Traveling along the road that led out of the Convent, Wanderer was able to find two wheel marks, freshly pressed into the hard earth. His navy blue duster fluttered in the wind behind him as he galloped along the flat terrain.
By mid-day he had traversed five miles, still the wagon trail continued. Digging his heels in Aquinas the horse began to slow down before reaching a full stop. Wanderer dismounted and walked his horse off the road, giving him the opportunity to graze and fill his thirst at the small creek. Wanderer pulled a block of pemmican out from his saddle bags and chewed the condensed block of nutrition.
Despite his love for Europe and the rollings hills of his native Switzerland, Wanderer did have a fondness for the early summer of the America's. Such robust beauty hidden away from the Europeans for so many thousands of years, still not quite fully tamed. If there was still paradise on Earth it would be here. He thought as he took a swig from his canteen, the cool water quenching the dryness in his throat. As he was putting the cork back in his canteen he began to hear a commotion on the road followed by a female's scream. He pulled the rifle from the saddle and began to walk towards it, thinking it may be the Girl. June.
Around 300 feet back along the way he had come he could see the cause of the scream. A young woman was tied to the back of a horse, its rider relieving himself in the grass. The woman caught his eye and screamed out, "Sir! Help me!" The man who was relieving himself turned at hearing her call out to someone in particular, spraying his urine over the ground. Seeing the rifle in The Wanderer's hand he hurriedly adjusted his own pants and reached for his revolver, "Shit, Stand back stranger!" he said.
"Sir please! He killed my parents and kidnapped me!" The young woman beginning to sob.
"Shut yer fucking face!" The kidnapper pulled out his pistol and aimed it at The Wanderer, "I am the fastest shot in Kansas, Stranger. Keep back or you'll be a sorry sum bitch." His hand gripping his pistol tighter. The Wanderer still held his rifle in his hand, he slowly lowered it to the ground.
"Ja, I am not looking for any trouble. Let the girl go and we can all part ways amicably."
"What is yous? Some sort foreign bastard?"
The Wanderer looked up at the wanna be desperado, his noticed that his gun hand was shaking just a quiver.
A quiver was all he needed.
The Wanderer sprawled himself out towards his rifle when he heard the first shot fire from the Kidnappers gun. Just as he had thought the bullet went above his head, his hand wrapped around the rifle as he went up on one knee. The Kidnapper fired another shot that landed in the dirt right next to The Wanderer's foot.
The Kidnappers face was red with anger. He fired again and in his anger jerked the pistol skyward sending a bullet over the head of his target. The Wanderer pulled his rifle up and lined the sight with the center of the Kidnappers chest.
Kaboom
A fog of smoke and fire erupted from the barrel of his gun. At three hundred feet away the bullet reached its target in the blink of an eye. The Kidnapper was thrown from his feet as his chest was torn apart. The Kidnapper did not even have the chance to make a sound before his life was extinguished.
The young woman still bound and draped over the horse like a bag of grain had a horrified expression. Despite having just seen her parents killed in front of her she was not prepared for what she just saw. Flecks of blood and organ tissue polka dotted the green shoots of grass. The woman's mouth hung slack jawed, more terror gripped her in this moment then when she had been captured.
The Wanderer walked up to her, the rifle still smoking in the sunlight. His voice calm, "Are you injured?"
The young woman's response came with ragged breathes as elevated her heart rated settled into a more normal range, "Just a few scraps I think." Being in closer proximity to her The Wanderer could see the tell-tale signs of inflammation on her cheek. She would be bruised and more than likely mentally unwell for sometime but she would live, he thought. Reaching inside his duster and pulled out a small wooden handled knife, an Opinel. Opening the lock he cut through the ropes that bound her.
Helping he down from the horse The Wanderer placed her on the ground. The young woman's legs were wobbly as the feeling and blood flow returned to them, she fell slightly forward and he caught her.
"Take a seat Miss." The Wanderer whistled sharply and Aquinas trotted up from the creek, he reached into the saddle bag and took out a block of pemmican and his half drank canteen. "Take these, eat and drink slowly. You have been through a lot and need to take a moment to recover. When you see the sun lower by two places you will feel better. Take the horse and ride to the nearest town. I am no Doctor and there could still be something wrong with you. Have this as well." The Wanderer pulled out from inside his duster a five dollar bill. "This should be enough to pay for the Doctor and any room and board you may need."
The young woman was halfway into a drink from the canteen when she saw the money, it was the first time that she had ever seen a five dollar bill before and was surprised that his stranger was giving it to her. She made no motion for the money that he held out, finally he took her hand into his and pressed the money into her palm. "Bless you..." She managed to stammer out.
"Do no bless me child, bless in the Lord that I was here and that you are safe. I hope that you will remember this day and that even when all things seem bleak there is always someone watching over you."
"Are you a priest? If you are I have never seen a priest kill a man." A bemused look on the young woman's face.
"No. I am not a priest, just a simple man. Remember what I told you, two ticks of the sun before leaving. I must be going, God be with you." He mounted onto his horse and began to trot away leaving the young woman with her food, drink, and a small fortune.