California Romance (43 page)

“Are you hungry?” Red reached in the saddlebags and hauled out a chunk of hardtack.

Dori grimaced. “I had a big dinner.”

“Good.” Red unsaddled the horse and tossed the saddle blanket to Dori. “Rest a spell till it’s safe to get back on the road. You c’n use the saddle for a pillow.” He didn’t wait for a reply, but watered the horse and tied him to a nearby manzanita bush. Only then did he fling himself down beside the stream and drink.

Dori kept a wary eye on Red while spreading her blanket on the ground. She hadn’t expected him to care for a horse before himself. Maybe he really had
changed
. She dropped to the blanket and propped herself up against the saddle, determined not to close her eyes, but her weary body refused to cooperate.

A call roused her from deep sleep, “Wake up, Dori. We c’n go back to Fresno Flats now.”

Dori opened her eyes and blinked.

“Sorry to wake you, but we need to get movin’.” Red’s gaunt face split into a grin. “You slept most an hour, plenty of time for the bandits to get ahead of us.”

She sprang to her feet. “You’re taking me to Fresno Flats?”

Red’s grin faded. “You gotta learn to trust folks, even when it’s tougher than hardtack. I hadta get you outta there while I could. Charley was tryin’ to control the team, and young Anderson was bad hurt or dead.”

“Don’t say that. Seth can’t be dead.”

“Yore in love with him, ain’t you?”

She couldn’t answer.

“He might not be so bad off as that,” Red mumbled. “It takes a heap of hurtin’ to keep fellers like him down.”

Dori suspected Red was trying to comfort her, but she appreciated it. “You’re really trying to save me from the bandits?”

“Yeah. Even if yore brother paid a ransom, you’d still be in danger. I’ve knowed a lotta bad men.” Pain and regret darkened his eyes. “I was one till God got hold of me.”

“Why didn’t you just head back to Fresno Flats with me?” Dori challenged.

Red sighed. “First off, I needed to get you away. Then I started thinkin’. If I took you back right off, who’d believe I was tryin’ to save you? I figgered I had to make you b’lieve me. Do you?”

The story sounded plausible, but more than likely, Red had abducted her in hopes of collecting a ransom and then had second thoughts. What better way to guarantee escaping punishment than to play on her sympathies? “I don’t know.”

“Most folks won’t.” He sounded more resigned than fearful.

Pity battled with reason. Red’s life might hang on whether she believed him and could convince Seth and Matt that Red had finally tried to do something good.

By the time he saddled up and they reached the road back to Fresno Flats, Dori’s head and shoulder ached. Distrust swooped down like a bird of
prey
.
My thinking’s too muddled to separate truth from fiction
, she
reflected. All I want to do is to escape, but the only thing that may work means throwing aside modesty. So
be it. Face aflame and hoping Red would assume the obvious reason for her request, she asked in a small voice, “Can we stop here? I need to…”

Red fell for her ploy. He swung out of the saddle and helped her down, then walked a little way up the road. “Lots of tracks. A posse, I reckon.”

She ran to the horse, uncoiled the lariat, formed a wide loop, and swung it.

Zing
. The lasso dropped over Red’s head and shoulders. Dori jerked the rope so hard it tightened. Red sprawled to the ground. Before he could recover his senses, she hog-tied him and sprang to the horse’s back. Then she headed for Fresno Flats, haunted by the look in Red’s eyes that made her feel as if she had unjustly slapped a child.

Seth had ridden like a crazed man along the trail, praying to find Dori. He rounded a bend. A trussed-up man lay by the side of the road.

With a cry of rage, Seth yanked his horse to a standstill and dismounted. “Red Fallon?” he bellowed, jerking the bound man to his feet. “Did the bandits do this? Have they got Dori?”

Red grunted. “She should be in Fresno Flats by now. She roped and tied me before I could get her back to town.”

“Bully for Dori. She may have roped you, but you can’t expect me to believe you were bringing her back after kidnapping her.”

Red’s reply was lost in a rumble from the posse.

“I’m fer hangin’ him here and now,” one of the men called.

The sheriff leaped from his horse. “There’ll be no necktie parties today. It’s up to a judge and jury to take care of that. First, we go see if he’s lyin’ about the girl.” He glared at the vengeful man. “Two of you will have to ride double. Fallon gets roped to the saddle.” The man grumbled but climbed on behind another posse member.

Seth freed Red, forced him to mount, and tied his hands to the pommel. “Try to run and you won’t get far,” he warned.

Red gave him an inscrutable look. “I ain’t runnin’ no more. No one’s gonna swaller it, but I took Dori to save her from the skunks who bashed yore head.”

Seth’s nerves twanged. “Save it for a jury.”
I won’t believe Dori’s safe until she’s in my arms
, he vowed.
When she is, I won’t let her go until she says she’ll marry me
. His heart thumped with anticipation.

Yet Red’s apparent sincerity troubled Seth. Red’s past weighed against him, but what if he was telling the truth? Hangings sickened Seth. Executing an innocent man was unthinkable.
Lord, You’re the only one who knows the truth
.
It’s all up to You
.

Leaving Fallon’s fate in God’s hands, Seth lost himself in dreams of his own future. He let out a yell and sent his horse into a full gallop. When he reached Fresno Flats, a crowd stood in front of the sheriff ’s office. Seth saw Dori, Sarah, and Abby elbow their way through the crowd and race toward him, but he had eyes only for Dori. He hurtled from the saddle and scooped her up in his arms. The look in her eyes shouted all Seth needed to know. He bent his head and kissed her upturned face.

Dori drew back, cheeks scarlet.

Seth laughed and kissed her again. “Get used to it, sweetheart. I don’t aim to stop until you promise to marry me.”

The roguish look Seth knew so well stole into her eyes. “You can stop right now.”

Seth’s jaw dropped. “You mean it?”

“I’m calling your bluff.” Dori hugged Seth so tightly it left him breathless. “It took long enough for me to get you, and I don’t aim to let you go.”

The crowd cheered but fell silent when the
clip-clop
of horses’ hooves sounded and Red and the posse halted before the sheriff ’s office.

Even the thrill of holding Dori close couldn’t dispel the feeling of doom that clutched Seth. He had left Red’s fate in God’s hands, but did God need some human help? “Dori, do you believe Red was trying to rescue you?”

“I don’t know,” she faltered. “My head says he’s guilty, even though he was respectful. My heart says he may not be.”

“Same here. If you press charges, it will take a miracle to save Red.”

He felt Dori tense, then she whispered, “God specializes in miracles, but I can’t accuse someone who may be innocent and expect Him to save Red. What if God has put the truth in our hearts for a reason?”

Inspiration struck Seth. “We can find out by sending a telegram to the San Francisco mission. If Red truly accepted Jesus as his Trailmate, it will be safe to believe he didn’t kidnap you—but there’s still a chance he’s in with the bandits.”

Dori’s face turned pearly white. She clasped her hands against Seth’s vest. Hope shone in her clear blue eyes. “I hope not. I really want to believe Red.”

Her words rocked Seth on his boot heels. “So do I, Dori.” Amazed to discover he meant it, Seth felt the last of his bitterness die.

“Rest of the posse’s comin’,” Charley announced. “They got the dirty skunks who held up my stage.” An angry murmur rippled through the crowd. But Seth clenched suddenly sweaty hands. The time for truth had come.

He whipped toward Red and marveled. How could a man whose future hung on the word of holdup men and kidnappers appear so untroubled?

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth….Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Seth needed no confirmation from the mission workers. Sinful as Red had been, he was now cleansed, forgiven, and obviously secure in the assurance that whatever happened, God was in control.

“You, there,” the sheriff roared at the outlaw leader when the band of men stopped their horses. “Is this fellow one of your gang?” His meaty hand pointed toward Red.

Seth held his breath, but Red’s expression didn’t change.

The bandit’s face twisted in disgust. He spat into the dusty street. “Not on yore tintype. We’re choosey about who we ride with.”

Seth’s breath came out in a loud
whoosh. Thank You, God
.

The sheriff wheeled. “Well, Miss Sterling? Are you pressin’ charges?”

“No.” Her voice rang. “I believe Red tried to save me.”

“So do I,” Seth said. The poignant light in Red’s eyes sank into Seth’s soul, but the sheriff scowled.

“I ain’t sayin’ what I think, but it don’t matter now. Untie Fallon and let him go. Just one thing, mister. Don’t come back to Fresno Flats, or I’ll run you in for disturbin’ the peace—my peace of mind.”

Several days later, Seth and Dori rode to the promontory that overlooked the ranch. Seated on a big rock, Seth put his arm around her and spoke from a full heart. “God is so good. He rescued us from flood and outlaws, saved Red, freed me from hatred, and gave me you.” He paused. “Dori, do you look forward to our riding through life together as much as I do?”

“Yes, but there’s one thing….”

A cold wind of disappointment blew through Seth in spite of the warm evening.
Lord, I thought everything that separated us was in the past. I guess I was wrong
. “What is it?” he finally asked.

Dori had never looked more bewitching. Her laugh trilled out. “I can’t wait to ride through life with you, Seth Anderson—but not on a log flume or in a raging river.”

Seth roared. His long-ago prediction was right on target: Being married to Dori would be many things. But if they lived to be a hundred, it would never be boring.

For Susan K. Marlow—the story continues
…

Dear Readers,

History really does repeat itself. When I finished writing
Romance Rides the Range
, book one of my western series, I was planted (in spirit) on the Diamond S Ranch near Madera, California, in the 1880s. I couldn’t bear to say good-bye and move on.

The same thing happened with book two,
Romance Rides the River
. Tangled, unexplored trails in the beautiful San Joaquin Valley and surrounding countryside lured me. Characters, old and new, grabbed me and clamored for a place in the sun.
Romance at Rainbow’s End
is my response to my true-to-life “book friends” who refused to be silent.

This title—like
Romance Rides the Range
and
Romance Rides the River—
recognizes God’s unfailing love for
all
of His children, particularly for the “mavericks” who stray from His presence. May it serve as a reminder that we are branded with the name Jesus Christ and are called to round up others and establish His ownership.

God bless you all,
Colleen

March 1885
St. Louis, Missouri

A
ngry voices drifted up to the loft of the shack the Stoddard family called home. They yanked eleven-year-old Ellianna out of a sound sleep. She shifted on the rustling corn-husk mattress and buried her head in her thin pillow. Hands clenched, she lay rigid, wanting to scream at Pa and Agatha to stop fighting.

A cold, skinny hand touched her hair. “Ellie? Are you awake?”

She opened her eyes. Timmy stood beside her, shivering in his thin nightdress. His frightened eyes looked enormous in the dim light that filtered through unpatched holes in the attic roof.

“Who can sleep in this racket?” She scooted over. “Crawl in before you freeze.”