Chapter Ten

A/N This chapter takes a few hours before Fred and the men he'd gathered rode out to the Barkley ranch.

The morning breeze would have been soft and gentle, only the speed of the stagecoach made it so the breeze was a bit more forceful than it would have otherwise been; it also reached through the coach windows and brushed the faces of the passengers. No one was speaking, all lost in their own thoughts. However, all were jolted out of their thoughts when the coach hit a rock, causing the wheel to come off. The coach weaved sharply to the right, swerving off the road and tumbling over and over down the hill. The rugged terrain, filled with pine trees and boulders of various sizes, became a blur. When the coach finally came to an abrupt halt, the young, inexperienced driver and the mute passenger lay lifeless on the ground a few feet from the wreck. Peter, Eliza, and Brian were lying unconscious near the wreckage. Only Mariah remained aware of her surroundings. She was, surprisingly, relatively unhurt, among the scene of chaos and destruction. However, it took her a few moments to get her bearings-the scent of pine and the distant sound of river water seemed to reach out and help her to her feet.

Seeing there was nothing she could do for the deceased driver and black-haired mute, Mariah turned her attention to her brother and the Maddens. She was relieved to see Eliza was actually starting to sit, though the way the young woman was holding her arm, Mariah figured it was broken. That idea was confirmed when Eliza groaned. "My arm is hurt."

Mariah looked at the luggage which was scattered all over the place. "We need something to use as a sling. Do you have anything in your luggage we could turn into one?"

Eliza grimaced as she shifted her position before replying, "That brown case, near the driver. It's mine. Take anything you want out; however, anything I have in it would have to be cut. That might not be the case if I hadn't forgotten to bring my scarf. As it is, I don't have anything in there that could be used as a sling on its own."

The two women were shocked-but delighted- when Brian managed to sit up and tell them they could use his knife. "It's in my bag, sis, but you'll have to cut two slings. Feels like my arm's broke too, along with my left leg." He looked around. No one had to tell him the fate of the driver and young woman who lay near him. "How's Mr. Madden?" Brian looked at Phillip, who appeared to at least be breathing.

"Was just getting ready to check him before I see what I can find in Mrs. Madden's luggage." Mariah replied as she made her way to Phillip and knelt beside the gentleman. "His arms feel fine." Mariah told them once she'd felt both Phillip's arms. She then moved to his legs. "His one leg is fine, not sure about this other one though. Let's hope he wakes up soon, and he can tell us if I'm right about this leg of his or not." Mariah then hurried to go through the luggage in order to find what she needed. It wasn't long before she had slings cut out of the available material. By the time Mariah had put the homemade slings onto her brother and Mrs. Madden, Phillip had stirred, but not awakened. The fact that Phillip was still unconscious had them all concerned, but there was nothing they could do, but keep an eye on him for the moment.

When Mariah moved the deceased driver and mute next to each other, Eliza was confused. "What are you doing?"

"We are at the bottom of a hill, surrounded trees, boulders and who knows what else." Mariah said as she began walking around in order to find rocks small enough to carry, but large enough to be put with other rocks-in order to cover the dead bodies. "As horrible as it might appear, and uncomfortable as it is to say, I've got to make it so no wild animal that happens to come by can get to them. They can always be retrieved later and properly buried by their families." She replied as she continued placing various sizes of rocks around, or on, the driver and passenger. Though, she wasn't surprised by the sickened look that leapt onto the Eliza's face when she heard what Mariah had told her.

"How is anyone going to find us?" Eliza asked as she started shooting off other questions in a panicky tone of voice.

"First, you're going to calm down! Panicking is not going to do you-or any of us- any good!" Mariah stopped working and snapped-even though she really hated doing so. It's just that she knew from past experience what happened when a body panicked the way Mrs. Madden was doing-and none of them had ever been able to be reasoned with until they stopped that type of behavior. The sharp reply had the desired effect.

"I'm sorry." Eliza sighed as she looked at her husband-who had again stirred. "I'm just scared to death."

"We understand." Brian assured her as Mariah resumed the tasteless task before her. "Only my sister is right, panicking won't do any of us any good."

Nothing more was said while Mariah finished her chore. Just as she finished, Phillip groaned and opened his eyes.

"Phillip!" Eliza moved closer to her husband's side. "How are you?"

Phillip, who hurt all over, sat up only to grab his leg as he was forced to rest against the boulder he was in front of. "I think I broke my leg."

'Wish I had been wrong,' Mariah thought before a look of panic started entering Eliza's eyes again. "DON'T panic!" Mariah spoke firmly-even though she wished she didn't have to. "He'll be fine as long as we don't move him until help arrives."

"She's right, dear." Phillip reached out and put his hand on his wife's arm. "I'll be fine." His words helped calm Eliza down some more.

Mariah then retrieved the dead driver's rifle, along with the rifle and pistol she and Brian had brought with them. It took a few minutes, only soon she had also found the ammunition that went with each weapon. She laid one of the rifles next to Phillip and handed Brian the pistol, along with the ammo that went with each firearm. Afterwards, she loaded the second rifle, retrieved some string from her own bag and broke off a thin branch from a tree near her brother. "I can hear water running nearby, has to be a stream. I'm going to see if I catch us some fish."

Confusion filled Eliza's eyes as she asked in disbelief, "If you're going fishing, what do you need the gun for?"

Mariah bit her tongue and was glad Phillip started talking to his wife, freeing her to walk away wondering where the young woman had grown up -and just how long she had lived in the area.