“I will go to Wickenburg with you. I can stop and see my friends.”
“Yes, we will go to my brother’s and we’ll stop by your friend’s house and we’ll go to the supply shop. Then we’ll come back here.”
“Do you think he will come here today?” Sarah didn’t know why she asked the question. It was she who was so certain Jason would be back.
“I don’t know. You seemed to think last night that he would come back. He didn’t last night. But I suppose he might today.”
“I hope he doesn’t,” she sighed. “But yes, I do think he will come back. For all I know, he might be watching the cabin from the woods.” She shivered. “I hate to think that but he’s… he’s just so… so…”
“Evil?” Mike supplied.
“Yes. He’s evil.”
Mike pushed the eggs around in the pan a few more times before dumping them on a plate, adding some bread to the side and grabbing a fork. He brought the plate to her and returned to the stove to make his own.
Sarah ate the eggs with vigor. He turned to see her shoveling the food in her mouth and laughed.
“You are hungry this morning! Do you want more? I can get more. I just grabbed the first four I saw and came back inside. Didn’t want to leave you unattended for too long.”
She smiled, though her mouth was full. She finished chewing and swallowed so that she could speak. “This will be fine until lunchtime. Yes, I am more hungry than I thought I’d be.”
Mike laughed. “I’ll get some more eggs. You shouldn’t have to wait until lunch to eat again.”
Buddy jumped down from the couch where he had been sitting and went to the door as if he understood what Mike had said. He sat on his haunches, staring up at the door in anticipation. Mike and Sarah both laughed.
“I’m not going out yet, Buddy,” Mike said. “I gotta finish making my breakfast first.” He looked at Sarah. “Actually, I’ll just give you these and go out for more for me.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Sarah protested. “You need to eat them. I can wait.”
Mike shook his head. “Nope. I’m giving you these whether you like it or not. I’d have to eat and then go out there or these would be cold and that’s not the way I want my eggs.”
“Well, if you insist,” Sarah grinned. He chuckled.
“I do.”
“All right. I’ll eat them. Since you insist.”
“Look at that dog. He’s just sitting there, staring at the door.” Mike went to the dog and rested one hand on his head. “You all right, boy?”
Both Sarah and Mike realized something was off when Buddy growled low under his breath, not taking his eyes from the front door. Sarah stood up, her plate falling to the floor, spilling the eggs she had left. Her bread rolled away from it. She looked at Mike with wide eyes.
His face was alarmed, a look she didn’t like to see. He stood up and motioned for her to go into the bedroom. She moved to leave the room just as the sound of pounding on the door met their ears. Buddy stood up on all fours, lowering his head and growling.
“Anybody in there?” Jason’s voice came through the door, making Sarah freeze in place. Mike looked at her, shaking his head, and gesturing toward the bedroom. Jason moved quicker than Sarah, going to the window and looking through it.
She had made it to the bedroom door but was not through it. She turned back to look and her eyes met Jason’s. The rage that covered his face sent a wave of fear through her. Jason disappeared from the window and a second later, he had thrown open the cabin door.
“Sarah!” he yelled furiously. “How the hell…”
His eyes turned to Mike. He took one step toward the mountain man and Buddy jumped up, biting into his arm. He shrieked and threw the dog off him. Buddy landed a few feet away, twisted his body, and was on all fours again, growling and baring his teeth.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE FIGHT FOR LIFE
THE FIGHT FOR LIFE
“Get out of my house!” Mike’s voice boomed through the room. “Sarah! Get in the bedroom now!”
“Don’t you move, Sarah!” Jason demanded, standing still, grinding his teeth. He pulled a long hunting knife from its sheath at his waist and held it out. He waved it at Mike and turned it toward the dog, as if the animal would know what it was and be afraid of it. “I’ve come to get you. I don’t know how you survived before, but you are coming with me now, make no mistake.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Mike’s voice had lowered to a deep calm. Sarah’s eyes opened wide. She had never heard him speak that way before. He was so angry, he was calm. She’d never seen anything like it.
He took a step toward Jason. “I am not afraid of you, Jason. You are just a puny little man. That knife won’t keep you from what I’m about to do to you.”
To his credit, Jason looked scared for half a second before his rage took over again. Mike was bigger than him. His bulk was nearly twice that of Jason’s. His hands balled into fists. He took another step toward the smaller man. “You have three reasons to leave my house, Jason,” Mike said. He lifted one fist and then the other. “This one, this one, and that dog right there. I suggest you turn and leave right now.”
“Not without my wife!” Jason hissed. “She’s mine and that’s my baby in her belly.”
“You tried to kill her.”
“I was coming back for her. I just wanted to teach her a lesson. She’s learned the lesson and now it’s time to come back.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you!” Sarah found her voice. Her fear had left her and she stepped toward Jason. “I’m not your wife anymore. Your wife died in the ravine. I’m staying with Mike. You can’t make me leave. You will never see this child. It’s mine! You didn’t want it. You will never have it.”
“Shut up, woman! Get over here! We’re leaving!”
“You didn’t hear me,” Mike growled. “I said she is not leaving. You are leaving.”
Not wanting to hear any more words, Mike pounced on Jason. The moment he leapt into the air, Buddy did the same. Both made contact at the same time. Jason twisted and turned, fighting them both off, swinging the knife wildly in the air.
Mike managed to get the knife out of Jason’s hand. He tossed it to the side and began to pound on the smaller man, while Buddy ran around them, barking and snarling. Whenever the dog saw a chance to get into the fray, he snapped forward and bit Jason. Jason shrieked and landed a few punches on the dog’s side, turning to defend himself against Mike.
Mike got behind Jason and lifted the smaller man into the air, his large arms encircling Jason’s chest. He squeezed tight, keeping Jason from being able to fill his lungs. Jason’s face began to turn red. Mike moved toward the open door and went out onto the porch. He released Jason once he was outside, pushed the man forward and kicked him in the backside. Jason stumbled forward and went down the steps, his arms flailing as he fought for balance. He landed on his chest in the snow. He pushed himself up, gasping for breath, and turned over to glare furiously at Mike.
“That’s my wife,” he tried to sound tough and angry but his words came out breathlessly as he continued to try to draw a breath. “Not yours.”
“She’s not your wife anymore. Get out of here. Don’t come back.”
Jason stood up. He didn’t turn to go to his horse. He leaned over and grasped his knees, trying to draw in a deep breath.
“I said, get out of here!” Mike roared. Buddy stood at the ready by his side, staring down at Jason, growling.
Jason straightened and bared his teeth at them both. “Not without my wife.”
Mike made a disgusted noise, shaking his head. “You don’t get it. You aren’t leaving here with her. She isn’t going with you.”
Jason stepped closer to the porch, much to Mike’s surprise.
“What are you doing?” Mike asked. “Don’t you know you cannot win? Get off my property.”
“I’m not leaving here without her. She is my wife and tha
t’s my child.”
“You gave up any rights to them when you tried to kill her.”
“I wasn’t trying to kill her!” Jason shouted. “I was teaching her a lesson.”
“She told me you said you would make up an excuse for where she went. You’ve waited three months to come find her. You did intend for her to die. You won’t leave here with her!”
Jason puffed out his chest and barreled up the steps toward them, shrieking like a madman. He reached out and tackled Mike. Mike felt backwards and turned over almost immediately, landing several good punches to Jason’s face. Jason managed to turn them both over and was holding Mike’s shoulders with his knees and all his body weight. He punched out, knocking Buddy to the side again, bloodying his knuckles when his fist ran across the dog’s sharp teeth.
Mike looked up at Jason, whose face was turned to the side and reached up with his legs to buck the man off. He heard a loud clang and Jason slumped down on top of him. He looked over the unconscious man’s shoulder to see Sarah had come out of the cabin, gripping the cast iron pan between her small hands.
She smiled at Mike nervously. “I got in a good shot.”
Mike shoved Jason off him, returning her grin. “Yes, you did, my love.”
Buddy ran to Sarah, reaching her just before Mike. He jumped up and licked her arm, his tail wagging furiously. She patted him on the head and made cooing noises at him. “Good dog, good dog,” she said. Mike got to her and pulled her to him, kissing her lips and hugging her tight.
“What are we going to do with him?” Sarah asked, looking past him to where Jason lay on the wooden slats. Mike turned to look down at Jason, angrily.
“First we gotta see if he’s alive,” he said. Sarah tensed up and looked up at him with wide eyes.
“I didn’t kill him. I didn’t kill him, did I?” She sounded frightened. Mike took her by the shoulders and looked in her eyes.
“He tried to kill you, Sarah. If you did kill him, would it be so bad?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t want to kill anyone, Mike.”
He hugged her again. “Don’t worry. I doubt you did. We’ll put him on his horse and send him on his way. You have to think though, if he returned once and fought this way, he will recover and come again.”
“Oh, oh, oh,” Sarah moaned, shaking her head and covering her face with her hands.
Mike moved to check on Jason. He put his large hand on Jason’s chest and waited a few moments.
“His heart is beating. He’s alive. He’s just not conscious.”
He lifted Jason up and slung him over one shoulder. Buddy followed as he carried the man down to his horse, which was tied to a nearby tree. He laid Jason over the horse’s back untied the reins and slapped the horse’s behind with a loud thwack.
The horse took off down the trail leading back to the town below.
Mike returned to Sarah on the porch.
“If that horse knows where he’s going, Jason will be back in town and the people there can take care of him.”
“But you’re right, Mike,” Sarah said forlornly. “He will be back. He will never give up. Look how he was after you got him outside. He just wouldn’t stop.”
“I noticed that.”
“What will we do?”
Mike hesitated. He knew the only way to stop Jason was to get rid of him completely. He didn’t want to say it to Sarah. He just looked at her. “I only know of one way to stop him, Sarah.”
“But we can’t just kill a man. It isn’t right.”
Mike nodded. “No. It isn’t right to kill a man in cold blood, no matter how evil that man is. But if he attacks me, if he attacks you, he will have to be taken care of. It’s the only way.”
“I don’t want to think about it. I can’t think about it.” Sarah shook her head, placing her hands over her ears as if it would stop the thought from entering her mind.
“We have to do what we have to do, Sarah. You said it yourself. I can’t be with you every minute. What would you have me do? What can I do to make you happy? I want you to be safe. You have to be safe. Your life, the life of your baby, it’s just too important to me. What do you want me to do?”
Sarah’s mind was a whirlwind of confusion. She glanced out over the path and saw that Jason and his horse were gone out of sight. It was likely they would be headed toward town. She wondered what the people there would think when they saw him coming in.
“I know where we can go,” she said, grabbing his hand. “I have friends that live on the outskirts of Wickenburg. They have a farm there. We can go there. I know they will help us.”
Mike followed her back into the house, a curious look on his face. “Oh, really?” He watched her moving through the cabin, impressed by how quickly she went. “You are ready to go into town? Now? We will probably have to pass Jason and his horse.”
She looked back at him, shaking her head. “No, that horse will go back to my mother’s house. I’m sure of it. And my friends don’t live on that side of Wickenburg. The ranch is on the other side, about ten minutes from where the main street ends.”
Mike raised his eyebrows. He glanced down when Sarah pulled the nightgown she’d been wearing up over her head, exposing her underclothes. She pulled on a large flannel shirt and a pair of the pants Rachel had sewn together. The front buttoned together but Sarah left the bottom two unbuttoned because her belly was pushing out.
“Get dressed, Mike, we need to go. I don’t want him coming back here while we are here.”
“If he comes back here and the cabin is empty, he might burn it down.”
“He won’t think of that. He will be searching for me. He might break a few things, but if we are here, we might have to kill him.”
“We’re going to have to take care of him one way or another, Sarah,” Mike warned her, going to the rack by the front door and grabbing one of his coats. He took down another one and tossed it to her. “Wear one of mine. I don’t want you getting sick.”
She caught it and laid it on the couch next to her. She was seated, pulling on her boots over thick socks with great effort.
“You don’t have to be in such a hurry, my love. He’s not coming back soon. You got him good with that pan.”
Sarah shook her head. “I want to go now. I don’t want to wait another minute.”
“All right,” Mike gave in, realizing he was not going to talk her down now. She had a plan in her mind and nothing he said was going to change it. He was already fully dressed, having been up for several hours before her. He pulled on his coat and buttoned it up. He pulled a pair of gloves from the pocket of the jacket, and as he put them on, he said, “So your friends. They have names?”
Sarah laughed, finished with her boots, standing up and pulling on the coat. It nearly swallowed her and made Mike grin wide to see her enveloped in it.
“This is too big,” Sarah said, adjusting the sleeves, which came down nearly six inches past her fingertips. “I can wear Rachel’s. It’s not that cold outside.”
“Put on another shirt then. Rachel’s coat is not warm enough for you in your condition.”
Sarah winked at him. “I think you worry too much, but okay, I will.” She stripped off his coat and laid it on the couch behind her, returning to the bedroom for another shirt.
He watched her, holding his hat in his hands. “So your friends?”
“Oh, yes,” Sarah looked through the door to him. “Alice. Alice Collins. She’s a good friend of mine. Her husband, Adam, has helped me in the past. They let me stay with them the night before Jason came and got me.”
“Adam Collins, huh?” Mike could barely hold in his smile. “I hear he’s a really good man.”
Sarah came out of the bedroom, buttoning up the jacket. “He is. He really is. He’s been through a lot, losing his first wife, like you did, Mike. But he’s a good man. It didn’t leave him bitter at all. He married again and they are going to have their own baby. He has two children from his first marriage.�
�
Mike nodded. “He’s having another baby, is he? That’s very nice.”
Sarah looked at him curiously. “It really is. Don’t tell me you know him?”
Mike smiled. “I sure do. He’s my brother.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
A HAPPY REUNION AND AN ENDING
A HAPPY REUNION AND AN ENDING
Mike talked about Adam as he drove the wagon down the snowy mountain trail. Buddy was seated in the back, occasionally walking across from one side to the other, looking out at the trees as if he was searching for something.
“Adam hasn’t come up to the cabin for a long time. Many years. The last time he came was probably just after Rachel died. To pay his respects, you know, and ask if I wanted her buried in the town cemetery. That’s where she was from, so I said yes. He took her body with him when he left.”
“You didn’t go to the grave site with him?” Sarah was surprised.
Mike nodded. “Yeah, I just went later, after she was already buried. I couldn’t bear to see her laid in the ground, so Adam did it for me.”
Sarah’s shoulders lifted as she sighed. “I always knew he was a good man.”
“He is.”
“I never knew he had a brother. Not you, anyway. I know about his other brothers. The one who died.”
Mike nodded again. “Andrew.”
“Yes. And when Holly died, another brother came to the funeral.”
“Probably Kyle.”
“Do you have another brother?”
“Yes, there’s another,” Mike laughed. “Taylor. He was actually the oldest. I don’t even know where he is now. We lost track of him when the war started.”
“Did he go off to fight?”
“He did. He was older than the rest of us.”
“So you don’t even know if he is alive?”
An Uncivilized Romance Page 17
