The Lady and the Lawman Read Free

waiting.
    She
turned her back on him and walked toward the stage. A shot pierced
the calm summer day and she froze in place, lifting her arms above
her shoulders. She bit down on her lip to stifle a scream. Squeezing
her eyes shut, she waited for the second shot.
    “ Where
do you think you’re goin’?”
    Slowly,
she turned to face her captor and gulped at the gun. It was pointed
at her head, smoking from the end.
    “ My...my
reticule fell when I was pulled from the stage.” She waved her hand
in the direction of the stage, her eyes not veering from his. “I
don’t have anything of value on my person.”
    For
once, her revealing neckline was to her advantage. It would be
impossible to hide something within. Hopefully the lie didn’t show
on her face. Somehow William had been able to tell when she lied and
retribution was swift and painful in the form of a slap or a punch.
Once even a kick.
    With
her hands casually at her sides, she gently pressed her left palm
into her hip, feeling the money she’d sewn into the lining of her
dress. She’d put it there for emergencies, and this certainly was
one. But she definitely wasn’t going to share its existence with
this common criminal. This murderer.
    Her
captor gently released the hammer before pointing his weapon at the
ground. He nodded his head. “Go on, don’t dawdle now!”
    The
man couldn’t make up his mind, but she wasn’t going to complain.
She rushed to the stage, trying not to look at either of the dead
bodies. Bending down, she grabbed her small purse off the dusty
ground where it had landed when she’d been pulled from the stage.
As she opened the small velvet bag, Tobacco Chewer yanked it from her
fingers and searched it himself. He pulled out a few coins and held
them up.
    One
dirty eyebrow lifted, skeptical. “This is all you’ve got?”
    Nodding,
she silently praising herself for the forethought to hide some of her
savings. “It’s all I have left after paying my fare.”
    Grunting,
he stuffed the small bag, coins and all, into his pocket. Her captor
spent a long minute looking at her. Really looking at her this time,
taking in all her...attributes. She could see a new, considering look
in his eye, as if he hadn’t really seen her before. A chill went
down her spine at the unwanted caress. Head held high, she turned her
face away from his touch. She'd done this with William. She could
stand up to this man's touch as well.
    He
removed his hat, wiping the sweat from his brow with his grimy
shirtsleeve. He stepped closer, looming over her, blocking out the
intense sun with his height.
    “ What...what
are you going to do with me?”
    “ What
do you think?” He reached out and grabbed the nape of her neck,
pulling her hair, yanking her face in toward his. He laughed, showing
crooked brown teeth.
    She
knew to what he referred. Very clearly, in fact. The details of her
unpleasant, and still slightly sore, encounter with William was fresh
in her mind. The color quickly drained from her cheeks. No! It would
be even worse than William. At least her fiancé bathed at regular
intervals. She’d rather die than have this man have his way with
her. Die like the men whose blood stained the green grass red. Being
shot was a horrible possibility, but rape was a torture far worse
than a bullet to the back.
    He
dropped his gaze to the exposed curves of one of her breasts. He cupped its contour through the navy silk dress and his eyes
practically bulged out of his head as he lifted it more fully from
the neckline of her dress. She pulled away from his touch, to no
avail. He pawed at the row of tiny buttons that held the remainder of
her bodice and easily ripped the fragile fabric, sending small
buttons flying. Her fashionable dress, now rent from collar to waist,
hung open with only her tight corset and beneath, a thin chemise,
covering her.
    The
man’s hands were everywhere, breasts, hips, arms. Horrified,
Margaret screamed, “Leave me alone!”
    She
fought