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

Chapter 12

Watching Brie fall over limp onto the ground, unnerves and scares me like nobody's business. Involuntarily, I yell her name but nothing but an odd sounding moan escapes past the gag in my mouth. The sound catches Ryder's attention and when he glances over, I nod my head in Brie's direction, to try and get him to look over at her. Thankfully he gets what I was trying to communicate and hurries over to her. Carlito follows Ryder when he sees her as well and both of them bend down beside her. Carlito moves to untie her gag when suddenly, just like moments before when he tried to give her water, Shane's voice growls across the camp at him, "Don't even think about it, you two."

"Why, Shane?" Ryder looks behind him at Shane, who's casually smoking a cigar as he fingers the blade of his knife.

"Leave her be."

"But she's burning up and unconscious," he exclaims, clearly a little shocked, "if we don't do something she'll die."

"Do you think I really intended to give her back to Cartwright alive?" Shane laughs, standing up and walking over to them. "I just said he'd get her back after he gave me the three thousand, I never said how I'd return her."

"Shane, that's crossing the line don't you think?" Ryder's voice lowers a bit and I see his fists clench tight at sides. Apparently even he has a breaking point with what he'll do and not do. "With Canady, we have a reason, he stopped us from robbing that bank in Reno and landed us in jail for four years but this gal ain't done nothing to us."

"Si, amigo," Carlito stands up beside Shane, "I do not know why you had us take her, the senorita is pretty but not the right type for any of us. We like those pretty, painted senoritas in the cantinas."

"So you're going to go against me, aren't you?" Shane asks, furious.

"Yes," Ryder stares him down, "amigo, untie the gal."

Carlito bends to do Ryder's bidding but Shane lashes out and grabs his arm. His light brown face flushes red as Carlito swings his free arm and smashes his fist into Shane's jaw. A brawl begins as they hit the ground, beating each other. Distracted and shocked by it, Ryder forgets about Brie at his feet.

Watching the two outlaws roll in the dirt, I suddenly feel a hand come around my gagged mouth. Startled but not willing to show it, I try to glance down to see the person's arm yet I can't thanks to their angle. A voice hisses quietly out from behind me, "It's Joe, we've got the whole place surrounded. Be quiet and don't move, I'll untie you in a minute."

I relax and wait for all this chaos to end as he takes his hand off my face and slips behind the tree. I quickly glance around and spot everyone else. As they shift, I see Hoss and Kevin behind the big rock Brie's laying in front of, Adam's off to the left behind another rock, and Ben is with Roy on my right behind a big tree.

Ben and Roy step out into the open, the others following suit. All of them loudly cock the rifles in their hands as Ben's deep voice booms across the camp, "All right, boys, break it up, your game is over."

Carlito and Shane leap to their feet while Ryder tosses his pistol out of his holster and lifts his hands above his head meekly as he notices all the rifles pointed his way. Roy steps over and takes the other two's pistols as Hoss helps him tie up their hands. Joe quickly cuts me down as I watch Ben, Adam, and Kevin make their way to Brie. I try to shake the feeling back into my arms as I rush over to them.

They've already got her untied and the gag off by the time I get there and the sight of her face startles me. She's a deathly white with flushed pink cheeks but the worst part is that the gag dug into the corners of her mouth. There's already bruises beginning to form and each side is stained with blood.

The four of us quickly get to work trying to lower her temperature and get her conscious. Ben unbuttons the top of her blouse and wipes her neck and upper chest with a cool cloth while Kevin and Adam fumble with the buttons on her boots, fingers slipping in their haste. Using my neck cloth since there's nothing else, I quickly wet it with water from the canteen and wipe the dirt, sweat, and blood off her face.

Her body begins to cool down and she stirs. Her eyes open but they have a glazed look to them and she quickly closes them like the light is painful. Mumbling something, her face scrunches up like she's going to cry but she doesn't.

"We need to get her home." Adam says, watching her.

"I'll go get the horses." Kevin stands and walks away.

"Whoever she rides double with will need to go slow so she doesn't get worse." Adam's voice drifts over as I continue to gently wipe Brie's face.

"Don't worry, I'll go slow."

"Candy, I don't think it's a good idea for her to ride with her." Ben says solemnly.

"Why not?" I ask.

"Candy, look at your arms." Adam points at them as I look down and realize they're shaking horribly. I was so worried and focused on Brie that I didn't notice. It must be because they were tied above my head all night.

"You're right." I sigh, feeling worthless yet again.

"She'll ride with me." Standing up, Ben takes his horse from Kevin, who just came over with him. After he swings into the saddle, Adam and Kevin lift Brie up to him. Once she's settled in front of him, he turns towards home and the others follow.

Before I have a chance to get on my own horse, which Kevin brought over alongside Buck and Sport, Adam reaches out and touches my arm, "Candy, I almost forgot I found this on the trail."

He grabs my wrist to steady my arm as he turns my hand and lays a silver heart attached to a broken chain in my palm. Brie's locket. I look at him and fight to keep my eyes from filling with tears, "Thank you, Adam."

Nodding, he sticks his foot into his stirrup and swings into his saddle. I stay on the ground just staring at the initials engraved onto the top of the locket but Adam's voice brings me back, "Candy, everything's going to be alright."

I take a deep breath and nod at him as I mount my own horse. Riding along beside him, we've soon caught up to the others. As we begin what's going to be a hot, long ride, I let Adam's words echo through my mind, "Everything's going to be alright."