Chapter Fifteen

"I'm telling you right now that Brody didn't kidnap that woman! If they left together it was because she wanted to go with him. Hell we don't even know for sure that they left together. Maybe Brody just rode on out of here, he didn't seem like the kind that sticks to one place too long and maybe somebody else took Miss McCready." Thomas said as the hands, except for Braxton who hadn't made it back from town yet, sat in the bunkhouse.

"You been singing Brody's praises since the man came to the ranch," Frank said as he whittled at a stick with his knife. "You sweet on the man or something?"

Thomas sat up straight on his bed and squared his shoulder, "Hell no. I ain't the type of man that gets sweet on another man." he spat defensively. "But he ain't a kidnapper the way Grant keeps preaching to the boss."

"I always liked the man. He was the only one of you young bastards that would eat my cooking without complaining," Cookie grumbled as he sat on his bed, leaned against the wall, with his legs stretched out and crossed. He had one of the ranch dogs sitting on the bed with him and was scratching the mutts ears.

"Something isn't right about all of this," Thomas insisted as he relaxed against the wall once again. "I think somebody on the ranch had something to do with their disappearances. Hell all of Brody's stuff is still here," he added, nodding over at Brody's empty bed and the bag sticking out from underneath it.

"Who the hell would have wanted something to happen to Miss McCready? I mean sure she might be the ice queen, slave driver but I sure as hell didn't do nothing to her," Wendell said from where he lay on his bed with his arms crossed over his face.

"I've heard some things," Thomas admitted. "Unless Miss McCready marries Grant, someone else gets this ranch. Somebody that the boss trusts. Now I ain't heard no names but there's only one man that's been here since the boss started this ranch and that's Braxton."

"Quit talking about stuff you don't know nothing about." Braxton's voice came from the bunkhouse door and Thomas turned and grinned like a cat caught in the cream.

"Where ya been Braxton?" Frank asked.

"Town. Looking for any sign of Elizabeth. Couldn't find any of course," Braxton replied as he took off his gun belt and tossed it on the table beside Thomas, the two of them bunked side by side.

"That's funny because Thomas here seems to think you had Miss McCready and Brody done away with," Frank said with a chuckle.

Braxton threw Thomas a sharp look, "The boy needs to learn to watch his mouth."

Thomas could hear the threat in his voice. Thomas wasn't afraid of Braxton but he was afraid of having all the ranch hands gun for him. He knew Braxton had to have something to do with Elizabeth and Brody being gone but he also knew that as the youngest here, the other hands would not be loyal to him. They'd be loyal to Braxton.

"Yes sir," Thomas replied, though the lack of respect was plain in his voice. Braxton went about pulling off his vest and chaps and Thomas's eyes were drawn to the gun on the table. He recognized the .44 Caliber army revolver with the rebel flag on the handle. That was Brody's gun.

How in the hell did Braxton end up with Brody's gun? Brody wouldn't give up his gun unless..... Thomas's eyes narrowed. Braxton must have killed Brody and if Brody was dead then that met that Elizabeth might just be dead too. It all made sense now. Braxton must be the man that would get the ranch if Mr. McCready died before Elizabeth married.

Thomas stood suddenly and strode out of the bunkhouse. He walked back behind the main house and saw a figure standing next to the old oak tree. Judging by the shape and size of the body, he knew he was Anita. He was about to say hello when he heard footsteps coming behind him and quickly ducked behind the shed.

Braxton walked past him, not seeing him in the darkness, and walked over to Anita who threw her arms around him and kissed him deeply. Thomas scratched his head. Since when were Braxton and Anita an item? As far as Thomas knew the whorehouse was still Braxton's favorite stop in town, after the saloon of course.

"I have good news and bad news, Anita," Braxton whispered and Thomas strained to hear him.

"What?" Anita asked.

"The good news is that the ranch will be ours just as soon as the old man dies. The bad news is that Elizabeth fought against the men that took her and they were forced to kill her, and Brody as well."

Anita gasped in shock. She clung to Braxton's shirt and sobbed into his chest, "This will break Ernest's heart," she said after several long minutes of crying.

"He can't know," Braxton warned harshly. "He would blame me and I would be hung for sure. As far as anyone needs to know she was kidnapped by Brody."

"I hate that she was killed, Braxton. I raised that girl from a baby.... I don't blame you though. I know you're just doing what is best for us."

"Always," Braxton replied, running his hand over her cheek. "Now get back in the house. It won't be much longer now before we're together all the time, dear." They shared one last kiss and Anita walked into the house. Thomas couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Braxton had had Brody and Elizabeth killed just so he could have the ranch and somehow Anita was in on it! Thomas was about to slip back through the shadows and return to the bunkhouse when another figure stepped outside and approached Braxton under the tree.

"You and I have a bit of a problem," Grant said in his soft, cultured voice.

"No, we don't. I'll just kill you for eavesdropping," Braxton replied, his voice like ice.

"No, you won't. You don't want another murder charge hanging over your head," Grant sounded quite sure of himself and not at all afraid. "I really did want that woman as my own because she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I guess I can live without her and keep my mouth closed about what I overheard tonight, if you give me something in return."

"What?" Braxton asked impatiently.

"I don't care anything about running this ranch. I hate cows and I hate this Texas heat. I have contacts with the railroad and I happen to know that in about a years time they'll be coming through here and buying some of this land for their lines. When Ernest McCready dies and you get the ranch, I want you to give that section of land to me so that I can sell it to the railroad when the time comes. It will still leave you with more than enough room to run your ranch."

"I ain't much for making deals with city slickers."

"Well then don't think of me as a city slicker, cowpoke. Think of me as a business partner. A business partner who will go to your boss and sing like a canary if you don't do what I want."

The two men stared hard at each other for several tense seconds and finally Braxton nodded, "Fine. But you have to stay here and keep up the image of a grieving fiancé praying that his woman is going to show up at home safe and sound any day."

"That sounds like a plan," Grant agreed. The two men shook hands and then both of them walked away. Grant to the house and Braxton to the bunkhouse.

Thomas shook his head, not believing what he'd just heard. There wasn't anything he could do but pretend he'd never heard anything. Brody and Elizabeth were already dead and nothing he did was going to change that.

Thomas was going to miss Brody. He had looked up to him and admired the man's grit. He was going to miss Elizabeth too. She might have been mean and bossy most of the time but she'd seemed like an alright woman. He stood up and slowly made his way back to the bunkhouse, knowing it was going to be hard to look at Braxton, knowing what the man was responsible for.

***

"This is home," the landowner said as he jumped off his horse beside a dilapidated old barn.

Elizabeth looked at the rundown cabin and the hungry looking cows and horses in the corrals beside the barn. This man and his family were clearly struggling. She looked at the man, who she'd learned was named George on the way to the house. He was tall but his back was slightly stooped. His face looked like burnt leather and it was full of lines and wrinkles. His hair was snow white atop his head, contrasting with the darkness of his skin. He had a friendly smile, that was missing several teeth, and expressive brown eyes.

"Looks good to me," Brody said.

Elizabeth nodded. Her feet were killing her, her legs felt like she'd beaten them with a stick and all she wanted to do was sit on a soft sofa and stay there for several days.

"Come on in then," George urged as he hitched the horse. "My wife passed away about a year ago but my daughter and son-in-law live here with me. She should have something cooked up for supper and we can get you some hot water for a bath and some clean clothes for you folks."

Elizabeth and Brody followed him into the small but tidy three room cabin. The living area and kitchen were all made together. A small brown sofa with a bright blue and white checked blanket covering it, and a small armchair were next to a burning fireplace and there was a scarred up oak table with four chairs in the kitchen area. The smell of fresh baked bread and cherry pie filled their nostrils and both Elizabeth and Brody began to drool.

"Hi papa, who are these folks?" A woman asked as she wiped her hands on her stained up yellow apron and stepped away from the counter. She was short and petite with flawless dark skin, big brown eyes and her hair pulled back in a bun. Her gingham dress was brown and worn and she looked tired but friendly.

"This is Elizabeth and Brody. I found 'em camped out over in the south pasture. They didn't have no horses or supplies so I told 'em they could come here."

"We're always willin' to help those that need it," she agreed. She reached her hand out and shook both Brody's and Elizabeth's. "My name's Carol Anne. And this is my husband Charlie," she pointed at the man sitting at the table eating ham and potatoes and he smiled upon standing up.

"Nice to meet you folks."

Elizabeth had never seen a man so tall and skinny. He had to be close to seven feet tall and his hand was three times larger than hers as he gripped it in a firm handshake. His eyes were black and when he smiled his bright white teeth seemed to glow next to his dark as night skin.

"Where are our manners?!" Carol Anne exclaimed. "You two must be tired and starving. Sit down. Sit down and I'll get you something to eat!" Brody and Elizabeth sat down at the table and within moments Carol Anne had two steaming plates of ham, potatoes, bread and fresh greens in front of them and they happily dug in.

Charlie chuckled, "Looks like you and your wife was hungry."

"I'm not his wife," Elizabeth replied, before taking a sip of the tea Carol Anne had set in front of her.

"Not yet," Brody added pointedly. Elizabeth smiled and felt a blush rise on her cheeks as she picked her fork back up.

"So what brought you guys to my property with no horses or supplies?" George asked and Brody launched into a short, undetailed story of how they were ambushed, kidnapped and left for dead and how they'd been wandering for three days.

"You're Elizabeth McCready?!" Carol Anne exclaimed. "Papa, them folks that stopped by was looking for her! They said that Brody kidnapped her."

"Is that what everyone thinks?!" Elizabeth exclaimed, slamming her fork down, "That's ridiculous."

"Calm down," Brody said shaking his head. "Of course that's what everyone thinks. We'll just tell 'em different once we get back." Elizabeth was still angry that anyone could think something so bad of Brody but she bit her tongue and went back to eating her dinner.

"You're only about a day and a half ride away from Bakerstown." Charlie said matter of factly.

"Bakerstown is only an hour from the ranch!" Elizabeth said happily. "We're almost home!" Brody didn't bother telling her that that ranch would never be the home she remembered again. Not if his hunch about Braxton and Anita was correct.

"From the way them men talked, you guys better get going first thing in the morning. They said your pa only had a couple more days at the most," Carol Anne added and Elizabeth stiffened.

Brody glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He could see the sadness in her eyes, the stubborn set of her jaw and the way she squared her shoulders as if to fight off the pain alone. He didn't want to embarrass her by taking her hand where everyone could see, he knew she had a lot of pride in being strong, so instead he reached his hand under the table and gave her knee a gentle squeeze, just to let her know that she wasn't alone anymore.

Carol Anne bit her lip, "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"It's okay," Elizabeth assured her while staring down at the food left on her plate. "My pa's been sick for a while."

"Carol Anne, go get them both some fresh clothes laid out on my bed. They can use the water you had ready for me and take themselves a bath," George wrinkled his nose as he looked at them, "They need one worse than I do." He gave a good natured laugh that had both Brody and Elizabeth smiling.

Carol Anne rose from the table to do as her father asked and Charlie left as well, saying he needed to feed the cows. This left George, Brody and Elizabeth alone at the small kitchen table.

"I hate to be nosy, and you can tell me to mind my own business if'n that's what you want to do, but why ain't you folks married yet? You look to me like two people in love if I've ever seen 'em."

Brody and Elizabeth looked at each other and then back at George., "We do?" Elizabeth asked.

George nodded, "Go ahead," he said to Brody, who was holding up a cigarette questioningly and Brody quickly lit a match and took a long puff. "Yeah, you see I know a thing or two about folks in love. I've married my fair share of 'em."

"You're a preacher?" Elizabeth asked with disbelief.

"Yep. I tried to start me a church out here but most folks don't wanna hear the word of God, especially when it comes from a colored man."

"People are foolish," Elizabeth stated causing George to chuckle.

Brody nodded, "Well ya see George, my thick headed backside didn't realize that I wanted to marry the girl until just a few days ago and I've been too busy keeping us alive to hunt down a preacher," Brody informed the man with a grin.

"A few days?" Elizabeth gasped and Brody nodded but didn't elaborate on exactly when the moment was that he realized he wanted to marry her.

"Well it just so happens that a preacher man hunted you down. So what do ya say? I can write out a paper, sign my name, my daughter and son in law can be witnesses and we can get you folks hitched before the night's out."

Elizabeth sat there in wide-eyed shock and she looked over at Brody to see if he was as shocked as she was but instead he was smiling at her with a confidence and sureness in his eyes that took her breath away.

"What do you say Miss McCready? Are you ready to be Mrs. Atkinson?"

"How about we make you Mr. McCready?" she countered and he shook his head.

"This is one time I'm not backing down, boss. You might be stubborn as hell and if you wanna marry me, I won't ask you to change a single damn thing about yourself, except for your name. I like the rest just fine." Elizabeth smiled at George, "What kind of woman could say no to something as simple as that?" she asked and finally Brody looked surprised.

"Really? You really wanna marry me?"

"Yes, Brody. I know you said you don't have anything to offer but everything you have given me so far is all I need." Brody raised a brow suggestively and Elizabeth rolled her eyes, even as her body heated when memories of the day of lovemaking they'd just shared flashed through her mind, "Love, Brody, I meant love."

Brody grinned, "Yeah that's what I thought."

"Well go get cleaned up then kids," George said, smiling happily as Carol Anne walked back into the room. "These two are getting married here tonight," he told his daughter and she smiled and clapped with so much happiness it was as if she'd known Elizabeth and Brody their whole lives instead of thirty minutes.

"Well let's go clean up then, Miss McCready. A man's gotta look nice before he heads to the gallows," Brody intoned with a sigh.

Elizabeth glared at him and slapped him playfully as he stood up and walked toward the bedroom Carol Anne had come out of.

"Aren't you gonna help pull out her chair?" George asked as Elizabeth pushed her chair back and stood up.

Brody shrugged, "What for? She's got arms and legs that work just fine."

Elizabeth smiled. God had finally given her a man who understood she could take care of herself. Even though she had no doubt he would give his life to protect her without a second thought.