“That’s right, girlie,” the man snarled. “You come along peaceful like.”
He lifted her to her feet and dragged her off the road and into the woods. His grip dug into her flesh, and she struggled, stumbling, to keep pace.
They crashed further into the woods. The trees became thick and blotted out the sun. The gorgeous spring day turned to damp shadow. A shack covered in a layer of dirt and leaves lay ahead. It leaned dangerously to the right as if it might decide one day to simply fall over and cease to be.
Her captor pushed the door open and threw Harmony inside.
“I found her, Jim,” he crowed. “She was walking down the road, alone, like she hadn’t a care in the world.”
“What? You idiot, who do you have there? I’ve already got her.” Harmony recognized the second bandit from the train robbery. He threw his arm in a wild sweep toward the table.
Melody sat in a chair with her arms tied behind her back. An equally unsavory cloth was shoved in her mouth, and a dark bruise marred her cheek.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” bushy beard declared. “There’s two of ’em. I swear there was only one on the train. We wouldn’t have missed something like a spare woman. How did one turn into two?” Like a spectator at a tennis match, he swiveled his head from Melody to Harmony and back again.
“They’re twins, Hector,” the second man said in disgust.
“Twins,” Hector released a sigh of wonder. “Well, Jim, I never seen twins before.” He leered at the two women. “I wonder if they are alike everywhere?” His face labored in concentrated thought. “I reckon we can find out.” He rubbed his hands together and chortled.
“We won’t have to share,” Jim crowed. “I never did like following on another fella’s heels.”
“Yeah,” Hector agreed, “after we see if they’s the same.”
Harmony shot her sister a look of terrified panic. The man was obviously as dim as the last ember in a fire, but once he had a thought in his head, he stuck to it. She shivered.
“Tie her up,” Jim ordered.
Hector pushed Harmony into a chair. Pulling her arms behind her, he bound them with rope. Harmony flinched. The man caused pain on purpose. He was a brute. She prayed Matt was searching for her. If she got out of this alive, she’d never disobey him again.
Jim yanked the dirty cloth from her mouth. “Which one of you was on the train?” he demanded.
“Don’t tell him.” Melody sent the thought. “Stall for time.”
Harmony wondered why Melody always gave the orders. Was she born first?
“Of course, I was,” she answered. “Now stall. Our husbands are looking for us.”
Harmony looked through thick lashes at the repulsive fellow. “How did you know where to find us?” she asked.
Hector puffed his chest out like a rooster leading a harem of chickens. “We heard a drunk bragging about how he knew what happened to the train. It didn’t cost us nothing but a bottle of cheap whiskey, and that man spilled the story. He’d been sleeping one off at the jail when a man and his wife told the sheriff they’d been on the train. Said the avalanche was set off by dynamite and told how they’d murdered a woman and a guard and stole the miners’ payroll.”
“We was mighty surprised cause we didn’t leave no witnesses.” Jim took over. “Didn’t make no sense, none at all, but I’d seen the woman from the train walking down the street in Franklin.” He shook his head. “The drunk said the man claimed to be the sheriff from Ford, Oregon. We came to finish the job. They got no proof without an eyewitness.”
“You don’t know which one of us it was,” Harmony pointed out.
“Well, I guess it don’t really matter. You’ve both seen us. You both have to die.” Jim’s voice was cold and hard. “Hector’s going to untie your hands so we can undress you. Now, you fight if you want. Hector and me like a feisty gal.”
“Don’t fight,” Melody said. “We’ll have a better chance to get away if our hands are free. Keep them talking.”
“Untie ’em, Hector,” Jim ordered.
“Where’s the money?” Harmony asked.
“You got no need to know.” Jim gloated.
“What about the sheriff from Ford? What do you mean to do to him?” she enquired.
“If he was really on the train, kill him. But there was only one guy, and I kicked him. Kicked him hard. If he was alive, he’d have squealed like a hog headed for slaughter. I reckon you were unconscious, and that’s why we thought you were dead.” He shook his head in a sad arc. “Next time, I aim to shoot every single body there just to be sure. I don’t like loose ends. Nothing but trouble. Me and Hector had to come all the way to Oregon when we should be living high on that money.” He heaved a sigh. “You got them untied, Hector?”
“I do. Which one do you want?” Hector leered, mouth hanging open and shiny with spittle.
“Don’t matter. They’s the same.” Jim pulled a knife from his boot and slit the back of Harmony’s dress from hem to neck. He threw the knife to Hector who repeated the process.
“Wait,” Melody warned. “We have to play for time. We’ll find a chance, or our husbands will come.”
Like apples being made ready for a pie, their dresses were peeled away.
“Well, lookee here,” Hector crowed. “Mine don’t wear no drawers. It’s my lucky day.” His laugh was low, thunderous, mean.
Harmony shrugged her shoulders. “Matt doesn’t like them,” she answered Melody’s wide-eyed gaze.
The two men walked in a slow circle around the two women. Comparing, contrasting, commenting on a mole or a freckle here or there.
“Harmony, they’re distracted. When they get in front of us, we’re going to kick them in their private parts. Pa told me how. Don’t use your foot. Use your knee then run.”
“This is more fun than buying a horse,” Hector cackled. “Open your mouth. Let me check your teeth.” He moved close and placed grubby hands on Harmony’s jaw.
Jim laughed. “I don’t care about teeth. I want these.” He seized Melody’s breasts in a brutal grip.
“Now,” Melody sent the message.
The women lifted their knees and struck.
Melody’s knee dealt her target a hard blow. The man bent double and clutched his private parts, and Melody headed for the door.
Harmony’s knee landed on Hector’s upper thigh. The blow had not disabled the man. It had enraged him.
“Why, you, you bitch,” he sputtered. He lashed Harmony to him with a muscled arm and lifted her from the floor. With his free hand, he unbuckled his belt. It flew through the loops of his pants with a deadly whoosh. “When I’m done with you, you’ll be sorry you were ever born.”
“Run,” Melody shouted. “Run.” She glanced behind but Harmony was not close on her heels. She was dangling from that varmint’s arm, and he was slashing the air with his belt.
“I aim to strap you good,” he threatened. He dragged Harmony back to the table and tied her hands around the leg.
Like a witch on a Halloween broom, Melody flew across the room and landed on the man’s back. She clutched him with her legs and clasped his face in her hands, digging at his eyes and scratching at anything she could get her nails into.
“Help me,” Hector yelled.
Jim pried Melody off his friend’s back like a barnacle from a clam. “I get to tan this one. She kicked me in my balls. You’ll think twice before fighting dirty again,” he growled. “Then we’ll kill the both of you, but we might as well have our fun first.”
Melody kicked, punched, wriggled and wailed as Jim dragged her toward the table. He’d almost achieved his goal, when the door flew open. Mitch had a pistol drawn, and Matt waved the shotgun that had served him well in the past.
“Let her go,” Mitch shouted.
Jim dropped Melody to the floor, whirled toward the men, and pulled a gun. The blast of Mitch’s pistol echoed around the room and a burst of ruby red blossomed on the bandit’s chest.
&
nbsp; “A shotgun at this range will leave you with a mighty big hole in your gut.” Matt waved his shotgun at the remaining outlaw. “If you don’t want to join your friend,” he motioned at the corpse on the floor, “drop the gun.”
Hector’s gun hit the floor, and his arms flew over his head.
“I’ve got him covered, Mitch. Tie his hands behind his back and sit him down next to the wall,” Matt instructed.
“Don’t make a move, Hector. I’ve never shot an escaping prisoner, but today could be my lucky day.” Matt pointed at the floor and the bandit sank to a sit.
Matt set his gun on the table and bent to untie Harmony’s hands. He dragged his shirt over his head and handed it to his wife.
“Put this on,” he said. “The only one who should see your bare bottom is me, and I plan to see plenty of it later on tonight. I’m too angry to punish you now.”
“Mitch, help me tie the dead one to his horse. I’m going to take this other varmint to town and get him in a cell.” Matt fixed angry eyes on his wife. “Harmony, go with Mitch. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Hey.” Disbelief soaked Hector’s words. “Are you the fella I kicked on the train?”
“I am,” Matt stated.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” the convict said.
“That is undoubtedly true,” Matt agreed.
“I’m sorry, Matt,” Harmony began her apology.
Her husband pulled her to him and held her in a long, quiet embrace. His heart beat a steady rhythm under her ear and the warmth of his love, his protection, his care resonated in every precious thump.
She melted into his chest, legs shaking. The reality of their near escape rushed through her body in waves of hot nausea.
Matt patted her back. “It’s all right. You’re safe.”
When Hector’s hands were tied to the pommel of his saddle, Matt positioned his horse behind him, gun at the ready. “Move out,” he said. “And don’t give me a reason to shoot.”
Harmony watched until her husband was out of sight. Mitch held her sister in his arms, eyes closed, white-faced.
Mitch led his horse with a loose rein as they began the walk to Journey’s End. Chase scampered and ran a tight circle around the little group. He didn’t plan to let any of them get away. Mitch leaned down and scratched his soft fur. “Good boy, Chase.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, Mitch. Why does Micah call him his day-dog?” Harmony asked.
“Me and Micah have an agreement. He gets him all day, and I get him at night. The boy loves Chase and spends hours playing with him. It just seemed right to share,” Mitch explained. “But I need the security at night for Melody if I have to be away.”
The men and women of Journey’s End were kind, caring, understanding. Right down to the feelings of a little boy for a big, red dog. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She was a house divided. Torn between wanting her husband and needing her sister.
Melody took her hand and squeezed. “I know,” she said.
“I know.”
Chapter 17
When Matt returned to Journey’s End, the full moon lit the yard like high noon with a lampshade on its head. He rested his lower arm on the pommel of the saddle for a minute or two and enjoyed the view. The yard was swept clean, the vegetable garden blossomed behind a fence of sticks and twine, and horses whinnied in greeting from the barn.
Mitch sat in a chair turned backward. His arms rested on the back.
“Let’s settle your horse in the barn. I’d like to talk a bit before we decide what to do.” He joined Matt in the center of the yard.
“All right,” Matt agreed. “Where are the girls?”
“In the house. They’re sitting on the couch holding hands. They’re sure we intend to tear a strip off their identical hides.” Mitch lifted muscular shoulders and let them drop.
“It’s what they deserve,” Matt observed. “They both could have been killed today. It’s what those two hooligans meant to do.” He kicked a rock with his well-worn boot. “I, the sheriff in Franklin. Somebody needs to come fetch that varmint and escort him to Denver. Union Pacific will want the trial held there.”
“You won’t take him?” Matt asked.
“Hell, no,” Matt scoffed. “Harmony and I will need to go for the trial. We’re the only eyewitnesses, but I’ll leave the transporting to some other unlucky lawman.”
The two men stopped and rested their forearms on the top rail of a fence.
Matt cleared his throat. “I told Harmony I’d spank her into next Sunday if she put herself in danger again.” He sighed.
“What does that mean? Spanking her into next Sunday,” Mitch enquired.
“It’s what my ma used to say. Most times she’d give us a little hand spanking, but if we were truly terrible, she’d end the spanking with a spoon or belt or switch. Believe me, that little addition made the occasion memorable,” Matt explained.
“I see,” Mitch nodded.
“But I just don’t have the heart to do it.” Matt turned and leaned on the fence with his elbow. “I don’t believe Harmony and Melody can control their need to be together. They’re like magnets. Drawn together through some unbreakable force of nature. If I don’t make some changes, I’ll have to spank her every week, maybe more than once a week, for putting herself in danger. I can’t do it. I can’t spank her for something she can’t control, and I can’t let her risk her safety without punishment.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I want her to be happy,” Matt continued, “I want us to be happy. How can we be happy if the price of her need for Melody is a spanking? She’d come to resent me, maybe even fear me. I can’t let it happen.”
“Well, brother,” Mitch began, “I have the exact same problem. Whatever your wife is up to, mine will be right beside her. The only solution is to find a way for them to be together safely and with our consent.”
“Exactly,” Matt declared. “I was coming home to tell Harmony about my plan to do just that, but she was already gone, traipsing off into danger.”
“Plan?” Mitch echoed the word.
“I didn’t want to tell her until I knew it could work. I wanted to talk to you first, too. I hoped you would also see it as a solution,” Matt paused and pulled the hat from his head. “There was a hundred-acre parcel for sale on the northern border of Journey’s End.”
“Was?” Mitch asked.
“I bought it. I’d saved the money I made trapping in Montana, and I never spent all of my sheriff’s pay. I put the money in the bank and waited for, well, waited for Harmony, I guess.” Matt rubbed his hand up and down his denim-clad thigh. “I have some left over. Enough to get started. With hard work and careful scrimping, I believe Harmony and I can get a small ranch up and running. If I build our house on the border of the property, the walk between your house and ours would be about three-quarters of a mile. The entire path would be on private property.”
“Shucks, we’ve been saving to buy that land,” Mitch lamented.
“Oh, I didn’t know. I’m sorry, but I have to get Harmony closer to Melody.”
“We agree on that. We surely do.” Mitch held up his hand to stop the speech he saw building. “I was waiting for you tonight for two reasons. One, to decide on what, if any, spanking would happen tonight. I know we could each do what we felt best, but when they get in trouble, it will be together. They are two separate and unique individuals, I would know Melody anywhere and I’m sure you feel the same about Harmony, but in a way they are one. I have a feeling in my gut that our marriages will be happier if the two of us have a united front. And two, to tell you about the plan the families of Journey’s End came up with.”
Confusion flitted across Matt’s face like moths dancing around a candle flame.
“Journey’s End is a family ranch. When you married Harmony, you became a part of the family. Now, we weren’t the only ones to realize the two women can’t be kept apart and be happy, and safe at the same time.
The
Nielson families and I had a meeting. We would like you and Harmony to build a house right here and take the good and the bad as it comes at Journey’s End. We share the work. We share the joy. We share the sorrows.” He stopped and studied the dirt between his boots. “Now we will understand if you want your own spread. The choice is yours.”
“I don’t want to come empty-handed. If I throw my hundred acres into the family pot, I would feel that I had bought in, if you know what I mean.” Matt smiled at the man-in-the-moon blessing them with its golden glow. “Truth be told, I’ve missed my brother,” he gave a strangled laugh. “We wrangled over the same woman. I would like to have brothers again. Harmony and Melody will be only yards apart. She loves Ellie and Caroline and the children. I know this will make her happy. Thank you, Mitch. I accept.”
Mitch gave a whoop. “Let’s go tell the girls.” He stopped after two steps and turned toward Matt. “I forgot. What about the punishment? They knew they would be spanked if they wandered off alone, but, hell’s fire, I don’t feel like spanking anybody tonight.”
The men put their heads close together and spoke slow and serious.
“All right. Let’s get it done,” Matt declared.
Melody and Harmony sat pale-faced and holding hands when the men entered the house. Hell, Matt had seen prisoners headed for the noose who looked less scared.
“We have good news, but we want to get the punishment behind us before we share it,” Matt said. “Because we know how hard it is for you two to stay apart, we are cutting the spanking in half. We will skip the hand spanking, and jump right to the ‘into next Sunday’ part.”
Mitch returned from the kitchen with a wooden spoon in each hand. “You two will lay across the table and bare your bottoms.” He looked into his wife’s frightened face. “I learned today that Harmony doesn’t wear drawers. It is a rule I would like to introduce in our home, also.” He waited for Melody’s nod. “All right. You can hold hands, but you are not to reach back. The spoon could injure a finger, and neither Matt nor I want to do anything more than warm a pretty behind.”
Harmony (Journey's End Book 3) Page 15
