The table stops creaking when the main act finally comes to a sticky end.
"There, good girl," Colm O'Driscoll groans, satisfied. He keeps touching soft thighs hanging on his sides, keeping the young woman stuck in the situation where she can't escape. She tenses up when he rubs in gentle manner, making her jaw clench and stomach drop.
She tries to find something else to focus on, keep up her rickety mental defenses from further assault. She tries hard to ignore the wetness seeping between her legs. She swallows and continues keeping her eyes closed. Her nails are painfully pressed inside of her fists and her bleeding tongue keeps on rubbing against her teeth. The coppery taste drowns the nasty taste of the man in her mouth. She's doing anything to distract her while the old, skinny geezer takes his time to move off and out of her. His panting is loud and obnoxious in her ears. She breaths deep, needing to stay calm. She can't get upset. Not now, not in front of the leader of O'Driscoll Boys. Not if she wants away from this god forsaken mountain, the biting cold and the men who act like hungry wolves around her. It had been a week now. Surely boss had forgiven her? She had been good for the boys, Colm will take her with him. She needs to keep being good and she will stay alive. It's simple as that.
So she can't fuck this up. Just keep playing smart and not get uppity. It's just sex, many women do this kind of thing for money. It's not that different.
When boss pulls up his pants the redhead sits up on the table's edge. She shivers despite of being inside of a small building with a working furnace. Her pants are discarded on the floor and her shirt is ripped open. She looks at Colm whose gray hair is thin and greasy, whose mouth taste of musty tobacco and who after sex sounds like a dying boar. The sight hinders the forced smile on the woman's face as she leans to tug the man's shirt, earning his look.
"What you want?"
She gestures at herself, at him and then at the door. Colm tilts a brow and being done with his pants stands there while staring at her. The redhead gestures again, at her and at him. The man grins. The whore looks stupid with her fake smile that misses a tooth, the messy hair and that bruised face. Well, she's a woman. They ain't the smart. Especially the mute ones.
"Think I ain't got the strength for another round," the outlaw laughs and her smile faints more. Taking his hat Colm gives a quick peck on her cheek: "Thanks for the offer, darlin'."
Biting back from wincing she this time grasps onto the man's arm with both hands. Despite of smiling her eyebrows are furrowed from frustration and creeping fear. He promised to her. That if she acts good, he'll take her back to the camp. She has been good with the men here and to him now. Very damn good so could he just-
"You have something to say," Colm leans close to her face that she smells that familiar tobacco again: "...Just say it dear." The jab, teasing and also revealing his answer, wipes the smile off the woman's face. Now scowling, she holds onto the arm tighter. The gang leader is amused by the expressive mute. If she would have tried to say something, anything, Colm might had considered the request seriously. But he thinks, that the boys need something to keep them active up here at the mountains, so they don't kill each other from boredom.
"No can do," he finally answers with nonchalance and jerking his arm free puts the black hat on his head. "You need to learn manners. You stay here till boys get the job done."
The final word from the boss is chilling. She would stay, lord knows for how long, up here with the men? Without him? She again reaches for his arm but he pulls away. Ignoring anything else from her, Colm turns towards the door. She stares in panic. He's actually gonna leave her here? After she- After he prom- Shame turns into desperation and desperation into anger, surging through her veins. She didn't do anything wrong this time! Uncontrollable snarl spits out of her as she starts yanking the man back by his shoulders. He promised to take her with him!
Despite being a skinny man, Colm's fist hits hard. Her head snaps to aside and she fells off the furniture. Collapsing onto the floor the girl pulls into a ball and waits for the abuse to continue. She doesn't fight back as she knows things will only get worse from here, out of her control. She better just try protecting her head and stomach as much as she can from being punished.
Seeing the sign of submission Colm however instead chuckles. "See? You made me do that. It's not nice yanking people. It's disrespectful. Hopefully when boys bring you back, maybe in one piece, you've learned some manners."
His footsteps heading away makes the woman crawl on her knees and hands after him. In distress she starts making noises, desperately wanting to be heard.
"Uuh! Uhe eh!" Please! Don't leave me here!
Satisfaction blooms inside Colm O'Driscoll. He's after all the only one, who can make the stubborn whore bleat like a sheep. He's the only one, who can give her a break from others and she knows this. He made sure to teach that when she and her sweetheart joined his gang.
"UEH! AHE! UUH AHGE!" the woman keeps begging, making more uncoherent noises from her throat while moving on all fours. Please. Sir! I behave. I won't cause any trouble! Please forgive me!
Colm doesn't dignify her cries and begging with attention, fixing the fur coat on him before stepping outside. He shuts the door on her face and leaves the half-naked woman crumbling onto the floor.
Something twists inside her chest and she starts gasping for air. She feels cold and scared. Thinking how she's left alone here without any way to protect herself from others. The sounds of her distress quickly turn into screams. She shouts as best as she can, the awful feelings wanting to get out of her, pouring from her lungs like salt sea water after drowning. Banging angrily her fists onto the floor before she bolts up onto her feet. Sudden nausea makes her sway on her feet, sharp pain surging from the spot Colm had hit her, but her ire burns through it. She picks up a chair and throws it to a wall. She flips a table around, sending things scattering and breaking. Then she grasps her hair in a clawing manner, all the while keeping on shouting with all of her frustration. Most of it is aimed at her. She should had only needed to make Colm happy and he would had taken her with him. She was a stupid, stupid bitch! The woman keeps screaming till her throat hurt too much.
With the silence the flame inside her dies too. She's still inside this room and on this mountain. She still feels the thin wisps of cold from outside slipping through cracks and hears the O'Driscoll men outside. She's still here.
She let out a choked sob and breaks down crying. She can't hold it in as it keeps on going and her knees give out. On the floor she weeps and curses herself. Blaming herself for being in this situation. She's stupid, just like ma said. Ma was right for saying that if Ruth keeps on seeing Zachary, the boy will be the girl's demise. But Ruth had thought she knew better, that the man loved her and he could offer what she wanted. Freedom. Adventures like from the books about wild west. His promises had seem genuine and real when kissing her and whispering about life out of the city.
But he... He was actually a liar and a coward.
Two months of abuse had branded the girl's body with cuts, bruises, burns... She was hungry and nauseous all the time. As also tired, so goddamn tired. That feeling gnawed on her daily. It made her numb most of the time, waiting things to happen and be over with her. Being docile was easier and less painful, though sometimes they tried to make her "talk". Make the funny noises so they could laugh at her. But she would keep her mouth shut and rather bite her lips till they bled. There was still, even if small, pride in her. Like pa would say, Coghlans don't take shit from no-one. They used to say that Ruth inherited her father's Irish stubbornness, and her French mother's bite.
...She misses them. She wishes she hadn't left them with angry, nasty words. She tries not to imagine what they would think, if they knew how defiled their daughter has become. With still leaking eyes and with a headache Ruth stands up, putting on her jeans. Wiping her face she looks for her boots. She doesn't even bother to look for an intact shirt. Just gonna get ruined again when... Ruth bites her teeth together, hugging herself tightly and stomps with one floor while she struggles. A new wave of awful emotions that make her gasping and whimper. Remembering the last night when they ganged up on her.
She hates them. She hates them. She wants them all dead!
After last one of the fighting O'Driscolls was sent to hell Dutch ordered his men for their next move: Micah and Arthur would look through the buildings, Lenny's job was to loot the corpses and Bill's checking a wagon. There had to be something in this place if Colm had been here. These sons of a bitches wouldn't be on this mountain just by pure coincidence nor having vacation.
It seems that Micah has lately developed a skill of finding ladies, as he strolls into a hut and ends up finding a redhead. Unlike that blondie with a dead hubby, this one didn't start yelling at him for no reason. She looked at him when he opened the door. "Well, well, well... What we have here," he mused and started slowly approaching. The woman looked like a dog's favorite bone: thoroughly chewed and slobbered on.
Ruth stands motionlessly at the back of the room, glaring at the red coat wearing stranger. He had this O'Driscoll manner in him but she didn't know who he was.
And she knew almost everyone in the gang. That fact left the inclusion, that this man was one of the attackers. Which meant, that the boys had lost the fight. That meant that they were all dead. It was an odd feeling. Bittersweet. Confusing. She had wanted them all dead, dreamed of killing them, but now she was worried of these new people. When hearing the gunshots Ruth had hoped for the devil she knew to win...
"What's your name sweetie?"
When the cowboy started to get too close she stomped against the wooden floor. It made the stranger pause for a moment before he also stomped in mockingly manner while clapping his hands. "Ay, you wanna dance, that's it?" Taking step back she got the feeling this one wasn't all there. Unpredictable. She hates those kind of men.
Micah stops monkeying around and keeps observing the beaten woman. Shame the darn O'Driscolls got first to this one, could be okay looking without all those swollen bruises. "So, you gonna answer?" he kept asking and stepped closer, smiling down at her. She stared back and kept her mouth shut, which was bit annoying to him. "Come on, you can tell me," Micah says suggestively while placing his gloved hand on her cheek. Glancing he puts his thumb against those plump lips that slightly open from the touch. He grins and leans towards her face.
Hearing Micha screaming the others rush to the hut. Guns ready they swarm inside, getting all confused when they saw the loudmouth holding his bloody hand and crying. Glancing at them the infuriated man points at the woman on the floor: "That bitch bit me!"
"What did you do, you fool?" Arthur sighed and walked to see the damage on the whiner. Dutch goes to check on the woman with Lenny while Bill guards outside.
"I did nothing," Micah spits, yanking his hand away from the other and starts pulling off the glove himself. He growls as how that feels on his injury. Arthur pours water from his canteen to wash off the blood. Seeing the clear bitemarks around the root of the thumb he grimaces: "Damn, she got you good." Arthur doesn't hide well his amusement towards the idiot, doubting that Micha was doing anything innocent nor smart while getting bitten.
Glowering Micha thinks for a moment of punching the cowpoke's mouth but he quickly rethinks with his hurting hand. He instead marches out, nursing his injury and pushes past annoyed Bill.
Shaking his head Arthur joins Lenny and Dutch, the older man examining the unconscious girl. "How's she looks?"
"Beaten up," Dutch says in tone of condemnation. "But alive. Damn these bastards!" Huffing he gets up, nodding at Lenny: "Help Arthur bringing her to the horses. Put something warm on her."
"Sure boss."
Looking around him the frustrated gunslinger starts searching for something, anything, that would give a hint of why O'Driscolls were here. He finally finds a rolled up paper that has plans for robbing a train. It's enough to satisfy Dutch who carefully rolls back the plans. Killing those dogs and finding the plans, as also rescuing a lady... This was pretty successful trip after all, despite of Arthur's doubts at him.
Swaying motion, prickling cold and sounds of horses stirs her up. Pounding inside her skull makes her hiss in pain. Ruth feels a movement behind, someone tensing against her back and she does the same. Opening her eyes she looks around frantically, seeing strangers on their horses and hearing some of them talking.
Seeing the woman was awake, Arthur starts: "You awake miss?" He gets an answer by getting hit by the back of her head and she reaching for his gun at his side. Commotion follows as the rescued woman fells from the horse into the snow and starts stumbling away with Arthur's gun. Horses get spooked, the men are confused and Arthur worried what will happen.
"Miss!"
"What in damnation?"
"You okay Arthur?"
"She's got my gun!"
Micah laughs. Others didn't believe his warnings of the wild cunt!
Getting far enough from the riders Ruth turns around and points with the pistol at them. She knows she won't get far by foot nor by turning her back towards men on horses. Some of them pull their guns on her and standoff ensues. Dutch slides off his horse, Count, raising his hands when she points at him. "Steady men," he warns other, keeping eye on the woman.
"Miss, we mean no harm," he says in clear and calm voice. "We only want to help you. You don't need to fear us."
Trying to think over the sound of her deafening heartbeat Ruth keeps on aiming. She can either get shot or taken by these men. She doesn't want to die but she also doesn't want to get stuck in another group. Though, how much more bad can these one be? Yet why should she just take it?
Dutch takes couple of steps back which makes the miss to clumsily pull back the gun's hammer. Tension rises among them.
"Shoot the bitch!"
"Shut up Micah!" Arthur barks and Dutch orders that no-one shoots anyone. Despite of cold sweat starts forming on the gang leader's brows as he's determined to get this situation calm down. He sees conflict in those brown eyes and he strikes with his words: "You don't want to get hurt, right miss?"
She doesn't answer but the question touches something in her. Ruth blinks and some tears spills down her frost bitten cheeks.
"We shot those men back there," Dutch continues and takes couple of slows steps. "They ain't gonna hurt you again. We won't hurt you either."
Not shot yet. He moves his feet more, continuing with reassuring voice: "We have a group, with women and a child. We can offer you safety, a way down from this mountain."
Stop, she wants to scream. He's getting too close and he's lying. They should just shoot her. She's tired of things.
As the miss starts shaking and blinking more, Dutch holds his hands up in front of him and gets closer. "Just... Put the gun down, and you will get to safety. No-one needs to get hurt."
But someone will and she doesn't want to be the one! Lunging forward Dutch takes the risk and grasps onto barrel of the pistol. "Dutch!"
A shot rings sharp in the air and everything stops. Hand aching Dutch takes a minute to realize, that he managed to push the barrel downwards and that he's not shot. Letting out shaky breath he pulls the gun away from the gasping woman who puts hands against her mouth. Bill curses, Lenny stares in shock, Arthur gets off his horse and Micah tsk in disappointment. Giving the gun back to Arthur and confirming he's okay Dutch offers his hand to the woman. She doesn't take it but she starts walking towards the horses and the two men join her.
"It's gonna be alright miss."