The Sextet Presents… By Male Order [In Days of Olde] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (11 page)

Two men were half shielded by the well, and the moonlight wasn’t enough to allow Alec to take a good shot, especially not if Hope was running around in the dark. If he missed, he might hit her.

Thomas crouched on the other side of the window. “What’s the plan?”

“I donae have one yet.”

“Hope?”

“The lass will be fine. She’s smart and fast. She willnae put herself in danger. She’s a survivor.”

He prayed he was right.

Then Alec’s heart seized in terror. Hope was running out of the burning barn, leading Nightingale and her foal. She turned them loose, slapped both of their rumps, and then ran right back into the flames.

* * * *

Hope threw the blanket over Hooper’s eyes, blinding him to the rapidly spreading fire so she could lead him out of the stall. Nightingale and her colt were already loose, running around snorting and kicking up their heels, frightened by the fire. They’d been easy to get out of the barn, but Hooper was putting up a hell of a fight.

Once blindfolded, the horse finally cooperated, and Hope led him through the back doors. She didn’t whip off the blanket until they were well away.

Now that her horses were safe, she hurried back to the barn for the shotgun. After she dealt with the two men who’d started the damned fires, she was hopping on Hooper’s back and riding straight for the marshal.

Abe Driscoll had to be stopped before someone got killed, and she had no doubt he was behind this disaster.

Killed
. The thought of Alec or Thomas being harmed spurred her on.

The barn was quickly being consumed, and by the time she dug the shotgun out from behind the straw bales where she’d hidden it, the structure was nearly engulfed. Burning embers floated in the air, stinging her face, arms, and bare legs. Stepping on them was akin to stomping on bumblebees. The thickening smoke was choking her, and she couldn’t even breathe a relieved sigh when her hand found the butt of the gun. She dragged it out and tried to make her way out of the barn, but she was disoriented by the smoke and flames.

With a loud groan, the loft collapsed in an explosion of flames and timber.

* * * *

“Hope!” Thomas’s heart leapt into his throat. The foolish woman had turned Hooper loose and run right back into the burning barn—probably to save another animal. He reached for the doorknob before Alec knocked his hand away.

“Ye take one step outside, they’ll kill you.”

“Hope’s still in the barn!”

“I know, but we need a plan. We cannae just run outside and get ourselves shot.”

The panic was making it impossible for Thomas to find any logic. He needed to get to Hope. She couldn’t be in that inferno! She’d never survive!

How was he supposed to live without her now?

“Hope’s a survivor, Thomas. She’ll be careful.”

“The fire—”

“Isnae enough to stop her.”

“Alec! Thomas!” Hope shouted. “You can come out now!”

Both men scrambled to their feet. Thomas flung the door open and ran down the porch stairs. The sight before him was almost too much to believe.

Hope was standing there, still dressed only in his shirt and holding a shotgun on the two bandits, both of whom had their hands up in surrender. Their weapons lay at their feet.

“Hope!” Thomas kept running, needing to hold her in his arms to stop the slamming of his heart.

“That’s my lass,” Alec said. He set his shotgun aside and picked up the discarded guns. Then he threw a nasty glare at the bandits. “Who sent ye?”

“Ain’t talkin’,” the fatter of the two replied.

The other just shook his head.

Hope nudged the silent one with the barrel of her shotgun. “You’re Abe Driscoll’s men, aren’t you?”

Thomas moved behind Hope, setting his hands on her shoulders. While he wanted to hold her, he couldn’t. She was in total control right now, and he wouldn’t take that away from her. He gave her shoulders a bolstering squeeze.

“Tell me who sent you,” she demanded. “Tell me it was Driscoll!”

Alec wasn’t as subtle. He cocked both guns and pointed them at the men’s chests. “Ye best answer the lady’s questions or ye will be bleeding your life away on this parched ground.”

Neither spoke, but the chubby one started to tremble. Alec saw it too because he stepped close enough to press the barrel of the gun against the man’s forehead. “Ye have something to say?”

“Y–yes.”

“Then speak.”

“It
was
Driscoll.”

The second man slammed his shoulder into the first and ran toward the road.

Hope took a shot to his left, hitting the logs lining the path to the farm.

The man yelped and kept running.

Alec’s shot hit to his right, close enough to the bandit’s feet that he jumped and tumbled into the dust.

“You get up,” Hope warned, “and the next one will be through your back.”

He rolled to his back and held his hands in the air.

“Finish yer tale,” Alec said, pointing his weapon at the fat bandit again.

“Driscoll wants this land.”

“I know
that
,” Hope said, her patience clearly spent. “What I don’t know is
why
.”

“G–gold. There’s gold in—” A shot rang out, hitting the side of the man’s head before he could say another word. He fell to the ground like a discarded doll.

“Driscoll!” Hope shouted. “Show yourself!”

“This could have been so easy, Hope.” Abe Driscoll’s voice came from the side of the house, but Thomas couldn’t see him. Even in the light of the burning barn, that part of the house was hidden in shadows.

The sound of a revolver cocking made Thomas’s blood run cold.

He threw himself in front of Hope a moment before the shot sounded. Fire ripped through his shoulder, the pain driving him to his knees.

Hope wanted to scream, but she swallowed her fear for Thomas and faced the threat head-on. Her gaze settled on the shadows of her house. As soon as she caught the movement, she took her shot. A hoarse shout was followed by shuffling steps. Driscoll appeared, stumbling into the light. Blood was quickly staining the front of his shirt.

His eyes were wide, and a sickening groan escaped his lips. His hand dropped to his side, the gun sliding from his fingers and falling to the ground. He collapsed to his knees and fell forward.

Then he didn’t move.

Hope signed the paper and handed the pen back to the banker. The bank was stifling in the early October hot spell, but she would bear it until she could make her escape once and for all.

He blotted her signature and smiled. “Now that all the paperwork is done and the farm is sold, you are a very rich woman, Mrs. Adams. And you didn’t even have to dig the gold out yourself.”

Rich
.

Funny, but the money itself didn’t truly matter to her. What
did
matter was the freedom that fortune gave her, as well as the courage.

“Are you leaving soon?” the banker asked.

She stood and nodded. “I depart today. I’m quite ready to quit this town and start a new life.”

He rose and offered his hand. “The funds you asked for will be waiting in San Francisco when you arrive.”

“Thank you, sir.” She shook his hand.

Hope strode out of the bank, happy to see Alec and Thomas waiting for her with three horses. She’d given Hooper, Nightingale, and her colt to Mr. Smithson’s son, knowing they would find a good home with the boy. The horses they had now would get Hope and the men away from Clearbrook and help them start anew. They’d sell them as soon as they reached Iowa.

“Should you be without your sling?” she asked Thomas when she saw he’d discarded it. The bullet had gone straight through his shoulder, and he’d been lucky enough the wound hadn’t grown infected.

He gave his injured shoulder a roll. “It barely pains me now. Just a bit of stiffness. I’ll be careful with it. I promise.”

Alec lifted her up onto the saddle while Thomas mounted his brown gelding. “Are ye ready, lass?”

“To leave? Oh, heavens, yes.” She reined her horse and set it to trotting, happy to hear her men following. When she reached the town limits, she leaned forward and kicked the horse into a gallop.

Freedom
. It was all that had ever mattered to Hope—the ability to make her own choices and follow her own destiny. She jerked the ties on her bonnet loose, letting it fly away. She laughed, loud and long, feeling as though she’d been released from prison.

Thomas and Alec caught her, Alec reaching for her horse’s bridle and dragging the animal to a halt.

“Hope?” Alec’s gaze searched hers. “What’s wrong? Ye’re acting a wee bit odd today.”

“Not a damned thing is wrong,” she replied, smiling before she turned her face to the sun. “For the first time in a long time,
nothing
is wrong.”

“Then shall we make our way to Sioux City as we planned?” Thomas asked. “A slower pace might spare our horses.”

What her men didn’t know was that Sioux City was only a beginning. She had other plans of her own—plans she hadn’t shared with them. Daring ventures that she was finally ready to put into action thanks to the strength her love for them gave her.

“We shall, indeed, head for Sioux City,” she replied. “And at a more temperate pace. When we arrive, we’re heading straight for the closest church.”

Thomas frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

Hope had learned that where her men were concerned, it was more effective to tell rather than ask. Or perhaps she’d simply been in the role of their boss for too long to change her tack now.

“You and I shall marry in Sioux City, Thomas.” The shocked look on both their faces made a laugh bubble out.

“But…but…what about Alec?” Thomas asked.

His question was weighted with worry, which made her happy. When she’d formulated her plans, she’d thought and thought about what she could do to be sure that both men knew she loved them equally. And forever.

Then the perfect solution had come to her.

“You mustn’t worry about Alec. After you and I marry, the three of us will catch the train. At the first stop along the way, we’ll take a few moments for Alec and I to marry as well.”

“Verra clever, lass.” Alec’s grin told her that he’d caught on to her scheme.

“Bigamy is
clever?
” Thomas clearly hadn’t figured things out, judging from his fierce frown.

Hope was close enough to put her hand on his thigh. She patted him affectionately. “I don’t consider it bigamy to marry the men I love. No one ever need know but us, Thomas. My only sorrow is that you and Alec cannot exchange vows as well, for I know how much you truly love each other.”

“We shall be breaking the law should we both marry you,” Thomas insisted.

She loved the way he always viewed things in such black and white terms. She no longer did, and she reveled in the shades of gray. “To hell with the law. Thanks to you two, I dare anything now!”

“Are you sure?” Thomas asked.

“Quite sure. I will not allow my child to be born a bastard. She’ll have
two
fathers.”

“Child?” Alec fair to choked on the word. “Yer
child?
”

“You’re with child?” Thomas asked.

“I am. Come spring, I will present you both with a baby.”

Without waiting to see their response to her declaration, Hope kicked her horse, sprinting away and laughing in the wind.

* * * *

“You may kiss the bride.” The minister closed his book and checked his pocket watch. “I believe you have a train to catch.”

Alec took Hope into his arms and kissed her, just as Thomas had kissed her when she’d become his bride three days ago. Their family—including the baby that slept in Hope’s womb—was now complete.

Those days had seemed interminable in Alec’s estimation. Each hour dragged as he worried that Hope would lose her nerve and change her mind before they could exchange vows. What hurt the most was that she’d vowed to love, honor, and cherish Thomas, but she’d yet to give Alec the words he so needed to hear.

Those worries were laid to rest when Hope gave her vows in front of the minister, a witness, and Thomas. She loved him—as much as he loved her and Thomas. Now, they would be inseparable.

It didn’t matter who sired the babe. The child would be born of love, and although raised in a most unusual manner, she—since Hope insisted the baby was a girl—would be cherished.

Alec smiled down at his bride. “We should get to the train, love.”

Her mysterious smile didn’t surprise him. He’d learned that his Hope was nothing if not enigmatic. Each mile they put between them and Clearbrook freed a little more of the spirit inside her. She was blossoming like a flower opening to the sun.

Checking his own pocket watch, he frowned. “We’ll have to run if we have any hopes of catching the last train.”

Hope took Alec’s hand, nodded at Thomas, and then headed to the door. She turned back to the minister. “Thank you, sir.”

“You are quite welcome. Thank you for your generous donation to the poor. I wish you many happy years together.”

Once outside, Alec tried to drag her toward the train station, but she planted her feet. “Hope? Didnae we want to take the train?”

“Not tonight, Alec. I have other plans for us. We shall catch tomorrow’s train.”

* * * *

Thomas tipped the bellboy and closed the door while Hope took in the opulent suite. The accommodations had come at a steep price, but she’d willingly paid. After days of traveling on horseback and a few more days on the train, she was weary of traveling. Yes, they still had a long way to go, and she’d made plans for when they arrived in San Francisco.

But tonight?

Tonight she needed her husbands.

Alec paced around the sitting room. “’Tis a fine place, Hope.” His tone was sad, which took her by surprise.