A Headstrong Woman(48)
She was sure she would slip from the saddle at any moment and she wasn’t certain that she would mind. She was afraid of what this man’s intent was. She heard shots being fired behind them and suspected that some of her men were in pursuit. She could only pray that none of them would be hurt. A cry rang out from just behind them before the other man’s horse, minus his rider, sped past.
Alexandria decided she had to take her chances; she couldn’t allow this man to escape with her. She stiffened her body and immediately felt herself slip and a moment later hit the ground with bone jarring force. She rolled several feet before coming to a stop. She struggled for her breath and her feet; she knew she needed to move in the opposite direction from her captor. Her tied hands and screaming body, however, prevented her from making it to her feet before her captor returned. She felt the cold barrel of a gun press against her neck as her men rode onto the scene. The moon pulled from behind the clouds to light the tableau.
Jonathon, Rusty, and Sparky, their posture tense, sat atop their mounts.
“Come any closer and I’ll shoot her,” the man ordered. He removed her gag. “Tell them to back off.”
“I’d rather you let him shoot me than leave here with me,” she told her men.
The man cursed and pressed the gun into her chin; she winced. “I’ll shoot her; I mean it!”
“You shoot her and I promise you you’ll be so riddled with bullet holes that your own mother won’t be able to identify your remains,” Jonathon threatened.
Alexandria swallowed; the cold barrel of the gun made it painful. Alexandria could hear her heart beating as life seemed to slow. Jonathon sat tensed, his eyes filled with rage as the muscles in his jaw worked. Beside him Rusty’s eyes scanned the area missing nothing and Sparky’s hands flexed as though on the edge of his self-control.
Alexandria heard a shot ring out moments before her captor’s body lurched and blood splattered her. The man, his face half gone, collapsed against her. Alexandria screamed as she scrambled and stumbled to get away. Jonathon was at her side in a moment and Rusty and Sparky maneuvered their horses to cover them. None of them had fired the shot and they weren’t taking any chances. Until they knew if the unseen gunman was friend or foe, they intended to keep themselves between him and their boss. Jonathon quickly freed her from her ropes and peered down into her face.
“Are you okay?” he demanded.
Alexandria blinked at him. She wanted to answer him but all she could see was the man’s face, or partial lack thereof in her own; she shuddered. Jonathon wiped her face with his handkerchief before remounting and pulling her up in front of him to sit sideways. Her gown made anything else unseemly.
“Here,” he took off his coat and wrapped it around her. Alexandria sank against him, her arms and legs feeling like over cooked noodles.
Jonathon pulled his gun as he watched a man approach.
“Everybody okay?” Tristan called.
“I think so,” Rusty answered as he holstered his gun. “That was a good shot.”
“It was the only one that didn’t put Alexandria at risk as well, how is she?” he glanced to where she sat huddled against her foreman; she was shaking uncontrollably.
“I think she’s in shock but she’ll be okay,” Jonathon predicted.
“My men should be coming to the aide of your men; it was one of my men who saw them taking your cattle and came to inform me. When I heard a gunshot from this direction I decided to investigate. Why don’t you bring her to my place and we’ll get her warmed up,” Tristan suggested.
“She’d rather go home, I’m sure, but thanks for the offer,” Jonathon responded. “And thanks for the help.”
“Sure, any time,” Tristan nodded, though he looked slightly irritated. Jonathon turned his horse back toward the ranch and urged Raven to a fast trot. As they passed back onto Alexandria’s land, Chris and Ben rode up and surveyed their boss.
“Is she okay; what happened?” Chris demanded.
“She was yanked from her bed and taken on a wild ride,” Jonathon responded.
“Is she hurt?”
“She’s in shock. She took a hard fall but as far as I know she isn’t seriously hurt,” Jonathon reassured them. Rusty and Sparky rode up and joined the group.
“What’s going on out there?” Jonathon nodded in the direction of gunfire.
“We caught some men rustling cattle and went in pursuit; then Tristan’s men joined us and one of them suggested that we check on our boss and we rode this way. I think his men are still in pursuit and a couple of ours. We did manage to reclaim a few head of cattle,” Ben answered.