AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stood up, letting him see me. I cursed myself for leaving the rifle on my horse, but it had been too cumbersome to carry while I ran to the horses. If I needed a firearm I would have to rely on the two pistols I wore. He ran towards me and I couldn’t hide my grin. This was going exactly as I had planned! Out of the corner of my eye I could see Shane galloping towards Elise, but I didn’t turn my head away from the man running towards me. I was the decoy – I would do my best to keep him distracted until Shane had Elise safely in his arms.
I ran to the second horse and crouched to undo the hobbles. The giant of a man was bearing down on me, getting closer and closer. I would have to act fast. With a tug, I wrenched the hobble free and gave the horse an almighty slap, sending it after its mate.
The man was almost upon me. I watched as his feet left the ground and he launched himself into the air and I rolled out of the way just in time, narrowly dodging his tackle. He was bigger than me but also much older, and his movements were slower. My speed gave me an advantage and I used it. With a roar, he leaped at me again but this time I sidestepped, stood myself up to my full height and withdrew my gun. “Hold it right there mister,” I ordered.
For just a second he froze, then he realized what was going on. He spun around to face the camp he’d run from just in time to see Shane running for his horse, Elise in his arms. Before he had a chance to react I raised my gun hand high and brought the butt crashing down against his temple, watching as he staggered then fell to the ground, blood trickling from the gash.
I stood for a moment, in silence, trying to take in the scene around me. It had been easy; too easy. The man had been an incompetent fool and his arrogance, his apparent belief in his infallibility, had been his downfall. Stooping to pick up his feet, I dragged him back to his camp and dropped him under the tree. He’d be out to it for a while, but at least he’d have a fighting chance, being in the shade rather than out under the full sun. I propped his canteen up next to him for when he woke up. Then I stamped out his fire and walked back to my waiting family: to my best friend and the wife we shared.
“You shoulda killed the bastard,” Shane snarled when I got close enough to hear him but I shook my head. There had been enough destruction today. I did not want to add to it. We had Elise back, that was what mattered.
I looked at Elise. She was slumped in Shane’s arms, her head flopping to the side. I gently righted it, brushing a stray lock of hair back off her face with my fingers and as I did, I noticed the graze on her temple and the bruise coming up on her cheek. The fading outline of a handprint covered the other side of her face. It was easy to figure out what had happened – that bastard had hit her, and the force of the blow had bashed her face against the tree trunk he’d tied her up against. What else had he done to our beautiful bride? I inspected her clothing – nothing was torn. Nothing was out of place.
“Did he?” I nodded at the spot between her legs, that precious place that we had claimed and filled over and over, hoping against hope that he hadn’t violated her.
Shane shook his head. “No. I don’t think so. Her clothes aren’t ripped. If she was being taken for that bastard back east, he wouldn’t want her used. Her virginity would be the most important part about her.”
I nodded. That made sense.
We were both silent for a moment, trying to accept everything that had just happened; wanting to understand it.
“Where the hell are we?” I asked.
“There’s a town about four miles that-away.” Shane pointed.
“That’s closer than Bridgewater,” I said. “Let’s take her there. She’ll need a bath, get her cleaned up and a good feed into her.”
Shane passed Elise to me while he mounted his horse and as I took our bride in my arms she slowly opened her eyes and blinked, looking around in confusion. Terror reflected briefly in her eyes but then her gaze settled on my face and she smiled. Not a proper smile, just a partial one, full of pain, but still, it was something.
“You’re safe now sweetheart,” I assured her gently, bending to kiss her temple. “Just rest for now, there will be time for talking later. Here, I’ll pass you up to Shane.”
I passed her up and her arms immediately wrapped around his neck and she snuggled against him, relief evident in her every pore. She’d obviously been so frightened. Anger coursed through me again and I wished, just for a moment, that I had killed the bastard when I had the chance.
16
ELISE
* * *
I could hardly believe it when I opened my eyes and looked up into Roscoe’s face. At first I thought I was dreaming. I half expected to wake up and see my captors face, not Roscoe’s, inches from my own. I was afraid fear was making me hallucinate and see things that weren’t there. But then he spoke, and kissed my forehead, his chapped lips so welcome on my clammy skin, and I knew he was real. Relief overwhelmed me. I was safe! My husbands had found me! Just like I’d told my captor they would. I tried to smile but my face hurt so bad, both from where I’d been hit, and where my face had slammed into the tree. My head was still fuzzy and waves of nausea racked my body.
I wanted to ask him about the fire, and what happened to the bad man who had taken me but I didn’t have the energy. I could barely keep my eyes open. My head hurt too much and all I wanted to do was sleep. I fought off the darkness but it engulfed me again, so when he told me to rest, I willingly obeyed him.
Roscoe lifted me up to Shane and my arms went around his neck instinctively. I was safe. His strong arms around me reassured me and although every single muscle in my body was sore, I relaxed. I didn’t have to worry anymore. Shane and Roscoe were here.
The rocking of the horse beneath us lulled me back to sleep again but I wasn’t frightened anymore. Each step was taking me closer to safety and home, not Philadelphia and Mr. Yates.
I don’t know how long we rode for but when I opened my eyes again we were riding into a tiny town, much smaller than the town I had stepped out into when I disembarked the train. Only a few buildings lined the single street and I could only see one horse tied to the hitching post outside the saloon.
“Where are we?” I croaked, for I knew it was not Bridgewater.
“We’re going to stop in a hotel for a bit,” Shane told me. “Roscoe has gone on ahead to get us a room and a bath. We all need one.”
“Oh.” I closed my eyes again. Nausea still plagued me and my head was still fuzzy, but I think I was improving. The rest definitely helped. I buried my face back in Shane’s shirt then wrinkled my nose in distaste. He stunk! Smoke, mostly. And he was covered in black soot. The fire! How had I forgotten about the fire? T
he event that had set all this off?
“The man who took me, he set the fire,” I told Shane.
