Mail-Order Bride Ink: Dear Mr. Turner (16 page)

Major sapped him on the back of the head with the butt of his pistol, sending him to the floor out cold. “No, she’s not, you lying Yankee!”

Colin and Harrison exchanged a quick glance. “We have no idea what’s going on between you and your sister,” Harrison told Major. “But if you and your brothers can help with the current crisis, come with us.”

Major and his brothers nodded. “What about that lying snake Rupert?” one of them asked.

Major looked at Preacher Jo. “Would you be so kind as to tie this muggins up for us? We’ll be back to deal with him later.”

Preacher Jo nodded. “Best get out there and help, gentleman.” He looked at the older men that remained. “We’ll stay and protect the women and children. And deal with –” He waved his gun at the prone Rupert. “– him. Wilfred, Patrick, I’ve got a length of rope back in the church office – could you do the honors?”

“Be happy to, lad.”

“We’ll have him hogtied in two shakes.” The men went to get the rope.

Colin and Harrison motioned for the others to follow them. They hurried out of the church to their horses, the Cooke brothers mounting up behind two of the Comfort brothers, and headed toward the shooting.

Pleasant sank to the floor. Sadie and Belle ran to her side, got her to her feet and guided her to a pew. “Are you all right?” Belle asked.

“No, I’m not all right! My husband just ran out the door to get himself shot at!”

“He’s not your husband yet,” Sadie reminded her. “But he will be as soon as they round up those outlaws.”

Rupert began to stir and moan. Preacher Jo sighed, bent over him and, as soon as the dandy raised his head and started to rise, whacked him on the occipital again. He went down like a felled steer. “Sadie’s right – we’ll finish the ceremony as soon as the men return.” He looked at the unconscious Rupert. “Who is this, anyway?”

Pleasant sighed wearily. “The reason I left Savannah.”

* * *

“
D
oc Waller
!” Eli cried as he dove beside him behind a horse trough. “What are ya and Grandma doin’ out here?”

“We were heading to the church from the hotel. Grandma wanted to get a few last-minute pies done so she could set them on the food tables with the rest. Made us late for the wedding. We were heading to the church when the dynamite went off!”

“Then what happened?”

“Your prisoners started legging it out of there. I told Grandma to head for the church while I turned for the sheriff’s office. I knew Henry was there and I had to make sure he was all right.”

“Where’s he now?”

“In the saloon, all shook up but no worse for wear. I imagine he and a few of them outlaws have a headache from the noise. Once they can hear again, that is.”

“Tarnation!” Eli exclaimed. He peeked over the top of the trough. There wasn’t a man in sight. The outlaws had scattered, but whoever broke them out didn’t take into consideration they’d need horses for all of them. Half got to ride away, but the rest were hiding around town, and one of them must’ve seen Grandma heading for the church and grabbed her. Where were they now?

“Stay low,” Eli said. “I don’t want ya to get yerself taken hostage too.”

“Get my Sarah back, Eli,” Doc Waller said, tears in his eyes. “This is all my fault. I should’ve kept her with me!”

Eli nodded. “I will, sir.” He got up and ran for the saloon doors. Several shots were fired and a bullet shattered a window. Aha – some of the varmints were still in the sheriff’s office!

He took cover inside, crouched beneath the broken window and slowly peeked over the sill. One side of the sheriff’s office was in tatters – they’d blown part of a wall out. He wondered how many of their gang the dynamite took with it. One thing was for sure – the outlaws had raided the building’s store of guns and ammunition. What else would they be using to shoot at him?

“Dagnabit!” he said, wondering where Tom was. They’d split up – Tom had mounted his horse and taken off after the escaped prisoners galloping out of town, while Eli had gone to check on Henry. That’s when he noticed Doc Waller diving for cover by Mulligan’s Saloon.

“What a wedding day,” he muttered to himself. And even once they took care of the outlaws, he had a thing or two to settle back at the church. Maybe he should never have left.

“
H
e lied
, Major! He’s been lying the entire time!” Darcy complained to his older brother.

“We never should’ve left Daddy in Denver with Aunt Phidelia,” Michael said. “He’d want to be here.”

“He’s better off where he is,” said Major. “The old man’s not in his right mind – the best place for him is with our aunt. We’ll deal with Rupert as soon as we’re done here.”

Colin and Harrison listened to the Comfort brothers’ heated argument and were quickly able to piece together what brought them to Clear Creek. What they hadn’t figured out was why two of the brothers were calling the eldest Major, while the others referred to him as Quince. Maybe “Quince” had been a major in the Confederate Army … that would explain it.

“You of all people should have seen this coming,” another remarked – Matt, perhaps? There were so many of them it was hard to keep track.

“I had my suspicions, but I wanted to see for myself. The fact of the matter is, my dear brothers, we’ve lost Comfort Fields and everything we hold dear. The only thing we haven’t lost is each other. That should be more important than a big ol’ house and a dwindling bank account, most of which belong to our father anyway.”

“We all contributed,” Zachary snapped. At least Harrison and Colin thought it was Zachary.

“And we all lost,” Major pointed out.

“Yes, on account of our sister’s selfishness,” Matt (?) muttered under his breath.

“And if you’d been asked to marry an heiress with the temperament of a turnip and the looks of a potato,
Peaceful
, just so
we
could go on living the way we were accustomed, would you have done it?”

“I’d have made do,” he remarked coolly.

“Only because you’d have kept a mistress on the side,” Darcy said with a glare. “As would any of us if we were honest with ourselves. But that’s not an option for Pleasant, now is it?”

Harrison and Colin exchanged a sage look. So
that’s
why Pleasant became a mail-order bride. “This is all very well and good,” Colin said, “but perhaps we should concentrate on the current crisis?”

No sooner had he said it than a shot rang out. They’d gotten as far as the livery stable after their gallop from the church. The bulk of the shootout was going on between the saloon and the sheriff’s office.

“You’re quite right,” Major said. He looked at his brothers. “Michael, Darcy, Zachary – circle around the building and try to pin those Yankees down.” He glanced at Colin and Harrison. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Harrison said with a shrug of indifference.

The three Comfort brothers gave Major a quick nod, crept to the edge of the livery stable wall and peeked around it. Darcy motioned the other two to follow him, and the remainder watched as they made their way toward the sheriff’s office. Or what was left of it - a huge hole had been made from the dynamite used to break the outlaws out. Several of the outlaws hadn’t survived it.

Harrison, Colin and “Peaceful” Matt made their way to the other end of the livery stable. They stayed close to the wall and edged their way around to the front of the building. Once Michael, Darcy and Zachary flushed the outlaws out of the sheriff’s office, they could spring on them and round them up.

“I hope Eli figures out what we’re doing,” Harrison said quietly.

“Don’t worry, he’s smart enough to see what we’re about,” Colin assured.

“Eli … that’s the man our sister was about to marry?” Matt asked.

“Yes,” Harrison said. “And you couldn’t ask for a better man for your sister. I strongly suggest you give her your blessing.”

“He’s a good man, then?”

“As good as they come in our book,” Colin said. “In fact, it might interest you to know that he’s a hero in these parts, as is his brother Tom, the sheriff.”

“I hear lawmen out here are good at turning wives into widows,” Matt remarked flatly.

“Anything can turn a wife into a widow around here, dear sir,” Harrison said. “But enough of this talk – we have outlaws to capture.”

“But what about …?” Matt never got to finish. It was then that the real shooting started.

* * *

P
reacher Jo tightened
the rope that Wilfred and Patrick had used to bind Rupert’s wrists, then did the same with the knots at his ankles. “There, that ought to hold you.”

Rupert moved his jaw this way and that. “I thought that you being a man of God, you’d know bettah than to strike a gentleman. You’re going to pay for that, preachah.”

“He’ll pay for nothing, Rupert,” Pleasant snapped. “How dare you show up like this!”

“How dare you run away from me,” he sneered. “Your daddy and I had an agreement.”

“I was not informed of it. Your agreement means nothing to me.”

“You selfish, foolish girl. Your family lost everything because of you.”

“Maybe I should gag him,” Preacher Jo mused, rubbing his chin.

“No,
my
family lost everything because
you
didn’t see it in your heart to help my father when he asked for it. After all, it would’ve been the neighborly thing to do. We’d have helped your family out if your mills weren’t doing well.”

“Neighbuhly?” Rupert hissed, ignoring everything else she said. “What fool-headed nonsense is this? I do what I do to get what I want. If your daddy was fool enough to borrow money from me, he should’ve known what he was getting himself into.”

“He expected you to do the right thing,” Pleasant shot back. “Not be forced to … to … use me to pay off his loan.”

Rupert’s smile was demonic. “And sell you he did, my deah, along with everything else. I now own your precious Comfort Fields, lock, stock and barrel. All because he failed to deliver you. However … I’d be willing to be a bit moah – what did you call it? – neighbuhly if you’ll stop this nonsense and come back with me.”

Pleasant’s mouth fell open. “Are you out of your mind? I’m not leaving Clear Creek!”

Rupert twisted his body and looked over his shoulder at the townspeople that remained, then turned back to her. “You mean you’d rather live out heah in this wilderness with a bunch of lowlife hicks?”

Patrick Mulligan charged at him, but Preacher Jo caught him by the arm. “Don’t, Paddy. He’s not worth it.”

“I won’t let that snobbish dandy call us names without a fight!”

Wilfred stepped forward. “Yeah, who does he think he is?”

“Everyone just calm down,” Preacher Jo ordered. “Let’s concentrate on making sure we’re all safe. Don’t let this witless worm distract you.”

“Mighty derogatory wuhds, coming from a preachah,” Rupert sneered.

“I’d be quiet if I were you,” Preacher Jo warned.

“Let me give him just one,” Patrick made a fist. “Right in the puss! Just one, Preacher Jo!”

Preacher Jo sighed. “Might I remind you of what the Good Book says about loving our enemies?”

“I’ll patch him up after. That would be loving, aye?”

Rupert began to cackle. “You people are so stupid, you can’t even decide whethah or not to hit me. How pathetic and weak.” He narrowed his eyes at Pleasant. “And
you
were about to marry one of these insects?”

Preacher Jo sighed. “All right, Paddy. Just one.”

Patrick Mulligan grinned, promptly turned and punched Rupert right in the mouth. There was a sickening crack that made the women gasp.

“Better?” Preacher Jo asked dryly.

“Aye – that felt bonny!” Patrick said, still smiling. Behind him, Wilfred laughed wheezily.

Rupert spit out a couple pieces of tooth and glared viciously at them. “Why you duhty, yellow-bellied, sorry excuse for a preachah!”

Preacher Jo bent down, looked him in the eye and said, “I wasn’t always a man of God, son.”

“That’s right!” Wilfred said with a laugh. “Preacher Jo is one of the fastest guns in these parts – next to our beloved Turner brothers, of course.”

Rupert seemed to finally realize his true predicament. He glanced at Patrick, his meaty Irish hands balled into fists, then at the quick-draw preacher, and finally the rest of the townsfolk of Clear Creek, who glared at him like a lynch mob. If he wasn’t careful, they’d probably string him up. He audibly gulped and laid back down on the floor.

“And,” Preacher Jo added, “I think we’re all tired of hearing your voice,
sir
.” Quick as a flash, he stuffed a handkerchief in Rupert’s mouth, then tied it in place with another.

Pleasant look down at him and shook her head. “You should have stayed in Savannah, Rupert. You’d have been a lot safer there.”

Bound and now gagged, Rupert swallowed hard. At the moment, he had little choice but to agree.

* * *

T
he outlaws hunkered
down in the jail – those still alive, anyway – had been chained up. Now all that was left was to aid Tom in rescuing Grandma and capturing the rest. Eli shook his head in disgust as he noted the crumpled wall of the sheriff’s office, not to mention the crumpled outlaws decorating it. “Fools.” He’d examined them and was relieved the young man whose horse he was keeping wasn’t among them. Unfortunately, now he’d suffer the same fate as the rest for running.

“We’re ready, Eli,” Harrison said as he rode up to him.

Eli examined his mount. “Ya sure ya wanna ride like that?”

Harrison shifted on his horse. “In the heat of the moment, this is all Colin and I have. We just unhitched them from the wagon. Don’t worry, we’re both quite adept at riding bareback.”

“So long as it don’t interrupt yer shootin’, I’m fine with it.” He mounted his own horse.

“What do you want us to do?” Pleasant’s eldest brother asked as he joined them.

Eli turned in his saddle to face him. “Much obliged to ya for askin’.”

“My brothers and I have no problem towing the mark.”

Eli nodded his thanks. “For now, follow me. My guess is they’re headin’ straight for the tree line where they can keep outta sight and see us comin’.”

“Very well, then.” He nodded at his brothers.

Eli repositioned his horse so he was parallel with him. “Deputy Eli Turner.” He offered him his hand.

He shook it. “Major Quincy Comfort, at your service.”

Eli smiled. “What do I call ya?”

Major stared at him a moment, then his eyebrows rose as realization dawned. “Young sir, will you be a good husband for my sister?”

“Sir, I’ll do everythin’ I can for her – even lay down my life if it comes to that.”

Major smiled. “Deputy … then that means you’ll be family. And family calls me Quince.”

Eli tipped his hat. “Well then, Quince, let’s go rescue us a damsel in distress and round up some outlaws. Yee-haw!” He kicked his horse and was off like a shot, with Harrison, Colin and several others quick to follow.

“Quince,” Benedict said as they got their horses moving. “Did you mean it when you said we have a new member in the family?”

“Yes, I did, gentlemen,” he said. “Now let’s ride.”

It didn’t take much to track Tom and the other men. When they caught up, the earlier group was hiding amidst the same outcropping of rocks where he and Eli had first captured the varmints. “Talk about returnin’ to the scene of the crime,” Eli said with a shake of his head. He looked at his brother. “What do ya suppose they left behind?”

“Had to be somethin’ important for ‘em to come back here. Maybe stolen loot, who knows?” Tom noticed Eli’s posse. “Afternoon, folks.”

The Comfort men tipped their hats. “Good afternoon,” they replied quietly.

“Seems we got a bit of a problem,” Tom said. “They got Grandma Waller as a hostage.”

“We know,” said Eli. “Doc saw ‘em take her. How many are there?”

“I’d say about a dozen and a half.”

“That many?!” Eli blew out a breath. “Tarnation – then at least six came to break ‘em out.”

“That’s what I came up with too. Gotta figger Snake, Frog and Lizard are among ‘em.”

The Comfort brothers stopped examining their surroundings and turned to them.

“We know – bunch of idiot names,” Eli said.

Quince nodded and looked like he was trying not to smile. “Some of us are quite familiar with that sort of thing.”

Eli smiled anyway. “I can imagine.”