A Long Way to Love: A Historical Western Romance Book

by Lorelei Brogan

  ***

  Drydale appeared on the horizon much faster than Elise anticipated. Elise was glad they’d managed to make the rest of the journey in just under half a day. She was tired of riding, and she was tired of the burning sun and her aching shoulders from holding nearly the same position for hours on end.

  Drydale was small. It barely had half a dozen businesses down the main street. But it did have a small saloon and hotel with a hard-to-read announcement claiming they had some rooms to stay in.

  “So, where do you think our criminal is?” Elise asked as they pulled their horses to a stop in front of the trading post.

  “Our criminal? You sound more interested in this hunt now than you were before.” Ronan looked amused.

  “I was always interested, just skeptical that it was possible.” Elise hid a smile. The fact was, it was kind of exciting to be after a criminal. It was also the only thing that was going to get them to California. The way they were going now, they would have to stop in each town and save up money to get to the next, and in a town as small as Drydale, it was doubtful they would find easy employment.

  “Well, I have a name. Apparently, there is a man who he is friends with in town. If I can find that friend, I believe we will find Hank Bowen. This is the perfect sort of town for him to hang out in. After all, it is small and far away from anyone who might actively hunt him down. From what I can see, the sheriff’s office probably doesn’t have a lot of deputies and probably can’t keep an eye on everything going on.”

  “Okay, so what should we do? Will we stay here at the hotel?”

  “No. We want to be a little discrete, so we don’t spook our man. I know a woman here; she has a small boarding house across town. She’ll be able to give us a place to spend the night, and that will be a little less noticeable to anyone we don’t want to know we are here.”

  “What are we doing here then?” Elise motioned to the trading post.

  “I just want to get a few things and also ask a couple of questions. With any luck, we can catch our criminal today and be on our way tomorrow.” Ronan gave her a hopeful grin.

  Elise shook her head, unsure of whether to be impressed or taken aback by his enthusiasm. “All right, I’ll wait here and get a little break from the horse.” Elise was already dismounting and tying her horse up.

  Ronan walked over to the trading post, and Elise walked around in small circles, being careful to stay near the trading post. She didn’t know what sort of town Drydale really was and didn’t want to risk straying and getting herself into trouble. The last thing she needed was to put herself in a position where she needed Ronan to rescue her.

  It didn’t take Ronan as long as Elise expected it to, and pretty soon, they were mounted on their horses once more and headed toward the boarding house Ronan had spoken about.

  When they got there, Elise was even more skeptical than before. The home didn’t look very large, and the woman that answered the door didn’t seem particularly friendly.

  Ronan got their packs from their horses and motioned for Elise to follow him into the house. Elise did so, and the woman led them to a tiny room at the end of the hall.

  Elise eyed the one bed with caution. Were they both expected to share a room?

  “I’ll be sleeping in the parlor. You’ll have the room to yourself.” Ronan gave her a kind smile, and Elise felt herself sag with relief internally. It seemed that Ronan thought of everything before she even had a chance to worry about it.

  “Why don’t you stay here with Mrs. Dunsbury and get some rest? I need to go back into town and try to track Hank down. I have the biggest feeling that our leads were right this time. He has to be here in Drydale.” Ronan looked both excited and cautious.

  Elise didn’t blame him. She was worried for him, if anything. After all, Hank was a criminal. She wanted to tell Ronan to be careful or at least make it known she was worried about him, but instead, she quietly agreed and headed toward the kitchen.

  Ronan excused himself, and the next thing Elise knew, she found herself awkwardly alone with Mrs. Dunsbury.

  “Can I help with supper? I am not much of a cook, but maybe I can cut something.” Elise was worried about offering to help cook. She didn’t want to make a terrible meal that everyone then felt forced to eat.

  “Of course, I won’t make you responsible for cooking anything. Ronan already warned me that it isn’t your strongest skill.” Mrs. Dunsbury smiled as if they were sharing a joke, and Elise decided she wasn’t that bad. “Let me look at your hand. What happened?” she said, taking Elise’s hand and beginning to unwrap it.

  “Oh, I decided to be helpful and start a fire, and I grabbed the wrong thing.” She flinched a little as Mrs. Dunsbury put her hand in a bowl of warm water and added some soap.

  “Well, that needs to be soaked and cleaned well. You don’t need to get an infection. You sit right here at the table and soak it while I make us some dinner.

  The two of them talked and shared stories as she cooked. For the most part, it was light and interesting topics until Mrs. Dunsbury decided to ask about Ronan.

  “The two of you seem quite close. How long have you known him?” Mrs. Dunsbury asked.

  “Well, Ronan is almost like a brother to me. He lived with my father and me quite a few years ago when he was a teenager. You will have to ask him what happened after he left.” Elise didn’t want to go into too many details. Ronan’s story was his to share. She had no business talking about him, even to Mrs. Dunsbury, who seemed to have his best interest in mind.

  “I see. I also see the way you look at him. You know, you wouldn’t be the first young woman to be attracted to Ronan’s good looks and easy-going charm. He’s been through Drydale before.”

  “I- I am not interested in him in that way.” Elise felt herself stumbling over her words.

  “Of course, my dear. I just want to warn you because I don’t want you or Ronan to get hurt. He is a good man, and I can tell you are a wonderful young woman. Just guard your heart, honey, all right?”

  Elise nodded, unsure of what to think about Mrs. Dunsbury’s words. She wasn’t interested in Ronan that way, was she? But even as the thought touched her mind, she felt herself blushing.

  Chapter 26

  Ronan walked down the street in the crisp afternoon air. It was almost night; it was not the ideal time to go out. But for what he was looking for, it was the perfect time.

  Ronan cringed at the loud music thundering out of the saloon. It was amazing that a simple tack piano could make such a sound. Of course, the fact that someone who had clearly drunk too much was contributing the noise with their singing made it seem even coarser.

  He wasn’t interested in going into the saloon, but his search had led him there. Apparently, Hank’s friend owned the saloon. There was a good chance that Hank was in there somewhere.

  Ronan could feel eyes on him as soon as he stepped through the door. It was a small saloon, but a saloon, nonetheless. Most people seemed too drunk to notice a new person in their midst. Ronan walked up to the front where he sat and took a small glass of whiskey. He did his best to make it look like he was there to enjoy himself and not find a criminal that would bring him a bounty.

  After a while, he noticed that people would occasionally come up and down from the stairs. Ronan also noticed that the man who seemed to be in charge of the place kept a constant eye on those stairs as if he were worried about who was going up there.

  Ronan was fairly certain that if Hank was in this saloon, it was going to be upstairs. He left his drink untouched and made his way to the stairs as inconspicuously as possible. But despite his efforts, the man in charge of the saloon started toward him.

  Ronan decided it would be better to test out his hunch instead of waiting to receive permission from the man in the saloon to go upstairs. He rushed up, nearly running into someone coming down. It took him a moment to recognize the man coming down. It was Hank.

  It was as if they both recognized each o
ther at the same time. Hank’s eyes widened, and Ronan’s hand went to his pistol. The next thing he knew, he was running after Hank through a crowded saloon. Ronan pushed people out of the way and ducked to avoid getting hit himself. He followed Hank out of the saloon and onto the street.

  “Stop! Don’t make me shoot, Hank! I’ve got you this time.” Ronan held out his pistol, keeping it level on Hank. He wasn’t about to let him get away, not after he and Elise had gone through so much trouble to find him.

  Hank stopped and slowly raised his hands over his head.

  “Turn around.” Ronan looked back toward the saloon to make sure no one had followed him. It seemed the information he’d gleaned on his way to this moment had been correct.

  Hank turned slowly, keeping his hands in place. “Ronan, I should have known it wouldn’t take you long to catch up with me.” Hank grinned, but he didn’t look anywhere near happy about the current development.

  “Yes, I was pretty determined after our last run-in. You know, what you did …” Ronan trailed off; he knew it was pointless to try and get some remorse from Hank concerning what he had done and the suffering he had been through to survive that ordeal.

  “Yes, the only mistake I made was not to make sure you were dead when I left you.” Hank shook his head. “I did enjoy collecting the bounty from your criminals. Almost convinced me to change my job.” Hank shrugged.

  Ronan clenched his jaw. Hank had taken the other two criminals he had caught and paid someone to turn them in and receive the bounty. It was rather unethical, the idea of a criminal receiving the bounty for two other criminals. At that time, Ronan had been too focused on trying to survive. He was beaten and alone, with no food or supplies in the middle of nowhere. He was lucky that he managed to make it to a populated trail, and a family found him and gave him a few supplies. He wasn’t sure if he would have managed to survive to tell the story if he hadn’t.

  Hank looked the same as he had that day. His face was clean-shaven, and he had a look of superiority, even though he was the one standing on the wrong side of a pistol.

  “So, do you think you can actually manage to turn me in for a bounty this time?” Hank looked and sounded amused.

  “I am sure that I will. I think you underestimated me, Hank. You weren’t the only one, though. I underestimated you too. I am not going to make that mistake again.”

  Hank nodded but didn’t look like he believed a word of it. Ronan walked over to him and motioned for him to get down on the ground. Only when he had his knee on Hank’s back and was certain he could restrain him did he lower his pistol and take a few seconds to tie up Hank’s hands.

  He pulled Hank to his feet and pushed him in front of him down the street. The owner of the saloon was standing outside. His eyes were angry and guilty as Hank and Ronan passed.

  Ronan knew that he wasn’t brave enough to speak up for Hank. The man knew that Hank was a criminal. The only reason he had probably hidden Hank was that they were friends.

  Ronan knew where the town’s sheriff’s office was. As soon as he turned Hank in for the bounty, he and Elise could buy their supplies and be on their way. When he arrived, Ronan made sure to keep Hank in front of him. For some reason, Hank didn’t seem all too upset at being caught. He seemed confident, and that worried Ronan. Did Hank know something he didn’t?

  “How can I help you?” the sheriff asked.

  Ronan eyed the man carefully. He was an older man with greying hair and tired brown eyes.

  “I have a criminal here I would like to turn in for his bounty.”

  The sheriff’s eyes traveled to Hank, looking him up and down. “I see, and I congratulate you. I have no idea how he has managed to camp in my town without my knowledge. You did find him in town, didn’t you?”

  Ronan nodded, “He was at the saloon.”

  “That would explain it. The most lawless area of the entire town. You know, I have a hard time keeping track of all the criminals that pass through here. Can you blame me?”

  Ronan shook his head. He could see that the sheriff was not particularly excited about his job. It probably had to do with the fact that his job was harder than he could handle, and he was out in the middle of nowhere with no help in sight, even if he needed it.

  “So, can you give me the bounty?” Ronan was very uninterested in talking to the sheriff about his professional duties or what he could or couldn’t do. He just needed the bounty and to be free of the criminal that had plagued him both mentally and physically for the last several years.

  “No, I’m afraid you came to the wrong place. We don’t exactly get a lot of bounty hunters coming through here. We especially don’t get a lot of bounties around here. I don’t have the money to pay you, son. I’m sorry.” The sheriff seemed to be surveying Hank again. “I’ll tell you what; you can leave him here. I’ll keep him in a cell and turn him in when they come through with the wagon for the prisoners.”

  “No.” Ronan didn’t have to think about his answer. There was no way he would leave Hank behind and give him the chance to escape and go back to hurting people. “Where is the nearest town I can get a bounty paid?”

  “Nearest town I know of is Las Cruces. It’s about a three-day journey.”

  Ronan groaned. He knew where Las Cruces was. There were a few other towns on the way, but they weren’t exactly on the direct way to Las Cruces, and there was no guarantee any of them would have the funds to give him Hank’s bounty. It was a large bounty, and he wanted to make sure that he didn’t have to haul Hank around with him anywhere unnecessarily.

  “Sorry, I know it is disappointing. I wish I could help you out more than that.”

  Ronan shook his head, “No problem, I’ll figure it out.”

  “Wait, wait. I know I can’t help out with much, but I can at least keep him for you for the night.” The sheriff’s shoulders stiffened slightly, and a genuine look filled his eyes. He actually did seem to want to help. “You could leave him here for the night, and then I will make sure and give him back to you in the morning. Otherwise, you’ll have to take him to whatever accommodations you have prepared for the night, and I can’t imagine that will be comfortable.”

  Ronan hesitated for a moment. He didn’t want any chances of Hank escaping. But he also didn’t want to show up at the boarding house and explain to Mrs. Dunsbury what he was doing with a criminal in her parlor.

  “All right, I’ll leave him here for the night and come for him in the morning. You won’t let him get away, will you?”

  “No. I won’t.” The sheriff looked almost hurt that Ronan doubted him.

  “Fine then.” Ronan walked Hank across the room to a jail cell and opened the door. There were only two small jail cells in the sheriff’s office. He pushed Hank inside.

  “Don’t get any ideas about escaping. If you do, you won’t get far, and I will be right behind you. If I have to catch you a second time, I will consider the part on your wanted poster where it says I can deliver you dead or alive.” Ronan never killed his targets. He much preferred to deliver them alive so that they could serve a jail sentence for what they had done. But in Hank’s case, he was very close to being willing to make an exception.

  The corner of Hank’s lip curled up. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the nice accommodations.”

  Ronan shook his head in anger as he closed the jail cell with a clang. He was not in any way going to accept Hank’s thanks. He was more than ready to have this criminal out of his life for good.

  “Make sure to keep a close eye on him, Sheriff. He is a slippery one.”

  “Guaranteed, he’ll be here tomorrow.” The sheriff grinned, and Ronan hoped that he could trust him.