Chapter 12
“I think it’s safe to say that didn’t go as planned,” Joel said.
Jeff gritted his teeth. The man had a gift for stating the obvious, and Jeff was getting really sick of it. And just his luck, he was tied to him.
They sat on the ground in full view of the bandits’ campfire, tied hand and foot and back-to-back. There was no going anywhere. Around them, the camp bustled with activity.
Jeff watched as their cart was driven into the firelight and then beyond to where the other horses were, his heart sinking to his feet. How had their plan gone so spectacularly awry?
“Does it feel like they were waiting for us?” Hunter asked in a low voice. “Or am I the only one who got that feeling?”
“How could they?” Joel asked.
“I don’t know,” Hunter said. “But it sure does feel like they were waiting and jumped us. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Maybe you should say less,” Robert said gruffly. He was tied to Hunter’s back, and all that Jeff could see of him was his shoulder. “We need to avoid the blame game for now and play the getting-out-of-here game instead.”
Jeff nodded. He definitely agreed with Robert. The less time they spent in bandit custody, the better. He tried to think over the events of the last couple of hours.
They had arrived as the sun was setting and gotten into their positions as Hunter had described to them in the meeting earlier that day.
Hunter’s plan had hinged on the fact that everyone needed to get water from the creek.
He said they could blend in with the bandits if they joined the groups who were fetching firewood and water.
So, they hid in the bushes and waited.
Robert was the first one taken. He had been hit on the head and was in a foul mood because of it. Then it had been easy for the bandits, who had simply used the chloroform they must have found in his pocket on the rest of them.
Joel said he had thought the bandits were Jeff and Hunter coming back to tell him something.
They had the same general build, and in the dark, it was almost impossible to tell who anyone was.
Their use of the dark to confuse the bandits had backfired on them.
As Joel had greeted them, someone had come up behind him and held a soaked handkerchief to his face.
Joel had quickly lost all sense of the world.
The same sort of thing had happened to Jeff. He had slipped in with a group of bandits from the creek, and as he smiled at one of them, trying to fit in, someone had grabbed him from behind— and the next thing he knew, he was tied up back-to-back with Joel.
Jeff tried to pat his pockets. He couldn’t move his arms far without cutting off the circulation to his feet.
The rope, if pulled tight, tended to cut into his flesh.
He managed, though, to confirm his fear.
The bandits weren’t fools. They had checked his pockets, and his knife was gone, along with his pistols.
The loss of the guns wasn’t surprising, but the knife was a nasty knock.
He would have hoped they wouldn’t find it.
Perhaps he should have hidden it in his boot, but that was uncomfortable.
If he had nothing on him anymore, it was safe to assume that none of the others had anything either. Okay, this made coming up with an escape plan tricky. How was he supposed to get out of this mess with nothing to help him?
His mind briefly wandered to Bonnie and how worried she would be if he didn’t make it back home quickly as he’d promised.
“It’s going to come down to timing,” Jeff said as he worked it out. “Unless one of you has a knife or a sharp stone.”
“Sadly, I have neither,” Hunter said. He looked over at Jeff and sighed. “Sorry I got you into this, old friend.”
“Don’t worry,” Jeff said with a shrug. “I feel better knowing that we stand a better chance of getting out of this if we’re together than apart.”
Hunter nodded. “Have you got anything, Joel? Robert?”
“Nothing,” Joel said.
“Does it sound like I have anything?” Robert muttered. “I’m pretty sure I would have mentioned something miraculous like a knife or a gun or, as you put it, Jeff, a sharp stone.”
They slipped into silence, and Jeff watched the bandits moving around the camp. Not one of them was familiar. Hunter was sure he had seen Miguel. Was he still there?
Jeff’s thoughts turned to Bonnie once more.
Was she still at Uncle Leo and Felix’s apartment?
Was she talking about things like where the apples and potatoes should go in the store that she and her godfather would run?
Was she thinking about him? Was she remembering the kiss they had shared before she left? He was.
It was so delicious. If he closed his eyes, Jeff could almost feel her and smell the scent of her hair and skin. How he longed to hold her again.
Well, longing wasn’t going to cut it. He needed to get his brain thinking and find a way out of this mess.
Perhaps it was the effects of the chloroform, because all Jeff could manage to do well was doze now and then when he tried his best to think. Maybe the effects were still in his system. He didn’t know, but time seemed to slip by in chunks that he was only partly aware of.
Soon, there was food. Their hands were tied in such a way that they could hold a wooden bowl and spoon. Jeff tasted it. It was a very salty stew, but it was better than nothing. He longed for Bonnie’s cooking, which was always delicious.
“Eat,” Robert said gruffly. “We’ll need our strength. Also, don’t get stroppy with these men. We don’t want to give them a reason to get violent. It’s harder to escape if your legs are broken. Don’t give them any reason to treat you meanly.”
Jeff nodded and then remembered that Robert couldn’t see him. “Sure,” he said.
Hunter said the same and they sat quietly eating. When they were done, the bowls and spoons were collected and taken away. No one spoke to them.
They spent the night like that, sitting with their knees tented up, their arms tied, and their backs tied together.
Joel and Jeff worked out a way to lie on their sides, which was a little better, and they both managed to get some sleep. Hunter and Robert did the same, and when dawn came, they were all stiff and sore but at least a little rested.
The camp woke, and the men began to pack up the tents. There was no breakfast, only the smell of coffee, but Jeff and the others never got any of it.
Eventually, someone came striding over to them. He was a young man, and his features were sharp and angular. He had a mop of dark hair and dark brown eyes so deep and impenetrable that they looked black.
“Ah, Miguel,” Hunter said. “It’s nice to see you.”
Jeff knew him then. He looked older somehow, more mature now. Was that possible? It was only a few weeks or a month since he’d seen the young man.
“I have to say, I didn’t expect to see you miner men here,” Miguel said. “But I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to talk. Come. You will be wanting to stretch your legs, right?”
Jeff certainly did, but he didn’t make a move. The way Miguel had said it made him think that this wasn’t going to be a fun stroll in the grasslands.
Other bandits came over, and the Unity men were roughly hauled to their feet. Then they had slip knots tied around their necks, noose style, and their feet were untied. They were separated from each other, and each had his own bandit, who led him along like he was a dog on a leash.
Jeff was led to a black horse. He had a slim hope that he would be allowed to ride. He reached out his hands to the saddle to hoist himself up, but the bandit who had his leash pulled him roughly backward. Jeff fell on the ground, the slip knot pulling tight around his neck.
“Oh no,” the bandit said, laughing and hauling Jeff back to his feet. “Not for you.” He loosened the slip knot just enough to stop Jeff from choking.
Sucking in air, Jeff glared at him.
“What’s your name?” the bandit asked.
Jeff just glared at him. How could a man treat another so badly? He imagined what he would do to this man when he got free. Robert could moan all he liked about a rough arrest, but Jeff was definitely going to make this ruffian’s nose bleed.
“Your name,” the bandit said. “I’m Raffa, and you are …” He gave the slip knot a playful tug.
“Jeff,” Jeff said hastily. “I’m Jeff.”
The bandit smiled. He had a pleasant face, open and far too friendly for a man allied with El Aguila. “All right. Good. Now we know each other. So, this is how this will work. I ride, you walk. You so much as twitch in a way I don’t like, I pull this leash and you choke to death. Okay?”
“Where are we going?” Jeff asked.
Raffa smiled, but he said nothing.
And so began a long day of walking.
The bandits took care to keep Jeff and the others separated as they walked. Jeff caught sight of Hunter, Robert, and Joel from time to time as other bandits moved out of his line of sight and they moved into it.
Around lunchtime, clouds began to drift across the sky, finally dulling the constant drumming of the sunshine on his skull. It felt as though each and every ray of light was trying to drill a hole in his head. His skin began to ache, and Jeff suspected that he was getting burned quite badly.
When they stopped for lunch, they were tied back-to-back again. This time he was with Hunter. They were given bread and some salted meat. Each man was given one cup of water to drink. The bread was hard and tasteless, and they had to chew it a lot to get it down.
“You know, I think we were too kind to these people when they were in our custody,” Hunter said in a low voice.
“I’m inclined to agree,” Jeff said. “What’s your bandit’s name?”
“The loud big guy?” Hunter asked. “He’s Bernard. He likes to talk a lot. And yours?”
“Raffa,” Jeff said. “The most he’s done is talk to someone else about some coyote he thinks is following him. He says it got the tip of his little finger, and now it wants the rest of him.”
Hunter chuckled. “Good to know he’s sane.” The sarcasm was heavy in his voice.