Chapter 16 : Tracks and Trails.

On the road from Virginia City.

Lorraine Evans was just steering her little buggy out from the crossroads and onto the road towards the Ponderosa, when she spotted three soldiers coming from the opposite direction and enter as well. Two of them looked exactly identical. She shook her head and directed her gaze back onto the road ahead as she passed them. She wanted to bring Sara and Kylie some of the schoolwork and find out how they were doing. One of the soldiers rode up to her side and tapped the brim of his hat.

"Ma'am. I am Lieutenant John Freeman and the twins behind me are Edward and James Dunbar. I'm looking for the way to the Ponderosa. Do you know if this is the right way?" he asked in a friendly and polite manner.

Lorrain stopped the buggy and waited for the soldier to stop his mount beside her. "I'm just heading over to the Ponderosa Mister Freeman. You may accompany me if you wish." She replied and looked at him. He looked to be about 25 years or a bit younger. His hair was dark brown and he had a three-day-beard.

"Thank you Ma'am. I will be glad to keep you company. May I drive your buggy for you?" He grinned and waved to his comrades to follow him.

Lorrain nodded. The young soldier tethered his mount to the back of the buggy, then smiled as he climbed up next to Lorrain and took the reins from her offered hand. They travelled in silence for a few seconds until Lorraine's curiosity got the better of her.

"May I ask you what business you have at the Ponderosa?"

John nodded, "Yes. A few soldiers who are to guard a silver delivery heard someone talk in a saloon that a spy from the south was using the Ponderosa as headquarters. I don't know why they reported it actually; fool's talk if you ask me and a complete waste of time of sending us up here to check it out. But the colonel is a very careful man. So we will just ride up to the Ponderosa have a quick look and talk to Mr Cartwright and then head back to the fort."

Lorraine looked at him appalled. "You mean the army thinks… the Cartwright's are protecting a Southern Spy?" she asked incredulously.

"No, Ma'am. We don't really believe it. We are simply checking a rumour, that's all." He explained calmly.

Lorraine nodded and fixed her gaze on the road again. The buggy was jolting as it rolled over a few larger rocks. The lieutenant clicked his tongue and slapped the back of the horses gently with the reins. The animals broke into a quick canter, while the two soldiers followed.

"May I ask what your name is Ma'am?" John questioned and looked over at her.

"I'm Lorraine Evans, Lieutenant Freeman. I'm the teacher in town and just before you ask. One of the children's father got involved in a fight and got badly injured. The Cartwright's are taking care of Kylie now. I just wanted to head out and see how they are doing." She explained.

The Lieutenant nodded and they continued their way to the Ponderosa once again in comfortable silence. As the buggy rolled into the yard of the Ponderosa, Lorrain noticed the silence. No children were around and all of the Cartwright's seemed to be gone. Lieutenant Freeman helped her down from the buggy, while Edward and James dismounted. Lorraine then quickly made her way over to the house and knocked at the door. Soon enough she could hear the sound of small feet coming closer and then the door swung open. Kylie looked up at her and a small smile spread on her face, recognizing her teacher.

"Hello Kylie! How are you feeling?" She asked and stroked the child's head softly.

"I'm really worried… Sara disappeared and all of the Cartwright's went to look for her and now…" she sniffed. Lorraine could only imagine how Kylie must be feeling. First her dad had gotten severely injured and now her friend had disappeared. She knelt down in front of the child and caught Kylie in a warm hug. The little girl sniffled and soon she was openly crying.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh. Everything will be alright." Lorraine shushed and kissed the top her Kylie's head. The small girl only started to cry harder and Lorraine stood up, taking Kylie with her, supporting the child's backside with one arm, while she steadied her with another hand on her back.

Lieutenant John rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little uneasy, now about his mission. It was obvious that this family had some problems; however he had to follow his orders. A few seconds later, Hop Sing came bustling out of the kitchen.

"No more tears little missy. Adam soon come back with Sara." He said soothingly then turned towards the soldiers. "Mista Cartwright not here. Looking for little granddaughter, Sara."

"Well… it was reported that the Cartwright's were hiding a spy from the south." John felt the idea was preposterous. He'd heard of the Cartwright's of the Ponderosa. The army had bought horses from them and the men had made a fair deal. However, the rumour needed to be either confirmed or dismissed; those were his orders. "We would like to have a quick look around the house. Then we'll head off again." John stated slowly, careful to keep a neutral voice. The tears of the small child touched him. He had two children on his own. Twins to be exactly, one girl and a boy and he couldn't bear to see them crying either. "It won't take long and afterwards we will help to search for the missing child, Sara."

"Hmmm, I think Mista soldier should wait until Mista Cartwright come home." Hop Sing said warily.

"I'm sorry, but we've got orders from the army, sir. We do have the right to enter this house and I would rather enter it with your cooperation than without it." John stated firmly.

"Then you come in." Hop Sing waved the soldiers inside. The Chinese cook hoped that there would be no traces left after Rhys. They had burned his uniform and given him some civilian clothes; Joe's had fitted him well. Plus the young southerner had taken his gun with him. The soldiers were very thorough. They checked everything, but did it in a very discreet manner, without upturning anything or making a mess.

"Lieutenant John! I think I've found something!" One of the soldiers called from upstairs. John gulped and shook his head. God damned! I had hoped to find nothing. He thought and headed up the stairs. Edward came out of a room holding Rhys' sabre in his hands. "It's a Union weapon sir. I think from an officer or a Lieutenant."

John took it in his hands and examined it carefully. "Well… this most certainly did not belong to a spy of the Confederates. Mister! I have a few questions for you." The Lieutenant walked down the stairs and over to the Chinese cook. He felt very uneasy about this. While he had hoped not to find a spy on these premises he didn't want to pursue a deserter, either. He had taken part in a small skirmish once and that had been enough. Fortunately his father was a colonel and had managed to get him a post back here. However, now he needed to concentrate on his task. "Where did this sabre come from?"

Hop Sing was unsure of what to do. On one hand he considered the Cartwright's as his family, but if he didn't help the military they could get into serious trouble. "A man showed up here. He had badly wounded leg. We took care of him. He say he want to look for little sister. But then he went away and little missy also gone now. Mista Cartwright looking for her now!"

John nodded. For a second he thought about asking further questions, but then shrugged it off. "It was of course your Christian duty to take care of a wounded person, but you should have informed the military, that you had a deserter in your house. I do not like it, but I have to report this to my superiors."

"Lieutenant… well how do we know these people knew it was a deserter? Maybe he was wearing civilian clothes. At least that's what I would do if I run off." James offered then winked at his lieutenant. He knew exactly what John was thinking.

The lieutenant looked at Hop Sing. You said this man left, to search for his sister. Did mister Cartwright's granddaughter, follow him?"

"I think so," interrupted Kylie. "She just wanted to say goodbye, but maybe she followed him too far, and now... and now... she's lost."

Lorrain patted Kylie's back, trying to calm the child, "Shh now they will find her," she promised.

"I say if we go and look for the little girl, we may even find the man who owns this sabre. Maybe he isn't even a deserter. Maybe he quit the military legally and in full honour." Edward suggested. He too felt for the family, but they couldn't just go off and search for the child and belay their original orders without a good reason.

John gave them a grateful nod. "I think you're right. The best way to find the owner of this sabre is to find the daughter of Mister Cartwright; we can help both our causes." He turned towards Hop Sing again. "In which direction did the Cartwright's go?"

"They ride towards mountains. But Hop Sing not know where they are now."

Lieutenant John nodded and absentmindedly rubbed the stubbles on his chin. "Edward, James… try to find their trail. We will try to catch up to them. If our man is not there, I'm sure the Cartwright's can offer an explanation."

Kylie watched the rest of the conversation with interest. She felt very warm and safe in Miss Evans arms, but now she felt how her teacher's back go rigid. "If Sara is missing, I want to go with you and help." Lorraine declared, putting Kylie down on her own feet again.

Kylie held onto the teachers hand and tried to scrub away the last traces of her tears. She also wanted to help. The Cartwright's had already left her behind. This time she would follow them! "I also wanna help." She piped up and gave the Lieutenant an angry glare, when he snorted. "I can ride. Adam… I mean Mister Cartwright taught me to ride on Moci an' I can forecast the weather, my uncle taught me that."

"Such a search is not for little girls. You will stay in this house. Otherwise you might get lost too!" John stated firmly. Kylie raised her head high and scowled at the Lieutenant with all the bravado she could muster.

"Ya ain't my daddy, sir. So I am not gonna do what yer tellin' me." She replied with steady voice, sounding much braver, than she actually was.

"He may not be your daddy, Kylie, but your behaviour, young lady is rude. The lieutenant is right. You must stay at the house." Lorraine interrupted before John could say anything. Kylie threw her an angry glare and freed her hand from the teachers. She would follow them. Whether they wanted it or not. Lorraine turned to the Lieutenant and rubbed her hands nervously against the sides of her dress. "If you could wait for a few seconds I will make my horse ready."

John shook his head. "If you apologize my bluntness, but the mountains ain't the place for a lady either."

Lorraine blushed with anger and stepped close up to the man. "I will follow you whether you like it or not. Sara is one of my pupils and she had already had enough trouble in her life. No pig-headed soldier of the Union will stop me from going to search for her."

The twins, Edward and James, snickered at the verbal encounter. The petite woman was certainly an impressive person, when she got riled up. However they had no time to waste, so Edward cleared his throat to get their attention. "The longer we're arguin' the longer it will take us to find them. If Miss Evans wants to accompany us, she will do it as far as I can guess. She seems quite determined."

"Damn right I am!" She stated, then blushed in embarrassment when she realized she had just cursed. Kylie stared at her teacher with her mouth wide open. She had never seen her like this. She sure had a temper.

"Alright! You can come with us. But the child stays here!" Lieutenant John grumbled.

"Hey! I wanna come too!" Kylie protested, but was silenced with a firm swat to her backside.

"No more protesting little missy." Hop Sing scolded. "Big boys do searching. Little girls should stay in house and do as they're told." The child rubbed her backside, a pout forming on her face. She would go after them. As soon as she could get the chance she would mount Moci and ride after them. She couldn't t just sit in the house while the others were looking for her friend.

Several minutes later the soldiers and Lorraine had mounted their horses and rode out of the yard; heading towards the mountains.

Meanwhile up in the Mountains

Adam had not been able to close his eyes for a second during the whole night. The huge black dog hadn't either been able to sleep. Black Knight padded up and down at the entrance of the small cave, eager to continue the search for his mistress.

The sun had barely risen when they continued their search. However they found nothing. Even Black Knight's sensitive nose could find no trail.

"Okay so the trail stops here. They have either covered their tracks or we have missed an important sign," said Adam.

"Well they couldn't have gone through the caves, there are no signs there. I think we should double back to the creek bed; Try going east from there, we might just pick it up the trail again," suggested Hoss.

"Maybe we should split up," suggested Ben. "You two go east, well head off in the other direction. If neither of have found any sign after twenty minutes, we'll re-group again. If you do find something fire your pistol, and we'll get to each other."

"Good Idea, Pa."

"We'll find her son, I don't think Rhys would hurt her."

"I don't either, but those other tracks, well..." Adam stopped and tried not to imagine his greatest fear.

"Stay focused, son, we'll find her," reassured Ben.

"Thanks Pa."

The four Cartwright's mounted up and headed back toward the trail where they had last found tracks; hopefully the morning dew hadn't washed any signs away.

All four rode off in silence.

At the camp of the kidnappers

The blankets and the clothes Ray had given her had kept her warm during the night. She had tucked herself close to Rhys during the night trying to keep him as warm as possible. Her head rested on the young man's chest and she was still snoozing comfortably, when Rhys was suddenly dragged away and she was jolted awake. For a moment she was confused when she looked around, but then she remembered what had happened the night before. She reached up to touch her face and felt it was still swollen and it hurt when she touched it. Robert bent down and grabbed Rhys' collar with both hands. He reeked of some strong brew and Sara wrinkled her nose.

"What are ya doin' to him?" Sara questioned when she spotted Rhys' rifle lying abandoned on the ground. Robert didn't answer he simply yanked Rhys up, then punched him square in the face. The young soldier was flung back on the ground and Robert was close to falling too in his drunk state. However he managed to keep his balance.

"Ya will pay for what yer fellers did to mah brother?" he slurred and bent down to grab Rhys again.

"No, stop it!" Sara yelled and jumped at him. She kicked him against the shin and earned a curse and a hard slap. For the second time in less than twelve hours she was on the ground holding her bruised cheek. Tears were forming in her eyes and she tried to stifle the sob. Suddenly she felt two strong hands on her shoulder, which helped her up. Sara didn't dare to look up at first, but when she recognized Ray's boots she gathered enough courage to give him a pleading look. "Stop it." She pleaded. "He's hurtin' my friend. Ya hafta stop him!" she begged with small voice and flinched every time she heard Robert's fists making contact with Rhys body.

Ray however kept still, knowing he would stand no chance against Robert and the rest. He had no weapon. Robert had taken his colt. "I can't Sara…. Not yet. I promised your friend to get you out of here."

Suddenly the noises stopped and Rhys turned groaning onto his side. Robert stood panting over him. Then he grabbed Rhys' rifle and lowered the barrel against the young man's chest, however before he could pull the trigger one of the other men stepped up and stopped him.

"Don't shoot him, Robert. The Cartwright's will probably hear the gunshot and then they'll be after us." Mortimer said. "It's only a matter of time until they find our trail again. We'll ride some more, get further away in case they close to following and then we hang him."

Robert hesitated for a second then stepped back. The sudden outburst of violence seemingly forgotten. Sara freed herself out of Ray's grip and knelt down next to Rhys. The young man's face was badly bruised. Blood trickled from a cut above the cavity where his left eye once had been and down his cheek. Sara wiped it carefully away with the sleeve of Ray's coat. Then she glared up at Robert.

"You're an evil man an' I hope my daddy will shoot ya!" she growled then turned back to Rhys. He opened his remaining eye and gave her a small smile.

"It's alright Sara." He mumbled and took hold of her small hands. The child simply stared at him and tears welled up in her eyes.

"I…. I…. I…"

"Shhh, shh. Ah'm gonna be alright Sara. Ah promise. Ah've been through worse." He whispered and sat up wincing from the pain. Ray helped him to stand up, but was shoved aside by Mortimer.

"Leave him! Ya won't go near him again. Ya hear?" he growled. Sara tried to aim a good kick at his shins, but Ray was fast enough to pull her back. Robert turned towards them. "Keep that kid out of my way Raymond." He ordered with low voice. The man's hand was lying on the hilt of his colt and Raymond understood the gesture perfectly well. He picked the child up and held her close despite her squirming.

"Let me go! I wanna look after Rhys!" she cried. Robert had grabbed Rhys' hands and tied them to his saddle. "Ya hafta help him! Lemme go!" Suddenly she found herself across Ray's shoulder and the man went a few steps away from the camp. Mortimer's gaze followed him the whole way, but he relaxed when Ray stopped only twenty yards away from them. Sara felt Ray's strong hands as he stood her down on the ground again. Immediately she tried to make a dash for her friend, but Ray once again held her back.

"Will you stop it!" he hissed. "Robert is close to going completely nuts and I don't want you to get hurt! I promised your friend to get you out of here, but if you continue like this we'll both most likely end up dead!" To emphasize his point he gave her a small shake.

Sara stopped her struggling and looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. Ray sighed; the child was most likely still in shock. It was the only reasonable explanation for her sudden changes in behaviour. However he needed to get through to her. If she didn't stop provoking Robert with her actions, the man would most likely shoot her. Not knowing what to do, he picked her up again, supporting her backside with one arm while his other hand was resting on her back. It seemed to have been the right thing, because the child became very still, buried her face in his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I will get you out of here I promise." He whispered and rubbed her back. He felt her nod of understanding and resignation, so he turned and walked back to the camp, still rubbing soothing circles around her small back.

The others had readied themselves for the day's journey. Robert had handed Rhys' rifle and ammunition to Erik.

"We ride until the sun goes down." Robert called and kicked his horse into a quick canter. Ray was forced to mount his horse too with Sara in front of him. Mortimer rode close behind them as they left. Ray put an arm around the child and pulled her closer to him. Should he try to get away now? He wasn't sure. Mortimer was sure to have his gun pulled on him within seconds. They had to get into a dense forest; otherwise he would be shot down before he had gotten more than a hundred yards.

Sara sensed Ray's worry and tension. She tilted her head backwards so she could look up in his face. He had promised her that everything would be alright again and she trusted him. He had been very friendly from the beginning. He smiled down at her and stroked her hair.

"Soon!" He whispered.

However, Ray wasn't to get an opportunity to flee until the afternoon. They had been riding slowly careful not to leave too many tracks after them. Robert and Erik were riding at the front, Ray, Sara and Mortimer in the middle and at the end came the other two riders. During the day Sara had taken her mind off her worries and concentrated on her surroundings, she also paid close attention to the gang and by early afternoon had learnt their names. The red haired man's name was Gus. The one with the large ears was called Matt and the one who was injured Erik. Once she was home again, she would be able to tell everything to the Sheriff.

Suddenly Ray gripped her tighter and interrupted her thoughts. "Hold on!" He said softly, then he gave his horse a hard kick, which sent it into a full gallop. Maybe they wouldn't dare to shoot him. Mortimer did stop Robert from shooting Rhys after all. He thought hopefully, but his hopes were smashed immediately when the first shot rang out.

Thanks to gaben who betaed this chapter so quickly for me and improved it a lot.

To all those who read this chapter... I'm sorry but I don't think I will be able to update soon again. I'm busy with studying for my finals. I know I'm updating really irregularly but I just can't find enough time to write. Sorry for that, but I hope you could still enjoy this chapter, despite the little cliffy.