Brace Yourselves ...
Missouri, August 1853
A shot fired, then another.
Josiah King cried out in pain. The bullet got him right in the shoulder and
he feared he’d lost his gun arm. He
raised the arm up to test it and instead found himself firing yet again.
“They plumb got us pinned, Josiah! They’re gonna catch us and gut us sure!”
If Josiah could afford the time it took to
roll his eyes at the comment he surely would. His friend Samuel Stone always
had been a pessimist and his fear of being “caught and gutted” as he put it,
only served to prove it. Sure they were
in a fix, but did Sam have to add to
their predicament with such comments?
The gunfire suddenly stopped.
Josiah quickly took the opportunity to reload as best he could. His shoulder began to bleed profusely and his
fingers were going numb.
“Woo whee!” Came a shout from beyond their
cover. Josiah and Sam were hunkered down
behind an old wagon they managed to overturn.
The barn was nearby but the dirty dogs had cut them off before they
could get to it. Likewise with the Stone’s cabin.
“Hey Stone!” A voice called from near the
small cabin. “Look what we found!”
A girl’s scream suddenly rent the air and
Josiah froze. “Oh my God!” He
breathed. “Annie!”
Sam’s face drained of color as he looked to
Josiah. “What are we gonna do,
Josiah? For God’s sake, what are we gonna do?”
Josiah inched his way up to peek over the
wagon bed. “Annie?” He shouted.
“Josiah!” Came the young girl’s pain-filled scream.
“We got your little sister, Stone! Now come on out or I’m gonna cut her up into tiny little pieces, take her home, and
feed her to my dog!”
Sam squeezed his eyes tightly shut. “I don’t
wanna die, I don’t!”
This
time Josiah did roll his eyes and
began to re-evaluate the man he’d called friend for the last three years. Men, he knew, often showed their true colors
under pressure. “How much money do you owe this man?”
Sam opened one eye and looked at him. “A
lot. More than I can pay … He’s gonna
kill me Josiah! Please don’t let him
kill me!”
“I told you to quite playing cards with the likes of him but you never
listen, Sam! Never! Now they’ve got Annie! You have to go out there!”
Sam turned to him. “No I don’t! I don’t have to do nuthin’!”
Josiah’s mouth fell open, the pain in his shoulder
forgotten. “You coward! That’s your sister they’ve got! They’re gonna kill her if you don’t do something!
What’s she doing here anyhow? I
thought she was with your aunt!”
“I don’t know, I swear I don’t! She was
supposed to have left this morning!” Sam said as he began to sob. “I can’t …
can’t go out… there!”
Josiah gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and
cursed under his breath. He then let go a long, weary sigh and stood.
“What are you doin’?” Sam screeched. “Are you
plumb crazy?”
Josiah put both hands in the air as his gun
flipped around to hang loosely by one finger. “Let the girl go!”
Six men stood in front of the cabin, young
Annie Stone held in the strong grip of two of them. Men that looked strong enough to tear her
limb from limb if they so chose. She looked small and bright in her lilac calico
dress against the back-drop of huge, sweat drenched bodies. One of the men
glared at him, looked to his comrades, and back again. “Who are you?
You’re not Stone!”
“Let the girl go and I’ll see you get your money!” Josiah called over the wagon.
“Let the girl go and I’ll see you get your money!” Josiah called over the wagon.
“Are you crazy? You ain’t got no money!” Sam
hissed from below.
“I got more than you.”
“What money?”
“Shut up, Sam.”
Meanwhile the six men eyed him, several
whispering amongst themselves as the leader continued to glare. Finally, one
said something to the leader. He laughed
and slapped the man on the back. “You!”
He called out. “Is Sam Stone with ya?”
Josiah glanced down at Sam who shook his head
vigorously in return. Josiah looked back
to the men. “He sure enough is!”
Sam cursed him.
Josiah
didn’t care. One of them had to save
Annie.
“Bring that scum out then or I’m gonna carve
up this little girl!”
Annie screamed in pain as one of the men
pulled her arm behind her back and yanked upwards.
“Stop it! Hurt her and you ain’t gonna get
nothin’!” Josiah cried, his face now red with anger.
“Come on out, boy!” The man yelled. “We won’t
hurt the girl if you do!”
Josiah closed his eyes briefly and took a deep
breath. It's up to You now Lord to get
us out of this alive.
He stepped out from behind the
wagon. Sam pulled his knees to his chest
and wrapped his arms around them. Josiah
took one last look at his whimpering form before he stepped forward.
“Toss your gun, boy! Then come over here.”
Josiah complied and tossed his gun to one
side. He then started toward them. Annie’s eyes suddenly brightened at his
approach. Despite the fact the man behind
her held her arm painfully high, she still managed a look so full of hope it
threatened to tear Josiah’s heart out.
She was counting on him to
save her. Not her coward of a brother.
Josiah stopped ten feet from the men. “Let her go.”
“You got guts boy, I’ll give ya that,” the
leader said. “But I’m curious why you’re the one standin’ here and not Stone.”
Josiah’s face was expressionless. “Why don’t you ask him?”
The man spit, looked at his companions, then
said, “don’t mind if I do!” He gave a nod
of his head and three of his men quietly made their way toward the wagon. Within moments they were hauling a kicking,
screaming, Samuel Stone back toward the cabin.
Annie began to cry as she watched them drag
the pitiful, writhing form of her brother closer. She said nothing to him and
instead turned her frightened eyes back to Josiah, the same look of hope
filling them as they locked with his.
Josiah shut his tight for a second and took
another deep breath. Anytime now Lord!
“Well would ya lookie here!” The leader
laughed as his men threw Sam to the ground at his feet. “If you ain’t the most yeller thing I’ve ever
seen!”
Sam raised his head to look at him. “Don’t
kill me! Please don’t kill me!” He quickly pointed to Josiah. “You heard
him! He’s gonna pay you, all of it he
said!”
The man stared down at Sam with a genuine look
of disgust. He then shook his head. “Ya know, I ain't sure you’re even worth a
bullet.” He went to Annie and pulled her head up by the hair. “Is this
your brother?”
Annie whimpered in pain and barely managed a
nod.
“He is, huh?” The man said in disbelief, released her, then
looked to his men. “Is this the same cuss we done played cards with last
night? The one that talked all fancy and
bragged about how he done shot and killed five lawmen single handed?”
Josiah let go a groan. “Oh for the love of God
…” he mumbled to himself as he glared down at Sam.
The leader ignored him as he continued his
sarcastic tirade. “The same one that was cheatin’
at cards last night?”
Sam whimpered a new as Josiah’s glare
intensified.
The leader of the men took it all in and
smiled. He then bent over and got his face right into Sam’s. “Tell ya what I’m gonna do, yeller. I ain’t gonna shoot ya. In fact, I’m gonna let this pretty little
girl go. She can grow up, find herself a
real man, get married, and have
babies! Now how does that sound?”
Sam swallowed, eyes wide, and quickly nodded.
Josiah released the breath he’d been holding. Thank you Lord!
The man gave a curt nod to the men holding
Annie. They immediately let her go. She gave a cry of relief and ran straight to
Josiah. He took her in his arms and held
her close. “It’s okay, Annie-girl.
Shhhhh, you’re gonna be okay.” He
continued to whisper words of comfort to her as she clung to him and softly wept against his chest. A pang of guilt hit him
as he realized she had run to him and not Sam, and even though he’d been like a
brother to her for the last three years, he wasn’t blood. Josiah often thanked the Lord he wasn’t. At barely fifteen she was a beauty and his
biggest fear was the men would take her, use her, then leave her to die. He knew it could happen, it happened to his
own cousin. Molly didn’t survive. The ordeal had killed her just as easily as
any bullet could. Josiah stiffened with
the thought. If any of these men so much as touched a hair on Annie’s head,
he’d kill them. Kill them as sure as the sun sets.
He held her closer and breathed in the scent
of her hair. He loved her, loved her
with everything he had. But he could
never have her…
“You!” The leader barked at Josiah. “Let go of that girl and get over here!”
Josiah looked at him, his eyes narrowed to
slits. “You promise not to hurt her?”
“Ah heck, I’ll do better than that, she’s free
to go.”
Josiah couldn’t believe his ears. “What?”
“You heard me. She’s free to go.”
Josiah looked down at Annie’s trembling form.
“I want you to run, Annie, ya hear?” He told her in a low voice. “Run straight into
town to the Sheriff’s office. Don’t look back, just run!”
She sniffed back her tears and looked up at
him with frightened green eyes. The look in them about did him in, the thought of letting her go now torture. “Do as I
say, ya hear?”
She nodded.
Josiah let her go.
Annie took several steps away from him, took
one last look at Sam, then turned and ran, ran as fast as she could.
Unfortunately, it was right into the waiting arms of one of the men.
Annie screamed.
Josiah’s
face was full of rage as he spun on the leader. “You said you’d let her go!” He
spat.
“Yep, I sure will. Just as soon as Sam’s dead.”
Sam let out a frightful shriek. “You said you
weren’t gonna kill me!”
The man looked down at him. “Oh, I ain’t gonna kill ya,” he said matter
of fact. He then pointed to Josiah. “He
is.”
Josiah’s face fell into shock as the men laughed. One of them walked up and shoved a gun into
his hand. Annie screamed as the leader
of the men roughly grabbed her and held a huge knife to her throat. “Like I
said, he’s not worth a bullet from me.
Kill him boy, and the girl goes free.”
Josiah stood in utter shock. He couldn’t think, couldn’t breath! Good Lord!
What was he going to do? He took
in Annie’s tear stained face, the man’s knife pressed hard against her throat. He had no doubt he’d kill her if he didn’t do
what the man wanted.
Josiah then looked at Sam. He was on his knees, his face just as tear
stained as Annie’s. “Don’t do it,
Josiah! Please! Don’t do it!”
An odd numbness came over him as he stared at
Sam. He heard the cock of a gun and
suddenly realized it had come from the one in his hand. “He’ll kill Annie …”
Sam’s eyes narrowed as his hands balled into
fists. His entire body shook with an unreleased sob. “I don’t care!” he then hissed. “You can’t do
this! You can’t kill me!”
Annie let out a pain filled wail as the man
holding her pushed his knife further into her tender flesh. Blood began to
trickle down her throat. “Too bad,” he drawled. “She was such a pretty little thing…”
Josiah looked at him in utter horror, his intent to kill Annie clear. He swallowed, closed his eyes
in resignation a scant second, opened them, and fired.
***
And this dear reader is why in other writing circles
I'm known as The Queen of the Cliff Hanger!
Stay tuned! In the mean time, if you're hankering
for more and haven't yet read The Christmas Mail
Order Bride, then grab a copy and settle in with
Sheriff Clayton Riley (who happens to be the
nephew of Sheriff Harlan Hughes of Clear Creek)
and Summer James, his mail order bride ... that he
didn't order!
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Until next time, happy reading!
Kit
