His Prairie Princess (Prairie Brides 1) (8 page)

He marched down the hall to the stairs just as Mr. Mulligan burst through the door. “Doc, Harrison!  The Sheriff’s back! And he’s got one of those outlaws!”

* * *

Sadie sat on Doc and Grandma’s bed.  She’d been sleeping on a pallet in the spare room her mother occupied, but didn’t want to disturb her.  She walked in on Grandma instead and had to apologize for slamming the door.  Now that the woman was downstairs she let the tears fall.    Harrison was trying to get rid of her. 

Maybe she and her mother were becoming a burden for him.  He did come twice a day and to do so probably meant work on his farm suffered.  Sadie didn’t want t
o be a burden.  Or a temptation, of which she obviously was. 

A tantalizing morsel just waiting to be eaten, like her mother.  And around here, if Mrs. Dunnigan had her way, that’s all they would be.  So even though Harrison’s desire to protect her was flattering, he seemed desperate to get her out of town. Obviously, the temptation was too much.

Sadie sat and went over their conversation. His resolve to protect her body was admirable, but what about her heart?  She sighed. That was something she should have seen to herself.  She hadn’t realized until that afternoon her heart had allowed the Englishman in.  The only problem was, she didn’t know how to get him out.  Thus, there was only one thing to do.

Sadie was going to have to pack up her mother as soon as she was able, and leave.  She got herself out here, albeit with a little help from Harrison, she could get back.  Surely someone in this town would know who her father was and see she was returned safely. The thought of Harrison escorting her across miles of prairie in order to rid him of temptation was more than she could bear. And what if he couldn’t hold out?  What i
f
sh
e
couldn’t?  What then? Until that afternoon, Sadie had never before felt this wayaround a man.  An inner longing that pulled at the deepest part of her soul when she was with him. Wha
t
wa
s
it?  Was this what it felt like to fall in love?

  Sadie wiped the tears from her eyes. She wanted a man to marry her because he loved her, not because he needed to use her body to slake his lust.
And by Harrison’s own admission that was all there was to it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a commotion downstairs.  She stood just as Grandma suddenly entered the room.  “The Sheriff’s back!  He’ll want to be seeing you.  Him and the posse managed to get their hands on one of those no good outlaws!”

Sadie’s eyes grew wide.  Cold slipped up her spine at the mention of her former captors.  Which one could it be?  Would she be able to identify him?  They were wearing masks the entire time she’d been in their company.

“Best get your coat.  Supper will have to wait until after you’ve talked with the Sheriff.  Harrison will take you.”

Sadie could only nod as she left the room, went downstairs and donned her coat.  Harrison came out of the kitchen where he’d been speaking with Doc Waller and another gentleman.  “Are you all right?”  He asked.

She looked up at him.  His face was full of concern.  Without warning he pulled her into his arms and held her tight.  “I’ll be right there, you have nothing to fear. They’ll only want to know if the scoundrel is one of the men that kidnapped you.”

His embrace was like Heaven.  Warm, strong, safe.  His voice a soothing balm.  How could she leave something so wondrous after tasting of it?  This was going to be harder than she thought.  Reluctantly she pushed him away.  “Thank you.” was all she could offer.

Harrison took her hand and led her from the house.  Once outside, he offered her his arm.  She took it
, even though being so close to him would only make it harder for her, and they made their way to the Sheriff’s office. 

Sadie had never seen Clear Creek so lively.  The posse must have been made up of over half the town.  Horses were tethered outside the Sheriff’s office and Mulligan’s saloon across the street.  She saw more people in several minutes than sh
e’d seen her entire stay.  Even Mrs. Dunnigan came charging through the crowd to see the ‘criminal’ and brandishing a hatchet no less. 
A
hatchet
.
Apparently the outlaws had caused quite a few problems for the townsfolk of Clear Creek and everyone, it seemed, wanted a piece of the scoundrel’s hide.

Sadie almost felt sorry for the man.  Almost.

“Now just go on home!” The Sheriff, a tall, middle aged, kindly looking man told the gathered crowd. “We’ll let you good folks know just as soon as we find out anything.”

“Find out if thems the ones that stole my cows!”  A voice yelled.

“And mine!”  Yelled another.

“What about the stage robbery?”  Came yet another.

“Now folks, we just got back.  Me and the boys need a rest.  Then we gotta find out if this fella is connected to any of your missing livestock.”

“You mean you’re not going to do anything?”  Mrs. Dunnigan huffed as she shoved her way forward.

The Sheriff visibly cringed and eyed her hatchet warily.  “Afternoon, Mrs. Dunnigan.”

“Don’t you afternoon me, is this one of the outlaws or not?”

“Well now, Mrs. Dunnigan, we need to question him.  Then we need to gather some evidence.”

“Evidence?  What evidence?  There are only so many people in town!  I would think process of elimination would be sufficient enough!”

“Mrs. Dunnigan, be reasonable. We still need proof, ma'am. You can’t go accusing folks in town of being the outlaws without proof.”

“What about a witness?”  Harrison called out as he pulled Sadie through the crowd.

“Just who do you have there, Harrison?” The Sheriff asked.

“The passenger the outlaws kidnapped when they robbed the stage.”

Mrs. Dunnigan gasped and dropped the hatchet.  The rest of the crowd whispered amongst themselves as two figures silently backed away from the crowd and slipped out of sight.  Because if the so-called witness could identify the captured outlaw, she could identify them as well. 

“Kidnapped?” The Sheriff exclaimed.  “This is the missing passenger? But I thought she made her way into
town on her own.  One of the boys told me when they brought us supplies a week ago.”

Harrison pulled Sadie against him.  Mrs. Dunnigan let go a disgusted snort at the action.  Harrison ignored her.  “No sir.  I left to go meet the stage on account of the mail I was expecting.  When the stage didn’t show up, I went looking for it.  After discovering it had been robbed, I took care of the wounded driver,
and then followed the outlaw’s trail to a cabin north of the first ridge.  Never would have found it if it hadn’t snowed the night before.” 

He looked to Sadie with the same look of concern as before.  Her insides melted like fresh churned butter. “Thank the Lord it started to snow during our escape.  It made it much harder for them to track us.”

The Sheriff stood open mouthed and looked from Sadie, to Harrison, and back again.  “Is this true?”

“Yes sir.  The stage was held up where the road forks.  There were four of them.  They took the strongbox, the mailbag, and me.  We rode for hours, and finally came to a cabin, just as Harrison said.”

The Sheriff took off his hat and slapped his leg with it.  “I’ll be horn swallowed. How did you manage to get away?”

Harrison went silent.  Sadie looked to him and noticed the man blushed.

“Well?”  The Sheriff urged.

Harrison sighed.  “I performed a few animal calls.”

“Animal calls?” 

Raucous laughter erupted from several men in the crowd. “Did you scare them off with your imitat
ion of a hoot owl?” a man shouted.

Harrison rolled his eyes.  “It was a wolf howl, actually.”  He looked down at Sadie.  “I know it’s a silly thing to be good at.  But I’ve been able to imitate animal sounds since I was a child.”

Sadie smiled back.  So that’s how he’d been able to do it.  She’d been so busy taking care of her mother and recovering from her own injury she’d not thought to ask him more about her rescue.

“Well, don’t much matter if it was a hoot owl, a wolf, or one of Harrison’s pigs, it got the job done!  Come inside young lady.  We need to talk.” The Sheriff turned and went into his office. 

Harrison and Sadie began to follow.  Mrs. Dunnigan grabbed her other arm before she could cross the threshold.  “You mean to tell me you were taken by those outlaws and hold up in a cabin with them?  Why the disgrace!  No doubt they took their pleasure with you!” She turned to the crowd. “And she nary bats at an eye at the ordeal!”

Several men in the crowd suddenly looked at Sadie like she was a freshly baked pie just taken out of the oven.  Mrs. Dunnigan gave a little triumphant smirk as Harrison backed out of the door and gently pushed Sadie past him and through it.  He closed the door, shutting Sadie and the Sheriff inside.  “For your information, Mrs. Dunnigan, I rescued Miss Jones before any such debauchery occurred which accounts for her surviving the ordeal so admirably.  And the only debauchery involved seems to be in your own mind.  Kindly keep your wicked thoughts to yourself from now on.” He turned to go back inside.

“Or what?”

Harrison stopped up short. “I cannot speak it to a lady.”  He turned back to her.  “Oh, but then I’m not speaking to a lady, am I?” He turned back to the door and opened it.

Mrs. Dunnigan was about to comment but never got the chance.  The Sheriff’s voice cracked with excitement as he spoke.  “Man alive!  You mean your daddy owns the Big J? He’ll be riding in here any day now with guns blaring if he’s anything like folks tell about!”  He pushed Harrison out of the way and hurried out of the office.  “Charlie, Tommy!  Get some food and fresh horses.  I got a message for you to deliver!” 

He spun on his heel to go back inside.  Harrison stopped him.  “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?  Nothing son! You done rescued the daughter of one of the biggest cattleman in three territories!  In these parts that makes her like royalty!” He hurried back inside and slammed the door closed behind him. 

Harrison stood in openmouthed shock for a moment.  He stole a glance at Mrs. Dunnigan and wondered whose mouth hung wider.  He snapped his shut.  “Well, Mrs. Dunnigan.  It seems we have the daughter of a King in our midst.  A Princess.”

The woman’s mouth opened and closed a few times but no sound came out.  The men in the crowd leaned forward and watched the spectacle.  They’d never seen her at a loss for words before.  After her face turned a few shades of red she scooped up her hatchet and stomped off toward the mercantile.  The men in the crowd broke out in riotous laughter again as she made her retreat.  For once, Mrs. Dunnigan had nothing to say.

* * *

“It’s all right.  He can’t hurt you locked up in there.”  Harrison whispered into her ear from behind. “Is this one of them?”

His voice calmed her and Sadie had to force herself to look at the man sitti
ng in the jail cell.  He wasn't wearing a hat and no bandana covered his face.  How could she tell if he had been one of her kidnappers?  “I’m not sure.”

The man in the cell smirked. If he recognized her he certainly gave no indication.

This was terrible.  Everyone was counting on her to identify him.  Sadie turned to Harrison and the Sheriff.  She looked from one determined face to the other and thought a moment.  “Make him say something,” she whispered.

“What for?” the Sheriff whispered back.

“I couldn’t see their faces while I was with them.  But they talked in front of me a lot.  I might recognize his voice.”

The Sheriff eyed the outlaw who eyed him back just before he spit. “I don’t suppose we can let our new prisoner starve.  You hungry?”

The outlaw’s entire demeanor changed.  “Now Sheriff ya’all knows I haven’t had a thing today! I can't hardly see straight I’m so hungry!”

Sadie’s eyes lit with recognition.  She looked quickly to Harrison and whispered,  “I think his name is Cain.”

The Sheriff again eyed him.  “I’ll see we get you something.”

“Much oblige, Sheriff.  I’m not worth being accused of anything on a empty stomach.”

All three stared at the man who hadn’t a clue he’d just been found out.  Harrison took Sadie by the hand and led her to the front office of the jail.  The Sheriff followed.  Once he’d closed the door to the cell area, he sighed in relief.  “I can’t thank you enough, Miss Jones.  I’ve been after this gang for a long time now.  What else can you tell me?”

“I’m pretty sure his name is Cain.  There was another man
, Jeb. I think he was the leader. The other two were never called by name.”

“Well this is a mighty big help Miss Jones.  A couple dozen missing cattle probably don’t seem like much to you, but around here it can be life changing.  Folks will be happy to know we caught one of that thieving bunch.  Only a matter of time before we catch up with the rest. I sure hope it’s only one gang.  Still might be another.”

“Be it one or two different gangs, let us hope they don’t leave the area before you have a chance to apprehend them, Sheriff.”  Harrison commented.