Authors: Linda Bridey
Tags: #Romance, #Historical, #Victorian, #Western, #Historical Romance, #Westerns
“Hi,” Sammi said as she grabbed her arm. Blood still oozed from the wound and soaked her shirt sleeve. “My damn horse spooked and dumped me. It ran off and I don’t know where I am. Can you please help me?”
The man gave her the once over. He took in her disheveled appearance and seemed satisfied that what Sammi said was true. He also noticed that Sammi was a good-looking woman and thought that he and his buddies might have some entertainment that night.
Opening the door wider, he said, “Sure. C’mon in. We’ll get you fixed up, miss.”
Sammi entered the cabin and said, “Thank you so much.” She kept facing the young man who’d let her in. He looked to not be much older than Jack, she thought.
He said, “Looks like you’ve got a nasty gash there.”
“Yeah. I hit some rocks when I went down,” Sammi commented as she looked around. All of her knives had been cleared away from the table and the other three thieves sat around it.
“Hi,” Sammi said to them in a friendly way.
They smiled and nodded at her.
“My name is Mary,” she said.
“I’m Billy,” said the youth that had opened the door.
“Nice to meet you, Billy. I’m sorry to disturb you fellas so late,” Sammi said.
“No problem,” one of the other men said. He was tall with blond hair.
Billy said, “Let’s get that arm taken care of.”
“That’d be great,” Sammi said. “I can’t believe this happened.” She hoped that Owl had had enough time to get inside the back door.
“It’s a bad time of night to be out and about,” the blond man said.
Billy said, “Yeah. You’re gonna have to take off your shirt so I can tend to that cut.”
“Nah. Just rip the sleeve. I’m cold,” Sammi said with a shiver.
Billy shrugged. “Ok.” He took ahold of the material and gave it a mighty yank. The sleeve came off easily.
Sammi let out a low whistle, the signal for Owl to prepare to attack. “Boy, you did that really slick,” she said as if she was whistling about Billy ripping the sleeve.
The next thing Billy knew, Sammi had pulled her gun and pointed it at his head.
“What the hell?” he said.
Sammi’s eyes narrowed into slits of icy fire. “Over there with your buddies. If you try anything, I’ll shoot you full of holes. Understand?”
Billy put up his hands and backed towards the table.
“All of you get your hands up,” Sammi said as she cautiously moved so that she could see all four of them. “You robbed the wrong woman, boys. I know you have my knife and gun collection, so don’t try to deny it.”
The blond haired man said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Sammi cocked her head at him. “Oh, really? So you don’t remember breaking into my cottage in back of the hotel and stealing my stuff? Hmm, that’s not what your buddies said in town just a while ago.”
Billy looked over at the other three and said, “What’s she talking about?”
One of them said, “Yeah, ok, we got your stuff. What are you gonna do about it? There’s four of us and only one of you.”
Sammi said, “Well, if I were you, I’d just sit there and behave until the sheriff shows up.”
They all exchanged started glances. “The sheriff?”
“Yeah. You see, he’s my husband and I’m out past my curfew. It won’t be long until he shows up,” Sammi said.
The next moment all hell broke loose. Two men came in the door behind Sammi. She swung around and fired at the closest one to her. The bullet hit him in the right shoulder and he went down with a loud yell. The second man lunged at Sammi and took her down. Her head bounced off the floor and her vision got a little fuzzy.
Owl went into action when he heard the gun go off. He rolled out into the room and kicked the chair out from under the blond man. As his opponent fell, Owl followed him down and slammed a fist into his face. The man lay unconscious and Owl turned his attention elsewhere. Billy stood transfixed as Owl rose from the floor and turned fierce obsidian eyes on him. Once the men got over the shock of seeing an Indian brave in their midst, they went into action.
Beulah started baying when she came upon a warmer part of Sammi’s scent and ran faster. Mitch spurred Rico on to keep up with the fleet footed dog. The farther they travelled the more worried and angry Mitch became. He didn’t know what was going on, but it was evident that Sammi had come on foot. Mitch couldn’t track in the dark, so he couldn’t tell if there were other tracks with her or not.
He couldn’t imagine that Owl wouldn’t have come with her if he hadn’t already left her at the house. Without daylight, Mitch also couldn’t tell if she’d come willingly or if she’d been forced to walk to wherever they’d ended up. Beulah’s bay changed to a more intense tone that told Mitch that they were almost where Sammi had come.
At Mitch’s urging, Rico tore down the road. He pulled the horse up in a few minutes when Beulah turned off the road and ran up to a cabin. She sniffed around and jumped onto the porch. Mitch called her off and jumped down from Rico. There were two other horses standing outside the cabin. There was a ruckus going on inside and Mitch just knew that Sammi was in the thick of it.
He pulled his gun, rushed onto the porch, and kicked the door in. When he went through he saw Sammi struggling against two men. As he looked on, she pulled her hat pin from her hat band and stabbed one of her captors in the neck. Blood spurted from the wound and the man staggered back.
One of the other men pointed at Mitch and shouted, “It’s the sheriff! She’s his wife!”
Sammi’s other captor grabbed her from behind and pointed his gun at her head. Owl was busy with one of the younger men who was a surprisingly good fighter.
Mitch shouted, “Everybody stop right now!”
The authority in his voice made them freeze including Owl. Mitch’s gaze settled on Sammi. “You ok?”
“Yeah. Never better,” Sammi said.
Mitch gave a curt nod and turned his attention to the man holding her. “Here’s what’s gonna happen; you’re gonna let her go or I’m gonna blow your brains out. The rest of you put down whatever weapons you have and line up along the wall.”
The man holding Sammi said, “I don’t think so, Sheriff. You’re gonna get out of here or she’s dead. And take that stinking Indian with you.”
Mitch’s expression hardened even further and he saw Owl’s nostrils flare. Sammi’s mind was racing as she considered her options. She needed to get out of the way of Mitch’s line of fire so he could take out the man who held her, but with a gun barrel pressed to her temple that was going to be difficult.
As if on cue, Beulah came trotting into the cabin and barked at Mitch. It startled Sammi’s captor who swung the gun on the dog. Sammi pushed the man’s hand so it messed up his aim and the bullet he fired splintered the wooden floor as the missile pierced it. Sammi ducked and Mitch blasted the shooter in the chest. The man fell back against the wall and slid to the floor.
Owl ducked as one of the other men swung at him. The brave pulled his knife and drove it into the man’s midsection up to the hilt. Sammi saw Billy pull out one of her knives from his boot and go for Owl.
“Owl! Behind you!” she yelled.
Just as Owl started turning, Billy’s knife sank deep into Owl’s back. The brave barely made a sound as white-hot pain spread under his left shoulder blade and down his spine. His conditioning in managing pain kicked in and he aimed a mighty kick at Billy’s knee and broke the kneecap. Billy went down with a scream, grasping his leg and writhing in pain. Mitch’s gun went off twice more as he quickly shot one of the other men and aimed at the ones who still stood.
He watched Owl out of the corner of his eye as Owl reached behind him and grasped the handle of the knife that stuck out of his back. Slowly, he pulled the weapon from his flesh and threw it off to the side. Sammi thought she was going to be sick as she watched blood stream from the wound in Owl’s back.
“Sammi!” Mitch said to distract her. He needed her to help him. “Get the handcuffs out of the saddlebag outside the door and start to put them on these bastards. There are several pairs. Move it!”
His harsh tone motivated Sammi and she ran to do his bidding. As she started cuffing the men while Mitch held them at gunpoint, Owl became dizzy from lack of blood and sat down heavily on a chair. She finished and then went to Owl.
“I’m so sorry, Owl. It’s my fault. You’re gonna be ok. You better lie on the floor before you fall off that chair,” she said.
Owl shook his head as he fought to stay conscious. “No problem. Sammi, it ok. I tough.”
Sammi helped ease her friend to the floor and grabbed a blanket from a bed that stood in a corner of the room. She rolled it up and put it on the floor. Then she had Owl roll over on top of it to apply pressure.
“Sammi, you get your ass on Rico and ride for all your worth to town for help. Now!” Mitch yelled.
Sammi gave Owl’s hand a squeeze and ran from the cabin. She jumped on Rico and tore towards town.
As dawn lit the sky, Joe Dwyer woke and stretched. He reached out an arm and felt the warm body next to him. He smiled and moved closer and put his arm around her midsection. Moving his hand to her stomach, Joe was startled to find that instead of Lacey’s swollen belly, he encountered a flat stomach.
He pushed away and opened his eyes. It took him a moment to recognize that he was in Annie Holloway’s room in one of the seedier neighborhoods in town.
“What the hell?” he shouted.
Annie rolled over and reached out to him. “What’s the matter, Joey?”
“What’s going on here? How did I get here?” Joe said. He looked down at himself and was relieved that he was at least wearing his underwear.
“You came home with me last night. I’m glad you did. I missed you,” Annie said.
“Annie, I did not come home with you last night. I left the bar last night and went to my house, to my wife!” Joe said.
Annie giggled. “You were going to and then you said that you were up for a little fun and so you came with me.”
Joe put his hands to his head and then said, “No, Annie, I did not. I remember leaving the bar and then…then…” Joe stopped because he couldn’t remember what had happened after that. “Oh Lord, what did ya’ll do to me?”
“I didn’t do anything to you, Joey, except what you wanted me to,” Annie said with a wicked smile at him.
“Shut up, Annie! Oh my, God! Lacey! I have to get home!” Joe turned his hazel eyes on Annie and said, “I don’t know what you did to me, but I’ll figure it out and then you’ll pay, Annie.”
He dressed hurriedly not bothering to button his shirt or vest. He snatched up his jacket and sprinted from the building. His team stood outside still in their harnesses and Joe’s anger burned even hotter. He never left his team in harness for that amount of time.
As he mounted the buggy, Joe said, “I’m so sorry, fellas. I’ll make it up to you, but right now, home!” King and Rook started out for the ranch.
Joe’s mind was foggy and his head hurt like hell. He’d drunk some last night, but not enough to cause this kind of hangover. Something was wrong. About halfway home, Joe had to stop the team because he had to vomit. It happened to him twice more and by the time he reached the ranch, he had started with a fever.
The team pulled up to the barn and Eddie ran out to the buggy. Joe was barely down from the buggy before he collapsed in Eddie’s arms. Eddie shouted for one of the other grooms and they got Joe up to the main house. They burst through the front door and Randall, Joe and Lacey’s butler hurried into the foyer.
“What happened?” Randall demanded.
“I don’t know,” Eddie said. “King and Rook drove up and Joe passed out. He feels really hot.”
“I’ll dispatch someone to the doctor’s house,” Randall said in his clipped British accent.
Lacey heard the commotion and came into the parlor as they laid Joe on the sofa.
“Joe!” she cried as she saw that Joe was unconscious. She’d been sick with worry when Joe hadn’t come home. She stood by him and looked down at his half buttoned shirt and vest and suddenly knew where he’d been. Perfume wafted from him. Tears of disbelief pricked her eyes, but she tried to stay calm.
Eddie read Lacey’s mind as he watched her. “Lacey, something’s very wrong here. This isn’t a hangover and Joe would never cheat on you.”
Lacey then noticed that there was vomit on Joe’s shirt. “He’s been sick, Eddie.”
“Yeah and he’s burning up. I’ll go get some cold clothes. You stay with him,” the head groom said and hurried off to the kitchen.
Lacey felt Joe’s forehead and saw what Eddie meant. “Joe, it’s going to be all right. I’m here. Please don’t leave me.”
Her voice penetrated Joe’s mind and he tried to open his eyes. He couldn’t quite manage it. “Lacey? I didn’t. Wouldn’t. Please.” He tried to raise his head and couldn’t do that either. As Lacey tried to comfort him, Joe passed out again.
Rico flew over the ground as Sammi entered town as dawn broke. She pulled Rico down to a walk and jumped from the saddle outside the feed mill. She ran inside and encountered John, Dean, and Jack Samuels. The three men took in her blood soaked arm and shirt and were instantly alarmed.
“Help! The Sheriff needs help! Owl is hurt, needs Marcus, doctor, someone!” she yelled and started crying.
Dean grasped her shoulders and said, “Where, Sammi?”
“Outside of town. I’ll show you,” she said and tore out of Dean’s hands.
“Jack, you go get Marcus and follow us. I’ll go with Sammi,” Dean said. “Sammi, wait!”
“What?” Sammi hollered.
“We need to know where they are so Jack and Marcus can find us,” Dean replied.
She gave Jack the directions and then mounted up again. “Do you have a gun in that wagon?” she asked Dean.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Bring it,” she said.
Dean and Jack made quick work of unhitching Devil and Duke from the wagon. Dean was glad that they’d brought the younger, lighter draft horses because they’d be faster than Nugget and Buster. Each of them took all the tack from the horses except for bridles. Once mounted, Jack and Dean followed Sammi from town. John was going to go spread the word that help was needed.
That wasn’t the only word that spread through the town. News traveled like wildfire about Joe’s night with Annie and the damage to Joe’s new reputation was done.
As Doc Turner sat in the Grady House eating his breakfast and listening to all of the gossip, Eddie came bursting through the door.
“Doc! I need you to come with me now!” he said.
Doc rose from the table where he sat and said, “Is it Lacey?”
“No! It’s Joe! I think he’s been poisoned. He came home this morning and passed out as soon as he got out of the buggy,” Eddie said.
Jessie Wilkes turned around on his stool at the counter and said, “Sounds more like Joe’s just reverting to his old behavior, I’d say.”
Eddie pointed a finger at Jessie and said, “Shut your trap, Jessie or I’ll shut it for you. Doc, he’s burning up with fever and he had vomit on his shirt. It didn’t really smell quite like alcohol, though.”
“All right. Let’s get going,” Doc said and followed Eddie from the restaurant.
Jessie raised his coffee cup to his lips and smiled before taking a sip.
Dean and Sammi arrived at the cabin and Mitch felt relief as he saw that Sammi wasn’t alone.
Dean assessed the situation and said, “Looks like you’ve been busy, Sheriff.”
“You could say that,” Mitch said.
“What happened?” Dean asked.
“I don’t’ really know yet. You’d have to ask my wife,” Mitch said.
Sammi heard the contempt in his voice and felt guilt wash through her. Dean saw Sammi blanche and then caught sight of Owl. He went over and knelt by Marcus’ brother. He saw that Owl lie on a blanket underneath which a pool of blood had spread. Sammi joined him and said, “He was stabbed. It’s really deep.”
Dean didn’t answer. “Jack’s on his way to get Marcus, Mitch. He’ll most likely bring Seth and Luke to help with these jackasses, whoever they are. Are you good there, Mitch?”
“Yeah.”
Dean looked down at Owl and found the resemblance to Marcus unsettling. He could almost imagine Marcus lying there and felt a profound sorrow. Owl was still breathing, but it was very shallow. Sammi didn’t cry, but she shook. Dean glanced at her and then got up.
He didn’t know what had happened, but he did know that it was very possible that Owl was not going to make it. Dean didn’t always like Marcus’ other family, but not because they’d ever done anything to him. In fact, despite his obvious reluctance to fully accept them in Marcus’ life, they’d embraced him as much as he’d let them.
Marcus had always been there for him, but he hadn’t always been there for Marcus. Dean figured that maybe he could so something that would make up for that.
“Mitch, I need to go look for some plants,” Dean said.
“What? You’re gonna go gardening at a time like this?” Mitch said.
Dean replied, “I’m looking for medicinal herbs that might be able to help Owl. I think I remember which ones help with these types of injuries. I’ll be back.”
Lacey refused to leave while Doc examined Joe. Her husband had been moved to their bedroom. When he was done, he said, “Laudanum overdose. It’s a good thing he’s young and strong. I don’t know how it was given to him, but if he hadn’t thrown up, it might have been lethal. Has he ever used laudanum?”
“Never,” Lacey said. “He’s never had a reason to since I’ve met him.”
“Well, then, I’d say that someone deliberately poisoned him. He’ll be all right. Make sure he gets plenty of fluids and rest for a couple of days. And no alcohol for a few weeks, either,” Doc said. “And how are you feeling?” he asked Lacey kindly.
“I’m fine, Doc. Marcus is taking good care of me and the baby,” she said with a small smile.
“I’ve no doubt. Try not to worry too much. Joe is going to be fine,” Doc said.
When the elderly physician left, Lacey said to Eddie, “Will you please get a buggy ready for me and also tell Randall that I need to talk to him?”
Eddie said, “You got it, Lacey.”
In a few minutes Randall came into their room.
“Yes, Lacey?” he asked as he looked at Joe. It greatly disturbed him to see Joe so ill.
“Eddie told me about the rumors flying all around town. I need you to stay with Joe while I go out for a little,” Lacey said as she looked beseechingly at Randall. “Will you do that for me?”
Randall had come to love Lacey much the way he loved his nieces and there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for her. “Of course, but please be mindful of your condition.”
Lacey smiled and caressed her stomach. “I don’t think I have a choice but to be mindful.”