Chapter Twenty

It was almost dark when Lyman and Ethan reached the small cabin that set a few feet inside the property lines of the Barkley's ranch surrounded by a couple of trees; only they thought it was a good hundred yards away from the boundary line. Because of this, they felt rather safe using it. After thinking it over, Lyman had sent a telegram down to Hazard; he knew someone down there that could help them. Afterwards Lyman and Ethan had wasted no time in making their way to the shack Ethan had found. They hoped the two men Lyman had sent for would meet them at the cabin soon. Lyman looked around the main room. There was a small table, two chairs, a pot belly stove and a few cupboards. A small room holding two cots set on the other side of a door near the potbelly stove.

"Where are we going to put the girl when we get her?" He barked not even trying to hide his annoyance. If they kept Audra in the cabin for any length of time, one of them would have to sleep on the floor. Out of the two brothers, Lyman was the one who hated being 'put out' the most.

"If we get her, why stay here?" Ethan rolled his eyes as he answered. "You said you had connections. Once we get that pretty little gal, let's high tail it to Mexico." Since he wasn't in love with pushing their luck anymore than they were already doing, Ethan figured it was the best idea there was.

Lyman turned on his brother. "Stop saying if we get her!" He had listened to his brother say that phrase one too many times and was tired of it. They had to get her. His connections paid a high price for blonde hair, blue eyed girls. With the money he'd lost after Sample's, Lyman was determined to make the money up while getting revenge on the Barkley's at the same time.

Because he'd been trailing Audra as much as he possibly could, Ethan yelled at his brother. "I will say if! That young girl is constantly chaperoned! How on earth are we going to get her without adding murder to the list of things we're willing to do?" His face was beet red by the time he finished speaking.

Lyman, who had been thinking on that very thing, paced back and forth over the shack's floor. He realized that he'd messed up by not making a second attempt sooner, before she had been given what looked to be a bodyguard. Not knowing his and his brother's conversation had been overhead, he could only wonder what had made it so Audra had a man with her at all times. "We'll find a way!" Lyman slammed his fist down upon the table with one cuss after another. "For now, let's eat something and make our plans!" He said with an evil grin on his face.

~oOo~

Lyman was standing on the porch of the small cabin when Kyle and Frank Anders rode up. He watched as both men dismounted and then stood before him. After receiving Lyman's wire, Kyle had grabbed one of his relatives and hurried to get to the cabin Lyman had mentioned. Kyle Ander's stood five feet four inches with a thin build. His brown hair hung to his neckline and he sported the ugliest thin brown mustache in the world. If he had any sense, the man would have shaved it off when it first appeared on his face. To look at him, many people would think he wasn't capable of much. However, appearances can be deceiving. Kyle was strong as an ox and had been in more brawls than anyone could count. He'd also done time behind bars. His cousin wasn't much better. While the five foot eight inch, brown haired Frank hadn't spent time behind bars, he had a very well founded reputation as a troublemaker and had been thrown out of the saloons he patronized more than once. In fact, people were stretching the truth and saying the man was just a step away from being barred from any saloon indefinitely.

"About time you two got here; you're late!" Lyman snapped, though he kept himself from raising his voice. He might have done just that, raised his voice, but he'd known Kyle Anders long enough to know the man would turn on him if he thought Lyman had gotten it into his head that he, Lyman, owned him.

"Couldn't be helped," Kyle hooked his thumbs onto belt buckle, "we had to hide a couple of times. There were a couple of men, a dark haired gentleman and a blonde haired chap, both looked to be cowboys; they were riding around. They seemed to be looking for something or someone." He looked at Lyman and Ethan with concern in his eyes. "I don't know exactly where the Barkley spread ends; I admit that. Still, are you sure you're outside their boundary line?"

Lyman, who never admitted he was in the wrong unless there was no way around it, exploded. "Of course, I'm sure! Do you really think I'd be waiting for you here, at this cabin, if it was on their land?" He glared at the men as he fell in silence. The look on his face was one that dared them to say he was wrong. Of course, no one did.

"So, where do we go from here?" Frank asked, impatient to get this job down and get down to Mexico. It wasn't just Lyman that had plans when it came to Mexico.

"First thing we do," Lyman said as he looked around to make sure no outsider had accidentally stumbled upon them, "is to get inside where can make sure there's no chance of someone actually coming by and over hearing anything." He answered as he disappeared into the cabin. Ethan and the two hired men wasted no time following Lyman inside the cabin to talk. As far as they were concerned the sooner they got any discussion over with, the sooner they could get the job started and finished. Once inside the four men sat around the table while Lyman told Kyle and Fred the plan he and Ethan had come up with.