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54

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Barbara Nygaard heard the screams piercing the night. Something was hurting the horses!

She quickly dressed and grabbed her air rifle and lantern, barely missing Lisa, who was asleep in the pull-out bed at the end of hers.

“What?” Lisa asked wearily.

“Da horses are upset!” she cried, then ran out into the night, turning her lantern on, the moon not being helpful tonight! She was breathing heavily by the time she reached the barn, wishing that it wasn’t so far away from the house. Even the frequent heavy snows wasn’t as bad as having to rush up there in the middle of the night!

Inside the barn, she quickly shone the light into each stall, counting heads – making sure everyone was inside. It wouldn’t have been the first time a cougar had decided to feast on the weakest or oldest one… or a foal that had been accidentally left outside.

In the final stall, she couldn’t see Cinder and Virginia. Were they outside?

Then she saw him. Garth held a gun to the throat of her mare. “Come wid me now – or I will shoot,” he demanded.

“Okay,” she replied without hesitation.

“No funny business, got dat?” he reminded her.

“I will come.”

He came closer, grabbing her arm, holding it painfully as he pulled her after him.

Unsurprisingly, he pulled her into his red dually pickup. He pushed her onto the seat and quickly pulled her sweat pants off.

“No!” she cried at him.

“You will… or I will shoot your horses!” He growled as he wrapped the sweats around her neck tightly, too tightly...

She didn’t fight him anymore as he parted her legs and pounded furiously into her. She refused to let her tears fall as he raped her, even as she clutched desperately at the choking pant legs, her vision darkening as she gasped for breath.

♥

“Get up!” Lisa cried through the house. “Barb’s gone!”

Zenna was startled to full alertness. Then she threw on her clothes and was out with Lisa, who shouted to Steve as they went.

“Where did she go?” Zenna asked.

“She said something about the horses, but I wasn’t awake completely.”

“To the barn then!”

They ran up the hill, their lanterns guiding them through the rough terrain. Zenna wished she knew the land a bit better as she stumbled repeatedly.

At last, they reached the barn and noticed several vehicles that didn’t belong there.

“Too simple!” John’s voice growled at her as he grabbed her arms.

Then, Zenna noticed Keith, who had control of Lisa’s arms just as quickly. She kicked at John’s legs, but the next moment, he had her in his arms, carrying her towards a police car. His breath stank of booze, but she had no doubt about his intentions. “No!” she cried out. “No! Steve!!!” she screamed. “Help!!!”

“No!” Lisa screamed as well.

“Time ta help us wid a rose garden!” Keith growled cruelly. “You were warned!”

“Of course, we need our relief first!” John added, opening the back door of the police car and throwing her in roughly, then parting her legs under her nightgown. He quickly unfastened his uniform pants.

“No!” Zenna cried again. “Help!!!”

“I don’t care how much ya scream!” he growled at her.

Several shots were heard.

John let her go and stood up too quickly, banging his head on the door frame. He pulled up his pants, like there was nothing strange about the situation. Zenna took the opportunity and kicked him hard where it counted, knocking him to the ground, his hands now cupping his injured groin. “Ow!” he cried out. “Zenna!”

She grinned. “Serves you right!” she growled as menacingly as she could.

Another couple of shots were heard.

“Ya guys may as well give up now!” Steve’s voice called out. “Yer tires are flat and da sheriff is on her way… Maybe da detective too, eh. Gart, dis is da second time I’ve caught ya rapin’ my daughter! I tink it’s time I shot yer balls off!”

“No, Mr. Nygaard!” Garth’s quivering voice could be heard.

“Nah… I’ll let da sheriff do dat...” Steve stopped a moment. Zenna got up and watched, seeing that Lisa was okay, though she wasn’t sure about Barb who wasn’t moving in Garth’s truck. She wondered if she could get over to her safely. Steve continued. “Den again… I hate it when people trespass on my property! I tink many people would be appreciative if I did shoot yer balls off!”

“Please, no!” Garth quivered again.

“Don’ any of youse move! Or I will shoot! Dat include ya, John McNally, ya traitor!”

The sound of a helicopter filled the air. Zenna thought about the last time she’d heard that sound. It was hard to not feel a level of fear, even as she tried to calm herself and recall that she wasn’t a target this time.

About the same time, a truck came zooming up the road.

The chopper landed and the truck reached them. Sheriff Clay got out of the truck, as expected. She pulled out a pair of handcuffs and put them on Garth Cowan, reciting his rights as she did. The uniformed man who got out of the chopper took Garth and handed the sheriff another set. These ones, she put on Keith, just as eagerly. She saved John for last.

“I am very disappointed in ya, John McNally. I don’t know who researched yer background, but dey clearly didn’t do dere job!” She continued, reciting his rights as she did. Then she handed him off to the other officer who put the third prisoner in the chopper. “Detective Winchester, eh? I’m Sheriff Clay.”

“Nice to meet you,” he replied. “I look forward to meeting you more properly tomorrow.”

“Likewise. Tanks fer da backup!”

Detective Winchester got back into the chopper, which took off.

“Is everyone all right?” the sheriff asked.

“Zenna?” he called.

“I’m good.”

“Lisa.”

“Check!”

“Barb?”

There was no answer.

Zenna followed nervously as Steve went over to Barb, still half naked in the pickup, the dome light helping visibility a little. He pulled the sweats off her neck and restored her decency. He felt for her pulse. “Dey weren’t tight enough ta hurt her too much. I tink she’s jis’ fainted,” he pronounced, lifting her in his arms. “Zenna, der are smelling salts in da barn’s first aid kit, eh.”

She hurried into the barn, turning on the light. It seemed to take forever to find what she was looking for, but finally, she found the jar and hurried back to Steve.

He opened the jar and placed it under Barb’s nose.

A few minutes later, her eyes opened.

“Whew!” Steve cried with relief, holding his daughter to him with enough emotion to make Zenna’s eyes fill with tears. Would she feel that much emotion when she held her daughter or her son?

“I’ll see youse in da station in da mornin’, eh - we have a trip ta Baraga ta arrange,” the sheriff said as if she hadn’t seen a brush with tragedy.

“I can see Matt?!” Zenna exclaimed excitedly.

“I don’t see why not? We will apply fer da house arrest an’ monitor at da same time, eh.”

♥♥♥

Next chapter...

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Character Info and Notes

Available to purchase (in print) at Amazon. Ebook version coming soon. (As soon as Draft2Digital formulates the link.)

Image Credits

Matthew Nygaard
Genesis 8 by DAZ 3D Studio
Myles Beard by AprilYSH (sold through DAZ)
Adrian Hair by yitao0526 (sold through DAZ)
Hunt Pants by DragonBreath
Native American top by Pusey Designs
.

Zenna Williams
Genesis 8
Mitzy hair
Basic Wear by DAZ

Set
willow trees by Stonemason
fallen tree by Hivewire
grass by Erock 3D
background image from Pixabay

Previous Stories:

Catch up on LBRY.

Location:

Ash Creek is a fictitious town in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I've attempted to keep the spirit of the people as well as make liberal use of the Yooper accent/dialect. Yes, I've heard it spoken, but it's an inexact science, so please forgive me any errors and enjoy this work in the spirit with which I write... with deep love and affection for the area.

Please read my note on romance, teenage intimate relationships and underage sex. I apologize if my understanding conflicts with your sense of morality, but I'm only looking at things realistically, not ideologically. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing!

Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
(Buy my work at RedBubble, TeePublic, PicFair and DeviantArt.)
verified author on Goodreads
(Buy my books at Books2Read and at LBRY)
find me on Twitter

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Phantom Road - chapter 54 - Ash Creek