They were not Shawnee, or Choctaw or Chickasaw. They sounded maybe German. The most shocking thing she discovered upon awakening was to see a filthy, blond-haired, blue-eyed man staring at her. She tried to make her sluggish brain understand all that was going on around her. She knew she was in trouble and that she needed to get to the fort, but her vision was blurry and her head ached from the blow she'd taken.
"She ain't young." A voice said.
"Nah, she ain't. Still she's not ugly. She's pretty enough. What do you think Helm?"
"We could sell her off? The Indians won't take her. They only like the young ones. Sides, looks like they got troubles of their own. We could haul her back with us."
"She's skinny, though. What kind of price will she fetch?" The one they'd called Helm said.
"Too bad she ain't rich. We could ransome her."
"How can you tell she ain't rich?"
"Look at her hands. She's worked some in her life. Ladies who are rich don't have hands like that. I'd stay back from her though, she looks like she's got a bit of fight in her. Look she's got her eyes open!"
They all came nearer to her then.
"Now, you listen here, Missy. We have no intention of letting you go, and we ain't afraid to harm you, neither. Ain't no places around her for miles 'cept for them Indians and you won't enjoy their company any more than ours. We'll take that gag out yer mouth if'n you behave. Otherwise . . ."
He reached over and pulled the cloth they stuffed in her mouth out.
"You'd be wise to take me back." She said calmly. They laughed.
"Is that so?" Helm said.
"What's the name of the closest settlement?" She asked her temper rising.
"What difference does it make? You ain't going there!" A brown-haired man spit out.
"What's it called?" She demanded angrily.
"I reckon Fort Boonesborough's the closest." Helm said.
"My name," She said slowly, pointedly, "is Rebecca Boone."
***DB***
They had put the gag back in her mouth and she sat a space apart from them as they whispered fiercely amongst themselves.
"I've heard stories about him." Pete said looking at Helm. "This is different."
"No, it ain't. She's just a woman and it's clear we can't take her to the Indians now. We'll take her to Salem and sell her off."
"Are you insane? She'll be telling folks who she is, and that will be the end of us, for sure. Forget it, let's just leave her here. We can light out while she's sleeping. She can make her way back."
"No, I didn't come this far for no profit. We'll continue on as we planned. We'll see what other folks we can nab up on the way back. If we can manage at least four, we'll make a handsome profit, and our troubles will be over. I don't care if we got Martha Washington tied up over there. We keep going."
"We could try a ransome. Surely, he'd pay it." Kurt said.
"You haven't read about him!" Pete scoffed. "He'd get her back and skin us for sure. Nope, the greater the distance between us and him, the safer we are."
"What about her though? Surely she knows folks in Salem or folks know of her. She doesn't strike me as the quiet type." Kurt said.
"I got the cure for that." Helm said holding up a bottle. "She'll look like just another hard-luck case getting sold off for debts."
"I still think it's a mistake. What about that little settlement just outside of Salem? We could sell her there. Surely, someone could use a bondslave." Pete said. "Let's take her there. It's closer anyways. We might get a higher price in Salem, but it is too risky."
"I forgot about Clement Station. You are smarter than you look Pete! It's a newer settlement too, so most likely they got no people there that know her. A little of this laudanum to make her seem drunk, and we're safe as houses." They decided to celebrate with a mug of ale, and celebrated late into the night. All the while, they were closely watched by Rebecca Boone's piercing blue eyes.