Thursday dawned cloudy and cool.  Gusts of wind blew dust and trash around the streets and alleys of Chicago.  At the fairgrounds some of the livestock was getting restless.  Here and there a horse neighed nervously and a steer bellowed.  The ringing sound of metal on metal could be heard as more than one horse, spooked by the gusty winds lashed out in the confines of the trailer they were sheltered in.

 The MacGegors, their staff and the rodeo entrants were hard pressed to calm the animals and ensure that everything was securely fastened down.  More than one tent peg had to be pounded deeper into the ground with a sledgehammer lest the strain of windblown canvas pull it loose and allow a tent to collapse trapping its occupants.
************************************************************************
Gary’s day started as it always did.  The radio came on at six-thirty and the cat arrived with the newspaper seconds later.

 Picking up the paper Gary read the headline and the accompanying article out loud as he closed the door to the loft.  “Windy Weather Wreaks Havoc on City.  Wind gust of up to 40 mph wreaked havoc on Chicago and vicinity yesterday.  Tree limbs were reported down in many neighborhoods and there were isolated power outtages as well.

 The MacGregor Rodeo and Wild West Show suffered damage to several tents and a trailer.  The owner’s grandson, Christopher MacGregor, 31, was injured when the door on a damaged trailer slammed into him as he approached it to make repairs.  MacGregor suffered a broken shoulder along with some cuts and bruises on his face and hands.  He was treated at Cook County General Hospital where he was held overnight for observation.”

 Leaving the paper on the counter Gary quickly dressed in jeans, plaid shirt and his sneakers.  Grabbing the paper he tucked it inside his leather jacket that he fastened as he hurried down the stairs.

 “Morning Marissa,” he said as he entered the office and saw her sitting at her desk with her morning coffee.

“Morning Gary,” she answered.  “What’s the hurry?”

“I gotta get out to the fairgrounds pretty quick.  Chris MacGregor is going to be hit by a trailer door that’s caught by one of these wind gusts.  The Paper says he’ll get a broken shoulder and some cuts and bruises.”

“You certainly can’t let that happen.  Just be careful that you don’t get hurt yourself Gary.  There are a lot of tree limbs down and the way that wind is blowing I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a lot more damage done before the day is over.”

“I will Marissa,” Gary told her.  “I gotta go.  I’ll see you later.”

Gary hustled through the empty dining room and out the front door.  Unfortunately he did not possess Chuck’s talent for hailing cabs and it took him fifteen minutes to get one to stop and pick him up.
 

The wind was blowing fiercely when he arrived.  The dust was blown around so much that it was difficult to walk against the wind without being half blinded when it blew in people’s eyes.  Quickly checking his paper with difficulty the way the wind was blowing he looked around to get his bearings.  When he had figured out which way he needed to go he started walking quickly toward the area where he knew there were a lot of trailers parked.

Gary was two hundred yards away when he finally caught sight of the tall, dark-haired Texan who had befriended him during his stay in Chicago.  Chris was attempting to repair a door on his sister’s trailer that had come loose and was threatening to come off altogether.  Neither his brother, cousins nor anyone else was helping him and the wind was making a difficult job even harder.  At one hundred yards from his goal Gary saw the door pull loose and start to slam into Chris.  Pouring on the steam Gary covered the distance between them to try to prevent his friend from being injured.  The wind blew his words back at him as he yelled a warning.

“Chris!  Look out for the door!”

Gary reached Chris just as the door pulled away from it’s hinges altogether.  Ranger James Trivette happened to be close by and saw Gary running toward his friend.  He also saw that Gary’s momentum would not be quite enough to get both he and Chris out of danger.  Living up to his old football nickname of “crazy legs” Trivette covered the fifty yards between himself and the other two men in less than seven seconds.

“Oof!” Gary and Chris both grunted as Trivette’s slender body slammed into them and knocked them clear of the door as it slammed into the ground a scant two feet from where they fell.

Getting to his feet Trivette offered a hand to Gary and helped him to his feet.  Together they helped a slightly dazed Chris to his feet.

“You fellas all right?”  Trivette asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Gary replied.  “I’m fine.”  Turning his attention to Chris he asked his friend, “How about you Chris?  Are you ok?”

“Yeah I’m fine,” the somewhat dazed Texan replied.  “You just took me by surprise.  Ya kinda knocked the wind out of me.”

Gary turned to Trivette.  “Thanks for the assist.  That-that was pretty close.”

Trivette smiled.  “Glad I could be of help.  Take it easy now.  Mr. MacGregor maybe you ought to have the doctor take a look at you, just to be on the safe side.”

“I’ll see that he goes,” Gary said.  He knew that like the day he’d sprained his ankle, they’d both be in trouble if they didn’t go see Sky.
******************************************************************
Five minutes later Trivette was talking in a secluded area of the fairgrounds with his partner about his latest findings on the men Mark Bradley had been seen hanging out with lately.

“Find anything out Trivette?” Walker asked his partner.

“So far only that Bradley has a record of being drunk and disorderly.  I’m not getting very far with his companions.  Dix, Dean and Anderson simply don’t appear in any law enforcement databases I’ve been able to tap into.  Have you been able to learn anything?”

“Not much,” Walker answered.  I did hear enough of one of their conversations to suspect that they’re up to something.  And I managed to get this.”  Walker handed Trivette the slide from a Bolo Tie.  “Check it against any list of stolen merchandise you can find.  Maybe we got lucky and it’s from the robbery that killed Sky’s husband.”  Walker paused to reflect for a minute on the circumstances surrounding his first meeting with Sky.  She was working at St. Matthews Hospital in Dallas.  Her husband, Jonathan Bradley, had been hit by a car during a robbery attempt.  Though he had insisted he was fine, Walker, his supervising Ranger, had insisted that he get checked out.  Dr. Schuyler Fairfax, a Kentuckian who’d been transplanted to Indiana as a young girl, had recently started doing her residency in Dallas.  The attractive blue-eyed brunette had fallen head over heels for the handsome blond Ranger.  They were married within a year.  Less that a year after their wedding he was dead - killed by a gang of jewelry store thieves as he answered a call about a robbery.  He was off duty but that had never stopped him.  Walker could still see the shattered look on the young widow’s face when he showed up at their house to break the news to her.  She was a long way from home with just her in-laws for comfort.  He’d made the phone call to Indiana himself breaking the sad news to her parents.

“Trivette if these guys are who I think they are I want them.  Its time justice was done.  Sky’s suffered long enough.”

Trivette took the slide.  “We’ll get ‘em Walker.  We’ll get ‘em.  I’ll swing by McGinty’s and have a talk with Crumb.  Then I’ll go to the precinct and check this against the stole property lists.”

“While you do that I’ll do a little more nosing around and see if I can find out anything definite.”  As another strong gust of wind tore at their clothes he said, “The way this wind is blowing I doubt Mr. MacGregor will hold any competition today.

******************************************************************

“You’ll be ok cousin,” Sky said to Chris who was sitting in a chair in her tent.  “All I can find on you is a few bruises though that right elbow’s got a good scrape on it.  I’m thinking you must have slid on the ground a little when the guys tackled you.”

“I think you’re right Sky,” Chris agreed.  “But it would have been a lot worse if Gary and Jim Elliot hadn’t come along when they did.”

Sky leaned over to hug and kiss Gary who was sitting nearby in another chair.  “Thank you sweetie for helping Chris.  If that door had hit him square he’d be in the hospital right now with a broken shoulder at the very least.”

“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Gary responded, embarrassed by the show of affection she was showing him in front of her cousin.

“All right you two get out of here and quit taking up space I need for people who are really in need of medical attention.  I think Grandpa Mac intends to at least postpone the competition and see if this wind will die down.”  She shooed the two men away.  “Go find something to do for a while until we find out what’s going to happen.”

**************************************************************
As it happened those who speculated that the competition would be postponed were correct. Kenneth MacGregor, having noticed the dust clouds that were making it next to impossible to see and hearing the wind gusts that drowned out most conversations he did decide to postpone the competition.  If the wind died down enough he would start the competition again after lunch.

The MacGregor cousins decided to take advantage of the lull and go souvenir shopping.  And they were anxious to pick up some last minute items for the anniversary party planned for the next night.  At least the girls were.  The guys weren’t so anxious since they knew they’d be carrying whatever the girls bought.  Well if they could have lunch at McGinty’s while they were out they’d survive.

Kenneth MacGregor’s wife had plans for him.  Pinning him down long enough to go clothes shopping was difficult to say the least.  The “stubborn old goat” avoided it whenever possible.  Phoebe MacGregor was going to get him to Marshall Fields for a couple of suits and to wherever she could get some new jeans and dress shoes.  A couple of conservatives ties as well.  And if there happened to be a sale on linens she’d take advantage of that.  She hadn’t had time to go shopping at home lately.  So off went the MacGregors to go sightseeing, shopping and eat lunch in a restaurant.
 

Jamie Fairfax and Sam Delaney were headed for O’Hare Airport to make arrangements for rental cars for some of the incoming relatives.  They were also picking up some relatives that were already arriving.  Kenneth MacGregor’s brother Angus and his family were arriving from Scotland that afternoon.  The Fairfax parents would arrive in Chicago the next afternoon and take her parents away long enough for their Sky, Jamie Alan, his wife Kim and their cousins to decorate for the party.  Other friends and relatives would be arriving over the course of that day and the next.  If any of them had had any inkling of what was going to happen to Sky that afternoon they never would have let her stay at the fairgrounds.

The competition may have been delayed but that didn’t mean that Sky was idle.  She kept herself busy filing paperwork, giving visitors directions to the displays and vendors booths.  She recommended restaurants, visitor’s centers and local sights to see.  Some of the cowboys and their families had never been to Chicago before.  Jokingly she told them to visit the stockyards if they were homesick.

For a couple of hours she practiced the music she was planning on playing at the part the next night.  The strains of many an old folks song and country tune floated on the air.  The lively tune of Ole Dan Tucker brought grins to the faces of those who remembered the words from childhood or from hearing it on television’s Little House on the Prairie.  The mellow tones of The Tennessee Waltz brought back memories of Patti Page - long a favorite of her grandparents.  And so her afternoon went.

******************************************************************

Mark Bradley scowled.  He was still smarting over the tongue lashing Sky had given him the other day.  Taking another swig from the contraband bottle of whiskey he worked up the courage to face her one more time.

He found her alone, at the infirmary, reading.  Her violin and guitar were safely tucked away in their cases and sitting in an otherwise unoccupied corner of the tent.  “Sky, I want to talk to you,” he said, swaying slightly on his feet.

“What do you want now Mark?  Haven’t I made myself clear?  I don’t want to see you anymore! Ever!”  Sky’s dark blue eyes flashed in anger and annoyance at her former brother-in-law.

“I want you to hear me out,” he said.  “I want you to give me another chance.”

“Mark I’ve given you all the chances you’re going to get!  I’m not interested in anything you have to say any more.  Not unless its ‘I’m sorry I bothered you’ or ‘I’m sorry about Jonathan.  I miss him too.’ ‘Or ‘I wish I could make it up to you for being such a jerk.’  No Mark.  I don’t think you can bring yourself to admit you were wrong.  You never could.”

Her words angered Bradley and he grabbed her and pulled her to him forcefully kissing her on the mouth.

Pulling loose Sky stepped back and slapped him - hard - with her right hand.

“That’s the last time you touch me Mark Bradley!  Why do you think I stopped seeing you?  It was exactly this kind of behavior!”

As she started to turn away from him he grabbed her again and she couldn’t keep herself from crying out in pain.

“You little…You think you’re too good for me don’t you?  You don’t think I’m as worthy of you as my noble brother?  I’m every bit as good a man as he was.  And I’ll prove it to you!”

He never got a chance to explain or demonstrate what he meant by that.  As he started to force another kiss on Sky again he suddenly found himself flying through the air to land with a thud several feet away.

“That’s no way to treat a lady Bradley.  You were warned before to stay away from her.”  Ranger Cordell Walker had himself under control but there was steel in his voice as he spoke.

Bradley got up and foolishly charged the ex-Marine turned Texas Ranger.  Walker easily sidestepped him.  Picking himself up off the ground again Mark charged the smaller man.  Walker was several inches shorter but in better physical condition and he most definitely was not under the influence of alcohol.  Walker sidestepped him again and again until after Bradley’s fifth charge he punched him square on the jaw knocking him out cold.

It was at this point that two security guards arrived on the scene having been summoned by Sky.  They took her former brother-in-law into custody pending the arrival of a police cruiser.  The officers took him into custody and away from the fairgrounds.  It was the last anyone would ever see of Mark Bradley.  Upon his release the next day he would be escorted to the fairgrounds to retrieve his belongings and told to never set foot in Oak Park or Chicago again or he would face assault charges and some serious prison time.

Walker turned to a somewhat shaken up Sky and escorted her to a seat in the tent.  “Are you okay Sky?” he asked.  “He didn’t hurt you did he?”

“No, I’m fine Washo.”  She sighed.  “I’m just sorry Mark and I can’t be friends.  He’s Jonathan’s only sibling.  I hate for our relationship to end under a black cloud like this.”

“Yeah, I know,” the soft-spoken Ranger said.  “But he’s never going to change.”

“I guess you’re right,” Sky said.

“Look, if you’re going to be all right I need to get back to the arena.  I lost track of the men Bradley’s been hanging out with.  I think they’re up to something but I’m not sure what.  If you see Trivette tell him where I’ve gone and have him page me.  Better yet - you page me and tell me where to meet him.

******************************************************************
Gary walked into the main dining room of McGinty’s tired but pleased.  He’d managed to prevent a traffic accident, a mugging and a robbery at a convenience store.  And not once had he been forced to deal with the police.   He couldn’t help comparing how his day had gone as opposed to how it often went.  Normally he had to face a uniformed officer or a detective but today he’d managed to avoid all that.  Nor had he had to use his “right time- right place” line he usually used in such situations.

Spotting Chuck and Marissa at a corner table he went over to join them, nodding at Crumb as he passed the bar.

“Hey, Gar,” Chuck greeted him.  You’re back early today.”

“Yeah,” Gary answered.  “The Paper’s pretty quiet right now.”

“How about some lunch Gary?” Marissa said.

“That sounds good Marissa.  I am kinda hungry.”

Marissa got up from her seat and went out to the kitchen to see about a meal for Gary.  She could sense that he was tired and, as always, wanted to do what she could for him - even if it was only seeing that he got something to eat.

Gary leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.  Chuck, seeing how tired his friend’s face looked, sat there quietly for a change.  And he didn’t try to get hold of Gary’s paper to sneak a look at the sports or financial pages.  Jumbled thoughts of the past three weeks ran through Gary’s mind.  These three weeks that Sky and Jamie’s relatives had been in town had been fun, hectic, dangerous, painful and mysterious.  Mysterious?  That wasn’t a word he would normally associate with the Fairfaxes.  But neither sibling was talking about this mysterious friend Sky called “Washo”.  Who was he?  What was he doing here in Chicago?  Did he have anything to do with those papers Jamie had showed Sky the day of the parade?  His musings were interrupted by Crumb.

“Hey, Hobson,” the old cop said.  “I just heard from a friend at my old precinct that Doc Fairfax isn’t going to be bothered by her former brother-in-law any more.”

That got Gary’s attention in a hurry.  He was still worried about Sky’s dealings with Mark Bradley.

“That’s good news,” he said in response.”

“How come?” Chuck asked.

“Seems he got a little too fresh with her and some cowboy beat the crap out of him.”

“What!”  Chuck exclaimed.

“Is-is she ok?”  Gary’s mud puddle green eyes grew wide at hearing the shocking news.

“Calm down,” Crumb said. “A couple of uniforms took him into protective custody for being drunk and disorderly.  He’s in a cell right now cooling his heels.”

Gary got to his feet in a hurry and headed for the door not hearing another word that Crumb or Chuck said.  All he could think of was that the woman who had been like an older sister to him for most of his life had been in danger and he hadn’t known about it.  He had to get to Oak Park to see for himself that she was ok.

“Is she really all right?” Chuck asked Crumb.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Crumb replied.  “I hear she hauled off and smacked him one when he kissed her.”

Chuck grinned.  That sounded like the Sky they’d known and loved for so many years.  No one pushed her around unless they wanted to risk a fat lip - or worse.  After all she did have two older brothers looking out for her as well.

As Crumb walked back to the bar Marissa returned from the kitchen.  She was somewhat surprised to find that Gary was gone.  Chuck filled her in on what Crumb had told them.

“But she’s really ok?” Marissa asked.

“Yeah.  Crumb said the cowboy really kicked Bradley’s butt good.”

“Good!  I know that Sky’s problem with him has been weighing heavily on Gary’s mind since the day the rodeo arrived in Oak Park.  Maybe now he’ll relax and quit worrying.”

“Yeah,” a dubious Chuck responded.  “Maybe.”

******************************************************************

The wind had died down a little by the time Gary’s cab arrived at the fairgrounds.  The first place he went looking for Sky was the first aid station.  She wasn’t there so he started asking passersby if they had seen her.  After several fruitless inquiries one cowboy who hadn’t gone to see the sights told him he could find her in the arena.

Running off in that direction Gary found her mounted on the black gelding she’d ridden in the parade working off her nervous energy in a few barrel-racing runs.  Nobody was around to time her so she was doing it herself.

“Hey Sky,” Gary called.

Sky was intent on what she was doing and didn’t hear him at first.

“Hey Sky,” Gary tried again.  Still no response.  She couldn’t hear him over the sound of the wind and horse’s pounding hooves.

At the far end of the arena Sky and Midnight circled the last barrel and started their run for the finish line.  So deep was she in concentration that she didn’t notice Gary standing near the in gate at first.

“Whoa, Middy.  Good boy.”  Sky reined the gelding to a stop and patted his sweaty neck.

“Sky!”  Gary tried one more time.

Startled Sky looked up.  When she saw Gary standing there she smiled.  Signaling the gelding for a walk they approached the gate which Gary opened for her.

“Gary!  This is a pleasant surprise.  What are you doing here?”

After securing the gate Gary reached for her reins as she swung her right leg over the horse’s back and gracefully slid out of the saddle to the ground.

“I heard what happened.  Are…are you ok?  He…he didn’t hurt you did he?”

“Now how…Oh never mind,” she said.  “I can guess how you heard.  A certain ex-cop must have heard it through the grapevine and told you.”

“Yeah.”  Gary looked at her in concern.  He couldn’t see any marks on her but he wasn’t sure if that was good or not.  There could be injuries he couldn’t see.

“I suppose I’d better tell you what happened,” she said.  “Come on and walk with me.  I’ll tell you everything while I cool Midnight out and put him away.”

The two friends, so much like brother and sister, walked for fifteen minutes while Sky explained what had happened.  But she still wasn’t telling him about Walker.  That would have to wait.

When she finished grooming Midnight and cleaning his tack she sat down next to Gary who was sitting on a nearby bale of hay.

“So what’s going to happen to Bradley?”  Gary wanted to know.

“The police will escort him to the fairgrounds to pick up his personal belongings tomorrow.  Then they’ll escort him to the office to get his entry fees back.  After that they’ll see him on his way out of Oak Park and Chicago with the explicit understanding that he’s never to set foot in Illinois again unless he wants to face assault charges.”  She sighed.  “It’s too bad really.  He had the makings of a good doctor if he’d just stayed out of trouble and off of the booze.  I wish we could have been friends.  He’s my only living link to Jonathan other than the Rangers.”

Gary put his arms around her and held her tight.  His own heart was aching for her in this situation.  Sky had seldom met anyone she couldn’t get along with.  To lose the friendship of her late husband’s only sibling had to hurt her deeply.

The two friends sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Gary would let go of Sky after a final squeeze.

“You did the best you could Sky.  I know you did.  You’ve never treated anyone unfairly as long as I’ve known you.  And I know for a fact that he was told to stay away from you.  I was there remember?”  Gary kissed his “big sister” on the forehead.  “Come on, I’ll buy you lunch.”

Sky looked at Gary fondly and smiled.  “When did you get to be so wise Gary Matthew?  I’m supposed to console and advise you - not the other way around.”

“Well I’m not exactly a little kid any more you know.”

“To me you’ll always be a little boy.  My ‘baby brother’ - my shadow.”

They walked together arm in arm toward the refreshment stand.  As they passed by Gray Wolf’s trailer Sky’s attention was drawn to the door, which stood slightly ajar.

“Now that’s strange,” Sky said.  “Why would Gray Wolf leave his trailer unlocked when he’s not here?  I’d better go see about securing it.  I wouldn’t want someone to walk in and make off with his stock.  Wait here a minute while I fix it ok?”

“Yeah, sure,” Gary said.

As Sky walked away Gary pulled his paper out of the inside pocket of his jacket and started to check the stories.  He was stunned when he saw the headline on the front page - Local Doctor missing - Feared Dead.  Dr. Schuyler Fairfax, a popular doctor at Cook County General Hospital and the Halsted Street Clinic disappeared from the Oak Park Fairgrounds yesterday afternoon.  It is believed that three men whom she surprised in the act of burglarizing a jewelry vendor’s trailer kidnapped her.  Her friend Gary Hobson was unable to shed much light on her disappearance, as he was rendered unconscious in his attempt to defend her.  Anyone having any information as to her whereabouts is asked to notify…”

Gary’s eyes grew wider with each word he read.  Hurriedly stuffing The Paper inside his jacket and suddenly finding his voice again he ran toward Sky.

“Sky!  Wait!  Don’t go in there!”

He was too late.  Even as he spoke she had reached the trailer and was about to enter.

Surprised and startled at his outburst Sky stopped with her hand on the handle of the door and looked back.

“What’s the matter?  I’m just going to close the door after I make sure things are ok.”

“No, no, no!”  Gary exclaimed  “J-just come away from there.  Y-you don’t want to go in there.  T-trust me!”

“What’s the matter with you Gary?  I’m just going to take a quick look around and secure the door.”

“N-no,” Gary was really getting frantic now.  Sky was in mortal danger and didn’t know it.  He couldn’t tell her about the paper - he’d just have to get her away somehow.

He tried again.  “You-you just c-come back here away from the trailer.”

His final warning was too late.  A cold voice, that of Milt Anderson, spoke up from the interior of the trailer.

“That’s far enough you two.”  He and his two companions, with weapons drawn, exited the trailer laden with Gray wolf’s stock and the cash he had not yet wired home.  “What your friend was trying to tell you was that we were there and we didn’t aim to get caught.  But now you’ve gotten in the way and we’ll have to figure out what to do about it.”
 

So saying the tall, heavyset man reached out to grab Sky by the arm.  She jumped back out of his reach.  Gary’s normally logical thinking vanished at the sight of this threat to his friend.  He made a leap for the man in her defense.  Forrest Dix intercepted him and landed a left hook to Gary’s jaw, which staggered him.  Unable to keep himself from falling Gary slammed into the side of Gray Wolf’s trailer headfirst and fell hitting his head on the trailer hitch.  Swirling lights swam in his vision briefly and there was a roaring in his ears for a few seconds before he blacked out completely.

“Gary!”  Sky screamed trying to run to his side.  She was restrained by Anderson’s beefy arm around his waist.

“Settle down sister,” he told her.

Vince Dean looked back and forth between his partner and the unconscious Gary.  “What are we going to do now Boss?  We can’t just leave them here to squeal to the cops.”

“I don’t know yet,” Anderson said.  “I have to think.”

“We wouldn’t be in this mess if Vince hadn’t been so careless and closed that door right.”

“If you’d been keeping a better watch they wouldn’t have seen the door in the first place.”

A worried and frightened Sky listened to this exchange.  When Anderson briefly released his grip on her she pulled away and started to run to Gary’s side.

“Hey - come back here you,” he yelled grabbing her by the arm again.”

“Let go of me!” she demanded.  “I have to see how badly he’s hurt!”

“What’s it to you Doc?  Why is this kid so important?”

“He’s a friend.  He’s been like a little brother to me since we were kids,” Sky said.

“Aw let her look,” Forrest Dix said.  “She’s not going anywhere.”

Anderson let her loose with a warning, “No funny stuff lady.  I’ll be watching you.”
 

Sky ran over and knelt by Gary’s side.  The wind had turned cold, apparently blowing in from Lake Michigan, and it was starting to rain.  If it was getting to her it was bound to be getting to the motionless young man on the ground.  Sure enough, as she reached for his wrist to check his pulse she could see him shivering.  His skin felt cold and damp - even clammy.  It was hard to say if it was from the weather or from shock.  She was relieved to find that his pulse was steady even if it was a bit weak.  There was a bruise forming on the left side of his jaw, his lip was swollen and she found a lump forming on his left temple.  Behind her she could hear the three men arguing over what to do with them.  The words “Ranger”, “Dallas”, “jewelry store” and “1982” reached her ears.  Now she was even more frightened.  These men were exactly who she thought they were - the men who had killed her husband so many years ago.  Forcing herself to concentrate on Gary, who was starting to shiver due to the wet condition of his windbreaker, she took her denim jacket off and placed it over his chest and shoulders thankful that she liked her jackets big and roomy.  This one was actually an old one of Jamie’s who was somewhat the family clotheshorse - always buying new clothes and getting laughed at by his siblings.  Gently she brushed the hair back from Gary’s face and kissed his cheek whispering “I love you Gary Matthew” as Anderson approached and pulled her to her feet.

“Let’s go.  You’re coming with us.”

Looking down at her unconscious friend lying on the ground at her feet she asked, “What about Gary?  What are you going to do with him?”

“Now you ought to be able to figure that out for yourself doc,” he answered her.  “We can’t leave any witnesses behind to identify us.”

Thinking of nothing but saving Gary she said, ‘You leave Gary here - alive and hurt no worse than he is now and I’ll go with you willingly.  I won’t fight you.”  She was worried about Gary.  He needed help.  Their intent was to kill him and she wasn’t going to let that happen.

Anderson looked at her like she’d lost her mind.  After a minute he agreed.  With one last look at Gary who was still not moving they left the scene of the robbery headed for the stable area.  A half-formed plan in the back of Anderson’s mind was to “borrow” some mounts and leave the fairgrounds then find a car to steal.  Sky was their insurance policy - a guarantee that no cop would stop them.  Little did they dream that an officer of the law from their own state would soon track them down and take them into custody.

*****************************************************************
 

Jamie Fairfax parked his Grand Am next to his sister’s truck.  Sam Delaney parked his Ford Bronco next to him.  They’d made arrangements for several rental cars for the MacGregor relatives, picked some up at the airport and dropped them off at their hotel.  On the way back to the fairgrounds they’d stopped in at McGinty’s to get some lunch.  All thoughts of food left their minds when they heard that Sky had had a final run-in with her former brother-in-law.  Immediately they had left to drive out to see that she was ok.  The mist had turned to a steady rain that drummed on the tents and the roofs of the assorted buildings and trailers.  It was a good day for a nap for those who were spending the afternoon in their trailers.

“Sky?”  Jamie called his sister’s name as he entered the infirmary.  There was no answer and it was obvious she wasn’t there though her guitar and violin were as well as her book - Reno - a western by Gilbert Morris.

“Not here?”  Sam asked.

“No.”  Jamie wasn’t too concerned yet.  Sky could be almost anywhere.  She had a lot of friends with or competing in the rodeo.  She was probably with one of them.  Or maybe she was off somewhere peaceful and away from the so-called public areas, thinking or praying.  Jamie knew she’d always regretted that her relationship with Mark could not be amiable.  She’d loved his brother deeply and had always longed for a better relationship with him.  Unfortunately that was not to be.

“Maybe she’s visiting with Gray Wolf,” Sam suggested as he handed Jamie a slicker to put on.

“That could be,” Jamie said.  “They’ve taken quite a shine to each other.”

The two men left the infirmary and started walking toward the area where the vendors were set up.  Though most of them had decided early on not to open today there was an off chance that there were some around.  They hadn’t gone more than a few feet before Ranger Trivette hailed them.

“Hey fellas, have you seen Walker?”

“No,” Jamie replied  “We just got here ourselves.  We’re looking for my sister.  She had a pretty nasty encounter with Bradley a little while ago.  He’s in jail until tomorrow when he’ll be given an escort to the city limits and a stern warning not to show his face in Illinois again.  I want to make sure she’s ok.”

“When you find her I suggest you don’t leave her alone again,” Trivette said.  “Not for a while.”

“Why?”  Sam asked.

“Yeah Trivette why?”  Walker had approached unnoticed by any of the other men

“Geez Walker!”  Trivette exclaimed,  “I wish you’d stop doing that!”

“Never mind that Jimmy,” Jamie said.  “What was it you started to say?”

“I had the Chicago PD run the fingerprints we found on that slide Walker gave me this morning and I checked it against stolen property lists for the last couple of years.  Nothing.  Then I went back even further.  That slide is one of the pieces taken in a robbery in Dallas in 1982.  The same robbery in which your brother-in-law was killed.”

Jamie’s face went white.  Sam, seeing this, put his right hand on Jamie’s arm and gave it an encouraging squeeze.  “Don’t worry Jamie.  We’ll find her and get her out of here until they’re in custody.  We’ll send her to McGinty’s.  She’ll be safe enough there.  Crumb’ll look out for her.

Jamie smiled briefly in response as a concerned Walker asked, “Where is she?  I left her here a couple of hours ago after the CPD took Bradley into custody.”

“We don’t know.  We were just going to look for her.  I thought maybe she was with Gray Wolf at his trailer.  They’ve gotten along so well.”

“Trivette and I will go with you.  We’ll check with anyone who’s in their trailer or tent along the way.”

By the time the four men had gotten to the vicinity of Gray Wolf’s trailer they had checked with the occupants of a dozen or more tents and trailers.  No one had seen Sky at all.  Anderson and his cronies had not been seen since breakfast.  The cold rain was coming down hard by the time they reached Gray Wolf’s trailer.  Water ran off Walker and Trivette Stetsons and Jamie and Sam’s slickers.  Some of it dripped down the back of their necks making them wish they were wearing hooded jackets.  All discomfort they felt was forgotten at the sight that greeted them - an open trailer and a motionless body on the ground.

“Gary!” Jamie exclaimed as the four men ran the rest of the way to the trailer.

Jamie and Sam knelt on the wet ground next to their friend while Walker and Trivette checked out the interior of Gray Wolf’s quarters.

“Oh,” Gary moaned.

“Gary - Gary wake up,” Jamie said gently patting the younger man’s cheeks in an attempt to rouse him.

“Come on kid,” Sam said.  “Open your eyes.”

Gary’s dark eyes blinked open slowly but they were unfocused.  Jamie and Sam, kneeling on either side of him, eased him into a sitting position.

“Jamie he’s cold as ice and soaked through.  Let’s take him over to the infirmary and check him out.”  Looking at the still very groggy Gary he added,” He’s not going to be able to answer anybody’s questions until his head clears.”

“You fellas do that.  Trivette and I will look around a little more then we’ll join you,” Walker said.

“Ok,” Jamie said.

As he and Sam wrapped his old jacket around Gary’s shoulders they pulled him to his feet.  For the third time in as many weeks Gary was half carried to the infirmary.  His two friends helped him to a chair and replace the jacket with a blanket.  Each took one of his hands and tried to rub some warmth back into them.  A thermos of hot coffee was close by so Sam poured some into the cup and held it to Gary’s mouth.  Gary’s teeth were chattering so hard from the cold and the physical shock of the blow to his head that he couldn’t manage to get more than a couple of swallows down.

“Gary?  Gary can you hear me?  Where’s my sister?  Where’s Sky?”  Jamie had a sick feeling that his beloved little sister was in big trouble.

Through chattering teeth Gary answered, “I d-d-d-don’t kn-kn-know.”

Walker and Trivette arrived.  There were no signs of a struggle inside the trailer but the place had been ransacked and much jewelry had been discovered missing.

“Mr. Hobson?  Gary?  Can you tell us what happened?”  Walker asked.

“T-tr-trailer door w-w-was o-open.  S-S-Sk-Sky wanted to...to…check it out.  M-m-make sure ev-every-everything was ok.  T-tr-tried to s-stop her.”  Gary’s teeth continued chattering, making it hard for him to talk.  “Th-thr-three m-men wi-with guns c-c-came out.  Gra-grabbed her.  I-I-I tried to stop th-them.  One of th-them p-pun-punched me.  Hit-hit m-m-my head when I f-fell.”

“Here Gary,” Sam said.  “Try and drink some more of this coffee.  You’re soaked and chilled clear through to the bone.”

Gary’s hands were shaking so badly that Sam had to hold the cup for him.  After a couple of more swallows Gary looked at Walker and said, “you-you’re Wash-Washo aren’t you?  S-Sk-Sky talk-talked a-a-about you.  Did-didn’t tell m-me your n-n-name though.

Jamie looked at Walker and said, “I think it’s only fair Gary know the truth now.  We’ve kept it from him long enough.”

“Jamie’s right Walker,” Sam agreed.  “Considering what’s happened I think he deserves to know the truth.”

“Yeah, you’re right.  It’s time for him to know everything.”

Jamie looked at his friend sitting there so miserable in body and spirit.  “Gary this is Sergeant Cordell Walker, Company B, Texas Rangers and his partner James Trivette.  Walker’s Cherokee name is Washo.  Some of us call him by that name on occasion.  He’s been here for two weeks using the name Hays Cooper.  He and Jimmy are here because Sky needed help and because she suspected that Mark’s friends were wanted back in Texas.  Their investigation has uncovered the men that killed Sky’s husband.  Those men Gary - those men are the ones who beat you up at the dance.  They’re probably the ones who broke into the trailer and they probably took Sky with them.”

“Gary,” Walker said, “We need your help.  Can you remember what these men looked like that you and Sky surprised in Gray Wolf’s trailer?”

Gary’s brain was still a little fuzzy and his head was pounding but he did his best to describe them.

“It all h-happened s-so f-f-fast.  I-I think I-I’ve seen them b-before.  One of-of th-th-them is real t-tall.  Tall-taller than me.  And-and b-b-big t-t-too.  D-dark hair an-and br-brown eyes.”  All of a sudden it occurred to Gary where he’d seen them before.  Wide eyed with panic he said to Jamie “J-J-Jamie th-they’re the-the ones wh-who b-beat me up at the d-dance!”  Attempting to get up from his seat but was restrained by his two friends he added, “W-We got-got-gotta f-find her.  Th-They’ll h-h-hurt h-her!”

“Easy Gary,” Jamie said.  “I’m worried about Sky too and we’ll find her but you’re not going anywhere but home.  You need a hot shower and some dry clothes and you should lie down for a while.  You took a pretty hard knock on the head from the looks of that lump.”

“No!”  Gary controlled his chattering teeth long enough to emphatically refuse to leave.  Sky was in danger and as far as he was concerned it was his fault.  No matter how cold and wet he was he was not going to leave until he knew she was safe and sound.

The other four men held a quick conference among themselves.  Reluctantly they agreed to let him stay.  Jamie went out to his car and got the extra rain jacket he had and gave it to Gary to wear.  He also got some walkie-talkies for them to use to keep in touch while they searched the area looking for Sky and her abductors.
 

“All right, let’s go,” Walker said.  “From what Gary says they couldn’t have gotten too far.  That rain changed over from a drizzle to a downpour in about ten minutes- fifteen tops.  I’d be willing to bet that they’re hiding somewhere on the grounds waiting for it to let up before they make their move to escape.

******************************************************************
 

The subject of their search, along with the men who were holding her hostage had, as Walker predicted, not gone very far.  At that moment they were taking refuge in an empty tent.  The three men were not sure how to proceed.  Sky and Gary’s unexpected arrival at Gray Wolf’s trailer had put a monkey wrench in their original plan.

“What are we going to do now Milt?”  Dix wanted to know.  “Dragging her along is going to slow us down.”

“I don’t know yet,” Anderson responded.  “I need time to think.  That’s why we’re hanging out in here.”

“You ought to think about giving yourselves up,” Sky said.  “If my family and friends don’t track you down and the Chicago Police don’t track you down there’s still one other person you have to worry about.”

“And who might that be?” Anderson wanted to know.

“A certain Texas Ranger who’s been know to eat guys like you for breakfast or chew them up and spit them out.”

“Yeah, right Doc,” Vince Dean scoffed.  “A Texas Ranger in Chicago.”

“Maybe you fellas have heard of him.  His name is Cordell Walker and he’s here at my request.  He’s been here for two weeks.  And you’ve already tangled with him.”

“When would that have been,” Dix wanted to know.

“In 1982 when you robbed a Dallas jewelry store you shot and killed a young ranger by the name of Jonathan Bradley - Walker chased you for ten miles before you lost him.  Then you crossed paths two weeks ago when you beat Gary up to ‘teach him a lesson’.  Walker and his partner are the ones who pulled you off and the tar out of you.  Oh, and by the way, that Ranger you killed?  He was my husband  - your buddy Mark Bradley’s brother,” she informed them.  “So you might as well give yourselves up now - you’re not going to get away from Walker a second time.  He’s too close.  In fact, by now I’d say they’ve found Gary and know what happened.  So I’d say your time has about run out.”

Forrest Dix’s face went whiter than Sky’s already was.  “Milt, I’ve heard of this Walker.  He’s one tough dude!  We gotta get out of here.  She’s telling the truth.  Walker can’t hardly be beaten.  I know some fellas who tried..  They swear they’ve never seen anything like him.”

“There ain’t a man can’t be beaten Dix!  You’re worried about nothing,” Dean told him.

“Did your friends mention how many big time bank robbers, jewelry store robbers, fences, terrorists and such Walker has put away in his time?”  Sky added fuel to the fire of Dix’s panic in hopes of creating a distraction long enough to get away and get to Walker.

“Shut up lady!”  Dean said.

“He’s going to find you sooner or later so why don’t you make it easy on yourself and turn yourselves in now?”

“I said ‘shut up’ lady,” Dean screamed as he back handed Sky across the mouth.

Sky didn’t let him see how much it hurt, but her eyes blazed.  If it had been just the two of them she’d have taken a chance at hitting him back.  But the odds were against her so she held back.  She wasn’t a short tempered or violent person by any means but she had been taught to defend herself.  Instead she just put her hand to her mouth and wiped away the blood where her lip was split.  It would be swollen later but she’d survive.

Milt Anderson was a hard man but he had never hurt a woman in his life.  He did not approve of what his partner had done and he told him so.

“That’s enough.  If what she says about this Walker is true we don’t need to aggravate him by abusing the doc!”

“She’s getting on my nerves!”  Dean exclaimed.  “Let’s kill her now and get it over with!”

“Here?  With her family and the cops and at least two Texas Rangers looking for her?  Not to mention the Security people?  No.  She’ll be a good girl now won’t you Doc?  No more smart talk from you right?”

“Hey, I only said if you’d spare Gary I’d come with you willingly,” she retorted.  “I never said I wouldn’t give you any trouble.”

“If you can’t sit there and be quiet I’ll have to tie you up and gag you.”

Reluctantly Sky kept quiet.  If they tied and gagged her she’d be even worse off than she was now.  They could do what they wanted whether it be harm her, kill her, drag her along or desert her.  She wouldn’t be able to signal Walker when and if he found her.

******************************************************************

Frantically Gary scanned his by now soaking wet newspaper looking for some clue as to where the men were holding Sky.  He was standing near Gray Wolf’s trailer. Jamie and Sam were standing under the long awning attached to it.  The other two men were talking with Gray Wolf who had returned to the fairgrounds to find his trailer ransacked.  They didn’t notice Gary reading his paper or they would have been stunned and extremely surprised by his behavior.

Nervous and upset Gary mumbled to himself about the lack of assistance the paper was giving him.  He pulled Jamie’s rain jacket closer around himself and tried to fight off the shivers he still had.  He was well aware that if Jamie or Sam saw him shivering again they’d try to make him go home.  And there was no way he was going home until they found Sky and he saw for himself that she was safe and sound.

With nothing helpful in the paper he folded it up as best he could and stuffed it back inside the jacket he was wearing.  Once again he pulled the jacket as tightly around himself as he could as another shivering fit came on him. He was cold, wet and had a pounding headache.  And that was just the physical aspect of his misery.  He laid the blame for what had happened to Sky on himself.  He was supposed to have stopped her from going in that trailer but he didn’t.  If anything happened to her he’d never forgive himself.  He turned slightly toward the door to see if Jamie and Sam were watching him while they talked.  They weren’t but Gray Wolf’s eyes rested on him and he said something to Jamie who walked back toward Gary.

“Gary,” Jamie said in as stern a tone of voice as he could manage with this young man he was so fond of and had defended to his sister off and on over the last three weeks, “You don’t look good at all.  You’re pale and you look exhausted.  And you can’t tell me that you’re not cold because I can see how you’re shivering.  You’ve got to at least….”

“No!”

“Gary!”

Sam joined in the argument.  “Gary you’re not going to help the doc any if you make yourself sick.  You need to go home…”

“No!” Gary was adamant.  “I’m not going anywhere until we find Sky and I know she’s ok.”  He lowered his head so they wouldn’t see the tears that were threatening to fall and mumbled “It’s my fault she’s in trouble.  I knew it was going to happen but I didn’t stop it.  I was supposed to stop it.”

Sam and Jamie exchanged confused looks. Then Jamie reached out and put his arm around Gary’s shoulders and hugged him.  Sky may have been the one who originally adopted Gary but he loved him like a younger brother as well.

“Gary, it’s not your fault kid.  My sister is a stubborn and impulsive woman.  You know that.  Whether you were there or not she’d probably still be in this trouble.”  In an attempt to make Gary smile he said, “And if I know my sister she’s making those guys rue the day they ever took her with them.”

******************************************************************
Walker and Trivette were talking with others who had returned to or never left the fairgrounds.  Nobody could recall seeing Sky since the announcement that the day’s competition was called off.  They were getting frustrated.  How in the world, they wondered, could four people one of them a well liked and respected doctor just disappear like that?  They continued their search keeping in touch with Jamie and Sam by radio.

******************************************************************

“Meow.”

Sky looked down at her feet and saw a familiar orange tabby cat.  Leaning over she picked him up and cuddled him.  It was nice to see a friendly face even if it was a furry non-human one.

“Hey!  Where’d that come from?” Vince Dean wanted to know.

“Probably belongs to one of the families at the rodeo or someone who lives nearby,” Sky lied to him.

“Well get rid of it  - before I do.”

“Why?”  she asked.  “What are you afraid of?  It’s only a cat.”

“I don’t care!  Get rid of it.”

“All right, all right.  I’ll send him away.”

When Dean turned away to keep watch at the tent flap again Sky reached up behind her neck.  She almost always wore the necklace Gary and his parents had given her for her High School Graduation.  A silver heart with an inscription on the back.  Swiftly and quietly she removed one of her shoelaces and used it to tie the necklace and her silver and turquoise ring praying that the men wouldn’t notice that any of these things were missing.

“Go on buddy,” she whispered as she shooed Cat away.  “Go find Gary.”

Cat gave her one wise and knowing look before he slipped away under the wall of the tent into the pouring rain.

******************************************************************

Sky’s brother and friends, including the distraught Gary, were at the refreshment stand comparing notes on their fruitless search when Gary heard a familiar sound.

“Meow.”

Looking down he saw Cat looking up at him. “Not now!  I’m busy,” he snapped.

“Meow!”  Cat was more insistent now and batted at Gary’s ankle.  He needed to pay attention to him.  Sky’s life could depend on it.

Gary looked down again.  This time a flash of silver and turquoise caught his attention.  Leaning over he picked up Cat and saw the necklace and rings tied around Cat’s neck with a shoelace.

“What the…” Gary’s eyes grew wide with wonder.

“What is it Gary?”  Jamie asked.

“Look,” Gary answered showing him what he had.  “It’s Sky’s necklace.  The one my parents and I gave her when she graduated from High School.  And the ring she was wearing the other day.”

“Let’s see,” Jamie said taking the jewelry from Gary.  “He’s right Washo.  Even without the inscription I’d recognize that necklace anywhere.  And isn’t that the ring you and Alex gave her for her twenty-fifth birthday?”

“Yeah it is,” the Ranger replied.  “It was the last gift we gave her before she left Texas.”

A faraway look came into Walker’s eyes.  Trivette saw it and groaned as his partner took Cat from Gary’s arms and stared into his eyes.  What some people called the mystic side of his nature was kicking in.

“Oh, no,” Trivette groaned.  “Here we go again.  You’re ‘talking’ to that cat aren’t you?”
 

Jamie grinned in spite of his concern for his sister.  He’d heard and seen for himself over his years of association with Walker and Trivette that Walker sometimes saw visions or just knew things without being told.  He also knew that it tended to drive Jimmy Trivette up a wall when he did.  Sam had heard a few stories from Sky so he just stood there silently waiting for Walker’s mind to come back to them.  In his mind’s eye all Gary could visualize were these men brutalizing a terrified Sky in some manner.  He literally still had some painful reminders of what they were capable of.  What he imagined terrified him.

Walker absently stroked Cat’s wet fur deep in thought.  Looking into Cat’s eyes he nodded once then gently put him down.

“I know where they are,” he said at last.

“I’m going to hate myself for asking this,” Trivette said.  “But how do you know?”

“The cat told me,” Walker said.

“Oh man!”  Trivette exclaimed.  “I knew I was going to hate your answer.  What do you mean the cat told you?  Cats don’t talk.  Jamie - Sam - tell him cats don’t talk.”

“Can’t,” Jamie said.  “I’ve known people, including my sister, who can understand them perfectly.”

“Jamie’s right,” Sam said.  “I’ve seen the doc communicate with animals.  She loves them and they love her and they understand each other perfectly.”

“Where are they?”  Gary jumped into the conversation.  He wanted to get them back on the matter at hand and that was finding and rescuing Sky before something terrible happened to her.

“They’re somewhere near the stable area.  Hiding out in a tent,” Walker said.  “A supply tent or a tent that’s being used for storing feed.  The cat had some bits of straw caught on his feet and some grain husks in his fur.  Not much but enough to tell us where to search.”

“What are we waiting for?” Gary asked, anxious for his friend’s safety.  “Let’s go get her.”

“We will,” Walker said, “but we’ve got to proceed with caution.  If we spook ‘em there’s no telling what they’ll do.”
 

“What do you suggest Washo?” Jamie asked.  “I want my sister back safe and sound but I’ll do what you say.”  Giving his anxious young friend a knowing look he added, “We all will.”  Sam nodded.  After a tense moment Gary did too.  It was hard for him to follow their lead but if it came down to that or being sent home to wait he’d be patient.
The five men with Walker in the lead headed for the supply tent.  Once there he told the others to wait behind some trucks that were parked there out of harm’s way.  As quietly as a cat, or maybe in his case a Native American hunting for food, he approached the tent from the rear.  He crept closely enough to make out several voices including Sky’s.  He couldn’t keep himself from grinning when he heard her trying to talk them into giving themselves up.  Two of the voices that answered were rough but the third sounded like a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“He’s going to find you and you’re not going to get away again,” she was saying.  “You might as well give yourselves up.”

“Milt, she’s right,” Forrest Dix whined.  “That Walker’s not human.”

“Shut up Dix!”  Dean said.  “You’re acting like an old woman.”

“Hey, we wouldn’t even be in this mess if you’d kept your cool in Dallas.  But you just had to start blazing away when that alarm went off.  And if shooting up the store wasn’t enough you had to go and shoot a Ranger besides!”

“Shut up you fool!”

“No, I won’t.  You’re the reason we’re in this mess.  You’re the reason the Texas Rangers have followed us here - you and your temper!”

“Enough!”  Anderson bellowed.  “I’ve heard enough out of both of you.  We’re getting out of here right now.”

“How do you plan on getting past the authorities if I may be so bold as to ask?” Sky said.

“We’re taking you with us as insurance,” Anderson told her.

Hearing this Walker quickly made his way back to his companions.

“They’re getting ready to make their break,” he told them.  “They’re planning on using Sky as a shield.

“How do you want to handle it Walker?”  Trivette asked his partner.

“Trivette you come with me.  You three,” he looked at Jamie, Sam and Gary, “Stay here out of the line of fire.  We won’t shoot unless we absolutely have to.”

Jamie nodded in agreement for the three of them as Trivette joined his partner.  Silently he prayed that his sister’s ordeal would soon be over.  He also sent up a prayer for wisdom on how to tell his parents and grandparents about Sky’s latest adventure.  They weren’t going to take it easily.

Stopping no more than three feet from the front of the tent where Sky and her captors were Walker and Trivette took a defensive stand ready to do what they had to in order to return Sky safely to the arms of her family and friends.

“You in the tent,’ he called.  “Come out with your hands up.”

The occupants of the tent were startled by the sound of his voice - the men more so than Sky whose face lit up when she heard it.

“Who is that?” Dean asked his partner Anderson.

“I don’t know,” Anderson replied.

“You in the tent - this is your last warning.  Come out with your hands up and you won’t be harmed.”

“Who are you?” Anderson yelled back.  “Cops?”

“Texas Rangers on special assignment with the Chicago Police Department,” was the answer he got.

“You know them?” Anderson asked his hostage.

“Yes.  He’s the man I’ve been telling you about.  That’s Walker.”

Anderson walked over to Sky and grabbed her right wrist in an iron grip.  Pulling her toward the tent flap he told her “We’re going to have a little chat with Ranger Walker about your future if we don’t get out of here without his interference.”  Opening the tent flap he pushed Sky out in front of him taking care to be in a position where she would be the one to be hurt if the Ranger tried anything.

Walker and Trivette tensed when they saw the tent flap open.  Both men were angry when they saw the swelling where Dean had hit her and the grimace on her face as she was forced to walk ahead of Anderson.

“You all right?”  Walker asked her.

“I’m fine.  How’s Gary?”

“Wet and cold and worried about you but he’s safe,” Walker told her.  “He’s with your brother and Sam.”

Gary heard her and would have answered himself but for the other two men watching over him warning him to be quiet.

Turning his attention back toward Anderson Walker said, “Let her go Anderson.  You can’t get away.  Security and the Chicago Police will have all the exits blocked by now.”

“We’ll get out.  The doc here is going to help us.  She’s our guarantee that you won’t try to stop us.  If you do,” He paused briefly as he put his pistol in Sky’s ribs, “the lady dies.”

Gary heard this exchange and it hit him hard. He was miserable in body from the accidental blow to his head and the subsequent drenching, as he lay on the ground unconscious in the pouring rain.  And he was miserable in spirit from having been unable to prevent Sky’s kidnapping.  Now Sky’s very life was in danger and still there was nothing he could do.  Jamie and Sam, intent on the conversation and resisting the urge to charge the pistol wielding men, didn’t notice the tears mingling with the rain on Gary’s face or the severe shivering fit that came on him.  He was a prime candidate for hypothermia if this wasn’t resolved quickly and he got into some warm, dry clothes.

“What is it you want?”

“Safe conduct.  Horses for the four of us to get across the fairgrounds and a car to get out of the city.  And no cops anywhere or else!”

“I’ll see what I can arrange,” Walker said.

“You’ll do more than see about it Ranger - you’ll do it!”  With that Anderson dragged Sky back into the tent, tied her wrists and made her sit down on a bale of hay as the tense waiting period began.

“Jamie, can you arrange for the horses?”  Walker asked.

“Yes, but…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll get her back before they get very far.  But we’ve got to convince them that we’re cooperating.”
 

******************************************************************

It was a tense thirty minutes as Jamie chose, saddled and delivered just inside the stadium, four horses for his sister and her captors to ride across the arena to a waiting car - and the men who waited in hiding to prevent them from leaving the fairgrounds with their hostage.

“Mount up,” Anderson ordered.

The others did as they were told.  Fuming inwardly at her captors Sky mounted a tall dark gray gelding.  In the back of her mind she knew that these horses were familiar but not because her grandparents or any of her cousins rode.  It took a minute but then she smiled to herself.  Her sneaky brother had chosen four of the slowest horses their grandfather owned.  These particular horses were usually reserved for giving rides to children who were too big for ponies.

When they were mounted Anderson reached for the reins of Sky’s horse himself and they started off across the arena toward the vehicle tat was waiting for them.  Sky, with invisible leg signals, kept her mount dancing this way and that upsetting the other horses.  Added to that was the gusty wind and rain that was blowing and soon these normally steady horses were becoming unmanageable.  The three men holding Sky hostage were getting nervous and irritable as well.  The air was blue with the curses they muttered and screamed which only served to make their mounts more nervous.

No one could have foreseen what happened next.  While Jamie had been getting the horses and Walker, Trivette and the others had gone to get into position to prevent the getaway, an uninformed member of the rodeo staff had gone to the announcer’s booth.  As the riders approached the midway point in the area, the PA system suddenly came to life.  The strains of John Phillip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever blared from the speakers - spooking the already nervous horses and startling the riders and rescuers alike.

In the safety of his hiding place Gary pulled The Paper out of his jacket.  Shivering as the cold air touched his damp skin he unfolded it and the change in the article caught his attention.  Five people would be hurt, three of them seriously when the men holding Sky hostage tried to escape.

Just when it seemed that the horses were settling down the PA system came to life again.  This time it was Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture complete with cannon fire sounds.  The noise proved too much for the already jittery horses and they started bucking and running.  Gary ran for the announcer’s booth to get at the PA system controls.  Ranger Walker appeared seemingly out of nowhere to tackle Milt Anderson from his horse forcing him to release the reins of Sky’s horse.  They hit the dirt together but Anderson bounced to his feet quickly and started swinging.  He’d dropped his pistol when they fell and was looking around wildly for it.

Ranger Trivette, meanwhile, had quickly taken all the fight out of Forrest Dix.  The man didn’t have the nerve to tangle wit the slim black man though Trivette wasn’t nearly as proficient in the martial arts as his partner. He’d been ready to give up when he first heard that Walker was in Chicago.

Vince Dean, recovering quickly from his surprise, made a grab for the reins of Sky’s horse, intent on using her as a shield to make good his own escape.  He didn’t make it.  As Gary watched from his vantage point in the announcer’s booth Jamie and Sam both pounced on him and, in spite of his struggle he had no chance against an angry brother and a former golden gloves boxing champion.  Between them they had his frightened horse and him under control in a matter of less than a minute.

Just when it seemed that things were under control Anderson managed to stagger Walker with a blow to the jaw.  The other three men, busy with their own captives weren’t close enough to be of any help.  Neither was Gary who watched helplessly as Anderson got his hands on his weapon and fired a shot at Walker. The shot went wild and a short but furious battle with Anderson over his weapon ended as Walker spun on one heel and kicked a few times.  Anderson fell to the ground unconscious.

That single gunshot would prove to be Sky’s undoing.  Her hands were tied in front of her and, though she was working the knots on the ropes that bound them with her teeth, she had no control over her normally placid mount.  Walker turned away from Anderson just in time to see Sky’s horse run for the far end of the arena.

The lawmen, her brother and friends could only watch helplessly from where they stood as the gelding, thwarted by a closed gate stopped short throwing a helpless Sky over his head where she landed in a heap against that same gate and lay unmoving.

******************************************************************

It was going on two o’clock in the afternoon when the phone rang at McGinty’s.  The MacGregor cousins were sitting at a group of tables they had pulled together so that they could sit together and with Chuck and Marissa.  The boys, as Sky would have called them, were telling their new friends some pretty tall tales of their exploits in and out of the classroom.  To hear Chris tell it they were a regular “Wild Bunch” only without the lawbreaking.  Stories of frog jumping contests had Marissa giggling until tears ran down her face.  Crumb answered the phone on the third ring.

“McGinty’s.”  He listened closely to the caller for a brief minute before saying, “Yeah, I’ll tell them.  We’ll meet you there,” before hanging up the phone and walking over to the cheerful group.  It was Chuck who looked up as Crumb approached.  He didn’t know why but suddenly he was very apprehensive.  It must have been the serious look on Crumb’s face as he approached.  His “stony faced cop” look as he and Gary had come to think of it.

“I hate to break up the party but I’ve got bad news,” he said after he had gotten their attention.  “There’s been an accident at the fairgrounds.”

Chris the eldest member of the family present spoke up, “What is it?  Who is it?”

“That was one of the security guards at the rodeo.  He said the doc took a fall from a horse and is on her way to the County General Emergency Room.  You’re to get over there as soon as possible.  Jamie’s notifying his parents and someone has gone looking for your grandparents.”

There was a mad scramble as the cousins rose from their seats and grabbed their jackets, coats and umbrellas.  When Chris tried to take time to pay the bill Chuck shocked Marissa by telling him to forget about it.  This was a seldom seen side of Chuck.  Deep inside she knew he was really a caring person but he hardly ever let it be seen.  It gave her a hint as to how much he really cared about Sky in spite of his teasing.

“Forget it Chris.  Just go,” he told their friend.  “We’ll be there soon.”

Chris nodded his thanks and headed out the door to catch up with his siblings and cousins.

“Fishman, Marissa,” Crumb continued.  “Hobson’s there too.  The security guard wasn’t clear on whether or not he was hurt but he did say that Jamie wants you to bring him some dry clothes.  That’s all I know,” he said as Chuck started to question him further.

“Marissa get your raincoat and Spike.  I’ll run up to the loft and get some clothes for Gar and meet you outside in five minutes.”

True to his word Chuck ran - literally - up to the loft and grabbed some clothes for Gary including his leather bomber jacket because it was at least somewhat waterproof.  Back downstairs he met up with Crumb who reassured him that he’d keep things running smoothly while they were gone.  The old cop also told Chuck that he’d be waiting to hear from them.

******************************************************************

It was almost three o’clock by the time the family members were all gathered in the waiting room anxiously awaiting word on Sky and Gary.  They’d heard upon arrival that Gary had also had some sort of accident and was being examined - against his will - in another room.  Jamie and Sam, leaving Sky’s side briefly, had almost literally forced him into allowing another doctor to examine him.  He was soaked to the skin and cold as ice and had a good-sized lump where he’d hit his head.  Through chattering teeth Gary had protested.  Finally an exasperated Sam had literally pushed his stubborn young friend into a wheelchair and wheeled him into an examination room. He would remain there with him until Gary was released.

Upon their arrival the MacGregors greeted Chuck and Marissa.  While Chuck brought Gary’s clothes to the Nurse’s Station Chris helped Marissa find a seat.  Chuck joined them after a minute.  A few minutes later Gary, accompanied by Sam, came out to the waiting room.  Wordlessly Gary went and sat in a corner by himself.  Despite Jamie and Sam’s reassurances that Sky’s accident was not his fault he still blamed himself.  If he could have kept her from going near that trailer then surely they wouldn’t all be sitting around the hospital waiting room anxiously awaiting word on her condition.

Chuck noticed the despairing look on Gary’s face and asked Sam about it.  “What’s with Gar?” he asked.  “He looks awful.”

“He’s blaming himself Chuck,” Sam explained.  “He tried to stop Doc Fairfax from going near the trailer - I guess he had a feeling something was wrong - but she went anyway.  Three armed men knocked Gary out and kidnapped the doc.  He’s been with us all afternoon while we searched for her.  He wouldn’t even leave to change his clothes.  Now he’s got himself in this depression and we can’t snap him out of it.”

When he had finished his explanation Sam went off to the examination room where Sky was being checked out.  Chuck went to Marissa and told her what Sam had told him.  Together, with Spike they approached their friend who sat in a corner by himself.  Marissa could sense how upset Gary was even as Chuck could see the haunted look in his eyes.  He was dressed in the dry jeans and shirt they had brought him.  His face was pale and there was a bruise on his jaw with some swelling around it and a lump the size of a goose egg on his head where he’d hit it on the trailer hitch.

“Hey Gar,” Chuck said.  “You okay?”

“No.”

Marissa sat down next to him and reached for one of his hands.  Finding it she gave it a gentle squeeze.  Spike gave a little whine and laid his head on Gary’s knee.  Even he knew something was wrong.

“What happened Gary?  All Crumb could tell us was that there had been an accident and to bring you some dry clothes.”

“Sky was kidnapped.  When her kidnappers tried to cross the arena on horseback the horses were spooked by the PA system.  Her hands were tied in front of her and she couldn’t control her horse.  It stopped up short at the gate.  She slammed into the gate when she fell.”  Gary didn’t look at his friends during this whole exchange.  His eyes were on the door that Sam had gone through as he waited anxiously to hear how his friend was.

“Why did you need dry clothes Gar?”  Chuck wanted to know.

“I got knocked out trying to protect Sky.  It started raining while I was out.”

“Where are Sky’s kidnappers now Gary?” Marissa asked.

“In police custody.”  Gary’s mind was not totally on the conversation.  His answers were brief and lacking in details.

Chuck and Marissa gave up trying to get any more information out of Gary.  It was obvious that he didn’t feel like talking.  They settled in to just keep him company.

Ten minutes later Rangers Walker and Trivette entered the Emergency Room.  Having safely deposited their prisoners in a cell in one of the Chicago Police stations they were anxious to find out how Sky was doing.

“Walker?  Trivette?  What are you two doing here?”  Chris was astonished to see these men in Chicago - and now wearing their badges.

“Chris MacGregor!”  Walker exclaimed as the three of them shook hands.    “I could ask you the same thing.”

“I’m here with Granddad’s rodeo,” Chris explained after rapidly making introductions to his family members.  “I always take my vacation with the rodeo.  I thought you knew that.”

“I did.  I just didn’t know that would include Chicago at the same time Trivette and I went under cover to help a friend.”

“What’s your friend’s name?” Chris asked.

“Schuyler Fairfax,” Walker told him.

In spite of the seriousness of the situation Chris couldn’t help laughing.  It was all so ludicrous that the Rangers would be there to help his cousin and he, also a Texas Ranger, didn’t know about it.  The two times they’d seen each other over the last few weeks had been the night of the dance when Gary was beaten and one night at McGinty’s.  Chris had definitely had other things on his mind then.  Walker and Trivette gave him a quick explanation on what they had been doing.  It was then that Chris realized why the name Hays Cooper, a name he’d been hearing for two weeks, was so familiar.  Cooper was the name of a legendary Texas Ranger that Walker had idolized for years.

“Come with me for a minute Walker, Jimmy.   There are some people I want you to meet.  They’re friends of Sky’s.”  Leading the way he walked to where Chuck and Marissa were sitting with Gary.  Spike raised his head briefly.  Chuck and Marissa looked up when they heard them approach.  Gary just kept staring at the door where Sam had disappeared.

“Chuck Fishman, Marissa Clark.  I’d like you to meet Sergeant Cordell Walker, Company B Texas Rangers and his partner James Trivette.  Walker, Trivette this is Chuck Fishman and Marissa Clark.  They’re friends of Sky’s.”

The two Rangers acknowledge the introductions and asked about Spike.  The canine member of the group enjoyed the scratch behind his ears and under his chin that he received very much.

“And this is Gary Hobson.  He and Sky have been friends since he was a little kid.”

“We’ve met,” Walker told Chris.  “Gary was with us, Sam and Jamie all afternoon.  He was injured trying to keep Sky from being kidnapped.”

“And got soaked and stayed wet all afternoon,” Trivette added.  “He absolutely refused to leave even to change his clothes.”

Walker looked with concern at the young man sitting with his friends and yet so alone.  “How are you doing Gary?”

“Fine.”  Gary looked briefly at Walker, then turned his attention to the door again.

“He’s really upset Ranger Walker,” Marissa told him.  “He blames himself for everything that happened to Sky today.”

“I can see that,” Walker said.  “He’s been like this all afternoon.”  Taking a seat next to Gary while his partner got acquainted with Chuck and Marissa Walker placed his right hand on Gary’s left shoulder.  “You can’t blame yourself Gary.  Accidents happen.  Even if Sky’s hands had been free she still might have been thrown.  The only difference is that she might have been able to break her fall.”

His words had no effect.  Gary’s mud puddle green eyes continued to be filled with misery and self-reproach.  They would stay that way until he saw for himself that Sky would be all right.

The family and friends sat waiting in agonizing suspense for another fifteen minutes while nurses, lab technicians and other hospital personnel wandered in and out of the waiting room and the examination room.  At long last, after another half-hour had passed, Jamie came out to apprise his relatives and friends on Sky’s condition.  His grandparents, having been located at Marshall Field’s, looked up anxiously as he approached.

“Jamie?” his grandmother asked.  “How is she?”

“She’ll be fine Grandma,” he told her.  “She’s got a couple of cracked ribs, her right arm has a pretty deep cut and she broke her right shoulder.  And she has a monster headache from whacking it on that gate when she was thrown.  We’ve cleaned her up and bandaged what we can.  She’ll have to wear a sling for a few weeks.”

“Can we see her?” his grandfather asked.

“Only a couple of you.  She’s been given a strong sedative right now for the pain.  She’s pretty groggy and she may not recognize you.”

Everyone heaved a sight of relief.  The Texans knew better than any of them how dangerous a fall from a horse could be.  They’d all experienced injuries in varying degrees from such accidents.

“She’s going to have to spend the night so they can keep an eye on her but you can see her for a minute before they take her to her room,” Jamie told his grandparents.

The cousins had already decided that their grandparents should be the ones to go to her.  They’d wait until she was up for having more company.

Turning to the nurse who had followed him out Jamie said, “Would you mind showing my grandparents where my sister is?  I need to speak to somebody.”

“Certainly.  Right this way,” the woman answered.

Jamie turned to his cousins.  “You can see her tomorrow.  Right now the doctor wants to limit visitors.  She’s pretty shaken up and in a fair amount of pain right now.”

“What about the party Jamie?  Should we cancel it?”  Chris the family spokesman wanted to know.

“No need to cancel but let everyone know it’s postponed until Saturday night so Sky can have a day to rest.  That ok with you Chuck?  Marissa?  It’s not going to cause any problems with the catering is it.”  Jamie didn’t bother asking Gary.  It was obvious Gary didn’t care about anything but Sky right now.

After getting confirmation from his friends Jamie sent his cousins off to inform the other family members of the delay in their plans and of the accident.  Then he went over to talk to Gary.

“As for you Gary,” Jamie said to the younger man.  “I want you to follow the doctor’s orders.  Go home, take a hot shower, eat a hot meal and go straight to bed.  You’ve had a rough day even if you won’t admit it.”

“But…” Gary tried to argue but Jamie was adamant.

“No ‘buts’ Gary.  You can see Sky tomorrow.  It’s more important than you take care of yourself now.  If you get sick after all this my sister’s going to have my head - and Sam’s - for not seeing to it that you did.”  Turning to Chuck and Marissa he said, “He’s in your hands guys.  Make sure he does what I told him.”

Chuck and Marissa each took told of one of Gary’s arms and led him reluctantly away from the hospital toward Chuck’s car.  Rangers Walker and Trivette left soon after telling Jamie that they’d get Sky’s statement in the morning.  They would be leaving for Texas with the prisoners as soon as the extradition papers were processed.

******************************************************************

Back home in the loft Gary tried to convince his friends that he was ok.  That he didn’t need to go to bed.  That he didn’t need for them to hover over him like mother hens.  It didn’t work.  Forced to go through the motions of obeying the doctor’s orders Gary allowed Marissa to order a bowl of hot soup and a sandwich for him along with a large glass of milk.  While she took care of that Chuck refused to be dissuaded from his mission to see that Gary got his hot shower.  He got Gary a pair of boxers, a tee shirt and a pair of sweatpants and forced him into the bathroom for the recommended shower.  After he had showered and eaten Gary tried again to talk his friends into leaving.  Both of them ignored him.  Marissa found her way to Gary’s bed, turned down the blankets and adjusted the pillows.  Chuck steered his stubborn but obviously exhausted friend over to the bed and helped Marissa make sure he was comfortable.  Protest though he might that he wasn’t tired Gary was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.  He barely noticed when Marissa gently kissed his forehead before she and Chuck left the loft.

**************************************************************

“No.  Stop…Turn…Turn it off.  Scaring the horses.  Sky!  Nooooo!”

Gary woke up with a start.  For a minute he didn’t realize where he was.  When his breathing was back to normal he got out of bed and dressed quickly.  He couldn’t get the mental image of Sky lying on the ground in a crumpled heap out of his mind.  He kept seeing her as she looked after taking the header off of that horse.  She’d tried to get up but had passed out almost immediately.  Her face had been pale; there was a bump on her right temple and some swelling around the right side of her mouth.  She’d lain so still and barely seemed to be breathing when they’d put her in the ambulance.  Sam, Jamie and the Rangers had tried to reassure him that she’d be fine but he wasn’t convinced.  Nor was he convinced now.  He needed to see for himself.

Out on the street he flagged down a passing taxi and told the driver where he wanted to go.  When the cab pulled up at the main entrance he paid the fare and rushed inside.

“What room is Schuyler Fairfax in?” he asked anxiously.

The woman at the desk looked it up in the computer in front of her.  “Room three ten,” she told him.  “But you can’t see her now  - visiting hours are over.”

“I’ll just be a minute,” Gary said as he turned and ran for the elevator.

“Sir…” the woman called as the elevator door closed.  Picking up the phone she called the Security Office to alert them to this perceived intruder.

“Three-oh-six, three-oh-seven, three-oh-eight - here it is,” Gary said to himself.

Entering the room, a private one, he found Sky apparently sound asleep in the lone bed.  She looked so pale and fragile to him.  Her right arm was bandaged and in a sling. Gary had forgotten that Jamie had told them she’d broken a shoulder.

Tears welled up in his eyes again as he thought of how he had failed both The Paper and Sky.  He hadn’t seen the paper since they’d arrived at the hospital that afternoon.  Sam Delaney had taken it away from him when he’d brought him into the examination room for a checkup and to warm up.  He didn’t know that it reported  “non-life threatening injuries”.  All he knew was that he should have prevented the kidnapping and subsequent injury to his friend.

He was reaching out a trembling hand to hold Sky’s uninjured left hand when a security guard and a nurse rushed into the room.

“Hey buddy!”  the guard said harshly.  “What are you doing in here?”

“Sir,” the nurse said, “I must ask you to leave.  Visiting hours are over and this patient is not to be disturbed.”

“I-I-just had to see…” Gary stuttered nervously.

“Come on buddy, let’s go,” the guard said taking Gary’s arm.

Sky moaned in her sleep disturbed by the argument.  Her eyes fluttered open but they didn’t focus and the lids slid shut again.  The argument would have continued had Jamie Fairfax not returned to his sister’s room at that point.

“Gary?  What are you doing here?”

“He’s disturbing my patient,” the nurse said indignantly.

“It’s after visiting hours,” the guard said.  “He’ll have to leave.”  He started to force Gary out of the room.

“J-J-Jamie please,” Gary pleaded.

Sky moaned once more.  Again her eyes fluttered open and she looked around in confusion.  “Jamie?  What’s the matter?” she asked as she started to sit up.

“Nothing sweetie,” her brother said as he crossed from the doorway to her bed.  “Just lie back and go back to sleep,” he told her as he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and then kissed her forehead.  Turning to the others he said in a harsh whisper, “Outside - now!”

Out in the corridor he dismissed the Security Guard and the stuffy nurse.  The guard went willingly enough when Jamie explained about Gary’s relationship to his sister.  He also apologized for his rough treatment.  The nurse however was not so willing to leave the “madman” alone with her patient.

“Nurse Damon you often work with my sister do you not?  When she’s working Emergency or doing her rounds?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know about her temper.  Believe me you do not want to rile her up where this man is concerned.  If she thinks you’ve mistreated him in any way, shape or form you will be handed your head in very short order.”

“But visiting hours are over and he disturbed my patient.”

“Miss Damon I am about to lose patience with you myself.  This man is Gary Hobson.  He’s practically a member of my family.  He is not ever to be kept from seeing my sister if he so desires!”

 The indignant nurse turned on her heel and marched back to the nurse’s station leaving an irritated Jamie and a greatly relieved Gary behind.

 When she was gone Jamie turned to Gary.  “Now tell me what you’re doing here when you were distinctly told to go home and go to bed. “

 Somewhat embarrassed at being the cause of a disturbance in the hospital Gary tried to explain.  “I-I…” he stuttered.  “I had to-to see for myself that she’s  - that she’s ok.  I can’t sleep anyway.”

Jamie shook his head.  “Gary Matthew Hobson you are every bit as stubborn as my sister.  If you two spent half as much time worrying about yourselves as you do about each other…” Jamie didn’t finish the thought.  Instead he put his arm around his friend’s shoulder and squeezed.  “All right, come on.  You can stay.”

******************************************************************

Half an hour later Gary was alone with Sky having promised Jamie that he would go home if he got tired.  If Sky had been awake she’d have said to her brother “fat chance”.  No way was he going to leave.

“Sky,” Gary whispered, “ I’m s-s-sorry.  I was supposed to keep you from being kidnapped.  Instead I almost got you k-k-killed.”  Laying his arms on the side of the mattress and his head on his arms Gary’s shoulders shook as he cried himself to sleep for the first time since he was a little boy.

******************************************************************
Late Friday morning Sky slowly roused from her drug aided sleep.  Her head, ribs and shoulder still ached but not quite as badly as they had the previous afternoon.  It had been a very long time since she fell off a horse and she hadn’t enjoyed it any more this time than the last time.

When she looked to her left she was more than a little surprised to find Gary, her “baby brother” asleep in a chair next to her his head on his arm which rested on the mattress.  He looked so pale himself and exhausted.  She could see the bruise on his jaw and the bump on his temple.  His dark hair was mussed and lines of fatigued and tension were showing around his eyes - yet, in spite of all that she couldn’t help thinking that he still looked very young and very, very vulnerable.  Reaching out with her left hand she brushed back the hair that had fallen close to his eyes and then gently shook him awake.

“Gary.  Wake up,” she said.  When he didn’t rouse at first she tried again, shaking him a little harder this time.  “Gary wake up.”

Gary’s eyes slowly blinked open.  At first the wall of solid white in front of his eyes confused him.  A couple of seconds later he realized that the white was actually a blanket on a bed.  A hospital bed.  He sat upright in a hurry.

“Sky!”

“I’m right here Gary,” she said to him.  “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You-you’re ok?  I mean - you’re really going to be okay?”

“Yes sweetie,” she smiled.  “I’m really going to be okay.”

A smile wreathed Gary’s face briefly.  Then he frowned again.  His inner voice was still trying to convince him that it was his fault she was in that bed.  That he messed up or she wouldn’t be hurt.

Noticing the distressed look on his face and the haunted look in his eyes she asked, “What’s the matter Hon?”

 Hesitantly, as if expecting her to bawl him out he said, “It-it’s m-m-my fault.  You’re being h-hurt.  I-I mess-messed up bad.  You-you n-never should have been with those guys.  I-I-I should have stopped you.  I kn-kn-knew something was wrong.  I sh-sh-should have…” the tears were threatening to fall again.  Jeepers he hated himself right now.

“Gary,” Sky said, “You didn’t stand a chance of stopping me.  When have you ever been able to stop me from doing anything?”

“But…”

“No buts Gary!  I saw the open door and I chose to ignore the warnings from you and in the back of my mind.”  Sky manipulated the bed so that she was sitting up a little better.  “Now stop blaming yourself for what happened.”  She reached out her good arm toward him and pulled him into the best hug she could manage in her present circumstances.  After a minute her warm embrace and soothing words calmed him down.  Just as she was kissing his forehead a familiar figure made his presence known.

“Meow.”

Plop

Cat had arrived with the paper but Gary had no worries about Sky learning his secret.  Her furry friend distracted her as he jumped up on the bed.

“Cat!” Sky exclaimed.  “Hey little buddy.  How’d you manager to sneak past ‘Damon the Demon’ huh?”  She reached out and scratched the orange furball behind the ears eliciting a loud purr of contentment.  Cat’s mission was twofold that morning.  Deliver Gary’s paper and visit his injured friend and so try to reassure Gary that she would indeed be all right.

A few minutes later Jamie arrived.  He was no completely surprised to see Gary.  He was no happy though because he’d told the younger man to go home if he got tired.  But he just frowned and shook his head as he walked to his sister’s bedside.

“Morning sis,” he said giving her a kiss on the forehead depositing the small suitcase he carried on the floor and the Burger King bag on the bedside table.  “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a runaway freight train but I’ll survive,” was the answer he got.

“Well baby sister I don’t mind telling you that you and Gary both like to have given me and Sam heart failure.”

“Oh?”  Sky raised an eyebrow.  “And what did he do or not do?”

“Jamie please,” Gary pleaded turning slightly pale at the thought of a potential lecture from Sky.

“Jamie you tell me what I missed,” Sky said in a tone that brooked no nonsense.

“Well…” Jamie hesitated looking at Gary’s stricken face.  “I guess it’s not really important.  You’re both safe and on the mend.”

As Sky looked askance at the two men Gary breathed a sigh of relief.  A lecture from Sky would be bad enough but if what happened got back to his parents his mom especially, well Gary didn’t want to think about the consequences.  He’d headed her off once but he wasn’t so sure he’d be able to do it a second time.

Chuck and Marissa along with Sky’s other furry friend Spike arrived with flowers and a balloon as Jamie, his sister and Gary were finishing the breakfast Jamie had bought on the way.  Both greeted her with kisses.

Jamie got an extra chair so that Marissa could sit next to the bed.  Spike put his paws up on the edge of the bed to say “hello” before Marissa told him to lie down.  He was rewarded with a good scratch behind the ears from the Fairfax siblings.

“So how’re you doing champ?” Chuck asked.

Marissa reached for Sky’s good hand and gave it a warm squeeze.  “I’m so glad you weren’t seriously hurt Sky,” she said.  “We were all so worried.”

“I’ve had broken bones before Marissa,” Sky said.  “I just don’t usually crack my ribs, head and shoulder all at the same time by bouncing off of a metal gate.  It’s going to slow me down for a while but there’s no permanent damage.”

“Knock, knock,” came a voice at the door.  “Are you up for some more company?”

Sky’s face lit up when she saw her two Ranger friends at the door.  It was Cordell Walker who had spoken.  “Of course,” she said gaily.  “I’m always glad to see you guys.”

The two Rangers entered the room bringing more flowers and another balloon with them.  They were barely settled when the MacGregor grandparents and the seven cousins from the rodeo arrived.  The group spent the better part of an hour talking before Gary finally had to leave to take care of business with the paper.  Chuck and Marissa followed suit shortly thereafter to get the restaurant ready for the lunch crowd.
 

Detective Crumb, looking decidedly ill at ease in the hospital room arrived before they left.  He was pleased with the kiss he got from Sky for the roses he brought her and the help he’d given Walker and Trivette.  Of course, being the gruff guy that he was he had to try and cover it up - not that he fooled anyone there.

Sky spent the rest of the morning resting in her hospital bed before her doctor, coincidentally the one who had treated Gary for a head injury a year ago, released her to go home.  “Home” however, for the time being, was her hotel room.  Staying there was out of the question - she had a rodeo to visit.  She was not about to miss the final competition, which had been postponed.

******************************************************************

Ok folks,” the announcer’s voice came over the PA system.  “Here are the final results of the competition.  Calf Roping Champion is Alex MacGregor.”

Thunderous applause from his family members and Gary who’d managed to complete all the paper had for him and get to the fairgrounds in time to see the competition wind down.  His hovering around Sky would have consequences he would regret at he party the next day.

“First place in the Pole bending - Hannah MacGregor.  Second Place Tracy Kaiser and Third Place Annette Lovell.”

More applause from all present.  No one still in the competition believed that there was anything crooked about the results.  That had all been in Mark Bradley’s head - planted there by his three “friends”.

The announcer quickly went through the rest of the results - those for Bareback bronc riding, Barrel Racing, Steer Wrestling ( the team of Rob and Chris MacGregor triumphed here), Chuck Wagon Race and finally the Saddle Bronc and Bull Riding competition.  It came as no surprise to those that knew him that Walker won those particular competitions hands down.

The MacGregor grandparents weren’t terribly surprised when the competitors, vendors and staff didn’t pack up to leave right away.  Their next stop was Indianapolis and they weren’t due there for three days.  Little did they know what their family had planned for them.

*****************************************************************
 

Saturday morning Sky awoke bright and early slightly concerned about the weather.  She needn’t have worried.  It was a beautiful day.  As quickly as she could Sky dressed in dark green slacks, gold blouse and loafers.  Out of necessity she left her hair down for the time being.  Rebecca would fix it in a coronet of braids when she got to the fairgrounds.

Preparations for the party were well under way by the time her oldest brother Alan, a 6’1” redhead, and his wife Kim, a 5’5” strawberry blonde picked her up.  She wouldn’t be driving herself anywhere until her shoulder healed.  The displays that the cousins had been working on at McGinty’s for the past three weeks were being set up.  Pictures of their growing family accompanied the picture of their grandparents in their wedding gown and suit.  Pictures of the children’s families and so on followed these and so forth until all four generations were represented.

A platform with an organ, altar and flowers was set up.  The second generation had decided to hire a minister to perform a ceremony for the renewing of their vows.

Everyone was dressed up for the ceremony.  They’d change afterwards if they so desired.  Gary felt, as he always did, that his tie was choking him and he kept fidgeting as he and chuck were overseeing the food set up, loosening his tie and wishing he could take if off, stuff it in a pocket and forget about it.  Chuck, however, did not have that problem.  Much as he enjoyed casual clothes wearing a tie did not bother him nearly as much as it did Gary.

Sky, quietly observing Gary’s discomfort with sympathy from a distance, took matters into her own hands by visiting Gray Wolf.  She quickly made her selection and paid for it before going in search of her “baby brother”.

“Gary,” she called when she found him, “come here for a second.”

“Do you need something?” he asked anxious to be of help.

“Yes,” she replied.  “I need you to stop acting like that tie is strangling you.  You’re driving me nuts.”  Taking her purchase out of her pocket she said, ‘Here, put this one on.”

Gary removed his silk tie and took the bolo tie that she held in her left hand.

“There now you’re still dressed up but you can wear this with the slide an inch of so away from your throat.

Gary slipped the tie over his head and under the collar of his shirt.  “Gee, thanks Sky,” he said.  “This feels better.”

“Now go on and finish helping Chuck,” Sky told him as Marissa and Spike approached.

“That was sweet of you Sky,” The other woman said.  “Gary really hates ties.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sky said.  “He never has been comfortable in dressy clothes.”

The two women headed off toward the “chapel” as someone announced the arrival of the “bride and groom”. Gary and Chuck and Chuck’s slightly eccentric Uncle Phil joined them as did Sky’s brothers, sister-in-law and three nephews and two nieces.  Alan and Kim had married right out of college and their children, including the twenty-two year old twins Ethan and Timothy, had come quickly.

All the women and girls oohed and aahed when Kenneth and Phoebe MacGregor appeared in their original wedding dress and suit which had been neatly cleaned and pressed after their retrieval from a trunk in their attic.  Phoebe looked stunning in her ivory satin with lace and a ten-foot train and Kenneth was quite dashing in his black suit with white shirt and black string tie.

The ceremony lasted a brief thirty minutes and then the rest of the festivities began.  A dance floor had been set up and gold and white streamers were strung from the power lines and poles.

Rangers Walker and Trivette were able to stay long enough to attend the ceremony but they had to leave immediately afterwards much to Sky’s disappointment.  Walker’s girlfriend, Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cahill back in Dallas, had quickly processed the extradition papers.  They were going to pick up the prisoners and get started on their way back to Texas.

Sky was resigned to the fact that they were leaving but relieved that the men who had killed her husband in the course of that robbery so many years ago were finally going to have their day in court.

“Are you sure you can’t stay?” she asked.  “The party’s just starting.”

“No, Sky,” Walker said as he and Trivette gently hugged and kissed her and shook hands with Gary who was standing there with her.  Reaching into his pocket he handed her an envelope.

“What’s this?” she asked as she opened the envelope.  When she realized that it was his prize money she tried to give it back.  “Washo, I can’t take this!  You won it fair and square!”

“You take it,” Walker said.  “Donate it to your favorite charity for me.”

Sky reached out to hug the Ranger.  “Thank you Washo.  I’ll give it to the Children’s Hospital.”  As the Rangers got into Walker’s truck she said, “ I’ll be down to see ya’ll this summer I promise!  Give my love to C.D. and Alex.  Tell White Eagle I’ll swing by the reservation for a visit while I’m down there.  And tell Sam Coyote that he owes me a jacket - embroidered!  He knows why!”

“We will,” Walker said.  “Don’t worry.”

“And Jimmy,” she added, “I owe you a rematch or two in chess if you have time.”

As Ranger Walker put the truck into gear he looked back at the “siblings” and said, “You two take care of each other.”

Gary walked with Sky back to the party.  On the way Sky regaled Gary with some stories, in his opinion outlandish stories, about Walker’s exploits back in Texas.  She knew some of them first hand and had heard others from Jimmy, Alex, CD, Sam Coyote and others.  Gary had a hard time believing that Walker “talked” to a wolf and kept it from attacking a young man on the run in the woods from crooked prison guards but Sky swore it was the truth.  And she knew of other incidents that sounded equally crazy.  It was just that Gary didn’t know Walker.  If he really knew him he’d have no trouble believing these stories.  But he thought Sky was exaggerating.  He thought so even more when she sang a song she knew had been written about Walker

“In the eyes of a Ranger, the unsuspecting stranger, had better know the truth of wrong from right.  ‘Cause the eyes of a Ranger are upon you.  Any wrong you do he’s gonna see.  When you’re in Texas look behind you.  ‘Cause that’s where the Ranger’s gonna be.”  Gary was positive Sky was putting him on no matter how much she swore she wasn’t.  Eventually Chris would back her up.  He knew of the song too.  And how a teenage girl Walker had helped out of a tough situation had written it for him and sang it to him in front of some of his friends and his girlfriend.

When they got back to the party the food had been set out and everyone was helping himself or herself.  All of Sky’s aunts, uncles and cousins as well as her nieces and nephews were mingling with the other guests.  Gary’s parents had arrived and Lois, his mom, had immediately made herself useful by helping to serve.  Her eagle eye was looking her son over as he helped sky get comfortable in a lounge chair that her brothers had brought for her to use.  Lois was not completely convinced that Gary was as perfectly healthy as he said he was.

Rob and Andrew were loading plates with chicken potato salad, beans, green salad and corn on the cob.  Gary’s dad Bernie was right behind them loading his plate the same way.  Lois beamed as the young men thanked her for the food she put on their plates.  She loved to see young men with a healthy appetite.  Watching her son on the other hand brought a frown to her face.  He didn’t fill his plate nearly as much.

“Gary,” she said with some concern, “Do you feel all right?”

“Yeah Mom,” he replied juggling two plates.  “I feel fine.  Why?”

“Well you don’t seem to be eating very much.  Look at these young men,” she said indicating Rob and Andrew.  “They’re filling their plates but you don’t have very much on yours.”

“Mom!” Gary protested.  “Nobody eats like those two.  Ask Sky she’ll tell you.”  He was starting to panic.  If his Mom was watching the way he ate then the next thing he knew she’d want him to go to the doctor.

“Here, take some potato salad and this chicken,” she said piling it on his plate.  “And I want to see you clean your plate young man!”

“Yes ma’am,” he mumbled as he made good his escape.

“What’s the matter kiddo?” Sky asked as he came rushing over.  “You’re out of breath.”

“Mom!  That’s what!” Gary told her.  “She saw your cousins loading their plates and how she thinks I’m not eating enough.”

“It’s only because she cares Gary,” Sky chided him.

“I know,” Gary said.  “But it’s Rob and Andrew she saw and wants me to eat like they do.”

“Ah,” Sky said, trying not to laugh at Gary’s indignant tone of voice.  “And did you explain to her that nobody eats as much as they do?”

“I tried,” Gary said as he handed her her plate, plastic ware and placed her drink on the small table that had been set up for her convenience.  But she’s got this idea in her head that I’m not eating enough.”

The conversation was cut short as Lois came over to see if he was eating what she’d given him.  Sky tried hard not to snicker as the older woman watched her son eat every bite.  Being aware of his recent injuries she felt his forehead for signs of fever and anxiously looked him over for other telltale signs of pain or illness.

“Mom!  I’m fine!  Really!” Gary gave Sky one of his classic “puppy dog” looks in a silent plea for help.

“Lois,” Sky said.  “He really is fine.  Neither Sam nor Jamie nor the doctor would have released him the day of my accident if he wasn’t and you know I would have made him stay if he were sick.”

“Well, ok,” Lois said.  “But I still don’t think he’s eating right.  I’m going to get another plate for you Hon,” she told her son who tried not to groan at the thought.

The music was starting as she left.  With a little help from Gary Sky got to her feet to join her family at the platform.  Stewart MacGregor was first up singing a nice version of “You Are My Sunshine.”  Sixty-five years ago that had been his parent’s song at their wedding.  There was a mad scramble to get everyone in place for the next song.  Three generations of MacGregors were about to serenade their parents/grandparents/great-grandparents.

“Let me call you sweetheart, I’m in love with you.
Let me hear you whisper that you love me too.
Keep the love-light burning in your eyes so true
Let me call you sweetheart, I’m in love with you.”

It was almost like listening to a Barbershop quartet except that the group that sang it consisted of almost fifty people.  Gary got a little nervous when he saw how misty-eyed his Mom was when she heard that song.  It meant one of two things - either she was thinking about her own wedding or dreaming of him getting married again and giving her the grandchildren that she so badly wanted.

By the time Chris had finished “I Swear”, the song recorded by John Michael Montgomery that he had chosen, Sky was tiring.  Her headache may have gone away with a couple of good night’s rest but she was still achy in the shoulder and ribs and would continue to be so for a few weeks.  Sam would see to it that she cut back on her hours at the clinic.  For the time being though it was Gary who was watching her closely, just as he and Chuck had watched Marissa a few months ago after her serious illness.

“Tired?” he asked.

“No, not tired, but I am a little achy right now,” she told him.

So saying she headed for her seat in the shade.  Gary followed right behind her.  That is he followed right behind her until Rebecca caught him by the arm and asked him to dance with her.  Petite red headed Anne was dancing with Chuck who was having the time of his life being surrounded by so many attractive women to hit on.  He didn’t get very far.  All the MacGregor women had been warned about him.  Their grandmother was quite fond of the expression “to be forewarned is to be forearmed”.  Chuck didn’t stand a chance.  Anne, Hannah and Rebecca knew what to expect and had told their cousins and friends.  They all let him talk but they didn’t fall for his charming line of baloney.
 

After his dance with honey-haired Rebecca was over Elena claimed him for a dance.  Gary got nervous every time his mother saw him.  He recognized the “matrimonial gleam” in her eye.  He tried very hard to avoid her but Lois was a popular dance partner for everyone from her husband to Sky’s father, grandfather and uncles to her nephews and cousins.  She seemed to be everywhere.

Marissa was also having a glorious time.  She’d come to sit with Sky only to have Jamie claim her for the first dance followed by Mr. Fairfax, Mr. MacGregor and all the cousins.  No way was Marissa going to be allowed to sit on the sidelines.  Spike, meantime, kept Sky company.

In between dances Gary kept slipping away to check on Sky who rested on the sidelines watching the others.  She herself would not be doing any dancing for a while.

“Sky are you okay?” he asked her.  “Do you need a sweater or a blanket of something?”

“No, Gary, I’m fine,” she replied.

“Are you hungry?  You want something to eat?”

“No thank you.”  Sky reached down to scratch Spike behind the ears.

“How about a drink?  Are you thirsty?”

“No.  I’m fine,” she said getting just a little exasperated with his attentiveness.

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” Gary asked.

At this point in time Sky had had it.  She may have been hurt but she wasn’t completely helpless and she was heartily sick of Gary treating her like an invalid.  He was worse than her brothers and they were bad enough!  She decided to do something about it.

“Gary Matthew Hobson!” she exclaimed not knowing that Lois was coming up behind them, “If you don’t get out of here and quit hovering over me, which I might add you yourself hate, I’m going to tell you Mom about Elena!”

Lois’s ears perked up at that.  “Elena?  Who’s Elena?”

“Mom!”  Gary’s voice rose an octave when he heard her voice.

“Honey are you dating again?  Why didn’t you tell me.”

“Mom, there’s really nothing to tell,” he said looking at Sky whose eyes danced with amusement at his discomfort.  The “inquisition” was about to start.

“Who is she?  How long have you known her?  Where does she live?”

“Her name’s Elena Prescott.  I’ve only know her a couple of weeks and she lives here in Chicago,” Gary answered in the vain hope that his mother would be satisfied.

“How many dates have you had?  Where did you go?”

“Mom…”Gary tried to get his mom to stop talking long enough for him to avert her attention.  “Isn’t that Dad calling you?”

“What?”  Lois stopped talking long enough to look around as Sky shook with silent laughter and Gary looked around for a way to escape his mother’s questioning.
“No, dear,” she said after a moment, “You’re mistaken.  Now where were we?”  She thought for a moment, “Oh, yes, about Elena - how old is she?  What does she look like?  Where did you meet?  What’s she like?  Does she have any family?  What does she do for a living?”  Lois stopped for a second to see how her son would answer. He was blushing furiously and glaring at his “big sister” who was not helping him out.

“She’s thirty, has light brown hair and aquamarine eyes,” was Sky’s contribution “and she’s about 5’9” tall.”

“Oh, she sounds pretty,” Lois gushed.  “When did you meet her?  How did you meet?”

Finally Sky answered for him.  “She’s a Registered Nurse who works for me and at County General.”  As she answered she caught Sam Delaney’s eye and motioned him over.  “She’s a nice girl.  They met at the dance a couple of weeks ago.”

As Sam approached Lois had a few final questions for her son.  “Why didn’t you tell me about her?  Will you see her again?  When do we get to meet her?  Oh Gary,” she gushed again, “Is she the one?  The one who will end up being my daughter-in-law - the mother of my grandchildren?”

“Mom!”  Gary was extremely embarrassed by all this.  His mom was always bugging him about getting married again and having children.  He wanted a wife and kids as badly as she wanted grandchildren but he felt he didn’t time, that the paper interfered and he didn’t want to be pushed into anything by his Mom.

“Mrs. Hobson,” Sam had reached them now, “I believe you promised me this dance.”
 

The band was starting to play again.  Bryan Fairfax, Sky’s dad, had requested The Tennessee Waltz.  As Sam led a clearly pleased Lois away toward the dance floor Gary, after recovering his dignity following the inquisition by his mother, tried to resume his hovering.

“Gary Matthew you are getting on my nerves!  I don’t need a nursemaid!  Now go find Elena and have some fun!”

“Better do like she says son,” Bernie Hobson had come over in search of his wife.  “It doesn’t pay to argue with the strong minded women in our lives.  It’s a losing battle.”

Reluctantly Gary went in search of Elena.  He found her near the dance floor talking with Alex.  Bernie took the seat his son had just vacated.

“You do know he blames himself for what happened to me don’t you Bernie?” Sky remarked.  “That’s why he keeps hovering over me.”

“Yeah, I know,” Bernie said.  “But he’ll get over it eventually.”  He hesitated for a minute and then said seriously, “Lois and I want you to know how much we appreciate what you’ve done for Gary.”

“Bernie you don’t have to thank me for looking out for Gary.  I love him like I love my own brothers,” she said equally seriously.  Then she lightened the somber mood by saying,” It’s nice to have him around.  I can bully him the way I’d like to bully Jamie and Alan.  He’s such an easy target for my teasing!”

Bernie smiled but then turned serious again.  “All the same I just wanted you to know.”  He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek and a gentle pat on her good shoulder.

As he walked away Alan Fairfax’s voice came over the PA system.  It was time for one final tribute to his grandparents.  The children and grandchildren had chosen him to sing Kenny Rogers’ hit “Through the Years”.  Alan’s pleasant baritone was soon echoing through the fairgrounds enthralling all that heard him.

I can’t remember when you weren’t there
When I didn’t care for anyone but you
I swear we’ve been through everything there is
           Can’t imagine anything we’ve missed
Can’t imagine anything the two of us can’t do
 

Through the years, you’ve never let me down
You’ve turned my life around
The sweetest days I’ve found I’ve found with you
Through the years, I’ve never been afraid
I’ve loved the life we’ve made
And I’m so glad I’ve stayed right here with you
Through the years

All eyes were on the couple celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary as their grandson continued.

I can’t remember what I used to do
Who I trusted, Who
I listened to before
I swear you’ve taught me everything I know
Can’t imagine needing someone so
But through the years it seems to me
I need you more and more

Through the years
Through all the good and bad
I know how much we had
I’ve always been so glad to be with you
Through the years
It’s better every day
You’ve kissed my tears away
As long as it’s ok
I’ll stay with you through the years

Through the years
When everything went wrong
Together we were strong
I know that I belong right here with you
Through the years
I’ve never had a doubt we’d always work things out
I’ve learned what life’s about
By loving you through the years
 

Through the years
You’ve never let me down
You’ve turned my life around
The sweetest days I’ve found I’ve found with you
Through the years
It’s better every day
You’ve kissed my tears away
As long as it’s okay
I’ll stay with you
Through the years

When the last note had died away you could have heard a pin drop and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
 

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Email the author: Janet.E.Brayden@nae02.usace.army.mil
 

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