by Angela Lain
“Ahh, don’t worry. I am with you all the way. When I get the chance, I won’t be back much either. I sure hope Betsy can cook!”
“Better than this,” Adam muttered in agreement.
Ben looked up to find his oldest brother Abe’s eyes on him, he dropped his gaze and applied himself to his meal. David’s guffaw cut across the table.
“You should have seen him! Poor little Joey, dragging along on the rope behind the cow. Needs to be a bit more gutsy I reckon.”
Maybelle laughed, and poor Joe blushed.
Ben’s annoyance rose. Joe was shy and unsure of himself, and David played on it.
“Stubble it, Dave. I’ve seen you towed behind many a cow, and horse too for that matter. You should help, not stand and laugh.”
“And what would you know?” David sneered loudly. “You sit around in the town, you don’t work your fingers to the bone…”
“Quiet!” Zac Ferguson thundered.
The table fell silent. Even David, mouth almighty, knew better than to defy his father. The meal finished with no more raised voices, and very little conversation.
Maybelle put the coffee pot on the table, and cleared the plates into the sink. Ben wondered if they would still be there in the morning. It wouldn’t be the first time, Maybelle was nearly as bad at pot washing as she was at cooking.
He studied his coffee, thanking the Lord for his great escape. He had loved her, been desperate that she should care for him, but how he felt now was very different. He still looked at her and thought she sparkled, her beauty was undeniable, but as a wife, she was far from what he wanted. Until she had arrived here and taken over the household no-one had understood that she was no homemaker. It was strange, because she seemed to want to do it even though she had no talent for it at all. But she loved Josh, and Josh was devoted to her, so who was he to criticize?
He looked around the table at his siblings. Anyone could see they were family. Abe looked most like his father, along with his dark hair he sported a full beard. Ruth and Caleb took after their mother, with a lighter shade of hair, the rest of them were degrees between. Adam was the handsome one, he and Josh were passable, and alike enough that they were considered identical by most people. Ben never bothered to point out that he had blue eyes, while Josh’s were green. Young Joseph was tall and lanky, while David was a big man, more heavily built. David sported a mustache, and was good-looking in a flashy way; he liked to think he could charm any lady.
They chatted about the cattle, the weather, and the Thanksgiving social which was due at the end of next week. There were other celebrations held in the town, a Fourth of July Picnic, and a Christmas social after the Christmas Eve church service, but at this moment, Thanksgiving beckoned. Ben was fairly certain he would be expected to attend in his capacity of Deputy Sheriff.
Now the sun had set, it was time to go to their beds.
“You here to work in the morning?” Zac addressed him in his normal abrupt fashion.
Ben felt a sharp retort rising, but squelched it. He was the only one, apart from the older twins, who had found another job, but his father still expected him to help on the property when he was here. Maybe it was the price he had to pay for eating and sleeping here on a regular basis?
“I have to be back in town by mid-afternoon.” That was not strictly true, if he went early he could eat at the diner before he went to work. A tasty meal before he patrolled all night would not go amiss.
“Good, you can go with Joe to the far pasture and check on the cattle. We will be bringing them closer to home next week.”
Ben nodded. As jobs went, that one was acceptable. He never minded working with Joe. David was another matter. As far as Ben could see, David wanted out of here, and it made him increasingly angry. He took it out on everyone, and everything, weaker than him. That included horses, cattle, and Joe! Unfortunately he still didn’t have the backbone to stand up to his father, and leave.
He had tried to talk with him about it, but David merely snarled that since he and Caleb had left, they had made it impossible for anyone else to go. In Ben’s eyes this was a feeble excuse; Zac Ferguson might be a hard man, but he wasn’t unfair, if David made his case properly, Ben was pretty certain he would be able to leave without a fight. Since David was so sour and difficult, their father clamped down on him in an attempt to change his behavior. It wasn’t working!
Ben retired to his bed along with his brothers, knowing they would be up before dawn.
CHAPTER THREE
B en entered the kitchen to get a bite of breakfast. He and Joe were already saddle up ready to go. Adam and Abe came in behind him, carrying the milk pail and this morning’s eggs. Once again Ben wondered, that was a job he would have expected Maybelle to take over, but she’d got them all dancing to her tune. It was a pity she couldn’t civilize them a little more, but she seemed perfectly happy with the way things were.
Zac was seated at the table.
Abe addressed his father. “Pa, there is smoke coming from the direction of the western pasture.”
Zac sat up straight. “Smoke? There’s a range fire?”
“No,” Adam assured him, “it’s not like that, this is more like a campfire, or a chimney. I wonder if someone is over at the old Lovell house.”
“They had better not be! I closed the deal on that place, and the land, only a month ago.”
All eyes turned on Zac.
“What?” Adam exclaimed. “You never said anything about buying it. You have wanted it for years. How…?”
“I never said, because it was all a bit… difficult. But we reached an agreement. The place is mine. Any squatter had better pack their bags, fast. Eat your breakfast. We are going over there.” He turned his gaze to Ben. “You are the law, you come and see the man off, and Abe, you come, this is your inheritance. The rest of you can get on with the work.”
No discussion, there never was. That was part of the reason Ben had broken away, had his father included the family in his decisions, he might never have done so. As a boy he had looked forward to running the ranch with his brothers, but his father would never loosen his hold on the reins.
Evicting a squatter. Not the way he had wanted to start the day. People who did this sort of thing were often destitute and desperate, or they were criminals. Neither was attractive.
***
Charis put the old kettle over the open fire for a cup of coffee to start her day. As she waited for it to boil she twisted her dark red locks into a knot behind her head. It would be out of the way for the cleaning she was about to do as she tried to put the house to rights. Repairs were necessary, but right now, she could improve what she had just by clearing up.
She pricked up her ears at the sound of voices outside. Then came a heavy pounding on the door.
“Open up”
She scrambled to her feet and grabbed the old gun from the table before approaching the door cautiously. She had no ammunition, but who was to know that? The heavy knocking came again.
“Open up, in the name of the law.”
The Law?
Charis hastened to open the door. Standing on her porch were two men, a third stood at the bottom of the steps, holding the horses. The younger man on the porch was wearing a badge, the silver star of a sheriff.
The men seemed taken aback by the sight of her. No doubt they had not expected a woman.
“Can I help you?” she asked politely.
The older man spoke gruffly. “Yes. You can clear out of my property.”
Charis stared at him. As she opened her mouth to deny his words, she realized who he was. Her neighbor.
“I… Oh. Mr. Ferguson. Pardon me, I may have been away for years, but this is still my house.”
The man growled. “Who the blazes do you think you are? This is my property, bought and paid for. Tell her Benjamin. You are the law, get her off my property.”
The man with the badge was staring at her in both surprise and confusion.
&
nbsp; “Charis? Charis Lovell?”
“Yes, that is me.”
He turned to the older man. “Pa, we can’t just send her away, this was her home.”
“It is my home. My father gave me the deeds just before I left Cheyenne.”
“Ahh, you have the deeds! Give them to me. He said he would send them, I thought he meant through the post, but by hand will do as well,” Mr. Ferguson stated aggressively.
“I will not! This is my property. I have come home and I intend to turn it into a proper home.”
Zac Ferguson raised his voice again.
“Lovell sold me this land at the end of last month. All official and signed for by the attorney in the town.” He glared at Charis. “Although….” he hesitated, “although he did make one stipulation, but I never thought he would go through with it.”
“Stipulation?” Ben Ferguson prompted his father.
Charis was still staring in disbelief. She couldn’t understand why her father would do such a thing and not warn her? If he’d sold the land, why let her come here? Why hand her the deeds? She wasn’t going to back down and believe this until she saw the evidence with her own eyes.
“I don’t believe you,” she stated flatly.
“Oh, you will believe me. And the rest of it you will have to accept too. He sold me this land, which I have wanted for years, on one condition, and he made me sign to say I would abide by it, too. He said I had to provide you with one of my sons as a husband, since you seemed incapable of finding one yourself.”
“He said what?” Charis gasped.
The two sons, Ben, whom he had named, and Abraham, whom she did recognize, both gave small exclamations of surprise.
“Father, you cannot seriously tell me that…” the son with the star began.
“I can. I agreed and we signed a paper, both of us. It is with the attorney. I never specified which son, but there are enough of you to decide who wants to take her. Lovell was afraid she’d be left alone and in trouble, he thought it best to organize something for her,” Zac Ferguson growled.
“But… No!” Charis gasped. “I will not marry someone not of my choosing.”
Ferguson shrugged. “Attorney said the papers were legal. You’d better come with us.”
“But…” Charis began to back into the house
Ben Ferguson stepped towards her. “Miss Lovell, I am sorry if this is a shock for you. It’s news to us as well! I came here to evict a squatter, I never knew until Father told us this morning, that he had bought this place. Maybe you should come back with us until we can sort this out.”
“Nothing to sort out, only which one will get hitched to her.” Ferguson turned away to collect his horse. “See she gets to the ranch. Come on Abe, there’s work a-wastin’.” He hopped aboard and trotted away, Abe nodded in her direction and mounted up to follow.
Charis was left standing in the doorway with Sheriff Ferguson.
“Is this true? How can this be true? Sheriff, you can’t expect me…”
“It is deputy, not sheriff, and you can call me Ben.”
She stared up at him. “This is wrong.”
He removed his hat and scratched his head in a rueful fashion. “I don’t know. If Father bought and paid for the land, and has letters to prove it…”
“But the part about me having to marry one of you, that cannot be right!”
“I would have no idea about the legality of such an agreement.”
“Legality be hanged! What about the morality of it?”
He stared at her, obviously taken aback by such an unladylike expression, but Charis didn’t much care. Being ladylike had never got her anywhere, she’d achieved more by being hard-headed, and she wasn’t going to give in to this without a fight.
“We need to get back to the ranch. Do you have much luggage?”
“I am staying here.”
“I think… Look, why don’t you come back, and you can take a look at the legal letter. If Pa says he did it legally, then he did. He is no thief, and he doesn’t hold with any who are. That is why he was so…”
“Unreasonable?” Charis snapped.
Benjamin Ferguson gave her a rueful smile. “He does come across that way, but he believes he owns the place, hence you are trespassing, therefore he sees that he is in the right. He would not be that way if he wasn’t certain of his ground.”
“So I have no home?”
He gave a small shrug. “So it would seem. Of course, if you marry Abe, you will have the ranch.”
“Abe? He is still single?”
“He is; I reckon Father will think that the best match.”
“And Abe will just agree? He doesn’t have the grit to make his own decisions? I don’t think I want to marry a man like that! In fact, I’m not sure I want to marry at all.”
“Then you will suit Abe just fine, he says he doesn’t want to, either.” He took her arm. “Come on, we need to get back.”
She shook him off.
“This will be on my terms. I am not coming because you say I must, I am coming because I want to sort this out, discover the truth, and get back to my house.”
He gave a sigh. “You pack your gear, I will saddle your horse for you.”
“I am quite capable…”
“I’m sure you are, but we need to get on with this.” He turned and headed from the house.
Charis stared after him. Insufferable man. Or maybe it was an insufferable family? The Ferguson ranch had always seemed overrun with young men. She wondered if Ruth Ferguson was still at home? They had been good friends when they were at school. Surely she could make her father see sense?
She hadn’t much packing to do, she’d not really unpacked. The bedroll she left on the bedstead, in the hope that she would be returning later today. When she stepped outside Deputy Ferguson was waiting with her horse. He stepped forward and took her bags, tying the handles together with a rawhide thong
She hitched up her skirts and mounted up, well aware that he goggled for a second before looking away from the sight of her bare legs above her short boots. Frankly she didn’t care.
He turned back to check she was ready, a red stain across his high cheek bones. The older twins had been around eighteen when she had left, she had thought them good-looking even then, but this man had matured very nicely. This was a handsome, attractive man. It dawned on her that maybe she should, and actually did, care. She blushed and dropped her eyes.
“Sorry. I have no riding skirt, and I could not purchase any sort of side saddle. I had to do what was necessary.”
He cleared his throat. “No matter.” He slung the bags across his horse and mounted up. “Let’s go.”
As they rode across the land Charis remembered from her childhood, she realized that, despite her words about fighting, it was a done deal. She knew her father had never loved this place, he had been intending to sell for their move to San Francisco. Of course he had sold the property, he just hadn’t told her, in order that she would leave them to travel alone.
There was far more to dread from a marriage she had not wanted!
“How many of your brothers are unmarried, Deputy Ferguson?”
“Call me Ben, please. And only Joshua is married.”
“Your twin?”
“Yes. He still lives on the ranch, as does his wife Maybelle.”
“Do I know her from school?”
“No, her family came around five years ago.”
“How is Ruth?”
“Ahh, now Ruth is married. She moved away to the other side of Jessop Creek, and Caleb went too. He works with her husband Frank.”
“So I will still have five to choose from?”
He flashed a look at her. “Josh and Caleb are unavailable, but I don’t think… I think Pa will…”
“Choose for me?” Charis snapped. “And you think I will be happy with that?”
“Mail order brides marry strangers. At least none of my brothers are strangers.”
“M
ail order brides choose to marry, even if it is to a stranger. I’m not sure I want to. I had plans.”
“Plans?”
She looked back at him. It seemed pointless opening her heart about her ambitions, her hopes. The land was gone, the possibility of finance was gone, and with it, her dreams.
She gave a small shake of her head. “Never mind.”
CHAPTER FOUR
B en regarded the girl at his side. She looked… defeated. Back in the house she had been defiant, a proper red-headed fury, but it had all drained out of her, quite suddenly, as they had talked. He felt guilty. It was none of his doing, but no-one should be treated in this way, particularly by their father. His father was uncompromising, but he was never cruel; the hand she had been dealt was cruel if she truly hadn’t known the situation.
Charis Lovell. He remembered her as a little red-headed sprite, with freckles on her nose and the brightest green eyes he had ever seen. The freckles were still there, although the red hair didn’t look as bright as it had all those years back. In the drab November light, her eyes had not shone out the way they had as a child. She had been a beacon in the sunshine, and all the boys at school had teased her.
She had often been on the ranch in the summer months, as he remembered she was a year younger than Ruth, and they had been good friends. She had often walked over to spend the afternoons with his sister when she had been old enough to hike the three miles alone. Ruth had loved having another girl about the place, even for a few hours of the day.
He had no doubt his father would stick with the arrangement. He had put his name to it, and Pa considered a man’s word was his bond. Ben guessed he would insist Abe became her husband. His oldest brother was almost as gruff and uncompromising as his father, although Ben thought he was probably kinder. Problem was, unbeknown to his father, Abe was dead set against marriage. Maybe this pretty little lady would change his mind?
If Charis married Abe, she would become the lady of the household. Possibly Maybelle might appreciate some female company, but Ben was pretty sure she would not be happy that she was no longer Queen Bee. She may be no cook, but she certainly enjoyed her position of authority.