A voice lashed out at her with the force of a bullwhip slicing through the stillness.
"Remember me, bitch? My name's Spear, and I'm in charge now. I'm through waiting on you. You hear me? I'm going to count to ten, and if you don't want me to hurt you, you'll get outside before I'm finished."
His voice was cold, deliberate, and filled with hate. He didn't sound drunk, and that made him all the more dangerous. Liquor wasn't ruling his actions; evil was.
"One… two… three…"
"Wait, Spear," one of the others shouted. "Is that a baby bawling?"
"Son of a bitch," someone yelled. "She went and had the baby."
Douglas slowly turned the corner of the barn and moved up behind Spear. He was in such a rage now, he had to keep telling himself to take his time.
"One of us ought to go inside and take the baby. Then she'll follow us," the man on Spear's left suggested with a nervous giggle. "Go and get it, Spear. I ain't going in there and taking on that hellcat. You do it."
"I'll go get both of them," his friend said. "I'm not afraid." His boast was promptly followed by his scream. "I've been bit," he cried out. "I've been bit up my leg."
"What are you crying about, Benton? There aren't any snakes out tonight. You're just spooked, that's all."
Spear dismounted. "Both of you be quiet so I can hear the woman when she calls out."
"You think she's gonna invite you inside?" one of the men asked with a snicker.
Benton turned his mount and headed for the hills. Douglas could hear him sobbing as he rode away. He wondered how long it would take for the drunken fool to realize he had a knife lodged in the back of his thigh.
Spear was standing next to his mount, obviously trying to decide if he wanted to go inside or not.
Douglas hoped to God he'd try. Douglas wasn't going to let him get near that door, and if that meant killing him, Douglas wouldn't suffer any qualms. The bastard had terrorized an innocent mother, partially destroyed her home, and now believed he could drag her and her baby away with him. The mere thought of any of them touching Isabel or Parker sent Douglas into a black rage.
Move, Spear. Move.
Spear pulled his gun out of his holster, and that was a fatal mistake. He had taken one step toward the stoop when Douglas shot his right leg out from under him.
Damn, it felt good.
Spear didn't think so. He screamed as he went down to his knees. He frantically staggered back to his feet, whirled around, and swung his gun up to shoot.
Douglas shot the other leg out from under him. Spear fell forward, his gun clutched in his hand, and landed face first in the mud.
"Anyone else want to limp for the rest of his life?"
The venom in Douglas 's voice, added to Spear's screams, was enough to convince the others to give up the fight.
Spear was wiggling around in the mud like a pig trying to keep cool. He shouted to his men to kill Douglas, as he rolled to his side, lifted his head, and took aim with his gun.
Douglas shot him in the center of his forehead. One of his friends went for his gun, but his hand never reached his holster. Douglas 's next bullet cut deep into his shoulder. The man cried out and slumped forward.
"Throw your weapons on the ground," Douglas ordered.
He waited until they'd obeyed his command before he called out to Isabel. "It's over now. Are you and the baby all right?"
He could hear the fear in her voice when she answered him. "Yes, yes… we're fine."
A few seconds later, light from the kerosene lamp spilled out into the yard through the window.
"We've got friends waiting up in the hills, mister," one of the captives boasted. "If you've got any sense at all, you'll leave before they come riding down here and kill you."
"I'm guessing he's all alone," his friend whispered.
"Guess again, jackass."
The voice was Cole's. Douglas was so happy to hear it he began to laugh. He didn't have to turn around to know that his brothers were standing behind him. He hadn't heard them approaching and would have been disappointed if he had, for any sound would mean that they had gotten lazy. Being lazy in the West would get a man killed.
"What the hell took you so long to get here?"
"I had to round up the others before we could leave," Adam answered.
"Are you going to kill these men? You might as well since you've got your gun drawn and all."
"He isn't going to kill them, Cole."
"Glad you could make it, Harrison," Douglas said.
"You should let us go, mister. Benton already got away, and he'll tell the others."
"Lord, they're stupid," Adam said.
"I assume the man with the knife in his backside is Benton," Harrison said. "Travis went after him. He figured you'd want your good knife back."
Douglas tossed his shotgun to Cole. "Tie them up inside the barn."
The cabin door suddenly flew open and Isabel came running outside with her rifle in her hands.
Douglas moved forward into the light. He took the rifle away from her so that she wouldn't accidentally shoot one of his brothers. He knew she'd seen them because she'd come to an abrupt stop and was staring beyond his shoulder, but after giving each one of them a quick glance, she turned her attention to Boyle's henchmen.
"Where is he?" she asked, her voice shaking with anger.
"Who?" Douglas asked.
"Spear. Did you kill him? Never mind. I don't care if he's dead or not. I'm going to shoot him anyway."
Douglas wouldn't let her have her rifle back. He made sure the safety was on, then threw it to Adam. "You don't want to shoot anyone."
"Yes, I do. I want to shoot all of them."
She grabbed hold of his shirt and held tight. "I'm going to shoot someone, Douglas. They… woke… my… baby… and they…"
She couldn't go on. The horror of what she had just gone through suddenly struck her full force. She collapsed against him and began to sob.
"We'll leave here, Douglas. I won't fight you any longer. We'll leave… We'll leave."
Chapter Twelve
The Simpson kitchen was crowded with Claybornes. Trudy Simpson was making a fresh pot of coffee for her honored guests. She was thrilled to have the men at her table and wanted to prepare a feast to show her appreciation. The brothers had come to Sweet Creek to help Isabel, and that made them exceptional.
The men spoke in whispers to one another so that Parker wouldn't be disturbed. He was sleeping peacefully up against Cole's shoulder.
The doctor joined them a few minutes later. He dropped a large packet of yellowed papers tied together with a pink ribbon on the table in front of Douglas.
"I took these away from Isabel. It's after one in the morning, and I found her poring over them when she should be sleeping. Why don't you go through them for her? One of the papers has to be the deed to that useless land, and when you find it, I think we ought to burn it, for all the good it's done."
"How is she feeling, Doctor?" Trudy asked.
"She's tuckered out, but otherwise just as fit as can be. You needn't be worrying about our girl."
"It's a miracle this little boy made it," she remarked. She put a platter of ham on the table and turned back to the counter to fetch the biscuits. "Why, he's no bigger than a minute. I don't believe I've ever seen a baby so tiny."
The doctor squeezed a chair in between Adam and Harrison and sat down. "He's not as small as I expected him to be, but he's got to stay put until he has more weight on him. Do you understand what I'm saying, Douglas? Isabel and her boy have got to stay here. Now, since you brought them to us, I'm wanting to know what you're planning to do when trouble comes calling."
"Meaning Boyle and his gunslingers?" Harrison asked.