Chapter Twenty: Perhaps I Broke It?

May 1st 1887

Comanche woke to the sound of flesh hitting flesh. He opened his eye just a crack and saw something that had him leaping from his bed of hay on the barn loft and swinging down the ladder.

"You stupid bitch!" J.B. exclaimed, blood flying off his lips as he staggered and fought to stay on his feet. Frankie swiped her bloody knuckles against her shirt and shook them as she grimaced.

"No, you're the stupid one so far as I can see!"

"Dammit, I had my eyes closed!" J.B. growled. Comanche was aware of everyone else stirring up on the loft. Colt and Katherine were making their way down the ladder while Silas and his woman were watching the confrontation from above. "I thought you was somebody else."

J.B.'s eyes strayed to Katherine but Comanche was more worried about what J.B. had done to Frankie to earn that bloody mouth and swelling eye.

"He touched you?"

"Don't you worry about it none, injun." Frankie shot back. "It ain't no concern of yours who touches me."

Comanche took a step back and swallowed back his anger and hurt. Frankie was simply in a temper and Comanche had learned in the weeks they'd spent together that when Frankie was in a temper she tended to get mean.

"Hell I didn't mean to touch her!" J.B. insisted, as he took a step forward and then backed up quickly when Frankie's fist clenched.

"What did you mean to do then, ya bastard! Cuz it felt an awful lot like you mean to grab my......"

"That's enough." Colt stated as he grabbed J.B. and shoved the man away from Frankie. "Now, I got a few damn things to lay out to you and if you don't like them then you can just get on down the road and see how long you last out there alone."

"You ain't no better'n me, Colt." J.B. growled and Comanche had a feeling this was a conversation that had been a long time coming. It made the indian wonder just how long J.B. and Colt had been riding together.

"That's where you're wrong, J.B., but that's beside the point." Colt shot back and Comanche found himself chuckling. He liked Colt. The man seemed cocky and arrogant but he also seemed more than capable of backing those traits up. J.B. seemed more like a cocky and arrogant weakling who was simply blowing hot air.

"Colt, now really isn't the time for fighting." Silas urged from above them. "I can still hear some of those rabid out there."

Comanche could hear them too though it sounded like it was barely more than a few. The majority of that horde, or herd, whichever you wanted to call them, had moved on during the night.

"Now is the perfect time, Silas." Colt countered. "This bastard is pushing things too far. Now I'll turn a blind eye to most things since I ain't nowhere near perfect myself but when you threaten women and touch them without permission, that's when I have a problem."

"Dammit, I thought Frankie was Katherine, Colt, I had my eyes closed."

"I told you last night that we couldn't do that anymore," Katherine whispered as she wrapped her arms around herself and looked down at the hay strewn dirt at her feet.

"Come on now! You can't just turn it off like that." J.B. argued.

"She can and she did." Colt snapped. "You'll keep your hands off the women and you'll stop with your threats. Lay hands on Katherine or Frankie again or speak to Charlotte the way you did last night at the camp and I'll feed you to a rabid myself."

"Just what did he do to Charlotte?" Silas demanded as he glanced at the woman up in the loft with him. Comanche saw her blush and offer a guilt laden shrug in response.

"I was just gonna show her a real man, negro but don't worry none. Colt got to her first." J.B. turned to Comanche. "You better keep an eye on your filly there, injun, or else that bastard will claim her as his too."

There was a collective rush of anger as everyone seemed to lunge for J.B. at once. Even Silas, started down the ladder with a look of pure rage on his face.

Colt beat everyone to J.B. however and threw the man to the ground before slamming a fist into his face.

"You've overstayed your welcome." Colt ground out as he yanked a bleeding and addled J.B. back to his feet. "It's time you hit the road."

"You can't toss me out with nothing."

"We can and we will." Silas vowed. "Now I'm a good Christian man and it's in my nature to turn the other cheek when a man wrongs me and that's why I have bitten my tongue and not said nothing against your constant insults about my skin color, but I won't turn the other cheek to anyone who wrongs my woman,"

"I don't even have my gun!" J.B. shouted desperately as Colt dragged him toward the barn door. Colt nodded at Silas to open the door and J.B.'s struggles became more frantic when the sound of a rabid bumping against the wooden walls filed the barn.

"Men that live the way you and I do often learn lessons the hard way." Colt stated without concern. "If you live through this then I guarantee you'll never sleep without your damn gun again."

Silas slid the wooden beam from the supports and began to open the door and Comanche saw the wild light in J.B.'s frantic blue eyes just before the man swung out and jerked himself from Colt's grasp.

Katherine reached for him but J.B. managed to twist and avoid her grasp before lunging for the ladder and scrambling up into the loft where Charlotte was alone with the baby. He slid from sight as did Charlotte.

Panic was thick in the air as Silas, Colt and Katherine rushed for the ladder. "You better not put a hand on her!" Silas called. Comanche and Frankie shared a look.

What in the hell had they gotten themselves in the middle of?

"Get your hands off her!" Charlotte called and then suddenly she and J.B. both came into view at the edge of the loft and every single person on the ground below froze when they realized that J.B. held the tiny baby, Grace, in his hands.

Charlotte lunged for him and J.B.'s fist came hard across her temple, knocking her backward out of sight.

"Please...." Silas held his hands up and stepped back, as did Katherine and Colt. "Please don't hurt that babe." Silas's voice broke and Comanche wondered why. It was clear that baby wasn't his... her skin was far too pale.

"I'll throw this baby right out this window and make her rabid lunch if y'all don't give me your damn supplies and let me ride on out of here with 'em." J.B. warned as he edged toward the side window with a wild and crazy grin on his face.

Comanche had seen a lot of terrible, evil men in his life but this man was one of the worst. It was clear, to Comanche at least, that this man was very serious in his threats. There was a cold light in his eyes that made it clear he meant what he said.

Comanche wasn't sure what all had happened to lead to this point but he knew good men when he saw them and Silas and Colt were good men. He also knew innocence when he saw it and that little babe J.B. was threatening was the definition of the word.

This world had become a place where survival came from numbers and while Comanche would rather be alone with Frankie, it was clear that in order to survive they would all need to band together. Comanche wanted to do that with Colt and Silas. This was Comanche's tribe now and he would be damned before he let another man come in and harm his tribe.

"Put my baby down." Charlotte's voice squeaked from somewhere out of view in the loft.

J.B. shook his head and then gripped the infant in one hand by the back of the white dress she was wearing and dangled her out the window.

Silas cried out, pleading with J.B. to stop while Colt pulled his gun. "Nope, don't shoot me, Colt.. If you shoot me this here baby goes to the rabid." J.B. warned. "Now you'll give me all your damn supplies. Food, weapons, ammunition, matches, I want it all. In return I won't kill this baby."

Comanche knew he was too busy watching Colt to pay any attention to him and Frankie and so he led Frankie by the arm to the door and they slipped outside.

Several rabid started their way and Comanche allowed Frankie to focus on killing them as silently as possible as he rounded the barn and looked up, shocked at the sight of that babe dangling from the window. What kind of man tried to sacrifice a baby to save himself?

Comanche could see the back of J.B.'s head and he slid his bow from his back and loosed an arrow from the quiver.

A rabid came staggering Comanche's way and he quickly stabbed it in the head with the arrow before readying his bow.

He would have to be fast in order to ensure the babies safety but Comanche knew he could accomplish his task.

"Give me what I want or this baby will......" J.B. never finished his statement as Comanche's arrow flew true and lodged itself in the back of the man's head.

J.B.'s precarious position in the window had the man falling backward out of it though Comanche ignored him and focused instead on the baby, catching her safely in his arms before she hit the ground and cradling her against his bare chest.

"Grace!" Charlotte screamed as her torso shot out the window. Comanche looked up and saw that the woman was sobbing and clutching the windowsill as she looked down and Grace chose that moment to begin to cry.

Comanche stared down at the baby with confusion. Why was it crying?

"It cries." He stated blankly. "Perhaps I broke it?"

"Comanche, inside now!" Frankie called from the corner of the barn and Comanche turned and realized that rabid were quickly approaching, hungry and gnashing their teeth at the scent of J.B.'s fresh blood.

Comanche thought for a moment about dragging the man's dead and broken body to safety but then decided it would be a waste of effort and time. He held the crying infant to his chest and ran around the barn, slipping in the barn door after Frankie. Colt slammed the door closed and slid the board in place while Silas quickly pulled the baby from Comanche's arms.

"Little Grace, shhh, now don't you cry. Silas is here... Ol' Silas is right here, baby." The baby continued to scream as the colored man tried to comfort her.

Katherine was standing in the corner looking quite confused, lost and haunted. Frankie was cleaning her bloody knife on a sack in the corner. Colt was watching Katherine closely and Charlotte was making her way down the ladder, her sobs blending with the loud piercing cries of her babe.

"Swing low, sweet chariot... Coming for to carry me home." Silas sang out and Comanche watched in shock as the baby stopped crying and looked up into his eyes. "That's right, Little Grace. You're safe in my arms now."

"Is she okay?" Charlotte asked as she ran up and clung to Silas's arm and the man nodded and kissed her brow tenderly.

"Just fine, Miss Charlotte." Then Silas led Charlotte toward the back of the barn and into an empty stall. Comanche knew it was privacy they sought and he turned his attention to Frankie.

"You saved that baby, injun."

"Yes. You helped." Comanche replied. "I want to speak to you about staying with this people."

"Staying with them?" Frankie demanded, her dark eyes flashing with disbelief as she slid her knife back into the sheath on her leg. "I thought we were doing just fine on our own."

"Survival in this new world is going to be in numbers, Frankie." Comanche countered. "One person is more powerful when they are part of a larger tribe."

"A tribe?" Colt asked from behind him and Comanche turned.

"I sense you are the leader among these people and that is fine with me." Comanche accepted with a tip of his head. "You will get no argument from me on that."

"I'm no leader." Colt argued with a sigh. "I just said what I had to in order to put that piece of shit, who ironically is now being turned into shit, in his place."

"These people look to you for guidance and leadership. I saw it for myself." Comanche argued. "I will do the same."

Colt sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I was afraid I'd get stuck in this position. I led a gang for a while... I"ve been told I have a take charge personality, whatever the hell that means. Y'all are welcome to ride with us. You helped us last night and you probably saved that babe just now. A group certainly stands a better chance out here than one or two folks by themselves."

"I'm not sure I'll be sticking around." Frankie argued. "No offense but I don't do well in a group."

"You saved my life once, Frankie... and while I wasn't real grateful for it at the time and still have moments when I wish you hadn't come along that night, I would be happy if you stuck around. You're a pretty decent rabid killer."

"Decent?!" Frankie scoffed. "I'm the best damn rabid killer you've ever laid your purty blue eyes on." Comanche felt a jealous knot form in his gut and he realized quickly that he did not like that emotion.

"Purty blue eyes?" Colt asked with a frown and then he chuckled. "Well just think on it. Sounds like there's a fair amount of rabid out there so you've got time to think it over before you'd be able to leave anyhow."

Colt tipped his hat to both of them and then climbed up into the loft where Katherine had hidden herself.

"We should stay here." Comanche urged Frankie. "We will be safer with a group."

"First off, there is no we. We just happened to be riding together but don't start thinking that we're a couple or nothin'." Frankie warned and Comanche straightened his back and raised his chin as he looked down at her.

"Noted." He ground out.

"Good." Frankie turned and headed toward the stall that the brown mare she'd found for herself was currently standing. Comanche watched her feed the horse a handful of oats and wondered what was going on in her mind. He wanted her and only her forever but she seemed to be intent on keeping a wall between them. Only when he bedded her did that wall come down and just as soon as their bodies separated she would throw it right back in place.

Comanche was glad he was a patient man. He had a feeling that he would have to call on every reserve of patience that he possessed in order to deal with that stubborn, harsh, guarded woman.

***

"You okay?" Katherine sniffed and quickly turned her body away from Colt when the man crouched down beside her and held out a bandana.

"I'm fine." She replied quickly and she knew instantly that she'd replied too quickly and he would know she was lying... as if the tears on her cheeks wouldn't be proof enough.

She was ashamed of herself. Not only ashamed of the tears on her face, since she was not a woman who had been raised to cry, but also ashamed of the person she had been for so long.

She had trusted J.B. all that time despite all of Colt's warnings that the man was bad news. She had spread her legs for him countless times and that was enough to turn her stomach. It had been because of her stubborn insistence that J.B. had come along with her and Colt and it would have been her fault if J.B. had dropped that baby today......

Her stomach rolled and she rushed to the window before losing the meager amount of biscuits that were inside it.

"Whoa there." Colt whispered gently as he rubbed at her back. Katherine could see J.B.'s body from here or at least what was left of it as the flesh eaters ripped, tore and ate at him. Blood covered everything and the sound of it splashing and sloshing had Katherine dry heaving violently.

Colt urged her away from the window and sat her down on a bale of hay before sitting next to her.

"Go ahead and say it." Katherine said hoarsely. Colt's dark blue eyes were unreadable as he used the bandana he still held to clean her chin.

"Say what?" he asked, shoving the bandana back in his pocket.

"'I told you so'" Katherine replied and Colt shook his head.

"I ain't gonna say that."

"I don't want to be what I am anymore...." Katherine whispered. "I don't want to feel like I have to bed a man in order to deserve kindness..."

"Then stop." Colt replied simply. Katherine blinked several times as she stared at him. Could it be that easy? Was it as simple as just 'stopping'?

"You make it sound easy."

"It is easy." Colt replied with a shrug. "I did my share of things that I'm ashamed of now. Hurt people. Took things. Failed the ones I loved..." Colt's blue eyes were suddenly haunted and Katherine watched his lip tremble beneath the beard on his face. He cleared his throat and scratched at his hairy cheek before continuing. "All you gotta do is decide that you don't want to be that person anymore and then stop being her."

"Colt, you are different from any other man I've ever known..." Katherine wanted him. She wanted him to love her. She had a feeling that Colt would be good at loving someone. He seemed the faithful type. She wanted him to teach her how different life could be with a man who truly cared...

Colt's eyes locked with hers and she felt her heart break when she saw the pity and sadness in them. "Don't do that, Katherine. I ain't got no heart to give you. You'll find somebody someday, don't you worry."

Katherine snorted. "Unless my somebody has already been turned into a snarling, flesh eating rabid who'll do nothing but try to bite me. That would make an awkward wedding night."

Colt chuckled again and Katherine was surprised. She hadn't known he knew how to chuckle. And while she had yet to see him smile it was nice to hear a sound that was happier from him. She had tried to ask him several times what made him appear so haunted and sad and he refused to answer. She wondered if she'd ever know....

"You're gonna be alright, Katherine. Just let go of the past."

"No one here knows what I was before you found me.... I'd like to keep it that way." Katherine whispered and Colt nodded. He stood up and wiped the hay off his backside, and Katherine found herself looking at his long lean legs and tight backside all wrapped in denim. She just couldn't help herself....

Colt seemed oblivious to her appraisal as he adjusted his hat. "Your secret is safe with me." He assured her and then he walked off, slipping down the ladder and leaving Katherine alone in her back corner of the loft with only her thoughts for company.