Suddenly the bank disappeared beneath her feet and with a quick scream she plummeted into the icy depths of the fast-moving river.
Sterling worried as his horse started to blow hard as white foam flicked off his sides. He might end up having to buy Otto a new horse if he kept pushing this one, but they were almost there. Sterling could feel the impending danger racing along beside him. He looked over and saw a dark figure on a pale horse racing alongside him. Somehow he knew it was the angel of death. This was the race for Aileen’s life and come hell or high water, Sterling wasn’t going to lose. Not today. He kicked the gelding and leaned close over his neck yelling in the horse’s ear. “Just a little more, boy. We’re almost there.”
The horse responded as if he understood and Sterling glanced to his side, realizing he had pulled ahead of death by half a length. He saw the path to the clearing and turned the horse at top speed. They flew down the path, four hooves eating up the ground with death falling further behind. As he broke through the clearing he saw the top of Aileen’s head. Her red hair shining in the sun over the back of her horse. She turned as if she heard him coming and then she was gone with a scream and a splash.
Sterling turned his horse to run parallel with the river. He saw Aileen bob to the surface a few feet further down the river. The current was swiftly carrying her away at the same time the weight of her soaking wet dress was trying to drag her to the bottom.
Sterling kicked his mount again and again and the horse responded with a supernatural burst of speed. They were pulling ahead of Aileen who was struggling to stay afloat.
When they were half a horse length ahead of her, Sterling pulled his right foot out of the stirrup and lifted it up on the saddle so he could pull off his boot. Then he did the same with the left. He tossed the boots over the side of the horse onto the ground, then spun so that he was sitting sideways in the saddle, both feet braced against the right side of the horse. He urged the mount closer to the edge of the bank and then with a mighty push from both feet, launched himself off the horse and in a dive into the icy depths of the river.
He started up toward the surface when he saw Aileen sinking toward him. He grabbed her around the waist, and kicking with his legs, drove them both to the surface. He quickly maneuvered them toward the bank and when his hand hit the bottom of the riverbed he quickly stood, picking Aileen up in his arms. “Sterling! Ye saved me!”
He smiled at her as his teeth chattered from the frigid water soaking his clothes. “That’s right, love.”
She frowned. “I’m so cold. Why am I cold, Sterling?”
“You fell in the river.”
“Oh that’s right, I’m drowning.”
“No love, I’ve got you.”
She shook her head. “Ye can’t have me. Ye’re in Cheyenne. Ye wrote me a letter that said so.”
“I know love, but I came back.”
“I’m cold, Sterling, why am I so cold?”
“You fell in the river, love. Hold on, I see a cabin; I’ll get you warm.”
“Alright, I’m gonna go back to sleep now so I can keep dreaming about ye.”
Sterling shook her. “No Aileen. You have to stay awake.”
“But I’m so tired.”
“I know, love, but that’s because you’re so cold you have to stay awake for me.”
“I’m cold, why am I so cold.”
“You fell in the river, love.”
“Am I dead? I think I’m dead.”
“You’re not dead, love, I saved you.”
“No ye didn’t, ‘cause Ye are in Cheyenne. Ye wrote me a letter telling me so.”
Sterling cursed; she was going into shock. He had to get her out of those wet clothes and get a fire started. He strode up to the ramshackle cabin and kicked the door open. He marched over to a table and chair and sat Aileen down. “Get your dress off, Aileen.”
She shook her head. “No Sterling, we aren’t married. Ye can’t do that yet.”
“Not for that, love. Your clothes are wet and cold and they are making you cold. Get them off so we can hang them before the fire I’m making.”
“Oh, all right. I’ll do that after I take a nap.”
Sterling dumped the load of kindling he found on the hearth in the fireplace and turned to Aileen who was trying to climb up on the table. He pulled her to her feet. “Aileen, there’s a bed over there, see it? Get your wet clothes off and then you can take a nap.”
She smiled at him and nodded. “All right, Sterling.”
She reached for her buttons, her finger shaking. “I can’t make my fingers work. Why can’t I make my fingers work?”
Sterling grabbed a Lucifer out of the tin on the mantle and struck it, setting the kindling ablaze. Then he quickly added several logs and prayed they’d catch as he turned back to see Aileen climbing back up on the table. “What are you doing, love?”
“I’m going back to sleep so I can keep dreaming about ye, Sterling.”
He pulled her back down on her feet and kissed her. “I’m not a dream, love, I’m right here. Let’s get you out of those wet things.”
He reached for her buttons and realized his hands were shaking too hard to work the tiny things too.
He was about to scream when he remembered the folding knife in his pocket. He pulled it out and opened it, then slide it down the front of Aileen’s dress, cutting the threads holding the buttons on the fabric. Then he pulled the dress off of her and let it fall at her feet. Next he spun her around and tried to untie her corset. The strings were tight and knotted, thanks to the water. Again, Sterling cut the strings and flung the wet garment away. He pulled her camisole over her head and then quickly cut the strings on her petticoats, watching them fall away. Next he yanked her unmentionables off and picked her up, carrying her to the bed and placing her on it he pulled the blanket up over her.
He went back to the fireplace and added a couple more logs until the fire was blazing hot. Then he began to tear his clothes off too. He spread all of their things out so the heat could dry them and then he climbed in the bed with Aileen and under the heavy wool blanket, wrapping his arms and legs around her, trying to warm them both up.
Slowly he watched as her lips and fingers went from purple to blue and finally to closer to their normal color. He felt the warmth flowing between them and watched as her breathing became deeper and slower. Then slowly Sterling’s eyes began to droop and before long he too dropped into a deep, restful sleep.
Ten
Edwin McRae stood in front of his cookstove. The skillet popping with bacon grease as he whisked the pancake batter to fluffy perfection. He tipped the bowl to pour the first perfect circle when he was startled by a voice he’d never dreamed he’d hear again.
“Laddie, ye’re the biggest wool headed eejit that ever lived, ain’t ye?”
He straightened the bowl before the batter could drip into the pan and pushed the skillet to a cooler part of the cooktop. As he turned around he was proven correct as the short Scotsman stood just inside the door to the dining room. “Da?”
“Aye, lad tis ole Da. Yer Mam pops in for a visit and it’s all smiles and sunshine. I pop in and tis disbelief and frowns.”
Edwin shook his head. “Mam only came to help me and Millie connect to each other.”
“Aye, and a right fine job of it she did, too. So why are ye so determined to keep me from doing as fine a job, lad? What did I ever do ta ye?”
Edwin frowned. “What are ye talking about, Da?”
“What am I talking about? What am I talking about? Well lad, I’m talking about Aileen, yer older sister. Who is lying in a broken down shack freezing ta death because of ye.”
“What do you mean, because of me?”
“Are ye the only one allowed to marry the mate HISSELF created for ye, lad? Didn’t yer older sister deserve the mate HE created for her?”
“Aye, Da, of course she does.”
“Then why, ye tell me, have ye been acting like the backside of a d
onkey, lad? What was it ye said? Oh wait, I remember. “I’m Edwin McRae, head of the Clan McRae and I forbid it! Aye, that’s what ye said. Oh and ‘As long as ye live under my roof and work fer my company, ye’ll do as I say.’ Aye, that was what ye said. And all because ye’re still jealous that the woman ye love went on a picnic with the man. So jealous, in fact, that ye couldn’t stomach the thought of seeing him across the table at family dinners, or holidays or special occasions. So jealous ye tried to set the bonny lass up with a rotten teethed, muleheaded sheepherder.”
Edwin turned red and opened his mouth to deny it. “Shut yer gob spout, lad. I’m an angel now jest like yer mam. I know what yer thinking. So now because ye couldn’t let well enough alone, yer own big sister who loved ye and cared for ye from the day yer mam gave life ta ye is lying in that isolated cabin on the verge of meeting the death angel hisself. Because ye twisted her up so much she couldn’t choose between the family she helped raise and the man HISSELF made jest for her. So her death, lad, that will be on your hands.”
Edwin turned white. “What are ye talking about, Da? Where is Aileen and why is she dying?”
His da glared at him. “Ye remember that ole fishing cabin of Mister Anders’? The one he let that Dougal and Wade characters stay in?”
“Aye.”
“She be there freezing after falling in the river while trying to get her head and heart ta line up because of ye and yer ‘I forbid it’ nonsense.”
Edwin ripped off his apron and headed for the door. “Where ye going, lad?
“To save her.”
“Why? It ain’t like ye loved her anyway.”
He turned and looked at his da with shock on his face “That’s not true, Da. I love Aileen as much as I love meself.”
“Nay lad, if ye loved her like ye say then ye would have been happy she found the love of her life instead of forbiddin’ her from marrying him.”
Guilt slammed into Edwin, as much as he wanted to deny everything his Da accused him of, he couldn’t. It was jealousy and a desire to punish Sterling McCormick that caused him to forbid Aileen from courting and marrying the Irishman. All because the man had dared to try and court Millie. He headed for the door again when his da spoke up. “Might better take the Reverend with ye, lad. He’s sitting in yer dining room.”
“Why should I take him?”
“In case ye don’t make it in time.”
Edwin cursed under his breath as he pushed into the dining room. “Reverend Theodore. Ye got that fancy buggy with ye this morning?”
“I do, Mister McRae, why do you ask?”
“I need ta borrow it and ye need to come with me. It’s a bit of an emergency.”
The gangly young minister stood and placed his bowler hat on his head. “Then let’s be off. Can you tell me how you know there’s an emergency?”
“Ye wouldn’t believe me if I did, Reverend. Let’s just say I have special knowledge.”
The young man looked at Edwin. “There seems to be a lot of that going around Creede these days.”
“Aye, lad, if ye only knew.”
Sterling woke to the wonderful feeling of Aileen in his arms. He knew he should get up and get dressed. Now that she was warm, what they were doing was obscene and improper. But he didn’t want to get up. Not yet. He wanted to sink into the feel of her in his arms, nothing between them. He needed to get dressed, and wake her and get her dressed, and have Doctor JT check her out just to be on the safe side. He’d come so close to losing her last night. He’d raced death to reach her first and had watch the dark angel stand in the corner until her lips started to return to their normal color.
She obviously wasn’t completely well as she was still asleep going on twelve hours now, he figured. Sterling sat up and was trying to figure out how to get out from under the blanket without waking Aileen when the door crashed open and Edwin McRae stormed in. He took one look at Sterling’s bare chest and his sister’s head and shoulders and roared. “What is the meaning of this?”
Sterling held up his hands “It’s not what it looks like Edwin, I swear.”
Edwin pointed at him. “It looks like ye and my sister are naked in bed together!”
Sterling paused at that. “All right, it is what it looks like but I swear to you nothing happened. Your sister and I came here once for a picnic; not here, but up the river a ways. I came back early and had a feeling she’d be there. We had some things to work out. When I arrived, the bank gave out and dumped her in the icy river. I raced ahead of her and dove in, pulling her out. She was shivering and turning blue and I knew if I didn’t get me and her warm, we’d both die. So I carried her to this shack, built a fire, stripped off our wet clothes to dry them and put us in bed under the covers to warm up.
“Between fighting the river and the warmth we must have fallen asleep. I just woke before you stormed in and as you can see Aileen is still asleep.”
Just then Reverend Theodore walked through the door. “Oh my, that doesn’t look good at all, does it? Mister McRae, I believe Mister McCormick is telling you the truth.”
Edwin nodded his head. “I do too, Reverend, but she’s still ruined, isn’t she. Even if he didn’t touch her. Her reputation is destroyed.”
“That is true. I suggest you wake her and both of you get dressed and then I’ll have no choice but to marry you.”
Sterling shook his head. “I’ll marry her. Planned to anyway, so that’s no problem but obviously she’s in no condition for a wedding right now. Let me take her back to the Circle C and get Doctor JT to come check her out. When he says she’s fit to walk the aisle, I’ll bring her straight to the church for you to marry us.”
Edwin shook his head. “Nay lad. Bring her home to the Hearth and Home. That way her sister can watch over her. I agree, when Doc says she’s fit then ye will marry her. And God help ye if ye don’t make her happy, McCormick.”
“As God is my witness, Edwin that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”
Three days later Aileen stood outside the door of the church at Creede. All her family and friends were inside waiting for her and Edwin to walk down the aisle.
“Ye feeling all right, lass? If not we can wait a few more days, no one will mind.”
Aileen smiled at her little brother. “Aye, I’ll mind and so will Sterling. This is all I’ve wanted, Edwin, since I first saw him at yer wedding. Be happy for me.”
He pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. “Aye lass. I am. Now let’s not keep the bloody wanker waiting.”
She smiled. “Be nice.”
“Aye lass, I will; who knows when Mam and Da might make an appearance.”
She nodded. “Aye, its strange having them meddle in our lives even now after they’ve passed.”
“Aye, it is. Just think, they’ll probably gang up on Isla.”
Aileen laughed. “Aye, probably.”
Then the doors opened and she was walking down the aisle. Edwin glared at Sterling as he placed her hand in Sterling’s and then took a seat. Reverend Theodore took them through their vows and before long he looked at Sterling. “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride, Sterling.”
Her handsome Irish architect smiled down at her. “With pleasure.”
Then his lips met hers and just like every other time everything else disappeared and they were alone in the world.
At the wedding supper people kept asking them what they were doing for their honeymoon. Sterling would smile and say. “Tonight, we’re going to be staying at Gladstone Manor but tomorrow we’re taking a train to Cheyenne. I have a contract to get signed.”
However, there was something in his eyes that told Aileen he wasn’t telling the truth. So as they climbed into the buggy he’d rented for the night she asked, “What are we really doing for our honeymoon?”
He smiled. “Oh, part of what I told everyone was right. We are taking the train to Cheyenne tomorrow. However, I know our friends and family plan to shivaree us tonight, so we won’t b
e at Gladstone Manor.”
“Where will we be?”
“I thought we might visit that little cabin by the water where we first slept naked together. I want some better memories of that place.”
She snuggled close to him. “Aye, that sounds perfect.”
With that they headed off to the seclusion of that little cabin by the riverside where they spent the night reveling in their love for each other.
Epilogue
“What do you mean he’s in jail? I have a contract for him to sign to build a hotel. I have the plans right here.”
The sheriff shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know what to tell you, Mister McCormick. The U.S. Marshals hauled him off yesterday.”
Sterling looked at Aileen and then back at the lawman. “What for?”
“Fraud and theft of government funds. Apparently he claimed to have laid more track for the continental railroad than he really did. All his assets were seized. I don’t think you’re going to be building any hotel for him here in Cheyenne.”
Aileen patted Sterling’s arm. “Thank ye, sheriff, we appreciate the information.”
Sterling let her lead him away. “So now what?”
“Now we go back to our hotel and take advantage of that great big bed and then tomorrow we go home. It wasn’t like you needed the money, Sterling. There’s plenty of work in Creede for you.”
“I know but I wanted to build the best hotel in the West.”
“Maybe someday, love.”
Sterling sighed, “Maybe someday.”
Aileen smiled as she watched her husband out of the corner of her eye. After everything they’d been through to become husband and wife, she couldn’t get enough of looking at her handsome Irish husband. Even though she never said anything, she was positive that anyone who saw her watching him could tell that she absolutely Adored the Architect.
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