His Prairie Princess (Prairie Brides 1) (2 page)

Harrison again took in his surroundings a brief moment before he suddenly smiled.  Of course, why hadn’t he thought of it before?  He had just the thing to use for his diversion.

* * *

Sadie’s head hung low, her chin to her chest.  She watched her tears fall
into her lap and tried to keep from shivering.  It had been easy to stop the hot tears when she was angry with herself.  But sounds of chairs pushed away from a table, deep male laughter and plenty of belching told her she was about to be served up on a silver platter. Or in this case a wooden table. And if not the table in the next room, the floor would probably do the scalawags just fine. The only furniture in the room she occupied was the chair she was tied to and a small wooden barrel with a lantern on it.  Who knew if there was a third room with an actual bed.  It might be nicer to die on a bed and not the floor or kitchen table. Perhaps the third room was through the door directly behind her.  She’d noticed it when they shoved her into the chair and tied her up.  Oh what was she thinking? 

Stop it, Sadie! Stop it!
 
She was the daughter of a cattle baron for Heaven’s sake!  She could shoot a gun and been on a cattle drive!  She’d come out West with her father from Texas when she was ten!  She’d help him settle into the Oregon territory after her stepmother died.  He’d become prosperous and was one of the major names in the cattle industry!  He brought commerce to the wilds of Oregon, supplied the wagon trains and helped tame the prairies!  And by God, she wasn’t going to go down without a fight and have her father think of her as some weak, stupid female who couldn’t take care of business!

Well, except for the part of not listening to him. And taking off by herself across the prairie.  And getting
kidnapped of course, and then...

Her head snapped up.  A sound suddenly caught her attention.  A horrib
le howl carried on the windsent a chill up her spine.
 
Wolves. 

Her eyes darted to the door.  Her captors heard it too if the dead quiet in the other room was an indicator.  Another sound caught Sadie’s attention, this one much different.  A horse suddenly ran past her window.  She heard the hoof beats loud and clear.  Another wolf howl then rent the air.  Closer.

“The horses!  Those stinking varmints are going after the horses!” One of the men cried.  There was a mad scramble on the other side of the door.  She heard their cursing along with the sound of booted feet stomping every which way but out the front door.  They weren’t the most organized lot and she thanked the Lord for that.  It might buy her some time. 

Finally, after several more sets of racing hoof
beats, more stomping, cursing, and the sound of a door being thrown open, the cabin went silent.

“Don’t move a muscle and don’t make a sound,” a deep, accented voice hissed into her ear from behind.  Where did he come from?  She didn’t even hear him enter the room! She saw a flash of steel out the corner of one eye.  A knife!  A reall
y
big
knife! 

No!  Oh no please!
 
One of them stayed behind and was going to take her before the others had a chance. 

“I hope you’ve enough strength in you for what’s to come!”  He whispered as he began to saw through the ropes used to tie her to the chair. “But don’t worry, we’ll be quick about it.  They’ll never know until it’s too late.”

Sadie’s tears fell with a vengeance, blurring her vision.  Where did her bravery go? And oh but the man stunk to high Heaven.  He smelled of mud, dirty straw, and ...was that pig?

He suddenly grabbed her from behind and yanked her out of the chair.
 
Nooooo!
 
Sadie’s entire body shook with terror. She couldn’t breath, couldn’t see, and for the first time in her life, couldn’t stay conscious.

Two

The woman landed on the floor like a sack of potatoes.  Harrison barely let go of her to untie her ankles when she toppled over in a dead faint. H
e glanced quickly about.  Blast!  The outlaws could be back any minute!  There was only one thing to do.

Harrison picked the woman up, threw her over his shoulder and headed for the door.  He couldn’t very well use the bedroom window he’d crawled through to get into the cabin, so opted for the back door instead. But to get to that, he’d have to go through the main room.  He carefully opened the door and quickly s
canned for any sign of the mailbag.  Nothing!  Where could it be?

A horse ran past the open front door.  A shout soon followed.  Harrison had no choice.  He had to escape!  Tightening his hold on the woman he made for the rear door on the other side of the room, checked for any signs of the outlaws and ran into the cold, night air. 

  He almost slipped when he stepped on an icy patch of snow, but managed to get his feet under him. The woman was blissfully light, thank the Lord for that!  But even so, he would have to carry her a good distance and over time would eventually tire.  Especially if it took him a while to find his horse in the dark! 

  Harrison began to wonder if the woman had regained consciousness when he heard another shout in the distance.  He pushed himself harder, stumbled again and ran side long into a tree.  He grimaced as he hit the tree hard with his shoulder and hoped the audibl
e
thud
he heard wasn’t the woman’s head.  But then, what else could it be?  If she had regained conscious she certainly wasn't after that blow!  But a blow to the head because of him was certainly better than what she surely would have suffered at the hands of the outlaws. Besides, once he got away he’d take her straight to Doc Waller in Clear Creek. Yes, that’s what he’d do. 

Harrison kept moving until he heard the sound of water and headed for it.  H
e’d tied his horse near a small stream and the animal couldn’t be far off.   He carried the still form through the trees and upon reaching the stream, caught his breath. He then risked a low whistle.  His horse nickered in return.  It was faint, but he heard it and took off downstream toward the sound. After a few moments he found his mare Juliet right where he left her.  Just in time too.  It started to snow.

   “OK, girl.  You’re going to have to take it from here.”  He said in a low voice as he hefted his load across the saddle.  It was a horrible way to transport the woman, but he didn’t want to take the time to untie her and bring her around.  Time was of the essenc
e and he wasn’t about to waste it.  Harrison quickly mounted, lifted her body to slide into the saddle himself and laid her across his lap as best he could.  It was going to be a rough ride with her body wedged between his belly and the saddle horn, but she would stay put that way.

  With one hand on the woman and the reins in the other, he kicked Juliet into action and they were off.  Across the stream, through the woods and all too soon, heading for the open prairie.  The one place he feared they might be caught.  A couple inches
of snow covered the ground and even though the crescent moon gave little light, it would probably be enough for the outlaws to see Juliet against the rolling sea of white laid out before him. Not to mention his tracks unless he had some good distance on them.  With luck, it would snow enough in a few moments to hide any trail he’d left and make it harder for the outlaws to follow.

  Harrison slowed Juliet and turned to check the
landscape behind them.  Nothing. No light in the trees, no dark forms coming across the snow.  But by now the outlaws would have caught their horses and discovered the woman was gone.  Even if they had been dumb enough not to guard her, they weren’t so dumb they wouldn’t notice her bonds had been cut.  The wolf-pack nothing but a diversion.

After a few more minutes, Harrison took another quick look at the dark line of pine that bordered the prairie.  It was snowing harde
r now, but not so much he couldn't see the light of a lantern flash through the trees. 

They were coming. 

He had a good head start, but maybe not enough.  They could still possibly see him.  Taking the woman to Doc Waller then, was out of the question.  His mare Juliet would never make the extra miles to town if he pushed her much harder.  He wished he’d taken his brother’s stallion, Romeo.  For him the race across the open prairie would be no problem.  But Harrison had set out to get the mail, not rescue a damsel in distress!

He could still lose them by disappearing into the gentle rolling landscape of the prairie.  The outlaws wouldn’t be able to keep a steady eye on him.  Unfortunately, Harrison wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on them either.

He stopped to take in his surroundings.  The farm was closer.  Juliet could make it with no problem and at least his stepbrothers and father would be there.  They could help protect the woman.  Maybe.

Help from those three depended on how much they’d been drinking.  In fact, the more he thought about it, he might ha
ve to protect her from his stepbrothers and father as well. None of them had been around a woman in a long time and the only soiled dove in the area was indisposed.  The others had been run out of town, which left the one, and not a very good one at that.

Harrison groaned at the thought and took off again, this time toward home.  He prayed as Juliet naturally picked up her pac
e.  It was a simple prayer:
 
Father, please forgive me for what I must do.  And please Lord, tell this woman to forgive me too.

* * *

Sadie tried to open her eyes.  The effort was painful.  In fact, every part of her body was pained.  Her limbs ached and her head felt like it was about to explode.  Where was she?  The las
t thing she could remember was ...

Hmm, she didn’t seem to have any memory at all.  Probably because the effort it took to think hurt. Perhaps she should figure out where she
currently was instead of where she’d been.

Sadie tried to move but found she was held
in place.  She was on her back that was certain, it was dark and she could smell hay.  In fact, she was not only laying on it, she was covered with it.  Sadie tried to roll over, move, anything.  But couldn’t.  It was then she realized she was still bound and gagged.

Oh Lord no!
 
The stagecoach, the outlaws, the ..
.
rescu
e
?  Is that what happened?  The man, where was the man who freed her from the chair?  She must have fainted.  But how long does a faint last?  And where was she now?  She vaguely remembered being carried through the dark.  And the cold.  She remembered the cold.  In fact she was still cold but not like before.  And why was she still tied up if she’d been rescued?  And why did her head feel like it was about to shatter like glass?

A door creaked and groaned.  Sadie froze
.
 
If I’m about to die, Lord, let it be quick.  I feel terrible enough as it is.

Booted footsteps, if she heard right.  A man.  There was a rustle of hay and before she could even scream into the gag he was on her.  But he didn’t grab her as she expected, instead he was very gentle and removed the hay covering her.  He then stood and lit a lantern.  His back to her, she quickly studied him as he hung the lantern on a peg.  He was tall and broad like some of her father’s cowhands. She could tell by his muscular frame he knew hard work.  His hair was a sable brown, much like her own, and just reached the collar of his coat.  When he turned his dark eyes widened as he looked at her.  No, no
t
a
t
her.
 
Int
o
her.  Right into her very soul. It made her feel incredibly vulnerable.  Being helplessly bound upon on a bed of hay certainly didn’t help.

“You’re awake.” He whispered.  “I wasn’t sure if you would be.  Your head
...  I’m so sorry, but it took quite a blow.”

Her eyes widened.  He had an accent.  Who was this man?  She struggle briefly in her bonds but the pain stopped her.

“Oh!  Let me help you.” He reached behind him and pulled out a huge knife.  Sadie automatically shook her head.

“No, I won’t hurt you.  I’m here to help. I do apologize for not untying your earlier.”  He very gently pulled her up to a sitting position.  Her head swam and she fell against his shoulder as he reached behind her and began to cut the rope binding her wrists.  She belatedly realized she was wrapped in several blankets.  No wonder she wasn’t as cold as before. 

“I’ll free you but you must promise me to stay calm.  I cannot help you if you scream and start to panic, understand?”

He was warm, and didn’t smell as before.  He had to be the same man who took her from the outlaw’s cabin. He spoke with the same odd accent and still had the scent of livestock on him.  Particularly pig.  She knew the smell.  She had pet pigs at home.

The ranch.  Her father ... Sadie moaned.

“There, there.  You’ll be all right.”  He tossed the rope aside and took a moment to study her in the soft lantern light.  His eyes widened and she heard his breath catch.  He collected himself then quickly began to untie her ankles.  Sadie let herself fall against him as he worked, too tired to
care about the contact.  He was wonderfully warm.  The sensation brought comfort and helped ease the pain that throbbed through out her entire body.