The plan was to take two of the horses, but as they approached the animals, it became clear that that wasn’t going to happen. One of the horses let out a nicker.
Although the horses sometimes made noise during the night, they were mostly quiet. If they started making too much noise, the guards would notice and come running.
Isabelle stopped walking and grabbed Sarah’s arm.
“What’s wr—” Sarah started asking, but Isabelle shook her head as she placed her hand over her daughter’s mouth.
Her voice had been low, but they couldn’t take any chances. The whole situation was a mess, and Isabelle felt like screaming. She had never in her life been so scared.
Clutching Sarah’s arm in one hand, she led her away from the wagon and from the horses. They were going to have to make their escape on foot.
Chapter 12
The trees were sparse but provided much-needed cover. Somehow, they had gotten away undetected, and now they were simply trying to put as much distance between themselves and Quincy and his men. Isabelle had no idea where they were or where they were going. It was a problem, but it was a less significant problem than being held captive.
Once they were far enough away from the camp, they put their boots back on. Their clothes really didn’t suit the occasion. Branches tore at the clothes, and both of them nearly fell a couple of times. They needed to find a road and, hopefully, somebody who could help them.
“What if they come after us?” Sarah asked, her voice panicked.
Isabelle didn’t have an answer for her daughter. All she could do was hope that they wouldn’t. “I don’t know,” she replied. “Let’s try not to worry about that. It’s better if we just focus on finding a road.”
Isabelle knew her daughter well, and she could see how worried Sarah was. Isabelle was worried too, but she had to try to keep both of them focused on the task at hand. The good thing about escaping in the middle of the night was that unless the men heard them, they wouldn’t know that they were missing until morning came. Sarah and Isabelle had a head start, but the problem was that they had no idea where they were.
By the time the first rays of the sun appeared over the horizon, Isabelle’s feet were killing her. She hadn’t walked so far in a really long time. The pain in her body was the least of her concerns, though. With the light of day came the threat of the men coming after them. At least now they would be able to see where they were going.
Isabelle’s throat was dry. She really needed a sip of water, but there was no water in sight. Everything looked as dry as her throat felt, and she was sure that Sarah needed something to drink as well. It was just going to have to wait. Hopefully, they’d find somebody who could help them once they got to a road.
“Come on,” Isabelle said as she took hold of Sarah’s arm and headed toward the exit of the woods. “We have to find a road.”
Leaving the woods meant they were more visible, and if Quincy and his men came looking for them, it wouldn’t be hard to find them. They couldn’t stay in the woods forever, though. They needed to get back home, or at least to a town where they could get help.
Isabelle had never been this far away from home, and although her priority was to get back and to get her daughter to safety, she couldn’t help but wonder what they would be returning to.
Her husband was dead. She had seen him shot down right in front of her. For the last couple of days, she had been trying really hard not to think about what had happened. She tried to keep her attention on the situation at hand. Worrying about what had happened and allowing herself to grieve would have been a distraction she couldn’t afford. Then there was Rider, too. She knew that Quincy had sent his men after him, but whether they ever found him was a mystery. She could only hope that her boy was still alive out there somewhere.
Their movements became sluggish as the hours passed by, and the sun was high in the sky by the time they finally found a road. There were no people in sight, though it appeared that they were really in the middle of nowhere.
“What now?” Sarah asked, her voice catching in her throat as she ran her hand through her hair that had come loose.
Isabelle wished that she had some clever answer, but she didn’t. “We just follow the road,” she replied. “And hope that somebody comes along.”
***
Quincy couldn’t believe that the women were gone. Sometimes his men were real disappointments. How on earthdid the two women who were tied up manage to escape in the middle of the night while two of his men were standing watch? It was unbelievable.
He couldn’t understand how they had managed to get a knife, cut themselves loose, and cut a hole in the tarp without being heard. First, it was his horse, and now it was the two women. They were his, and he wanted them back.
“Nobody rests until we find them!” he yelled as they rode. “Nobody eats, nobody drinks, and nobody even considers the idea of heading home until we find them.”
Quincy always took care of his men. Some of them were more loyal and better fighters than others, but once they joined the gang, he made sure that they had what they needed. That morning, he had lost his cool, though, and the two men who were supposed to be watching the women paid the price. Quincy wasn’t one to harm his own men. He only punished them when he felt betrayed or when they went against him. The two men who had allowed the women to escape paid the ultimate price. Quincy had lost his temper, and they had each gotten a bullet between the eyes.
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing. Maybe his men needed a reminder that he was in charge and that if they disobeyed him, they too would pay the price. Not one of his remaining men had argued about going to look for the women. They obviously did not want to wind up with a bullet in the head as well. That was a good thing because Quincy didn’t want to lose any more men.
Saying that he wasn’t happy was an understatement. Quincy didn’t really have much of a plan for the women, but deep down, he was hoping that the boy would come look for them and that he could use them as a bargaining chip to get his horse and saddlebag back. He knew it was unlikely to happen, though. Quincy was one of the most wanted men in the West, and nobody had ever been able to find his hideaway. The odds that a young boy would find it weren’t very high.
Despite knowing this, he desperately wanted to hold on to the woman. Quincy, like many outlaws, had never had a real relationship. Sure, he’d been with many women, some more willing than others, but he’d never cared for or loved a woman. They were only good for one thing.
He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t allowed his men to have some fun with the two women yet. He just felt like he needed to wait a while before he allowed that since he was still hoping to make use of them in some other way.
