Revenge Riders by Alex Frew

Author:Alex Frew [Frew, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Not much was said as the prisoners were brought back to the ranch, the Lazy H. Hawk wore an air of quiet relief, but there was no triumph and no victory in gaining back that which had been his in the first place – the company of his son. Anyway, Ryan had taken no small part in his own rescue and his own survival.

By the time they got back to the ranch it was starting to grow dark and there was a chill in the air. The cattle were still out in the meadows around the ranch, but it was spring and the grass was growing well, and the land was interlaced with streams of ice-cold water that came off the hills. They could and would survive without the attentions of man for a good long time. Their prisoners were all conscious by this time because Scott had revived on the long journey, flung as he was across the saddle of a horse. He had struggled to escape, but his hands were bound and he was unable to do so. He had shouted many imprecations, calling Hawk names that the latter had heard many times in his life, but his uncle was unmoved. Being called a half-breed bastard did not affect his mind at all.

What happened next was a different matter altogether. They stopped at the fence around the ranch and had a short discussion of what they were going to do with the prisoners.

‘Throw ’em in the barn all tied up,’ said Clay, ‘then we can take ’em to the law tomorrow.’

‘That sounds about right,’ said Hawk. ‘There’s the tricky proposition of what to do with you, Yancey. You won’t be swayed by these here reprobates again, will you?’ The big, thickset man frowned, looking at the ground, a bemused expression on his strangely smooth face.

‘I guess those buttheads will try and sway me, Indian man.’

‘You see,’ Hawk turned to his men, ‘you must keep them in the bunkhouse. There’s plenty of room, and a pot-bellied stove to heat the place up. We’ll do just as Clay says and deal with them early on the morrow. You can do that just now, men. I would thank you for that. I need to speak to Rye alone.’

‘What about me?’ demanded the girl. ‘Where am I to go?’

‘Just walk over to the side of the ranch,’ said Hawk. ‘What I have to say to my son will take one minute.’ The men were already leading the prisoners to the bluff that hid the bunkhouse, and the girl followed, but only as far as the side of the hill. She looked at them thoughtfully from the distance.

‘What is it that you couldn’t tell me in front of them?’ asked Ryan. ‘We must hurry; I want to see Mom. Did you get Martha in to look after her?’ Martha was a domestic from the village who had been coming in to help them from time to time during his mother’s illness.

‘That’s what I wanted to tell you, son.

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