Rose's Mail Order Husband - A Historical Mail Order Bride Story (Montana Brides) (11 page)

“Huh?” Rose blinked her eyes, and the blue sky took the place of the flashing stars.

“We’re in the middle of the trail,” he told her. “If the Sheriff and the men come along, they’ll run right into us. We should move.”

“Oh. Right.” Rose swallowed. Her voice rasped in her parched throat. “I guess we should….move.”

Jake pushed himself back and gazed into her eyes. “Are you all right?”

Rose nodded. Her voice wouldn’t work. Was that the end of it? The Sheriff might come, so that’s the end. See you in the springtime.

“Let me help you up.” Jake moved over on the grass and pulled her up by the hand. Rose sat up and her hair fell down around her face and over her eyes.
She’d forgotten her hair was down. She didn’t have any idea what she looked like.

What was she doing, rolling on the ground with a man she
wasn’t married to? Who was this reckless siren she’d turned into?

Confusion clouded her mind. She jumped to her feet and would have run away—but where?—if Jake
hadn’t called to her, “I’ll need you to help me mount up.”

She spun around and saw him still sitting on the ground. She shook her head and the hair danced in front of her eyes.
“Right. Sorry. I forgot.”

Jake chuckled. “Are you sure you’re all right? Are you ready to go back to the house, or do you want to go sit somewhere and pull yourself together? We
don’t have to head straight back. The Sheriff won’t find me until we get back.”

Rose shook her head again, but it did nothing to organize her thoughts. “No, we can go back.
I’m fine. At least, I will be fine once we start moving. I’m just a little…flustered.”

She got under his arm and propelled him onto his one good foot. He hopped over to Paddy, who still stood placidly tied to his tree. What Paddy must have thought at the sight of them lying on the ground together! Thank heaven he
couldn’t tell anybody!

Rose laced her fingers together and boosted Jake into the saddle. They
didn’t try to talk to each other again, and Rose took Paddy’s bridle and led him the rest of the way back to the ranch.

At the opening of the canyon, Jake took hold of Paddy’s reins and pulled the horse to a stop. Rose looked up at him to see what he wanted, and he slid down. He landed gingerly on his good foot and, holding onto the saddle horn, he hopped around to face Rose.

He cast a glance across the pasture. The barn, the Main House, the Fort House, and the yard lay spread out in front of them like a miniature child’s barnyard. The late afternoon sun glinted off the windows of the Bird House, perched on the far hill.

Jake and Rose looked across the landscape.

“Are you ready to go back and face the music?” Rose asked. “It’s been nice out here, free from all the cares of the ranch.”

Jake caught her around the waist again. He pulled her against him and kissed her. “Are you still mine?”

“Always,” Rose whispered.
“Always yours. No matter what happens.”

Jake planted one more kiss on her lips and let her go. “Then I’m ready to go back. As long as you’re mine, I can face anything.”

She helped him up again, and they ambled down to the barn.

No one came out to meet them.

Rose peered around the yard. “I wonder why no one has come out.”

“Maybe they’re busy,” Jake suggested. “Or maybe they’re hiding.”

Rose chuckled. “I’ll drop you off on the front porch. Sit in the rocker while I put Paddy away. Then I’ll help you inside. The Sheriff can’t be here yet, or he’d be out here like a shot.”

Jake followed her orders, and she found him in the rocker when she came up from the barn.

“Come on inside and sit down in the front parlor,” she told him. “I’ll get you something to eat. You must be hungry.”

“I’m starving,” he replied.

She deposited him in the window seat by the front window and fetched him a board with a few slabs of bread and cheese and dry sausage from the kitchen. She sat next to him while he ate it.

“What do you want to do when the Sheriff comes in?” she asked.

Jake shrugged. “Start talkin’. Start talkin’ fast. That’s all I can do. I hope to high heaven he waits long enough to listen.”

Rose shuddered. “He doesn’t seem like the waiting type.”

“No,” Jake agreed. “I noticed that, too. We can only try. We’ve left the explanations a little too late.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Rose replied.

“It doesn’t matter now.” Jake nodded toward the window. “Here he comes now.”

Rose jumped out of her seat just in time to see the three riders thundering into the yard. Chuck Ahern and Mick McAllister followed Sheriff Maitland to the barn, and in another minute, all three burst through the front door. Violet and Iris flew down the stairs and met them in the hall.

A single glance through the open parlor door showed them Jake Hamilton, the blood-thirsty fugitive they’d hunted for two days, leaning on his fiancé’s arm in front of the window seat.

“You!” the Sheriff snarled.
“You—
here
!”

“I’m here, Sheriff,” Jake declared. “You don’t need to look for me. I’m right here.”

“Well,” the Sheriff boomed, “I’m here to tell you that you’re under arrest for the murder of Cornell Pollard. You’re coming back to Butte with me.”

“Yeah.”
Jake glanced at Rose. “I heard you were lookin’ to arrest me, and I’ll go with you. I won’t put up any resistance.”

“What did you run for, then?” Sheriff Maitland shot back.

“I didn’t run. I explained to these ladies here,” he indicated Rose and Iris, “that I didn’t even know you were here, let alone looking for me. I went out for a ride to clear my head before the wedding, and I got thrown from my horse and sprained my ankle. The horse took off and left me sitting under a tree. I wouldn’t be here now if they hadn’t come and got me.”

Sheriff Maitland scowled at him. “And you expect me to believe that story?”

“You believe whatever you want. That’s the truth. I’ve never run from the law, and I wouldn’t start now. I’ve got nothin’ to fear from you or anyone else. If I knew you wanted to arrest me, I would have come straight to ya.” Jake turned to Rose. “It looks like he isn’t going to listen.”

The Sheriff stepped forward and pointed. “What is that?”

Jake glanced down at the side of his arm where the torn fabric of the shirt left his skin exposed. A ragged gash encrusted with dried blood marred the smooth contours of his upper arm. “This? I fell and hurt myself.”

“He said he fell of his horse,” Iris reminded the Sheriff.

“That didn’t happen today or even yesterday,” Sheriff Maitland retorted. “Look at it. It’s all scabbed over and sealed tight. That wound is a couple a’ days old, at least.”

“That could have happened anywhere,” Mick put in. “What does a cut on the arm have to do with murder?”

Sheriff Maitland straightened up. “Never mind. You’re goin’ back to Butte. You can tell your whole story to the jury.”

Jake squared his shoulders. “Sheriff, you might think I’m guilty of killing Cornell, and I wouldn’t blame you if you did.
But I never ran from you or tried to avoid arrest, and you have my word of honor on that. I’ll go to Butte with you without a fight. I only ask one favor, and that is that you let me marry this lady here before we go. It’ll only take a minute. The minister is right here at the house. I swear to you, on my honor, that I won’t try to escape.”

The Sheriff squinted at him and pursed his lips. “I don’t like you, Hamilton, and I thought you were guilty from the minute I first met you.
But I believe you didn’t try to run away, and I don’t see any reason to punish the lady for your misdeeds. I’ll stick around until you can marry her, but I’m not letting you out of my sight for one minute. I’ll wait while the ladies change into their wedding dresses, but you can forget about wearing anything other than the clothes on your back.”

Jake smiled. “That’s just fine with me. I
don’t want to wear anything else. As long as I leave here as Rose’s husband, I’ll be satisfied and I’ll cooperate with everything you want me to do.”

Sheriff Maitland turned his gaze on the three sisters. “You ladies had best get changed. I’ll give you all one hour to get this wedding over with, and then we’re
headin’ out.”

The three sisters exploded into a flurry of activity.

“I’ll run up to the Bird House and get the minister,” Iris announced.

“You men,” Violet ordered Chuck and Mick, “get up to the Fort House and change your clothes. When you’re done, come down to the back parlor and we’ll meet you there.”

Everyone split off in different directions, leaving Jake and the Sheriff face to face in the hall.

Rose bumped into Violet on the upper landing at the top of the stairs.

“Would you still like me to help you get dressed?” Violet offered.

“I suppose you’ll get hurt if I say no,” Rose remarked, “so you might as well.”

Violet smiled at that.
“All right. I’ll come with you.”

In her room, Rose ignored her mirror and they both turned their attention to the gown Violet made her. It
lay spread out on the bed where Violet left it that morning.

“I’m glad you decided to wear it,” Violet exclaimed. “I think you’re going to make a magnificent bride in that dress.”

Rose sighed. “If you say so.”

“You always were the prettiest of the three of us.”

“I am not,” Rose retorted. “You and Iris are just as pretty as me.”

“You don’t have to say that,” Violet replied. “You know you are. Iris
is too weathered now from her years on the range to ever be truly pretty again. That Mick McAllister is a saint for loving her the way he does. He doesn’t see her appearance at all. He only sees the woman she is on the inside, the woman who saved this ranch from ruin.”

“She isn’t weathered,” Rose argued. “She just has a little bit of color in her face from being out in the sun. That will fade once she’s spent a few years indoors.”

“And I’m practically an old maid,” Violet continued. “I’m too old to make a really beautiful bride. And I’ve had too much care myself these last few years. I suppose it shows in my face.”

“Now I know you’re talking nonsense,” Rose shot back. “You’re only twenty-three.
You’re hardly an old maid. And if you’re showing the care of the last few years, then the next few years being married to your sweetheart and sharing the upkeep of the ranch with the rest of us should clear your face again. You’ll be glowing in no time, and I’m certain you’ll be glowing when you stand before the minister downstairs.”

“I hope you’re right.” Violet tied the strings. “Now sit down and let me do your hair.”

Rose took her seat in front of the dressing table, but she kept her eyes cast down into her lap so she wouldn’t see her reflection. She wanted to preserve the memory of the life and love she felt up in the canyons. The new Rose would marry Jake. That stranger from yesterday morning, the stranger she saw staring back at her all these long, weary months—she wouldn’t marry Jake, and she wouldn’t live in the Bird House—
her
house. That was reserved for her shining dream.

She
didn’t watch or even notice what Violet did with her hair. She only heard Violet speaking to her as from an immeasurable distance.

“There,” Violet exclaimed. “You look lovely. What a treasure Jake is getting!
If he only knew the half of it.”

Did Violet really believe that? Violet loved Rose and Iris like a mother. She
didn’t see their faults, and she could never believe anything bad about them. She couldn’t believe Rose had anything to do with Cornell’s death is she told her point blank it was true.

Maybe Violet believed Jake killed Cornell, but she took the same maternal view of the three mail-order grooms as well. She already knew Chuck and Mick were innocent, and she just
couldn’t get her head around to believing Jake shot Cornell within hours of arriving at Rocking Horse Ranch.

The whole scenario did seem far-fetched, when Rose thought about it. It just
didn’t make sense. So why should anyone jump to believe it?

Violet
didn’t seem to notice any transformation in Rose, either. She didn’t seem to notice Rose had even left the ranch. She wasn’t capable of seeing anything in anybody except goodness.

“Chuck is getting a prize in you, too, Violet,” Rose told her. “You’d make anyone a wonderful wife, and you’re going to be a wonderful mother, too.”

Violet blushed. “That’s nice of you to say, darlin’. I’ve always done my best.”

“You’ve been like a mother to me since Mama died,” Rose went on. “I’m glad I had you around, because as much as Cornell tried to be everything to us, he couldn’t be a mother. He
couldn’t take the place of an older female in my life. You’ve always held that place for me.”

“I’m hardly an older female,” Violet told her. “I’m only four and a half years older than you. I
couldn’t be a mother to you, although I wish I could have been. Losing Mama was particularly hard on you. I understand that.”