Authors: C C Blaze
It was five a. m. and Dusty crawled out of bed and went to the
bathroom. He had barely slept a wink, thinking of his Maddy. She was so
special to him that in his heart he knew that he was wise to let her make the
first move. He took a quick shower and dressed in a flash. He couldn’t
wait to see her and tell her exactly how he felt. He walked downstairs and
down the foyer that led outside.
He fired up the Jeep and took a deep breath. What if she rejected him?
Worse yet, what if she’d changed her mind about them? He knew that she
was fiercely independent, but hell, so was he. As far as he could tell, they
were a match made in heaven.
All that heavy petting had him all fired up.
“Maddy, I sure hope you agree to marry me.”
He cruised slowly up the hill and rounded the bend that led to Maddy’s
He had spied the multi-color display of his bandannas and his heart did
a flip-flop. It had taken almost a year and countless nights of frustration.
He had never been the most patient man. Not until he met his girl. Now,
it looked like she wanted him as badly as he did her.
“Guess the old drive-in routine did the trick, or was it Miss Mabel’s
pie?”
He stepped on the gas and pulled to a stop in front of the house.
“Looks like I’m a little early, and I’m definitely gonna’ be late for work .
. .or take a vacation day.”
He grinned and jumped up to the porch and knocked on the door.
“Tick tock, Mademoiselle . . .”
A few minutes went by with no answer.
He knocked again.
“Maddy, no need to play coy with me, I saw the bandannas.”
Where in the hell could she be? He looked at his watch then turned and
spotted something pink lying in the grass.
He ran to it and picked it up.
That’s when he knew something was horribly, horribly wrong.
He rushed into the cabin, looking in every room.
“Maddy! Are you home?”
Dusty’s heart raced, where could she be? This was not like her to play
games like this.
Fun was fun, but this was beginning to look serious. Running up to the
loft, he noticed that plants, a table, and some books had toppled to the
floor. He spotted the broken glass and the damaged picture. He heard
water running and headed for the bathroom, fearing that she’d fallen in the
tub.
“Maddy? Maddy? . . . Shit!”
The bathroom sink was running and a single tube of toothpaste lay on
the vanity. Her toothbrush was untouched. He looked down at the floor
and noticed a small piece of gray duct tape stuck to the floor.
He ran back into the bedroom; but her bed had not been slept in.
His heart was in his throat.
“Fuck . . .somebody’s taken her!”
Fearing the worst, he hightailed it back to the jeep and headed for the
house. Someone had taken his girl and he was hopping mad.
Mabel sure had a funny feeling this morning.
Her intuition had
kicked into high gear for no apparent reason at all. Funny thing was, that
so called “photographer” Clayton Moore hadn’t shown his face for the past
few days and this morning, she’d found his key in the night drop box.
He hadn’t been into the diner for days. He refused all housekeeping
services.
He had made up a lame story about being on a “working
vacation.” He sure was a strange bird.
She got dressed and went over to room six, opened the door and was
blasted in the face by the sickening smell of old cigarette butts and booze.
“Low life, scum-sucking . . . working photographer, my fanny!”
Upset, she opened some windows and stripped the beds to let the
mattress air out. As she flipped off the bottom sheet, a corner of it caught
on an old newspaper and it fell to the floor. No professional man would
hardly treat a motel room with such disrespect.
As an innkeep, she’d seen it all. People always managed to leave the
oddest of things behind. Shoot, one old couple had left behind sex toys,
empty champagne bottles, and strawberry tops all over the floor. She had
to grin at that one. They looked like Ma and Pa Kettle, looks sure could be
deceiving. She refocused her attention to the task at hand.
“Shoot, I’ve had rodeo cowboys keep a clean house better than that
dirtbag from the South . . .”
She walked over to the nightstand in the far corner of the room and
picked up the newspaper from the floor. When she began to stand upright,
something caught her eye.
“Aha! . . .scoundrel forgot his checkbook, I see.”
Miss Mabel picked it up. It had a blue plastic sleeve and she flipped it
open.
“First National Bank of Tennessee . . .”
A look of overwhelming horror washed across the old woman’s face.
Frantic, she ran to the office and picked up the phone. First she’d call
Hugh, her on again-off again beau for the past thirty years.
Sheriff Franklin was as down-to-earth as she was. Had a hot temper.
Could be soft as butter. He was hers for the askin’ and occasionally they
did get together for an occasional drive out in the country. The man was
reliable, and had keen instincts. A hell of a lot slicker than some low life
scumbag like that Carter fella’.
Upon entering the diner, the usuals all looked up and noticed that
something was wrong. They listened as she dialed up the Sheriff to report a
possible missing person, then she called Dusty at the Mountain Rose. She
hung up the phone, put two fingers into her mouth, and whistled real loud.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and the room grew silent.
“Listen up boys, we have a real snake in the grass in our midst. That
travelin’ photographer is none other than Maddy’s ex. He’s probably the
one who cut those fence lines down at the Mountain Rose.”
Their faces grew somber and their eyes flashed anger.
“Now, the way I see it . . . he came here lookin’ for Miss Maddy to
either do her some harm, take her against her will . . .or both. He lied to
me about his real name. . .”
She waved the checkbook over her head, and continued. . .
“The real name’s Jack Carter and he sure as hell ain’t no photographer.
He’s just a vindictive, sneaky, son of a bitch from Tennessee!”
The talk in the room went from whispers to pure rumble.
“Now, you don’t know the story and it’s her story to tell. All I’m willin
to say is that son of a bitch came in like a thief in the night and tried
stealing her away. She’s a big part of Grand Valley now. Hell, she’s one of
us. What d’ya say boys, we go hunt down some Tennessee trailer trash?”
Dusty had slammed down the receiver and spun around to punch the
wall. He was shocked, he was madder than hell, and flashbacks of how
fragile life can be surfaced in his memory. Hell, he’d only felt true fear one
time in his life, when his poor mother damn near got killed when riding
Diablo.
His father’s voice jolted him back to reality.
“Son, tell us. . .what did Mabel say?”
“She said that Jack Carter was in town, left his checkbook at the motel.
She suspected he was lying about his true identity and she was right. Miss
Mabel’s gathering up a posse as we speak. The Sheriff is in town organizing
a search party. I told her that it looked like there was a scuffle at Maddy’s
place and I found this . . .”
He held up a muddy, grass-stained pink slipper in his hand.
His father looked enraged and walked into the great room to unlock his
gun safe. He came back into the kitchen while loading a double barrel
twelve gauge. Dusty didn’t want to see his father get in any trouble with the
law. Still, he held his tongue. Firepower was not going to be necessary by
the time he was through with Tennessee Jack.
“Say, where’d you find that slipper son?”
Grace suddenly appeared in the doorway. She was fully dressed in her
riding gear and was strapping a thirty eight to her leg. What was going on?
Was his mother actually going to ride again?
“I’m going with you. . .and I don’t want to hear any guff from either of
you, hear me? I’m ready to ride. That girl is like a daughter to me, and if
he’s laid one finger on her, I’ll kill him myself.”
She
gulped down some coffee and turned ot face them with a steely
look in her ice blue eyes.
Both father and son knew when she meant business.
If Grace was
determined to do something, she didn’t want nor need the opinions of
anyone.
She looked up at the two men towering over her in the kitchen.
“Well, what are we waiting for?. . . tick tock boys, get out there and
saddle up Diablo, time’s a wastin’.”
Maddy was aching everywhere. Her wet clothing had chilled her to the
bone and thankfully, the sun was starting to rise in the East. She let out a
low groan. Her head was pounding, her scalp was sore from all of that hair
pulling, and she was scratched everywhere. She gingerly felt her face, and
felt a sickening welt on her cheekbone.
She had been in the same crouched position for hours and her body
refused to relax. The muscles were tense and in knots. She knew that Jack
was still passed out like a light. She’d seen him on many a bender and he
certainly outdid himself last night. On nights like the last one, he had been
known to sleep for days afterwards.
She sighed.
“I am thirsty as hell. . .”
She was too tired to move, and knew that she should start walking.
Eventually someone had to drive towards Grand Valley. She hoped.
Last night seemed a blur.
“Dammit!”
She realized she’d lost her one and only mode of foot protection
somehwere in the desert last night. She had kicked it off in a haste. Now,
she had nothing but barefeet to rely on and at the moment, both felt like
she’d run a mile across crushed glass.
“Ouch!”
She dared not move or make a sound for fear of being found.
“This is really great . . .dinner, a movie, some incredible world-class
cowboy lovin’, and now this. Why now? Jack, why the hell couldn’t you
just let me be?”
She closed her eyes and leaned back against a rock.
Maddy instinctively knew from the position of the sun that Dusty had
discovered her missing hours ago. She imagined that he was out looking
for her right now.
Smiling, she knew that all of Grand Valley was on a manhunt.
“Jack, you really fucked up royally this time.”
They saddled up and were heading for El Dorado.
The way Walt
figured it, that yellow son of a bitch would have figured that a search party
would be looking in the opposite direction . . back towards the freeway.
Obviously, he had underestimated the Cash family.
There wasn’t a place that bastard could hide that they couldn’t find him.
Walt began barking out orders.
“Let’s follow the trail beyond the Diamond, if that’s where you found
The trio rode up to the cabin and led the horses across the river to the
trail on the opposite bank. They’d brought along Tuffy, their blue heeler.
He was the best damn cattle dog on the ranch and his keen sense of smell
would definitely come in handy.
Walt led the way, with Grace in the middle and Dusty following in the
rear. Tuffy was in the lead and began following Maddy’s scent. They began
traversing through the dense maze of trees and crouched under low-lying
limbs as the horses wove their way through the thicket.
Grace noticed the broken branches along the way and it made her blood
boil. She didn’t know who Jack Carter was, but she knew he was going to
be one sorry son of a bitch when they found him.
They had been on the trail for a good hour and Dusty was becoming
angrier by the minute. From the looks of things, that yellow son of a bitch
had dragged Maddy quite a distance. What if they didn’t find her? What if
she was seriously hurt or worse? He wouldn’t be able to take it.
He felt that a part of his heart had been ripped from his chest. Dammit,
he wanted her and needed her in his life. No fool was gonna’ take her away
now that he’d just found her.
They were approaching the old utility road and Tuffy went on the alert.
He took off at a gallop with the Cash family on his tail. He led them to
a pile of branches that obviously had been chopped, used, and discarded
near the edge of the clearing.
They dismounted and Walt put his hands on his hips.
“Well what d’ya know? That sorry son of a bitch has been parked on
our land and creeping around at night.”
“It sure looks that way, Dad. You’re right . . .looks like he used the
branches as camouflage. I’d say to hide a vehicle. Maddy’s tracks stop
here, and I see tire treads. No tellin’ how far they could be by now. Shit!”
Grace silently watched as her son and husband fumed, spit on the
ground, and scratched their heads.
“Ahem. . .excuse me, pardon me gentlemen, please.”
She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out Maddy’s muddy pink
slipper.
“Here boy . . .here Tuffy. Find her boy . . .good dog!”
Tuffy took off towards the highway.
All three quickly mounted their
quarterhorses and followed at a full gallop. The dog had caught Maddy’s
scent and was leading them towards a lodgepole thicket some ways off the
main road.
Grace squinted, she could see something pink in the distance.
She
spurred Diablo and took off at a full gallop.
“H’yah!”
Dusty and his father marvelled at her agility as the horse jumped over
creeks, fallen logs, and mesquite. All they could see was a cloud of dust as
they galloped towards her. She was off of Diablo and waving something in
the air.
“Look at this! She’s here . . .I know she is.”
They dismounted and looked at the slipper.
“We’d better water these horses.”
They led the horses towards a meandering creek and let them drink.
Grace reached for Tuffy and gave him a bear hug. She scratched behind his
ears and pulled some treats from her pocket.
“Good boy . . . do you know how special you are?”
Tuffy lapped up all of the attention and appeared to be smiling and
eager to be on his way.
Thanks to him, the Cash family was hot on
Maddy’s trail. She released his collar and watched as he ran out into the
field, darting back and forth as if he couldn’t make up his mind.
Finally, he stopped at the edge of a lodgepole thicket and circled it while
sniffing the ground. He barked, and ran back to them at a full gallop. They
quickly mounted their horses and raced across the field hot on his heels.
Dusty dismounted in full gallop and ran towards the thicket.
“Maddy, Maddy honey . . .are you in there?”
Maddy had fallen asleep and thought she was dreaming.
She could have sworn that she heard Dusty’s voice calling to her.
She tried to call back, but couldn’t open her mouth to scream.
Suddenly, she heard the crackling of branches and strong muscular arms
were lifting her gently out of her hiding place. She was a hot mess. Her left
eye was black and blue, her lip was swollen, and her body was scratched
everywhere. She slowly opened her eyes and shielded them from the sun
with her hand.
“Dusty . . .I knew you’d come for me, I just knew it.”
He held her gently against his chest and felt close to tears. She was
alive. She was hurt, but she had outwit the bastard at his own game.
“Maddy . . .honey, I thought I’d lost you.”
She put her arms around his neck and held on tightly.
“I’m not going anywhere, cowboy. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me. . .I
happen to be in love with you. . .”
Grace watched the tender scene with her tears caught in her throat.
Walt was feeling the same way. This girl, their Maddy. . .belonged with
them and by their son Dusty’s side. He placed her down and she gingerly
stepped in the Cashs’ direction. She may have looked like hell, but she was
a fighter.
“Maddy honey. . .you are a sight for sore eyes.”
Maddy finally wept and the two women hugged tightly. She was home.
She was beat up some, however; she was safe now. When they looked up,
Dusty and Gus were following Tuffy towards the frontage road. There was
no telling how long they’d be gone. The important thing was getting
Maddy some medical care and seeing that she was comfortable.
The men were off doing what real men do, exacting revenge.