Chapter 14 #2
“No kidding,” Hunter said. “How is that sharp stone working out? Do you still have it?”
“No,” Robert said dejectedly. “I dropped it when they yanked on my rope.”
“We’re in some serious trouble,” Jeff said.
“Oh, like we didn’t know,” Hunter snapped.
“I shouldn’t even be here,” Joel moaned. “They’re all crazy, these men. Crazy!”
From outside the building, Jeff heard the sounds of a lot of horses and men moving around. What were they doing? Were they leaving? As the sounds began to diminish and his legs and arms started to cramp, he began to wonder.
“I think they’ve gone,” Hunter said morosely. “Now would be an excellent time to escape.”
“Sure, if that was at all possible,” Jeff said. He swallowed, finding the action difficult with his throat so tight and swollen.
“So, which one of us do you think it is who will live?” Joel asked.
“No one,” Jeff said without hesitation. “There’s most likely a message in the box. We’re just here for the shock value of our friends and loved ones finding us dead.”
“Sadly, I’m inclined to agree with Jeff,” Robert said. “We’re not meant to make it out of this alive. Which is why we’re not going to do anything stupid.”
“Okay, so what can we do that’s smart?” Hunter asked.
“We’re going to work together,” Robert said. “If we lie down carefully, back to back, we can untie each other’s hands. Then we stand a chance. Jeff, you’re with me. Move my way carefully.”
Jeff began to, but as soon as he did anything, the box clicked menacingly and the rope pulled tighter, and he was forced in closer to the box. It seemed it did the same for the others as well as they were drawn in closer.
Robert swore.
“Okay, so we don’t do that,” Jeff said. “What else can we do?”
“Pray,” Hunter said.
“Yes, now we have to wait,” Robert said. “They have to be looking for us. Hopefully they will reach us before we fall over from exhaustion.”
Jeff was already feeling his shoulders complaining about the position he was in. All he could do was pray desperately for someone to come and find them.
Time passed. The men did the best they could to ignore their desperately cramping muscles. Joel moaned and cried, but he stayed put, not wanting a bullet through his brain any more than any of the others did.
When the sunlight came streaming in through the far wall in long shafts, Jeff heard the jingle of harness and the mumble of voices.
“Hey!” he said. “Hey!”
“We’re here!” Hunter cried as loudly as he could. “We’re in here!”
Soon, all four of them were yelling, making such a noise that the folks outside would have to be deaf to miss them.
A door was flung open so that it banged against the wall with a boom. And then there was the sound of feet on the wooden floor.
“Oh, my soul!” a familiar voice said. “Keep the others out until we’ve worked out what’s going on here.”
“Hi, Andy,” Jeff rasped. “I guess I’m in a little bit of a pickle here.”
“Yes, you’ve done yourself proud,” his older brother said.
“Hang in there, okay?” Michael spoke on his other side.
Jeff felt relief flooding through him, especially when Troy’s voice sounded.
“Oh my! What wonderful craftsmanship!”
“Tory, you’re not here to marvel at the work, you’re here to save them,” Michael chided.
Jeff was filled with hope and excitement, and while Troy worked to free them, studying the mechanism, Michael and Andrew explained how they had tracked them down.
“It was a lot of work, but we managed it thanks to Bonnie,” Andrew said.
“Bonnie?” Jeff asked.
“She stowed away in your cart,” Michael explained. “And thank goodness she did because she came right back to town the next day and told us what happened. We were on your trail in no time.”
Jeff thanked God again and again for bringing his beautiful, brilliant wife into his life.
“There were some times when we thought we’d lost you, but something always gave us a clue— and here we are,” Andrew went on. “Thank goodness. I didn’t want to have to write to Mother to tell her that you were gone, Jeff. I think she would consider disowning me.”
“Only consider it?” Jeff teased wearily. “If you let me die, she’ll never speak to you again.”
And then there came four loud clicks and the tension on the rope around Jeff’s neck fell away. Andrew cut the ropes on his hands and Jeff pulled the noose off.
He collapsed to the floor and lay on his back, feeling his neck and shoulders, his back and legs all finally release their tension.
“Let me in! I’m not waiting another moment, no matter what you say!”
“Bonnie?” Jeff asked. He raised himself on his elbows and saw his wife rushing into the room. It took her a moment to find him, but as soon as she spotted him on the floor, she ran over. Collapsing beside him, she threw her arms over him and put her head on his chest.
“You’re alive! You’re okay! Thank God,” she said as he wrapped his arms around her.
He lifted her face to his and kissed her. She tasted salty and a little dusty, but he couldn’t care less about that. She was there and he was alive. This was the best moment of his life. He couldn’t ask for more.
Bonnie kissed him back with great enthusiasm and many, many tears.
It was a long time before she would let go of him.
They walked out of the barn together with their arms around each other and found that the others had set up camp for the night.
Jeff’s legs were still so sore that he leaned on Bonnie a little more for strength than he would have liked, but his tiny, stubborn wife had reservoirs of giant courage and didn’t protest a bit.
“They won’t be back,” Robert said, looking around at the place the bandits had vacated. “They’re expecting you to be carting bodies home. Did you find a message in the box, Troy?”
They took seats around a campfire, and Anita set to work making something to eat. Bonnie refused to leave Jeff’s side, and no one seemed inclined to ask her to. He drank some water and sat on the ground, just enjoying being free and having Bonnie nearby.
Troy nodded. He handed a white envelope to Andrew.
Andrew opened it and read it by the light of the fire as it was starting to get dark.
“Oh, is that all he wants?” Andrew asked.
“What is it?” Michael asked.
“El Aguila has made an offer to become our liege lord, I think we would call it if this was England,” Andrew said. “We pay him to keep us safe, and he will provide the men to do so.”
“But he’s the reason we’re not safe,” Jeff said. “It’s a load of nonsense.”
“True,” Andrew said. “But what this letter means is that we’re a real threat to him.
We’re a real concern, and he needs to deal with us.
Surely there will be a different deal we could bring to the negotiating table.
Maybe it’s time to head back east and speak to Mr. MacGregor.
Maybe there’s a deal we can make that will end this violence. ”
“Do you really think that’s possible?” Jeff asked.
Andrew shrugged. “It might be worth a try. He’s giving us three weeks to consider it. That’s not bad. We could come up with some sort of solution in that time. Let’s at least treat this as a legitimate option.”
Jeff nodded. “Sure. Peace would be great.”
“Exactly,” Andrew said. “And there may be more than one way to get that peace. So, let’s not be hasty. I’ll have to go to San Antonio and send a telegram.”
“Do you think that El Aguila would ever stick to any agreement made?” Bonnie asked.
“If it was the right one,” Jeff said.
“I think he’d consider it,” Robert said.
“Really? When he was willing to put bullets through three of our skulls for moving?” Joel asked. He seemed to still be shaken by the events in the old house.
“Actually,” Troy said. “There were no bullets. The mechanism was designed to pull the ropes tighter and tighter, that’s all. If you moved, you would eventually all die.”
Joel went pale and walked away from the fire.
That night Bonnie and Jeff cuddled in a blanket and slept well. In the morning, they rode on the same horse back to Unity, and by the afternoon, they were home. It had never been so wonderful to be back in the small house he’d recently built.
Jeff thought he might want to sleep for a week. So, he was quite surprised when, after having a lengthy bath, he went upstairs to find Bonnie moving things around in his room.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
She smiled at him. “Well, we are married, aren’t we?” she asked. “I think this separate room situation has to end. I love you, and I don’t want to spend another moment away from you.”
Jeff smiled. “That’s the best news ever,” he said and, taking her in his arms, he kissed her passionately. She kissed him back, and for a while, everything faded from Jeff’s mind except that he was with his wife, and he loved her more than anything.
All the questions about the future and what would happen in the time to come melted away. Solving the problems facing the town could wait. For now, all Jeff and Bonnie wanted was to be together.