She managed to get to her feet, quietly thanking God that she’d so far managed to hang on to her baby. Little Jake, normally a totally happy, rambunctious child, lay in a corner of the ramshackle cabin Marty had brought them to, just watching his mother but saying nothing. She buttoned the shirt and went to him, kneeling down and smoothing back his dark hair.
“It’s okay, Little Jake. Grandpa will come for us.”
“Hurt,” the boy said sadly.
“I know, my precious.”
“Gampa’s guns hurt that son-o-biss.”
Evie would normally scold him for using the word, but not now, not now. “Yes, Grandpa’s guns will hurt them. Grandpa will come and help us, Little Jake, you’ll see.”
She’d no more gotten the words out than she heard it…a whistle.
Daddy! Her heart pounded. Jake Harkner would surely prefer the element of surprise, but he probably couldn’t wait to reassure her he was here.
Little Jake bolted upright. “Gampa’s guns!” he said, brightening.
Evie put a finger to her lips. She had to think of something to keep Little Jake quiet and in one place so he wouldn’t get hurt in the shooting that would surely follow. “Hush, Little Jake. Remember to stay very still. Grandpa won’t come unless you stay right here and don’t move.”
“What’s going on?” another man in the cabin asked. “What was that whistle?”
“Harkner!” Marty exclaimed.
Evie rose. “You’re going to die today, Marty Bryant! My father must be pretty sure he has you trapped, or he wouldn’t have let you know he’s here!”
“Shut up, bitch!”
“He’s out there somewhere,” Evie goaded, feeling empowered by just the thought.
“There ain’t no way Jake has got here yet,” Marty answered, going to a window. “Even if he has, he’s the one who will die today!”
“Think what you want. After today you will be roasting in hell,” she said calmly. “Jake Harkner will see to it.”
Marty went to the door. “Hash, did you hear that whistle?”
Hash splashed water over his face. “I heard it, but I ain’t worried. Let him come. It’s what we’ve been waitin’ for, ain’t it?”
“But there’s no way he could have found us this quick.“
Evie sensed the fear in Marty’s voice.
The others inside scrambled, pulling on pants, loading guns. Marty stuck his head a little farther out the door. “You men out there!” he yelled. “Make ready! That’s Jake Harkner who just whistled!”
“Shit!” someone cursed.
“I’m tellin’ you, Marty, the man would be comin’ in from the west, not over that ridge to the east,” Hash argued.
Evie stepped outside the door, studying the top of the ridge, trying to see something…anything…but she saw no sign of life. Yet she knew her father was up there, and most certainly her brother too. She fought the sick fear that Brian might have been killed when Marty Bryant had slammed a gun into his head. Dear Jesus, let Brian be alive. And be with my father and brother. Help them.
How would Brian feel about her now? Eight men. Eight men had defiled her in the worst way. If Jake had taken longer to find her, she was sure the other men would have decided to take their turns with her too.
She couldn’t bear any more of this hideous abuse, or to watch Little Jake suffer. She rubbed at her belly, praying she would keep this baby because he or she, and Little Jake, might be all she had left of the sweet love she’d shared with her beloved husband. She turned to go back inside…and that was when she heard the gunshot. Just one…a loud crack in the crisp morning air. In the same instant, Hash Bryant fell forward into the watering trough, blood reddening the water.
Yes, Jake Harkner was definitely up on that ridge.
After that, all hell broke loose. Four men came running from behind the cabin and started shooting toward the ridge. A bevy of gunshots spit from behind brush on the hill, and all four men went down. Marty tackled Evie to the ground and dragged her kicking and screaming back into the cabin. She’d hoped to keep him outside where he would be an easier target, but he managed to get her into the cabin and slammed the door shut.
* * *
Jake watched Marty drag Evie into the cabin, her screams ripping at his insides.
“Fucking bastard!” Lloyd groaned. “She was trying to keep him outside, Pa, so we could get a shot at him.”
“I know.”
“She’s smart. Sweet as she is, she’s got the Harkner fight in her.”
Jake put more cartridges into his rifle. He couldn’t think about what he’d just seen. “We got five of them before they scattered for cover like roaches.”