Taking a Leap of Love: An Inspirational Historical Western Romance Book

by Lilah Rivers

  “My daughter’s right! Remember Galatians 6: ‘Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.’”

  The men on each side of the creek exchanged looks of shame, heads low. But Samuel called out, “Enough of your preaching, even the pastor himself isn’t here! Now stand down, young woman, or be cut down!”

  “You’d threaten my daughter?”

  “And a woman?”

  Meyerson shouted, “The coward Elroy Archer trots out his women to stay us! The other’s eldest son doesn’t even deem to show up at all! Let’s show these louts what real courage is!” The other men threw up an even louder cheer, and Bella looked at her mother. Several feet separated them, and her mother seemed to know what Bella had already deduced. They’d never touch hands again, never hug, never exchange another word.

  Both were about to die.

  Chapter 58

  Turner Moss gathered his ammunition, closing his gun belt around his waist. He pulled on his boots, taking a long look around the quiet house. Nothing had been the same since his father died. The hallways seemed to echo with his voice, his presence haunted the rooms and chambers.

  He knew there was a strong chance that he’d never see the house again, the place where he’d grown up. He could imagine himself as a child, playing with his adoring parents, all right with their world. He could see himself as a younger man, ripe with ambition and filled with dreams of the future.

  But it was all in the past by that time, there didn’t seem to be any future left.

  It was up to Turner’s imagination to envision the children he and Bella would have raised in that house, the holidays they would have celebrated. Through good times and bad, they would have thrived as a loving family. Instead, Turner was left alone; no children to hold, no wife to look adoringly into his eyes. It seemed a cruel twist of fate, but one Turner had been given little chance but to accept.

  But there were choices, limited though they may have been.

  “Turner? Turner, honey?”

  Turner cleared his throat to try to assume a normal tone. “Yes, Mother?”

  From two rooms away, she called, “You’re wearing boots in the house … are you going out?”

  “I am, Mother, just for a few hours … a quick run into town.”

  “Into town? Why?”

  Turner sighed, grabbing his jacket. “Have a few things to take care of, Mother. Don’t worry; I’ll be home soon enough.”

  Turner walked across the house, glancing out the window at the yard where he played as a kid, where friends were made and lost in games of friendly fury. But this was no game, and there would be no friends on that battlefield. Turner flashed on the Archer twins, Dean and Jonah, both good and welcoming men, friendly even more than their sister.

  They should be spared any unnecessary suffering, Turner told himself, if that can be accomplished without sacrificing the principle goal.

  Turner flashed on Josh Callahan, the face of the man who above all others bore the responsibility for his heartache. Were it not for him, Turner told himself yet again, Bella and I would be married. Now … now things will never go that way.

  He’s not a bad man, Turner had to admit, I’m not thinking that. But the man will live the life and have the wife I wanted, which I thought I had. It was a cruel and bitter blow.

  Turner stepped out the door and to his horse. It was a melancholy errand that he was shouldered with, but he knew he had no choice but to fulfill it. He took one last look at his childhood home, at his childhood, knowing he was leaving it behind forever. Whatever he was returning to, if he was to return at all, would never be the same; he would never be the same.

  Chapter 59

  “Stop! Hold on! Hold your fire!” All turned as Josh rode up, Parker slumped against him from behind, arms barely clinging to his waist.

  “Josh!”

  “Bella!”

  Hugh and Barton shared a glance which Josh did not fail to notice. But he couldn’t let it interfere with his focus. This was the moment of truth, life or death; everything was on the line for everyone.

  Jesse called out, “What’s all this now? Another shady trick? Another tricky ruse? One man uses his daughter and wife, the other his son!”

  Josh said, “Shut your mouth, Hayden; help me with this man!” Josh rode him to one bank, Bella and Sybil staying close, the ranchers watching eagerly from their side of the creek, some riding forward for a better view. Samuel and a few other homesteaders got off their horses and helped Parker off Patches and to the bank.

  Jesse demanded, “What happened to this man? What did you do to him?”

  Josh said, “He had an accident as we were riding in from Lincoln.”

  Samuel said, “This is the land official from town; he’s owned by Decker!”

  Both sides grumbled, and Samuel called out, “Now he’s in league with Callahan’s boy! That proves they’re in collusion!”

  The others cheered out their hatred, but Josh shouted above them, “Shut your mouths and open your eyes, you fools! This man’s risked his life to make this ride here. Don’t you want to listen to what he’s got to say?”

  The two crowds fell silent, turning their attention to the man that lay prostrate by the banks of the stream.

  “In my pocket, two documents … one of them is the authorized, verified claim for the homesteaders of the land south of Nelson’s creek.” The homesteaders nodded and smiled, sharing an easy satisfaction. Parker went on, “The other is a chart … Decker’s property was once held by the US Army, fighting the Comanche. Technically, they never relinquished their claim. So you can run him out of Nebraska altogether if you wish.”

  Josh turned to the other local ranchers. “That means the big ranchers won’t have free rein to just trounce through here, your own lands won’t be overgrazed. There’ll be plenty for all at last!”

  “Without a drop of blood being lost,” Bella added. She shot Josh a smile from her distance, which she seemed to know she needed to keep at that delicate moment for all their sakes.

  Jesse asked, “Why should we trust this liar? He’s a trickster, and he’s Decker’s puppet!”

  “He’s a good man,” Josh said, “trying to make up for his past mistakes, redeeming himself of his sins.”

  “That’s right,” Parker said, wincing in pain, head rolling a bit on his shoulders. “I … I know I was wrong, but … I wanna make up for it. These documents are authentic; I promise you.”

  Josh added, “We had them notarized in town, it’s all bona fide! We can run Decker out of town and live in peace! We can thrive by our hard work and good fortune; isn’t that what we all want? Or would you rather be under the thumb of some tyrant a full hour’s ride off? What does he know or care about you or your struggles or your dreams? His own greed is his only concern, and he’s in thrall to it!”

  The men started to grumble again, nodding and sneering.

  “It’s true,” Parker said, “but … but …” Parker winced and flinched, coughing up blood.

  Josh turned to him. “You okay, Park?”

  Parker shook his head. “S’all right, Josh, we … we both knew what would happen, me ridin’ out here …” Parker winced again, coughing and cramping, breath wheezing. “It’s all right, I … I owe it to you, to all of you … But …” Parker winced again, all eyes on him. “It … it was Decker … even Remington, he … he wanted to help too, help Barnock to … to …” He threw up another cluster of wretched coughs, blood all over his chin. “Don’t blame him … don’t … it was Decker …Decker …” Another spasm silenced Parker’s words, blood coughs punctuating his final breaths.

  Josh looked over at Bella, who wore a sad expression, face downcast. Parker went limp and lifeless, dead on the banks of Nelson’s Creek. Josh took the documents from Parker’s dead hand and held them up.
r />   “Well? Did this man die in vain?”

  Jesse and Samuel shared a glance, the other men sharing thoughts and feeding each other’s newly directed anger.

  Josh went on, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m riding up to Decker’s ranch, and I’m going to send him packing! Any of you want to come with me, you’re more than welcome.”

  Bella kicked her horse to ride up beside him, Sybil beside her. Elroy and his sons rode in from one side to join the family, Barton and Hugh riding in from the other. They faced the ranchers on one side and the homesteaders on the other.

  Finally, Jesse Hayden himself shouted out, “All right, men, let’s go show that out-of-town big-timer how we look out for each other here in Barnock!” Every man cheered and the entire party rode off to the north toward Saul Decker’s ranch, just an hour away. They rode as one, with a new leader and a new cause; armed with righteousness and fixed on the straight and narrow at last.

  But there was no telling what Decker would do when they arrived; they weren’t long or far from finding out.

  Chapter 60

  Josh rode Patches at the head of the party, two-hundred men behind him on horseback, in carriages, heavily armed and driven by the undeniable motivations of life and death.

  Josh glanced at Bella, riding by his side, right along with his father and brother and her own father and brothers. They were united in a way he’d never imagined, and under circumstances he never would have hoped for. But he was certain God was riding with them, and that they had righteousness and decency on their side.

  There may have been a bit of chicanery along the way, but what mattered was that the people of Barnock would be freed, that Decker would face the only kind of justice a man like him would ever know, the only kind of justice men like Josh could ever truly dispense.

  Josh couldn’t get over the death of poor Parker Bristol. It was true that the man had sold himself out to a corrupt man, becoming corrupt himself. But he’d redeemed himself, sacrificed his life for the greater good. He wouldn’t die in vain, not if Josh had any say in it. And the way things were going, it looked like he was going to have that say after all.

  But it wouldn’t come without a price.

  Riding on at the head of the huge party, Bella drew Josh’s special attention. She was the woman God intended for him, there could be no doubt, and he was the man God intended for her. It was an unlikely match, but one that seemed certain and destined. But it was not guaranteed yet.

  There was great danger facing Decker, a man with a small army of servants, staff, hands, armed guards. He wouldn’t walk away peaceably, that struck Josh as beyond certain. And he knew that Bella wouldn’t back down; she wouldn’t be sidelined. She’d earned her right to fight alongside the men, but that didn’t make her invincible. And she was about to be directly in the line of fire and, in many ways, the one most likely to draw fire.

  Lord, Josh prayed as they all rode on, preserve her, please. I will gladly lay down my own life if this is what You require. But preserve her and deliver her safely from all this, I beg you!

  They rode on, Josh’s mind wandering to the subject of his father and brother, in just as much danger as anyone. He knew his father could well handle himself. Anyone who underestimated Barton Callahan was making a mistake.

  But Hugh, Josh thought, he’s not ready for this, for any of this. I know he’s more capable than I was ready to admit, and I do still owe him an apology … Lord, deliver us both safely so that I might give him a proper apology, that I might fully tell him how proud I am of the man he’s becoming, of the friend and brother he’s always been.

  But Hugh’s desire to prove himself could yet get the better of him, propel him into dangerous territory from which nobody could rescue him.

  Give him self-control, Lord, him and the others in this sad clash.

  There were others to consider; Bella’s father and her brothers, the twins. She would want them to survive, of course, and Josh wanted the same thing. But they were on the front lines of the next conflict, and the twins in particular were volatile and ready for a fight.

  Dean had proven himself a good fellow, but the other couldn’t be trusted. There was something going on between them that Josh didn’t quite understand, but he was afraid that the one Jonah might be propelled to risky expressions of manhood. He, like Hugh, wasn’t prepared for a day like this one.

  None of them were.

  Chapter 61

  Josh led the party onto the Decker property, guards not even trying to hold them back. Sheer numbers prevented any heroics. Instead, staff and servants and hands ran either into the ranch house, into one of the shacks they lived in, or just plain ran.

  The party collected at the front of Decker’s house, three stories high. The ranchers and homesteaders of Barnock collected on their horses and in their carts, rifles and knives and pitchforks at the ready. Some lit torches, clearly prepared to burn the house down if the moment seemed to call for it.

  Decker stepped out on the front-facing balcony on the second floor, a look of shocked disdain on his face. He surveyed the crowd, eyes finding Elroy and Barton and the Archer twins, finally resting on Josh and Bella, their horses side by side.

  “Well, well,” Decker said, “seems you’ve made your play after all, my modern-day Romeo and Juliet.”

  “We won’t wind up like those doomed lovers,” Josh said, back straight and shoulders back and broad. “But you might remember the fate of Othello’s Iago, carried off in a cage!”

  The men behind Josh murmured and nodded, their ire growing stronger with every passing moment. Josh knew it had been building up in them through the long ride over, and that it would spill over into a terribly violent expression if he didn’t resolve the matter quickly and thoroughly.

  He didn’t hold out much hope.

  Still, Josh held up Parker’s documents and said, “You’re through here.”

  “I —?” Saul threw out an astonished huff, near to a chuckle if the man had been gifted with any sense of humor at all. “You hard cases have a lot of nerve storming my property like this! Begone with you all now, or you’ll …”

  “And lest you think you can kill me and destroy these documents, know that you’d have to kill us all. You don’t have enough men for that, Decker.”

  “I have reserves.”

  “Not enough of them,” Josh said, “and you know it. I can hear it in your voice. I can see it in your face.”

  Saul looked Josh over. “You’re quite a brash young man, aren’t you?”

  “We only want what’s fair,” Josh said. In the corner of his eye, Bella looked at him, glowing with admiration, the two patriarchs and their other sons looking on quietly. The moment was his; Josh Callahan’s time had come.

  “Fair,” Saul repeated with obvious and clearly deliberate intent. “What a ruse, what a farce! Fair is what you can pay for, young man!” The men grumbled and groused behind him, and Josh could see in Saul’s expression that the older man knew he had to rethink his course. “Anyway, what’s not fair about it? You ranchers, I supported you, strengthened your position with the homesteaders. Haven’t your lands been overgrazed and trampled?”

  “By you and your big-timers,” Barton said. “And you bought out Parker Bristol to make sure the law wouldn’t stand in your way.”

  Saul looked over the crowd again, and Josh knew exactly why. Saul said, “I don’t see Parker Bristol here! It’s true, we worked together, as any significant land holder such as myself would do! There’s no crime in that!”