Once Upon a Mail Order Bride - Linda Broday Page 0,2
They arrived as the last four cars were pulling past the platform.
Gunshots sounded somewhere close, and Luke ducked behind a wall. “I don’t know how they found us, but here’s the plan. Both of us can’t make it, so I’m putting you on. If I’m right, this train’s going to Fort Worth. I’ll wire my wife, Josie, and she’ll meet you there. I’ll follow when I can.”
Beads of sweat rose on her face and trickled down her back. Her hands trembled as fear set in at the thought of being on her own again. Trains terrified her, especially without Luke to help. She’d never done it before, nor been in a strange city alone.
The caboose was about to pass them. Oh Lord, she’d have to jump!
What if she missed and landed under those big wheels?
Luke pressed some bills into her palm. “This’ll pay for your ticket and anything else you might need. Ask anyone if you have questions. I’ll stop those bastards from getting on.”
Oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord! She couldn’t do this.
She barely had a second before he took her hand, and they bolted alongside the train, now moving at a pretty good clip.
Run faster!
A bullet slammed into the wood at her feet, and others plinked against the side of the iron car.
Please don’t let them hit me. Please don’t let them hit me.
Her hammering heart leaped into her throat, and her mouth—as parched as a piece of sun-dried bread—wouldn’t let her swallow.
One second before the caboose cleared the platform, Luke yelled, “Jump!”
As she did, he pushed from behind. The heel of one shoe caught on the edge of the metal landing of the caboose. The ground underneath passed in a blur as she used all her strength to pull herself upright.
She raised her gaze in time to see one of their pursuers holding Luke’s arms behind him while the other thug drove a fist into his stomach. She sagged against the metal railing.
Luke Legend had been shot at, chased across the countryside, and was taking a beating—all for a woman he’d never laid eyes on before today. Gratitude burst inside her for the gift she’d been given. But at such cost.
They sped down the tracks. She was on a train going who knew where, with everything she owned in the world left behind in Luke Legend’s buggy, the most cherished of which were Ridge’s letters. It didn’t matter though. She’d read them so often, she could recite them. They’d found a place in her heart.
Addie glanced around. For now, she was safe and on her way to finally meet him.
* * *
Ridge Steele walked down a dark street near Fort Worth’s Hell’s Half Acre long past dark. The week’s ride from Hope’s Crossing had worn him out. But he’d arrived in time to collect the books the schoolmaster, Todd Denver, had desperately needed for the school term to begin. If they didn’t arrive, Denver would have to move on and the school year would have to be canceled. No parent wanted that.
With the freighters on strike and no end in sight, they’d had no way of getting the books there, and as the mayor, it had fallen to Ridge to make the trip after them. The telegram from Luke had said that Ridge’s bride wouldn’t arrive for another week or so, due to needing some recovery time, so he’d had nothing holding him back from making the trip.
Ridge paused and leaned against the gaslight outside the Sundance Saloon and debated going inside. From the raucous yells, it sounded a little rougher than he liked. He gazed up at the stars and found he was grateful for the extra time Luke had given him. The idea of marrying a woman he’d never met could be daunting. Who knew what sort of disposition Adeline Jancy would have? His friends had all gotten lucky with their mail-order brides, but there could always be that one to spoil the string.
The lights from his hotel beckoned at the far end of the street. He tugged his worn Stetson lower over his brow, pushed away from the gaslight, and strolled toward his bed. Tomorrow, he’d start for home.
The thumbnail moon didn’t hold back the darkness, the night offering more than a dozen places to hide. This wasn’t the safest part of town, and he regretted taking the shortcut. As usual, when away from the protection of the outlaw town of Hope’s Crossing, a heightened sense of awareness tingled beneath his skin. Blame that