CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Discoveries

JR followed Victoria to the stables. "You take Charger, Heath's horse." Victoria pointed to the stall. "My horse is on the other side." She checked to make sure he wore his gun belt, which he did, and then she ran to the other side.

JR didn't know what to do other than what she told him. He was accustomed to taking charge, of being the one giving orders. But the most logical thing to do was what he was told. So, JR quickly brushed the horse, put on the saddle blanket and the saddle, walked Charger around a bit, petting him and talking to him, then tightened the cinches. He mounted the horse and, continuing to talk to Charger, led him out of the stables. By the time he made it to the end of the building, Victoria was coming around on Misty Girl.

"I wanted to help you saddle her," JR called.

"I can saddle my own horse," Victoria stated.

JR didn't doubt her. But it was a man's job to take care of such things. He also noticed that, again, Victoria wore riding clothes. And, he had to admit, she looked dang good in them. No one would confuse her for a man.

"Oh, and that's Heath's horse. He 'gentled' him, so all you have to do is give him the slightest pressure, and he'll do fine."

"Good to know." He pulled Charger behind Misty Girl and followed at a canter.

Victoria would have loved to have gone faster, but, even with the clear sky and the full moon, she didn't want to worry about injuring the animals—especially since they soon cut across the fields. She should've worn a jacket, though. The night air was cool and the breeze from riding chilled her.

The fields gave way to a wooded area, so they had to slow to a walk. Still, Victoria took Misty Girl as fast as she felt was safe. She glanced back to make sure JR was doing okay. He was directly behind her, but she caught sight of two horses not too far in the distance behind him. Even with the bright moon, she wasn't able to make out who it was. It was possible it was some of their hands still out searching for Heath and Margaret.

Victoria led Misty Girl into thicker woods and stopped. JR copied her actions.

Victoria hopped off Misty Girl and ran back to JR. "Someone's coming." She took her gun out of her pocket.

JR stared at her. "You carry a gun?"

"Of course I carry a gun," she answered.

He also dismounted and drew his gun. He walked deeper into the woods. Victoria quickly lost sight of him. It was too dark under the tree canopy to see much of anything.

As the riders neared, Charger squealed, and Misty Girl squealed back at him.

Victoria's stomach dropped. She should've given JR a mare to ride. Leave it to Charger to feel amorous in the moonlight—but at least Misty Girl put him in his place.

The riders stopped. They were close enough now to see even in the faint light. Victoria shivered. She'd never met Mulligan or Diego, but she knew from the descriptions Nick had given that these were those men. She hid behind a tree.

Mulligan and Diego dismounted. They exchanged words that didn't carry through the trees.

Victoria stayed where she was and tried to be as silent as possible. Her teeth chattered—partly from the cold and partly from her nerves.

She could hear Mulligan and Diego talking, although she couldn't hear what they said. It seemed she'd been there for at least ten minutes when nearby leaves crunched.

"Come out, pretty lady," Diego called. "We have the boss man."

Holding her breath, Victoria peeked around the tree. She couldn't make out anything, so she carefully backed up until she could move to another tree. She looked between the leaves.

Diego held a gun to JR's head.

Victoria's heartrate increased, but she swallowed her fear. She could be afraid later. Right now, she needed to act. As quietly as possible, she made her way through the woods until she was behind Diego—where she could shoot without the bullet traveling through him and hitting JR.

"Come on, pretty lady," Diego said again, speaking to the trees she'd just abandoned. He still held the gun to JR's head. "Don't make me shoot the boss."

Saying nothing, Victoria raised her revolver, aimed carefully, and shot Diego through his ear.

Diego slid to the ground. Victoria kicked his gun out of his reach and went to JR's side. "Are you okay?" she whispered, then realized they must have taken his gun. And Mulligan was still out there, armed and dangerous.

Before JR could respond, Mulligan stepped in front of them, his gun aimed at Victoria. "You first, fancy lady."

Victoria froze. She had nowhere to go. She dropped to the ground.

JR immediately fell on top of her, covering her with his large body. Before Victoria could find her breath, two guns shot almost simultaneously. One hit JR. Victoria felt the shot enter his body, somewhere in his lower trunk, and heard his breath hiss. But she couldn't see anything. All she could do was smell the musty earth and the dried leaves and feel JR's weight upon her and hear his heavy breathing. Her head pounded where she'd hit the hard, dry ground, but she was okay. Bruised, but okay.

She wasn't so sure about JR. His breathing became more jagged.

"Are you okay, JR?" a familiar voice called. Nick. Nick was there.

"I'm okay," JR stated, his resonant voice a bit weak.

"Where's Mother?" Jarrod asked.

"Under JR," Nick answered. "Are you able to move?" Nick asked JR.

"I don't know."

"Are you okay, Mother?" Nick yelled.

"Yes," Victoria said as loudly as she could, although her voice was swallowed by JR's muscular arm that surrounded her head.

Jarrod surveyed the situation.

Nick dropped back and checked Mulligan. "Dammit!"

"What?" Jarrod asked.

"He's dead."

"You didn't want him dead?" Jarrod asked.

"Not until I knocked him around a bit. I owed him a few slaps." Nick sighed. "I guess I'll just have to be satisfied that he's gone." He stepped over Mulligan and knelt in front of JR. "He's shot in the ass," Nick stated. He lowered his voice and spoke to JR. "I'm gonna take a look at your injury."

"Okay," JR grunted.

Jarrod lit a torch and held it close to them.

Nick opened his knife and cut JR's pants, then wiped away the blood with his bandana. The bullet had gone into the fleshy part of his rump and remained there. Although it was still bleeding, the volume wasn't concerning.

Nick sighed. "I know that hurts like hell, but you'll be okay. We should be able to get a doctor to ya before infection can start, so I ain't gonna try to cut it out."

"Good," JR stated.

Nick smiled. "Me and Jarrod are gonna lift you off Mother. I don't think you should move around."

"Okay."

Nick surveyed him. As large as the man was, it wasn't going to be easy—especially while making sure Victoria didn't get squashed in the process.

"Nick!" JR hollered.

"Yeah?"

"I can lift my upper body. If you can lift my hips, Jarrod should be able to slide Victoria out."

Nick nodded. "Good plan." He straddled JR and waited for Jarrod to get into position.

JR lowered his arms and lifted his upper body. Nick lifted his hips. Jarrod grabbed Victoria by her armpits and pulled her out as quickly as he could. As soon as she was free, Nick gently put JR down, and JR lowered his upper body.

"You need to go get Heath and Margaret," Victoria said.

"JR, will you be okay here until we get back?" Nick asked. "The barn ain't that far from here—maybe two miles."

"Yes. Go." JR shivered uncontrollably.

"Jarrod, help me get the saddle blankets off the horses."

Jarrod and Nick quickly removed the saddles from Charger, Misty Girl, and the two horses Mulligan and Diego had ridden. Nick also grabbed the saddlebag containing the ransom money off Mulligan's horse. He lifted JR's head and placed it under him. "There's a little ten-thousand-dollar pillow for you."

"Thanks," JR said.

"Can we build a fire?" Victoria asked.

Nick looked around. "We're too close to the trees, and there's too many dry leaves. It wouldn't be safe." He hated to leave them on the cold ground, but there wasn't much else he could do. He handed two blankets to Victoria.

As he started to cover JR with the other two, Victoria held up her trembling hand. She laid her upper body over JR's back. "Might as well share as much body warmth as possible," she said, shivering.

Nick shrugged and covered the two of them with all four blankets, tucking it in around them. Then he took the outlaws' guns and put one by JR and one by Victoria. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Nick?" Victoria asked. "You were ahead of us. How did you get behind us?"

"We heard Charger squealin' and doubled back around."

"Glad you did." Victoria relaxed. "Now, please find Heath and Margaret."

"We will."

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Nick and Jarrod rode as fast as they could to the Semple barn. When they neared, they dismounted and left the horses, then walked as fast as they could to the barn. A dim light shone through the windows.

"You stay here and make sure nobody comes or goes," Nick stated. "I'm gonna walk around the barn and see if I can see anything."

The first light of morning was appearing on the horizon, helping Nick to see. He hadn't walked far when he almost tripped over a large body. O'Connell. Bullet through the heart.

He sucked in his breath and went to the smaller body not far away. Sweeny. With a shot between the eyes. Nick released his breath in gratitude that it wasn't Heath.

Not seeing any other bodies nearby, Nick ran back to Jarrod. "O'Connell and Sweeny are both dead."

"Good."

Nick gently opened the barn door. He didn't want to be mistaken for Mulligan. "Heath! It's me. Nick."

There was no answer.

"Heath!" Nick yelled. "Margaret!"

There was still no answer.

Nick's stomach churned. He glanced at Jarrod, and they walked further into the barn. In the middle of the floor, rope tethered to four large spikes laid empty. Someone had been tied there.

"Nick!" Jarrod yelled.

Nick turned.

Jarrod knelt next to a bundle of blankets hidden behind some hay bales.

Nick ran to him and slid to the floor next to the pile. He and Jarrod lifted the blankets. Margaret lay face down on top of Heath. Neither one moved.

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