Chapter Forty-Eight

"It's beautiful outside, Ell. Let's go out there and enjoy the breeze for a while."

Eleanor looked up from the blanket she'd been sewing and nodded. "That sounds nice. Bed rest is going to make me go completely insane."

Samantha smiled as she finished wiping down the counter to clean up the breakfast mess. "It will all be worth it when you're holding that little one in your arms."

Eleanor sighed, getting to her feet and stretching out her arms. "That's what I keep trying to tell myself."

Samantha laid her hand over her own stomach and felt joy swell her heart. She hadn't told anyone but she too was going to be a mother. A piece of her and Zachary was growing in her womb and Samantha had never been more proud. She had known for a few days but had kept the secret to herself. Zachary had already been so worried about leaving her—if he had known there was a baby he'd have never gone. And they couldn't live that way. They couldn't live their lives controlled by fear.

Still Samantha couldn't wait to see him riding back in tomorrow, throw her arms around his neck, and let him know he was going to be a father. Zachary Marston with his protective nature and his eagerness to take care of those he loved would be an amazing father.

Samantha gathered up Eleanor's sewing box and the blanket she'd been working on and carried them out to the porch whistling for Creed as she did so. The pup woke up from his nap instantly and leapt to his feet beneath the kitchen table before darting out the door with a happy bark.

"Maybe having a kid around will help Creed burn off some of that energy," Eleanor mused, stepping onto the porch and taking a moment to simply breathe in the fresh air.

Samantha knew bed rest had been hard on the woman. She had finally gained her freedom from life in a brothel only to be once again confined and unable to get out and do as she wanted. Samantha hoped her own pregnancy didn't put her in a similar situation.

"We can hope. That pup is wild for sure," Samantha replied as she helped Eleanor settle down in a chair and ensured the woman had everything she needed for her sewing within reach.

Creed went running through the yard chasing butterflies—or more specifically their shadows. The pup hadn't quite realized that the shadows were something he couldn't catch and his true quarry was floating along on the breeze above him.

"I need to go tend to the other animals," Samantha said as she ripped a loose thread from her brown skirt. "Do you need anything before I go?"

Eleanor laid her sewing box over her lap and shook her head. "I believe I'm all set."

Samantha nodded before going into the house, grabbing the spare rifle they'd left laying beside the sofa, and bringing it back out to rest against the wall beside Eleanor. "Just in case," she offered in response to Eleanor's questioning gaze.

"You and Zachary worry too much," Eleanor scolded.

Samantha shrugged, adjusting her gun belt around her hips. "Life has taught us there's no such thing as too much worrying," she admitted. Then she shrugged. "But we're trying."

"Fair enough."

Samantha stepped off the porch. "If you need anything just yell for me."

Eleanor grumbled under her breath. "I'm too independent for bedrest."

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Samantha replied. "Ranch living is a lot of hard work and you'll miss all this rest one day."

She was laughing lightly as she left Eleanor grumbling on the porch and made her way toward the barn. There were plenty of stalls to clean up, she needed to feed the chickens, collect eggs, tend to Athena, and then eventually get to washing the laundry that needed done and hang it on the line in the backyard.

Yes, ranch life was a lot of hard work but she loved it. She loved knowing that this place was hers, Zachary's, Tim's and Eleanors. She loved knowing that she had a family now—a family that was growing. Once again Samantha found herself laying her hand on her belly. Would their child be a boy or girl? Would they be dark and brooding like their father or would they take after their mother and be red-haired and out-going? She smiled. One thing was for sure—their child would be loved and spoiled and definitely have a temper.

As Samantha went about her barn chores, Creed wandered in and went to Betty's empty stall. He whined a bit as he sniffed at the hay and Samantha sighed. "Don't worry, Creed. Your best friend will be home tomorrow." And tomorrow couldn't come soon enough. Last night had been the first night Samantha had spent alone in a long time and not having Zachary's strong arms around her or his heartbeat beneath her ear had left her feeling cold and caused the night to drag on.

A chill ran down Samantha's spine and instantly her gaze swung toward the open barn doors. The rake she'd been using to clean Blaze's stall, clattered to the ground. The man standing there tipped his hat as he kept the revolver in his hand trained on her. "Hello there, Samantha. It's wonderful to see you again. I don't believe I'll let you run away this time. My boss wouldn't like that."

Fear gripped her. Paralyzed her. Clutched her within its grasp so tight that Samantha wondered if maybe it was going to kill her. She had seen this man several times over the last few years. She knew who he worked for and she knew what he wanted. Always before she had escaped him but this time he was closer than he'd ever been before and she had nowhere to run.

"Why don't you come on out of the barn now before I have to come in there after you. I'd hate to leave the men alone with your friend for too long—they might grow bored."

As if on cue, Eleanor let out a scream and a gunshot sounded.

"Eleanor!" Samantha rushed for the barn door, fully aware of the mn still holding his gun sights on her. The sunlight assaulted her eyes when she left the barn, blinding her momentarily.

As her vision cleared, Samantha saw Eleanor fighting over her rifle with a man on the porch. There was a third man standing in the yard in front of the porch, grunting with pain as he tied a bandana around his bleeding leg.

Apparently, Eleanor got a shot off with that rifle.

The man fighting with Eleanor gave one last rough jerk of the rifle and yanked it from her grasp before throwing out his fist and catching her hard in the jaw.

Eleanor let out a cry of pain and fell backward, hitting the wall behind her and covering her abused face with her hand.

"You son of a...." Samantha's voice was stopped as was the hand going for her revolver when she felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed against her temple.

"Don't even think about it, Samantha."

Slowly, loathefully, Samantha moved her hand away from the gun. She was barely aware of the man behind her as he kept his gun pressed to her temple while removing hers from her gun belt and tossing it aside.

"Good girl. Clinton didn't want us to harm you unless absolutely necessary. Let's not make it necessary."

"I'll not go to Clinton, you jackass. I'll make you kill me first. I'd rather die."

The man holding her at gunpoint snorted. "I won't kill you. Killing you would be as good as killing myself. You clealry don't understand his obsession with you."

"And you clealry don't understand my hate for him."

The man behind her clearly had nothing more to say on the matter. Samantha cursed the fact that her body was quaking with fear. She knew he would notice. Samantha had to do something. Going with these men, or dying trying to escape them was not an option. Zachary could not lose her. She could not let him ride home tomorrow to find more people he loved and cared about dead. That would destroy her gunslinger.

Eleanors' cursing drew her attention back toward the porch. Samantha saw the man who had struck her, grab Eleanor by the arms and yank her from the porch. Eleanor was doing her best to fight him off with one hand while shielding her swollen belly with the other.

"Who wants a ride on the whore before we kill her?" the man demanded, laughing behind his scraggly mustache as Eleanor spat in his face.

"Go to hell," she snarled. "You're not the first man to threaten you."

"I'm not threatening you, little one," he assured her before grabbing her breast so tightly she cried out in pain. "I'm going to be shoving my cock on you so damn hard it rips your guts out."

Samantha saw the color drain from Eleanor's face. Her struggles worsened, becoming frantic and animalistic but the man holding her was easily three times her size. All Eleanor's struggles seemed to do was excite him further.

He licked her face before turning to the man behind him who was just finishing up tiying his bandana aroudn the bullet wound on his upper leg. "You want a go at her?" Big Man demanded with a laugh.

Bullet Wound Man shook his head, wiping his bloody hand on his clean pant leg. Anger twisted his features. "Fuck no. But I'll gladly be the one to kill the bitch when you're done."

"What about you?" Big Man asked the man behind Samantha.

"I don't fuck used up whores—or pregnant ones," he stated sounding disgusted. "Hurry up with her. Clinton won't want to be kept waiting long."

The sound of tearing fabric pierced the air as Big Man shredded the top of Eleanor's vest revealing her underclothes beneath. Eleanor screamed but another hard punch from Big Man silenced her and he took advantage of her addled state as he threw her to the ground.

When Big Man began to throw up her skirts, something within Samantha snapped. She would not let these men do this! Eleanor deserved a good life with Tim and their child. Tim deserved a good life with the woman he loved. Why did anyone think they had the right to that from them?

Samantha could feel Gun Man behind her as his breath blew against her hair. He was close to her. Good. Fighting was the only option. Winning was the only option. She had an advantage over these men. They couldn't kill her—Samantha, however, was under no such orders.

Gathering her courage and her strength, Samantha threw her head back and it cracked loudly against Gun Man's face. He let out a howl of pain as he stumbled away from her. Samantha spun quickly and attempted to drive for her gun but was stopped when his hand closed around her arm and jerked her into his chest.

"Stupid whore!" he spat wettly, blood from his nose soaking his mouth and spraying across her face. His fist swung hard into her temple and Samantha fell to her knees as stars exploded behind her eyes.

A growl filled the air and suddenly Creed was there, latching on Gun Mans leg. Gun Man yelled out his shock and pain before punching the pup on the head, dislodging his teeth from his calf. He kicked Creed hard and the pup flew away.

"No!" Samantha screamed as Creed came again and Gun Man pulled the trigger of his revolver. Creed's pain filled whimpers filled the air as the pup ran back into the barn, leaving a blood trail behind him.

Rage filled her. Samantha pulled the knife from her boot and lunged. She swung the blade at Gun Man whose eyes widened comically at the onslaught. He stumbled backward but not quickly enough to escape a deep slice across his chest. Using his moment of distraction, Samantha once more leapt for her gun.

Just as she reached it a gunshop sounded and pain exploded in her shoulder as the bullet slammed into her.

"No, you idiot!" Gun Man bellowed. "She's not to be harmed!"

Samantha realized it was Bullet Wound Man who had shot her and he looked ready to do it again. Before he could, Gun Man fired off his own shot and the bullet slammed into Bullet Wound Mans chest, dropping him dead.

Samantha closed her hand around the handle of her own revolver, breathing hard against the pain coursing through her veins. She turned to see Gun Man shaking his head at her. "I saved your damn life," he reminded her.

She nodded. "Thank you." Then Samantha pulled the trigger. His head snapped back as the bullet entered his forehead and the man crumpled to the ground.

Immediately she turned to Eleanor and Big Man. He had realized the way the situation had turned and leapt to his feet, his pants still pulled up and fastened much to Samantha's relief.

Throwing out his foot, Big Man sent a punishing kick into Eleanor's head and then took off running. Samantha tried to take aim at him but he was a good distance from her, her shoulder was screaming in pain, her blood was soaking her dress, and she felt dizzy.

He hopped on one of the waiting horses. Samantha used her left hand to attempt to steady her right arm and fired off a shot. The man let out a grunt and slumped a bit in the saddle but didn't stop as he galloped off into the distance and out of the range of her gun.

When he could no longer be seen and his horse could no longer be heard, Samantha breathed a small sigh of relief. But that relief was short-lived. Clinton was still out there and because Big Man had gotten away from her, Clinton would know that his men had failed and he would send more—or come himself.

"Eleanor?" she called out, but the other woman simply laid there motionless upon the dirt and didn't respond.

Painfully, Samantha shoved herself to her feet. She holstered her revolver and made her way across the yard to her fallen friend. Dropping to her knees, Samantha took Eleanor's shoulder and shook her gently. "Ell? Ell, wake up."

Still there was no response. Eleanor's chest was rising and falling but there was a large, bloody welt on the back of her head and it had clearly rendered her unconscious. Eleanor needed Doctor Reynolds.

Blood trickled down Samantha's hand from the wound in her shoulder. She needed Doctor Reynolds. How was Samantha going to get them both there?

Zachary and Timothy had taken the large wagon but the smaller cart was sitting beside the barn. Samantha would have to hitch Athena to it, somehow get Eleanor into the back, and then get them both to the doctor.

Once again, Samantha painfully got to her feet. Her head hurt from the punch she'd taken and she felt as if there was a knife lodged into her shoulder and every movement simply drove it deeper—Samantha had never known such physical pain. When she walked past Gun Man's dead body, her stomach rolled and she was forced to look away. Violence and death were such ugly things and she hated knowing she'd been forced to take a life.

Samantha made her way to the barn and heard Creeds whimpers. Her heart fell to her feet. The poor dog was suffering. Samantha followed the whimpering to a back stall and found Creed there. She dropped to her knees as tears ran in rivers down her cheek. She saw the bullet wound in Creed's back hip.

Samantha wondered if she should put the pup out of his misery—but knew she couldn't. She could not kill him while he looked at her with so much pain and so much trust. No, Samantha would load him up in the cart with Eleanor and take him to the doc. Surely there would be something that could be done to save the pup. Please, let there be something. Zachary had lost enough in his life—she couldn't allow Clinton to take anything else away from the man she loved—not even the dog they both cared so much about.

Her head swam from pain and blood loss as Samantha stood. She had to hurry—she wouldn't be any help to Eleanor or Creed if she let herself pass out and bleed to death.

It took longer than it should have given the limited use of her arm for Samantha to hook Athena to the tiny cart. She grabbed a saddle blanket and spread it across the bottom of the cart before grabbing another and lifting a whimpering Creed into her arms, wrapping him in the blanket and biting her tongue to keep from crying out with her own pain as she did her best to shift all his weight to her good arm.

Laying the pup in the back of the cart, Samantha then led the cart to Eleanor. After several unsuccessful attempts to wake the unconscious woman, Samantha realized she was going to have to lift her into the cart.

And so she did. And she did scream. It was loud and animalistic and it seemed to give her the boost of strength she needed to get Eleanor into the back of the cart.

Samantha took several moments to simply lean against the cart and try her best to breathe deeply. Her stomach rolled again and this time, Samantha heaved and lost the contents of her stomach on the ground at her feet.

Sweat slicked her brow as she hoisted herself into the front of the card and grabbed up the reins in her left hand. "Come on, Athena. Take us to town girl."

Samantha hoped the horse would understand her and do as she asked—because Samantha wasn't entirely sure she could stay awake until they got there.

A/N: Take that, stupid bad guys! What do you think is gonna happen when Zachary comes home and finds the mess left behind? And how proud are you of Eleanor and Samantha who both managed to fight back? Thank you for reading!