The next afternoon the three went fishing in the river on the horses. Katie sitting in front of Beth who helped hold the line. Rip easily caught a fish before getting off and setting up a small fire next to the river bank to cook it. Katie had more interest in trying to see what was in the water than catching a fish, causing Beth to remind her to not lean too far over the horse.
"Come and eat." Rip called out. Beth got off the horse before lifting Katie off.
"It's gonna be hot cowgirl so blow on it." Rip passed Katie some fish before giving some to Beth. Katie blew on the fish but Beth was certain more spit was landing on it than air.
"It's.. hot!" Katie said between breaths. Rip rolled his eyes and passed her some water.
Katie waded in the water at the edge after finishing her fish while Beth and Rip laid on the river bank.
"Daddy there is a man on a horse."
"Where?"
"Coming behind you now." Beth and Rip turned around to see Jimmy red faced on his horse waving his arms.
"What the fuck Jimmy? We are not meant to be interrupted." Beth told him.
"Sorry Beth, it's urgent. It's your Dad and Kayce. They've been shot."
"Take Katie, Beth. I'll ride ahead with Jimmy." Rip told her, putting Katie on a horse.
"My boots Daddy." Katie said pointing at them where she had kicked them off earlier.
"Jake is on his way with a truck." Rip nodded at Jimmy before telling Katie not to worry.
"I'm coming with you." Beth told both men. Rip shook his head at her.
"Take Katie home and wait there for me."
"Fuck off Rip." Beth getting on the horse behind Katie leaving the two men on their horses.
"God dammit. How bad Jimmy?" Rip asked.
"Someone is tryin' to hurt the Ranch sir." Jimmy turned on his horse and headed off in the same direction as Beth, Rip just behind him.
"Hold on tight, kid." Beth told Katie, kicking the horse to go faster. They rode past their own house and Beth noticed that the door appeared to be open. They kept riding until they got up to the lodge, Beth saw the CARE flight loading up. Beth jumped off the horse telling Katie to not move a muscle until she got back. She ran over to the chopper, John and Kayce were inside with a medical team working on them.
"We're going to the hospital Ma'am."
"Who the fuck did this?" Beth asked.
"Burning ranch." John managed to croak out before the helicopter began to take off. Beth froze. She did not know what he meant, she couldn't see any fires anywhere. Rip caught up to where Katie was left sitting on the horse, he pulled her across to his own horse.
"Keep her with you." Beth yelled, getting on her horse and heading for the cabin. She had a terrible feeling something was about to happen to their house.
"Where are you goin'?" Rip yelled. He commanded the horse to follow Beth.
"Cabin." Beth yelled back to him as she got off her horse and headed for the open front door of the cabin.
"Wait Beth! Don't go in there." Rip knew there was no way they had left the door open, something was going on with both John and Kayce being shot. Katie turned to look at Rip and asked what was happening.
"Don't worry darlin', it's fine." Rip told her, lifting her off the horse. Beth looked along the porch and didn't notice anything out of place. Rip tied the horses up and gave them some water before going in to the house after Beth.
"Stay there Katie. I'll be right back." Rip told her. He went in to the cabin finding Beth checking all the cabinets.
"Can't see a thing." Beth told him.
"Maybe we did leave the door open or someone came to check we hadn't left anything." Rip told her hardly believing himself.
"Fat chance Rip. We notice it the day our family have been shot?" Beth glared at him. Outside Rip could hear the horses making noises that they were stressed.
"Let me check on them and then we can look again, ok." Rip left to find the horses trying to pull away from the fence.
"What happened Katie?" Rip asked her.
"Dunno Daddy." Rip said to Katie that she could go inside to find Beth now that he was less worried about something dangerous being in the house.
Katie ran towards the porch, stopping at the bottom step as a yellow box caught her eye, she picked it up feeling something inside.
"Hey Mama I found this." Beth turned seeing a box in Katie's hands where they stood in the kitchen.
"Where did you get that baby?"
"Next to the step." Katie told her. Beth approached not knowing what is was or having seen it before.
"Give it to me now Katie." Beth told her. Katie pulled it back trying to open it. "I said now." Beth grabbed it out of Katie's hands throwing it across the room. She picked Katie up, holding her into her chest, running out of the cabin. Rip felt the force of it before he registered the noise. Beth and Katie were thrown across the grass by the force of it. His ears were ringing but he could make out Katie's screams, turning he saw Katie tucked under Beth who was on top of her hardly moving, their clothes ripped and blood on Beth's back. The cabin burning. A bomb.
"Fuck. BETH, KATIE." Rip ran, the horses spooked had run off. Beth groaned when he reached her.
"Don't move. Let me get Katie." Rip told Beth, gently lifting her to get Katie who was crying.
"I'm ok, let me get up." Beth said getting to her feet. "A fucking bomb."
"We need the hospital. Now Beth. For both of you." Rip could tell that Katie needed stitches in her head and she had broken her arm, Beth was a whole different story. She had burns to her back and her clothes had stuck to her skin, a gash on her face that needed stitches was what he could already see.
Rip phoned Lloyd. "We are under attack Lloyd. We just got bombed."
"Christ Rip, I'll get a CARE flight. I'm at the lodge, boys are at the bunkhouse, who did this?" Lloyd asked.
"Get me a fucking flight." Rip hung up on him. "Don't you give up on me, hold on for me girls." Rip held Katie in his arms, he had taken his shirt off to stop the flow of blood from her head. Beth was looking around but Rip could tell she wasn't registering what was happening.
"I wanna sleep Daddy."
"No cowgirl. You gotta keep your eyes open." How much fucking longer Rip thought. He knew not to touch Beth with her burnt skin the way it was. He could hear the chopper in the distance before he saw it landing and the medical team come running. Lloyd drove up the path meeting them all there.
"She's four, a bomb went off she was covered by her Mama but looks like broken arm and head wound. Beth she took the brunt of it, burns everywhere. Just take them and do whatever you need to."
"Sir are you ok?" The CARE team asked.
"I'm fine, just take them and I'll meet you there." Rip got in to the truck with Lloyd and left when the chopper took off.
Lloyd sped the entire way to the hospital.
"I'm looking for Beth Dutton and Katie Dutton-Walker." Rip told the receptionist.
"Who are you? I just need to check you in." The girl told him.
"That's my fucking wife and kid who just got bombed, tell me where they are!" Rip yelled. The girl looked up shocked, people in the waiting room now looking at the three of them.
"Paediatrics is down the hall to your left and your wife is on the third floor."
"Thank you." Lloyd told her running down the hall after Rip to where Katie was meant to be.
"I WANT MY DADDY!" Katie was screaming for Rip, he turned the corner and saw three staff holding her down as a doctor leant over her.
"What the fuck are you doin'." Rip growled.
"Sir you can't be in here." The doctor told him.
"Like hell I can't. That's my kid and you're pinning her down. Let her go." No one moved. "I said let her go. Now." Rip took a step forward. The orderlies held their hands up and moved away from the bed. The doctor did not move holding Katie still. She squirmed under him trying to get to Rip. Lloyd moved around the bed and put a hand on the doctor's shoulder making him jump.
"I'd do what he told ya." Lloyd said.
"I need to stitch her head." The doctor said.
"That's fine, you don't need to hold her down though. Come here cowgirl." Rip picked her up, looking at her arm which had a plaster cast on it and her head which has been cleaned. "The doctor needs to put some stitches in to fix the cut on your head, you need to be brave for me." Katie nodded sniffling after all the tears before the nurse gave her some pain relief and doctor did the stitches. Rip put her down on the bed after it was done and stopped the doctor in the hallway.
"Do you know anything about that kid?"
"She needed her head stitched and had a broken arm."
"That's right. Do you know why?" The doctor shook his head.
"Because a bomb went off and her Mama had to take the brunt of it, so next time you try and restrain a fucking child. Maybe ask yourself if it's god damn necessary." Rip pushed the doctor up against the wall before letting him go. The doctor noticed the Yellowstone insignia on his jacket and nodded vigorously before leaving.
"Can we go Daddy?" Katie was standing in the doorway in her hospital gown, the doctors having thrown her clothes out.
"Yeah let's find Mama hey." Rip held her non-plastered hand while Lloyd got the papers from the nursing staff for them to leave.
"We would like her to stay over-night…" the nurse in charge came and told them. "To monitor her."
"Look I appreciate it but her Mom is upstairs and needs us." The nurse looked at them all, and nodded.
"You'll need to sign this to say you're leaving before we advise. The cast will need to come off in six ." Rip nodded signing it before leaving the ward.
Lloyd carried Katie up to the third floor, waiting whilst Rip got an update and the room number.
"Lloyd, will my Mama be ok?"
"Oh kid, she's pretty tough." Lloyd told her. They followed a nurse in to a room where Beth was lying in a bed.
"Hey baby." Beth said groggily to Rip. He wiped her hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead. Her hair was still slightly matted with blood
"You doin' ok Beth?"
"Mmmhmm, where's Katie? Is she ok? God that fucker really tried to hurt us." Beth groaned.
"I'm here Mama!" Katie piqued up trying to see Beth. Lloyd put her down at the foot on the bed before going to wait outside.
"Bring her up here." Beth told Rip. He carefully lifted and put Katie down next to Beth.
"You have to be careful cowgirl, Mama is sore." Rip told her. Katie looked at Beth worriedly.
"I'm ok Katie."
"We are matching." Katie said lightly touching Beth's stitched head and then her own. Beth smiled sadly but nodded. Katie snuggled in to Beth's side, Rip noticed her wince in pain.
"I'm fine." She whispered to Rip who held her hand. Beth hummed a tune and Katie closed her eyes. When her breathing evened out Beth asked Rip if he knew who did it.
"Not yet, but I'm going to fucking kill them."
"How is Kayce and my Dad?" Rip didn't know what to tell her. John was in an induced coma and it was touch and go but Kayce was going to be fine. "Just tell me Rip."
"Your dad is in a coma, they don't know if he will make it. Kayce is ok. He was shot in the shoulder but he'll be ok." Beth managed to nod but not say anything.
She spoke after a few minutes. "I need to get out of here Rip." He sighed knowing she would say that but also knowing that out of the three of them, she still needed medical attention that couldn't be given at home.
"Darlin' I know, but you need to be here for at least another day."
"No Rip. I need to be home with my kid. You. I need to find who did this." Beth said angrily.
"We will. I can look after Katie. We need you to get better, just one night. Please Beth."
"Fine." She huffed.
Lloyd drove Rip and Katie home after spending some time with Beth. Kayce was due to be discharged the next morning and they hadn't been able to provide any updates on John.
"It's hard to eat with this thing." Katie said trying to use a fork with her plastered arm.
"Wait until you try it kid, probably won't like Jimmy's cookin'." Colby said.
"Hey! It's good." Jimmy bit back. Lloyd had suggested Rip and Katie have dinner at the bunkhouse and stay the night considering the cabin no longer stood standing. Rip had tried to decline but Lloyd was firm. Rip helped Katie hold the fork in her other arm to eat.
"It's ok Jimmy. I don't mind." Katie told him.
"She's too nice Rip." Colby said. Rip smiled at her. He noticed she was nearly wearing more food than she was eating.
"I'm full." Rip saw her bowl was nearly empty and nodded that she could leave the table. Katie walked around the bunkhouse looking for something to do. Teeter was sitting on the couch watching the rodeo when Katie stopped in front of her.
"What you want kid?" Teeter asked.
"Nothin'. What you want?" Katie asked back.
"I asked you first."
"Sign my arm?" Katie stuck out her cast to Teeter and a marker Rip had given her earlier.
"Oh. Ah sure." Teeter popped the lid off the marker before drawing a horse on the cast with a T next to it.
"Wow you're a good drawer." Katie said amazed, Teeter smiled.
"We should get goin' anyway." Rip said standing up.
"Stay the night here Rip, we can make room for you both." Lloyd said.
"Nah. We'll sleep in the barn tonight. Jake you got the camping gear in the truck?" Jake nodded to Rip. Lloyd shook his head at Rip.
"Come on Katie, time to go." Rip called her over before leading to out of the bunkhouse to the barn.
"Why are we here Daddy?" She asked innocently.
"You and I are gonna camp out here tonight, ok." Rip told her, she looked around before shrugging her shoulders. He set up a little camp bed for each of them before they settle down for the night. Rip wasn't sure how well Katie would sleep given the past day. He knew he wouldn't be getting much either worrying about Beth. Rip tried to hum the song Beth sometimes did to help Katie get to sleep but he couldn't remember it and she kept reminding him.
"All right. Close your eyes and count how many cows you think you saw in the paddock last week in your head." Rip closed his own eyes and dozed off. He woke shortly after to Katie thrashing around and crying.
"No! It hurts. Don't touch my Mama." Rip sat upright and shook Katie awake.
"Hey. It's Daddy. Breathe." Katie opened her eyes looking at Rip.
"S'lright, you're fine. Mama is ok too." Rip told her, rubbing her back. He got off his camp bed and carried her outside into the cooler nights air into the round pen.
"Bad dream." Katie said. Rip nodded, deciding to just wait it out with her until she was ready to talk.
They lay in the sand looking up at the stars, drifting off to sleep together. They woke the next morning to the sun in Rip's eyes. He sighed and got up carrying Katie. He headed to the bunkhouse to make himself a coffee, the wranglers had left for the day's work. Rip looked at his watch, deciding to have a quick shower whilst Katie kept sleeping before they went to the hospital.