Chapter 4

Damn! What was that fool woman trying to do, get herself killed? There was no telling when Susan left for the Circle J; maybe they could catch her if they hurried. The Three Musketeers jumped on their horses and rode as fast as they could push their somewhat tired mounts toward the Circle J in an effort to catch Susan before her mistake became irrevocable.

Needless to say, they didn't make it! The three lawmen rode into the front yard at the Circle J and pulled up in a cloud of dust. Susan's horse was tied to the hitching rail in front of the house, but that was initially the only sign of life. Then they heard a woman utter a scream of extreme pain from inside the house.

Each man grabbed his .44 caliber saddle pistol and stuck it in his belt as backup as he jumped from his horse and dropped the reins to the ground. The horses remained in place as the men ran to the front door, and Caleb threw it open. He was met by a hail of bullets, all of which fortunately missed, since the shooters couldn't see where they were shooting when gun smoke filled the room. Caleb jumped back outside at the sound of the first shot, so the 9 or 10 shots that came his way were not aimed properly and mostly tore up the wood framing around the door.

There were four men hiding behind various pieces of furniture and just waiting for Caleb to show up. The whole setup was a trap! Susan had arrived at the ranch house about 2 hours earlier, tied her horse to the hitching rail, and marched into the house as if she did not have a care in the world. She had barely got in the door when she was grabbed by two men who were waiting for her. They had seen her coming and had alerted Peevy. He had realized that Caleb would be along as soon as he found out where Susan had gone, and the details of the trap came to him in a flash.

He ordered the men to take her into the bedroom where she had previously been held. They tied her to the bed, face down and spreadeagled with her arms to the ends of the headboard and her feet to the footboard. One of the men was sent to the barn to fetch a buggy whip. The men were told to hide in the living room and to shoot Caleb when he showed up.

Once his minions were out of the room, Peevy took out a knife and cut Susan's clothes off. He even pulled her boots off, so that she was completely naked. He did all of this without saying a word, completely ignoring Susan's protests and pleas to be released. When she was naked, Peevy picked up the whip and held it over Susan's back. He dragged the tip of the whip over her back, just barely touching her flesh as he did so. Suddenly, without warning, he pulled the whip back and struck her with all of his might on the high point of her buttocks.

Susan screamed with the pain of the blow, gasped in a deep breath, and began to cry loud and long. Peevy still did not say a word, but went back to dragging the tip of the whip back and forth over her back, ass, and legs. When Susan's sobs began to fade, Peevy struck again, this time across her upper thighs. Susan screamed and began to cry, again. Peevy continued this whipping technique over the next 90 minutes, raising a series of welts across Susan's thighs, ass, and lower back. He was quite skilled at the application of the whip and never hit her where she already had a welt. Her skin now was almost a continuous welt from her knees to below her shoulder blades. It would be weeks before she could lie comfortably on her back, and probably that long before she could sit down. She would have to squat to relieve herself. Speaking of which, there was a puddle of urine on the bed where she had lost control under the pain of the whipping.

Susan was crying continuously now. She felt like there was a fire burning on her back, ass, and legs. Peevy smiled at every one of her sobs; he had a vague idea of how much she hurt and planned to increase the pain in steps until she had paid him back for his humiliation when she had run off with that bastard Caleb Jackson. He really didn't care whether or not she survived the punishment, once he had decided that she had suffered enough. However, he expected the punishment to last for several weeks—she deserved every moment of the torment! NOBODY was allowed to get away with humiliating him that way.

During the pause after the last whip stroke, Peevy heard one of his men call out, "Now, boss! Here they are!" At this signal, Peevy hit Susan between her legs so that the whip hit her right on her pussy. This scream surpassed all previous ones and she sobbed even harder. This was the scream that brought Caleb and his friends storming up to the door.

A few seconds later, there was a shout, "LOOK OUT, BOSS! WE MISSED 'IM!" Peevy cursed and dropped the whip across Susan's back. She screamed again, but, this time, the scream was one of surprise. The impact of the whip falling on her back certainly hurt, but nothing like the pain of the last 2 hours. She had been so involved with the intensity of her pain that she never heard the gunshots, so she had no idea why the torture had stopped.

Peevy couldn't resist adding a bit of mental torture to the physical. He said, "Susan, listen ta me. Did you hear them gunshots a minute ago?"

"No... No"

"That was my men shootin' at yer friend, Caleb Jackson. Think of this: if he dies, it will be because of ya. He's here ta rescue ya from yer own stupidity. But he don't stand a chance. We're gonna kill 'im. I jus' hope it takes a long time. But I don't want ya ta git bored while we're waitin', so we'll jus' continue with the entertainment."

Peevy picked up the whip and considered where he wanted to strike next. The pattern of welts on Susan's body was "artistic" in Peevy's opinion, and he wanted to put the next welt where it would be most esthetically pleasing. He finally selected the proper place and laid on with all his considerable strength. Susan's scream could be heard throughout the house and out on the front veranda where the Three Musketeers were crouched, away from the reach of the pistol shots from inside the house.

At the sound of Susan's latest scream, Caleb jumped up to run into the house, but he was held back by his friends. Jake said, "Don't be a damned fool! That's exactly what he wants ya ta do. Ifen ya go runnin' inta the house, they'll gun ya down. Ya shore can't he'p Susan ifen ya're dead!"

"But I can't let that bastard keep torturing Susan! I've got ta do sumpthin' ta stop 'im."

Sam asked, "How 'bout that window on the back side of the house? Maybe we kin git in through there?"

Caleb brightened up at this idea. "Sam, ya're a God send! I wuz so upset that I done forgot about that way in. That must be where he's holding Susan, now. Ya fellers keep them galoots occupied while I go take a look."

Without waiting for an answer, Caleb sprinted around to the back of the house and up to the window in question. He stole a look around the window frame and got a full picture of the horrible scene within the room. He saw Susan tied to the bed and Peevy about to strike again with the whip.

Caleb didn't take time to think. He aimed his .44 caliber Remington pistol at Peevy's chest and pulled the trigger. The combination of the parallax from the thick window glass and the almost spasmodic pulling of the trigger caused the bullet to miss Peevy's chest. Instead, it plowed into his left shoulder, smashing bone and flesh as it carried destruction along its path.

The bullet's impact caused Peevy to spin around and fall to the floor, dropping the whip as he fell. He felt intense pain from the wound, but his rage at Caleb was enough to keep his attention focused on the real object of his hate. Other than the monumental chagrin he felt at Susan's "betrayal," Peevy's true object of hate was Caleb, so he was able to conquer the pain in his wounded shoulder through his desire to kill Caleb.

The impact of the bullet caused Peevy to roll on the floor away from Caleb's direct line of vision from the window, so Caleb was not able to see Peevy pull his own gun from its holster under his left shoulder. Calep peered through the broken window, trying to see where Peevy had fallen. Caleb was forced to expose quite a bit of his head and body before he was able to catch sight of Peevy lying on the floor, partially shielded by the bed.