Love on the Ranch

by Ciara Knight

  “No.” She slid from Mary’s arms and headed for the door. “I’m going to get my money so that I can figure out what I can do next. The hundred dollars will keep me going until I can figure something out.”

  Elizabeth opened the front door of the house that had almost felt like a home and stepped back into the world. Outside, she spotted Teddy by the barn, working on a horse that apparently had something jammed in its hoof. She joined him, still wishing there was something she could do to help the men figure out their cattle sickness dilemma.

  She couldn’t stop herself from at least asking.

  “Is it bad? How many cattle so far?”

  “A dozen that we’ve found. We can still make it if we figure out how they’re getting sick.”

  “If not?”

  Teddy let the horse’s leg go, and he stood to face her. “Then there won’t be a Clayton Ranch any longer.”

  She felt that bad news like a punch to the gut. She didn’t feel right about asking for the money now, but what choice did she have? Jeb had made it clear that even if she wanted to involve herself, this wasn’t her problem. It was time for her to go.

  What would she do now? She wasn’t a great ranch hand, but she could still do other things. Maybe work as a cook in town or something.

  “Now that’s an ever-loving shame,” a deep, dark voice said before a man with a scar stepped around the side of the barn, a gun pointed at them both.

  Elizabeth backed away but hit something solid, and she turned to find another man who looked just as ugly and mean. Then three more stepped out. “Who are you? What do you want?”

  “Darlin’ you don’t remember us?” He looked to his men. “The Fire Lady doesn’t remember us.”

  The man behind her stepped into the back of her leg, forcing her forward.

  Scar-face approached with a lip-curling snarl. “The men thought you were a witch with your wild hair flailing about in the wind. You’re not so scary now. Not with the hair tucked back and no rifle in your hand.” He took another step toward Elizabeth, but Teddy lunged between them.

  Before she could scream, Scar-face hit him upside the head with the handle of his gun. Teddy went down hard. She fell to her knees and found blood oozing from Teddy’s head. “You didn’t have to do that!”

  “You scream again and I’ll hit you, too. Besides, yes I did have to hit him. According to our new friend, these men are lovesick over you.” Scar-face pointed behind her. When she turned, she saw Cookie.

  “You would do this to us?” Elizabeth screeched more than spoke to Cookie. “You were a part of this family.”

  “Was. You done took them away from me.” Cookie spit and then wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

  “Scoundrel.” If they got their hands on Jeb, she wasn’t sure what they’d do to him. They’d warned her that screaming would be punished, but she didn’t care. She had to warn him, so she turned and screamed toward the barn, “Jeb run!”

  “Quiet her,” Scar-face ordered. “Take her in the barn. Most of the men are out looking into the cattle, that only leaves two inside.” He grabbed hold of her hair, yanking her face to his. “We’ve been watching you since you got back to the ranch. Not much protection out here.”

  Elizabeth swung at him but couldn’t reach his face before he yanked her up by her hair, grabbed her around the waist, and tossed her to one of the other men. She flailed and kicked but couldn’t manage to break free, and a hand over her mouth kept her from screaming.

  Scar-face and three of his men walked ahead into the barn, while one dragged her inside. Jeb must’ve heard the commotion, but he hadn’t run. Instead, he’d come outside, his sidearm drawn Samuel at his side.

  Scar-face pressed a gun to her temple and laughed. “I wouldn’t do that unless you want this pretty little woman to have a hole in her head.”

  Jeb’s face turned crimson. His gaze darted from Scar-face to Elizabeth to the barn door back to Elizabeth. He shook his head and his eyes narrowed.

  “Don’t do it” Scar-face hoisted her up against his chest until her feet dangled beneath her

  Jeb growled, but he tossed his gun into the hay. Samuel shot him a sideways glance, but Jeb shook his head and Samuel tossed his gun, too.

  She struggled for air through the hand over her mouth and part of her nose. Kicking and thrashing, she fought with all her strength but couldn’t break free.

  “Get control of her,” Scar-face said, but she didn’t listen. She used her feet as leverage against the stall door and pushed backwards, knocking the bully behind her against the wall enough for her to pull free.

  She raced for the pitch fork in the corner, grabbed hold and swung around ready to impale the man. With a hop she jabbed at the man, but he lept out of the way.

  More hands grabbed her from behind and hurled her to the ground. The pitch fork tumbled from her hands. She scurried to get it, but they held her to the ground. “Take her to the hayloft and tie her up. If she makes any more noise, shoot that man.” He pointed his gun at Teddy.

  She didn’t know what to do. If she fought, Teddy died, and if she didn’t, God only knew what would happen to them all. Even with the man’s hand gone from her mouth, she was struggling to breathe.

  No. No. No. She couldn’t have an episode now.

  She caught a glimpse of Samuel’s wide eyes, he tried to step forward, but Jeb held him back.

  Calm down, just breathe.

  Jeb moved toward her, but Scar-face stood between them. “Can’t you see something’s wrong? What did you do to her?”

  Elizabeth tried to speak. “No…him.”

  Samuel shook his head. “I can’t keep your secret no more.”

  She tried to cough, but she couldn’t. There was no air to release. Whatever was there was trapped. “Help…me,” she wheezed.

  “She can’t breathe” Samuel said. “She’s got some sort of breathing issues. I’ve known about it since before the drive, but I promised to keep her secret. I’m sorry, boss.”

  Jeb looked between them. “You should’ve told me.”

  “She didn’t want to on account you already said she was weak and no good if she had trouble with breathing. I wanted to tell you, but we all wanted her to go on the drive on account of her cooking. She begged, and I agreed.” He shrugged and sighed. “Guess you were right about those feminine ways and all.”

  She only saw fuzzy outlines of men standing over her through her blurred vision. She clutched at her neck, tugging the collar of her dress from her throat. Wheezing, coughing, choking, she tried to cry out, but not even a whistle of air made a sound from her lips. Powerless, she laid their wanting to fight the enemy, but all she could do was fight to breathe.

  The man behind her hauled her up by her waist. “What do you want me to do with her?”

  “Ignore her, there are more pressing matters now. It’s time for us to negotiate. As you can see, this place isn’t safe. You need protection. Me and my boys are willing to provide such protection for let’s say, forty percent of your earnings. We’ll escort you to and from deliveries and guarantee your safety.”

  “Never,” Jeb growled.

  Elizabeth blinked through the stinging tears that streaked down her face and clouded her vision. He was speaking to the bandits, but his eyes were trained on her. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he cared.

  “Then we can take care of your woman for you.” Scar-face knelt by her side and pinched her cheeks tight. “And we’ll burn your barn and home down.”

  Scar-face threw her away and stood again. “Of course, there is that issue with your dying cattle. You need to resolve that quick, because for each cow that dies, one of your men will, too.”

  “Her lips are turning blue,” Samuel yelled. “Do something!”

  Maniacal laughter filled the barn.

  “Better think fast,” Scar-face said. “Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Oh, there is one more thing. Where’s the money from your last deal? We tried to hit you on the way back, b
ut you never rested long enough for us to catch you. Thanks to an old friend, though, we found you good enough.”

  Elizabeth strained to lift her head enough to see what the men turned to look at. Cookie.

  Jeb stepped toward him with murder in his gaze.

  “Not so fast,” Scar-face said.

  The men and the world around Elizabeth faded. Their words in a tunnel far in the distance. She struggled to hear Scar-face’s next words.

  “We still need him. What say you, Cookie? Where would your old boss hide the money?”

  “I know just wheres to find it. You don’t need him or her no more.”

  Jeb looked to Elizabeth, then to his men. Even through her foggy brain and blurred vision, she thought he looked like a bull ready to charge.

  “Show us where it is, then. Oh, and you can have the woman you wanted after we find the money, Cookie. That is, if she’s still alive.”

  Elizabeth fought to stay with them and not fade away into darkness, but with each stuttered, miniscule breath she could manage, she was losing the battle.

  Darkness merged inward from the edge of her vision. With the last bit of energy, she could manage, she looked up at Jeb and wheezed, “Help me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Help me…

  Those two simple words from Elizabeth, spoken barely loud enough to hear, were like arrows poisoned with hatred shot into his heart. It stoked his anger and bullied his civility into submission. He lost all sense and ran at the leader with the ugly scar. Too late to dodge, Scar-face swung around with his gun, but Jeb ducked, rammed his shoulder into the guy’s gut, and pinned him to the ground before he could aim.

  The gun fired past Jeb with a ring to his ear. He pummeled one, two, three punches into the man’s gut. One, two to the face. Jeb was possessed by a Godless man who only wanted to strike down his enemy.

  Distantly, he was aware that there were struggles all around him, grunts and groans to indicate he wasn’t the only one fighting. He pulled back his fist again, but someone grabbed his elbow and ripped him off the man.

  Jeb rolled and pressed his hands to the ground to stand, but a foot to his back faceplanted him into the hay. “No, you don’t,” said a man.

  “Shoot the one she called Teddy.” Jeb managed to turn his head and spot the scar-faced man swipe blood from his mouth. “Then take the Fire Lady to the house and do what you want with her, just don’t kill her. We can sell her on the road. And find the money they made at the delivery.”

  Jeb pressed his palms to the ground and pushed up, but he didn’t budge against the boot in his back. He took a long, deep breath, gathering himself anew, ready to roll, to fight, to do whatever was necessary to save Elizabeth—

  “I don’t think so,” came Ma’s voice, cold and hard.

  And there was his opening. Her voice distracted his captor enough that he wiggled loose, rolled aside, and spotted his ma at the barn door with a rifle pointed at the back of Scar-face.

  “Now, little lady. You don’t want to do that,” Scar-face said.

  “Oh, I think I do, and we both know I’ll put a hole in your back before your men get a shot off.”

  “And you know they will still get a few shots off. Especially with just you.”

  Ma shook her head. “Oh, I didn’t say it was just me.”

  Four of Jeb’s men stepped out, along with two he didn’t recognize.

  Ma smiled. “You’re outgunned, and I’m not in the mood to negotiate, so drop your guns and fall to your knees.”

  His men dropped their guns as if they were snakes ready to strike. Scar-face hissed. “You afraid of some ranch folk that think they can tame this land? Ha! There isn’t any taming this land. It was made to be wild. It’s a place for men like me to thrive, to choke the life out of the homesteaders and men with dreams. You might take me now, but I’ll be back when you don’t know I’m coming. They’ve tried to lock me up, but I can never be kept in a cage. I’ll find a way out.” He raised his gun at Ma, but she stepped forward with no fear in her eyes. Scar-face laughed and turned the gun on Jeb for a moment, but then tossed the gun to the side. Teddy grabbed some rope and tied him up.

  Ma kept the gun trained on him. “I don’t think you’ll be in jail for long. I think you’ll be swinging from a tree for horse thieving.”

  “We didn’t steal no horse,” one of the men said.

  Cookie shook his head. “Don’t matter, they’ll believe her.”

  Jeb knelt by Elizabeth’s side. “What can I do?” His gut twisted and turned with the image of her blue lips and the sound of her gasping for air.

  “Take her inside. Teddy, Samuel, you escort these men into Sherman and turn them over to the authorities. I think all of us saying that we tracked them down for horse thieving should guarantee their destiny.” Ma lowered her gun and waved for Jeb to follow her.

  He scooped Elizabeth into his arms and raced inside the house with her. His heart pounded, his lungs tight, his hands shaking with fear. He couldn’t lose Elizabeth, not now. Not ever.

  Elizabeth’s wheezes were short bursts. He’d never felt so helpless in his life.

  “Black coffee,” said a man who looked the same years as his ma. “She should smoke the grounds. My wife had asthma. It helps.”

  “Jeb, this is Frederick Krause, my betrothed.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances,” the man said in a thick German accent.

  Jeb held tight to Elizabeth’s hand and leaned over the table, watching her.

  She gasped and choked and coughed. A deep-chest, horrible cough, and still she didn’t stop.

  “That’s good,” Frederick said. “Let her cough. It means she can breathe. The lungs are releasing its hold.”

  Jeb kissed her cheek and her hand. “You’ll be okay, come on. I’m here to help. Ma’s getting a remedy for you. It’s going to be okay.”

  Samuel bolted back inside, sweating and out of breath. “Got them loaded in the wagon and ready to go. How’s she doing?”

  Jeb shook his head, unable to take his eyes off Elizabeth. “Come on, you’re strong. Strongest woman I’ve ever known. You’d have to be to put up with me.”

  Elizabeth wheezed and sucked in a stuttered breath, and then another, and then another until her lips began to pink and her breathing deepened.

  “That’s it, you’re going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine.”

  Elizabeth coughed again, but this time looked back at him and shook her head. “No, it’s not,” she murmured.

  Jeb stroked her cheek, pushing the fiery strands away from her beautiful eyes. “It will.”

  “Not if you lose the ranch.” She inhaled a less wheezing breath. “Not if the cattle continue to die.”

  “Don’t worry about that right now. We’ll figure out something,” Jeb said, fighting his desire to pull her into his arms and promise to make life better for her, but not wanting to deprive her of any needed air.

  Samuel nudged closer and looked down at Elizabeth, scratched his head then cleared his throat. “Glad you can breathe now.” He narrowed his eyes, like he was certain he was on to something. “Funny how it always happens in the barn…”

  Ma brought the pipe over, but it didn’t appear Elizabeth would need it now.

  Elizabeth blinked. “Oh my goodness, he’s right,” she said with even less wheezing, and this time above a whisper. She smiled at Samuel. “I’d never thought about that. They always said stress brought on the attacks, but each time…each time I’ve been in the barn.”

  “Hey, you must be …how do you say the word…allergic,” Fredrick said. “I had a boy years ago that tried to work my land, but he could not enter the barn due to his allergy to hay.”

  Samuel beamed with a happy smile for making such a discovery. Jeb would give him a raise and promote him later.

  She shook her head. “I can’t imagine. Could it be that simple?”

  Jeb lifted her from the table and sat down with her in
his lap. “As simple as what I need to tell you.” He nodded toward Ma and her betrothed, who Jeb had every intention of having a firm talking to later.

  “We’ll leave you be,” Ma said. She ushered both Fredrick and Samuel out with her, leaving Elizabeth and him alone in the kitchen.

  Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “Okay.”

  “Listen to me, I’ve been a fool. I am so sorry for accusing you of lying. If you hadn’t been so darn beautiful, capable, intelligent, and strong, I wouldn’t have been so scared to want you. I know you must hate me, but Ma said something I never thought about before. Being a woman leaves you with little rights and abilities to do anything about it. I understand now why you hated what I said about the boys. Truth be told, I don’t even know if I want to be a father. I’m not sure if I’d be good at it.”

  Elizabeth cupped his face and leaned her forehead to his. “You’d make an excellent father. You’re nothing like the man you told me your pa was. I’m sorry that I went behind your back. You were right, I should’ve never gone into his tent alone. I knew it was risky when I did it, but I wanted to help you keep your ranch.”

  Jeb captured her wrists in his hands, savoring the touch of her. “You are so giving and loving. I know I don’t deserve you.”

  “No, I’m not. I didn’t do it just for you. I’d hoped to stay. That I’d found a home I wouldn’t lose.” Elizabeth lifted her head and looked at him with pleading eyes.

  “Listen, I know now that I can’t do it all on my own, and I know I don’t have much to offer with the situation with the cattle, but maybe with your help, we can start again. I know that together, we can make a home and keep it. That is, if we do it together. Equal partners in work and in life.”

  His heart flipped and fled the scene, scared she would reject him.

  “Scar-face was right about one thing.”

  “What’s that?” Jeb asked, even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.

  “It’s untamed territory, and it’ll be dangerous, but if we all stick together as a family, we should be able to make it. I don’t know why the cattle is dying, but we should all work together to find out.”