The Horseman (12 page)

But Gunner shrugged. “Not necessarily,” he
said. “But she’s bound to foal a beauty, with strength and speed to
boot.” He exhaled a sigh of satisfaction. “Can you just imagine
ridin’ such an animal as Brown Bonnie’s foal is bound to be? I tell
you, I can’t wait for the chance.”

Briney watched as Gunner fed the rest of the
carrots from his pocket to “his girls.” Then he dusted off his
hands and said, “You girls be on your way now. Go on,” and a few of
the horses turned to trot out across the pasture. The black and
Brown Bonnie, however, lingered, and as Briney turned from them,
she felt one of the horses nudge her back with enough force to
cause her to stumble forward, directly into the arms of Gunner
Cole.

“Oh!” she gasped as Gunner helped her to
stand. “I…I’m so sorry,” she stammered, blushing to the tips of her
toes.

Gunner smiled down at her, keeping his arms
around her much, much longer than was necessary for her to get her
footing. “I might should’ve mentioned—Brown Bonnie…she can be a bit
playful at times.”

“I see,” Briney managed to whisper, gazing up
into the smolder of Gunner’s narrowed blue eyes. She wondered for a
moment how blue eyes could smolder, but smoldering was exactly what
Gunner’s eyes were doing—and she felt a thrill of euphoria race
through her.

“You all right?” he asked.

“Mm hmm,” she assured him with a nod.

To her great disappointment, he released her
then, saying, “Well, I figure we’ve been out ridin’ for close to an
hour and a half. You ready to ride on back to the stables for now?
I wouldn’t want to wear you out and have you stiff as a board
again, now would I?”

Blushing with mild humiliation at his
reference to the condition she’d ridden herself into the last time
she’d seen him, she nodded. “I suppose that would be the wise thing
to do.”

“It would,” he agreed. “And that way, you can
come back tomorrow if you like…instead of havin’ to rest up for a
few more days.”

“You’re a wise horseman indeed,” she
teased.

“And besides,” he continued, “I still need to
show you how to take care of Sassy after a ride, now don’t I?”

Grinning down at her, he reached out, gently
tugging at the brim of the hat she was wearing to protect the
tender and still somewhat pink skin on her face. “I like this hat,”
he said. “It’s kept your pretty little face from gettin’ too much
sun again.”

Briney thought she would swoon as Gunner
caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, sending goose pimples
rippling over her arms and legs.

“Now, let’s get you back so Sassy can get
some pamperin’. What do you say?” he asked, winking at her.

“Yes,” Briney managed to breathe.

Gunner helped her mount Sassy, and Briney was
glad he did—for her legs felt as limp as overcooked string beans!
Her heart was beating so hard she was afraid it would wear itself
out, and she still couldn’t draw an even breath. The man was purely
intoxicating!

“You ready?” Gunner asked once he’d mounted
his horse as well.

Briney smiled and nodded her assurance, and
Sassafras followed suit as Gunner’s horse broke into a dead run at
Gunner’s urging.

Briney felt the wind blow the hat from her
head but knew the chin string would keep it from being lost as she
reveled in the feel of racing across the meadow before them. Life
was glorious, horses were beautiful creatures, and Briney was
falling in love with the Horseman, Gunner Cole.

“And he asked if he could come callin’ on me
and my parents this Saturday evenin’!” Bethanne exclaimed with
excitement.

“Oh, Bethanne! That’s wonderful!” Briney
giggled as the horse pulling the Kelleys’ buggy clip-clopped back
toward town.

“It is, isn’t it?” Bethanne sighed. “And it’s
all thanks to you, Briney—you and your wantin’ a horse of your own.
I would never have had a reason to travel out to the Horseman’s
place and talk to Charlie Plummer if it hadn’t been for you and
your horse.”

But Briney shook her head. “Oh, I think
Charlie Plummer would’ve eventually found his way to you one way or
the other, Bethanne,” she playfully argued. “He’s had eyes for you
long before today. That was plain to see.”

Bethanne blushed with delight. Then, being
the courteous, caring young woman she was, she asked, “But tell me,
how was your ride with the Horseman? Did you two stop for a bit of
sparkin’ out under some big oak tree or anything the like?”

“Oh, heavens no!” Briney assured her
friend—all the while wishing Gunner had at least tried to kiss her.
She blushed at the memory of having been nudged into Gunner’s arms
by Brown Bonnie, however. “Although, he did embrace me twice
today.”

“What?” Bethanne exclaimed with excitement.
“Do tell, Briney Thress! Do tell!”

Briney giggled with the pleasure of the
memory of being held in Gunner’s arms. “Well, truth be told, the
first time was my fault—because I was so excited in finally owning
Sassafras myself that I actually threw my arms around his neck and
embraced him with thanks.”

“Scandalous!” Bethanne teased with a wink.
Briney smiled as Bethanne tugged on the lines a bit, saying, “Slow
down, Matilda. Briney and I have a lot to discuss on this short
trip home.” She smiled at Briney and prodded, “Go on.”

“When I realized what I’d done, I was just
mortified, of course. I mean, how inappropriate was it for me to
hug him like that?” Briney explained.

Bethanne rolled her eyes with exasperation,
however. “So that’s it? You hugged him?”

“No, not all of it,” Briney told her. “When I
realized what I was doing, I began to let go of him, only to find
that he had wrapped his arms around me…and didn’t release me right
away. So I stood there, admittedly overwhelmed with bliss, as
Gunner Cole just held me in his arms—tight…right up against
himself.”

“Ooo! How delicious, Briney!” Bethanne
giggled.

“Oh, it was delicious! And that wasn’t even
the end of it,” Briney continued. “Then when we were out riding
together, we paused and dismounted so that he could show me some of
his mares that will be foaling sometime at the beginning of the new
year. And as I was turning away from the horses in preparation to
leave, one of them nudged me from behind, and I went tumbling
forward right into Gunner’s arms, again! And then he caressed my
cheek with the back of his hand. And I tell you, Bethanne, I
thought I might swoon dead away!”

Bethanne sighed with contentment. “You’re
gonna end up marryin’ the Horseman, Briney. I just know it!”

“Oh, don’t be silly, Bethanne,” Briney
said—although the daydream of marrying Gunner had been in Briney’s
thoughts from the moment she had first set eyes on him.

“Nope. It’s true,” Bethanne insisted. “You’re
gonna marry the Horseman, and I’m gonna marry Charlie Plummer, and
we’ll both be so happy, you and I. Charlie’s going to start raisin’
his own horses too, you know. Mr. Cole has already helped him to
secure some property nearby so they can work together with the
horses.” Bethanne tossed her head with joy. “Life is going to be
wonderful for us, Briney! Just wonderful!”

Briney shook her head, however, for as much
as she wanted to believe what Bethanne was hoping would come
true—Briney one day marrying Gunner and Bethanne one day marrying
Charlie—it just seemed far too inconceivable that everything would
work out to be as perfect as the ending of a storybook.

“You’re quiet,” Bethanne noted. “It means
your doubtin’ what I just said. But don’t doubt, Briney. Wish and
hope and have a little faith. I’ve already seen it in my mind’s
eye. We’ll both be married and settled down by the end of the
year.” Bethanne smiled, adding, “Long before the Horseman’s mares
foal.”

“I wish I had your confidence, Bethanne,”
Briney admitted. “But for pity’s sake, I hardly know the man!”

“Oh, I see that sparkle in your eyes, Briney
Thress,” Bethanne said. “You’ve been daydreamin’ about him since
the day you met him, haven’t you?”

“Daydreams are only fantasy, Bethanne,”
Briney answered, avoiding a direct affirmation that Bethanne had
hit the nail squarely on the proverbial head. “They don’t really
come true. Or at least, they rarely do.”

But Bethanne’s brows suddenly furrowed into a
frown as Matilda pulled the buggy into Oakmont.

“What’s goin’ on, I wonder?” Bethanne
asked.

Following Bethanne’s gaze, Briney felt a
frown furrow her brow as well. A large, ornate carriage was waiting
in front of the boardinghouse—rigged to two beautiful black horses.
Briney had seen this type of carriage before—in big cities she’d
visited with Mrs. Fletcher. This was the conveyance of the wealthy,
and a terrible anxiety began to rise in her.

As her mind whispered to her that the
carriage in front of the boardinghouse surely had something to do
with Mrs. Fletcher herself, and thereby Briney, she began to
tremble with trepidation. Yet the sensible part of her thoughts
reminded her that Mrs. Fletcher was dead. Therefore, it couldn’t be
Mrs. Fletcher who had hired the ornate carriage to convey her to
Oakmont.

And yet it was in that moment that Mr. Kelley
stepped out of the boardinghouse front door, accompanied by a man
Briney indeed recognized.

“Mr. Christensen,” Briney gasped in
horror.

“Who?” Bethanne inquired. She looked to
Briney, saying, “Briney! You’ve gone as pale as a ghost!”

“It’s Mr. Christensen…Mrs. Fletcher’s
solicitor,” Briney breathed.

It was as if the joy had been sucked from her
somehow. Just the sight of Mr. Christensen had drained Briney
Thress of all happiness, all good things, all hopeful dreams and
Bethanne’s prediction of Briney’s marrying Gunner.

“Why would he travel out here?” Bethanne
again glanced to Briney. “To see you? Why?”

“I don’t know,” Briney admitted. “But I’ve
learned from experience that wherever Mr. Christensen goes…misery
always follows.”

And it was true. Briney remembered the first
time she met Mr. Christensen—in a court of law when the legalities
of Briney’s adoption by Mrs. Fletcher were being finalized. It had
been Mr. Christensen who had set down the parameters of Briney’s
leaving the orphanage to become a ward of Mrs. Fletcher, Mr.
Christensen who had drawn up the documents stating that Briney
would not be allowed to share the Fletcher family name, that she
would have no inheritance of the Fletcher family fortune, that she
would be only a ward and companion of Mrs. Fletcher, and that when
Mrs. Fletcher no longer had need of Briney’s company or service,
Briney would then make her own way in the world.

Of course, everything Mr. Christensen had
informed the judge of as to Briney’s adoptive circumstances had
been at Mrs. Fletcher’s instruction. Still, Briney resented a man
who would bow to such demands where a young girl’s life was
concerned.

“You’ve got your own life here, Briney,”
Bethanne reminded her friend. She pulled Matilda to a halt behind
the ornate carriage that had brought Mr. Christensen to town. “That
mean old lady is gone! She can’t make your decisions for you any
more. You’re free; remember that. No matter what her solicitor is
here to do.”

Briney looked to Bethanne, choking back tears
of foreboding. “But why is he here?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter, Briney. Not a whit,”
Bethanne told her. “Let’s just march up to him and find out why
he’s here. He can’t hurt you, Briney. Not with that old badger dead
and buried.”

Briney managed a nod in agreement. Bethanne
was right: Mrs. Fletcher couldn’t control her life from the grave.
Perhaps Mr. Christensen had only arrived to inform her that Mrs.
Fletcher was indeed buried and that Briney was free of her
forever.

“You’re right,” Briney said to her friend.
“I’ll just walk straight up to him and find out his purpose. I well
remember the stipulations he announced to the judge upon Mrs.
Fletcher’s adopting me. I’m free of her…no matter what.”

“I’ll come with you,” Bethanne said, hopping
out of the buggy and securing Matilda’s lines to the hitching post.
“And Daddy’s right there too. You have nothin’ to fear, Briney. Not
with all of us who love you so much at your side.”

Briney smiled, brushed a tear from her cheek,
and choked in a whisper, “Thank you, Bethanne. Do you know no one
has ever actually told me they loved me? Not that I remember, at
least.”

“Well, I do!” Bethanne stated. “And so do
Daddy and Mama…and your handsome Horseman. So have no fear, Briney
Thress. Have no fear.”

Though Briney knew Gunner Cole didn’t love
her, she felt he did like her—and Bethanne and her parents had
shown her more kindness and love than she’d ever known. Therefore,
gathering her courage, Briney stepped down from the buggy as well.
And as Bethanne linked arms with her in showing support and care,
Briney made her way toward Mr. Christensen.

“Well, here she is now,” Mr. Kelley said as
Briney and Bethanne approached.

Briney couldn’t help but glance into Mr.
Christensen’s carriage as she passed, and her heart plunged to the
very pit of her stomach with anxiety when she saw two women wearing
black mourning crape and veils and one man dressed in black still
sitting inside the carriage.

“Who are they?” Bethanne asked in a
whisper.

“Mrs. Fletcher’s children,” Briney managed to
answer.

All at once, Briney began to tremble as
memories of the ill treatment she’d suffered at the hands of Mrs.
Fletcher’s children began to wash over her like a flood. Always
taunting her, referring to her as the ugly orphan duck their mother
had saved from the vile orphanage when she was first brought to
their home, Nimrod, Mary, and Constance Fletcher had heaped so much
misery upon Briney that, try as she might not to, she nearly
loathed them.