Shotgun Bride (20 page)

At least Kid and Sammy had a bark, she didn't even have that. All she had were visions. Often she thought about wringing Russell's neck, or refusing to move again when one of his schemes had gone bad. But those visions had remained silent. She'd never acted on one.... until this very moment. The train moved fast enough now. If, by chance, someone saw her, the engine wouldn't be able to stop before she got away. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped. Wind tousled her hair and skirt as she floated through the air. Tucking her body into a ball moments before hitting the ground, she rolled across the rocks and into the grass. Disregarding the pain in her shoulder and hip, she quickly scrambled to her feet and ran between two of the foul smelling pens.

Stinky, slippery mud stuck to the soles of her shoes, she lifted the ends of the pink dress and trudged forward. Cattle 188

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mooed and scurried away from the fence rails as she ran past. Fearing watchful eyes, she kept her head low and weaved between the pens, the whole while praying she wouldn't heave from the smells. If she could get to one of the feed pens, she could hide out amongst the stacks of hay until nightfall. The frilly, pink dress, one of her favorites, was much too fancy to walk through the tent city on the south side of Dodge in the middle of the day.

Three pens later, she crawled beneath the fence railings and scampered into the middle. Squeezing between the huge stacks, she found a cavern, plenty large enough for her to hide. Jessie snuggled down, waiting for the rapid beating of her chest to slow, and listened for shouts she prayed wouldn't come.

* * * *

Not until millions of twinkling stars decorated the black sky did she emerge and silently slip passed the cattle to find the well-worn trek to the tents. Fingers crossed, she skirted around hundreds of canvas shapes, looking for a familiar one. Coming upon four large barrels turned upside down, Jessie let out a thankful breath of air.

"Willamina?" she whispered near the long slit used as a door.

The light inside the canvas flickered then moved closer to the opening. "Jessica? Jessica is that you girl?" The material flipped outwards.

"Yes, it's me."

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"Well, land sakes child! Get yourself in here!" Willamina waved an arm.

Jessie, very thankful to see the welcoming face of her old friend, stepped into the tent and into the embrace of the woman's gnarled hands. Tears threatened, but she bucked up, and forced her eyes to remain dry.

Willamina's face took on more wrinkles as she stepped back saying, "Land sakes, girl, what you been doing? Living with cows? You smell to high heaven!" A true smile formed. "I'm afraid I chose the wrong pens to walk through."

"Take those shoes off, let me swish them out." Willamina's gaze started at her shoes and ended where the pink bow tied her long hair away from her face. "Goodness, girl, I ain't never seen anyone prettier than you. Why, you look like one of those gals in those picture books." Jessie sat down, catching her balance as the rickety chair wiggled and began to untie her shoes. "I was afraid you may have moved on."

"Naw, too late in the year. I'll winter here." The woman took the shoes as Jessie removed them. "That no good brother with ya?"

"No, I really don't know where Russell is."

"Good. Good riddens to him. You got a dress, the one you left behind, in that trunk over there." Williamia nodded toward a square box on the other side of the tent. "Dowse the light and put it on while I rinse these off, then I'll air out that fancy one. Got some men's clothes hanging by the creek I can hide it with, but we'll have to bring it in 'afore daylight." 190

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Jessie nodded and rose to walk to the box.

"Then you can tell me where you got the fancy clothes and these new shoes." Willamina's friendly eyes grew cold.

"Jessica, you're still a good girl, ain't ya?" Jessie swallowed, wondering for a moment if some of the thoughts she'd had back at the ranch would count.

"Yes, Willamina, I'm still a good girl."

"Good, I can't be having bad girls living here." The woman turned to slip out the tent. "Dowse the light and change." She did as instructed. As the old dress fell over her shoulders, she covered her face with both hands, missing the ranch and Kid with all her heart.

Early the following morning, wearing the worn thin dress of her past, but with the pink one wrapped in an old sack, Jessie climbed into the back of a wagon. The wood was grey, not the fresh, new brown of the one she'd traveled in to Dodge. Ignoring the remembrance, she waved good-bye to Willamina then hid her body amongst the cargo, where she'd stay until clear of the city and other travelers.

The trip to the soddy took two days, the wagon needing several hasty repairs along the way, but the family she traveled with were kind and happy. They were on their way to the state line, planned on homesteading across the Colorado border, where they had family waiting. The well-worn wagon trail ran west several miles north of her land. Jessie insisted the family not detour to take her any closer, assuring the walk wasn't a long one.

Full of benevolence, the Jackson's insisted she spend one last night with them and early the next morning, after feeding 191

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her breakfast and insisting she take a small bag of supplies, Bryce, Madeline, and their two year old son, Miles, headed west while Jessie began walking south.

It wasn't a long walk, but a lonely one. High in the sky, the sun beat on her shoulders as she topped the small hill behind the soddy. The little house, showing no sign of life, sat below—waiting for her. Jessie took a deep sigh. She was home.

Sadder yet, she was alone. In this big, wide world, full of people, she was completely alone. It was a first; always in the past when she found a place to stay she'd had a glimmer of hope Russell would be happy with her find and that together they would begin to carve out a new life. This time she didn't even have that glimmer.

The wind, whipping at her skirts like the devil himself, pushed her forward. As her feet began to stumble down the hill, words floated through her mind.
"You have a choice,
Jessie. We all do."

Her toes dug in the sandy soil, and she twisted from side to side, looking to see if the words had only been in her head. Grassland, miles and miles of grassland, like an ocean of light brown, flowed beneath the bright blue sky. A few trees, a rock or two jutted up here or there, but nothing else. Kid was nowhere in sight.

She straightened her shoulders. "Him and his stupid choices!"

She began to stomp down the hill. "You have a choice, Jessie. No, that's not your choice, Jessie, this is." The sound of her voice sent a prairie chicken, wings a flutter, to run 192

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across her path as she made her way to the sod shanty. By the time she stood in front of the thick, wood door, she had made a choice. Or maybe it was a conclusion. Either way, Kid Quinter was a vile man, and she hated him, hoped she'd never see him ever again.

* * * *

Kid set the bowl on the floor of the front porch. "Come on, Sammy. You at least have to drink some water." The dog lifted the corner of his upper lip, showing one yellow fang as he emitted a heartless growl.

"I'm not afraid of you, so you can quit acting." Kid reached a hand forward.

Sammy snapped at the fingers.

Kid pulled his hand back, frowning. "Fine, be that way." Closing his eyes, Sammy repositioned his head on his front paws, his sides heaving with a big sigh. A faint sound, the clatter of a wagon made Kid stand up to scan the road. Sammy, on the other hand, didn't even bat an eyelid. Kid hated the thought of putting the dog down, but the poor thing was starving itself to death. With the toe of his boot, he pushed the bowl closer to the long, black snout then moved to the steps, walking down as a buckboard rounded the calving pens.

Squinting against the sun, he blinked several times, questioning the sight. His steps quickened. Grabbing the leather straps of one harness while the horse jolted to a stop, Kid asked, "What the hell are you two doing here?" 193

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"Well, uh, now Kid, that's kind of a funny story—" Snake started.

"I'm not finding anything funny! You two should be in Boston about now." The harness slipped from his hand as he ran to the wagon bed. A large, carved trunk and a dusty traveling bag sat on the floorboards.

"Where the hell is Jessie?" he shouted passed the lump in his throat. His heart pounded so hard he could hear it in his ears.

Something solid hit his arm as a black flash leaped into the bed. Sammy began sniffing at the cargo, whining, his fat tail whipping back and forth before Kid's face. Kid reached up, grabbed Snake by the front of the shirt and pulled him to the ground. His bottom jaw tight, teeth clenched so hard he could barely speak, he growled, "Where the hell is she?" Fingers tried to pull his hands from the material. They did little more than make his grasp tighten. "Kid? Kid, let go of Snake, and I'll tell you what happened." Hog's grunting voice sounded near his ear.

Kid let go of Snake, but only with one hand so he could use it to grab Hog's shirt collar.

"Where the hell is she?"

Hog swallowed, his Adam's apple catching on the material.

"Well, um, uh, here?"

"Here?" Kid screeched. Cold sweat covered the back of his neck.

The brothers nodded.

Kid let go, using his hands to press at the pain throbbing in his temples. He took a deep breath. Killing them wouldn't 194

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help. Then he'd never find out what happened. Placing his hands on his hips, he bent forward, sucking in gulps of air. The ground swirled before his eyes.

"Kid? Kid you all right?" Snake asked.

"No, I'm not all right," he said, still trying to calm his shaking body.

"You ain't dying or something, are ya?" Hog asked. He flipped his head upright. "No, I'm not dying, but you two are. As soon as you tell me what happened. I'm going to have to kill you," he said, fully meaning the words. The boys started backing away from him.

"Stop!" He pointed a finger at them. "Stop right there. Don't take another step until I get every detail." Joe appeared beside him, looking between him and the brothers.

"What's up? Why are these two back?"

"They're just about to tell me that." His fists clenched. He folded his arms across his chest so he wouldn't wring their necks before they got the story out.

Joe ran a finger over his chin, and said, "What happened, Hog?"

"Well, we made it into Dodge, no problem," he started.

"None whatsoever," Snake added. "And we boarded the train."

"That much I know!" Kid took a step forward. Joe's hand slapped down on his shoulder as the man said,

"We followed you to Dodge, made sure you made it all right."

"You did?" Hog asked.

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"Yes, and we watched both of you and Jessie board the train. What happened?" Kid asked. Pulsating blood pounded through his body, making every muscle tight. If the boys didn't talk faster, he would explode from the tension.

"Well, the train pulled away from the station and Jessie said she had to use the privy. When she didn't come back, we went to check on her, but she was gone. Just up and vanished," Hog said.

Snaked nodded. "We looked everywhere, even had the conductor helping us. When we got to Abilene we checked the other ca—"

"Abilene?" Kid interrupted. "You lost her in Dodge, but didn't stop the train until Abilene?" They were more incompetent than he thought.

"They wouldn't let us, Kid. We tried!" Hog took another step backwards.

Joe's hand on his shoulder tightened. "Kid, they wouldn't have stopped the train for them. You know that." The hand patted. "Calm down a touch."

Through the red haze in front of his eyes, Joe's worried face formed. Kid ran a hand through his hair, pulling at the roots, hoping the pain might bring his fury back under control.

"We, uh, we got her trunk, turned in our tickets and caught the next train back to Dodge," Hog said.

"From there we took the stage to Nixon, got in last night, walked home and this morning went back to pick up her trunk and bring it out here," Snake finished the tale. 196

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Kid choked on his own air. "You got in last night, but waited until this afternoon to tell me Jessie is missing?"

"W-we figured she'd already be here. Thought she'd want her belongings," Hog said.

"You mean she really ain't here?" Snake said, a worried frown covering his face.

"No, she's not here!" Kid shouted.

"Well, shit! Where is she?" Hog asked. Snake nodded, looking at him expectantly, "Yeah, Kid, where is she?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? You two were supposed to take her to Boston!" He flipped around, kicking at the dirt beneath his feet. Sammy sat in the wagon, his head resting on the top of the trunk with sad brown eyes watching his every movement. Kid snapped back around to the brothers.

"Did either of you think of sending a wire?" They looked at each other, mouths agape, clearly having the thought of sending him a telegram for the very first time.

"Go saddle some horses." Kid pointed to the barn.

"Including Jack."

"Why?" Hog asked.

"Because we're going to Dodge to look for her!"

"But Ma's expecting us for supper. If'n we don't show up, she'll be thinking you done killed us," Snake said.

"And I will, if you don't go saddle those horses." He hoisted a fist near his shoulder, turned and smashed it against the side of the wagon. "Go! Now!" 197