August (Prairie Grooms, #1) (20 page)

“Now calm down, son – we’ll catch him. Henry’s out rounding up a posse now.” He turned to Penelope. “You want me to send one of the boys out to the Triple-C and fetch your sisters?”

She and August were seated on a love seat. “I have what I need here.” She looked up at him. “Please tell me you’re not going out with the posse. Don’t leave me alone.”

“Not on your life, darling. I’m not going anywhere. In fact I think it might be safer if you stayed here at the hotel for a few days until things settle down. I don’t want you alone out at the farm until that villain is under lock and key.”

“Good idea, August,” the sheriff agreed.

“Good Lord!” Colin Cooke cried as he burst into the dining room of the hotel. “Penelope! What happened? Henry caught me as I was leaving the livery stable and told me you’d been attacked!”

She buried her head in August’s chest. He held her to him and kissed the top of her head. “I’m afraid so, Colin. But she’s safe now, and that’s what matters.”

“Can you tell me anything about the man who attacked you?” Sheriff Hughes asked.

She drew away from the safety of August’s arms. “I never saw him, but he had a lighter build than August, though was perhaps the same height.”

“What did he sound like?” asked Colin.

“That’s the funny thing. He spoke quite clearly, almost as if ...”

“As if what?” August asked.

“This may sound silly, but he talked as if he was performing in a play. He said the silliest things ...”

“That don’t sound like any outlaw I know,” Sheriff Hughes stated.

She shook her head, still trying to sort everything out. “I do believe he was English. At least he spoke with an accent – a distinctly upper-class accent.”

Colin stepped up to the table. “English?” He spun on Sheriff Hughes. “You don’t suppose ...”

“Could be,” the Sheriff mused as he drummed his fingers on the table. “But only you and Harrison would be able to tell for sure.”

“What are you talking about?” August demanded. “A man attacked my wife – if you know something, please tell me.”

“There was a man of our acquaintance named Thackeray Holmes,” Colin said. “He disappeared a couple of years ago after our own encounter with him.”

“A dangerous encounter it was, too, as I recall,” the sheriff added. “You and your brothers were almost killed.”

“But I thought he was innocent,” said August. “Wilfred told me he tried to rescue Duncan’s wife, Cozette.”

“No one’s sure what happened, or who else was involved,” Sheriff Hughes explained. “Sadie and Cozette heard an Englishman talking to some o’ the outlaws, and figured it had to be this Holmes fella, but then he comes along and tries to rescue the women. It was pretty wild – none of us could figure out what was going on.”

“If it’s not Thackeray, then whom?” Colin asked.

Penelope, quiet all this time, came to attention. “Are you talking about cousin Thackeray? Oh my goodness ...”

“The very same,” Colin said dryly. “He came out West to see to it that he got the title and estate if none of us wanted it. But Duncan came through and took it on.”

“So if Duncan is now the duke, and has the title and estate, why would Thackeray try to harm me?” Penelope asked. “It makes no sense.”

“No, it doesn’t. But let’s not waste anymore time talking about it,” Colin said. “I’m going back to the ranch to fetch Harrison. He’ll want to know what’s going on. In the meantime, you two had best stay here at the hotel. Besides, your sister Constance is about to – as she put it – ‘bust a gut’ she’s so excited.”

“Excited?” Penelope asked. “About what?”

“Ryder told Sadie that he has completed his house. Thus, she is now willing to allow him to court your sister for a few days, to see if they will truly suit.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Penelope said with a little clap of her hands. “She’ll be so ... oh dear ... she’ll be impossible to live with.”

“Maybe it would be best if your sisters joined you here in the hotel while we’re out hunting this scoundrel,” Colin suggested.

“Now you’re sounding like a penny dreadful,” Penelope told him.

“All of this reminds me of them,” Colin said. “Mother would be agog with anticipation to see what happens next.”

“Like that crocodile story Uncle Leonard used to tell us?” Penelope asked.

“You know that story too?” Colin asked with a smile.

“Will you two please stop talking about crocodiles and get back to the subject?” August demanded. “We have an outlaw to track down.”

“
They
have an outlaw to track down,” Penelope told him. “
You
have me to take care of.” She ran a finger along his jawline.

He took her into his arms again. “So I do. What say I take you up to our room, Mrs. Bennett, and ... see to your needs?”

She smiled and buried her face in his chest. “I would like nothing more, Mr. Bennett.”

“August,” he whispered against her hair.

“August ...”

Colin exchanged a look with the sheriff, who got up from his chair and stood. “Ah, we’ll just be moseying along now. You two go ahead and ... er ... do whatever it is ...”

“Let them be, Sheriff,” Colin laughed. “They’re married, they can go ... ah ...” He turned away from the couple, who were now locked in a deep kiss. “Well. What say we go track down ourselves a malefactor?”

Sheriff Hughes slapped him on the back. “Sounds good to me, Colin.” They left, as did Mr. Van Cleet, who quietly waited off to one side in case the newlywed couple needed anything. But no, all they needed was their room, some peace and quiet, and each other. Two people who were more suited to one another than either of them could have ever imagined.

The Weaver farm, March 1871

“And so ends this tale of mail-order English brides and their prospective ... oh, wait a minute! There’s still an outlaw at large, an’ two more brides have yet to wed! We cain’t end it here, can we?” Tom Turner exclaimed with a wave of his hand.

His small audience at the kitchen table stared at him, mesmerized. “Your darn right ya cain’t end it there!” Calvin lamented. “I gotta know what happens!”

Tom chuckled. “See, an’ here I thought you didn’t like love stories,”

“I
don’t
like no silly love stories, I liked the action!” Calvin tossed back.

“I liked the romance,” Benjamin said, his eyes darting between his brothers.

Arlan smiled. “Did they catch him?”

“The villain?” asked Tom. “Nope. They tried, but didn’t have no luck. He just up and disappeared.”

“But wasn’t that Cutty fella and Thackeray Holmes one and the same?” asked Ma.

“Yes, ma’am, but nobody knew that. At least, not until later.”

“What happened later?” asked Samijo.

Tom sat back in his chair. “Well, now, that’s another story, ma’am. Come to think of it, that’d be Constance and Ryder’s story.”

“Well?” asked Ma. “Ain’tcha gonna tell us?”

“Yeah, don’t end it like that!” Calvin said and slapped his hand on the table. “I gotta know what happens next!”

Tom smiled. “Tell ya what I’ll do. You let me take these two varmints I got locked up out in that wagon back to Nowhere, throw ‘em in jail, and then I’ll see if’n I can’t come back out here next week and tell ya what happened when Ryder got together with Miss Constance.”

The Weaver boys groaned in protest – all but Arlan, who laughed at their child-like impatience. “Let Deputy Turner do his job,” he told them. “He’ll be back soon enough.”

Benjamin sighed. “Okay. But you promise you’ll be back here before the week is out?”

“If’n I don’t have to chase down any more outlaws, then yeah, I promise,” Tom said with a grin.

“It’s a deal, Deputy,” Ma told him. “We’ll be lookin’ for ya next week.”

Tom stood, stretched and reached for his hat. “Meanwhile, make sure no one corners any o’ ya in your barn again, ya hear? I might not get here in time to rescue ‘em.”

They laughed at that, knowing full well what they could have done to the outlaws they dealt with during their own adventures.

“Be seeing ya,” Tom said as he put on his hat. He left through the kitchen’s back door, and whistled as he strolled to the wagon that held his prisoners.

“That man sure does tell a good story,” remarked Samijo. “Do you think he makes ‘em up?”

Arlan put his arm around his wife. “Nope. I believe every word he says.” He looked at her. “I wonder if one day, he’ll be tellin’ folks our story?”

“Maybe, son,” his mother replied as she watched him kiss his wife. “Just maybe.”

The End

B
e watching in June 2014 for the next installment of Prairie Grooms to find out (along with a very excited Calvin Weaver) what happens next with Ryder and Constance. In the mean time, check out these other titles:

Also by Kit Morgan – The Holiday Mail-Order Bride Series:

The Christmas Mail-Order Bride

The New Year’s Bride

His Forever Valentine

Her Irish Surrender

The Springtime Mail-Order Bride

Love in Independence (Coming June 2014)

Love at Harvest Moon (Coming August 2014)

The Thanksgiving Mail-Order Bride (Coming October 2014)

The Holiday Mail-Order Bride (Coming November 2014)