The Bride Price (32 page)

Jamie helped her up, and after a few tries,
she was able to get her leg over the saddle. She did her best to
wrap the skirts in a way that wouldn’t interfere with her or the
horse. Jamie then mounted and they took off towards the lake. He
had put a few snacks in saddlebags so they could ride for longer,
but he had other plans than just eating.

He grimaced when she shot him a look and then
dug her heels in. Gentle Ben responded immediately. They flew over
the beautiful green hills and valleys of the Wades’ property. As
they were coming up to a fence, Sophie didn’t hesitate. She put
Ben’s head into it and he jumped it with feet to spare. Sophie let
out a holler and slowed him down to a walk. Jamie caught up with
her a few seconds later. “You scared the crap out of me.”

Sophie laughed. “Oh, baby, that was
incredible. You have no idea.”

They reached the lake but decided to walk the
horses for a few extra minutes to cool them down. Jamie found a
secluded area at the edge of the water and dismounted. He helped
Sophie down and they led the horses to a tree nearby and tied them
to a low hanging limb.

Jamie had secured a blanket to Sophie’s
saddle, so she grabbed it and laid it on the ground at the edge of
the water. Sitting on the blanket, she removed her boots, stretched
out, and waited for Jamie to gather the food.

“Did you enjoy that, love?” He sat next to
her and leaned down to kiss her.

“Are you kidding me? It was the most
magnificent thing I’ve ever experienced. Well, since last night,
anyway. Thank you for finding these.” Sophie indicated the
breeches.

“My pleasure. I wonder if we should try and
have some more made for you at some point.”

“I’d love that. Of course, underwear that I
could wear under them would be a good idea as well.”

Stretching out beside her, he raised an
eyebrow. “Oh? What are you wearing now?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“How about I investigate?”

“Under what authority, sir?”

Jamie reached over to pull her into his arms.
“There’s a law called, I want to get into my wife’s pants. Of
course, you are innocent until proven guilty. However, there is
reason to believe you are in violation of section eight fifteen,
code eighty-one.”

Sophie laughed. “I’m in violation of my
birthday? Very clever.”

Jamie kissed her and kept kissing her as he
unbuttoned her blouse. “No chemise baby?”

“No, too much clothing. Although, the
corset’s scratchy without that extra layer. I wonder if I could
design a bra in this century. It would be so much easier. You
should have seen Betty’s reaction when she saw I wasn’t wearing a
chemise. She was mortified.”

“Mmm, but so unbelievably sexy.” Jamie went
to work on freeing her body from the corset stays.

Sophie laughed and stood up, letting the
corset slip from her waist and then pulling off her blouse.

Jamie sat up. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going for a swim.” Pushing her skirt
from her waist, she went to work on her breeches. She waded into
the water and swam to the middle to wait for Jamie. With a smile,
he quickly undressed and swam out to meet her. He wrapped his arm
around her waist and drew her into a tight embrace.

Sophie pushed away from him. “Up for a
race?”

Jamie chuckled. “Always.”

The competition wasn’t a fair one. Jamie had
been on the varsity swim team, and lapped her multiple times.
Sophie met him in the middle and looped her arms around his neck.
“I’m once again impressed, love.”

“Oh, you should be. I’m impressive.”

Sophie smiled. “I’m hungry, are you?”

Jamie gave her a quick kiss. “Yes, starved.
Let me get out first.”

She nodded and waited for him to wade out
onto the bank. He took a look around to make sure it was safe and
then motioned for her to come out of the water. He had just put his
pants on and grabbed the blanket to wrap around her, when they
heard horses approaching in the distance. He grabbed her clothes
and boots, and handed them to her in a bunch.

“Take these and hide Sophie, just in case
they’re not friendly. They’re riding awfully fast, which makes me
think they might be up to no good.”

Jamie pushed Sophie behind a small grove of
trees next to the lake. She’d had the wherewithal to grab Gentle
Ben and lead him into hiding with her. She watched as Jamie rushed
to get his socks and boots on and her heart raced as the riders
approached. Jamie had one arm in the sleeve of his shirt when he
stopped. He glanced at her hidden behind the covering of a large
boulder. She raised an eyebrow and he gave her an imperceptible
shrug.

She realized he didn’t recognize the men.

His scowl of irritation also spoke volumes,
so she ducked further out of sight. The men weren’t in uniform, and
Sophie had no idea if they were friend or foe.

Jamie slid his arm through the remaining
sleeve but instead of attempting to button it, he crossed his arms
over the open shirt. “Gentleman,” he began slowly. “Is there a
reason you’re on private property?”

The man who seemed to take the lead sent a
shiver down Sophie’s spine. His badly pockmarked face held eyes
that resonated evil. “Well looky here, Carl, we got us a bona fide
Yankee.”

Confederates, maybe? Southern accent,
definitely.

Carl was dressed in nondescript tan pants and
black boots. His shirt and jacket, although worn, appeared to be
clean and neatly pressed. Sophie noted that everything about him
seemed somewhat average. His dirty blond hair, short back and
sides, and his height, which even in the saddle looked quite a bit
shorter than Jamie’s.

The only thing Sophie took as distinguishable
was the way he held his gun. No different than anyone else, she
supposed, yet, it was. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“Ain’t he one of the ones we was trackin’ the
other night?” Carl droned.

If that guy’s southern, I’m Miss America.

“I do believe you’re right, Carl.”

Meanwhile, Sophie frantically tried to get
dry enough to get her clothes on. Good old Ben stood next to her,
not making a sound. It was almost as though he knew they needed
silence. She got her breeches on and realized she wouldn’t get her
corset on without assistance, so she put her blouse on with nothing
underneath.

She was able to get her socks on and one boot
when she heard the conversation get louder and more intense. She
took the blanket and tried to wrap her thick hair up in it, just to
keep it from soaking her clothes. She was having a difficult time
not tilting her head to one side with the weight of it, however.
She successfully got her second boot on and then found a small
opening in her makeshift hiding place to see what was going on.

“What are ya doin’ there, son?” Carl asked
Jamie.

“I was taking a swim. Now, gentlemen, would
you please answer my question?”

Carl’s cohort sneered. “This ain’t your
property, so it don’t matter to you none.”

“No, you are correct, this is not my land.
However, it is Richard Madden’s, and I don’t think he would
appreciate you trespassing.”

Sophie watched Jamie turn slightly, as though
he were going to pick up the remains of his lunch. When they were
first married, they had volunteered to build houses with a group of
deaf students, and they’d gone through a quick but rigorous
American Sign Language course. Most of it stuck. They used to sign
to each other whenever they weren’t in a quiet area, or not within
shouting distance. Jamie was signing now. Sophie didn’t like what
he was saying, but Jamie was insistent.

Get Richard and a few of my men. Take Ben
and hurry back.

Sophie left her skirts on the ground so that with
just her breeches on she was able to mount Ben without aid. The
fancy turban holding her hair bobbled, and she tugged it off,
dropping it to the ground. She quietly made her way from the trees
in the opposite direction of the intruders. When she knew they
wouldn’t be able to catch her, she dug her heels in and Ben
flew.

They had more than one fence to jump this way, and
Sophie was grateful he was so responsive to her. She got to the
arena and saw that Richard and a few of the men were working the
horses. Andrew was also there.

“Richard! Andrew!” They turned quickly at her
terrified voice. “Come quick, please! Jamie needs help. He’s out at
the lake and the two men that you met on the way back from Mr.
Powell’s are with him. Get guns.”

Richard and Andrew didn’t waste any time and,
as luck would have it, several of the horses had already been
tacked up, so they grabbed two and mounted. They were handed
pistols and took off toward the lake. Sophie was hot on their
heels.

Richard pulled up. “Sophie, what do you think
you’re doing? You need to stay here.”

“Like hell I will. You’re the one who
shouldn’t be on a horse with that leg!”

“I’m fine.”

“Good. Follow me.” She dug her heels in. “If
you can keep up.”

The men had no choice but to follow. The
threesome arrived at Sophie’s starting point. Richard motioned for
her to stay where she was and he and Andrew walked their horses
towards Jamie.

Sophie dismounted and then snuck to her
original hiding place. Hunkering behind a rock, she had a sweeping
view of the scene unfolding before her. Jamie had his hands up, and
Sophie could tell he was doing his best to keep the men talking.
The two men, still mounted but now pointing guns at Jamie, turned
their heads toward Andrew and Richard.

“Gentlemen, you are on my land without
permission. Perhaps you could tell me what you’re doing here,”
Richard said.

Carl apparently didn’t want to answer
Richard’s question and fired his gun in the air. Andrew ducked.
That’s when all hell broke loose. Both Richard and Andrew fired.
Uglier than Carl, hit in the middle of his forehead, was dead on
impact. Carl was able to avoid a bullet, but his spooked horse
threw him and he ended up sprawled on the ground. Recovering
quickly, he jumped up and rushed at Jamie, gun drawn.

It didn’t matter that Carl had a gun. Jamie
had several years of mixed martial arts on his side. He was able to
wrestle the gun from Carl’s grip and had him on the ground in a
chokehold in a matter of seconds. Richard and Andrew jumped from
their horses and came to assist Jamie with his captive.

Sophie didn’t stick around to find out what
might happen next. She stumbled out of her hiding place, her heart
in her throat. “Jamie!”

She saw his head whip around, but then she
went down hard. She’d tripped over Carl’s partner and fell flat on
her face. Jamie rushed over to help her up and she fell into his
arms.

“Sweetheart, we’re all okay.” Jamie held her
close. “Look.”

She took a moment to compose herself and took
a couple of deep breaths, turning to see that Richard and Andrew
had Carl well in hand and they appeared to be unhurt. They had him
tied to a tree. She ran over to Andrew, and he lifted her off the
ground in a bear hug.

“You scared me to death!” She punched him as
he walked her back to Jamie. Then the three men started to gather
up the horses. Jamie’s horse had bolted, and she was pretty sure
Ben probably had as well, so they prepared to walk back to the
stables. Andrew gave Sophie his horse and then joined Jamie and
Carl.

“I think I’ll take Carl’s horse back to the
barn. We’ll make him walk, what do you think?” Jamie said.

“Excellent idea,” Richard said.

“I have information!” Carl yelled as they
tied his hands together.

“Save it,” Richard snapped.

Richard mounted his horse and pulled Carl by
a rope attached to his secured hands. Jamie cornered Andrew. “Let’s
leave this guy where he is and send a coroner’s wagon back for him.
I don’t want Sophie to have to think about a dead body close to the
house.”

Andrew nodded. “I’m going to stop in at the
jail, so you take Sophie back, and I’ll meet you at the house
later.”

Jamie helped Sophie mount and then climbed up
behind her. Sophie glanced over her shoulder with a concerned
frown. “Where’s Andrew going?”

Jamie pulled her close. “He’s stopping at the
jail. Don’t worry, sweetheart, he won’t be long.”

She leaned back against him with a sigh and
let him take the reins. Arriving back at the barn, Sophie handed
Andrew’s horse to the groom.

“The large black horse made it back,
ma’am.”

Sophie smiled at the groom. “Thank you,
Jimmy. Is someone seeing to him?”

“Yes, ma’am. Topper is brushing him
down.”

Sophie nodded. “Thanks.”

She made her way to Samson’s stall. She
needed to check his injury and she needed to hug her pet. Jamie
came in to check on her about an hour later. Sophie stood inside
his stall with her arms looped around his neck.

Jamie pulled her into his arms for a kiss.
“Should I be jealous?”

She smiled up at him. “No, you’re a better
kisser.”

“Are you ready to go? We’ll just make it in
time for dinner.”

“I need to change first. I can’t wear these
breeches to dinner. Poor Nona would faint from embarrassment.” She
added in a whisper, “I also don’t have a corset on, which would
probably kill her.”

Jamie chuckled as they started back to the
house for dinner. “I’m sure everyone will wait for you.”

They ran into Andrew on the way out of the
barn.

“Are you coming up to the house for dinner?”
Sophie asked.

“Yes, I’ll be there shortly.”

“Invite Richard, would you please?”

Jamie took her hand in his and led her to the
house. They let themselves in, and Sophie rushed up to her room to
change. She found Christine at the top of the stairs. “Hi! You are
not going to believe the day we had. Can you please help me back
into a corset?”