Lucinda (12 page)

“Henry, this is Calvin Jacobs, my father.  Father, my husband, Doctor Henry Zabarski.”  It was obvious the two men did not like each other, and for some reason that reassured her.  Thankfully, Henry was nothing like her father.

“Lucinda, get your belongings immediately or I swear I will not be responsible for my actions.  If you think for one second I will permit you to stay here with this disreputable quack and behave in such an unseemly fashion as you just did with that wounded man, you are out of your mind!  You are coming home.”

“I am married, Father, and my place is with my husband.  Give my best to Mother,” Lucy linked her arm through Henry’s.

“Mr. Jacobs, Lucy isn’t going anywhere.  We are legally married, and she is of age.”

“I do not care about that.  She is my daughter and she will not marry unless I give my approval, and I do not approve of you.”

“You aren’t the one who is married to Henry, Father,” Lucy smirked.  “Fortunately, I am, and it is my choice to stay right here.”

“You are a disgrace to my name, Lucinda, and I am heartily ashamed of you.”  Calvin’s dark eyes were narrow and full of rage.

“I think you need to leave, Mr. Jacobs.  No one speaks disrespectfully to my wife, and that includes her father.”  He walked over to the outer door and opened it.

Calvin walked to the door and then turned to Lucy and said, “You have not heard the last of this.  I will see this preposterous so-called marriage dissolved, and you can count on it, Lucinda.  I have promised you in marriage, and you will return home and take your rightful place.”

“I already have a husband and I wouldn’t marry any man you picked for me, Father.  Go home.”  Once he was gone, she turned away so that Henry wouldn’t see her tears and said, “We need to check on Mac, Henry.”  She led the way into the infirmary, only to learn that Mac was still unconscious.

People kept coming by to check on the well-liked sheriff, and Lucy didn’t have time to worry about her father.  She put the incident out of her mind and tried to be gracious when folks came to offer assistance or food, and many of them were even willing to take Mac into their homes while he recovered from his gunshots.  Two men volunteered to keep and eye on the prisoner, and things seemed to go well until it was obvious that other drovers were coming into town in groups of two and three, and trying to look inconspicuous.  Henry told Lucy he expected her to keep the doors locked while he went to help the newly deputized young men who were guarding the prisoner.  Lucy didn’t like the sounds of that and quickly argued with Henry.  He promptly gave her a hard swat on her bottom and told her that she would obey him or earn one very sore backside.

Lucy rubbed the burning handprint after Henry strapped on his gun and left.  She went to check on Mac once more, and then she decided that she was going to help Henry, whether he liked it or not, despite the fact he would probably spank her until she couldn’t sit down afterwards.  She was going to protect her husband, help him, and hopefully be back home before he knew she was gone or that she’d interfered in any way.  She changed into the pants and shirt she wore to follow him out of town when he rode out with the wagon train scout during the problem with the Apaches.  This time she would make sure that Henry didn’t catch her helping him.  Lucy strapped on her gun, just in case she needed it, and tucked her long black braid up under her hat.  The last thing she wanted to do was draw any attention to herself.

The situation wasn’t good, she quickly realized.  There were strange men standing around, smoking, talking, but their eyes were alert and Lucinda realized they were waiting for something or someone.  It didn’t take Lucy long to spot Henry, and a few other men he was able to recruit to help with the dangerous state of affairs.  She saw two men slipping around behind the jail, and decided they were the first ones who needed to be handled.  A few minutes later they were lying on the ground and wouldn’t be waking up any time soon.  Lucy methodically went around, silently removing the drovers, telling herself that she had no choice.  The ones closest to the jail… and to Henry and the other men from town… would be the most difficult to handle without being seen.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the street and a man on a large white stallion rode up to the jail at a full gallop, three other men right behind him.  “Doc Z, it’s been a while,” the man spoke with purpose.”

“Fencil,” Henry nodded.  “Your man shot our Sheriff, and he is going to stand trial for it,” Henry didn’t waste time on small talk.

“I need that boy, Doc.  He’s a bit wild, but he’s my sister’s kid and I said I would look out for him.  I’ll pay damages, but Randy comes with me.”

“You can’t buy him out of this one, Razz.  The kid needs to pay for his crime.”

“There are twenty of us, Doc.  You got what, two others besides yourself?  I can tear this town apart in minutes.”  He motioned and two of his men forced two hostages out into the street.

Lucinda was shocked to see her father had a gun at his head.  The other victim was a very frightened Miss McCrae.

“We can do this easy or hard, Doc.  My men have this town surrounded.  One word from me and people start dying, beginning with these two.  Let Randy go now, or I’ll have my man fill the dude with bullets and you can watch him die.  Then the old woman goes next,” he added, almost as an afterthought.

“You aren’t doing your nephew any favors by insuring that you are all hung for murder,” Henry reasoned.

“You won’t be around to see it happen, Doc,” Razz pulled his gun and leveled it on Henry.  “Show yourselves, men!” he bellowed.  No one responded, and while Razz was yelling even louder, Lucinda was coming up behind the men holding her father and Miss McCrae.  There was no hiding from Henry now, she knew, but something had to be done, and she was the only one in position to deal with the situation.  It took seconds to put the two men down, and a shot rang out and Razz’s gun went flying when Mac suddenly appeared and fired.

“You’re under arrest, Fencil,” he called out.  The men with Fencil put their hands up without protest, and the threatening situation ended abruptly.  “Lock them up, men,” Mac ordered sharply, ignoring the pain in his throbbing head and arm.  His dark eyes settled on Lucy and he shook his head.  “Doc, do something with your woman.  She’s damn well going to get herself killed one of these days!”

Lucy turned to run but her father grabbed her, his face a mask of absolute fury.  “How dare you do something like this, you ungrateful whelp!  You were raised to be a lady, and look at you!  You are wearing pants and a gun!  And fighting like a common street whore!  I have never been so ashamed in my entire life and I am thankful that your dear Mother is not here to see what you have become.”

“You’re welcome for saving your life, Father,” Lucinda said calmly, not about to permit the man to see how wounded she was.  “How does it feel to know that Philip came out here to die alone rather than live under your roof?  How does it feel to know that no one in your entire household loves you?  And do you know why that is?  You don’t know how to love, Father.  All you know how to do is dictate.  Everything in and around you has to be precisely ordered to your thinking or there is hell to pay.  You married Mother because you knew you could tell her what to do, what to wear, what she could do, and even what she was permitted to think.  I am thankful every day of my life that I discovered there were real people outside your snobbery, people who were willing to teach me the principles of self-defense, and others who taught me to shoot a gun and throw a knife.  I, at least, have a realistic view of the world and the people who live in it, unlike you.  I would kill myself before I married a man handpicked by you.  Do us both a favor and get on the next stage out of Snowfall.  I can’t stand the sight of you and your disapproving scowl.”  Lucinda wasn’t the least bit surprised when the despicable man raised his fist, prepared to strike her.  What shocked her was Miss McCrae’s reaction.  She reached up, removed her hatpin, and jabbed it as hard as she could into Calvin Jacob’s hand.  He bellowed, and by then Henry reached Lucinda’s side.

“If you dare to strike my wife I will kill you,” he said coldly, his fury with his wife’s interference in the dangerous situation transferring itself to her father.  “Lucy belongs to me, and no man will raise a fist to her unless he has a death wish.  She saved your life, Jacobs, and if that is how you repay her, then you are a bloody fool.  Go home, and do it now, or you and I are going to tangle.”

“Amen,” Miss McCrae nodded self-righteously as Caleb Jacobs stomped off.  “Lucinda is to be commended for her quick thinking and her willingness to defend us.”

“No, she is to be spanked, and very soundly, for daring to risk her life,” Henry stated firmly, his blue eyes full of fire as he looked down at his tiny wife.

“Now, Henry, don’t be hasty,” Lucy retreated a couple of steps, only to back right into Mac Forrester, who immediately grabbed her and held her in place.

“There are unconscious drovers lying everywhere,” Mac told Henry.  “While you and the others were getting ready for a head-on confrontation, Miss Lucy was sneaking around bashing in heads with that fancy fighting of hers.  While I don’t hold with her risking her life like that and think you need to set her backside on fire, Lucy did protect the town from Razz Fencil and his drovers.”

“You are in deep trouble, Mrs. Zabarski,” Henry reached for her, only to have Miss McCrae jab at him with her hatpin.

“You will not touch this young woman, Doc Z!  She saved my life!”

“Miss McCrae, I will most certainly touch my wife, and if you jab me with that damned hatpin just once more, I promise I will turn you over my knee and give you the spanking of your life, in spite of your age.  Is that perfectly clear?”  It was obvious to everyone standing around and listening that Doc Z was fuming and dead serious.

Miss McCrae’s face was red with humiliation and she was stuttering incoherently as she prudently backed away from the angry man.

“Henry, you need to calm down now,” his former father-in-law said in a soothing tone of voice.  “Miss McCrae is only trying to give you good advice.  The entire town is indebted to Lucy.”

“She could have been killed, sir.  Lucy was told to stay inside and keep the doors locked.  She disobeyed me.”

“I’m not about to let you go and get yourself killed,” Lucinda stated, walking over to stand in front of him.  “I need to go and check on our dinner.  It’s probably ruined by now.”  She took off running and was relieved when no one gave chase.

“You need to be in bed.”  Henry turned his dark eyes on Mac.

“I’m fine,” Mac stubbornly insisted.  “Thanks for patching me up.”

“Lucy did most of the work,” Henry admitted as the crowd slowly dispersed, sensing the drama was nearly over.

Mac grinned.  “She’s full of sass, that one.”

“She needs her butt whipped raw,” Henry muttered angrily.

“She sure does,” Mac agreed, but then added, “You best make sure she doesn’t need a hug even more.  Her Pa is a mean son of a bitch.”

“You got that right,” Henry agreed without hesitation.  “Hard to believe he’s Lucy’s and Jake’s father.”

“I don’t trust him,” Mac stated.  “Keep Lucy close until the bastard leaves town.  He’s the sort who thinks the end justifies the means.”

“I won’t let him get near Lucy, Mac,” Henry vowed.

Mac nodded his bandaged head.  “If you have to ride out of town, let me know and I’ll keep an eye on Lucy for you.”

“Thanks, Mac.”  He turned to head back to his office and then said, “You know where I am if you have any trouble with your wounds.”

“Thanks, Doc.  I’ll be fine.”  Unless he fell flat on his face from the pounding headache he was experiencing.  Still, he was the Sheriff, and he had work to do.  Mac headed toward his office, grinning in spite of the pain in his head as he pictured the elderly Miss McCrae getting her fanny paddled by the Doc.

* * *

To Lucinda’s surprise, the meal she left simmering on the stove was just fine and ready to be eaten whenever Henry came home.  She quickly changed her clothing and pinned her hair on top of her head, trying to look sweet and demure, even though she knew without a doubt that her appearance, or the delicate perfume she wore, would do nothing to change Henry’s mind about spanking her bottom.  She’d disobeyed him, and she’d placed herself in danger once again… something he absolutely would not permit.  There would be consequences for her actions, and all she could hope to do was mitigate them a bit with a good meal, a smile, and some genuine remorse and regret for upsetting him.

Henry came through the door a few minutes later and crossed the room to take her in his arms and hug her.  “Are you all right, honey?” he asked, concern making his voice huskier than normal.

“Yes, I am fine, darling.  No one so much as touched me.  I was quiet and took them down without any fuss at all.  They will all be fine.  I didn’t want to do injury, just prevent them from hurting anyone,” she explained.  “I’m truly sorry I frightened you, but I love you and didn’t want you to get shot, too, and I knew you would stand for what was right.”

Henry kept a tight rein on his temper; his right palm was fairly itching to spank her bare butt until it was sore and a stinging red.  “I wasn’t talking about that, Lucy.  I meant in regards to your father…?”

“Oh… him!” she said in disgust, making a face.  “I am used to him by now.”  She shrugged eloquently.  “There is nothing he can say or do to make me leave with him; the only regret I have is that Mother is forced to stay with him.  He is totally without compassion for anyone or anything.  Nothing gives him joy.  He never laughs, never enjoys simple pleasures.  I am sorry you had to meet him, Henry,” she said, her eyes clouded.  “I warned you he wasn’t nice, and that he would disown me.  I did underestimate him, however.  I assumed he would just write a formal note, or have his lawyer attend the matter.  I guess he wanted the pleasure of telling me in person.”  She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly.  “Enough talk about him.  Go and wash up.  Dinner is ready, and I’m sure you must be starving.  I know I am.”