Blacksmith Brides

by Amanda Barratt

  Leah frowned. “What were they planning?”

  Hope shrugged. “I’ve no idea. I rounded the corner, scolding Burl for bullying his little brother, and the brat yelled an obscenity at me, threw a rock at my head, and told me to leave. So I did.”

  Leah’s shoulders knotted. “Lord, please don’t let Ethan be with those boys!”

  “To put your heart at ease, I didn’t see him. Nor did I hear Ethan mentioned in the conversation I overheard.”

  That was only mildly comforting, especially since in the few minutes they’d stood talking, evening had fallen. Darkness was upon them, and searching for Ethan would become infinitely harder.

  Lord, help me. Where is my brother?

  A chilling thought took shape. “You don’t think they could’ve done something to Ethan, do you? Was that why Jess was worrying about being caught?”

  Hope’s jaw went slack. “I don’t know.”

  “Show me where they were.”

  Hope hurried toward the alley, Leah fast on her heels. Nearing the backs of the buildings, Hope slowed.

  “They were just to the left.” She held her voice to a whisper as she indicated the direction.

  Without a thought, Leah brushed past her sister and barged into the connecting alley. Gone. Hope molded herself against Leah’s back as Leah scanned the narrow passageway.

  “How long ago were they here?” she whispered.

  “Ten minutes ago.”

  Frustration wound through her. Lord, am I following a rabbit trail, or do those boys know something? She didn’t want to waste time if they couldn’t provide clues.

  “Come on. We’ll make a pass through the alley then try the livery. Maybe someone there knows something.” Taking Hope’s hand, she led her sister into the adjoining alley and headed first toward Elverton’s center. When no sign of Ethan or the McCready boys turned up, they hurried in the opposite direction, straight toward Bo’s property. As they neared, a strange orange glow grew on the horizon, and the breeze carried the strong sent of smoke.

  Leah’s footsteps faltered. “Something’s burning!”

  She began to move, slowly at first then faster. Her heart pounded as she hit a full sprint. A few doors lining the alley opened, people stepping out to crane their necks in the direction of the glow.

  “Fire!” she shouted as she raced past. “Something’s burning!”

  Near the end of the alley, Mr. Harper burst out and charged toward Bo’s place. She, Hope, and the butcher reached Bo’s property at nearly the same time—just in time to see Burl McCready throw something toward the roof of Bo’s home. Glass shattered, and flames leaped into the air.

  “Hey!” Mr. Harper sprinted toward Burl. The young man took off, Harper in pursuit.

  For a stunned moment, Leah scrambled to assess the situation. Flames flew from both the smithy and Bo’s house. A frightened wail from the direction of the large oak tree drew her attention. There, Jess McCready stood near the trunk.

  More townsfolk had come to the scene, several racing to the front of the shop while someone pounded on the front door of the house.

  “Mr. Allen? Fire!”

  Leah grabbed Hope’s hand and dragged her toward the tree. Reaching Jess, she braced a hand against the trunk as she squatted beside him. Perhaps it was her own body shaking, but it felt as if the tree quivered.

  “Are you hurt?” she asked the boy.

  Eyes huge, he gave a faint head-shake, then his face twisted into a mask of fear. “I didn’t want to set anything on fire. Burl made me come.”

  “Don’t worry about that now.” Turning to her sister, she joined Hope’s hand with Jess’s. “Take him and go to the church. Ring the bell until the whole town comes out. Do you hear me?”

  Her sister nodded, and both raced away from the danger. Thankfully, the boy didn’t resist, but kept pace with Hope.

  Lord, keep them safe.

  Leah’s thoughts shifted instantly. Where was Bo? If he’d taken a dose of laudanum and gone to sleep, would he rouse? Heartbroken or not, she had to be sure he was safe.

  She took a step toward the house, but a sudden cascade of leaves and branches showered her. Covering her head with her arms, she shrieked and raced away, turning back as a large shadow jumped from tree limb to rooftop. Stunned, she straightened.

  “Bo?” She squinted at the roofline.

  The form, nowhere near large enough to be Bo, neared the flames, his red hair giving him away.

  “Ethan? No! Get down from there!”

  She watched in horror as her brother shook out what appeared to be a blanket and began to swat the flames.

  “Ethan. Come down. Now!” Leah raced to the back of the building and pounded on the wall to get his attention. “Get down! Jump!”

  A bucket brigade had formed, and those people too shouted for Ethan to descend. As the flames raced down the back wall, someone pulled Leah away from the building just in time to see the roof collapse, taking Ethan with it.

  “Ethan Guthrie!” Bo’s voice shook the silence as he stood in his stirrups, lifting a lantern into the falling dusk. He and Reese had searched the road to the Guthrie home in the two hours since learning of the boy’s disappearance. Finding no sign of him, they’d widened the search to the areas surrounding the pathways on their return.

  “Ethan!” Reese’s voice echoed not far off.

  “Answer me, boy!” Please. Bo swiveled in every direction. “You got folks worried about you.”

  After a long scan of the area, he slumped in the saddle.

  Reese came alongside him. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but we should go back.”

  He didn’t want to hear it, though his brother was right.

  “C’mon. We’ll rest and start fresh again at dawn. Besides, he might’ve been found by now.”

  Or he could be lying injured somewhere, unable to call for help. “I won’t forgive myself if anything happens to that boy.” His voice was husky.

  “This isn’t your fault, Bo. That boy ran off of his own volition.”

  “It’s all my fault.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  His gut knotted. “After our run-in in the churchyard, I was so angry at seeing you, I tore my smithy apart.”

  “I saw it.” Reese’s expression held only compassion.

  “Ethan and Leah showed up, and Leah tried to calm me down….” He relayed the words he’d spoken, the way he’d acted, his destroying the leg brace, then hung his head. “I’ve never let myself get close to people. Not before the Guthries. Always been too afraid I’d do something like this—wind up hurting people I care for because of my temper. That boy ran because of the way I spoke to them and what I did to his sister’s brace.”

  Reese reined his horse around, facing Bo. “Do you still hate me?”

  “No.” The knowledge that he’d not been abandoned, and in fact was sought after, went far to quench that. “But my anger has been a constant companion, and everyone in Elverton knows it. How do I assure myself it won’t get the better of me again? I’m tired of holding myself away from everyone. These last weeks with the Guthries have shown me I don’t want to go back to how I’ve been living.”

  When Reese spoke, his voice was husky. “First of all, you aren’t alone anymore. You’ve got me and Katie and our girls, and that won’t change.”

  Bo’s throat knotted.

  “Second, there’s nothing wrong with being angry. The Bible says, ‘Be ye angry, and sin not.’” He shrugged. “Like me, you just have to find better ways to release it when it comes.”

  “Like you?”

  Reese nodded. “After I became an attorney, I went out to Texas to collect you, only you were gone with no word where. The more dead ends I ran into, the angrier I got. After months of searching, I was out of money and needed to return to St. Louis. That just fueled my anger. It overtook my life for a while. I became sullen, argumentative. Then I met Katie and her parents, started going to church with them, meeting with th
eir preacher, reading the Bible. God didn’t do it overnight, but He changed me.”

  Bo’s thoughts churned. “You think He could change me too?”

  A grin sprouted on Reese’s lips. “I know He can. Just ask Him.”

  At Reese’s expectant look, Bo squirmed. It would be a welcome thing if God could take the anger from him. But too much had happened too quickly. He needed time to process it all. “I think you’re right. Let’s head back.”

  “All right.”

  Silent, they turned down the steep east road into Elverton. As they neared the bottom and the outskirts of town, a glow like the first rays of sunrise lit the night sky. Down the street, panicked voices sounded an alarm. Almost as one, he and Reese spurred their horses toward the commotion.

  As they drew nearer, Bo’s heart sank. Flames leaped from the smithy roof. A lone figure stood atop the building, beating at the fire with … a blanket?

  The fool. Who was up there?

  He steered Diego to the hitching post several storefronts down and, sliding from the saddle, blew out the lantern’s flame. He stashed it near the edge of the boardwalk and sprinted toward the shop.

  “Get off the roof! Get down!” He shouted the words as he raced beside the building. Rounding the tree, an eerie groan split the air, and the figure disappeared, swallowed in a swirl of sparks.

  “Ethan!” Leah’s terrified shriek rose above the roar of the fire.

  “Oh God. No.” Leah ran past, and Bo caught her. “That was Ethan?”

  She fought free of his grasp and charged toward the front of the building. Heart hammering near out of his chest, he followed.

  God, help.

  He rounded the front corner and someone called out: “Allen, your keys. We gotta unlock these doors.”

  Bo patted his left hip, but they were gone. His mind scrambled for an answer, gaze darting to Diego. He’d stashed ’em in his saddlebags.

  “This corner.” He lurched toward the nearest corner of the door, and several men gathered around. “Lift from the bottom and pull out. I’ll slip through the space you create.”

  Sal Harper stripped off his apron. “Douse that and wrap it around your nose and mouth whilst we get this door wrenched free.”

  Behind him, Leah pounded on the wall beside the window. “Ethan! Oh Lord. Ethan.”

  Grabbing her by the waist, Bo dragged her toward the livery.

  “No! Ethan’s in there. I have to get him!” She flailed at him.

  At the front of the stable, Bo took her face in his hands. “I’ll get him. Stay here.”

  With that, Bo left her and sank, full body, into the horse trough then surged up and flew across the street. He looped the dripping apron around his face as he went.

  “Someone make sure Leah stays put,” he shouted. Then, with the left door partially lifted from its track, he pulled himself through the narrow opening.

  Thick black smoke and flames filled the space. The heat immediately brought a sweat to his skin.

  “Ethan!”

  A spate of coughing drew his ear. Bo tried to stand, to move toward the sound, but his foot hit something and went out from under him. He crashed to the floor, pain jolting his injured hand. Gritting through the agony, he rolled up and crawled, one-handed, toward the coughing, shoving the clutter from his earlier rage out of his way.

  “Ethan!”

  “Help.” The voice was weak, muffled.

  “Come to me. Now.”

  “Can’t. My leg …”

  Putting on speed, he surged toward the sound. “Keep talking.”

  “By the quench—” Coughs overtook him again.

  The quench bucket. Near the anvil. His own lungs burning and eyes smarting, he kept going.

  “Say something.”

  “Here.”

  Bo reached toward the sound and found the boy huddled under a blanket. A very wet blanket.

  A fit of coughing overtaking him, Bo adjusted the apron around his face then hauled Ethan into his arms. Whispering a prayer, he lunged up and ran. In four giant strides, they reached the door, and he slammed into it with his shoulder. From outside, the door pried outward, and he shoved Ethan’s head and shoulders into the tight space.

  “Take him.”

  As quickly as the men jerked Ethan through, Bo slid his feet into the opening. Hands grabbed at his ankles and pulled. Before they pulled him from the building, he snatched the gunny sack beside the desk, dragging it with him.

  Chapter 14

  Two days later

  A soft knock roused Leah. She’d managed to sleep a little in the large corner chair of Doc Bates’s recovery room while Mae kept watch over Ethan and Hope returned home for fresh changes of clothes.

  “Come in,” Mae called.

  Lord, please let it be Bo. She had so many things she needed to say to the man, but almost two full days after the fire, he’d not come.

  Reverend Danby peeked in. “Afternoon.”

  Disappointment wound through Leah. Not Bo.

  “Good afternoon, Reverend.” Mae waved him into the room.

  He stepped inside. “How’s the patient?”

  Leah took the other cane chair beside Mae. “He’s improving. Doc’s giving him morphine to keep him still for a bit, but his breathing is easier. Of course, his leg will take time to heal.”

  Reverend Danby grinned. “Everyone says it’s a miracle he survived.”

  Mae nodded. “From what we’ve gathered when Ethan is awake, he landed near the quench bucket beside the anvil. Despite everything, he had the presence of mind to wet the blanket he’d used to beat out the flames.” Mae’s voice quavered. “Doc says but for that, he’d have died before anyone got to him.”

  Leah’s stomach knotted. How close they’d come to losing their only brother. And how grateful she was that he was spared. “You don’t happen to know where Bo Allen is, do you, Reverend?”

  “No. No one seems to know where he is. Once he’s found, though, I’d like to discuss something with him.”

  If he was found….

  Lord, Bo wasn’t injured in the fire, was he? He’d been in that same smoky room. Had he rescued her brother only to succumb to the smoke himself? Sheriff Yeldin had assured her they’d searched and not found his body. In fact, they’d found nothing. All but two of his horses were still at the livery, which might indicate he hadn’t gone far, but she was fearful.

  Leah shook off her thoughts. “I hope it’s not to take him to task for the scene at church.”

  “Not at all. I simply meant to give him the news that we called a town meeting. Many from the community have offered their help.”

  “That’s very kind of everyone.”

  “In fact,” he continued, “that’s why I’ve come to see you. With Ethan’s injuries, it may be difficult for you to work until his condition improves. We’ve taken a collection, and several have pledged meals, offers to stay with Ethan if you must leave, that sort of thing.” He withdrew an overstuffed pouch and a folded paper from his shirt pocket. “Here’s the money collected and a list of those who’ve offered other assistance.”

  Leah hesitantly took the offered pouch, loosened the drawstring top, and tipped the uppermost layer into her palm. Out spilled several coins and even a tiny gold nugget. Wide-eyed, she and Mae looked at each other.

  “Reverend, I’m humbled by Elverton’s generosity, but given that Bo lost everything, perhaps this should go to him. We’ll make do until Ethan’s well again.” Hands shaking, she returned the coins to the bag and offered it to him.

  The man smiled but shook his head. “If you prefer it to go to him, I think it’s best if you tell him yourself. But the community took two collections—one for each of you. He’ll have a good start on rebuilding.”

  She wrapped her arms about her middle. “Then please pray, Reverend, because after all that happened Sunday and the fact that no one knows where he is, I fear he’s picked up and moved on.”

  Two days later

  “Have you
given any more thought to rebuilding?” Reese asked.

  Bo roused from his thoughts. He’d be returning to ashes. And not just the remains of his smithy and house. His chances for even a friendship with Leah had burned up hours before the fire claimed everything else.

  Lifting his canteen, Bo uncorked it and took a slow sip before answering. “Reckon if I had to make a decision right now, I’d move on.” He recorked the canteen and hung it from the saddle horn again.

  “Are you sure?”

  He ducked at the pointed question. “Not real sure of anything right now.”

  “Would you like some brotherly advice?”

  Bo shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt.”

  “You’ve lived and worked in this community for the last three years.”

  “Yeah, but I told you, I was pretty standoffish. My list of friends is short.”

  “Whether you count them as friends or not, Elverton residents are used to having a blacksmith in town. They’re not going to want to ride to Grass Valley to avail themselves of another blacksmith’s services. They need you.”

  A valid point—but did he have the guts to stay when he’d made such a public scene in front of the community’s most upstanding citizens at church? Surely by now, the town was talking, and none of their chatter would be good.

  “Just seems easier, packing up and moving on.” Especially since he had nothing to pack.

  Reese gave him a sidelong glance. “Sure, it’s easier. And if that’s really want you want to do, we’ll move with you. One time. But I promised Katie that once we found you, we’d settle down for good. Hazel and Violet deserve the chance to grow up with friends, attend school, do all the things that little girls ought to do. And between you and me, I think Katie finds this little town charming. You might just break her heart if you choose to move on.”

  It was a strange and unfamiliar thing, thinking about what was best for somebody other than himself. That would take getting used to. Did he have it in him to try?