California Romance

by Colleen L. Reece

  Seth’s memory kicked in: Red Fallon; the bandits; the holdup; the ruffian throwing Dori on a horse—

  Alarm attacked with the venom of a rattlesnake. “Where’s Dori?” Seth peered up the dusty road that stretched empty and menacing ahead of them.

  Sarah burst into tears. “Gone.”

  Seth felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. “The bandits took her?”

  Charley shook his head. “Naw. A gun went off, an’ their horses spooked. Yore friend Fallon got away with the girl. ’Pears to me that in spite of all his fancy talkin’ ’bout gettin’ religion, he wuz in on the holdup. Or mebbe he decided to pick up a ransom for himself.”

  Seth’s world turned black. Red’s story had almost convinced him of the wild cowhand’s change of heart. Lies, all lies.

  “Get in the coach, Seth,” Sarah pleaded.

  The horror in her eyes showed she was reliving the ordeal of being kidnapped by Red. Seth stood, but tottered and almost fell. “We can’t wait for the sheriff. I’m going after Dori right now.”

  “No, you ain’t,” Charley barked. “You cain’t ride one of my team—it takes two horses to haul us back to town.”

  Seth clenched his hands into fists and fought a fresh wave of dizziness. “I’ll walk.”

  “No!” Sarah protested. “You’re hurt worse than you think. What good will you be to Dori if you take off after her and end up passing out by the road?”

  “Yore sister’s right,” Charley chimed in. “Shut up and get back in the coach, or I’ll put another lump on yore head and throw you in.”

  Convinced more by the way his head spun than by Charley’s threat, Seth obeyed. The short ride back to town would steady him. Charley turned the team and goaded them into a dead run. Seth leaned back against the seat and gritted his teeth at every jar of the stagecoach. The rough ride did, however, help restore his senses.

  “Sarah, Abby, I’ll leave you at the flats and ride with the sheriff and his posse.” Seth took his sister’s hands in his. “We’re going to get them. All of them. When we do, God have mercy on their souls. The law won’t—and neither will I.”

  Sarah gave a broken cry. “If only Matt were here. What will he say when he learns we’ve lost his sister?”

  Seth cringed. His brain told him he could have done nothing to prevent Dori’s kidnapping, but his promise to Matt to take care of her flayed him. When Dori had needed him most, he’d been sprawled senseless in the road—and Red Fallon had ridden away with the girl Seth loved. If the law didn’t punish Red, he would.

  Seth slumped in the seat and lashed himself with regrets. Why did I refuse to tell Dori how I feel, even after she recommitted her life to You, Lord, and the barrier between us was shattered? Now I may never have the chance. What will happen if the bandits catch up with her and Red? Seth bit his lip until blood came. Even if Matt paid a ransom and Dori’s captors released her, would she come home unharmed?

  “Trust Me.”

  “A lot easier to say than to do,” Seth mumbled, but he clung to the words every inch of the way back to Fresno Flats. Charley drove like a madman, yet it felt like a lifetime before they reached town and found the sheriff.

  The lawman hastily scared up a posse as rugged looking as he was, including the two ranchers who had been in the Madera-Big Tree Station stage.

  “Don’t worry,” one said. “We’ll get that pretty little gal back.” The other nodded.

  Seth felt warmed by their concern. “Thanks. I’m going to marry her if she’ll have me.” He felt himself redden when they guffawed, but the sheriff interrupted.

  “You gonna be able to keep up, what with that bump on your head?” His keen gaze bored into Seth. “If not, stay here with the women and let us do the trailin’.”

  Fire ran through Seth’s veins. “I can keep up. Besides, a couple of their nags are carrying double.”

  “That will slow them down some. Mount up, men, and let’s ride. We’ve got fresh horses, and they don’t.”

  It didn’t take long to ride back to the scene of the holdup. Seth seethed with impatience when the sheriff insisted on stopping to examine the site. Every minute Dori was in the hands of the bandits, Red, or both, felt like a year.

  “Nothing here to show what happened ’cept for some roiled up ground and a few drops of blood,” the sheriff announced.

  “That’s where I fell,” Seth told him. “Begging your pardon, Sheriff, but can we get going?”

  “Shore.” He swung into the saddle and led the dozen grim-faced men who formed the posse back on their pursuit. The riders remained silent for the most part, but Seth occasionally heard mutters of “catchin’ the low-down thieves an’ makin’ short work of them,” and “holdups are bad enough; abductin’ innocent gals sticks in my craw.”

  Seth silently agreed, straining his eyes for a glimpse of the hunted men.

  Time limped by. The posse didn’t catch up with either the bandits or Red and Dori. Seth’s hopes dwindled to a mere flicker. Despair left him feeling sick. A splitting headache made it hard to trust God. Never in his life had Seth found it so difficult, not even when Red kidnapped Sarah. Seth had been laid up at the ranch and spared from knowing she was missing until after Matt rescued her. Now fear returned with a hundred armed companions. What if they didn’t find Dori before darkness fell? Lord, how can I live through a night, wondering what may be happening to her?

  A comforting thought came to mind. “I trained Dori well,” he murmured. “If she has an opportunity to escape, she can survive.” He slitted his eyes, trying to recall every detail of what had happened before he’d been struck. The bandits had flourished pistols. Had there been rifles and lariats on the horses’ saddles?

  “Seems like I saw both,” Seth mumbled, “but I’m so used to seeing fully outfitted horses, I didn’t pay any attention.” His pulse quickened. “I probably would have noticed if they hadn’t been there. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but it seems like outlaws would be well equipped.” Seth felt his lips curl into a smile, the first since the holdup. “If Dori gets her hands on a lasso or a rifle, she can sure use it.” The thought helped lift his mood.

  By the time the posse reached a fork in the road, the sun sat high in the sky. A careful examination of horse tracks in the dust showed that two horses had continued on the main road; one had veered off to the left. “Looks like the bandits haven’t come up with Fallon and Miss Sterling,” the sheriff said. “Here’s where we split up. Half of you go after the bandits.” He eyed Seth. “Anderson, you and the rest come with me.”

  About an hour later, Seth’s sharp eyes noticed something odd. He leaned over from the saddle and stared at the tracks in the trail. “Hey Sheriff, come here, will you?”

  “What is it?”

  “Look.” Seth pointed to the ground. Excitement mounted. “It doesn’t make sense, but the tracks are turning back toward the main road to Fresno Flats.”

  The others crowded next to him. “You shore got good eyes, son.” The sheriff scratched his forehead and looked puzzled. “It ain’t what I was expectin’. What’s Fallon up to, anyway?”

  “The girl might be hurt from being thrown, worse than Fallon knew when he rode off with her,” someone said. “Maybe he’s taking her back to Fresno Flats to find a doctor. Having a dead girl on your hands is a heap more serious than kidnapping.”

  “Shut up, you fool,” the sheriff roared with a quick glance toward Seth. “We ain’t seen no blood, have we?”

  Seth felt his own blood turn to ice. The pity in the lawman’s eyes showed that, despite his protest, the unwelcome suggestion might be true.

  “I’ll wager Fallon decided to take the girl back and turn himself in,” one of the ranchers put in. “He might reckon the law will go easier on him. Anderson, how do you figure it?”

  All Seth could get out of his constricted throat was, “I don’t.”

  “Well, we ain’t gonna find out standin’ here flappin’ our gums,” the sheriff growled. “Let’s get going.”


  Seth’s bones ached with weariness before the posse rounded a bend and reached the main road back to Fresno Flats. The sheriff reined in his horse.

  “What th—”

  Seth gave a loud cry. He kicked his horse into a gallop, heart thundering in time with the racing animal’s hoofbeats and the pounding of the posse’s horses behind him. He pulled his mount to a halt beside something that lay under a tree, trussed up like a roped calf: Red Fallon.

  But where was Dori?

  Chapter 25

  The staccato beat of hooves brought Dori back to consciousness. Why was she face down in the saddle of a galloping horse? She struggled to remember, and it all came back. The holdup; the bandits; Seth being felled by a cruel blow; a gunshot; Red Fallon yanking her onto a horse.

  Dori twisted her head, gazed up at Red, and opened her mouth to scream. A rough hand silenced her.

  “Shhh. The bandits’ll hear you. Promise not to yell if I take my hand away?”

  Dori nodded. One bandit at a time was more than enough.

  Red removed his hand.

  “Don’t you mean the other bandits?” Dori spit out in a low voice.

  “I ain’t one of ’em.” He reined in the horse. “Let’s get you in a more comfort’ble position.” He stepped down from the horse and set her upright.

  Too confused to attempt an escape, Dori gasped. “You kidnap me, and now you’re concerned about my comfort?”

  Back in the saddle with Dori in front of him Red mumbled, “It ain’t that way.”

  “Are you going to hold me for ransom?”

  Red glanced over his shoulder and sent the horse into a run. “Naw.”

  What scheme lay beneath Red’s battered sombrero? “You won’t get away with this.”

  “Sit still and keep quiet,” Red ordered. “We’ll be in a heap of trouble if those three galoots catch us. I’m tryin’ to save you.”

  If anyone had told Dori that she’d ever choose Red Fallon over a gang of outlaws, she’d have laughed herself silly. What had changed her mind—his so-called repentance? His assurance he was trying to save her? His changed appearance? No. Satan himself could appear as an angel of light. She didn’t know if she believed Red. His actions during the holdup gave lie to his claim.

  “Lord, what has calmed me enough to keep from kicking, screaming, and taking my chances with the bandits?” she whispered. The answer came like a lightning bolt. Red had shown her no disrespect. The grasp on her blouse when he heaved her onto the horse had not been unkind. He’d clapped his hand over her mouth only to silence her. He’d shown consideration by changing her position to make riding easier.

  When they reached a fork in the road, Red turned into the lesser traveled path. “The bandits should be too busy tryin’ to outrun the law to come after us, but we can’t take chances. Soon as it’s safe, we’ll get back on the main road.” An hour later he cocked his head to one side. “Hear that?”

  Dori’s ears perked up. “Rushing water.” Her lagging spirits lifted. A mountain stream meant relief for her parched throat and dust-covered hands and face.

  When they reached the brook, Red helped Dori off the horse. Stiff and sore, she threw herself down on the bank and drank water so icy her teeth chattered. She splashed her hot face, shivered, then splashed again.

  “Are you hungry?” Red reached in the saddlebags and hauled out a chunk of hardtack.

  Dori grimaced. “I had a big dinner.”

  “Good.” Red unsaddled the horse and tossed the saddle blanket to Dori. “Rest a spell till it’s safe to get back on the road. You c’n use the saddle for a pillow.” He didn’t wait for a reply, but watered the horse and tied him to a nearby manzanita bush. Only then did he fling himself down beside the stream and drink.

  Dori kept a wary eye on Red while spreading her blanket on the ground. She hadn’t expected him to care for a horse before himself. Maybe he really had changed. She dropped to the blanket and propped herself up against the saddle, determined not to close her eyes, but her weary body refused to cooperate.

  A call roused her from deep sleep, “Wake up, Dori. We c’n go back to Fresno Flats now.”

  Dori opened her eyes and blinked.

  “Sorry to wake you, but we need to get movin’.” Red’s gaunt face split into a grin. “You slept most an hour, plenty of time for the bandits to get ahead of us.”

  She sprang to her feet. “You’re taking me to Fresno Flats?”

  Red’s grin faded. “You gotta learn to trust folks, even when it’s tougher than hardtack. I hadta get you outta there while I could. Charley was tryin’ to control the team, and young Anderson was bad hurt or dead.”

  “Don’t say that. Seth can’t be dead.”

  “Yore in love with him, ain’t you?”

  She couldn’t answer.

  “He might not be so bad off as that,” Red mumbled. “It takes a heap of hurtin’ to keep fellers like him down.”

  Dori suspected Red was trying to comfort her, but she appreciated it. “You’re really trying to save me from the bandits?”

  “Yeah. Even if yore brother paid a ransom, you’d still be in danger. I’ve knowed a lotta bad men.” Pain and regret darkened his eyes. “I was one till God got hold of me.”

  “Why didn’t you just head back to Fresno Flats with me?” Dori challenged.

  Red sighed. “First off, I needed to get you away. Then I started thinkin’. If I took you back right off, who’d believe I was tryin’ to save you? I figgered I had to make you b’lieve me. Do you?”

  The story sounded plausible, but more than likely, Red had abducted her in hopes of collecting a ransom and then had second thoughts. What better way to guarantee escaping punishment than to play on her sympathies? “I don’t know.”

  “Most folks won’t.” He sounded more resigned than fearful.

  Pity battled with reason. Red’s life might hang on whether she believed him and could convince Seth and Matt that Red had finally tried to do something good.

  By the time he saddled up and they reached the road back to Fresno Flats, Dori’s head and shoulder ached. Distrust swooped down like a bird of prey. My thinking’s too muddled to separate truth from fiction, she reflected. All I want to do is to escape, but the only thing that may work means throwing aside modesty. So be it. Face aflame and hoping Red would assume the obvious reason for her request, she asked in a small voice, “Can we stop here? I need to…”

  Red fell for her ploy. He swung out of the saddle and helped her down, then walked a little way up the road. “Lots of tracks. A posse, I reckon.”

  She ran to the horse, uncoiled the lariat, formed a wide loop, and swung it.

  Zing. The lasso dropped over Red’s head and shoulders. Dori jerked the rope so hard it tightened. Red sprawled to the ground. Before he could recover his senses, she hog-tied him and sprang to the horse’s back. Then she headed for Fresno Flats, haunted by the look in Red’s eyes that made her feel as if she had unjustly slapped a child.

  Seth had ridden like a crazed man along the trail, praying to find Dori. He rounded a bend. A trussed-up man lay by the side of the road.

  With a cry of rage, Seth yanked his horse to a standstill and dismounted. “Red Fallon?” he bellowed, jerking the bound man to his feet. “Did the bandits do this? Have they got Dori?”

  Red grunted. “She should be in Fresno Flats by now. She roped and tied me before I could get her back to town.”

  “Bully for Dori. She may have roped you, but you can’t expect me to believe you were bringing her back after kidnapping her.”

  Red’s reply was lost in a rumble from the posse.

  “I’m fer hangin’ him here and now,” one of the men called.

  The sheriff leaped from his horse. “There’ll be no necktie parties today. It’s up to a judge and jury to take care of that. First, we go see if he’s lyin’ about the girl.” He glared at the vengeful man. “Two of you will have to ride double. Fallon gets roped to the saddle.” The man grum
bled but climbed on behind another posse member.

  Seth freed Red, forced him to mount, and tied his hands to the pommel. “Try to run and you won’t get far,” he warned.

  Red gave him an inscrutable look. “I ain’t runnin’ no more. No one’s gonna swaller it, but I took Dori to save her from the skunks who bashed yore head.”

  Seth’s nerves twanged. “Save it for a jury.” I won’t believe Dori’s safe until she’s in my arms, he vowed. When she is, I won’t let her go until she says she’ll marry me. His heart thumped with anticipation.

  Yet Red’s apparent sincerity troubled Seth. Red’s past weighed against him, but what if he was telling the truth? Hangings sickened Seth. Executing an innocent man was unthinkable. Lord, You’re the only one who knows the truth. It’s all up to You.

  Leaving Fallon’s fate in God’s hands, Seth lost himself in dreams of his own future. He let out a yell and sent his horse into a full gallop. When he reached Fresno Flats, a crowd stood in front of the sheriff ’s office. Seth saw Dori, Sarah, and Abby elbow their way through the crowd and race toward him, but he had eyes only for Dori. He hurtled from the saddle and scooped her up in his arms. The look in her eyes shouted all Seth needed to know. He bent his head and kissed her upturned face.

  Dori drew back, cheeks scarlet.

  Seth laughed and kissed her again. “Get used to it, sweetheart. I don’t aim to stop until you promise to marry me.”

  The roguish look Seth knew so well stole into her eyes. “You can stop right now.”

  Seth’s jaw dropped. “You mean it?”

  “I’m calling your bluff.” Dori hugged Seth so tightly it left him breathless. “It took long enough for me to get you, and I don’t aim to let you go.”

  The crowd cheered but fell silent when the clip-clop of horses’ hooves sounded and Red and the posse halted before the sheriff ’s office.

  Even the thrill of holding Dori close couldn’t dispel the feeling of doom that clutched Seth. He had left Red’s fate in God’s hands, but did God need some human help? “Dori, do you believe Red was trying to rescue you?”