A Fearless Bride for a Wounded Rancher

by Ember Pierce

  * * *

  “He took my fiancee hostage and hid her in an abandoned tunnel at the mine up in the hills.”

  * * *

  Mae’s stomach fell and she gasped. How awful...for both of them. The woman must have been terrified.

  * * *

  “I tried to get to her, but there was an explosion and…”

  * * *

  She put her hand on his arm. “Scott, I’m so very sorry.”

  * * *

  He didn’t respond. Mae knew he was fighting back tears. Tears of rage, frustration, and grief. Tears for the longing of what had been and the fear of what was to come.

  * * *

  He glanced at her. “I couldn’t save her, Mae. Do you understand? I couldn’t save her. I was barely able to get out of the mine alive, myself. If we go back into town now and I can’t save everyone from Bixby and his gang, I’ll never be able to live with myself. Mae,” he exhaled forcefully, “I’m afraid to go back. Afraid of so many things.”

  * * *

  She pulled his hand toward herself and held it in both of her own. “I’m so sorry. So very, very sorry. But, you need to hear the truth, Scott. You must hear it. The truth.”

  * * *

  “That’s what happened, Mae. What are you talking about? What I’ve told you is the truth.”

  * * *

  “The truth is what lies in between words and actions. You know, I think that you’re so afraid of not saving everyone, that you’re afraid to even try. If you don’t go back, if we don’t go back to Fable Springs...Scott, people are going to die. A lot of people.”

  * * *

  He shook his head slowly and met her eyes dead on. “No, Mae. I can’t. I just can’t...

  * * *

  “I understand your pain, Scott, really I do.”

  * * *

  “No, Mae. You don’t. There’s not any way that you could understand the pain I feel at just hearing Wayne Bixby’s name. I can’t go back. I just can’t.”

  * * *

  “Well, I can’t let people die without, at least, trying to help them.” She hopped down from the wagon, thankful that she was wearing an old dress, and unhitched one of the horses.

  * * *

  She looked at Scott as she climbed up on the horse’s back.

  * * *

  “I need to stand up for what is right, Scott.” She whirled the horse around and headed back to town.

  Scott watched her as she rode back toward town. Now he had to go back into Fable Springs. There was no way he could leave her. He had to save her. He knew that if she was alone, and Bixby saw her, he’d take her away. Scott wasn’t about to let that happen.

  * * *

  He climbed down from the buckboard and unhitched the other horse. The bags in the back would have to stay with the wagon. He took the things out and stashed them under the front wheel.

  * * *

  Then he saddled the horse. Mae had ridden bare-back because Scott was only bringing one saddle. The others he had, including the one with silver embellishments that had been Annie’s, would be brought up to the new ranch in a week or so. He shoved both his pistols in their holsters and climbed on.

  * * *

  He sighed and turned the horse to follow in the tracks Mae’s mount had made.

  20

  Mae rode like the wind, urging the horse to go against its natural desire to get as far away from fire as possible. She knew the animal could smell the smoke, but she spoke to him.

  * * *

  She invoked his trust and soon, she could feel a difference, slight, but a difference in the horse’s gait. As she got closer to the outskirts she could tell that the fire was in or near the square.

  * * *

  At the first business building which housed the shoemaker, Mae stopped and slid down from the horse’s back. She gave the horse’s rear end a slap, sending it on its way. She didn’t want it tied up and trapped if the town burned. Then she made her way to the square.

  * * *

  The fight was in front of The Golden Grain Saloon. The building was nearly destroyed. The town’s two fire wagons were at the scene as were many of the residents, milling about in the road, and watching the fight, and arguing over how it had started.

  * * *

  Gunfire broke out and Mae searched frantically for Doreen, her schoolteacher friend. The little schoolhouse a block over from the square was shuttered. The general store also showed the closed sign.

  * * *

  Was everyone involved in the fight?

  * * *

  She couldn’t imagine that Doreen would go toward trouble. She’d most likely gone home. She continued on, keeping to the far side of Fable Springs’ main street which bordered the square.

  * * *

  Since the shooting started, people were running away from the square, this way and that. It was chaotic. Women and men raced past her on the wooden walkway and in the middle of the road. She leaned back against a building to better assess the situation when she heard her name called.

  * * *

  “Mae, Mae!”

  * * *

  She squinted her eyes against the smoke and soot, and shielded them further with her hand. It was Ephraim. He was waving and running toward her from the direction of the general store.

  * * *

  She waved and stayed where she was.

  * * *

  Ephraim reached her and grabbed her arm. “Come with me, Mae. What are you doing here? There’s too much trouble. Let me get you home.” He yelled above the noise of fights, and gunfire, and screams.

  * * *

  “I’m not going anywhere, Ephraim. I want to help. What can I do?”

  * * *

  “Where’s Scott. I thought he wanted to get you away from here?”

  * * *

  “He did, but Ephraim, I couldn’t leave. I feel as if I’m a part of this town. I know I’ve only been in Fable Springs for only a month, but I’ve adopted it. Or it’s adopted me. Whatever it is, my home is here now, in Fable Springs and I won’t let a man like Wayne Bixby ruin it.”

  * * *

  The bells of the fire wagons crescendoed. There was chaos with more people running to and from the area. Ephraim dragged Mae into a doorway on the other side of the road.

  * * *

  “There are about five of the town’s men fighting back, as well as myself. We have a slim chance of battling Wayne Bixby to the point of defeat. But sometimes guts make up for more than numbers and guns.”

  * * *

  “Okay, what do you need me for? I don’t have a weapon.”

  * * *

  “Here you go.” Ephraim reached down into his boot and pulled out a small revolver. He handed it to her. “You stay here. This doorway is deep. You’ll be safe if you stay against the wall. I’m going out by the saloon to help our men. The sheriff and the deputy are there too.”

  * * *

  “Okay.”

  * * *

  “I’ll come back for you in about ten minutes. I want to see what’s happening and help if I can.”

  * * *

  No sooner had he said it, then he was gone. Mae stood, flattened against the wall, watching him run. The melee raged all around her and she was just about to retreat further into the doorway. That was when she saw him.

  * * *

  Wayne Bixby stood in the middle of the road. His eyes bore through her. She backed up into the doorway, wishing she could make herself smaller. Bixby grinned, twirled his pistol and fired it in the direction Ephraim had just gone. Then he turned toward Mae.

  * * *

  She fell back farther into the doorway, realizing she was trapped. She fired on him but she was shaking so badly that her shots all went wild. Bixby lunged toward her. She pushed back through the door into the courtyard of the building. She looked around in a frantic manner and spied an open window on the second floor. She hopped up on the sill of the first floor but couldn’t pull herself up because of her shoulder injury.r />
  * * *

  “You’ll never get away from me.” Bixby apprehended her and pulled her down as if she were a ragdoll.

  * * *

  “Let me go, you fiend.”

  * * *

  Bixby’s laughter sounded in her ear. “My, my. You’re quite a bit more feisty than the other one!”

  * * *

  Mae glared at him. How dare he be so contemptible. “You don’t offend me or shock me, Wayne Bixby. I don’t expect anything but animal-like behavior from you. In fact, every animal I’ve ever known has far outweighed you as far as manners go.”

  * * *

  He laughed again, his hot breath fanned her cheek, repulsing her. Whiskey and cigarette smoke were the dominant scents she associated with him.

  * * *

  Bixby pushed Mae and grabbed her by the arm. He took her back out through the door of the building and followed the narrow corridor to the street. She kicked and struggled.

  * * *

  He laughed and continued dragging her to the road and the hitching post in the middle of the square just across from the still burning remains of The Golden Grain Saloon.

  * * *

  He pulled a length of rope from his belt. Holding Mae with one arm around her waist, the other wrapped the rope around her wrists. When her hands had been secured, he tied her to the hitching rail.

  * * *

  “You’ll never get away with this. You’re a beast.”

  * * *

  In answer to her, Bixby laughed and went back to the fray.

  * * *

  Mae looked all around. If there was shooting, she was in a dangerous spot. She had to get to shelter. She pulled her wrists apart.

  * * *

  The rope held firm, but she rubbed it against the rough wood of the rail. Working it over and over, she was able to soften the rope. If she got it worked it loose even a little, she just might be able to slip one of her wrists through.

  Scott sat on his horse, facing town. He could hear the gunfire. He had intended to go back. But now he sat frozen. Unable to make the horse move.

  * * *

  Why had he let Mae go? It’d been foolish. She could get hurt.

  * * *

  He tried to control his breathing. His heart pounded so hard, he felt dizzy from it. The whole episode seemed like a strange sort of deja vu. But this wasn’t the mines. This wasn’t Annie. This was not a repeat of the tragedy. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.

  * * *

  What was going on in town could be viewed as an opportunity to help save Fable Springs. It was an opportunity to save Mae. And he had to save her. He could not fail again.

  * * *

  He checked his pistols, one in each holster and a Bowie knife in his boot.

  * * *

  Bixby didn’t have a chance against Scott. He didn’t have Scott’s anger. If it was the last thing he did, Scott was going to stop Bixby and his gang. He was going to run them out of town for good. It was what he should have done as soon as Bixby came back to town.

  * * *

  He pressed his heels to the horse’s sides and they took off, galloping towards town, towards danger, towards Mae - who he was quickly realizing was the love of his life.

  * * *

  At the outskirts on the other side of town from his house, Scott found the streets quiet and empty. What could have happened. Where was everyone? The gunfire had stopped and he didn’t see a soul anywhere. He’d slowed the horse to a walk and wandered through the streets and over to the square. His stomach was in a knot.

  * * *

  There were people moving about. The five fighting townsmen had laid down their weapons on the ground in front of their feet. Bixby’s ten men surrounded them. Scott’s eyes landed on Mae and a murderous rage rose up within him.

  * * *

  Bixby had tied her to the hitching post in the middle of the square. The villain himself stood near her and one of his men had an eight-gauge shotgun trained on her.

  * * *

  Her face lit up when she saw Scott.

  * * *

  “So...if it isn’t the former sheriff of Fable Springs. What a surprise. I certainly thought that after the other night you wouldn’t leave your woman alone. Especially in town.” Bixby sighed, “Just look at what happened. A pity.”

  * * *

  “Untie her, Bixby.”

  * * *

  “Now, why would I do something like that? I have you, Mr. Henderson, in just the spot I want you in.”

  * * *

  “I’m the one you want. I’m here. Let her go.”

  * * *

  “Au contraire, my good sheriff. She stays where she is. You, however, can grovel before me on your knees. If you kiss the tips of my boots and force everyone here to give me their wallets, watches, rings...you know the expensive keepsakes. Tell them to share with me, then your lovely bride goes free.”

  * * *

  Scott froze. This was the moment of truth. What he did at this moment would lay the foundation for the future in Fable Springs. The future of each and every citizen of the town hung in the balance. He had to be careful of the action he was about to take. As careful as he could be.

  * * *

  As if knowing the thoughts Scott was having, Bixby sneered. “I wouldn’t think about it too long, though Mr. Henderson. If your townsfolk don’t give me exactly what I ask for then...well...well, then you’re bride will be blown up. Wouldn’t that be a shame? So, so tragically reminiscent of...”

  * * *

  Scott struggled to keep his mind clear and as calm as possible. Bixby spoke with the same sarcasm Scott remembered. He hated it. Bixby said he would have what he wanted as if he’d won the thing. He spoke as if he ruled in Fable Springs. Scott would show him that he was wrong.

  * * *

  Three of Bixby’s men had their weapons aimed at him. The others took care of the crowd. As if in slow motion, Scott’s eyes darted here and there under the broad brim of his Stetson.

  * * *

  When his eyes met Mae’s, she imperceptibly moved her chin side-to-side. For a split second he didn’t understand her signal. In the next minute, though he realized she had a plan.

  * * *

  That was good and in an odd way comforted him since, despite his mental fortitude, he still had no idea what he was going to do.

  * * *

  Scott looked at Mae once again. She was working at her bindings. He prayed he was reading her right. Keep Bixby and his men distracted. It made sense. They didn’t expect anything from Mae because she was tied up.

  * * *

  Scott stepped closer to Bixby and every eye watched his movements. Exactly what he wanted. Mae was able to work at the ropes, twisting her wrists this way and that, bruising herself, but loosening the restraints.

  * * *

  Scott shifted to the side to obscure Bixby’s view of Mae, and stepped another step closer. Bixby’s men reiterated their stances and one of them cocked his gun.

  * * *

  Scott was cautious but encouraged. The men were following his movements and neglected to look at Mae. It seemed they viewed him, not Mae, as the threat to Bixby.

  * * *

  Therefore they were falling into Scott and Mae’s trap. It was imperative that his timing was perfect. He took a slow breath to center himself. He summoned his old swagger.

  * * *

  “So Bixby. Up to your old tricks, I see.”

  * * *

  “How observant of you, Henderson. But then again, you’re familiar with some of my er...uh, tricks as you call them.”

  * * *

  “I don’t care what you call them. I know what they are and what they’re intended to accomplish. I see right through you. I’ll tell you something else...everyone in town sees through you, Bixby. You had armed citizens of Fable Springs fighting you today. I don’t recall seeing that before. It leads me to believe your make-believe run as the town villain is at its end.”

&nbs
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