little boy."

"And he ain't gonna get any bigger, he kicks me again." Brewer grumbled reaching for the child again.

With a well-aimed kick of her own, Kitty got Parsons to let go of her and she grabbed Georgie, pulling him tightly into her arms. "I said; I'd do whatever you want. But leave him alone." She yelled back at Parsons.

Though he was tempted to smack Kitty down for her assault on his shin, he knew they needed to get out of there before the others returned and the easiest and quickest way was to let the boy stay with her. "Get on the horse." He snapped. "I'll stick the brat up there with you."

Trying to catch her breath, Kitty calmed Georgie down long enough to mount up and then reached out her arms for the frightened child. None too gently, Parsons threw him up to her and then mounted up behind, pulling her tightly to his chest.

Though it was uncomfortable for all three of them to be on one horse, and she detested his touch, Kitty clamped her mouth shut and held Georgie close to her chest as they turned and rode away.

The ride was rough but mercifully, they finally reached their destination, a rundown shack somewhere north of the Henderson's ranch. When they reined in, Brewer wasted no time in jumping off of his horse and coming around to help Parsons get Kitty and Georgie off of his horse.

Once on the ground, Brewer shoved them towards the door. "Go on. Get in there." He ordered.

When Kitty, Georgie clutched tightly against her, walked in, she saw a man standing near the fireplace. He turned when he heard them enter and smiled at the sight of the beautiful woman who stood before him.

"Looks like you were right, Fletch." He smiled at his employee. "She is a pretty woman. Very pretty. Any trouble?" He asked of the two men.

"Nope." Parsons chuckled. "Her man and the rest of the brats rode off a little while ago. Nobody there but her and that brat."

"What'd you bring him with you for?" His smile faltered drastically when he looked down at Georgie who was now clinging to Kitty's skirt and trying to hide behind her. "We don't need that kid."

"She wouldn't come easy otherwise." Parsons shrugged. "She'll do just about anything ya want though, as long we agree to leave the kid be."

Kitty, who was by now tired of being talked about as though she wasn't there, spoke up. "Do any of you want to tell me what this is all about?"

Graham turned dark brown eyes on her with a sneer on his face. "Come now. I don't believe you're a stupid woman. I'm sure you can guess what this is about."

Kitty squared her shoulders and gave him a look of contempt. "That ranch belongs to the Henderson's. Nothing you can do to me will change that. They won't give it up even if you kill me."

Graham's eyes flickered down to Georgie. "What if I kill him?"

Kitty firmly pushed Geurgie even further behind her and faced Graham stoically. "You won't. You wouldn't have sent one of your goons to get me if you were going to hurt one of the kids. You would've already done that by now, if that was your intent."

Graham chuckled. "Like I said, you are a very smart woman. You're right in that I have no intentions of killing that boy or any of the others. But I wouldn't be averse to hurting him, or you for that matter, to get what I want."

"I've already told you." Kitty said. "You can't have that land, no matter what you do to me. And if you touch this child or any of the others, you'll have hell to pay for it."

Graham's mirth increased as he took a step closer to her. "We'll see." He reached out and ran a hand along her jaw. "We'll see."

Kitty jerked her head back and slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me." She warned in a low voice. The fear she felt was not in evidence in the feral look she gave him.

Graham ignored her protest and raised his hand to her face again. "You are on my land now, Red. And I will do what I want here. Firmly taking her chin in one hand, he pulled her towards him with the other when suddenly he felt a sharp pain on his shin. Looking down, he saw an angry, five year old boy glaring up at him.

"Leave her alone." Georgie demanded.

"Why you…" He let go of Kitty to rub his shin and then started towards Georgie.

But Kitty quickly pushed the child behind her again and stood toe to toe with Graham. "I'll do a lot more than that, if you don't leave us alone."

Though Graham's expression didn't change and he said nothing, Kitty could see just a flicker, behind his angry countenance, of fear. She didn't have him completely afraid of her, but he was no longer certain that he was in control of her either. That thought gave her a touch of hope and strengthened her resolve.

For several seconds, neither he nor she moved as they stood there staring each other down. Finally, Graham took a tiny step backwards. "I've got some things to do." He started towards the door, jerking his coat and hat up off the plank table in front of the fireplace as he went. "I'll be back later and you WILL do what I want. Kid or not."

As he stomped out of the shack, Kitty clutched tightly to the little boy when they slammed the door and locked it. Finally, she wearily sank down on a chair, pulling Georgie up into her lap. She said nothing for fear of frightening the little boy but she was very afraid indeed.

TBC