His Prairie Princess (Prairie Brides 1) (13 page)

* * *

Sadie sat up in bed and let Doc examine her.  The ride back to town had been slow.  Harrison had carried her out of the cave to find Jack on his knees, hands over his head and several guns pointed at him.  Both he and Sam were handcuffed and forced to walk all the way back to town. Their cuffed hands tethered with a length of rope to the saddle horns of their horses.  The animals led by two men from the posse.  

Sadie rode with Harrison and sat astride his huge black horse, her dress wrapped about her legs, her body leaned against Harrison’s broad chest.  She slept part of the way, once they reached the prairie, and awoke with a slight start as she suddenly realized something.  “How did you find me?”  They were the first words she’d spoken since Harrison found her in the mining cave.

He sat up straighter and wrapped his other arm around her.  “I followed your trail, love.”

“My trail?  You are an excellent tracker then.”

“Not really, the trail you left was quite good once we found it, it led us right to you.  Very clever, princess.”

“Clever?”

“Using the mail, like that.”

“Th
e
mai
l
?”

Harrison stiffened slightly behind her.  “You did use the mail to allow us to find you?”

“I wanted to, but I never got the chance!”

“Well, there was a trail of it all the same. In fact, if it hadn’t been there, we may not have found you for hours.”

Then she remembered.  When Sam threatened to kill her and his knife caught on something as he pulled it from his boot.  It must have been the mailbag and he’d accidentally torn it.  The mail was falling out through the tearone letter at a time and they hadn’t even realized what was happening.  The good Lor
d
ha
d
been watching over her!  She sent up prayers of silent thanks for the remainder of the journey back to town.

“Nothing broken, just a few bumps and bruises.” Doc announced. 

Harrison stood at the end of the bed.  “Thank the Lord for that!”

“You go on down to the kitchen
, let her rest.  Grandma’s got something on the stove.” Doc ordered as he tried to wave Harrison toward the door.

Suddenly there was a commotion downstairs.

“Here now!” They heard Grandma exclaim.  “You can’t just barge in here!  Who do you think you are?”

Someone came stomping up the stairs.  Sadie’s eyes grew wide.  Only one
person she knew would storm into a house and take over.

Horatio Jones burst into the bedroom in a huff.  “Sadie!  There you are!  What’s going on?  Why are you in bed?  Get your things together at once!”

Doc stood in openmouthed shock at the display.  Harrison, on the other hand, stood with his eyes narrowed to two dark slits.  Sadie looked from her father, to Harrison, then to Doc.  She swallowed hard.  “Hello papa.”

“Don’t you hello papa me, young lady!  You’ve got a lot of explaining to do!”

“And she’ll have plenty of opportunity to explain everything, Mr. Jones.  After she’s rested.”

Harrison stood his ground.  Sadie could see it in the way he had his shoulders squared, his jaw set.

Her father also noted the stance.  “Who are you?”

“Her betrothed.”

“Her
,
wha
t
?”

“Her betrothed.” Harrison repeated and glanced quickly in her direction.  She’d not spoken an answer to him.  Only a kiss.  But it
had been answer enough.  “Sadie has been through a horrible ordeal and needs time to recover properly. I would appreciate your cooperation and continue this discussion down stairs.”

Her father looked Harrison up and down a brief moment.  “Where in blazes are you from?  No one around here talks like that!  Oh gad! “Don’t tell me you’re one of those fancy fellas!  No daughter of mine is gonna tie the knot with some dandy!”

He looked to Sadie, his eyes suddenly wide with horror. “You don’
t
hav
e
to be marrying him do you?”

Sadie laughed. “No papa!  But
I
want
to marry him!”

Horatio Jones looked Harrison over a second time.  “Wh
o
ar
e
you?”

“Harrison Nathaniel Cooke, at your service.”  He told him and bowed.

“Oh gads!  Yo
u
ar
e
a dandy!  You may not be wearing fancy clothes, but you’re a dandy just the same!”  He quickly turned on Sadie.  “The only fancy dude around for hundreds of miles and you find em! I bet he can’t even shoot!”

“Oh he can shoot all right!” Doc suddenly piped up.  “Harrison and his two brothers are some of the best shots in this part of the territory!” 

“Gads!  There are more of them?”

Sadie laughed despite her exhaustion. Her father looked at her, completely aghast.  “Papa.  I love him, and I’m going to marry him, and if it hadn’t been for Harrison, I’d be dead now.”

That got his attention.  His face drained of color.  He walked around the bed and sank onto it.  “Sadie, girl.  What are you saying?”

“She is saying that she’s going to marry the man who rescued her.” A voice spoke.

All heads turned.  Sadie’s mother stood in the doorway.  She entered the room slowly, never taking her eyes off of Sadie’s father.

“And who the devil are you?”  Horatio demanded.

“That’s mama.” Sadie said.

Horatio’s eyes got even wider.  He looked Teresa up and down, gulped,
and then quickly looked away.  “I think I need a drink.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. The saloon burned down last night.” Harrison calmly informed him.

Horatio spun to him.  “What?  What kind of a town is this?”

“A town where I could spend the rest of my life with the man I love.”  Sadie spoke softly.

Teresa smiled, tears in her eyes.  Harrison reached her in a few quick strides and put his arm around her.  “I was going to ask you for your blessing Ms. Mitchell.” 

Teresa nodded, unable to speak.

“This is a mad house!  Sadie, we’re leaving!  Get your things!”

Teresa suddenly straightened.  “She’s not going anywhere, Horatio Jones!  She’s been kidnapped, nearly killed and threatened with the worst things a gal can be threatened with!  You leave her alone!”

Horatio turned white.  He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “I know I almost lost you.  When we couldn’t find you...” The man choked on his last words.  “I was out of my mind, Sadie.  Out of my mind!”

Sadie leaned toward him.  “I’m fine now, papa.  Harrison saw to that.  I love him.  And look,” she pointed to Teresa.  “I found mama. She was dying papa, and the Lord made her well again.”

Horatio took in the sight of Teresa held against Harrison.  His face softened.  “I suppose I owe you an apology young man. You saved my daughter’s life.”

“Apologies accepted.” Harrison calmly said.  “Now we best go downstairs.  I’d like to speak with you, Mr. Jones.”

Four months
later...

“Yee haw!  Here they come!” Henry Fig yelled as he galloped through town.  A thunderous roar could be heard.  Everyone ran out into the street to watch. 

“No, no!  Get off the street!  You people want to get killed?”  The Sheriff yelled.  The townsfolk quickly got off the street and out of the way.  The ground shook.

Within moments hundreds of cattle came into view.  The men of the Big J drove them.  A thousand head of some of the finest beasts anyone in Clear Creek had ever seen.  Just a little wedding present from Horatio Jones to Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Cooke whose ranch was located south of town.  Once a pig farm, now a cattle ranch. 

Sadie and Harrison watched their new stock as it was driven through town.  O
r at least a few hundred. The rest had been taken by another route.  These Harrison was having put into a corral at the other end of town. Harrison wanted to give some to the Sheriff and his men for helping him rescue Sadie and bring his stepbrothers to justice.  He also planned on selling each person in town a steer at less than half the market price to help them out and set them up for the following winter. 

“Do you think you’ll like cattle ranching?”  Sadie yelled over the sound of hundreds of hooves trotting along the street below them. They were in the upper story of Mulligan’s new saloon.

“I’ll enjoy it, I’m sure.  Your father is a very generous man!”  Though to Harrison, generous was an understatement.  Horatio Jones was practically a Saint.  He’d finally consented to letting Sadie marry him and insisted on helping the young couple start out properly.  Harrison thought that meant a bit of livestock and perhaps help him spruce up his family’s farm.  But Horatio Jones had other ideas.  He built them a new ranch house and barn and put up a little cabin for Harrison’s stepfather.  Now this.  A thousand head of cattle.  It was unheard of but here they were.

“Always did prefer a good steak to ham.”  Colin Cooke said as he joined them.

“I still like ham.” Duncan, the eldest Cooke added.

Harrison put his arms about his two older brothers.  “Looks like we’re in the cattle business now, chaps.”

“Anything’s better than rotting in jail, Harrison.  Give me a branding iron, I’ll do my part!” Colin said.  “You’re the best brother.  Mother would be proud.”

“You can thank Sadie’s father for speaking with the warden himself.  Not to mention writing the president.”

“Your father in-law is a very influential man.  We can’t thank him enough for all he’s done on our behalf.” Duncan said.  “Clear Creek will never be the same because of him.  I have a feeling this little town is going to start growing now.”

“Indeed it will,” Colin added. “Will your mother be coming to visit soon?” 

Sadie smiled.  “She and my father will be getting married next month. I asked them to have the wedding here, in the new church.”

“But we don’t have a clergyman yet.” Duncan said.

“We have one coming from Denver.  He’s decided to come out west and is the son of a friend of my fathers.  He’ll be here in time for the wedding.”

“Gentlemen, our little town is indeed growing.”  Harrison said with a smile.

They continued to watch until the last steer trotted past on the street below.  Harrison removed his arms from his brothers, went to his wife and kissed her.  “Well, princess, let’s go have a look at our wedding present.”

They left.  Duncan and Colin continued to watch as the dust settled and the townsfolk followed the cattle to the corral.  “I suppose we should go have a look and help out.” Duncan suggested.

“I suppose you’re right,” added Colin.

Duncan turned and headed downstairs.  Colin reached up and was about to close the window when the stage came rolling in.  It pulled up in front of the mercantile.  Colin watched as Wilfred and Irene Dunnigan came rushing out.  Mrs. Dunnigan looked exceedingly happy and Colin stopped, the window halfway down, to see what all the excitement was about.

A young woman got out of the stage.  She was beautiful, incredible.  Colin’s mouth suddenly went dry, his breathing stopped.  If there was ever such a thing as love at first sight then this was it. 

Then it hit him.  This beauty, this wondrous, heavenly creature must be a relative of the Dunnigan’s. Which meant Irene Dunnigan would be in charge of her.  Colin’s heart almost sank.  Almost.  Because if there was one thing Colin Cooke loved, it was a challenge.  And no one in Clear Creek could dispute the fact that Irene Dunnigan was much more than a simple challenge.

To Colin Cooke she would be nothing short of slaying a dragon.

I hope you enjoyed His Prairie Princess.  Be watching for Her Prairie Knight coming in April 2013!

About the Author:
  Kit Morgan, aka Geralyn Beauchamp loves a good western.  Her father loved watching them and they watched their fair share together over the years.  If you liked this western novella and would like to read a full length novel by the author, you might enjoy Time Masters Book One; The Call by Geralyn Beauchamp which can be found on amazon.com