Chapter Fourteen
Matt Chambers was disgusted with the Sheriff and told him so. "Why in hell do we pay you a salary if all you are gonna do is sit on your fat ass and do nothing?"
"Mr. Chambers, when those two men regain consciousness... if they do... then I'll question them and go after whoever did this. Until then, I have nothing to go on. Could be the two of them got into a fight over one of the gals at the saloon..."
The man raised his eyebrows questioningly, as if it was a possibility that Matt probably overlooked.
"You are a damned fool!" Matt exploded. "You're giving the ones who did this a chance to get clean away!"
"I don't have time for a wild goose chase, Mr. Chambers. Let me know when them two come around and can tell me what happened."
"You can get off your lazy ass and go check with Doc yourself! I'll be out doin' your job!" Matt angrily declared.
"You go taking the law into your hands, Mr. Chambers, and I'll be locking you up, too!" the man sputtered.
"You'd have to get out of that chair first, and that ain't likely to happen... At least until I get you fired and we hire someone else to replace you who will actually do the job he is paid to do!" Matt turned on his heel and walked out, slamming the door as hard as possible.
"Who has you riled so early this morning, Matt?" Robert Thorne asked, smiling at the older man.
"What the hell are you doing in town, son? Are you trying to get yourself killed?
"I can't stay cooped up inside like a defenseless girl, Matt. Besides, I don't want Flockton to come after Helene, or someone else I care about." Rob felt so frustrated he didn't know what to do.
"Did Helene say someone was giving her a hard time?" Matt demanded.
"No. She is fine, and her Uncle is making her stay in the shop with him. He's afraid someone will sneak in the house by way of the outside entrance and he won't hear them. Helene isn't too excited about the restriction, but Peter told her she could sit and do her knitting,
or he could take a leather strap to her and then she could sit and do her knitting. She chose to behave and accept his decision like a most sensible young lady."
"I just hope Mandy is keeping her nose in the house. I've got men working around the buildings, and they've been told to keep an eye out for strangers. I still worry, though. Two of my men were beat nearly to death last night, Rob. We brought them in for Doc to help,
but he don't know if they're going to make it. It's Patterson and Freely," he said, obviously upset.
I made the mistake of thinking the Sheriff would actually do something about it.
He wants to wait until my men come to and they tell him who did it!
Hell, by then all the tracks will be gone!
I'm going to take some of my boys and go looking.
My bet is that the trail will lead to Flockton."
"I will come with you, Matt. I need to be of service in some way."
Matt looked at him for a few seconds and then nodded. "I'll need to go by the house and tell Mandy what we're doing and threaten her backside if she even peeks outside while I'm gone."
"I am sure she will obey you, Matt. She gave me her word," Rob stated.
She minds you better than she does me, son," Matt complained.
"I turn her over my knee when she misbehaves," Rob informed Matt.
"It works wonders, too."
Rob accompanied Matt to the Doctor's office, where a group of his hired hands were waiting for news of their friends.
"Men, the Sheriff ain't planning to do his job, so I'm going to do it for him! No one gets away with harming my men! I'm not ordering any of you to come and ride with me, but I am asking for volunteers."
Matt wasn't surprised when all the men's hands shot up without hesitation; they were a 'family' of sorts, and cared about each other.
"Thanks, men. We'll leave the ranch in an hour. Bring enough gear for two or three days on the trail. I'll see to enough grub for all of us. Addison, I need someone to stay back here and in contact with Doc.
I'm asking you to do it for me because you are still recovering from being thrown a couple of days ago."
"I can do it, Boss," Addison agreed.
"When those men regain consciousness, tell them we're behind them all the way.
Then go and tell the Sheriff to get off his lazy ass and do something.
Hopefully, by then we'll already have 'em in custody by the time he thinks about earning his pay."
He reminded the men to be prompt and ready to ride in an hour, then he and Rob mounted their horses and headed for the ranch.
* * *
Amanda felt like sobbing as she and Jimmy made their way towards Robert Thorne's ranch.
She couldn't imagine what her life would be like without Rob in it.
She loved him so much! She was going to make sure that Sir Gregory Flockton paid with his life for attacking the man she loved!
Nothing less would do! Her mind was so focused on getting to Rob before he died that she didn't notice the other riders until they were upon them.
She automatically went for her gun, only to stay her hand when the man she'd known as Whitey for the last several months called her name and snapped her mind to the present.
"I'm sorry, Whitey... I mean, Dave! I didn't realize it was you."
He was with his brother and another Texas Ranger.
"Mandy, what are you doing out here?" Dave demanded, his tone scolding. "You know darn well the boss will tan you proper if he hears about this."
"Jimmy came to get me, Dave. Rob's been shot and he's dying."
The look on Dave's face was puzzled for one second, and then he had his gun in his hand and pointed at the stunned Jimmy. "What are you up to, Swartz?" he demanded of the other man, who had raised his hands in the air to show he wasn't going to go for his gun. "I just saw Rob in town."
"You don't understand, Whitey." The man's face crumpled with emotion, and a sheen of tears appeared in his blue eyes.
"The bastard has Milona. He said he'd let her go unharmed if I brought Miss Amanda to him. He brought me a piece of her hair, and said the next time he took out his knife it would be her fingers he started cutting off! I had to do it!
He told me exactly what to say to trick Miss Amanda into coming with me, and it worked, I'm ashamed to say."
"You mean that Rob is okay...? He hasn't been shot...?" Amanda asked, hope in her green eyes.
Jimmy nodded in affirmation. "He's just fine, ma'am. He went into town early this morning. I'm sorry to put you through this. He's got my wife, and he said he'd torture her... I know that what I done wasn't right, but I love Milona."
He hung his head in shame. "Now I don't know what will happen to her," he whispered, anguished by the thoughts torturing him.
"Where were you supposed to take Mandy?" Dave asked quietly, holstering his gun.
"He was to meet me with Milona over by the creek that crosses Thorne Ranch."
"Then we'll go and meet him. Mandy, do you think you can handle this? I promise we won't let anything happen to you."
Dave was pretty damn sure that Matt Chambers and Rob Thorne would take his head off and hand it to him for allowing Amanda to help capture Flockton, but the opportunity was here and he was going to take it.
Amanda nodded her head and then said, "I want to get this man... before he does shoot Rob. I couldn't bear to lose him, Dave."
The tenor of her voice spoke of her determination to take part and do everything she could to help the Rangers in their job.
She trusted them, and she loved Rob too much not to help!
Dave reached out and patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"I understand. I feel the same about my Helene. Jimmy, we're going to get Milona out of this, too," he spoke kindly to the worried man.
You've got to help us out, though, and just pretend that everything is normal.
We'll be right behind you, just out of sight, and when Flockton produces Milona, we'll take him. Can you hold it together that long?"
"Yes. Thank God for your help. Miss Amanda, I hope you and your Pa and Mr. Thorne can forgive me for what I done. I don't like myself right now."
"I understand why you did this, Jimmy, and I am sure Papa and Rob will, too. You wanted to rescue your wife, and Flockton is a mean bastard. We all know that. We'll get her away from him and send him to prison for the rest of his life. We will have the last word on what happens today."