Unexpected (27 page)

Father Sampson adjusted his spectacles and flipped through a few more pages.  All of this just seemed far-fetched to him.  Not what he saw, but what he was reading. He prided himself in being an excellent judge of character, and that came from sixty-five years of living, fighting in a war, and finding his true calling. He
wasn’t always this righteous.  Yet, he was raised with strong morals and had learned to trust his instincts.  There was no way the drifter was a cannibalistic devil worshiper.  He’d seen the way he’d looked at Miss Hamilton.  He truly cared for her. Oh he definitely had a history.  He’d seen it in his eyes, but not like this.

He w
as so engrossed in the pages that he didn’t hear the door open and close behind him.

***

Butch pushed his horse into a steady trot.  He was anticipating this more than anything he could possible think of.  Surprisingly, his idiot men were able to pull it off. 

He was in town, with the crowd
in his saloon when Clancy came in and told him they had Josie out at the mining shack.  He stayed there until the early hours in the morning drinking expensive whiskey despite the urgency building in him to go see her.

He knew that Ryker and Cogan
wouldn’t return until late into the night, or the next day, because of the big spread the men had to cover.  That meant he had time to be around a lot of people to show he wasn’t involved. 

Clancy
told him that he didn’t have to kill anyone, he just tied up the Russells and the kid.  They made sure they wore handkerchiefs around their faces and never spoke in front of them.  Doc Russell was calling out names thinking he recognized him, but he didn’t call Clancy’s.  It was a good thing, or Clancy would have shot him. That old man had guts.  He had to give him credit.  Butch probably wouldn’t have been pleased if he shot the Doc, because thanks to Cogan Reid, he needed him to patch up the men that he left alive.

T
hey nabbed Josephine, blindfolded and tied her hands, but not before she fought them like a wildcat.  Clancy finally struck her hard—knocking her out cold.  He cursed knowing that his boss wouldn’t be happy with marking her pretty face, but she was like a bloody rabid badger!  She’d managed to rake her nails down his face scratching him.  Surprisingly, his boss only chuckled seeing the marks she inflicted.  He then shook his head and continued to empty the contents of his glass.  “I told you she was special.”

Special?
  Clancy wanted to strangle her.  Well, maybe have his way with her, then strangle her, because she was definitely worth the fight if he could have her. He couldn’t have easily taken advantage of the unconscious woman, but there were other men present who would have said something to his boss. 

Instead, h
e did as Butch asked and took her to his shack at the mine and tied her to a chair.  She was guarded well by the other two men he had with him.  He couldn’t even remember their names.  Why should he?  They usually didn’t live too long with Cogan Reid around.  He then rode back to town and told Butch.

Butch
finally set his glass down and turned to him.  “Well I suppose I should go see my prize then.” He grinned from ear to ear while straightening his moustache with the tips of his fingers.

***

Dawn was just breaking the sky when the house came into view.  Cogan told Josie they’d be home after dark, but they’d spent most of the night pulling cattle out of the muddy banks of the river.  They lost two.  Now they were exhausted and filthy and looking for a good home cooked meal and a warm bed.   It started to rain again.  It was just a sprinkle, but the incoming clouds were dark.

Cogan reined up
suddenly about a quarter of a mile in view of the Russell’s ranch house.

“What is it?”  Ryker asked
while glancing around.  He began to figure Cogan out a bit more.  He’d sensed something, something his human senses couldn’t see, smell or hear. By now he knew that trusting an animal’s instincts, any animal, including Cogan’s inner beast, was a life saver. 

Ryker was still waiting for Cogan to respond
after he halted his stallion.  He knew he heard him, so despite his inner angst, waited.  The silence stretched to half a minute.

Cogan’s
expression had become unreadable as he scanned the sky overhead, then the homestead.  Then he inhaled deeply. “Something’s wrong,” he finally said.

“What?”
Ryker shifted his gaze to the ranch below. His body tensed.  He couldn’t see anything suspicious.

“I don’t know yet.  There’
re different smells though—horses, and people.”  He reached back and withdrew the rifle from the sheath strapped to the horse under his thigh. 

“Shit!  Josie! Thomas!”  Ryker heeled the mare
who burst forth on her haunches at the unexpected movement.

Cogan was right behind him.

They raced down the slope and up to the front of the house. Both of them were off their horses before they came to a complete stop.

The scents of the trespassers were dissipated, so Cogan knew they were long gone.  Regardless, he kept a steady grip on his firearm.

“Hattie—Josephine!” Ryker ran up the steps and burst through the front door into the house. Panic coursed through him.

Cogan wasn’t feeling any different when he saw what was inside.

Father Sampson was sitting in a chair while Doc Russell patched up a wound in the back of his head.  He looked quite pale. Blood soaked his white collar and darkened his black robes.

Hattie rushed forward
with a cry and gave Ryker a hug.

Thomas came out of the kitchen with Magda and did the same.
  Thomas’ left cheek was bruised and swollen.

“They took Josie!” Hattie sobbed.

Cogan looked over her head to the doctor.

Doc Russell
saw the unspoken question in his eyes and shook his head. “We never saw who it was.  They came at us so fast. But I’m sure we can guess.”  He nodded toward Father Sampson. “He came to get fixed up and found us all tied up on the floor.  Thankfully he showed up.  My old wrists were starting to cramp.”

“Which way did they go?”
Cogan asked calmly.  Inside he was a raging storm. He bent down and cupped Thomas’ chin and turned his face up toward him to examine the bruise.

“I tried to stop them,” Thomas murmured through tears.

“You are really brave Thomas.”

The Doctor answered Cogan’s question.
“We didn’t see.  We tried to stop them, but they surprised us and they came in the house before we could go for the guns.  Thomas hit one of them across the shin with that wooden sword and got backhanded for it.” Doc Russell couldn’t help the shame in his expression. He went over the incident a hundred times in his head on how he could have stopped the men. God only knows what they were doing to that poor young girl.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty,” Ryker offered
seeing his remorse.  “I shouldn’t have left you alone.  How much of a head start do they have?”  Inside, he was a mess. He had the same thoughts as the Doc, but he refused to dwell on it.  One quick glance at Cogan, let him know that he wasn’t the only man.  Cogan could keep his expression flat in the worst situations, but now he saw a man who was feeling more fear and anger than himself at his sister’s fate.  His eyes flashed an odd yellow, which had Ryker back on his heels, then he flicked a glance at him and turned away, knowing he saw it.  He was right, Cogan was in a rage.

“Close to eight hours,” answered the doctor.
“I was going to go report it to Gus, but I had to stitch up Father Sampson first.”

Ryker moved his attention to the priest.
“Did you see who it was?”

“I don
’t know who hit me. I was in my private chambers, reading, when someone came in.  I didn’t hear him. But I think I have an idea too.”  He left out the part where his book was stolen.  He didn’t want to alarm the Hamiltons or the Russells with his suspicions of the helpful stranger.

Cogan went back out onto the porch as the rain started to fall heavier.
  The werewolf was itching to get out over his rush of emotions. Ryker saw it and he didn’t want to frighten anyone else. He closed his eyes turned his face up to the wet assault while thinking. He agreed with Ryker.  One of them should have stayed behind.  He opened eyes to the dark skies, then lowered them into the landscape. Hell, he couldn’t track them in this, even with his acute senses.  He took off his hat and worried his hand through his ebony hair.  If they had an eight hour start, Butch could have done anything to Josephine by now.  “I should have killed him when I first met him,” he mumbled to himself. “I knew men like him before.  I knew what he was like.”

“Then Josephine would say that you are no better than he is,” came Ryker’s voice behind him.  He stepped out onto the porch and joined Cogan.

He smiled grimly. “Yes she would.”

“Could you track them?”

“No.  This rain is my curse.”  His chest burned with anger and frustration.

“Well then, I guess we pay a visit to town. Someone has to know something.”

“I couldn’t protect her,” came a small sob behind both of them.

They turned
in unison to see Thomas standing in the doorway.

“Aw hell Thomas,” Ryker said sincerely, “You couldn’t have done anything.  I couldn’t have done anything.” He gathered the child into his arms.

“Hey,” Cogan crouched so he was eye level with the young man.  His face was wet with tears of guilt. “Do you remember the words?”

It took him a moment to figure out what he was referring to.  When he did, h
e smiled and nodded.

“Let’s hear them.”

Thomas took a shuddering breath then spoke in almost flawless Latin.
“
Non nobis D-domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da g-gloriam.”

Cogan smiled.  He promised he would practice the words
, and he did, so he gave him his reward.
“
Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam
,” he repeated softly
.
“It means,
Not to us, not to us, O Lord, But to thy name give glory,”
Cogan said.  “It is a prayer of my faith—for protection.” He reached up and removed the cross from around his neck and gave it to Thomas.  “This is very special to me. You hang onto this for me.  It will protect you.”

“What about you?”
Thomas looked down at the heavy cross he held in his hand.

“Me?  Well, I have Ryker.”
  He grinned slowly.

That near wiped all sorrow off the boy’s face as he stared up at his big brother with pride.

“Go in the house before Hattie comes looking,” Ryker said.  He was appreciative of Cogan for taking the time to make Thomas feel better. He told Thomas to look after the women, and it backfired.  He felt just as much guilt.

“But Josie—“

“We’ll bring her home.  Don’t worry,” Ryker said with absolutism.

“Okay.” He clutched the cross in his hand and did as his brother asked.  Hattie was waiting inside the door and heard everything the two men said to him. 
If she had any doubts about Cogan, she didn’t now.  That small show of affection made her know that she could trust him completely with her family.

“Thanks for that.”
Ryker said after Hattie shut door.

Cogan
stood and nodded, but didn’t say anything.  He just went down the steps and mounted his horse in a single movement with a swift swing of his long leg over the saddle.

Ryker knew that is the look his enemies saw.  It became deadly
, and he was thankful that he reserved it for after Thomas went in the house. It even frightened him a little and Cogan was on his side.

***

“Glare all you want lovely.  You may not realize it, but that turns me on,” Butch said without looking up from the book he’d stolen from Father Sampson. He casually flipped through the pages feeling Josephine’s sapphire glare on the side of his face. He would deal with her soon enough.  First he had to deal with Cogan Reid.  Hell though, she was as tempting as sin!  His eyes went over the front of her before he returned his attention back to the book.  Her breasts were thrust hard against the fabric because her hands were bound behind her back.  They were a perfect handful.

As for the book, h
e knew that priest knew more than he went on about.  How could he not be?  He was a good man and he was acting out of concern for Josephine because Butch confessed things to him. Well, he was bragging really.  He also knew of the Priest’s vows, that he would not break them, but he sure as hell found another way to try and prevent Butch from having Josie.  He already concluded that Father Sampson was the instigator in her quick wedding to Mr. Reid. Well, he just couldn’t have that.  He actually went to the church to find out what he knew about Cogan, but ended up finding the good Father going through a book.  It only took him a moment to realize why after he picked it up and thumbed through it while the priest lay at his feet.  His men were being killed by a grizzly—yet, what bear killed like that?  Deak swore that Doyle shot Cogan and he went down, yet he was walking around like he’d never so much as gotten a sliver.  Then there was the fact that he’d shot all of his men without even getting grazed at Ryker’s failed lynching. Most importantly, was the fearlessness in the man.  Only a stupid man would stand up to him, and Cogan Reid was far from stupid.