Chapter 30

It were a moonless night, but even after sunset, me and Lightnin' rode on until it was so dark I could barely see my hand in front of my face. I knowed James and his men had to make camp, if only to give their horses a rest, but I was hopin' that I was at least gainin' on 'em.

"Ed," I heared someone whisper my name at the same time they was shakin' my shoulder. "Ed, wake up."

I opened my eyes wide, not even realizin' that I'd dozed off, only to find my friend Jake crouched in front of me with a worried look on his face. "Jake," I feared I was dreamin'. "How are ya here?"

Jake shook his head. "Long story, but I reckon I should tell ya it afore we search for Izzy."

"Izzy," I almost shouted at him. "ya know 'bout Izzy?"

He nodded. "When I got to Barlett, I stopped in the store there and the lady asked me where I was from. When I mentioned Robertson County, she asked if'n I knowed ya. Then I remembered Izzy tellin' me 'bout ya takin' her to church in Barlett."

I nodded.

"Well, as soon as the lady, Missus Reed, mentioned some fellers lookin' for Izzy, my ears perked up. One of 'em identified himself as Izzy's Uncle, and they was able to coax a lot of information from her, namely which route ya planned on travellin' to Texas."

Jake taked off his hat and runned his fingers through his hair, "I tell ya, Ed, as soon as I heared that, the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up, and I knowed them fellers warn't gonna back down 'til they found ya."

"They caught up to us yesterday mornin'," I started to tell him.

He nodded again, "I know," he said afore placin' a hand on my shoulder. "I just got done buryin' a man who telled me quite a tale afore he died."

Chapter 31

"It was Izzy's Uncle. He was near death when I found him; I did everythin' I could but…"

"What happened to him?"

"He telled me that he had first watch when they camped last night, and he just let Izzy go. He was feelin' right bad about everythin' that happened, and when he seened James for who he really was, he couldn't let her suffer through that kind of life."

"Izzy was on foot of course, and had only been gone a couple of hours afore James woke up. Izzy's Uncle couldn't convince him that he didn't let her go on purpose. They argued, and that James must have a hot temper, 'cause he shot that man and left him for dead."

"He asked me to find Izzy and tell her how sorry he was." Jake looked away from me then. "'Course I promised him I would, I'd be hard pressed to deny a dyin' man his last wish."

"Did ya look for her?"

Jake shook his head. "I'm sorry Ed, but Izzy's Uncle warn't sure if ya was dead or alive when they left ya. He stopped James from shootin' ya, but he was afeared that the crack on your head might of done ya in. You're my best friend, I had to know." His voice broke, and he looked at the ground.

"We gotta find her afore they do," I said as I stumbled to my horse.

"Hold on, Ed. You're a mess. Ya got dried blood on your head and your shirt. Ya ain't well."

"I'm fine. We're wastin' time."

"At least drink some water afore we head out."

"We gotta find her Jake," I was startin' to panic; "She might be hurt. They might already have her again!"

"I couldn't track her in the dark, but from what her Uncle telled me, I'm fair certain that Izzy headed west. At first light, I buried the man and checked the tracks of the other two. They didn't head north as I expected, but east. They didn't go after her."

Jake seened the confusion on my face. "Ed, they killed a man, and they warn't certain that they didn't kill you as well. The best thing they can do now is get a jump on the law, and ride as far away from here as possible."

I followed Jake back to James's campsite where we easily found Izzy's tracks. She'd headed west, just as Jake suspected.

We led our horses by the reins, and tracked Izzy on foot. Maybe it was born in him, but Jake was one of the best trackers I heared tell of in all of Robertson County, maybe in the whole of Tennessee. His Uncle Ned had taught him well, 'cause more times than not, he'd come upon a broken twig or half footprint that I missed.

It was slow goin', but I was hopeful that we'd find her soon. I prayed that she warn't hurt, but I was also afeared as to how James had treated her while she was his prisoner. It warn't somethin' I wanted to dwell on; there'd be time enough to sort him out once I had her safe in my arms.

The noon day sun was beatin' down on us 'cause we'd reached a place where the trees was thin. I stopped to survey the land, while Jake was crouched down on the ground, studyin' it.

"The footprints stopped," he telled me in a low voice as his head turned from side to side, all of a sudden his eyes grew wide and he pointed off to the left, past where I was standin'. "Ed, look."

My eyes followed in the direction he was pointin' and I seened somethin' in the distance. It looked to be pale blue in color. As I squinted my eyes and give a hard stare, I could just make out her form, curled up in the shade of the only tree in the clearin', my Izzy.

I ran to her then, half joyful, half afeared of what I might find. Jake was right beside me when I gathered her into my arms. "Izzy," I called to her. I thanked the Lord that she was breathin', but her lips was dry and her face was red, like she'd been too much in the sun. "Izzy, sweetheart," I called to her as I ran my hand over her cheek.

"Maybe try a sip of water, Ed." Jake said as he handed me his canteen.

Her eyes was still closed as I tipped the canteen against her lips. She took a breath and started coughin' and sputterin' as soon as the liquid touched 'em.

Then she opened her eyes.

"Ed?"

"I'm here Izzy. I got ya now."

"I was afeared ya was dead," her voice was hoarse, and her face took on a pained expression as she reached her hand up to my cheek. "I wanted to die too."

I frowned at her. "Izzy, don't say such things…"

"It's true." She smiled at me then and her eyes filled with tears as she ran her fingers down the side of my face. "Is ya really here?"

"I'm here. I promise ya, I'm here."

Her smile got bigger then. "I expect I look a fright," she whispered.

As usual, her mind was a puzzle, and I had to laugh as tears filled my own eyes. "Ya look as ya did the first time I ever laid eyes on ya." I pressed my lips softly to hers and pulled back to look at her again, drinkin' in the sight of her, "I never seened anythin' in my life as beautiful as what I'm lookin' at right now."

Chapter 32

**Note:  A man on horseback can travel up to 100 miles a day…it's doubtful he'd be willing to put his horse through that, and Jake obviously didn't, but those are the statistics. Jake travelled less than fifty miles from where he left Izzy and Ed the first time, until he stopped in Bartlett and spoke with Missus Reed.

A fully loaded wagon traveled, on average, between ten and fifteen miles a day…and that is an optimistic number. It was dependent on road conditions; weather, etc., because whereas a horse can navigate trouble spots, it is much more difficult for a wagon to do so.

Enjoy!

***************************WYiMA******************************

I kept my arms tight 'round Izzy's tiny form all the way back to our campsite. She kept tryin' to talk to me durin' the ride, but I wouldn't let her. She needed to rest after what she'd been put through.

As we got closer to camp, I prayed my hardest that we'd find everythin' undisturbed. I didn't think Izzy could take much more, and if anythin' had happened to Jack… well I couldn't even think on it.

I must have had the Lord's ear, 'cause when we arrived, everythin' was as I'd left it, and Jack and Izzy both like to have broke their necks tryin' to get to one another. Jake and me just sat back and laughed as Izzy wrapped that mutt in her arms and let him slobber all over her face.

It was one of the happiest moments in all my life.

***WYiMA***

After that, Izzy made it her mission to tend to me and Jack. She made me take off my shirt, and washed the blood from my head herself afore checkin' the wound. "Ed, it appears to be healin' but he cracked ya good."

"Don't I know it?" I answered. "Which one of 'em did it Izzy?"

"It was that Cyrus feller," she answered in a quiet voice afore kissin' my head near the wound and wrappin' her arms 'round my shoulders, then placin' a soft kiss on my cheek.

I could feel her little body tremblin' with the force of her sobs, so I pulled her onto my lap to comfort her. "Everythin's gonna be fine Izzy."

Jack's leg already seemed right much better than when I'd left, so it didn't look as if James had caused any permanent damage.

Jake and I had put off tellin' Izzy 'bout her Uncle 'til that evenin' when, by the light of the fire and with a strong cup of coffee in her hand, I felt she could face it.

She wiped away a few tears when Jake telled her about findin' him, and how his last words was about her, and how sorry he was for the way he'd treated her. She gave me and Jake a sad look and started in to whisperin'. "I heared James tell Uncle Luke that if I didn't get more agreeable to the situation, he was gonna take it out on him. I didn't realize it then, but now I think that he must have aimed to kill him." She wiped at her tears again and then gasped. She turned to look at me, a wild look in her eyes, causin' me to look around in a quick hurry, afeared that James and Cyrus had arrived to take their revenge on us.

"Ed, we gotta go back!"

I gave her a confused look. "What?"

"We gotta go back! James is gonna kill my brothers. He's as mean as a snake and telled Uncle Luke as much. He said, "Your little niece is wearin' on my nerves. Ya best find a way to settle her mind or I'm gonna make ya pay for it. And when I'm done with ya, I'll make your kin pay as well."

"He was talkin' 'bout my brothers, and Uncle Luke ain't here to defend them anymore." She jumped up then and ran toward the horses like she was plannin' to jump on the back of one of them and ride straight back to Robertson County.

It took Jake and me both to talk her out of it.

After Jake explained how James and Cyrus's tracks led East, and that they'd be stupid to go back home, she appeared to calm somewhat.

"Tomorrow," I telled her, "first town we get to, we're gonna tell the Sheriff everythin' that happened."

"And I'll wire my Pa and he'll make sure your brothers are safe," Jake added.

After that, she was better, and it warn't long afore she was curled up in front of the fire, fast asleep. I joined her directly.

It had been one Hell of a day.

Chapter 33

Izzy gave me a curious look when she seened me in my Sunday best, 'til I explained that we was all havin' a meal in town after speakin' with the Sheriff. I even loaned Jake one of my nicest shirts. "Wear your red dress," I telled Izzy, earnin' a smile that liked to melt my heart, it was that beautiful.

Sheriff Welles was a right old and weather beaten feller. He telled us that he had been Sheriff years afore the war, and once it was over, the Yankees come to town and appointed him Sheriff again.

He frowned deeply and his mustache twitched afore he spoke again, this time in a whisper, "Bein' chosen by those Yankees isn't somethin' to be proud of, but I took the job 'cause I care about this here town."

The Sheriff and his deputy both listened carefully as we telled them our story. They decided to organize a group of men to go after James and Cyrus. Jake agreed to travel with them as far as the spot where he buried Izzy's Uncle Luke, 'cause the Sheriff was gonna have to examine the body. From there, Jake would finally be headin' home to Tennessee.

"Shouldn't take more than a day to gather the men, and I also gotta inform the Yankees, uh, I mean the Federal authorities." Sheriff Welles said with a grin.

Even though James was still out there somewhere, when we left the Sheriff's office, we all felt lighter, like all our cares had been swept away. The feelin' was even better after Jake wired his Pa.

There was only one matter standin' in the way of things bein' perfect and I was fixin' to right that situation afore the day was over.

I grabbed Izzy's hand in mine and started pullin' her up the street in the opposite direction from the wagon. "Ed, where ya takin' me? Jack's back there." She asked as she tried to pull away.

I stopped walkin' but didn't let go of her hand. "I'm doin' somethin' I shoulda done a long time ago. We're goin' to find a preacher, and we're gonna get hitched. And if any feller tries to take ya from me ever again, I'm gonna have the legal and moral right to shoot that feller dead."