Compromised Cowgirl

Bride Train 3

REECE
BUTLER

Copyright © 2011

Chapter One

Late August 1871,
Montana
Territory

Kenrick “Ace” Langford, youngest son of the Earl of Denby, wiped his forehead and settled his cowboy hat. Though exhausted to the bone, he sat tall. Langfords didn’t slouch.

Charles Statham, known to his friends as “Sin,” towered beside him,
riding Emperor, his equally large Friesian stallion. The huge black horse was a parting gift from his father. The man insisted Charles’ size must be due to his wife’s affair with a blacksmith. Days before leaving
England
, Sin saw a portrait of his maternal grandfather and realized he came by his size naturally. As Sin was merely the spare to his older brother and no use to the family, the revelation was irrelevant. Emperor, however, had value.

“
Dayam
,
ain’t
that a purdy sight,” said Henry Bennett, the third partner and ninth child of a Baron. “We shore done good.”

“Can you not speak the King’s English?” Ace muttered through gritted teeth.

“It was your idea to leave the King, along with the rest of bloody
England
, behind,” replied Henry. He grinned in response to Ace’s ongoing complaint. “Why don’t you learn to speak Western, instead?”

“Because I was raised to be a gentleman, as were you.” Ace’s horse tossed his head, picking up his rider’s agitation. “One does not change one’s standards just because one is exposed to the lower elements of society.”

Henry snorted, a sound that would not have been tolerated in England. “The only thing that attitude will give you is a punch in the face. We’re
Montana
Territory
ranchers now.”

“I am not a chameleon, willing to blend in and hide.”

“At least we didn’t have to go all the way to
Texas
to get our cattle,” said Sin, interrupting the ongoing argument. “To think that a simple card game brought us all this.”

“Simple? It took me until dawn until the fool finally lost everything.” Ace raised an eyebrow at Sin. “Smythe, though he came from the lower classes, reminded me of my father in his greed.”

Frederick Smythe had a hatred of men such as Ace, who he considered privileged and slothful. Now that he was off England’s soil, Smythe’s new wealth encouraged his rage, driving him to make wild bets against sneering aristocrats.

Ace, calm and cool, matched him game for game. About sunup, with everything on the table, Smythe roared in triumph. He slammed down two pair, kings and queens. He leaned forward to take the table full of gold, markers for his Double Diamond ranch, and herd of
Texas
longhorns.

But Langford held up his hand, stopping Smythe. The cheering room went silent as, one by one, he laid his cards down. Ace of diamonds. Ace of spades. Ace of hearts.

Three of a kind beat two pair. Everything on the table went to Kenrick Langford.

That game
brought the three partners a ranch and cattle, and Ace’s nickname. Unfortunately, it also brought the wrath of a powerful man. Smythe’s eyes shouted the threats his mouth would not speak in public.

But Kenrick Langford had never stood down from a fight. Neither had his partners. Whatever Smythe threw at them, they could handle. Even if they didn’t yet know how to throw a lasso or brand a calf.

“We should place an advertisement in
The Montana Post
and thank Mr. Smythe publicly for his involuntary generosity,” said Henry.

“That sounds like something your oldest sister would do,” said Sin.

“Where do you think I get my best ideas?”

Sin turned to Ace. “When are the ranch hands arriving?”

Ace stared straight ahead as if he hadn’t heard. After a moment Sin and Henry shifted in their saddles.

“You
did
find a couple of men in town?” Henry looked from Ace to Sin, and back. He groaned. “Tell me we’re not going to have to figure out how to do this all by ourselves.”

“Why should one work for low wages when one can find gold by walking along a creek?” said Ace sarcastically, imitating the miners. He ignored Henry’s cursing. “We can do it.” Ace looked at his partners, friends since childhood. “We
will
do it.”

“Of course,” said Sin.

“This is our future. All we need is effort and time.” Henry shifted on his saddle. “Though, a wife would be pleasant to come home to. Give me another few days of practice, and I’ll be roping cattle better than Ranger Elliott.”

Ace coughed back a laugh. He was determined, not a fool. They’d helped the Elliott and MacDougal ranchers since they arrived in the valley that spring, learning what they could. Henry’s roping was worse than his, but barely. At six-foot-six, Sin’s long arms, height, and great strength gave him an advantage, but it would be years before they were as proficient as any of the Elliotts. After all, the others had been working this land since before John and Patsy Tanner stopped at the river and created Tanner’s Ford.

The new owners of a herd of half-wild
Texas
longhorns let the knowledge of their next challenge settle onto their broad shoulders. They sat tall and watched Ranger Elliott ride toward them with an ease of a lifetime in the saddle.

Whatever had to be done, they would do. As younger sons, useless unless the heir died, they had no purpose. No one had believed in them except each other. Over the years their individual abilities meshed to form a good team.

Their children would inherit a working ranch. Unlike their older brothers, fathers, and uncles, they wouldn’t need to relieve their boredom by chasing foxes across fields, destroying the grain people needed to eat. No, they had work aplenty to keep them busy.

“While you’re counting that herd, remember half belongs to the Bitterroot Ranch,” said Ranger drily. He nodded to each man and reined in beside Sin. He watched with them for a few minutes. “There’s nothing like watching your own cattle graze on your own land.” He winked. “Though Trace swears watching Beth brush her hair before bed comes close.”

“It’ll be a long time before we see anything like that.” Sin snorted a laugh. “Good thing we’ve got cattle to keep us busy.”

“I can see why Luke Frost isn’t happy Trace and the MacDougals took both women who arrived on the Bride Train,” said Henry. “There’s mighty few females out here.”

“Wait until Luke finds out Ben’s bringing a wife home with him,” said Ranger. His smile showed how much he anticipated Luke’s reaction to the news.

“I hadn’t heard Ben was married,” said Ace.

Ranger shrugged. “Don’t expect he is just yet, but my twin said he’d bring a wife. He hasn’t broken a promise yet. Good thing, since he’s been out East for years, learning to be a lawyer.” Ranger lifted an eyebrow and looked at Ace. “Why? You lookin’ for a wife?”

“Perhaps in a few years,” replied Ace. “We have a lot to accomplish before we consider bringing a lady to the Double Diamond. Wives require pampering, which takes too much time from learning ranch work. As for children, we have many years before we need to think about passing this on to our heirs.”

“The cabin is fine for us, but women expect comfort,” said Sin. “Beth Elliott and Amelia MacDougal walked into fine homes when they married. We can do no less, and that will take years.”

“I’ve got five older sisters. The last thing I want is a nattering woman fussing around the place.” Henry chuckled. “But I hear
Montana
winters are long, cold, and dark. I wouldn’t mind a warm woman next to me come November.” He sighed. “If you hear of one eager to live on a ranch with some greenhorns, let me know.”

Ranger coughed. He looked away from the Double Diamond men. After a moment he cleared his throat and looked back.

“I hear you’re looking for ranch hands. Find any in town?”

“No, blast it,” replied Ace. He turned to Ranger. “You brought three good men from
Texas
. Would they consider hiring on until winter? We could spare some of Smythe’s gold.”

Ranger shook his head. Humor sparkled in his eyes. “No insult intended, but they’d never work for greenhorns. They want their own ranch. Walt Chamberlain talked to them about bringing up cattle for him next year. Turns out he wants to start a ranch on his land. So, it’s just the three of you?”

“We’ll manage,” replied Ace stiffly.

“Of course,” agreed Ranger. He scratched his chin. “You thought about hiring a boy? One came to me today, lookin’ for work. I knew him before he went East for a couple years. He was a damn good cowhand before he left. Knows the land and works hard. He’s broke, so he’s willing to work for bed and board to prove himself.”

Ace frowned. “I do not think a child—”

“We’ll take him,” said Sin. He glared back at Ace. “If Ranger says the boy can do the work, it’s better than what we have now. All it will cost us is food. Maybe we can learn something from him.”

Ace glowered for a moment before nodding. Ranger lifted his hat and waved to the herd below. A horse, one of the Elliott
remuda
, moved toward them. The small shape of the rider proved it was the boy.

“I’ll have a word with him first,” said Ranger. He rode downhill to meet the boy.

* * * *

“Dammit, Ranger! I can outride, outshoot, out-rope, and outlast all three of those greenhorns before breakfast! Why do I have to prove myself to you?”

Jessamine Bonham Elliott, all sixty-one inches of furious cowgirl, spat the words at her younger brother. As he was thirteen inches taller and more than twice her weight, all of it muscle, he smirked at her. They faced each other on horseback, far enough away from the three men watching so they wouldn’t be overheard.

“Jessie, you’ve been in
Virginia
for two years, learning to be a lady. Before I let you buy into the Bitterroot Ranch, you’ve got to prove you’re worth it.”

“I swear, Ranger, if this is one of your tricks…” Her face screwed up in a snarl that would have suited a mountain lion. “You’ll force me to work for a bunch of arrogant lordlings?”

Ranger shrugged and looked away as if it didn’t matter. “Your choice, Jessie. But if you want to buy into the last Elliott ranch, you’ll beg Ace to hire you for three weeks.”

Jessie leaned back and raised her chin. “I don’t beg a man for anything.”

“You will if you want to be a ranch partner in this valley.”

“You rotten—”

She huffed for a moment when words failed her. She snarled and punched at him with her fist. He easily caught it.

“That’s another thing. If you fly off the handle and do stupid things without thinking of the consequences, I won’t have you.” She pressed her lips into a pout. “I can take tantrums in a puny sister, but not in a business partner.”

He leaned over and lowered his head until they were almost nose to nose.

“If Ace says you worked hard, kept your mouth shut and didn’t fly off the handle, you’ll be able to become part of a ranch. Isn’t that what you’ve wanted all your life?”

He sat up straight and looked down his nose at her. She crossed her arms over her bound chest. Her chin stuck out as she glared up at him. He returned the smug smile of a younger, now larger and more powerful, brother.

“If you can’t prove yourself to me, there’s a lot of single men who want a wife. Even with your hair chopped off, you’re bound to find one to put up with you.” He sniffed as if he didn’t think she could meet his challenge.

“I am never going to marry,” she said between clenched teeth. “I worked hard for my freedom.” She shook out her shoulders, straightened up, and sneered. “I pretended to be a perfect lady for two years to get my inheritance. I can manage three weeks teaching greenhorns.”

She straightened up and pulled her hat off. She vigorously scratched her head. Instead of waist-length hair, she now had a cap of brown curls. Not only did her head feel lighter, she couldn’t be grabbed by her braid as Finan used to do. Stalling, she smacked her hat against her canvass pants as if proving how far she was from the primping, vacuous girl she’d pretended to be in Charleston.

“You want me to prove myself?” She narrowed her eyes and met him head-on. “Fine. Three weeks.” She stabbed him with her dark brown eyes. “Then I’ll be a full partner, riding and working beside you.”

“As I said, there’s a couple of ranches around who could use a wife,” said Ranger. “Luke Frost’s Circle C is next to Trace, with the Flying X beyond. They’re Southern gentlemen, so I don’t think they’d suit your temper. But the J Bar C is just east of here. Three cousins, all fairly rough. They’re all eager for a wife. Or you could—”

“I will not lose my freedom, and my money, to a man!” She spat the words out, keeping her voice low but her fury at full blast.