Lost Youth

The brothers took up the front, glancing back to the partners once in a while. Something was up but they didn't say anything yet.

Lena heard Travis' words and she manages to nod weakly to him.

The youngest brother smirks as heard the words too. "You shouldn't lie. I have many plans for her." He laughs coldly.

Lena tried not to let the tears fall, tried to not let the pain and fear show but it was there in her eyes and it only caused the brother to laugh again.
 
Travis bristled, "You don't get her back. You want money from me? Fine. You want power? Prestige? Fine. All that goes away if she doesn't stay with me. I'm to valuable to kill and my family will come down on you like the wrath of god if you cross me. Unlike you, scum, I am a man of my word. Lena comes with me and I walk away and don't look back. Also, you forget, I am the baby brother, my brothers do not take kindly to people beating me up." He grinned, it was difficult, his face was swelling and parts were turning a rather pretty shade of purple.
A voice interrupted from the back, "Deal was for both of them," The thin man said slowly. "She's our property, you get paid at the end, as was the agreement."
 
The younger brother halted his horse and looked at the thin man. "She is mine. There was no deal for them both. Just him." He nods his head sharply towards Travis.

The elder brother shakes his head and motions for his brother to be quiet. "Why are you suddenly changing the deal and what would you two want with a slave girl that is broken merchandise?"
 
Travis' mind was working at a hundred miles an hour, trying to work out Lena's value to the new comers, not that he was complaining, he suspected they would be better off with a pair of professional bounty hunters than a trio of sadists.
The squat man looked straight at the eldest brother,
"What do you want with her? There's prettier ones out there, and you've currently got and will have, more than enough money to buy more. One each, you won't have to share each other's goods. Besides, she's good leverage for behaviour, as long as we hold her, he won't risk injury to her. Although, she's going to be completely useless if she gets an infection from that seeping wound on her back. Did you really have to be so rough?"
 
The younger brother smirks coldly. "She is mine and I'll do with her as I please. "

The older brother shakes his head. "It is more my brother here is attached to her." He shrugs. "You won't be able to part them. Besides managing that man is simple enough with or without her."

Lena's hands gripped the saddle where she was tied. The arguing was a distraction but there was no way Old Fellow would out run them. The pain in her back was only growing worse. She looks to Travis wondering what they could do to get away.
 
The tall man's lip curled, "He'll hunt you down once we sell him back to his family. Do you really want that? You do understand how powerful his family is? He could slit your throat in broad daylight, in the centre of the city and no one would call it murder. He wouldn't even do jail time-"
Travis laughed, cold and cruel, "A piece of trash like you? a fifty dollar fine, at most. more likely, Pa would sigh and sign the dismissal papers as they crossed his desk."
He glanced at Lena and then back to the squat man, eyes widening in a panicked way.
The smaller man sighed dramatically, "We need to stop, the bloody girl's going to bleed out on us and then no one gets her. Happy now?" He pulled up, dismounting and strode around Old Fellow. He cut Lena's bonds and pulled her from the saddle.
 
Lena tried not to make a sound as she was taken from the saddle. It hurt so much but she managed to not cry out. Just tears.

The younger brother narrows his eyes and moved to get off his horse but was stopped by the elder brother. " He has a point you did grind her into the ground." He nods to the middle brother. "Scout around, make sure the area is still clear."

The brother nodded and rode off disappearing.
 
Travis grunted, trying to pull his hands free. Moving closer to Rose and reaching up, trying to get the rope unhooked.
The smaller bounty hunter grabbed Lena's blouse and hefted it up, grinding his teeth at the stupidity of these idiots. He cursed.
"I can stop the bleeding," Travis called, "If you let my hands free, I can make it stop."
The tall one rode over, locking eyes with his partner,
"You got her?"
"Yeah."
The second man sliced the ropes around Travis' wrists. The young man only paused to rub the rope burns briefly, then grabbed some items out of a pack and hurried over to Lena. The small one had his knife out, pressed against Lena's skin, eyes watching Travis closely.
"Lena," Travis said softly, holding out a small vial, "Can you drink this? It'll make you sleepy, but there won't be any pain." It was the same that he gave her the other night, but not diluted now. He applied a coagulate to her back, wishing he had something to stop the sting and then wrapped one of the fresh bandages he had purchased around her torso.
 
The two brothers dismounted as well. The elder brother stood watch and kept his little brother in check to keep him from trying to stop the others. He didn't care about the girl one way or another but it would keep their prisoner corporation.

Lena heard Travis speak to her. She opens her eyes and looks to him. She trusted him, she knew she could trust him. Accepting the liquid, she drank it.

As he began tending to her back, pain filled her again and a small sound left her this time. After a while the liquid she had drank kicked in and she closes her eyes.
 
Travis put his arms around her, holding her close. His cheek pressed against her hair, crooning softly. His hazel eyes blazed green as he glared over her head at the youngest brother. He claimed he cared about the girl, yet he hurt her at every opportunity, what kind of sick creature was he?He looked to the squat man, "Will you hold her? I'll ride the old horse and can ride double. She won't be able to do much for a couple of hours."
The bounty hunter looked to his partner, who hesitated, then nodded. Travis handed Lena over and mounted the old horse easily. He took Lena as she was handed up to her to him.
The thin man rode up and took the old horse's reins, effectively negating any control Travis might try to use to escape.
 
Lena stayed out for a little bit.

The older brother pushed his younger brother back to his horse. "Get on. We have lost enough time as it is."

The younger brother glared at Travis before mounting again.

The middle brother returned and nods. " It's still clear. "
 
Travis stroked Lena's hair, still thinking. He'd probably have to wait for her to awaken before he tried phase two of his plan.
They kept moving, Rose folllowing on her own behind the old horse. One bounty hunter rode at their left, leading Old Fellow, the other was slightly ahead, on the right.
Travis was thinking hard, he could lose them if he could get him free, the old gelding would kept them out of trouble. he may not be fast anymore, but he was still strong and well trained, he had been a war horse in a previous life and knew how to move off leg pressure in the most precise manner. with a big stick, Travis could knock most men off their mounts on this horse.
 
The brothers kept silent for a while as they rode along. The woods seemed very still now.

Lena began to stir after a little while longer. Shivering a little before opening her eyes. She blinks a bit to clear them and looks around. Tensing when she saw the bounty hunters riding near them and then the brothers.

She manages to turn her head enough that she could look up at Travis as she realized he was the one holding her.

What was going to happen to them. It scared her but she didn't cry anymore. The pain in her back was duller and to a point she could ignore it.
 
"Take it easy, Lena," Travis breathed softly in her ear, "I've got a plan. We're not too far from my family's lands, but we're going to have to be pretty tricky to dodge our pursuers." He kept his voice low, calm and even. "When you feel up to it, I need you to lean forward and under the buckle under Old Fellow's chin, as soon as you do that, sit up, fast because we're going to be moving very quickly at that point."
 
Lena nods a little to show she understood him. Ignore her discomfort she moved forward a little, leaning down so it looked like she was just stretching her back out a bit.

Her hands gently petting the horse's shoulders then down his neck. Once in reach of the strap, she undid it quickly and sat back up just as quickly, ignoring the sharp pain that ran through her at the movement.
 
Travis had his arms wrapped around Lena, strong limbs holding her carefully in place. His leg twitched and he shifted their combined weight.
The old horse jerked to a stop, lifting his forelegs into the air. He spun like a ballerina, taking both bounty hunters by surprise.
Travis whistled and the horse bolted, Travis pushing Lena to lean low over the horse's neck, avoiding branches and trees as they came their way.

"Son of a bitch," The thin man snarled, "That damn nag is a trained warhorse. Did you know?" He snapped at his partner.
"Would I have let him anywhere near the thing if I did? The short one growled. He looked behind him, the chestnut mare had disappeared as well. They both sighed, ignoring the brothers and urging their horses into trots, eyes glued on the ground as they picked out the trail.
 
Lena tenses and held onto the saddle. Closing her eyes as they took off.

The brothers were furious about the sudden escape. "Thought you two could handle them." "Told you you should have kept them separate!" The accusation and blame went on as they all turned to go after the fleeing pair.
 
Travis spoke softly to the horse, sitting up as they reached clear country and letting the old gelding stretch out and run for all he was worth, but Travis could feel him tiring.
"Okay, love," Travis said softly, "We're going to pull up and you and I are going to run, and send the horses another way. Next stream and we do it."
Rose was easily keeping pace, ears pricked forward, happy and comfortable to follow her friend wherever he led.

At the next water course, Travis dismounted, lifting Lena down.
"Can you walk? Or do you want me to carry you?" He asked gently. He looked at the old horse and patted him fondly.
"Go home, old man, go home and tell my brothers to come find me." He slapped the horse on the rump. Old Fellow leapt out of the water and galloped through the trees, heading east, Rose followed easily.
travis urged Lena along the water, keeping to the rocks or the water itself so they left no tracks or scent.

"Shut up if you don't have anything useful to add," The thin man snarled, cursing as the trail petered out. He dismounted, brushing aside leaves to pick it up again. He began walking, making sure he was following the right track through the rockier ground.
 
Lena trembles but nods to him. She could walk and she did just that. Watching how Travis moved and copying it as best she could . Her breathing got heavy after a little while but she kept going. She was to afraid of stopping, of being caught again.

The elder brother gave the hunters a dark look but they fell silent for a moment. This was not how they saw any of this going at all. They lost their royal and the useless slave but the slave wasn't important, it was the money they could have gotten for the man. That made them angry at the escape. Not to mention the girl could tell the guards exactly who they were.
 
Travis followed the stream, it was obvious he had been here before, many times, he knew where to avoid the brush growing across the stream and how to leave no trail.
"We can rest here for a moment," Travis said, ducking to a flat piece of land, rather like a giant plate made of stone. He held his hand out to help Lena up. The next part would be tricky for her, to avoid leaving a trail, they had to climb a rocky ridge and then they would not be far from his home at all.

"If she gets back to her family," the thin man hissed to his partner.
"You think I don't know? We already got paid for that job, if she suddenly turns back up after being dead all these years we're in a lot of strife. They lost any political clout they could have when they lost her," the short man snarled quietly.
They were crossing a stream, their voices travelling along the water like a natural megaphone.
 
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