Captive Heart (Cartwright Gals: A Romancing the Ponderosa Spinoff Book 2)

Chapter 3

After we ride for nearly three hours straight with only a handful of breaks, Carlito pulls his horse to a stop in front of a shady tree. The other two stop on either side of us, dismounting as Carlito swings down from behind me. He leaves me sitting in the saddle, tied hands looped over the pommel. They tied me up after our first break since I tried to make a run for it. The other man, who's the quietest and gruffest looking of the trio, knocked me to the ground and grabbed me before I even got five feet away from the resting horses.

At first it seemed like Carlito was the leader of the gang but now I think that it's actually the other dark haired man. He hasn't said but a handful of words the whole time, yet the words that he did growl made the other two tuck tail like chastened puppies. I didn't catch what he said but apparently he put them in their place. Out of the three of them, Carlito is the only one who's name I know since he calls both the blonde and the gruff man "amigo", and the blonde hasn't said anything to the third man, let alone said his name.

I continue to sit in the saddle, the heat of the day and the long ride beginning to make me groggy. I hear the blonde man let out a yelp of pain and quickly look over to see him rub the side of his head with the gruff man standing over him. "Ryder, I said go get the gal down. I don't want to listen to your smart mouth, go!"

The blonde man, who I now know goes by the name Ryder, hurries over to me. He grabs me around the waist and roughly yanks me down, but he forgets to unloop my hands so I get stuck and this time the yelp of pain comes from me. Hearing me, the gruff man looks up and strides over. With a flick of his arm he shoves Ryder out of the way as he reaches out and unloops my hands. I crash into a pile on the ground but he reaches down and yanks me back to my feet. I feel my locket swing forward and as the sunshines on it, it catches his attention. He grabs it in his mitt of a hand and roughly snaps it open, studying the picture for a few moments.

"Canaday." His voice comes out a rough, gravelly growl. I'm surprised he knew who the picture was of, let alone Candy's name.

"Canaday?" Carlito asks, as he walks up beside us. "Isn't that the man who tried to stop us from robbing that bank in Reno five years ago?"

"Yeah," he growls again, "I heard that he settled down somewhere near Virginia City after getting himself a job on a big ranch."

"Last night in the saloon I heard something about a big rancher's daughter marrying one of his ranch hands sometime soon." Carlito rubs his head, thinking, "They called him Candy, I think, and the rancher's name was Cartwright."

"Candy, that's him, Candy Canaday." He closes the locket but doesn't let it go. "He's working for ole Cartwright now, eh?"

"Who's Cartwright?" Ryder asks.

"Ben Cartwright owns the largest spread in all of Nevada. I've heard that he's got three sons who each have their own little spread on their daddy's land. And this little gal must be one of his daughters, not only one of his daughters but the one Canaday plans to marry."

"If this Cartwright fella owns that much land, I reckon he's a pretty rich man." Ryder snarls. "I figure he'd pay a pretty penny to get back this daughter of his."

"That he would." Carlito agrees, nodding his head excitedly. "How much do you think we can get out of him?"

"Three thousand dollars."

"Three thousand!" Ryder gasps while Carlito's black eyes look like they're liable to pop clean out of his head. "Shane, I know we didn't get anything outta that bank in Carson and even though this Cartwright fella's a rich man, don't you think that's asking a little much?"

"Don't worry he'll pay it, you'll see." The gruff man, who I now know is named Shane, still holds my locket in his hand. He rubs it on his palm with his fingers and then before I even have enough time to react, he yanks it towards him. The force of it causes me to stumble forward and the chain snaps at the back of my neck. I let out a small shriek as I feel the chain cut into my neck. He smirks at me as he continues, "That is, he'll pay if he wants to see his pretty daughter again."

He tosses the locket to the ground, where he spits on it before rubbing it into the dirt with his heavy boot. I feel tears well up in my eyes as I watch my beloved locket being smashed into the ground. It means so much to me and I think somehow Shane knows it, too. It seems like it's brought him joy to not only bring me pain but to spit and stomp on the picture of a man who stopped him from doing wrong in the past.

Ryder steps up to me with an open canteen and helps me take a drink as Shane walks away towards the tree. I try to fight my tears but I lose the battle and they silently stream down my cheeks. Neither Ryder nor Carlito give me any pity, just smirks. All I am to them is a way to get a quick and easy thousand dollars each, nothing else. Not a girl with feelings, just a way to get rich quick.

Before I know it, we're back in the saddle again and on our way. Distracting myself from the pain of losing one of my most prized possessions, I try to find the reason why the names Shane, Ryder, and Carlito sound so familiar altogether. I run through all the things Candy's told me about his past, I suddenly make the connection. He told me that there was a gang of three led by a Shane Wesley. The three of them were mean, vicious, and vile but Shane was the worst of the trio. I reach farther into the memory to try and recall the other two's last names. Somehow I'm able to remember them, too; Ryder McKenzie and Carlito Vincente. Candy told me the three were known and wanted in many places across the West for murder and robbery.

Fear quickly replaces the distress and sorrow pulsing through me as I realize with a sinking feeling that those same dangerous men who Candy told me about have now captured me. Not only captured me, but are also holding me hostage for a very large sum of money. All I can do is hope that Pa has the money to pay them or I'm going to be a goner.