Chapter 3

I checked out the men an' took what I wanted. They was loaded with gold coins, mostly Double Eagles. Later, when I counted it, the total came ta $970. One of the men had a pair of double action revolvers in .44-40 caliber. They were hand made by a real craftsman. Both pistols were nine-shooters an' were a top-break action. I fell in love with them pistols the moment I saw them. They were close enough in size ta my S&W revolvers that I was able ta use the same holsters. I didn't hesitate an' swapped out fer the new guns right off.

I didn't get much farther than that because I heard the woman, actually a young girl, crying in pain an' thinkin' somethin' 'bout a wagon. Shit, I couldn't let a girl suffer, soz I mounted one of the hosses an' rode back farther into the woods ta see what was goin' on.

I followed the girl's thoughts an' quickly found the place I was lookin' for. This was a camp what had been used fer at least a week, an' there was two wagons parked there. Off ta one side was a rope corral holdin' eight of the finest quality mules that I had ever seen. But what really got my attention was the thoughts of the girl inside one of the wagons.

I hurried over ta it an' dismounted. I could tell from her thoughts an' emotions that she knew she had company. I said loud enough for her ta hear, "Miss, I'm a friend. I won't hurt ya. I'm here ta help. The three men what captured ya are all dead. Please don't be afeared of me."

She acknowledged my words an' I climbed into the wagon. What I saw absolutely disgusted me. I saw a girl of about 10 years of age tied up so that she could not move. A rope around her neck ran ta her ankles soz she would choke herself ifen she tried ta move. Dammit, I wished those men were still alive soz I could shoot them again, but in a much more painful place.

The girl was naked, an' she was bloody around her crotch. It was obvious that she had been raped, an' it looked like it was many times, at that. I used my knife ta cut her loose; I didn't want ta wait the extra few seconds it would take ta untie them knots. She stretched out slowly an' painfully when I had cut all of the ropes.

"Mister, have ya got any water an' food what I could have? I'm awful thirsty an' hungry. I ain't had anythin' since early yesterday."

Shit, that wasn't no way ta treat anybody! "Yes, Missy, I'll git ya somethin' right away." I had passed right by my hoss, so he was along with me already. I got my canteen of water an' some pemmican what I was carryin' in my saddle bag. While I was about it, I cooled off the water soz it would be more pleasant fer the girl ta drink.

"Oh, thank ya so much, Mister. Hey, where'd ya find cold water in this weather? It's so good that I would drink the whole thin' ifen I didn't know better. This pemmican is right good, too. I'm much obliged fer yer kindness."

"Ya're very welcome, Miss. By the way, my name is Jack Hazard. What's yer name?"

"Howdy, Mr. Hazard? I'm Annie Williamson."

"Ya kin call me Jack, ifen ya like. May I call ya Annie?"

"Oh, please do. I'm so glad ta see a friendly face that I'm about ta bust. Those horrible galoots killed my Pa an' Ma an' my two brothers three days ago. They've been keepin' me alive ta sell ta a Mexican whore house. In the meantime, it seemed like they was rapin' me the whole time one of them was around.

"We had two wagons with mules. Pa was drivin' one an' Ma was drivin' the other one. I was ridin' with Ma an' my brothers was ridin' with Pa. The men came ridin' out of the woods shootin', an' we never had a chance ta defend ourselves. I was the only one alive almost afore I knew what was goin' on.

"They drove the wagons ta this spot, an' they started rapin' me as quick as we got here. I don't think they ever bothered ta check the wagons. Everythin' we owned was on them wagons. Pa wanted us ta go ta California, but this was as far as we got."

"Annie, would ya like ta come with me? I know of a good place ta stay while we figure out what ta do with ya. Kin ya drive a wagon? I could drive an eight-team hitch ifen I had ta, but it sure would be easier ifen we could keep the wagons separate. Ifen ya can't drive, we kin hook the two wagons together an' use all eight mules ta pull the lot. It won't be easy, but it can be done."

"Oh, yes, Jack, I kin drive a mule team. Ma taught me how ta drive ta fight off the boredom of the trip. I kin do fine ifen I takes it kind of slow at first."

"OK, that's what we'll do. We're goin' ta Austin, soz ya will need some clothes. Do ya have somethin' ta wear? We'll stop at the first stream we come ta soz ya kin wash off that there blood."

"That sounds great! There's food in the wagons, soz I kin fix us some hot lunch while ya take care of the animals."

Them fools may have mistreated Annie, but they did take right good care of the mules. They had plenty of food an' water in the makeshift corral, soz I didn't have ta worry 'bout them. I rigged up rope leads an' halters fer the five hosses. The mules was gonna be occupied by the wagons, but the hosses did need some special treatment.

Annie had found a suitable dress an' some moccasins, an' she was hard at work fixin' us a full meal. Man, that girl was a whirlwind as she prepared beef an' beans, biscuits, an' coffee. She had it ready by the time I finished my work, so we dug right in. Wow, not only was she a hard worker, she was a damned good cook, an' I made it a point ta tell her so.

She cleaned up the eatin' utensils while I reloaded the wagons, an' we was ready ta leave in no time. I gave Annie directions fer our route an' sent her out ahead of my wagon. There was good arguments fer doin' it both ways, with her first an' with me first. We was just gonna have ta experiment ta see which way worked out best. Annie promised ta keep an ear open fer me ta shout instructions ta her ifen somethin' came up.

We started off headin' east in the general direction of Austin. We was gonna have ta make a kind of roundabout trip 'cause of the size of the wagons an' the weight of the load in the one I was drivin'. I figured that it was gonna take us about two weeks ta make the trip unless Annie knew more than I expected 'bout drivin' a four-mule team. Them mules was well trained an' well behaved, so the problem wasn't with them, but the driver had ta know what he was doin' ta keep from confusin' the animals.

The first half-day worked out pretty good, so we were both pretty happy 'bout the way thin's were goin'. We found a good place ta camp an' pulled in. There was a fairly large stream, the first one we had seen that afternoon. Annie took a bar of soap an' headed fer the stream ta bathe. She said that she was a bit unsettled an' wanted me ta come along with her ta act as a bodyguard. I wasn't too happy with leavin' the wagons unattended, but I figured that the mules would make decent lookouts for the time we was away.

Annie wanted me ta stay close enough ta see her while she bathed. I was a little bit embarrassed by her request, but she insisted, soz I went along with her desire. The little brat put on a show for me as she washed, especially between her legs. She was safe from me, 'cause, at the age of 28, I figured that I was way too old fer her. But she was still a caution!

Annie had just pulled her dress over her head when a commotion suddenly came from the mules back at camp. Fortunately, I didn't had far ta run ta get back ta the camp. I don't know why, but I didn't say anythin' ta Annie. Instead, I just thought real hard ta her, "Annie, look out! There's a cougar stalkin' the mules."

Annie called back ta me, "OK, JACK! I SEE IT!"

I drew one of my new pistols an' fired off a shot as quickly as I could be reasonably sure of my shot. I willed the bullet ta hit the cougar in its head. I figured that was the quickest way ta save the mules. A moment later, the cougar's head exploded in a burst of blood, bone, an' brains. The animal simply collapsed where it was.