“Come on!” I said as I raced back to the truck. “I see Lynn!”
We kept our speed down but caught up with her in short order. She turned when she heard the truck and looked like she was trying to find somewhere to run to. I rolled down my window and waved my arm up and down, not knowing if that would get her to stop or cause her more distress, but she stopped and waited for us to pull up.
“Well, I’m glad I didn’t shoot at you,” she said as I climbed out.
“Yeah, me too. You want a ride?”
She got in the backseat with Max. “I followed the tracks and they seem to be heading toward the mountains over there,” she said, pointing due east.
Max handed her a canteen and she took a drink, thanked him, and then took another.
“How far away is the first ranch, Meg?” I asked.
“Probably another mile and a half. The ranch sits in the valley just on the other side of the mesa,” she answered.
“Can they see us approaching?”
“No, not until we start down the other side.”
We stopped well short of the edge of the mesa, not wanting to silhouette ourselves against the ridgeline. The mesa consisted of high desert brush and baby’s breath. Yeah, the same kind that comes in flower bouquets. Some stories held that a con artist sold the people in the area on the idea that they could farm it and make a fortune. Unfortunately, the invasive and aggressive plant now covered the desert landscape. We hacked our way through the brush to a spot where we could look down on the ranch unseen.
The ranch looked well taken care of. I could see vegetables growing in a large garden, and hay fields surrounding the property. Three horses were picketed in front of the house, still wearing their saddles, grazing on the front lawn. I handed my binoculars to Lynn.
“Looks like we found them; now what the hell do we do?”
We decided against storming the place in a frontal attack, figuring we couldn’t risk Jean getting caught in the crossfire or perhaps getting killed by her captors. The next best plan was to get close and watch for an opportunity to exploit. After much debate, we settled on Meg remaining on the Mesa to act as an overwatch while Max, Lynn, and I got as close as possible to see if we could somehow cause a distraction that would leave Jean free to escape. It wasn’t much of a plan, but we weren’t leaving without our sister.
I crept up the ditch line in front of the house. I’d switched out the TrackingPoint for my M4 with one of Mel’s suppressors attached. The ditch had a foot of water in it and the grass around it was knee high. As long as I moved slowly, I could keep out of sight. Max came up from the west side and made it to the barn next to the house. Lynn crawled through the hay field, coming in from the east.
I’d just made it about halfway down the ditch directly across from the horses when I heard someone coming out of the house. Meg came over the radio. “I have a boy coming out of the house with a dog.”
I peeked through the grass and saw a Weimaraner bounding across the yard. It started barking and I was afraid I was going to have to shoot it. That would lead to an all-out firefight with whoever just exited the house.
I sighted in, but heard someone yell, “Damn it, Yogi, if you spook them horses again, I will beat the shit outta you!” This was followed by the dog yelping as it ran off toward the back of the house. He must have thrown something at the dog, because he was still coming down the front steps. He appeared to be sixteen or maybe younger and had a sour expression on his face, like he was mad, but also scared. He was talking to himself as he made his way to the horses.
“Do this, do that, I’m gonna fuck that old man up one of these days.” He approached the horses and his demeanor changed.
“Easy girl, I won’t let that scrawny dog mess with you.” He patted the horse on the neck and scratched between its ears.
I spoke in a normal voice. He was close enough that I was sure he would hear me.
“I have a rifle pointed directly at you and if you so much as fart I will drop you where you stand.” His eyes widened, but he didn’t react other than to look around for me.
“I said don’t move.”
“No you didn’t, you said don’t fart.”
I had to give that to him. “Okay, if you ever want to fart again, then don’t move.”
He stood still with his arm still around the horse’s neck.
“Max, are you in position at the barn?” I asked over the radio.
“Yep,” he replied.
“Okay, I am sending someone your way. Take him into your care when he gets there.”
Max came back quickly, “Roger that”
“Okay, I want you to collect the horses and take them to the barn without making any move to alert those in the house. Remember, you have a rifle pointed at you, and if you screw this up, you will be dead.” I moved up the bank of the ditch to where he could see my rifle barrel sticking out of the grass.
“Okay mister, don’t go killing me, I ain’t done nothing.” I actually grimaced at his use of a double negative, but I decided not to shoot him for it. He collected the pickets and led the horses to the barn.
“I have him,” Max radioed.
“Okay, ask him about Jean, and what’s going on in there.”
“Copy,” was all Max said.
I waited for what seemed like hours; finally, Max came back on the radio.
“Okay, he said his little sister went crazy yesterday and that they locked her in the basement. They knew of Meg; they thought she was a doctor. They went over with a horse to bring her over when they ran into Jean and thought that she was Meg. Jean declined their request, but told them that as soon as we got back she would have us drive her over to the ranch. The kid says that’s when it went south, says his dad drew down on her and forced her to go along.”
“Is she hurt?” I asked.
“He says no, but that after she explained what she thought was happening to his sister, his dad smacked Jean and told her she better come up with something to fix his kid. That’s when his dad sent him to take care of the horses.”
“Okay, I am going to try and get his attention and see if we can’t avoid bloodshed here, okay?”
“Okay, I will make my way with the kid toward the back and make sure he doesn’t send someone out to flank you,” Max replied.
“Lynn, Meg, did you get all of that?” I asked.
“Lynn here, I got it and I am where I can see the front and the east sides of the house. I will keep you covered from here.”
“Copy, Meg?”
“Yes, I heard too. I can only see the front and I have the rifle you left with me, but it’s been years since I’ve shot anything.”
“I understand. Just keep watch and let us know if you see something we don’t,” I said.
“Okay. Over,” Meg said.
I yelled toward the house, “In the house—we have your son. Come out, bring my sister, and we will trade!” I waited for several seconds, then repeated myself.
The door inched open. “You better get the fuck outta here or I am going to kill her!” he yelled back at me.
“Listen, mister, nothing has happened here that we can’t forget about. Just let my sister go and we will let your boy go and leave.”
“No! She’s gonna fix my girl, she has to fix my girl!”
I didn’t want to tell him that there was no hope for his daughter and that Jean couldn’t help her. That might just push him over the edge.
“Look, I have some medicine she will need to fix your kid; she can’t do it without the medicine.” Of course, I had nothing, but it was the only thing I could come up with that might get us in there.
“Max, are you getting all this?” I whispered over the radio.
“Yeah, I got the kid tied up in the back of the barn. Get the dad out front and I will get Jean out the back,” Max said.
“Look, can we just put down the guns and I will bring you the medicine?” I shouted at the door.
“You put down your gun, and come up on the porch!” he shouted.
“I will, if you put your hands out of the door where I can see them.”
He opened the door wider and stood there with his arms at his sides. I put down my rifle and moved toward him. “Okay, just take it easy,” I said as I slowly approached.
“Let me see that medicine.”
I held up my canteen. “We keep some on hand for people we run into that have been exposed,” I lied.
I made it halfway across the porch when he reached behind his back and drew his pistol. I couldn’t tell what kind it was; I just saw what looked like a cannon pointed at me. Flame spouted from the end of it and my world slowed to a crawl. I felt a searing fire in my side as I dove to the right, hoping to clear the porch railing. I landed short and the rail collapsed under my weight. I looked up while trying to pull my .45 and saw him turn toward me, pistol raised, to finish what he’d started.
A thought crossed my mind.
Hmmm, I must be going to make it through this, my life is not flashing before my eyes.
I cleared the holster just in time to see the look of a crazy man in his mad-dog expression. He turned sharply to his right as if he’d suddenly decided to change direction. The report of the 7.62 reached me a second later as the second round tore through his neck. It was strange, watching the layers of flesh peel back as the bullet ran through him, creating a torrent of blood that splashed outward like a Japanese fan. Time resumed its normal pace as he crumpled to the ground. I heard another shot from inside the house as darkness crept around the edges of my vision.
I awoke in bed. The curtain on the window fluttered inward as a breeze wafted across my brow. I tried to sit up but felt a hot poker jab me in the side and take my breath.
“Just lie back and try to relax,” Jean said. “And thank you for coming after me.” I turned my head toward her voice and she gave me a smile.
“Reminds me of the time you cut your foot on the beer bottle playing in the drainage ditch, except you didn’t scream as much this time.”
“I don’t think it was because I didn’t want to,” I said in return.
“How long have I been out?” I laid my head back down.
“Three days. I gave you enough pain-killers to keep you unconscious. We cut them off this morning because we have to leave.”
“What? Leave? What are you talking about?”
“The thunderstorms the other day started fires south of us, and by the looks of it, we have about ten hours before they get here,” Max said from across the room.
I raised my head again and looked at him. “What happened after I got shot?”
Max frowned. “I came in the back door as soon as I heard the first shot. I thought it was you shooting him, not the other way around. When I came in the back door, the mother was going for a shotgun. I had to end her.”
“What about the little girl, and the son?”
“There was nothing we could do for the girl, she was a freak; and as for the boy, well, we are still debating that.”
“Meg is the one you need to thank; she took out the son-of-a-bitch that shot you.”
“How’s she doing? I’m sure it was hard on her.”
“Believe it or not, her biggest worry was that she wasn’t able to figure out the TrackingPoint fast enough to keep you from getting shot! She said she had him in her sights, but followed your instructions on how to mark the target then wait for the reticle to turn green.” Max chuckled.
“I’m glad my instructions and her studious attention to them is so amusing to you! So, how bad is my situation?” I directed the question to Jean.
“You’re going to live, but it’s going to be a while before you’re on your feet. The bullet went through your side and missed your vital organs, but unlike on TV, you aren’t just going to jump up and start running around.”
“How are we going to leave if I can’t jump up and run around?” I asked no one in particular.
“Max and Lisa went out and found a truck cap for the back of your 4×4, and we put a bed in the back. It won’t be real comfortable for you, but we have good drugs,” Jean said.
“Let’s hold off on the drugs until I see how I feel; I don’t want to be out of it if we run into trouble,” I said.
Jean rolled her eyes. “You just had a trauma that would have landed you in ICU for a week, then in rehab for a month. The entry wound was clean but the exit was a mess. We had to put twenty-three internal sutures and forty-six external. Don’t be a hero!”
I held my ground. “Only if I can’t handle it, I’ll let you know.”
Jean got up in a huff. “Men! God put you on earth just to piss me off with your idiocy.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in God,” I shot back as she strode from the room.
“Not a good idea to piss off the person responsible for your medical care, bro,” Max chuckled.
“Whatever,” I said.
They had spent the last three days planning for our return to the coast. We couldn’t head back the way we came, as it was engulfed in flames. Being out of the picture, I’d no say in the plan, but Max filled me in and said that he acted as my proxy when it came time to vote.
“Wonderful,” I said.
The plan was to head into Canada and use their roads. We had done so many times in the past, because that was where our brother Parker lived. We would head northwest on the Crowsnest Highway, then hit the Trans-Canada Highway west of the border crossing just north of Everson. Everson, Washington, a small rural town of twenty-five hundred, was just south of the Canadian border, and was where Parker called home. Normally, the drive would take four to five hours, but we had no idea if we could make it in one day or not.