Page 8 of Cowboy

“I know, honey. I’m helping. Are you Autumn?” he asked. She nodded, searching the space around her. Her foot appeared jammed between two twisted pieces of metal. “Okay, Autumn, I’ve got to get that metal bent back, honey. This might hurt.”

She said nothing at first, but as he pushed the aluminum apart with his hands, she cried out like a wounded animal. Lifting her foot from between the two pieces, he knew she was now free. But hearing the creak of metal, he also knew they didn’t have long in that tree.

“We gotta move, Autumn.” Unbuckling her, he pulled her against his chest. She was limp as a rag doll, smelling of urine and feces. He knew it was probably mortifying to her, but it wasn’t his first rodeo. Tying a loose piece of the rope around her, he secured her to his own harness and slowly backed out of the plane.

As gently as possible, he rappelled down. When he released his rope, he lifted her in his arms and moved toward the horses.

“I need to get a fire going,” he said. “Sit tight.”

She didn’t say anything as he collected the wood and had a fire going in no time. Gathering water from the small stream, he carried it back. Kneeling beside her with a lantern shining on her face, he saw how bad the gash was.

“Just let me clean you up, honey.” He wiped the blood from her face, the bruises worrying him more than anything. She could have internal injuries, and he wouldn’t know what to do for that. Gently pressing along her rib cage, she didn’t seem to have any trouble breathing.

When he was done, he realized that she’d been lying in that plane for three days in soiled clothing. Gathering more water, he stripped her clothes from her body and washed her down the best he could. From the pack, he pulled out clean clothing that Clarice had sent with him. Realizing she was completely naked, he swallowed, looking at her bruised body.

She was probably five-feet-five, slender, with small pert breasts. He tried not to stare, but it was damn difficult. She had lean, toned muscles and long, light brown hair. Seeing her skin pebble from the cold, he dressed her quickly, then placed a blanket over her.

Tilting her head up, he forced her to drink as much water as she would take, then gave her a small bite of banana.

“Easy,” he said softly. “Easy.” He heard the creaking of metal again, turning just in time to see the plane’s nose hit the ground, then flipped on its back.

“My p-plane,” she whispered.

“Yea, that was your plane. It’s not going anywhere, honey. Was there someone else in the plane?” he asked.

“Liconitis,” she whispered. “Took him. They took him.”

“Who took him?” he asked. “Autumn? Who took him, honey?” She was out. Safely out of the plane, now she was fast asleep.

Taking out the suture kit, he decided it would be the right time to stitch her head. When that was done, he looked at the ankle that had been trapped. It was black and blue, possibly sprained, but didn’t appear to have any broken bones.

Using the wrap in his first aid kit, he wrapped the ankle and elevated it on one of the saddles. Hopefully, she would sleep all night. With the horses tethered, he grabbed his weapons and lay on the other side of the fire from her. He wouldn’t get much sleep, but he’d be alert and able to fend off any wild animals or humans coming their way.

The night air was chilled, and he could see his breath in the darkness. He’d forgotten that they were at a higher elevation. He would need to get them down off the mountain as soon as possible if they were going to survive.

Her face turned toward the fire, and Cowboy swallowed, a pit in his stomach growing by the minute. She was beautiful. He didn’t notice it before. But she was absolutely perfect.

“Shit.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Cowboy awoke at first light and gathered more wood for their small camp. When the fire was stoked once again, he checked on Autumn, still sound asleep. As he stared at the plane, he noticed something odd and walked toward the upside-down craft.

Running his hands along the wing, he frowned as he reached the massive hole. Pulling out his phone, he took a picture and sent it back to the team.

“What does this look like to all of you?” A few minutes later, he got the call he knew would be coming.

“Someone shot that girl down. She’s lucky the whole thing didn’t explode. Whoever did it didn’t hit the fuselage,” said Chipper.

“That’s what I was afraid you would say.”

“How is she?” asked Blade.

“Bad head gash, but I stitched that up last night. Her ankle was stuck between two pieces of metal, but I was able to get her free. I don’t think it’s broken, but it’s probably sprained. She has bad bruising from the seatbelt across her neck, chest, and shoulders.”

“Try to keep cool compresses on the ankle and bruises,” said Lena. “Make sure she doesn’t have any broken ribs before you move her.”

“I was thinking about making a litter for her. Just pull her out of here. She said that Liconitis was taken. I couldn’t get any more information. She just said they took him.”

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