Chase (Prairie Grooms, Book Four) (5 page)

Chase watched as one of the women stared intently at Sadie. Her dark eyes were alive with concern, and for a second he noticed how pretty her auburn hair looked against her ivory skin. She then turned her attention on him. “Tell me sir, what news have you brought that would put such despair in this woman's eyes?”

He didn't know what to say. He looked at Sadie and thought she'd rather tell the women herself. Sadie, however, surprised him when she sighed and nodded at him. He looked at the three inquisitive faces that now stared back. “How long have you been here at the Triple C?” he asked.

“
We came only yesterday,” said the pretty auburn-haired woman.

“
Then I'm sure Harrison and Colin have told you there's been trouble with outlaws in these parts.”

She nodded. “Yes, most unfortunate.”

“
I was with the posse,” he said. “We tracked them up into the hills, but they split up, so we did the same and went after them.”

The
dark-haired girl standing next to her, gasped. “But isn't it safer if you have a large party when hunting such men?”

“I'm no law
man,” he answered. “But I reckon so. There were five men in our group and we got a few of them outlaws cornered. Or at least, one of us did.”

The third woman, a pretty blonde, took the hand of the dark-haired girl and held it tight. “What… what happened?”

“
Well, Sam Jamison's mighty good with a gun, but he wasn't expecting one of their gang to sneak up behind him.”

“
Oh no,” breathed the auburn-haired girl. “They shot him, didn't they?”

Chase looked her in the eye.
“Yes ma'am, they did. Right in the back.”

The petite blonde swooned
, and the other two rushed to keep her from falling. Before Chase realized it, he was in the middle of them, gathering the unconscious woman in his arms. He picked her up without thinking as the other two gawked at him. “Where do you want me to put her, Mrs. Cooke?”

“
In the parlor, Chase. Hurry.”

He
carried the girl into the parlor as Sadie directed, and deposited her on the settee. The auburn- haired girl was right behind him, and he bumped into her as he stood. “Excuse me, ma'am.” Her eyes were fearful, and his heart went out to her. “Don't worry, she’ll be all right. She's just fainted, that's all.”

The woman
didn't move away as propriety would dictate, but instead remained where she was. They were so close their arms were touching. “Poor Apple. How I fear for her at times.”

“
She's your sister, isn't she?”

“
Yes, my younger sister.” She looked at him and smiled. “How very rude of me. We've not been properly introduced. However, I do believe under the circumstances, introductions will have to wait.” She bent to the settee and began to fan the face of her sister.

The dark-haired girl joined them, a glass of water in her hand. “Good heavens!” she exclaimed. “She’s still out?”

“
I'm afraid so,” said the auburn haired girl.

The dark-haired girl looked up at him. “Ah, our savior in our time of need. And you are?”

“
Chase Adams, ma'am,” he said with a nod of his head.

“
This is my sister, Lena,” she said with a toss of her head at the auburn-haired woman. “And the one passed out cold, is Apple.”

Apple's eyes began to flutter as she regained consciousness. “Oh good,” said Lena. “I do believe she's coming around.”

Sadie entered the parlor, a damp cloth in her hand. She placed it on Apple’s forehead as the girl opened her eyes. “Don't get up,” ordered Sadie. “Lie there for a time, you'll feel better if you do.”

“
What happened?” asked Apple.

“You f
ainted dead away,” said Fina. “This kind gentleman carried you in here and set you down.

“
He carried me?” she asked, her voice breathless.

Le
na closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “He carried you because you fainted, and you fainted because you heard that a man had been shot and killed.”

Apple's expression quickly turned to horror. “Oh,” she said as her face paled. “Yes, I remember now.”

“
I’d best be going now, ladies,” said Chase. Though he knew one of them was his bride-to-be, he had work to do. Unpleasant work at that. He turned to Sadie. “If none of you are needin’ Levi or me for anything else, then we’d better head back to town and make arrangements with Preacher Jo for a burial.”

Sadie nodded solemnly. “Yes, I suppose that's best. I'm sorry you had to meet Harrison's cousins under such circumstances.”

He looked at the three English women and nodded. “So am I, but I'm sure the next meeting will be on a much happier note.”

Sadie closed her eyes. “Let us hope so.”

With that
, Chase left the room and went to join Levi.

* * *

“Our wives are in there,” said Chase as he descended the porch steps.

Levi looked at him, stunned. “What?”

“Yep. And they’re
mighty pretty too. It's a darn shame they had to show up at the same time this happened.”

Levi stared at the front door of the ranch house. “Well I’ll be, they’re really here.” He looked at Chase. “You're right, this is a bad time.”

“
No sense worrying about it now. We'll give poor Jamison a decent burial, then we'll worry about courting our brides.”

Levi mounted his horse. “All things considered, I feel guilty asking this, but did you happen to find out which one was mine?”

“
Can't say that I did,” said Chase. “But I can tell you this, one's just as pretty as the next.”

“
A pretty face is fine and dandy, but what's behind it? That's what I want to know.”

“
Me too,” said Chase. “But now's not the time to ask.” They turned their horses and headed back to town. Once there, they found Preacher Jo and told him what had happened. Preacher Jo, in turn, asked if they wouldn’t mind helping him dig poor Sam's grave. He thought it best to hold the burial that afternoon. Chase and Levi agreed, and set to work.

“Willie told me the Cookes
have houseguests,” said Preacher Jo.

Chase wiped his brow with a handkerchief. They’d been digging for close to an hour and were almost done. “They sure enough do,” he said.

Preacher Jo
studied them both. “They… wouldn't happen to be someone you were expecting, eh?”

Chase and
Levi smiled. “Yes,” said Chase. “They couldn’t have picked a worse time to show up, though.”

“Sometimes bad things happen. We all know that,” said Preacher Jo. “
You two are going back out there, aren’t you?”

“
We will if we have to,” answered Levi. “Depends on whether or not they need the help and someone comes back to fetch us.”

Preacher Jo climbed out of the finished grave
. He stood and leaned against his shovel as Chase and Levi followed. “Let's hope you don't have to,” he said. “After all this, the townspeople will need something to get their minds off of poor Sam. Getting to watch you two boys court your mail-order brides ought to do the trick.”

“
Yeah, that's true,” agreed Chase. “Except that Sam was supposed to be marrying one of them.”

“
What?!” said Preacher Jo. “You mean to tell me Sam put in an order for one of those women?”

Chase and
Levi nodded. “What a shame,” said Levi. “I sure do feel sorry for that little gal, whichever one was his.”

“
Well, I wouldn't worry too much,” said Preacher Jo. “There are plenty of other men in this town that would be happy to take on a wife. I don’t think Sadie will have any problem finding her a match.”

Levi brushed dirt from his clothes
. “I’m not so sure about that, Chase here says they’re just like the last batch that came to town.”

“
You mean, more of the Cookes’ cousins?” asked Preacher Jo.

Chase nodded. “Yep. I've seen and heard them, they’re as English as they come. Pretty though.”

“
Yeah, but like I said before,” said Levi. “What's behind those pretty faces?”

“
Whatever sort of skills they lack, gentlemen, I'm sure they can be taught,” said Preacher Jo. “Now, how about some lunch? I'm sure Annie has fixed something for us by now.”

“Sounds good to me, preacher,” s
aid Chase.

“Me
too,” said Levi. “I could do with some of your wife's cooking.”

“
Do you think this batch of women know how to cook?” asked Chase.

Preacher Jo
laughed. “Like I said before boys, whatever sort of skills they lack, can be taught.”

“
Only if they're smart enough to learn,” said Levi.

“
Well now, the last batch didn't exactly have straw for brains,” said Chase. “And since they're all related, I'm sure these are just as smart as the others.”

“
Yeah, that's what I'm worried about.”

“
You haven't a farm to take care of Levi,” said Preacher Jo. “Nor do you have any livestock to worry about.”

“
You're right I don't. Not yet anyway, and I don't want a wife who is going to be terrified of feeding the pigs or any other stock we might end up with.”

Chase eyed him out the corner of his eye as they walked back to Preacher Jo’s house. “What's the matter with you? Last week you were all fired up about getting a mail-order bride.”

“
I know,” said Levi. “I guess chasing after outlaws all week has soured my thinking.”

“
What you boys need is a good hot meal, a hot bath, and some sleep. Annie and I will provide the hot meal. You can take care of the rest yourselves,” consoled Preacher Jo.

Levi slapped him on the back. “We’ll do that preacher. And thank you for feeding us. I know it will make me feel better. I guess there's just something about chasing after outlaws and coming up empty-handed that makes me cranky.”

“
The same goes for having to bring back a dead man,” added Chase.

Preacher Jo stopped
and looked at them. “None of us knew Sam very well, but well enough to give his death meaning. I suggest the two of you concentrate on getting through the day. Save everything else until tomorrow.”

The two men gave him a solemn nod of agreement and continued on their way. Both kn
ew that even though they’d bury Sam Jamison today, tomorrow, his death would still be with them.

* * *

“Why do we have to attend this?” complained Apple. “It's not like any of us knew the man.”

“
Because our cousins didn't want us left alone at the Triple C,” explained Lena.

“
We wouldn't have been alone,” argued Apple. “We would have been with each other.”

Lena shook her head at her sister’s logic
. “You do recall the fact a man was killed, don't you?”

“
Of course, we’re at his funeral, aren’t we? But the event
did
take place miles from here. It's not as if it happened in our cousin’s backyard.”

“
I'm afraid that around here, one's backyard could well include miles and miles,” explained Fina.

Apple began to fidget in her chair. Lena reached over and tapped her on the shoulder. “Will you
stop
?” Apple blew a strand of hair out of her face and stilled. They were seated  by the rest of the Cooke family at the grave site, waiting for the local preacher to begin the service.

“
Well folks,” a male voice called out. “Let's get started.”

Lena and her sisters stared at the handsome man on the other side of the grave with a Bible in his hand.
That
was Clear Creek's preacher?

“Sam Jamison doesn't have any kin
that we know of,” continued the preacher. “So I guess those of you gathered here are the closest thing to family there is for poor Sam.”

Lena and her sisters listened as the town preacher carried on about their cousin’s hired hand. He'd come to the Triple C only a year ago, and in that time, became one of their most trusted and responsible hands. Lena stared at the simple pine box that held the body. Had he been a young man, or an old, weathered cowboy? What could have happened to his family? She continued to ponder these things when her eyes wandered to the two men seated at the head of the grave. They were the same two that came to the Triple C early that morning to tell the Cooke’s their man had been shot. The one she was familiar with, Chase Adams, stared at the grave, his brows furrowed, his jaw tight. She wondered what he was thinking as she studied him. His hair was a light brown and he wore it extremely short. He wasn't as tall as Colin or Harrison, nor as broad, but she could tell he was a strong man. When he carried Apple into the parlor that morning, he lifted her as if she were nothing. True, her sister was small, but he swung her into his arms as if she hadn’t weighed more than a sack of sugar. His shirt-sleeves had been rolled up at them time, and she'd notice the strength of his forearms and hands as he gently lay Apple on the settee. When he bumped into her as he stood, she felt his back, a hard wall of solid muscle, come against her. She'd never been that close to a man before, and was shocked and even a little scandalized with herself when she didn't move away. But for some reason, in that scant amount of time, his presence made her feel safe. It was a strange feeling, one she’d never felt before, and so chalked it up to being overly tired from her travels and recent arrival. After all, what else could it be?