Clifton County Fireworks Read Free Page B

two years ago!  This
whole situation was simply more than she could bear!
    “Now you listen here, Jennie Rose.”   Johnny scolded.  “None of this is
your fault.  You didn’t ask for this to happen.  You hold your head
high, and remind yourself that it took three of them to hold you down. 
You didn’t do anything wrong.”  He put her on her feet, facing away from
him, and then he stood up.  “You come along with me to my camp.  I
promise to keep my eyes off your body and I’ll get that shirt for you, and
finish shaving my face before we head into town.  Ma hates whiskers.”   He grinned at the pretty little redhead,
not once permitting his eyes to look lower.  He offered her his hand,
wondering if she would take it, and she did, without hesitation.  It told
him how frightened she still was.  “You’ll be fine, Jennie Rose. 
Those three worked alone, and didn’t trust anyone else.”
    “How can you be so sure, Johnny?”   She demanded.
    “It’s my job to know.”   He answered shortly, and led her into a
small clearing.  “This is where I camped last night.  It was too late
to ride into Clifton, and I didn’t want to frighten Ma, or wake her and
Jeremy.”
    Jennie Rose watched as he went directly
to his saddle bags and took out a clean shirt.  She accepted it from him
with a nod of thanks, and then turned away from him to put it on over her bruised
breasts.  Her skin was delicate and already showing signs of bruising, and
her face ached where Mace slapped her.  The red flannel shirt was huge on
her, of course, but she buttoned it up and rolled the sleeves up to her
wrists.  She immediately felt less vulnerable, and she was thankful that
Johnny treated her so respectfully.
    Johnny quickly finished shaving, and
ran a comb through his red hair.  He cleaned up his camp, and then saddled
his stallion.  “Let’s go and I’ll tie those three to their mounts, and
take their bodies back to town.”
    “What if the Sheriff accuses you of
killing them?”   Jennie Rose
worried. 
    “He won’t, Jennie Rose.  He’ll be
happy to see they won’t be terrorizing helpless females.”
    The three outlaws’ horses weren’t hard
to catch, and Johnny used blankets to wrap the bodies and then hoisted them
over their saddles.  He was trying to spare the citizens of Clifton a
shock, and he did believe in showing respect for the dead, even if they didn’t
really deserve respect.  It was just the principle of the thing.
    “You act like you’ve done this before!”   Jennie Rose said accusingly. 
    He just looked at her, but didn’t
respond.  Once he was finished, he asked thoughtfully, “Where’s your
horse, Jennie Rose?”
    “He headed back to town when Mace Adams
grabbed me.”   She said
bitterly.  “He’s new since I was home, but I thought he looked
reliable.  He obviously needs more training.”   And she would see to it he got it, she
promised herself.
    “No problem.  You can ride with
me.  Come on.”   He coaxed, as
he mounted and then held out his hand to help her up.
    Jennie Rose had no choice, unless she
wanted to walk all the way back to town, and she didn’t.  Her body was
still shaking.  She permitted Johnny to pull her up in front of him, and
tried very hard not to be conscious of his body so close to hers.  It
didn’t help when he put one arm around her waist to steady her, and she was
shocked to realize she was still very attracted to the man.
    “Jennie Rose,” Johnny said softly, “I
owe you an apology, and I’d like to get it over with right now.  I’m sorry
I embarrassed you so badly that you felt you had to leave town for the last two
years.  I lost my darn temper, and while that isn’t a good excuse, I
shouldn’t have turned you over my knee in front of the town the way I did.”
    Jennie Rose felt her cheeks turn a
burning red.  “I shouldn’t have dumped the lemonade all over you for
telling me the truth about my cooking.  I lost my temper,