by Barbara Goss
“So do I,” Joanna said.
The puppy began to yelp. He’d wound himself so tightly around the leg of the bench, he couldn’t move.
“Our puppy seems to have himself tangled.” Jared stooped to free him. “So, what do you think of him? Can you help me name him?”
“Why did you get him…I mean, for what reason?”
“I threw away the bear trap and won’t ever use anything like that again after what happened to you. I need something to keep the bear away.”
“So, he’s a watchdog? I think he needs a scary name if he's going to be a watchdog.”
“How about Killer?”
“A bit much,” Joanna laughed. “How about calling him…Bear?”
“Bear, it is. I like it.”
Having untangled Bear, he held him out to Joanna. “Here. He needs to get to know his mistress.”
Joanna smiled and cuddled Bear. “He’s going to grow up to be gentle but fierce when it comes to bears or other predators.”
They stood and walked back into the house to share their news with Ross and Amelia. As Jared walked a bit behind Joanna, he cringed when he saw her limp. He'd caused that. He felt so much guilt at the thought—would she always limp like that?
“How’s the foot, Joanna?”
“Oh, it's much better. It only hurts when I walk.”
“What did the doctor say?”
“He said it’s healing nicely.”
“Will you always have a limp?”
“Do I limp?”
“A bit.”
“He didn’t say, but I’ll ask him.”
Once inside, they were greeted by Amelia and Ross. This time, they brought Bear in with them. “Meet Bear,” Jared said.
“I was going to suggest naming him Shep,” Amelia said.
“We decided he needed a more aggressive name.”
“I think Bear fits him perfectly, then,” Amelia added.
Jared put his arm around Joanna’s waist. “We’re getting married as soon as possible.”
Ross smiled and clapped Jared on the back. “We’d prayed for it, but we're surprised to have our prayers answered so soon.”
“Congratulations! We’re both so happy. Now I’ll have my best friend as my sister-in-law.”
Joanna’s smile faltered. “You'd better explain, Jared.”
Jared told them about McKenna’s threat.
“You’re right,” Ross exclaimed, “it’s the only way to stop the rumors as well as McKenna’s plans. He’s capable of almost anything. And you two like each other enough, right?”
Jared kissed Joanna’s forehead. “Yes, we do.
“I’m off to see my father and fill him in on the news. Then I’ll take Bear home and prepare things for my wife.”
Jared started to feel uncertain as he rode to his father’s. Were they doing the right thing? He thought he loved Joanna but was it love or guilt? He had nothing to offer a wife but a one-room cabin. He’d have to use the money in the bank to buy a business if he was to support a wife. The thoughts put him into a dismal mood because he’d have to leave his paradise.
The hired stable boy came out and took Jared’s horse. “Thank you, Freddie. Is my father in?”
“Yes, sir,” he replied.
Jared walked to the front door. He knocked, as usual, and walked in. Jared crossed the large foyer and went into the sitting room where his father usually sat reading. He froze in the doorway when he saw his father had company.
His father stood. “I’m sure you know Miss Rebecca Johnson.”
“I’ve made her acquaintance,” Jared said, entering the room. He nodded at Rebecca and sat in a chair beside his father.
“Rebecca lost the baby,” Joseph Steele said.
Rebecca wiped her cheeks, but Jared didn’t see any tears. “I’m sorry you lost it, but it wasn’t mine.”
“Please, Jared,” she said in a weepy voice, “you know it was.”
“I’ve never been intimate with you beyond a single kiss goodnight, and you know it.”
Joseph leaned back in his chair, seemingly amused by the conversation around him.
Rebecca sighed. “So then, we should look for a star in the east?”
“No,” Jared replied. “That only works for a virgin.”
Rebecca stood. “How dare you?”
Joseph stood between them. “Hold on.” He looked at Rebecca. “Is it possible you may be mistaken?”
“No, we did the deed right here in this house.”
Joseph looked at Jared with raised eyebrows.
“I never brought her here.”
“You did. Your father was asleep, and you took me to your room.”
Jared stood. “All right—take me to the room.”
Rebecca looked frantically between the two men. “I can’t. It was dark. I don’t recall where I was dragged.”
“Dragged?” Jared laughed loudly.
“Can you recall if Jared took you up a flight of stairs or not?” Joseph asked.
“I think he did.”
“Well, my room is on the first floor,” Jared said.
“Maybe it wasn’t your room but a guest room, then.”
Jared shook his head. “You’re grasping at straws.”
Rebecca gave him a contemptuous look. “I’m glad I lost your baby—if it would have turned out anything like you, that is.”
“So, what do you want here, with my father? Money for your loss?” Jared asked.
“No, I just came to tell him about his lost grandchild.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” Jared said to her. He turned to his father. “I’ll come back tomorrow to tell you my news.”
“You have news?” Joseph asked.
Jared thought it might be a better time to tell part of his news, just to see the look on Rebecca’s face. “I’m getting married this week,” he said.
Joseph’s eyes widened. “I hope it’s that lovely Joanna I met.”
“It is. I’m getting the license tomorrow. We aren’t going to wait. It’s lonely enough out there in the woods.”
“Congratulations! I’m thrilled with the news.”
Jared glanced at Rebecca. Rather than anger, he saw that she was deep in thought. “Congratulations,” Rebecca finally replied. “Should we count on the calendar from the wedding date to the child’s birth?”
“That statement requires no comment,” Jared said as he turned to leave the room. “I have more news, but it can wait. I’ll stop by tomorrow.”
Jared untied Bear from the hitching post and Freddie brought his horse out. He mounted, and Freddie handed him Bear.
When he reached his cabin, he allowed Bear to do his business, and then he took him into his cabin. “This is your new home, Bear—yours, mine, and your new mistress, Joanna’s.” Bear sniffed around and decided to lay down on the rug by the hearth.
“I’ll start a fire so you’ll be nice and warm, Bear.”
He undressed and got into bed after he built a fire. He’d almost fallen asleep when he felt Bear join him. Jared stroked Bear's soft fur as he lay beside him. “All right. You can sleep here, but only until Joanna comes.”
In the morning, he returned to his father’s and found him eating breakfast. “Coffee, son?”
“Sure.” Jared watched his father pour him coffee in his special cup. “You knew I was coming?”
“I kind of figured you’d be by early. I know you have other news besides the marriage. Tell me.”
“You probably know by now that McKenna's running against you for mayor.”
Joseph laughed. “He’ll throw me more votes than he’ll take. Everyone knows he’s a drunk.”
“He’s blackmailing Joanna. He saw her visit me one day at the cabin. We left the door open and had tea, but he said that with my reputation in town, no one would believe it, so Joanna and I decided to marry, which should see the gossip blow up in McKenna’s face.”
“That’s a good idea if you're both in love with each other.”
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br /> “I’m fond of her, and I think she feels the same. If not, she will—I’m sure of it. She agreed readily enough. I have a strong urge to protect her and felt moved to suggest marriage.”
“You needn’t do it for me—I can handle McKenna and his rumors. And if I lose, I lose. I can retire. Don’t marry just for me or for the wrong reasons.”
“I really don’t want her name dragged through the mud by McKenna either.”
Jared took a good look at his father. He hadn’t seen him in a while except for in the dim light the night before. He’d always seemed so ageless to him, but now he could see the wrinkles and progressively graying hair. He was sixty-two but robust in built and stamina.
“How are you feeling, Father? You look tired.”
“I didn’t sleep well. My visitor upset me some. Would you believe that she came onto me?”
“What?”
“At least, I think she did. She gave me a hug goodbye, looked at me strangely, and asked if she could return for a visit.
“I was stunned. I said that she could, but now that I’ve sat up all night thinking about it, I think she’s going after the last eligible Steele. She missed getting Ross, missed getting you, and now she’s after me.”
Jared shook his head. “I don’t believe her audacity.”
“Do I believe she carried your baby? No, I don’t. I know you better than that, and I know you live by the Bible. Now, I know her character, and if she returns, I’ll find a way to let her know I’m onto her. That woman is determined to marry money.”
“I’m going to pray for her. She’ll never be happy if she thinks money is the key to happiness.”
“I’m glad you found it, then. What about all the money I’ve put in your bank account? Will you buy a business now, so you can support your new wife?”
“I don’t know. I don’t suppose I can support a wife as a trapper. I suppose I’ll have to buy into a business and build a house.”
McKenna paced the floor. “Did Steele say when he was marrying Joanna?”
“This week,” Rebecca said.
“I’ve got to get to her before they marry.”
Rebecca looked up from filing her long nails. “And do what?”
“Marry her first.”
“I don’t think Papa Steele is going to fall for my play for him. He’s a smart old weasel. I still have to try, though.”
“In that case, we’ll both need some luck.”
Jared rode from his father’s house to the town hall to purchase a marriage license. Then, he visited the church to speak with Reverend Mueller about the ceremony before rushing over to Ross’s house to tell Joanna his news.
Amelia greeted him when he arrived.
“I need to speak to Joanna,” he said breathlessly.
“She isn’t here. She went to the church with a pile of clothes.”
“I just came from the church and I didn’t see her. Was she walking?”
“Yes.”
Jared began to panic. “I thought she was going to deliver the clothes on Sundays. I’m going back to the church. Maybe I just missed her.”
He rode to the church and back three times but could find no trace of Joanna.
Chapter Twelve
As Joanna walked up the path to the church, a buggy rolled by and stopped beside her. She saw McKenna driving it. “Need a ride?” he asked.
“No, thank you. I’m nearly there.”
“Come closer. I want to show you something,” he said.
Instead, Joanna walked faster. She could hear him getting down from the buggy, so she began to run. Just as she reached the church's rear door, he grabbed her from behind.
“Let me go,” she yelled.
“Not on your life! You’re mine, and you’ll marry me and not Steele.”
Joanna opened her mouth to scream, but McKenna clapped his hand over her mouth, dragged her to his buggy, and threw her in the back where a woman was sitting. The woman took over, holding Joanna’s mouth while McKenna tied her hands behind her back.
Who was this pretty woman who wore expensive perfume? Her hand over Joanna's mouth was soft, like a hand that never did any work. If McKenna had a woman like that as a partner, why did he need her?’
After a bumpy ride, her nostrils filled with a horrid smell—a pig farm! He was taking her to his home.
He stopped the buggy, took her from the lady with the soft hands, carried her into his house, put her in a room that looked like a spare bedroom, and closed the door.
“You'll wait here until I get a license for us to marry.”
“You can’t get one,” Joanna said.
“And why can’t I?”
“Jared's already purchased us one, and you can’t both marry the same person.” She knew Jared had planned on it, but not that he’d purchased it yet. She hoped McKenna wouldn’t stop to check.
McKenna cursed. “I’ll have to get one in another town: Russell or Selena.”
He left, and she heard the door lock behind him.
She felt like a tree that had been hit by lightning. All of her high hopes had burned in a matter of minutes. Joanna sat down on the bed and cried, but she sat up when she heard banging at the front door of the house and Jared yelling for McKenna to open the door.
She twisted her hands in the ropes that tied them. They were too tight to remove.
“Open up McKenna! I know Joanna’s in there. Let me in, or I’ll bring the sheriff here and break down the door.” There was a long pause. “Have it your way. The sheriff will be coming next.”
Joanna heard Jared ride away. Now, what would McKenna do?
She tried the window, but it was locked. She looked around for something to break the glass with, but there was nothing in the room besides a bed and a dresser. Again, she wondered who the woman with McKenna had been.
Jared went to the sheriff’s office and demanded he break into McKenna’s home.
“I can’t do that without due cause, Jared. Do you know he has her for sure?”
“He took her, I know he did. He threatened to take her and now she’s vanished. I rode to his place, and he refuses to open the door though I saw his buggy outside. Why would he have his buggy hitched up? He always goes to town on his horse. He took her.”
“Did anyone see her being taken?”
“I don’t think so.”
“I’ll go out there with you and try to get him to open the door, but without proof, I can’t just break in.”
The sheriff pounded on McKenna’s door. “Open up, McKenna. It’s Sheriff Harding.”
The door opened a crack and a woman peeked out. “He isn’t here, Sheriff.”
“We need to search the house. Do I have your permission?”
“No. I’m just visiting here, and I haven’t the authority to let you search the man’s home.”
Jared should have known Rebecca would be in on this. It dawned on him that she'd warned McKenna about his plan to marry Joanna. He never should have told his father the night before. It was all his fault.
“When will he be back?” Sheriff Harding asked.
“I don’t know. He went out of town.”
The sheriff turned to Jared and shrugged. “There nothing more I can do.”
“She’s in there. He’s going to another town to get a marriage license.”
“I can’t break into a home without knowing for sure if there’s been a crime committed.”
Jared’s shoulders drooped in defeat. He rode home wondering how he’d get Joanna back from McKenna. Why had he opened his big mouth at his father’s house the night before?
He returned to his father’s home and found him reading in the sitting room.
“McKenna's taken Joanna by force and he has her in his home. The sheriff says that without a witness to his kidnapping her, we have no proof, and without due cause he can’t break in.”
“Dagnabbit!” Joseph exclaimed. “The she-witch warned him.”
“I never should've revealed my plans.”
“I’m going to do something very unchristian, so don’t follow my example—I’m that sure Joanna’s in there,” his father said.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to tell the sheriff I saw McKenna push Joanna into his carriage. I did see it—in my mind.”
“Knowing you’re my father, I doubt he’ll believe you.”
“Do you want your bride back?”
“I don’t want you to lie. Can’t you just make the sheriff break in?”
“I could have Freddie say he saw the whole thing.”
“No. I want Joanna back—God knows I do—but if we do something dishonest, I feel that God would no longer be on our side.”
Joseph Steele sighed. “You’re right, of course. Let me try leaning on Harding.”
Rebecca opened the door to the guest room, and Joanna sat up and waited for what would come next.
“I have to move you.” Rebecca grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her into the kitchen where Joanna noticed a trapdoor in the floor. A throw rug lay nearby and she knew it was to hide the trapdoor. Rebecca pushed Joanna's shoulder and she landed on a dirt floor. The trapdoor overhead slammed shut. It was dark, cold and creepy at the bottom of the hole.
Joanna walked backwards and felt around with her hands which were still tied behind her. Since there wasn’t a place to sit, she might as well explore. Why would someone have a room below the kitchen? Could it be a root cellar? She continued to feel around and located something. Yes, she was sure there were canning jars and fresh vegetables on the shelves. At least she wouldn’t starve down there. It was terribly cold, though. She felt around some more with her foot, looking for something that might help her escape.
The sheriff, Jared, and Joseph all stormed McKenna’s house. They broke the door down to find a somewhat calm Rebecca sitting in a chair, filing her nails.
The sheriff explained the mission while Jared and Joseph ran through the house, searching for Joanna. When they didn’t find her, they looked at each other wearing similar looks of defeat.
