The Final Vow (Hearts of Hays Series #2)

by Barbara Goss

  Meg spoke first. “A man chased Laura.”

  Jesse looked at Laura, whose eyes were like a startled deer’s. Her face looked pale and her breathing irregular.

  He put his arm around her instinctively. “Come sit down in the living room and tell me about it.” He led her to the sofa and sat close to her with his arm still around her. By then Cassie had appeared, and she and Meg stood in the doorway.

  Jesse felt Laura shaking in fear, so he decided it best to calm her first. He stroked her shoulder lightly. “It’s OK, Laura. Relax. You can tell me everything when you feel ready.” He continued stroking her shoulder until he felt the shaking subside. She looked up at him and gave him a trembling smile and nodded.

  “Someone chased me from the fields behind the house, near the creek.” She gulped, and then continued, “I saw a black hat like yours. I called out ‘Jesse?’ And when there wasn’t an answer, I ran as fast as I could to the house. I looked behind me about halfway to the house, and a man all in black chased me. He had a black beard and mustache. When I finally reached the house, I again turned to see how close to me he was, but I didn’t see him anymore.”

  There had been very few times when Jesse was tempted to curse, and this happened to be one of them. Instead, he said softly so only Laura could hear, “Laura, no one will ever hurt you. I’ll see to it myself. I will put into place some type of system where you need never be afraid here again.” To everyone, he said, “I’m going to town to see the sheriff.” To Laura, he said, “Stay inside with Meg and Cassie until I come back.”

  As Jesse passed Meg on his way out the door, he whispered, “Have your shotgun ready, but don’t alarm Laura.”

  “Jesse Collins!” greeted Sheriff Higgins. “Nice to see you. I planned on taking a ride out to see you today anyway.”

  Jesse took a seat and confided Laura’s story to Higgins.

  “He found you, then,” Higgins said.

  “I don’t know how he connected me with the train robbery and Laura. Do you?”

  “I have an idea. Did you and Jed sell a few head of cattle the day of the train robbery?” He asked tapping his fingers on the desk.

  “As a matter of fact, we did.”

  “You sold them to Ed Rathbone, and he claims he didn’t have money to pay for them so he wrote out an IOU to you both for the money.” Higgins laughed. “I had a hard time getting him to admit it though, because it seems he thought now he wouldn’t have to pay. However, several others saw the transaction.”

  “And?” Jesse was truly puzzled.

  “He saw Jed put the IOU in his pocket. It had both your names on it.”

  Jesse cursed mildly, then immediately thought of Laura and reminded himself to get forgiveness for the slip.

  “It’s why I planned on riding out to your place, and I’m glad no harm came to the nun— was her name Laura?”

  “Yes. I feel responsible for Laura’s safety. She doesn’t know the name of the mission in Texas where she was headed. Any suggestions?”

  “If you want, I could do some fishing though telegraph lines and see what convent your nun came from and where it is she should be. It might take a while, but I should be able to find out something.”

  “No!” Jesse said quickly. “Well… find out, but don’t tell anyone, just let me know what you discover. You see, Laura might not want to go to the mission in Texas. She hasn’t taken her final vows, and I want her to have a chance to make up her mind. Without parents, and having been reared by the nuns in the orphanage, she has never really had a life. I mean to give her more of that, if she’ll let me.”

  “Sounds fair to me.” Higgins smiled. “Give me a week or two then come by and see me again, unless you need me before then. What are you planning to do about the bandit stalking your place?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “I’ll send out some men to search around your ranch.”

  Jesse hated to confine Laura’s movements around the ranch. Her life, until now, had been restricted. He relished watching her enjoying freedom. How could he keep an eye on her and not restrict her freedom? He wished he could somehow flush this bandit out. Have a showdown and get it over with.

  Jesse buckled his holster, checked the bullets in his gun and left the house. He rode the perimeter of the ranch but found nothing.

  The next afternoon he watched Laura take her Bible and sit beneath the old elder tree. He’d told her it was all right to continue to move about freely, because he had the ranch secured. He didn’t exactly, but he wanted her to feel relaxed. He would watch her. The fence could wait.

  Jesse did this for four days, and the man did not appear again. However, he didn’t feel it safe to let his guard down until they caught this man.

  On the afternoon of the fourth day of guarding Laura, he suggested their daily riding lesson. Already, Laura took control of the reins and could trot around the pen. Surprisingly, she loved it.

  As Laura finished drying dishes with Meg and Cassie, he told her, “I’ll get Bandit ready. Meet me in the barn.” A sweet smile followed him out the door.

  Jesse opened the squeaky barn doors and made a mental note to oil the hinges. Before Jesse’s eyes could adjust to the darkness, he felt a gun barrel stick into the back of his neck. He froze.

  “Where’s my brother’s saddlebag?” a raspy voice asked.

  “Right here, but it’s empty. Sheriff Higgins removed the contents.”

  The bandit cursed.

  Just then Laura came rushing into the barn with bright eyes and big smile, obviously anxious to ride. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Jesse with a gun to his head, held there by the man with the black beard. Her smile quickly turned to an open mouthed gasp.

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  “You!” the bandit called to Laura. “Come here, or I’ll put a hole in his head the size of this barn.”

  A shaking Laura gingerly walked to where the bandit stood.

  The bandit grabbed her and held her between him and Jesse. “You get that loot back from the sheriff. I’ll keep the girl until you do.”

  “I’ll do it right now. But let the girl go… don’t hurt her,” Jesse said between gritted teeth.

  “Do as you are told and she won’t get hurt,” the bandit snarled.

  “Let me just saddle my horse,” Jesse said, moving to his horse.

  “First, drop yer gun belt on the floor, then go in the house and tell anybody who might be waiting for the girl that yer taking her with you. No funny tricks, and no bringing the sheriff back with you, or I’ll blow a hole in her head. Got it?”

  “I got it.” Jesse dropped his belt and left the barn for the house. He told Meg he was taking Laura to town with him.

  “Aww, that's a great idea. Have a good time, Jesse,” she said.

  Jesse saddled his horse and rode like the wind for town.

  Laura felt herself shaking. The man loosened his hold somewhat. “I ain’t fixin’ to hurt you, less I have to. I got me a sister m’self.” He dragged her over to a stall and took down a rope hanging from a hook. He wrapped the rope around her waist and to a post. He then began to pace.

  “Excuse me,” Laura said in a small, frightened voice. “Why are you doing this? Don’t you know it’s a sin to steal?”

  The bandit laughed. “Yep, yer the nun all right. Thought as much.”

  “Don’t you care whether you go to heaven or hell?” she asked.

  “I don’t believe in neither.”

  Laura continued to tell him about the sins of stealing and how Jesus died for his sins, so he could be forgiven. After a while, he told her to keep quiet, or he’d shoot her anyway.

  As Jesse rode to town, he had no idea what he should do—tell the sheriff and risk Laura’s life? Or do as the bandit said? However, he had no guarantee if he gave the loot to the bandit, he wouldn’t shoot him and Laura anyway. And how could he talk Higgins into giving him the loot without a reason?

  When he got to the sheriff’s office, Higgins wasn’t there. Hi
s deputy sat at his desk and looked to be falling asleep. “Dewey, where’s Higgins?” Jesse asked frantically.

  Shaking his head to wake up, Dewey answered, “He went home about an hour ago.”

  “Thanks.” Jesse dashed out the door. He knew where Higgins lived, and it wasn’t far. He knocked on the door of the little whitewashed cottage about two blocks from the office. Higgins answered the door.

  “Collins! What’s up?”

  “Can I come in?” he asked, stepping inside before Higgins answered.

  “Um, sure.” He laughed. “Have a seat.” He pointed to the living room. “We just finished supper. Coffee?”

  Jesse shook his head. “This isn’t a social call. I’m in big trouble, and I need your advice and help.”

  “Of course,” Higgins said, losing his smile.

  “The bandit found us.”

  “What happened?”

  “He held a gun to my head and instructed me to get him the loot from the robberies or he’d kill Laura. What should I do? I can’t risk him hurting Laura.”

  Higgins sat and rubbed his temples. “Let me think a minute.”

  Jesse sat and played with his hat.

  “I still have the jewels and money. I didn’t know how to go about returning them since the train is long gone. I discovered the reason why the train sped away so quickly that day was because the train carried meat to the Indians on the reservations, and they had to deliver it before it rotted.

  “Giving the bandit his loot is not a problem, but we don’t know if this bandit will just hand Laura over. After all, he knows you shot his friend.”

  “It was his brother!” exclaimed Jesse.

  “Oh, that’s bad!”

  “Tell me about it.” Jesse closed his eyes and silently prayed for Laura’s safety.

  “I have an idea. It’s worth a try: I’ll give you the loot. You ride the usual way home, down the front path; I’ll get a posse together, and we’ll come around Jacob’s Creek way and up behind your barn on foot once we get close enough. See if you can stall him until we get there, we’ll take it from there.”

  “It’s worth a try, because if I just hand him the loot who knows what he’ll do before taking off with it. I’ll ride back slowly to give you time to form the posse and catch up, just in case I don’t get a chance to stall him.”

  “Let’s go!” called Higgins as he grabbed his gun belt, and they dashed out of the house. “The sun will be going down soon. We need to hurry.”

  Jesse rode back with the bag of jewels and money, much slower than he’d sped to town. It gave him time to think. He didn’t realize until now just how much Laura meant to him—could he be in love? That’s insane. He’d never been in love. He’d had flirts and had a few hot haystack parties, but nothing serious. He couldn’t claim virginity, but the few times in his younger days when he broke the rule, he’d repented and had been sincerely sorry. Knowing it was wrong took any or all the enjoyment from it anyway. That’s when he decided not to be intimate with anyone until the marriage bed, when it could be totally and mutually enjoyed and proper. Jesse was not an overly religious man, he didn’t read his Bible hardly at all, but he went to church on Sundays, and he prayed. He knew right from wrong, and he had a conscience.

  If anything happened to sweet Laura… well, there’d be nothing he could do to even that score. Even if he killed the man, it wouldn’t bring Laura back.

  Laura prayed for courage. She didn’t dare try to talk him out of anything by using the Bible… he wasn’t having any of it. Yet, she had to do something.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Bandit.”

  “Now what?” he snarled.

  “How much do you think that loot is worth, anyway?”

  “I don’t know… a few hundred. Why?”

  “See the palomino? He’s worth more than all that loot. You could take him instead.”

  The bandit walked over and stood looking at the fine horse. “He surely is a beauty. Palomino, you say?”

  “I heard,” said Laura, “he is worth at least a thousand.”

  “Is that right? Well then maybe I’ll take both. I need to put a bullet in your friend when he returns as well. He killed my brother!”

  “Yes. But if you wait for Jesse and the loot, there is the chance he’ll return with the law, and then, you’d get nothing except a bullet in your chest for your efforts. Take the horse and run.”

  The bandit seemed to be actually considering her offer. She silently prayed he would.

  Laura continued, since she had him thinking. “I don’t know how Jesse will get the sheriff to hand over the loot without telling him something…”

  The bandit started thinking out loud. “My horse is tied about a mile away… I could just ride this valuable horse to fetch him, and then lead mine home. I could come back later and kill Jesse Collins.”

  Laura felt her heart skip a beat. “You’ll have to ride him bareback though because none of the saddles here fit him. Jesse’s saddle is the only one that fits him because of his girth,” she lied with her fingers crossed. She knew Adonis had never been saddled.

  “A thousand, you say?” The bandit seemed to make a sudden decision. “I’ll do it!”

  Laura prayed like never before for the horse to behave until the bandit mounted him.

  The bandit threw a rope around the horse’s neck and led it out of the barn; something Jesse did daily so the horse wasn’t upset by it. Once outside the barn, the bandit mounted the horse.

  Jesse rode up the path and to the house, praying with all his might that all would go according to plan. As he approached, he heard his palomino whinny and snort. He also heard a man’s voice yelling. He rode around to the barn and stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn’t believe his eyes. There sat the bandit on the bucking palomino. He held onto the mane yelling for help. The horse bucked and reared, and still the bandit held on.

  Jesse jumped off his horse and ran into the barn, then grabbed his gun that was still lying on the ground. He rushed outside just as the bandit became airborne. The bandit landed with a thud hitting his head on the corral post as he went down. Not moving, he appeared knocked out cold. Still, Jesse held the gun on him. He then fired a shot into the air as a signal to Higgins and Meg.

  As he thought, Meg ran out the front door. Her mouth dropped at the sight. “Ma, in the barn! Laura’s tied. Cut her loose.”

  Jesse sat on the corral fence awaiting Higgins and his posse. The palomino stood quietly on the opposite side of the corral as if nothing had occurred.

  The bandit still appeared out cold.

  As Meg brought Laura out of the barn, Jesse called to her, “Are you all right, Laura?”

  Laura sighed. “I’m fine,” she replied. She and Meg disappeared into the house.

  The sun had dipped below the horizon, and Jesse feared it would soon be too dark to keep his eye on the bandit. However, minutes later, Laura appeared at his side carrying a torch. “Meg made it,” she said.

  The torch, made from a large, thick tree branch with an end tightly wrapped in cloth, doused in kerosene, and set on fire brightened the whole corral. “Perfect,” Jesse said.

  “It is perfect. It’s my habit burning!”

  Jesse looked at her for a reaction, but she simply smiled. She seemed accepting of her habit burning.

  “So how did the bandit end up on Adonis?” Jesse asked her.

  “I told him the horse was worth more than the loot, and you’d probably bring the law back with you.”

  “Brilliant!” Jesse’s chest felt tight with pride at her ingenuity.

  Laura smiled. “I had to do something; he planned to shoot you anyway, because you killed his brother.”

  Just then Higgins and his posse practically tiptoed up to the barn and subsequently stood amazed at seeing Jesse holding a torch and the bandit out cold.

  “Good work, Collins!” Higgins said.

  “Not my work,” Jesse replied. “It was all Laura’s doing.”

  After the sher
iff had taken the bandit back to town, still out cold, everyone went into the house.

  “I’ve had enough excitement for one day,” sighed Laura. “I’m going to bed.”

  “I’ll walk you up,” offered Jesse.

  When they reached Laura’s door, Jesse did something he would never have done before tonight. Now, he feared nothing; he reached out and gently hugged his little nun. “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear.

  She gently pulled away after a few seconds. She touched his cheek. “I’m just glad the bandit fell for it because he planned to shoot you when you returned. I had to do something.”

  She and Jesse held each other’s eyes intently. Then, he bent down and kissed her forehead. “I’m so proud of you!”

  Laura simply smiled at him with tear filled eyes. “Goodnight, Jesse.” She disappeared into her room, closing the door gently.

  Once in her room, Laura leaned against the door and let the tears roll down her face. She dropped to her knees. “Dear God,” she prayed, “I think I love Jesse. I’ve never been in love, but this feeling I have for Jesse is something I’ve never felt before. It’s hard to describe, but if the bandit had killed Jesse, I thought he might as well shoot me too. I didn’t want to be alive if he wasn’t. That must be love. Please help me to sort this all out so that it is pleasing to you. Amen.”

  Jesse went out, secured Adonis, and gave him an extra cube of sugar as his reward for a job well done. He’d given his feelings considerable thought while he stroked the horse—he definitely was in love. So what now? Jesse guessed a good talk with Laura should be his next move. No sense even dreaming of a happy ending if she planned to go back and take her vows. The fact that she smiled when she told him the cloth on the torch was her habit gave him hope. He cleaned up the barn and then headed for the house. He felt tired as well. His bed would be a treat tonight.

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