by Kit Morgan
Twelve
Sadie fell to the ground in a heap. She listened as the two men rustled about in the pitch-blackness before she heard the distinct sound of a match being lit. She had to squint against the light as Sam took a lantern from a large rock and lit it. He adjusted the light, and then hung the lantern from a nail protruding from a beam. Once her eyes were adjusted, she took in their surroundings.
They were indeed inside some sort of mine. And from the looks of it, they were at the back end. It wasn’t very big, maybe a twelve by twelve space. It looked more like a cave someone had reinforced with some posts and beams. She didn’t notice any fresh marks in the rock that would indicate it was an active mine. Several barrels took up one wall, a couple bales of hay, a sack of grain and a few crates and boxes the others. Sam went to one of the barrels, took off the lid and reached inside. He brought out a whiskey bottle and pulled the cork out with his teeth. He took a long swallow, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and leered.
A cold, dark chill raced up Sadie’s spine.
“Go take a look around.” He ordered Jack. “See if any one else has come up yet.”
Jack tossed his load to the ground. The kettle hit a rock and the noise echoed off the walls then quickly disappeared. “Why do I have to take a look around? We was just outside!”
Sam spun on him. “Get out! Go outside while I...” he turned back to Sadie, eyes glazed with lust. “Get her ready for ya.”
Jack growled low in his throat. “There ain’t no reason why I can’t have her first! You take everything first!”
Sam punched him square in the gut. Jack doubled over in pain. “I said get out! Take a look and make sure no one else is around!”
Jack straightened, his eyes full of rage. “You better hurry it up cause I’m gonna take my time with her!” He turned and stomped back to the mine’s entrance. Sadie watched as he disappeared into the darkness. Her time had come.
Sam went to her, grabbed her by the wrists and dragged her to the center of the cave. He then reached for the blankets they’d brought and began to untie them. He looked about; deciding where to spread them, then threw the blankets down behind the barrels. Apparently even a hardened criminal liked his privacy while committing the unthinkable.
He came back to Sadie and pulled her to her feet. “Now missy,” he drawled, his breath reeking of whisky, “let’s you and me have ourselves a time together.” He picked her up and carried her behind the barrels and threw her down. He fell to his knees and straddled her hips to hold her in place, then pulled out his knife. He got right in her face and pierced her with such an intense look of lust it made her go cold. Her whole body went numb with fear as he roughly tried to kiss her through the gag then twisted around to cut the bonds on her ankles. He slowly turned back, grinned, then grabbed her bound wrists and held them above her head. He stuck the knife in the ground next to her, undid his belt with one hand, pulled it off and threw it to the side. He grunted in frustration as he fumbled with her clothing in an attempt to rip the upper part of her dress open. He cursed when it didn’t yield and again took the knife. He held it to her throat. “This is all going to have to come off, missy.” He poked through the collar of her dress with the knife, smiled, and began to slice the dress away.
Sadie closed her eyes tightly shut to brace herself. She was going to die. She’d rather fight him and have him slit her throat than endure what was about to happen.
Click.
Sadie and Sam both froze at the sound. Her eyes sprang open.
“Take your filthy hands off her before I paint the walls with your brains, you cur.”
Harrison stood behind Sam, a gun to his head. His face was locked in murderous rage and for the briefest of moments Sadie felt sorry for the outlaw.
Sam dropped the knife and put his hands in the air. Harrison snatched it up and threw it into the darkness. He roughly pulled Sam off her and pinned him against the wall, the gun in his face. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot you right now,” he hissed.
Sadie lay frozen in place. She’d never seen a man so fiercely angry.
“What’s the matter Harrison?” Sam had the nerve to drawl. “Afraid I’d ruin her before you got the chance?”
Sadie automatically closed her eyes. She heard the sickening crunch of Harrison’s fist connecting with Sam’s nose and cringed as his body slumped unconscious to the ground next to her. Harrison quickly holstered his gun and bent down. “Dog.” he spat and shoved Sam up against the rock wall away from her. He then carefully picked her up. His gentleness surprised Sadie as he easily carried her to the middle of the cave and set her on her feet.
Harrison wrapped her in his arms a moment and held her. He mumbled something into her hair but she wasn’t sure what it was. He then removed the bandana and pulled the handkerchief from her mouth. Sadie’s knees went week as the sudden realization she’d be dead if not for Harrison hit her full force.
He quickly scooped her up and held her to him. “There now princess.” he whispered into her hair. “You’re safe now. They can’t hurt you anymore. I’m here.” He kissed her forehead. His lips were soft and warm against her skin. She couldn’t think, couldn’t speak. All she could do was stare at him wide eyed as her body began to shake uncontrollably.
“Put your arms around me, honey,” he gently ordered.
She complied, and put her bound wrists over his head and around his neck. He stood with her in his arms and looked into her eyes. In the dim light from the lantern she could see their brown depths were alight with emotion. Relief, anger, fear, and love. Mostly love. He knew he’d almost lost her to an unspeakable fate. “I’ll never let you out of my sight. Not so long as I live. You’re to be my wife, do you hear? And I swear, so long as I’m able, I’ll never let any harm come to you ever again.”
He kissed her then, softly, gently. But within moments it was no longer a kiss of comfort, of his promise to protect. But of possession. She was his and his alone. No arguments. No complaints. That kiss told her she was going to have to accept it. She now belonged to him.
And Sadie reveled in the knowledge that with a single kiss he had claimed her so utterly and completely. Such a powerful thing, a kiss. One could mean death at the hands of a lust crazed stranger. The other life in the arms of a man whose heart she knew belonged to her and always would.
Harrison finally broke the kiss and held her tightly to him. “I love you Sadie Jones. I loved you the first moment I saw you.” He looked into her eyes and captured her. “I’ve nothing to offer. I’ve no lands, no title, and no money. Nothing but a few scant acres that aren’t even mine and a dozen or so pigs. But you’ll have my heart as long as I live and even beyond into the hereafter. I’ll love you with all my strength and being.” He tightened his hold and bent his face to hers. “Marry me.”
Her lips trembled and she still couldn’t speak. A tear escaped, then another and another. Finally she did the only thing she could think of and pulled his face down the rest of the way and spoke her answer with a kiss. How long they stood there in that kiss she didn’t know. All Sadie did know was that if she could, she would never let it stop. It would go on until they became utterly lost in it.
And they did. At least until the Sheriff came upon them. “Ahem...”
Harrison ever so slowly lifted his face from hers. “I love you, my princess,” he whispered and kissed her forehead again. “My brave and beautiful prairie princess. And now I’m going to make you my Queen.” He gripped her tighter and followed the Sheriff outside.
* * *
Sadie sat up in bed and let Doc examine her. The ride back to town had been slow. Harrison had carried her out of the cave to find Jack on his knees, hands over his head and several guns pointed at him. Both he and Sam were handcuffed and forced to walk all the way back to town. Their cuffed hands tethered with a length of rope to the saddle horns of their horses. The animals led by two men from the posse.
Sadie rode with Harrison and sat as
tride his huge black horse, her dress wrapped about her legs, her body leaned against Harrison’s broad chest. She slept part of the way, once they reached the prairie, and awoke with a slight start as she suddenly realized something. “How did you find me?” They were the first words she’d spoken since Harrison found her in the mining cave.
He sat up straighter and wrapped his other arm around her. “I followed your trail, love.”
“My trail? You are an excellent tracker then.”
“Not really, the trail you left was quite good once we found it, it led us right to you. Very clever, princess.”
“Clever?”
“Using the mail, like that.”
“Themail?”
Harrison stiffened slightly behind her. “You did use the mail to allow us to find you?”
“I wanted to, but I never got the chance!”
“Well, there was a trail of it all the same. In fact, if it hadn’t been there, we may not have found you for hours.”
Then she remembered. When Sam threatened to kill her and his knife caught on something as he pulled it from his boot. It must have been the mailbag and he’d accidentally torn it. The mail was falling out through the tearone letter at a time and they hadn’t even realized what was happening. The good Lordhad been watching over her! She sent up prayers of silent thanks for the remainder of the journey back to town.
“Nothing broken, just a few bumps and bruises.” Doc announced.
Harrison stood at the end of the bed. “Thank the Lord for that!”
“You go on down to the kitchen, let her rest. Grandma’s got something on the stove.” Doc ordered as he tried to wave Harrison toward the door.
Suddenly there was a commotion downstairs.
“Here now!” They heard Grandma exclaim. “You can’t just barge in here! Who do you think you are?”
Someone came stomping up the stairs. Sadie’s eyes grew wide. Only one person she knew would storm into a house and take over.
Horatio Jones burst into the bedroom in a huff. “Sadie! There you are! What’s going on? Why are you in bed? Get your things together at once!”
Doc stood in openmouthed shock at the display. Harrison, on the other hand, stood with his eyes narrowed to two dark slits. Sadie looked from her father, to Harrison, then to Doc. She swallowed hard. “Hello papa.”
“Don’t you hello papa me, young lady! You’ve got a lot of explaining to do!”
“And she’ll have plenty of opportunity to explain everything, Mr. Jones. After she’s rested.”
Harrison stood his ground. Sadie could see it in the way he had his shoulders squared, his jaw set.
Her father also noted the stance. “Who are you?”
“Her betrothed.”
“Her,what?”
“Her betrothed.” Harrison repeated and glanced quickly in her direction. She’d not spoken an answer to him. Only a kiss. But it had been answer enough. “Sadie has been through a horrible ordeal and needs time to recover properly. I would appreciate your cooperation and continue this discussion down stairs.”
Her father looked Harrison up and down a brief moment. “Where in blazes are you from? No one around here talks like that! Oh gad! “Don’t tell me you’re one of those fancy fellas! No daughter of mine is gonna tie the knot with some dandy!”
He looked to Sadie, his eyes suddenly wide with horror. “You don’thave to be marrying him do you?”
Sadie laughed. “No papa! But Iwant to marry him!”
Horatio Jones looked Harrison over a second time. “Whoare you?”
“Harrison Nathaniel Cooke, at your service.” He told him and bowed.
“Oh gads! Youare a dandy! You may not be wearing fancy clothes, but you’re a dandy just the same!” He quickly turned on Sadie. “The only fancy dude around for hundreds of miles and you find em! I bet he can’t even shoot!”
“Oh he can shoot all right!” Doc suddenly piped up. “Harrison and his two brothers are some of the best shots in this part of the territory!”
“Gads! There are more of them?”
Sadie laughed despite her exhaustion. Her father looked at her, completely aghast. “Papa. I love him, and I’m going to marry him, and if it hadn’t been for Harrison, I’d be dead now.”
That got his attention. His face drained of color. He walked around the bed and sank onto it. “Sadie, girl. What are you saying?”
“She is saying that she’s going to marry the man who rescued her.” A voice spoke.
All heads turned. Sadie’s mother stood in the doorway. She entered the room slowly, never taking her eyes off of Sadie’s father.
“And who the devil are you?” Horatio demanded.
“That’s mama.” Sadie said.
Horatio’s eyes got even wider. He looked Teresa up and down, gulped, and then quickly looked away. “I think I need a drink.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. The saloon burned down last night.” Harrison calmly informed him.
Horatio spun to him. “What? What kind of a town is this?”
“A town where I could spend the rest of my life with the man I love.” Sadie spoke softly.
Teresa smiled, tears in her eyes. Harrison reached her in a few quick strides and put his arm around her. “I was going to ask you for your blessing Ms. Mitchell.”
Teresa nodded, unable to speak.
“This is a mad house! Sadie, we’re leaving! Get your things!”
Teresa suddenly straightened. “She’s not going anywhere, Horatio Jones! She’s been kidnapped, nearly killed and threatened with the worst things a gal can be threatened with! You leave her alone!”
Horatio turned white. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “I know I almost lost you. When we couldn’t find you...” The man choked on his last words. “I was out of my mind, Sadie. Out of my mind!”
Sadie leaned toward him. “I’m fine now, papa. Harrison saw to that. I love him. And look,” she pointed to Teresa. “I found mama. She was dying papa, and the Lord made her well again.”
Horatio took in the sight of Teresa held against Harrison. His face softened. “I suppose I owe you an apology young man. You saved my daughter’s life.”
“Apologies accepted.” Harrison calmly said. “Now we best go downstairs. I’d like to speak with you, Mr. Jones.”
Epilogue
Four months later...
“Yee haw! Here they come!” Henry Fig yelled as he galloped through town. A thunderous roar could be heard. Everyone ran out into the street to watch.
“No, no! Get off the street! You people want to get killed?” The Sheriff yelled. The townsfolk quickly got off the street and out of the way. The ground shook.
Within moments hundreds of cattle came into view. The men of the Big J drove them. A thousand head of some of the finest beasts anyone in Clear Creek had ever seen. Just a little wedding present from Horatio Jones to Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Cooke whose ranch was located south of town. Once a pig farm, now a cattle ranch.
Sadie and Harrison watched their new stock as it was driven through town. Or at least a few hundred. The rest had been taken by another route. These Harrison was having put into a corral at the other end of town. Harrison wanted to give some to the Sheriff and his men for helping him rescue Sadie and bring his stepbrothers to justice. He also planned on selling each person in town a steer at less than half the market price to help them out and set them up for the following winter.
“Do you think you’ll like cattle ranching?” Sadie yelled over the sound of hundreds of hooves trotting along the street below them. They were in the upper story of Mulligan’s new saloon.
“I’ll enjoy it, I’m sure. Your father is a very generous man!” Though to Harrison, generous was an understatement. Horatio Jones was practically a Saint. He’d finally consented to letting Sadie marry him and insisted on helping the young couple start out properly. Harrison thought that meant a bit of livestock and perhaps help him spruce up his family’s farm. But Horatio Jones ha
d other ideas. He built them a new ranch house and barn and put up a little cabin for Harrison’s stepfather. Now this. A thousand head of cattle. It was unheard of but here they were.
“Always did prefer a good steak to ham.” Colin Cooke said as he joined them.
“I still like ham.” Duncan, the eldest Cooke added.
Harrison put his arms about his two older brothers. “Looks like we’re in the cattle business now, chaps.”
“Anything’s better than rotting in jail, Harrison. Give me a branding iron, I’ll do my part!” Colin said. “You’re the best brother. Mother would be proud.”
“You can thank Sadie’s father for speaking with the warden himself. Not to mention writing the president.”
“Your father in-law is a very influential man. We can’t thank him enough for all he’s done on our behalf.” Duncan said. “Clear Creek will never be the same because of him. I have a feeling this little town is going to start growing now.”
“Indeed it will,” Colin added. “Will your mother be coming to visit soon?”
Sadie smiled. “She and my father will be getting married next month. I asked them to have the wedding here, in the new church.”
“But we don’t have a clergyman yet.” Duncan said.
“We have one coming from Denver. He’s decided to come out west and is the son of a friend of my fathers. He’ll be here in time for the wedding.”
“Gentlemen, our little town is indeed growing.” Harrison said with a smile.
They continued to watch until the last steer trotted past on the street below. Harrison removed his arms from his brothers, went to his wife and kissed her. “Well, princess, let’s go have a look at our wedding present.”
They left. Duncan and Colin continued to watch as the dust settled and the townsfolk followed the cattle to the corral. “I suppose we should go have a look and help out.” Duncan suggested.
“I suppose you’re right,” added Colin.
Duncan turned and headed downstairs. Colin reached up and was about to close the window when the stage came rolling in. It pulled up in front of the mercantile. Colin watched as Wilfred and Irene Dunnigan came rushing out. Mrs. Dunnigan looked exceedingly happy and Colin stopped, the window halfway down, to see what all the excitement was about.