Sweet Prairie Passion (Savage Destiny) (32 page)

The landscape had changed from a lush green to harsh brown and was now mostly rock with some thin forests on the hillsides. It seemed a hotter than usual day. Even the late afternoon brought no relief, because
as the sun dropped lower, it glared into her face. The man she rode with suddenly stopped, jerking her around so that her left leg swung over to the right side of the horse. Then he forced her face-down across his lap.

“We will be there soon,” he told her, his yellowish eyes glowing with excitement. He looked over at his companion. “If I did not fear Givens would shoot me, I would sink myself into this one right now,” he told the man. The other man laughed and nodded.

“She is a young one, and she is wild when she is mad!” he answered. “But we will tame her!” They both laughed then and rode a little faster.

Abbie hung limp over her abductor’s lap, as they entered what appeared to be a rocky canyon. She had no strength left to fight and knew they would only hurt her more if she did. Her only hope was that Zeke would show up before they all began having their way with her. Her head pounded harder now, for the blood rushed into it because of her position; and she could not help vomiting again from the jostling horse against her stomach. She could hear other voices now, along with hoots and whistles and growls, and soon she was dumped onto the ground and surrounded by men, a few more Crow renegades and a few white men, including none other than Rube Givens.

“Well, well,” the man said with a grin. “If it ain’t the little bitch that shoved pie in my face.” He bent down and jerked her up by the hair of the head, making a face.

“She puked again!” her abductor exclaimed. “She puked on me once before, boss. I told her she’d better not do it again!” Givens threw her back down, at the
same time staring at Wolf Man.

“Did you have at her?” he growled.

“Hell no! You said to save her.” He rubbed himself between the legs. “But don’t take too long.”

Givens sneered down at Abbie. “You’re a mess,” he told her through curled lips. She tried to struggle as he pulled her to her feet again and ripped off her clothes, but every time she staggered away from him, some strange man caught her and threw her back, until finally she was naked and bruised. Givens dragged her to a nearby stream that was nearly dried up. He threw her into it, pushing her face down in the water to wash it off. She choked and gagged on the water, which was mixed with sand, trying to drink some in her desperate thirst, but getting more sand than water in her mouth. She could hear their ugly laughter, as over and over again Givens dunked her, holding her face down just long enough to make her think he was going to drown her.

Finally he pulled her away from the stream, dragging her over to where stakes were pounded into the ground. He and three other men each took a limb and tied her spread-eagled to the stakes. The ropes scraped her wrists and ankles, and the earth was hot and rough beneath her back. Givens stood straddled over her and Abbie looked away, closing her eyes.

“Closin’ your eyes ain’t gonna stop it, bitch!” Givens sneered. “But I’m gonna let you lay there and think about it a few minutes, while you dry off some. Then I’m gonna have a real good time with you—and so are my men.” He laughed, and to her it sounded like Satan laughing. “We’ll see if you’re as good as your sister!”

She forced back her tears, refusing to cry in front of him, sure he’d enjoy it immensely. Instead she opened her eyes to look straight up at him, and she attempted to spit at him, except that her mouth was too dry. But the gesture was obvious enough, and the smile left his face.

“Tell you what, bitch. I’m gonna let you think about a couple of things. First is, with you here, Cheyenne Zeke is sure to come by tomorrow, and we’ll be ready for him. That man is gonna die ’cause of
you!
But by then
you’ll
be dead. And I’ll let you think about that, too—about
how
you’ll die. It won’t be as quick as your sister. When me and the boys are through with you, I’m gonna play a little Russian Roulette—with my gun. And just guess where it will be.” He chuckled. “You think about that, bitch!”

The men all laughed.

“This has been a mighty fine few days, hasn’t it, men?” Givens told them with a broad smile. “I got rid of that swindler, Robards. We all got a damned good piece of his blond bitch. Olin Wales is dead. We’ll all get our share of this little girl here. And by tomorrow this time, Cheyenne Zeke will be dead, too—only he’ll die real slow!”

They all laughed heartily—all big, dark, ugly men whose vicious mentalities made their behavior far beneath that of animals.

“Cheyenne Zeke won’t
be
coming!” she choked out as Givens turned. “He’s already here!”

They all sobered, a few of them looking up into the hills.

“We sent him on a wild-goose chase,” Givens said calmly. “We have a little time with you before he figures
out he’s been led astray. We had to get him off the track so’s we could get you here. Do you think if he was around he’d have let my men get you to my camp?”

She gritted her teeth, anger helping ease her horror. “Why not?” she sneered back. “What
better
way to find you all together in one spot?”

She enjoyed the hesitant look on Givens’ face. Then he grinned again. “It won’t work, bitch! You think you can keep us busy searchin’ the hills to keep us from rapin’ you. But it won’t work.” He looked at the one called Wolf Man who had brought her to the camp and nodded. Wolf Man smiled and walked over to her, then bent down and ran rough hands over her body.

“It will not be long, bitch,” the toothless Indian told her, as he touched her private places. She grimaced and turned her face away. He pinched her breast again, and they all laughed heartily before they walked away to leave her there in the setting sun that was still hot. She felt it burning her, in spite of its angle, and after lying there nearly an hour, her skin was becoming red and raw.

She tried to watch the hills, but her dizziness and thirst combined with the blinding sun to prohibit her from seeing much. She silently begged God to send Zeke, telling herself over and over that he must be out there somewhere.

“Zeke! Zeke!” she whispered, agonizing over the thought of what they would all do to her. She prayed that if Zeke was not there to help her that at least she would die quickly at their hands, just from brutality and exposure, before Givens put a gun inside of her
and pulled the trigger. Then she heard crunching footsteps near her and looked up at the hated Givens again.

“Time for fun and games, bitch,” he told her through his yellow teeth. “We done searched those hills, and there’s no Cheyenne Zeke up there to help you. You’re all alone, little girl.”

He reached down, quickly cut the ropes that held her, and jerked her up. Wolf Man threw a bucket of water into her face, startling her to a more alert stance. She grabbed her hair and sucked on some of it, desperately needing to get some moisture into her mouth; then she folded her arms around herself as Givens began circling her.

“You can run if you want, bitch. Makes it more exciting that way. A good struggle pleases me greatly.”

Her anger returned again. If she was to die this day, she’d be brave about it and not give this man any more satisfaction than he was already getting.

“Far be it from me to please you,” she said weakly. “Go ahead and have me.” She turned to face him. “But if you think you’ll be the first, you
won’t!”
she spit out at him. His face darkened, and he stepped closer, grabbing her chin in his hand.

“Did Wolf Man have at you?” he growled. “Truth!”

She actually smiled. “Not Wolf Man,” she sneered back. “My first man and my only man was Cheyenne Zeke himself!”

His eyes widened in slight shock, then narrowed in anger. “Zeke! You lay with that half-breed?”

She glared back at him. “He’s every bit as good with a woman as he is with that knife!” she shot back at him. “And there’s not a man in this camp can
match him—especially not you, you fat, ugly piece of filth!”

He jerked her close, forcing her arms behind her back painfully. “We’ll see about that!” he snarled. “And it’s pleasin’ to know it’s Cheyenne Zeke’s woman I’ll be taken!” He shoved her to the ground, and she grunted from the fall, his grimy body now on top of her. He bent down to slobber at her lips when one of the Crow renegades suddenly cried out and fell forward, an arrow in his back.

The others suddenly quieted, and Givens jumped up off of Abbie. She rolled to her side, then sat up, staring at the man with the arrow in his back.

“What the hell?” someone said. Then there was a singing, whirring sound, and another man fell, again with an arrow in his back. Givens’ men looked around, studying the hills, stunned and momentarily confused. They could see no one. One of the Crow renegades knelt down and yanked the arrow from his friend’s back.

“Cheyenne!” he hissed.

Abbie’s heart pounded with joy. “Zeke!” she said defiantly. “It’s Cheyenne Zeke! He’s out there, and you’re all going to die!”

Another arrow sang through the air, and another renegade Indian screamed out and fell. It finally struck the others that someone was most certainly out there and after them, and as though slapped awake from a dream, they suddenly began to move, running for cover. Rube Givens dragged Abbie with him, but she wasn’t afraid now. Zeke was out there!

“I thought you men combed those hills!” Givens snarled.

“We did!” Wolf Man answered. “It is true, boss; no one was there!”

“Well apparently someone
is
there, you bastard!” Givens growled.

“But it is
impossible!
How could he get here so quickly?”

“Who knows?” Givens shot back, obviously frightened. “All I know is it was
us
who was supposed to be one up on
him,
not the other way around!”

“I don’t like this!” another man mumbled.

“We’re safe!” Givens said, trying to sound assured. “We’ve got his woman, remember?” He jerked at Abbie, pulling her hair unmercifully.

“Sure. But if he manages to get to us, you know what Cheyenne Zeke does to his enemies if they’re still alive—especially if they’ve hurt his woman!” another shot back.

“Shut up!” Givens snarled. “I’m here to get Cheyenne Zeke, and I
will!
Everything else worked out so far, and this will, too. The girl is perfect bait! We can use her somehow—especially if we keep her alive! He has to come right down here after her eventually! He can’t stay up in those hills forever!”

Abbie smiled. “You’ll end up with your insides hanging out for the buzzards to eat!” she said haughtily. He yanked her again and slapped her hard.

“Shut up, you bitch!” he snarled. Then he yelled out louder from behind the large boulder where they hid. “Zeke! Cheyenne Zeke! I know it’s you out there!” There was no reply. “Show yourself … or this little girl dies real slow!” The hills remained silent, but for the soft moan of the wind.

Givens turned to his men and talked softly. “We
know he’s up on that side someplace. Cane, Dorey, you two circle up and behind that side of the canyon. Comb it good. Maybe you can flush him forward.”

The two men looked at each other apprehensively, then nodded and left reluctantly, hustling to their horses as quietly as possible and leading them through a narrow crevice that led out the side of the canyon.

“I’ve got your woman here, Zeke!” Givens called out. “You’d best show yourself soon! My men are all gettin’ anxious to have their turn at her!” He stood up and daringly dragged Abbie out from behind the large boulder. “Here she is, half-breed! Come and get her or we’ll all take her and then kill her!”

A shot rang out, and Givens’ hat flew off. His eyes widened and he yanked her back behind the boulder. “Why doesn’t he show himself?” he snarled. “He must not think much of you, bitch!”

“He knows you won’t do anything!” Abbie said confidently. “If he comes down here, you’ll kill him for sure, and me, too! Your only hope is to keep me alive, Givens! But he’ll probably get you anyway!”

“He could have killed me then and there!” the man growled, yanking at her hair again. She smiled, enjoying the apprehension in his eyes.

“He’s just saving you,” she sneered. “For
later
!”

For a moment he looked like a little boy about to cry; then he pushed her down to the ground. “Shut up!” he grumbled. Another shot rang out, and a spot on top of the big boulder flew into pieces with a zinging sound. One chip flew off and hit Wolf Man in the face.

“Ouch! Goddamn it!” the man swore. He put a hand to his face where blood had immediately appeared.
“What the hell will we do, boss? I don’t know how he got there! The man is like a shadow!”

“Cane and Dorey will flush him out!” Givens shot back. “And we can help by lettin’ him know she’s bein’ raped right now! I say we all start havin’ at it with her.”

The other men just looked at each other. “Like hell!” one of them finally spoke up. “You want to have at it, go ahead. If you can get yourself up while somebody’s shootin’ at you and maybe sneakin’ up on you to skin you alive, then you’re some kind of man! Far as I’m concerned, every one of us needs to have our eyes and our ears open and our guns leveled and ready!”

“I’m for cuttin’ out!” another spoke up.

“Zeke sees you, you’re dead!” one of the renegades replied.

“We can cut out through the crevice where Cane and Dorey went.”

“First man that leaves me will get shot in the back!” Givens barked, cocking his gun. “You bunch of yellow cowards! Just wait here till Cane and Dorey flush him out! It won’t be long now!”

“You’ll never see them alive again!” Abbie warned, enjoying their dilemma. Givens yanked at her hair.

“Then you won’t live long either, bitch!” he snarled.

“You can kill me now and run, you pig!” she returned in a firm, brave voice. “But you’d be best to stick it out here and now! Because if you harm me and run off, there won’t be a place on earth where you can hide from Cheyenne Zeke, and you know it! You’ll always be wondering if he’s around the next corner, waiting to slit you up the middle with that knife! And
he’ll
do
it! So you might as well stay right here and have it out.”