Chapter Thirty-Three
Hope felt the wind get knocked out of her as Jackson gripped her around the waist hard, squeezing her tightly.
Jackson smelled of smoke and sweat, but after having endured the torturous fear of losing him to the fire, he’d never smelt sweeter.
That may have been why it took her a moment to realize that Jackson was running with her.
“Jackson!” she breathed, his beard scratching against her cheek as they ran.
Jackson set her down on ground next to Margaret and Clara, then turned his back on her.
Paralyzing pain spread through her chest, as if every part of her was slowly freezing up and she was powerless to stop it. A group of riders emerged through the smoke with Victor at the forefront, mounted on his black stallion.
Hope watched as Victor and his horse strutted up to the smoldering barn and surveyed it from a safe distance, a smug smile on his pale face.
“What happened here, Jackson?” Victor asked, mocking amusement glinting in his eyes, which never seemed to blink.
She could see the shadow of a revolver in his hand, and after checking the other riders, she saw that they were armed, too. Hope forced herself to take a breath and calm down. She understood why Jackson had refused to teach her to shoot, because if she’d had a gun she would’ve shot Victor on sight.
“The guns!” Hope whispered to Margaret, hiding her mouth with her hand.
Margaret nodded, gesturing towards the house. They turned to discreetly try to leave, but two of Victor’s riders quickly dismounted and blocked the entrance, cutting them off from all the loaded guns. She turned back and saw Victor smirking at her, as though he’d read her mind.
“Ah, beautiful Hope,” Victor said, swinging off his horse and aiming his gun at them. “So lovely to see you again, though regrettably under such terrible circumstances.”
“You did this, Victor!” she couldn’t stop herself from saying.
Jackson gripped Hope’s hand with his, the gesture indicating she should stay close to him. It was a reminder that he wouldn’t let Victor get to her, and Hope believed him with all her heart. She could feel Victor’s eyes on her, and a shudder worked its way up her spine and made her skin crawl.
“Me?” Victor scoffed, and a few of his men guffawed behind him. Hope could see in the gray rays of pre-dawn light that despite supporting Victor, most of his men were grim and unsmiling. She wondered what hold Victor had over them. Her mind flitted to Daniel, and her gaze darted around the ranch.
“No, dear Hope,” Victor continued, pacing slowly in front of them. “Your husband Jackson brought this on you. I warned him, did I not?”
“You’ll address me, Victor, not my wife,” Jackson instructed, and she could feel him tensing next to her.
“You see, Hope, all Jackson had to do was sell me his land by the creek, and I promised to then leave the whole valley alone,” Victor continued loudly.
Hope noticed some of Victor’s men nod in agreement, and she realized how Victor had cunningly lied to them. Her frown deepened.
“You’re a liar!” Hope shouted.
Jackson turned to her, his green eyes imploring her to stay silent. Hope nodded, acknowledging she had to trust Jackson would protect them, and her quiet trust and support was what he needed.
“I won’t sell you any land, Victor,” Jackson stated, his voice calm and reassuring. “And I won’t stand by and watch you bully everyone in this valley.”
“Really?” Victor asked, slowly rounding on Jackson, delivering an intense gaze. “And what do you plan to do about it?”
“Fight me,” Jackson urged. “One on one. Let’s settle this once and for all.”
“Jackson, no!” Hope hissed at him, clutching his arm.
Victor threw his head back and scoffed with wicked delight. “Even your wife doesn’t believe you could beat me. Accept defeat, Jackson, and no one gets hurt. Don’t let your personal pride lead to the death of other people…again.”
It took all the strength she had to hold herself back from spitting in Victor’s eye. She felt even more respect for Jackson because of the way he was able to keep a cool head in the face of Victor’s ruthless taunting.
“You won’t win, Victor, because there’ll always be someone to stand up for what’s right,” Jackson said loudly, as though he was suddenly addressing Victor’s men rather than Victor himself.
“There’ll always be people who won’t sell themselves to you for a few coins, who believe in preserving the good of this community over stripping the land for its wealth.
There’ll always be people like me who’ll refuse to bend for people like you,” Jackson concluded.
“And how’s that?” Victor demanded, a flash of his temper showing itself in the angry slant of his eyes.
Jackson took a deep breath. “Because while people side with you for your money, the people who follow me do so out of a desire to do right. You’ll always lose, Victor. Even when you think you’ve won, you’ll still be the loser,” Jackson said, spitting at his feet.
Victor marched forward and swung his gun at Jackson, aiming to strike him across the face with the butt of his weapon. Jackson reached out an arm to block it and pushed the gun aside, throwing Victor off balance. As Victor regained his stance, rage quickly replaced his former composure.
Jackson pushed Hope backwards so that she was out of reach, and she felt Margaret catch her. The two women clung to each other, their eyes fixed on Jackson. Hope swallowed down her fears, determined to believe that Jackson could beat Victor and that good could overcome evil.
She watched as Jackson advanced on Victor, ready to tear the gun from his hands. Her heart throbbed in her throat, and again she looked around for any sign of Daniel, but he was nowhere in sight.
Victor aimed his revolver at Jackson, and Jackson reacted quickly, like a horse rearing and lashing out at an enemy.
Jackson rushed forward and knocked the gun from Victor’s hands, then shouldered Victor to the ground.
Hope felt a rush of relief, believing it would all be over soon, but as Jackson reached for Victor’s gun, Victor let out a shrill whistle.
Within seconds, the other ranchers from Victor’s horde aimed, their weapons all pointing at Jackson.
“I just have to give the word,” Victor informed Jackson, a smirk creeping across his thin lips.
“No!” Hope shouted, her eyes filling with tears.
Jackson stood up carefully, leaving the gun at his feet. He raised his hands in the air and slowly stepped backwards while Victor scoffed at him. Victor stood up and dusted the dirt from his clothes, signaling for his men to come closer.
Hope couldn’t stand to see Victor triumph over Jackson, especially when he’d just been defeated in seconds. It wasn’t fair that he had so many men under his control. She felt powerless to do anything about it, though, and the feeling enraged her.
“Let’s teach him a lesson, boys,” Victor said with a blood-chilling smirk.
Hope screamed as one of the men took a swing at Jackson, covering her eyes with her hands so that she wouldn’t see the blow.
“It’s alright, dear,” Margaret said, her voice wavering slightly. “Jackson can hold his own. He was bullied enough in school that he learned how to face down a group.”
Margaret gasped, and Hope opened her eyes to see Jackson dodge a punch, then lash out a kick at the man’s knee.
A second man charged at Jackson, gripping him around the waist, but Jackson brought down his elbow square on the man’s back, resulting in another howl.
With two men squirming on the ground, there were still three circling Jackson.
“Get him!” Victor shouted, his face twisted with the kind of dark rage Hope had never before seen in a man.
Jackson took a punch to the gut, but he used the man’s momentum against him by grabbing his arm and throwing the man past him.
Hope’s eyes darted from face to face, and she realized she was still in search of Daniel. Part of her had believed he’d joined Victor’s team, but as the men stepped forward, she realized he was nowhere to be found.
Jackson was bleeding from his nose and lip, but that was nothing compared to Victor’s men. She was just beginning to think Jackson could win when Victor fired his gun in the air, the crack sending everyone to the ground.
“That was a friendly warning,” Victor snarled. “Now let’s regroup, shall we?” he spat at his men. “Pick up your weapons!”
Hope refused to believe they were defeated.
People had to have seen the smoke, and when they saw it was in the direction of Jackson’s ranch, she knew they’d come.
Just the day before, while collecting the sworn statements at the church, she’d seen everyone’s unity and desire to stand together against a common enemy.
She knew people would fight; they just had to find a way to reach the ranch.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a second gunshot ripping through the air, making everyone around her drop to the ground in fear again, their hands shielding their heads. Hope looked around, her ears ringing from the shot, desperate to find Jackson and make sure he was safe.