by Kit Morgan
Benedict and Percy exchanged the same look of despair. “The deacons,” they said at once.
“Where are the other men?” Percy asked. “Are they in the barn?”
“They jumped us wherever they found this. I didn’t hear no shots fired, but I think I may have been knocked out for a few minutes. They hit me pretty good.”
“Find them,” Percy ordered. “Round up as many as are able to ride.”
“I don’t understand, why attack the ranch and rob it?” Justin asked. “We don’t keep no cattle here. That’s the only thing worth takin’.”
“Not true,” Percy said as he glanced at the main ranch house. “If they’re who we think they are, they came for the women.” Without another word Percy and Benedict raced for their sister’s house, praying they’d find their wives safe and unharmed.
They came through the front door and found Hank on his knees, removing a gag from a weeping Maggie. He took her in his arms and pulled her to her feet. “It’s all right, I’m right here, sweetheart.” He studied her worried face. “Everything’s fine now.”
She shook her head and tried to push away from him. “You don’t understand!”
Percy glanced around and did a quick headcount. “Where are the others?”
“They tied them up and put them upstairs,” Lillian told him after Benedict removed her gag and started to untie her. “All except …” She stopped, unable to speak.
“Except who?” Benedict asked, his eyes frantic.
She looked at him, her jaw trembling. “They took them. They took all of them!”
“Good God,” Benedict said as he held her tight. “Lillian … who did they take?”
“The children!” she said on a sob. “Benedict, they took the children!”
Hank and Percy immediately raced for the stairs. They found the rest of the women, bound and gagged, all but Bonnie and Adele, who were nowhere to be seen. When they released Gwen, she began to yell like a mad woman. “I’ll kill them when I get my hands on them! I swear I will!”
Hank grabbed her and gave her a gentle shake. “Belafonte, Smith and Jackson were here?!”
“I only saw Deacon Bellafonte, but they took them all.” Gwen looked at Percy. “And they took Adele. Deacon Bellafonte said they’d need a nursemaid.”
There was a sudden commotion downstairs, and within moments Walton and Nate came rushing into the room. By now Gwen had a crying Libby in her arms. Nate took his wife from her, untied her and held Libby tight to comfort her.
Gwen and Walton’s eyes locked. “You bring them back, do you hear me?” She said in a stern voice. “You bring them back!”
Walton glanced at Nate first, then the others, his eyes finally settling on Percy. Walton knew his brother-in-law had lost something he’d only just found, and that the same rage burning in his heart to get their children back burned in Percy’s to rescue Adele. “We will.”
*
“So you’re the one that got away,” an elderly man croaked as he looked Adele over like she was a thick, juicy steak. He knelt before her, his knees cracking as he did and studied her more closely.
She was holding Savannah to her with one arm, Hattie with the other. The children were squirming and trying to pull away, not understanding what had happened. Jedediah sat next to them, playing in the dirt, oblivious to the danger around them. The other children were nearby she was sure, but at the moment, she couldn’t see them.
The raiders had snuck onto the ranch, gotten rid of the hands – whether knocked out or killed, she didn’t know – then stormed the main ranch house, where the women had gathered for the day to sew. They’d grabbed Libby sitting nearest the front door and held a gun to her temple while they tied up the other women. That done, they’d grabbed Adele and the children. Gwen and Libby put up a fight, but were no match for the men who’d bound and gagged them. Adele could still see the looks in the women’s eyes as they watched their children be scooped up and carried off.
Two older gentlemen were with them, well-dressed and well-groomed despite the road dust clinging to their hats and jackets. Adele knew these had to be two of the three deacons from Beckham. Like the other women, she’d fully expected to be taken by the men, and not because they wanted to hold them for ransom. But instead, they’d taken something far more precious and valuable.
“Nothing to say, my dear?” he drawled in front of her. His eyes drifted to Hattie and Savannah. “What lovely eyes they have. They’ll grow to be beauties, I’m sure. Not to mention command a high price on the block, even as young as they are.”
Adele’s eyes narrowed at him. “Where are the other children?!”
“Right over there, playing with some of the men,” he said and gave a toss of his head in their direction. “You don’t think I’d let any harm come to such valuable property, do you?” He glanced over his shoulder. “Friendly little tykes.”
Adele looked where he indicated. Two men had picked up Prue and True and were carrying them over, another had a fidgeting Sissy in his arms.
As soon as they set the children down next to Jedediah, she gave her attention back to her captor. “How dare you! It’s bad enough you abduct innocent women, but now children?” She didn’t dare show her fear, but let her anger cover it. She had to stay brave for the sake of the little ones.
Savannah whimpered against her and buried her face in her chest. Adele lowered her head and whispered in her ear: “It’s all right, sweetheart, it’s all right.” She watched out the corner of her eye as Sissy pulled herself up using her captor’s leg and toddled toward her.
The man stood, his knees cracking again, and ignored the child. “Maybe we’ll sell you as a lot, the five of you girls anyway.” He looked at Jedediah, who continued to play in the dirt as Truman watched. “And I’m sure someone will have an interest in these two. In fact, I think I know just the right buyer.”
Adele’s face contorted in rage. “You’re sick! Do you hear me? Sick!”
“I’ve been accused of worse.” He bent to her and grinned wickedly. “Much worse.” He stood up, spun on his heel and walked away without another word.
Adele gathered Sissy up, held the girls more tightly to her, and tried not to cry. She watched him speak to his counterpart, another old man who looked at her like she was a piece of candy. How was she going to get out of this? Did Percy or the other men even know they were gone? They had to have come back to the ranch for supper by now …
She glanced at her surroundings. Their captors had ridden hard, and she had no idea where they were. The grasslands of the Texas prairie had given away to trees she didn’t know the names of, and they were hiding in a grove of them. They’d ridden for almost two hours to get here and had been hiding for almost one. How would Percy and the Daltons know where to look for them?
Several covered wagons rolled into the grove, and she watched the two old men walk to meet them. Adele wracked her brain for their names – in her fear, she hadn’t paid much attention to them back in Beckham. She remembered one was a Mr. Bellafonte, but was he one of these two? And where was the third?
“Load them up,” one of the deacons snapped. “Get them delivered on time and as promised.”
A grizzled man climbed down from the wagon seat. “What about her?” he asked as he pointed at Adele. “You said we was deliverin’ just younguns.”
“She’s a bonus,” one of them sneered. “We’ll have contacted the buyer before you arrive. He can decide if he wants her or not. If he doesn’t, take her to our place in San Francisco and put her to work there.” He turned, looked at Adele and smiled. “You’d better hope our buyer likes you. Better to be slave to one man then to a bevy of riffraff in the city.”
Adele’s eyes widened. She’d assumed they would take her and the children east, maybe back to Beckham. But no, they were going west! How would Percy and the others ever find them? And “a bevy of riffraff” in San Francisco? That could only mean one thing …
A shot rang out, then another.
Ade
le looked left, right. Could it be …?
Before she knew it, all hell broke loose. Her captors scrambled for their guns while several pairs of hands grabbed her and the children up so fast she didn’t have time to blink. Savannah, Hattie and Sissy were suddenly no longer in her arms and she was yanked to her feet from behind then thrown over a broad shoulder. Before she knew it she was being carried through the trees at a fast pace. The men who’d taken the children were nowhere in sight and she kicked at her new captor. “Let me go, you –”
“Not a chance!” he grunted as he ran. “I won’t ever let you go.”
She recognized the voice. “Percy!” she cried.
Percy ran on. “At your service, my dear.”
“But Percy, the children –”
“We have them.” He carried her deeper into the trees before he stopped and set her on her feet. “Are you all right?” he asked as he looked her over.
She nodded, too shocked to speak.
“Can you run?”
She nodded again.
“Hank, Bart and one of the hands are up ahead with the children. Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and off they went. More shots went off behind them. But who was doing the firing? Adele stumbled along beside him, not caring at this point, the important thing was that the children were all safe.
Within moments they caught up to the others. A ranch hand held Truman and Prudence. Jedediah was crying in Hank’s arms next to Sissy. Adele took the boy from him, trading him for Hattie, whom Bart held. Tears in her eyes, she turned to Percy.
He took them both into his arms and held them close. “You’re safe now, all of you.”
“What’s happening?” she asked against his chest. “How did you find us?”
“Those deacons think they know a lot, but they don’t know the West. They left a trail behind them a child could spot. Once we got everything sorted out at the ranch, it was a cinch. Bonnie spotted it first – she’d ridden out to meet Bart before lunch, probably right before the ranch was attacked, and on the way back they spotted the tracks. Just as we were heading out after you, they got back and realized what they meant.”
“A good thing too, we might have chased after them in the wrong direction.” Hank said.
“They didn’t even split up, to create a false trail,” Bart added. “Dumb. Good thing they were, though.”
“Anyway, Bonnie’s waiting for us about a mile from here,” Percy continued. “Along with Gwen and a few angry ranch hands – those that aren’t cutting down the deacons and their men like the dogs they are,” he finished with a snarl.
Adele slumped against Percy as she spied Jedediah in Bart’s arms. The child frowned as he sucked his thumb. “Is everyone at the ranch all right?”
“They’re fine,” he whispered into her hair.
Suddenly, all was quiet. Adele clung to Hattie and leaned against her husband as they waited. Within moments, Walton, Nate and Benedict joined them, their faces grave. “It’s over,” Walton announced.
“Are you certain?” Percy asked. “What if they come after them again?”
Nate met his eyes with a solemn look. “They won’t.”
“How can you be sure?” Adele asked. Then the force of Percy’s conclusion hit her … cutting down the deacons and their men like the dogs they are. Was this the “Western justice” she’d read about in the penny dreadfuls back home, the brutality of the frontier?
No. No, it had been the deacons of Beckham, cultured Easterners all, who’d been the brutal ones. They had declared war on the Daltons and the Blues. Now they were casualties of that war. And deservedly so.
“I see …” Adele said, nodding in understanding. Then she slumped against Percy. “I want to go home,” she said weakly.
Percy nodded to Nate, who took Hattie from her. He looked at the rest of the men, then scooped his wife into his arms. “That’s a splendid idea. Let’s go home.”
And they did.
Epilogue
Dalton, Texas, three months later …
Adele snuggled against Percy in the pre-dawn light. She often woke before he did, and would get up and make him his coffee and breakfast. But before she did, she liked to lie in their new bed and watch her husband sleep. He was definitely not the man she’d heard tales about. No, this man had married her to protect her, had waited until they both had their eyes open to each other before consummating their marriage, and had come to rescue her like a knight in shining armor when she’d needed it. Not to mention his nieces and nephews, along with the help of his family.
But what Percy had really rescued was her heart. After her experience with the slavers back in Beckham and the horrible realization that such evil existed, she’d wondered if she’d ever be able to give her heart to a man. Could she ever trust one enough? Percival Blue had shown her she could, that there were still good men in the world. She was glad he’d given her the time to do so. Even if it meant Percy spending few days sleeping out on the Texas prairie.
“What are you still doing in bed, sweetie?” he muttered against the pillow. “Have you come to give me my breakfast?”
“Maybe I should let you get your own breakfast … after the comment you made about my pancakes yesterday.”
He opened his eyes and looked at her. “They were fine.”
“You said they were tough as boot leather.”
“I was teasing.”
“Really?” she drawled. “Is that so? So what else about my cooking was just a tease?”
He propped himself up on one elbow. “The roast you made the other day … it didn’t really taste like a burnt tree.”
She giggled. “You’re horrible.”
“You’re beautiful.”
She blushed, leaned over and kissed him on the nose. “I’d better get up and make some coffee.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t go yet. Let me look at you first.”
She sensed his need to hold her and studied him. “Is something wrong?”
He shrugged. “I sometimes think about what might have happened to you and the children had we not gotten there in time.”
Adele put a finger to his lips. “Don’t. We’re all fine. Nothing bad happened to any of us, thanks to you and your brothers.”
“I know, but I can’t help but wonder what those scoundrels are up to.”
“They aren’t up to anything anymore – they’re dead and buried. Besides, you contacted the authorities in Beckham and told them all you know. I’m sure they’ve checked into things by now and the trouble is over. Even Miss Miller thinks so. Life in Beckham seems to be back to normal.”
He turned his head and stared at the ceiling. “I need to be reminded of that. We’d still like Elizabeth to join us here.”
She smiled, kissed him, then got out of bed. “I’ll make your coffee now.”
He watched her fuss near the stove a moment, then got up and dressed. He went to the table, sat and noticed a letter. It was addressed to him. “What’s this?”
Adele turned from the stove. “Oh, I’m sorry – I forgot to tell you. Nate dropped that by yesterday.”
Percy read the return address. “It’s from my crazy Aunt Edna,” he said with a chuckle.
“Come now – Gwen told me she’s a little eccentric, but far from crazy.”
“Not that far. But she does give good advice.” He opened the letter and began to read.
Dear Percy,
In answer to your question of whether you should go west or not …
Why would you want to? Don’t you have enough adventure right there on the ranch? Your father keeps you on your toes with his cantankerous disposition, and your mother needs you to remind her to stay on hers. Your brothers are all married and happy with their wives, but they need someone to remind them of where they were before they got so happy. Not to say that you aren’t, but being single is different. I ought to know. When married folks see folks like us they appreciate what they’ve got all the more.
When you do
get a wife, don’t just grab her and take her like she’s been served to you off a menu. You have to learn to cherish her or your meal isn’t going to last long. A wife is like a good wine: improving with age. Just like a good marriage. They don’t start out perfect, but in time you can have a great one – if you work at it, that is.
So look at what’s in your own backyard first before you go running off to see what’s in someone else’s. You might be surprised at what you find.
Give my love to your brothers and sisters and their spouses, and to your mother. Don’t give it to your father, though – just to get on his nerves.
Love,
Aunt Edna
“What does it say?” Adele asked.
Percy set the letter on the table and smiled. “Nothing I don’t already know.” He got up, went to his wife, pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “I’m glad I picked you up at the train station that day. If I hadn’t, I might not be the happiest man in Texas right now.”
She smiled, unwrapped one of his arms from her and placed his hands on her belly. “You’re about to be a lot happier.”
Percy’s eyes widened. “Why, Mrs. Blue …” He couldn’t finish. His heart in his throat, he kissed his wife like he’d never kissed her before.
His aunt was right. Everything he needed was right here on the Dalton Ranch with his family. He only had to open his eyes to see it.
And with Adele at his side, he was beginning to see a lot.
The End
About the Author
Kit Morgan, aka Geralyn Beauchamp, loves a good Western. Her father loved them as well and they watched their fair share together over the years. You can keep up-to-date on future books, fun contests and more at Kit Morgan’s Facebook page –– or by checking out her website at www.authorkitmorgan.com and signing up for her newsletter!
But wait … what’s this? Whispers in the dark …
