The Rancher's Temporary Engagement

by Stacy Henrie

  Mrs. Harvey spoke up. “Quite a while, sir. We’re awfully worried.”

  “I don’t know where Maggy and Vienna are, and that’s the truth,” Mrs. Druitt said as the three of them looked at her. Edward didn’t think she was lying—but she wasn’t telling the whole truth, either. She hadn’t responded to the mention that the women were missing, as if she knew it already.

  The sheriff leaned forward, bringing his face closer to hers. “Do you know the penalty for horse rustling, Mrs. Druitt?”

  “Yes.” She swallowed hard, then appeared to make a decision. “I don’t know where Nevil went, but I do know it was to meet Chance Howe.”

  Edward smacked his hand against the wall as fresh apprehension and anger coursed through him. “Why was he meeting with Howe?”

  “He said Chance has become a loose cannon.” She seemed to realize what she’d admitted because she began to wring her gloved hands. “He hoped to talk some sense into the boy...and pay him the ransom.”

  The sheriff reared back and exchanged an alarmed look with Edward. “A ransom for whom?”

  “Chance has just been so upset since Vienna left him,” Mrs. Druitt said, ignoring the direct question. Tears rolled down her round cheeks. “He’s not thinking clearly. I didn’t know he would take Miss Worthwright, too. Truly, I didn’t. I just want this whole thing over.”

  Sheriff Tweed scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “Why would Howe demand Mr. Druitt pay a ransom for the return of his wife?”

  “I don’t believe he intends to return Vienna.” Mrs. Druitt pressed her lips together as if she didn’t plan to say more.

  “What was the ransom for then?” The sheriff’s hard tone didn’t allow for argument or silence.

  “For us—Nevil and myself. He threatened to...to...turn us in otherwise.” She hid her face behind her hands as she noisily wept.

  It was the closest thing to a confession they’d gotten, but it would have to suffice for now. Edward was desperate to find Maggy and Vienna before more time passed.

  He doubted the sincerity of the older woman’s apparent grief, and yet, they needed her help if they were to locate the girls. “Mrs. Druitt?” He crouched beside her. “Can you recall the place where your husband was to meet Howe?”

  “No,” she half wailed. “He wouldn’t say. Only that it was a hiding spot very few people knew about.”

  Edward rose to his feet and began pacing the narrow space beside the door. “You can’t recall any other details?”

  When she didn’t answer, Mrs. Harvey voiced a question. “Have you or your husband been to this spot before?”

  Edward stopped walking and glanced from her to Mrs. Druitt. “I haven’t been there,” the woman answered. “But Nevil has. More than once, I think. All I know is that it’s south of our ranch, near your place, Mr. Kent.”

  “That’s it.” He faced the sheriff, feeling the first seeds of hope. “I know where they are.”

  Sheriff Tweed looked doubtful. “You sure?”

  “I believe so.”

  His answer seemed to satisfy the sheriff. The man propelled Mrs. Druitt to her feet. “You’ll need to wait at the jail until we find your husband and Mr. Howe.” He didn’t let her bluster deter him one bit; he simply talked over her. “Once I get her to the jail, we can ride to this spot of yours, Kent.”

  “I can’t wait.” Edward opened the door and stepped into the hallway, Mrs. Harvey behind him.

  The sheriff led Mrs. Druitt out of the room right on their heels. “How come?” he asked Edward. “You don’t know what you’re riding into.”

  “No, I don’t,” Edward said with a glance at his housekeeper. He hadn’t confessed his feelings for Maggy out loud to anyone yet. In for a penny, in for a pound. “But I know who I’m riding toward and that’s my fiancée. The woman I love.”

  Mrs. Harvey shot him a smile, though it looked far more knowing than surprised. Had she suspected for some time what he’d only realized?

  In contrast, Sheriff Tweed frowned. “I don’t like it. But I can’t force you to wait, unless I arrest you.” Edward felt a moment of panic as the man seemed to consider doing just that.

  “I don’t want to wait, sir.”

  “Which I can understand, son, having been married twenty-five years to the woman I adore.” He matched Edward’s level gaze with one of his own, though his held understanding as well as firmness. “Still, there’s an advantage to having more men riding together. If you wait, I’ll round up one of my deputies to ride with us and you can bring along someone else of your choosing. And that, Mr. Kent, is the surest way to help your lady love.”

  Edward itched to go now. But he recognized the wisdom in the sheriff’s plan.

  “McCall can go with you,” Mrs. Harvey said. “That’ll give you four to their two.”

  Blowing out a breath, he nodded. “All right. I’ll get my ranch foreman and we’ll meet you at the jail.” He hurried back to the ball with Mrs. Harvey.

  The ordeal of the last hour or so had made one thing abundantly clear to him—he didn’t want to live without Maggy in his life. Even if he didn’t stand a chance of convincing her to stay, he had to at least try—after he helped rescue her and Vienna.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Maggy startled awake at the sound of a horse approaching. Had Edward found her? She straightened against the post, her backside numb from sitting on the hard ground for what felt like hours. Bitter disappointment coated her gagged mouth when the rider entered the circle of light created by the fire. It wasn’t Edward; it was Mr. Druitt.

  She turned to look questioningly at Vienna a few yards away, but the girl shook her head in response. Vienna hadn’t expected her uncle’s arrival any more than Maggy had. They knew the two men were colluding—but why meet here and now? Had Mr. Druitt known about this planned kidnapping?

  “Did you bring the money?” Howe asked as Druitt dismounted.

  The older man nodded. His expression looked grim and a bit peaked. He wheezed as he approached the fire, a valise in hand. Maggy remembered what Vienna had said about her uncle being sick. A tiny flicker of empathy sparked inside her. She certainly didn’t agree with his choices, but she could understand how his illness had made him desperate to have the one thing people wanted most before dying—to be surrounded by those they loved.

  “Is it all there?” Druitt blocked her view of Howe’s face, but she could hear the skepticism in his tone.

  Druitt dropped the bag. “It’s there. Did you really mean to rat us out, after all we promised you?”

  “You were taking too long, old man. Besides, none of those threats of yours were working. It was time to try something else.”

  Stalking to the fence, Druitt wheezed again, making Maggy wonder if exertion or agitation made his condition worse. “So you resort to tampering with that buggy, setting things on fire and kidnapping your own wife as a way to scare Kent?”

  “They weren’t meant to just scare him—they were supposed to get his fiancée out of the way, too.” His vehement tone sent a shudder through Maggy. She might have been right about him, but she hardly felt victorious as she sat here bound and gagged by his hand. “I did it to send her and Kent fleeing for the hills so she’d leave Vienna alone.”

  Druitt whirled on him. “But she didn’t flee, did she?”

  “How was I to know she wouldn’t keep driving that buggy?” Howe argued as the older man marched back to the fire and sank to the ground. “Or stop sleeping in the man’s guest house?”

  A chill swept through her at his words. Once again she’d been correct about his motive—he’d meant to harm her—but she felt no pride in her skills this time. Druitt wasn’t likely to hurt her; Howe still might. And what about Vienna?

  Please help me, Lord.

  She wrestled against the ropes around her arms and hands, but they held fast. Glancing arou
nd, Maggy realized that she was covered entirely in shadow. The light from the fire illuminated the two men, Druitt’s horse, and part of the fence, but it didn’t reach where she and Vienna sat. Which meant if she could come in at Howe’s back... She didn’t have a clear plan; she only had a growing determination to move, to act. Edward would trust her instincts, and she needed to do the same.

  Thoughts of Edward increased her desire for action, but they also tugged painfully at her heart. If she ever saw him again, she would tell him how she felt. She’d tell him what was most important to her—and it wasn’t the promotion, as fulfilling as that would be. The people in her life were most important to her. Like Mr. Druitt, she longed to remain in the company of those she loved. Starting with the man she loved.

  She lowered herself onto her stomach, grateful Howe hadn’t tied her feet together, and crawled beneath the lowest rung of the fence. The train of her dress dragged behind her, but it couldn’t be helped. She scuttled forward, keeping her gaze locked on the two men talking by the fire. Druitt was attempting to placate Howe with more promises of what the young man could have if Kent gave up his ranch. Whether the man meant what he was saying or was merely trying to confuse Howe, Maggy couldn’t say. She was grateful, though, that the conversation kept them focused on each other rather than on her and Vienna—and that she was getting the full confession she’d feared she had thwarted.

  As she drew closer to the fire’s circle of light, she slowed. She’d have to inch around it to avoid being seen, which meant more time would pass in which she could be spotted. And if she were caught, she wasn’t sure Druitt would be able to convince Howe not to dispose of her.

  Weeds scratched at the exposed skin of her arms between the loops of rope, and her heart beat hard and fast. She continued forward, though, circumventing the beam of light. Howe’s face was visible now—he looked annoyed and impatient. Maggy picked up the pace of her laborious crawling as best she could. When she reached the fence on the far side of the men, she allowed herself a few moments to catch her breath. Then she kept going, making sure to stay in the shadows behind Howe.

  She would need to find something to knock out the man or at least render him unmovable. Hopefully long enough that Druitt could get Howe’s gun, giving all of them the advantage.

  Angling herself toward Howe’s back, she searched the ground for something to heft. She couldn’t see much in the dark. There were no rocks and she couldn’t tear something from the rickety fence with her bound hands. Besides, that would make too much noise. There was the darkened lantern, though...

  She inched forward, painfully aware of the way her dress rustled with each movement. Timing would be everything if she hoped to be successful with using the lantern.

  When she reached it, she stopped and carefully moved from her stomach to her knees. One look at the men revealed they were still engrossed in conversation, but that might end at any second. It was now or never if she hoped for the element of surprise.

  Maggy bunched the yards of fabric from her dress around her knees, then locked her fingers around the lantern’s handle. It creaked when she lifted it toward her lap. She froze, along with the men. Her pulse pounded loudly in her ears.

  “Did you hear something?” Howe asked, glancing to his left where he’d parked the wagon.

  “Probably just the horses,” Druitt said.

  Forcing steady breaths to slow her heartbeat, Maggy scooted forward. She winced at the pebbles that embedded themselves into her knees. She was close enough to Howe that she could easily reach out and touch his coat. Thankfully his broad back and shoulders still provided cover for her. She repositioned her hold on the lantern handle.

  As she braced herself in preparation to stand, she heard the unmistakable sound of oncoming horses. The men did, too. Both of them swiveled toward the noise. If she didn’t act now, she’d lose her opportunity, especially if the riders were friends of Howe’s instead of a rescue party.

  “Those aren’t our—”

  Maggy sprang to her feet and swung the lantern at the back of Howe’s head. The man’s sentence ended in a grunt as he pitched sideways into the dirt, along with the broken pieces of the lantern. Druitt cried out and lumbered to his feet at the same moment a firm voice hollered, “Hands in the air. You’re under arrest.”

  The old man threw his arms up, though he continued to gape at Maggy as if he’d seen a ghost. She dropped the broken lantern as four riders breached the tree line. She recognized the sheriff and guessed the man on his left was a deputy. Her gaze shifted to the rider on the sheriff’s right. It was Edward. Her bravery gave out at the sight of him and she sank to the ground.

  Within seconds he was kneeling before her. “Maggy! Are you all right?”

  She couldn’t do more than nod with the gag still in her mouth.

  Fumbling with the knot at the back of her head, Edward untied the cloth and tossed it aside. Maggy pulled in a deliciously full breath through her mouth as he crushed her to his chest. “Did he hurt you?”

  “No,” she managed past her dry throat. “But he knew I would go after Vienna. He forced her to lure me outside and was waiting for me there.” The tears she’d been too afraid and then too determined to allow came cascading down her likely dirty cheeks. “I should’ve had you come with me, Edward. I’m so sorry.”

  He eased back to hold her face between his hands, his thumbs brushing at her tears. Maggy shut her eyes at the wonderful feel of his strong fingers. “You didn’t know, my dear. None of us knew what Howe was planning.”

  “He demanded a ransom,” she said, opening her eyes and glancing at Druitt. The sheriff was leading the older man, his head dipped low, toward his horse.

  “I know. Mrs. Druitt confessed that much.”

  She felt a rush of relief. “You still had the meeting?”

  “We had a meeting of sorts.” He gave a rueful chuckle. “Mrs. Druitt did let enough details slip out that she’s currently waiting at the jail.”

  Maggy lifted her bound hands as high as she could. “Can you untie me? My arms ache from being tied up and smashing Howe with that lantern.”

  “You rendered him unconscious?” Edward asked, his tone full of awe as he turned to look at the prone Howe. “Even tied up as you are?”

  She nodded. “I also ruined my lovely ball gown by dragging myself through the corral so I could come in at his—”

  Edward’s kiss stole the rest of her explanation, along with her breath. But Maggy didn’t mind. Kissing him felt marvelous and right. This time wasn’t about saving him from walking into a fire either, or for the benefit of an audience. This time she felt promise and hope in their kiss.

  Eventually he released her to locate a knife and cut the rope from her hands and arms. Edward helped her stand, though he pulled her close again as soon as she was on her feet, as if reluctant to have any distance between them. Maggy happily obliged by wrapping her arms around him.

  She could see McCall talking with Vienna. The expression on their faces hinted at the familiarity she’d witnessed between them over the past few days. The girl was no longer bound and gagged either, but stood gripping the fence post as if for support. Maggy felt a wave of sorrow for her friend. Vienna had witnessed the full measure of her husband’s malice tonight.

  “Let’s get Howe in the wagon before he wakes,” the sheriff directed as he approached the unconscious man. “I’m surprised Druitt had the gumption to knock him out.”

  Edward tucked Maggy against his side, so they were both facing the lawman. “On the contrary, Sheriff Tweed, it was Maggy here who knocked out Howe.” The proud look he gave her filled her full of warmth and love. She longed for everyone else to disappear so she could tell him what was in her heart.

  “You knocked him out?” The sheriff tipped up his hat and regarded Maggy. “Bound and gagged?”

  She lifted one side of her dress. “And in a bal
l gown.”

  “You see,” Edward interjected with a smile at her, “Maggy is not only my fiancée. She’s the Pinkerton detective I told you about who’s been solving my case.”

  Sheriff Tweed shook his head. “Well I’ll be... Once we get everything settled at the jail and you let me know what charges you intend to press, Mr. Kent, I’d like to hear the full story of your investigation, miss.”

  “It would be my pleasure to share it,” Maggy answered.

  The sheriff and the deputy each grabbed Howe by the arm and hauled him, groaning, toward the wagon. Edward glanced at them, then cleared his throat.

  “Maggy, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  The seriousness of his tone resurrected her erratic pulse. Was it possible he’d come to the same conclusions she had tonight? “I have something to tell you, too.”

  “If it’s about leaving...” His expression turned wary.

  She shook her head. “Not exactly.” Gathering her courage, she opened her mouth, but she didn’t get a word out before the sheriff interrupted.

  “We need to get moving, folks.” He climbed onto his horse. “We’ve still got to ride back to Sheridan and then everyone has a lot of explaining to do.”

  Disappointment flooded Maggy, though it lessened when she caught a similar look of remorse on Edward’s handsome face. “Should we see if we can get a full confession from all three of them this time?”

  “I do relish the thought of that,” Edward said with a nod. “But only if you and I can speak privately later.”

  Her heart pattered with anticipation, especially when he pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. “I’d like that, too.”

  * * *

  Edward felt exhaustion all the way down to his bones, in spite of catching a few hours’ sleep at the Sheridan Inn in the wee hours of the morning. Judging by Maggy’s soft breathing, her head resting against his shoulder, she was just as tired. Mrs. Harvey, Vienna and McCall were likely dozing in the back of the wagon, as well.