Page 2 of Short-Straw Bride

Hiram laughed.

She should go home. Just leave the pail and go home. Mama would understand . . . but she’d be disappointed.

“I dare you,” Hiram said, finally drawing Meredith’s attention. “I dare you to go after that tin.”

“Don’t do it, Meri,” Anna Leigh begged.

“Oh, she won’t. She’s too scared.” Hiram’s cocky grin resurrected Meredith’s pride.

Crossing her thin arms over her chest, she glared up at him. “I’ll get it. Just see if I don’t.”

The girls behind her gasped, and even Hiram looked a bit uneasy, which only served to bolster Meredith’s determination. She marched to the tree line, turned back for one last triumphant glance at the stunned Ellis boys, and dashed off in the direction the pail had disappeared. Her shoes crunched on fallen pine needles and twigs as she ran, her breath echoing loudly in her ears as she huffed up the hill.

She stopped at the top and clutched her aching side as she scanned the ground for her lunch bucket. Something shiny glinted in the sunlight down and to the left. Meredith smiled and hurried forward. This isn’t so tough.

Her fingers closed around the handle of the battered tin, but when she turned to head back, the hill blocked her view of the road. Suddenly feeling very isolated, she bit her lip as forest noises echoed around her. A twig snap to her left. A rustle to her right. Then from somewhere in the distance behind her, a dog barked.

The Archer hounds!

Meredith fled, scrambling up the hill. But the sandy soil was too loose. Her feet kept slipping. She clawed at the ground with her fingers, to no avail.

Another bark sounded. Closer this time.

Meredith gave up on the hill and just started running away from the barking. The slope gradually lessened, and she spotted a flat section up ahead where the pines turned back toward the road. Aiming for the opening, she veered between the trees.

As she looked up to gauge how close she was to the road, her right foot hit something metallic. A loud crack rent the air a second before a pair of steel jaws snapped closed on her leg.

“Good girl, Sadie.” Travis Archer folded his wiry adolescent frame as he hunkered down and stroked the half-grown pointer. “We might turn you into a huntin’ dog yet.”

She still barked too much when she got excited, frightening off the game, but she’d successfully pointed a rabbit and held when he called whoa, so even though the hare scurried away before he could get in position to shoot, Travis was proud of the pup’s progress.

“Let’s try again, girl. Maybe we’ll find some quail for you to flush. Jim’s getting tired of fixin’ squirrel mea—”

An agonized scream cut Travis off and raised the hair on his arms. He hadn’t heard a cry like that since his mother died birthin’ Neill.

Sadie barked and took off like a shot. Travis called for her to stop, but the pup ignored his command and ran west—toward the road. Snatching up his rifle, he gave chase. If a new threat had wandered onto Archer land, he’d do everything in his power to protect his brothers.

The barking intensified, and it sounded as if Sadie had stopped. Travis slowed his pace and brought his rifle into position against his shoulder. It wouldn’t be the first time some greedy land grabber tried to draw him out, thinking four boys were easy pickings. He might not be full grown, but he was man enough to defend what was his. No one was going to drive him and his brothers out. No one.

Travis wove through the narrow pines, catching a glimpse of Sadie’s black coat. He recognized the spot. It was one of several places he’d hidden coyote traps. He’d posted warning signs, but some idiots were too cocky for their own good. Hardening himself against any pity he might feel for the interloper, Travis fingered the trigger on his rifle and stepped around the last tree that stood between him and his target.

“Hands where I can see ’em, mister, or I’ll put a bullet in . . .” The threat died on his lips.

A girl?

Horror swept over him, loosening his grip on the rifle. The barrel dipped toward the ground.

“D-don’t shoot. P-p-please.” The girl turned liquid blue eyes on him. “I didn’t m-m-mean any harm.” Her tearstained face stabbed him with guilt as she bravely tried to swallow her sobs.

“I ain’t gonna shoot you.” Travis relaxed his stance and set the weapon aside. “See?” He held his palms out and took a cautious step toward the girl sitting sideways beneath the tree. “I thought you were someone else. I ain’t gonna hurt you.” Although judging by the blood staining the edge of her ruffled pantalets, he already had.

“W-what about your d-dog?” She eyed Sadie as if the pup were some kind of hellhound.

“Sadie, heel.” The pointer quit barking and padded over to Travis’s side. He motioned for her to stay, then gingerly approached the frightened girl. “I’m gonna get that trap off your leg. All right?”

She sucked in her bottom lip, her eyes widening as he approached, but she nodded, and something inside Travis uncoiled. He’d no idea what he would’ve done if she’d gone all hysterical on him. Thankfully, this gal seemed to have a decent head on her shoulders. Travis smiled at her and turned his attention to the trap.

His stomach roiled. The thing was clamped above the ankle of her right leg. She whimpered a bit when he reached for the spring mechanisms on either side of the trap, no doubt anticipating more pain. The metal chain clanked as she moved.