Mister Masterson cleared his throat and her father blanched then gave a slight nod. Then he turned to Adelle’s mother. “Let’s head up to bed, Martha, and give these two a few moments alone to discuss their nuptials and say goodnight to each other.”
Her mother looked reluctant but followed her father out of the room and up the stairs leaving Adelle alone with Reginald Masterson. “Now then, now that we’re alone at last how about you give me a kiss to hold me over until our wedding.”
Adelle stood up and moved as far away from the disgusting man as she could. “I don’t think so.”
Masterson’s eyes got a flinty cold look about them. “That, Adelle, is one of your problems: you think too much. A proper wife doesn’t think so much. Now, you are going to be a proper wife, or you might just meet the same fate as my first two wives. It’s a shame when accidents happen to improper women.”
He stood and walked to where Adelle stood, and faster than a striking rattler he had her arm in his hand and was pulling her up against his body. “Now, I asked for a kiss from my intended and I will be given what I ask for when I ask for it.”
He forced her up against the wall and using his other hand clamped down on her chin, turning her head up for a kiss. Adelle felt her gore rising and knew that if she didn’t stop this soon she was going to be sick. As this disgusting man, her father had all but given her too, pushed his body up against her inappropriately she did the only thing she could think of doing. She opened her mouth under his kiss, then bit down on his lip as hard as she could until she could taste his blood.
He jerked away from her and put his hand to his bleeding lip. When he saw his blood on his fingers he glared at Adelle. “You will learn your place, Adelle, or you might not live to regret it but your parents will.”
Then he smeared his blood across her lips before turning and gathering up his coat, hat and silver topped cane. “I will see you in three weeks for our wedding. After that I won’t tolerate any actions like you have employed tonight.”
He left slamming the front door behind him. Adelle quickly locked it and ran up to her room. She had to find a way to escape or else she was sure he would end up killing her.
Adelle’s opportunity to escape her forced marriage came just a couple days later. Her mother had sent her to see the dressmaker, that Mister Masterson had arranged to make her wedding dress, for the initial measurements. The dress that she was shown just confirmed that she needed to leave before the wedding. It was highly inappropriate for any lady to wear in public. The bodice was so low and tight that she was going to be hard pressed not to spill out of it just walking. The waist also impossibly tight. When she had objected to the dress the seamstress was making for her she had been informed that Mister Masterson had left orders for no changes to be made without his permission, and since he was the person paying for the dress no changes would be made.
Adelle left after the measurements knowing that she had to find a way to stop this wedding. Her parents had refused to listen to her when she tried to tell them she didn’t wish to marry Mister Masterson. Her mother told her that it was a good match that would give her good standing in the community and that she should be glad a man as prestigious as Mister Masterson wanted her for his bride.
Her father told her the decision had been made and that she would be married in three weeks. “Father, please don’t make me marry a man I don’t love who is older than you. Surely there has to be another choice? I’m only nineteen, surely there is time for me to meet a young suitor and fall in love.”
Her father’s shoulders slumped. “Adelle, I believe your mother and I have done you a disservice allowing you to spend your days reading these fantasy books. This is real life and some things can’t be avoided. You will marry Reginald Masterson in three weeks. It is unavoidable, there is no other solution.”
His words confused her and just confirmed that she needed to leave and go somewhere else; somewhere she could not be found and start over. Thankfully she had a small inheritance from her grandparents that was all hers. It would be enough to get her someplace new and allow her a fresh start. But how could she go anywhere without being found out? If she took the train then her father could find her. Same with a coach. She needed to find another way to travel, one that wouldn’t be normal for her. That’s where her luck changed. On the way home from the seamstress she’d stopped in a local café for a cup of tea to calm her nerves when she overheard a man in a somewhat worn black suit talking to another man in a fancier suit. “I’m telling you, Brady, the place is ripe for the right cardsharp. It’s a mining town and the men have nothing better to do than gamble. We could clean up.”
The nicer dressed man smirked at the other one. “You mean I could clean up. It’s not like you win much, Rufe. Most nights you’re lucky if you break even.”
“Fine, you’re right; you could make a fortune running the tables in Creede. I got stuck there in the last snow storm. I’m telling you they don’t have any professional gamblers there and they wouldn’t know how to play against one.”
“While that sounds intriguing I think I’ll pass, Rufe. Maybe you should go back there and clean them out. That kind of game seems to be your style. I’m headed to Deadwood for a big tournament.”
The thin underdressed man sighed. “If I had a horse and a good stake I’d do it. Travel over land and stop in Durango first, or Telluride, or both. But I don’t have a horse or a stake.”
Adelle knew an opportunity when she heard one and this was her opportunity. “Excuse me, gentlemen, I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. I’m in need of an escort to Creede and for personal reasons I would prefer not to go by way of the train. Maybe I could hire you to escort me there, giving you the means to get to Creede and the stake, as you put it, for your game of chance?”
“Well now.” The man’s voice took on a quality that Adelle wasn’t particularly fond of, it sound a lot like the voice Reginald Masterson always used when he was trying to be charming. “I might be willing to see you to Creede for the right incentives.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Let me make one thing very clear, sir. If I decide to hire you that will be all that will be between us. You will work for me, seeing me safely to Creede. For that service I will outfit us for the overland trip and pay you a reasonable fee. I will sleep on my own and would be willing to cook for both of us, nothing else will even be hinted at between us, or you will forfeit your pay and the use of my supplies.”
The nicely dressed one laughed. “She has your number, Rufe Bennett.”
“Hey for supplies and a stake when I get there, she can have her own separate camp every night for all I care.”
Adelle looked at the man who still looked like he might try and take advantage of her. She would just have to make sure and bring the derringer her grandmother had given her when she entered the social scene. The older woman had told her that a woman could never be too careful and to never go out without it.
“I would like to leave in two days’ time, is that suitable with you, Mister Bennet?”
“Yes ma’am, I believe it would work for me. Where shall I meet you?”
“Meet me at nine in the morning two days hence at the main street livery. I will make arrangements to have everything we need there at that time. Two horses, two tents and bedrolls, as well as a pack horse with food supplies. Anything else we would need?”
“Just one hundred and fifty dollars for my stake, ma’am.”
That price seemed steep to Adelle, but she had that and more; she wasn’t about to quibble if it meant she could leave Denver and arrive in Creede undetected by her family or Reginald Masterson. “I will give you half of your funds when we meet and the other half on my safe and unharmed arrival in Creede.”
“You don’t trust me?”
She smiled and shook her head. “I don’t know you, Mister Bennett, but I do know I’ll be armed and you’ll have a better incentive to see me all the way there safe.”
The man
looked at her and then rubbed his hand down his goatee a few times. “I believe we have a deal, Miss… I’m sorry I don’t think I know my employer’s name.”
“You may call me Miss Smith. I believe that will do for the short time we will be together. How long to make the trip?”
“It’ll take us about a week, Miss Smith.”
“Then I shall see you in two days’ time, Mister Bennett.”
With that Adelle left and went straight to the bank where her inheritance was left and withdrew the five hundred dollars left to her. The banker wasn’t happy having her take it all, but he couldn’t really say anything; it was her money after all. She quickly left the bank and headed home. She would have to get out tomorrow to purchase the supplies and have them delivered to the livery where she would procure three horses. She just prayed that none of this would get back to any of her family or their friends.
Chapter Two
Adelle set out the next morning and quickly stuffed a split skirt, extra set of unmentionables, and a plain brown blouse into her embroidery bag. She’d opened the lining of her reticule when she’d gotten home from the bank and put three hundred of her inheritance in the lining before sewing it back up. That left her two hundred to get supplies with today and pay half of what she’d give Mister Bennett the next day before they left Denver.
Today she had a plan. She’d take her embroidery bag and tell her mother she was going to visit her friend Debra Brigden. “Mother, Debra is going to help me with some embroidery for my wedding. You know how much neater her stitches are than mine.”
Her mother smiled. “I’m glad to see that you are taking an interest in preparing for your wedding, Adelle.”
She nodded and picked up a cup, holding it to her lips to try and hid the disgust that wanted to spill out of her. “I thought about it all day yesterday and finally had to agree with Father. I’m not a child anymore; it’s time to put aside fantasies and begin to take an active role in my life. Some things can’t be avoided and this situation is one of them. So if I can’t avoid it I will take an active role in it instead.”
She felt bad for deceiving her mother but nothing she said was a lie. She was taking an active role in the situation of her unwanted marriage. Just not the role her parents wanted her to take.
When breakfast was over and her mother had released her, Adelle hurried into town to make the necessary purchases she needed. She met with the livery owner and impressed the man with her knowledge of good horseflesh. Thankfully her father had always allowed her to tag along when he’d gone to meet with the ranchers in the area and knew what she was doing. She paid a bit more than she wanted for the three horses and all their gear, but she didn’t begrudge the man trying to take advantage of the young woman purchasing her own animals. Better to let him think she was less knowledgeable than she was or stick out in his mind when her father and Mister Masterson started looking for her.
Then she’d gone and bought the staples that she and Mister Bennett would need including two tents and bedrolls. She took everything back to the livery and packed her saddle horse’s pack saddle and asked the livery owner to keep her horses overnight, and that she and her cousin would be by in the morning to take everything. For just a few dollars more the man was more than willing. Everything was ready; she had a day dress and a good dress in her bags and her split skirt and blouse were hidden behind the old necessary behind her house. Thank goodness her mother had insisted on the new indoor water closet and bathing room. She could slip out in the morning and change and meet up with Mister Bennett at nine as planned. She wouldn’t breathe until they were away from Denver and lost along the road no one knew they were taking.
Supper that night was hard as she suddenly realized that this might well be the last time she ever ate with her mother and father. She couldn’t stop the melancholy that came over her and when her father commented on it she told him she was just sad that she had so few meals left with just the three of them.
“Here now, Adelle. You won’t be that far away. Why your new home is just outside of town. We’ll still have many more meals together.”
She had to nod or she’d end up giving away her plan. “Yes but it won’t be the same, Father. After this nothing will be the same.”
Her mother just smiled and patted her hand and her father shook his head at his overly dramatic little girl.
Soon after they all retired for the evening and Adelle sat up in her room at the small writing desk and put pen to paper.
Dear Mother and Father,
By the time you read this letter I will be gone. I cannot and will not marry a man thirty years older than me that I don’t love or even respect. Please don’t look for me as you will not find me. I took my inheritance from grandfather and grandmother and have planned to start a new life somewhere far away from here. When I’m settled and married to a man I love maybe I’ll contact you and tell you where I am. For now, I know that if you knew you’d have me brought home and forced me to marry Mister Masterson. I would rather never see either of you again than be that man’s third wife.
Please honor my wishes and allow me to go unhindered. Know that while I don’t understand why you would try and force this marriage on me I do still love each of you. I will miss you but can’t abide with the decisions you made without my consent or even regarding my feelings on the matter.
Your loving daughter.
Adelle
She folded and slipped the letter into an envelope and addressed it to her parents, laying it on the writing desk. She knew her father would be at work by the time her mother came up to check on her and she planned to be out of Denver and heading to Creede by that time. She also knew they wouldn’t think to search for her in a mining town but would first check the trains and then other forms of transportation to other thriving cities. Instead she would travel through the mountains and mining towns with a gambler. Far from the society circles that her parents were used to her traveling in.
She slid into bed and willed herself to sleep. Tomorrow was the first day of her complete independence.
Gavin stepped onto the train platform in Creede, Colorado and felt an expectancy in the air. It was as if the whole area knew something momentous was going to happen. He didn’t know how he knew but this place was going to become important to him. He felt like maybe he was going to find something important here. Maybe even the answer to his dream of a home and ranch. If nothing else he planned to make sure the cowboys in the area remembered his name. Gavin Knight the Bronc Buster who tamed the devil. With the smile on his face at that thought he walked down to the mostly empty livestock car that was part of the King Ranch added on to the train. The private Pullman, bunkhouse car and livestock car had all been unhooked and pushed to the switch track platform. Gavin retrieved his gelding and his specialized gear so that he’d be ready to break Diablo.
Hearing his name called he led his horse over to where Mister Kleburg stood with a cowboy. “Gavin, I wanted to introduce you to Cooper White. Cooper, this is Gavin Knight, he’s the best bronc buster I’ve ever met. He says he’s never met a horse he can’t break to the saddle. I thought he might like to take a run at that demon horse of yours if you still have him.”
The rancher shook Gavin’s hand. “Nice to meet you. I have to warn you, I named that horse Diablo because he’s got the devil inside him. He’s just plain mean and unbreakable. I had to take him out of town. We had him at the livery for a while because so many cowboys wanted a chance to try and ride him. However, the Doctor asked me to take him out of town. He couldn’t take care of the sick for patching up cowboys that horse threw, then stomped.”
Gavin smiled. “Then the rewards are still active? If I can break this horse, I’ll get the horse and a job working for you?”
Mister White looked at him and gave him and his gear a once over. “Unless you abuse Diablo in breaking him, I’ll stand by the offer. If you can fully saddle-break that demon horse, I’ll give him to you and a job as my head trainer as
well.”
Gavin smiled. “When can I get started?”
Cooper laughed. “What’s the rush?”
Mister Kleburg laughed. “I might have bet Mister Knight that he couldn’t break the demon in three days. His reward is a thousand dollars if he does it.”
Cooper White stared back and forth between the two men, then focused on Gavin. “Mister Knight, if you can truly saddle-break Diablo in three days, I won’t offer you a job, I’ll make you a partner in my ranch. That horse won’t even let anyone near him anymore without trying to stomp them into the ground. I’m afraid you’re gonna lose your bet.”
“You serious about the partnership?”
Cooper looked at the bronc buster and could see the grit and determination in the man’s eyes. This Gavin Knight honestly thought he would break Diablo in three days’ time. “I’m completely serious. If you can break him so anyone can ride him by the end of three days, I’ll make you my partner. I’d be a fool not to. Once the ranchers around here see someone riding that demon horse I’ll have all the training business I can handle. While I need that business, it’s the breeding that interests me. If you succeed, you’ll handle the training and oversee any other trainers we hire and I’ll oversee the breeding. But we’ll be equal partners.”
“You got yourself a deal, Mister White.” Gavin stuck his hand out to shake the rancher’s. The other man took his hand and shook it.
“If we’re gonna possibly be partners, you should call me Cooper. Even if you don’t succeed, I’d still like us to be friends. I need more friends with your grit and determination.”
“All right, I could use more friends. Cain’t never have too many. However, I plan to be your partner so you should just get ready for that.”
Cooper laughed. “I like you, Gavin. You are certainly determined.”
Winning His Wife Page 2