A Fearless Bride for a Wounded Rancher

by Ember Pierce

  * * *

  He thought Mae might enjoy them, actually, so he headed out across the field behind the house and walked down toward the creek. He knew a spot in a clearing there that was full of blossoms.

  * * *

  He was lost in his thoughts again as he moved across the land. The day was hot, but he barely noticed. So many thoughts crammed into his brain that he had a slight headache. He feared Bixby finding out about Mae. Who she was.

  * * *

  He feared that the villain would try to get to him the way he had with Annie, by going after Mae. He knew it was foolish to think the way he was thinking. There was no problem in life that was made better by worrying about it, yet he couldn’t help himself.

  * * *

  He’d always been someone to ruminate. He’d wondered if it might just be a nervous habit because it never failed that when he did it he found himself lost in the maze of his brain.

  * * *

  As he approached the woods he heard a twig snap. He stopped in his tracks and listened. There was something behind the tree line. He moved toward it, craning his neck, turning his head to one side, listening more. The sound came closer, the brush and trees still camouflaging the maker.

  * * *

  There was some thrashing of low foliage. Then a horse walked out of the woods into the edge of the field. Scott’s eyes widened. There was something familiar about the animal.

  * * *

  “Well, hey there. You lost?” He couldn't imagine who the brown quarter horse could belong to. The animal was saddled, but seemed a little disoriented. He probably needed water. And there was that familiarity about the horse. He was thin, but he was a wonderful horse, nevertheless.

  * * *

  Scott stayed still where he was, talking gently, until the steed slowly approached him. He reached into his pocket. He had a piece of a carrot there. He always had a bit of apple, a lump of sugar, or a carrot with him.

  * * *

  He was known for giving treats to dogs and horses. It seemed that every horse and dog in the county was acquainted with him. He wiped the dirt off the carrot against the leg of his dungarees and held it out to the horse.

  * * *

  A minute later, the horse was munching contentedly, clearly happy. Suddenly, Scott recognized the animal as the horse Annie had been riding when Wayne Bixby had kidnapped her. In fact the worn saddle, embellished with now tarnished silver hardware, was none other than the one he’d bought for Annie for her birthday that year. The horse belonged to him, but he’d been a favorite of Annie’s.

  * * *

  Stepping back, Scott’s eyes scanned all along the tree line. Bixby’s men had come so close to his land that the horse had apparently recognized his whereabouts and the creature had been making his way to the paddock after being gone for a year.

  * * *

  Scott approached, still speaking softly to the horse. The animal seemed to remember him. Scott talked to him some more and gave him another carrot. Then he took the bridle with no fuss from the horse. It was as if the animal knew he was home after all this time and about to have a leisurely time grazing for his dinner.

  * * *

  Once he had the horse in the paddock, Scott hitched the team back up to the buggy. He was going to get Mae from town right away. There was no telling where Bixby or his men might be.

  * * *

  Scott was quite sure it was the Bixby gang that had rustled Ephraim’s ranch. And that meant Bixby would be coming for him. He wanted to get Mae home and then figure out his next course of action.

  Mae was feeling happy and content. It had been such a lovely morning, working in the garden with Scott. She felt that they, if Scott would allow them more conversation, would get on just fine. She hoped she would have more chances to talk with him. He was an excellent listener. She walked into the schoolhouse smiling.

  * * *

  “Hello there,” Doreen said with a happy look. “What can I do for you, Mae?”

  * * *

  “Well, I was wondering if you might need some help here in the schoolhouse. Teaching, or assisting you.”

  * * *

  “It’s a wonderful thought, truly it is, but there’s barely any money to keep the school going much less to even pay my salary. I’ve asked twice for a helper, but to no avail. It’s just not in the budget laid aside for the school.”

  * * *

  “Well if you really need help, Doreen, I’ll help you. You don’t have to pay me.”

  * * *

  “Honestly, I was talking about last year. Maybe it’s a result of how crowded it was, but only about a third of the students that were here last year came back. Of the others, most are working their farms and ranches. There’s not much I can do.”

  * * *

  “I’m sorry to hear you’re in such a quandary Doreen, I really am. Are you sure you can’t use my help in any way? Like I said, money isn’t an issue. I enjoy it so much. You don’t need to pay me.”

  * * *

  “You’re kind, Mae, but I couldn’t do that. It would set you up as someone to be taken advantage of. Don’t get me wrong. Ephraim does what he can to make sure I get, at least, the bare minimum due a schoolteacher, like getting paid and having money to assist in helping the children to learn by experience.”

  * * *

  The heavy sound of footsteps came up to the porch. The women looked at the door just as it swung open. “Hello, Doreen,” Scott said hurriedly.

  * * *

  “Scott!” Mae was confused by his obvious lack of thought about barging into the schoolhouse. And he looked worried. It was almost like he was in a panic.

  * * *

  “Scott, what’s happened? What’s wrong?”

  * * *

  “I just came to pick you up is all. Are you all finished here?”

  * * *

  “Uh, yes, I am. Good afternoon, Doreen. Thank you.”

  * * *

  “Of course. I’ll let you know if anything changes here, though. Would that be alright?”

  * * *

  “Yes, thank you. Bye-bye.”

  * * *

  “Good afternoon, Doreen,” Scott added.

  * * *

  Mae felt the palm of his hand on her waist as he escorted her out of the schoolhouse. She turned and looked at him.

  * * *

  “Are you sure everything is alright, Scott? You seem as if something’s wrong.”

  * * *

  “No. I just had a feeling you might be finished here, so I came in to get you. I could have gone over to see Ephraim if you were still engaged.”

  * * *

  “Well thank you for coming. It seems Doreen doesn’t need help at the moment. It’s awful, really, there’s not enough money to pay two teachers. Or even one teacher and an assistant. As a result of overcrowding which was too much for Doreen to keep up with, there are far less students this year.”

  * * *

  “Well, if the parents don’t think the children are learning, they’ll keep them on the farm and put them to work where they’re needed. It’s always been that way. The only reason I stayed in school was because my mother fought tooth and nail to keep me there, even when sometimes, I was the only student in the school house.” He laughed.

  * * *

  “Do you think talking to Ephraim would help?”

  * * *

  “Mae, if the parents need the kids to help with the harvest, Ephraim is not going to make them go to school.”

  * * *

  “Hmm.”

  * * *

  They rode along in silence for a bit. Mae thought that maybe it was just their way. They would talk and then they would think about the words they had shared and they’d share some more. When he was in the mood, Scott was a pleasant conversationalist. He listened well, he was witty, and he was intelligent. But he could, just as quickly, shut down.

  * * *

  She looked sidelong at him from under the brim of her bonnet. He appe
ared tense, looking this way and that. She couldn’t imagine what could have happened to cause such a drastic change from how he’d behaved earlier.

  * * *

  “Are you sure everything is okay, Scott?”

  * * *

  “Oh yeah, everything’s fine.” He looked at her and smiled. She noticed it didn’t reach his eyes.

  Scott’s heart was pounding. It was too much to think that Wayne Bixby was somewhere in their midst. The evil-doer was most likely stationed down around Dallas. Scott had heard that the man had a ranch of his own in the area.

  * * *

  A ranch he’d stayed away from after the accident in Fable Springs. The word had gone around that Bixby had gone up to New York and sailed to Paris to evade the law.

  * * *

  There was no way the man would be charged with any crime now as any relevant evidence was gone. Water under the bridge. It made him sick to his stomach that such a low-life would get away with what Bixby had got away with. And now he was back. Scott had to stop the man before he ruined Scott and Mae’s life.

  * * *

  As they pulled up to the house, Scott looked around again. He tried to be discreet, but he knew that Mae was onto him. He didn’t want to get into the whole story. He also didn’t want her to know how upset he was.

  * * *

  Then he’d have to let on about everything that happened a year before. He wanted to avoid reliving the horrible day if it was at all possible. He didn’t want to think about Annie.

  * * *

  “Please, Scott. I can see that something is bothering you. Won’t you tell me what’s wrong? Maybe I can help.”

  * * *

  He had to give in to the fact that she’d figured him out, but he couldn’t tell her what was on his mind. He remained silent.

  * * *

  “Scott? It’s not fair for you to ignore me. What is going on?”

  * * *

  He sighed. “I can’t tell you, Mae. I can’t tell you what’s going on. I only want to make sure you’re safe. Can you understand that? Can you accept that my only concern here is your safety.”

  * * *

  “Well, yes. I can understand it, but I’d be a lot safer, I’d feel a lot safer if I knew what was going on.”

  * * *

  “Mae. I know. You’re actually right. But...”

  * * *

  “But nothing. Please tell me, Scott. Don’t you think I deserve to know? If I’m in some kind of danger, I have a right to know so I can protect myself. I have that right, don’t I?”

  * * *

  He sighed. “Yes. You do have a right to know what’s happening. So, I’ll tell you what you want to know. A year ago I was involved in an accident. It was a terrible accident out at the old mine tunnel up in the hills. It’s far outside of the town lines. There was...an...explosion. People were killed. I could have saved them. I should have saved them.” He shook his head and let it hang down.

  * * *

  Mae wrapped her hand around his arm. “Oh no, Scott. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You don’t know that it would have been any different if you’d tried to act in any other way. I’m sure you did the best thing possible given the circumstances. I’m sure you did all you could.”

  * * *

  Scott wished he could believe Mae and rid himself of the awful guilt he lived with. He wished he was sure that he’d done all he could. He appreciated Mae’s kindness and her words, but he didn’t believe them. He didn’t believe he’d done his best. If he had the people who’d been killed would still be alive. Annie would still be alive.

  * * *

  No, he’d made a mistake. He’d handled the situation poorly, which was what Wayne Bixby had banked on. Wayne kidnapped Annie because he knew that Scott would panic at the thought of something happening to her.

  * * *

  Whenever he thought about it he was thrown back into a maelstrom of confusing emotions with anger above all. If he hadn’t been a man of the law, Scott thought he would have hunted Bixby down and killed him.

  * * *

  So much for such thinking. If he was serious he would have done it. And he’d been thinking lately that he wished he had.

  * * *

  “The reason I came into town early to get you is because…” He hesitated again.

  * * *

  “Yes, Scott. You can tell me. Please,” Mae pleaded. “If we’re to be married in name only, I still deserve and need to know what you’re worried about. Whatever it is, it will affect me. It already is affecting me. You must tell me. You must.”

  * * *

  “First of all there’s a lot to the story. It’s a long one. However, suffice it to say that the man behind the accident last year...the man who caused the explosion, and the man truly responsible for the deaths of some of Fable Spring’s citizens had been driven from town. He was in the state pen, but not for murder. He got a slap on the wrist because he bought the judge.”

  * * *

  “I don’t understand then, why are you so nervous and worried? Even if he’s not in prison anymore, he’s not going to come back to a place where the truth is known about him. Isn’t that right?”

  * * *

  “No, Mae, it’s not right. Wayne Bixby is back in Fable Springs.”

  * * *

  She sat back in the buggy seat. The color had drained from her face.

  * * *

  “Oh,” was all she said.

  * * *

  Scott waited to respond. He wanted to give the news a chance to really sink in. It was his concern that Mae might panic.

  * * *

  He feared for her safety. That was bad enough and he couldn’t tell her that his fears went beyond the norm, due to what had happened a year before.

  * * *

  He couldn’t tell her about the kidnapping. It would be too much. He just needed to concentrate on keeping her safe. It was also important that she would listen to him and not get stubborn or feisty when he asked her to stay at home or when he told her he was going to escort her to and from town. He wanted her to trust his decisions even if he wasn’t always sure of them himself.

  * * *

  And he knew it wasn’t fair. But he had to be so careful about what Mae knew of the time before. It wasn’t the right time to tell her everything. Or was it? He’d created a storm of confusion for himself.

  * * *

  Maybe he should just answer her questions as she asked them. He knew he couldn’t keep the truth from her forever. Maybe he should just tell her everything. He flicked the reins. The farmhouse came into view just ahead.

  15

  Scott woke from a deep sleep. Silver moonlight flooded the room. He didn’t know what had woken him so he just laid in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. His thoughts turned to earlier in the day and supper with Mae.

  * * *

  She’d been very quiet, he’d noticed, since their conversation in the buggy earlier in the day. After he’d told her that Wayne Bixby was back around Fable Springs. He hadn’t gone into details or told her Bixby’s name, but he was aware she was putting the facts she knew together.

  * * *

  He didn’t want her to be scared, but he feared he’d caused her to be. He felt like nothing he did was the right thing. All of his thoughts about how to keep Mae safe seemed to backfire in the face of her need to know the truth. It was as if everything could blow up at any minute.

  * * *

  During their conversation, Mae had looked at him with such trust. It had unnerved him. He, who barely trusted anyone, had no right to have that kind of trust put to him. He didn’t want her to sense his own doubt and foreboding.

  * * *

  It was the middle of the night. The glow from the moon lit the room to such a degree that he could see the clock on the mantle. Three a.m. Not really the middle of the night. He knew Mae would be up and about in two hours.

  * * *

  He wondered if she was still asleep. Or was she down the hall,
awake in her bed, or tossing and turning in slumber? Or lying quietly enjoying the moon and the quiet of the early morning hour. He wondered.