A different woman’s voice said, “My Jill is only fourteen. She’s not ready to be a wife. If you touch her, you’ll go to bed one night and wake up minus your pecker.”
Tom had unfastened his crossbow from his saddle as Kate and Granny B had done when the three horses came into view. An older man led two horses with a young woman on the first horse and a woman and young girl riding together on the other horse. The man had two packhorses trailing behind them. The women were dressed in clean clothes and looked healthy, but their hands were tied in front of them.
Tom motioned to the others and then cranked the bowstring back and nocked a bolt. He raised the weapon, took careful aim, let his breath out, and squeezed the trigger, and then felt the recoil as the bold flew from the crossbow. Tom heard the thud and saw the bolt strike the man in the chest. The man gripped the bolt and tried to pull it out to no avail. Tom heard the twang of another bow and saw a bolt strike the side of the man’s head, knocking him to the ground.
The women could see the man die but had no clue where the small arrows had come from. Tom circled around behind them to make sure there weren’t any more thugs. Finding no one around, he rode up to them and called out for Granny B and Kate to join them.
Granny B stopped a few feet from the women. “Where are you from?”
The older woman said, “I’m Lou, and my daughter, Jill and I are from Medford. The young woman, Jane is from Ashland.”
Kate asked, “How did the man capture you, and do you have family back there?”
“No husband. Mine was killed in the last Mideast war. The gang killed her boyfriend. This asshole stole us from the gang the day they captured us with one of their raiding parties. We’d hid from several, but our luck done run out. At first, we went with him willingly to get away from the gang. We thought it would be easier to escape from a single man than a jail cell and a hundred horny men. The dipshit was smarter than we’d thought and tied us up as soon as we escaped from the gang’s detention center.”
Tom kept vigilant as Granny B and Kate untied their bindings. “What do you plan to do now that you’re free?”
The young lady hadn’t spoken until then. “I’m Jane. I want to kill as many of those gang members as I can. I guess that won’t happen, so we need to get out of the area and find a safe place. Do you know of any groups of free people who might need a few more women? We’re willing to work hard for our food and help anyone with any tasks.”
Tom looked at Granny B and Kate. Both shrugged their shoulders, and Tom knew he had to make the decision. “Ladies, we might have room for you three in our group. We have some strict rules but won’t work you to death, and you eat what we eat.”
All three pleaded with Tom to take them into his group. He explained the rules and made sure they knew they weren’t going to have to give sex for security. He spelled out the rule about being in isolation the first month so the group could make the final decision on keeping them or not. They all agreed to the rules.
Granny B nudged Kate. “Bill might like the older one.”
“You’re a shameless matchmaker,” Kate responded.
“The quicker we get the loose ones paired up, the less drama, catfights, and men doing plain old dumb crap for sex.”
Kate said, “And you always say what’s on your mind.”
Granny B responded with a girlish giggle. “Better to get them loving on each other than hating everyone.”
Kate spoke, and Granny B’s jaw dropped. “I thought you’d hook up with Bill. You two seem to get along well.”
“Harrumph. I’m past wanting a man in my life. I get my kicks from stirring the crap.”
Kate chuckled. “My daddy always said – she who stirs the pot should have to lick the spoon.”
Kate stared at Tom for a minute until she caught his attention. “Where do we house them? You don’t want the family at the cabin to know about the cave or the ranch. There isn’t enough room in that cabin for all seven of them. We need a solution because you bring people in like a little boy brings puppies back home.”
Tom snickered. “I think we need to protect the location of our cabins and ranch from outsiders. I also have come to believe that there will be risks in adding people to our community. Maybe we should start another community that is part of our group, but not privy to all of our locations.”
Granny B perked up and grinned. “Bill and his scouts told me all of the cabins and bed and breakfasts around Hyatt Reservoir are empty. We could start with the B&B at the southwest end of the lake.”
Tom said, “Great idea. Let’s take them over to the B&B and set them up with some of these supplies. Then I’ll fetch Bill and James with the new family at the cabin and bring them over to the B&B. I asked Bill to set up a rotation of guards to help protect them until we add to the group.”
Kate snorted. “Lou appears to be about forty to forty-five, and Bill is in his early fifties. I think …”
Tom chuckled as he cut her off. “I’m not running a dating service!”
Kate quipped. “The sooner these people are focused on expending their excess energy in the bedroom, the less trouble and hard feelings will be spread
