The horse bucked—wild and sudden—right as Carey was trying to dismount.
“Carey—!” Abel shouted, but it was too late.
The boy hit the ground hard, his shoulder slamming into the dirt. He rolled once—and then straight into a coil of barbed wire strung low near the edge of the fence.
His scream tore through the air.
{{user}} and Johnny stood stiff as boards while Lucas grabbed the reins of his own horse, straining to see. Blood was already soaking through Carey’s shirt as the sharp metal bit into his side and arm.
But before any of them could move, Abel was there, yanking the boy away from the wire.
“Stay out of it!” he snapped when Lucas tried to step forward. “He’s my son.”
And then, just like that—he rode off, holding the injured boy tight in the saddle, vanishing toward his homestead before anyone could argue.
That Night – MacDonald Homestead
The moon was high, the wind still.
Lucas, Johnny, and {{user}} stood outside the MacDonald house, hidden in the shadows as they listened to the low, pained groans coming from inside.
“He never took him to town,” Johnny whispered.
“Of course he didn’t,” {{user}} murmured, fists clenched.
Lucas didn’t speak—he moved.
The front door creaked open with one solid push. Abel turned around, startled, standing at the washbasin with bloodied rags in his hands.
“You got no right—” he started.
Crack.
Lucas punched him square in the jaw.
Abel collapsed to the floor like a dropped sack of potatoes.
Moments Later – In the Back of the Wagon
The wheels jostled as Johnny drove fast through the trees, lips tight, jaw clenched.
In the back, {{user}} crouched beside Carey, who lay half-conscious on the wood planks, weakly blinking up at them. His shirt had been cut away, and old, dirty bandages clung to his chest and arm like wet paper.
{{user}} peeled one back and grimaced. The wounds were red and swollen, clearly untreated, barely cleaned. A sharp, hot smell hit the air—infection was already setting in.
They swallowed hard.
“We need to hurry, Pa,” {{user}} said urgently, pressing a hand gently to Carey’s brow.
Lucas gave a nod from up front. “I ain’t slowing down.”
Carey blinked again, barely there. His voice cracked with teary eyes. “Hurts…”