Saving the Mail Order Bride

by Linda Broday

  When what was left of the stagecoach finally settled, he slowly moved his legs, then his arms. Nothing felt broken, but the lady passenger lay on one side of him, and he was trapped on the other by the marshal’s weight. He yanked on the manacles, which didn’t give. Pain shot up his arm.

  Dollard’s sightless eyes were open and his mouth hung slack, his thick body half-on and half-off the seat. A piece of wood protruding from his chest said there was no need trying to save him.

  Jack lowered the man’s eyelids with his free hand and turned his attention to the woman’s low moans. “You all right, ma’am?”

  “What happened?” She pulled herself to a sitting position, holding her forehead. Blood trickled from under her hand. Her hat sat askew, the pretty green ribbon under her chin still holding it on, the bird’s nest hanging over one eye. She shoved it back in order to see.

  “An accident. We rolled down an embankment, would be my guess. The marshal is dead.” He tugged at Dollard’s large girth again but couldn’t free himself. The chain was twisted around the man’s arm and pinned beneath his body. “I need your help. Do you think you can?”

  “Can what?” She appeared dazed. Maybe the blow to her head had been harder than he’d thought.

  “Get the key to these manacles from the marshal’s vest so I can free myself.” When she didn’t budge, he tried again. “Please get the key from his vest pocket. I’d do it, but I can’t reach it with my arm trapped.”

  Finally she appeared to slowly comprehend the situation and crawled to the marshal. Though she seemed calmer than he’d expected a fancy lady to be, her hands trembled as she searched. The first pocket had nothing. She tried the other side and pulled out a small brass key.

  “Good. Now give it to me.” He would be loose in a moment. By the time help arrived—which shouldn’t be long, since this was a well-traveled road—he’d be gone.

  But she shook her head. “No, I’ll unlock it. I can do that much.”

  She stuck the key into the lock of the marshal’s manacle and it swung open.

  “Good. Now hand me the key.”

  She stared at him a second through wide eyes. In a swift move, she yanked the chain free from Dollard’s body and, before Jack could utter a word, snapped the cuff on her own wrist.

  Hell and be damned!

  “What are you doing?” He tried to grab the key from her.

  “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you get away. I’m safer with you next to me than those rattlesnakes the marshal mentioned.” Then she did the unthinkable. She drew back her arm and pitched the key out the smashed side of the coach before he could blink.

  So much for this being a plain, ordinary day.

  Two

  The brass key flew out and landed somewhere in the rugged landscape, vanishing among the cactus and patches of sharp-spiked yucca.

  “Hell,” Jack growled and tried to scramble for it, but his handcuff was now attached to her. He fell back against her softness, disappointment and anger choking him. Freedom had been so close! He could have wrung her pretty neck.

  Fury rose faster than floodwater. “Do you know what I could do to you right now, with no one here to stop me?”

  Eyes wide, she swallowed and scooted back as far as the chain allowed, which was only the length of one of her shoes.

  “I can do most anything I take a notion to.” He wrapped his steely words in velvet to soften the impact a tad. “All you did was ensure you can’t run from me. I’ve got you, lady. You heard the marshal say I’m an animal. I can prove it if you’d like.”

  She inhaled sharply. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Try me. What you did was very, very foolish.” Jack hovered over her. She cringed, and realizing his size intimidated her more than he intended, he moved back. Not that she was that scared of him. She appeared ready to clobber the daylights out of him. Lord help him if she got hold of a length of metal.

  She glared, raising that god-awful mulish chin. “I’m not sorry. I just did what was right. A judge will decide your fate.” Then she muttered barely loud enough to hear, “I won’t mess up again.”

  Not about to let her win this round, Jack glowered back and slowly lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t think you fully understand your predicament. Wherever I go, you go. And I’m a whole lot stronger than you.”

  “Is that a threat, mister?”

  “Simply stating fact.” He finally managed to rise from the floor of the coach and yanked on the six-inch chain. “You’re coming with me.”

  The stubborn lady wrapped her free arm around Dollard’s thick leg and leaned back, wedging her feet against the doorframe. “I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you.”

  Hell and be damned!

  Jack jerked his black hat from the space between him and the floor and reached for Dollard’s gun, sticking it in his waistband. Then he pulled off the marshal’s boots and threw them out. They could come in handy later. He saw nothing else that might be of use.

  “You’re going to find that key if it’s the last thing you ever do.” He bodily lifted her up and over the dead lawman. At the last second, he removed the U.S. marshal’s badge off Dollard’s chest and pinned it on his shirt. Jack ripped aside the splintered wood and mangled metal of the broken coach. When one piece wouldn’t budge, he picked her up a second time and lifted her over it.

  The north wind had a bite to it, and he was glad for his heavy duster. Winter still hung on, even though the calendar said early spring had arrived. The stiff breeze caught her hat and sent it sailing away across the jagged terrain.

  “My hat! It cost me five dollars.” She forgot about the chain that held her rooted as she tried to race after the piece of millinery only to be brought up short. She gave a loud huff and kicked a clump of dead grass, muttering to herself.

  “See what I mean? I think you’re getting it now,” Jack said grimly.

  “You don’t have to gloat.”

  No, but it was nice to finally have her see the gravity of what she’d done.

  “It’s only a hat. That’s the least of your problems, lady. By the way, do you have a name?”

  “Lenora—and that’s all.”

  “Fine, Lenora That’s-All. Now get busy scouring the ground.”

  She chewed her bottom lip. “The key has to be close. I’m such a poor thrower. I really am. I have a weak arm, you see.”

  All the evidence pointed to the contrary. So far, he saw no brass glimmer. “Keep looking.” Jack listened intently for sounds of life above the high embankment. The driver had to be dead or he’d be making noise. It would be hard for a man riding up high like that to survive with nothing around him for protection. Jack thought he heard a horse snuffling, but it had to be the wind. The horses were probably dead along with the driver…or else had run off.

  After looking for what seemed like an eternity and finding nothing, he gave up and turned to her. “Enough. We’re going to climb to the top and see if any of the horses are alive so we can get out of here.”

  Lenora glanced up. “That’s very steep, and we have nothing to hold on to.”

  The young lady had a point, but that wouldn’t stop him. He grabbed her hand and tackled the incline only to slide back down. He tried again. Still no luck.

  “Let’s go back and try to find the key,” Lenora suggested. “With you free of me, you could probably make it.”

  He grunted and turned back to the brush, praying to spy the small piece of brass. Then…hoofbeats pounded above. A lot of them and shouts. More lawmen? Probably. He wasn’t going to lose this chance at freedom no matter how difficult his escape had become. He yanked the chain between them. “We’ve got to go.”

  “Where?”

  “Away from here.”

  “I can’t. Not without my bags. Everything I own is in them.”

  “Sorry, ma’am.�
�� The hoofbeats and snorts got louder, and men were yelling curses.

  Lenora opened wide to let out a bloodcurdling scream. Jack quickly clapped his hand over her mouth, silencing the alarm before she could do more than squeak. He held her in a tight grip and pulled her along, cursing Lenora’s high principles.

  Jack let out a disgusted swoosh of air and glanced around to get his bearings. He figured they were a good distance from Hope’s Crossing. It’d take a while on foot, but hopefully they could get there inside a week. If he didn’t get caught again. And if righteous Miss Lenora didn’t do something else to mess up his plans even worse.

  “I’m going to remove my hand. Don’t scream. Got it?”

  At her nod, he released her. She tried to pull away only to be held fast by the chain.

  Jack picked up Dollard’s boots and took her hand. They only made it a few hundred yards when he stopped in a draw, out of sight from anyone above.

  He glanced at his companion and rolled his eyes. She was already struggling.

  “Can you pick up the pace?”

  Flames flashed from her eyes. “I’d like to see you walk in narrow shoes with a wobbly heel.”

  “Give me your foot.”

  Lenora eyed him suspiciously. “Why?”

  “Let me see your foot. It’s a simple request.”

  “Well, forevermore. I don’t understand you. First, you’re far too familiar in the coach. And now you want me to just lift my foot.” She narrowed her gaze. “Why?”

  “I won’t hurt you.” Jack glanced at the sky, the need to hurry screaming inside him.

  Although she got all huffy, she lifted her left foot. Jack anchored it against his leg, unlaced her high-topped shoe, pulled it off, and threw it into some thorny brambles.

  She gasped and gave a sharp cry. “You…you…shoe stealer!”

  “The other one, please.”

  “No.” One shoe might not do her much good, but she was keeping it.

  “For God’s sake, you can’t walk on it anyway and we need to move faster.”

  “Well, I guess you might as well, since I can’t very well hobble on one.” She raised her right foot and he did the same thing.

  Jack reached for Dollard’s boots, which seemed small for a man’s. “Now give me one of your petticoats.”

  “I most certainly will not.”

  “How else do you propose to make these boots fit?”

  “You’re not making me wear those.” Lenora put her hands on her hips. “Look, you took my shoes and made me leave everything I owned in this world behind. Are you going to undress me as well?”

  Jack took in her flushed face, wild hair, and heaving breasts and didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone so enticing. Or mad. “One petticoat, and it’s for your own comfort.”

  “You only get one.”

  “I believe that’s all I asked for. You’ll still have oodles.” Or at least the dress certainly gave that appearance.

  “Don’t look.” With a good bit of maneuvering and tugging, she got one off.

  As he listened for sounds of riders, he tore the voluminous petticoat into strips, wrapped them around each foot, and slid the boots on her. “How does that feel?”

  “Not too bad.”

  He handed back what was left of the petticoat, which was only from the waist to her thigh. “Put this back on. We may need it.”

  She gave him a scathing look, snatched what remained of the garment, and wiggled into it, muttering, “Here’s a notion. Why don’t you wear the darn thing?”

  “I’m sorry for my high-handed ways, Lenora. I don’t mean to be, but I’ve been far too long from a woman’s parlor.” Jack scrubbed the back of his neck, needing to voice the apology he knew she had coming. “I shouldn’t have threatened you back there. My mother would’ve tanned my hide. She drilled into me to act like a gentleman, but in my surprise and frustration, I’m afraid I forgot those lessons. I won’t do it again.”

  Lenora’s eyes softened. “You’re forgiven. I probably would’ve reacted the same way in your situation.”

  “Thanks. Are you ready to go?” Unless something else went wrong. Jack wasn’t placing any bets—given how his day was going, he was sure to lose.

  “I simply have to go back. My things—”

  “Look, if you hadn’t thrown the key away, I’d be free and far from here and you’d be back there with your cases and that precious, god-awful hat. You have only yourself to blame for the situation.”

  “Believe me, if I could undo things, I would.” She gave the chain an angry yank.

  “Best to save your strength. No talking.” Jack’s leg was killing him, and his limp became more pronounced the longer they walked, but he could do nothing about that except push through the misery.

  He imagined it would take a little bit for whoever had ridden up on the wreck to figure out what had happened—or even that Dollard was a marshal. So they were pretty safe for a while. Unless the rider had known Dollard, and that Dollard had made an arrest that day. Always that possibility.

  The afternoon sun had sunk much lower in the sky, with darkness about an hour or so away. He needed to get farther from the wreck before stopping for the night. He glanced at his partner. She looked far from the elegant woman from earlier. Tendrils of blond hair had fallen from her upswept arrangement, straggling around her face and down her back. Still, she was keeping up, even if anger fueled her spunk. He grinned, recalling how she’d stood up to him, hands on her hips, fire flashing from her eyes. He hoped Miss Kane had half of Lenora’s grit.

  A knot formed in his stomach. Maybe sending for a bride had been a mistake if he could be attracted to someone else so quickly. He’d never thought he had a roving eye, but she made it difficult not to stare.

  The whole idea had probably been a bad one from the beginning. He’d only exchanged a few letters with his bride-to-be and still hadn’t told her that he was a wanted man. Keeping secrets never boded well. He’d figured he’d come clean about everything once she arrived. He did better face-to-face. Only now, circumstances were conspiring against him.

  Jack pulled the marshal’s Colt from his waist, flipped open the cylinder, and let out a yell. Of all the low-down, dirty tricks!

  Empty.

  “What’s wrong?” Lenora stumbled over a rock, and he grabbed her arm, hauling her upright.

  Hell! You’d think a marshal would keep his gun in firing order. Jack kicked himself. If he’d only known, Dollard wouldn’t have gotten the manacle on him or gotten Jack anywhere near that stagecoach.

  “Bad news, Lenora. There’re no cartridges. We have no way of defending ourselves.”

  “You mean we can’t shoot a wild animal if it’s attacking us?”

  “Animal or a man either. We won’t be able to hunt for food. Period.”

  “Oh dear.” Then she brightened. “Maybe we’ll reach a town soon.”

  “Five days—if we’re lucky.” A lot longer if anything else happened. At the rate they were going, they’d do well to make it to Hope’s Crossing in six months. He gave her a smile, determined to put a happy face on the situation. “We’ll survive. There are lots of things to eat out here.”

  Worry filled her eyes, then she tried for a faint smile, mirroring his. “I really need to lose a few pounds.”

  “Don’t look at it that way. I won’t let you starve.” His throat was parched and he knew hers was probably the same. “There’s a little creek up ahead, if it hasn’t dried up. Think you can make it?”

  “I’ll match you step for step.”

  “This isn’t a competition. We can rest if you need to.”

  “I’m just dandy. If I’m going to die, I want to get it over with.”

  Okay then. They walked in silence as the sun set and twilight descended, folding like a blanket around them. Up a slight hill, down the op
posite side, putting one foot in front of the other. Onward they trod.

  At last the creek came into view. They rushed forward, dropped on their bellies, and drank.

  Once they’d satisfied their thirst, Jack helped her up and glanced around. This was as good a place as any to camp for the night, but not right at the water, where they’d be easily found. On the left was a stand of mesquite. The darkness in there might hide them.

  “Let’s find a spot where we can sleep.” He pushed back a mesquite limb and caught his hand on a thorn. He sucked away the blood, ignoring the sting.

  Lenora dug in her heels. “I’m not going in there with rattlesnakes. Or scorpions.”

  “Lady, you’re trying my patience. We can’t stay out here in plain sight.”

  “You mean you can’t. I’m not wanted.” She muttered low, “In Texas.”

  A strange comment. Just who was Lenora?

  He rattled the chain, holding it up. “We’re together, in case you’ve forgotten.” Possibly a matched set if his gut was right. Miss Lenora That’s-All had secrets.

  An unholy fear widened her eyes. “Those trees will rip us to shreds. They all seem to have sharp thorns on them. And who knows what wild animals—snakes—are living in there?”

  Maybe he was being repaid for trying to get under her skin.

  After all, he was as good as married, even if he hadn’t laid eyes on his future wife yet. He was promised to Miss Kane at the very least. Yet here he was feeling interest he shouldn’t for Lenora.

  He needed to remember that he wasn’t free to act like a single man any longer.

  “I can’t possibly go in there.”

  Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to ten before he answered. “Ma’am, what else do you suggest? I see no hotels.”

  “There’s a hill just ahead. Let’s look on the other side. It couldn’t hurt.”

  “Fine,” Jack growled.

  Fit to be tied, he set off, his limp much worse. He had to rest his leg soon, or he’d be crawling. In no time, they topped the rise and discovered a small clearing that was shielded from the wind. The hill would also block them from view, and they could have a small fire.