Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,41

"No more warnings. There's no time for it. It's got to be done before they get around the sides of the house."

Without a word he shot down two more of them before they could put forth any more arguments or threats. Horses reared and whinnied, and the other three hurriedly dismounted and clamored for cover, one behind a large boulder, the other two behind a wagon.

For a brief moment there was nothing but silence. "What the hell is wrong with you, mister?" one of them shouted then. "We wouldn't have brought you no harm.

Now come on out of there, or we'll just have to sit here till we starve you out!"

Luke took careful aim, glad he had done a lot of practicing over the winter with his repeater. He caught sight of the leg of one man through the spokes of the wagon. It wasn't an easy shot, but if he aimed real carefully... He squeezed off a shot, and the man grabbed his knee and cried out with pain.

"I'm gettin' the hell out of here!" another yelled. The one behind the rock held up his hands and slowly rose. It was the one with the wounded shoulder. "I'm leavin', mister. Let me go! I won't bring you no harm. Just let me go."

"Cleve, you goddamn coward!" one of those behind the wagon shouted. A shot rang out, and the one called Cleve stiffened, a bloody hole in the side of his head. He fell forward over the rock, then rolled off of it. The man who had shot him turned and fired several shots through the cabin window then, shattering the glass and spraying bullets everywhere. Lettie screamed, and Luke dove into her, pushing her against the wall away from the window and then to the floor, lying on top of her.

"Stay down," he said quietly. He crawled away from her, and Lettie could see blood on the back of his shirt.

"Luke!"

"I'm all right. It's just cuts from the glass. Crawl over to Nathan and keep him down."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just keep your rifle with you and stay low. If anybody comes through that door without me hollering out that it's me, you shoot first and ask questions later." He gripped his rifle and fired several shots through the window, then ducked away when the volley was answered with another spray of bullets that pinged around the cabin and put holes in the walls. Quickly Luke ran to a back corner of the cabin, setting his rifle aside and grasping at a loose board. "I just wanted them to know we're still alive and shooting in here so they stay behind that wagon for a few more minutes."

"What are you doing?" Lettie asked, holding a quietly crying Nathan in one arm while she gripped her rifle in the other.

"This damn board used to get me mad, but now I'm glad for it. From their position, they can't see me crawl out the side of the cabin."

"Luke, you can't go out there!" Lettie protested, keeping her voice to a near whisper.

"I've got no choice. I'll never get the last two, the position they're in now, and I'm not going to sit in here all day and worry about what they'll do once it's dark." He ripped the board completely away, then looked over at her. "Go fire a few more rounds through the window, but keep your head down. All they need is to hear the gunshots."

Lettie ordered Nathan to stay put and crawled back over to the window. She laid the rifle barrel on the sill, then ducked down and squeezed her eyes shut, firing the rifle aimlessly to draw the men's attention while Luke tore away some of the tar paper he'd nailed to the side of the cabin, then pushed at a bale of hay, knocking it away and crawling through the opening, taking his rifle with him.

"Daddy." Nathan started to follow his father through the opening, and Lettie put down her rifle and ran to grab him. "No, Nathan! You can't go with Daddy." She sat down against a wall with the boy, rubbing at her stomach and praying she would hang on to the baby through all this horror. "Luke," she whispered.

Outside Luke ducked behind the bale of hay, then cautiously raised his head to spot the wagon in front of the house. Neither man noticed him as he crept along the side of the house then. He could see them moving behind