An Ounce of Prevention

When Carmen regained consciousness, Alex was kneeling over her, his face pale and his eyes wide.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a voice tight with emotion.

Behind him, the man holding the gun looked surprised. Seeing that she was conscious, he jabbed Alex in the ribs with the gun. "Get her on her feet and let's get moving before I decide to leave you both here permanently."

Alex helped her to her feet. "Can you walk?"

She nodded. "I think so."

Alex kept an arm around her until he was sure she could walk on her own. After that he let her walk ahead of him, putting his body between her and the gunman.

They were directed off the main trail and down a steep trail that crossed the valley and circled the base of the other butte. The two vans were gone and when he led them to an old shack, there was no vehicle there. A grulla horse nickered to them from a rickety corral.

The man prodded Alex with his gun and nodded at the shack. "In there."

Carmen followed Alex into the shack. Was this where they would be killed? She looked at Alex, but he was studying the inside of the shack.

The man grabbed a rope from the wall and tossed it to Carmen. "Tie his hands behind his back."

Carmen hesitated and Alex looked at her.

"Do it, Carmen." He turned his back to her and put his hands behind his back.

Carmen began tying his hands together, making a loose knot.

The man frowned. "Tighter," he barked at her.

She made the rope tighter, but used a knot that would be easy to untie. She stepped back and the man studied it. Finally he shrugged.

He pointed the gun at Alex. "You sit right there." He indicated a place beside the door. He waved the gun at Carmen. "You sit over there against the wall."

When they were both seated on the floor where he had indicated, he sat on a stained wooden counter beside the window and divided his attention between his captives and the base of the butte where the two vans had been. Apparently he expected someone to return.

Carmen leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. She prayed fervently that the children would be safe and that Alex would not be killed. She got him into this. He told her they should leave. Maybe it was already too late by that point, but she hadn't listened to him. She should have known he would recognize a dangerous situation. Hadn't he always? She was completely out of her element here. Alex was the one with the experience.