Texas Mail Order Bride

by Linda Broday

“We will. Have faith.”

  “I love her, you know. Never told her that.” And now he might not ever get another chance.

  “She knows. Some things a person just knows.”

  “I’ve been too afraid that I wouldn’t be a good husband, that I’d be like my father, to tell her the things I need to say from my heart.”

  “We can’t grasp the future while we’re still mired down in the past. Turn loose of old hurts and grievances and grab hold of the future with both hands.”

  “When did you start sounding like a preacher, Rand?”

  “Maybe since I found my mother. Or rather, since she found me.”

  “Where?”

  “Battle Creek. Been under my nose the last three years. Widow Sharp is Abigail Winehouse…uh, Sinclair.”

  “I’m happy for you, brother.” Cooper wearily ran a hand across his eyes.

  “Not sure how I feel about it yet. The idea will have to grow on me some.”

  A few minutes later, everyone got back in the saddle and wagons and began scouring the countryside for the woman who meant so much to them all.

  If anyone stumbled across her, they were to fire three shots in the air.

  Cooper took the section around his ranch that extended all the way to Delta’s new property, the Four Promises Ranch. It made sense to him that Early would stay close. The man couldn’t torment him if he didn’t. He’d want to see the pain in Cooper’s face. That would be part of the pleasure Early would take in his dastardly deed.

  Not finding anything around the Long Odds, Cooper rode down the lane of the old Zachary place that now belonged to Delta. He took in the thick copse of trees and the rose bushes running the width of the house.

  Red. The roses were a beautiful red.

  He could picture Delta here. Of course she’d put her own stamp on the place. That went without saying.

  And maybe he could see himself here also.

  With a lump in his throat, he dismounted. The soft, gentle wind sighed through the tall trees like pure silk caressing a lover’s body.

  Then came a distinct rustle of leaves.

  The hair on his neck rose.

  Eyes watched him. Eyes that had no soul. Cold, dead eyes.

  Forty

  Spinning into action, Cooper drew his Colt and scanned the area. “Come out and show yourself.”

  Someone tore through the brush; then he heard a galloping horse racing down the road.

  He quickly holstered his Colt and leaped into the saddle. It took precious wasted seconds getting the skittish horse to stop crow-hopping and dancing around. By the time he gave chase, the man was a good distance in front of him.

  But Rebel was the better animal and began gaining ground.

  Faster and faster they flew.

  At last he got alongside. Cooper jumped and pulled the rider off. Landing with a jolt on the packed road, he slammed his fist into the other’s jaw.

  Over and over they rolled, each fighting to get the upper hand. Somewhere in the scuffle, his quarry lost his revolver.

  Finally, breathing hard, Cooper sat on the man’s chest and stared into familiar features.

  Tolbert Early.

  “Where is she? Where’s Delta Dandridge, you piece of filth?”

  His enemy sneered, “You’ll never find her.”

  Drawing his Colt, Cooper fired three shots into the air to let the others know he had Early.

  “Why? She did nothing to you.”

  “I took you for a smarter man than that, Thorne.” Early wiped the blood from his mouth. “You care for the sweet Miss Dandridge. Sometimes a man knows greater pain when the one he loves is in danger and he can’t help them. I want you to suffer. I want you to know loss like I’ve known it. I want you to hurt, to slowly die inside. And then when that happens, I want to put you in a grave.”

  “Keep talking. You might say more than you intend to.” Lord knew, he certainly hoped so. When Early squirmed trying to get Cooper off him, Cooper made himself comfortable, pushing his adversary’s head farther into the dirt. With the searchers being so scattered, it would take a while for them to get there. Meanwhile, he wasn’t going to give Early a chance to escape again.

  Minutes ticked by as the sun climbed higher. Buzzards circled overhead as though sensing a feast soon. Finally, galloping riders converged on them from all directions.

  Sheriff Strayhorn quickly dismounted. “See you caught the miserable rotten lowlife. Tell you anything?”

  “Not yet.” Cooper got off Early and yanked him to his feet.

  “He will,” Brett said softly, easing his knife from its sheath.

  Cooper nodded at his youngest brother. “I wouldn’t bet against you. You’re the best at what you do.”

  “What have you done with Miss Dandridge?” Strayhorn demanded, jerking the prisoner to him. “Tell me or I’ll let the Indian work you over with his knife.”

  “Ain’t scared of no Injun. I worked him over real good years ago.”

  Rand lunged, sinking his doubled fist into Early’s gut. “I wish to God we’d killed you. We meant to. Just sorry it didn’t take the first time.”

  “I have news for you, Early,” Brett said in his quiet way. “You didn’t break me then, and you never will. You see, I’m stronger than you. Others tried and they also failed.”

  “Where did you find him, Coop?” Strayhorn asked.

  “The old Zachary place that Delta purchased.”

  “Had to be a reason for him being there.” The sheriff tossed Early onto the back of a horse and lashed him to the saddle.

  Hope filled Cooper’s heart as the group returned to the place where he’d found his hated enemy. Strayhorn yanked Early off the horse and slung him to the ground. While he and Brett questioned the prisoner, Cooper and Rand searched the root cellar, well, house, and barn but came up empty.

  Cooper shouted Delta’s name over and over, hoping she’d answer.

  The voice he longed to hear didn’t reply.

  “Wild horses cain’t drag it out of me, Thorne,” Early screamed. “Better be on your toes or she’ll die a horrible death. She’s waiting for you and you’ll never come.” His demonic laugh echoed through the valley.

  Though anger raged inside, Cooper tamped it down. He couldn’t afford to lose his temper. Delta’s life depended on it. He stalked to the spawn of Satan, who lounged there on the ground with his stringy gray hair and hate-filled eyes that glittered like lumps of black coal.

  The urge to put a bullet in the man’s brain almost overpowered Cooper. He’d only felt this level of violence three times in his life, and twice had been with the same man.

  “Let her go. Take me. I’m the one you want, not her.”

  Early raised his shackled hands. “As you can see, I ain’t exactly free to do what I want.”

  “I’ll talk to Strayhorn, get him to release you. Just tell us where to find Delta and I’ll go with you anywhere, let you take your vengeance out on me.”

  “You’d do that for her? You know I’ll kill you.”

  The answer required no thought. “I’ll gladly give my life for her. Anytime, anywhere.”

  “Very touching,” came Early’s surly reply.

  “What’s your answer?”

  “No, I think I like you squirming and wriggling on this hot skillet too much. It’s very…enjoyable.”

  Everything turned red and got very quiet. Cooper drew back and slammed his fist into Early’s face. Blood and spittle flew. Strayhorn came to see about his prisoner.

  Early spit out a tooth. “You gonna let him do this to a shackled man?”

  “I didn’t see anything. For all I know, you could’ve tried to get away and tripped,” the barrel-chested sheriff said. “I have as much sympathy for you as you got for Delta Dandridge.”

  Tolbert Early
got to his feet. “She don’t hafta die.”

  “You’re the only one who can do something about that,” Strayhorn spat back. “Tell us where she is and maybe you won’t hang.”

  With one quick lunge, Early grabbed Strayhorn’s gun. Aiming it at Cooper, he fought to get his finger on the trigger.

  Cooper raised his hands. “Better kill me now. Or God have mercy on your soul.”

  A soft whirring sound split the air as Brett’s knife pierced the wall of Early’s chest and imbedded itself to the hilt.

  “No!” Cooper felt all hope ebb from his body. “He’s the only one who could’ve told us where she is. We may never find her in time.”

  “He would’ve shot you, Coop,” Brett said. Standing next to Cooper, he clasped his shoulder. “I did the only thing I could. We’ll keep looking everywhere we can think of. We’ll find her. I give my word.”

  Cooper stared at his brother. Though Early’s death made the odds of finding Delta slim to none, it was fitting that Brett should end the man’s life. He’d often wondered if Brett had it in him to take a life, and now he knew. The situation had forced the answer.

  “I know. Thank you for saving my life.”

  The rest of the townspeople arrived and everyone fanned out, desperate to find the woman who’d given them a dream and pride and helped them see how much more they could be.

  Cooper seemed drawn to the woods at the edge of the property that bordered the Four Promises. One patch seemed odd. It was covered with a thick layer of tree limbs that someone appeared to have broken off. The leaves had just started to die, so they hadn’t been there long.

  Cooper gave a strangled cry and knelt. He and Rand frantically tossed limbs this way and that.

  Maybe Delta lay below ground somehow.

  It fit that Early’s twisted mind might devise this sort of torture.

  Oh God, would he find her alive or…?

  Rand shouted for someone to bring a shovel. Cooper didn’t wait. He began clawing the soft ground with his hands, all the while praying that he’d have another chance to tell her he loved her.

  Brett raced to them. “No one has a shovel.”

  He yanked the long knife out that he’d pulled from Early’s body and began digging with it. Abercrombie ran with some boards he’d found in the barn.

  Cooper dug like a madman. His beloved, the woman who brought peace to his tormented soul, needed him.

  He blinked away the tears. He had to save her just as she’d saved him.

  At last a wooden box came into view. Opening it, Cooper found nothing more than a length of rope and a sprig of leaves from a wild plum tree.

  What the hell? Was it a message of some sort, a clue of what he’d done with her?

  He stared at the rope, willing it to speak. Yet the braided hemp offered no answers.

  Sagging into the loose dirt, Cooper’s despair settled into the depths of his soul like a dark, musty tomb.

  He’d lost her.

  Dear God, he’d lost the woman he loved.

  ***

  Exhaustion and the darkness played havoc with Delta’s mind and body.

  Then the rats’ constant sharp squeaks and their whirring, whispering movements instilled even more terror into her heart. She’d heard of their razor teeth and how they could gnaw off a person’s arm.

  Each passing minute, the rope tightened around her neck a little more as she began to tire from the prolonged forced position.

  Maybe she should end this unending torture.

  She had only to step off the crate and it would all be over.

  One simple move. That was all.

  ***

  Cooper had lost the only person who gave his life meaning. Then strong hands rested on his back and shoulders. He realized his brothers huddled close around him as they had in the orphanage so long ago after Mr. Huxley struck him repeatedly with a rod for standing up for Rand.

  “We can’t give up. We won’t let Early win,” Rand said, grim faced. “Let’s go back to the start and rethink this.”

  “I agree.” Brett sat cross-legged in the midst of the dead leaves and moist earth. “Tolbert Early never did anything without a reason. The man loved to taunt. To me, this rope says he has Delta tied up somewhere.”

  “And not too far away.” Rand’s eyes lit up with hope.

  “You might have something,” Cooper said slowly. “Early always thought he had more brains than us. Learning his habits over these weeks like we have, we know he would put her right under our very noses.”

  Brett picked up the rope they’d unearthed. “We’ve got to find her fast. But where do we look?”

  “The ultimate insult would be to stash her somewhere on either the Long Odds or the Wild Horse. Someplace we’d never think to look.”

  Brett jumped to his feet in a bound. “The Wild Horse. Early said that wild horses couldn’t drag it out of him. He left a clue. You have the Long Odds land too difficult to get onto. But I’ve been out helping you chase the devil for weeks and left my ranch wide open.”

  “What about the wild plum cutting that was in the box? You don’t have any on Wild Horse land as far as I know,” Rand pointed out.

  “That’s true, but there’s a whole thicket just off the northeast boundary in a little canyon. I pick wild plums there every season. And, Coop”—Brett got excited—“there’s an old structure of some sort that’s half-hidden by the thick undergrowth on that section of land. Or there was the last time I rode out that way.”

  “That’s it.” They had some direction to go in, some hope. Heavy weight lifted from Cooper’s shoulders. He strode to his horse, with his brothers on his heels.

  ***

  Tears streamed down Delta’s face. She never imagined her life would end this way. She had so much left to do. In fact, she’d only begun to find herself and her place in the world.

  In just a few short weeks, she’d learned what truly loving someone with all her heart and soul meant.

  Cooper’s face suddenly swam before her.

  His deep voice that never failed to weaken her knees told her not to give up. He was coming. All she had to do was hold on just a bit longer.

  New hope brought the strength she needed.

  Cooper would find her.

  He would hold her in his arms again.

  ***

  Riding as though a pack of hungry coyotes chased him, Cooper led the way to Brett’s ranch.

  It felt right.

  He could sense Delta’s presence.

  When they crossed onto Wild Horse land, Cooper pulled up and let Brett take the lead. Cooper’s horse danced around in a circle, wanting to run.

  Brett yelled as he went by, “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before.”

  “I’m just glad you did now.”

  The horses were lathered by the time they reached the canyon. They got off and walked the horses down a faint trail to the bottom. Cooper couldn’t see any kind of building and was about to tell Brett he was all wet when he spied a weathered structure through a tangle of vines.

  Cooper began running, yelling Delta’s name. He ripped away the door and rushed inside, sending huge rats scurrying in every direction.

  His breath came out harsh when he saw her suspended.

  Better be on your toes or she’ll die a horrible death beat like a death drum in his ears.

  Bound and gagged, Delta stared down at him, blinking in the dim light. Tears left tracks through the dirt on her face.

  He rushed forward. Cooper held her while Brett quickly cut the rope. The minute his brothers had freed her, he swept her up into his arms, hugging her against his chest.

  After a moment, he put her down and gently removed the gag from her mouth. Rand threw his jacket around her shoulders. They all had wetness glistening in their eyes.

/>   Not caring who saw, he pressed his lips to her swollen mouth.

  She was his lady, his life, his future, and he’d shout it to the world.

  “You came,” she whispered.

  “As soon as I could.” The words came out husky as they squeezed past his narrowed throat.

  “I prayed that I wouldn’t die here alone without your arms around me. I was scared.”

  “I know, darlin’. I wish I could’ve made things different. If only I could go back and do everything over.”

  She pressed her fingers to his mouth. “Hush. We all have things to go through. It’s life.”

  “You’re exhausted and need food and a bed, but I have something to say first.” Cooper cradled her against him, daring anything or anyone to take her from him.

  She feebly stroked his jaw. “You don’t have to say it.”

  “Oh, but I do.” He kissed her fingers. “I love you, pretty lady. I think I did from that first moment—just took me a while to know it.”

  Fresh tears sprang into Delta’s eyes and trickled down her cheeks. Cooper knew she hadn’t held out much hope for a miracle, and yet she was willing to take him anyway. She was truly a special woman. He wouldn’t find another like her if he searched the world over.

  Finally he raised the question he thought he’d never get another chance to ask. “Will you have me, Delta Dandridge? Do you think… Will you be my wife?”

  “Always.”

  He tightened his arms around her and tenderly lowered his lips to hers for a long kiss that promised a lifetime of tangled sheets and hot caresses.

  Forty-one

  A month passed, bringing great change as Delta slowly recovered from her ordeal. Doc Yates explained that her throat and wrists would forever carry scars from the rope, but no matter. Each morning she woke with thankfulness in her heart.

  She’d thrown herself into making the Four Promises her home, determined to put Early and his deranged scheme from her mind.

  Her dream of being Cooper’s bride would soon come true.

  He loved her.

  Smoothing her dress, she pushed aside the curtains of her new home and gazed out at the land she’d never thought it possible to see again. She couldn’t get enough sunlight. For her, the darkness held suffocation, rats, and nightmares. That first week, Cooper had never left her side.