by Sable Hunter
Over the next few minutes, King explained their setup. “I plan on building a bunkhouse where we can congregate, and you’ll have your own kitchen, separate from the one my wife will use.” As he said the words, they became more real to him.
“The little redhead is your wife?” Stinky asked.
“She’s not my wife yet, but she soon will be.”
“I talked to her on the way in. When I told her why I was here, she seemed taken aback. Turned pale as a ghost. I hope I didn’t spoil the surprise.”
“Yea,” he said dryly. “I hope you didn’t too.” King knew he had to go to her, before she jumped to all the wrong conclusions. Considering everything that had happened, all the foolish things he’d said, he wouldn’t blame her for thinking the worst. “Rodriguez, I have to go talk to Fancy. I’m sure we can come to suitable terms.” He turned to Domino and Reno. “Set him up in Gentry’s cabin.” Offering Stinky his hand, King gave him a quick smile. “Welcome, if everything works out, we’ll build you a cabin of your own quick as a wink.”
After that, he didn’t hang around to exchange anymore pleasantries. Mounting his horse, he left Domino and Reno to take care of their guest, heading straight to the cabin at a fast clip. As he rode, he planned on what he’d say, how he would explain things. His eyes roved the countryside, barely aware of the growing chill in the air, the movement of the cattle as they ambled out of the way of his galloping horse.
“I’ve made a mess of things.” King shook his head, admitting to himself that he’d handled his relationship with this wonderful woman in a most haphazard manner. By rights, Fancy should’ve demanded that he treat her with the respect she deserved. Instead, she’d been so generous with her body and her love and he’d…he’d taken and taken without acknowledging the love they shared and the future he wanted with her – more than anything.
“Well, all of that changes now,” he promised himself as he rode up to the house and ground tied his horse. “Fancy!” As he bounded up the steps, he expected her to come out, wiping her hands on her apron, a smile on her angelic face. “Fancy!”
He opened the door and went in, assuming he’d find her in the kitchen.
He didn’t. The kitchen was as empty as the front room. There was nothing cooking on the stove, which was highly unusual for this time of day. “Fancy!” He hurried to the bedrooms, glancing in his first, but it was empty, the bed made, everything in it’s place. Her room was the next place he checked and what he saw there stopped King in his tracks.
Fancy’s shabby little piece of tapestry luggage sat there. He peered into it, but there was nothing packed inside.
And then he saw it – something that robbed him of breath.
The lace handkerchief that he’d given her lay spread out open on the bed, and in the center of it lay a coin. His coin. One of two Richard the Lion-hearted coins his grandfather had given him so long ago. His lucky piece.
What was Fancy doing with it? How did it get here?
He always kept it in his pocket. Had he dropped it this morning while he was dressing?
Why was it here, in her room?
She wouldn’t steal it…
Jamming his hand down into his pocket, King was shocked beyond belief to find his coin right where it was supposed to be.
“How? Why?” King let the facts wash over him. He staggered back as the truth him in the face. “Fancy?” Was it possible? Was she his little Maid Marion?
“Oh, my God!” He fell to his knees, all the pieces falling into place. The little girl’s face came back to haunt him, and he studied it in his mind’s eye. Same hair. Same eyes. Same smile. Same gutsy courage. He smiled, tears coming to his eyes. “Of course, you are. You’ve come back to me.”
Jumping up, he knew he had to find her. She might be thinking all the wrong things – that he didn’t want her, he didn’t love her, that he was planning on sending her away.
Nothing was farther from the truth. He wanted his Fancy to be by his side forever.
Leaving the coin where he found it, King raced to the back and looked in the garden. Finding nothing there, he headed for the barn. When he opened the double doors to peer in, it was obvious something was amiss. A pair of reins lay on the hay in front of one of the stalls. No one on the ranch left tack just lying about. “Fancy!” he called. Moving swiftly, he checked every inch of the building, then went outside to look around more closely.
“Fancy!” Where could she have gone? He let his eyes rove around, every moment expecting to see the sun glint off her glorious hair, but it was like she’d disappeared from the face of the earth.
Unwilling to give up, he kept looking, moving around the barnyard, until he spied wagon tracks in a place where there was no reason for them to be. They never parked the wagon behind the barn. Following the tracks, he could see they led off toward the woods, he could also see two sets of footprints – one large and one Fancy size.
An icy cold blade of fear pierced his heart. Knowing what had happened to the cattle, and their suspicions that there was more to this – King knew. He knew in his heart that this was the work of Jubal Pierce. “Oh, God, baby.” Fancy was in danger and it was all his fault. He should’ve protected her.
Running back for his horse, he jumped on and took off, following the tracks, praying to God that he wouldn’t be too late to save her.
* * *
Fancy didn’t intend to die today. She had too much to live for. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she lay on her side as the wagon she was laying in bumped down a narrow, uneven trail. Her wrists were raw from trying to get them unbound. She wasn’t having any luck; the ropes were tied too tight. And she couldn’t scream, not with the smelly rag stuffed into her mouth.
Still, she refused to give up. Jubal Pierce might kill her, but she wouldn’t die easy. She would fight with her last breath. As she struggled, thoughts of King filled her heart. Fancy held on to the memory of his smile. His laugh. The way she felt when he touched her. She forgave him for all the times he’d hurt her, most of them had been unintentional. If she got out of this, she planned on telling him exactly how she felt, she intended to do her dead-level best to convince him he felt something for her. He had to. How could a man be so loving without feeling any love in his heart?
And if she didn’t make it, at least she’d know that her time on earth wasn’t wasted. She’d loved someone with her whole heart and she’d been good to him. She’d done her best to be good to everyone in her life. Fancy didn’t think she’d done anything for which she should be ashamed. As far as lives go, she’d done her best to live it well.
But – she wasn’t dead, yet – dammit!
Renewing her struggles, she decided her best bet was to get out of the wagon. Staying with Jubal and just waiting to see what he would do to her, would be a mistake. He planned on killing her, cutting her throat. For a second or two, Fancy imagined King finding her lifeless body and how hurt he would be.
No, she couldn’t let that happen.
She gasped when she tried to roll over. The way her arms were tied, the movement was agony on her shoulders. No matter, there was no other way. If she tried to stand, Jubal might notice. So, as the wagon moved on its rough and uneven path, Fancy began to roll to the back and freedom. Finally, she reached the edge and with a quick prayer, she let herself fall over the side.
When her body hit the ground, all the air rushed from her lungs and her chest felt like it was on fire. She had no choice but to lie there a second before she tried to rise. Staring up at the sun, she closed her eyes, giving herself just a moment or two to catch her breath. When she opened her eyes, her heart sank, for Jubal Pierce stood over her.
“Well, you’ve turned into a shitload of trouble.” He reached down to grab her around the neck. “I guess this place is just as good as any.” Reaching behind his back, he pulled a long, sharp knife from a scabbard. To Fancy’s horror, she could see dried blood on the knife, probably from the cattle he’d killed. She shook her head, wiggl
ing and tossing her body from side to side. Fancy refused to make this easy for him. As she fought, her days on the streets of New York came to mind. She could do this, she’d done it before. When he began to lift her from the ground, the knife drawn back to cut her throat, Fancy raised her foot to kick him in the balls.
But…before her foot could make contact, there was a loud blast of gunfire.
Bam!
Fancy watched as Jubal’s face changed from a mask of fury to a look of abject surprise. She also saw a red rose begin to bloom on his shirt as blood poured from a wound. The next second, he swayed and teetered, finally falling backwards to the ground.
Jerking her head around, Fancy saw King running toward her.
“Fancy!”
Joy cascaded over Fancy as relief stole all the energy from her body. But she needed no strength, for the man she loved was there to be strong for her. As quick as he could, he removed the dirty rag from her mouth and untied her hands. “King…”
“I’m here, I’m here.” He slid a hand under her back and drew her close enough to kiss her lips. When he did, she could feel tears on his face. They sat there for long moments, just breathing.
“I was so scared.” Fancy buried her face in his chest and cried.
“Don’t cry, baby.” He rocked her back and forth, her body cradled close to his. “Don’t cry. It’s over. No one’s going to hurt you again.” King gathered her up and set her on his horse. “Let me get you home and Domino will check you out. I’ll send somebody else to fetch Jubal.”
Fancy tried not to look at his dead body. She was still in shock from the attack. “I’m fine. I’m not hurt.”
“We’ll make sure.” King promised her. “I don’t want to take any chances with you. When I saw that bastard standing over you with a knife, I thought I’d die.”
“He was crazy.”
“He sure was, honey.”
“He was the one killing your cattle.”
“I’m not surprised, something happened to him in the war. He wasn’t right.”
As they rode some distance away, Fancy clung to the saddle horn, feeling safe in King’s arms. She gave herself over to the blissful feeling for a few minutes, but the turmoil of the thoughts she’d had while trying to escape kept coming back to her time and time again. She needed to talk to King, she needed to settle this once and for all. Before they returned to the others, before she had to face her replacement.
“King, stop. I need to stand on the ground.”
Thinking she might be feeling sick to her stomach, he reined in his horse and dismounted, raising his arms to help her down. “What’s wrong?”
Fancy folded her arms over her chest. “There’s something I have to say, and I can’t relax until I say it.”
This wasn’t what King expected. “Now, Fancy…”
“Don’t ‘now Fancy’ me. I talked to Stinky.” She lifted her chin to glare at King. “What kind of name is Stinky, anyway?” Without giving him a chance to reply, she forged on. “I know he’s come to take my place.”
“No one can take your place, Fancy.”
“Because I don’t have a place, do I?” She stared at his beloved face. “You may be too hardheaded to realize this, but you need me.”
“I know I do.”
Fancy was so focused, she missed his agreement. “I’m good for you. You might not realize it, but you care for me. If you’ll give me half a chance, I’ll make you happy.”
“You already do.”
Again, she was on such a roll, she couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying, she couldn’t stop until she’d had her say. “I know you’ve been hurt in the past, but I’ll never hurt you. I love you more than anything and I…I belong to you!”
King chuckled, opening his arms. “Yes, you do, Maid Marion. You belong to me. You always have.”
She stood still, not going to him – not yet. “Maid Marion? I don’t understand.”
“I found the coin,” he told her gently. “I know who you are.” He reached into his pocket and held up the matching one.
“You found my coin?” She clenched her hands into fists. “That’s mine! It belongs to me. It’s my most precious possession…other than the handkerchief you gave me.” She began to cry again. “Please, give it back. A very special person gave it to me a long time ago.”
King felt tears in his own eyes. “This isn’t your coin, beautiful. This one belongs to me.”
“What?” Fancy stared at him, still not comprehending.
“I’m Robin Hood, Maid Marion. I gave you that coin long ago, after you saved me from those jerks who were trying to kidnap me for God knows what.” He held out his arms again. “Come here, my love. You’ve made a habit of saving me and now I’m asking you to save me again. Save me from a lifetime of loneliness.”
Fancy went up on her tiptoes. “Do you love me?” She moved a hand over her hair. “Me?”
King chuckled. “More than anything. I love you so much.” He went down on one knee. “I was going to do this tonight, but I can’t wait.” He held out his hand. “Will you marry me, my Fancy? Will you be my wife?”
Fancy felt elation flow through her like a free-flowing river. “Yes, yes, oh please, yes.” She went to him and fell on her knees next to him. “I adore you. I want to be with you and take care of you every day of my life.”
King gathered her up. “We’ll take care of one another.”
“And your friends.”
“Yes.” He placed her on the horse, then joined her. “And Ace.”
“And we can have babies?” She asked hopefully. “I won’t have to use the sponge?”
King felt his heart melt in his chest as he headed the horse toward home. “No, I’ll give you all the babies you want.”
When they arrived, they found the others waiting. “Is something wrong?” Domino asked, running to them. “We heard a gunshot.”
King handed Fancy down to him. “Check her out. It was Jubal, he tried to kill her.” He gestured toward the woods. “Reno, you and Boone drive the wagon down there and collect his body. We’ll need to take him into town tomorrow and explain to the Sheriff what happened.”
“I’m fine.” Fancy tried to tell Domino.
“Let’s be sure,” he said gently as he led her into the house. “Ace, open the door for me.”
King took a moment to confer with the others, telling them all the details he knew. “Our troubles should be over; the cattle killings were his work.”
As Boone and Reno took off to deal with Pierce’s body, Jericho came forward to hug King. “I’m glad you’re safe, brother.”
King hugged him back. This was the first time they’d acknowledged to one another the reality of their relationship. “Me too.” They stepped apart and King wiped his eyes. “She’s going to marry me.”
Jericho smiled. “Excellent. I’m happy for you!”
“I think this calls for a party!” Stinky clapped his hands. “Why don’t I whip us up a celebration dinner?”
“Sounds good to me.” He exhaled a happy breath. “Holler when it’s ready, I’m going to go stay with Fancy and make sure she rests for a while.”
“You do that,” Jericho slapped him on the back, doubting how much rest they’d actually be getting.
* * *
“I told you I was good, just a little bruised.” She sat still while King examined her body closely.
“I wish I could kill the son-of-a-bitch all over again,” he snarled as he saw the bruise on her back.
“Oh, he didn’t do that, I rolled out of the wagon to escape.”
King sighed and pulled her close, pressing her soft, naked body to his. “I may never let you out of my sight again.” He kissed her forehead. “You know, I thought of you often, after leaving you in New York.”
“I thought about you too,” she confessed. “Everyday.”
“I was just a kid. Looking back, I wished I’d insisted that you come home with us. I could’ve told my father what you did t
o help me, he could’ve pulled strings. We could’ve saved you from a life on the streets…from years of abuse.”
“Stop, it doesn’t matter now. We’re together.” She kissed his face, rubbing her nose against his skin.
“It matters, yes it matters. I was just too young to know what to do, I didn’t tell my father what happened that day, I was afraid I’d get in trouble for leaving the hotel grounds.” His heart lurched in his chest. “Knowing what kind of life you’ve led, I just wish I could turn back the clock and protect you from all of that.”
Fancy framed his face. “Everything happened for a reason. We wouldn’t be the same people we are now if things had been different. We’re both products of our experiences.” She kissed him tenderly. “We’re together now, and that’s all that matters.”
“Yes, we’re together.” He wrapped his hand in her hair. “From now on.”
Fancy could feel the tension in his body. He needed her, and she wanted him more than anything. “Love me, King.”
“I do.” He rubbed his forehead to hers. “I love you so much.”
“Love me now, I need you,” she whispered. “I need my Robin Hood.” Fancy began pulling at his clothes and he helped her, their fingers fumbling as they whispered and laughed in their intimate circle of two. For them, the world outside their bedroom walls ceased to exist. This was their time, Fancy had truly come home.
“I can’t believe we found one another. This is truly a miracle.” King breathed the words reverently.
“I know, you’re the answer to every prayer I ever prayed. I’ll never ask for another blessing as long as I live.”
King laughed. “Don’t say that, you’re going to need a lot of help to put up with me and the rest of this wild bunch.”
“Putting up with you, with everyone, will be a pleasure.” She hugged him tight. “I have a place. I belong!” She said the words with wonder, as if she still couldn’t believe them.
“Yes, you do. You belong to me.” He pulled back the covers and joined her in bed. Fancy opened her arms to him and he came to her, covering her, blanketing her body with warmth and desire. With adoration, King’s lips and fingers feathered over her skin, kissing her neck, massaging her breasts, reacquainting himself with the delight thatwas his for the taking.
