“Mama, look!” Clayton exclaimed the next day as he jumped up and down and pointed at the trap he had set and baited with peppermint sticks. “It worked, mama! It actually worked!”

Joe threw her head back and laughed when she saw the opossum that her son had managed to catch inside.

“Well I’ll be damned.” she said with a shake of her head. “We can either keep him fer supper or let him go. What do ya want to do with him?” she asked her son, knowing the opossum’s fur wouldn’t be any good for selling.

“Let’s let him go, mama.” Clayton said after a moment. “Opossum gives me a tummy ache and besides, if I were mindin’ my own business and eatin’ peppermint sticks and somebody fried me up fer supper, I’d be real mad.”

Joe chuckled under her breath, amazed at some of the things that came out of her son’s mouth.

“Nothin’ worse than a mad opossum.” she agreed, somehow managing to keep a straight face as she did so. “Get him out of there then.”

Joe watched Clayton closely, fully prepared to jump in and help him if the need should arise. The boy walked to the angry hissing opossum and glared at the beast when it snapped at him.

“Now you listen here, ya ugly sack of fat and fur!” he warned. “My name is Clayton Winchester and I don’t mean you no harm. I’m tryin’ to help ya.”

Joe watched with disbelief as the opossum seemed to calm down and then her son pulled his pocket knife and cut the rope away from the critters foot. With one last hiss at them both, the opossum ran off into the woods.

“Well, cowpoke, just think, if yer career in stand up horse ridin’ don’t work out, you might just have a career as a opossum tamer.”

Clayton giggled and Joe smiled at him. Her son seemed to have a knack for getting animals to do just what he wanted them to.

“Well come along then, mama. We’re burnin’ daylight!” he warned as he put away his knife and hopped onto Chief to head to the next trap. Joe was laughing as she got onto her own mare and led the way.

***

A tremor of unease washed over Joe’s spine as she and Clayton neared their cabin that afternoon. Something was wrong.

Immediately her hand went to her gun and she tried to move her horse in front of Clayton but the boy had already seen Bart’s horse beside the barn and he leapt from his pony.

“Uncle Bart! Uncle Bart!” Clayton exclaimed as his legs pumped quickly and carried him toward the cabin.

Joe heard the snorting of a horse and it hadn’t come from Bart’s.

“Clayton!” she cried out in warning, pulling her gun as a man burst from the cabin and scooped Clayton up into his arms, pressing his revolver tight against the boys temple.

“Drop that gun, pretty lady.” the man ordered with a sneer. Joe didn’t recognize the man. Where was Bart? She couldn’t take a chance on shooting. Not with Clayton’s body in front of the mans and their heads so close together.

“Who the hell are ya?” Joe demanded and the man chuckled.

“Does it matter? Do as he said and toss the gun down or we’ll kill your boy.” Joe turned to see five more men on horseback, guns drawn.

“Do as they say, Joe!” Bart’s voice came from inside the cabin. Joe thought it sounded as if he were in pain. “They’ll kill the boy if you don’t. They ain’t just empty threats.”

“You led them here?!” Joe demanded, even as she tossed her gun down. She didn’t see that she had a choice. Five men on horseback behind her and at least one at the cabin with her son held at gunpoint.

Now wasn’t the time to fight. Now was the time to simply try to stay alive and keep her son alive. Later she could kick every one of their asses and teach them what happened to anyone who dared mess with Joe Redding and what was hers.

“Now get down off that horse real slow like.” One of the men behind her ordered and Joe bristled at being told what to do but did as he said. She kept eye contact with Clayton. The boy was obviously scared and his gray eyes were wide as they searched hers for guidance.

Joe kept her eyes locked with her sons as two of the men approached her and began to search her for weapons. They removed her bowie knife, her pocket knife, her boot knife and her derringer she kept strapped to her boot beneath her pants.

Joe felt one of them brush their hand against her breasts and the man sneered at her. With one quick jab of her elbow, Joe ensured the mans swollen mouth wouldn’t be sneering again any time soon.

“Damn bitch!” the second man searching her exclaimed as his friend clutched at his bleeding face and bellowed with pain.

Joe was dazed when the second man brought his fist down hard against her jaw.

“Mama!” Clayton yelled angrily. Joe looked up just in time to see her son swing his foot back and catch the man holding him hard between his legs. The man released his hold on Clayton as he fell to his knees, clutching his throbbing pecker.

Clayton ran toward Joe and a gunshot sounded in the afternoon air. Joe screamed but the bullet had gone wide and missed the boy, though it still stopped him in his tracks.

“Run Clayton!!! Run!” Joe ordered and then she dove for her discarded revolver and began firing wildly at the men on horseback, trying to give her son time to run. One of the men fell from his saddle, clutching his chest and the others began to yell with rage.

Pain filled Joe when a bullet slammed into her leg.

“Don’t kill her!” she heard one of the men yell. “That woman wanted her alive!” Joe searched frantically for Clayton but didn’t see him anywhere.

“Boss, that damn brat is getting away. Should we go after him?”

“No, she didn’t’ say anything about wanting a boy and I’m not wasting time chasing him. He’ll die out in them woods without his mommy to help him.”

Joe grabbed her bandana from her pocket and quickly tied it around her leg just below her knee while the men were talking amongst themselves. She had taken out at least one of the bastards and Clayton had gotten away. Joe knew when to fold her hand and live to fight another day.

A growl escaped Joe’s throat when she was yanked up by her hair.

“You killed my friend.” the one they had called boss stated as he gripped her hair and pulled it roughly. Joe met his gaze and then spit in his face.

“I’ll kill you to ya yellow bellied coward.”

“We were you told you were a tough one.” he replied with a chuckle, his green eyes filling with amusement. “I’m hoping that once I get you back to the boss, she’ll let me be the one to break you.”

“Ya can try.” Joe replied with a sickly sweet smile.

“Alright boys, get her tied up.” the ‘boss’ stated as he passed Joe into the hands of two of his men.

Joe looked at the cabin and saw the man Clayton had kicked, limping toward the horses, while another man came out, dragging Bart who had his hands tied.

Joe felt her skin protest as a rope was tied tightly around her own wrists but she said nothing aloud. She didn’t want to give these men the pleasure.

She and Bart were loaded into the back of a cart along with the dead man that Joe had shot. Joe looked around them and didn’t like the odds. There were six men all together, each of them appearing strong and able.

Bart appeared to have been beaten quite nearly to death. One of his eyes was nearly swollen shut, his lip was split, his clothes bloodied and Joe herself had had a bullet tear through her lower leg. It hadn’t broken anything and had gone cleanly through but she wasn’t going to be running for a while.

“Bart, ya great big jackass! What did ya lead ‘em here fer?” Joe demanded quietly as she scooted closer to the man.

“I didn’t.” he replied, the brown eye that wasn’t swollen sparking with indignation. “They done knew where you were. Don’t worry though. I knew they were after me and then planned on coming after you so I sent word to Reb before they caught me. Reb will get help and come after us.”

“Somehow I don’t think these men will be afraid of lawmen.” Joe countered sharply as her eyes went to the forest surrounding them. Bart just sighed.

“It’ll be alright, Joe. You taught Clayton well and he can take care of himself ‘til you’re able to come back to him.”

Joe let out a long breath, trying to combat the motherly panic she was feeling inside. Bart was right. She had taught Clayton well and the boy knew how to take care of himself. But the fact remained that he was only four. He’d been scared when he’d run into the woods, what if he got lost?

“Who are these men and what do they want?” Joe asked, determined to hide her fear from Bart and these men.

“They were hired by somebody who wants revenge on us.”

“Us?”

“You, me, Reb and Jonah.”

“Who the devil is it?’ Joe demanded and Bart sighed.

“You won’t believe me if I tell you.”

“Damnation! Bart, I might not be able to kick ya or punch ya cuz I’m shot and tied but dammit there ain’t a think wrong with my forehead and it’s fixin’ to black yer other eye if’n ya don’t tell me what’s goin’ on.”

Bart shook his head. “Calm down. She got loose, Joe. They let her go and she’s been planning this a while.”

Joe felt dread wash over her spine. “Who is she?”

“Scarlett.”

***

Jonah heard the banging yet wasn’t sure if it was coming from inside his head or the hotel room door. The pain it was inflicting though was nearly unbearable and he growled loudly and pulled a pillow over his head.

“Jonah, dammit, I know yer in there. I can smell ya from out here!”

Reb? Jonah hadn’t heard Reb’s voice since that day a little over five years ago when he had punched his friend in the face and forced him to walk away. What the hell was Reb doing here now?

“Go away.” Jonah mumbled, though speaking made his head pound harder.

“Not this time, Jonah. Now ya either let me on in there or I’ll break this damned door down. This is an emergency.”

Jonah pushed himself to his feet, limping his way to the door with one boot on and one boot off.

He unhooked the lock and threw the door open to find himself staring at the friend he’d been wishing he could see for so long.

Reb looked him up and down and then his blue eye looked up into Jonah’s gray ones and filled with amusement.

“Nice to see ya looking so well.”

Jonah ran his hand over his bearded face and then scratched at his bare stomach.

“You said it was an emergency. What the hell do you want?”

“Nice to see you too, Jonah.” Reb pushed past him and walked into the room. His head shook as he took in the sight of empty whiskey bottles and dirty clothes.

“What’s going on, Reb? It’s been five years since I’ve even seen you.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Reb asked, adjusting his eye patch as he did so.

“Mine.” Jonah grumbled, sitting down hard on the worn feather tick mattress.

“Damnation, Jonah, ya stink.” Reb grumbled. “When was the last time ya took a bath?”

Jonah rubbed at his dirty neck and shrugged. “What month is it?”

“Well go on down to the barber shop and get ya a bath, a shave and a haircut and then we gotta go.”

“Go where?” Jonah demanded. “How did you even know where I was?”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on you. Did ya really think I’d just let ya go off and get yerself killed without at least checkin’ up on ya now and then?” Reb asked with a raise of his brow. “I got word from Bart, Jonah.” he added.

“I haven’t seen Bart since we dropped Scarlett off in Barbadine either. What the hell is he up to these days?” Jonah asked as he fished his discarded boot up off the floor and slipped it on.

“Right now? He could be dead.”

Jonah stood up quickly, though his head swam and he quickly fell back onto the bed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I got word from him, Jonah. Ya know I’ve always loved hangin’ ‘round that town with them soiled doves… well Bart knew that’s where I stayed most of the time and he sent me a telegram….”

“How sweet. What does this have to do with him being dead?” Jonah asked as he squeezed the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

Reb rolled his eye. “His telegram was bad, Jonah. Real bad.”

“How bad is real bad, Reb?”

“Some men are after him, Jonah. A big ol’ group of ‘em. But that’s not why he messaged me. He messaged me cuz he heard ‘em talkin’ and once they have him…”

“I’m still drunk and my heads a pounding.” Jonah warned when Reb paused. “I can’t handle all the suspense, Reb. Just tell me what’s going on.”

“They’re gonna go after Joe, Jonah. They’re gonna kill her once they’re done with Bart.”

Whatever had been left of Jonah’s drunkenness vanished instantly and his headache was quickly forgotten. He got to his feet and clenched his fists at his sides.

“Joe? Why Joe?”

“He didn’t say.” Reb replied with a sigh. “All he said was he heard some of the men that had been following him talking and they said their boss wanted revenge on you…”

Jonah shoved his hand through his dirty, stiff hair and then grunted when his fingers became caught in the tangles. “Why in the hell would somebody go after Joe to get revenge on me?”

“It’s probably somebody that knew us when we all ran together, Jonah.”

“Yeah but why would they think that going after Joe would hurt me?” Jonah demanded angrily as he began to pace.

Reb shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “Probably because they could see what everybody else in the damned world could see whenever you and Joe was together.”

“And what’s that?” Jonah snapped.

“That you love the damn woman.”

Jonah bristled and thought about arguing but then his shoulders slumped and he leaned his back against the wall. What was the point in arguing? He did love Joe. Had loved her all along. He’d just been confused, scared… Stupid.

“I don’t even know where Joe is.” Jonah finally replied and Reb nodded.

“Bart included that in his message too.” he assured him. “This town was on the way… She’s further northwest now than she used to be.”

Jonah nodded, though jealousy sparked in him at knowing that Bart had obviously kept in contact with Joe. Her being moved would explain why her cabin had been abandoned all those times he’d gone to it.

“Go get a bath and a shave, Jonah, and I’ll get Copper ready.”

“I don’t have time to worry about a bath…” Jonah began to argue but Reb put his hand on his gun.

“You either get yer ass a little less smelly or I’ll be forced to do mankind a favor and put a bullet in ya. Ya already smell like yer dead anyhow.”

Jonah glared at his friend but nodded, grabbed his stiff shirt from the floor and headed for the door. “Get ya some new clothes too!” Reb called and Jonah threw his hand up in acknowledgement.

Joe was in trouble. Jonah might have let her walk away from him once. He might have been the one that let her go but he’d be damned before he’d be the one that let someone lay a hand on her.

Maybe, just maybe, he could help her out and then admit to her what a fool he’d been. Maybe she would take him back and he’d actually be able to look in the mirror again and maybe, just maybe, his heart wouldn’t feel so broken anymore.

***

“Jonah, I’m sure Joe’ll be okay.” Reb assured Jonah as they rode quickly out of town. Jonah rubbed his freshly shaven face and shook his head.

“Okay.” he said simply.

“I can tell yer worried. Ya look real pale and kinda green ‘round yer gills there.”

“Am I a fish?” Jonah snapped and Reb shook his head.

“I don’t reckon. It’s good to see ya again, Jonah. Just wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Yeah and me too.”

“Hell we’ll probably get there and she’ll have all those men shot and hog tied. Ya know how tough ol’ Joe always was.”

Jonah nodded but said nothing. He simply prayed like hell that that was true. That Joe would be fine. Lord knew if she wasn’t… if they found her dead… It would destroy whatever part of Jonah wasn’t already destroyed and break whatever in him wasn’t broken.