Cole's Redemption (Love Amongst the Pines) (28 page)

             
"I don't have to think, I know" Greene said, though his tone was not as sure as it might have been.

             
"Maybe you didn't know him as well as you thought you did."

             
"It doesn't matter. He's dead and you killed him. I'll be set to let the law take care of the rest."

             
"I imagine it will. It doesn't matter what happens to me. Just keep Natty out of it."

             
"You're really stuck on that girl,
ain't
you?"

             
"She saved me," Cole said, his voice barely above a whisper.

             
"Might be she did, but if we managed to get out of here, I guarantee you, she won't help your sorry ass again."

             
"It doesn't matter," Cole stated, wishing that his words were true.

             
Suddenly, a shot rang out and the window shattered above him.

             
"Damn, that was close."

             
"Come on out!" Marty yelled. "
Ain't
no reason for you to stay holed up!
My brother went out after you're little gal. If you come out now, maybe we won't kill her right away!"

             
"You'd better start running!" Cole called back. "She's gone to get the Sheriff. Your only chance is to light out of here before she gets back!"

             
"
Naw
, she won't make it. My brothers and I have tracked these hills most of our lives. We'll find her, don't you worry none."

             
"He's right, you know." Greene said behind him. "If you really care about that girl, you'd give me that gun, and we'd both get it over with. There's what, three, maybe four shots left, isn't there?"

             
"Yes," Cole whispered.

             
"Then, let me end it for you, right now. At least, you won't have to face the public humiliation of a hanging again. Save your girlfriend a sore heart."

             
Cole gripped the gun tighter. "What about you?"

             
"Seeing you dead is the last thing I have to live for. The rest you took away from me when you killed my son."

             
"I can't do that to Natty. I can't let her come back here to find me dead. I guess I just want to live after all. Even if it's only for another week, another day, or another hour, it doesn't matter. I'll take what I can get."

             
The meaning of his words echoed in his mind. Suddenly, Cole started laughing. The release of his emotions washed over him like a waterfall. Could it possibly be that Natty had saved him after all?

             
"What's the matter with you?"

             
"It's just funny that I was so ready to die. I even wished for it! And now, here I sit with death just waiting outside the door, and I don't want any part of it."

             
"Sounds loco to me."

             
"Yes, I guess it does, doesn't it." Cole turned back to the window. "Come on, Natty. I want to see you at least one more time."

             
"I'm sorry, Natalie," Dermott whispered behind her. "I can't hold on no longer." Natty felt her uncle slip sideways. They had crossed the second creek, and the rest of the way into town was a gentle sloping landscape.

             
"Just a little while longer,
Derm
. Come on! Don't give up now."

             
"I can't help it. I feel
kinda
' strange. My arms are real heavy, and I'm cold, really cold."

             
Dermott leaned sideways, and though she tried with all her strength to right them both, in seconds they were tumbling off of the animal and landing on the ground in an undignified lump.

             
"Damn!" Natty cursed. It was too late. By the time she'd gotten out from under Dermott, the horse had sidestepped them both. She stumbled after the gelding, but the animal was having no part of it. He skittered away from her instead, making his way through the trees just out of her reach.

             
"Come back!" Natty called out. Before she could go much farther, she heard a loud moaning from Dermott.

             
"Oh God." She turned back to him. "Dermott? Are you still with me?"

             
As she knelt beside him, he was
began
to shiver uncontrollably.

             
"I'm so cold,
Natty
. Can you get me a blanket or maybe start a fire?"

             
"No, Dermott, I can't!" Natty couldn't hold back the tears. She'd failed. She wouldn't be able to get help for Cole, and now, her uncle was dying. Crawling to sit beside him, she pulled him up into her lap.

             
"It's
gonna
be all right, Dermott! You wait and see. We're
gonna
get help, and then we're
gonna
save Cole. And the three of us will live in that big house. We'll have apple dumplings every day for breakfast and all the salt water taffy you want."

             
"And we'll get something outta that darned mine?" Dermott whispered.

             
"Yes! We'll all be rich. You can buy anything you ever wanted."

             
"I love you, Natty," Dermott's breathing started slowing down. "I'm
gonna
sleep awhile now, little girl." With that, he closed his eyes.

             
"Don't leave me, Dermott! Don't you go and leave me!" Natty shook him, but her uncle didn't arouse. His breathing was shallow, and his skin pale.

             
"Oh, no!" Natty hugged him tighter. "Somebody, please help me!" She cried out.

             
Deacon Calvin always thought he had exceptional good luck. Born the middle son, he'd often escaped the harsh punishments that his parents inflicted on his older brother and their smothering attentions heaped on his younger brother. He was always a man alone, even as a child. He rarely fought with either of his two siblings. Because of his rounder, fuller face, the girls always favored him. So now, when he followed the trail through the waning morning, he just knew he'd find the girl and thereby earn high praise from Marty.

             
Just as his luck would have it, he'd made it across the second stream when he heard it. A woman's tearful voice mixed in with the sounds of the forest. He urged his mount on further, and sure enough, there she was. Somehow, she'd lost her horse, and the old man lay in a heap beside her. She cradled him and cried without immediately noticing Deacon.

             
All the
better, he thought, as he jumped down from his horse.

             
"Well,
lookie
what we got here," Deacon stated pleasantly enough, walking up to her as though he had found a long lost friend.

             
Natty shot a look upwards and he knew he had her. Her face filled with shock and panic, and yet, she hardly moved. Her color paled when he lifted the gun toward her.

             
"Me and
you's
going back up that hill. Your boyfriend up there
ain't
cooperatin
' very well. Got himself holed up in that cabin. I think maybe he killed my little brother. You're
gonna
help us get him out."

             
"Please. My uncle is dying! Help me get him to town. I'll pay you! I swear it! I'll give you the mine and everything. You and your brothers! Just please don't let him die!"

             
"You are as crazy as a bumblebee if you think I'm
gonna
do anything like that!" He laughed. In one motion, he bent down and grabbed
Natty's
arm, pulling her up to stand beside him. "Besides, that
ol
' coot
ain't
gonna
last much longer, anyway. Best you come with me now, and we'll settle our business."

             
"No!" Natty tried to pull away from him, but the man was too strong. He tightened his grip and jerked her forward.

             
"Don't fight me, girl! I swear I'll hog tie you, and I won't be gentle about it!"

             
"Go to Hell!" She twisted towards him, sinking her teeth into his arm.

             
"
Arrrgh
!" Deacon screamed. In response, he drew his gun hand back and hit the side of her head. The blow stunned her instantly, and she sagged against him. He hoisted her up and carried her to his horse. After sitting her on the ground, he quickly pulled
a long scarf out of the saddle
bag, and fastened it around her hands. Then, he threw her belly across the saddle and swung himself up to join her.

             
"Bite me again, and I'll knock
yer
damn teeth out." With that, the two set off back in the direction of the camp.

             
After quickly loading the buckboard, Judge and Miriam set out for the mine. "We could have just gone on horseback, but I only have the mare. Dermott took my gelding this morning."

             
"It doesn't matter as long as we get there soon. I am so worried something's happened."

             
"Let's hope you're wrong. Still, that son of yours has a good head on his shoulders. He's pretty strong willed. Sometimes more so than is good for a body, but that can be said of most men, I reckon."

             
Judge watched the woman beside him carefully. She was surely a beauty despite her distressed expression and her windblown look. In her pale yellow gown and cornflower blue shawl, she looked even more small and vulnerable. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and comfort her. With Cole possibly in danger, he knew the best way he could help her was to get her to the mine and show her that all was well.

             
They didn't share much conversation along the way. She was pensive, and Judge was careful not to say anything that might cause her upset her more. They were about at the halfway mark when she leaned forward, her eyes searching the road ahead. Just as they reached the edge of the clearing that led to the paths up the mountainside, he heard a sharp intake of breath from Miriam.

             
"What is it?" He asked, squinting in the late morning sunlight.

             
Before she could answer, a
riderless
horse stomped through the overgrowth.

             
"Dapple?" Judge stopped the wagon. Handing the reins to Miriam, he jumped down. "Come here, boy. Where's Dermott, fella? Did you throw him?"

             
The animal steadied with his master's approach. "What's wrong? Is that your horse?" Miriam called.

             
"Yes. It's the one that Dermott took this morning." He reached the animal, and immediately he saw the blood dried on the saddle. "Damn!"

             
He quickly took the animal's reins. "Something's wrong! Let's get going." In an instant, he tied the horse to the back of the wagon, and the two of them set off again.

             
"What's wrong? What happened to the horse?"

             
"I don't know yet. There's blood on the tack. We won't know for sure until we find them.

             
Ten minutes later, they came upon a shaded area. That was when they found Dermott.

             
Miriam grasped Judge's arm. "Wait! Stop the wagon!" "What is it?" "There's something--no, someone lying in the road!" Judge pulled the wagon to a halt. After fixing the reigns, the

two
of them jumped down. In an instant, Miriam was kneeling beside the body.

             
"It's Dermott!" she cried. "Oh! He's barely alive!"

             
Judge knelt beside her. Turning the man over, he saw first the large bloody patch on the other man's shirt.

             
"He took a shot in the shoulder. Damn!" He pulled out his handkerchief, folded it, and slipped it inside of the man's shirt.

             
"Hang on there, Dermott, we'll get you help!"

             
Dermott stirred, "No! Not me! Go help Denton, he's fallen off his horse, and I think he's been snake bit! He's all
swole
up."