On the Trail

A few hours outside of town seven figures rode towards the hills, of the seven five of them were hard looking men who would kill at the drop of a hat. The two in the lead were the captives, one was a dapper looking man who rode his horse well while the other rider was a very attractive woman with auburn colored hair whose dress was now dishevled and torn in a few place. This was the new school marm.

"We haven't been introduced properly," the man riding next to her said with a faint smile. "My name is Bret Grant, what's your name?"

"I'm Mary Douglas." She replied with her voice shaking slightly.

Jim looked over at the teacher seeing that while she might be scared, she didn't panic; a very good sign there was hope for a way out of the situation.

"What will they do with us?" Mary asked.

Bret said nothing for a moment wondering if this woman was strong enough to face some really bad news. "My guess is that they will take you to Mexico and sell you while they will try to ransome me for the money I promised."

"Why did you say you were worth a lot of money to them?"

Bret chuckled and said, "I suppose I should have said that they are worth money to me but I could not let them get away with **** someone as beautiful as you."

"You aren't a dude from back east are you?" Mary asked feeling some kind of hope for the first time since the men grabbed her off the street.

"No mam, I am no dude from back east," Bret said wishing he could reach out and touch her hand. "I will get us out of here..."

"You two be quiet," one of the outlaws called out from behind. "I'll just as soon shoot you as keep you along."

"Ah, then you wouldn't get the money I promised." Bret said. "I'll even pay for the teacher." Leaning close to Mary he added, "That should get them thinking."

"Do you really have that kind of money?" Mary asked.

"Yes, I do but I wouldn't worry about it," Bret said. "If I'm not mistaken I have some friends who are on our trail even as we speak."

Mary did not know what to make of this man who dressed like a dued but she heard him talk boldly about escape and capturing the gang made her realize that there was more to this man than she first expected and it excited her.

As the seven riders approahed an outcroping of rocks the gang leader called a halt to rest the horses. "We'll camp here for the night." He said.

"We should tie them up," another gang member said. "Then we can fuck the teacher."

"No, we won't tuch the teacher just yet," the leader said. "I want to hear the dude's offer first; and if we don't like it we'll take the woman to Mexico and make money on her that way."

The leader of the outlaw gang approached Bret and the teacher saying, "What were you saying about getting extra money for the woman?"

Bert looked the man over knowing that he would now be able to recognize him no matter where he went for the leader had a nasty knife scar down his right cheek and a gap-tooth grin when he smiled. This has to be the man called "Smiling" Jack Trent. Changing the timber of his normal voice Bret sounded like he hadn't a care in the world as he said, "It's really very simple, I will get you an extra five thousand if you will let me have the teacher."

"How will we get this money?" Jack asked sounding eager for the easy buck.

"You send one of your men to the next town with a note that I will right, he will send a wire back to the town where you took us and they will get the money for me."

Jack knew that he had everything to loose if the dude was lying to him but the thought of all that money was far stronger than his need for caution. "Write the note," he said as he turned to one of his men. "Ted, take this to the next town and make sure the telegraph gets sent."

"That's one down." Bret thought as he leaned back against a boulder.