Then he heard them coming down the steps from the porch, Laura's cowboy boots making a lot of noise as Ranny half-dragged, half pushed her down the steps. As they came along the path, Monty had to press himself against the broad tree trunk and shift carefully and quietly around it to keep himself out of sight. They passed within 15 feet of him, but he could do nothing with a gun held against Laura's head.
He knew when they reached the truck, because he heard the door being opened. Ranny had removed the makeshift rifle sling during his unpleasant ride in the trailer compartment, but had stowed it in a coat pocket in case he needed it again. He fished it out of his pocket now, and told Laura to hold her hands together in front of herself. He quickly wrapped the rope around her wrists and tied a clumsy knot.
"There, that should keep you from trying anything. Now, get in the truck!" he said, putting his hand on the small of her back and pushing her towards the driver's side.
With her hands tied, Laura found it hard to get up into the pickup's cab and past the steering wheel. Awkwardly, she grabbed the top of the wheel with both hands and lifted one foot high onto the door sill, then pulled herself up and twisted sideways to slide all the way over against the passenger's side door. Ranny forgot his anger momentarily to enjoy the sight of Laura's legs, as her short fringed skirt rode up during this maneuver. The back of the skirt, too, tightened over her hips, and Ranny felt a sudden spasm of lust.
"Maybe when we get to Mexico," he thought, "I'll just have a piece of that ass, and when she makes her way back here, she can tell her cowboy hero all about it. It'll serve them both right."
Then he boosted himself up behind the wheel, standing the M-16 up between his legs, and put the key he'd demanded from Monty in the ignition.
The only time Ranny had experienced driving a stick shift was when he was 16 and one of his schoolmates had taken pity on him. His mother had refused to teach him to drive, saying he could learn that when he was out of school and had a job. But the driving lessons were short-lived, because Ranny had trouble learning how to ease out the clutch while feeding the gas, and the car's owner didn't want his vehicle to need a new clutch or transmission. Ranny had bought his first used car with an automatic transmission, which he found much simpler to drive.