by Danni Roan
“Really!” Ruth dropped the slip she was holding as she clasped her hands in delight. “Are you sure?”
Darwin chuckled, feeling shy with Rosa right there between them. “Yes, I’ve put it off far too long, and it would be nice to have a comfortable place to sit in the evening. We can leave the bench on the porch and not carry it in and out if I get us a good chair.”
“Thank you,” Ruth all but squealed leaning in and kissing his cheek. “I’ll see you later.”
Darwin was still chuckling at his little wife as he swung up onto a horse and trotted out of town.
“You like Darwin.” Rosa’s words were a statement not a question but Ruth nodded as she lifted the slip from the dust, giving it a shake.
“I like him very much.” Ruth placed the clothing back into the basket watching as Rosa used a big stick to stir the bedding in the pot. “He’s a good man.”
“Yes I think he is.” Rosa’s words were very soft and Ruth could sense a struggle within the petite woman. “It is good that you came to Needful. Darwin, he was too much alone. He is like a different person now. Happy.”
Ruth’s heart fluttered and she grinned. “Rosa what is it like to be in love?” she asked then gasped as she realized who she was asking.
“It is wonderful.” Rosa turned sad eyes on her friend. “You feel like you are flying and that no matter how high you go if you fall someone will catch you. You want to laugh and cry and dance and sing.”
Ruth reached out a hand placing it gently on Rosa’s arm. “I am so sorry for what you have lost.” The woman who had run away from her family to find a new lease on life could suddenly understand just how painful Rosa’s loss was. Her love for Darwin was new, growing like a tender plant that needed great care, but already she knew how much it would hurt if she didn’t have him anymore.
The sound of horses shuffling into the yard pulled Ruth’s eyes from Rosa’s as the petite woman lifted the last sheet from the pot dropping it into a large tin tub.
“Can I help you?” Ruth asked looking up at three hard looking men in wide-brimmed hats with wide leather straps full of shining bullets across their chests.
Two men exchanged a hushed conversation as Rosa turned around and screamed.
Someone grabbed Ruth by the arms yanking her up onto a horse and crushing her face to a filthy sweat-stained shirt as they charged out of the yard in a thunder of dust and gun shots.
Ruth tried to struggle, catching a glimpse of Rosa thrown over the front of another rider’s mount, but something heavy struck her temple, and the world went black.
Chapter 19
Ruth opened her eyes rubbing her temple as it throbbed in rhythm with her heart. Her mouth was dry and her body felt battered. “Ouch,” Ruth gasped as her fingers connected with a lump on her head.
“Ruth, you are awake.” Rosa’s voice hissed in her ear and she scrabbled to find the other woman’s hands.
“Rosa, where are we?” Ruth blinked into the surrounding darkness. A pale beam of light filtered into the cold space where they sat on something hard.
“It is a cave.” Rosa took Ruth’s hands. “I am so sorry that this happened to you.”
“You’re sorry?” Ruth turned finally able to pick out Rosa’s face in the dim light. “Why would you be sorry?”
“You are awake!” a heavily accented voice called as the light at the far end of their shelter disappeared and a big man stepped inside. “Come, I want to look at you.”
“Who are you?” Ruth barked clinging to Rosa as they rose to their feet.
“I am Rivera Angel Rodriguez,” the man’s words rolled off his tongue with a ring of authority and Ruth felt Rosa stiffen.
“What are you doing?” the little woman snapped stepping forward. “You will take me back, or give us horses and let us go. You have no right to take me like this. If Raul were still alive, he would not allow this.”
“Rosa who is this man?” Ruth asked even as the man grabbed Rosa’s arm pulling her toward the entrance.
“He is my dead husband’s brother, and he is a very bad man,” Rosa said jerking her arm from his grasp and spitting on the ground.
“I do not deny any of this,” Rivera said. “Rosa was married to my brother,” he continued taking her arm once more and pushing Rosa forward. “Do not make me hurt your little friend,” he added making Ruth’s blood run cold.
Ruth pressed up to Rosa taking her hand in hers and walking toward the light. “Don’t worry,” she whispered someone will come for us. Darwin will save us.” Ruth wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince Rosa or herself, but either way the words helped. God please make them come? She pleaded silently.
The light of the sun was blinding as Ruth and Rosa stepped out of the cave. A rough camp sat before them where a group of rugged outlaws sat cleaning guns, drinking coffee or resting while they waited.
“You cook,” Rivera said pushing Rosa toward a fire with a metal grate across it. “My brother he always say you are a very good cook.”
“I’m not cooking for you.” Rosa’s eyes flashed as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You will let me go. You will send us back to Needful and never come back.”
Rivera threw back his head and laughed. He looked unkempt, his black hair too long and a rough beard straggling from his chin, but his eyes were hard when he turned them back to his sister-in-law. “You will do as I say. My brother is gone, and you are my responsibility now.”
“No.” Rosa stood her ground.
“Hey Boss, what about the other one,” a lean greasy haired man pushed himself to his feet his eyes falling hungrily on Ruth.
“I do not care about her. I do not know why you brought her in the first place.”
“She would have gone for help,” another man said. “We had waited until the hostler was gone, and the sheriff was out of town. We did not want her calling for help.”
Another man said something in Spanish rising and taking a step toward Ruth, but Rosa grabbed Ruth’s arm pushing her behind her as she replied in a string of Spanish so fast that Ruth could barely catch a word, but somehow she was sure that Rosa was pulling down the wrath of God upon the outlaws.
Rivera waved the other men away. “You want her to be safe?” he asked his dark eyes glinting with malice, “You, cook.”
Rosa nodded once, her grip on Ruth’s arm slacking. “Promise,” Rosa demanded meeting the man’s eyes.
“I promise,” he said with a laugh turning toward his men and addressing them in Spanish.
“Stay close to me,” Rosa said walking to the fire and lifting the heavy pan. “They will not hurt you as long as I am alive.”
Chapter 20
“Olive have you seen Ruth?” Darwin walked into the Hampton house looking for her. “She and Rosa left the wash pot boiling away in the back yard, and I can’t find them anywhere?”
“They didn’t come back in here,” Olive said peeking into the kitchen trying to catch a glimpse of Rosa.
Darwin rubbed his temple under his sweat stained hat and looked around the dining room as a strange feeling raced up his spine.
“Hello Mr. Rivers,” Arbela, Olive’s daughter-in-law stepped into the room brushing her thick braid of black hair over one shoulder. “Are you looking for Ruth? She’s out back with Rosa.”
“No, she’s not.” Darwin looked around him again as a cold dread filled his belly. “She didn’t say anything about going to the store or anything did she?”
“No, she was staying to help with the wash today, the tall austere beauty replied.
Darwin turned worried gray eyes to Olive as Daliah Gaines walked into the room little Christina on her hip.
“I thought I’d bring her back for her nap,” Daliah said turning to look at the little girl in her arms, light brown curls tinged with gold clinging to her face from her walk through the warm day. “Is something wrong?” she asked looking between those assembled.
“Is Spencer at the jail?” Darwin asked striding for the door.<
br />
“Yes. Why? What’s wrong?” Before Daliah had even finished asking her questions, the man was gone.
***
“Spencer, I can’t find Ruth!” Darwin burst into the tiny jail house almost slamming into the back of a tall man in a dark suit.
“Who are you?” the man turned a haughty sneer in his face as he looked Darwin up and down. “What does Ruth have to do with you?”
“Mr. Warthan, this is what I was trying to tell you. Please sit down and we’ll get his all straightened out.” Spencer Gaines ran his hand though his dark brown hair his in frustration. “Darwin I’d like you to meet Mr. Macon Warthan and his son Gordon, your father- and brother-in-law.”
Darwin blinked at the two men who glared at him through dark hazel eyes. They were so alike lean, blonde and well dressed though the older man’s hair was liberally streaked with silver.
“I demand to know what you have done with my daughter,” Mr. Warthan stepped toward Darwin aggressively.
“That’s why I’m here!” Darwin shouted. “She’s gone. I can’t find her or Rosa anywhere. I rode out to speak with Bear, and when I came back instead of doing wash in the back yard, they were just gone.”
The barrage of angry questions, demands, and insults that filled the room hit Darwin in a wave and his temper flared as he pushed back against the attitude of the two men before him.
A loud crash on the battered desk behind them made all three men jump turning to face Spencer who stood, blue eyes flashing with anger. “I think instead of casting blame at each other,” he gritted between clenched teeth, “perhaps we should all calm down and find out what has happened to two of our women.”
Darwin nodded. “Spence, I don’t know what happened. Ruth wouldn’t go anywhere without telling me, and Rosa’s always close about for Christina.” He pulled his hat from his head in agitation brushing it against his pant leg while he thought.
“If you had never written your ridiculous request for a bride to my daughter in the first place,” Mr. Warthan spoke looking down his long nose with disgust, “she would be safe at home where she belongs.”
“Now just a minute,” Darwin barked anger filling his chest. “I look after…”
“Enough!” Spencer’s voice shattered the tension in the room. “You can all hash that out once we know that Ruth and Rosa are safe. You!” The small-town sheriff waggled his finger in front of the older man, casting a hard glance at the younger Warthan as well. “You calm down and wait while I get things organized. If what I suspect is true, you might want to check the cinches on the horses you rode in on and be ready to ride.”
The two men, near mirror images of each other cast each other a look but nodded.
“Darwin get Dan, he’s at the mercantile looking for new boots. Run man, run.”
Darwin stepped through the door racing toward the general store his heart out pacing his feet as he worried for the woman he loved.
***
Spencer paced the length of the stable yard taking in the hoof prints in the hard packed earth, the scuffs of small heels near the large tripod and pot, and the drag marks between the two.
“Someone grabbed them for sure,” he drawled his keen eyes taking in the scene.
“What do we do?” Dan Gaines grasped his brother by the arm spinning him on the spot. “Where did they go? Who took them?”
“Calm down Dan,” Spencer said meeting his brother’s eyes. “Call the men together, and we’ll track them, but if it’s who I think it is, make sure everyone is well armed.”
Dan Gaines swallowed giving a curt nod before trotting off and calling to the men of Needful to assemble.
“Spence,” Darwin turned toward the sheriff, “Who?” He licked his lips, “who do you think took them?”
“Darwin we’ll get them back,” Spencer placed a hand on the hostlers shoulder. “I promise.”
“Who?” Darwin asked again.
Spencer ran a hand over his face feeling the shimmer of sweat beneath his palm. “I’d say it’s the Rivera gang.” He looked around him gathering the attention of the three men who stood before him. “They took Rosa who is usually in the Hampton House, and the only person I can think who would steal her away is her no-good brother-in-law.”
A cold chill closed around Darwin’s chest at the words, but he nodded heading to his house and reemerging from the front door with a gun belt buckled around his narrow hips. A moment later he dodged into the barn returning with a sleek horse, a shimmering rifle glittering from the scabbard at its side.
“I’m ready,” Darwin’s gray eyes darkened like a sky before a storm as he swung into the saddle and Spencer Gaines watched the usually easy going man shift to something cold and hard even as his brother and five other riders joined them.
“Let’s ride,” Spencer said taking the reins of his leggy gray.
“Spencer?” Daliah’s soft voice shot straight to his heart as his wife looked up at him, her dark eyes full of worry. “What’s happened?”
Spencer swung up on his horse and sidled to the little porch at the back of the Hampton House. “Rivera’s gang has Ruth and Rosa,” he said not holding anything back as his wife sucked in a shocked breath. “Will you tell the others?”
“I will,” she said straightening and shifting the baby on her hip. “Be careful,” she added offering him a strained smile. “We’ll be praying.”
Spencer leaned out of his saddle placing a sweet kiss on his wife’s lips. “Get some of the other men to close up the town in case that bunch comes back,” Spencer’s words were soft, but Daliah nodded even as he swung his horse toward the main street of town leading the Posse south at a hard run.
Chapter 21
Ruth gazed around her at the dirty men reclining by the camp fire drinking coffee and chatting in a language she didn’t understand. She knew she should be terrified, but for some reason the fear had washed away as she helped Rosa prepare a meal.
“Who are these men?” Ruth whispered as she poured a mixture of cornmeal, oil, and water into a sizzling frying pan.
“This is my brother-in-law’s gang,” Rosa said her dark eyes flashing on each member of the group. “He is the reason my husband is dead.”
Ruth could feel the anger, frustration, and sorrow rolling off her friend in waves and cringed at the hard look on Rosa’s lovely face. “I’m sorry,” Ruth offered lamely. “I’m sure Darwin and the other men will come for us though.”
“Hmph,” Rosa said. “I hope they find us,” she agreed, “but I will not be waiting for them. I will make my own way through these, these,” the petite woman looked up glaring at the men lulling about her. “These ‘ratons’!” she spat.
The men looked up all eyes falling on the petite Mexican woman; their bodies stiffening until Rivera threw back his head and laughed, pausing only long enough to toss some unintelligible words toward Rosa.
“What did he say?” Ruth asked moving closer to Rosa. In another setting it would be funny to think of Ruth hiding behind the other woman. Rosa was a good four inches or more shorter than she was, and with her slim figure, she looked like a doll compared to Ruth’s plump curves.
“He said I always had too much fire for his brother and that I needed a real man.”
Ruth gasped turning to shoot a hard look at the outlaw. “Shame on you,” she growled only to have him laugh at her in turn.
“Don’t worry Rosa we’ll get out of here,” Ruth looked around her at the barren landscape, not even sure where she was or which way was home. “God hasn’t abandoned us.”
Rosa sighed, her slim shoulders sagging as if all the air had gone out of her. “I do not know,” she said. “He has left me. Dios Christos has no room in my life. I am all alone.”
Ruth’s heart crumbled at her friends words and she reached for Rosa’s hand. “God will never leave you or forsake you,” she said. “Hold on Rosa you will see. What others mean for evil God can turn into good.”
Rosa nodded as a single tear rolled down
her cheek. “I just want to go home to my Christina,” she sighed. “Home to my daughter and my friends.”
“Nina!” Rivera leapt to his feet glaring at Rosa as he stomped toward her “Nina? What do you mean your daughter? Where is my brother’s child?”
Rosa turned placing her hands on her hips as she looked up into the man’s round face. “You did not know?” she smirked as she met his eyes boldly. “Raul, he did not tell you we had a child?”
“He did not!” Rivera leaned toward Rosa menacingly. “Where is she? How old? I will take her and you as well. You will be my family, and we will go back to Mexico where we belong.”
“I will not,” Rosa leaned in until she was almost nose to nose with her late husband’s brother. “If you had not been what you are your brother would still be alive. You’re family would be here for you.” Rose spread one hand wide encompassing the area. “If you had not decided it was easier to rob, steal, cheat and lie, you would have a family, friends, and a home.”
Rivera snarled a string of words coming out in guttural Spanish and his eyes glinted madly.
“No,” Rosa snarled back. “You do not own me, you will never have Christina and no matter how long you keep me here I will never be yours.”
The slap resounded across the camp and Rosa staggered back her small hand covering the red mark on her face where Rivera had backhanded her. For several seconds the reverberation of the action seemed to echo across the prairie and Ruth froze as Rosa turned tear-filled eyes to Rivera.
“Dios que Dios te ayude,” Rosa whispered, turning back to the fire as the men round her shifted nervously. Ruth wasn’t sure what the other woman had said but she knew that it was serious and she feared the big man would take his wrath out on his tiny sister-in-law.
Rivera glared at the little woman who now stood bent over the fire, her tears hissing into the flames drop by drop, but then he turned laughing and speaking to his men who joined him in the joke.
“Are you alright?” Ruth said her hands shaking as she moved next to Rosa once more.
