Montana Sky: The Purchased Bride (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Jones's of Morgan's Crossing Book 2)

by Kit Morgan

  She gulped air and fanned herself as she stepped out onto the porch of the mercantile. Leaning against a post, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths until she felt more stable. Yes, apparently she’d just needed a minute to compose herself. Now time to do some shopping!

  She opened her eyes … and froze.

  “That’s it, Lillie girl – not a word, not a sound.” Herman Mayer poked the pistol he was holding into her ribs. “Yer comin’ with me.”

  Thirteen

  Lillie shook her head even as her father grabbed her arm and jumped off the boardwalk with her. She stumbled and almost fell, but he held her fast and quickly pulled her between the mercantile and the town’s meeting house next door. “What are you doing?” she asked, her heart in her throat.

  Instead of answering, he clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her behind the meeting house to a wagon. She recognized it as his own, loaded with what few belongings he had. He looked around warily, pulled a filthy handkerchief from his pocket and stuffed it in her mouth. Quick as a flash, he lashed her hands behind her back, tossed her in the back of the wagon and covered her with a canvas.

  Good Lord, had he gone mad? Lillie panicked and tried to scream, but the handkerchief did its work and muffled the sound. She began to kick at the canvas covering her, only to have something heavy thrown on top of her feet and ankles – a sack of flour, perhaps? She didn’t know at the moment and didn’t care – she had to get free before her father took off.

  Unfortunately he tossed another heavy sack on top of her thighs, then one on her chest, knocking the wind out of her. Then, to her utter horror, the wagon lurched forward. He was leaving! She screamed again, but who would hear her – she could scarcely hear herself!

  The wagon sped up – her father was obviously in a hurry to leave town. But why would he resort to kidnapping her? Hadn’t he wanted to get rid of her? What did he want with her now? It didn’t make sense. She tried to cry out again, but the heavy sacks made breathing difficult. She tried to twist out from under them but they weighed too much. Tears filled her eyes at her own helplessness.

  After another ten minutes of being crushed by the heavy load on top of her and careening down the road so fast it felt like horses were out of control, the wagon came to a stop. Lillie could tell by the way the wagon moved that her father was climbing over the seat and into the back with her. Sure enough, the heavy sack atop her chest was removed. Pa threw back the canvas and sneered at her. At least it looked like a sneer – the sun was right behind him. Lillie squinted, trying to get a better look.

  “Thought ya’d get away from me, huh?” he slurred.

  Lillie tried to speak, but couldn’t because of the hanky. He reached down and yanked it out of her mouth. She gasped for breath … then let him have it, something she’d never dared do before. “What do you think you’re doing? You have no right to take me like this!”

  “I got every right. I’m your pa!”

  “Not anymore, you’re not!”

  He straightened. “Whatcha say?”

  Lillie’s anger surged, giving her new-found confidence an extra boost. “No father would ever treat his daughter the way you’ve treated me!”

  His face contorted with rage. “Ya just be glad I need that pretty face of yers or I’d wallop ya!”

  “You’ve done enough of that, haven’t you?”

  He raised his hand to strike her anyway, but stopped. “Aw, ya ain’t worth it. But I wantcha lookin’ pretty for the next fella stupid ‘nough to think ya are.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He laughed. “That fella back in Morgan’s Crossin’ done paid me fifty bucks for ya. I figgered if’n he was willin’ to pay that much, someone else might too. When I saw ya standin’ in front of the mercantile, I knew I’d hit paydirt!”

  She stared at him, horrified. “What? What fifty bucks?”

  He laughed again. “Yeah, that’s all yer worth to that man! Guess brides don’t cost as much as I thought. Maybe I oughta raise the price.”

  “Price?” Lillie said in shock. He really had gone mad – unless he was saying what she thought he was. “Are you telling me that Jess paid fifty dollars to marry me?”

  He smiled viciously. “Sure am, ya li’l brat. He purchased yer sorry hide from me, ‘n so will another fella, ‘n another ‘n another if I get my way.”

  She struggled against the loads still covering her and tried to sit up. “You’re a monster! Let me go!”

  “Aw no, I ain’t lettin’ ya go. Yer gonna make me rich.” He shoved her back, stuffed the gag back in her mouth and was about to toss the canvas over her again when the wagon rocked, as if someone had just jumped onto it.

  And someone had. Lillie’s eyes went round as platters as Jess spun her father around and punched him in the jaw so hard he fell in a heap beside her. She looked at her father’s prone form without a drop of pity, then at her rescuer.

  “Lillie!” Jess pulled the heavy sacks off her legs and feet. “Lillie, did he hurt you?”

  “Mm-mph …”

  Jess pulled the gag from her mouth and helped her sit up. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded and took a few deep breaths. “Yes, I think so.” As he pulled her to her feet and untied her, she noticed the horse standing about a dozen yards behind the wagon. “Whose horse is that?”

  “Mr. Morgan’s. I noticed you were gone and went outside to look for you just as he rode up to the mercantile. When I asked if he’d seen you, he said no, but that he saw your father heading out of town in a hurry. That’s all I needed to hear. He was kind enough to let me borrow his horse to catch up and find out if he was up to no good. If it hadn’t been for Mr. Morgan, your father might have gotten away with … hey, wait a minute. What was he doing with you?”

  She frowned as her father’s words rushed back. “You purchased me for fifty dollars?”

  Jess stared at her, his mouth half-open. “I … well … yes, in a manner of speaking. I needed his written consent to marry you. He made me pay him fifty dollars to get it.”

  “He sold me …” Now Lillie scowled at Jess. “You bought me?!”

  “I paid him to go away!” Jess retorted, louder than he’d intended. “He was trying to make a profit no decent man would think of doing. I paid to get you as far away as I could. And if I had to pay fifty thousand dollars to keep you safe from him, I’d do it!”

  Lillie’s eyes filled with tears as she absorbed his words. She glanced at the unconscious form of her father, then turned back to Jess. “You would?”

  “If I had it, I would. If I didn’t, I’d give everything I did have. I love you, Lillie, don’t you see?” He pulled her into his arms. “You belong with me, sweetie. No matter what happens.” He kissed her then, to comfort her, to underline what he’d just said.

  Lillie melted against him, letting him hold her up. After the harrowing abduction, she needed this – every second, every touch. Every echo of his words in her mind: I love you …

  Jess broke the kiss and looked past her. Lillie turned her head see Anson and Zadie approaching in a wagon with another man – Mr. Morgan, presumably. They arrived in a cloud of dust, and the men jumped down to aid Jess if need be. Of course, one look at her incapacitated father told them Jess had already taken care of things.

  “What happened?” Anson asked. He looked at Lillie. “Are you all right?”

  “I am now,” she said dreamily, and Zadie giggled.

  “This low-down snake tried to spirit her off, from what I can tell,” Jess added.

  “Is that what happened, Lillie?” the other man asked.

  She nodded. “My pa … he wanted to sell me … again.”

  “Again?” The man looked confused.

  Jess sighed. “He made me pay him fifty dollars to get his written consent so I could marry his daughter.”

  The man gasped. “What? What kind of a man does that?”

  “It’s true,” Lillie replied. “The thing of it is,
sir, I’m already eighteen. No consent was needed.”

  “Well, land sakes!” The man scratched his head. “I’m glad I fired him.”

  “You did?” Jess asked.

  “Just the other day,” the man – obviously Mr. Morgan now – replied. “He kept coming to work drunk.”

  “He said he saw me outside the mercantile on his way out of town,” Lillie said, slowly getting her strength back. “That’s when he got the idea he could try to sell me again to someone else.”

  “You’re joking,” Anson said. “No – I know you’re not joking. What a blackguard.” He looked at Herman Mayer as if he was thinking about punching the man himself.

  Jess helped Lillie out of the wagon. Zadie had climbed down by this time and was at her side in an instant. She took Lillie into her arms and hugged her. When she drew away to face her, she said, “You poor thing! The sooner we get the two of you married the better!”

  Jess put an arm around Lillie too. “Amen to that!”

  Mr. Morgan smiled. “My wife mentioned something about a wedding when I stopped by the house. Best we see to it, then.”

  Jess smiled at him. “Oh, and thank you, sir, for lending me your horse. He’s mighty fast and got the job done. I don’t know how I’d have caught up to them otherwise.”

  “Don’t mention it. And he’s fast because of his sire – Julius Caesar is one fine piece of horseflesh.”

  “That he is,” Jess and Anson agreed in unison.

  “Will you two stop talking about horses?” Zadie demanded. “We have more important matters to take care of!”

  Just then, Lillie’s father started to groan, and the men looked in his direction.

  “Yes, putting him behind bars – that too , ” Zadie continued. “But I meant Jess and Lillie’s wedding!”

  Lillie broke into a smile.

  Jess pulled her away from Zadie and kissed her hair “What do you say, sweetie? Are you ready to get married?”

  She gazed into his eyes. “I think I was ready the day you found me in your barn.”

  Jess’s eyes misted. “I know I was.”

  “That settles it!” Zadie said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s see about having a wedding!”

  * * *

  Sweetwater Springs was a quaint little town, and exactly as far from Morgan’s Crossing as Lillie had been told. But the two-day journey gave her time to reflect on all that had happened over the last several weeks. She thanked the Lord for steering her into the Jones’ barn that fateful day. If she hadn’t, who knows what would’ve become of her? She could well have become coyote fodder. Instead, she was becoming Mrs. Jess Jones.

  “And do you, Lillie Mayer, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Rev. Norton asked.

  “I do,” she said, her mind a blur. She was really getting married, her dream of a happy home and family really coming true. Zadie and the other women in town had sewn her a wedding dress in a very short amount of time. Not a week had gone by since her father had abducted her … and here she was, standing in front of a kindly old preacher getting married to her rescuer and benefactor.

  “… by the power vested in me by Almighty God and the state of Montana, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may ki–” She missed the rest, as Jess took her face in his hands, turned it toward him and gave her a kiss that she thought might melt her like a candle!

  “Congratulations!” Mrs. Norton, the preacher’s wife, said after Jess let Lillie up for air. She pulled the new bride into a hug, then just as quickly released her. “I’m sure the two of you will be very happy!”

  Lillie, her eyes full of tears, nodded at the snowy-haired woman. “Yes, we will.” Someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned, and Zadie, her own tears streaming down her face, hugged her as well. She gently pulled back and said, “I’m so happy for you and Jess! I can’t wait until the two of you build a house right next to ours!”

  Lillie laughed. “As nice as that would be, I think the cabin will be enough for now.”

  “As soon as I order us a decent bed,” Jess added. “Something I plan to do within the hour!” Everyone laughed.

  “A cot suited us fine,” Anson said.

  “No, it most certainly didn’t!” Zadie interjected, and the laughter got louder.

  Lillie put her arms around her new husband and gazed up at him. “I don’t mind the wait. What we have now will be … cozy.”

  Jess laughed as he looked in her eyes. “Not the word I’d use, but yes.” He brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “I can think of a few other words too.” He began to chuckle as she blushed, then leaned his forehead against hers – on the trip, she’d taught him that trick. When their foreheads connected, she could hear him. Surely there was a name for such a phenomenon. “I sure am glad I found you in our barn that day.”

  “I’m … almost glad you paid my father fifty dollars for me. Almost.”

  “I’d have done whatever I had to in order to be with you. And to get you away from him. Even stolen you, if it came to it.”

  “I think I’d like that.”

  He pulled away to look at her. “Think?” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

  “All right, I know I would.”

  Jess grinned at Anson, then turned back to his new bride. “Very well, then. Steal you I shall.” He bent down, got his shoulder into her belly and straightened, with her giggling form slung over it. Mrs. Norton gasped as he saluted his cousin and headed down the aisle.

  “Young man!” Rev. Norton called after them indignantly. “This is a church!”

  Jess turned to face him, Lillie now laughing out loud. “Kind reverend, there are cultures whose wedding ceremonies conclude with just such an act. I am simply displaying my affection for my bride, if you don’t mind.”

  “I do mind!”

  Anson shook his head and put an arm around the older man. “Reverend, let him do it. Besides, she doesn’t seem to be objecting.”

  “Well, yes,” the preacher grumbled. He shrugged and walked to the door of the church, his wife, Anson and Zadie following. They were the only ones in attendance; due to the distance from Morgan’s Crossing, no one else had been able to attend. Including Herman Mayer, who was even farther away than most – being held at the state prison in Deer Lodge for a long list of crimes stretching back to the Civil War.

  By the time they reached the newly married couple on the church steps, Lillie was not only back on her feet, but sharing a long, leisurely kiss with Jess. Rev. Norton shook his head. “Young people.”

  His wife smiled. “We were young once, dear. And I think we turned out all right.”

  The End

  A note from the author: In case you were wondering, Lillie suffers from conductive hearing loss. It happens when the damaged outer or middle ear (which can become damaged from injuries such as Lillie suffered at the hands of her father when she was young) is bypassed and sound reception is placed directly onto the skull and to the inner ear. This is why when Jess and Lillie’s foreheads connected she could hear him to a certain extent. In our modern times, we have bone conduction hearing systems and devicesfor people with this type of hearing loss that augment the phenomenon Jess and Lillie experienced with each other.

  About the Author

  Kit Morgan, aka Geralyn Beauchamp, loves a good Western. Her father loved them as well and they watched their fair share together over the years. To sign up for Kit’s newsletter and find out about upcoming books and other fun stuff, visit www.authorkitmorgan.com. To check out Kit’s complete collection of stories and to find out more about Anson’s hometown of Clear Creek (Kit’s Prairie Brides and Prairie Grooms Series) click here. Also be watching for more tales of Mrs. Pettigrew’s Bridal Agency in Kit’s new series Mail-Order Bride Ink. Check out the first book in the series, Dear Mr. Weaver, available now.

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