Rebel

By B L Els

The ranch hands wondered who would be moving in and settling on the ranch. To their surprise, the rightful owner was back.

Cattle rustling and theft in the area was rife. With ex-coppers and military men on their doorstep, the solution was to set up an elite team and employ agents to assist struggling ranchers to eradicate crime.

Why leave it in the hands of corrupt lawmen?

• Language: English
• Publisher: B L Els
• Release date: Aug 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005948726

B L Els

Author Els is the victim and survivor of an attempted murder. Never thinking she would be the target of violence she was brutally attacked in her home. Ending up with over forty stitches on her head. Her assailant wielded his axe and she retaliated with a frying pan. After surviving her terrifying ordeal, she is thankful to be alive and has immersed herself in writing.Author Els resides in Kwa-Zulu Natal, a province on the South Coast of South Africa. Feel free to browse her website https://authorblels.wordpress.com/ drop a line via email [e-mail] or follow on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/bl_elsPostal Address:P O Box 258, Annerley, 4230, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Republic of South Africa

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Hunter stood and watched the targets as the men aimed and fired. Men who were top in their field and the best of the best, but they lacked serious skills. She waited for them to finish their round of bullets and raised her flag before walking across to one of the men. She took his weapon from him. It took her seconds to load the weapon. The men watched as she had her back to the target and wondered what on earth she was doing. In one swift movement she turned, with the top half of her body facing towards the target, held the rather large weapon, aimed and fired. Hitting the target smack bang in the middle with ease. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. If you don’t want to listen to me, you will never make it back to your unit. Should I explain for the tenth time?

They shook their heads and she looked up as someone whistled. Hunter suddenly burst in to laughter as Rebel came sprinting dressed in her camouflage gear. Major!

Hunter Jackson! Just a quick pit stop before we leave. Brought my unit in for a speedy once over with the doctor.

But you just arrived! My god, Rebel, you have been out in the bush for three months.

And this will be my last three-month stint. Hunter, I am quitting. I keep saying that but this tour is going to be the end of the road for me. At the moment I am considering something different for a change. I might join the FBI as an agent.

You, turning in to an FBI agent? Yeah, not sure I agree with that. But, whatever you do, you have my number.

Stay in touch. Gotta run!

Hunter stood and watched as she ran off and waved. The men stared as Rebel ran back to the building. Major? Who is that? Is she really a major?

Major Ellis. She spends most of the time out in the bush with her unit. A team of eighteen hard core men including her. They are far better than SEALs. Well, she has been and done all of that. Rebel even trained a unit of SEALs. Now she spends her time finding prisoners of war, saving hostages, and covering the most dangerous assignments. Assignments that are off the record and, in most cases, don’t exist. Where other soldiers shudder, she is the first to offer.

But if she is a major why is she out there? Where do they send her?

Rebel refuses to be bound to a chair. Where does she go? Not even Rebel knows where she goes. She climbs in to the chopper and hands them her passport. They fill in the coordinates and she pockets her passport. She goes where they send her and her men. Rebel has been on the force since the age of seventeen. She hasn’t lost a single member of her unit. I can recall when one of her men was rather anxious about his wife. They were expecting their first child. Rebel had her men move to the top of a cliff. The helicopter was going to collect him and drop off a substitute but the men refused. He was airlifted and she carried on one man short. That tells you something about the dedication and strength of her team.

And did his wife have the baby?

She did, and the father spent three months at home with her. Before being flown back to join his team.

Is that her name?

Hunter shook her head. Blue. Her name is Major Blue Ellis. But we call her Rebel. But she is a good rebel. And if you ever go searching she doesn’t exist. Her file is classified. The details are buried so deep that you need investigative skills just to find her file.

Why?

Rebel is a trained professional. I have skills with arms, ammunition and combat. I know how to handle a weapon. Be it guns, knives, anything like that. Rebel does all of that. But she does everything. Explosives, tracking, weapons, you name it and she is a master. Better than anyone else I know. She makes things look easy. Ever slept in a tree? The men shook their heads. They do. As they do what they do, they learn. I would call her and her team top-notch ninjas. They have been known to take out an entire village with not a bullet or blade. It conjures up the image of a breeze as it blows and leaves behind not a trace, or a clue.

That is Rebel? Simon asked. We heard about that assignment. Not a single person was left and there wasn’t even a splatter of blood. When they saved those men the entire village was wiped out in a matter of minutes. And they brought an entire platoon home. The reports came on the radio when we were on one of our missions. Then they lost touch with her and her team and three hours later they were on a boat.

Hunter burst in to laughter. Yep, they commandeered the boat and crew and they had to take them to the nearest port. Man. I love that team. Then they hit rough seas and the unit took over and steered the ship to safety.

We heard about that mission. One mission became another. That crew were so thankful. Her team saved their lives, an entire platoon, and the boat.

That, my friends, is Rebel in a nutshell.

Can you show us how you hit that target? Hunter stood and laughed as she began drilling them and took them through their paces.

CHAPTER 2

Elroy sat and watched the movement at the bunkhouse. There was still a week to go before the end of the month and he knew the rations had almost come to an end. He was lucky he had what he did in his fridge and freezer. With each cottage being given rations for the month, they had to make sure to stretch what they had.

He walked out and sat down on his favourite rock. He leaned forward and shifted his plank. Making sure to dust the soil from the rim of the lid, he hooked off the lid and looked in to the pot. His stew was done to perfection. His makeshift oven in the ground worked marvels. Elroy took his plate and scooped up a healthy portion for himself. Melissa walked over and handed him five sweet potatoes. I brought you five. Todd went digging in our garden and found these this morning. I snipped a few of your lettuce leaves today.

Elroy grinned as he looked at her. And you are surviving on lettuce and sweet potatoes?

I tried making a lettuce parcel. Like a cabbage parcel. Lettuce stuffed with sweet potatoes and cheese.

And?

Putrid.

Go and fetch a dish. I imagine Todd had scrambled eggs for supper.

Ed feels awful. There isn’t an ounce of meat left. All he has is eggs, cheese and milk. He is very creative but eggs for every meal? It isn’t fair, Elroy.

We can’t complain Melissa. We have a roof over our heads and are permanently employed. Fetch your container.

Melissa almost sprinted and fetched a container. Todd was hot on her heels. Elroy scooped up a generous portion of the stew and Todd grinned as he saw the chunks of meat, potatoes, rice and carrots in the thick stew. Things they hadn’t eaten in a while. Thanks, Elroy. We missed you at the supper table. We still have eggs, cheese and milk but no gas. Ed had just enough gas to finish cooking our meal. So, from tomorrow he has to cook on an open flame.

Just try and be positive Todd. It won’t be long and Mister Mills will run out of gas and we will have our cylinders filled.

We have a medium-sized gas cylinder. We need a bigger one.

Those are hard to come by in these parts.

Thankful for the stew. Elroy, did the ladies give you a few bread rolls?

They did. Mighty kind of them.

Why does he make us suffer?

He might be suffering himself. We don’t see what goes on behind closed doors. I haven’t seen Mrs Mills for at least two months. That means she doesn’t go to the doctor as she should. This isn’t suffering Todd. If you have been out in the bush, without food for three days, then you realize what suffering is. I was lucky to be saved by a young woman and her team. We were held as captives. She breezed in with her unit and took the entire platoon home. I see suffering as something completely different. When you are locked up in a cage and prodded with a shock stick. Sipping droplets of water when it rains. That is suffering. We need to be thankful and make do with what we have.

But how do you still have meat?

Elroy burst in to laughter. I chop up a piece of steak and count the cubes. Split that in to portions. I do the same with everything. A potato, sweet potato, onion, and even a carrot. Stretch it to the limits. Next week I will add a few potato peels. Times are hard but I refuse not to eat. By now I am used to a cold shower. A hot shower is a luxury. I haven’t had gas for a while. Have you seen the size of my gas cylinder? That tiny blue thing? But there is no point in complaining. My oven in the ground sizzles throughout the day. Tomorrow I will add a few eggs on top and serve that with grated cheese. Who knows how creative I can get.

Can you cook boiled eggs?

With a difference. Bring a few eggs and we can try.

What time will you load your oven?

Early tomorrow morning. Todd grinned as they walked to the cottage carrying their dish of stew.

Melissa gave Todd a big portion and dished up for herself. They had a bread roll with their meal. He almost groaned as he ate. The stew was rich and tasty. He finished his bread roll and held his stomach. Melissa that was the most amazing stew I have ever had. I am going to give Elroy six of our eggs and a huge block of cheese so that he can add the eggs tomorrow morning. She chuckled as she finished her meal and he quickly took the eggs and cheese to Elroy.

It was late in the evening and everyone had already gone to bed. Elroy dug another hole and lit the fire. He added what looked like a solid tin on top of the fire. Elroy added the water and twelve eggs and put the lid on top and covered it over with soil. Even if the eggs were blue they would have their hard-boiled eggs for breakfast. He eventually went in to his cottage and made his way to bed.

Todd was up early and waited to see if there was any movement from Elroy’s cottage. He almost dashed out as Elroy walked out with the bowl. He helped to lift the lid and Elroy took the eggs and handed him six. They could be raw, cooked, blue, or rotten. That we do not know. Todd grinned as he went straight home and put the eggs to one side. Melissa looked at her two eggs and giggled. They carefully peeled them and Todd checked. Oh perfect! They had them with their bread rolls before he left for work.

CHAPTER 3

It was the last day of the month. Mike Mills had the men carry his large gas cylinder from the house to the barn. The men loaded the empty gas cylinders. They erupted in laughter when they saw the tiny blue gas cylinder amongst theirs. Someone made a comment and Mike Mills looked over at Elroy and glared at him. Yeah, that’s my gas cylinder. Imagine that, Elroy said and the men were suddenly quiet. Not realizing that was what he had to use for an entire month.

If you are not happy, you know what to do, Mike said. Elroy ignored the sarcastic comment as he helped load the gas cylinders. Mike drove off without saying a word.

The rations arrived an hour later. Ed wanted to cry when he saw what had been delivered. He had to stretch the meals to such a degree that he wanted to throw in the towel. Elroy walked in and looked at the meagre offerings. Ed stood looking and didn’t seem to know what to do even though he had always shared the rations. How many people?

I don’t do it per person.

Time to start. They stood and made a list of every person in the bunkhouse and cottages. Men, women, and children were included. Thirty?

But that includes babies, teens and me.

Thirty. We are going to split everything. Even the bags of potatoes must be split per person.

It could take all day.

Doesn’t matter. The women walked in and Elroy had them helping. They found thirty boxes and put them on the counter and started splitting