Bran (Prairie Grooms, Book Six) (4 page)

Fina laughed. “No, it's one of Lena's pies. She baked it yesterday, and I brought some home after we had our visit.”

“Did she burn it?” asked Apple with a grimace.

“No! I was surprised as you are!” Fina told her with a laugh.

“You get the coffee going darling,” Levi told his wife. “I'll go slice us some pie.”

Apple turned and watched the pair go about their work, and fought the sting of tears. She was jealous, jealous of both her sisters now that each of them was married and lived in a lovely home of their own.

She pressed her lips together and turned back to the fire. Would she ever have the same thing? Or would it forever be just out of reach because of her stupidity? Now she would no longer be looked upon as Apple Sayer, the English girl who came to Clear Creek to get married. No, from now on she’d be known as Apple Slayer, the girl who almost killed Deputy O'Hare. And even though it was
almost
, it never should have happened at all. But since it did, it was now her only legacy.

Oh, wait… she already had a legacy, and it wasn't much different from this one. The only difference was that Bran O’Hare wasn't courting her. After all, any man who courted one of the Sayer women met with some sort of accident, even death. So what did that make her? If someone not even courting her almost met the Grim Reaper, then what would happen to a man who was?

Apple sat up as realization dawned. Look at what happened to Mr. Jamieson, her intended… He was dead soon after she arrived!

Apple stifled a gasp and quickly looked over her shoulder at Levi and Fina, who were now chatting in front of their bright red table. Apple put a hand over her mouth to keep from crying out.

She was cursed! There was no other explanation!

But if that were true, then why had Deputy O'Hare almost been killed? Did it mean
he
was her next intended? After all, she was still unattached, and Sadie was going to put the call out to the men in the area to “apply” for her hand. What if whoever courted her wound up dead at the hands of the Sayer curse?

“It's true,” she whispered. “There really is a curse… and it knows I’m going to marry!” She gasped again.

“Something wrong Apple?” asked Fina.

Apple spun on the sofa to look at her, and shook her head a wild no. She then quickly turned back to the fire and covered her mouth to keep from crying out at the horrible realization that she could never marry! How many dead men would she leave in her wake if she tried?

She sniffed back a tear. “I’ll be alone the rest of my life! I'll have to be, or men will die!”

“What are you muttering over there?” asked Levi with a laugh. “I thought your sister was the only one that talked to herself.”

“I do not talk to myself,” stated Fina. “I merely think aloud.”

Levi crossed his arms. “That's talking to yourself, darling.”

“Well… then… I have lively conversations with no one else around.”

Levi shook his head. “That's still talking to yourself, sweetheart.”

“Well… I… Oh never mind. Slice the pie, will you?”

Apple ignored them and hugged herself. She was cursed, and if any man tried to marry her, they’d croak for sure! But why didn't the curse fall on Fina or Lena? Why only her? Maybe it was because she was the youngest and the last in line of the Sayer women.

Apple's lower lip trembled as she fought the tears threatening to spill. She was just going to have to face it. In order to save men's lives, she would have to commit herself to spinster hood.

Four

Bran sat outside the sheriff's office, his chair leaned against the wall. He twirled his gun in his hand, and stared at the spinning weapon only to stop and twirl it the other way, stop, and spin it back. He'd been doing so for the last half hour. The Sayer girl hadn’t uttered a word to him—or any of them—the entire wagon ride back to town. In fact, she didn't so much as look at him when Levi helped her down and set her on her feet. Her sister, on the other hand, came around the wagon and thanked him for finding her and bringing her back to town safe. One would think Apple Sayer would have also thanked him, but no, she was mad as a rattler and let him know it.
What was with her?
he thought as he stopped and spun his gun in the opposite direction for the umpteenth-hundredth time. She was the one that locked
him
in the safe, and
he
was the one almost killed, not her. “Pah!” he huffed, tipped the chair forward, and stood. “Women, why do they have to be such silly creatures?”

“Something troubling you, son?” Sheriff Hughes asked as he came to stand in the doorway of the sheriff's office.

Bran forgot the door was open. “It's nothing,” he told him. Yet he began to get the hint that it was.

“Is there something you need to tell me?” the sheriff asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing happened out there, did it?”

Bran took a step back and stared at him. “What are you implying?”

Sheriff Hughes shrugged. “Nothing, I just want to make sure everything's on the up and up as far as Miss Sayer is concerned. You were out there for quite a while tracking her, and I haven't asked you yet what happened while you
were
out there with her.”

“No, ye haven't. I'm sure Mr. Stone and his wife told ye everything was fine.”

Sheriff Hughes nodded. “Yes, Levi shared with me that you were all right when we ran into each other on the road, and Apple seemed to be okay.”

“Then why are ye asking me this? Are ye accusing me of taking advantage of the girl while I was alone with her?”

“Did you?”

“Of course not!”

“Glad to hear it, son.”

“What is this about?”

“Nothing. It’s just that a handsome thing like you out there on the prairie with a pretty little gal like that… well… things can happen.”

Bran's mouth dropped open. “Sheriff Hughes, I'll have ye know I don't take kindly to such implications.”

“No implications, son. A woman like that upset over what she’d done to you, why, I can only imagine what a fight it was not to take her in your arms and comfort her while she cried her eyes out.

Bran snapped his mouth shut. He was about to tell the sheriff she did no such thing, nor did he, but thought better of it. If the sheriff knew he'd practically had to drag her back to town, and that she wanted nothing to do with him, he might really question his character. Come to think of it, maybe he
should
question it! What sort of low-down skunk goes out to rescue a girl, finds her, and doesn't comfort her just as the sheriff said? But he didn't find her crying and upset because she was scared out of her wits. No, she was upset because… Oh, Lord, no…
Because she wanted his forgiveness
.

Bran closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face a few times. What kind of a skunk indeed?

“Are you sure there ain’t nothin’ wrong, son?” Sheriff Hughes asked again.

“Yes, no …” Bran said with a sigh. “But it's nothing I can't fix.”

The sheriff looked him up and down in the dim lantern light that shone forth from inside the Sheriff's office. “Well then, son, you'd better take care of it.” With that he stepped off the boardwalk and crossed the street to the saloon. It was still early enough to grab a game of checkers with Paddy Mulligan or Wilfred.

Bran blew out a long breath and sat back down. What was he going to do? On the one hand, he knew he needed to forgive her—no—make that; he knew
she needed
him to forgive her. But on the other hand, a part of him was still very angry at what the little scamp had done. After all, she’d almost killed him! If it hadn't been for Doc Drake having the unseemly talent of being able to crack open a safe, he'd be dead. “Thank you Lord, for looking out for me. But now what do I do? That woman just makes me so angry!”

But it didn't matter how angry she made him, he knew that eventually he was going to have to forgive her for his sake, and hers. But maybe he'd just wait a day or two before he got around to it. Yes… that's what he’d do. Besides, he probably wouldn't see her for a few days anyway, if at all. He knew she’d probably be at her sister's place for a couple of days, and if he just happened to not be around when she came through town, well… wouldn't that be just too bad?

“Oh for heaven's sakes man, what are ye thinking?” Bran muttered as he ran a hand over his face again. “Ye can't do that to the lass, yer not that mean. It’s not as if yer like yer
da
.” Bran sat back in the chair and stared across the street at the saloon. “Da…” He whispered. His gut coiled and his mouth formed a frown. His
da
was the last thing he wanted to think about right now. Or ever.

* * *

Apple awoke the next morning feeling drained and confused. She'd not slept well, a direct result of fretting over her new-found discovery. She wanted to talk about it with someone but knew they'd think her foolish. Well, except for maybe her sisters who knew about the curse, but like many, didn't want to acknowledge that it really did exist. But exist it did, Apple was proof of that, and now she was going to have to live with it.

“Apple?” Fina called through the bedroom door. “Are you awake?”

“Yes, come in.”

Fina opened the door and entered. “I have breakfast ready, are you hungry?”

Apple nodded. “Let me get dressed, and I'll be down.”

“What's the matter?” asked Fina. “Are you okay?”

Apple gave her a weak smile and nodded. “I'll be fine. It's just that yesterday was so… disturbing.”

“I understand. It had to be horrible not knowing if Deputy O'Hare was alive or dead.”

“I didn't know it
was
Deputy O'Hare until he told me. I still thought it was an outlaw, not someone that everyone knows. Speaking of which, I’m sure that by now, everybody in town
does
know.”

Fina shrugged. “It's hard to tell, maybe nobody knows.”

“Thank you, sister. But by now everyone in Clear Creek is aware that I almost killed the man.”

“Apple,” Fina began as she sat on the bed. “What are you so worried about? Do you think that because of what happened people are going to think any less of you?”

“Maybe they won't think less of me, but they'll certainly think different of me.”

Fina put an arm around her. “So what if they do? They'll get past it, just like you will.”

“But will Deputy O’Hare?”

“He'll get over it in time. After all, you have to understand, it must've been horrifying for him being locked in that safe… suffocating…”

Apple shook in Fina's arms. “No! Don't tell me that! I can't bear to hear it!”

Fina held her tighter. “I'm sorry Apple, I didn't mean to put it that way, but…”

“But you're right! That’s exactly how it must have been for him! Terrible, horrible, oh my goodness!”

“Apple, stop it! Don't do this to yourself!”

Apple couldn't help it. The tears fell. She'd been so wrapped up in her own feelings and self-pity that she didn't take into full consideration the horror of what she put the man through. “Please, leave me alone,” she pleaded.

Fina hugged her again then sat back from her. “I could bring you up some coffee?”

Apple sniffed back her tears and nodded. “Thank you.”

Fina smiled and patted her on the back. “I'll go get you some. Would you like anything to eat?”

Apple shook her head. “I'm sorry but I haven't any appetite.”

Fina stood. “I understand, but trust me. It will get better, for both of you.” She turned and left the room.

Apple wiped away her tears and stared at the quilts. What
had
it been like for Bran O'Hare to be locked in that suffocating, closed space, his life ebbing away with each passing second? And it was all because of her!

But, Fina was right. She
would
get past this in time. The problem was, making sure it didn't happen again, and that meant she'd have to avoid Bran O'Hare at all costs, and any other man who might try to court her.

Depressed, Apple got up from the bed, and sought her clothes. She dressed in silence, her melancholy growing with the thought that she would be forever alone. And to think that yesterday when she got up, she’d been so excited to solve the mystery of Levi's trunk and help her sister out. But instead, she made a horrible and almost fatal mistake. One she vowed right then and there to never make again. From now on, she'd mind her own business and stay out of other people's affairs.

It was with renewed determination that she opened the bedroom door to find Fina on the other side, a cup of coffee in her hand. “Oh! You're up and dressed already? I thought you might like to stay in bed for a while and drink your coffee,” Fina said with a smile. “But I'm glad you're up. I'm going to attempt to bake bread this morning and not burn it.”

“I can help you,” said Apple. “But I don't know about the not burning part.”

“You're probably getting more practice than any of us being out at the Triple C.” Fina smiled again. “You feel better now?”

Apple nodded, then said, “Sadie and Belle taught me how to bake a few things, but like you, I'm not very good at it. But I suppose it doesn't matter anyway.”

“Don't worry, you'll learn right along with the rest of us no matter where you're living. You at least have Colin and Harrison to practice on before you get married.”

Apple took the coffee from her and said nothing. How was she going to explain to her sister that she could never marry? Or that doing so would invoke the curse upon her intended just as it had already done so with Mr. Jamieson and Deputy O'Hare?

“Apple? What's wrong?”

Apple shook herself out of her stupor. Was Deputy O’Hare the man she was meant to be with? Was that why he almost died? What other explanation was there? And if that were the case, then what if he tried to court her? Oh no! She couldn't allow him to do that! He'd be a dead man for sure!

“Apple! What is wrong with you?” asked Fina with concern. “You look like you're going to be sick.”

Apple felt pale and probably looked so too. “I'll be fine. I just need to sit down and drink this,” she said weakly. She took the cup, returned to the bed and sat. “Don't worry, I'll be all right. You go down and start the bread. I'll join you in a moment.”

“Take all the time you need, I understand. In fact, if you want, you can stay up here all day. Levi won't mind either, I'm sure he understands what you've been through.”

Apple smiled and held the cup of coffee with both hands. Though the warmth felt good and she welcomed it, it wasn't enough to chase away the cold, dark feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Thank you, but I’ll come down in a little while.”

Fina smiled, nodded, then left, closing the door behind her. Apple took a sip of coffee and sighed. She then sat on the bed for the next hour and tried to imagine her life avoiding every man that came to call. How on earth was she going to convince everyone she'd be better off a spinster? “I’ll just tell everyone that I shall never marry. Of course, why didn’t I think of that before?”

Happy there was such a simple solution to her problem, Apple finished her coffee, fixed her hair, and went downstairs to help her sister bake the bread.

* * *

The morning wore on, and after two failed attempts at bread baking and one success, the women had had enough, and went on to prepare lunch. “This isn't bad,” said Fina as she popped the last piece of half-burnt bread in her mouth.

“Especially when it's got some butter and jam on it,” added Apple.

“I think I'm going to get the hang of this,” said Fina as she chewed.

“Me too,” added Apple with a smile. “I can have all the bread I want and won't have to wash it down with a gallon of water or milk.”

“I'm sure your husband will be happy. By the time you get married, you'll be able to make all sorts of things, and he won't have to suffer a one of them.”

Apple stiffened in her chair and forced a smile. Should she tell her sister now, or wait?

She didn't get the chance to say anything, as Levi came into the house, a basket of eggs in his hand. He set it on the table and smiled at them. “What's for lunch beautiful?”

“We were just about to fix something,” said Fina. “Did you have anything in mind?”

He looked at the basket of eggs on the table. “Well… it depends on the bread making. Was it a success?”