Bran (Prairie Grooms, Book Six) Read online

  She looked at the sun and tried to figure out what direction she was heading, even though she knew when she left town she'd been going east. But during her frenzied flight, could Juliet have changed directions? She supposed it was possible, but didn't think so. As far she knew, the horse was heading due east, and that meant they were going toward Constance and Ryder’s place. “I guess we'll just stay the course,” she said to the horse. Juliet gave another flick of her ear in response. “Is that all you have to say?” Apple asked. The horse snorted, and Apple had to smile. “I'll take that as a yes.”

  Apple and Juliet pressed on, the horse breaking into a trot now and then as if she knew where she was. As Apple didn't, she let the horse pick the route. As long as they kept going east that was all that mattered. After all, they were bound to run across Constance and Ryder’s place at some point, it was only a matter of time. But after another half an hour, Apple was beginning to wonder if they really were going in the right direction. The tree line was clearly visible at this point and Juliet was heading straight for it. Again Apple noticed how Juliet seemed to know where she was going, making a direct path for the line of pine in front of them. She tried to remember any sort of landmark she and Harrison had passed when they'd traveled to see Levi and Fina. Of course, if it weren't for the fact she'd been chatting up a storm the entire time, maybe she could recall something. But no, she couldn’t remember anything of significance that would mark which way she and Harrison had gone. At least she knew their place was also east of Clear Creek. Yet, wasn’t it much closer to the tree line? If she was going in the right direction, she should've come across Levi's farm, not to mention August and Penelope’s.

  Where was she?

  She pulled on the reins and brought Juliet to a stop, glanced around, but still couldn't get her bearings. She then turned and looked at the expanse of forest that lay before her. It curved around in a horseshoe shape and she wondered if she wasn't in the middle of it. “Oh crumbs! Fina and Levi must be that way,” she muttered to herself and looked to her left. “If I'm heading due east, then that means Levi and Fina are northeast of town, and Ryder and Constance are a little more northeast of town?” She again stared at the pine trees not a quarter-mile away. “Am I heading southeast?”

  Juliet decided she'd had enough of the conversation and started off again.

  “What are you doing?” Apple cried. “I wasn't ready to go yet!” She yanked on the reins and tried to bring the horse to a stop, but Juliet would have none of it. She sidestepped a few paces, ending in a crow hop. Apple almost flew out of the saddle. Almost.

  “Stop it you bloody horse! This is no time to be acting up!”

  Juliet suddenly stopped, let out a loud snort, and started to sidestep again.

  “What’s the matter with you?” Apple cried as she struggled to hang on. “It was then she heard it; the distinct sound of a rattle. She looked down and saw the snake a few feet away. It coiled itself for a strike and Juliet reared in panic. The sudden move unseated Apple and tossed her to the ground. She landed with a thud and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop, just in time to see Juliet buck and take off. “Oh no!” Apple gasped as she tried to get her breath back. She quickly glanced around to locate the snake. It was a dozen feet away, thank heavens, but still coiled as before. Without taking her eyes off it, Apple scrambled to her feet, and ran. Unfortunately, in her panic, she ran in the opposite direction her horse did, and was heading straight for the tree line. Apple stumbled, tripped, got up, and took off again. Never had she run so fast, and was only slowed by the constraint of her corset—not to mention her recent tumble off the horse. Unable to breathe, she was forced to walk, and so she did, all the way to the safety of the pines.

  Two

  Deputy Bran O'Hare galloped his horse across the prairie, still madder than a rattler with the Sayer girl, but now it was because the little fool had taken off by herself. Sheriff Hughes was riding out to the Triple C in hopes that she’d gone home. Bran, meanwhile, was riding in the opposite direction, heading south east, while Chase headed northeast in case she’d decided to go to August Bennett's farm. In the direction he rode, he didn't expect to come across the girl, and perhaps that's why he volunteered for the route. Because if he did find her, he was going to tan her hide for what she'd done. Lucky for her, he took the least likely direction she would go.

  Bran’s horse Grady came to an abrupt stop, his head up, ears pricked forward in anticipation. He suddenly let out a loud neigh and started forward again. Bran stood in the stirrups to get a better view just as a horse, a rider-less horse, crested a rise ahead of them. So much for luck.

  Bran cursed under his breath as Juliet trotted up to his horse and snorted in greeting. From the looks of her, she’d been running a while. “Whoa there, girl,” Bran said as he reached out and tried to grab the loose reins of the bridle, but the horse would have none of it. She shied away with a squeal and took off again toward town. “Dagnabbit!” Bran muttered under his breath. “Ye little fool!” he said as he spurred Grady to action. “Just wait until I get my hands on you!”

  He pushed Grady up and over a rise and then another. The tree line came into view and he brought his horse to a stop. “Oh, good grief,” he said as he took in the expansive prairie and trees laid out before him. “Where are you?” His anger dissipated into concern as he scanned the landscape for the Sayer girl. What if she'd fallen off her horse and was injured? Or worse? Should he ride back to town to get help? Or continue the search? If she was seriously injured, she might die in the time it would take him to ride back to town and get help. Best he find her on his own.

  “Miss Sayer!” he shouted. He then sat silent in the saddle and listened. Nothing. “Hello!” Still nothing. “Tarnation! But I'm gonna tan that lassie’s hide what I find her!”

  He took off again, this time looking for signs of Juliet's trail. He knew that if he followed it, he'd have a much better chance of finding the girl. He just hoped she didn't wander off and was disoriented. What if she had a head injury, or was bleeding? “I'm still gonna tan her hide!” But then, what good would that do? Sure he was angry with her for pushing him into a safe and almost getting him killed, but was she any better off wandering around the prairie injured? He had to get a handle on his anger before he found her, but then the only alternative was worry, and if there is one thing Bran O'Hare hated, it was to worry.

  It wasn't long before he picked up Juliet’s trail and began to follow it. “Just how hard were ye pushing that horse, woman?” he asked as he continued to follow her trail east toward the tree line. By now he was several miles out of town and began to wonder how much of a head start she had on him. But it couldn't be much. He wasn't in the safe that long. If he had been, he'd be dead. But then Sheriff Hughes and Doc Drake did spend some time calming him down, and then there was the time it took to go to the mercantile, then to the Doctor’s place where they'd discovered she was missing. Then the time it took to get organized and set out after her. All in all, a little over a half an hour he’d say, and long enough for her to get to the tree line. Or at least the portion that extended several miles out from the rest of the forest. Further north the tree line again extended onto the prairie at least that far, and it was there that Chase Adams and Levi Stone had built their homes. Further south the tree line hugged the hills and curved to the southeast for miles. It was there that the infamous caves could be found, the same ones to which the outlaws that kidnapped the Cooke women over two years ago had fled.

  Bran brought Grady to another stop and searched the autumn prairie grasses for any sign of color. None of them thought to ask what the Sayer girl was wearing and he cursed himself for the oversight. He was a better lawman than that, and realized he must have been angrier with her than he thought when he found she'd gone missing. It was a stern reminder that he was a deputy first and foremost, and had better start acting like one, no matter how upset he was.

  He was about to set off again when his horse suddenly
reared. Unprepared for such a move, Bran lost his seat and fell flat on his back next to one the biggest rattlesnakes he'd ever seen. “Saints alive!” he exclaimed as he rolled and drew his gun at the same time. Not wanting to give the snake a chance to strike, he shot it.

  The sound echoed eerily across the prairie, and Bran wondered if anyone in town had heard it. But no, he was too far out, several miles at least. Besides, the sounds of everyday life in Clear Creek would detract from the sound of a single gunshot fired on the prairie.

  Bran sighed in relief at the sight of the dead snake, and climbed to his feet. He didn't see his horse. He recalled Grady leaping off to one side to avoid the reptile before Bran rolled away. The only difference was Bran came to a stop, Grady didn't. The blasted beast was nowhere to be seen! Good grief! What next?

  A woman's scream suddenly rent the air behind him. Bran spun toward the tree line and scanned it for any sign of Apple Sayer. “Hello?” he called out. No answer. He took off at a run. If the Sayer girl was alive and well he was still going to tan her hide.

  * * *

  Apple heard a gunshot off in the distance, then screamed when something touched her, but not knowing what that “something” was, made it worse. She spun a complete circle to see what had landed on her shoulder, but saw nothing. She stopped, however, when she noticed the many pinecones at her feet. Apple, you feather brain! She silently scolded. It was a bloody pinecone, not some mad outlaw in the woods. She breathed a sigh of relief and took in her surroundings. After her little jog across the prairie and subsequent trek into the forest, she was starting to feel pretty silly about her behavior. “And now I’ll have to walk back to town,” she groaned to the pinecones. She then remembered the gunshot. “Oh no,” she whispered. “What if it's a real outlaw?” On instinct, she leapt behind a tree, and then slowly peeked around its trunk. Nothing. No outlaw chasing after her, and not a sign of anyone. She breathed another sigh of relief and looked at the sky through the thick branches. If she was going to get back to town before dark, then she'd better start walking. But Apple couldn’t bring herself to leave the safe confines of the forest just yet. “Everyone's going to be mad at me,” she lamented. Especially the outlaw, she thought to herself. “It's a good thing he'll be locked up by the time I get back.” Speaking it aloud made it easier to believe it, and it was a much nicer thought then the alternative. Better to picture the outlaw alive and well and hopping mad behind bars, than dead on the floor in the bank, or down at the doctor's house, or the preacher’s, or wherever folks in Clear Creek took a body. She really didn't know as she’d never seen or heard anyone mention an undertaker. As far she knew, Clear Creek didn't have one.

  Apple let go heavy sigh and leaned against the tree; it was now or never. She didn't dare stay away so long that she’d wind up walking back in the dark, not after her close

  encounter with the rattlesnake. She didn’t want to run the risk of walking right over one. Best to head back now and face whatever news was waiting for her, good or bad. She sighed again and stepped out from behind tree.

  “Gotcha!”

  Apple screamed, but a hand clamped over her mouth as an arm came around and pinned her against a man's body. There was an outlaw, and now she was out here alone with him! What was she going to do?

  Panicked, she did the only thing she could think of, and stomped on his booted foot with the heel of her shoe.

  “OW!” her assailant cried. “What did ye do that for?”

  Apple did it again, and bit him to boot.

  “Blast ye woman! Just what do ye think yer doing?” the man cried with a definite Irish accent. He removed his hand from her mouth and shook it out.

  Apple took the opportunity to suck in a lungful of air, and then let out the most bloodcurdling scream she could muster. He silenced her with his hand again and held her tightly against him. She struggled and yelled only to hear her squeals come out nothing more than a muffled squeak. No one would be able to hear her. She was a dead woman. Naturally, she began to cry.

  “Oh no, not that!” The outlaw said in disgust.

  Apple didn't care what he thought, she wailed into his hand, as her body shook with her fearful sobs.

  “Oh, for crying out loud, woman! I'm not here to hurt you! I'm here to rescue you!”

  Apple’s muffled wails of anguish stopped. “Mwad midh mow may?”

  “What?”

  “Mwad midh mow may?”

  “Oh good grief!” he snapped as he removed his hand from her mouth.

  Apple gasped for breath and tried to turn to look at him. “What did you say?”

  He let her go and she stumbled several steps away from him. “You heard me,” he said.

  She spun to face him. “Deputy! I'm so glad to see you!”

  He gave her a smug look as he looked her up and down. “I see yer no worse for wear. Are ye hurt lass?”

  She shook her head. “No, I don't think so. My horse got spooked by a snake and threw me.”

  “I seem to have met the same snake, about five hundred yards from here. He spooked my horse too.

  Her hands flew to her mouth. “Oh no! What happened?”

  Bran made of show of looking around. “You don't see my horse do you?”

  “You were thrown too?”

  “You don't see my horse do you?” he repeated in exasperation.

  “Oh dear, what about the snake?”

  “I shot it.”

  “Oh, yes, I heard a gunshot. I thought maybe it was an outlaw.”

  “Seems to me you think everyone is an outlaw.”

  Apple's lower lip trembled and she turned from him. He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him again. “None of that now, we haven't the time for it. We need to be getting back to town before it gets dark.”

  Apple’s lip continued to tremble. “You… know what I did then?”

  His eyes narrowed. “Aye, I know what you did.”

  “Did… did the man live?”

  “Aye,” he drawled. “He's alive all right.”

  “Is he going to be okay?”

  “He'll… pull through.”

  “Oh, thank goodness,” she said in relief. “I could never live with myself if you told me he was dead. It doesn't matter that he’s an outlaw, no one should die because of a stupid mistake or in such a horrible manner.” The words tumbled out of her, and unable to help it, she burst into tears.

  The deputy let out a heavy sigh. “Here now,” he said as he pulled her into his arms. “It's not as bad as all that, I told ye he'd live, didn't I?”

  “I… know… hic … but, but it doesn't make me feel any better about it.”

  “C’mon lass, let's get back to town. Yer all right, and the man ye pushed into the safe is…”

  “What? What is he?”

  He let go of her and stepped back, hands-on hips. “He was bloody well mad at ye for one thing! And if he'd had half the chance, he'd have turned ye over his knee and tanned yer sorry hide!”

  Apple jumped at his words. “I didn't mean to do it!”

  “Aye, but ye did!”

  “Well… at least it stopped him from robbing the bank!”

  “Aye, had he been there to rob it in the first place!” the deputy shot back and gave her a pointed look.

  “Wha …What?”

  The deputy shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. “Never mind, let's go.” He took her by the hand and began to drag her in the direction of the open prairie.

  “You mean he wasn't there to rob the bank?” she persisted, her last word coming out a squeak. Good heavens! Was he saying that the man she shoved into the safe wasn't an outlaw?

  “I said never mind.”

  But Apple had to know. She wrenched her hand from his and stopped. “If he wasn't there to rob the bank, what was he doing in it?”

  The deputy stood, his back to her, and she could see him stiffen. “He wasn't there to take money out of the bank, lass, he was there to put money into it.”

  App
le gasped. “Oh, my Lord! But… But if that's the case, then who was he?”

  The deputy turned around to face her. A smile slowly formed on his lips as one eyebrow rose in confirmation.

  Apple's heart sank to her toes. “Oh… no… I didn't…”

  “Oh, aye, lass, ye did.”

  “But… You?”

  Deputy Bran O'Hare looked Apple in the eye, and nodded.

  Apple's response? She fainted dead away.

  Three

  Great. Now what was he going to do? He'd managed to catch her before she hit the ground, and now stood with her in his arms “Miss Sayer?” Like calling her name while holding her was going to do any good. He gently set her down, cradled her upper body with one arm, and patted her face with his free hand. “Miss. Sayer? Come now, lass, don't do this to me. I am not carrying ye all the way back to Clear Creek!”

  Thankfully, he wouldn't have to. Her eyes fluttered open. “What… What happened?”

  “Isn't it obvious? Ye fainted.”

  “Fainted? Why ever would I…” She looked at him, eyes wide, and gasped. “Oh no! You!”

  “Me?”

  She nodded. “You! I almost killed you!”

  He nodded. “Almost.”

  Apple let out a wail and scrambled to her feet. “I'm sorry… So sorry! I didn't know!”

  Bran let out a heavy sigh. “So everyone keeps telling me.” He looked at her and noticed how frightened she was. Did she think he was going to harm her? But then, hadn’t he planned to turn her over his knee the whole time he’d searched for her? Not that he intentionally wanted to cause her any real harm, but he did want to teach her a lesson. Perhaps having to walk back to town with him and stew over what she'd done would be lesson enough. “We'd best be getting back,” he said as he stood and started walking. Sensing she didn't follow, he stopped and turned. “Well? Aren’t ye coming?”