“Come on over and get the woman. I didn’t know she belonged to you. You can have her back if you just let me go.”
A twig snapped behind him, and the man let go of Brenda and then turned to shoot in the direction of the noise. Before he could finish turning, Tom knocked the weapon from the thug’s hand and kicked his legs out from under him. Tom’s flashlight blinded the man. “Where did you come from, and who is Jock? Talk, or I’ll pump a couple of 9-mm into your knees.”
“Jock was our leader at the county jail outside of Frisco. I just came with them to stay alive. My friend took your woman. I’m innocent.”
“How many men are in your group?”
The man thought a bit too long, and Tom stepped on the man’s crotch and ground his foot. The man screamed and tried to get up. Tom stomped harder, causing the man to cease movement. The big criminal had passed out. Tom looked over at Brenda, standing alone with her hands tied behind her back. “I’ll free you now while he’s passed out.”
Tom retrieved his knife from the dead man and cut Brenda loose. She stayed motionless, transfixed on the thug. “Tom, he’s moving.”
Tom stomped on the man’s hand just as he wrapped his fingers around the pistol. Again, the man screamed in pain. “Where are the rest of your friends?”
“They’re waiting for us in Ashland or Medford. I don’t know which one. Jock said he’d stop at the one with the most liquor and women.”
Tom saw Brenda move toward him but was surprised when her foot hit the man on the bridge of his nose. Blood spurted out, red froth appeared for a few seconds, and then the man was motionless. Tom thought quickly. “Brenda, we’re done with him. If you turn your back, I’ll dispatch him so he won’t hurt anyone else.”
Brenda wrapped her arms around Tom for support as she swooned. “That’s the first time I killed anyone,” she said before vomiting.
Tom wiped her mouth and gave her a drink before checking her foot. He didn’t find any breaks and then helped her clean up before taking the men’s weapons. Brenda took a step but winced in pain. Tom handed her his flashlight and picked her up. She wrapped an arm around his neck, and he walked as fast as he could back to their camp.
Tom saw some lights ahead and yelled, “It’s Brenda and me! We ran into trouble, but we’re both okay now!”
Granny B shined a light on them, and everyone gasped at the blood on Tom’s legs and Brenda’s foot. Granny B smiled at Tom and asked, “What in tarnation have you two been up to? Did something bite you on your legs?”
Tom chuckled. “Brenda decided to use a creep’s head for a football and hurt her foot. I’m afraid most of his blood sprayed my legs. I’ll set her down on that log by the fire. Granny, please check her foot while we break camp and get the heck away from here before anyone comes to find out who was screaming.”
Tom stooped to set Brenda on the log, and she hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Granny B, Tom saved my life. You have a real hero for a grandson.”
Everyone had a puzzled look on their faces. Sam asked, “Well, are you going to tell us what happened and whose blood is covering both of you?”
*
Chapter 15
Emigrant Lake - Southeast of Ashland, Oregon
“If you killed both of the kidnappers, then how did Brenda’s foot get so bloody?”
Brenda held her hand up to silence Tom. “Tom is the perfect gentleman and didn’t want anyone to know that I killed the SOB. He was encouraging the man to talk, and anger had overcome me, so I kicked him. I just wanted it to hurt. Tom told me later, my kick drove his nose bone into his brain.”
Granny B applied a poultice made from the inner bark's scrapings from a willow tree and applied it to Brenda’s foot. She finished wrapping the foot and then gave Brenda a wad of the bark shavings to chew on to reduce the pain and swelling. She looked up at the others. “I guess we need to scout the Ashland area. Since we didn’t find a vehicle that would run, Tom said he would take Bill and Betty through the city. I know it’s not much, but it’ll help some.”
Tom shook his head. “I can take them up to Talent tonight on the back roads and make it back here before sunrise. I’ve run those roads at night with Grandpa many times to avoid drawing attention to our supply runs.”
Granny B didn’t like the idea but knew that if Tom was to be their leader, she had to step out of the way. “I guess it can’t be any more dangerous than walking through the city or around it. Be careful. You need to leave now or wait until tomorrow night.”
Tom wanted to get to the ranch as fast as possible and didn’t want to wait another day. “We have time to make it if we don’t run into trouble. If we do, we’ll hide and avoid a fight.”
Sam tapped Tom on the shoulder. “You’ll need someone manning the night vision scope for the ride back. I’ll go so Jackie can help guard our camp.”
Tom saw the look on Granny B’s face. “Great idea, Sam! That would be
