Ruth (30 page)

“Married! You got
married
without us?” Patience demanded.

“I didn’t plan on getting married,” Ruth said softly. She reached over and took her husband’s hand. “But this handsome man simply swept me off my feet.”

“Oh, you two.” Mary chuckled. “I am so
happy
to hear the news, but, Ruth, Oscar was rather put out by the way you up and disappeared.” She took Ruth’s other hand and held it.

“I’m sorry,” Ruth said, feeling sorry for the old prospector in spite of her aversion to his smell and manners. She squeezed Mary’s hand. “What’s been happening here? Tell me everything.”

“Well, nothing like what’s happened to you, but we’ve been doing quite well,” Lily said.

“Harper and I take in sewing,” Mary said softly. “Denver City is growing so fast that Rosalee Edwards can’t handle it all. Why, just the other day two wagon trains pulled into town and decided to stay the winter. The families might even remain when spring arrives. Families get settled and sometimes, Pastor Siddons said, they like it so well here that they don’t want to move on.” She shrugged. “That’s good for the sewing business. Plus, the cowboys can’t even sew on a button, and there are a lot of cowboys around here—ranchers and the hands who work for them.”

Ruth grinned. “I’m so happy for you.” Everything seemed to be working out splendidly.

“I’m working on a wedding dress right now. It is so beautiful,” Mary enthused. “The wedding is going to be quite an event.”

“Surely is,” Harper added. “The bride comes from the Hawthorn family, who has been involved in a feud with the groom’s parents, the McLanes, for over a year. The fathers hate each other and the mothers won’t speak. It’s real shameful the way those two sides carry on—why, they even designated certain days to come to town for supplies. The Hawthorns come on Thursdays, the McLanes on Fridays. Both sides decided that shortly after the feud broke out.”

Dylan bit into a piece of cherry pie. “What are the families arguing about?”

Mary shrugged. “Water rights—what else?”

“I bet Ben’s folks don’t even know what his intended looks like,” Lily surmised. “Last time the McLanes saw Lenore Hawthorn was five years ago.” Lily shrugged. “The young couple met at a church social. The parents don’t go to the church socials, but this time they let their children attend. Ever since then Ben and Lenore have been meeting secretly, refusing to let their parents interfere with true love. They’re so happy together, but the shine’s taken off the engagement since both sets of parents vehemently object to the love match.”

Harper nodded. “They both really love one another—you can just tell. It’s very romantic.”

The match didn’t sound romantic to Ruth. It sounded like trouble waiting to happen, and she’d witnessed enough trouble to last her a lifetime.

Patience joined the discussion. “The dress is so beautiful, Ruth. Lenore will be a gorgeous bride, but I don’t know how she and Ben are going to carry this wedding off with their folks so dead set against it.”

Mary looked sad. “Lenore’s folks won’t even let her come to town to try on the dress—Patience has been helping me, modeling the dress so I can mark hems, fit the bodice. She’s about the same size as Lenore, or I’d never get the dress done in time. They’re getting married on the thirty-first . . . New Year’s Eve. Lenore’s grandmother is paying to have the dress made, or poor Lenore would have to get married in a regular gown.”

“If you’ll excuse me, ladies, I need to send a wire.” Dylan leaned over and kissed Ruth. “The Good Book mentions something about gossip, doesn’t it?” He winked.

The girls reserved further comments until the café door closed behind the marshall’s back.

Mary slid to the front of her chair. “How long are you going to stay?”

“Until my rib heals and the worst of the weather is over.” Ruth sighed. “Maybe two months or longer, Dylan promised. Then we’re off to Utah.”

Mary clapped her hands. “Wonderful. We’ll get to spoil this precious baby.” Mary reached for Rose, and the baby happily made the transfer.

Several days later the girls had caught up on all the news. The town had surprised Ruth and Dylan with a bridal shower two days after Christmas. The Siddonses hosted the festive event at the church.

“I am overwhelmed by your generosity,” Ruth told the women in attendance with a grateful smile. Mounds of unwrapped household gifts piled around her chair. “I have never felt so loved.”

The next morning, Ruth visited Mary and Harper’s sewing room—a small cubicle at the back of the mercantile. When Ruth entered the establishment, Patience, wearing Lenore’s wedding dress, turned from her perch on a stool, while Mary knelt at her feet, fastening Irish lace along the hem and train.

Harper, Lily, and Ruth sat near a cheery fire, admiring Mary’s handiwork.

“It’s so beautiful,” Ruth praised. “Mary, you have such a talent.”

The young woman blushed. “I’ve really enjoyed designing the dress.”

The women turned abruptly as the back door suddenly burst open and a masked man entered the store. He stood for a moment, beady eyes surveying the situation.

Ruth gasped, reaching for baby Rose, who played at her feet.

“Nobody move, ladies.”

The women did as they were told. Mary coughed, and the man leveled the gun at her. “I said
quiet
!”

Patience stepped off the stool, wide-eyed. “What do you want?”

The outlaw motioned for her to step forward.

Patience’s hand flew to her chest. “Me?”

“You. Get over here.”

When Patience obeyed, he hooked his arm around her waist and dragged her out the front door.

Ruth and the other women sat frozen in place, shock paralyzing them as Patience’s screams echoed up the street.

Recovering first, Ruth raced outside in time to see the bandit riding away, Patience imprisoned on the saddle in front of him. Ruth started running for the sheriff’s office, bumping smack into Dylan when he stepped out of the telegraph office.

“Whoa.” He reached out and caught her. “Where’s the fire?”

“Patience.
Man
,” Ruth panted, pointing down the street. “Took her.”

The marshall whirled. “Calm down. Catch your breath. Someone took Patience?”

“We were . . . in the shop. Mary was pinning . . . hem on Lenore Hawthorn’s wedding dress—bride’s parents forbid her to try it on . . . so Patience was wearing it. A man burst into the mercantile . . . and grabbed her. They went that direction.” She pointed west of town.

“You go back with the girls. I’ll get the sheriff, get a posse together.” Dylan kissed Ruth soundly. “We’ll find her. Don’t worry.”

Tears filled Ruth’s eyes. “Oh, Dylan, be careful.”

His hand brushed her hair. “I’m always careful.”

They had come too far to lose each other now!

Late that night the posse returned to town without Patience. A deputy and Dylan met Ruth and the other women gathered outside the mercantile.

“You didn’t find her?” Ruth wrung her hands at the sight of the two men’s solemn faces.

Dylan shook his head. “Not a trace of her. We’ll have to wait until someone contacts us—see why the man took Patience, and what he wants.”

Ruth walked into his arms. “I’m so afraid for her.”

Dylan held her tightly. “I know, and I’d do anything to bring her back.” He spoke over Ruth’s head to the assembled women. “Any idea why someone would want to kidnap Patience?”

“We’ve discussed that all afternoon.” Ruth stepped out of his embrace and wiped her eyes.

“And we can’t come up with any reason,” Harper reported.

“She’s not had a problem with anyone? Didn’t turn away from a suitor?” the deputy asked.

“No,” Lily protested. “Conner Justice has called on her a few times, but there’s been no problem.”

Sheriff Jay Longer rode up just then and climbed out of the saddle. “Just been talking to some of my men. You said Patience was wearing Lenore Hawthorn’s wedding dress, right?”

Ruth nodded. “Yes.”

The young man frowned. “Well, there’s our answer. There’s been bad blood between the Hawthorns and McLanes all year. Ben and Lenore’s wedding has set them off again—I’d bet a dollar to a doughnut the kidnapper is from the groom’s side.”

Mary feebly lifted a hand to her forehead. “Oh, dear goodness. The outlaw mistook Patience for Lenore?”

The sheriff nodded. “That’d be my guess. What about you, Marshall?”

Dylan nodded. “It would seem that way.”

The women murmured their distress.

Ruth’s eyes grew wide. “What will he do when he discovers he’s got the wrong person?”

Dylan drew her back to him. “I don’t know, honey.”

“But why?” Mary argued. “Why would anyone snatch a bride? What do they plan to do with Lenore—Patience?”

The sheriff and marshall exchanged grave looks.

“Let’s not panic,” Dylan said. “Maybe when they find out they got the wrong woman, they’ll bring Patience back.”

Ruth and Dylan trailed the sheriff and deputy to the sheriff’s office while Lily watched Rose. Dylan told her Jay Longer had been sheriff in Denver City for three years and was considered an effective lawman. “You’re not to worry,” he ordered.

“Jay, we’ve got a problem,” Dylan said as the three men stepped inside the sheriff’s office.

“Well, like you said, let’s not panic until we see if he brings her back.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

Jay took off his Stetson and hung it over a peg. The sheriff was maybe a year or two older than Dylan, powerfully built, ruggedly handsome, Ruth noticed. “That’s not good,” Jay said.

Perched on the side of a battered desk, Dylan put his arm around Ruth. He said softly. “Don’t worry, Ruthie; we’ll find her.”

Closing her eyes, Ruth tried to take comfort in her husband’s assuring words. The past weeks had been so hectic—she’d hoped their lives would settle down, but apparently peace wasn’t to be. Someone had taken Patience in place of Lenore Hawthorn, someone with a grudge.

Lord, please watch over Patience,
Ruth silently prayed as she succumbed to the warmth of her husband’s embrace.

There just seemed to be
no
end to trouble in Denver City.

A Note from the Author

Dear Reader,

When I first began the Brides of the West series I thought I would tell only the Kallahan sisters’ stories: Faith, June, and Hope. Then Glory came along, and she opened a whole new realm of possibilities. Ruth, Patience, Harper, Lily, and Mary were created—and as you see, the Brides of the West just keep involving themselves in the most unlikely knee-slapping escapades. As the Brides of the West continue, I hope you will see something of yourself and your own life in the stories of Ruth or Patience or any of the other courageous young women. My prayer is that this fun-loving fiction containing simple truths will minister to you, my reader, and put a song in your heart and a smile on your face.

The most exciting thing for me about life (other than opening my eyes to each new day God has given me) is the element of the unknown. Can you imagine being a young woman and having to travel hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles to marry a man you never even met? Sounds strange, doesn’t it, since we live in a world of instant communication, fast cars, and even speedier courtships. Sometimes it only takes one date to make us say, “
Uh-uh!
This is
not
the man I’m going to spend my life with!”

I met Lance in high school, and we married at the very tender ages of seventeen and nineteen. This June we will celebrate four decades together, and I praise God for sending such an amazing man into my life—and I found him right here in Missouri! I didn’t have to endure heat, rutted roads, lack of water, poor tintypes, or pesky flies! Lance lived within a mile of my parents’ house. He has brought love and stability into my life—bolstered and upheld my faith, and been the source of my strength here on earth.

Ah—patience, beautiful Christian young women. “Mr. Right” is out there, and God will reveal him in due time if you pray and ask for guidance in seeking the man God has for you. “Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised” cautions Proverbs 31:30.

Marriage—true and lasting love—is one of God’s greatest gifts. My prayer for you today is that in God’s perfect timing you will find the man of your hopes and dreams.

In his name,