Chapter 4

The door opened silently to Maggie's cabin. Burt and Merle took their shoes off before they went into the cabin. They looked around and saw some shoes laying on the porch. A pair of small boots and a pair of large boots lay on the porch to the right of the door. Burt looked and smiled. Merle slipped through the door and into the cabin, it was warm, the stove had been left on. They walked to the curtain to see if anyone was on the bed. They saw what they thought was a small child, so, they left the child figuring that Jason would be upstairs sleeping with Maggie. They walked upstairs with their guns drawn. They would kill Jason and then deal with the child when they were finished. Burt reached the bedroom door first and opened it. He expected to see Jason sprawled out on the bed over Maggie, but what he saw was not what he had expected. Maggie was not in the bed, nor was she in the cabin! Jason was not on the bed sprawled out as they had expected. Merle came into the room as well, his gun drawn. No one was in the room, it was empty.

"Merle, go back and check to see if the kid is still here?" said Burt as he looked out the window. He did not see any evidence that anyone had fled. He went back out of the room and down the stairs where he found Merle tied up on the bed.

"What happened to yo….!" Before Burt could finish, Jason had knocked him out with Merle's gun and tied him up. Maggie and Jeremy had been hiding in the closet until it was safe. She came out and helped him tie them up.

"Thank you, Jason, I can get them to the sheriff you and your brother need to leave. Take the horses to the barn. If I find your horse, I will find a way to get it to you." Maggie said.

"Are you sure? I think you may be in danger yourself if you take them back?" asked Jason who was genuinely concerned for Maggie's safety. She smiled and said:

"I know people in Tacoma who will help me. But thank you for the offer. Now, get out of here and be safe!" She said as she kissed Jeremy on his head and Jason on his cheek. Jeremy blushed and Jason, well, Jason just kept his feelings to himself. They left quickly, she had provided some food and blankets and two horses. One for Jeremy and one for Jason, although Jason felt more comfortable taking only one horse, Jeremy wanted to ride the horse on his own.

"Okay" said Jason, who tied the reigns of the horse Jeremy was on to his horse so that they could stay together. They rode silently from the cabin towards Tacoma, they would be in Tacoma in two hours' time, and they had some money to catch a stagecoach to Seattle.

"Maggie, Darlin' why don't you untie us and let us go!" said Merle, who was trying to 'sweet talk' her into releasing them.

"Now, Merle, you know I can't do that! You two are wanted in Tacoma and I could use the money right now!" She said as she finished making some provisions for their journey to Tacoma.

Burt had sat quietly, or he seemed to be quiet but had been working on the bindings that tied him to the foot of the bed. He had finally gotten them loose enough to get free. She looked at him and said:

"You know Burt, you have been too quiet for your own good. Don't you have anything to say?" He looked at her and smiled and then stood up without help. She was surprised. She started to say something when he grabbed her and held her tight.

"My dear, you are surprised! I was sure you knew how to tie knots!" he laughed and then said to her:

"You are coming with us. I think we can use you to get to Jason Bolt!" He said as he swiftly tied her hands and placed her on a chair, and then untied Merle.

"Merle get our horses and we will meet you out back. There should be some sort of trail telling us which way they would go but if there isn't Maggie can let us know in due time!" Merle went to get the horses and Burt grabbed the rest of the provisions and took Maggie out to the front.

"You know Maggie, that was a nice touch, the smaller shoes that looked like a child's pair of boots! But it didn't fool me once!" he said as he shoved her out the door. He had grabbed an extra coat for her since she had not been able to get her own coat. Then he said:

"If you want to stay alive and perhaps that boy as well, then you will do as I say. I may let Bolt live but if you try anything both the boy and the brother will be dead!" He pulled her up on the horse and when they were ready, they followed what little hoof prints were left. Maggie did not have to tell them which way was Tacoma they both knew.

Jason and Jeremy arrived in Tacoma, they left the horses in the stable and told them that Maggie would be picking them up later when she came into town. The livery stable owner knew Maggie and said no problem. Then they walked to the stage depot, it was due about in about an hour, but as to whether it went that same day or would be delayed, the clerk could not say. Rain or snow, it just depended on the stage driver. Jason took Jeremy and they went to sit inside the building and ate the sandwiches that Maggie had made for them and waited.

"J-j-Jason, How cc-come those m-me-men men want to h-h-h-hurt you?" Jeremy asked in between bites. Jason thought about how to explain to a ten-year-old boy the reasons that people want to hurt other people.

"Well, because they feel that I did not pay them the right amount." He said but Jeremy looked at Jason and asked:

"D-d-did-didn't y-y-you p-p-pay th-th-them?"

"Yes, I did, but I did not pay them a full month's wages, because they spent most of the time not working and causing problems in the campsite." Jason said as he finished his sandwich. He took a sip of water and looked out the window. He saw the men, on horses and they had Maggie who was tied to the saddle horn.

"Jeremy, hold on to the tickets. I have something to do. If I don't get back in time, you need to get on the stagecoach and go straight home! Do you understand me?" Jeremy looked at his brother, he was about to say something but the way his brother looked he didn't want to say anything.

"Tell, Swede and Lottie what is happening. The men that are after me are coming and I need to make sure that you are safe! Will you do that?" Jason asked, worried that he would not have time to get away from them. Jeremy nodded. He stayed right where he was, and Jason went out the back way. The stagecoach arrived and Jeremy gathered the things that they had and got on the stagecoach. The driver called 'All Aboard!' and left swiftly but just as they were headed out of town, Jeremy heard some shots fired. He tried to look back but could see nothing and the stage coach was traveling very fast. He and another person were on the stagecoach. Jeremy was about to open the door and jump out when the person grabbed him by his pants and kept him from getting out of the stagecoach.

"Son, there is nothing you can do at this moment!" The man said quietly as he pulled Jeremy back onto the bench in the stagecoach. Jeremy started to cry, he was scared and didn't know if his brother was okay or not.