The Bride Price

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  Sep fought against him, but Harvey dragged him to the third bedroom – the room that even now was difficult to enter when he remembered what Harvey had done to him in there. Harvey had thrown him into the room and shoved the chair up under the doorknob so April couldn’t get Sep out. Ignoring her cries as she pounded on the door, Harvey picked up his whip and vented his anger on Sep. Most of the time, Harvey would alternate between punching him and using the whip, but tonight, he decided to stick with the whip.

  Since he was drunk, Sep darted around him and managed to avoid the worst of it until Harvey caught him and chained him to the wall. Sometimes Harvey got exhausted easily and gave up the pursuit. He did not give up the pursuit that night. And he didn’t go to sleep anytime soon, or at least, it didn’t seem like he did. On that particular night, it felt like it’d gone on for well over a week.

  When Harvey’s anger was finally spent, Harvey left him there in the room, chained to the wall, the blood dripping from his back and onto the floor, his nightshirt ruined. April wasn’t able to get him out until the next afternoon when Harvey left for the bar.

  Joel had done his best to erase all of those memories, and when everything was going along well, Sep didn’t even think about the past. So many good things had happened since April married Joel that it was easy to forget what had happened in that room. Until things like that letter popped up in the barn. And then that room was all he could think about.

  Sep’s grip tightened on the gun. Never again. He swore that he would never miss his target ever again. Over and over, as he hung there from the chains in that room, he told himself that he was never going to miss another shot.

  He glanced over at Angela who was still sound asleep. Since that night, he’d gotten very good at shooting. He didn’t know how many men were behind the missive he found last evening. It could be many or just one. Whoever had written the missive was someone who knew about Mr. Dodson and his plans to auction Angela off. It could be someone who had escaped from jail.

  Whoever it was, he had been watching Sep and Angela for a week and then he had killed two rabbits and placed them in their bed. So whoever this was, he meant business.

  The man was no better than Harvey. And this time, Sep wasn’t going to be dragged off to another room to take a beating, nor was he going to let any harm come to Angela. Right now, the law was out of his reach. He couldn’t access it without potentially harming her.

  This was something he was going to have to do on his own. The key was to be smart about it. He wasn’t going to be impulsive, and he wasn’t going to be reckless. He was going to be intentional this time. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do yet, but Angela and Fred would be safe. For now, that was all he could do. Later, he could come up with more.

  ***

  Angela wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. She should have known better than to make anything on the cookstove when all the windows in the house were still closed. After she woke up, Sep had told her he was going to check on the animals and that she should keep Fred inside with her. “I already had him go outside, so he’s fine.” And then he left, locking the door behind him.

  She didn’t know if he realized how odd he was acting. If he was trying to be subtle, it wasn’t working. Anyone who was paying only half attention would know that something was wrong. Not only was it odd that he was locking the doors, but he had also locked all of the windows except for the small one in the kitchen, which didn’t do nearly enough to cool things off in the room, let alone her.

  From where she was flipping pancakes, she glanced over at Fred who was panting by his food and water bowls. The poor dog was just as uncomfortable as she was. She went over to the worktable, picked up the pitcher of water, and poured more into the water bowl. Fred started to drink from it.

  She patted his head and scratched him behind the ears. “I wish you could talk. Then you could tell me if Sep has ever acted this way before.”

  She turned back to the cookstove and took the pancakes out of the skillet and placed them on Sep’s plate. She had already made her own pancakes, which were waiting for her on her plate. She brought the plates over to the table and then brought over the syrup and butter, noting that the room was so hot that the butter was melting. She shook her head. It was hotter than last night.

  She left the kitchen and went to the parlor window, which gave her a better view of the barn. That’s where Sep had been spending his first hour of the day ever since she had married him. She wondered if he was there today, or if he might be somewhere else. Just how was she supposed to figure out what he was doing if he locked the door when he left the house? She didn’t have a key to get back in, so if she left the house, she would have to leave the door unlocked, which might not be the best thing considering the fact that he felt the need to lock everything so that something or someone couldn’t get in.

  No, it couldn’t be something he was worried about. Animals didn’t open up windows or doors. Only people did that. But who was he worried about? In the short time she’d known him, she couldn’t think of a single person he didn’t like. Nothing had come up in any of their conversations that made her think someone might invade his home. And April hadn’t mentioned anyone that might pose a threat. But then, the topic hadn’t come up.

  She saw Sep leave the barn and head for the north side of the house, which happened to lead directly to the kitchen. She returned to the kitchen and unlocked the door. She opened it in time to see him pulling out the keys from his pocket.

  “Is everything alright?” he asked her as he hurried up the steps.

  “I was about to ask you the same thing,” she replied, though it wasn’t really the truth.

  She already knew something was wrong, but she hadn’t planned to ask him about it, at least not so boldly. Since he was asking her the question, however, she felt he might be willing to open up to her. Maybe he wasn’t going to be like her uncle and father who kept things to themselves. Maybe she had misjudged him. Maybe he would tell her.

  As it turned out, he wasn’t willing to share anything with her because he said, “Everything is as it should be. I was thinking of going back into town today. You and April get along so well, and I wouldn’t mind running an errand in town.”

  “Is there something you forgot to do yesterday?” They had spent almost the entire day in town, so she doubted this was something that had slipped his mind, but she felt compelled to give him an excuse all the same.

  He actually looked relieved that she had given him that excuse. He nodded. “Yes, I should’ve done it yesterday, but with our nieces and nephew and Sally…” He shrugged. “The time slipped away.”

  “There’s no need to explain. I understand. Things like that can happen when you’re enjoying yourself.” She waved him into the house. “I already made breakfast, so we might as well eat before we head out.”

  He scanned the property before he went through the doorway. She scanned it, too, in hopes that she would get an idea of who might be out there. Was it possible they were being watched? That would explain why he was locking the windows and the doors. It would explain why he was taking her back to town. No one wanted to be watched, especially not on their own property. With a shiver, she followed him into the house and shut the door behind her.

  ***

  After breakfast, Sep went to the parlor and opened the drawer in the desk. No one had used this desk in years, so he wasn’t even sure if there was still paper in it. Fortunately, there was, and better yet, the old pen still worked. He had worked on his plan while he did the morning chores. He didn’t think the man would come up to him that morning, and he had been right. If he was anywhere on the property, he was keeping his distance, which was fine with him. He would rather go into the situation with the plan rather than confront him unprepared.

  So while Angela was upstairs in the bedroom, getting ready for trip into town, he wrote out a quick note that read, I’ll get you the $300. I’m going into town today to get a lo
an from the bank.

  He put the pen back in the drawer, folded the paper, and put it in his pocket. He then went over to the window and looked outside. He never realized how many hiding places his property had until this moment. There was the barn loft, the shed near the garden, the henhouse, the trees, and, of course, any place right up against the house that was currently out of his view.

  One thing he knew for sure was that the person who wanted the money hadn’t come on his property with his horse. If there was a horse, it wasn’t anywhere nearby. And that gave him an advantage. The man would be much slower on foot. It was possible that one man was hanging around his property while the others were with their horses. But even so, it would take those men some time to get to where the man was.

  What Sep needed to do was to set the bait that would lure him out. Sep had no idea if the man was going to follow him into town, but he was going to have to stop by the bank and pretend he was taking out a loan. He had to act in a way so that the man would believe he was going to give him what he wanted.

  He heard Angela’s footsteps as she came down the stairs. He turned to face her and noticed that Fred was following her. He smiled. It was nice to see his wife and his best friend getting along so well.

  He went over to Angela and gave her a kiss before he rubbed Fred’s back, just in case his dog got jealous. He led them both out of the house and locked the door behind him. He was sure Angela wondered why he was keeping everything locked up. He wasn’t sure why she didn’t come out and ask him about it, but he was glad she decided not to because he really didn’t want to lie to her. It was bad enough that he hadn’t told her about the missive he’d found in the barn or the dead rabbits in their bed.

  He didn’t like hiding these things from her, but he knew better than to do anything to anger the man who was blackmailing him. Mr. Dodson and the men he associated with were all scoundrels. They were just like Harvey. They didn’t care who they hurt as long as they got what they wanted. The best thing to do was to play along until he could gain an advantage. And right now, he did not have the advantage. Without knowing exactly what he was up against, he couldn’t take an offensive position.

  Once they were outside the barn, he got the wagon ready. He helped Angela in and then turned to Fred. “Come on, Fred. You’re coming with us today.”

  Fred jumped into the wagon, more than happy to be taking the trip into town with them.

  Sep patted his dog. “Good boy.” Then he looked at Angela and said, “I’m going to give the cows some water before we head out.”

  “Alright, we’ll wait here for you,” Angela replied as she patted Fred who was sitting next to her on the seat.

  He went into the barn, grabbed the bucket, and hurried to the well. The man had probably been watching him all morning. The only thing that gave him any comfort was knowing the man hadn’t been in the house the entire night. If he thought for one minute that the man had been alone in the house with Angela or Fred, he probably wouldn’t have been able to remain as calm as he had this entire time.

  Once he poured water into the troughs for the cows, he returned the bucket to its spot and pulled out the paper from his pocket. He put the paper into the bucket. Then he headed out of the barn and hopped into the wagon.

  Now that the first part of his plan was in place, it was time to work on the second.

  Chapter Fourteen

  When Sep and Angela arrived at April’s, they found out that April had just given birth to a girl.

  “I went into labor late last night,” April told them from where she rested on her bed. “She came into this world around four this morning. You two couldn’t have come at a better time.”

  Sep glanced over at his new niece, who was currently asleep in Angela’s arms. Angela was smiling down at the girl’s face, and Sep could tell she was looking forward to having children of her own. One thing Sep would definitely do was teach his sons how to treat women right, and if he had daughters, he would teach them what kind of man to look for when they were searching for a husband.

  But in order to even worry about the future of his children, he had to make sure Angela was safe. He patted the small of Angela’s back and said, “I’m going to run that errand while you stay here with April and enjoy your time with…” He glanced over at April. “Did you name her yet?”

  April nodded. “We decided on Opal.”

  Angela smiled. “I like it. How did you decide on it?”

  “When I was expecting Nora, I already knew what I was going to name her because I loved the name Nora ever since I was a little girl. Joel liked the name Hannah, so we chose that for the second child. And both of us liked Levi, so that was easy for the boy. Opal, however, was more difficult because we didn’t have another name to give a girl.”

  “How did you choose Opal then?” Angela asked.

  “Nora picked it. Apparently, there’s a girl at the schoolhouse by that name who is really nice, and when Nora woke and saw the baby, she wanted to give her the name Opal. Joel and I had been throwing around different names through the whole pregnancy, and nothing we chose seemed to fit.” She shrugged. “It seemed like the best thing to do was to go with her suggestion.”

  “That’s just lovely.” Angela glanced at Sep. “Don’t you think that’s lovely?”

  Sep didn’t know if he would consider it lovely, but he did think it was sweet that Nora had chosen the girl’s name, so he indicated his agreement. But, he had more pressing things on his mind. “I think I’ll congratulate Joel.”

  The two women started talking again about the baby, so Sep left the room.

  Joel was in the kitchen with Nora, Hannah, and Levi, who were eating sandwiches. Joel was slumped in his chair, looking as if he was ready to go to sleep. At the moment, Nora was instructing Levi on how to properly sit while he ate.

  “Your back needs to be straight,” Nora said in an authoritative tone that made Sep chuckle.

  When she looked over at him, Sep explained, “You act so much like my sister. You’re like a mother already.”

  She didn’t seem to understand his reasoning, but that didn’t really matter. He decided to tear off a small piece of Levi’s sandwich and feed it to Fred, who eagerly ate it. The boy didn’t seem to be all that hungry since he was taking his time eating. In his experience, when kids were hungry, they ate fast. Fred, however, seemed to be able to eat anything at any time.

  But that wasn’t why he was here. He turned his attention back to Joel who was drifting off to sleep. Sep went over to him and shook his arm. “I need to talk to you.”

  Joel jerked awake.

  “Something important has come up, and I need your help,” Sep said. “I would rather not discuss this here. We need to go to another room.”

  With a nod, Joel stood up and followed him to the parlor. Mindful of the women and children, Sep lowered his voice and quickly explained everything that had transpired since the moment he found the missive waiting for him in the barn.

  He even pulled out the piece of paper demanding the money and showed it to him. “I need to find out if any of the men escaped from jail,” Sep told Joel. “But I can’t go directly to Owen about this because I think I’m being watched. I was wondering if you would go to your sister, Jenny, and have her ask Owen if anyone escaped. Then when she comes back to you, you can tell me.”

  “That’s a lot of back-and-forth,” Joel replied.

  “I’d do it myself if I thought I could get away with it, but whoever wrote that,” he tapped the missive in Joel’s hand, “means business. I’m not going to take my chances on this one. I did that with Harvey, and I made things worse. I have a plan in place, and in order to effectively use it, I need to be careful.”

  “If there is someone watching you, then it stands to reason that the person knows you’re talking to me right now.”

  “Which is why we’re not in front of any windows, and in case anyone is nearby, I’m whispering.”

  “Alright, I’ll give you that,
but what if someone sees me going to my sister’s?”

  “Have your sister bring Owen something to eat. That way you won’t arouse any suspicions.”

  “What if this person sees me going over to talk to her?”

  “Speak loud enough so that he overhears you talking about the birth of your youngest daughter. I think we’re dealing with one man, so I don’t think you’ll be followed. I think he’s going to follow me to the bank. But if there is a second person, they could split up and you could be followed, too.”

  Joel looked as if he was thinking of another option, something that would probably allow him to go to sleep sooner, but after a minute, he let out a long sigh. “Alright. I can tell that you have thought everything through. Your way will arouse the least suspicions.” He held up the missive. “Do you want this back, or do you want me to have Jenny give this to Owen?”

  “Have her give it to Owen if something happens to me. It could be proof that can be used before the judge.”

  “You mean if something happens to us. You don’t think I’m going to let you go back to your place by yourself, do you?”

  Sep shook his head. “You can’t go with me. You have four children and a wife. Plus, you’re the best doctor in these parts.”

  “My wife happens to be your sister. And you’re married, too. We either do this together, or you’re not doing it at all.”

  Sep should’ve known that Joel was going to want to help him. A part of him wanted to say no because it was a huge risk he was taking. Sep was a good shot, much better than he had been that night when he had used the gun on Harvey, but he hadn’t had to try his skill out in a life or death situation since that night. Despite all of his practice, he might not be quick enough, calm enough, or good enough. He might fail, and if he failed, it could mean bad things for Joel. But, there was an advantage to having someone help him, and Joel was good in dangerous situations.

  “I know you’re a proud man,” Joel told Sep. “But it’s not a weakness to ask for help, especially when things are as serious as this.” Joel showed him the missive. “You’re like the little brother I never had. I’m not going to stand by and watch anything bad happen to you if I can do something to stop it.”