Chapter Twenty-three

Langley laughed as he watched his sister Lucy chase butterflies through the field. Her dark curls were bouncing all around her and she was smiling from ear to ear.

A butterfly began to flutter in Langley's face and he reached out a hand to let it land on his finger. It sat there fluttering its wings a moment before it twisted and morphed into a coiling snake, wrapping itself around his wrist.

A mouth full of fangs suddenly lunged at Langley's face and he jerked backward to dodge the bite. Langley frowned when Marston suddenly appeared beside him and the snake became a gun.

"I think it just needs a good cleaning," his pa stated as he studied the revolver.

What the hell was going on?

Marston glared at him and then reached out and shoved him backward. Langley staggered. "What are you doing?" he demanded but Marston simply shoved it again.

"Pa?"

Langley felt something wet smack against his face and his eyes flew open. He realized it was dark but he saw a pair of big brown eyes staring down at him and nearly screamed until he realized it was his horse.

"What the hell?" he grumbled. Pain shot through his head when the horse nudged his cheek again with his nose.

Langley tried to take a breath but his ribs quickly told him that was a bad idea. He wracked his brain attempting to remember how he'd ended up in the dark with his horse, a pounding head and aching ribs.

Langley reached up and touched the bloody welt on his brow, probably from hitting the bloody rock that he'd woken up against. He looked down at his chest in the moonlight and saw the hole in his vest.

Had he been shot? Memories all at once flashed in his mind. Him and Jessie alone together here in their oasis. She'd been teasing him, wanting his attention and Langley had been preparing to kiss her until he'd seen the men behind her. He'd been unable to pull his gun before he'd taken a bullet to the chest.

So why wasn't he dead? Langley patted his chest and then shook his head as he pulled his book from his vest pocket and saw the bullet lodged inside it. His ribs hurt as if he'd been kicked by a Clydesdale horse but he was alive and it was all thanks to his love of books. He'd like to hear Jessie tease him about reading now!

Jessie!

Where was she? Langley slowly got to his feet and spun around but the clearing was empty. "Jessie!" he called, fighting off wave after wave of dizziness.

Langley realized that whoever had shot him must have taken her. While he was relieved that they hadn't killed her, he also knew that they could be doing much worse to the woman as he stood there. Langley knew he had to go after her.

There was no time to go find backup. He had to track her and he had to save her tonight. Maybe he'd be able to convince Jessie that they'd had enough life and death struggles for one life. Maybe he'd be able to convince her to give up on vengeance, move up to Windfall with him and settle down.

His head pounding, his chest aching but his resolve strong, Langley took his horse by the halter and looked into his eyes. "Do you know where they took Jessie? We have to find Jessie."

Langley could have sworn the gelding nodded but that could have simply been the effects of his head injury. Langley was relieved to see that he still had his gun and knife as he tossed his saddle over his horse's back and climbed on.

"Go find Jessie," he ordered. Much to Langley's surprise, the beast started in a straight path out of the gully. Maybe the horse could understand him after all.

***

Everyone was asleep. Camp was silent other than the rustling of a blanket when someone who roll over or the snores of the slumbering men. Jessie was sitting in the corner of small tent with her wrists and ankles bound. Benjamin was sleeping peacefully beneath his covers not far from her.

Hatred for that man burned in Jessie's gut like fire. All evening long he had droned on and on about the place he was taking her. He had assured her that she would love her new home and told her exactly what he'd expect from her when they got there. He had promised her that eventually she would welcome his touch.

Thank God he hadn't attempted to touch her tonight. He had said she needed a bath before he touched her so she could remove the stench of the man before him. Stench? Jessie vowed she would kill the man. No longer would she do it for her pa who had probably asked for his own death. Not for the money which no longer meant a single thing to her. No, Jessie would kill him for Langley. For that kind, sweet, loving man alone she would kill Benjamin.

Seven men made up the posse that had attacked her and Langley. Seven men stood between Jessie and her freedom. But did Jessie want that freedom? What good was freedom if she didn't have anyone to share it with?

Jessie shook her head. What was wrong with her? Yes, she had loved Langley. She had loved him with every single part of her being. But was she honestly going to simply give up on living now that he was gone? That was why love was dangerous. She had given too much of herself to Langley and he had simply taken all that with him when he'd been killed.

It had been love that had had her distracted in that gulley. Love had gotten Langley killed. And it had been pain over that love that had rendered Jessie unable to fight back and defend herself when the men had taken her. Love had caused her to be tied up in this tent and hoping for death.

Jessie shook her head. She had to stop thinking that her life was over. Jessie had never truly depended on another person and she wouldn't start now.

Glancing around, Jessie began to think of just how she would make her escape.

***

Langley crawled on his belly to the ridge that overlooked a camp below. This was where his horse had brought him so he hoped that meant it was where Jessie was.

His attention went to a group of horses tied to a rope between two trees and his stomach twisted when he saw Jessie's among them. She was down there somewhere.

His gaze went back to the tent. There were six of them and they were tiny one man tents. He hoped that meant there were only six men down there... He realized that Jessie must be in one of the tents with men and his fists clenched. He'd make sure that if any of those men had touched her, they'd be turned into geldings before he killed them.

Langley realized there was a fire burning in the middle of the circle of tents but it had died down and would barely cause a man to cast a shadow.

He frowned. There should be a guard. Somewhere higher. Langley glanced up toward the grassy knoll to his right and smiled with the satisfaction that came from being right.

A fat man was illuminated in the moonlight. He was leaning against a rock and, judging by the way his neck was bent and his chin was resting on his chest, he was asleep. Langley knew it was time to get to work. Silence would be key tonight. It was time to make his outlaw family proud.

Langley slid his knife from the sheath on his leg and tested the weight in his palm. Langley slipped through the shadows, staying low to the ground. He came up behind the fat man, fully expecting him to wake up, turn around and shoot him at any moment.

Langley took a deep, steadying breath, wrapped his arm around the man's head and pressed his knife to his throat.

"What....?" The fat man stiffened.

"Don't move. Don't breathe. Nod for yes and hold real still for no," Langley warned. "Is Jessie down there?"

The man was trembling and his breathing was labored. He nodded. Langley tightened the knife. "Which tent?"

The man pointed a trembling finger toward the tent at the far left. Langley nodded. "Thank you."

Without hesitation, he slid the knife across the man's throat and warm blood poured from the wound and splashed against the grass as the man fell dead to the ground. Langley refused to feel guilty about killing these men. Hell, they had killed him and left him to rot only a few hours before.

He studied the tents once again. He didn't want to leave any of these men alive. Leaving men alive meant they could come back after you and Langley didn't want to have to look over his shoulder forever.

He would start at the right side tent and work his way to Jessie, killing everyone in between. Langley pulled back the flap of the first tent, slipped inside and stared down at the man slumbering there.

Shock resonated through him when Langley realized he recognized the man lying there. It was the mustached man who had been in the diner with Billy..... This was Benjamin's brother. That must mean the men here were Benjamin's men. Somehow they'd found Jessie and taken her.

Langley realized this could all end tonight. He could take out Benjamin's men and hopefully Benjamin himself if the man was in this camp as well. Langley stepped to the man and his eyes flew open but Langley didn't give him time to speak before slicing his knife deep across his throat and silencing him forever.

With renewed determination, Langley moved on to the next tent.

***

Jessie was still sitting and listening to the silence of the night when a sound reached her ears. It wasn't a loud sound but it was the unmistakable gurgle of someone choking on blood.

Jessie used her foot to hook the side of the tent and lift the fabric. Her eyes narrowed when she saw a man slip through the flop of a tent two tents down.

Langley?

But how could that have been Langley? Jessie had seen Langley get shot. The man was dead.

Benjamin suddenly shot up. Clearly something had awaken him. He reached for his gun belt and Jessie knew she had to stop him from leaving the tent. If that was Langley, Jessie had to protect him.

Leaping forward, Jessie threw her bound arms around Benjamin's neck and yanked back, pulling the rope tight against the flesh of his throat. She braced her feet against his back to maintain her hold and the pressure.

Benjamin's hands flew up and clawed at the rope but Jessie held tight. He swung back and snatched her hair, yanking it hard and bringing tears to Jessie's eyes. Still she refused to loosen her hold.

He clawed her cheek and she cried out with pain but did not relent. Benjamin was going to die and Jessie intended to kill him.

***

Langley still had one tent to go before reaching Jessie's when he heard her cry out with pain. He ran for the tent she was in with his knife raised. He'd kill whatever bastard was inside hurting that woman!

Jerking back the tent flap, Langley stopped in his tracks. Jessie was there all right and had a rope stretched tight around a man's throat. His face was blue and his eyes bulging as his tongue swelled. Then the man went limp and Jessie still didn't loosen her hold as she stared at Langley wide-eyed.

"You're alive," she gasped.

Langley nodded. "He's dead," he stated, tipping his head toward the man.

Jessie released her hold on the man and scooted away from his lifeless body as it fell onto the ground. Langley rushed to her and cut the bonds away before pulling her to her feet and taking her out into the moonlight.

Jessie threw her arms around his neck and clung to him desperately, burying her face against his aching chest. He felt her shuddering and knew that she was crying but he also knew better than to mention it.

Langley simply held her tight and breathed her in and thanked God that she was alive and well and once again in his arms. "How are you alive?" she finally whispered against his shirt. "I saw them shoot you and I saw you fall and you didn't move...."

"My book stopped the bullet," he informed her with a relieved chuckle. "Remember, I'd just put it in my chest pocket? Well that bullet just so happened to hit that same spot. But it still hurt like hell and knocked me down. When I fell, I hit my head on a rock and it knocked me out cold."

Langley pulled away and looked down at her pale face. "Was that Benjamin in that tent? Did he hurt you?"

Jessie shook her head, wiping at her damp cheeks. "That was him but no they didn't hurt me." Her gaze went over his shoulder and he eyes shone. "Langley, look out!"

Langley turned quickly, pulling his knife and swinging his arm as he did. He released his hold on the handle and sent the weapon in an arc toward a skinny man who had a gun. The blade implanted itself deep into the man's chest and the bullet he'd been firing, struck the dirt beside Langley's boot.

"You're good with a knife," Jessie mumbled as the man fell dead.

"It's my pa's knife and he taught me how to use it," Langley replied. He pulled Jessie back into his arms. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she whispered and Langley unease trickle over him. She seemed distant, somehow. It felt as if every single wall that he had managed to break through was now firmly back in place.

Langley kissed her slowly but her response was half-hearted and guarded. Langley pulled away and stared hard into her violet eyes, doing his best to read any emotion she would show him. "Benjamin didn't... you know.. force you? Did he?"

"No," she shook her head and wrapped her arms tight around herself. "No, he was waiting until we got back to his house." She scratched at her red wrists. "We'd better gather what supplies we can and get out of here. You never know if more of their men may ride up."

With that, Jessie walked away from him. Langley felt cold—colder than the time he'd fallen through the pond up in Windfall in February and nearly frozen to death before Marston had saved him.

He could only hope that it was stress that had Jessie acting so distant tonight. He couldn't stand the thought of losing her. Langley would take her to town, get her a warm bath and a night in a real bed and hopefully she'd be in better spirits.