Chapter 32
Abby’d be fine. Wade hated that she was out here alone. But she was tough. She’d take good care of herself.
Her only real trouble would be loneliness.
Same for him.
That long, bitter cold winter in his shack had been relentless and brutal, but compared to the loneliness, it was nothing.
Wade had needed that time. Maybe Abby needed some, too, but it was a hard way to live, and Wade wasn’t going to even consider leaving Abby alone.
She needed him whether she knew it or not.
Having Red and Cassie along cheered Wade up. With his friends at his side, nothing could go wrong. They’d hunt for Abby however long it took, and in the meantime, she’d protect herself, probably better than Wade could.
The trail to the Griffin place wound through woods and mountains.
It was too narrow to ride abreast, so they strung out single file with Red leading, Cassie going next, and Wade bringing up the rear.
The rain was holding off, but the night was wild with wind and scudding clouds playing peekaboo with the moon and lightning and thunder in the distance.
Wade had taken Susannah in his lap, and the little one had chattered away for a long time before she’d passed out in his arms. She went from fully awake to limp between two sentences. It would have scared him if he hadn’t seen her do it so many times before.
“She’s sleeping,” Wade whispered.
The wind was at his back and carried his voice over the thrashing limbs overhead and the soft clop of horses’ hooves to Cassie. She looked back and smiled. Her teeth gleamed in the twilight.
They kept their horses at a fast walk. In the darkness, pushing their mounts would have been dangerous.
Wade glimpsed the moon overhead as the clouds rushed across the sky. A jolt of lightning lit up the east. The thunder sounded next, but not for a long time. The storm might be going to the south. Wade could only hope.
Red’s fist went up in the air. Trouble.
Wade goaded his gelding forward, coming alongside Cassie on the slender ghost of a trail. He caught her reins just as Red glanced back. Red jerked his chin, giving Wade his approval, and Wade pulled Cassie’s horse toward a barely existent break in the surrounding woods.
“Wade, what?—”
“Shh.” The single sound brought Cassie’s question to a halt.
The woman was too obedient for her own good, but right now, Wade was thankful for it.
Red’s horse disappeared off to the left of the trail. Wade went right. If only Red didn’t have Michael strapped on his back. But there wasn’t time to snatch the little boy. It was just as well. Red and Cassie would protect their children, leaving Wade free to handle whatever trouble was coming.
The only problem was, Wade wasn’t half as good at handling trouble as Red.
When he had Cassie well hidden behind a nearly impenetrable line of ancient oaks, Wade helped her down from her horse and urged her behind the massive trunk. He leaned inches from her ear. “Take Susannah and stay here.”
Cassie was sweet and pretty. She was a city girl born and bred. But she’d lived in the West for a few hard years, and every one of those years showed in her knowing eyes as she took her little girl.
“Red’s got Michael, so I need to handle this. You make sure you and Susannah are safe.”
Cassie caught Wade’s sleeve. “Be careful.”
With a quick nod, Wade left his horse with Cassie and inched forward to the trail through the brush and low-hanging limbs.
Where was Red? His friend wouldn’t hide from trouble.
But the man had a baby with him, and protecting that child had to come first. Wade prayed Red thought of his son and stayed out of the action.
Wade was the one without a child. He was the one who should take the risks.
Even if he was killed protecting his friends, he’d leave no one behind to mourn. Not even Abby, apparently.
On that sad thought, he drew his gun with a soft whoosh of iron against leather, a sound he could barely hear in the rising wind. The trees danced and swayed, reaching out for him like skeletal fingers clawing at his neck. A night for danger and nightmares. A night for fear.
“Whom shall I fear?”
He wasn’t afraid of any harm to him. Instead, he feared for Abby in danger. And that his friends might come to harm. His own life he would gladly, fearlessly lay down to protect them all.
As he prayed in the howling wind, the soft whinny of a horse caught his attention.
“He could be anywhere.” A man’s voice, high with nerves, carried over the sounds of the approaching storm.
Iron jingled. Horses’ hooves clopped quietly. An eagle screamed high overhead where it soared, playing on the downdrafts.
Another voice, lower, was audible, but Wade couldn’t make out words.
“She shoulda been mine!” The high-pitched voice sounded again.
“I’d’ve liked to get my hands on all that long white hair.
I’d’ve tamed the wild outta her.” The voice droned on, complaining, making sickening suggestions.
The man raved on and on about a wild woman with white hair.
It had to be Abby. Some of the words were lost when the wind struck just so and carried them in another direction.
Wade didn’t need to hear them. He’d heard enough to know they had her prisoner somewhere.
“I say we go back.” That whining voice started again. Wade recognized it, but from where? “Just ’cuz she cut Harv don’t make her his. I want that wild woman.”
“I don’t care what you want.”
Chills of terror almost drove Wade out onto the trail, gun blazing.
He fought a terrible battle with his desire to charge out to confront the men.
Getting himself killed was no way to save Abby and no way to protect Red and his family.
But still, his legs tensed to jump forward.
His hand tightened on the butt of his gun, ready to open fire.
God, they have her. Protect her, Lord. Help me find her. Get us there on time.
Two men here at least, and they’d left Abby behind with someone else. Could it be four men? Could it be the ones who’d attacked Abby’s village? Knowing how vicious those men were made it harder to stay hidden.
The voices drew closer. A bend in the winding trail hid the riders, but they’d appear any second. Wade swallowed hard. He gripped a low branch of the tree he knelt behind, partly to hold himself in place, partly so when his chance came, he could use the limb to catapult himself onto the trail.
Wait. Wait.
The wind held him in place as if it were the hand of God. He itched to move, to act, to fight and punish, but he controlled himself, biding his time.
The lightning flashed so often, the trail was lit almost constantly.
An especially bright slash lit up the path enough that Wade caught sight of a horse’s nose just as it appeared from around the bend.
He leveled his pistol. He wouldn’t shoot, though.
Instead, he’d charge in once they were closer, get the drop on them, and make sure they were disarmed, with Red backing him up but staying hidden well enough to protect Michael and make sure they survived for Cassie’s sake.
Wade would stop them, and they’d find out where Abby had been taken.
Repeating that in his head gave him hope that he could do the right thing when he was killing mad.
Suddenly, to his left, a noise scared Wade into nearly jumping out onto the trail. A swift hand grabbed his arm, or he might have run forward right into the men’s path.
“It’s me. Hang on.” Red appeared by Wade’s side on foot. It took a second for the lightning to show that Red didn’t have Michael. He must have circled back, crossed the trail, and given Michael to Cassie.
Wade hated the thought of Red risking his life, but the odds had just gotten a lot better.
Their eyes met. Then Red nodded at the approaching men. “Now.” They rushed the trail.
“Stop right there or I’ll shoot.” Red cocked his gun, the sound clear and chilling in the stormy night.
The men shouted. One of their horses reared up.
Wade rushed the riders, eager to get his hands on them and beat the truth out of them, to find Abby.
He caught the closest man, whose cry of alarm told Wade he’d gotten the man who’d uttered such horrible threats against Abby.
Jerking the man to the ground, Wade snatched at his holster and relieved the villain of his gun.
The other horse landed four-legged, its back was bare. The quiet man was gone.
Wade yanked the man he held to his feet and used him for a shield, searching in the darkness for the other man. There was no sign of Red either.
“Let go!” his prisoner shouted, then began flailing his hands and feet.
To subdue him, Wade flipped his gun around and crashed the butt down on the man’s head. The fight went out of him, and his legs sagged. Wade crouched low, looking for the missing outlaw and now for Red.
Underbrush thrashed and popped. Wade turned but didn’t dare shoot at someone coming toward him because he couldn’t be sure who it was in the dark.
They were on the side of the trail where Cassie was hidden with the children.
Like the seasoned rancher he was, Wade snapped the fringe from his buckskin jacket and used it to hog-tie his prisoner.
A crack of gunfire split the night, followed by a flash of light deep in the woods. A man’s sudden cry of pain that hopefully didn’t come from Red was followed by more commotion in the trees.
Wade focused on a spot close to him. He quickly dragged his limp captive to the side of the trail and stashed him out of sight, then rushed toward the oncoming noise. Slipping behind a tree, Wade bided his time, drawing his gun not daring to shoot.
A dark form leapt through the last of the cover, and Wade tackled him. The second he made contact, he was sure he had the other outlaw. They tussled, Wade searching wildly for the man’s gun in the darkness. A fist slammed into Wade’s face. He stumbled backward, losing his grip.