The Lady and the Cowboy (20 page)

“One round on the house for everyone, to celebrate the end of Toad’s reign!”

Even the men cheered that one and Miss Ellie made her way to the bar, then back over to Sam and Ruth, handing Ruth a glass.

“The real thing this time, to calm your nerves.”

Ruth smiled and accepted, sipping the warm liquid.

“Now you,” Miss Ellie poked Sam’s shoulder. “You go check on those Rangers, make sure he doesn’t escape or something.”

“I’m sure the Rangers can handle him.”

“Maybe but Toad’s a slippery customer. I’ll feel happier once you tell me he’s locked up.”

Sam had been holding the ice to Ruth’s face and looked hesitant to leave.

“I’ll take care of Ruth while you’re gone,” she assured him and when Ruth nodde
d, he handed Miss Ellie the ice. “And tell those Rangers that they can have one on the house, and I don’t mean a drink.”

Sam left and
Miss Ellie sat down, gently pressing the ice filled dish towel to Ruth’s eye socket.

“
Thank you for your help tonight, Miss Ellie. We couldn’t have done this without you.”

“Just Ellie, Miss Ellie
’s is the name of the bar.” She smiled and despite her bright dress and thick makeup, Ruth got a look at the women beneath the façade.

“Thank you, Ellie.”

Ellie didn’t look as if she knew what to say to that. “I never expected a lady like you to suggest using my establishment.”

“In England, I'm sure I wouldn’t but over here, I’ve learned it’s someone’s character that matters far more than all that other stuff.”

Ellie smiled. “You’ve got a good man in Sam, hold onto him.”

“I intend to; we’re getting married Saturday night, actually. I know you probably work evenings but if you’d like to come, you’re very welcome.”

She thought she saw tears in Ellie’s eyes.

“Now, let’s not go talking crazy. Besides, my girls need me here. Who else would look out for them?”

Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, Ruth didn’t press the issue.

Miss Ellie suddenly gave her a thousand watt smile, though it wasn’t very genuine.
She didn’t regret her life; she had done what she had to do survive but a part of her still longed for a home and a husband. She had once thought that if anyone could look past her profession, it would be Sam but he had never felt that way about her.

“And don’t you go worrying about your reputation
none; the Rangers, Sam and me had our eye on you the whole time. What you did will probably go down in local legend, I'm sure.”

Ruth t
ook Ellie’s hand and squeezed. Although she couldn’t imagine what had brought Ellie to this life, she felt a kind of solidarity with her.

“If you ever need anything,
Ellie, don’t hesitate.”

“Don’t talk silly.”

“No, I mean it. You helped me tonight and I know you helped Sam with his… needs before I came, and helped us both a few weeks ago with the… well, you know.”

“
Think nothing of it, just make sure Sam’s happy.”

“I will.”

“And give him a whole brood of kids; I know he wants a big family.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Ruth answered with a knowing smile.

“You’re welcome.” Miss Ellie winked at her. Her façade was back in place now and Ruth knew there would be no more serious conversation. She supposed it was how the other woman survived.

Sam returned a few minutes later and Ellie excused herself to mingle with her customers.

“You all right?” Sam asked, applying the ice again.

“Tired,” she admitted. “I think I was more nervous that I thought.”

“I’d be worried if you hadn’t been.” Sam smiled. “What you did tonight was very brave.”

Ruth smiled.

“Now, don’t ever do anything like that again,” he warned, but his tone was teasing.

“Let’s hope I never have to… So, what will the Rangers do with Tobias?”

“First they need a confession but he’s out cold right now. Once they know why he did all this, they’ll take him back to Dallas.”

“
Good. Can we go home now?”

“Of course, as long as you hold this to your eye.” Sam nodded. “I can’t have people thinking I beat you into marrying me.”

Ruth laughed at such a ridiculous notion. No one who knew Sam would ever think any such thing.

“I have one hand in a splint and one holding the ice, how exactly am I supposed to steer the horse?”

“I’ll lead Angel.” He sounded a little exasperated. “Just relax for a change and let me look after you.”

Her smile faded
as she became serious. “Always.”

Ruth wasn’t allowed to do difficult manoeuvres on the horses at the moment
for fear that she would injure her wrist again, and her roping training had been all but forgotten for the time being but she was exercising Beau when the Rangers turned up the following afternoon, with Tobias in tow (literally, as he was tied to his horse’s saddle). Ruth had expected him to look more beaten up but she guessed that he must have confessed easily. He really was a coward.

Both she and Sam headed their horses towards them.

“Afternoon Sam, Ruth.” Tom touched the brim of his hat in greeting.

“What can we do for you boys?”  Sam asked.

“Mr Middleton here is insistent that you have silver on your land, claims to have seen it with his own eyes. I figured after all you folks have been through, it’d be a nice windfall for you.”

“Where?” Sam asked.

“A ravine, not far from the ranch entrance.”

Sam shook his head. “Just give me a second?”

They nodded and Sam trotted over to the tack shed, put something in the saddle bags then they headed up to the ravine.

As they left the driveway and headed up a hillside, Ruth couldn’t help but admire the views and
think that she and Sam were really going to have to get around to riding somewhere other than to the stream, especially once they were allowed to share a bed.

As they got to the top of the
hill, Ruth could see the ravine, which looked like a large crack in the rock.

“There, see!” Tobias said, seeing the sunlight glint off something shiny.

Sam dismounted, handed the reins to Robby, got something from the saddle bag and walked a little way down the ravine, jumping across where the gap closed to about two feet. He walked back a way then knelt down and reaching into the ravine, began scrubbing the rocks with a stiff bristled horse brush, the kind they used to get caked mud off.

Ruth could see the silver flecks begin to fall away and after about a minute of vigorous scrubbing, Sam stood up.
There was no silver anywhere that he had scrubbed.

“Ivor must have
salted the ravine to get a better price from you,” Sam said, looking at Tobias. 

“But-“

“I have lived here my whole life, Tobias; I know this land like the back of my hand. Did you really think I would have missed something like this?”

Tobias slumped in his saddle.

“Um, what’s salting?” Ruth asked.

Bri
an began to explain as Sam walked back.

“It’s when you plant precious stones or metals to look like an area can be mined. In this case, I'm guessing someone replaced the buckshot in a shotgun cartridge with silver. The heat from the gunpowder would have softened the metal a little, so it clung to the rock face.”

“That sounds like Ivor.” Ruth sighed. “So why call it salting?”

“Because it began when salt was expensive. People would dump salt in a well to make potential buyers think they had a salt well, and could make a small fortune from
it.”

“And greed caused them to escalate to precious metals?”

“Something like that,” Brian agreed.

“So, when are you boys h
eading out?” Sam asked as he returned.

“Now,” Tom answered.

“Oh, we were hoping to invite you to our wedding tomorrow night.”

Tom smiled ruefully.
“I’m mighty sorry to miss it but the Governor is keen to make this one pay.”

“Then next time you pass through he
re, please stop in for a coffee or cake, or even dinner.”

Second L
ieutenant Tom Milton smiled. He knew he did good work as a Ranger, getting dangerous men off the streets but most of the time they were hunting outlaws, only passing through towns on their trail. It was cases like this, where he got to meet the victims, which really made his job worthwhile. He tipped his hat to her.

“Well thank you, Ma’am; if we pass this way again, we’ll be sure to take you up on that, make sure old
Sam here is treating you right.”

“Old?” Sam demanded,
although it was clear he was teasing. “I’m only 32!”

***

The barn repair went very well and as predicted, with so many helping, it was a fairly easy day for everyone. By five they were finished, although they had taken things slowly so that no one got too tired. The house and bunk house were available for everyone to wash up and change if they wanted, which thankfully, most did.

Ruth had excused herself early to get ready but no one seemed to notice.

The dress had arrived on Thursday morning but Ruth had been too nervous to even open the package that day, knowing that her confrontation with Tobias was that night.

The dressmaker had also included some length
s of ribbon in a matching shade. She had considered trying to make roses or some other hair ornament with them but in the end had just wrapped the handle of two combs in the ribbon, which she now used to hold the front of her hair off her shoulders. The rest she let fall down her back.

She heard some movement
downstairs and although they had cleared out the inside of the barn and prepared it for tonight, she assumed that they needed an extra table or something.

When she got downstairs and saw an upright piano sitting by the wall in the parlour, she felt tears prick her eyes.

Sam’s strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind as he kissed her neck.

“Happy wedding day, Mrs Wakefield.”

She turned and threw her arms around his neck. “You shouldn’t have, we can’t afford it.”

“Yes we can, especially now that Tobias is out of the picture. Besides, you said you
loved the piano almost as much as horses.”

She leaned back to look in his eyes. “But neither as much as I love you.”

His eyes crinkled up as he smiled.

“No playing until that splint comes off!” he warned in a gruff voice.

Ruth held up her unadorned right arm, looking a little sheepish.

“You took it off?”

“The bandages were dirty and I wanted to look nice for our wedding. Besides, the swelling is gone now and it only hurts when I use it.”

His look asked if she thought the ‘it only hurts when I use it’ excuse was going to work on him.

She knew he was right, especially if she was going to be dancing later, so she allowed him to lead her into the kitchen and re-bandage it.

Men and women were coming and going, helping to carry
to the barn the copious amounts of food and drink that Mamma had prepared.

“Do you have any of that ribbon left?” he asked, nodding to the combs in her hair.

She fetched it for him and he wound it around the bandage so it at least looked a little special.

“Not quite as beautiful as you but then what is?”
he declared when he had finished.

Since they were alone for a moment, Ruth reached out and cupped his cheek, touched by his thoughtful gesture.

“Charmer,” she told him, leaning in for a kiss.

A gasp from the doorway drew their attention and there stood Sally and Mrs
Grant. Both women looked thoroughly scandalised.

“I’m sorry, ladies. We were trying to keep it a surprise, but Ruth and I are going to get married this evening, in front of all
our friends. I guess we just couldn’t wait any longer.”

Mrs
Grant broke into a wide grin but Sally frowned.

“Does
Mamma know?” Mrs Grant asked.

“I hope so,
” Ruth smiled. “We asked her to do the ceremony.”

“
She keeps running into the dining room to memorise the vows that Bea gave her,” Sam added.

“I did wonder if something was up,” Mrs
Grant confided. “Mamma made enough food for an army but I thought it might be another grandchild on the way.”

“Give us time,” Sam teased, making Mrs
Grant blush.

“Come on, Sally,” Mrs
Grant said, making her way to the counter and collecting another bowl of food. “Let’s give these love birds some privacy. Lord knows they won’t get any once they announce it to everyone. And that dress looks lovely on you, dear.”

Sally gave Sam an odd look, appearing both sad and mutinous, but she duly collected a plate
and followed her mother out of the kitchen.

Ruth’s first wedding had been long and included bible readings, hymns and a lengthy sermon on the sanctity of marriage.

This ceremony couldn’t have been more different.

Mamma
asked each of them if they would take the other, ‘to love, honour and cherish’ until the day they died and when they had both answered ‘I do’ she declared, “Well, I do believe that makes you man and wife,” and the crowd cheered.

Sa
m cupped Ruth’s face between his hands and kissed her tenderly. Ruth seemingly had other ideas as she put her arms around his waist, pulling him against her and deepening the kiss. They could both hear the whistles and catcalls but ignored them, until the fiddle began playing, announcing the beginning of the dancing portion of the evening.

They danced late into the night, unfortunately rarely with each other, and
Mamma went home with Jinny and Clyde, to give the newlyweds some time alone, she said. They wouldn’t have a lot of time for romancing but they were grateful to be able to spend their evenings alone for a while.

They were laughing as they climbed the stairs to the bedroom but before Sam could remove her dress, Ruth excused herself.

Sam thought it rather pointless to prepare for her wedding night now, especially since he had already seen her naked but he didn’t argue, just undressed himself and climbed into bed to wait. When she did return, she wore a sly smile.

“What’s that look for?” he asked, leaning up on his elbows.

Ruth handed him a slip of paper which Sam held closer to the oil lamp to read.

“What is this?” He asked.

“Well, my father gave me two horses before he died. After Ivor ran away, I could only afford to take Angel with me to my brother-in-law’s. Henry Chaplin was a friend of my father; he’s the breeder we bought all our horses from. He offered to keep the other horse, Guinevere, and we came to an arrangement that he would train and race her, and I would earn a share of any winnings. Unfortunately she was placed a few times but she wasn’t a winner. She does however, have impeccable breeding and that’s her pedigree. My brother has arranged to have her sent over as a wedding present.” She came to sit beside him, putting an arm around his shoulders.

“You told him you were marrying a rancher?”

“No, I told him I was marrying a very talented breeder and trainer, which is true.”

“So what are we supposed to do with
her?”

“Breed her with Angel, of course. She’s my wedding present to you.”

“Don’t you think you’ve given me enough?” he asked, picking her up and placing her on his lap.

“Well it’s for both of us.
Next spring we can breed Guinevere and Angel and produce the first in a long line of champion racehorses.”

Sam laughed. “You are one in a million, Ruth Wakefield.” He pulled the combs from her hair and ran a ringlet through his fingers.

“So, do you think this will be boring now that we’re officially married and allowed to make love?” she teased.

The hand on her back began to undo her buttons. “I do hope not,” he said stealing a kiss as he eased her dress off her shoulders. “
Unfortunately there seems to be a little imbalance in our state of undress, and we can’t start a marriage unbalanced.”

“Well we can’t have that, can we.” She got off his lap and slowly peeled the dress from her body, taking her time, teasing him as she slowly removed her undergarments, one by one and refusing all his offers to help.
She tormented him for a good ten minutes but when they finally did make love, it was all the better for waiting.

A
s they lay sated, Sam propped himself up on his elbow.

“Thank you,” he said, tucking her hair behind
her ear, “for making me the happiest man alive.” He kissed her.

When they came up for air,
Ruth could feel something digging into her hip.

“So soon?” she asked with a wicked grin on her face.

“Oh yes and you better not make any plans for tomorrow either.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m not letting you out of this room.”

Ruth smiled and stretched languorously. “Now you come to mention it, breakfast in bed does sound nice.”

Her punishment for deliberately misunderstanding was to be tickled mercilessly, and their cries of mirth could be heard even in the bunk house.