“Oh, he came back, reunited with our mother. But we didn’t see him then. We had already left and settled in the area that is now the established town of Wickenburg.”
“You came that long ago? You don’t look old enough. Wickenburg has been there for probably forty years now.”
Mike laughed, slapping the reins lightly to make the horses move a little faster. “Yeah, I suppose I was exaggerating. Adam built that house before him and Holly got married. Her grandfather, you know, founded Wickenburg.”
“Yes, I know.”
“So it’s probably been there longer than forty years. But truth be known, it wasn’t but a one street, one horse town until, oh, I guess twenty years ago. That’s when people discovered it and started moving in and bringing business. It didn’t have a postal office until fifteen years ago.”
Sarah laughed. “I know that. I was raised there. My parents were immigrants but I wasn’t. I am an American.”
Mike smiled at her. “We are all Americans, even if we are immigrants.”
She nodded. “That’s right.” They were quiet for a few minutes before she spoke again. “I suppose you will be happy to see your brother again, won’t you?”
“I am excited, yeah. My heart’s just a-poundin’.” He laughed. “Can’t help it. Don’t think I even knew he was married to Alice. If I did, I don’t know how I was told. Like I said, he didn’t come up again after Rachel.”
“I wonder why?”
Mike shook his head. “Life gets in the way, my dear. And he might have forgotten the trail. It’s not a straight shot. Gotta wind around the mountain and find the trail. Since I don’t go to town but maybe twice a year – and sometimes not to Wickenburg – the trail can get a bit overgrown. You can see that for yourself.”
They hadn’t yet made it to the main road and Sarah could see that much of the trail was, in fact, overgrown with grass, weeds, brush, and small trees.
“Yes, I suppose you are right.”
“Wait till you see what it looks like down at the road,” Mike laughed. “If you can find that trail from the road, you are really looking.”
“Do you think Jason’s horse found its way back to Wickenburg?”
Mike shrugged. “We’ll find out, won’t we?”
Sarah looked at him. “How will we find out?”
Mike didn’t look back. He stared straight ahead, pausing before answering her. “Because me and Adam are gonna go find him. We’re gonna take care of him. He can’t hurt you again, Sarah. I won’t allow it.”
Sarah said nothing. Her love for Mike overrode her fear of what would happen to the husband who had tried to kill her.
Sarah barely waited for the wagon to stop before she jumped down from it in front of Adam and Alice’s house. She was glad to see Adam’s wagon out front. That meant he was home. It was around mid-day, so she suspected they were having a bite to eat. The chimney on top of the house was sending out thick plumes of smoke.
The cold was biting at her cheeks and nose. She was ready to be inside. She practically ran to the front door, Mike calling after her, “Sarah, be careful!”
They must have heard the approaching wagon from inside because the door flung open and Alice came running out. She and Sarah met in a warm embrace that would have been closer if both women hadn’t had protruding bellies. Alice was close to the end of her pregnancy, so she was very large in front.
“Sarah! Oh, Sarah!” Tears were streaming down her face.
“Alice!” Sarah was also crying. Alice pulled away from Sarah several times to look at her face, kissing her cheeks over and over before pulling her friend back into a hug.
“We thought you were gone forever, Sarah! We thought you were dead!”
Mike got down from the wagon and walked toward the women, a huge smile on his face. Adam came to the door and stood there for a moment, frozen in shock. Mike straightened up, pushing out his chest, a look of pride on his face as he stared back at his stunned brother.
It only took another moment before Adam was hurrying across the light snow, his hand extended to his brother. “Mike! Oh my! How did this happen?”
He was smiling from ear to ear. The men shook hands briefly before Mike pulled his younger brother into a tight hug. They slapped each other on the back, laughing.
“I haven’t seen you in years!” Adam said, pulling away and staring up at Mike. “And you show up one day with our long-lost friend in tow? It’s a miracle, brother, a pure miracle!”
“You don’t know the half of it, Adam,” Mike said. “Let’s go inside. I know Sarah is cold. Look at her red nose and cheeks!”
Adam laughed. “Yes, of course, come in, come in!”
The four of them hurried inside, where the fire had warmed the interior of the house. Sarah went directly to the fireplace, pulling off her gloves and holding her hands in front of the flames as closely as she could get without jumping in.
“Let me make you some coffee or tea. Which do you want?”
“You can make some coffee,” Sarah nodded. “That would be wonderful.”
“Of course! I’ll be right back with it.”
Mike and Adam sat at the table in the middle of the room.
“So tell me the story,” Adam said. “Tell me how this strange coincidence came about?”
Mike looked at Sarah. “Do you want me to tell him or you want to?”
Sarah shook her head, dragging a small stool over to the fireplace and sitting on it. “You can tell him, Mike.”
Mike started the story from the moment he found Sarah in the woods. He backtracked to reveal what Sarah had told him Jason had done to her, and then continued through her infection and the storm. When he got to the part about finding Buddy, he and Sarah looked at each other.
“Oh, he’s still outside! He was in the back of the wagon!” Mike stood up abruptly. “I feel bad now. I shouldn’t have left him out there!”
“Dogs can take the weather like it is, brother,” Adam stood up, too and opened the door to see Buddy had settled on the porch and was sleeping soundly on one side, one paw sticking up in the air. He closed the door, laughing. “See? He found the sunny spot and laid down in it.”
“He’s a good dog.”
“So tell me why you decided to come back into town?”
Mike’s voice became serious. “We have to find Jason. We have to take care of him.” He told Adam about the fight and how Sarah had clonked Jason on the head with the cast iron pan. “I have no idea if or when he will wake up but he’s on the back of that horse, or was, and he’s gonna have a major headache when he does wake up.”
Adam looked at Sarah. “What do you want us to do, Sarah?”
She looked over her shoulder at him, turning her eyes up to Alice when she was handed a mug of hot, steaming coffee. “Thank you, Alice. I don’t know, Adam. I just don’t know.”
Adam stood up. “Come on, Mike. Let’s take care of this now. No sense in wasting any more time.”
Mike nodded. “I agree, brother.” He walked to Sarah, bent over, and kissed her cheek. “You must stay here. He isn’t going to come here. We’ll be back.”
Sarah nodded, her eyes steady on his. “Be careful, Mike.”
“I’m a big man. He won’t get past me and he won’t hurt me.”
She said nothing more, just watched the men leave, her heart fluttering anxiously in her chest. Alice knelt next to her and put one arm around her friend’s shoulders. “They’re going to be all right, Sarah. Don’t worry.”
Sarah tilted her head to rest it against Alice’s and the two women stared into the fire.
“So you think he’s back at his house?” Adam asked as the two men took separate horses and rode into Wickenburg.
Mike grunted. “Sarah’s house. Yeah.”
“That’s where we’ll look for him then. He got thrown out of the Horse n’ Saddle for the fifteenth time a few days ago. I don’t think he’ll go back there.”
“He doesn’t need to be drinkin’ no alcohol, especially with
that headache he’s gonna have. She really got him good, Adam.” Mike smiled. “I was proud of her.”
“Are you two…?” Adam let his words trail off. Mike nodded.
“Yeah, I love her. She loves me. We’re gonna stay together.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Mike. I didn’t think you would ever love again.”
“I didn’t either. But like Sarah said, God had other plans for me.”
They rode the rest of the way in silence, each thinking about what might happen and what they would have to do.
The town was quiet as they went down the main road. There were only a handful of people outside. Most of the chimneys were pumping out smoke as the fireplaces inside kept the people warm. Those outside looked like they didn’t want to be.
“It’s warmer down here than it is up on the mountain,” Mike said. “And these people look like they’re about to freeze to death.”
Adam chuckled. “They probably feel like they’re going to. It’s colder than usual this year.”
Mike grunted.
They came to Sarah’s house and both dismounted, throwing the reins of the horses over the hitching post. They had strapped on their guns after leaving the house, not wanting to frighten Sarah more than she already was.
With one hand rested on his pistol, Mike walked up to the house and rapped on the door. He tried the doorknob. It was locked. He looked back at Adam.
“What do you think, brother?”
“I think you should kick the door in. He might be inside.”
“His horse isn’t here.”
“That doesn’t mean he isn’t.”
“Maybe he went to the Doc’s.”
“I doubt it. He’s too stubborn. He’s never gotten help from Doc when he was beat up in a fight. Don’t think he’s gonna now.”
Mike took a step back. He lifted one large boot and slammed it into the doorknob. The door buckled with the impact and swung into the house.
“Good kick, Mike,” Adam said, passing his brother and going in the house first. Mike reacted to his brother’s statement, snorting in an amused way. He followed Adam in.
“Jason!” Adam yelled out. “You here?”
There was no one in the living room. Mike stuck his head in the kitchen doorway. “He’s not in here,” he reported.
Adam walked down the hallway and opened the door to one of the rooms. It was completely empty, without furniture or person in sight. He grunted. There was another door on the other side of the hallway. He opened it.
He took a look inside and then called back to Mike, who was standing at the back window staring out at the field.
“Mike, come back here.”
Mike went down the hallway and stopped at the door, looking in. Jason was on the bed, laying face first. Blood had covered much of the bed near his head. He hadn’t made it all the way to the pillow.
“I think she hit him harder than she thought she did.” Adam said in a low voice. “He ain’t movin’.”
Mike went to the bed and pushed down on Jason’s back. “Find it hard to believe he even made it in the house if it was that bad.”
“The movement of the horse and then making his way inside might have had something to do with it. Is he dead?”
Mike looked over his shoulder at his brother. “Yeah, he’s dead.”
Adam shook his head. “A shame. He had a good woman, good house, and land to boot. What a fool.”
“Yeah,” Mike looked down at Jason’s body. “I reckon we ought to take him out back and bury him.”
“Yeah, that’s what we should do, Mike.”
“And Adam. We don’t tell Sarah what happened. We gotta tell her he’s dead or she’ll be lookin’ over her shoulder all her life, thinkin’ he’s coming for her and the baby. But we can’t tell her it was her that did it.”
Adam nodded. “No. We won’t tell her that.”
EPILOGUE
EPILOGUE
Sarah brought a large tray of cookies, biscuits, lemonade, and tea out to the group of people at the long wooden table. Mike was sitting on one side, Adam across from him, and they were arm-wrestling. They were a good match and neither could get the other one to give in.
Alice was bent over a small basket, cooing at the little baby inside it. “Where’s your mama, little girl? Where’s your mama? Is that her? There she is; do you see her?”
Sarah laughed. “She can’t see me unless you pick her up and show me to her, Alice. You are silly.”
Alice looked up at Sarah. “I know. She’s so sweet, Sarah. You did such a good job with her.”
“I didn’t do it alone. If I hadn’t been so well taken care of, I might not have had her at all. Why, I might not even be alive now!” Sarah set the tray down on the table next to the men and leaned over to give Mike a kiss on the cheek. He turned his face just in time to get one on the lips. “Oh, you,” Sarah laughed and kissed him again.
“It’s too sweet to pass up,” Mike replied, winking at her.
“Hey, I’d like some of that sweetness,” Adam said, raising his eyebrows at his wife. “But from my woman, not yours, Mike, I swear.”
They all laughed. Alice moved around the table to kiss her husband. She sat next to him, picking up the basket on the bench seat next to him and moving it out of the way. She reached in the basket and picked up her baby boy, cradling him in her arms.
Sarah did the same, sitting across from her with her little girl in her arms. “I was hungry, but I’d rather hold this baby than eat right now,” she said. She looked down into the baby’s eyes. “Darling, you are so sweet. So very sweet. And beautiful.”
“I love the name Juliet,” Alice said. “I think you picked a wonderful name for such a beautiful little girl. How she managed to look just like you is amazing. Same eyes, same hair color, same skin tone. She’s so Irish!”
Sarah laughed. “I am grateful to God for it, I must say. And you, taking the name I was going to give my baby if it was a boy. I don’t even know how that happened.”
Alice shook her head. “Neither do I. Adam and I had decided on Nicholas a long time ago. We didn’t know if it would be a boy, but that was the name we chose when we first found out I was going to have a baby.”
“I love it. I absolutely love it.”
“And when they are older, they will be such playmates. Why, someday, maybe they will get married!”
“Whoa, whoa!” Adam laughed, finally giving in and letting his brother take the win. “Don’t go marrying those two yet. They aren’t even a year old yet.”
“You gave up,” Mike sounded disappointed.
Adam raised his eyebrows at his brother. “So did you. Look at you with your clean-shaven face. Makes you look ten years younger. Almost as young as me.”
Mike guffawed. “You ain’t ten years younger than me!”
“No, but I always looked like I was. I never grew out a long beard and mustache, hiding my face.”
“I was hiding everything from everyone.” He reached over and put his arm around Sarah. “Don’t have to do that anymore. Never will again.”
“I wish we could convince you to move into town, though,” Alice said. “It’s lovely out here, but you are so far from us. We won’t be able to just pop in for a visit.”
“Mike and I have been talking about that,” Sarah said, rubbing her baby’s cheek lightly with two fingers. “We’ve decided that we’re going to stay in town some during the year, probably when it’s coldest and then spend the rest of the year up here. When the weather isn’t too much. I enjoy the cold nights by the warm fire, but sometimes it’s a little ridiculous.”
Alice laughed with delight. “Oh, that’s wonderful! I’ll get to see you so much more often. I won’t have to worry about you being up here when the weather is bad!”
“You don’t have to worry about my wife anyway, Alice,” Mike said. “You should know that by now.”
Alice nodded, turning to him with a mock serious expression. “Oh, yes, I do know that, Mr. Mount
ain Man. But still, you can’t control her health, can you?”
“He can certainly take good care of me when I need it,” Sarah replied. “He proved that last year. You are my knight, husband. My knight and my warrior. I wouldn’t be here without you. Juliet wouldn’t be here without you.”
“None of us would be here without him,” Adam said. “It’s his property we’re on, after all.”
“Oh!” Alice swatted her husband’s arm with her hand and they all laughed.
Sarah looked down at her baby daughter while the rest of them continued talking and laughing. She was in awe of the little girl and couldn’t believe what she had been through to get where she was. Mike had married her almost immediately, not wanting her to be seen around town as an unmarried woman with child. He needn’t have worried. Everyone in town knew what had happened, as Jason had lied about her death shortly after leaving her on the side of Windy Gap Mountain.
Her life had suddenly become perfect. She had a good man by her side, a new baby to take care of, two homes, and the best friends a person could ever ask for. She wished her mother could see her.
She looked up at the bright blue sky above and thought to herself,
She can see me now. I know you are happy where you are, Mama. And now, finally, I am happy, too.
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ALSO BY ELLIEE ATKINSON
The Rileys of the Misty Creek
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Family of Love
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Acknowledgement
Thank you for taking your time and energy to read “An Uncivilized Romance”. Without your continuous support, I would not have written this book.
An Uncivilized Romance Page 18
