Chapter 14
It was late afternoon when the men from the town finally reached the hills. They loomed above the men on the horses, and Hunter couldn’t help but feel that they were menacing. Well, what better place for an evil madman to have his base?
They were on the other side of a swiftly flowing creek with deep banks. It was too wide to jump for either man or horse, and the sides were too steep to climb down or up. There had to be a ford somewhere, but Hunter and the others, never having come this way before, had no idea where it might be.
Andrew had sent two riders along the creek and told them to go for a quarter of a mile each and then come back.
Hunter took the opportunity to rest. His head was beginning to ache, but he was certain that his mild discomfort was nothing compared to the hardships that Grace was having to endure. How he prayed that she was all right.
“How are you feeling?” Kevin asked as he sat beside Hunter in the shade of a tree.
“Like my head wants to explode,” Hunter said with a sigh.
“Luckily for you, Julie sent some willow bark tincture along in case of emergency,” Kevin said with a grin. “I had a feeling you would need some.”
“You are a true friend and a gentleman,” Hunter said, accepting the little bottle. He put a few drops under his tongue and closed his eyes. After a while, the pain began to recede.
There was the sound of thudding hooves and soon, Jeff came riding up to them.
“So, there’s a bridge down the way a bit,” he said, pointing the way he had come. “It looks like it’s in terrible repair, but I think that’s just a ruse.”
“What do you mean?” Andrew asked, sitting up.
“I took a moment to inspect the bridge because something felt off about it,” Jeff said.
“At first glance, it looks like a rickety, mostly broken thing that won’t hold a fly.
So, I walked onto it and it holds. There are all kinds of extra supports hidden so cunningly that it looks like Troy built it. If you know what I mean.”
Troy was the town’s engineer. He and his wife Lizzy had designed and built most major structures both in the mine and town.
“Okay, so what do you think that means?” Andrew asked. “Is this how El Aguila gets his men across the creek?”
“Must be,” Jeff said, and he and Michael exchanged looks.
“The only problem is that they might be watching the bridge,” Hunter said.
“Yes,” Andrew said. “But Jeff doesn’t appear to have been shot at, and unless Kyle comes up with another way across …”
“We won’t have much choice,” Michael said.
Kyle came riding along a moment or two later. He shook his head. “There’s no other way. The banks carry on like this all the way that I could see. The river is determined not to let a soul across.”
“Right, so we go to the bridge,” Andrew said.
Hunter mounted his horse and took stock. He checked his shotgun and pistol. Both were loaded and ready.
“Okay, let’s go,” he said, itching to find Grace and end El Aguila’s reign of terror.
“Not so fast,” Andrew said. “We can’t go in there blind. If El Aguila has all his forces there, then we’re going to be terribly outnumbered. We need a better plan.”
“We don’t even know if Grace is up there,” Michael added. “Mr. Pike didn’t offer much information.
“So, we send a scouting party,” Hunter said.
“Exactly,” Andrew said. “I think that should be Jeff, Kyle, myself, and?—”
“And me,” Hunter said pointedly.
The others exchanged looks. “Hunter, you’re not at your best.”
“I don’t care,” Hunter said. “My wife is being held hostage!”
“Ethan will come with us, and the rest of you will wait here,” Andrew snapped. “That’s final!”
Hunter’s anger rose. “What is wrong with you? I’ve ridden all day in the hot sun with no trouble. My wife needs me!”
“She doesn’t need you to be hasty and emotional,” Andrew said. “We have to find the best way up the hill to the camp or whatever we’ll find there. You stay here and rest. We’ll need you later. The longer you argue with us, the more you’re delaying Grace’s rescue.”
And they left.
Hunter fumed while sitting under a tree. The gall of his friends to leave him behind like this. How would they have felt if it was one of their wives?
“Look on the bright side,” Kevin said, handing him the water skin. “We’ll be rested and ready when they get back. That’ll give you all the more strength to fight for Grace.” He paused. “Do you think they’re holding a lot of folks there?”
“Sure sounded like it based on what Mr. Pike said,” Hunter muttered.
“I’d be willing to bet there’s a large number of women and children being held wherever Grace is.
And who knows what conditions they’re being subjected to.
” He paused, considering. If the families were being held hostage …
“Why did they kill Mrs. Pike, do you think?”
Kevin shook his head. “Maybe she tried to escape.”
Hunter prayed that Grace wouldn’t make the same mistake. But she wouldn’t, would she? She might worry about fainting and had to know that would endanger her life even more. No, hopefully she would stay put until he arrived.
There was a moment’s silence between them.
“Hang on,” Kevin said suddenly. “So, each farmer is facing the same fears and worries that you are. They’re all missing someone they love, right?”
“Yes,” Hunter said.
“Well, don’t you think that since we plan to storm the camp and save Grace, the farmers might want to be a part of it?” Kevin asked. “I know that if I were a farmer, and the bandits had taken Anita, and I heard of some folks wanting to save her, I would want to be a part of that. Wouldn’t you?”
“Obviously.” Hunter nodded. “But how would we convince them? They were unwilling to listen to anything we said before.”
Kevin was thoughtful for a moment, and then he smiled. Hunter knew that smile well. It was his friend working out a solution no one else would think of. “I’m going to go get the farmers to help us.”
“How?” Hunter asked.
Kevin grinned from ear to ear. “I think I have an ace up my sleeve. Tell Andrew when he gets back.”
Hunter nodded, knowing it would be no good to ask further questions.
Kevin went over to Michael and spoke to him. Michael nodded and soon Kevin rode off.
“Where’s he going?” someone asked.
“To get us some backup,” Michael said.
Hunter felt a little better now. The possibility that they wouldn’t have to fight El Aguila’s men all by themselves was good. It might make all the difference. What could fifteen or so men do against however many guards were in the camp?
Time passed slowly, and Hunter took to pacing up and down. Finally, Jeff and Kyle came back.
“We found the camp,” Kyle said. “It’s a big building with a ten-foot-tall wall and a gate. The gate is rusted in places, and we found a large hole in the wall.”
“Is Grace there?” Hunter demanded.
“There are cages,” Kyle said. “I didn’t get a good look inside them. But I can tell you the whole camp seems lightly guarded.”
“Doesn’t sound like El Aguila was expecting it to be attacked,” Michael said.
“No,” Jeff said. “I think it isn’t his main camp. It just doesn’t look well-guarded enough. The men on the wall looked lazy and sleepy. They were hardly even bothering to keep watch. I snuck right up to two of them who were playing cards and had a good look over the wall. They never even noticed.”
“Where are Andrew and Ethan?” Michael asked.
“They found good hiding places and said it was best for them to stay put,” Kyle said. “They’re getting a head count and trying to find out who?—”
“Is Grace there or not?” Hunter demanded again, speaking over Kyle.
Everyone stared at him.
“Like we said, there are women, children, and a few young men in cages there,” Jeff said. “It’s a good bet she’s in one of them.”
The thought of Grace being caged made Hunter see several shades of red.
“Cages?” he repeated, fists clenching. “Did you see who has the keys?”
“We’ll get to that,” Michael said. “So, are we going?”
“Yes. As soon as the sun starts to set, we’ll head up the side of the hill,” Kyle said. “There’s a good place to tie up the horses where they won’t give us away. Then we’ll walk the rest of the way.”
Hunter nodded. It felt like the barest skeleton of a plan, but it was better than nothing.
It was about forty or so minutes to sunset, and the men spent the time packing up and getting ready.
Then, as the sun began to dip below the horizon, they set off for the bridge.
It was rickety and seemed utterly unsafe, but despite appearances, it held as they rode across it.
There was no lookout at the bridge. It seemed Jeff had been right.
There was no indication that anyone was watching or ever bothered to do so except possibly when they were waiting for a delivery.
El Aguila apparently felt very secure about this bridge never interesting anybody, so cunningly had its sturdiness been disguised.
Hunter hoped that Kevin would be able to convince the farmers to come and help before it was too late.
Once across the bridge, the land began to rise, and there was a track made by the frequent passage of cart wheels that led up into the hills.
“We wouldn’t have seen this in the dark,” Kyle said, riding beside Hunter. “There’s not much here to go on but the flattened grass. Still, it leads all the way up to the camp.”
“How thoughtful of El Aguila to show us the way to his home,” Hunter said.
“We really don’t think he’s here,” Kyle said. “The place is too shabby for someone like him, who’s known for preferring luxury. And the guards don’t have that busy look folks get when the big boss is around.”
The track led up and up and eventually came to a flat open area where they tied up the horses. From then out, they went very quietly. Sounds seemed to carry, bouncing off the hills and then coming back, altered with new harmonics.
As they were walking up the slope, they came to a place where a lookout could sit and see all the way down to the river. Hunter felt blessed that no one had been sitting there watching them.
Or had there been someone and now there was an alarm being rung in the building?
Hunter tried to listen. All he could hear was the breeze in the trees and the sounds of night animals as they awoke and began their evening search for food.
As they approached the house, the light was draining from the world.
Standing under the spreading branches of the trees, Jeff and Kyle led them to the hole in the wall.
It was clear that something had happened, and the masonry had simply caved in and crumbled.
But since a large bush obscured it almost completely from view, it was no surprise that no one on the other side had noticed it.
“How did you find this?” Hunter asked.
“Kyle has a nose for these things,” Jeff said.
Kyle smiled. “In we go.”
They crawled, coming out in a row of bushes that skirted the wall.
The courtyard they were in was large and held two rows of large cages back to back at the far end.
Between them and the cages was an open area that looked as though it was used much as the town’s old communal campfire was still used.
“We’ll have to stick to the cover by the wall,” Kyle whispered.
Everyone nodded and began to creep slowly around the wall.
Though it was getting quite dark now, the camp seemed to be livening up, possibly because it was so much more comfortable with the heat of the day fading.
Men walked around talking loudly. None of them seemed to be armed with more than a pistol in a holster. That was good.
Lights were coming on around the complex.
Torches were being lit, and men were moving about with no apparent hurry.
The smell of something cooking for dinner filled the air, and soon, the men were sitting around a campfire, talking and eating.
They were complimenting a pudgy, short fellow, patting him on the back. He must have done something right.
Hunter pressed himself to the wall as two men walked over to the space he had only just been in. They picked up several logs that he had been hiding behind and took them to the campfire, talking all the while.
Hunter’s heart was thudding in his chest. That was close.
He and Kyle kept moving around until they were hidden in a row of trees that lined the wall closest to the cages. From there, Hunter tried to see which cage held his wife, but he couldn’t make much out. The cages weren’t lit, only the campfire area and the house itself.
“How long do you think we’re going to wait?” he asked.
“Not long,” Kyle said.
Hunter decided not to ask how he’d drawn that conclusion.
They settled down and waited.
Time moved on. The fire burned low, and the men, who had been drinking beer from the look of the frothy liquid in their glasses, began to settle down. Soon there was a lot of snoring.
Hunter and Kyle got ready, moving limbs that had long since gone to sleep. Hunter shook out the pins and needles in his legs.
“Okay, any moment now,” Kyle said in a whisper.
And then one of the women moved. She slid over to the door and began to fiddle with the lock. It took a few moments and then popped open. A moment later, another woman moved to the door and came creeping out.
Hunter knew her the moment she moved. He’d have known her anywhere. His admiration for her courage soared, even as his worry did too.
She made a dash for the trees right where he and Kyle were waiting. What was her plan from here? he wondered. He needed to stop her before she accidentally did something to jeopardize the rescue!
As she came close to him, Hunter reached out and grabbed her … and Grace screamed.