Chase (Prairie Grooms, Book Four) (2 page)

“Sounds like a right nice gal!” Calvin quipped.

Tom laughed. “Yeah, if ya like the cranky, high and mighty type. If you thought Penelope Sayer was uppity, she was nothin’ compared to Imogene. She might have been old enough to be a mother to them gals, but she was full of spunk. She even put Mrs. Dunnigan in her place once.” Tom took in their looks of shock. “Only once,” he added.

“How’d they make it all the way to Clear Creek without a man?” asked Benjamin. “I thought women couldn’t be on a wagon train unless they was married.”

“They didn’t come by wagon train. They came by ship, all the way to Oregon City, then used the stage to come the rest of the way,” Tom explained, then studied them. “Would ya like to hear the story?”

“Can you get one in before breakfast?” asked Arlan.

“Sure can,” said Tom with a smile. “Now listen up, and I’ll tell ya all about Chase Adams and the Cookes’ other three cousins when they come to town …”

One

Clear Creek, Oregon, July 1861

“Chin up ladies,” ordered Imogene Sayer to her three young charges. “Morelina, there's a spot on your cheek, rub it off. Felicina, put that silly knitting of yours away. And you, Apphina, wake up!”

Apphina jerked upright with a start. “Are we there yet?”

“I do believe ladies
, that this is the end of the line.” Imogene said.

Morelina pushed aside the heavy curtain of the stage and peeked out at the dusty road. “There doesn't seem to be much here,” she observed. “Are you sure this is it cousin?”

“Of course I'm sure,” said Imogene. “I saw a sign only a moment ago. It clearly read; Clear Creek.”

Felicina yawned. “I, for one, am glad we’ve finally arrived. I couldn't bear to spend another day in this contraption.”

“And I, for one, couldn’t bear to spend one more minute cooped up in one with you,” complained Morelina.

“Stop your bickering,” ordered Imogene. “We've enough to worry about without you two fighting all the time.”

“We're not bickering cousin,” said Felicina. “We're just trying to stay occupied.”

“Staying occupied does not include tying each other's hair in knots at night while the other one is asleep.”

Apphina giggled at the scold. “Now
that
was amusing.”

“It was nothing of the sort,” huffed Imogene. “It was a disgrace, that's what it was!”

“We had to keep ourselves entertained somehow,” said Morelina. “We'd have died of boredom otherwise.”

“Quiet, all of you,” commanded Imogene. “We're here.”

The stage pulled to a stop in its usual place in front of Dunnigan’s Mercantile. Willie, the driver jumped down, glanced around, and then opened the door so his passengers could disembark. “Here we are, ma'am,” he said.

Imogene
poked her head out to have a look, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. It took them months to get here, and she was going to make sure nothing went wrong at this point. She'd see her three young relations married if it was the last thing she did.

Willie looked at her with admiration as she continued to take in her surroundings. She was used to such looks, and even though her traveling suit was dusty, torn in places, and faded from days spent walking on deck while months at sea, Imogene Sayer was still considered a fine cut of womanhood. At forty-five she’d seen her share of the world already, her husband having died twenty years ago. She had more money than she knew what to do with, and more time than she'd like, to fill. This trip had been an answer to prayer, and she’d relished every day spent with her young charges. Though they were so far removed from her, she could barely call them cousins, they were still her relations, and she was happy to make the trip.

She smoothed her raven locks, now streaked with gray, and extended her hand to Willie. He took it and helped her down. “My, but it's certainly quiet here.”

Morelina disembarked next. “
Do you think it's always this way?” She moved aside so   Willie could help Felicina out. “There's not soul around.”

Felicina also glanced this way and that. “I say, but is it some sort of holiday?”

Apphina was the last to disembark. “Where is everybody?”

“Are you three here for the Cookes?”
Willie asked.

“Yes, so long as you are referring to Harrison and Colin,” said Imogene. “A
nd I'd very much like to know why they’re not here to greet us.”

“
You don't think they've forgotten, have you?” asked Apphina.

“I suppose it is possible,” said Imogene. “A
fter all, one cannot put too much faith in the American’s post. For all we know, they never got our letters or those of the Duke’s.”

“
You mean they don't even know we've arrived?” asked Morelina, her hand to her chest.

“
What are we going to do?” lamented Apphina. “We don't even know where they live!”

“I say, driver,” said Imogene. “
But do you know where my cousin's ranch is located?”

“
Well sure, ma'am. Everyone around here knows where the Cookes live.”

“Do they now?”
Imogene glanced at the three girls and smiled. “I'm glad to hear it.”

* * *

Colin, Harrison, and Logan Kincaid, stared at the charred remains of the Triple C’s barn. Though it burned down over a week ago, there were still sections that smoldered, a reminder of the inferno it had become when the outlaws set it on fire. But it wasn't just the barn they destroyed, it was the sense of peace the Triple C Ranch had. Now that it had been shattered, the men would never be the same. Logan's wife Susara was at the schoolhouse when the fire broke out. If she wasn’t, she too would have found herself locked in the barn to endure the flames that licked at the tack room’s door, death mere inches away.

But the Almighty had other plans that day, and sent an unlikely hero to save the women trapped in the barn, one who was able to rescue and bring them to safety. It was the Cooke brother’s hope to find the man and thank him for what he'd done.

Colin let out a heavy sigh. “It's going to take a lot of work, brother, but we’ll raise another one.”

Harrison turned and looked at Colin. “A lot of work and a lot of time. Time we don't have if we’re
going to guard our stock properly.”

Logan rubbed his chin with one hand in thought. “We could have a barn raising, then you'd have it up in no time.”

Colin leaned forward and looked past Harrison to Logan. “I knew you were our foreman for a reason."

“
Perhaps your superior brain can figure out a way to capture the outlaws that did this,” suggested Harrison, his voice stern.

Colin let out a
nother heavy sigh. “The guilty will be brought to justice brother, you'll see.”

“
It's been over a week, and still no word from the sheriff,” Harrison said. He looked at Colin. “I say, but if they don't return soon, I'm liable to go out there and hunt them down myself.”

“And leave your wife and child?”
Colin slapped him on the back. “I feel the same way brother, but I'll not leave my wife and unborn child here unprotected, and neither will you.”

Harrison nodded solemnly,
then balled his hands into fists. “I want them to hang.”

“
No one was killed, Harrison,” Logan pointed out. “And I'm afraid setting fire to a barn isn't a hanging offense.”

“Locking innocent women in a tack
room then setting the barn on fire should be. It’s still attempted murder, and you know it!” Harrison spun on his heel and headed back to the ranch house to leave Colin and Logan to stare after him.

“
I'm afraid Harrison won't rest until those outlaws are captured and brought to justice,” said Colin. He looked at Logan. “And neither will I.” He then turned and followed Harrison to the house. No sooner had he reached it, a sound caught his ear. He turned with one boot clad foot hovered over the first step, as the stage came over the rise and began its descent to the ranch house. “What the devil is Willie doing here?”

Logan joined him at the porch. “I don't know, but it must be important for him to drive the stage all the way out here.”

“Quick, go inside and fetch Harrison.” Colin ordered. Logan did as
he asked, taking the steps two at a time, and ran into the house. Before the stage could reach the house, Harrison was on the porch with Colin. “I say, but were you expecting company?” Colin asked.

“Hardly,” said Harrison. “
What do you suppose Willie wants?”

“I haven't the foggiest,” said Colin. “
But I can't wait to find out. Perhaps he has news of the outlaws.”

“
We can only hope,” said Harrison, as the stage pulled up to the house.

Willie brought the stage to a stop in a cloud of swirling dust. “Howdy Colin, Harrison, I got somethin’ for ya!”

Colin and Harrison glanced at each other, then watched Willie climbed down. “Were you expecting a package?” Colin asked Harrison.

“No, were you?”

Colin shook his head, and then looked at Willie. “What's this about?”

Willie grinned. “All I can say is,
you've got some mighty persuasive relatives.”

Once again, Colin and Harrison glanced at one another, then the stage. “Good Lord!” said Colin. “It couldn't possibly be…”

“Oh yes it could,”
said Harrison.

“But, but…” stammered
Colin.

“But what?”
snapped a stunning woman in her mid-forties as Willie helped her from the stage.

Colin and Harrison gawked at her. “Who the devil are you?” a
sked Colin.

“
I'd ask the same of you,” she said. “If it weren’t for your eyes and your speech.”

“My eyes?” asked
Colin.

“That goes the same for you,”
she said as she looked at Harrison.

“
Who
are
you?” Harrison asked, his own eyes narrowed in suspicion.

The woman returned his
look as her eyes narrowed even further.

“Cousin Imogene! I
s that you?” he asked.

“Good Lord!" Exclaimed Colin. “We didn't expect to see
you
here!”

“
Surprises are one of life's delicacies, don't you think?” she asked.

By this time Willie had helped the rest of the passengers disembark from the stage.    Three beautiful young women lined up front of the brothers, and curtsied. “Colin and Harrison,” said Imogene. “May I introduce you to your cousins?”

“Uncle John's daughters?” a
sked Colin.

“You were expecting someone else?”
Imogene quipped.

“W
ell, no, but…” said Colin. “It’s just that you’ve caught us at the bad time.”

“Bad time?” s
he asked, one eyebrow arched inquisitively.

Collin
said nothing, and pointed to the sad remains of the barn instead.

Imogene turned, as did the others, and gasped. “Good heavens! What happened here?”

“
I would think it’s quite obvious,” stated Colin.

“
If you're referring to the fact that the pile of rubble before me was once your barn, then yes, it is quite obvious.” she said, her voice terse. “
How
, is what I want to know.”

Harrison stepped forward. “Ladies, I think we'd better step inside. I'm sure you must be very tired from your journey. I'll have Sadie prepare us some tea.”

“You’ve a maid? Oh how lovely!” said Apphina. “It’s
been weeks since we've had tea, let alone have a maid serve it.”

“Apphina!” Imogene snapped. “For heaven sakes girl, remember your manners.”

Harrison gave them all a stern look. “
Sadie
… is my wife.”

“Do forgive me
,” said Apphina, her head down. “But the part about the tea is true. We really haven’t had any for weeks.”

One of the girls
stared at Colin and Harrison. “I had no idea our cousins would be so handsome.”

Imogene
glared at her. “Felicina, no more speaking out of turn, if you please.”

The two girls
gave her a small curtsy, bowed their heads, and stared at the ground without another word.

“That's better,”
Imogene said, her voice terse.

Colin and Harrison looked each of them over carefully, each coming to the same conclusion. Amongst the aftermath of the chaos that engulfed their ranch over a week ago, they were now saddled with three more mail-order brides.

* * *

Morelina sat, her hands folded primly in her lap, as she listened along with her sisters to the terrifying tale of the outlaws that attacked the ranch and almost killed Colin and Harrison’s wives, not to mention uncle Leonard's three daughters. She couldn't begin to imagine the horror the women had suffered and knew she’d never get to sleep.