Brides of the West-Part One Read online

  Brides of the West

  Part One

  Brides of the West

  Part One

  Rita Hestand

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  Copyright© 2014-2015 by Rita Hestand

  All rights reserved.

  “Brides of the West” Cover Design by: Sheri McGathy

  ISBN # 9781310123511

  Brides of the West Series: Part One

  Heart of a Family

  Delivering the Bride

  Heart of a Woman

  Wanted: Bride

  (More box sets coming for this series)

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with other people, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this ebook without purchasing it and it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  Brides of the West, Part One is a work of fiction. Though actual locations may be mentioned, they are used in a fictitious manner and the events and occurrences were invented in the mind and imagination of the author except for the inclusion of actual historical facts. Similarities of characters or names used within to any person – past, present, or future – are coincidental except where actual historical characters are purposely interwoven.

  ***Dedication***

  In the 1800's women were scarce on the western frontier. Men were lonely, and many times they would mail order for a bride. Other times they'd find a woman that fit their needs by pure luck. Either way it's no wonder the females of our country came to be revered by many men.

  This book is dedicated to the women who came west looking for a future of some kind. Women who braved the odds, and had the courage to stand beside their men in hard times. So here's to the Brides of the West!

  God Bless…..Rita Hestand

  Table of Contents

  Book One

  Heart of a Family

  Bonnie McDaniel had supported her siblings ever since their parents death. It had been four years, and she was eighteen. But the money was running out, the house might be lost and the food was scarce now. She had to do something. She had to find herself a husband.

  Book Two

  Delivering the Bride

  Rachel Landers came west to marry Hershel Newton, a man she'd never actually met. Buck Daggett was the man that stood in Hershel's place at the proxy wedding. However, Rachel had a lot of surprises in store for herself when she had to climb the mountain.

  Book Three

  Heart of a Woman

  Cole Morgan didn't allow unmarried women on his wagon train. However, Emily Carrington needed to escape her controlling Uncle and fiancé. Cole made her a bargain, he'd marry her and take her west if she'd cook for his crew. Could she live up to her bargain?

  Book Four

  Wanted: Bride

  Gil Sutton was a deputy in the town of Hard Knocks. Since a long time friend of his was under suspicion he thought it his duty to see after Callie Evans. Callie was a girl hanging around the wrong people. He had to save her.

  About the Author

  Rita's Other Books

  Book One

  Heart of a Family

  Heart of the Family

  by Rita Hestand

  West Texas 1882

  Chapter One

  The street was strangely vacant. Dust swirled in the air. Only a bunch of cowboys lined the street near the edge of town. The boardwalks were empty. A tension stirred the very air.

  A handful of cowboys waited for orders from their boss before converging on one lone man.

  Dal glanced from one to another, recognizing most of them.

  "Wrap that rope around him good and tight." The big man stared into the eyes of the cowboy who struggled to stand on his feet. The man's saddle creaked as he moved against it to lean on the saddle horn, his weight bearing down on it. John Banister's face screwed up into a huge frown.

  The sun blushed over the treetops, creating a fire on the back of Dal Odom's neck as the rope tightened to a burn around his chest and arms. There was no breeze, the air stood still, like a tickless clock. The rope pulled and tugged at his skin, like a sharp edged knife. Dal staggered, trying to release it from his body. The cowboys on horseback merely tightened it in amusement.

  Someone snickered.

  Dal's hat had long been swept from his head.

  He tasted the grit of dust and sweat on his lips.

  "Alright, now Dal you gonna tell us where the money is, or are we gonna have to drag it out of you?"

  Dal wiped the grit from his mouth, tried to stand up straight once more and shook his head. He glanced around, but there was no one on the street. Ashville was abnormally quiet as people disappeared into stores and buildings. "I told you, you got the wrong man."

  "Wrong man my ass. You took that money, and now you are gonna pay for stealin' boy." John Banister frowned, and his horse reared with him as he sat the unstable saddle. His long thick white sideburns bristled as the dust scattered. His craggy brows drew together, while his dark brown eyes cast instant judgment.

  "Maybe you ought to ask your son about it….he's the one that robbed you." Dal hollered.

  One of the cowboys jerked on the rope and Dal went down on the ground again. He spat the blood this time toward the man on the horse. Sweat trickled down his chest in rivulets.

  On the outskirts of a hushed town, Dal let the tension drain from his body. Wiping away thoughts and dreams of the future, he faced his nemesis, guiltless.

  From out of nowhere a slight breeze rushed against him, cooling him momentarily as he struggled to his feet once again.

  His black hair plastered the back of his neck, wet with sweat.

  The cowboys jeered him.

  "My son? Are you standing there in all God's glory and accusing my son of taking that money?"

  "I'm not accusing at all. I'm telling." Dal wrestled with the rope that kept getting tighter around him.

  "Drag him…drag him down to the creek and leave him." The old man said and turned his horse in the other direction. "If he ain't dead by then, let the buzzards have him."

  The same cowboy that roped him, drug him through the edges of town and out into the countryside. One of the other men followed, whooping and hollering as Dal's body jerked and bumped and flew threw the air and back down to the hard crusted earth. Dust flew for a long time and Bonnie McDaniel stood watching in the shadows. She'd just come from town. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. No lawman intervened. No one stopped to help the young cowboy. Whether he told the truth or not, this was no way to treat a man, Bonnie decided quickly. The old cowboy on the big bay horse had all the law that was needed. John Banister, Bonnie muttered under her breath with distaste, dished out the only law.

  Dal's body bounced along the road like a bale of hay that hadn't been tied good. Blood and dirt mixed. He tried to protect himself by rolling into a ball, but in the end he lay by the creek, half dead, his body torn, bruised and bleeding.

  Bonnie had covered her mouth, to stop her scream. How could they do that to a man? She'd never seen such violence in her life. Her will to help the man grew every minute. She feared he'd die.

  Concerned, she followed them down to the creek and waited to see what they would do next.

  "Think I should go ahead and put him out of his misery?" The young one hollered as he pulled the rope off the man's body.

  "Naw, the boss didn't say kill 'em, Cody. He just wanted to scare the daylights out of him." The older cowboy said and spit his tobacco at the man on the ground.
/>   "He's nearly a goner anyway." The young one sneered. "He probably won't live to see another day, and this way the law can't holler at nobody. We were just havin' a little fun with a thief."

  "I sure would like to know where that money got to, though. We may never know now. That is if he's guilty."

  Cody laughed. "Maybe the kid didn't take it. Maybe he was right maybe the old man's son did take the money. They never have gotten along too well. And Billy when he's out of money, he gets plumb onry about it."

  "Then why'd we nearly kill this fella?"

  "'Cause when John Banister says do something, we do it." Cody laughed. "He ain't no account anyway. He got his just desserts. Accusing the boss's son sure didn't win him no victories."

  "Billy could have done it though. You know that as well as I."

  "That's true, I wouldn't put it past him. But if you had a daddy like that, would you take what you could get? Besides, if Billy is guilty and he gets caught, that old man will kill him."

  "Yeah, I reckon you are right."

  "Let's get back, it's getting late." The old man said.

  "He's pretty beat up, you think he'll make it?" Cody flashed a big smile.

  "Depends if the snakes get to him first."

  "Let's ride old man…whatever happens, happens. It ain't our fault."

  Bonnie waited until they were long gone before she moved from her hiding spot. She was shivering with fear and anger

  She stared at the man that didn't move in the dust. She wasn't about to go running up to him until it was safe. She saw his chest moving and knew he was alive. Hope sprang inside her.

  When the men left, she ran to the injured man's side.

  She rolled him over and saw the blood running from his mouth and eye.

  "Mister, mister…let me help you." She cried as she tore off some of her petticoats and wet it for him. She dabbed him with water and cleaned up his wounds, then she bandaged them with more of her petticoat and after giving him a drink of water, she sat there for a long minute. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. He was so handsome. She'd never been this close to a man, other than her father in all her life. It gave her a womanly feeling.

  For a moment, she laid his head in her lap. "I hate to leave you like this, mister. But I got to get home…I got no choice."

  She was worried about her brothers and sister, they were her first responsibilities, no matter what.

  She pulled his body closer to the creek so he could crawl to get water when he woke.

  "I truly hope you'll be alright…" she said slowly moving away from him. She walked a few feet away when she heard something.

  Suddenly she heard a hissing sound and she knew that a rattler was there just inches from him. She could smell him, she could hear him, but she was determined she would not feel him, nor would the poor helpless cowboy. She was far enough away not to be noticed, but the snake's interest lay in Dal at the moment.

  She tried not to startle the snake. Without thinking, she picked up the biggest rock she could find and chunked it at the snake as fast as she could. Her aim was good, the snake bled and finally crawled away… to die she hoped. Bonnie's legs were shaking. Had she done that? She was petrified. But the bloody trail of the snake told her she had. She sighed with such relief, as her heart thudded faster.

  "The devil was after you mister. But he's gone now. Get well."

  Then on instinct, and because he hadn't come to yet, she bent and kissed him on the mouth.

  His lips were soft and still, but just the action of her kiss seemed to stir him, but he didn't come fully awake.

  She hurried home. She put the incident behind her, as the kids didn't need to hear of it. It never dawned on her that she might have been killed too. She had been too concerned for the cowboy to think of herself.

  She felt good when she got home. Her heart was pounding like a locomotive. She marveled at her audacity to kiss the cowboy. She'd never kissed anyone on the mouth before. Still, he wasn't awake and he hadn't moved a muscle. He'd never know.

  Now, as she stood on the porch looking out over the early morning horizon, she let one lone tear escape and run down her cheek. She ignored it, even though it felt warm to her skin. She would remember yesterday forever. First thing, the Sheriff had ridden out from town early that morning. It wasn't a usual thing for the Sheriff to visit their place. She tensed the minute she saw him, and his long face. It had to be bad news. Her folks were supposed to have been home by now. They weren't. The eerie slowness in the Sheriff's steps, the sad expression on his face, mirrored her inner fears.

  She swallowed hard.

  She didn't want to hear what he had to say, but as the closest to adult age of the children, she had to listen. It was her responsibility.

  "Are you Bonnie McDaniel?" He asked, not looking straight at her yet.

  "Yes sir." She answered in a low voice. Her knees shook but what disturbed her was that the Sheriff had a hard time looking her in the eye. Something told her before he ever said anything that it was bad news. Why else would he be here?

  She tried to control her emotions, she stilled the tears, she cleared her throat and she faced him head on.

  Finally, as he took his hat off and the air stirred his thin head of gray-brown hair, he told her that there had been a stagecoach robbery. He let that sink in a minute then he went on. He told her that her father had tried to defend her mother when one of the outlaws threatened to take her with them. They shot and killed her father, and when her mother bent to help her husband, they shot her too, leaving no witnesses to the robbery as the driver and shotgun rider had already been killed. They'd stolen the stage money and got away with it, there were no witnesses alive. He took in the innocent face of youth and sighed. He cocked his head to the side. "I'll be after them of course, but it's little consolation. Your folks are dead."

  Bonnie wanted to thank him for coming out to tell her, but she couldn't find her voice. For a minute, she couldn't see. But fighting back her emotions she nodded.

  Bonnie had listened as though someone was telling her a story. She distanced herself from the news. Her heart broke when the Sheriff rode off though and she was allowed the privacy of tears.

  Her beloved parents were gone, forever.

  How could she tell the others? How could she?

  Her siblings were playing in the field as they had just finished their chores. All of them got up early in the summer as it was so hot and got their chores done early.

  Daniel, her oldest brother, came running up to her. "What's wrong? What did the Sheriff want?"

  Daniel was twelve, two years younger than Bonnie. But at that moment, he seemed much older, for he too sensed something wrong.

  Bonnie stared at him with such pain. But the minute she looked Daniel in the eye, she knew he knew too. "They're gone, Daniel. Ma and Pa…they're dead."

  Daniel stood with his mouth agape. He stared at her a long time, but not one tear fell. Instead, he just sat down in the yard, in a stupor. He didn't blink or move.

  "Both of them?" He looked up at her in question.

  "Both of them!" She gathered herself for control.

  "How?"

  "Stagecoach robbery," Bonnie answered as though that said it all.

  "We got to tell the others…" She muttered, taking his hand and pulling him up.

  Later, she stood on a hill looking onto the fields, the sorrow oozed like sweat from the skin. What was she going to do? She was fourteen years old and her parents were dead. What was worse, she was the oldest of five children. She was responsible. Daniel stood beside her. He took her hand and held it tight.

  "I guess that makes me the man of the house, don't it?" He asked.

  She glanced at him. "You're only twelve."

  "Don't matter, we ain't got no man of the house, do we?"

  "No Daniel. We don't yet. Maybe someday, but not today." She said with a tired voice.

  That thought stuck in her throat. It carried a load and it weighed on her heart.r />
  She looked at Daniel and squeezed his hand. "Well now, there is smoked hams hanging in the smokehouse, thank God. There is oats in a barrel on the back porch. We have chickens and a mule. We can eat for a long while on that. She did know how to cook. Her mother had taught her well. But never in all her years had she suspected she'd have to use that knowledge to get by so soon.

  Bonnie shook her head. "How am I going to take care of the kids Daniel?"

  He nodded and stared into her face. "I'll help."

  "I know you will. But you can only do so much."

  "What am I going to tell them?"

  No one answered.

  Without a word, they moved to the house numbly and gathered the kids about them. Tears mixed with fear of the unknown came and went as the day faded. It was a day of tears, of fears and of facing the unknown.

  It had taken her a while to come to her senses. She was the oldest and it was up to her to do something. Today was a new day and she had put yesterday behind her. Her legs shook as she rode the mule to town that next morning to talk to the banker.

  ~*~

  That had been four years ago and Bonnie McDaniel had been just a child herself.

  Today she stared out over the same fields, her head high, her shoulders back, and a confidence born of hard work and sacrifice had made her stronger than she had ever thought possible. Only she knew how weak she really was.

  There were no tears now. The sadness had ebbed to the edges of her mind. Days of planting a field that Daniel plowed, and seeds that she and the kids had planted themselves.