Man of Honor

Chapter Ten

Mr. Weaver made his way down a hill and hid himself behind some rocks. From where he was hidden, he could see Rebecca and Audra sitting on the porch of the small cabin that sat with nothing but dirt, rocks, hills and trees for company. As far as he could tell, no one else was around. It only cemented the lies he'd told himself in deeper. Because Audra was sitting unrestrained, he told himself the young widow must have a small derringer in her hand, one that he couldn't see from where he was at.

"I've got you now." Marshall Weaver chuckled to himself as he made his way to the cabin unseen, gun in hand, or so he thought. What he didn't know, and might have realized had he been paying closer attention, was there was a man hiding up on the roof behind the chimney. There were men hiding behind nearby tress and, most importantly, two men were crouched beside the front window, inside the cabin, with their pistols. All were simply waiting for him to show up.

When Rebecca and Audra saw who was coming towards them, they became sick to their stomachs. The outlaws who were forcing them to sit on the porch as bait for the lawman had been very vocal about what they had planned for the man. While the Barkley's and Rebecca had talked about *the day that Weaver would get exactly what he deserved, none of them figured that would entail what the men holding them captive had talked about on the ride to the cabin. The words they'd spoken still rang in Rebecca and Audra's minds...

"You know Michael will want to kill the man outright." Paul looked at Henry. Paul knew full well that, as Michael had insisted on saying more than once, Henry's Apache face was rearing its head once more. Because of all the injustices done to his mother's people, and the attitude he'd received from the white man, Paul wasn't surprised the day Henry joined Michael and the gang. He also knew, basically, what Henry wanted to do the day they actually caught the Marshall.

Henry had not answered at first; that is, in words he hadn't. His facial expression, or lack of one, began shouting volumes, as did his fists which curled up in balls. When he spoke, Audra and Rebecca wished more than ever they were someplace else. The hateful look in the man's eyes told them that if Mr. Weaver followed him then he would indeed suffer at the hands of this half-breed before he was killed.

"He will not. Michael owes me and he knows it." Henry turned his eyes towards Paul and spoke. "This man, this Mr. Weaver, might never have seen my face, but he has caused us one delay too many. I will do with the poor excuse for a man as I see fit, then he will die." He then began describing, in detail, what he planned on doing to the lawman.

Audra and Rebecca felt shivers go up and down their spine and their stomachs churn more than once at the man's words, but said nothing. They did not want to antagonize the men who had kidnapped them or feel their wrath, lest they get similar ideas about them.

By the time the "good" Marshall stood in front of them, both women had braced themselves for more of his stupidity. They weren't to be disappointed.

"You can go now, Miss Barkley." Mr. Weaver stood as straight as he could, keeping his eye and gun on Rebecca. "I can handle things from here."

Audra rolled her eyes, as did Rebecca. While Audra didn't know why the outlaws weren't attacking him right then, she took advantage of telling the lawman off. "You're crazy!" Audra leaned forward, not daring to stand up due to the knowledge she was being watched. "We were both forced to come here against our will, and you were stupid for following us instead of going for help!"

As he'd looked at Rebecca closer and realized the young woman had no weapon on her as he'd originally thought, Weaver was confused and he didn't like that. However, he wasn't about to admit it. "If that's the case," his barked, his voice rising, "Why are the two of you just sitting there?"

The two girls never got a chance to answer as every single man who rode with Michael Billings came into view; Michael opened the door and smiled at the very shocked lawman. "Because neither one of them is stupid enough to want to invite one of my, or my men's, bullets!" He stepped off the porch and began circling Weaver, whose gun had been ripped out of his hands by Henry.

Weaver felt his heart pounding, though he was angry too. "Why would you hold your own wife against her will?"

The hate that instantly filled the outlaw's face was so sudden it about knocked Weaver off his feet. "My name is Billings, and she's NOT my wife!" However," he started laughing hysterically at the sickening look that came upon Weaver's face as he finally had to accept the fact that Mrs. Wilson had never lied to him once, "since you've become a thorn in my side, it's nice you played right into my trap. Henry!" the man barked over his shoulder.

Weaver saw the Indian start for him and, in a frantic effort to escape what he knew would be his fate, the lawman turned and tried to run. In a matter of seconds Henry, Paul and another man had him pinned to the ground.

Rebecca and Audra then watched as the three outlaws forced Weaver, who was still fighting them, around to corner of the cabin. Moments later they listened as the Marshall's cries turned to horrified screams. Due to the nature of the screams and words he was saying, the two girls once again felt sick to their stomach. They were grateful they could not see what was going on. It was painfully obvious; Henry had won when it came to who decided what would be done to the deputy marshal.

"Once they've taken care of our 'friend'," Michael said with a sneer as he turned and smiled at Rebecca and Audra while speaking to the rest of his men, "we'll take care of the rest of our business. That bank is just begging for us to make that withdrawal we've been planning."

"What about them?" Kyle asked, pointing to the young women, who were silently praying that the Barkley men would find them soon.

Michael smiled and the two girls pulled back as the outlaw leaned towards them. They didn't like the look on his face, nor the words that came out of his mouth. "We always said we needed some female company, but don't worry," He spoke to his men, not the girls, "Business comes first." He grabbed Rebecca by the arm, while Paul-on Michael's command-grabbed Audra. The two men forced the girls to their feet. "You're goin' inside and stayin' inside! Don't try anything either. Since I really don't need all my men on this job, two of them will be guarding you at all times!"

Rebecca and Audra, still praying Audra's brothers would find them soon, were led into the cabin where they were forced to sit on two chairs that sat near the bed and then secured to the furniture with ropes.

~oOo~

*Heath's comment to Weaver after Rawlins had forced him (Heath) to kill him (Rawlins)…the one where he said "Mr. Weaver, I don't doubt that, sooner or later, you're going to get exactly what you deserve" is what started this story in the first place. Though I have to say, what the muse did wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I started writing…and I wasn't about to describe what I could be see being done to Weaver. However, be forwarned, his situation will be touched upon in the next chapter. Hence the T rating.