Hannah's Gold

by Hannah's Gold (lit)

  McCabe and his gang of gunslingers had ridden into town about two years earlier and it wasn’t long before he’d cheated one poor farmer out of his home and land. Others quickly followed, along with their herds and horses. Anyone who tried to stand up to the man found themselves staring down the barrel of a gun, or worse, six feet under. He even had the law in his pocket, and, before long, he’d taken over the bank with all its mortgages and debts. He strutted round town like a peacock until, in the end, no one dared to challenge him. Everything that came in and out of town went through McCabe.

  So far, Jacob and his father had avoided him and his cheating ways, but they knew he had his sights set on them. Jacob warned his father that he should never get into a serious card game with the man but, of course, he did. Little by little, he gambled his, and Jacob’s, livelihood completely away. When McCabe came with his gang to call in the debt, it was the first Jacob knew of it.

  Devious and clever, McCabe had let him win some and lose some, enticing him just enough to whet his appetite and to feed his addiction. Then, he hit him with the big one. His father’s IOU had increased so much that McCabe suggested he put his land into the pot. Depressed, defeated, and very drunk, he agreed. Totally humiliated by his actions, he’d been unable to bring himself to tell his son until it was too late. The rest of the townsfolk kept their heads down low. They knew Jacob and his father were just the latest victims in McCabe’s plans to take over the whole region.

  When McCabe and his gang rode onto their land, Jacob picked up his rifle. He wasn’t going to let it go without a fight. Hannah stood five steps behind him, clutching her rifle, too. His father, unshaven and disheveled, stumbled from the house. All he could cry was, “I’m sorry, son. I’m sorry.”

  The memory was as clear in Hannah’s head as the day it happened. Each word would be forever stamped in her mind.

  “Get back inside, Pa,” Jacob replied coldly. But while he spoke, his eyes never left the figure of the man sitting arrogantly astride his huge gelding. “Leave this to me now.”

  McCabe never batted an eyelid. The smile that crept to his lips had all the venom of a snake ready to strike. He flicked the remains of his cheroot onto the ground.

  “I admire your nerve,” he said. “But you haven’t a leg to stand on. The land and everything your father owns is now mine. Your father signed it all over to me. You’ve been a little lax in letting him keep full ownership for so long. You should have got him to hand it over to you before now. So, I suggest you put your gun down and just accept the fact that this place is now mine.”

  His horse trotted a few steps closer. Towering above Jacob, it looked like he hoped to intimidate the man further. Jacob merely cocked his rifle and aimed it directly at McCabe’s chest.

  “You cheated my father out of his property just like you did all the others. You’re not going to get away with it this time. Get off my land.”

  The man never flinched. As Jacob spoke, McCabe’s sidekicks all drew their guns as one, and Jacob found himself staring down the barrels of all six weapons.

  “I reckon my boys will fell you before you even get chance to pull the trigger,” he sneered. “Put it down. I’ll give you twenty four hours to get out. I have people ready to move in and work for me.”

  Jacob didn’t move but his hesitation distracted everyone enough to allow Hannah to level her rifle at him, too. Her knees trembled beneath her skirts but, if Jacob was prepared to try to stop this evil man, she would help him do so. It was about time someone stood up to him.

  “No.” Her voice rang out clearly and calmly, despite the anger and fear raging within her. “You heard Jacob. Get off his land.”

  Again, McCabe showed no fear. Arrogantly, he tipped his hat at her while his gaze raked her body and undressed her in that dirty, slimy way he always did every time he set eyes on her. That should have been enough for her to squeeze the trigger but, as three of his men now turned their guns on her, she didn’t.

  “Well, Miss Hannah. What have we here then? A spirited mountain cat? Now, it would be a shame to shoot you.” He licked his lips and wiggled his tongue suggestively at her. “Why don’t you put the gun down and come and work for me? If you’re so damned set on defending this fool, maybe I’ll even let you work off some off his father’s debt.” An evil leer twisted his mouth. “But I warn you, with what’s outstanding, it may take a very long time.”

  Jacob took an angry stride forward.

  “You filthy bastard, don’t speak to her like that.”

  A nearby cowboy kicked his foot out and caught Jacob full in the face. It sent him sprawling into the dirt. The rifle flew from his hands.

  McCabe turned his full attention on Jacob once again.

  “Now, why should you worry yourself about her? Don’t tell me she’s as pure as driven snow. Since she’s living out here alone with two men, and she’s not your wife, she must be your whore.”

  Hannah saw red. She’d always managed to control her temper and kept cool and aloof when she’d met him in town, treating him instead to the contempt he deserved. However, this was too much. Jacob had too much respect for her. They might not be married but she certainly wasn’t his whore. Furthermore, if McCabe had the audacity to think she’d become one of his whores, he had another thing coming. So, while he was preoccupied with Jacob, she pulled the trigger.

  Fortunately for McCabe, as he busily mocked Jacob, his horse sidestepped a fraction. The bullet merely grazed his arm. Nevertheless, he winced loudly. He clutched the wound with one hand as he drew in the reins with the other, attempting to calm his now fretful horse, startled by the sudden short, sharp blast of gunfire. Blood oozed between his gloved fingers. Bright-red, the fluid slowly darkened his jacket.

  Jacob turned his face in horror toward Hannah. Still lying prone in the dust, he was powerless to help her. McCabe’s men surrounded her. All they needed was McCabe’s order to shoot. Their horses snorted and harrumphed as their bridles bit into their sensitive mouths and their legs danced mere inches from her slight frame.

  One man kicked the rifle out of her hands. It landed on the ground with a dull thud. McCabe’s horse, now under control, trotted into the circle. McCabe leaned forward and lashed out at her with the back of his hand. It sent her sprawling to the ground. Her cheek flamed red, marked by the stinging blow and stained with blood from McCabe’s leather glove.

  “Bitch,” he snarled angrily. “Believe me, for that alone, I will make you my whore. And whatever lover-boy here tries to do to stop me, it will never be enough. You will be mine.”

  “No, she won’t.”

  They all turned to see Jacob’s father. While they’d all been distracted, he’d retrieved Jacob’s rifle. He aimed it at McCabe, but, as he was about to pull the trigger, McCabe’s men filled him with lead.

  He stood for a moment. His eyes grew wide with shock and surprise. Then, boneless, he crumpled onto the ground.

  “No!” Hannah screamed. She rushed to his side.

  At the same time, Jacob scrambled onto his feet to tend his father’s wounds but his father was dead before he even touched the ground. Two, round, glassy eyes stared skyward, as if remembering the good times when it had once been the only roof he’d had over his head, and when he’d made the long journey out West with his wife and baby son. His life had been snuffed out in the blink of an eye.

  McCabe looked down at the sorry trio. He spat on the ground.

  “Bury your father,” he ordered. “I have the deeds to your land. I’ll be back. Then, it,” he paused for a moment to look Hannah hard in the eyes, “and you, missy, for all the torment you’ve caused me, will be mine.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Hannah paused as the two brothers eyed her silently. They still looked puzzled. She took a slow breath to calm her. Her cheeks felt on fire as she burned with hate for the man who had ruined so many lives.

  “But McCabe hasn’t taken Jacob’s land,” Luke said. It was more question than statement. “What caused h
is change of heart?”

  “Not yet, he hasn’t,” Hannah explained. “After we buried Jacob’s pa, McCabe and his men came back and took the cattle and some of the horses. While overseeing it all, eager to rub Jacob’s nose in it, Jacob told him he would raise the money to buy back the deeds. He laughed in his face.”

  “Pay him back? What with?” he asked.

  “Jacob told him he would go out to California and get gold. Men can make it rich out there. He would too.”

  As she continued her tale, she told them that McCabe warned Jacob that leaving his land unattended was tantamount to McCabe taking it anyway. Jacob said he wouldn’t be leaving it unattended because Hannah would stay to oversee the few remaining horses and crops.

  He and Hannah had spent the previous evening discussing their ideas. Jacob would leave as soon as he could for California, and, while he was there, he’d look out for her brother, too. Once he’d collected enough gold, he’d come back, pay off his father’s debt and buy a new herd. He’d start over again. Best of all, though, they’d show the others in town that McCabe could be beaten.

  At first, Hannah wanted to go with him but Jacob only reiterated her brother’s words. It would be too dangerous for a woman.

  “Any more dangerous than here?” she asked. But she knew he was right. Jacob needed her to stay to tend the land. No one else would. He also suggested that if they told McCabe that they were betrothed, it might make him think twice about threatening her. So, after they’d buried his father, they plotted their tactics.

  When they explained their plans to McCabe, though, he only raised a disinterested eyebrow. “And she’s going to stop me?” he sneered, as if he found the thought of a mere woman defending Jacob’s land amusing.

  Again, Hannah’s memories flooded back, hard and fast.

  Meeting his hard gaze with one of her own, Hannah stepped up to him and said, with an equally mocking sneer, “I did last time. Maybe next time my aim will be better.”

  Their eyes locked in unwavering conflict. Hannah stood proudly before him, her chin tilted upward in staunch defiance. She knew the fire would be surging through McCabe’s veins and into his disgusting groin, just as it always did when she confronted him. He’d told her so many times before on her trips into town.

  He’d sneak up behind her and whisper his vile threats in her ear, informing her that one day he’d strip her bare. Then, as her claws and barbed words scratched and raked his skin, he’d roll her around in his bed. He’d keep her barefoot and naked for as long as it took, until he’d finished with her. Her body would be his for the taking, whether it was for a week, a month, or even a year. He’d gaze upon her luscious breasts, and squeeze and knead them, whenever he wished.

  He’d make her sit astride him and slide her wet cunt up and down his hard cock until he shot his cum into her. She would be his plaything and he would play out every sexual fantasy he could think of, and more besides. He’d wipe the “holier than thou” look off her face and make her beg him to stop.

  Afterward, when she was broken, he’d pass her on to his men so they could fuck themselves stupid inside every hole she possessed. And after they’d done with her, he’d put her to work in one of his whorehouses.

  He’d make her pay for being the only woman ever to dare to look at him as if he were nothing more than a piece of shit stuck on the bottom of her shoe. Betrothed or not, his plans for her were no less diminished. He’d pay her back in full for her sassy mouth and the open contempt she gave him, as well as the scar he now carried on his upper arm.

  Hannah inwardly shuddered. Yes, she knew exactly what he thought. She’d slapped his face and kicked his ankles on more than one occasion when his hands strayed to her pert behind or casually brushed the swell at the side of her breasts. Townsfolk were amazed he’d not already captured her and whisked her away to his ranch, because the more she resisted, the more aroused it made him. It made her feel even more sick when he told her his pleasure would be all the greater when she finally came crawling to him of her own volition.

  Hannah knew it was only she who stopped McCabe from killing Jacob outright now. Under normal circumstances, he’d have already acquired Jacob’s home and land. She also knew that this scheme they’d concocted would appeal to the games and lengths he would be prepared to play in order to get her into his bed.

  Like a Mexican stand-off, neither Hannah nor McCabe gave an inch. They glared icily at one another.

  Jacob spoke first to diffuse the situation.

  “I’d like to propose you give me a year,” he said calmly. Hannah was proud of him. He was always in full control of his emotions, even when angry. “When I come back, I’ll pay you back every penny my father owed you plus interest.”

  McCabe made a show of pondering the idea. Then, with a smile that contained no humor, said slowly, “Now why would I do that? It seems like I’d be the one losing out if you come back with nothing. No debt re-paid, no interest, no revenue from land I could have been using for twelve months.”

  “I won’t fail,” Jacob persisted.

  McCabe shook his head slowly. Hannah knew he liked nothing more than to watch people squirm. That neither she nor Jacob did that clearly irritated him. It was a dangerous game they played.

  “I can’t take that risk,” he said. “Perhaps you should just pack up and go. And don’t bother coming back.”

  “If he does, I’m going with him, too,” Hannah chipped in. She ignored the look that told her that it would never happen. McCabe would put a bullet through Jacob’s heart first. She was thinking on her feet. What could possibly tempt the evil bastard to leave them alone for a while?

  Suddenly she knew.

  Knowing it was she whom McCabe was really interested in, and not Jacob’s deal, she continued. “But, if you agree to this deal, I’ll be staying here to tend the land and horses.”

  Again, McCabe deliberately considered the thought.

  “So you’ve already told me. How is that going to help pay the debt?” he asked casually.

  “The land and house won’t fall into disrepair,” she explained, equally calmly. “I’ll even employ one or two men to keep the place running.”

  “And?” He still made it sound like a no-deal.

  “If Jacob doesn’t come back with the money, you still get the land. It’ll just be a year late, that’s all. But I’ll be able to pay you any profits you might have made on the land from those I’ll make.” Hannah had a good working head on her shoulders. She knew she could do it. She trembled inside. She was so scared but she spoke so clearly and so steadily, no one would have guessed it, except maybe Jacob.

  He’d told her so many times he was impressed by her valor and that his heart swelled with the respect he had for her. Well, she would remain that way. She’d striven against adversity back home and now, she would do so here by standing up to a man who’d crushed others. She would continue to be strong, steadfast and loyal, just as Jacob would be with her. He’d already told her it would break his heart if he failed her.

  However, McCabe still looked unmoved. “And how would I recuperate my lost interest? Every day you stay here, the debt will only increase.”

  Hannah knew he’d never refuse what she offered next. She let a little smile slide to the corner of her mouth. No emotion accompanied it. The enticement was all she needed.

  “I’ll be the guarantor,” she said. “If Jacob fails, I’ll be the interest. You can take every bit of it out of me.” She spoke so evenly and so coolly, she could have been bartering supplies not her body.

  “No!” Jacob protested vehemently. He took a step toward Hannah but she raised a hand, showing him her palm, to stop him.

  At the same time, a gun clicked. One of McCabe’s men leveled his weapon at Jacob’s temple.

  Hannah’s heart raced. It hammered against her ribcage. She needed to get this right, otherwise Jacob would die before her very eyes.

  “Be still, Jacob,” she said gently. “I have faith in you. I know
you’ll come back richer. You’ll not let me down.”

  McCabe turned to Jacob. The lustful glint gleamed wickedly in his dark eyes.

  “Well, I’m glad Miss Hannah has faith in your preposterous idea,” he laughed. “It’s more than I do. I hear more men leave California poorer than when they arrived. And deader.”

  McCabe licked his lips. Hannah could see he was considering the deal, if only for the sheer hell of it. Her heart pounded and began to race, wondering what he might say next. After all, he wouldn’t be prepared to let her call all the shots. When he finally spoke, it was slow and deliberate.

  “What happens if I need an interim payment of interest?”

  Hannah gave a silent sigh of relief. It was easier than she thought.

  “There will be no interim payments, only a final one,” she answered. The steely glare she gave him warned against reneging on any agreement they might come to. She also clutched her rifle in a tight grip. It warned him of how she would repay such an action.

  “Anyway,” she went on, as that sly smile played at the corner of her mouth, “surely it’s better to have a willing payee than an unwilling one?” Once again, she didn’t need to spell out how she’d be making her payments. Her eyes said it all. “And after a year, I’m sure there’ll be a lot of accumulated interest.”

  McCabe licked his lips again.

  “You sure have balls. I’ll give you that,” he said, contemplating her offer in a business-like tone of voice. “But I can’t have folk thinking I’ve gone all soft now. Can I?”

  “I’m sure they’d never think that,” she sneered. “So, do we have a deal? If that’s the case, I want it done legally and drawn up by a lawyer, although my word should be good enough. I’ve never gone back on a promise.”

  The corner of McCabe’s mouth twisted cruelly. Hannah shuddered. She drove a hard bargain but she knew McCabe well enough, by now, to know he’d think it worth waiting for. Especially as he’d be imagining there’d be no end to the fun he could have with her on the run-in to taking his prize.