Brandon knelt on the ground, cradling Ben's head.
Allie gasped. She couldn't help it. The lantern she held was the only light they had, but it was plenty. Ben had been beaten, his nose streaming blood, his right eye swelling shut.
The younger boy, James, shook like a leaf in the wind. Brandon quickly looked Ben over for more serious wounds, then glanced up into James's face. "What happened?" When James didn't answer, Brandon grabbed his shoulders. "What happened, James?"
"There was a-a man! At the creek. We were leaving, and he just came out of nowhere." Suddenly, he turned away and vomited, clutching at his stomach.
Brandon cursed under his breath, his attention on Ben again.
"You think it's Isaac?" Allie asked Brandon softly. She laid a comforting hand on James's back as he managed to control his spasming stomach. Fear rippled through his thin shoulders. What had that man done to him? Her back stiffened.
"Gotta be."
Ben slowly moved to a crouch, then with Brandon's help, stood.
"What about Sam?" Brandon asked.
"He tried to fight him…couldn't…" Ben spat blood, then said, "He took him. He said now he'd have protection for as long as he needed. Now that Sam had something to lose."
"What would that be?" Brandon asked.
"You," Ben answered miserably. "He knows you're Sam's brother."
****
White-hot anger scalded through Brandon. He picked up the rifle he'd dropped moments earlier, turning to Allie.
Her eyes were wide and worried in the dim lamp light, but she knew as well as he that he had no choice but to go after Isaac. Alone.
"Allie, send Jay and James to town for Owen. Jay knows the way, and James knows what this man looks like—" He broke off, unwilling to say that he believed Owen knew how to use a gun almost as well as he did. The boys didn't need to know that. He hadn't mentioned the obvious – it wouldn't matter that Owen knew what Isaac looked like, unless Sam was no longer with him. If Sam struggled, he might decide killing him would be easier than taking him along.
James spoke up quickly. "I'll go get him."
Allie gave him a nod. "You all hurry, James," she said unnecessarily, as the boy took off at a run across the tall grass.
Brandon turned to her and planted a swift kiss on her mouth. "I'll be back, soon as I can."
"You're not waiting for Owen?"
Brandon shook his head. "No. They could be long gone by then."
"How will he find you? He's no tracker, Brandon."
"Travis is," Ben said.
"Travis is a kid, Ben. What is he? Twelve? Thirteen?"
"I know, but he tracks as well as any man." As an afterthought, he said, "Fourteen, I think. Not too much younger'n Sam and me."
Old enough, then, Brandon thought. "You go back and wait for the doctor—"
"I'm comin' with you."
"Ben, I can't wait for you." Brandon was impatient to get moving.
"You won't have to. I'll keep up."
The determination in Ben's tone was new. Brandon recognized that he was not going to be left back. Sam was Brandon's brother, but he was Ben's best friend.
"All right, let's get going." He handed Ben the rifle, then looked at Allie. "We'll start where they were swimming and probably will head into the woods south of there – that'll provide lots of cover, and hiding for Isaac and Sam. I figure that'll be what he'll do. I'm hoping Sam will convince him that we don't want him back; that I won't bother to come after him. That may be what keeps him safe."
****
But two hours later, when Brandon and Ben heard voices ahead of them, it was obvious that Sam was doing anything but what Brandon had hoped for and expected him to do.
"My brother will come after me, and when he does, your ass is his."
Brandon closed his eyes briefly. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The note of assurance and pride in Sam's tone struck Brandon's heart. He wanted nothing more than to close the dark space between him and the man who held his brother hostage, and prove Sam right. He wanted to feel the man's neck beneath his hands as he squeezed the life from him. Sam would never be safe as long as Isaac Gabriel lived.
Brandon grasped Ben's arm in silent warning as Sam's voice drifted back to them on the still night air.
A deep laugh sounded. Confident. Certain. "That brother of yours doesn't give a shit if you live or die, boy. Best understand that, now. He's a hired gun, and that kind doesn't care about anything or anyone but themselves."
"He does."
"Bullshit! He'll be glad to lose one more mouth to feed from that litter of homeless puppies he took in."
"That's not true!"
Brandon moved forward stealthily, Ben close behind him. They were gaining on Isaac and Sam, though Brandon still couldn't make out their figures in the blackness of the woods. They practically had to feel their way, he and Ben, as they moved forward, with only inches separating them.
"I'm not going to help you, Isaac. Those days are over. I'm not going to be your—"