“You have put me to a lot of trouble and cost me a lot of money, Serenity Compton, and I am not pleased!”
“I am of legal age, Father. I have a legal and moral right to live where I want to live, and to be with the man I love.” Her head was still fuzzy from the fact that Barton kept her drugged the entire way to her childhood home.
“You will do as I say, Serenity, or I will make you wish you were never born!”
“I already wish that, Father. What I can’t understand is how that came to be? How could any woman want to be with you in that manner?” He slapped her hard enough to snap her head sideways. “Which just proves my point,” she dared to say, glaring at him until he backed up a couple of steps.
“You are my daughter, and you are going to make a good marriage.”
“Yes, I am. I’ve already picked my husband, and I married him, Father,” she bravely lied, hoping to stall until Sid arrived to rescue her. “Barton was too late, but he didn’t bother to ask questions. Why else would I have been staying in the honeymoon suite?”
“You couldn’t have!” It was easy to see that he’d never even considered that a possibility.
“I did. What’s more, he’s on his way here right now, and I guarantee he will tear you apart.” She turned her head to show him the bruise already forming on her cheek. “I would run if I were you.”
“I don’t believe you for one second. You are going to marry Jeremy Wilkinson this afternoon.”
“I can’t do that when I am already married to another man.”
“I’ll have him killed!” Harrison screamed in frustration. “Who is he?”
“Like I am going to tell you!” she scoffed. “Get out of here, Father. Run for your life, and don’t stop running…”
His eyes grew large as he bellowed for his manservant to fetch Barton from the hands’ quarters. It wasn’t long before they returned.
“Serenity tells me she is married! What do you know of this?”
Barton shrugged. “She was sharin’ her bed with a man. I had to wait until he left her alone before I could grab her.”
“And you didn’t think I needed to know this?” Harrison Compton screamed at the incompetent man.
“I figured it didn’t matter none.”
“You figured wrong. Get out of here, Barton.”
“Not without what you owe me.”
“I owe you nothing at all because you messed this up! She’s married!” Harrison growled insanely.
“You can either pay me, Compton, or I’ll go to the sheriff and tell him you offered me money to kidnap your daughter who is over twenty-one.”
“Bart, this isn’t worth dying over. Leave now and keep on going. This man will have you killed just to save the money he promised you.”
“Not if I kill him first,” Bart growled, and in the next moment he died, a knife protruding from his back, put there by her father’s servant.
“Get him out of here and leave him lying on the road away from the ranch. I don’t want Jeremy Wilkinson to see him.”
“I refuse to marry him, Father.”
“You will do as I say, or else!”
“Or else you’ll kill me like you did my mother?”
“Who told you that?” he furiously demanded.
“Do you honestly think I would betray anyone?” she scoffed at him. “Get out of here, Father. When my husband gets here, I am leaving with him, and if you know what is good for you, you will leave us be.”
“You are going to be married this afternoon, and that is my final word on the subject. If some strange man starts asking around for you, he will die. You have my word on that, Serenity.” He turned on his heel and left the room. Serenity tried to free herself from the ropes tying her to her bed, but whoever tied them had made sure they were secure. Serenity could only hope that Sid came for her and didn’t think she’d run away again.
The door to her room opened and a woman she didn’t know entered, carrying a lovely dress over her arms. “Miss, I am here to assist you in preparing for your wedding.”
“I am already married, and I am not going to commit bigamy just to please Harrison Compton.”
“Don’t argue with me, Miss. I’m used to handling spoiled brats like you.” When Serenity just looked at her, she added, “We are going to have a bath now, and you are going to behave yourself, or I have your father’s permission to beat you.”
Serenity forced her temper to stay down as she was released from her restraints. The woman was much larger than she was, and without a knife or gun, she would have to pit her strength against hers. She waited until the feeling came back to her hands and feet, and then she took the older woman down. She gagged her and tied her with the same ropes used on her.
“Serenity! Serenity!” She heard Sid bellow from downstairs.
“I’m here, Sid!” she answered him, and took off running, mindless that she was wearing a nightdress.
Sid had her father lying on the floor daring him to get up. “Watch out for Morris. He’s nasty with a knife, but I think he is burying his last murder. Poor Bart actually expected Father to pay him!” she said, shaking her head and clicking her tongue.
“Do you have clothing here?” he asked.
“Nothing that I would be caught dead in. I’ll have nothing that he has paid for.”
“I paid for this man!” Harrison declared.
“No, you offered to pay him, but he believed in me instead of your damn money. Leave me alone, Father. I am already married, not a virgin, and I wouldn’t have anyone you chose for me on pain of death.” Sid smiled widely at her declaration. Serenity was his!
“I will kill you before I let you remain married to a bounty hunter!” Harrison Compton screamed in anger.
“Don’t come near us, Compton, and don’t send anyone else,” Sid warned. “If Serenity comes up missing again, I will come here and tear you apart. Believe me when I tell you it will mean your death. In fact, I should just make life easier and shoot you right now for daring to threaten my woman!”
“He isn’t worth it, Sid. Let’s get out of here and leave him by himself. He will die alone, and it will serve him right. My brothers went as far away as they could, and now it is my turn to do the same. Please take me away, darling.”
“Who hit you, Serenity?” Sid suddenly demanded when she turned her face just enough that he could see her bruise.
“My loving father, of course… and before him, Bart.” Serenity wasn’t going to lie to protect Harrison Compton. When Sid’s eyes turned almost black with anger, she placed a restraining hand on his arm. “Darling, let it go. He isn’t worth the trouble.” She smiled up at him, and then caressed his cheek. “Thank you for the thought. You are wonderful to want to avenge me, but the fact that you came to rescue me… again… is worth all the gold in the world to me. I love you, Sid Prentiss.”
“Damn you both!” Harrison screamed, rage turning his face purple as he continued to curse them. Suddenly, he gasped for air and clutched his chest. A second later, he lay dead on the floor.
“Whoever thought a man could be so money-hungry that he would die when he learned his daughter was in love with a wonderful man?” Serenity asked sadly, shaking her head.
“Sweetheart, I am sorry,” Sid said, pulling her close to offer sympathy.
“Sid, this is probably not a nice thing to say, but the world is a much better place without this man in it. He’s hurt a lot of people, including my mother, whom he killed when she refused to obey him, and my brothers, who refused to live according to his rules. I will telegraph them and let them know he is dead, but I doubt they will care, only that they won’t have to keep looking over their shoulders in case he is trying to harm them in some way.” She heard a horse and said, “That is probably Morris; he is evil.”
“You stay out of the way, sweetheart,” Sid ordered firmly, and then added, “I’ll spank you if you mix in.”
“I’m still sore from the last spanking you gave me,” she declared, reaching back to rub her bottom.
“Good. You had that one coming. Obey me, Serenity,” he ordered just before the door opened and a small man entered.
Morris’ eyes widened as he rushed to Harrison’s side and knelt beside him. He felt for a pulse, and finding none, he broke into sobs, laying himself over his boss’ body protectively as he grieved. A few seconds later he raised his head and looked at Serenity with hatred in his black eyes. “Who did this horrible thing?”
“Father keeled over from a heart attack, Morris. No one harmed him. His own hatred and anger caused him to die.”
“This is all your fault!” Morris accused, getting to his feet and taking out his knife. “If you’d been an obedient daughter this wouldn’t have happened!”
“Obedient and marry a man I loathe just to please a father who loved money more than he loved me? I don’t think so, Morris. I am in love with a real man.”
Morris lunged for her just as someone knocked on the door and distracted him. Before Sid could reach him, Serenity kicked the knife out of his hand, and then Sid landed on top of the smaller man, effectively bringing him down and knocking him unconscious. The knock sounded again, and Serenity threw her arms up in the air and then moved to open the door before Sid could warn her to be careful.
Sid promised himself he was going to raise blisters on the woman’s bare butt this time. She simply refused to obey, and he was going to make sure to give her some lessons on the subject!
“Serenity! I’m so happy that you changed your mind about marriage! Why are you in your nightdress?” Jeremy Wilkinson was shocked and gaping at her in disbelief.
“I am in a nightdress because I was kidnapped by Harrison Compton from my honeymoon suite! I am married to another man, Jeremy, and even if I weren’t already wed to Sid Prentiss, I would not ever marry you! Look at it this way; I just saved you a large amount of money. You need to go on back to Boston now, and find some quiet, mousy little lady type to marry. You and I would never suit.”
“Well I never!” Jeremy turned up his nose in distaste.
“Yes, I know you ‘never’; it shows. I prefer a real man.” She knew she was being cruel, but Jeremy needed to know what she thought of a man who would buy a wife! “A real man doesn’t pay for a woman to marry him. He loves her, protects her, and rescues her when she needs rescuing. You might try that if you expect any woman to take you seriously as a suitor. Now leave. Harrison is dead from a heart attack; Morris is under arrest for murder. You’d best escape this whole mess while you still can.”
Jeremy’s eyes widened in obvious fear, and he ran out to his buggy and took off as if Comanche were chasing him! By then Morris was awake and struggling against his bonds. “Let’s get him into town, Sid, and tell the sheriff what happened.”
“You are not going to town dressed like that, woman!”
Serenity looked down at herself in dismay, and then she looked up at Sid. He was furious with her. “I’m in trouble again, aren’t I?” she asked.
“Until you can’t sit,” he answered, nodding his head with a grim expression. “Find something to wear, even if Compton did pay for it,” he added.
“Yes, sir,” she meekly answered, feeling as though he’d already paddled her. “I guess I just reacted, Sid. I didn’t think…”
“And we are going to work on that, sweetheart,” he promised.
“Yes, sir,” she replied, and then stood on tiptoe to kiss him. “I’m sorry I’ve angered you again.”
“I’m not angry, Serenity,” he denied. “You scared me, and I promise we will discuss it later. Now, please find something to wear.”
Serenity nodded. “Watch him, Sid. He fights with his feet, too. He knows karate,” she explained, and Morris cursed her, and then he jumped into the air and kicked out with his feet at Sid.
Thanks to Serenity’s timely warning, Sid was ready. He’d come up against that type of fighting before, and after the first time, he’d studied the art so that he wouldn’t be caught totally unprepared another time. It took him a while to master the style and get good at it, but he easily deflected Morris, and then struck out with enough force that the small man hit the wall, and slid down to the floor, unconscious again.
“You did that well,” Serenity complimented the man she loved, and then she ran upstairs and searched for something to wear. The woman hired by her father was awake by then, and she looked positively terrified when Serenity took the false bottom out of her wardrobe and found an old gun she kept for emergencies. She also found some clothing she’d forgotten was there, and she soon felt like herself, minus her hat, but she could get another one in town. In no time, she was dressed, the old gun belt strapped around her hips, and as she loaded the gun, she said, “Harrison Compton is dead. Morris is under arrest for murdering the man my father hired to bring me here against my will. We have a decision to make regarding you and your involvement in this kidnapping. You can either go to prison for life, or I can untie you and send you on your way. I will know if you are lying to me, so don’t even try. Do you understand?” When the woman nodded, Serenity untied the gag.
“Please to God, untie me! I am going crazy!” she begged.
“I will as soon as you tell me under what pretenses did my father hire you?”
“He told me that you were just sixteen, and he’d spoiled you when your mother ran away with another man. He said that he was going to marry you to a man who loved you and who could keep you from running away. I thought I was helping. I am often hired to deal with young girls who need a firm hand and some feminine guidance if their mother is deceased, or gone for some reason.”
“Do you understand now that he lied to you? I am twenty-two years old. I have a husband who is downstairs waiting for me to come down. Also, my father murdered my mother; she didn’t run away with another man. Mother’s crime was trying to stop Father from torturing his children.”
The woman’s eyes filled with anger she couldn’t hide. “I did not know any of that, and I feel shamed for helping him. I am sorry, Miss.”
“I believe you.” Serenity untied the ropes and released the woman.
“Thank you! I felt as though I couldn’t breathe! I am terrified of restraints of any kind,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry I put you through that,” Serenity told her. “Are you alright now?” she asked in concern.
“Yes, thank you.” She looked at Serenity and said, “You are nothing like he said. I beg your forgiveness.”
“That isn’t necessary. Let’s get out of here.”
“SERENITY!” Sid bellowed loudly, and she jumped.
“Yes, Sid. We’re coming, darling!” Serenity called loudly so that he would hear her.
“Who is this?” he demanded when he saw the other woman.
“I’m afraid I don’t know your name.” Serenity turned toward her to ask.
“I’m Sally Curtis,” she answered quietly.
“Sally was lied to, Sid, just as you were. She didn’t know what Father was about. I had her tied up upstairs so I could escape. I do not want her blamed for any of this, darling. She’s innocent.”
Sid nodded. “How much money were you promised, Miss Curtis?”
“Mr. Compton paid my fare here, and he promised to pay me a hundred dollars and my fare home once Miss Serenity was married and on her way to Boston with Mr. Wilkinson.”
“I will make sure you have your fare home,” Sid offered. It was obvious to him that the woman was having trouble making a living.
“No, Father’s estate will pay for everything,” Serenity said firmly. “We’ll get you a room at the hotel in town.”
“I appreciate your kindness, considering,” Sally said, tears filling her eyes.
“We know how you feel, Miss Curtis. Harrison Compton hired me under false pretenses, too. He thought that money justified the means.” He patted her arm and then turned to the other woman. “Serenity, we need a wagon. Do you think we can get one without having to fight our way out of here?”
“I am sure I can handle it.” She headed out the front door, and took off for the barn. Sid went out on the porch to watch her, just in case she ran into trouble and needed his help. He heard her speaking to two of the hands and they nodded in understanding, going into the barn and coming out with a wagon, and then a team of horses. Suddenly, more hands appeared, and one of them challenged his little redhead. Sid started down the steps, determined to protect her.