The Stagecoach - english version

[Blue]

Chapter 11 – An Unplanned Night Stop

The sun was now low over the parched land.
Elias had put the toolbox back into the stagecoach after examining the broken hub once more. But his face made it clear that he had found no new solution.
“Without a replacement part, we’re not going anywhere,” he finally said.

Carter looked along the road.
“How far to the next station?”

“Too far to reach it today. And we don’t have saddles for the stage horses.”
Elias looked toward the horizon.
“If we’re lucky, someone will come by tomorrow.”

Miriam looked at him in surprise.
“Tomorrow?”

Elias nodded.

“If at all. The stagecoaches don’t run this line every day.”

Claire looked at her mother.
“So we really are stuck here all night?”

“Looks that way.”

Elias began preparing a fire beside the stagecoach. He gathered dry wood and arranged it in a small pile.
Within a few minutes, a flame was flickering upward.

The shadows grew longer.

Claire sat down on the step of the stagecoach.
“I never thought I’d be happy about having dinner out of a stagecoach.”

Miriam smiled.
“What did you expect?”

“Something better than a piece of bread.”

Elias heard her and grinned.
“I’ve also got some dried meat.”

Claire immediately looked up.
“How much?”

“Not much.”

“That doesn’t sound promising.”

Elias opened his bag. Inside were a few pieces of dried meat, some bread, a larger leather water bottle, and the small flask of whiskey that Elias had filled at the station.

Miriam looked at the contents.
“That’s hardly enough for all of us!”

“For tonight it is.”

Carter picked up the larger container.
“Water?”

Elias nodded.

“A little.”

Carter handed it to Miriam.
“Ladies first.”

Miriam took a small sip and then passed the bottle to Claire.

Jake watched the scene. “If I’d known prisoners got to travel in such luxury, I would have had myself arrested sooner,” he remarked.

Carter looked at him.
“You’re getting nothing.”

“That was to be expected.”

Claire covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter.

Jake grinned.
“At least I’m getting entertainment.”

“You apparently never get enough of that,” the Marshal replied.

The small meal was quickly divided among them.
Afterward, things grew quieter.
Dusk settled over the land.

Finally Miriam stood.
“Claire?”
Her daughter looked at her questioningly.
Miriam hesitated briefly.
“We should probably find somewhere to spend the night.”
Claire understood immediately.
She looked around. The view across the plain was discouraging.
No bushes.
No large rocks.
Only dry grass and a few scattered low cacti.
Claire sighed.
“There’s absolutely nothing here.”

Elias pointed toward a shallow depression a little way from the road.
“The ground is a little lower back there.”

Miriam looked in the direction he indicated.
“That isn’t exactly an inviting place.”

“No.”

Claire looked at her mother.
“Then I suppose we’ll have to make do.”

Jake, who had overheard the conversation, turned demonstratively toward the two women.

“I see nothing.”

Claire had to laugh.
“That would be better.”

Carter stood up.
“I’m going to take a quick look around. You stay here!”

Jake looked at him.
“Very considerate.”

Carter ignored him.

Miriam and Claire eventually moved a short distance away from the stagecoach, toward the shallow depression, where the terrain offered at least a little protection from the men’s eyes.

Elias added two more pieces of wood to the fire.

Carter stood with his back to the depression, looking out toward the road.
Jake was sitting on the step of the stagecoach again. His shackled hands rested on his knees.
He stared into the darkness. Far and wide, there was nothing to be seen.
No light.
No movement.
Only the last reddish streaks in the sky.

Jake smiled almost imperceptibly. Then he looked back into the fire.
The night had begun.

[Blue]

Chapter 12 – The Night Begins

Darkness had completely fallen over the land. The small fire beside the stagecoach burned quietly. Elias sat in front of it with his hands stretched toward the warmth, while Carter stood a few steps away, repeatedly looking down the dark road.

Miriam and Claire sat close together on the stagecoach bench.

Jake had settled on the step. His shackled hands still rested loosely on his knees.

For a while, nothing happened.
Only the crackling of the fire could be heard.

“Do you think the three men will really bring help?” Miriam finally asked.

Carter looked out into the darkness.

“I hope so.”

“They seemed friendly.”

“Yes.” He paused briefly.
“But friendly doesn’t automatically mean harmless.”

Jake smiled.
“A sensible attitude, Marshal.”

Carter turned toward him.
“You seem remarkably knowledgeable about sensible attitudes today.”

“I learn quickly.”

Claire laughed quietly. Then she fell silent again.

Somewhere in the darkness, a branch snapped.

Carter straightened.
“Did you hear that?”

Elias stood up as well.
“What?”

Another sound.
This time it was not a branch breaking in the bushes. It was clearer.
Hoofbeats.
Slowly approaching.
Several horses.

Carter placed a hand on his revolver.
“Stay by the stagecoach!” he ordered the women.

Miriam pulled Claire closer.

Jake raised his head.
His expression had changed.
The grin was gone, replaced by a certain tension.

The hoofbeats came closer and closer. Without hurry.
Then three dark figures appeared at the edge of the firelight.

Blue rode in front.
Caleb followed.
Silas brought up the rear.

Carter stepped forward.
“Stop!”

Blue pulled back on the reins.
“Easy, Marshal.”

Carter kept one hand on his revolver.
“You said you were going to the ranch.”

Blue smiled.

“We did.”
Silas slowly dismounted while Caleb remained in the saddle for the moment.

Carter looked from one man to the next.
“Did you find any tools?”

“No,” Blue said.
“Then I don’t understand why you came back.”

Blue glanced briefly toward the stagecoach.
“Perhaps we just wanted to see how you were doing.”

Carter drew his revolver slightly from its holster.
“Stay where you are.”

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then Jake moved.
Not quickly.
Just one step.

Claire looked at him questioningly.
“Jake?”

Carter turned sharply.
“McCoy!”

Jake now stood behind Claire, using her as a shield. His expression had completely changed.
The grin was gone. So was the friendly irony. Only cold concentration remained.

Blue stayed on his horse.
Silas smiled.

Carter stopped.

Jake looked at him.
Then he looked toward the three riders.
A brief smile appeared on his face.
“There you are.”

Caleb pointed toward Jake’s handcuffs.
“The key, Marshal.”

Carter still held the revolver. His gaze briefly shifted to Claire and Jake.
Then back to Caleb.
“And if I say no?”

Caleb did not answer immediately. He simply looked calmly at Carter.

Jake drew Claire a little closer.

Carter understood.
Slowly, with his free hand, he reached into his jacket pocket and produced the small key. He held it up between two fingers.
“I’ll come one step closer. Then I’ll drop it.”

“Throw it to me, Marshal!”

“All right.”

Carter tossed him the key.

Caleb caught it neatly, walked slowly toward Jake, and stopped directly in front of him.
“Well, little brother,” he said dryly. “Got yourself into trouble again?”

Jake grinned.
“A little.”

“You’ll never learn, will you?”

“That’s what I’ve got you for.”

His brother shook his head.
A barely perceptible smile crossed his face.
“As always, I have to get my little brother out of trouble.”
Then he unlocked the handcuffs.

Jake rubbed his wrists and looked at his brother.

“Thanks.”

“Thank me later. First we have to get you out of here.”

Jake grinned again.
“You’re still the same.”

“And apparently so are you.”

For a brief moment the two brothers looked at each other. Then Jake turned his head and looked toward Miriam and Claire before turning back to Caleb.

“Why do you want to get me out of here so quickly?”
His gaze wandered toward the two women again.
“The night is still young.”

The older brother said nothing.
But Miriam had seen the look.
And for the first time, she wondered whether freeing Jake had really been the only reason the three men had appeared.

[Blue]

Chapter 13 – Bound

Carter barely had time to push the revolver back into its holster. The broad-shouldered man stepped toward him and held out his hand.

“The gun.”
Carter looked at him for a moment. Then he handed over the revolver.

Caleb took it and tucked it into his own gun belt.
“And now to the stagecoach.”

Carter allowed himself to be led aside without resistance. One of the men cut a length of rope from the harness of the stagecoach horses and tied Carter’s hands behind his back. He was then secured to a sturdy crossbar of the coach.

Elias watched the whole thing from beside the fire. When Caleb came toward him as well, he voluntarily raised both hands.

“You don’t have to ask me.”

Caleb stopped in front of him.

“Then make it easy for us.”

“I’ve been trying to do that all my life.”
Elias stood up. He allowed himself to be tied as well and secured beside Carter to the coach. As he did so, he briefly looked at the rope and then at his stagecoach.
“Well,” he muttered, “it’s certainly not the first time my stagecoach has been robbed.”

Carter glanced sideways at him.
Elias shrugged.
“And hopefully not the last.”

Blue snorted briefly, as though he was having trouble suppressing a laugh. Then he turned toward the others.
For Elias, the matter was settled for the time being.

For Miriam and Claire, however, it was only just beginning.
________________________________________

[Blue]

Chapter 14 – First Advances

Blue walked over to his horse and opened one of the saddlebags.
“You surely haven’t had anything decent to eat for hours!” he said to the women.
He took out some bread, dried meat, and his own canteen and handed everything to Miriam.
“Please.”

Miriam hesitated for a moment, then accepted it.

“Thank you.”

“Gladly.”

Claire was given something to eat and drink as well.

Jake sat down near her and regarded her with his usual, almost friendly grin, while Silas leaned against the stagecoach and chewed on his tobacco as usual.
For a moment, the situation seemed almost peaceful. Almost as though the three men really had come only to free Jake.

Miriam looked at Blue. He calmly returned her gaze.

Once again, she wondered what this man was really planning.

Everyone except the Marshal and Elias sat around the quietly crackling fire, eating from the three men’s supplies and drinking.



For several minutes, hardly anyone spoke. Then Jake looked at his brother.

“Remember the station at Red Creek?”

His brother grinned.

“How could I forget?”

Silas chewed his tobacco and stared into the fire.

“That little girl back then had some mighty fine red hair.”

Jake grinned.
“The one with the freckles?”

Silas nodded slowly.

“Freckles on her face,” he said with a crooked grin, “and a few more besides.”

Jake laughed quietly.

Claire looked from one man to the other.
“What does he mean?” she asked her mother.
Miriam answered immediately.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”

Claire frowned, but let it go for the moment. Miriam, however, looked at Silas for another moment. She had understood perfectly well what he meant.
Jake moved a little closer to Claire. Not much—just enough that their shoulders almost touched.

“Cold?” he asked with a faint grin.

Claire shook her head.

A few steps away, Blue had meanwhile fixed his attention on Miriam. His gaze lingered on her longer than she liked.
Caleb noticed both things. He said nothing. His eyes moved between the men, the women, and the darkness beyond the fire.
Only Silas seemed increasingly uncomfortable. He chewed his tobacco more vigorously and watched Jake.

„Du machst es dir aber gemütlich, Kleiner“, sagte er schließlich.

Jake grinned.
“Why not?”

Silas did not answer. His gaze remained on Claire a moment too long. Then he looked back into the fire.

Something about Jake’s behavior clearly displeased him.

[Blue]

Chapter 15 – First Tensions

Caleb stood up and walked a few steps away from the fire.
He checked the horses, looked toward the road, and let his gaze sweep over the dark surroundings. For a while, he stood still and listened. Then he returned to the fire.
“The horses are calm. There’s no one on the road.”

Blue nodded.
“Good.”

Caleb looked at Jake and Claire once more.
“We shouldn’t stay here until morning anyway.”

Blue merely glanced up.
“Not yet.”

Caleb met his gaze but said nothing. Then he sat down by the fire again.

The last traces of dusk had finally disappeared. Only the fire still cast faint, flickering shadows across the dark prairie.
For a few moments, no one said anything.

Jake was still sitting beside Claire.
Blue kept his eyes on Miriam.
Caleb watched the surroundings.
Only Silas no longer seemed interested in the fire. His gaze was fixed on Claire.
For a long time.

Jake noticed.
His grin disappeared. Without a word, he moved a little closer to Claire.

Silas saw the movement. His gaze slowly shifted from Jake to Claire and back again.
For a moment, neither of them said anything.
Then Silas smiled.

Jake did not return the smile.

Caleb noticed the brief exchange but attached no particular significance to it. To him, it merely looked as though the two men were getting on each other’s nerves over some minor matter.

Blue noticed it as well. But he said nothing.
His gaze remained fixed on Miriam.

Silas slowly chewed his tobacco. His eyes moved once more between Jake and Claire. Jake had already moved very close to the girl.
Silas would only have had to get up.
But he did not.
Instead, he glanced briefly at Caleb.

Caleb was still sitting quietly by the fire, watching the surroundings.

Silas knew him. Caleb would probably only interfere if he believed Jake was in danger. When it came to other matters, he usually stayed out of things.
Perhaps that was why it was better to let Jake enjoy his little triumph.
Silas smiled almost imperceptibly.
Sometimes, it was probably better not to be the first one to act.

Jake looked at Claire. The fire was reflected in her eyes. Her closeness involuntarily reminded him of the farm. Of the evening that had ultimately brought him here.
Since then, he had not had a woman this close to him.

His thoughts kept returning to Claire. With every passing moment, it became harder for him to think about anything else.

Silas watched him closely, but Jake did not notice his gaze.
He saw only Claire.
And Silas began to wonder whether it really would be wiser to let the boy have his way.

The fire crackled.
Jake was still sitting much too close to Claire.
Silas silently chewed his tobacco and watched.
Caleb listened to the darkness.
Carter was probably trying to figure out how to free himself from his bonds.
Miriam watched Blue.
And Blue watched Miriam.

Somewhere outside, the horses whinnied.

[Blue]

Chapter 16 – The Fire Dies Out

Everything around them had grown quiet.

Claire had moved away from Jake and now settled down a little apart from the fire with Miriam. They sat close together while the men remained seated silently around the fire.
Claire eventually lay down on her back and gazed up at the star-filled sky. She had never seen so many stars before. For a moment, she lost herself in their beauty and in her own thoughts. The night fairy, as she had always liked to think of herself when she lost herself in daydreams, was still far from realizing what dangers were lurking all around her.
Miriam now lay beside her as well and closed her eyes for a moment. She could not sleep either. Too many things were running through her mind.

Carter carefully moved his bound hands from time to time, testing the rope. Elias also occasionally tried to loosen his restraints a little. Both did so discreetly and without speaking to each other.

Jake did not even think about lying down. He had only one thought:
Claire.

Silas was thinking about Claire as well. But while Jake was still wondering how he might get close to Claire again, Silas already knew that he would take his own path.

Caleb sat a little apart, watching his companions.
He knew his brother Jake. And he had also come to know Silas. He knew what the two men were capable of.
Only Blue was someone he was not entirely sure about.

Blue was also sitting quietly by the fire. His gaze kept returning to Miriam.
He liked this woman. Not only because of her appearance. Her calmness, the way she spoke, and her self-control interested him.
And, of course, he desired her as well.
He simply did not yet know how he was going to get what he wanted with her.

The fire crackled one last time. The flames grew smaller and smaller. A piece of wood crumbled into ash.

Blue looked into the embers.
“We need wood.”
No one moved.
Silas glanced briefly at Jake.
Jake looked at Silas.
Caleb looked around at the others.
No one made any move to get up.
Caleb waited another moment. Then he let out an audible sigh.
“All right.”

He rose to his feet.
“If you gentlemen are too good to gather a few dry branches, I’ll do it myself.”

Blue looked up at him. Caleb gave him a brief, slightly annoyed look.
“I’ll be right back.”

Then he disappeared into the darkness.

[Blue]

Chapter 17 – The Farm

An owl suddenly took flight somewhere nearby. Its wings could be heard for only a moment.
Farther away, a coyote howled.
The horses had stopped grazing. Everything they could reach had already been eaten away. Only an occasional quiet snort could be heard.
By now, the fire had dwindled to a low ring of embers and ash.

No one spoke. Silence lay heavily over the camp.

Jake looked toward Claire.

She was still lying on her back, gazing at the sky.

Jake got to his feet and slowly walked over to her.

Claire noticed him and turned her head.

“Can’t sleep either?” Jake asked quietly.
Claire, who had noticed the change from the formal Sie to the familiar Du, shook her head.
“No. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep at all tonight.”

Jake sat down beside her.

A little way behind them, Silas was still sitting by the fire. His gaze rested on the two of them.

Jake moved a little closer to Claire, who was still looking at the stars above. When he tried to sit a little closer, she turned slightly toward him.
The movement shifted her skirt a little. Beneath the hem, the light edge of her petticoat became visible, with a narrow strip of skin above it.

Jake noticed.
His gaze lingered there for a moment before returning to Claire’s face.

For an instant, Claire was no longer Claire.
Before Jake’s eyes appeared another face. The face of a young girl, uncertain and frightened.
He knew that look.
He had seen it before—on other girls, always at the moment when they realized what he really intended.
He had seen that look at the farm as well.
And suddenly the evening was there again.

“Jake?”
Claire’s quiet voice pulled him back. She looked at him questioningly.
“Is everything all right?”

But Jake did not hear her.
In his thoughts, he was miles away.
Blue had scouted the isolated farm of a wealthy rancher. It lay several miles from the nearest town.
They had been watching it from a safe distance since noon.
The farmer had tended to his breeding horses, feeding and grooming them. His wife and daughter had been tending the vegetable garden. And a dark-skinned maid had been hanging laundry on a line behind the house.
When dusk began to fall, Blue finally gave the signa
l.
They saddled their horses and rode toward the farmhouse.
They had come to make a rich haul.
And, Jake had hoped when he saw the three women, perhaps not just money.

The robbery was brief and brutal.
Silas kicked the front door apart with a well-aimed blow, allowing the gang to storm into the house with their weapons drawn.
In the dining room they found the farmer, his wife, and his daughter. The maid had just cleared away the soup and was about to bring the meat and potatoes.
Startled, she dropped the food.

Before the farmer could react, Caleb had pressed his revolver beneath the man’s chin.
Blue turned toward the women.
“Easy, ladies. Then nothing will happen to you.”
His voice sounded almost friendly.
“Caleb, tie him up.”

Caleb took the farmer’s revolver and forced him into a chair. A short time later, the man’s hands were tied behind his back.

Blue stepped closer.
“Now,” he said calmly, almost pleasantly, “where do you keep your money? And your wife’s jewelry?”

The farmer remained silent.

Blue’s smile did not disappear. But suddenly there was a hard glint in his pale blue eyes.
“I asked you where the money is.”

The farmer spat out a curse.
“To hell with you! You’re not getting a damned dollar from me!”

His daughter clung frightened to her mother.

The maid stood frozen. Her large, terrified brown eyes moved from one man to another as she pressed both hands over her mouth.
Jake and Caleb let their eyes wander around the room.

The heavy furniture, the silver on the table, the paintings on the walls—all of it made it clear that the farmer was not a poor man.

Jake grinned slightly.
Caleb said nothing. He simply continued looking around.
Silas, on the other hand, had little interest in any of it.
His attention had already shifted to something else.

Blue frowned in displeasure at the farmer’s refusal. Then he began searching himself.
He opened the first drawer, searched it, and found nothing. The next drawers contained neither money nor jewelry either.

Caleb began searching as well, though with considerably less patience. He practically ripped the drawers out, threw their contents aside, and then searched the adjoining rooms.

Some time later, he returned to the dining room.
All he had in his hand was a small handful of dollars.
“That’s all, Boss!”

Blue looked at the bills in Caleb’s hand and slowly shook his head.
“That can’t be.”
His gaze swept across the room.
“This place reeks of money.”

Then he turned to the farmer’s wife.
“What’s upstairs?”
“Just the bedrooms,” she answered curtly.
Blue slowly shook his head.
Then he stepped toward the woman, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her away from her daughter.

The girl recoiled in fright.
Blue pushed her toward Jake, who caught her with a broad grin.

Blue kept a firm grip on the farmer’s wife and gestured toward the stairs.
“Then you and I will have a look upstairs, sweetheart.”

Before Jake could delve any further into his memories, Caleb returned from the darkness carrying an armful of wood and pulled him out of his thoughts.
“There’s more over there,” Caleb told Silas, pointing in the direction he had come from.
He laid the wood beside the fire and began feeding the embers.

Silas got to his feet reluctantly, spat his chewing tobacco beside the fire, and headed in the direction Caleb had indicated.

Caleb turned away from Silas and looked around the camp.
That was when he noticed that Jake was now sitting beside the young woman and seemed completely lost in thought.
His brow furrowed slightly.

Apparently, freedom was already putting foolish ideas into his little brother’s head again.
Then he noticed Blue, who had sat down some distance away beside the girl’s mother and was now also watching Jake.
He was thoughtfully chewing on a dry blade of grass.

Caleb’s appearance had also pulled Jake from his thoughts.
Slowly, he turned his gaze back toward Claire.

She had shifted her position on the ground slightly.
Not much.
But now a little more of her leg was visible between the hem of her skirt and her ankle boot.

Ordinarily, it was nothing special.
To Jake, it was.

His gaze lingered there for a moment before returning to Claire’s face.
“You’re not exactly making this easy for me, Claire.”

She looked at him questioningly.
“What am I doing?”

Jake smiled.
“You really don’t know?”

Claire shook her head.
“No.”

“Then perhaps you should be more careful.”
A small smile crossed her face.

“Careful about what?”
Jake did not answer immediately.
“With me.”

Claire looked at him for several seconds.
Then she gave a quiet laugh.

A few steps away, Miriam had heard every word.
Her gaze remained fixed attentively on the two of them.

Blue had been following the conversation as well. He said nothing, but his gaze moved back and forth between Jake and Claire.
Caleb, on the other hand, acted as though none of it interested him in the slightest. He got to his feet and walked over to Elias and Carter.

He wanted to make sure the two men were still properly bound.

[Blue]

Chapter 18 – Silas

Silas returned with a small armful of wood. It was not much. He had had no desire to wander around in the darkness any longer than necessary. Too much could happen while he was away.
He laid the wood beside the fire and sat down again. As he did so, he caught the last few words Claire had spoken.
Silas grimaced. The whole thing was taking far too long for his liking.

They had freed Jake. The Marshal and the stagecoach driver had been neutralized. The two women were completely at their mercy.
What was there left to think about?
His gaze wandered toward Claire.
He wanted her too. That much had long since been settled in Silas's mind.

It was equally clear, however, that there was a hierarchy within their gang that could not simply be ignored.
Blue was the leader. But he would not get in Silas's way. Blue had no interest in young girls.
Then there was Caleb. He and Blue had known each other for a very long time and were best friends. But Caleb posed no threat to Silas either. So far, he had never used violence against women.
But Jake.
He was considerably younger than Silas. Yet Silas had been the last to join the gang. And Caleb had always made sure that Silas was not given preference over his “little brother,” as he sometimes jokingly called Jake.
At least that had never been a problem when there had been enough women to choose from.
Silas did not particularly like it.
But what could he do about it? He did not stand the slightest chance against the three of them.
But another question occupied his mind even more.
What would happen once the men had satisfied their desires?
By dawn at the latest, they would have to be gone. Once the next town learned that the stagecoach carrying the Marshal and the prisoner had never arrived, sooner or later someone would come looking for them.
Should they take the women with them?
Simply leave them here?
Along with the Marshal and the driver, who could also become a problem?
Kill them all and then flee?

Given Silas's limited way of thinking, that was actually the simplest and cleanest solution.
Silas looked toward Miriam, then back at Claire.
As hostages, the two women could certainly still be useful.
And perhaps they might also serve other purposes from time to time.
Silas did not take his thoughts much further at that moment.
He leaned back and stared into the fire.
And as he thought about it, that other evening suddenly seemed very close again.

The evening Jake had just been thinking about as well.
Neither of them knew how similar their thoughts were.
Yes, similar.
And yet different…

Silas, too, let his thoughts drift back to the robbery at the farm.
Blue had just grabbed the farmer's wife by the arm and disappeared upstairs with her to search the rooms there.
Caleb was still rummaging through drawers. He searched cabinets, underneath furniture, and even behind paintings for hidden compartments.
What Jake intended to do with the farmer's daughter did not particularly interest Silas.
His own attention had long since turned to the maid.

Her darker features and the suspicion that her veins carried not only European but also Spanish or Native American blood had caught his attention. He had never encountered a woman like her before. And that excited him.
Silas looked for an excuse.
Finally, he pointed toward the kitchen.
“I'm hungry.”
He grabbed the maid by the arm and pulled her along with him.

A short while later, the two of them were alone in the kitchen. Silas closed the door behind him and immediately forced the maid toward the kitchen table.
The young woman was wearing a cloth skirt that reached roughly to her knees, beneath whose hem smooth, brown legs could be seen. Legs that made Silas's mouth water at the sight of them.

His gaze moved higher, over the simple white cotton blouse that covered her upper body. But not completely. Beneath the maid's neckline, the outlines of her firm breasts were clearly visible.

Despite her dark complexion, the woman facing him went pale. She evidently sensed the danger she was in and tried to flee through the kitchen door. But she had reckoned without Silas; he managed to grab her by the blouse just in time. The fabric tore, exposing not only her shoulders but also her breasts, revealing large, dark areolas.

Silas’s lust intensified. He spun the maid around so that her back was to him. Immediately, he roughly placed his calloused hands on her breasts and drove her before him toward the kitchen stove, where the fire had since died out. Then he hiked up her skirt and reached between her legs with one hand, tearing the cotton panties from her body. With his other hand, he undid his trousers and pulled out his rigid member.

Suddenly, a shot rang out, and events spiraled rapidly out of control.

[Blue]

Chapter 19 - Resistance

Blue, who was in the farmer’s bedroom with his wife and was himself occupied with thoughts that were anything but innocent, jumped up from the bed onto which he had thrown the woman only moments earlier.
He drew his revolver with lightning speed and raced down the wooden stairs into the ground floor, where a veritable hail of bullets greeted him!

And not just him.
Caleb, who had rushed out of one of the rooms after the first shot, also had to dive for cover.

And Silas?
Although he still had no idea what was going on, he shoved the maid away from him, hurriedly pulled up his trousers, took both Colts in his hands, and ran into the living room.
What he saw there left him speechless!

Jake lay on the ground beside the farmer’s nearly naked daughter, his lower body exposed. Blood was flowing from a gunshot wound in his right leg. The injury evidently prevented him from getting up and reaching for a weapon as well.

A young man stood in the living-room doorway. He was apparently the one who had fired the first shot—and thereby incapacitated Jake.

Silas had no idea who the man was or where he had suddenly come from. He knew only one thing: here in the living room, he was completely exposed to the stranger’s weapons.
So he dropped to the floor and tried to roll back toward the kitchen.

But there, too, a stranger suddenly appeared. A dark-skinned man who pulled the maid toward him with one hand while wildly firing with the other.
In a panic, Silas fired back at the man.
He hit not only him, but the maid as well.
Both collapsed lifelessly to the floor.

Meanwhile, in the living room, the farmer had managed to free himself and reach for his weapon. Together with the first man, he now took aim not only at Silas, but also at Blue and Caleb.

Blue was the first to realize that there was nothing more they could do for Jake, who was lying on the floor screaming in pain.
“Get out of here!” he shouted to the other two before leaping through the front door and running toward his horse.

His two companions followed close behind.
Only much later would they learn what had happened: early that morning, the farmer had sent the maid’s husband to the horse dealer in town with a large sum of money to pick up several breeding stallions he had inspected a few days earlier and deemed suitable.

The horse dealer had sent his son back to the farm with the dark-skinned man to assist him. The two of them first discovered the gang’s horses. And when they reached the destroyed front door, they immediately drew the right conclusions and entered the house as well.
There they first encountered Jake with his trousers down.
Jake, whom the gang had been forced to leave behind, was later taken to the town jail by the sheriff. When the sheriff realized that he was a criminal wanted on several outstanding warrants, he notified the responsible U.S. Marshal in Prescott.

The Marshal then sent his Deputy U.S. Marshal, Carter, to take Jake to Prescott—to put him on trial there and then, no doubt, personally put the noose around his neck.

Silas’s train of thought was interrupted by the voices of Claire and Jake.

[Blue]

Chapter 20 – Uncertainty

“You really should be more careful.”
As he said this, he casually placed one hand on the ankle boot of the leg beside him and slowly let it move toward her knee.

Claire fell silent for a moment and looked at Jake’s hand in confusion. Then she looked back at him.
“Why?” she asked uncertainly.

For Claire, this was a completely new situation. Although she had grown up in town, she had had very little contact with young men her own age. Apart from her school days, that was—though those were already several years behind her.
Her parents, her mother above all, had largely shielded her from everyday life. Claire had never really understood why.
Since her father had died completely unexpectedly a few weeks earlier, leaving her alone with her mother, even her grandmother and aunts now seemed particularly determined to make sure that no man got truly close to her.
It was behavior Claire could not understand.

Jake leaned a little closer to her.
“Because otherwise I might eventually start thinking you’re doing it on purpose.”

Claire forced a faint smile. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of Jake’s words. She was too inexperienced, too sheltered, to properly assess the situation.
But she noticed that Jake’s voice had suddenly taken on a different tone.
A tone she did not like.

A few steps away, Miriam noticed the change immediately. She remained calm for the moment, but her gaze grew more alert. The corners of her mouth began to turn slightly downward.

Blue had seen and heard what was happening as well.
And he did nothing.

He knew his men. He had seen Jake begin flirting with women in an apparently harmless manner often enough. Often, it really had remained harmless.
But not always.

Silas, who had returned to the fire by now, watched the scene with an expression that was difficult to read.

Only Caleb appeared completely uninterested as he sat by the fire, carving at a dry branch with his sharp hunting knife.
But anyone who had been able to look beneath the brim of his broad black hat would have noticed that he, of all of them, was watching the scene particularly closely.
And that earlier, while no one had been watching, he had loosened his Colt slightly in its holster.

Blue remained sitting calmly by the fire, still chewing on the dry blade of grass.
His gaze moved to Jake and Claire.

He had known Jake for a long time.
Long enough to know that the boy rarely left anything to chance when he wanted something.
Blue had seen quite a bit from him over the years.
Small robberies.
Larger robberies.
Things that were better left unspoken afterward.
He had also heard about Jake’s violence toward women.
He had simply never witnessed it himself.
Until now.

His gaze briefly shifted to Silas.
With him, it was different.
Blue had not known Silas long enough to truly know what was going on inside him. He only knew that there were wanted posters out for him as well.
For serious violent crimes.
Including crimes against women.

Blue looked back at Jake.
Then at Caleb.
Caleb would look after his brother.
Of that, Blue had no doubt.
Not necessarily Claire.

Jake.
And that was a difference.

Blue let his gaze wander on.
Miriam.
He had not taken his eyes off her either. By now, he knew that getting what he wanted from her would be difficult.
Perhaps even impossible as long as they were all sitting here together.
But that was not the real problem.
The real problem was that, for the first time in a long while, Blue no longer knew exactly what his men were going to do next.
Blue pulled the blade of grass from his mouth and tossed it into the fire.

For a while, he said nothing.