Chapter Three
It was just past ten that night when Owen pulled the wagon to a stop by the trees along the river. “We’ll stop here,” he told Sep. Then, after a moment, he asked, “Are you sure you want to be a part of this?”
“I want to make sure the women aren’t hurt,” Sep replied.
“Alright. But don’t do anything unless I tell you to. The men probably have guns.”
“I know how to shoot a gun.”
“I realize that, but you’re not my deputy. If something happens to you, I won’t feel right about it.” Owen pulled the brake. “And Joel would kill me if something happened to you. He thinks of you as a younger brother.”
For a moment, Sep thought Owen was going to say that Joel thought of him as a son, in which case he would be offended since he wasn’t that much younger than Joel. But he didn’t mind being thought of as a younger brother. That was actually kind of nice, though he’d never tell Owen that.
Sep glanced over at Deputy Barnes who tied the reins of his horse to another tree. Sep followed Owen’s lead and quietly got down from the wagon. He walked over to Owen’s side and saw Owen grab some rope and a few pairs of handcuffs.
Owen waved the deputy over to them. The deputy had his gun ready to go. It was a shame Sep couldn’t do the same thing. He was a good shot. Quick, too. But he could understand Owen’s hesitation, so he kept his mouth shut.
“We need to scout the area before we go in,” Owen whispered to both men. “I need to know how many men are outside that livery stable. I’m going to assume there’s at least one man inside and that he has a gun. We already know three women are in there. What we need to do first is round up the men standing guard around the place. We’ll do that with these.” Owen lifted up the rope and handcuffs.
“After we take care of them,” Owen continued, “we’ll go into the stable and get the poor women out. Barnes, you go around to the south and come up around the west side. Sep, you check the north. I’ll check along the river. Then we’ll meet under that tree over there.”
Sep took note of the tree Owen was talking about.
Deputy Barnes and Sep indicated their agreement, but before Sep headed toward the side he’d been instructed to go to, Owen stopped him and whispered, “Stay about fifty feet from the stable, and get behind as many trees as you can. We don’t want anyone to see you.”
Sep nodded and then headed around the north side. He didn’t see anyone on his end. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed. Of course, he didn’t want to get caught by one of the men, but he thought it might have been exciting if he could report seeing someone.
He made it to the tree where they were supposed to meet. The deputy and Owen arrived there a minute later.
“I saw two men,” the deputy said. “One on each side that I checked.”
“I didn’t see anyone,” Sep replied.
“I saw one by the entrance of the livery stable.” Owen gave the deputy a pair of handcuffs. “You get the one along the river. Sep and I will get the two you saw.”
From there, the deputy ran off to his side of the livery stable while Sep helped Owen. As soon as they came across the first man, Sep followed Owen around the trees. Owen waited until the man had his back turned to him before he rushed over and put his hand over his mouth. Sep helped Owen keep the man in place as Owen slipped the handcuffs on him. Then they came around to the other side of the livery stable and did the same thing with the other man.
After that, Owen had the deputy watch the three handcuffed men while he and Sep crept up to the entrance of the livery stable. Sep couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard a woman softly crying. At once, he felt a pang in his chest. The poor women must be scared. If he’d had any doubts over whether or not this had been the right thing to do, this resolved them. He’d definitely made the right choice.
Owen glanced over at Sep and got his gun ready. “If shots start flying, you drop to the ground, understand?” Owen whispered.
Sep nodded.
Owen ran in first, and Sep followed behind, already crouching toward one of the stalls that was falling apart. But Owen’s warning hadn’t been necessary. As it turned out, the skinny man who’d been watching the women dropped his gun on a small table and threw his hands up in the air.
“I didn’t hurt them,” the man said. “I only made sure they didn’t escape. That was all. Please don’t shoot me.”
Owen picked up the man’s gun. “I won’t shoot you as long as you cooperate with me.”
“I’ll do anything you want.”
“Turn around, put your hands down, and let me put the handcuffs on you.”
The man turned around and put his hands behind his back. Owen put his gun in his holster then gestured for Sep to take the man’s gun. Sep did and then looked at the three women. They were huddled together along the wall, each visibly shaking.
His attention was drawn specifically to the blonde wearing a veil. All he could make out was her eyes, and even in the dim light of the lantern, he was taken in by how green they were. He wondered why she wore a veil. There had to be some reason for it. It wasn’t a requirement of the men who were trying to sell them. The other two women weren’t wearing veils. For some reason, she chose to wear one. Maybe she was insecure about her looks. If that was the case, then she had to be hiding something.
Owen finished handcuffing the man and urged the women to get up. As they did, the blonde with the veil lost her balance. Without thinking, Sep hurried over to her and helped her steady her footing. Upon noticing the rock she had tripped on, he bent down to move it out of the way. While he was still bent over, he glanced up at her, and it was then he caught sight of the scars on her right cheek and neck. So that was why she wore a veil.
He quickly stood back up before she realized he had seen the scars. The last thing he wanted was for her to be embarrassed.
“Thank you,” she told him.
“You’re welcome,” he replied.
“You three are safe now,” Owen told the women. “I’m the sheriff here in Omaha. My name is Owen Russell. This here,” he gestured to Sep, “is Sep Wilson. He’s a friend of the family.”
Since it seemed obligatory, Sep offered them a nod to greet them.
“I’m Velma Murdoch,” the brunette said. She gestured to the blonde with the veil. “This is Angela Frank, and this,” she motioned to the other blonde, “is Natalie Harper. What are you going to do with us?”
“Well, there are a couple of things we can do,” Owen began. “I can help you get back to where you came from, I can help you find a job, or I can find someone for you to marry.” He glanced at Sep. “Richard’s sons are around your age, aren’t they?”
“Mark and Anthony are two years younger than me,” Sep said.
“I don’t remember how old you are,” Owen replied.
So that was what Owen was getting at. He was thinking of having him, Mark, and Anthony marry these three women. Sep hesitated to answer. Did he really want to be married? He glanced at the women, who all seemed to have an expectation that someone would marry them. None of them were all that excited about going back to their hometowns, and it wouldn’t be as easy for them to find a job as Owen was making it sound.
Sep cleared his throat. “I’m twenty-three.”
“So that makes Mark and Anthony twenty-one.” With a glance at the women, he added, “They’re twins.”
“I can’t return home,” the brunette said. “And I have nowhere else to go. I have to stay in Omaha.”
“I can’t return, either,” the blonde without the veil added.
Everyone turned their attention to the blonde with the veil.
She cleared her throat. “I could return home.” After a moment, her gaze lowered. “I just don’t want to.”
Sep winced. It had to be the scars.
Maybe the men in her hometown didn’t want to marry someone who had scars on one side of her face. He wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. People based far too much importance on a person’s appearance. Men were especially bad for that kind of thing. He’d been around enough of them to hear the way they talked about women. Not all men were like that, but enough were. And if a woman came from a small town, it would be even harder to find someone who was willing to overlook her imperfections. Which wasn’t fair. Everyone had scars of some kind. Some showed them, and others didn’t. Everyone had something painful to contend with.
Sep cleared his throat. “I’d be willing to marry you so you can stay here,” he told her.
Her gaze went to his, and her eyes grew wide. “You would?”
“Well, sure.” Aware that everyone else was watching them, he shifted from one foot to the other. He had never proposed to a woman before. He hadn’t even courted one. So he wasn’t sure how to go about this. “I’m not married. You’re not married. I wouldn’t mind having a wife. You came to Omaha in order to marry someone. Even though it didn’t work out, there’s no reason why you can’t still get married.”
Once more, his gaze went to the others. His face warmed. Did he sound like an idiot?
“Sep is a fine young man,” Owen told the woman with the veil. “He has his own farm just south of town. As I said, he’s a part of the family. You can trust him.”
She looked at Sep. “I’d be happy to marry you.”
Sep couldn’t be sure, but he thought the woman was smiling behind her veil. At the very least, her eyes had a certain sparkle to them.
“Good,” Owen said before Sep could reply. “You two can get married tonight at Rick Johnson’s house. Rick is my brother-in-law, and lucky for us, he’s a judge.” Turning to the other two women, he continued, “I’ll pay Mark and Anthony a visit tomorrow. For tonight, you two can stay over at my place. My wife will be happy to have you as our guests.”
Since everyone was content with the arrangement, they left the old livery stable. Sep had no idea how Mark and Anthony would respond when they found out they had been selected to marry the two stranded mail-order brides. He wasn’t going to be there tomorrow when Owen talked to them. But he knew they would marry them because their sense of duty and honor would compel them to. If there was one thing he had learned about the Larsons, it was that they had integrity. When push came to shove, they could be trusted to do the right thing.
As for Sep… Well, Sep hadn’t been above doing whatever was necessary to get things done in the past. He didn’t fool himself into thinking he was as noble as the Larsons. Even if he didn’t go around gambling and sleeping around, life had taught him that things didn’t wait for those who sat around. It rewarded people who went out and took what they wanted.
And, though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, it would be nice to have a wife. Fate seemed to be offering him a chance he would probably never get again. How else could he explain the fact that three women, all looking for a husband, happened to fall right into his lap tonight? Fate had set it up so that Nora got sick when April needed a husband to protect her. Joel had come out at just the right time. Sep had taken matters into his own hands back then, and things had worked out. No doubt, the same would be true this time. Fate didn’t bring a man something if it wasn’t going to turn out for the best.
They left the livery stable and went to the wagon. As Owen and the deputy secured the men into the back of it, Sep chanced a glance at Angela. Her gaze was on the ground, and she was clasping her hands in a way that indicated she was trying to calm her nerves. There was no doubt that marriage was a scary prospect. This was the start of a new life, and neither one of them knew exactly what to expect.
In hopes of reassuring her that everything was going to be alright, he reached out and took one of her hands. He wasn’t sure if she’d welcome the touch or not. April always liked it when Joel touched her. And Joel touched her a lot.
Angela looked up at him, and he offered her a tentative smile. He had no idea if she returned his smile or not, but she did clasp his hand.
That was a good start. A promising start. Fate, it seemed, was letting him know he had chosen the right bride. And he wasn’t about to argue with fate.
“You ready to get in?” Owen asked him.
Realizing everyone else was ready to go, Sep nodded. Since there wasn’t much room left on the seat, Sep asked Angela, “Do you mind sitting on my lap?”
Had it been any other situation, he never would have come out and asked such a thing, but it was either that or sit in the back with the criminals.
Angela cleared her throat and shook her head. “No, I don’t mind.”
He hopped up into the wagon first and then helped her up. Once she was settled on his lap, he wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her secure against him. She, in turn, wrapped her arms around his neck. This was nice. He had no idea that holding a woman could be so pleasurable. No wonder Joel did this all the time with April.
Owen got into the wagon, snapped the reins, and followed his deputy to town.