Chapter Six #3
He spotted Matt as he rode into the yard, but there was no sign of the lovely redhead. "Where is Amanda, Matt?" he asked.
"Goldie told me she went riding with you, son...?"
"She did not return within the last hour or so?" Rob was suddenly frightened.
"No. Was she supposed to?" Matt demanded.
Rob explained what happened, and he and Matt checked the barn for Glimmer. The little mare wasn't there.
"Do you think she chased after you, thinking you might need help?" Matt asked, trying to figure out the possibilities.
"I told her to stay put, Matt, but you know Mandy."
"Yeah. Let's go find her, son." Matt was quickly mounted, and Rob led the way.
* * *
Amanda was furious and her green eyes reflected her anger and agitation.
"You won't get away with this, Ted Fox!"
The man had abducted her and dragged her kicking and screaming to one of the line shacks on the property.
Her only hope what that Rob would come looking for her before the deranged man could carry out his threat to rape her.
"Once I have you, sugar, your Daddy will beg me to marry you... and that snooty Englishman won't give you the time of day."
"If you touch me I will see you dead."
"Is that any way to talk to the man you're going to marry, sugar? I won't put up with any of your sass, you know. I'll teach you your place and you'll do exactly as I say, when I say. When I want you to spread your legs for me, you'll do it, too!"
"I would rather die!"
Ted slapped her hard across the face. "You'd better learn to be careful what you say, girl."
"I don't take orders from you!"
"You will. You'll do what I say, when I say. If you say one word to your Pa about me, I'll see him dead. Do you hear me?"
Amanda just glared at the evil man. "I can't imagine what Helene sees in you?"
"I thought I wanted her Uncle's gun shop until you showed up. Why settle for a gun shop when you can have the largest ranch in the territory?"
"I guarantee you will never have this ranch, Ted. I promise you that. I will see you dead first." Amanda realized her instincts were right all along about the man.
"After I take my belt to you a few times you'll change your tune."
"You are out of your mind. My father is going to kill you!"
"Not if I kill him first, and I promise you I will kill him if you don't do what I tell you to do, starting right now." His hands went to the buckle of his belt. "Your Pa was too soft on you or we could have settled this before now."
"My father loves me and cares about me."
"He's too soft. If he'd let me take a strap to you a few times we'd already be married and you'd know your place."
"What did Helene ever see in you!" Amanda demanded, shaking her head. She was going to keep him talking.
"At least she didn't argue and sass like you do. Once we're married, I'll see to it she comes out here to stay, and I'll have her, too."
He pulled his belt slowly through the loops on his pants.
"Now you're going to pay for telling Helene to write a love note to me and pretending there was nothing between us. I've told you all along that we were going to be married when the time was right, but here you've been carrying on with that Englishman. I'll take care of him, too,
when the time is right."
"You'll be the one taken care of," Amanda told him, her voice filled with derision. "My father and Rob are looking for me right now!" she predicted.
"You'd better hope they don't come here! I'll kill them if they do."
Amanda's green eyes opened wide when Ted doubled the belt in his right hand. He slowly approached the bed, where he had her hands tied above her head.
"You can make this easy or hard," Ted sneered. "Either way, you're getting' a licking with my belt for encouraging Helene and letting your Pa think I'm interested in her when it's you I want."
"I don't want you!" Amanda declared.
"Too bad." He suddenly reached out and flipped her on her stomach, crossing her arms as he did so. In the next instant he brought the doubled belt down across her butt. "I want you to scream, sugar."
"Never!"
"That is a long time!" he pointed out, giving her a second stripe across her bottom.
Amanda refused to cry out. She was not about to give the sick man the satisfaction of hearing her beg.
Rob and her Papa would find her! They would!
And the longer Ted spent beating her, the more time it gave them to get here and rescue her before the vile man forced himself on her. She prayed they would hurry!
* * *
"I have a bad feeling, son. A real bad feeling."
Matt paused to think a minute. "It sounds to me like someone fired those gunshots hoping to draw you away from Mandy. Only someone on the ranch who saw you two riding out would know to follow you out here. And there is only one person who would have the nerve to kidnap my girl. Let's go find her."
He headed his horse in the opposite direction that Rob would have taken, but Rob trusted Matt to know what he was doing.
They rode to a line shack, and Rob felt rage consume him when he heard screams of pain coming from inside. Matt's expression was deadly, and if it was Amanda in that cabin, whoever was harming her was going to die.