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

Chapter 13

Everything still spins and I get freezing cold and then blazing hot by turns. Shivering so badly my teeth clack together, I feel my head being lifted and liquid poured in my mouth. It tastes awful and I want to spit the foul stuff back out but without me even really having any control, my mouth makes me swallow it down. I open my eyes just enough to look around and see faces but I can't recognize any of them.

All the noises around me sound distant and echoey yet somehow loud. None of the voices make any sense but I do catch a word here and there. Words like, 'heatstroke', 'fever', 'delirious', and 'severely dehydrated'. I can't help wondering who's sick. Whoever it is must feel awful, I know I do.

I close my eyes since all I see is blurry, unrecognizable faces and it's really quite confusing. I try to sleep instead but suddenly I become hot again. Reaching down, I rip the covers off. They get back on me somehow so I toss them aside again, this time mumbling, "Hot in here."

Something cold and wet gently covers my forehead. I finger it and start to take it off but stop when I realize the room is beginning to cool off. As the heat leaves my body, I slowly relax. Sleep sounds good right now even though I'm sure there's something else I should be doing.

Drifting off to sleep, everything peacefully quiets around me; no more humming voices, sloshing water, or clattering spoons. Suddenly I'm outside standing on the porch, a gentle breeze blowing my skirt. Candy walks up to me from the bunkhouse and sweeps me into a hug, planting a kiss on my lips. Almost as soon as he pulls aways, he vanishes and I run through the dark woods. Something's chasing me and I don't know what it is. I look over my shoulder and just as a beam of moonlights lights up the darkness, I see Shane on his horse, gaining on me. He growls for me to come back, that there's no sense in running because he has all my treasures and there isn't a thing left for me to live for.

I run faster and see a campfire burning in the distance. Stumbling to a halt in the camp, I find Carlito and Ryder drunk and laughing. They point to the tree on the other side of them and laugh even harder. As I glance over at the tree, a scream rips out of my throat. Candy hangs there, hands tied in the branches above his head as he watches me and the others.

Shane pulls his horse to a stop beside me and jumps down. Strutting over to Candy, he pulls out a sharp knife and holds it to his throat. For some reason my feet won't move so I scream and cry, "Don't kill him! Don't kill, Candy! Please!"

Wailing, I try to push off the hands that grab my arms. I don't know who's trying to stop me but I can't let them kill Candy. The grip gets firmer and I feel myself getting held down. Suddenly over my wails, I hear a familiar voice, "Brie, calm down, everything's all right."

"Candy?" I search for him but fail. The tree and the fire, Shane, Ryder, Carlito, they're all gone. All I see is darkness, a darkness that I can't find Candy in, "Candy, where are you?"

"Brie, I'm right here." I feel one of the hands on my arm squeeze gently.

"Candy, Shane's trying to kill you. Get away, run, don't let him kill you."

"Shane isn't going to kill me. He can't, he's in the Virginia City Jail."

"Oh, good!" I sigh. "I'm tired."

"Then go to sleep."

"Are you sure it's alright?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I'll sleep then." I drift off towards that blessed land filled with dreams and this time it stays quiet and dark.