Hank and Curly were watching Davey lasso a horse as the Barkleys drove the surrey into the ranch yard. Seeing, Rio tied up to the back of the surrey, the three men ran over.

“Where’s the boss?” asked Davey anxiously.

Hank, seeing the pain on Nick’s face, asked. “You okay Nick?”

Nick nodded, “John Travis has her. He’s the one causing all the problems.”

Curly helped Victoria and Audra down, “Come in. Jack and the other guys are gonna want to hear this.”

Sitting in the bedroom where Jack was recuperating, Nick told them of the events of the morning. “Jarrod and Heath went with the sheriff to bring her back. They picked up the trail behind Dan’s office building.”

Jack sighed with frustration, “Dammit. She had a feeling she couldn’t trust that guy. And to think I teased her about being Mrs. Travis!”

Charity smiled at Jack, “You two tease each other all the time. She’ll be fine.”

Nick grinned, “Mother, I’m gonna wait here with Jack. Why don’t you head back to the ranch?”

Victoria smiled as she gave Nick a hug, “Okay, but I don’t want you riding any horses with those ribs.”

“Curly, will you see that Mrs. Barkley and Audra get home okay?” asked Jack.

“Sure, Jack.” said Curly as he led the ladies from the room and out to the surrey.

Hank stood, “I think I’ll take a ride and look that part of the ranch over.”

Jack smiled as the others stood stating they were going to tag along. “Davey, you can track them and find our boss. Also, see if there’s any weasels that need killing.”

Jack hearing their horses galloping off thought, ‘Travis had better not harm one hair on her head.’

“So Nick, I hear you brought the boss a present this morning,” teased Jack as Nick’s face reddened.

Heath and Jarrod were frustrated as the posse lost the trail of John Travis again. Travis entering the stream had slowed the progress of the group of men immensely. Splitting up in four groups, the men had to comb the river, upstream and downstream. Men rode on both sides of the river to find where he had left the water. Hearing the shots fired in the air, they raced to where the others had picked up the trail. Following the trail, it was lost when the tracks combined with some cattle tracks.

Heath looked at his eldest brother “We’re taking too long Jarrod.”

“I know Heath, but they’re doing the best they can.” sighed Jarrod as he watched Fred and his deputy trying to locate the trail of John Travis.

“I don’t like to think of Sue in the hands of Travis.” said Heath darkly. “I can’t believe it was him all this time.”

“It scares me too, Heath.” replied Jarrod softly.

Fred rode back to the group of men, “We’re gonna have to split up and search for the trail.”

“Fred, Heath and I are gonna start from where Nick and Sue found the petroleum. Maybe we can find some tracks and go from there.” said Jarrod.

“Okay, but be careful. No telling what he’ll do next.” said Fred as he left with the other men.

Heath looked at Jarrod with a puzzled expression, “Why are we gonna look over there?”

“Brother Heath, lets look at all the facts as we know them. One – Travis shot at Sue on the mountain. Two – He was a friend of Abe Henderson and so was probably quite familiar with this area. Three – He must have stumbled upon the petroleum during one of his visits to Henderson. Four – He didn’t know Sue was going to be in town, so he either followed Nick and Sue this morning or he just happened to see them in town. I think he saw them find the petroleum and followed them to town, saw his opportunity and took it.” explained Jarrod.

“I think you could use that power of deduction to make a fine lawyer someday.” teased Heath as he smiled widely, the hope shining in his eyes. “Let’s go!”

Jarrod laughed as he galloped after Heath and Charger.

Sue gasped as her first awareness was of the pain radiating throughout her body. Shaking her head gingerly, she opened her eyes and bit back the moan that started to rise from her throat. Trying to raise her right hand, she realized her wrists were tied together. Looking down, she saw her feet were tied in a similar manner. Using her hands, she pushed herself up and back against the wall, closing her eyes against the pounding in her head.

Travis watched as Sue pushed herself up and leaned against the wall. Walking over, he knelt to the side of her. Reaching over he brushed the hair away, revealing the green eyes that were watching him, “Miss Weston, if you cooperate it will be much more enjoyable.”

“Go to hell.”

Travis sent the side of her head into the wall with a backhand across her cheek. Grabbing her hair, he forced her to look at him as her emerald eyes welled with tears from the force of his hand.

“Why are you making this an unpleasant occasion. We have much to celebrate, Miss Weston.”

Sue stared into the eyes of the madman and felt a chill blow through her soul. These were the eyes of a man tittering on the edge of insanity. The eyes of a man who no longer conducted himself in society’s boundaries. These were the eyes of the darkness of humanity.

When Sue didn’t answer, Travis gently caressed her check with his fingertips and murmured, “Don’t you want to know what we’re celebrating?”

Sue, swallowed the lump in her throat, forcing herself to answer, “Okay.”

Travis stared deeply into her green eyes as he ran his fingers down the side of her throat and over her breasts. Feeling the arousal in him, he smiled. “We are going to enter into a partnership.”

Sue shuddered as his fingers continued their exploration. Closing her eyes to shut out the sight of him, Travis angrily twisted his left hand in her hair and grabbed her face tightly with his right hand. “Look at me!”

Sue, opened her eyes and gasped from the pain, “I want to see your eyes, understand?”

Sue nodded and he released his hold on her face. Grabbing the ropes tied around her wrists, he pulled her to her feet, picked her up and laid her on the bed. Sitting beside her, he caressed her as he stared into her eyes. Seeing the look of hunger and possessiveness in his eyes, Sue rolled to get away from him.

Travis laughed as he grabbed the rope and yanked her back to him. “You’re not going anywhere, my little green eyed beauty.” Laying across her upper body to hold her down, he grabbed her hair and held her still as he brought his lips crashing down onto hers.

Kicking her legs, Sue tried to dislodge the larger body that was holding her in place as he smashed her lips with his. Using her fingers, she grabbed his skin through his shirt twisting it until he yelped in pain. Releasing her head, he jumped back from her, stumbled and landed sitting on the floor beside the bed. Swinging her legs, she struck Travis in the side of his face with her boots. Falling sideways from the blow, he struck his head on floor and lay stunned.

Grabbing a vase as she slid off the bed, Sue smashed it down onto the back of his head as he lay on the floor. Crawling to the table, she grabbed a knife, cut the ropes off her ankles and stood up.

Travis lunged towards her and fell to the floor as she stumbled out of his way, loosing her grip on the knife, it slid across the floor. Not seeing her gun, she grabbed the edge of the table and turned it over onto Travis. Throwing open the door, she ran towards the trees.

Travis stumbled out from beneath the table, headed to the door with his pistol and fired at the fleeing woman. Holding his hand to his head, he stared at the blood on his hand when he pulled it away.

“That bitch!” he screamed. Wrapping a bandage around his head, he grabbed his rifle and went to saddle his horse to find her.

Heath and Jarrod had met up with Sue’s crew who were following Davey as he tracked Travis’ horse from the petroleum sight. The tracks led them to a hidden path that headed up the mountains.

The men making their way up the mountains stopped as the faint echo of a shot was heard between the hills. Looking around at the others, Hank stated “I think we should just keep following the trail. Its bound to lead us to them.”

Everyone nodded and Davey continued leading them as he followed the tracks in front of him. Each man’s face grim as the different scenarios ran through their minds. Stopping, Davey dismounted when the tracks had faded out. Looking around and not finding any indication, he cursed as frustration mounted within him.

“What’s the matter?” asked Heath as he watched the young wrangler.

“The trail just disappeared! All of a sudden it stops!” said Davey angrily as he stared at the two different routes in front of him.

“Let’s split up. Jarrod and I will take the trail on the left, you guys take the right.” said Heath as the others agreed. Heath started up the trail with Jarrod following.

Sue ran towards the trees, her fear of the madman behind her propelling her feet to move faster. Her heart pounding furiously, she reached the treeline as the red hot poker slammed into her shoulder. Falling forward onto her knees, she pushed herself up and continued to run down the side of the mountain. The only thought in her mind was the desire to escape the clutches of Travis.

Ignoring the branches slapping her face and body, she gasped for air as she pushed herself on and on. Stumbling, she fell to her knees. Forcing herself to stand, she pushed on down the mountain, gasping for air. Looking back over her shoulder she stepped in a hole, feeling the pain shooting up her left leg, as she held onto it and rolled on the ground.

Crying silently from the pain in her leg and shoulder, she forced herself to stifle the moans of agony that were threatening to leave her throat. Gasping from the pain as she lay on the ground, Sue struggled to bring her thoughts from a jumbled mess into cohesiveness and order.

Her throat was dry from lack of water, her right shoulder throbbed in tune with her head and her left ankle she knew was either badly sprained or broken. Seeing the blood running down her hand, she took the bandana from her throat and pushed it under her shirt over the bullet wound.

Looking up at the darkening sky, she mumbled “What first? Find a weapon. Get these ropes off. Then find a crutch, since you had to step in that damn hole. Then get your ass off this mountain.”

‘No problem’ she thought sarcastically as she gingerly pushed herself to a sitting position. Glancing around the area she was in, Sue saw a branch laying on the ground. Pulling herself over to it, she picked it up and examined it as she laid on her stomach. Deciding it would suit her purpose, she examined the ropes on her wrists. Closing her eyes as a wave of dizziness hit, she mentally scolded herself ‘Come on. Stay with it. No one’s here to help you.’

Opening her eyes when the dizziness subsided, she used her teeth and worked on freeing her hands. Her lips hurting from Travis, started bleeding as the rope scraped them. Pausing to catch her breath and shivering as the temperature dropped, her eyes caught a glimpse of movement further down the mountain. Staying still, she strained to see in the fading light. Happiness flared through her as she could make out the outlines of men on horses.

She opened to mouth to shout and shut it just as quickly as she remembered the severity of her position. ‘I can’t yell, Travis might hear me. I’m just gonna have to make it down to them.’ Grabbing her weapon, she started crawling down to the men as the dizziness and darkness came and the cold bit at her skin.

Travis saddled his horse and rode to the treeline where Sue ran to, his eyes widing in surprise when he didn’t see her body laying on the ground.

Dismounting, he shook his head as he thought angrily ‘I know I hit her’. Walking slowly around the area, he smiled as he saw drops of blood on the ground.

Taking the reins of his horse, he walked slowly as he followed her by the drops of blood. Stopping he tied his horse to a branch when the trees became too dense for the horse to follow. He continued on slowly watching for the green eyed beauty. The anticipation in him rising as he thought of her in his hands.

His warped thoughts running through his mind, ‘I’m sorry mama. It could have been so wonderful if she hadn’t been so unwilling. I could have given her everything. I really tried. But before I’m through with Miss Weston, I will take everything from her and leave just an empty shell behind.’

He continued on following the trail, stopping suddenly he knelt, frowning as he watched the movement of men on horses further down the mountain. With the darkness closing in, he stopped, trying to decide which course of action to take.

‘I don’t want to miss her in the dark and she can’t go far with that wound.’ Making his way back to his horse, he grabbed his bedroll. Heading back to where he ended his search, he wrapped his blanket around his shoulders, hunkered down and fell asleep. His dreams and nightmares were of the girl who, unbeknownst to him, was just shy of a half mile away.

Sue continued her slow downward trek towards the low-lying flickering star. Her whole body felt as if it were on fire, bruised and sore. Her ankle throbbed unmercifully, her left shoulder not fully recovered from the prior injury and her right throbbed offbeat of her ankle. Her body shivered uncontrollably from the fever that was ravaging it and the cold temperatures.

Her will to live compounded by her fear of what was behind her was the driving force behind her descent down the mountain. She had always been a survivor, a leader, a doer and never a follower. She had never been passive in anything and wouldn’t start to be so now. She had always enjoyed life and worked hard for what she had.

But her strength was fading, the loss of blood and the shock of the injuries were threatening to rob her of action. As she lay on her stomach gasping for air, she wanted to close her eyes. “It would be so easy to lay here and rest for a while” she thought tempted by this one little action that would be the end of her.

“Get up girl” she heard her father say softly.

“Can’t daddy. hurts.”

“You’ve hurt before, now get up!” commanded her father sharply. “Do it!”

Tears ran down Sue’s face as she willed her body to move forward an inch at a time. She had never directly disobeyed her father and wouldn’t start now. The pain was overwhelming her senses and was all she felt as she struggled slowly.

Stopping and gasping, she glanced down and felt despair when she realized how much further she had to go. The sweat from her exertions and fever mixed with the tears on her cheeks as she lowered her head to rest.

“Wai, rise” whispered a deep voice. “Little sister, rise.”

“Haavi?”

“Si, Wai. Papa and Haavi acqui.”

“Don’t let him win, daughter. Haavi and I are here, now crawl.”

She knew they were both dead and her mind couldn’t make any sense out of it. How can I hear them? Why can’t I see them? Where are they? But she started crawling as she lost all sense of time and her surroundings as her father and Haavi urged her on.

Jarrod looked across the small fire and saw Heath’s eyes with a far away look in them. Heath had wanted to continue searching, but had admitted grudgingly that Jarrod was right, they wouldn’t be able to see anything in the dark and it was better to start out at first light. First light was only a hour away, neither of the brothers had been able to sleep, their thoughts consumed by the welfare of Sue Weston in the hands of John Travis.

Jarrod feeling as if he failed his brother, spoke softly “Heath, we’ll find her. We’re not gonna give up.”

Nodding, Heath replied, “I know Jarrod. It’s just frustrating.”

“Maybe Davey and the others have already found her.”

“One of the guys would’ve let us know. Somehow, I know we’re closer. I can feel it in my gut.” Looking up through the trees at the stars, Heath sighed, “Sue and I used to lay on her range in Texas and look at the stars. Did I tell you that?”

Jarrod smiled, “No. You never told us that.”

Chuckling, Heath smiled “Yep, her father used to just shake his head at us when she’d say ‘We’re going window shopping, daddy’.”

“Window shopping?” asked Jarrod curiously.

“Yeah, she always said the stars seemed closer to the land in Texas. She felt like she was close enough to grab them, but the window of the sky stood in the way. Just like when ya are downtown, peekin’ in the shop windows. You’re close enough to grab it but the window’s in the way. Of course, with Sue, we always looked in the gun shops or the leather shops.” chuckled Heath.

Jarrod joined Heath as he laughed, “I’ve seen the stars at night in Texas. I’d say she was right. You’re lucky to have such a wonderful and caring friend, Heath.”

“I’m lucky to know her. She told me once that she thought we were destined to be friends by fate.” said Heath softly.

“By fate? How could that be?”

“I didn’t have a father growing up and she didn’t have a mother. We used to have long discussions about what we both thought we missed out on growing up.”

“You had long discussions with someone Heath?” teased Jarrod who was awarded with the lopsided grin of his normally quiet brother.

“Yeah, she’d tell me what it was like with her father growing up and I’d tell her how it was with mama, Aunt Rachel and Hannah.”

“I know we said the past is the past, Heath.” said Jarrod softly “I wish you could have known father.”

“Yeah, me too. I listen to you all talk about him and I feel as if I know him a little.” admitted Heath as he sat up quickly. “Nick, what ya’ doing here?”

Jarrod jumped and looked around, “Nick!”

Leading Coco, he walked him over to Jingo and Charger and tied him up. Sitting on a log by the fire, he poured a cup of coffee as his brothers took notice of the sweat on his brow and his pallor.

Heath said quietly, “You shouldn’t have rode here with your ribs.”

Nick sighed, “I couldn’t wait anymore. Harold came back to the ranch when his horse threw a shoe. He told Jack and I where the trail had led. I’m not sitting around while Travis has her.”

Jarrod smiled as he nodded, “Wait til Mother finds out. She’ll skin you alive.”

Grinning, Nick replied, “Probably. As long as Sue’s okay when we get her back, its worth it.”

Heath shook his head, “Did I tell you what Nick did this morning?”

Jarrod smiled, “No, you didn’t. Did he make it through breakfast before growling at someone?”

Heath chuckled at Jarrod’s question and the blush on Nick’s face, “No, he growled at me during breakfast. He brought Sue a kitten this morning.”

Jarrod looked at Nick with a wide eyed look, “You actually picked up a cat? What color is it?”

“It’s a calico kitten.” said Nick quietly as he remembered the happiness in her eyes.

“I’ve a feeling she’s close, Nick.” said Heath as he stood up to saddle Charger as first light approached.

Davey and the crew, started out at first light, riding up their trail. The faces of the men weary from lack of sleep, worry and the troubled thoughts of how their boss was fairing.

They had spent a long evening around the fire. Each of them keeping their thoughts to themselves. Their hearts warmed by their experiences with the woman they were proud to call boss and friend. They each had dark thoughts of how they would deal with the man who had stolen her from them.

When Davey suddenly stopped, the group halted and followed with their eyes in the direction his finger was pointing.

“A roof over there, through the trees.” said Davey as he dismounted excited at the possibilities this discovery held.

The others seeing the roof, also dismounted. Walking their horses closer, they stopped and tied them to trees along the trail. Taking their rifles, they formed a circle to decide how to proceed.

Hank pointed to Pedro and Bill, “See if you can work yourselves to the rear of the cabin and get a look inside. We need to see how many are in there.”

“Davey, Curly and me will wait here and work ourselves closer to the front.” said Hank as the others nodded in agreement.

Pedro and Bill, left using the cover of the trees to work their way slowly closer to the backside of the cabin. When they reached it, they could see the cabin was built so it was back into the trees and out of sight. Pedro walked up to the side of a window and he cautiously looked inside.

“It’s empty.” called Pedro to Bill as he walked to the front door and opened it.

The others seeing Pedro, rushed to the cabin and met Bill as they reached the front door. Entering they saw Pedro standing to the side looking at the gun he held in his hand.

“It’s the boss’” said Pedro quietly as the others glanced at the room strewn with items leaving no doubt to them that their boss had fought with Travis.

“Davey, see if you can locate any tracks.” said Bill as he knelt to examine the ropes on the floor. Holding them out to Hank, he said “These were cut off with a knife.”

Curly took the ropes from Hank, “Think the Barkleys cut them?”

“No, if they’d found her, one of them would’ve let us know.” explained Bill. “I think it was the boss who cut them.”

Davey burst through the front door, “She got away, but she’s hurt! Come on, he’s following her!”

The men ran outside and got their horses as Davey let them to where the tracks started at the treeline.

Curly grabbed Davey’s arm as he started for the trees, “Wait Davey! We gotta do this smart. We don’t want Travis to shoot us like he did Jack, that wouldn’t help the boss any.”

“He’s right. Davey, you can track ‘em but we gotta be quiet and keep an eye out for that son of a bitch.” growled Hank. “Bill, why don’t you and Curly go further down the trail. We don’t wanna miss her in case she only went into the trees to get away from him for a while.”

“Okay, whoever finds her should fire three shots in the air, so that we’ll know.” said Bill as he and Curly started down the trail.

Hank and Pedro followed Davey as he tracked Travis into the trees and down the side of the mountain.

Shrugging his blanket off when there was enough light to see, Travis stood and followed the dark spots on the ground. His mind anticipating the moment he would catch up with the green eyed woman. He had spent a night aroused by his dreams and tormented by his nightmares.

Pausing he stopped and looked around for the blood trail that had disappeared. Frowning, he knelt and examined the ground closely as frustration mounted within. After several minutes, he was unable to find any more spots of blood.

‘Where is she?’ he thought angrily as he continued down the mountain. His eyes watching for a splash of the blue shirt in the neutral forest color scheme. Seeing none, he knelt suddenly by a tree as he glimpsed two men walking up the side of the mountain amongst the trees, towards where he was hidden. Staring at them, he realized it was Nick and Heath Barkley.

Panic rose within him as he looked around for a place to hide until they passed. Seeing none and not willing to be caught, he slowly backed up the way he had come. Keeping an eye on the men in front of him as he made his way to a dense tree area. Turning, he froze as he saw two other men tracking him from the place he was the night before. Edging sideways as he watched them, he made his way slowly out of their line of sight. Continuing in the other direction, he walked until he felt he was out of their range of sight.

Frustration screamed in his mind as he realized he had narrowly escaped being captured by the men looking for Sue Weston. He fought down the desire to throw caution to the wind and continue his search. Knowing this would be suicide, he sat down to contemplate his next step.

Realizing he could let the other men do the work of finding her, he smiled.

‘Then all I have to do is take her from them.’

Pedro, hidden in the trees had stayed behind to watch Travis’ horse, in case he made his way back there with his boss. Davey and Hank continued tracking the man who had taken their friend.

“He spent the night here.” said Davey as they came upon the blanket Travis discarded. “Fresh tracks.”

Hank knelt and looked at them with the young wrangler, “He’s close. I’ll keep a lookout while you follow the tracks.”

Davey nodded and continued doing his part to get their boss back. Stopping, he looked at the tracks frowning, “He was here a little while ago.”

Movement down the mountain caught his eye and looking he saw the Barkleys coming uphill to them. Waving, he caught Heath’s eye and his friend waved back. Hank and Davey waited until Nick and Heath reached them.

“Anything?” asked Heath.

Davey nodded, “We found the cabin where he kept her.”

Nick, unsure of how to read the look on the wrangler’s face, asked quietly. “What else?”

“Looks like there was a fight. The boss is hurt but she got away.” replied Hank, “Travis has been following the blood drops to find her.”

“Yeah, she’s got a hurt left leg. You can see where she pushes forward using her right foot. It’s a good thing Travis can’t track or he’d of seen the drag marks.” said Davey as he knelt and pointed them out to the others.

“Can you find her Davey?” questioned Heath as Davey nodded.

“Let’s go get her, boys.” said Nick as Hank caught the concerned look in Nick’s eyes.

Hank put a giant hand on Nick’s shoulder and squeezed gently, “She’ll be okay Nick, you’ll see.”

Smiling slightly, Nick nodded and squeezed the hand of the gentle man before following Davey and Heath.

Stopping, Davey gestured to the stand of deadfalls, “This is the end of the trail.”

The night air chilled her as the fever warmed her, shaking and shivering, she struggled on. Unaware of anything around her except the fear that plagued her subconscious, the voices kept pushing her on and on. The pain was her constant companion. Dizziness and fever ravaged through her but she was not aware enough to take notice of them.

The voices guided her slow movements through the darkness of the night. Her hands felt their way through the trees and undergrowth around her. Over logs and through bushes, she continued. The voices telling her she needed to find a hiding place.

‘Remember the teachings’ the deep voice would say. Mumbling in Yaqui, she answered her teacher and crawled onward, an inner voice stopping her when she reached the deadfalls as the first light was rising in the mountains. Staring at the trees, she heard her teacher whisper, ‘Staying in one place does not leave a trail for a person to follow.”

Crawling to the opening, her hand closed on a rock and holding onto it, she crawled into the natural shelter. Burrowing under the fallen leaves that had gathered in the deadfall, she clutched the rock, as her awareness slipped away.

Nagging at her subconscious was the sound of footsteps, her mind reacting as if it were treading water and her eyes refusing to open. Feeling hands on her body, her instinct for survival caused her hand to lash out as her shoulder screamed from the movement.

The rock connected as the fear and panic overwhelmed her. Her legs kicked at the unknown hands, agony shooting through her as the injured limb protested the treatment. Blackness came crashing down from the protest and she was oblivious to the cursing outside the deadfalls.

Holding his head, Davey backed out of the opening to the deadfalls, cursing as the blood ran down the side of his face.

“What happened?” asked Hank as he held a bandana to the wound that was rapidly turning black, blue and purple.

Davey winced as Heath and Nick watched, “She’s in there alright. When I tried to grab her to pull her out, she swung at me.”

Nick knelt and looked into the opening, “What was she saying? I couldn’t understand it.”

Studying the deadfalls, Heath replied, “I think she’s talking in Yaqui. If we move these top logs, we should be able to reach in and lift her out.”

Two men grabbed each end of the logs and lifted. Putting the logs on the ground, Nick cautiously peered into the shelter.

“Jesus.” Nick whispered, his eyes filling with tears at the sight that greeted him.

The faces of the others paled as they heard Nick’s words. Looking into the opening, the shock shown on their faces at the sight of their friend.

Four pairs of hands reached into the shelter and carefully lifted Sue from her haven. The eyes of the men blinking to fight off the tears that had formed. Carefully laying her on the ground, Heath brushed the sweat soaked hair from her forehead. Her clothes, soaked in sweat and blood were filthy from crawling on the side of the mountain. Her lips were battered, bruises had formed from the imprint of a hand, her forearms were bloody and scrapped deeply in places from pulling herself over the earth and nature’s obstacles. Shaking and shivering from the cold, the fever left blotches of red on the pale face. Her wrists still bound were bloody and raw from the chafing of the ropes. Her left leg swollen from the knee down was pushing at the seam of her jeans.

Nick gingerly, cut the ropes that bound her hands. Opening her hand, he took out the bloody rock. Tossing it to the side, he ran his arms down her ams. Pain flared in his face as he was awarded with a fist to his eye for his doctoring attempts. Thrashing on the ground in a frenzied panic, the men held her down while screaming her name. Slowly the thrashing stopped as their screams broke the wall of the delirium she was in and the men released their holds. As Sue shook and shivered, they saw the eyes open a slit and move sluggishly in their sockets.

“Boss, we’re here.” said Hank gently.

Nick held her hand and squeezed it gently, “Sue, lets see those beautiful green eyes?”

Sue’s eyes showed stark fear as she screamed “No!” . Nick grunted as she pushed him away with a surge of adrenalin, her hand hitting his injured ribs.

Heath grabbed her by the shoulders and held onto her as unconsciousness claimed her again. Looking at the others, he shook his head, “She’s burning up. She doesn’t know what’s going on. We gotta get her off this mountain.”

Davey took out his gun and shot three times in the air, “This way they know we found her. Its closer to your horses from here, lets get down there.”

Hank carefully picked up his boss and started down the mountain with the others following. Heath walked beside Nick whose face had changed colors after the jolt to his side, “You okay, Nick?”

“I’m okay. She just caught me by surprise.” said Nick softly as he grabbed Heath’s arm to stop him. “Did you see the fear in her eyes? Wait til I get my hands on Travis, he’s gonna regret he ever laid a finger on her.”

“You’ll have to wait in line brother.” said Heath angrily as they continued to the horses.

Jarrod watched as he saw the group making their way down the mountain. Heath and Nick had wanted to search the side of the mountain before continuing on up the trail. Jarrod had stayed behind to keep an eye on the horses. Seeing Hank carrying Sue, Jarrod built up the fire and laid a blanket on the ground. Hurrying to Nick’s saddlebags, he took out the first aid items that Nick had fortuitously brought with him.

Hank knelt and slowly laid his boss on the blanket. Jarrod stared as he took in the condition of their neighbor. Seeing her shiver, he grabbed another blanket to cover her and fight the effects of hypothermia.

Davey looked at Hank, “We gotta get Bill down here to take a look at her.”

Hank nodded, “Jarrod, can I borrow your horse?”

“Jingo’s all saddled, but what is Bill gonna do?” asked Jarrod as he put a cool cloth on her head.

“Bill was a field medic in the war.” said Heath. “He’ll do what he can before we leave.”

Hank brought Jingo out and mounted “Davey, I’ll bring the others and the horses too.” Then galloping up the trail, he was out of sight.

“What happened to you two?” inquired Jarrod as Heath gently washed Sue’s face.

Nick grinned, “Sue hit us. But, I think Davey got the worst of it.”

“Don’t ever grab someone who’s out of their head.” said David wincing when Nick tied the bandage around his head.

Jarrod and Heath exchanged the compressed for cool ones to help fight the fever that had control of her. Her head moved slightly as she mumbled in Yaqui. Her words were foreign to them yet also gave comfort in the knowledge that she was still with them in this world. Her face grimaced as the pain flared through her body.

Lifting her head, Heath brought a cup to the swollen lips “Take a sip, Sue” he coaxed softly as he poured a few drops into her mouth when she didn’t respond.

Hearing horses approaching, Heath laid her head down, his hand wet from the sweat on the back of her neck. Standing, he watched as Bill and the other jumped down.

“Where’s Pedro?” asked Heath.

Curly smiled, “He’s waiting for Travis to come back for his horse.”

Bill hurried over to his boss and assessed her condition.

“Heath, hold her up so I can see where this blood came from.” said Bill as he took out his knife.

Heath hugged Sue to him as Bill cut the back of her shirt, “Bullet wound. It’s not really a bad one except there’s no exit wound. That’s where part of her fever is coming from. The other part’s from being in the cold last night and the other blood she’s lost.”

Nick watching Bill carefully whispered, “Should we try to take the bullet out?”

Bill frowned, “We gotta. I don’t know if she has the strength to fight the infection, if we don’t take it out.”

“Tell us what to do.” stated Nick.

“I’ll need some water boiled to sterilize a knife in. Also, some clean bandages. She’s out of it, so she may not even feel anything.”

Jarrod and Davey boiled the water, sterilized the knife and handed it to Bill.

Bill winked at Heath, “Ya’ better have a good hold on her. I don’t want her jumping up while I’m in the middle of finding the bullet.”

Heath nodded and drew his friend closer to him as he held her head to his chest and the others watched closely.

....Continued