Chapter Twenty-Three

Chance heard his sister cry out from his spot behind the rock and it took every ounce of self control he had to keep himself from running into the camp with his gun blazing.

He saw that Chase didn't have quite the control he had. The Indian burst from the shadows, materializing from nothing and moving faster than a panther through the darkness, ending the cabin guards life before he even had a chance to realize his life was in danger.

Chance had lost sight of Chase once the Indian had entered the cabin and that had left Chance sitting behind the rock feeling as if he was doing nothing but twiddling his thumbs.

He sat and twiddled said thumbs until suddenly a naked man, bleeding profusely from his side came charging out of the cabin. Chance nearly dropped his gun in his shock as he recognized Tobias and realized that the man had been in that cabin with his sister.

Tobias quickly found cover behind a wagon and it wasn't until his voice yelled out in the night,

"We ain't alone boys!" that Chance realized he should have shot Tobias as he'd run across the camp. The only defense Chance had of his lapse in judgment was that he'd been plumb shocked. It wasn't every single day that a man saw a buck naked Indian, covered in blood and running in the firelight.

But as men began running out of tents and firing shots toward the cabin, Chance quickly recovered. He heard his father's Sharps rifle firing as well and each shot his father fired seemed to find its mark. Chance knew his father was good with that rifle. Paul had sniped off many a coyote from a distance while protecting his cattle and other livestock.

Chance quickly began firing shots of his own, determined to keep the men from storming the cabin where his sister and Chase were taking cover.

***

"How many of these men are there?" Leah demanded as she and Chase took turns firing out the window.

"A lot." Chase replied. He had moved a big heavy shelf in front of the door to keep anyone from coming in that way and now it was just a waiting game, though he and Leah were quickly running out of bullets.

"Chase look at that." Leah exclaimed with excitement. Chase shook his head and raised his brow at her. She was the damndest woman he had ever met. Innocent and childlike one moment, an argumentative brat another moment, and then excited over a gunfight in the next.

Chase followed her gaze out the window and saw what had her excited. A large group of men had clearly decided they had no interest in dying for their new boss and they were currently on horseback and galloping across the river and away from the flying bullets as quickly as they could.

"Tobias is foolish. He thought he could pull some inexperienced men from saloons, offer them money and instantly have their loyalty." Chase said with irritation.

"Where is Tobias? I haven't seen him since he ran out." Leah said as she and Chase moved away from the window to reload their guns from the dwindling supply of ammunition Chase had in a sack tied to his waist.

"I cut him deeply. He is busy bleeding to death."

"You don't look happy about that." Chase's jaw tightened as his eyes hardened but he did not respond. He was not happy about the thought of Tobias dying while he was stuck in this cabin. He wanted to be looking in Tobias's eyes as the man's life slipped out of him. He wanted to have his knife deep in the mans throat as his heart beat out it's last few pumps of blood and life.

"We must leave this cabin," Chase stated as he took stock of their remaining ammunition and realized just how close to empty they were.

"We do?" Leah asked with a nervous tremble in her voice, though she kept her shoulders squared and determined. Chase nodded.

"We will soon run out of bullets and be sitting ducks. We need to leave here and I need to get you to safety."

"Get me to safety and then what will you do?" Leah asked, pretending it was perfectly normal to have a conversation while gunshots and screams of pain filled the air.

"Come back and make sure Tobias is finished off. I won't be looking over my shoulder forever or worrying about your safety."

"He still has a few men out there that seem to be loyal. Can we get past them all?" Leah asked as she bit her lip.

"Maybe." Chase replied. "Your father and brother are hidden and providing cover fire."

"They're alive?" Leah asked with relief and Chase nodded.

"So is your mother though she is at a doctors." He didn't tell her about Benjamin. Now was not the time.

"How many men do you think are left?" Leah questioned and Chase spared a glance out the window.

"Six at the most. Maybe not that many." Leah thought about Jane and wondered if she'd already been killed or if she had hightailed it with those other men.

"Let's go then." she replied. "I'm ready to be done with all this outlaw stuff. It was fun for a few minutes but my ears are starting to ring from all the gunshots."

Chase's lips twitched with a suppressed smile and he kissed her brow tenderly.

"Stop doing that!" Leah exclaimed and he frowned.

"What?"

"Kissing me goodbye. This isn't goodbye." she replied defiantly. Chase nodded and then took her by the hand as he swallowed hard. He led her to the door and pushed the shelf out of the way.

"You stay behind me and if something happens to me...."

"Nothing is going to happen." Leah interrupted him quickly and Chase studied her face as if trying to memorize every curve and line. His jaw tightened and he nodded before throwing open the door.

***

The gunfire seemed as if it had been going on forever though it had probably only been five or ten minutes. Chance fired off a shot at a fat man who was attempting to take cover behind a water trough and the man yelled in pain and dropped to the ground, holding his now useless shooting arm.

Chance saw a large group, most of the men from the camp actually, ride away quickly. Clearly they had decided their loyalty to Tobias did not extend to being picked off like fish in a barrel by his father up on that ridge.

Suddenly Chase heard a sound behind him and turned just in time to see the butt of a rifle coming toward his head and a smile on the face of the giant man wielding it.

He didn't have time to get out of the way and prepared himself for the pain only to hear a whistling sound and jerk back when a whip sliced through the air and wrapped itself around the big mans arms. He screamed in pain and dropped the rifle.

"Now get the hell on outta here. What do ya wanna die for? Tobias? I don't think so." Chance's jaw dropped when he saw the petite, loud talking blond at the other end of that whip.

"Jane, why the hell you involving yourself in this?" The giant demanded as a bullet ricocheted off the rock they were behind and all three of them ducked. Chance fired a blind shot behind him, since he had no way of knowing where the bullet had been fired from and looked back at the woman.

"Well I weren't goin' to till I saw you sneakin' up on this poor man like some kinda yellow bellied coward."

"I ain't no damn coward, I'm just doin' my job."

"What the hell for?" Jane demanded. "I happened to see Tobias, who is hidin' in one of the closed wagons by the way, and he is bleeding out faster than a damn hog at killin' time. He ain't living more'n another couple a minutes and then you're outta a job and outta money. Might as well cut and run now."

"I guess you got a point, Jane. No hard feeling about trying to knock you out?" the giant asked Chance and Chance found himself unable to do anything but nod slowly. The giant red head picked up his rifle and then slipped away out of sight.

"Name's Jane." The blond said as she held out her hand. Chance shook it slowly and then the red head cursed loudly when another bullet ricocheted off the rock. "Looks like there's still about five guys that want your friends dead. Don't really surprise me none seein' as how they've been friends with Tobias since before he wrangled up the rest of us."

Chance still just stared at her. He'd never heard a woman that talked quite like her. She had a heavy southern accent and cursed worse than most men he knew. Her blond hair was a mess of dirt and tangles and her skin was streaked with mud. Her clothes were men's clothes but they fit her tiny, petite body perfectly. Not only that but the whip she had placed back on her side and the gun on her hip accented her tiny curves. She was beautiful.

Another gunshot had Chance snapping out of his daydreams. Now was certainly not the time for such thoughts and then the door to the cabin burst open and he saw his sister and Chase run out.

Bullets were instantly sent in their direction and Chase shielded Leah's body with his own as he ducked behind a post on the porch. Chance was happier than hell to see that his sister appeared to be both alive and well.

For now.

"Tobias, come face me yourself, coward." Chase called out and Chance wondered if the man knew how unintelligent it seemed to call the man who's hired hands were dead set on killing you names.

"Stop!" Tobias's pain filled voice called out and suddenly the air quieted and the gunshots ceased. Chance watched Chase as the Indian kept his body providing cover for Leah and then Tobias limped out from behind a wagon where he'd been hiding.

He had slipped into a pair of pants and found a gun but it was clear the man was dying. Blood covered his side and poured down his leg. His skin was pale in the firelight and even from the distance Chance could see the sweat slicking the other man.

"Call off your dogs." Chase warned. "This is over. I killed you ten minutes ago in that cabin."

"It's true, you did. I underestimated you. I knew Tig would not kill you. I knew you would come for the whore. I just never imagined you would have friends in hidden places," Tobias's gaze quickly passed over the rock that Chance was now standing beside and the ridge where Paul lay.

"And I never imagined you would be able to sneak past four guards without making a single sound." Tobias added. It was clear that his legs were weakening as the man swayed on his feet. "But you are going to die before I do, savage. I am going to make sure of that."

Several things happened at once following that statement. One of the men that had come out of hiding took aim at Chance and fired. Chance felt a searing pain in his lower leg and heard Jane let out a yell of anger and fire a shot of her own, killing the shooter.

Leah screamed in shock when a man came around the cabin and grabbed her by her hair, yanking her backward away from Chase. Chase let out a growl and pulled both revolvers he was carrying. He aimed one directly at the man who had a knife to his wife's throat and aimed the other at Tobias.

Jane untied a red bandana from around her neck and wrapped it tightly around Chance's lower leg and then the two of them stepped out into the open with their guns drawn and ready, aiming at two of the remaining four men still loyal to Tobias.

"Release my wife." Chase growled. Leah stood with her spine ramrod straight and not one ounce of fear showed on her face. Chase was proud of that. She knew he would protect her and having her absolute trust meant more to him than anything else ever had.

He would not let her down.

"I think I'll just keep her." the dirty man holding her said. He sniffed her ear and Chase watched Leah's hand tighten on the handle of her gun and Chase watched the mans wrist twitch as he tightened the blade against her throat.

"I don't share." Chase replied. He didn't take his eyes off of Leah, knowing that if he did it would only take a single flick of this mans wrist and his wife would be dead.

"What we have here is a stalemate." Tobias said with a chuckle. Chase knew the man was right. Every person here had a gun drawn and aimed at someone, or in Chase's case, two guns drawn.

"Call them off, Tobias. This is over. You are a dead man." Chase ordered. Tobias's sweat slicked brow raised as he nodded.

"Yes I am. You cut me plumb to the core, but I ain't going down alone. You took my father from me. That bastard raised you yet couldn't be bothered with his own son and then when I finally found him he was already dead because you killed him!" Chase didn't bother responding. Words spoken to mad men were words that fell on deaf ears.

Chase sensed movement from Tobias's direction and then he saw the man holding Leah flex his wrist. Chase saw blood on Leah's throat and he opened fire, not caring that Tobias was going to shoot him in the back, just so long as Leah did not die. Chance, Paul, Leah and the woman with Chance could handle the rest of these men. Chase would gladly sacrifice himself to save his mates life.

The man holding Leah didn't know what had hit him as Chase's bullet slammed into his forehead and he flew backward. Leah slumped to the ground but came up quickly with her gun. Chase turned just as he heard gunshots firing from all directions. Chance and the woman with him were taking care of Tobias's remaining men.

Chase turned and found himself staring down Tobias's revolver, less than a foot from his face.

"Goodbye, savage." Tobias said with a grin and Chase stood tall and proud and refused to let his fear show. Leah screamed and Chance called out but none of them fired. They were at the wrong angle and would not be able to get a shot at Tobias without shooting a bullet through Chase's back.

Chase was going to die. The only comfort he took was knowing that he had accomplished the most important thing in life first. He had loved a woman with every fiber of his being both heart, body and soul and he had been loved just as strongly in return.

Tobias sneered and his finger tightened on the trigger.

The sound of a gunshot filled the air and Leah screamed out Chase's name as time seemed to stand still.

And then as the report of the rifle echoed off into the distance it was not Chase that fell dead to the ground, but Tobias.

Leah ran to Chase and he gathered her up in his arms and held her as tightly as he could. She couldn't breath but she didn't care. She found herself sobbing in his arms and Chase simply held her and buried his face in her hair, whispering soothingly.

He spared a glance to the ridge where he had left Paul and though he could not see the man, he threw up a hand and waved anyway. He had known that Paul would be the only one who could have a clear shot at Tobias and Chase had not figured that the man would save his life.

Chase had actually assumed Paul would want him dead and therefore not take that shot on Tobias. It seemed Chase was going to have to tell him thank-you and that thought caused his stomach to burn a little.

"Is it over?" Leah whispered as she pulled away and looked up into his eyes.

He studied the emerald green depths of her eyes and nodded as his gaze fell to the small cut on the side of her neck.

"Yes it's over."

"Hot damn then let's get the heck outta here 'fore anybody else shows up and get this man here some stitches in that leg 'fore he loses every bit o' blood that good looking body has." Jane spoke up and Chance's pale face reddened with embarrassment.

Chase nodded and offered Chance his arm for support.

"Let us go. There's still a while before dawn and the smallest chance we might all get some rest."