by Unknown
"Doc," I began, my voice now far colder than it had been when I'd first arrived, "I don't know why things are working out this way, by whose plan all this came to be..." I levelled my gaze at him, held him in my cold, hard stare to make sure he understood how serious I was when I said what I was about to say, "but I will never marry this man. For as long as I'm alive, that will never happen."
I felt Sam's stare descend upon me, more than I saw it, my own still watching Doc for his reaction. But he didn't stare back. He didn't try to win by will. He just shook his head and rubbed his hands together, then ran another finger along his moustache before going on.
"Gracey, here are your choices. You can marry Sam and keep the land in the family. Should you have children, the land will go to them and your Pappy's wishes'll be honoured, the way they should be. The other choice, is that I die someday and in the will that I've prepared which Sam here has come to witness, I leave the land to him because you and I both know well enough that you can't own it yourself. Now the choice is yours. I want to do what's right by your Pa and I suspect you will too, once you've had some time to consider all this."
An awkward, pregnant silence filled the room as I gazed through the good Doc, out past the walls of his house and up into the foothills where everything inside the ranch house lay in pieces. My mind got lost, floating somewhere between the Doc's house and the tree underneath which my daddy was buried and the feeling of a hard hand on mine resting on the armchair, shook me from my dream. I looked down to see Sam's bony fingers covering mine, another shrill shiver racing up my spine at his touch.
"Get your hand off of me," I hissed. I could feel how taken aback he was by being spoken to like that, particularly by a woman, but the feeling didn't last very long.
"You'll watch your mouth when you speak to me if you know what's good for you," he rumbled, his voice menacing and full of rage.
My mind drifted back to watching Travis and Rebecca in the barn, watching him discipline her, watching her submit to his dominance. There was nothing of the Travis' tenderness or affection in Sam's voice. Just a furious anger waiting to be unleashed.
"I'll make sure to watch it once I'm six feet deep in the ground," I snarled, finally turning towards him so he could see my disgust.
"Grace!" Doc cried out, his tone betraying his hope of soothing the situation. I wouldn't let him finish.
"But for the time being, you should know that I meant what I said to the Doc about marrying you. The day I do will be the day my body is dead and cold. I hate you Sam Spencer and so did my daddy and you can go straight to hell!"
I barely even knew that I'd stood up, so furious was the anger that filled my body and clouded my vision, but I couldn't spend another minute with that evil man next to me. Without saying a word to the Doc, I stomped to the door, flung it open and burst out into the dusk of evening, made darker by the clouds overhead.
I unhitched the horse and practically threw myself up its side, scrambling to get on as he was already underway.
On the horizon, the clouds had begun to break and a brilliant crimson filled the evening sky. Wasn't there a saying about a red sky at night being good for sailors? I sure as hell hoped it was good for cowgirls too, because I was running out of options. I dug my heels into the horses flanks, almost causing the poor animal to rear and shouted a loud, "Ha!" The horse burst into a gallop back towards the foothills. I had no idea what the future held. All I knew was that Sam Spencer would have nothing to do with it.
Chapter 3: Strangers on a dusty road
"Whoa!" Cole called out, cupping a gloved hand over one side of his mouth in the hopes his friend would hear over the clatter of hooves. Austin didn't seem to mind any. "Whoa, I said!" Cole called out louder. So loud, he felt the horses body jolt beneath his loins as it spooked. He quickly laid a calming palm on its neck and gave the mare a few gentle strokes, which seemed to calm her down some. This time Austin heard. Pulling gently on their reins, the men guided the two animals to a halt and Austin spun around to face his friend.
"What exactly can I help you with?" Austin grinned sarcastically, silent h's whistling past his lips as if they were meant to sound. "Tired of ridin' already?"
Cole ignored the friendly jab and pointed at the river that wound it's way lazily a few hundred feet to their right.
"I can ride all night. Certainly out ride you some. I figured your pretty little ass needed a rest anyways. What about over there?" Cole asked, pointing towards a bend in the river where the brush was low. Austin surveyed what seemed to be a perfect spot to make camp, then looked a little further down the hill at the dim lights of the tiny town of Dalton.
"You don't think it's too close?" he asked, jerking his head towards the houses in the valley below. "I don't want to end up getting pissed on by some drunk stumbling home from the saloon."
"It's well enough out of the way. We shouldn't have any problems. We'll keep the fire low," Cole replied with his usual dry, clipped sentences. "Come on. Let's pitch a tent before it gets too dark." He pulled once again on the reins of his mare and gave her a gentle nudge with the heel of his boot. The horse began to walk slowly into the low brush off the road and down the gentle incline, towards the rivers edge.
"Well I do say, this is a pretty little view you have selected for us here Cole," Austin said jumping off his horse and stretching his arms towards the sky. Cole didn't reply, but simply dismounted and began to unfasten the saddle bags and blanket to relieve his horse of its load. Austin followed suit and soon the two horses were drinking quietly at the rivers edge as the two men went about the business of preparing a modest camp.
Once the fire was burning and a pot of water had been put on to boil, to be cooled overnight for the morning, the two sat down facing the river and took in the view. Austin, never one to have tolerated silence well, managed to make it a few minutes before trying to strike up a conversation.
"So how long you think? Before we find something?" he asked, glancing at Cole and pulling a small flask from his saddle bag. Cole shrugged, staring down the river towards what seemed like a sun that had exploded just beneath the horizon sending streaks of orange and red into the sky. "I guess what I mean is, how long before we give up on someone selling us anything and head back home?" Austin asked, revealing what he was worried about most.
"I ain't ever going back." Cole said simply. Austin took a swig from the flask then passed it to his friend. Cole glanced at it, then shook his head and went back to staring at the amber sky.
"What if we don't find anyone who wants to sell? We just gonna keep riding like this till one day we ride right into the ocean?" Austin prodded.
"I don't care what'n the hell we do. I ain't ever going back there."
The sound of a horses whinny followed by the steady rhythm of galloping hooves caused the two men to turn around and look behind them at the road curving up the mountainside. When they saw the horse with its rider pounding up the hill, the duo glanced at each other with raised eyebrows. Unusual to see someone in such a hurry at this time of night. Even more unusual was the fact that it appeared to be a woman.
The rolling cloud of dust kicked up by her pursuer's horse caught their eye and the two watched as a man in a black suit on horseback, riding a horse just as black, overtook the young woman then yanked the horse to a halt almost immediately in front of her. The young woman nearly fell off the animal as it reared, terrified by the sudden road block, and the man in black sat quietly waiting for her to calm it down.
Austin looked at Cole with one eyebrow raised. Cole shook his head. "Not our problem," he said dryly and turned his back on the scene. Austin, knowing that his friend was right, couldn't quite manage to tear his eyes away as quickly though and watched for a while longer, trying to make out what the situation was about. When the sounds of raised voices floated down from the road, he couldn't bear to sit by the peaceful river any longer.
"I'm going to just pop up there and see if everything's okay," Austin said, standing u
p and brushing the dust off his trousers. "I'd hate to be just sitting here if there was someone that might need my help."
Cole shook his head but didn't move.
"If they need our help, they'll ask for it," he buzzed, dryly.
"Well they can't ask if they don't know we're here," Austin half-spoke, half-yelled at him from over his shoulder. But the man and woman up the hill didn't notice him approaching, or the fact he'd yelled, as he'd hoped they would. No use surprising folk on the open, lonely road. He'd met a few too many trigger happy cowboy's to know that the element of surprise could just as well work against you as it could for you. As he approached the duo, he made sure to make plenty of noise and when it still seemed like they hadn't seen him, he finally gave up on trying to be subtle and shouted a friendly "Hello!" up the hill as he started to climb his way towards the road.
Sure enough, the mounted man in the black suit had a six-shooter at his hip and pointed towards Austin faster than a jack rabbit down a hole and Austin raised his hands slowly, easily, with his palms facing out to make sure the man knew he meant no harm. As he approached, Austin glanced at the man and noticed the silver sheriff's star on his chest. His heart sank almost immediately. Either he'd gotten in the way of an arrest, or worse, the man was up to no good and sure as hell didn't want him knowing about it. The worst part of all was that it probably meant that Cole was right and he should have just minded his own business.
"Now hold on there," Austin called out to the man, "I don't mean any harm and I sure as heck don't want to be butting into anyone else's business, it's just it looked like quite a commotion from my camp site down by the river and with my eyes being what they are I just thought I'd,"
"Shut-up, son," the sheriff growled, waving his revolver from Austin to the road in front of him. "State your business."
"No business, sir," Austin replied, trying to sound as conciliatory as possible, "and as I said I don't want to be interrupting yours I just thought that..."
"Like I said, shut yer mouth!" Along with raising his voice, the suited man pointed his pistol at Austin, silencing him in mid-sentence, even making him take a step back. Without letting on that he was doing so, Austin began to take quiet stock of the situation. The size of the man's horse. The distance between the end of the pistol and himself. The distance between the man and the woman, whom Austin had yet to get a good look at. The situation began to come together in his mind, like pieces of a puzzle that had many solutions, fitting themselves together to make the best one. "Now, what're you doin' out here?" the sheriff rumbled at Austin.
"Well, sir, if I may," Austin began, still surveying angles and counting steps required to move from one point to the other, "I was just passing through and thought that bend over there in the river might make a nice campground for the night..."
The sound of a pistol being shot registered slightly later than Austin felt the gravel explode around his left boot as the bullet grazed the ground directly beside him. The sound of the woman's scream came not too much longer after that and it gave Austin the first opportunity he'd had to glance at the woman on the horse who'd caused all this commotion.
It wasn't the first time he'd ever seen a woman, but in that moment, he wouldn't have minded too much if it had been the last. The woman seated on the horse, just past the sheriff's own was possibly the most beautiful creature he'd ever laid eyes on. Even though her hair was in a bun and the light was already low, Austin drank in every color, every shape of her as if by doing so he could somehow keep the memory forever. Her hazel eyes, the slight freckles on her nose, the way her chest curved out then back wound back in towards her waist like the bend in the river, everything about her almost made him forget that he'd just been shot at, by a sheriff no less.
"Look at me when I'm talkin' to you!" the sheriff roared, tearing Austin's gaze away from the lady he'd been staring at. Austin obeyed and looked at the man, but not in the eye, lest that raise his ire. "You shoulda minded your own business. Too bad, there's been a lot of robberies on these roads lately. Glad I came around just in time to help this helpless young lady before it was too late." I quiet grin began to spread across the sheriff's face as he raised his gun one last time and got ready to shoot.
"You'll have to kill us both if you do that." Cole's calm voice drifted from behind the woman's horse causing the sheriff to jump and the horses to stomp slightly at the unexpected sound.
"What'n the hell?" the sheriff swore, spinning around to face the stranger on his other side while still trying to keep an eye on Austin. The light illuminating the sky had all but faded and it was hard to make out Cole's shape in the darkness, but the three could hear where he was speaking from and all turned to look that way.
"Looks like you're not getting your man this time, sheriff," Cole said from wherever he was hiding. "If I were you, I'd ride back into town and leave well enough alone. We'll come and settle this up in the morning."
"Why you," the sheriff began, raising his gun past the woman on the horse and firing off a shot that flew past her head. She ducked, hugging her horse's neck tightly. Almost immediately, another shot rang out on the road, whizzing past the sheriff's black hat and burying itself into an outcrop of rock a dozen feet away.
"That wasn't an accident," Cole said coldly. "Time to go home."
Even though he couldn't quite make out the color of his face, Austin could tell the man was probably red with rage. He also wasn't stupid because after a few moments he spun his horse around, pointed it towards the woman and when he got close, grabbed her arm as if he were going to throw her across his own saddle.
"Let go of me!" the woman shrieked, pulling her arm from the sheriff's grasp and towards her body.
"Miss Grace," the sheriff growled through clenched teeth, "there ain't no way I'm leavin' you out on an empty road with two strangers now, get on!!!" The sheriff made another grab for her, but the woman was too quick and nudged her horse to one side, avoiding his grasp.
"I'd sure as hell rather die by their hand than be touched by yours, Sam. Now let me be!" The last sentence was more roared than spoken, and Austin's eyes went wide, witnessing the woman's spirit. The sheriff looked at Austin, back at Grace, then into the darkness trying to make out where the shots had come from.
"Time to go home, Sam," Cole's even voice droned, cool and devoid of emotion. The sheriff's fury grew, but he was smart enough to know when he didn't stand a chance.
"To hell with you!" Sam Spencer roared, digging his spurs into the sides of his giant, black steed, the horse broke almost immediately into a gallop and kicked up a cloud of dust behind it as the two rode off into the night and towards the town beyond.
As soon as the sheriff was far enough away, Cole stepped out from the shadows, slowly and carefully so as not to spook the woman, or the horse she was riding.
"Sorry for the trouble, miss. My friend over there doesn't know when to mind his own business."
"No...no, trouble," the woman replied, her teeth chattering, her body obviously shaking with fright.
"Miss," Austin spoke, causing the woman to spin around and face him, "easy does it. We mean no harm. Our camp is just down the way there, just by the river. Care for a cup of coffee? Something to steady your nerves? We mean no harm."
Grace looked back and forth between the two men on either side of her. Eventually, her body gave way to her will and she was able to stop shivering and sit straight in her saddle. Once she'd collected herself, she cleared her throat and her usual, calm voice said,
"I've a better idea. My ranch house is just up the road. Why don't we calm our nerves there."
Chapter 4: House Guests
I do admit that it might have been somewhat foolhardy to trust a couple of complete strangers I'd just met on the darkened road over Sam Spencer, sonofabitch that he was. Might have had something to do with the Doc telling me he was dying earlier that day. Might have had something do with the fact that ranch looked like it was no longer going to be mine and that I was more'n
likely going to have to turn to a life of prostitution to support myself because I sure as hell wasn't bedding down with Sam.
But there was a kindness to the two of them, a certain rugged kindness that I could tell was real, or thought I could. I couldn't really see them by the time they'd collected their horses and picked up camp and come back towards the road, but something in the way they moved told me that things were going to be okay.
When we got close to Becca's place I thought of returning the horse and asking one of the two men for a ride, but it sure would feel lonely on that ranch with no horse, no way to get into town. Chances were that her Pa'd already noticed the horse was missing and either she or the ranch hand who'd let me have it were getting their ear chewed off. Another few hours till dawn keeping it wouldn't hurt.