“Eclipse has come up lame,” she said over her shoulder to Garrett and the other boys gathered at the table, boasting over how far they could throw a shovelful of manure. Then she clucked her tongue over Eclipse. “Poor thing. And Ty is missing out on the ride with Wyatt and the rest.”
The table benches scraped over the floor, and the boys joined her at the door. The next moment fifteen men on horseback, led by that oily Beau Blackwell fellow, splashed through the yard. The men drew their six-shooters and circled Ty.
Garrett and Ox retrieved their gun belts from the pegs by the door and strapped them on.
Ella held out her arm, blocking them from rushing outside. “Seth, go fetch my Colt Walker. And the saber.”
Garrett stared at her red-faced. “Mr. Ty would want you to stay inside.”
Two of Blackwell’s men strung a noose from the barn rafters. A hog-sized knot of fear squeezed the breath from her lungs. If a gunslinger was ever called for, it was now. But Boone wasn’t here to help.
Courage, my girl, Granny Bessie’s voice rang out loud as a bell. When you don’t have men about for protection, or to fight on your behalf, you need to defend yourself, do the fighting yourself.
Hands trembling, Ella hoisted an old hunting rifle and handed it to Billy. “Boys, we need to convince Mr. Blackwell he’s not welcome here.”
Admiration replaced Garrett’s doubt. “I hope I catch me a bride like you when I marry.”
Ox nodded. “What do you want us to do?”
Seth raced back breathless. “Good thing your Walker’s loaded, Miss Ella.”
“Good thing indeed,” she murmured, calming at the heavy weight of the Colt Walker in her hand. She met the boy’s expectant stares. “All of you go out the back door. Garrett and Seth, circle around from the right. Ox and Billy, come in from the left at the same time. But don’t shoot. Draw their attention. That’s all I want you to do. Are we clear?”
Billy frowned. “What about you, Miss Ella? What are you going to do?”
Good glory, she wished she knew. She was making this up as she went. “Don’t worry about me. Y’all sneak up on them and don’t shoot unless they give you no choice.”
The boys nodded and scrambled for the back door.
Needing two hands to steady the revolver, she peeked around the door frame. A moment later the boys came from either side of the yard, creating confusion among Blackwell’s men.
The Colt Walker pointed at Blackwell, Ella slipped out the door and advanced toward horses and men. “Hold on there, Mr. Fancy Pants.”
Blackwell turned around in the saddle and blinked in astonishment. “Ty, call off your woman and your pesky boys.”
Ty released Eclipse and gave the stallion a soft pat on the rump. The horse trotted into the barn. The noose twirled in a circle from the force of the passing breeze. “Ella, honey, you been wanting to show me your skills with your revolver. Looks like you’ll get your chance.”
Bless Ty. She wanted to give him a sloppy kiss for trusting her. “Garrett, shoot your gun in the air twice, sweetie. That will bring Wyatt and White Wolf and the others back here in a hurry.”
Two loud blasts ricocheted through the yard. Reins jangled as the horses pranced nervously. Blackwell scowled at her. “Talk some sense into your husband. Tell him to sell out and take you to live in a civilized place.”
She almost choked. “Yes, go make our home among good people, such as yourself.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You didn’t look in the mood for talk when you hung that noose from the rafters.”
Blackwell shifted in his saddle. “A simple misunderstanding.”
Ty removed his cowboy hat, raked his fingers through his hair, and ambled toward Blackwell. “You planned to hang me as a cattle rustler and pay Sheriff Jordan to say it was our word against yours.”
Blackwell smiled, then glanced over his shoulder. “Amos, shoot him dead.”
A man on a large brown horse took aim at Ty.
Ella gasped, swung the heavy Colt Walker toward the man and fired. Her shot missed wide. Amos turned his six-shooter on her.
Heart slamming her chest, she pressed the hammer to cock the gun, but the loading lever jammed. “Sugar!” she said, inching back.
A war whoop pierced the air and Seth ran at the man with Johnny’s saber poised for attack. Gunfire exploded. Amos dropped his six-shooter, cradled his bloody hand, and cringed in pain.
Seth halted in his tracks opened-mouthed. Smoke curled up from Ty’s revolver.
“Thank the Lord,” Ella said.
Ty pointed his gun at Blackwell.
The cold metal of a half a dozen gun barrels took aim at Ty. The other half of the posse turned their guns on Garrett, Ox, Seth, and Billy.
Choking fear and anger welled in Ella’s chest. Nobody was going to harm her boys. She banged the side of her gun, desperate to free the loading lever. “Leave them be. Or I’ll shoot you down quicker than a rabid fox.”
“Put your revolver away, ma’am,’ Blackwell warned.
The next moment White Wolf and the rest of the Haven brothers rode around the corner of the barn with guns drawn and circled Blackwell’s posse.
Ace stopped inches from Blackwell and trained his pistol on the despicable man. “Give me one good reason not to shoot you?”
“Put your revolvers away and cut down the noose,” Blackwell ordered, then tipped his bowler hat at Ace, and then Ty. “You win, this time.”
Ty glared back. “Take your cattle and go.”
Gazes watchful and deadly, Levi and Ace escorted Blackwell and his men to the pen holding the rescued longhorns.
Ella lowered the Walker shakily.
Seth stared at her white faced, the saber dangling from his hand. “I couldn’t let him shoot you.”
She climbed to her feet. She wanted to hug him, but didn’t want to embarrass him. “Of course, you couldn’t, sweetie. Now hand Amos his gun, before I kick the skunk.”
Seth’s lopsided grin was a wonderful sight. “Sure thing, Miss Ella.” And he plucked the gun from the mud and snow.
Amos grabbed the weapon with his bloodied hand and skulked off.
Garrett, Ox, and Billy circled Seth, patting him on the back and congratulating him on his quick reaction.
Seth didn’t push them away or reply grumpily or derisively. Instead he grinned and showed off Johnny’s saber.
Then Ty’s arms circled her and his mouth brushed her ear. “You put a fright in me, Wife.”
The Colt Walker feeling like it weighed five hundred pound instead of five, she pressed closer to him. “Me? Mr. Fancy Pants planned to hang you.”
His laugh spiraled down her neck. “Please don’t ever stop surprising me.” Soft kisses caressed her jaw. “I plan to spend the rest of my days showing you just how pleased I am you came to Sweet Creek.”
She could hear Granny Bessie saying, You done good, my brave girl. You done good. The memory of Granny’s loving smile soothed like a healing balm.
Ella lifted her face heavenward and basked in the glorious warmth of the sun. “Granny Bessie would have approved of you.”
“Would she?”
The happiest she’d been since she was a young child marching up and down the streets of LaGrange with Johnny, Granny Bessie, and the Nancy Harts, she kissed Ty. “I’m sure of it.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Three days later, Ty fastened the wooden saber mount he’d fashioned for Johnny’s saber to the fieldstone fireplace and stepped back and circled his arm around Ella’s waist. He’d used the stump of their Christmas tree to fashion the mounts. The blue-flowered teacup he’d filled with wild violets decorated the mantel.
“It’s perfect, Ty,” Ella said, her eyes brilliant with happiness.
His brothers and the boys clapped and whistled.
Wyatt clapped the loudest. “Miss Ella’s saber will look pretty hanging over the fire.”
Ella held Johnny’s saber
out. Petite and china-doll beautiful, her brandishing a saber or revolver ought to appear outlandish or odd, but her outsized spirit and competent handling of the weapons put the question to rest. “You’ll have to have the honors, seeing I can’t reach that high.”
The saber never was his. It was more like he’d been holding it for safekeeping. “Wy, drag a chair over, so Miss Ella can honor us by gracing our home with her brother’s saber.”
Wyatt obliged, and Ty held the saber and helped Ella stand on the chair. He handed her back the saber.
Ella traced her finger over the raised “JH” adorning the band below the grip. Tears welled in her eyes. “Johnny would have loved the ranch and the mountains and y’all.”
Wyatt touched her elbow. “I think Johnny would be mighty happy for you.”
Ella smiled and, with the utmost care, placed the saber in the cradle of the pine bracket. Then she rested one hand on Ty’s shoulder and one hand on Wyatt’s shoulder. “Yes, I believe Johnny, Momma, Daddy, and Granny Bessie would be pleased I found a wonderful, loving place to call home.”
Ella and Ty had told his brothers and the boys the whole story about the war, his killing Johnny, and Ella’s purpose for answering his advertisement in the Marriage Gazette. Ty was relieved more for Ella’s sake than his own. He got great comfort from talking and reminiscing about Pa and Ma. He wanted the same for Ella, and saw the evidence in her joy when he suggested they find a special place to put Johnny’s saber when they both agreed it couldn’t go back under the bedroom floorboards. She had suggested the fireplace and he had crafted the mount from their Christmas tree.
The warmth flooding his chest had nothing to do with the gently burning blaze of the fire. Clasping Ella’s hand, he helped her off the chair. “Shall we have Seth read now?”
Nobody was more surprised than Ty when Ella asked Seth to read a passage in honor of Johnny and he had agreed.
Seth glanced down at the sheet of paper covered in slanting cursive sentences, then back up at Ella.
Ella gave him an encouraging smile. “Read nice and loud, sweetie.”
Ty didn’t know what had transpired between the pair to bring about this turn of attitude in Seth, but he was glad someone had gotten through to the unhappy boy. Of course, Ella had a special way about her. Watching over a houseful of men and boys wasn’t always easy, but using Southern charm and witty humor to great effect, she was a natural.
Seth blushed. “For everything there is a season” he said with a strong voice, while tracing the words with his finger. “A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to love, and a time to hate. A time for war, and a time for peace. Amen.”
Ella squeezed Ty’s hand. The words washed over him like a refreshing stream. A time to kill, and a time to heal. When he’d learned he’d killed Ella’s brother he couldn’t imagine a way past the pain. A time to love, and a time to hate. Her forgiveness and love were a gift beyond compare.
“You have a beautiful heart, Ella Hunter Haven.” he whispered in her ear.
“You’re a good man, Ty Haven,” she whispered back.
Ox gave her a hopeful look. “Does that bit of scripture say anything about a time to eat?”
Garrett jabbed Ox in the ribs. “We just finished supper.”
“Y’all stop looking so sad and serious,” Ella said, laughing and dabbing her eyes. “Go on and fix yourselves a plate of the berry cobbler Wyatt made up special.”
Ty’s brothers and the boys shuffled off to the dining table.
Ella sighed. “I’m going to weep like a baby when they go.”
The memorial wasn’t the only reason for the glumness. White Wolf, Levi, Ace, and Wyatt would all be leaving tomorrow. He hated the thought of them leaving, especially Wyatt.
Ty wrapped his arms around Ella, drew her back to his chest, and rested his chin on her shoulder. “Be sure to make a big fuss, so my brothers don’t notice me bawling.”
Ella rubbed his arm, then gave him a stern look. “I want to work beside you and the boys in the gardens and the barn and out on the range. I don’t want any fight about it either. I pick up tasks quickly and I’m not afraid of hard work.”
He smiled. “Levi and Ace can’t stop exclaiming over your accuracy with the six-shooter once you got the hang of drawing from a holster.” The difficult part had been convincing Ella to retire her Granny’s Colt Walker for a lighter, more reliable revolver.
She kissed his cheek. “Are you worried about running the ranch without your brothers?”
“No. Pa Malcolm and Ma Viola and two troublesome second-chance boys, who didn’t know a lick about ranching, carved Sweet Creek Ranch from the wilderness. And you and I and the boys will work together, just like Pa and Ma, to save the ranch and rebuild the herd. And we will make Sweet Creek the best run ranch in Wyoming Territory.”
She arched an elegant brow. “You almost sound pleased.”
“Strange as it sounds, I am. Not about the killer winter and the suffering. But it came to pass, and now I will be put to the test. I will learn if I am as worthy a man as Pa Malcolm.”
She leaned back into him. “I must be daft too. Because I feel the same. I’m eager to prove I belong here and I have what it takes to be a capable, strong, ranch wife.”
“Hey, you two lovebirds,” Wyatt said. “Come get some cobbler before these clodhoppers eat your share.”
Ty and Ella laughed, clasped hands, and joined his brothers and the boys around the table. He’d learned the meaning of true love and happiness when Pa and Ma had taken him in. But Ella’s entrance into his life brought a deeper, richer joy and love. One making him want to exclaim from the mountaintops what a blessed, happy man he was.
CHAPTER FORTY
The next day Ella held tight to Ty’s hand as they stood on the porch, wishing she could do more to comfort him as his brothers prepared to leave Sweet Creek Ranch and go their separate ways.
She hoped she wouldn’t cry. But she’d already shed tears, after learning White Wolf had left in the middle of the night. Ty and the others assured her that was White Wolf’s way. He came and went as a ghost. She couldn’t help worrying. There was a sorrow about him she recognized too well.
Fox Bait leaped down from the railing, and, purring loudly, rubbed against Ella’s skirt.
Ty crouched down and stroked the cat’s head. “Hey, don’t go forgetting about me.”
Ella smiled and ruffled Ty’s hair as Fox Bait continued to circle her skirt. “She’s a clever girl. She knows who is more likely to give her an extra bowl of milk.”
Smile bright as the sun overhead, Ty rose and hugged Ella. “I think my cat is as crazy in love with you as I am. That’s what I think.”
Fox Bait leaped back up on the railing, lifted her face, and basked in the warm sunbeams.
Ella ran her hand over Fox Bait’s calico fur. “We understand each other, don’t we girl? We were both left to fend for ourselves, and know how blessed we were to find a safe shelter to call home.”
Garrett, Ox, Billy, and Seth shuffled up the slush-covered path, to wait in line to say their good-byes.
“I’m glad you didn’t leave with Mr. Boone,” Billy said.
Seth gave Billy a friendly punch to the arm. “Don’t get all sappy on me, kid. Suppose it’s better than you crying all the time.”
Billy scrunched his freckled nose. “I didn’t cry all the time.”
“Yes you did,” Garrett, Ox, and Seth said together, each of them tousling Billy’s red hair and smiling, until Billy was grinning ear to ear.
Ella hugged Ty’s arm. “I wish I knew what Boone said to convince Seth to remain at the ranch.”
“I thought that was your doing,” Ty said.
“Seth said they had a long talk.”
Ty chuckled. “Who knew either of them could speak more than two words at a wallop?”
Boone’s behavior was beyond puzzling, but she wanted to believe there was more to him than a deadly reputation. That he wasn’t just another cold-hearted gunslinger. “Boone will find his way.”
Ty kissed the top of her head. “I hope you’re right.”
“Right about what?” Ace asked, strolling out the door, roguish smile gracing his handsome face. “My luck changing? Cause I feel a good streak coming on.” He laced his fingers and cracked his knuckles like snapping a deck of cards together.
Levi joined them, rolling his eyes. “Pray for me. I’ll need strength not to strangle him before we are a hundred miles down the road.”
“You two decide yet where you’re going?” Ty asked.
Ace’s smile soured and he jerked his thumb in Levi’s direction. “Chasing the elephant still. Levi, here, has a hankering to cross the Rio Grande and see if we can convince a Mexican rancher to hire a couple of Wyoming cowpokes.”
Levi rubbed his scarred chin. “We might find us a pair of beautiful senoritas to marry.”
Ace brightened. “We’ll never find girls as pretty as Miss Ella, will we, Ty?”
Ty smiled. “Stop flirting with my wife. I’d hate to send you away with a broke nose.”
Ella gave Ace and Levi each a hug. “Write to us. The boys will love hearing about your adventures.”
Assuring her they would keep in touch, they moved on to say their good-byes to the boys.
Wyatt came strolling around the corner of the house, jumped the porch rail, and, holding out the egg basket, he crowed like a rooster. A lone egg rolled around the red-checked lining. “I struck it rich, Miss Ella.”
She was going to miss Wyatt’s cheerfulness something terrible. “One egg is a start.”
He glanced around wistfully. “Now the days are getting longer, the hens should start laying bushels of eggs. And you won’t have to eat oat mush every morning.”
Texas was too far away. Wyatt wouldn’t be able to make regular visits to Sweet Creek. “I wish you wouldn’t go. We can stretch the food and scrape by. Folks survive on a lot less than we have. Who will make the omelets if you leave?”
The Mail-Order Bride Carries a Gun: A Sweet Historical Western Romance (Brides of Sweet Creek Ranch Book 1) Page 15
