by Natalie Dean
“There, you see? Now, we’ll just be going. Nice trick, I might add – but you may not have realized that this washes off if you know how.” He made a wave of his hand, and the three of them mounted their horses. Clara instinctively raised the weapon once more, but Noah put his hand over hers and lowered it again.
“He’s got the money, Noah! He’s got the money!” she sobbed, fighting the urge to run after John and his two men, but Noah grabbed her and pulled her close, allowing her to cry into his chest. He ran his fingers down the back of her head and through her hair, soothing her as best he could.
“He’s not going to get away with it, I promise,” he said quietly.
Happily Ever After
“When we get into town you are going to go straight to the sheriff’s and tell him to come as quickly as he can. I’m going after Hanks and his men.” Noah was slapping the reins on the backs of the horses as they rode up the trail headed toward town. It was a rough road, and the wagon jostled severely with each rock they hit, but Noah refused to slow.
Clara hung onto the side of the wagon, and though she couldn’t find the words to answer, she nodded. She hated the idea of her husband going after those men alone, especially knowing what they were capable of. However, she knew she couldn’t let John get away with this – he needed to be locked up, and the only way that was going to happen would be to catch him in the act.
“Suppose he got the ink off already?” she said as they road along. Noah shook his head.
“He couldn’t this quickly. He’ll have to have something else in mind,” he looked over at her as he spoke, and she glanced up at him. Her stomach was tied in knots.
They were coming up fast on the town in front of them, and before she knew it, she was leaping off the side of the wagon down to the ground. Noah didn’t wait. As soon as she was safely on the ground, she was running into the sheriff’s and he was slapping the reins on the backs of the horses, urging them toward the train station.
Clara glanced over her shoulder and saw him disappearing around the bend, but he was quickly blocked out of view when the door closed behind her. In the distance, she could hear the train whistle blowing, and she knew she had to hurry.
“He’s with two other men, and I know at least two of them have guns!” Clara breathlessly explained as she hurried with the sheriff and his men to the train station.
“He warned me about you, and I have half a mind to believe that you are the one who is trying to set him up,” the sheriff said as he walked along. Clara rolled her eyes. She knew John was going to try to do something like this, and she was amazed how often it worked out in his favor. She said nothing, however, and they rounded the final corner to the train station.
The crowd that had been waiting for the train had gathered about in a large circle, and many of them were shouting. The sheriff didn’t waste any time in pushing his way into the center of the group, with Clara doing her best to stay on his heels. It was hard for her to push through the crowd, not being very tall – or even very big – herself, she kept getting pushed back.
Suddenly, she broke through into the center, and she could see what everyone else had been watching. John and Noah were locked in a fight – and it was clear John wanted to prove his strength against Noah, as the other two men were also standing by as part of the crowd. Clara couldn’t watch as they swung at each other, and she cringed when the sheriff walked into the middle of the fight.
“Break it up! Break it up!” he barked. John immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge, and Clara noted he was wearing gloves.
“Deputy John Hanks of the Buffalo Department – take this man in for theft!” he pointed to Noah, who scoffed and looked away. The sheriff held up his hand.
“Not so fast. I am hearing reports that you, Sir, are the thief,” the sheriff said, and Hanks smirked.
“If you would look on this gentleman’s person, you will find what you think I allegedly stole.” Hanks shot a look toward Clara as he spoke, and she crossed her arms.
“If you take a look at this gentleman’s hands, you will see the proof!” she spat. Hanks looked at her with a bemused look on his face and turned back to the sheriff.
“Take him away,” he said. The sheriff paused, however.
“Remove your gloves,” he ordered. Hanks’ face changed.
“What? Sir, I am an officer of the law, I”- he began, but the sheriff interrupted him.
“Then you will have no problem taking off your gloves. I have received a full report from this young lady on the way over here, and I want to see if there is any merit to it.” He crossed his arms.
“I will do no such thing!” Hanks’ shot back. The sheriff stood for a moment, clearly trying to decide what to do. Finally, he motioned to his men.
“Take them down to the station, I’ve got a lot of questions for this one.”
“Mark my words, Clara, your husband is finally going to get the justice he deserves. Once they see the evidence, it’s not going to take long for them to piece the story together. He’ll be sent back to Buffalo, and things will be taken care of as they should have been in the first place,” Noah said with a gentle smile.
“You did it,” Clara breathed in disbelief. Noah smiled as he handed her the bag full of the inheritance, and she shook her head. “I don’t know how you did.”
“Well, when I said that I didn’t make it as an officer, I didn’t mean that I didn’t go through training, I just found that there was something I liked doing better,” he said rather sheepishly. She looked up at him and smiled, once again shaking her head in disbelief.
“You could have been killed, you know,” she said, and he nodded, though he chuckled as he did.
“I suppose that would just be another day in the line of duty,” he said with a smile. She smiled, too, though there was a touch of pain behind it. He moved closer to her, clearly feeling bad for what he had said, but before he was able to apologize, Clara put her arms on his shoulders and lifted herself up, meeting his lips with hers.
He looked down at her in surprise. It was the first time they had kissed each other, and he smiled. Clara, suddenly feeling embarrassed, looked away.
“I, I don’t know what I was thinking,” she said quietly. Noah put his hand under her chin and lifted her eyes to look into his. She was about to say something else, when this time he cut her off.
They shared a passionate kiss on the platform, completely lost in the presence of each other. For the first time since arriving in South Pass City, Clara didn’t feel any shame at all in her feelings for Noah, and she wished the kiss would never end. When he finally did pull back, he looked down into her eyes, his gaze searching her face.
“I love you, Clara, and I would do anything for you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too, Noah,” Clara breathed. “Let’s go home.”
As the two of them road back home in the sunset, Clara grasped Noah’s arm with her hands. She couldn’t stop smiling as they rode along the bumpy trail. Yes, they had gotten her inheritance money back, but they had also done so much more. She was free of the threat that was chasing her, and she was free of the guilt that was haunting her.
She was free to love Noah with all of her being. And she knew they were going to live happily for the rest of their lives.
THE END
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