Dancing with the Devil

Dancing with the Devil

***Ansel Adams, or Ance as those he knows tend to call him, is a bad man though he didn’t consider that to be his fault. His father had been a bad man, his grandfather had been a bad man–hell as far as Ance knew he came from a long line of men were just a bitten rotten down at their core.  He took what he wanted when he wanted it and from who he wanted it from. He wasn’t the least bit bothered by killing someone he figured needed killing and he never lost an ounce of sleep over any of the wrong that he did. Everyone that knew Ance knew he was a man who would never change, never give up his lifestyle, never settle down….Until Penelope Reynolds came sobbing into his life. 

Ance hadn’t given much thought to offering this rich man protection as he took a load of stolen goods to market until he realized that the banging sound coming from the crate was a tiny little blond with pigtails, freckles and a bad leg. 

Suddenly he’s struck with a choice. Save the girl and return her to her family or simply let life do what life does and chalk it up to bad luck for little Penelope–in the past the latter choice would have been easy, but not now. 

*** Audrey Reynolds had never been so afraid and desperate in her life. Her daughter has been stolen. Her daughter is all she has left in the world since the murder of her husband five years earlier.  Desperate to find Penelope, Audrey enlists the help of U.S. Ranger Rodger York who also happens to be the man that’s been trying to talk her into remarrying since the day after her husband had been placed under the ground. 

Together the two embark on a journey to find Penelope and Rodger has vowed to kill whoever took the girl away. But things go wrong and Audrey learns that the very man she went to for help might be the man responsible for every bad thing that’s happened in the last five years…… 

Will Audrey find a way to survive this latest turn of events but more importantly will she ever see her daughter alive again?

Chapter One

Wyoming Territory

Early June

1878

Ansel Adams, or Ance as nearly everyone who knew him referred to him, led his horse down the draw and into the grassy canyon. The beast was tired and hot and so was he, making that tiny grove of trees beside the stream look mighty tempting.

Judging by the weather, they were in for one hot, dry summer and those weren’t the kind that Ance preferred. He dismounted his roan mare and rid her of her saddle before hitching her to a small bush beside the stream allowing her to fill her stomach with soft grass and wet her whistle a bit as well.

Ance took a long drink of the cool clear water himself and then sat down at the base of the poplar tree and leaned his back against the rough bark. He put his hands behind his head and watched the man who had been tailing him for the past four hours begin the descent into the canyon.

With a curse, Ance realized who it was and wondered what kind of half-brained scheme Irish would have up his sleeve today.

“Hello there, Ansel!” Irish called jovially when he was within hearing distance, his Irish brogue filling the midday air. “It took a bit of doin’ for me to catch ya.”

“Because I didn’t much feel like bein’ caught,” Ance replied pulling his cigar from his mouth. “You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you, Irish. You can’t be following after folks that way.”

“Ya wouldn’t shoot me, Ansel. If ya did then who would bring ya opportunities like the one I brought ya today?” Irish asked as he tied his horse off beside Ance’s and sat down next to him beneath the poplar.

Ance squinted into the sun and put his cigar back in his mouth, leaving it to hang off his lip. “And just what kind of opportunity have you brought me?”

Irish’s green eyes lit up and he scratched at his jaw which was covered in red stubble. “The chance to make ya a small fortune.”

“And just how might I be making this fortune?” Ance questioned, unable to determine if he was feeling more amusement or irritation at having his peaceful day intruded on. Ance was a man who enjoyed being alone–he simply didn’t like having his solitude disturbed.

Irish reached in his pocket and pulled out a brown glass bottle with a paper label claiming it was a ‘cure-all’ and guaranteed to rid you and your loved ones of anything that ailed you from the common cold to polio. A snake also adorned the label with sharp fangs and a tongue that wrapped in and out of the label’s words.

“You followed me down here to sell me this bullshit?” Ance snorted, taking the bottle and holding it up so the sunlight would stream through the liquid inside.

“O’course not!” Irish feigned insult. “I followed ya down here to enlist ya to help me sell it!”

Ance sighed and tossed the bottle back to the brain-addled man. “No.”

“Come on, Ance!” Irish insisted. “This is a guaranteed way to make a lot of money in just a wee bit of time!”

“No,” Ance repeated as he relaxed back against the tree once again, pulled hat down a bit lower over his dark hair and puffed on his cigar.

Irish grumbled under his breath and kicked Ance’s outstretched legs. “I thought I could count on my friend to help me.”

Ance growled and without pulling his hat off his eyes he replied, “I ain’t nobodies goddamn friend, Irish, and if you ever lay hand or foot on me again you’ll have the bullet hole to prove it.”

Ance heard Irish shove himself to his feet. “Are ya certain ya won’t help me, then? I didn’t figure a man of your caliber would be bothered by sellin’ a bit of snake oil and turnin’ a handsome profit.”

Ance sighed and pushed his hat back. He pulled his cigar from his mouth and blew out a large puff of smoke. “And what’s in that concoction that is supposed to cure these people?”

“A little of this, a little of that, a dash of whiskey and a large helpin’ of opium.”

“Holy hell, you Irish bastard. Are you hoping to kill them or cure them?”

Irish grinned, “They’ll feel so damned jolly after taking a swig they won’t care either way.”

While Ance was amused by the Irishman, he wasn’t sold on the idea. He didn’t like people enough to be a businessman. “Go peddle your wares someplace else, Irish. Let me get back to my nap.”

“Are ya sure, Ansel?” Irish questioned as he hopped onto his horse. “I was hopin’ ya could pretend to be a blind man and have one sip of my elixir cure your sight and have ya shootin’ birds outta the air.”

“I’m sure, Irish. But keep jawin’ that way and I’ll shoot an Irishman out of the saddle.”

“Alright, alright, I’m goin’,” Irish conceded. “Shite, Ansel, ya never do help me out when I need it.”

“And yet you just keep asking,” Ance muttered.

“It’s just me foolish Irish heart hopin’ that someday I’ll come up with a deal you can’t refuse.”

Ance watched Irish ride away and then resumed his resting. It seemed Irish never was going to stop trying to find out ways to get rich fast and trying to get Ance to go along with him. What Irish didn’t seem to understand was that Ance just didn’t like him well enough to become business partners.

---

One week later, Ance rode into the tiny backwater town of Hope Springs. The town’s name was truly misleading since there was nothing hopeful about this place and there was no spring–just a well that had water the scent of rotten eggs in between some dilapidated buildings.

There was no law, no society and the only folks that came and went around here were a bit rotten and completely lawless–just like him. It was the perfect resting spot to find a whore, have a poke and load up on supplies before hitting the trail once again. As Ance made his way down the muddy street he saw many familiar faces and a few new ones. Some of the new faces attempted to greet him but none of the familiar ones did.

Ance had earned a reputation, a reputation that he had worked very hard to earn and enjoyed having as it gave him the solitude that he desired. Ance had made it clear that unless he greeted a person first and engaged them in conversation, they weren’t to bother him. Most people respected that–unless you counted Irish but, then again, Irish always had been a few bushels short of a load.

Ance was nearly to the ramshackle old saloon which was home to his favorite assortment of soiled doves when he saw a familiar face down the road that he wouldn’t mind striking up a conversation with.

Barnaby Wallace was a man who matched his name perfectly. He was big and loud and welcoming to all those around him–but that wasn’t quite all there was to the man. Barnaby might look harmless in his black trousers, bright red jacket and felt top hat, but the man was actually far from it.

Barnaby was a businessman of sorts. He sold goods that he obtained for free without caring if the former users still had use for them or not. He was not a man many people chose to cross and those that did cross him quickly learned that they had made grievous mistake.

Ance dismounted and walked his horse over to the large covered wagon that Barnaby had loaded down. “Looks like you’ve got quite the load, Barnaby.”

Barnaby smiled beneath his thick graying mustache and held out his arms, “Nice to see you, Ance! You’re looking well!”

“Thanks, Barnaby. It seems you haven’t missed a meal yourself.”

Barnaby chuckled and laid his hands over his large stomach. “I have to keep up this physique. It drives the ladies wild.”

Ance shook his head. “I’ll bet it does.” He glanced at the wagon and the three pack mules loaded down tied to the back. “Just where you going with all this stuff?”

Barnaby’s blue eyes turned a bit more predatory and Ance knew what that meant. “I was actually hoping to enlist your help, my boy.”

“You know I don’t go around helping people, Barnaby. It just don’t sit well with me and makes my stomach churn.”

Barnaby clicked his tongue at the familiar song and dance. “Yes, but this would be a business arrangement. You help me get to where I have to go with my load and I pay you three hundred dollars in cash.”

Ance shook his head. “How about you tell me exactly where we’re taking this before we talk cold hard cash.”

“You have the makings of a fine businessman!” Barnaby boasted proudly, his jowls shaking as he spoke. “I have ten other men, though none of them are quite your caliber and are quite wet behind the ears. We’re taking this load of supplies over to Indian territory.”

“If you’ve got ten men what do you need me for?” Ance questioned, not quite sure three hundred dollars was enough money to get him wandering around in Indian country. While most Indians were living safely on the reservations there were still those that were roaming free and plenty mad over the way the government had treated them.

“Because you are a man that men listen to–even Indians.”

Ance frowned at the load of goods. Clothes, fabrics, guns, ammunition, whiskey, pots and pans and one large crate with holes near the top of the lid was sitting toward the back of the wagon. “And the Indians will buy all of this?”

“Of course they will.” Barnaby appeared offended. “I could sell ice to an Eskimo.”

“Make it five hundred and I’ll help you get through Indian Country,” Ance offered. He knew that despite the look of shock on Barnaby’s face and the exclamations that Ance was trying to rob him blind, Barnaby would give him the five hundred. Ance had worked for Barnaby many many times and the men knew each other well.

“I don’t know….” Barnaby began.

Ance shrugged. “Take it or leave it, Barnaby. If you take it then I’m ready to go when you are. If you leave it then I got whores to be getting to.”

Barnaby sighed and held out his hand. “You got yourself a deal, Ance! Great to have you working for me once again.”

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Ance rode alongside the wagon and ignored the sweat tricking between his shoulder blades. The sun overhead was hotter than he could ever remember it being this time of year. 

He was beginning to regret taking this job. A soft whore and a cool beer sounded much better just now than being on this horses back with eleven men who’d been in the sun too long all around him. Then he remembered that five hundred dollar payday awaiting him and decided that the whores and beer could wait. 

Barnaby rode up front on the wagon and the other men milled around, falling back and going ahead before swinging back around. Ance knew it would a good five days before they got where they were going and it was going to be a tense few days waiting for an arrow or a bullet to be sent into their backs. 

Ance pulled his horse to a stop beside a grove of small maples and poplars with a nice cool pool of water beside them. 

“What are you doing, Ance?” Barnaby called out. 

“Taking a break,” Ance replied. “My horse is thirsty.” 

Barnaby called a halt to all the men and everyone seemed thankful for the rest as they led their horses to the water and splashed their own faces and necks as the beasts drank their fill. 

Ance walked a fair distance away from everyone else and took a seat beneath a tree just beside the wagon. He pulled out a cigar and took a long slow draw as he enjoyed the quiet corner he had found. 

A scuffling sound came from the wagon. Ance frowned and glanced over his shoulder but didn’t see anything moving around. He shrugged it off, relaxed once again and pulled his hat low. 

He nearly jumped from his skin when the banging started. Ance got to his feet, put out his cigar and strode to the back of the wagon. He looked down at the crate as it moved slightly and that banging continued. Ance saw the lock so he pulled his gun and used it as a hammer to cause the clasp to break away. If there was a critter holed up in this heat then Ance was going to let it out. Ance didn’t like seeing critters mistreated. 

Ance was about to open the crate when Barnaby was suddenly beside him. The gray-bearded man put a hand on the lid and stopped Ance from lifting it up. “What are you doing, Ance?” Barnaby demanded, the good-humor normally in his voice a bit less than usual as anger edged in. “You owe me a lock.” 

“You can take it out of my pay,” Ance replied, crossing his thick arms over his broad chest. “You got a critter locked up in that cage?” 

Barnaby studied him for several long moments as if determining whether or not to trust him. The thudding had stopped and the crate had gone eerily quiet. Finally Barnaby grinned and took a step back, resting his hands on his large belly. “Go ahead and take a peak, my boy, at the critter that’s going to bring me a small fortune! The Indians pay top dollar for ones like this one!” 

Ance’s black brow quirked upward. What in the world would make the Indians pay hard stolen money for a critter? Ance was pretty sure the wilderness they lived in was crawling with them. 

Ance lifted up the lid and his blue eyes widened at the sight he was met with. 

Brown eyes, wide with fear, stared up at him from a pale, freckled face. Tears had left streaks down dirty cheeks and a dirty white cloth was tied tight over the mouth to ensure the so-called critter didn’t scream. 

“Barnaby, that’s a goddamn little girl,” Ance stated. The girl’s blond hair was a tangled mess and hair stuck out of her braids at all angles. 

“The Indian’s like ones like her. I got her at a steal too! Apparently her mama wants her a new life with a new man without the memories of the old life hanging around.” 

Ance bristled. 

Women were monsters. 

His mother had been a monster and this little girl’s mother was apparently cut from the same damn cloth. 

The girl couldn’t be more than six or seven. She was all cramped up in that crate. She had a metal brace on one leg and it was clear to see that her bones were crooked and deformed. Her hair was limp and wet with sweat around her face and Ance shook his head. “Don’t you think you should get her out of there and give her food and water?” 

“Why do you care?” Barnaby laughed. “I didn’t think you’d care one way or the other.” 

“I don’t,” Ance shrugged and closed the crate lid, happy to no longer have those brown eyes staring up at him so imploringly. “But the Indian’s probably won’t pay as much if she’s dead.” 

With that Ance walked away and settled himself back beneath the trees. A few moments later he saw Barnaby open the crate once again and he pulled off the girl’s gag to give her water and a biscuit. 

“Let me go home!” she screamed, her voice hoarse and weak. “I want my mama!” 

A sharp smack filled the air as Barnaby struck the girl. Ance felt his blood heat. “Your mama don’t want a crippled little brat anymore, girl! That’s why you’re with me,” Barnaby laughed. Ance’s blood damn near began to boil. 

It surprised him. He shouldn’t give a damn about some girl in a crate. Bad things happened every single day and everyone went through tragedies. Why should she be any different?

“My mama loves me….” she whimpered. 

“She’s not here, is she? She’s not saving you” Barnaby taunted. “Now shut up and I’ll leave the crate open so you can have some air while we travel.” 

Ance saw Barnaby replace the gag on the girls mouth and suddenly her brown eyes found him again. Their gazes locked for several long moments before Ance broke the contact and relit his cigar. 

The Indians would like her. They would like her blond hair and her freckles. They would like the fact that she had a crippled leg because it would mean she couldn’t run away from them. They would use her up until there wasn’t anything left of her. 

Ance shouldn’t care. He shouldn’t give two hoots in hell. 

So why was he already contemplating exactly how he was going to get her out of that crate and away from Barnaby?

---

“I need you to guard the critter tonight,” Barnaby said as he approached Ance after the group had stopped for the night. 

“I’m not a guard dog,” Ance countered, not wanting anything to do with that girl. What happened to her was no concern of his. Besides she belonged to Barnaby and to steal from Barnaby Wallace was to sign your death warrant–Ance didn’t want to die that badly. 

Barnaby laughed, “Yes, but you’re the grumpiest dog in my kennel!” Ance raised a brow simply chewed on his cigar as he studied the man. Barnaby sighed. “I’ll add fifty dollars to your pay if you’ll simply sleep by the crate and stop anyone from taking her or her from getting out.” 

“She’s tied up ain’t she?” Ance grumbled. 

“Yes, but I don’t want to take any chances. She’s my bread and butter this trip.” 

“You’ve got ten other men, get them to watch her. Or better yet ,you watch her yourself.” 

Barnaby’s blue eyes narrowed slightly, “Now, Ance, I like you. Let’s not have that change.” 

“Barnaby, I really don’t give a damn what you think of me,” Ance replied honestly.

The two men stared each other down and it was Barnaby who broke first. “Fine, I’ll get Vern to watch her. Can’t believe you’d pass up an easy chance at fifty dollars.” 

“I ain’t too keen on playing nanny,” Ance stated. “Not even for fifty dollars.” 

Barnaby laughed and slapped him on the back. “I guess I should have expected as much!” he said good naturedly and then he walked away to tell Vern about this newest duty. 

Ance settled himself down beneath an oak and pulled out a tin of cookies he’d swiped from a windowsill a couple of days before. He felt eyes on him and his gaze went to the wagon to find that the little girl was once again staring at him. Her brown eyes seemed hungry as she looked down at the cookie in his hand. 

With a grumble and a heaving sigh, Ance stood and walked to her. She curled up as small as she could in that crate and stared up at him fearfully. “I ain’t gonna hurt you, dammit. I ain’t that type of man,” Ance assured her. 

He reached out and pulled her gag down. She opened her mouth to speak but Ance quickly shoved a chunk of the cookie into her mouth before she could get a word out. She chewed it eagerly and swallowed it down and Ance quickly replaced it with yet another chunk. Once that bit was down he put his canteen to her lips and let her take several good swallows of water. 

“Thank you,” she whispered. 

Ance snarled and shoved the gag back into her mouth before striding away and settling himself once again beneath the tree. He truly didn’t give a shit about the little girl–he just hated to see anyone die of thirst or hunger.

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Darkness had long settled over the group. Frogs and crickets filled the night with their music and Ance found that sleep simply wouldn’t come. The girl wasn’t sleeping… and every single time she shifted or whimpered in that damned crate he heard it and it jerked him back to alertness. 

Ance heard movement from beside the wagon and he raised his hat slightly so he could glance that way. Vern was standing at the back of the wagon and in the moonlight Ance could see the lust filled grin on his face. Vern reached into the wagon and jerked the girl up by her arm. Her brown eyes were wide and her face pale as he tossed her in the dirt at his feet. The gag on her mouth kept her from yelling for help as Vern undid his pants and tossed up her dress. 

Vern dropped to his knees, using his legs to pin down the girl’s. Ance saw the girl’s eyes fill with raw terror just as Ance came up behind Vern and slid his eight inch knife across the man’s neck, severing the arteries and veins and spraying blood across the girl’s face and dress. 

Ance tossed Vern’s body silently away and wiped his knife on his pants before turning his attention back to the girl. She was shaking like a leaf and swollen tears ran down her pale, blood splattered cheeks as she stared up at him with fearful brown eyes. 

Ance cursed under his breath. What the hell had he just done? 

With a shake of his head, he decided there wasn’t a damn thing to be done about it now. He just had to take the girl and get the hell out of here before Barnaby or any of the others woke up and he had a massacre on his hands. As good as Ance was in a fight he wasn’t much of a match against ten armed men in the open like this. 

Ance left the girl lying there as he grabbed up his saddle and saddle bags. He quickly readied his mare and then went back to the girl who had scooted back and was hiding halfway beneath the wagon. 

Stepping over Vern’s dead body, Ance grabbed the girl, tossed her over the horse’s back and hopped up behind her. Ance grumbled when she curled herself up against him. 

With a click of his tongue, Ance led his mare into the wilderness knowing he only had until dawn to put as much distance as he could between himself and a very angry Barnaby. 

Darkness had given way to the day before Ance decided to stop for a while. He really didn’t have a choice. He kept drifting to sleep in the saddle and the girl had nearly toppled out several times. 

He found a shallow river that ran through a deep ravine and guided his mare down the rocky embankment. Hiding the mare beneath an overhang of bushes, Ance tossed the girl and his saddlebags over his shoulder and carried them both to a small overhanging of rock. He laid down his saddlebags and tossed the girl somewhat gently down onto the dirt. 

Ance pulled out a sack of hardtack and jerked beef as well as his canteen. He could see the hunger in the girl’s eyes so he removed her gag and handed her both. 

She didn’t speak, which he was grateful for; instead she simply pulled out a biscuit and nibbled on it between taking sips of water. Ance found his gaze drawn to her leg and the metal brace that covered it. He wondered what had caused the deformity… 

“I was born with a pretty leg,” the girl finally spoke. Her voice was quiet, meek and raspy from so long without real use. “But I got real sick and my leg never got better. Mama said it was–” she frowned and her brow wrinkled up. “P..plol..popl..” 

“Polio,” Ance grunted and she nodded as a smile curved her lips. 

“Yes, that’s it.”

Silence was again fell over them as Ance chewed on a piece of beef and stared at the stream. “Are you gonna hurt me?” the girl finally whispered. 

“If I was gonna hurt you, I damn sure would have done it by now,” Ance informed her without sparing her a glance. “Now eat your damn food and quit talkin’ or I’ll put that gag back in your mouth. I enjoy the silence.” 

Thankfully the girl was obedient and she gave him the silence he’d asked for as they finished their meager meal. Then she cleared her throat. “I need to… have privacy.” 

Ance curled his nose. She smelled of urine and feces already–the crate had been soiled and her clothes were a mess. He nodded and pointed toward the bushes where the horse was hidden. “Go on then. But don’t you wander no further than that because I won’t save your life a second time.” 

Ance still couldn’t believe he’d risked his hide to save her life the first time! It had been a move that had been completely out of character for him. Ance didn’t go around saving people–it wasn’t in his nature.

The girl tried to stand but it was clear she was in pain. The blood now dried on her face stuck out in sharp contrast to the paleness of her skin as she stumbled and nearly fell on the rocks. 

Ance shot forward and caught her quickly. He grumbled under his breath. “Can’t you walk?” he demanded harshly. 

“Yes…” she sucked in a shuddering breath and tears filled her eyes. “But I’m hurting real bad right now and it’s too stiff….” 

“That’s the last damned time I save somebody. Swear to God people are nothing but a damn hindrance,” Ance muttered as he cradled the girl in his arms and carried her over to the bushes. “I trust you can do the rest yourself?” he snapped. 

“Y..yes..” the girl stammered as Ance turned his back and dug a cigar and matches from his pocket. He pushed back his hat and squinted into the rising sun until he heard her throat clear behind him and he turned to realize that she had finished. 

Ance scooped her up again and carried her back to their home for the next couple of hours. He spread out his bedroll and motioned for her to lay down. She crawled to the make-shift bed, dragging her leg behind her and curling into a ball. 

“We’re going to rest here for three hours and then we have to move again,” he stated. 

“Okay,” she replied sleepily. 

Ance sighed and stretched out in the dirt. He put his hat over his eyes, rested his head on his hands and let himself drift off to sleep. 

---

They rode hard for the rest of the day after their nap and Ance didn’t call a stop to their travels until it was nearing dark. He trusted there was enough distance between them and Barnaby for a small fire–Ance was a man who knew how to hide and knew how to keep from leaving a trail. The only way Barnaby was going to find them was strictly by chance and this country was too wide open for Ance to have much fear of that. 

They camped beside a small lake that evening and Ance managed to catch two fish using his duster coat from his saddlebags as a net. As those broiled over the fire, Ance pulled out a spare shirt and motioned for the girl to stand. 

It took her a few tries but she finally got her leg beneath her and stood up with a frown. “What?” she questioned. Ance was glad that she wasn’t much of a talker.. If she had been he would have been forced to leave her somewhere by now. 

“Take your clothes off–even the underclothes–and put this on.” 

“Why?” she demanded.

“Because you are dirty and you stink and I don’t want to smell you.” 

“You stink too,” she informed him. 

Ance sniffed himself and curled his nose. “Yeah, well, I smell like dirt and sweat which is to be expected. You smell like piss, shit and blood so take your clothes off and let me wash them. I’ll turn my back until you’re dressed.” 

Her face reddened with embarrassment but she moved to do as he asked. When she cleared her throat he turned to find her standing there in his shirt which swallowed her whole. The arms hung way past her hands and the bottom of the shirt nearly dragged the ground. “How big are you?” she asked, holding up her arms and trying to find her hands among the folds of fabric. 

“Big enough,” Ance chuckled. He saw her dress lying on the ground. “What about your underclothes?” he asked, realizing she was still wearing them. 

“I can’t take my brace off alone and I have to have it off to get them down all the way.” the girl replied. 

Ance sighed. He crouched down and studied the contraption. It took some doing, a few curse words on his part and a lot of instructing on hers, but finally Ance pulled the brace off. 

The girl clung to him as her leg gave out and Ance winced at the whimper of pain she made. “Do you normally take something for pain?” he questioned. 

“No.. It doesn’t hurt all the time. It hurts from being cramped in that crate so long.” 

Ance just nodded, scooped her up once again and sat her close to the fire. “Don’t let those burn,” he warned, pointing at the fish. 

Ance carried her clothes to the water and grabbed the bar of lye soap he’d laid out earlier. Without a word he began to clean the blood and waste from them. He knew the girl needed a bath but he damn sure wasn’t gonna help her do that… it would have to wait until he got her to Briggston and the orphanage he had in mind. 

Ance had to admit it was peaceful tonight. The girl was humming quietly enough for the sound to be awful pleasant and the crackling of the fire, splashing of water and croaking of bullfrogs helped add to the tranquility. 

“What’s your name?” the girl asked, interrupting the peace. 

“Ance,” he grunted. 

“Mine’s Penelope.” 

Ance glared over his shoulder. “I didn’t ask,” he grumbled. “And you’re burning the fish.”

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

The next day around noon, Ance was beginning to suspect that Penelope was not as quiet as she had seemed the first day they’d spent together. It seemed that the longer she was around him, and the more comfortable she became, the looser her jaw became. 

Ance was half tempted to gag her again. 

“And so then I had a kitty and a puppy and they were friends, so when people say that dogs and cats don’t like each other, that’s just not true. My puppy is named Sunshine and my kitty is Blackey because she is solid black. Even her eyes are so dark brown they are nearly black. Mama says…..” 

“Here,” Ance grunted before shoving the rim of the canteen into her mouth. “Drink, you must be thirsty.” 

Penelope downed several big swallows as Ance figured up just how much longer it would take to reach that orphanage in Briggston. At his count it would be four days… four very very very long days. 

“Can we stop for a while?” Penelope asked with a sigh. “My leg hurts and it’s hot.” 

Ance glanced up at the noonday sun and nodded. Stopping was probably a wise choice until later in the evening when the sun wouldn’t bake them quite so badly. He pointed his mare toward a grove of maples and slid off her back. 

Gently, Ance lifted Penelope from the saddle and sat her on her feet. The girl swayed for a moment as she struggled to gain her balance on her weak leg and Ance patiently held her steady until he was certain she could stand alone. 

He was pleased that her leg didn’t seem to be as stiff and immovable today and she wasn’t in as much pain as she had been the day before. Ance was learning that she needed to stretch it out several times a day in order to keep the more painful kinks worked out. 

“Ance, can I ask you something?” Penelope asked once the two of them were relaxing under the shade of a tree and munching on more of Ance’s stolen cookies. 

“You ain’t stopped jawing all day… it’d be a miracle if you stopped now.” 

Penelope giggled and adjusted her tattered skirt around the brace on her leg. “Where are you taking me?” 

Ance took a drink of water and handed her the canteen. “Briggston.” 

“What’s in Briggston?” Penelope asked before putting the canteen to her lips. 

“An orphanage that’ll have room for a little girl,” Ance replied. He pulled out his gun and began spinning the cylinder slowly. 

Penelope watched his movements with curiosity as it was clear her mind was working hard. “An orphanage?” 

“Yeah.” Ance put his gun away and pulled his hat down over his face as he stretched out and folded his hands on his lean stomach. “A place for youngins that don’t have mamas.” 

Penelope shook her head, “I have a mama!” she exclaimed. “My mama’s name is Audrey and she loves me and is missing me!” 

“She gave you to that bastard that had ya, Penelope,” Ance reminded her with a growl as he pushed up his hat. 

“No she didn’t!” Penelope argued, her full cheeks turning red with anger and her brown eyes filling with tears. “My mama loves me!”

Ance grumbled as he shoved himself to his feet and glared down at her. He wasn’t fully aware of his movements as he ran his hand over the jagged scar that ran the length of his left cheek. “Mama’s don’t love their children, Penelope, not in real life.” 

With that Ance stomped away and plopped himself down beside a rock a good hundred yards from where he’d left that pain in the ass little girl and her delusions about mothers.

---

“How long will it take to get to that town?” Penelope asked that night as the two sat around a campfire. It was the first time that she had spoken since Ance had scolded her earlier in the day. 

“About three more good days of riding,” Ance grunted, not taking his eyes away from the dancing flames. 

“My mama really does love me, Ance,” Penelope assured him with certainty. “That man stole me away but I’ll tell the orpan…offen…orna…” 

“Orphanage?” Ance cut in. 

Penelope nodded, “Yes, I’ll tell the orphanage that my mama loves me and they’ll find her.” 

Ance simply shrugged. “Good luck with that.” 

“Didn’t your mama love you?” Penelope questioned as she laid her tiny hand upon his broad, thick shoulder.

Ance glanced down at those pale fingers as if they were lit sticks of dynamite with tiny fuses. “No, she didn’t,” he grunted before pulling away and poking at the fire with a stick. 

“How did you get that scar?” 

Ance shook his head, “I don’t remember but I’ll give you one to match if you don’t hush up and just enjoy the quiet.” 

Penelope shook her head and laid her chin in her hand. “You won’t hurt me. If you were gonna do that you would have done it already.” 

Ance glared at the girl as she threw his words back at him. “Just how old are you?” 

“Eight.” 

“When I was eight I was already more than half grown and fending for myself most of the time,” Ance told her. 

“Where was your mama?” 

“Working.” Ance snorted. 

“Did your mama give you that scar?”

“No, now I told you to hush.” 

Penelope pouted up and stared at the fire. Ance grunted and let his mind drift back twenty-three years to a time when he’d been a seven year old boy. He’d been sick, throwing up, and simply not feeling well. For some reason his weak body and ailing mind had thought he could go to his mother for comfort. 

It had been late at night and she’d been busy with a client at the saloon–though they had forgotten to lock the door. Ance had gone in and the man had leapt naked from the bed, grabbed a whiskey bottle and smashed it across Ance’s face. 

He’d lost consciousness immediately and had woken up in the saloon owners bed. A man, an outlaw by the name of Jonah, had sewed up his lacerated cheek the best he could and was still waiting for Ance to wake up. The man had been friendly enough but then Ance’s mother had come in. 

Ance had thought his mama would be at least a bit relieved to see her son breathing but the woman had been in a drunken rage. Her hair had been a mess of black tangles around her head and her lipstick and eye paint had been smeared across her face. She had stunk horribly of the brandy she liked to drink and she had jerked Ance from the bed and beat him soundly with a wooden ruler before stumbling back out of the room. 

The outlaw, Jonah, had simply sat there and watched. He had offered Ance a sad little smile and said, ‘Some of us got hard lots in life, son. The best you can do is learn to fend for yourself and not ever depend on no one else for nothin’. This world will eat you up if you don’t.“ 

Then the man had gotten up, adjusted his hat and left the saloon. Ance had never seen him again…. 

“Ance?” Penelope’s gentle voice brought Ance back to the present. He glanced over at her to find her chewing on her full bottom lip as her brown eyes studied him. 

“What?” 

Penelope reached out her hand and laid it over Ance’s on the ground. Ance stiffened at the tenderness, unsure what the knot in his throat was caused by and wondering why his chest suddenly felt tight. Penelope smiled comfortingly. “I’m sorry I made you sad. I didn’t mean to.” 

Ance sighed and offered the girl the smallest hint of a smile. “It wasn’t your fault, Penelope. Now, you were telling me something about a kitten earlier today–what was her name again?” 

---

Audrey Reynolds had never known a bone deep sorrow and desperation like this in all her life. 

Her baby girl was gone. 

She’d been stolen away and no one would help! 

The local law enforcement said they had no leads to go on and no one seemed to know where Penelope had gone or who she had gone with. There was no greater fear a mother could feel than the fear that something terrible would happen to her child and she would be unable to protect them!

Audrey paced the wraparound porch of her two story home and stared out at the white picket fence and the corrals and barns. She wrung her hands and waited to see that familiar silhouette ride in.

U.S. Marshal Rodger York hadn’t been her first choice in aide but when you were desperate to find your daughter you did anything that needed to be done–even call in help from the man who had been sniffing around your skirt tails since the day after your husband had been placed in the ground. 

Audrey had been a widow for five years–ever since her husband, Alexander, had been shot and killed while bringing in a group of wild mustangs for his stables. His murder had never been found and yet, whoever had killed her husband, hadn’t taken the mustangs and the beasts had been rounded up and brought to her days later. 

Penelope had only been three at the time so while Audrey had been devastated at the loss, she had known that she had to stay strong and carry on for their daughter’s sake. At least Alexander had left her with a profitable horse ranch and plenty of money in the bank so Audrey hadn’t had to worry about taking care of their daughter financially. 

Rodger York had also made sure to stop by every chance he could. He had been the one to bring her the news of Alexander’s death and had been hinting at the desire to marry her since then. Audrey had no desire to marry again. Her entire life was Penelope and she would not marry any man unless he too was just as in love with her daughter–and Rodger York was not. 

But he was a decent man and he was a lawman and Audrey knew that he would help her find her daughter. 

She nearly cried out with relief when she saw him riding in. He was pushing his horse hard and he hopped off quickly and ran to the porch with his hat in his hands. “Audrey, what’s happened? Your message said I needed to be here immediately! Is something wrong? Are you ill?” 

Audrey shook her head. “It’s not me, Rodger. It’s Penelope,” she replied, tears burning her eyes. 

Rodger frowned, his thick black mustache drooping. “What’s wrong with the girl? Is she sick?” 

Audrey hated the impatience she heard though she understood it. Penelope had not been a healthy child and while the last couple of years had been better for her healthwise, she would never be completely whole because of the havoc the polio had wreaked on her leg. 

“She’s gone, Rodger.. Someone took her away.” 

Rodger’s blue eyes widened and he ushered her toward the house as a ranch hand saw to his horse. “Come on inside, Audrey, and you can tell me what’s going on.” 

“They took her, Rodger! She’s been gone for a week and I have no way of finding her and no one will help me!” Audrey felt that desperation clawing at her heart. 

Rodger shushed her soothingly and laid a gentle hand on her cheek. “Calm down now, sweetheart. I’m here now and you know I’ll do anything I can for you. Now let’s go in and have a talk and figure out just where to start to get Penelope back home with her mama where she belongs.”

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Ance stretched his arms over his head as he stood up and shook the sleepiness from his bones. Today was the last day he and Penelope would be traveling together. They would reach Briggston tonight and for that Ance was grateful. Not only would he finally be rid of this girl who was slowing him down but it would be nice to sleep in a real bed for a change. Ance was finding that the older he got, the less appealing the hard ground became.

He walked toward his mare to get her saddled and ready for the trail and was interrupted by a whimper behind him. Quickly Ance turned and rushed toward Penelope who was struggling to stand.

Very gently the giant of a man lifted the girl to her feet and held her steady until she seemed to have her balance. “Thank you,” she whispered sleepily.

“Are ya alright there, Penny?” Ance questioned.

She giggled, “My name’s Penelope.”

Ance shook his head as he busied himself cleaning up camp. “You’re far too small a girl to have a big name like Penelope.”

“My mama said my papa picked my name,” Penelope informed him as she worked on folding up the blanket she had slept upon. “My papa died. I don’t remember him because it happened when I was only three.”

“Papa’s die.. It happens.” Ance replied with a grunt as he stomped out the ashes left of their small campfire. Over the last few days Penelope had told him many things about herself and her life with her mama on their horse ranch but this was the first he was hearing about her papa.

“Do you have a papa?” Penelope questioned.

Ance sighed and threw the saddle over his mare’s back. “I reckon I must have one somewhere but I don’t reckon the man has ever bothered to introduce himself to me.”

Penelope frowned and scratched at her blond hair as her forehead wrinkled up. “You mean you never met your papa?”

“Nope,” Ance held his hand out and she placed her rolled up blanket in it. “But there ain’t no damn point whining about how neither one of us has a pa. Shit happens, Penny.”

Penelope giggled. “You curse a lot.”

Ance couldn’t stop the low chuckle that rumbled from his chest. “That’s cuz I didn’t have a pa to teach me better.” He winked at her and the bright smile that she awarded him with caused his heart to stutter several times in his chest.

Ance quickly turned away from her. The quicker they got to Briggston the better. He didn’t need to be going and getting attached to some little girl with a bum leg that talked too much and seemed to think the world was some happy place where everything would turn out fine.

“Let’s get a move on,” Ance grumbled. “We’ll get to that town this evening.”

“And I’ll be able to send for my mama,” Penelope smiled as she limped her way to the horse.

Ance’s jaw was tight but he said nothing as he lifted her into the saddle and then settled himself behind her. It wasn’t none of his business that this girl was going to get her heart broke by her worthless whore of a mother–he’d saved her life and that was enough charity.

---

“Barnaby Wallace,” Rodger York announced as he stepped into Audrey’s kitchen several days after she had asked for his help.

Audrey dropped the plate she’d been washing back into the bucket and wiped her hands on her apron. “Who?”

Rodger stepped forward and smiled down at her. “There was a man named Barnaby Wallace who was passing through a nearby town around the same time that Penelope disappeared. He is known for stealing anything he thinks he can sell for a quick profit–including children.”

Audrey’s heart dropped as she covered her mouth and shook her head. “Rodger… what kind of monster has my child?”

Rodger’s blue eyes softened. “She’s going to be fine, Audrey, because I’m going to go rescue her back for you.”

Audrey could barely contain her excitement. While she was terrified to think of what her poor daughter might have endured, at least now she had a lead–she had something to go on to help her find Penelope. “Thank you, Rodger! I don’t know how to repay you!”

“No payment is necessary,” Rodger smiled gently and placed a tender hand on her cheek. “I would do anything for you, Audrey, and I’d never think twice about it.”

Audrey bit her lip and moved away from his touch. While she was grateful to the man for his help it didn’t change the fact that she could not encourage his advances toward anything more than friendship. Rodger York was a man married to his career and his own wants and need. Yes, he was helping her, but Audrey had no doubts he’d use this as something he could hold over her head to attempt to garner her affection.

“I will be coming with you, Rodger,” Audrey insisted, not wanting to be completely in the man’s debt. “I want to help find my daughter.”

Rodger shook his head forcefully and smoothed his hand over each side of his thick mustache. “I don’t believe you will!” he exclaimed. “It’s dangerous out there, Audrey, and even more so when going after a man like Barnaby.”

Audrey nearly laughed out loud. Just how dangerous could a man named Barnaby be? She stood her ground with the U.S. Marshall. “I’ll not be told what I can and cannot do, Rodger. I am a grown woman and an independent one at that. While I will forever appreciate what you’ve done to help me and would very much appreciate having your help until Penelope is home safe, I will be going after this man and my daughter with or without your approval.”

Rodger’s blue eyes flashed with temper and Audrey stepped back. That was another reason she had never been tempted by Rodger’s advances. She could sense something in the man–something hidden just below the surface. A meanness and cruelty that she worried would further reveal itself were they living under the same roof as man and wife.

Audrey was not a woman who would be abused by any man.

“Audrey it isn’t safe. I must insist….”

Audrey yanked off her apron and tossed it over her chair. “I care not about what you insist or don’t insist and I will not allow you to bully me into submission. I am not a damsel nor will I be one while someone else rushes off to save my daughter! If Penelope is in danger then I will be riding right on in to help her. What kind of mother would I be if I did not?”

Rodger studied her carefully a moment and then he nodded. “Fine then. We will ride together and work on finding your daughter. But I must warn you that the road can get dangerous and nights can get cold on the trail.”

“I’m not as fragile as you seem to believe I am,” Audrey assured him.

Rodger clicked his tongue. “Just the same, your well-being will be in my hands and I’ll take good care of you.”

Audrey shivered at the implication of his words and quickly excused herself to go ready a bag for the trip. There was so much swirling around in her mind and so many things to worry about.

Her daughter, her beautiful, sweet, crippled daughter was in the hands of a monster who would sell her to someone for a quick profit–Audrey was smart enough to know the only reason a man would buy a little girl and the thought was nearly enough to cause her to lose her meager breakfast. Not only that but the man who was helping her was desperate to push Audrey into marriage–a marriage that was never going to happen because truthfully Audrey didn’t fully trust him.

But the fact remained that Rodger had ridden in to help her find Penelope and he had been able to find a clue that may lead to her daughter’s recovery.

Audrey could only hope that they found Barnaby Wallace in time and save her daughter from the terrible fate that no doubt awaited her.

A/N: sorry it’s kind of short! I wanted you to have a chapter though because it’s been a while. Life has been crazy for me lately and will probably stay crazy for the time being but i’ll do my best to upload as often as i can.

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

“Why don’t you sing us another song?” Ance asked as he and Penelope rode along in silence under the noonday sun. 

“But you said you wanted quiet time,” Penelope reminded him, her voice innocent and light. 

Ance sighed. “Well, I changed my damn mind,” he grumbled. “I’d like to hear another song.” 

“Alright then,” Penelope laughed lightly and then filled the air with a song about puppies, butterflies, sunshine and rainbows. It was a bit happy-go-lucky for Ance’s tastes but it beat riding along in silence…. The fact that riding in silence is what he had lived for just a few short days ago never entered his mind. 

Suddenly Penelope’s voice fell silent and Ance felt her tug his sleeve. “What’s that?” she asked as she pointed across the grassy plains. 

Ance frowned and followed her gaze. He squinted and then grumbled under his breath. “Damn that ignorant Irishman…” 

“Don’t say bad words,” Penelope scolded. “And are those men going to kill him?” she shrunk into him as she spoke and Ance found himself patting her head in an effort to comfort her. 

“Naw, I reckon I won’t let them do that. Wouldn’t be very good of me since he is an acquaintance of sorts.” 

Ance slid from the saddle and pulled Penelope down as well. He sat her down in the long grass beside a rock. “Stay here,” he ordered as he hopped back on his mare. “Don’t move until I call for you and don’t make a sound.” 

“Are you going to be okay?” she asked, her brown eyes shining with fear and worry. 

Ance was struck with a foreign emotion at the sight of someone else sharing genuine concern over his welfare. He couldn’t remember having had that in longer than he dared to figure out. Penelope was far too kind for her own good… the world did bad things to kind people. It took a big bite of them, chewed them up and then spit them right back out. 

“I reckon,” he grunted and then rode away toward Irish and the three men who were fixing to hang him from a large maple. 

Irish was sitting on a horse’s back with a blind fold over his eyes and his hands tied behind him. A rope was pulled fairly tight around his neck and tied to the branch above. That Irish bastard was always finding ways to get himself into trouble. 

Ance knew the moment the men became aware or him. They turned away from Irish and tensed. One of the men was holding a rifle and the other two had their hands hovering over the revolvers on their sides. 

“Stop right there, mister,” the man with the rifle warned. “Just who the hell are you?” 

Ance didn’t say a word and he didn’t stop. He continued at a slow and steady place with his hands loosely gripping the reins. 

“Now hold it right there, mister!” the man with the rifle exclaimed as he raised that rifle up and aimed it toward Ance. “I said to stop.” 

Ance stopped. He reached in his chest pocket and pulled out a cigar and matches. All three men shifted and shared uneasy glances with one another. Ance took his time in lighting his cigar and taking a long draw. 

He let it hang off his lip as he tilted his head. “What exactly are you men doin’ out here today?” 

It was clear that Irish recognized his voice because the man sat up perfectly straight at the sound of it and a smile curved his lips. This was exactly the reason why Ance didn’t have friends and Irish was pushing him damn close to deciding that he no longer wanted acquaintances either. 

“I don’t reckon it’s your business what we’re doin’, mister,” one of the men informed him as he rested his palm on the handle of his revolver. “Now, why don’t you just get on out of here now?” 

Ance shook his head slowly. “It looks to me like you’re fixin’ to hang a man,” he noted. “Now, I may or may not let you do that according to just what this man did to deserve that rope around his neck.” 

Ance saw Irish’s throat bob and the man with his hand on his revolver attempted to step forward. Ance saw his gun leaving the holster and before he completely cleared leather, Ance drew his own rifle from the scabbard of his saddle and fired off a shot into his chest, dropping him dead to the ground. 

The other two men roared with surprise and anger. The man with the rifle fired a shot that, thankfully, went wide and Ance shot two more times, killing both of them. 

“A little help here…” Irish called out as the horse beneath him tossed its head and skittered sideways several steps. 

Ance grumbled, holstered his rifle and slipped off his mare’s back. Slowly he advanced toward the frightened horse and grabbed the bridle in his hand. “What did you do to end up tied to a tree, Irish? Did this have anything to do with that damned snake oil you were trying to talk me into selling?” 

Irish grinned, though his eyes were still covered. “No, these fine gents were a bit peeved and hot under the collar cuz they were bested by an Irishman at the poker table.” 

“Bested or cheated?” Ance grunted. 

The grin on Irish’s face turned sheepish, “Bested o’course.” 

Ance growled and pulled his knife. He sliced the knife holding Irish to the tree and then cut the one away from his hands. “Of course.” 

Irish pulled the blindfold from his eyes and blinked several times when the sunlight suddenly assaulted his vision. “Ya sure are a sight for sore eyes, Ansel. For a wee moment there, I thought ya might let the bastards hang me.” 

“For a moment there I thought about it,” Ance agreed. 

“Where ya on your way to?” Irish questioned as he went about untying the remaining rope from his neck. 

“Briggston….” Before Ance could finish speaking a soft, quiet voice filled the air. 

“Ance? Are you dead?” 

Ance pinched his nose between his fingers as Irish paled and took the horse back several steps. “Ansel, I do believe ya got a ghostie or a guardian angel one a callin’ out for ya.” 

“It’s not either,” Ance grumbled. “It’s a little girl.” He turned toward the rock he’d left Penelope beside. “I’m fine, Penny. Why don’t you get on over here now?” 

Her messy blond hair was the first thing visible as she popped up above the prairie grass. Irish was uncharacteristically quiet as Penelope limped toward them and finally made it through the long grass to the clearing they were standing in. She smiled up at Ance, her face pale and her freckles sticking out in stark contrast, “I was worried. I heard the guns….” then her brown eyes fell on the dead men and she began to shake. 

“What’s the matter?” Ance grunted. 

“Did you kill them?” Penelope’s brown eyes shone with tears. 

“Hell yeah,” Ance replied. “It was either that or they’d have killed me.” 

Penelope was quiet a moment and then she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ance, resting her cheek against his lean stomach. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she whispered. 

Ance didn’t know what to say or do. 

Hellfire and damnation, he had no idea in the world how to handle displays of affection! His own mother had never hugged him! 

Slowly Ance raised one hand and patted her back as the other arm hung limp at his side. “I’m glad about that myself, Penny,” he muttered. 

“Well be still my ol’ Irish heart,” Irish mused softly. “I never thought I’d see the day when Ansel Adams showed such kindness to a wee little lass. Is she yours, then Ansel? Ya never spoke of having a child before.” 

Ance pulled away from Penny and tossed her up in the saddle of his mare. She gripped the saddle horn tightly to catch her balance, though Ance never loosened his grip on her until he was certain she wouldn’t fall. “She isn’t mine, dammit,” Ance snapped as he went about looting the dead men’s bodies for money or tobacco. 

Irish studied Penelope who studied him right back. “She seems a tad bit young to be anythin’ other than your daughter. Ya aren’t the type of man who likes ’em that young, are ya, Ansel?” 

Ance could hear the amusement in Irish’s tone and only served to further rile him. “I should have let those bastards kill you,” he grumbled. He pocketed ten dollars and two pouches of tobacco before walking back to the mare. 

“Ance saved me and he’s taking me to Bigb…Bisto…Bigg…” 

“Briggston,” Ance grunted as he hopped into the saddle behind her. “I’m taking her to the orphanage in Briggston.” 

“You saved a child?” Irish’s eyes widened considerably. “Are the stars alignin’? Are the angels a singin’ up in the heavens?” 

Penelope giggled. “He talks funny,” she whispered, her messy hair tangling up in Ance’s beard. 

Ance chuckled. “He smells funny too. Let’s just leave him be.” 

Ance began to ride away but Irish quickly followed after him. “I believe I’ll just be comin’ with ya to Briggston, Ansel,” he mused. “I’m a wee bit worried that all this sun may have fried your brain and I want to keep an eye on ya. Ya bein’ my best friend and all, o’course.” 

“I’m not your friend, you old Irish bastard. What happened to your snake oil venture anyhow?” 

“Ahh.. Still goin’ strong. I’m saving up my money to buy a wee cart I can ride around in and sell it out of.” 

“What is snake oil?” Penelope questioned. 

Irish leaned closer, “A beauty of an elixir I have created that will cure ya of any and all sicknesses and ailments for the low cost of two dollars a bottle.” 

Penelope’s brown eyes widened. “Could it fix my leg?” 

Irish studied her a moment and tapped his chin. “Do ya have two dollars?” 

Ance grunted and kicked out his leg, hitting Irish in the side and toppling the bastard from his saddle. “Don’t be filling the girl’s head with nonsense!” he warned as he glared down at the man flat on his back on the ground. “Your snake oil ain’t nothing but pretty lies and Penny is just fine the way she is.” 

Ance hastened his mare’s pace and felt Penelope snuggle against him. He wrapped his free arm tight around her middle. “So there is no magic potion to cure everything?” she asked. 

“Of course not,” Ance grunted. “It would be foolish to think there is. You might have a bad leg but it’s only gonna make you stronger because you’ll learn to do things in spite of it.” 

“And I’m just fine the way I am, right? You said so.” 

“I didn’t say that,” Ance grunted. 

“Yes, you did,” Penelope looked up at him and smiled. “You did, I heard you.” 

Ance growled and clicked his tongue. “Let’s just get you to Briggston.” he grumbled. 

“Wait up!” Irish called out from behind them. Ance herd hooves thundering as the Irishman raced to catch up. “I’m still comin’ with ya!”

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Briggston came into view that evening just as the sky was turning orange. Ance couldn’t explain the gnawing ache in his gut as the two story orphanage came appeared in the distance. It was a white building turned gray and tan with dust and age. The shutters and door were black and the glass paned windows were a bit dingy and in need of a cleaning. 

A whitewashed log fence surrounded the building and three small children, wearing worn and aged clothing, were swinging on several wooden swings. 

“Is that where I’m going?” Penelope whispered softly.

“Yep,” Ance replied, his voice tight. 

It was best for the girl to be among other children in a place where she’d be well taken care of and taught an education. Ance couldn’t give her a home or a stable life–and he didn’t want to. Ance was not the fatherly type and he reckoned he never would be. 

“I’m off to the poker tables,” Irish announced. “I have a cart to be savin’ up for so I can make my fortune.” 

“Peddling that damn poison you’re calling a cure-all,” Ance grunted. 

“Ya might want to try you a wee sip, Ansel. It might cure ya of that melancholy and grouchitis that tends to take ya over.” 

Ance simply glared at Irish and when Penelope giggled Irish beamed, tipped his head with a flourish of his hand and rode away. 

“So, you think it’s funny that the man seems to think I have grouchitis?” Ance asked Penelope as they rode ever closer to the building that was making his stomach clench. 

“You’re not as grouchy as you sound,” Penelope replied, but Ance noticed that she was sinking deeper and deeper into him as if she were trying to disappear. 

“What’s wrong?” he grunted, pushing her forward a bit. 

“N..nothing,” she whispered. “I just… What if they’re mean?” 

“They won’t be mean,” Ance assured her. “You’re better off with them than you are with me. And I’ll send a wire to that mama of yours and let her know you’re here. If you’re right and she gives two hoots in hell then she’ll come for you soon enough.” 

“She loves me,” Penelope assured him. 

Ance knew the girl was wrong. Hell, Barnaby had bought Penelope from the woman! But if the girl needed to hold onto that hope then Ance wouldn’t take it from her…. The world would teach her about true cruelty soon enough just as it did everyone.

Ance dismounted and pulled Penelope down with him. He sat her on her feet and held her steady as she gained her balance. He kept his steps small so that she could easily keep up as they walked through the gate and up the walk. Ance felt her tiny hand slip into his and instead of pulling away, he gave it a gentle squeeze. 

A matronly woman in a starched gray dress with a high necked collar stepped out onto the porch. She was wiping her hands dry on a cream colored apron and her tiny gray eyes narrowed at the sight of the two of them walking up to her porch. “Can I help you, sir?” she snapped, her beak-like nose raising as she pushed a strand of her gray hair, which had escaped her stern bun, away from her face. 

“I need to leave this girl here. I rescued her along the trail and she needs a safe place to stay. Her name is Penelope Reynolds. She says she has a mama that will come for her so I’m gonna wire the woman before I leave town and, if the girl is right, her mama should send word back and come for her.” 

“I am right,” Penelope whispered. 

The haughty woman stepped down off the porch and stared hard at Penelope who clung tighter to Ance’s hand and pressed her tiny body as close as it could get to his leg. 

“You say you rescued her?” the woman sneered. 

Ance didn’t like the implication in her tone. “That’s what I said,” he growled. 

“Are you sure you aren’t the girl’s father and simply dropping her off because you’re tired of caring for a cripple?” 

Ance shook Penelope off of him and stepped forward. His huge frame loomed dauntingly over the woman’s much smaller one and she blinked several times as she craned her neck to look up at his face. “You’re questioning my damned word and I don’t take too kindly to that,” Ance warned. “Now, can you give the girl a safe place to stay or can’t you?” 

The woman took a step back and her gaze went back to Penelope. She ran a hand over the deep lines of her brow and nodded. “I suppose we have room.” 

Ance nodded before reaching in his pocket. He pulled out five of the ten dollars he’d looted from the men he’d killed earlier that day and handed them to the woman. “This should help with her upkeep a bit. Consider it a donation.” 

The woman’s lips pursed as if she’d been sucking on a lemon. “Thank you.” 

Ance turned and began to stride away when Penelope cried out his name. He stopped and turned and saw her limping quickly toward him with tears streaking her freckled cheeks. 

“You’re really leaving me?” she whispered. 

Ance swallowed hard, not understanding a damn bit why he felt so bone deep sad at that thought. He nodded slowly. “I have to, Penny. You ain’t safe with me.” 

She swiped the back of her hand over her damp cheek and shook her messy hair. “You won’t hurt me.” 

Ance sighed. He patted her head gently. “No, I won’t, but I don’t lead a safe life, Penny, and you could get hurt along the way. You’re better off here.” 

Penny sucked in big gasps of air and slowly her tears subsided. Ance stood there with his large hand on her tiny shoulder until she seemed okay and then he let his hand fall away. 

“You’ll send word to my mama?” Penelope whispered. 

“I told you I would,” Ance vowed. 

Penelope nodded. “Thank you for saving me.” 

Ance simply tipped his head before turning his back to her and leaving as quickly as he could without running. Never in his life had he formed an attachment to anyone or anything but that damned girl had gotten under his skin….

She’d gotten under it real bad. 

A/N: i know it’s short but some of the chapters will be just so i can upload and give you something to read. Life is still a bit crazy right now! Hopefully you still enjoyed it! I’ll try to get the next chapter up within 24 hrs :)

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

It had been two days since Ance had dropped Penelope off at the orphanage. He had sent word to an Audrey Reynolds in a small town further east in the territory. He figured he’d hear from her real fast if the woman really was waiting for word on her daughter… but two days had past and the wire had gone unanswered. 

Sometimes Ance hated being right. 

And yet for some reason he was still here. He was still in Briggston and couldn’t find any good reason why he should be other than the fact that every time he pointed his horse out of town something pulled him back. 

He’d caught a few glances of Penelope here and there as she’d sat on the porch of the orphanage. She was unable to keep up with the other children and they didn’t seem to have any interest in slowing down to make it easier on her. She seemed so lonely, so sad, as she sat and looked out over the horizon. Ance had made sure she never saw him… he didn’t want to make things harder on her than they already were by having to say goodbye to him again. 

Evening time had passed and darkness now filled the sky so Ance made his way to one of the saloons and sat down at a poker table. After ordering a beer from a passing saloon girl, Ance picked up his cards and began to play.

He had always been good at poker but found himself struggling tonight just as he had every night he’d played in Briggston. His mind kept wandering to a little girl with pigtails, freckles and hope in her brown eyes staring up at him from a crate in the back of a wagon. He kept hearing her voice talking his ear off day and night and singing silly little songs that made no sense and yet he understood perfectly. 

Ance was about to give it up for tonight and throw down his cards when whistles and cat calls filled the saloon. He looked up to see a young girl, around fifteen, enter through the swinging doors. She was glancing in every direction, her dirt stained dress swishing with her movements. 

The saloon keeper, a handsome woman just past middle age, approached the girl and whispered to her. The girl whispered something back and the saloon keeper pointed toward Ance. 

Great. Who the hell was this girl and why was she looking for him!?

The girl quickly came to him, wringing her pale hands around the folds of her skirt. “Sir? Are you Ance?” 

Ance pulled his cigar from his mouth and leaned back in his chair. “I might be. Who’s looking for him?” 

The girl’s full bottom lip trembled and her gaze dropped to the floor. “It’s Penelope. She’s hurt real bad….” 

Ance didn’t even wait to hear the rest. He was out of his chair as if he’d been shot from a cannon and his large body barreled toward the door, his broad shoulders knocking men and saloon girls this way and that. 

“What the hell happened?” he demanded of the girl who was running to keep up with him. 

“Headmistress Gretta beat her… she beats all of us but she beat Penelope real bad…” 

Ance’s blood was boiling in his veins. He couldn’t remember a single time in his life when he’d been so damned angry. He leapt over the small fence gate and stormed up the walkway to the orphanage. Without bothering to knock, Ance kicked in the closed door and looked at the girl who was still following along behind him. 

“Where is she?” he growled. “Where is Penny?” 

“Up the stairs. First door on the left.” 

Ance didn’t wait a moment longer. He bounded up the stairs, taking them three at a time and burst into the lamp lit room that the girl had indicated. He saw Penelope curled up upon the bed and the sound of her tears and whimpers of pain were like knives straight through his cold, iron clad heart. 

Another child was sitting beside the bed–a boy around the same age as Penelope. He had been whispering quietly but when Ance burst in he leapt to his feet and threw himself against the wall, his blue eyes wide with fear. 

Ance strode to the bed and dropped to one knee. When Penelope saw him, her tear reddened eyes filled with happiness and she called out his name. Ance tried hard to hold back his temper even as a tendon jumped and a muscle quivered beneath his beard. 

“What happened, Penny?” 

Penelope fell very uncharacteristically quiet and the boy stepped forward. “Mistress Gretta whipped her with The Reckoning Strap,” he stated. 

Ance raised a brow and frowned at the boy. “The what?” 

“It’s a strip of leather,” the girl who had found him in the saloon replied. “It’s two feet long and three inches wide and she whips us with it for bad behavior.” 

Ance’s jaw clenched so tightly he heard a tooth crack. “And just what did Penny do to earn a whipping?” 

“I sp..spilled my plate on the f..floor..” Penny whimpered, sucking in large gulps of air. “I didn’t mean to! The floorboards are…crooked and broke and I got my b..bad leg stuck and I fell….” 

Ance put his hand on her back to comfort her and the girl winced. Ance frowned. He’d had a few whippings in his life so he knew how they felt but Penelope acted damn hurt. 

With her insisting that he needed to stop and swatting at him, Ance motioned for the boy to turn his back and then began lifting up Penelope’s dress so he could see just what Mistress Gretta had done to her. If Ance’s blood had been boiling before, it was damn near combustible now. Penelope’s good leg was covered from the back of her ankle to her bottom in large bloody welts. Her underclothes were stuck in the dried blood and Ance raised her dress further to reveal that her back was in the same shape with dried crimson blood seeping through her undershirt. 

“Penny, you wait right here on me. I’ll be right back,” Ance said as he stood straight. 

“Don’t leave me again!” Penelope cried, reaching out for his hand. 

Ance gave her tiny hand a gentle squeeze and a rare smile curved his lips as he gazed down at her. “Don’t worry, Penny, I won’t ever leave you alone again. I’m coming right back in a few minutes. Okay?” 

Penelope sniffed and then nodded. Ance pointed toward the boy. “You stay with her until I get back.” 

Without waiting for a response, Ance strode from the room. It wasn’t hard to find Gretta. She was bustling around as if she were a mad hen, clucking away about who would dare break down her door. 

Ance stopped on the bottom step and cleared his throat. “That would be me.”

Her tiny blue eyes widened substantially as her wrinkled cheeks paled. “What are you doing here?” she snapped. 

“Where the hell is this strap I’ve heard tell of?” Ance demanded. 

“Strap?” Gretta questioned, her brow furrowing up. 

“Yeah,” Ance snarled. “The one you like to beat helpless children with until they’re welted bloody messes.” 

Gretta’s lips closed in a thin line and she shook her head stiffly. “I only whip children who have done wrong.” 

Ance’s knuckles popped from the amount of force he was using in clenching his fists. He turned to the girl who had found him and she pointed down a hall. “Down that hall, last door. The strap hangs in the kitchen above the stove.” 

“Why you ungrateful little…” Gretta lunged toward the girl but Ance caught her by her hair and yanked her into him. 

“Go sit with Penny and assure her I haven’t left,” Ance growled at the girl. “I’m gonna go take care of something.” 

With Gretta kicking, squirming, hitting, cursing and yelling threats, Ance dragged her down the hall and into the kitchen. His gaze fell on that strap above the cook stove and he cringed as he imagined the pain Penelope must have felt as it had fallen over and over again upon her soft, pale skin. 

Without a word, Ance grabbed that strap and threw Gretta to the floor. He used his boot against her back to hold her down on the wooden planks and threw up her skirts. She kicked and struggled but Ance ignored that. He raised that strap in the air, renewed his convictions that women were nothing but pure evil, and then brought that strap down hard over the backs of Gretta’s legs. 

She howled in pain but Ance wasn’t done. Over and over again he brought down that strap. Sweat tricked down the back of his neck and Gretta’s legs, backside and back were soon a mess of bloody welts. 

Ance did not stop until his arm simply refused to lift the strap again. He dropped it to the floor beside a simpering, sobbing Gretta all curled into a ball and then headed back to Penelope’s room to gather her up and get her the hell out of there. 

It wasn’t until Ance had Penelope settled down in a hotel on the other side of the large town that the girl spoke. “Ance?” she whispered. 

“Yeah?” he replied as he unhooked her brace and slipped her dress off of her. Her underclothes were covered in blood and sticking to her back. 

“Please don’t make me go back there.” 

“Never,” Ance vowed. “From here on out, you stay with me.” 

“But.. My mama…”

“I sent her word right after I dropped you off, Penny. She hasn’t said a single word back. I think it’s time for you to admit that you might have been wrong about her.” 

Penelope began to cry softly and Ance patted her messy blond hair. “I’ll go get a doctor,” he said as he stood up. “I’ll let them tend to your back.” 

Penelope nodded, her face buried in the pillow. Ance sighed and his boots dragged the ground as he headed for the door. Penelope’s mother was a new kind of evil that made Ance want to give her a brain leak with a .45 round.

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Audrey wondered what was taking Rodger so long. He had said he was simply going to get them a bite to eat from the café and then they would go down together and see the sheriff here in Briggston. Audrey, of course, had gone straight to the station upon arriving to learn if the sheriff knew anything about Barnaby Wallace or the whereabouts of her daughter, but the man had been out of town and was due back quite soon. She hoped Rodger would hurry or she’d simply have to go speak to the lawman alone. 

Nearly three weeks, Audrey and Rodger had been traveling together. Audrey was becoming more and more uncertain of her decision to accompany Rodger. His advances were getting harder to fight off and it seemed he was growing weary of taking no for an answer. But he did seem determined to help her find Penelope and, if for no other reason, Audrey was thankful for his presence. 

Audrey was growing increasingly worried about her daughter by the day and yet her determination to find the girl had not wavered. Briggston made the seventh town they had stopped in and Audrey prayed that this town would be the one to hold the answers she so desperately sought. 

Casting one last glance at the clock, Audrey determined that she could no longer wait for Rodger and she went to the door.. Stepping in the hall, Audrey glanced both ways but found that she was alone.  Making her way down the carpeted staircase, Audrey saw a man enter the hotel lobby. 

The sight of him had her stopping her tracks. 

He was tall, around six and a half feet of broad, lean, trail hardened man. His dark hair was sticking out at messy angles beneath his sweat-stained leather hat and the same color hair covered his jaw and chin in a thick beard. There was a jagged scar upon his cheek that stuck out in sharp contrast beneath that scruff and his clothes were worn and dusty. 

The man glanced up and his eyes met hers. His eyes caused Audrey’s breath to catch in her chest. Never had she seen a man with such brilliantly blue eyes. They were a different shade from Rodgers, whose eyes were nearly the color of ice. This man’s eyes were closer to the shade of blue of the autumn sky when it was free of clouds and shining brilliantly against the orange and yellow leaves. 

Then, just as quickly as the man had looked at her, he scowled and averted his attention to the wiry man with thin-rimmed glasses at the desk. “Hello, Mr. Adams!” the concierge beamed. “How may I help you this morning?” 

“We’re ready to check out,” the man, Mr. Adams, replied. His voice was just as rough and sharp-edged as the rest of him. Audrey shivered as she came to stand behind him to await her turn to speak to the man at the desk. She could only imagine the type of man this was in front of her. He certainly seemed the bad sort–it was intriguing to sit and imagine just what he had seen in his life.

“Is the little lady feeling well enough to travel finally?” the man behind the counter inquired. 

Mr. Adam’s grunted. “We wouldn’t be checking out if she wasn’t.” 

Audrey hid a smile behind her hand as the hotel clerk became quite flustered and began shuffling papers. Apparently friendliness wasn’t Mr. Adam’s strong suit. She tended to appreciate people who were raw and true to who they were–even if that meant gruff and mean. At least they were honest and you knew what to expect from them. 

Unlike Rodger who seemed to be hiding something far more sinister than a friendly U.S. Marshall beneath his surface. 

“I’ll need the key to your room and for you to sign here,” the hotel clerk announced as he pointed to an empty space on the hotel registry. Mr. Adam’s snatched up the dainty fountain pen in a massive, calloused hand and scribbled down a few markings before tossing the pen back onto the counter. He shoved his hand into his pocket and fished around a moment before tossing a brass key beside the discarded pen. 

“Thank you for staying with us, Mr…..” the hotel clerks voice trailed off as Mr. Adam’s disappeared out the door. The clerk muttered something under his breath about outlaws and their rudeness before turning to Audrey and granting her a beaming smile. “What can I do for you, miss?” 

Audrey tipped her head. “I was wondering if you’ve seen the man I arrived with? He’s a few inches taller than me, brown hair, mustache and wears a U.S. Marshall badge on his vest.” 

“No, I haven’t seen him since he left after checking you both in,” the clerk replied apologetically. “Would you like to leave him a message and I’ll see he gets it when he arrives back?” 

Audrey shook her head. “No, that won’t be necessary. I’ll just go see if I can find him myself. Thank you.” 

Audrey stepped out into the sun and glanced up and down the bustling streets of Briggston. She knew she stood no chance of located Rodger unless she simply bumped into him by happenstance and she wasn’t willing to wait on him any longer. She would simply have to go back to the sheriff’s office and talk to the man herself. 

Minutes later, Audrey found herself standing in front of the jail. She stepped up onto the boardwalk, smoothed out her plaid skirt and knocked twice. The door was pulled open by a middle-aged man in trail stained clothes and a dusty face. His smile was friendly, however, and his brown eyes warm as he greeted her. Audrey recognized the sherrif’s badge on his chest and she held out her hand. 

“My name is Audrey Reynolds,” she greeted him. “I stopped by earlier with my traveling companion but you were out of the office.” 

“Yes, I apologize,” he lamented as he stepped aside and allowed her into the building. “I was taking care of some business. What can I do for you, ma’am?” 

Audrey took a deep breath to steady herself and hold back the tears that threatened to fall whenever she spoke of her daughter. “I’m looking for someone, sir. My daughter. She is only eight years old and she’s been taken from me….” 

“Taken?” the sheriff demanded as he stood a bit straighter. “Do you know who took her? How long ago was this?” 

“It’s been about a month now, I suppose. I’ve been searching all over the territory for any sign of her. U.S. Marshall York is my traveling companion and he’s been aiding me in the search. The only lead we have found so far is the name of a man who specializes in making young girls, and anything else he chooses, disappear.” 

The sheriff’s friendly brown eyes became a little harder. “What is this man’s name?” 

“Barnaby Wallace,” Audrey replied. 

“I’ve definitely heard of him, ma’am, and I’m sad to say I haven’t seen him. He doesn’t come around my town because he knows I’d take him down in a heartbeat.” 

Audrey felt failure and despair settling in. She chewed at her trembling bottom lip and was going to excuse herself when the sheriff grabbed her forearm gently to stop her. “Ma’am, perhaps you can tell me what your daughter looks like? Maybe it wasn’t Barnaby that got her and I could keep an eye out for her.” 

Audrey nodded. Of course that would be the logical thing to do! Her mind no longer seemed to function properly. It was too full of worry. “She’s eight, as I said. She stands to about here–” Audrey indicated her chest. “–She has blond hair the same shade as mine and her eyes are like mine as well. Her face is littered with freckles, she’s always smiling and inquisitive and… She was struck with polio has a young child and it damaged her left leg. She can’t walk at all without a metal brace and she limps even with it…..” 

Audrey stopped speaking as recognition dawned in the lawman’s eyes. “What is your daughter’s name?” he asked quietly. 

“Penelope. Penelope Reynolds. Oh, please tell me you know where she is!” Audrey gasped as she clutched at his hand. “I’ve been searching everywhere! Please tell me I’ve found my daughter!” 

The sheriff let out a long breath. “Barnaby Wallace isn’t who had her ma’am… and, honestly, the man who has her sure seems to care about the girl. He just doesn’t fit the profile of a kidnapper…”

“Well he is!” Audrey exclaimed. “Now where is my daughter?” 

“At the Regency Hotel down the road. She’s with a man named Ansel Adams….”

Audrey didn’t wait to hear more. She turned quickly and dashed to the very hotel she’d checked into that morning. She ran into Rodger in the entryway and he attempted to speak to her but she shoved past him and ran to the desk. 

“Can..Can I help you, ma’am?” the clerk stammered as he nearly dropped a stack of papers he’d been organizing. 

“Ansel Adams. I need to find Ansel Adams!” Audrey exclaimed as she bounced from foot to foot. Finally, she had found her baby girl! And she would see this Ansel man pay for taking Penelope away from her!

The clerk shook his head. “You saw Mr. Adams before you left here, ma’am. I’m afraid he’s checked out and moved on.” 

Audrey couldn’t stop herself from crying out with frustration and heartbreak! She’d been so close! That meant the giant man with a mean voice and blue eyes had her daughter…. But why?

“Audrey, why are you looking for Ansel Adams?” Rodger asked with a frown.

“Do you know him?” Audrey demanded. 

Rodger nodded and smoothed his hand over his mustache. “I know of him. I’ve never officially met him, however.” 

“He has Penelope, Rodger. He has my baby girl!” 

“No, I told you that Barnaby has…” 

Audrey stomped her foot and threw her hand up to silence him. Anger flashed in his dull blue eyes and she saw his jaw tic with rage but she couldn’t find it in herself to care. “Why are you so set on this Barnaby man?!” she demanded. “I’m telling you that Ansel has her! Ansel has Penelope! The sheriff himself told me so!” 

“He was staying here with a young girl named Penny,” the hotel clerk nodded in agreement. 

Rodger seemed shocked, then outraged, then shocked again. He took several steps back and shook his head. “But all my sources said it was Barnaby…” 

Audrey rolled her eyes at his persistence about that man with the odd name. Why was Rodger so certain that that’s the man who had taken Penelope when there was evidence to the contrary right here?!

The sheriff stepped into the hotel and tipped his hat to them both. “Sheriff, why does Ansel have my daughter? Has he hurt her? The clerk asked him if she was well enough to travel.. Has he harmed my daughter?” 

The sheriff offered a tight smile to an couple who stepped into the hotel. “Perhaps we should go somewhere a bit more private for our conversation,” the sheriff stated. 

The hotel clerk motioned toward a door to the right. “You may use my office.” 

Audrey’s patience were wearing thin as they stepped into the tiny office and the sheriff closed the door. Rodger attempted to put his arm around her but Audrey sidestepped him. Something was off about the man and surely even he had to realize that now was not the time for cuddling! Now was the time for finding Penelope!

“Don’t you want to sit?” the sheriff offered, motioning toward a chair. Rodger took him up on the offer but Audrey shook her head. 

“I don’t want to sit or relax or any other number of things, sheriff. I simply want to find my daughter.” 

“Miss Reynolds, there are a few things I don’t understand about that. You see I had a long talk with Ansel because of some circumstances that occurred while he was here in town and, according to him, he saved Penelope, your daughter, from a terrible man who planned selling her to worse men…. He didn’t say the man’s name but he did say something that I find peculiar given your desperation to find little Penelope.” 

“What did he say?” Audrey demanded. 

“That you sold the girl to whoever it was that had her and that that man paid a pretty price for her.” 

Audrey glanced at Rodger when she heard him let out a choking gasp and she realized his face had paled considerably as his blue eyes widened. “I would never have done that!” Audrey exclaimed. “Penelope is my life and she has always been my life! She is all I have left, sheriff. Her father died five years ago, he was murdered and taken away from me…. Please, I can’t lose my daughter too.” Tears poured from Audrey’s eyes. “I just can’t lose her….” 

“I can offer you this bit of comfort, Miss Reynolds,” the sheriff said as he handed her a  clean handkerchief from his pocket. “Ansel seems to truly care about the girl and she seemed quite happy to be with him. She’s not in any danger from him as far as I could tell.” 

Audrey took a small bit of comfort in that but then she frowned. “Then why was she unfit to travel before? What happened to her?” 

The sheriff cleared his throat and leaned against the wall. “When Ansel first brought her into town he took her to the orphanage. She was there several days and I’m afraid the headmistress there beat her severely–so severely that she only recently received the doc’s approval to travel.” 

Audrey’s heart dropped to her feet and her blood boiled. “Where is this headmistress now?” 

“Laid up in even worse shape than your daughter was. It seems Ansel didn’t take too kindly to learning what she had done and he made sure she learned what that strap felt like. Since it was in defense of that girl and all those other children, and I saw the girl’s terrible injuries myself, I didn’t feel any need to punish Ansel for his actions.” 

Audrey’s mind was racing… she had no idea exactly what she was supposed to be feeling. Relief at knowing her daughter was okay and with a man who seemed to want to take care of her. Confusion as to why anyone would think that Audrey sold Penelope to a traveling man. Anger at knowing her daughter had been beaten by such an evil woman. Fear for her daughter who was in the hands of an outlaw. These were only a few of the raging emotions in her heart.

“Where can I find Ansel?” Audrey questioned. 

“I can’t tell you because I don’t know. He’s a wanderer, ma’am.” 

“Is he a bad man?” Audrey asked, unsure whether or not she truly wanted to know. 

The sheriff sighed. “That depends on who you ask. He isn’t all out evil and he doesn’t have a wanted poster but he’s known to be a man who does whatever he wants to do whether the law would agree with his actions or not.” 

“Thank you,” Audrey left the office and quickly went to her room. She began packing her things and heard the door close. Quickly she whirled and realized Rodger was standing inside the room. 

“Where are you going?” he demanded quietly. 

“To find my daughter, of course. I need to locate this Ansel Adams and the best chance is to leave now since I just saw him leave not over an hour ago.” 

Rodger shook his head. “You will leave the investigating to me,” he warned, his tone hard. “I still believe that finding Barnaby will be our best option.” 

“You are not my keeper, Rodger. I appreciate all the help you have given me thus far but I am going to go find this Ansel Adams and I am  going to figure out why he believes that my daughter was sold by me to some other man. And if that man happens to have been Barnaby Wallace, I will deal with him later. At this point, my only mission is to find my daughter. I will get to the bottom of all of this. You can either come along with me and help or you can get out of my way.” 

Audrey stared Rodger down. More and more it seemed the man was hiding something or had his own agenda. Audrey had no idea exactly what was off, what Rodger could possibly be keeping from her, but she did not trust him. 

Why was he not leaping at the chance to find Penelope when he had vowed so vehemently to help find her? Why was he standing in her way and so stubbornly insisting that this Barnaby man was the culprit?

Rodger’s nostrils flared as he glared down at her and his fists clenched. Slowly he relaxed his tense stance and let out a long breath. “Fine. Of course. I was simply a bit shocked to realize I’d been searching for the wrong man. We may have found her sooner if we’d have known.” He offered a tight smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Let’s go find Penelope.” 

A/N: Finally back to writing!! Chapters should come more often now! At least every other day if not more often then that :)

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

“Ance?” 

Ance grunted as he focused all his attention on the current task at hand. Sweat trickled down his back as he held Penelope’s soft strands of blond hair in his gnarled, calloused hands and tried to remember how the hotel maid had taught him to braid it. 

“Can we go swimming in that lake over there?” 

Ance let his gaze flit to the glistening water before going back down to Penelope’s hair. “Do you know how to swim?” he asked skeptically, growling loudly when a chunk of hair escaped his grasp and he was forced to start over in the great braiding expedition. 

“Um….” Ance knew the girl well enough to know that she was gnawing on that lip of hers even though he couldn’t see her face. “A little?” she replied. 

Ance found himself chuckling. “That means no, doesn’t it?” 

“My mama said my leg wouldn’t let me swim,” Penelope admitted. “But I really would like to try.” 

Ance let out a whoop of pride when he finished up the braid and secured it in place with a leather throng. He stood up and walked around Penelope to admire his handiwork. “Not too damn bad for an outlaw with calloused hands and knuckles that have been broke a time or two,” he stated. 

Penelope beamed with happiness and gently ran her hand over the braid. “Thank you, Ance! I knew you could do it.” 

Ance nodded and scratched at his beard. “If anyone asks, you did it yourself. I have a image to keep up.” 

“You aren’t really mean,” Penelope giggled.

“I am,” Ance countered. Then he stooped down and tweaked her nose. “Just not to you.” Ance was amazed at the love he felt for this little child. Never in his entire life had he cared this much about another person. He would take on the world to keep her happy and make sure anyone who dared hurt her paid dearly. Seeing Penelope in the shape she’d been in after the headmistress had beaten her had had Ance coming to terms with his feelings quickly. 

When Penelope had looked at him two weeks before, after she’d already spent a week in bed healing her back and crying tears for the mother who abandoned her, and begged Ance to keep her forever, he’d been unable to tell her no. 

Should he have a child with him? Was he really the best place for a little girl? Was his life the safest? No, was the answer to all those questions but he knew that he would trust her to be nowhere else other than by his side. 

“So can I go swimming?” Penelope asked again. “Please?” She batted her lashes up at him and Ance sighed. 

“Alright, Penny. I’ll take ya in the water and let you swim around a bit.” 

Ance helped the girl to her feet and helped her to pull off her dress. “You can swim in your underclothes,” he assured her. “It’s hot enough that you’ll dry out soon enough.” 

Once Ance had shed himself of all but his long john pants, he removed Penelope’s leg brace, lifted the smiling girl into his arms and carried her to the water’s edge. “Are you ready, Penny? It might be cold,” Ance warned. 

Penelope laughed and nodded. “I’m ready!” 

Ance grinned and then hopped into the chest deep water. Penelope let out a squeal and climbed up him as Ance laughed loudly. “I told you it might be cold,” he reminded her. 

“Really cold!” Penelope exclaimed. 

Ance spent the next hour helping Penelope swim through the water. While her leg made truly swimming impossible for her, she was able to float and make some headway through the water with her good leg and her arms. The pride beaming in her brown eyes made the wet ass he’d be sitting on the rest of the night worth it. 

Ance built up a fire once they were done and used some branches and rope to hang up their clothes to dry. He tossed Penelope a sack of hardtack and jerked beef and she sighed. 

“Again? Can’t we have something else?” 

“What the hell do you think I am? A café?” Ance grumbled. When Penelope merely fixed him with a pointed stare, Ance mumbled a few choice words under his breath and dug around in his sack until he found a can of beans. “I can heat these up, princess. Would that make you happy?” 

Penelope smiled brightly. “Very much so.” 

Ance was chuckling even while he was muttering. He grabbed his large knife and began cutting off the lid of the can. “Ance?” Penelope spoke again. 

Ance raised a brow but didn’t look at her as he found a rock, placed it on top of a few dancing flames and sat the can atop that to heat. “What is it, Penny?”

“Where are we going?” 

Ance shrugged. “I didn’t have any particular place in mind. Why? There somewhere you’re wanting to go?”

For a moment Ance feared she would say she wanted to go back to her mother. After spending a solid week laid up in the hotel crying over her wayward mother, Penelope had finally dried her tears and hadn’t mentioned the woman again other than to say different things her mother would or wouldn’t let her do. 

Ance knew one thing was for sure. He had been with Penelope for over a month now and he had no intention of giving the girl back to the bitch that birthed her or anyone else. Penelope was his now and he was going to care for her just the way she deserved to be cared for–the way all children deserved to be cared for. 

“I don’t care where we go,” Penelope admitted before tearing off a piece of jerky with her teeth. “But I’d sure like to have a real bed soon. This makes four nights on the ground!” Penelope held up four fingers as if to ensure Ance knew how many that was. 

Ance laughed. “You’re complaining over four nights? Hell, Penny, I’ve gone four weeks, four months even, without a real bed.” 

Penny glared. “I want a bed, Ance.” 

Ance sighed and clicked his tongue as he leaned back against a tree and folded his hands behind his head. “Can you handle two more nights on the ground? We’ll be in Grandy on the third morning and you can have a real bed to sleep in for a few nights.” 

“Where do you live, Ance?” Penelope asked suddenly. 

Ance stared off into the growing darkness. “I don’t have a particular place, Penny. My home is wherever I lay my head at night.” 

“You mean you don’t have a house?! Everybody has a house!” 

Ance shook his head. “Not everybody.” 

“Then where will I live?” 

“Wherever I live.” 

“So wherever we lay our heads at night?” 

Ance grinned. “That’s right. Don’t worry, Penny. I’ll see you’re taken care of and don’t want for anything. I’ll make an outlaw out of you yet.” 

Penelope giggled and pointed to her brace which was still lying on the ground beside them. “I’m not mean enough to be an outlaw. Now help me get my brace on, I have to find a bush.” 

Ance’s laughter filled the evening as he did what she bid. “See, you’re already starting to talk like a ruffian,” he announced. “There’s hope for you yet.” 

---

Audrey hadn’t slept. She couldn’t sleep. When she slept she saw her daughter’s face. Her beautiful Penelope. The daughter she was beginning to think she would never see again. 

Audrey had been so certain that tracking Ansel Adams and her daughter would be easy but it hadn’t been. She had counted on Rodger and his tracking abilities to find the pair quickly but he hadn’t been able to. And Audrey was beginning to think he hadn’t truly tried. 

Rodger had hit her today. 

That was the other reason she could not sleep. She was afraid for her very life with Rodger York sleeping so near. 

How could Audrey had been so wrong about him? She had thought him a decent man! But he had attempted to kiss her today and when Audrey had once again refused his advances, he had slapped her across the face, cursed her and then stormed off, leaving her alone in camp. 

He’d returned a short time later with a wild flower and an apology. Audrey had smashed the flower beneath her shoe and told him to take his apology and get lost with it and he had merely laughed. It had been a cold, calculated laugh and it had frightened her dearly. 

What was Rodger’s plan? Why was he acting this way? Why had he offered to help Audrey if he truly had no interest in finding Penelope? Had it all simply been an excuse to spend time with her in hopes of getting his way? Surely the man was not that cold-hearted…Was he?

Audrey glanced at the sleeping man and then found her gaze drawn to the sack he kept close to him. She knew he had a journal in that sack.  She’d seen him scribbling in it several times over the last few weeks, though she had never asked exactly what he was writing down. 

But now her curiosity was getting the better of her. Something very strange was going on and Audrey wanted to know what it was. She figured that journal might offer her some insight. Moving as silently as she knew how, Audrey walked over to Rodger and crouched down beside him. She scooped up the sack and nearly forgot how to breathe when the man grunted and shifted on his bedroll. 

Her heart thundering in her ears, Audrey prayed he’d simply roll over and continue slumbering and she was relieved seconds later when that’s exactly what he did. Audrey took the sack back over to her bedroll and opened it quickly. 

It didn’t take much rummaging before she found what she’d been seeking. With a deep breath and a quick glace at Rodger, Audrey opened the book. She looked down at the scribbled page, an entry toward the end, and her heart fell to her feet as her blood began to boil and her head swam with disbelief. 

That crazy bastard. 

There wasn’t much scribbled here but there was enough written down to tell Audrey all she needed to know about the man’s mental state and his role in what had happened to her daughter–it also spoke to his motives. 

Rodger had sold Penelope to Barnaby Wallace to give himself the chance to ride to the girl’s rescue and, in doing so, win Audrey’s heart. Things had gone wrong when they’d discovered that Penelope was with Ansel Adams instead of with Barnaby where Rodger had planned. 

Audrey wanted to read further–wanted to find out just how deep Rodger’s treachery reached but she ran out of time as the man stirred upon his bed and sat up. “Audrey?” he whispered. 

His ice blue eyes narrowed when they fell upon the journal in her hands. Audrey knew the moment that their eyes met that Rodger knew that she knew of his deceit. “You nosy bitch,” he growled. 

Audrey clenched her fists and shoved herself to her feet. “How could you do this?!” she exclaimed as she waved the journal in the air. “To me? To Penelope? You claim to care about me? About us?!” 

“Goddammit, Audrey! I did you a favor! That brat was nothing but a pain in the ass! Always limping around, moaning about this or that.” Rodger got to his feet as well and snatched the diary from her hand. “Now we can start our own life, our own family, without memories of your first husband hanging around us.” 

Audrey was at a complete loss for words. Tears burned hotly in her eyes. She wanted to scream, to yell, to kill the man before her and tear him limb from limb. She laid her hand over the cheek he had struck earlier in the day. “You are very wrong, Rodger,” she vowed. “I will never be with you. Penelope is my life and you are nothing. I will get my daughter back and I will see that you pay for everything you’ve done!” 

Rodger reached out for her but Audrey sidestepped him and shoved him hard. Rodger roared with anger. “You dare put your hands on me? For five long years I’ve done everything I can to have patience with you!” Rodger’s eyes were narrow and spittle flew from his lips as he screamed. “I didn’t get rid of your good for nothing husband and tend to you all these years only to have you continue to push me away!” 

Audrey’s world stopped turning. “You… you killed my husband?” It couldn’t be true! Surely Audrey would have known.. Would have realized…

Rodger snorted. “Of course I did. He was never good enough for you, Audrey. Now come on and take my hand now. I’ll take care of you.” 

Audrey shook her head and turned on her heel. She ran several steps but was stopped when his hand closed around her hair and yanked her backward. “Where do you think you’re going? You can’t fight me, Audrey. I’m a U.S. Marshall and you’re nothing but a poor widow woman driven out of her mind with worry for her daughter. Do you honestly think anyone would take your word over mine?” Audrey watched with despair as Rodger tossed the journal, all the proof she had of his wrongs, into the fire. “You are mine, dear, and the quicker you accept that, the easier this will be on everyone.” 

Audrey knew she had to get away from this man. Her mind was still racing with all the details of exactly how demented and disturbed he was. Her daughter was in the hands of an outlaw, her husband dead–all because this man had wanted something he never would have had regardless of circumstances. 

So she did the only thing she knew to do and she spun in his arms and brought her knee up hard on his unsuspecting groin. Rodger let out a howl of pain as he released his hold on her hair and Audrey shoved him backward. She covered her mouth with her hand and let out a cry of shock when Rodger stumbled backward, tripped over a rock and fell onto the small campfire. 

Flames licked at his clothes and he screamed out with rage and pain. 

Audrey didn’t stick around to help him. Instead she turned and fled into the night with his howls of agony ringing out in the night behind her. 

A/N: Another perfect example of a story taking on a life of it’s own and my characters doing things their own way instead of the way I had planned! Hope y’all enjoyed the chapter!

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Audrey could scarcely think because of the thirst and hunger raging inside of her. As well as the fear that Rodger would come running across the plains, engulfed in flames to exact his revenge on her. Or that someone would find their campsite and come searching for his murderer…..

It was approaching night, Audrey had been wandering the wilderness since the night before, and she was losing hope that she’d even survive to see another morning, let alone her daughter. 

While Audrey was in no hurry to die, she had to admit that the lack of thought would be somewhat welcome after the tumultuous rage and whirlwind her tired mind had been attempting to wrap around. 

Rodger had killed Alexander. It had been Rodger who had taken her hardworking and loving husband away from her. It had been Rodger who had taken Penelope’s warm and caring father away from her. Rodger, who had been the one to bring them the news of Alexander’s death, had been the very one who had caused it! Audrey had allowed the man to hold and comfort her as she had cried and all the while it had been the hands of her husband’s murderer rubbing her back so soothingly! 

Despite that, the most unforgivable thing that bastard had done was take Penelope. Audrey’s blood boiled anew at the thought. 

She hoped he had died in that fire. 

Audrey wondered what it meant for her soul when she didn’t shudder or become sickened by the thought of killing a person. All she could think was that she wanted him to feel the pain he had caused to her and she knew that if she hadn’t killed him, if he had lived and Audrey found her daughter in pain or hurt–Audrey would go back and ensure that she did the job right next time. 

Audrey’s thoughts were interrupted when she stumbled over a rock in the growing darkness and tumbled to the ground. Pain radiated through her knee and she angrily slammed her hand into the dirt. Just as Audrey was attempting to get back on her aching feet and weak legs, she heard wheels approaching her. 

Glancing backward, Audrey realized a cart was coming across the grassland behind her. A man sat up front wearing a dapper suit, a top hat and a broad grin. He had a gap between his teeth but he seemed friendly enough as he brought the cart to a stop and tipped his hat to her. 

“Good day, miss. I can’t help but notice that ya seem to be havin’ a bit of a hard time, there. Would ya like a ride?” 

Audrey blinked several times and wondered if she should trust him or run. His cart was painted with all kind of promises about a new remedy straight from Ireland that would cure all your ailments for only two dollars a bottle. 

“I can see ya seem a bit hesitant to trust me, but I can assure ya, I mean ya no harm. Grandy is still a bit of a walk away and I have food and water should ya be in need of either,” the man promised her, his Irish accent thick on his tongue. 

Audrey nodded, the allure of food and water too great to ignore. “I could certainly use a bit of help,” she admitted. “My name is Audrey.” 

The Irishman hopped down and pulled off his hat revealing shockingly bright red hair. He held out his hand and gave her a wink. “My mama named me Fergus but no one calls me by that name. Ya can call me Irish, pretty lass.” 

---

Audrey found that Irish was a friendly enough man, though his wild tales were clearly fabricated and he was quite eccentric and full of more energy than she had ever seen in one person. 

It was their second night together and he seemed certain they’d reach Grandy before the next night. As he heated a can of beans over the fire, he studied Audrey carefully. 

Audrey sighed. “What are you staring at me so hard for, Irish?” 

Irish grinned sheepishly and crossed his legs on the dirt in front of him. “Tryin’ to figure out what a beautiful lass such as yerself was doin’ out here in the middle o’nowhere with no food and drink.” Before Audrey could reply, he continued, “And also tryin’ to ponder my wee mind about what woul have ya lookin’ over your shoulder and tremblin’ at every noise in the brush.” 

Audrey peered out into the darkness before letting her gaze return to their small fire. She shivered as she remembered the scent of burning flesh that had filled the air after she’d shoved Rodger into that fire just a few nights before. 

She spared a quick glance at Irish and realized the man was studying her carefully as he picked at his teeth with a twig he’d sharpened while they’d been sitting. Audrey chewed her lip. She couldn’t tell him the truth. If anyone knew that she had potentially murdered a U.S. Marshall she would be lucky if she didn’t end up with a rope around her neck….

“I wandered away from my traveling party as we were making our way from Briggston to Grandy,” Audrey lied. “I’m afraid I got lost and turned around and they must have been unable to find me.” 

Irish laughed lightly. “I’m an Irishman, love. We make our livin’s lyin’ to folks and so we’re pretty good at detectin’ lies ourselves. Don’t ya worry your wee head about it. I’ll take ya to Grandy just the same. I’m a bit of a nosy lad–least that’s what I’ve been told a time or two.” 

Audrey felt her shoulders sag with relief. She’d been worried that Irish wouldn’t be so accepting of her lies. He reached in a sack beside him and pulled out a bottle with the same label on it that was painted on his cart. “For the low cost of only two dollars a bottle, I can have ya cured of anythin’ that ails ya; be it spiritual or physical.” 

Audrey snorted as she took the bottle and examined it in the firelight. “What exactly is in this?” 

“A little of this, a bit of that, a wee bit of whiskey and a good helpin’ of opium.” 

Audrey’s eyes widened as she shook her head at the Irishman. “Dear Lord, Irish! Are you trying to cure them or kill them?” 

Irish’s laugh was hearty. “Either way they won’t be plagued by their ailments any longer, will they? Ya know ya remind me a bit of my friend Ansel. He was just as cynical of my wee little venture here… said the exact same words you did, as a matter of fact.” 

Audrey nearly leapt to her feet but somehow managed to keep from doing so. “Ansel? Ansel Adams? He’s your friend?” 

Irish’s expression became guarded as he removed the beans from the fire and stirred them with a spoon. “He may be. Why do ya seem so interested?” 

Audrey weighed her choices. She could trust this man with the truth and hope that he would help her or she could keep the truth hidden and lose the only lead that she might possibly have in finding Ansel Adams and her daughter. 

With a deep, shuddering breath and a squaring of her shoulders, Audrey met his gaze. “Ansel has my daughter Penelope. It is my belief that he rescued her from a man named Barnaby Wallace after a man named Rodger York sold her to him….. I am desperate to find Penelope, Irish. Will you help me?” 

Irish was clearly surprised. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped and then he hurriedly poured the beans onto two tin plates and handed her one. “Ansel doesn’t take kindly to folks huntin’ him down, lass. Ya may want to give the man his space.” 

“He has my daughter!” Audrey exclaimed, setting her plate of beans aside. “Please, help me! Or at the very least tell me where he may be with her so that I can continue in finding him myself.” 

Irish sighed and shoveled a spoonful into his mouth. “Calm yourself, lass. Ansel had your wee Penelope when he saved my life a while back. He killed those three bastards attemptin’ to hang me for no good reason and then we rode on into Briggston together. That’s where he left your daughter, lass. He left her at the orphanage. Ya must have missed her somehow.” 

Audrey shook her head. “No, he left Briggston less than a week ago with my daughter! The headmistress at the orphanage beat Penelope so severely that she nearly killed her–” Audrey’s blood boiled as she recalled the story. “–and Ansel rescued Penelope and then left with her. Where would he go, Irish?” 

Irish scratched at the red stubble covering his chin and sighed. “That certainly won’t help Ansel’s opinion on women and their monstrous ways…” he clicked his tongue. “I can’t say for certain where he’d head, Audrey, but I can take ya to Grandy and we can see if we can’t figure things out. Ansel and I have a handy knack for runnin’ into each other from time to time–hopefully we’ll get lucky and he’ll be there waitin’ on us.” 

A/N: There should be a reunion coming up soon! I wonder how that will turn out………..

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Ance knew there was going to be trouble the moment they rode onto the streets of Grandy and he saw those familiar horses and tackle hitched beside the saloon. Ance had a reputation and one he’d spent his entire adult life building–toting around a little girl with a bad leg and the ability to have him learning to braid and washing laundry just wouldn’t fit that image at all. 

And the men currently occupying The Bucking Mule Saloon were a few who would certainly let him know just how unlike him his current self was. They’d be more than willing to take advantage of that too. 

Ance’s one armed grip on Penelope tightened as did his jaw. He’d kill any person who dared attempt to harm his girl–even if their only weapons were harsh words. Hell, Ance knew that keeping Penelope with him was dangerous… If he ran into Barnaby Wallace things would get real deadly real fast and there were plenty of other men who didn’t care much for Ance…. But Ance vowed in his heart that he’d never let any more harm come to this child than she’d already endured. 

Ance led their horse toward one of only two hotels in the small town of Grandy. “Ance, I think I need a new dress,” Penelope stated, sticking her finger through one of the many tears in her skirt and wiggling it around in the air. 

Ance chuckled, “I figured I’d just let you wear that one ’til it falls plumb apart.”

“It has fell plumb apart!” Penelope exclaimed with a laugh.

“Well how about I just see what I can do,” Ance replied. He slid off the mare’s back and pulled Penelope down. Instead of setting her on her feet, he tossed her onto his back and she laughed as he held her legs around him and she looped her little arms around his neck. 

Ance’s hat fell to the ground and he hooked it with his boot, tossed it up and Penelope caught it before plopping it onto her own head. “That’s my hat, Penny,” Ance reminded her. 

“It looks better on me,” Penelope assured him. 

All Ance could do was chuckle. They went inside, Ance requested and paid for a room and asked for a bath to be brought up. Once he had Penelope settled into the bath, he went to the door. “I’ll be back shortly. I gotta go take care of some things. If you need help, ring that bell next to you and they’ll hear it downstairs and send someone up.” 

“Okay,” Penelope replied, only half paying attention as she played in the rose scented bubbles. 

Ance left the hotel and fixed his hat on his head as he stepped out into the sunlight. He figured Penelope would want to stay here for at least a few days and so he didn’t need to stock up on supplies just yet but there were a few other things he was wanting to pick up. 

Ance stepped into the mercantile, which boasted of having everything you could ever need and was the only store in Grandy other than the gun shop and an apothecary. Ance knew he’d be stopping there as well to get some herbs for a good pain fighting tea that would be safe for Penelope to take on the days her leg pained her too badly. 

“Can I help you?” the storekeep asked a bit hesitantly as he pushed his glasses up on his bulbous nose and looked Ance up and down. 

Ance nodded and stuck his thumbs through his belt loops. “I am looking for a dress.” 

“I don’t reckon they’ll have any here that’ll fit you,” a somewhat familiar voice stated from Ance. 

Ance turned slowly and recognized Clarence McCready, a mouthy bastard who had always rubbed Ance the wrong way. Ance was a private man and Clarence McCready was loud-mouthed, nosy and liked to think his shit didn’t stink. 

Without a word to Clarence, Ance returned his attention to the shopkeeper. “I need a dress for a little girl, she stands about here,” Ance indicated a spot just above his waist, “and she’s real slender….” 

“I have several dresses to choose from,” the shopkeep replied, seeming to overcome his shock upon first seeing Ance. Ance couldn’t blame the man. He was bearded, well over six feet tall, big as an oak tree and covered in trail dust and sweat. “Without proper measurements the dress won’t fit exact but I can send one of my seamstresses to wherever the girl is, if she’s in town with you, and make any alterations quickly.” 

“That’ll work,” Ance tipped his head. 

“A little girl,” Clarence asked with a chuckle. “She your daughter or do you like ’em young?” 

Ance let out a long breath and rolled his broad shoulders. He turned slowly and met Clarence’s gaze. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business. Why don’t you just go on about your way now?”

“You might get by with talking to yellow-belled men like that but you ain’t gonna do it to me,” Clarence warned as he stepped forward. The two men were even in height but where Ance was thick with muscle built from hard living, Clarence was thick with fat built from too much food and drink. 

Ance clenched a fist. “I’ll talk just the way I please to anyone I talk to,” he assured the other man. “And you’ll do well to get the hell out of my way. Don’t come tracking me down looking for a fight because you’re gonna bite off a bit more than you can chew.”

The two men stared each other down a moment and then Clarence slapped himself on the thigh and laughed heartily. “You’re still just as ornery as ever! It’s good to see that considering the way you was loving on that little girl you rode into town with. I feared ya might have lost your edge and turned into a soft little family man.” 

Ance just glared and turned back to the store clerk who appeared quite nervous that a fight may break out in his store and damage his merchandise. “I’ll be needing two of those dresses, some cigars, a few packs of matches, some oil and rags and a sack of candy…. Throw in some underclothes that’ll fit that girl while you’re at it if you have them.” 

As the shopkeeper wrote all that down, Ance worked hard to ignore Clarence’s snickering behind him. There was no law in Grandy, no one to lock Ance up if he chose to shut Clarence up for good, but Clarence had friends and Ance didn’t want to risk having them come gunning for him–not now that he had Penelope to worry about. 

“I’ll get that order ready and send it and the seamstress to the hotel if you’d like. What room should I send her to?” the storekeep questioned as he adjusted his glasses. 

“Seven-A,” Ance replied, pulling his hat down a little tighter. He paid the shopkeep for his order and then stepped back out onto the boardwalk. 

With a grumble, Ance realized that Clarence followed him outside. “You and I aint’ friends, Ance, and I know that’s true, but I feel I need to warn you about something,” Clarence stated before spitting a long stream of tobacco into the dirt. 

“Well, ya gonna get to talking or just stand there looking ominous all day?” Ance muttered. 

“Barnaby’s after you. He said you stole something off of him and he tried to hire me to hunt you down and kill you for him.” 

Ance tensed slightly, though it was only internally because his posture didn’t change as he squinted into the sun. “Is that why you’re following me?” he questioned calmly. “You planning on killing me?” 

Clarence chuckled and shook his head. “Only a fool with half a brain or no knowledge of who you are would agree to hunt you down for a bounty–even the hefty one that Barnaby’s placed on you. The way I figure a man would probably have to shoot you in the back to get you and I just ain’t that kind of man.” 

“Well alright then,” Ance pulled  cigar from his pocket. 

“But there are men like that out there, Ance. Just thought you’d like to know you need to be watching your back extra careful.” Clarence added. 

“I can take care of myself,” Ance assured him. “I’m a big boy.” 

“What did you steal from Barnaby, Ance? Hell, ain’t you got more sense than to do something like that? Barnaby ain’t an enemy that any man wants to have.” 

Ance lit the cigar and took a long draw. He let it hang off his lip as he scratched his bearded chin. “Neither am I, Clarence. Neither am I.” 

---

“Thank you, Ance!” Penelope exclaimed as she stood in the mirror and smoothed out the skirt of her new blue dress.

“I just didn’t want to hear you complain about holes in your clothes anymore,” Ance assured her as he stood against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. 

Penelope giggled. “I’ll bet I smell better.” 

Ance took a deep breath through his nose and nodded. “Yep, you sue do.” 

“Well so do you!” Penelope stated as she limped over to him and poked his lean stomach. 

Ance glanced down at his new clothes and ran his hand through his thick dark hair that was still a bit damp after his visit to the bathhouse. “Anything for you, Penny.” 

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Penelope mused thoughtfully as she tapped her chin. 

Ance laughed. “And why’s that?” he asked, knowing damn well that the girl was getting ready to ask him for something. She always got that mischievous grin on her face when she was about to ask him for something. 

“The lady that fixed my dresses told me there’s gonna be a party tonight. Dancing, food, games….. I wanna go!” 

Ance shook his head. “I don’t think so.” 

“Why?” Penelope pouted. 

Ance grumbled under his breath. “I don’t like crowds, Penny. I don’t play games and I sure as hell don’t dance. We’re not going.” 

“Ance…..” 

“Stop begging,” Ance warned. “I said no.”  He went to the window and sat down in the chair before pulling out his gun, oil and rags.

Ance set about cleaning his gun and tried to ignore Penelope who came to stand beside him. Ance knew that outside preparations for tonight’s festivities could be seen. Penelope sighed wistfully. 

Ance grunted but said nothing. Penelope moved closer to him and he felt her little arms slide around his neck from the side and she laid her head against his cheek. “Please, Ance?”

“Damnation, Penny!” Ance grumbled as he tossed his gun down in his lap. She simply smiled and batted her lashes at him in response. Ance felt his resolve crumbling. 

Ance turned his head and pressed a quick kiss to her blond hair. “Fine. But we ain’t staying down there long….” 

Penelope didn’t listen to anything else as she went back to the mirror and began playing with her dress and carrying on about how she was going to feel like a princess. 

Ance just shook his head and went back to cleaning his gun. He had Barnaby gunning for him and finding other men to gun for him as well but Ance had never been the type to run and hide… if Penelope wanted to go to a party then they would go. 

He’d do just about anything for that girl.

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen 

Ance felt out of place and more than a little uncomfortable as he sat in a chair beside the town well with Penelope beside him. A band was playing music, most folks were dancing, laughing and chatting. 

Ance found himself watching Penelope. Her wide brown eyes took in all the sights around them and there was a smile curving her lips, but Ance could tell there was something on her mind. 

“Are you having fun, Penny?” he asked quietly. 

“Yes,” she replied quickly and then she frowned. “I wish I could….” 

“You wish you could what?” Ance urged. 

Penelope sighed and flopped back in her chair as she watched the men and women twirling around. “Dance.” 

Ance grunted as he glanced at several children dancing around as well. Ance had never seen any point in dancing. He didn’t believe in movement just for the sake of movement. He believed that if you weren’t accomplishing something you might as well simply sit still. Dancing was wasteful and foolish–not to mention Ance had never had anyone to dance with anyhow. 

“Go dance,” he insisted, pointing toward the children. “I won’t stop ya.” 

“I can’t dance with them,” Penelope countered sadly as she stared down at her the foot of her lame left leg. “Look at them twirl…. I can’t twirl.” 

Ance watched the children a moment and then turned his gaze to Penelope’s face and took in the sadness, the wistfulness, he saw there. Without a word Ance stood up and held out his hand. 

Penelope looked up at him questioningly. “Where are we going?” 

“To dance,” Ance mumbled. 

“But I can’t.. my leg….” 

“Stop using that leg as an excuse to not do things, Penny. You can do anything you set your damn mind to doing. Now get up and we’ll dance.” 

With a mixture of excitement and uncertainty lighting up her brown eyes, Penelope took Ance’s hand and got to her feet. He held her soft hand gently in his rough one and led her to an empty space not far from the band. 

After several attempts to dance as the others were, it became clear that between her leg and Ance’s lack of experience, they were going to be unsuccessful. Ance saw the tears of sorrow and disappointment in her eyes and shook his head. No way on God’s green earth was he letting her night be ruined by this. 

“I got an idea, Penny,” Ance stated as he took her hands in his and stood still before her. “Step on my feet.” 

“Huh?” Penelope frowned up at him. 

Ance smiled down at her. “Put your feet on top of my feet and I’ll do the twirling.” 

Penelope unsteadily got upon Ance’s feet and he waited with complete patience and she steadied herself and relaxed a bit. Then he put one hand on her shoulder, held her other hand gently and began to slowly step in circles in time with the music. 

He was aware that there were eyes on him. Eyes that knew him were wide with shock and disbelief over his actions while eyes that did not know him watched on with amusement and warmth. Ance didn’t worry about any of that. 

He focused all his attention on Penelope. Her laughter rang out and the beaming smile on her freckled face made the unwanted attention thrown his direction more than worth it. Hell, even Ance was smiling from ear to ear and unable to stop. 

The music continued to play, the festivities went on around them and all Ance could think about was how unlike him he was in this very moment, how very good this little girl had been for him and how rescuing her and keeping her with him had been the best thing an old outlaw like himself had ever done. 

---

Audrey and Irish rode into Gandy just as darkness was falling. It was clear from the noise and the crowd in the middle of the small town that a party was in progress. Music, dancing, food and lots of chatter had everyone’s attention. 

“Where are you going?” Audrey demanded when Irish began to lead the cart toward a hotel instead of the festivities. 

“If there’s one thing I know about Ansel, it’s that he won’t be at a place like that. Crowds tend to make the man a wee bit uncomfortable. No, our Ansel, if the festivities haven’t run him out of town altogether, will be takin’ a wee bit of a rest in one of the fine drinkin’ and gamblin’ establishments in this fair town.” 

“And my daughter?” Audrey questioned, the idea of Penelope inside a place like that causing her anxiety level to rise. 

Irish chuckled. “Probably sittin’ in his lap learnin’ her way ’round a wee game of poker.” 

Audrey didn’t say a word but she sincerely hoped her daughter was not in a saloon learning about poker–especially in a town like this. Irish had told her about Grandy and the lack of law the town possessed. It made this place seem that much more of a dangerous place for her daughter to be. 

“While you see to those rooms I’m going to go check around the town. Someone at the dance might know Ansel or know where he has my daughter.” 

“Aye, ya might be right. Just be careful, lass. There will certainly be men here willin’ to take advantage of a woman on her own.” 

Audrey smiled at the Irishman. He was certainly a character and it was clear by his current occupation that he had no problem lying and cheating to get ahead, but yet the man was one of the kindest and most loyal she had ever met. He truly seemed to want to help her and Audrey was very thankful for that. 

“And Audrey…” he called as she got down from the cart. Audrey glanced over her shoulder at him and he flashed a gap-toothed grin. “If ya should happen to see any folks that seem to be in need of a cure for their ailments…” 

“I’ll let them know you have just the thing to cure them for the low price of only two dollars a bottle,” Audrey assured him with a smile. 

Irish winked and Audrey was smiling as she walked away from him. Her stomach was truly a tangle of nerves. Was her daughter in this town? It was impossible to say for sure. Ansel could have taken her any number of places. There was no guarantee that he had even come this way with Penelope–though Irish seemed certain that Ansel ran a fairly predictable route around the territories.

Audrey had to keep up hope… it seemed that was all she had these days. Hope that she would find her daughter. Hope that Penelope would be alive and well when that happened. Hope that Rodger York was truly dead and that his death would be ruled an accidental fall into his own campfire. Hope that she wouldn’t end up swinging from the gallows because of her actions that night….

Audrey swallowed hard, shook her head to clear her thoughts and scanned the crowd. It was growing quite dark and the lamps and large bonfire cast a glow over the large mass of bodies currently enjoying the music and food. 

Audrey declined several offers to dance as she grew less and less hopeful  that she would ever find Penelope when a giggle reached her ears. 

A light airy giggle. A familiar giggle.

It was a sound that Audrey would recognize over every other sound in the world. 

Penelope. 

Audrey whipped her head around and saw her then. Her jaw dropped, her body froze and her heart stopped beating. There was her daughter that she had been searching so hard to find for over a month. 

Penelope was smiling from ear to ear as she stood upon the boots of the very man that Audrey had seen in the hotel in Briggston. The man with the bearded face, scarred cheek, calloused hands and line around his brilliantly blue eye was smiling down at Penelope and holding her hand gently in his as he spun around in slow circles in time to the music. 

Audrey felt tears fill her eyes as she covered her mouth. Her daughter was safe and sound! Audrey sent up a thousand thank yous to the heavens and headed quickly in their direction. 

“Penelope!” she called out. 

Penelope turned but before the girl could do much more than should out “Mama!”, Ansel scooped her up with one arm, pulled her tight against him and scowled. 

Audrey opened her mouth to speak but shut it again quickly when she found herself staring down the barrel of the .45 in Ansel Adam’s calloused hand. 

“Give me my daughter…” Audrey managed to whisper around the fear in her throat. 

“I don’t think so,” the grizzled and masculine outlaw growled as that revolver remained aimed steady at Audrey’s head. “She’s mine now.”

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen 

“Ance, don’t you dare shoot my mama!” Penelope exclaimed as she reached out her hand and swatted at his arm. 

Ance lowered the gun slowly as he swallowed hard and clutched Penelope tighter against him. The woman stepped a little closer. “Ansel? Please, give me my daughter.” 

Recognition dawned in Ance’s mind. He’d met this woman before… She had been at the hotel in Briggston. Ance remembered seeing her and he remembered thinking that the blond of her hair and the brown of her eyes were familiar….. She had looked like Penelope. 

“Ance, let me go. I told you my mama was looking for me!” Penelope struggled against him. 

Ance let her go and settled her on her feet but still couldn’t seem to speak or move. Penelope’s mother? She was here? She wanted Penelope? Why? The woman had sold her! She hadn’t come when Ance had sent her word! Ance had given her a chance to come get the girl and the woman hadn’t done so. 

Why now? Why here? Why now that Ance couldn’t possibly see his life without this little girl in it was her mother coming to take her away?!

Penelope ran as quickly as her leg would allow to her mother and Ance watched as the woman dropped to her knees and gathered her daughter up into her arms. Tears were streaming down the woman’s face as she sobbed and laughed all at the same time and squeezed Penelope with everything she had. An emotion as raw as that could not be faked. 

Ance felt his heart ripping apart in his chest. He’d been wrong. Barnaby had lied to him. Penelope had been right all along. Her mother loved her, her mother had been searching for her and now her mother was here….

Ance was no longer needed. 

---

Audrey could not believe that after all the searching, all the tears, all the nights of having nothing but hope to cling to, she was finally holding her daughter in her arms. 

“Mama, they said you didn’t want me but I knew you did,” Penelope promised as she squirmed in Audrey’s tight hold. “I told Ance.. He sent you a letter but you didn’t answer…” 

Audrey remembered the outlaw then. “We’ll talk about everything, Penelope, I promise.” Audrey kissed her daughter’s freckled cheek and then  quickly swiped her hand across her own face and pushed herself to her feet. She kept one hand firmly on her Penelope’s shoulder to keep the girl from disappearing once again. 

Audrey’s eyes went to where the large, mysterious man had been moments before but the space was now empty. The band continued to play, those that had been aware of their short-lived stand-off had already seemed to lose interest and were back to their conversations and dances. 

“Where’s Ance?” Penelope whispered as she glanced all around. 

“I don’t know…” Audrey replied, searching just as intently as her daughter. 

“Ance?!” Penelope called out, sounding frantic. 

Audrey looked down at her and saw the tears shining in her brown eyes as she searched in every direction. “Ance, wouldn’t leave me….” Penelope vowed, her lip trembling. 

Audrey felt jealousy tug at her heart but forced the emotion back. She wished her daughter could simply be happy to see her but she understood that Ance, as Penelope had referred to him, had been the person taking care of her for over a month. He had been a hero for Penelope and therefore the girl had grown attached. 

“I’m sure he didn’t leave…” Audrey prayed he hadn’t hurt her daughter that way. Penelope didn’t deserve any more pain in her life. “I’m sure he was just wanting to give us some time alone,” she offered. 

Penelope nodded and offered Audrey a shaky smile. “Did you see me dancing, mama?” 

Audrey slid a stray hair from Penelope’s face and smiled. “I sure did. Now what do you say we go to the hotel and rest a bit? Irish should have us a room all ready.” 

“Irish?” Penelope brow creased in a frown. “You know Irish?” 

“Yes I do. He brought me here,” Audrey replied as she held Penelope’s hand tightly and led her toward the hotel. 

“I know Irish too! He’s Ance’s friend, but Ance grumbles when you say so. Ance saved his life, mama. Bad men were going to hang him and Ance saved him. Ance is really nice, mama….” 

And that was how the night went. Penelope entertained Audrey with story after story about Ance and her adventures with the man. Swimming lessons, riding lessons, cursing lessons, shooting lessons–it seemed the man had been busy teaching Penelope everything that he could. 

And Penelope had also told Audrey about how she had come to be with Ance. Barnaby had had her caged like some kind of animal and Ance had saved her from another bad man and rode off into the night with her. Audrey hoped Rodger was dead but even so she knew she would never forgive the man for what he had done to Penelope. 

Audrey was thankful when Penelope finally drifted off to sleep with that outlaws name still on her lips. Her chatter had kept her from asking Audrey any questions about where she’d been, who she’d been with or any details about her search for Penelope. 

Audrey curled up beside her daughter on the hotel bed and could only hope and pray that Irish would find Ance the way he had promised and let the man know that he couldn’t leave Penelope without letting her say goodbye to him properly….And Audrey had to thank the man as well. She owed him a huge debt for saving her daughter’s life. 

Breathing in Penelope’s scent and taking comfort in the fact that her little girl was finally safely by her side, Audrey forced her eyes to close and willed sleep to come, knowing that tomorrow could prove to be an emotional day regardless of whether or not Ance showed himself again.

---

Ance pulled his hat lower over his head and chewed the tip of his cigar when he realized the figure riding through the dark toward his campsite was Irish.  

Of all the times for that annoying bastard to find him it had to be now. Ance wasn’t feeling up to Irish’s antics. Shit, Ance wasn’t feeling up to much of anything just now. He simply wanted to sit out here with town a distance flickering of kerosene lamps on the horizon and forget all about the last month and a half of his life. 

“Don’t ya shoot me now, Ansel. It’s your ol’ pal Irish ridin’ in.” 

“We’re not pals, Irish, and I don’t want to be bothered. Go away,” Ance growled. 

“I don’t mean to intrude on your busy evenin’, Ansel, but does this mood I find ya in have anythin’ to do with that little lass Penelope and her beautiful mama?” 

Ance shoved his hat back and looked up at Irish for the first time just as the man dismounted his horse. “What the hell do you know about that?” Ance demanded. 

Irish shrugged. “I know that you’ve been carin’ for the lass since we parted ways in Briggston and I know that her mama has been searchin’ high and low for her and finally found her here….” 

“And just how did the woman come to be here?” Ance growled through tight jaws. 

Irish grinned sheepishly and kicked at the dirt. “I found her out wanderin’ in the night…. Her story is an interestin’ one, Ansel, and a dangerous one as well. Ya may want to go and have a wee chat with her because I don’t believe that she and the lass are truly out of the woods just yet.” 

“You brought that woman here?!” Ance growled. 

“Are we back on that again?” Irish sat down and sighed. “We met in the wilderness ‘tween here and Briggston. She was lost and so I took her in. She admitted to me that she was lookin’ for ya and had left out just behind ya. I knew that Grandy was the nearest town so that’s where we came.” 

Ance shoved himself to his feet and kicked Irish hard in the arm sending the man sprawling on the dirt and grass. “You no good son of a bitch!” Ance bellowed. “That little girl was mine! You should have taken her mama somewhere else, anywhere else! Next time I come up on men trying to hang you, I’m gonna stop them just long enough to ensure the knot is tied just right and then watch you go swinging with a smile on my damned face.” 

“It’d be the first smile I’ve truly seen there,” Irish stated. Ance glared at the man when he heard the amusement in his voice. Irish was lying flat on his back and watching him closely. “Ya know, Ansel, I’ve never seen ya so animated. Why you’re pacin’ and everythin’. Ya aren’t the type to pace. If that lass means so much to ya then why did ya run off like a coward into the night without so much as a word to her?” 

Ance clenched his fists. “Don’t call me a coward.” 

“Ya know she cried over ya? She cried to her mama because she wanted ya, ya big blockhead.” 

Ance froze. His pacing stopped. “She did?” he whispered, feeling guilt rip him apart inside. He hadn’t thought that Penelope would even realize he was gone.. Hell she was just going to be one more person who left.. One more person who was there one minute and gone the next….

Irish shoved himself to his feet and smacked Ance in the chest with his hat. “O’course she did! Now I’ve done my part and came lookin’ for ya the way Audrey asked me to. The rest is up to you. Ya can either go back and bid farewell to the girl properly or ya can ride away and break her heart… After all, why do ya care? You’re Ansel Adams and ya don’t care about nobody, right?” 

With a wink, Irish jumped back on his horse and rode away leaving Ance standing there feeling more confused than he’d ever felt before. 

Dammit! 

Could he go back into that town, say goodbye to the girl and ride away? Or would he give in to the outlaw in him that said she was his and take her away from her mother, escape into the wilderness and keep Penelope with him always????

Grumbling under his breath, Ance sat back down beside his meager campfire and simply stared into the flames.

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen 

Audrey stepped out into the sunlight with Penelope the next morning and held her hand tightly. Penelope glanced all around them and Audrey knew who she was looking for because Audrey looked for him too. 

And there he was. 

Ance was standing less than twenty feet away and leaning against a banister. Audrey was once again struck by the sheer size of the outlaw. Six and a half feet of broad, solid man. He had a body that was built from hard living and Audrey found herself wondering how he’d gotten that scar that marred his cheek and formed a pale line through his thick beard. 

When his deep blue eyes connected with hers and he rolled his cigar to the corner of his mouth, Audrey felt something she hadn’t felt in years–not since her husband had died…. Desire. 

Quickly she shook off that ridiculous notion. This was an outlaw, a dangerous man and certainly not the type she needed to be feeling anything more than gratitude for. 

Ance’s eyes didn’t remain on her long before he turned his gaze to Penelope. Audrey saw a softness come over his stern features when he gazed at the girl and she felt a tug in her own heart. 

Penelope happily cried out his name and ran as quickly as her leg would allow her to toward the man. She was halfway to him when her crooked leg became caught on an uneven board and she began to fall. 

Audrey winced, knowing that she couldn’t reach Penelope before she struck the boards and knowing that the fall was going to hurt…..

But her worry was for nothing. More quickly than even lightning or a rattler could strike, Ance shot forward and caught the girl in his arms, lifting her up and propping her on his hip in one fluid motion. 

“Shew!” Penelope giggled. “That was close.” 

“Yeah, it was. You know better than to run like that in places where they have such bad carpenters,” Ance replied, kicking at the uneven board. 

Audrey laughed lightly and Ance’s eyes once again locked on her. Audrey felt that overwhelming sense of helplessness… she knew it must be akin to what a mouse feels when the cat finally has it cornered. Ance was a man who was clearly a predator–dangerous–and when he looked at her so intently it made her tremble deep down.

“Ance, can we perhaps go get some breakfast at the café and talk?” Audrey offered, determined not to let this man see the fear, or desire, that he stirred in her. 

Ance nodded and without a word he stepped off the boardwalk and began crossing the street with long strides. He was heading toward the only café in Grandy with Penelope still held tight in his arms. Audrey stood there quite dumbfounded for a moment as she wondered if her daughter even remembered she was around. 

Then Penelope looked over Ance’s shoulder and waved for her. “Come on, mama! Ance don’t wait for nobody. You gotta keep up!” 

“He doesn’t wait for anybody,” Audrey corrected without much thought as she dashed to catch up. 

“That’s what I said!” Penelope assured her with exasperation. “Isn’t that what I said?” she asked Ance. 

“That’s what I heard,” he replied in that deep, low rumble of a voice that he had. 

“Yes, well, a gentleman should wait for a lady,” Audrey announced as she caught up and smoothed out her skirt, falling in step beside the outlaw. 

Ance grunted. “I sure as hell ain’t a gentleman, Audrey. And the way I see it, if a woman wants to walk with the men then she damn well better keep up and not whimper or else she can go sit on the porch and knit with the other women.” 

Audrey stiffened. “I’ll have you know I can keep up just fine and I won’t be spoken to as if I’m some helpless wallflower. I own my own horse ranch and am very active in running it and I work in the fields, hunt and do everything a husband would normally do.” 

“Well bravo to you. Let’s give the woman a damned cookie,” Ance muttered. “And if you can do everything I can do just as good as I can do it then stop asking for special treatment.” 

Audrey clenched her fists and glared up at him as they walked and Penelope stared back and forth between them with wide eyes. “You are one angry piece of work, aren’t you? I wanted to dine with you and thank you for taking such good care of my daughter  and saving her from that man but now just thinking about thanking you for anything makes my stomach churn!”

“Well that’s a damned relief because I don’t want your thanks. If you had kept a better eye on the girl then maybe that man wouldn’t have got his hands on her to begin with.” 

Audrey felt as if she’d been punched in the gut. All the air left her in a hurry and she stopped dead in her tracks and simply stared at him. Not a bit of guilt could be seen in his dark blue eyes as he stared right back. 

Penelope whimpered. “Stop fighting! It wasn’t anybody’s fault…. I don’t like it when people fight….” 

Audrey attempted to compose her thoughts but Ance was the first to speak. “You’re right,” he admitted, his voice holding just a touch of softness that hadn’t been there moments before. “Barnaby is the worst kind of man and it wasn’t your mama’s fault… I shouldn’t have said that. Let’s go get something to eat.” 

And just like that Ance was walking away again. Audrey caught up more quickly this time and didn’t say a word as they stepped up the café steps. Ance had gutted her with that harsh comment but it wasn’t her fault that Penelope had been taken! 

It was Rodger York’s fault but that man was currently dead–if any justice in the world existed–and Audrey would never let another bad thing happen to her daughter. 

---

Ance sat across from Audrey at the café table and couldn’t seem to stop glaring at the woman. 

He didn’t like her. 

It wasn’t her fault, necessarily. Ance had an automatic dislike of most things female, but this dislike went deeper. 

Audrey was taking Penelope away from him and no matter how hard Ance tried, he simply couldn’t find a single thing wrong with the woman! She seemed intelligent, witty at times, strong, independent, capable and it was clear that she loved her daughter. Not to mention she was beautiful! Sure she had lines around her eyes and dark freckles and her build was full and strong instead of slim and slender but there was something about her–something in the brightness of her smile and the strength in her eyes that Ance was attracted to…..

And that was yet one more reason to not like the woman! 

The meal was finished and Ance knew it was time to leave. His heart hurt at the knowledge that he would never again see Penelope. How could he live without that little girl?

If her mother had been an old hag who was hate-filled and evil and undeserving of Penelope, then it would have been easy for Ance to steal the girl away… but Audrey was none of those things and while Ance might not be what the world would call a good man, he also wouldn’t want to cause anyone the pain he himself was feeling just now. 

Ance had spent his entire life keeping walls around himself and avoiding attachments. He had never lost anything he’d ever missed and he’d never dreaded a single goodbye he’d ever spoken but this time was different. 

As the trio left the café, Ance adjusted his hat, cleared his throat and looked down at the little girl who held his heart. “I gotta be going now Penelope….” 

“Going?” Penelope frowned. “Going where?” 

“Wherever the wind takes me,” Ance replied tightly. He didn’t look at Audrey but he could feel the woman’s dark brown eyes on him.

“But… but mama and I are going to go home and we have a big house, don’t we mama? Ance doesn’t have a house, mama. Can’t he come stay at our house?”  

Ance shook his head quickly, “No, I don’t think your mama wants me coming to live at your house, Penny. I’m not cut out for staying put in one place.” 

Penelope’s eyes filled with tears as she stared up at him. “But I’ll never see you again.” 

Ance sighed, hardened his jaw and crouched down. “Not many good things have happened in my life, Penny, but I can certainly say you’ve been one of them. Now it’s time for us to part ways and for you to go with your mama but I won’t never forget you.” 

“I won’t forget you either,” Penelope whispered as tears slipped from her eyes. Ance wiped one away with his thumb, cleared his own throat to remove the emotion clogging it and quickly stood straight. He adjusted his hat, tipped his head to Audrey, who also seemed to be fighting back emotion, and quickly turned his back and strode away, desperate not to look back at that little girl and see the sadness in her eyes. 

He ignored the mother and daughter arguing quietly behind him as he walked and Ance was nearly to the livery where his horse was stabled when he heard Penelope cry out his name. He turned just in time to see her limping her way across the road with tears in her eyes as she desperately reached for him. 

Ance felt his heart twist at the sight of the broken hearted girl but then it dropped when he saw the wagon turn onto the main street. The horses were at a full gallop, dust was flying from beneath the bouncing wheels and the massive hunk of wood and horseflesh was all barreling toward his Penelope. 

Audrey’s voice cried out and Ance saw her move but knew she’d never reach the girl in time. Throwing caution to the wind, he dashed forward, scooped Penelope up and made a dive for the other side of the road, barely avoiding the crashing hooves as the wind from the carriage blew against him. 

Audrey met him at the side of the road and, after ensuring Penelope was unharmed, scolded the sobbing girl gently for rushing out into a road. Ance glared down at Penny. “You should have known better than to do something so foolhardy!” he warned. 

“I don’t want you to leave!” Penelope cried out, tears streaking her freckles cheeks. 

Ance sighed and sat her on her feet. He didn’t say another word as he strode toward the wagon driver who had got his horses to come to stop and was watching them with worried eyes. 

“Is she okay?” the young man asked shakily. 

Ance laid his hand over the revolver on his hip. “A hell of a lot more okay than you’re going to be. What the hell were you thinking when you came barreling down the road that way?” 

“I’m sorry, mister!” the man exclaimed. “I have a man in the back of the wagon who’s real sick and I was trying to get him to the medicine man in town.” 

“You could have killed my girl,” Ance growled, taking another slow step forward. 

“I’m sorry,” the man repeated, his hands shaking as they held the reins tightly. “But this man was burned real bad and I was taking care of him but then a fever hit and I gotta get him some help or he’s gonna die….” 

Ance was aware of Audrey coming to stand beside him with Penelope’s hand firmly in hers. He glanced at the woman and saw that she had paled considerably and her brown eyes were wide as she covered her mouth with her free hand and shook her head. 

“What’s his name?” she whispered. 

“Who?” Ance grumbled. 

“The man–” Audrey addressed the young man on the wagon. “Do you know the man’s name you have in the back?” 

“York,” the young man replied. “U.S. Marshall Rodger York.”  

A/N: Dun dun dun! Of course he isn’t dead…. that would have simply been TOO easy!

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen  

Audrey felt her blood freeze in her veins. Rodger? He was alive and in that wagon? What if he had heard her voice? 

Dammit! No, Audrey wouldn’t be afraid of him. That man had nearly cost her her daughter–she would get into that wagon and finish the job she had thought she’d completed at their campsite!

Audrey made a step toward the wagon but was stopped when Penelope’s grip tightened on her hand. Audrey remembered then that her daughter was with her and they were in the middle of town with witnesses. Her next move would have to wait. 

Audrey glanced at Ance and realized he was studying her carefully. He then turned his attention back to the young man driving the wagon. “I’ve heard of him. Real jackass if you ask me but, then again, I never have been too fond of the law. How the hell he get burned up?”

The young man shifted on the seat and shrugged. “He was traveling with a woman and somehow they got separated. I guess he was looking for her when he tripped and fell into his own campfire. He wanted to keep looking, was desperate to really, but I told him he had to get himself took care of first–then he came down with this fever.”

“Did he say her name?” Audrey asked quickly, thanking her lucky stars that Penelope had been too upset over Ance leaving and nearly being trampled to hear the man say Rodger’s name. “Did he say the woman’s name?”

The man frowned as he appeared to think deeply for a moment and then he nodded. “A Miss Reynolds is all he said, ma’am.” 

Audrey felt her stomach roll. Penelope sniffed. “That’s your name, mama.” 

Ance stepped forward and swatted one of the horses on the rump gently. “You should be getting him to the medicine man. We’ll be on our way now. And slow down from now on, will ya?” 

“Sure thing,” the young man tipped his hat and then continued on his way. 

“Are you still leaving, Ance?” Penelope whispered shakily. 

Audrey once again had that sensation of being a small creature caught in the trap of a large predator as Ance studied her carefully. “Not just yet,” he finally replied. “I think your mama and I got a few more things we need to talk about.” 

---

Ance caught Irish by the arm just before the man entered the saloon a little before noon. “Where you going, you damn drunkard. It’s not even noon yet.” 

“Aye, I know how to tell time, Ansel. I was merely goin’ to have a chat with the bartender about the bit of rheumatism that’s been plaguing his bones. I think my elixir might be just the thing he needs.” 

Ance snorted. “Yeah, and once he’s done sippin’ that horse piss he’ll need a pine box.” 

“Ya speak such poetry, Ansel,” Irish grinned and threw him a wink. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” 

Ance rolled his eyes at the man and nodded toward the hotel. “Go stay with Penny while her mother and I have a talk.” 

Irish waggled his brows. “Are ya sure it’s a talk ya plan on havin’?” 

Ance smacked the Irishman in the back of the head. “Yeah, I’m sure,” he grumbled. “There’s something going on that I intend to get to the bottom of.” 

“I don’t know if I have what it takes to watch a wee child,” Irish admitted. “I’m not much more than one myself.” 

“I’ll buy you a jug of whiskey if you’ll watch Penny. And I’ll buy you two and spare you a bullet to the head if she’s safe and sound when I get back,” Ance offered. 

Irish laughed. “Well with terms like that who could say no?” Then his expression sobered. “Ya sure seem worried, Ansel. Should I be expectin’ trouble while I’m watchin’ the lass?” 

Ance sighed. He hated the way Irish seemed to be able to read him. The Irishman was too damn smart for his own good. “Shouldn’t be. I’m fairly certain there’s a man at the medicine man’s house that means harm to Penny and Audrey but I can’t say for sure. That’s what I gotta go talk to Audrey about. The man shouldn’t be a threat just now though. He’s burned up and has a raging fever.”

“Bad day for the lad,” Irish lamented. 

Ance grunted. “Gonna get worse if what I’m thinking turns out to be the truth.” 

Irish nodded. “Go have your chat, Ansel. I’ll keep the lass company and keep her safe as well. I’ll teach her a bit of Irish poker.” 

“You’ll teach her to cheat you mean,” Ance grumbled. 

Irish laughed and patted him on the back. “O’course that’s what I mean.” 

---

“I don’t have anything to talk to you about, Ance. I appreciate all you’ve done for my daughter and I could never repay you for that but I will take care of her from here on out,” Audrey assured him stubbornly from where she sat on a rickety bench behind the mercantile. 

Ance leaned against the building and chewed on his cigar. “Your reaction to hearing that name this morning tells me something different. Now normally I wouldn’t give a damn except that I happen to have a soft spot for that girl and don’t want to see her hurt.” 

“I won’t let anyone else hurt her,” Audrey vowed, temper flashing in her brown eyes. 

Ance sighed. She was something else. Ance could certainly see where Penelope got her personality from… If all women were more like these two then Ance might not dislike the softer sex quite so vehemently. “Audrey, dammit, I’m not a patient man. Now are you going to tell me what the name Rodger York means to you or should I go have a talk with the man myself?” 

Audrey nibbled at her bottom lip and Ance let his gaze take in just how full that soft, pink piece of flesh was before mentally scolding himself and returning his gaze to her eyes. Audrey swallowed hard. “He’s a man I’ve known for a while. He was helping me look for Penelope.” 

“And?” Ance urged. 

“And I realized that I couldn’t trust him and ran away from him in the night… that’s when I met Irish.” 

Ance grumbled under his breath, tossed down what was left of his cigar and squished it beneath his boot. “Fine, if you won’t tell me then I’ll talk to him myself. I won’t let anyone, not even her own mama, put Penny in danger.” 

“And what makes you think I’d put my own daughter in harms way?” Audrey snapped as she got to her feet. 

Ance shrugged. “It’s been my experience that most mama’s just don’t care.” 

They held each other’s gaze for several long moments. Ance realized that she had golden flecks in her eyes. Damn but she was a pretty woman. 

Finally Audrey flopped back down upon the bench and stared at her hands folded in her lap. “I always felt there was something off about Rodger but I never knew what it was and I never imagined it to be anything terrible. Truthfully I just believed that the reason he made me uncomfortable was simply because he wanted to marry me so badly and so quickly after my husband was murdered five years ago. I always denied Rodger’s requests to court me and I focused instead on Penelope and the ranch… then she was taken from me and my entire world turned upside down. I didn’t know where to turn so I asked Rodger for help and he was quick to agree…. He told me about a man named Barnaby who was known to kidnap children so we took off looking for the man.” Audrey paused and looked up at Ance. “We ended up in Briggston and that’s where I learned you had Penelope with you and everyone there seemed to believe you cared about her. I immediately wanted to search for you, Rodger seemed focused on Barnaby and we argued but I won. Then I realized he was leading me in circles instead of tracking you as he’d promised. I found a book–a journal–that he was keeping and I opened it….” her throat bobbed. “Rodger killed my husband all those years ago and he sold Penelope to Barnaby. He hoped to ride to the rescue, earn my gratitude and convince me to marry him once he’d become a hero.” 

Ance stood there for several moments, thinking about what Audrey had said. Rodger York showed determination if nothing else. But now he had an enemy that he’d probably wish he hadn’t made. Ansel Adams was not one to put up with backstabbing liars and it seemed that’s exactly what the U.S. Marshall was. 

What kind of yellow-bellied coward sold an innocent little girl to a man like Barnaby? Had the man been daft enough to truly believe that Barnaby would uphold his end of the bargain and keep the girl until Rodger could make his grand rescue? Or had the good Marshall known that Barnaby wouldn’t and had instead planned to consol Audrey and be her shoulder to cry on when they realized Penelope was gone for good.

Ance nearly growled out loud when he remember the abuse Barnaby had given Penelope and the way Vern had nearly had his way with the girl before Ance had slit his throat….. 

The joke would be on U.S. Marshall Rodger York because just as soon as night came and the town of Grandy went to bed, Rodger was going to die.

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen 

Before Ance could ensure that justice, or vengeance, whichever you chose to call it, was served, he first had to see that Penelope and her mama got some supper in their bellies. 

The evening was hot and though the sun was beginning to set it offered no relief from the oppressive heat. Ance wiped a bit of sweat from his brow before adjusting his hat and casting a quick glance toward Penelope and Audrey who were walking beside him toward the café. 

Audrey had been very quiet and withdrawn since their earlier talk. Ance could tell she had something on her mind and he wondered what exactly she was thinking–which was surprising since he usually didn’t give two hoots in hell about what a woman thought. 

The streets were fairly busy given the time of day as folks finished up their tasks and headed toward either the café, the hotel, the saloons or the brothel. Ance held Penelope’s hand in his and, oddly enough, found himself thankful that Rodger had shown up when he had. It had given Ance an excuse to spend just a little more time in the girl’s presence. 

“Look at the puppy!” Penelope exclaimed, pointing at a flop-eared mutt sniffing at the dirt about twenty feet away. “It limps like me,” she added. Ance took in the sight of it’s front right leg which appeared to have been broken at some point and hadn’t been reset correctly. The bones had healed but the leg was disfigured. 

“That’s not a pup, Penny. That dog’s probably older than you,” Ance informed her. 

“It’s a cute puppy,” Audrey countered with a warning glance up at Ance. 

Ance nearly laughed out loud. Not many people dared toss him glares like that but, then again, Audrey wasn’t like most people. Ance didn’t know much about her but he could already tell that she was different–tougher–than most folks. 

“Can I go pet it?” Penelope asked. 

Ance was about to say no but then he saw the way her lip stuck out and he sighed. “Go ahead.” 

As Penelope limped quickly toward the dog, Audrey shook her head. “Was that a good idea, Ance? What if it’s mean?” 

Ance laid his hand over his gun and shrugged. “Then I’ll kill it.” 

Ance and Audrey stood watching Penelope pet the dog. The hound seemed more than a little happy to have the attention as its tongue flopped out and it rolled onto its back so she could scratch at his stomach. 

“Mama, Ance, can I keep it?” Penelope requested. “The puppy needs a family. No one wants it because of its leg.” 

Ance shook his head. “And how do you know that?” 

Penelope raised her chin stubbornly. “It told me so.” 

“Penelope…” Audrey scolded. “Don’t tell such wild tales.” 

Ance chuckled. “If it were up to me I’d let you keep it but since it’d be living at your mama’s house, it’s not up to me.” 

Audrey sent Ance yet another glare as Penelope folded her hands, stuck out her bottom lip and begged like a champion. Ance was amused and that was saying something… He realized he had changed since Penelope had come into his life and that worried him. How could he go back to the life he’d lived before her now that he knew how good life could be with her?

Ance tensed when something in the air suddenly changed. The evening became quieter somehow and Ance looked through the crowd going about their days and saw the trail worn, dusty outlaw pulling his gun with his gaze locked on Penelope. 

There wasn’t time to pull his gun and guarantee he’d stop the other man from shooting the girl and so Ance didn’t try–instead he lunged forward, grabbed a shocked Penelope up into his arms and turned his back on the man, hunching over the girl to protect her just as the booming gunshot resounded in the evening air. 

Audrey cried out in alarm, horses spooked, townsfolk scattered and the pup hightailed away for cover.  

Ance felt the bullet slam into his low side and hissed at the pain it was accompanied by. He pulled his gun as he turned and fired off a shot of his own. The man cried out as his gun was shot from his hand–along with two of his fingers. Ance fired off another and sent a bullet slamming through the man’s thigh and sending him crashing to the ground. 

Ance set Penelope on her feet and pointed toward Audrey. “Go to your mother,” he growled. 

Ignoring the pain in his side, Ance stalked toward the man on the ground. “Who sent you?” he hissed, though he already had a fairly good idea what the answer to that question would be. 

“Go to hell,” the man gasped between panting breaths. Sweat slicked his brow as his blood pooled on the dirt around him.

Ance nodded. “I’m pretty sure that’s where I’ll be going,” he admitted. “But I’m damn certain that you’ll be getting there before me. Now who the hell sent you?” 

Ance rolled his eyes when he saw the man reach for his gun with his uninjured hand. Much to Ance’s surprise, Audrey was suddenly there. She scooped the gun up, cocked the hammer back and aimed the revolver steadily at the injured man’s chest. “You will tell me why you were trying to kill my daughter and you will tell me now.” 

Ance somehow tore his gaze away from Audrey and returned it to the whimpering, gasping man on the ground. “Or you’ll what? Kill me?” the man demanded with a laugh. 

Ance nodded before lifting his foot and setting it back down upon the man’s shattered leg. “Slowly.” Ance agreed as the man’s screams of pain filled the air. 

Ance noticed Audrey turn a few shades paler beside him but the gun in her hand never wavered. He was impressed. 

“Barnaby sent me, dammit,” the man whimpered when Ance removed his foot. “Did you really think you could steal from the man and he’d just let you go?” 

“Why target the girl?” Ance growled. 

“Because that’s what he ordered. He wants the girl dead first, then you. Now dammit, Ance, either kill me or get me to a damn doctor….” 

“Alright then,” Ance set his sights on the man’s forehead and pulled the trigger. 

He reloaded his weapon and then glanced at Audrey to find that she was pale, shaking a bit and still had the gun aimed down at the now lifeless man at their feet. Ance reached out and grabbed the barrel, causing her to jump. “Unless you’re gonna shoot a lifeless corpse, give me the gun,” Ance urged. 

Audrey’s grip on it fell away just as Penelope came running toward them. Ance quickly stepped forward, grabbed the girl and walked away before Penelope would see the corpse on the ground. 

Audrey was hot on his heels as he strode toward the hotel. “Ance, is that man dead?” Penelope whispered. 

“If he ain’t then he’s the toughest bastard I’ve ever met,” Ance replied. 

“Ance, where are we going? You’re hurt…” Audrey finally spoke. 

“I’ll be fine, Audrey. We’ll worry about me later. Right now we gotta get out of Grandy. That won’t be the only man Barnaby sent and I can keep Penelope safer out there–” he nodded toward the plains. “–than I can here in town.” 

“Why do they want to hurt me?” Penelope asked with a frown. “I didn’t do anything.” 

“I know you didn’t, Penny,” Ance assured her. “Some men are just plain rotten deep down and other rotten men, like me, have to deal with them.” 

“You’re not rotten, Ance,” Penelope assured him before kissing his bearded cheek. Ance felt his heart swell at the contact. 

“No…” Audrey laid her hand on his bare forearm as they continued walking and Ance nearly hissed at the contact. Not because it was unpleasant but because it caused a heat and a spark of awareness that he had never before felt in his life. “No, you aren’t rotten, Ance. What you did today for my daughter…. You could have….” 

Ance shook his head. “There’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do for Penny. Now let’s quick with all this chatter and get you ladies somewhere a bit safer.” 

“What about….?” Audrey tilted her head back up the road and Ance knew she was worried about Rodger York. 

Ance sighed. “Later. We gotta get our priorities straight and he’s no danger to anybody just now.” Ance managed to offer her a smile though it felt foreign and strange on his face. “I’m gonna take care of things, Audrey. I won’t let anything happen to our Penny.”

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen  

Audrey swallowed hard as she peered through the firelight and down at the bloody hole in Ance’s side. 

“Unless you know witchcraft, staring at the damn thing won’t get the bullet out,” Ance growled as he lay on his good side on the ground and glared at her. 

Audrey snapped from her daze and nodded. She held out her hands and Ance poured a bit of whiskey onto them. Audrey rubbed them together thoroughly and winced when Ance then poured more of the stinging liquid onto his bullet wound. 

Sweat beads slicked his brow and he grimaced but did not say a word or yell out the way most people would have. Audrey knew that was partly because he was no doubt a tough man but also because he didn’t want to wake Penelope who was sleeping soundly on the other side of the campfire after riding like the hounds of hell were on their heels for five straight hours. 

“Alright, Audrey, just pour some whiskey over that knife and cut the wound a little wider so you can get your fingers in there and find the bullet. I don’t think it’s real deep and it didn’t hit anything important but we gotta get it out and get the bleeding stopped.” 

Audrey agreed silently as she looked at his blood soaked shirt tossed beside the fire. Ance was bare from the waist up and if not for the blood, paleness and bullet hole, Audrey would be able to take the time to admire his physique. His muscles weren’t well defined but he was solid, thick and masculine. The same brown hair that was thick upon his head also covered his chest and trailed down his stomach to the waistband of his trousers. She refocused her attention on the wound, which was toward his back and swallowed hard as she poured whiskey over his small pocket knife. 

This wasn’t the first time Audrey had treated wounds, though it was her first bullet wound and her first experience with human medical care….. All her other patients had been of the equine variety. 

“Are you ready?” she asked, meeting his gaze as he watched her. 

Ance simply nodded and she knew his jaw hardened beneath his beard. With a steadying breath, Audrey stuck the knife blade to the bloody hole and slit it open wider to allow her fingers access. 

Ance tensed and grabbed his gun belt before plopping the leather between his teeth and biting down hard. Audrey’s hands were shaking but she didn’t stop. If Ance was going to live she had to get that bullet out of him–and Audrey needed Ance to live. 

Without giving herself time to fully think about what she was doing, Audrey sat the knife aside and pushed her fingers into the wound. Ance’s breaths came in sharp pants as Audrey desperately fished for the tiny piece of metal. 

Once she glanced up at his face and found his deep blue eyes locked on her. She had quickly turned her gaze back to her task but not before those eyes had once again caused her to feel small and somewhat helpless. 

Audrey fished around inside the wound and nearly let out a cry of triumph when she felt that small, crumpled ball of lead and pulled it out between her fingers. 

“I got it,” she declared triumphantly. 

Ance nodded and pulled the gun belt from his mouth. “You did real good… now sew me up before there ain’t any blood left to keep in.” 

Audrey nodded, dropped the bullet, poured a bit more whiskey over the wound and then sewed it closed all while Ance gripped that leather between his teeth and panted hard through his nose. 

When Audrey finished, she sat back on the dirt and breathed out a long sigh of relief, happy that her messy task was over. She was filthy and would need to clean off in the small stream they were camped beside, but Ance was patched up and would, hopefully, make a full recovery. 

Silence reigned heavily. Audrey went to the stream and washed her hands and arms before splashing a bit of liquid over her heated face. She crouched beside Penelope on her way back to her bedroll and smoothed the slumbering girl’s hair from her face before kissing her cheek. 

Audrey couldn’t believe how close she had come to losing her daughter today… That man had been aiming at her–he’d wanted to kill her! Who murdered an innocent child for money? Audrey hadn’t truly realized that such monsters existed. 

Settling herself cross legged on her bedroll, Audrey let herself once again study Ance. He was sitting up in the same position she was as he poked at the fire with a stick and stared into the flames. Not since her husband had died had Audrey sat in the dark with a half naked man and she had to admit that Ance painted a fine picture in the firelight…..

And he was her daughter’s savoir. If not for Ance, Penelope would have died again today. “Ance, I can’t thank you enough for what you did today. You nearly died to save my daughter….” 

“She’s not just yours,” Ance grumbled, not glancing away from the flames. “I care about that girl more than I’ve ever cared about anyone and you’ll not just take her away… and I won’t let anyone harm her.” 

Audrey shifted on her blanket. “I know that Penelope invited you to come live with us….” 

“Don’t worry, Audrey,” Ance snorted. “I ain’t gonna ask to move in. But I won’t be pushed out of her life and forgotten…” 

Audrey shook her head and held up her hand to silence his rant. “I had no intention of doing either of those things, Ance. You saved her…” Audrey swallowed hard against the rising emotion in her throat. “Penelope loves you and I would never force her to say goodbye to you forever.” 

Ance frowned, raised a thick brown brow and studied her for several long moments before looking away. “You aren’t what I expected,” he finally admitted. 

Audrey tilted her head. “What exactly were you expecting?” 

“An evil, harpy woman who would sell her daughter to a crooked businessman just to make herself a few dollars and get rid of her burdens.” 

Audrey bristled. “Yes, well, that’s not who I am.” 

Ance shrugged, “I realize that. That’s what I just got done saying, isn’t it?” 

“Just so you know, you aren’t what I expected either.” 

Ance laughed lightly, the sound deep and husky in the night air and causing Audrey to tremble–though she blamed it on the cool breeze blowing. “And what exactly were you expecting?” Ance questioned. 

“A no good, rough, murdering outlaw who would harm my little girl…” 

Ance sighed and laid back on his bedroll, folding his hands behind his head and staring up at the stars. Audrey felt her mouth go dry at the sight of his muscles and taut skin pulling and flexing with his movements. She tore her eyes away from that and turned her gaze back to the fire. 

“You had most of it right,” Ance stated. “All except that last bit.” 

Audrey said nothing. Honestly she needed him to be a rough, murdering outlaw… She had a U.S. Marshall who would no doubt want her dead and a thief with deep pockets wanting her daughters blood… Audrey needed a friend in a low place since she had no friends in high ones. 

“Ance, we need to talk about what we’re going to do,” Audrey finally whispered. 

Ance grunted. “I’m going to try to sleep for an hour and you’re going to keep watch,” he replied as he tossed the gun of the man he’d killed in town at her. 

Audrey scrambled to catch the gun and nodded. “I’ll keep watch.” 

“You let me sleep an hour, I’ll let you sleep an hour and then we’ll be on our way. Do you know how to use that thing if someone happens by?” Ance asked. 

Audrey snorted. “I’m not nearly as helpless as you seem to think I am.” 

“I never said you were helpless,” Ance countered. “Just want to make sure you got the stomach for killing a person who needs killed.” 

Audrey swallowed hard and she met his blue eyes which were watching her intently. With a nod, Audrey squared her shoulders. “I have no problem with killing someone who needs killed.” 

“Good,” Ance relaxed once again upon the bedroll and clicked his tongue. “Don’t worry none, Audrey. I was distracted today and that’s the only reason that bastard got close enough to nearly do what he did–it won’t happen again. I won’t let any harm come to Penelope and since you’re her mama, and she’d be awful upset if something bad happened to you, I’ll keep you safe too.” 

Audrey’s pride took a blow at his words and yet what could she say? She did need him. He knew about this side of life. He was experienced with gunfights, living outdoors, staying hidden, leaving no trail, no sign and staying alive…. Audrey knew ranching and ranching wasn’t going to keep her daughter safe. 

“Get some sleep, Ance,” Audrey grumbled as she stared off into the night. “I’ll protect you,” she added under her breath. 

Audrey hadn’t though the man could hear her until his low rumbling chuckle filled the night. 

---

Ance stared at Penelope and Audrey sleeping so soundly and wondered just what the hell he had gotten himself into. 

He hadn’t slept at all while Audrey’d been keeping watch. Instead he had thought about the situation they now found themselves in. 

A U.S Marshall who may or may not be dead was looking for Audrey and would no doubt kill her and Penelope if given half the chance. Barnaby, a man that no man wanted to cross, had been thoroughly crossed by Ance and was now hiring men left and right to hunt him down–apparently so they could kill a helpless little girl before finishing him off. 

Such upstanding men. 

Ance snorted and winced at the pain in his side. He’d been shot more than a few times but it never seemed to hurt any less. He looked down at the even stitching and had to admit that Audrey had done a damn good job. 

She was surprising. She knew how to handle a gun, (though he had yet to see if she could actually hit anything with it), she was cool under pressure if the situation in town had been any indication, she hadn’t complained a single time as they’d ridden hard for hours and she had taken care of his wound without a bit of hesitation. 

She was certainly something else. 

Penelope whimpered in her sleep and Ance reached out and pulled her blanket up a bit before smoothing out her blond hair. She quickly quieted back down and drifted back into dreamland and Ance sighed. 

Penelope and Audrey were both his responsibility now and Ance would have to find a way to keep them safe. It was uncharted territory for him. For his entire life he had only worried about himself–now he had a woman and child to care for. 

There was only one place he could think to take them to while he went after Barnaby and Rodger York and that place was a good two weeks of riding away–Ance could only hope that Old Man Thompson would take them in while he was busy. 

Ance rubbed his face. The last thing he wanted to deal with was that crazy, one-eyed bastard but desperate times called for desperate measures. 

The sky was beginning to lighten up to the east and Ance knew it was time to get a move on. Movement was going to be their only friend in order to avoid the men Barnaby sent their way. 

With a sigh he shoved himself painfully to his feet and began to stomp they dying fire. Penelope and Audrey both shot up at the sudden noise and Ance chuckled when he realized Audrey had that gun in her hand and ready to shoot. 

“Wake up sleeping beauties,” he grunted. “It’s time to be moving on.” 

A/N: I hope y’all enjoyed the new chapter. Sorry it took a few days, I’ve not been feeling very well.

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen 

Audrey was dead tired in the saddle when Ance finally called it a night the next evening. She was an experienced horse woman who wore split skirts and knew her way around a saddle but she wasn’t accustomed to spending hours upon hours riding on a horse’s back in the summer heat. 

She was biting her tongue hard as she slipped from the saddle and her legs protested the sudden brunt of her weight standing on them. 

“Mama! Look at the waterfall!” Penelope exclaimed happily. 

Audrey nodded. What her daughter called a waterfall was little more than the creek falling over a small hill and dancing over a few rocks but if Penelope wanted to call it a waterfall then Audrey wouldn’t dash her spirits. 

“You can’t call that a waterfall.” Ance apparently had no problem with dashing her spirits. 

“She can if she wants to,” Audrey quickly insisted as she rubbed at her aching thighs. 

Ance grunted, tossing his saddle and saddlebags aside to give his horse a break from the load. “Well there ain’t no point letting the girl call something a thing that it isn’t,” he stated. Then he tipped his hat to Penelope and winked and the girl giggled. Giggled! The man had just shot down her happiness and she was happy about that? “Don’t you worry none, Penny. I happen to know there’s a very nice waterfall between here and where we’re going and I’ll be sure to take you to it. You’ll know the damn difference then between a trickling creek and a real waterfall.” 

“Do you promise?” Penelope asked with a tilt of her head. 

“Have I let you down yet?” Ance retorted and Penelope giggled. 

“Nope!” she exclaimed brightly. “You sure haven’t… though I would have liked to have been able to keep that puppy,” the girl lamented. 

“I’ll get you a damn pup some day,” Ance grumbled. 

“But it won’t have a leg like mine,” Penelope reminded him, pointing to her brace. 

“I’ll break its leg, make a splint and you’ll be a matching set,” Ance assured her. This led to a fit of laughter from Penelope. Audrey watched the whole scene with mixed emotions. She was happy that her daughter was happy and yet couldn’t help but feel a bit slighted and….jealous. For so long it had been only the two of them against the world and now Penelope had Ance…. 

Ance grabbed a pot from his saddlebags and handed it to Penelope. “Go to the creek and fill this up. I got some taters I can boil for supper.” 

Penelope grabbed the pot and quickly went off to do as he bid. Ance began to walk toward an outcropping of bushes but Audrey stepped in front of him and blocked his path. “You can’t be doing that,” she warned. 

“Doing what?” he grunted as his eyes bored into her. 

Audrey fought to maintain his gaze despite the vulnerability it caused her to feel. “Speaking over me. I am her mother.” 

“I don’t take orders,” Ance growled, his fists clenching at his sides. 

“From women you mean?” Audrey spat. 

Ance shook his head, pulled a cigar from his shirt pocket and stuck it between his lips. “From anybody,” he assured her. “Now are you gonna get out of my way so I can piss or do I just need to do it right here?” 

Audrey stuttered several times before quickly stepping aside. Ance was chuckling as he walked off to the bushes. Audrey glared at his retreating back and wished she could punch him at times like these! The man was rock solid though and punching him would probably end in her having a sore fist and not much else accomplished. 

“Mama!” Penelope called out. “Mama look at the fish!” 

Audrey tore her attention away from Ance and happily refocused it on her daughter. She walked to the creek and saw the large catfish her daughter had spotted. Audrey let out a low whistle. “That’s a nice one,” she admitted. 

“I’m gonna name it, Fishy!” Penelope giggled. Audrey smiled and patted her braided hair. They watched the fish for several long minutes while Penelope made up stores about taking it for walks,(along the water’s edge of course) and playing in the sunshine with her Fishy. 

Then suddenly the peace of the moment was shattered when a sharpened stick came flying down and pierced Fishy in the back, sticking all the way through, and pulling him flipping, flopping and gasping from the water. 

Audrey and Penelope both watched on in horror as Ance set the fish down and chopped off its head in one fluid motion. 

“Good eye, Penny. He’ll taste good with the taters,” Ance acknowledged. 

Audrey cast a glance at her daughter, saw the look on her face and groaned, knowing what was about to happen…. And happen it did. Penelope let out  wail and clenched her fists. Her brown eyes reddened and filled with tears as she stared broken heartedly at Ance. 

“How could you do that?” she whimpered. “He was my friend!” 

Audrey, who moments before had wanted to throttle the man, couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him now as he sat back on his haunches and appeared completely bewildered. “Your friend? It’s a fish….”

“His name was Fishy!” Penelope exclaimed. “And you killed him!” 

“Penny, I’m….” Ance swallowed hard as tears streaked Penelope’s face. “Hell, I’m sorry…”

“You are evil!” Penelope sniffed loudly, threw the metal pot to the ground and then turned and ran as quickly as her leg would allow away from him. She stopped at a tree on top of a nearby hill and collapsed beside it, pulling her knees into her chest and sobbing into her skirts. 

Ance simply stared after her and appeared quite lost. He began to rise up but Audrey stopped him. “You stay and cook the fish, I’ll go tend to Penelope,” she assured him. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Ance, we have to eat… I’ll try to make her understand that.” 

Ance simply nodded and stared down at the dead fish at his feet as Audrey rose up and walked to her daughter. She sat down beside her and silence reigned for several long moments before Audrey spoke. “Ance loves you very much, Penelope, and what you said to him was mean.” 

“But he killed my Fishy…” Penelope voice was muffled from within the folds of her skirts. 

“You stop that now. You are eight years old, not four, and you understand that fish are food. Why are you acting this way, Penelope? It isn’t like you to blow up that way. Tell me what’s really wrong.” 

Penelope sniffed quietly and glanced at her over her knees. “I’m scared, mama.. I miss our house and the horses… Why can’t we go home? Why do those men want to hurt me?”

Audrey’s heart broke for her daughter. She didn’t deserve this pain and it only served to further fuel Audrey’s hatred for U.S. Marshall Rodger York. She put her arm around Penelope and the girl crawled into her lap just the same as she had when she’d been younger. 

“I’m scared too, baby girl, but I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe and we have Ance to help us. Before you know it, this will all be over and we’ll be back home.” 

“But what about those men, mama? Why do they want to hurt me? What did I do?” 

“You didn’t do anything,” Audrey promised her. 

“She’s right, Penny,” Ance’s voice came from beside them and Audrey nearly cried out with shock at his sudden presence. How did a man so large move so silently? Ance held out a white wildflower clutched in his callous and scar covered fist and stuck it in Penelope’s face. “I’m sorry about your fish, Penny. I promise when all this is said and done, I’ll dig you a pond and you can fill it with all the damn fish you want and I won’t fry none of them up for supper.” 

Penelope swiped her hands over her face and took the flower. “Okay,” she whispered. “Sorry I yelled at you.” 

Ance shrugged, a small grin tugging at his lips. “Sorry I cut your fish’s head off.” 

Penelope launched herself out of Audrey’s lap and threw her arms around Ance’s neck. He grunted and Audrey could tell he paled beneath his beard. She knew he was in pain from the wound on his side but when she opened her mouth to speak he shook his head and hugged Penelope tighter. 

“I love you, Ance.” 

Audrey saw Ance’s throat bob and though he turned his back to her,  she still heard him whisper, “I love you too, Penny.” 

---

Ance sat in the dark and stared at Audrey’s slumbering form. It seemed he constantly found his eyes watching her. There was no denying the way his body was beginning to respond to her presence. The touch of her hand on his arm whenever she grabbed him or wanted his attention had him biting his cheeks ’til they bled to keep from growling and tossing the beautiful woman to the ground. It was an unfamiliar thing for Ance–this desire and passion. While he’d had whores in brothels before he hadn’t been passionate about any of them…. Audrey was different. She was strong, brave and a truly loving mother to Penelope–and Ance wasn’t happy about it. 

Ance’s gaze went to the girl who had been so upset hours ago by his slaughtering of her scaly friend. Hell, Ance hadn’t realized she’d be upset… he’d forgotten in a sense what it felt like to care so much about something… 

All he cared about in the world was Penelope and he would do everything he could to be certain he never gave her a reason to look at him with that kind of hurt in her brown eyes again. 

Ance’s mare snorted lightly and tossed her head where she stood beside a small bush. Ance nodded at her as he shoved himself to his feet, doing his best to ignore the pain in his side. “I know he’s out there, girl. You watch these two and I’ll deal with him.” 

The mare slowly cantered over to Penelope and Audrey and stood  beside them. Ance knew that should anyone happen into camp, his mare would bite, kick, scream and whinny before she’d let harm come to those he told her to watch out for. She was a damn good horse–Ance supposed he liked her. 

Ance slipped away into the darkness and toward the man he’d noticed dogging them since yesterday. The man had followed them from town and at first Ance had thought perhaps he was just going the same way–until Ance had headed straight toward Indian Territory and the man had followed. Not many folks made their way there. 

Ance crouched low as he crossed over the rise and saw the tiny camp down below. A lone silhouette sat on a rock beside a tiny fire, staring into the flames. Ance pulled his revolver and headed down the hill, not bothering to hide himself. 

The man looked up and quickly leapt to his feet and held his hands high. “Don’t shoot!” he exclaimed. 

“Why the hell you been doggin’ me?” Ance growled. 

“I ain’t been doggin’ nobody!” the man vowed. “Honest!” 

Ance glanced around. There was only one horse hitched but there were two tin cups and plates on the ground beside the fire. Unease trickled down Ance’s spine. He’d been wrong… there were two men, not just one, and the other man was currently away from camp. 

“Where’s your friend?” he asked, keeping his voice low and even. 

“I ain’t got no friends,” the man stated with a smirk. “Not a single friend in the whole world.” 

Ance tilted his head toward the plates and cups. “You must have one hell of an appetite.”

A toothless grin was flashed his way. “I always was a big eater.” 

Ance decided he’d had enough. Without a warning, he raised his gun and fired a shot, blowing a bullet through the lying son of a bitch’s gut. The man stumbled back and clutched at his bleeding abdomen. He reached for his gun but Ance clicked his tongue and cocked the gun, preparing for another shot which stopped the man’s movements. 

“Where’s your goddamn friend?” Ance snapped. 

“You son of a bitch… I’m dying!” the man cried as he fell to his knees. 

Ance nodded calmly and stepped forward. “You asked for it, you yellow bellied coward. How much money are you and your friend hoping to gain by killing an innocent child?” 

The dying man laughed weakly. “You should have thought twice before you stole from Barnaby. That girl is as good as dead because of what you did.. And so are you.” 

Ance glared at the man, decided to leave him to bleed to death out here in the middle of nowhere–which would happen within the next hour or so– took the man’s gun and headed quickly back toward camp. He hoped he’d get back to the women before his mare was forced to take the honors of killing the second bastard away from him. 

---

Audrey jerked awake in the night and sat up quickly. She had no idea what had awaken her but was startled to find Ance’s mare standing so closely. 

The horse’s head shot up and her ears swiveled. Audrey heard a twig snap nearby and she looked to the other side of the fire to realize that Ance was gone…. Where had he gone?

“Ance?” she whispered into the darkness. 

A shadow appeared and as it moved closer, Audrey knew it was nearly large enough to be Ance’s. Reaching for her revolver, Audrey clutched it in her hand as Ance’s mare stomped her hoof and let out a snort. Audrey prepared herself for protecting her daughter. 

A sneering man stepped close enough to the firelight for Audrey to make out his features in the darkness. He was short, thin, pock scarred and held a gun in his hand which was aimed straight at her. 

“Hello there, pretty lady. I’ll have to keep you alive awhile. You could be fun.” 

A low growl emitted from the darkness behind the sneering man and a much larger shadow suddenly loomed in the night. “I wouldn’t count on that,” Ance’s deep, gravely voice warned. 

Audrey watched with a mixture of shock, relief and a bit of irritation at once again needing to be saved, as Ance shot forward, wrapped one massive arm around the man’s shoulders and slid his knife across his throat before the other man even knew what was coming. 

The man’s eyes widened as he flailed desperately in Ance’s arms a moment before those black eyes went blank and the man slumped lifelessly. Ance dropped him to the ground and his eyes roamed over Audrey. “You okay?” 

Audrey could do little more than nod as she breathed deeply and fought off waves of nausea. Never in her life had she seem as much blood come out of one person as had come out of that man’s throat….

“Who was he?” she whispered, letting her gaze drift over her peacefully slumbering daughter.  

“I don’t know,” Ance replied, cleaning his knife on the dead man’s stiff trousers. “Barnaby hired him and his friend.” 

“Friend?” Audrey frowned as she slowly pushed herself to her feet and clutched her revolver tightly to hide the trembling in her hands. 

“Don’t worry. He’s dead,” Ance assured her. His eyes washed over her once more and Audrey found herself shifting under his gaze as her body seemed to warm from the swift caress of his deep blue eyes. “You’re sure you’re okay?” 

“Yes…thank you.. Again.” 

Ance shoved his knife back in the holster on his leg and shrugged. “Don’t mention it.” He grabbed he dead man under his arms and hefted him up halfway. Audrey’s stomach rolled at the sight of the man’s neck flopping back and that gaping wound in his throat flopping open. “I’ll get rid of his so Penny don’t see it…. I uh.. I’m glad you’re okay, Audrey.” 

Audrey watched him walk away in the night and wondered just how many times Ance was going to ride in and save her life….

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Ance was on edge the next few days as the trio traveled. Audrey knew it was because of the close calls they’d had so far. It was clear the outlaw wanted to ensure he had his senses on high alert and no one else was able to get near Penelope. 

Audrey wished the man would relax–at least a little. Ance relaxed was grumpy enough; Ance tense was downright surly. Even Penelope seemed to have noticed the change in the man and begun giving him a much wider berth. She had even gone so far as to stop riding on Ance’s horse and was now instead riding on with Audrey. 

“We’ll camp here,” Ance growled, pulling his horse to a stop beside the creek they’d been following for days. The water had been growing deeper and wider as they traveled and Audrey knew, based on the direction they were going, that they had to nearing Indian Territory if they hadn’t entered it already. 

She wondered why Ance would bring them to such a dangerous land for safety but she didn’t question him. He had done everything he could so far to keep them safe and they had lived this long… Audrey would trust him completely now. The man had certainly earned it. 

“It’s earlier than when we usually stop,” Audrey noted as she got down from the horses back and pulled Penelope off as well. 

Ance grunted as he pointed one thick finger up toward the sky and the dark clouds that were gathering quickly. “Would you rather ride through one hell of a rainstorm?” he snapped. 

“No,” Audrey quickly replied with more than a little sarcasm in her voice. At the sound of her snappy tone, Ance raised a brow but said nothing before pulling all his gear off his mare and pack mule. Audrey did the same to her horse while Penelope walked to the creek bank and studied the rippling waves. 

“You and Penny go gather some berries,” Ance’s deep voice suddenly growled into her ear. 

Audrey’s knees trembled as his warm breath caressed her. Before Audrey could form a response, Ance’s calloused hand gently came to rest on her shoulder. 

Her stomach danced while her heart raced. The tips of his rough fingers danced across Audrey’s skin and lightly grazed the bare skin of her collarbone. Audrey felt her womb clench deep within her. Dear Lord, what was happening to her? Desire flowing through her veins like blood and it took every ounce of control she had to keep from turning and throwing herself into Ance’s strong arms. 

Those strong fingers grazed the tender flesh behind her ear and Audrey couldn’t keep herself from moaning. Never had she felt a lust and want so powerful for any man but Alexander. 

Then, just as suddenly as he had begun to drive her wild, Audrey felt a small tug and Ance’s warm touch was gone. Audrey turned on trembling legs just in time to see Ance tossing something too small for her to see away. 

“There was a bug,” he mumbled. 

Audrey nibbled at her bottom lip as she studied his bearded face for any sign that he had been as aroused by the contact as she had. If Audrey was a betting woman, she would say that he had. She was nearly positive that the tops of his cheeks, above his beard, were heated, his pupils were dilated, his impossibly blue eyes even darker somehow than normal and his nostrils were flaring as he stared back down at her. 

“Um..thanks,” Audrey stammered. 

“If you want a decent supper, you better go gather those berries.” Was all Ance said in reply. 

To say that Audrey was feeling a bit off kilter as she and Penelope gathered their berries was an understatement. She was undeniably attracted to Ansel Adams. He was rude, bristly, possessive and a thieving, murdering outlaw…

He was also handsome, mysterious, tall, broad, strong and completely in love with her daughter. 

Audrey had been alone raising Penelope for five long years. She hadn’t given any thought to being with a man since Alexander’s death, no matter how many men had shown interest. 

But now…

“Wow!” Penelope exclaimed as they topped over the small hill and took in the sight of just how hard Ance had been working. He had a large cloth tarp strung up and draping from the large limbs of several massive oak trees. There was a campfire burning, bedrolls laid out and the last of their potatoes were boiling.  

The scene was quite…homey.. And not in the least something Audrey would have expected from Ance. 

“You’ve outdone yourself,” Audrey stated as she held out the pot full of berries they had gathered and tried to push her thoughts of attraction for Ance aside. She had much bigger things to worry about just now…like all the people who wanted her daughter dead. 

“Just wanted to keep us dry when this rain hits,” Ance replied without looking at her. 

“Why didn’t you put this up before?” Penelope asked as she twilred around beneath the canvas. “We’ve gotten wet before when mama wasn’t here.” 

Audrey returned her gaze to Ance and realized the man was now staring straight back at her. His gaze was hot, hungry and surely if that rain began now it would sizzle upon their makeshift shelter. 

“Your mama is a woman, Penny, and I figured since she’s a woman, she’d like a dry place to lay her head tonight.” 

Audrey nodded, fidgeting as he continued to study her with ravenous blue eyes. “I think this is nice, Ance. Thank you for going to such trouble for me.” 

Ance grunted and turned away, breaking the contact between them. “Yeah, well, if there’s one thing women are, it’s trouble.” 

---

Ance was conflicted…around aroused. He was a conflicted, aroused mess and it was all Audrey’s fault. 

Damn but he wanted that woman!  When he had seen that man standing so close to her all those nights ago and had heard him say he waned to take advantage of her, Ance had been filled with rage. He’d killed that bastard in a possessive haze because Audrey was his!

Damnation!

Ance didn’t want a woman! Hell, he couldn’t stand most women… but then again, he’d already learned that Audrey was different. 

Darkness had fallen, the heavy rain that had poured down for hours had finally ceased and Penelope and Audrey were sleeping soundly. Ance decided that what he needed was a bit of a walk to clear his head. He’d been on high alert for the last few days but now that they were in Indian Territory he could relax a bit. 

Ance trusted most Indians more than he trusted white men and he knew that most men wouldn’t follow him here–their fear of losing their scalps would be far too high. 

Old man Thompson was a friend of the Indians and had his home here in the territory. A home that was only seven more days of riding away. Ance had to get Audrey and Penelope there, deal with Barnaby and then get them home. 

His chances of doing that and living to talk about it were slim to none and he damn well knew it… but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try his damndest to get it done. 

Ance let his feet carry him over a nearby hill and he sat down halfway down the other side. Pulling a cigar from his pocket, Ance lit it and as he puffed it slowly, he contemplated life and the way things turned out–the way they changed and shifted without warning. 

Footsteps sounded behind him and Ance cursed under his breath. “You’re supposed to be sleeping, Audrey,” he grumbled. 

“I could say the same about you,” she snapped back. 

Ance was glad that his back was to her and she wouldn’t be able to see him smile. Audrey had a snappy temper that rivaled even his. Before Ance could think of anything to say in response, Audrey let out a gasp. Ance turned just in time to see her slip in the mud and come tumbling his way. 

Throwing out his arms, Ance attempted to catch her but her momentum proved too great and knocked him off balance, sending them both rolling down the small hill. Ance kept a grip on her and when they landed he was above her. 

Quickly Ance braced himself up to avoid crushing her much smaller frame. He stared down into her wide brown eyes and she stared right back up at him. 

Ance breathed in her scent which was a mixture of lavender, berries and the horses they’d been living on. Her full freckled cheeks were flushed and her breasts rose and fell heavily as she lay beneath him. 

Ance felt large, powerful and…. Helpless. With Audrey looking up at him this way, Ance felt completely helpless. 

Audrey’s pink tongue darted across her full bottom lip and suddenly Ance had to know what it tasted like. Without waiting a moment longer or seeking permission, Ance dipped his head down and captured her lips with his own.

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Audrey lost herself completely the instant Ance’s lips touched hers. It was heat, it was passion, it was more than any other kiss she had ever experienced had been before.  

It seemed that the instant he kissed her, Ance was inside her, filling her body with more want and need than Audrey could have ever imagined existed. Ance’s lips were possessive and demanding. His thick body was braced above her and she was trapped inside the steel trap of his muscular forearms–perfectly cocooned in his warmth and protection. 

His name left Audrey’s kiss swollen lips on a moan and Ance deepened the kiss. His tongue thrust inside her mouth and Audrey matched the passion, causing their tongues to dance together in a fight for dominance. 

Ance’s lower body thrust against hers and Audrey could feel the evidence of what this kiss was doing to him pressed tight against her. She threw her arms around his neck wantonly and buried her fingers in his thick brown hair pulling a bit when he removed his lips from her and began to lick and nip at her neck. 

One of Ance’s arm snaked downward and his hand brushed against her thigh through the gingham fabric of her split skirt. Audrey stiffened and shuddered as new waves of pleasure washed over her. 

She’d been far too long without the touch of a man. 

A low growl rumbled deep in Ance’s chest and Audrey felt it against her throat as he continued to taste every last inch of her skin. 

“I want you, Audrey,” Ance’s deep voice was low and gruff as he put his lips close to her ear. “I want to touch, to taste, every inch of your damnable body.”

Audrey nearly swallowed her tongue! Never had a man spoke to her in such a way! Alexander, though she had loved him with all her heart, probably would have turned beet red and been too embarrassed to kiss her for a month if she’d spoken that way to him…. 

Audrey bit her lip, wondering if she liked the way Ance spoke….

When he nipped at her ear and growled his displeasure at her sudden unresponsiveness, Audrey decided she did as she pushed her hips up against his, tugged at his hair and brought his mouth back to hers. 

Thunder rumbled in the distance but Audrey barely heard it over the pounding of her heart. Ance’s fingers grazed against that juncture between her thighs and even through her clothes, Audrey felt the heat from the contact. She nearly jumped from her skin and she let out a squeak of shock. 

Ance chuckled. “How long has it been, Audrey? How long since a man touched you the way you needed to be touched?” 

Audrey swallowed hard, willing herself to calm the hell down before her heart failed completely. “F..five years…” she managed to gasp. Ance’s beard was rough against her heated cheeks as he once again began to nibble his way down her neck, this time letting his tongue dance across her exposed collarbones. 

Ance breathed against her skin and then pulled away just enough so he could look down into her eyes. His deep blue eyes were full of lust, awe and perhaps a bit of confusion as he studied her. “You’re so different….” he whispered. 

Audrey would rather have the dirty talk back but she supposed she could see where this new direction led since his calloused hand was still resting against her trembling womanhood. “D..different?” she whispered, wishing she could better hide the quaking in her voice. “Different how?” 

“You’re a real mother…a good woman…” With that Ance yanked away from her and stood up quickly, leaving Audrey lying there in the mud feeling overheated and under satisfied. 

“What are you doing?” she demanded, rising up on her elbows. 

Ance shoved his hand through his thick hair and walked up the hill a bit to scoop his hat up out of the mud. “You need to get back to camp, Audrey.” 

Audrey scurried to her feet, cursing the weakness in her legs. She was no better than a schoolgirl who’d received her first kiss! “And why is that?” she asked, feigning a calmness that she did not feel. 

Ance didn’t even look back at her as he fished a cigar and matches from his pocket. “Go back to camp, Audrey.” 

Audrey squared her shoulders and strode up the hill. She walked around him and turned to face him, daring him to turn away with nothing but a look. 

Ance stared back down at her, his blue eyes a mask of indifference that Audrey could now tell was a fake wall. Something the man put up to keep the outside world at bay. She had seen those walls come down now and then over the last week and a half with Penelope and she had seen them come down just a moment ago with her… just before the man had leapt away from her as if she’d just admitted she was a leper. 

“You don’t get to do that, Ance,” Audrey warned. 

Ance grunted. “I get to do whatever the hell I want to do. That’s the kind of man I am, Audrey.” 

Audrey rolled her eyes. “Don’t start your ‘I’m a big scary outlaw’ routine with me! I know for a fact there’s more to you than that.” 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ance replied simply before putting his cigar between his lips and lighting it. “Now go back to camp.” 

“Or what? You’ll shoot me?” Audrey grumbled. She put one hand on her hip and poked his broad chest with her finger. “You don’t get to do this, Ance. You don’t get to give me the most leg shaking, earth quaking kiss I’ve ever had and then turn yourself off and order me back to camp.” 

Ance raised a brow and something flashed in his eyes before he once again closed himself off and shrugged. “I’m doing what’s right. Now get your ass back to camp.” 

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Audrey replied, sounding very much like an angry child and not caring in the least. She grabbed his arm when he turned to walk away and his predatory gaze landed on her as a growl rumbled in his chest. 

“Don’t touch me, Audrey.” 

“As I recall you rather like all the touching a moment ago,” Audrey countered, feeling herself tremble as she did so. 

Ance shook his head. “It can’t happen.” 

“What can’t?” 

“Us… This…” Ance pointed back and forth between them. “All of this with you, me and Penny. It can’t work and it won’t last.” 

Audrey frowned and let her hand fall to her side. “And why not? You’ve made promises to my daughter that I expect you to uphold.” 

Ance nodded, “And I will.. But not this way. I ain’t a family man, Audrey. This isn’t me. Now dammit, leave me be. I’ll get you all through this alive, get you home and have a role in that girl’s life but you need to leave me be.” 

Audrey felt her heart burn from the sting of his rejection. “And why? Why do I need to leave you be?” 

Ance let out a long breath. “I don’t want to talk about it…” 

“Well too damned bad, you’re going to,” Audrey replied stubbornly. 

Ance just shook his head and chuckled. “You are the damndest woman I’ve ever met….” His eyes met hers a long moment before he looked away once more and let his cigar rest at the corner of his mouth. “I’m not cut out to be a family man. I don’t know how to settle down and I don’t have any interest in a marriage or a home or any of the things that a woman like you would want.” 

“I wasn’t asking you to marry me, Ance. I was asking you to….”

Ance held up his hand. “I know what you wanted.” He rested that big calloused hand on her cheek and Audrey hated herself for leaning into his touch when he was hurting her pride so badly. Ance let his gaze meet hers once more and she saw his sadness but also his sincerity as he spoke. “I won’t take something from you that you’ve only ever given to your husband, Audrey. I… I don’t deserve something like that.” 

Audrey’s heart broke, not for herself, but for Ance. Did he think himself that unlovable? That incapable of loving? What had happened in his life to turn him so cold and sad inside? 

Audrey reached out and let her fingers dance across his beard. Ance growled, yanked away from her and pointed up the hill. “Go back to camp, Audrey. Now.” 

“No,” she stubbornly stood her ground. 

Ance threw his hands up. “I’m warning you! You either get back there now or I’m going to throw you down right here in the mud and grass and I’m going to take you hard, fast, rough and without mercy for the pain I cause you. I’ll leave you used up and broken and you’ll hate yourself in the damn morning.” 

“So would you…” Audrey whispered–though she wasn’t so sure. How much did she really know about Ance? Should she be arguing with him this way out her alone in the dark with all the arousal in the air. 

“I can see the doubt in your eyes, Audrey, that’s good. It means you aren’t completely daft. Now get your ass back to camp.” With that Ance strode away into the darkness and Audrey glared at his retreating form before storming back up the hill and rejoining her daughter by the campfire just as the rain began to fall once again.  

Damn that damned man…….

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ance would have liked to simply bypassed High Rock and the waterfall that cascaded over the cliff there but he had made a promise to Penelope and he intended to keep it… Even if it would mean an extra night of sleeping under the stars with Audrey just one small campfire away. 

If he went straight on through they’d make it to Old Man Thompson’s within the next three days but if they went to the waterfall it would be at least four. Truthfully, Ance could use needing to get to safety as an excuse and probably get by with the fib, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie to Penelope that way. 

“It’s getting rough here,” Audrey noted from behind him. Penelope was riding on her horse with her since the girl had decided Ance was too grumpy of a riding partner. Hell fire, it wasn’t his fault he was grumpy! It was Audrey’s. That damned woman had him twisted up, turned inside out and completely beside himself. Ance wasn’t used to feeling so vulnerable and exposed and that’s exactly what Audrey caused him to feel. 

When he’d been kissing her beneath the cloudy night sky a few nights ago, it had been pure heaven–or a one way ticket to hell–depending on how you looked at the situation. He wanted her, he knew she wanted him, and yet he couldn’t be what she would want and need. She’d want a settling down man, a home every night for supper man, a faithful one woman man… Ance couldn’t be that man. He didn’t want to be that man. 

If Audrey had been any other woman, Ance would have taken her without caring about the consequences, but Audrey was different. She was a good woman; the only one he had ever met! She was a loving mother which was something Ance hadn’t realized existed and she seemed to be a genuinely good person…. Not only that, but she was Penelope’s mother and if he hurt her then Penelope would hate him for it–Ance wouldn’t do anything to cause that girl to hate him. 

“These rocks are getting big!” Penelope exclaimed as they weaved between the boulders and climbed steadily upward. 

Ance rolled his broad shoulders as he patted his mare on the neck. “We gotta travel up a bit to get to that waterfall I was telling you about,” Ance replied, though it wouldn’t be much longer now before the trail looped around and they arrived at their destination. Already he could hear the roar of the water cascading in the distance. 

“You remembered?” Penelope exclaimed, her brown eyes lighting up. 

“Have I let you down yet?” Ance demanded with a wink. 

She giggled while Audrey did what could only be described as glowering. Ance winced. Audrey had been damn hostile toward him since the night of their kiss…. A kiss that still burned Ance’s lips each time he let his mind go back to it.  Ance didn’t understand why she was so damn mad at him. Hell, he’d been protecting her when he’d stopped things before they could go further.  

Penelope’s cheerful voice began to sing songs about giant waterfalls and colorful rainbows. Ance let himself get caught up in her song and let Audrey, and his won mixed up emotions, fade from his mind. 

“Mama look!” Penelope exclaimed when they rounded the bend in the trees and rocks and the cascading thirty foot waterfall came into view. 

“Wow…” Awe filled Audrey’s voice. “That’s beautiful.” 

Ance had known they’d love the view and it was why he had brought them here. The small glen they could see just below them at the base of the falls, was Ance’s favorite place to camp and one of the only places that not even Irish knew about. The thoughts of why Ance had chosen to share this place with not only Penelope but also Audrey attempted to enter his mind but Ance quickly shook them away. 

“We’ll camp there tonight,” Ance announced, pointing toward the flat ground, dancing grasses and colorful wildflowers. 

“It’s only a little after noon.” Audrey glanced up toward the sky. “Shouldn’t we move on?” 

Ance shook his head. “Nope. We’re stopping. That pool there is perfect for more of those swimming lessons that Penelope has been asking for.” 

“Swimming?” Audrey inquired while chewing on her lip. 

Ance had learned that Audrey chewed her lip whenever she was unsure or thinking hard about something.. He wished she’d quit thinking altogether. She was far too tempting a sight when she grazed those teeth across that full bottom lip. 

“Yeah, mama. Ance has been teaching me how to swim, remember? Can you swim, mama?” 

Audrey brought her horse to a stop beside Ance and shook her head. “Not very well.” 

“Ance can teach you too!” Penelope’s face lit up as Audrey slid her from the horse’s back and sat her on her feet. 

Audrey waved her hand dismissively. “I don’t think….” 

Penelope put one hand on her hip and pointed her finger toward Audrey’s chest, mirroring the same bossy pose that Audrey had used on Ance more than once. For the first time in days, Ance found himself chuckling. Two sets of eyes were quickly turned in his direction and Ance shrugged. “Like mother, like daughter,” he stated bluntly. 

“Ance, you’ll teach mama how to swim, won’t you?” Penelope asked, turning her powerful pleading abilities on him. 

“Uh..” Ance pulled his cigar from his mouth. Audrey, wet and nearly naked, clinging to him as they moved through the cool clear water…? He put his cigar back and puffed–hard. “I don’t think so.” 

Penelope grabbed his big calloused hand in both her tiny ones and batted her lashes at him. “Please, Ance? It’s important for people to know how to swim, isn’t it?” 

Ance wanted to say no and he was fairly sure he would have if Audrey hadn’t spoke up. “I’m sure Ance won’t mind,” she announced. “Everyone needs to know how to swim.” 

Ance threw a glare in her direction and then nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw the hunger and determination in her brown eyes as she looked back at him. 

Ance’s confusion about his feelings vanished and was replaced by disappointment and a bit of anger. So she was just like all other women in certain ways. Right now she was acting like a scheming woman, making a plan to get what she wanted from him. Ance grinned, a cold, hard, calculating grin that had the confidence in her brown eyes faltering. 

“Sure, Penny. I’ll teach your mama how to swim.” 

Penelope giggled. “Don’t worry, mama. Ance is a really good swimmer and he’s really strong. He won’t let you drown.” 

---

Audrey wondered what exactly she had been thinking when she’d pressured Ance into teaching her to swim. She had to have been delirious…

She was now standing in the warn afternoon sun, watching Ance and Penelope splash in that clear pool of water and dreading the moment when Ance would look up and realize she was back from removing her dress and skirts. Audrey felt exposed and vulnerable standing in her underclothes out in the open where anyone could walk up and see her. 

She didn’t like being so vulnerable… not after the way Ance had rejected her days before. Audrey was not a woman who put herself out there in the position to be hurt, and while Audrey knew Ance had issues of his own that had caused him to walk away from her, his rejection had still hurt her–deeply. 

Audrey had been eager to seize an opportunity to be close to Ance. To pay him back for walking away from her and show him what he was missing. She’d wanted to feel his calloused hands and strong arms holding her body…. 

And then he had flashed her that cold grin that had told her he knew exactly what she was up to. The grin that had her feeling like a mouse in a trap. 

What had she been thinking?! Ance was a powerful predator and she had been taunting him! 

Now Audrey couldn’t back down. If she backed down, she would seem weak and that was something that she never wanted anyone to see her as. She was Audrey Reynolds and she wouldn’t let Ansel Adams scare her off. 

Standing there awkwardly, Audrey waited for the moment when Ance’s deep blue eyes would find her… and then they did. 

Audrey nearly melted into a puddle right there under his intense gaze. His eyes roamed over her slowly, his gaze dropping to her feet before slipping back to her face, pausing at her breasts long enough to have her cheeks heating. 

“Mama, are you ready to swim? I’ll let you have a turn now. I’m getting tired.” 

Audrey forced a smile while inside she cursed her daughter’s generous nature. Ance didn’t say a word as he picked Penelope up and carried her from the water. Audrey found herself unable to stop her eyes from wandering over the muscles and planes of his body. Water droplets ran down his tanned skin and caught the sunlight. 

Audrey felt an ache low in her abdomen and a warmth spread throughout her body. She wanted Ance desperately… Then her eyes fell on that healing wound on his side and she swallowed hard. 

Suddenly, Audrey knew she couldn’t do this… not now. Not with Ance. She couldn’t play this game, it simply wasn’t in her nature. Yes, she wanted Ance but not by seducing him and using her daughter to help get him close to her. 

Audrey wanted Ance to come to her. She wanted him to want to be near her. She wanted Ance’s touch but only if he truly desired to touch her. This was the man who had saved her daughters life, saved her life, was taking care of them without questions. The man who had won her daughter’s heart and friendship. The man who had won Audrey’s own heart…. Was she falling in love with him? She couldn’t be.. She hardly knew Ance! 

Dammit, Audrey was confused! 

Without a word, Audrey turned on her heel and ran away from the camp as quickly as she could. 

---

“What’s wrong with mama?” Penelope asked, concern lacing her voice. 

Ance quickly put her brace on her leg with a practiced ease and patted her blond hair. “I don’t know but you stay here and guard the horses and I’ll go check.” 

“Okay,” Penelope replied, her voice absent as he eyes stared at the tree line Audrey had disappeared into. “I don’t think she wants to swim,” Penelope added. 

“Don’t you worry none, Penny,” Ance assured her. “I’ll take care of your mama.” 

With that, Ance stood straight and followed after Audrey, wondering what had made the woman run off. When Ance had seen her standing there on the riverbank, chewing that lip and wearing only her underclothes, he’d nearly come undone. 

Never in his life had Ance felt desire for any woman the way he felt it for Audrey… and then she had turned and fled and his desire had quickly morphed into concern. 

Holy hell…. Ance cared. He cared about Audrey. He genuinely liked her. He admired her stubborn nature, her fighting spirit and her motherly side when she was with Penelope. 

Ance nearly stopped in his search of the woman and fled back to camp when he realized what that meant. He cared about her, admired her, desired her and worried about her when she wasn’t happy. He’d even put her above his own needs when he’d walked away from her that rainy night. 

Ance hadn’t thought it possible.. Hadn’t thought it plausible.. Hell he hadn’t thought it would happen in a hundred, million years! But it had. 

Ance had been bitten by the love bug and, dammit, he was falling ill fast.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Hot tears burned Audrey’s eyes as she struggled to slide into her discarded blouse and split skirt that she had left out here in the woods after undressing. 

Once dressed, she grabbed her ankle boots, sat down upon a large gray boulder and buried her face in her hands as her boots fell to the forest floor. 

Audrey couldn’t explain what was causing her tears.. Stress over the direction her life had taken and the many threats looming over her head as well as Penelope’s played a big factor, but there was more. Audrey realized her heart hurt. Was she in love with Ance? No, she really didn’t think she was–at least not yet. But she wanted him and she wanted to be in love again. 

Audrey had been lonely a long time, though she hadn’t realized she was lonely until Ance had come along. He had reawakened her womanly heart and made her crave the passion, as well as the companionship, that only a man could provide. Then he had rejected her… and it stung and hurt and caused that ache of loneliness to worsen. 

Audrey knew she was being ridiculous and irrational but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from being either! Life was turned too upside down lately to get herself set straight!

“Here.” 

Ance’s deep, gruff voice appeared so suddenly and without warning that Audrey let out a startled cry and nearly tumbled backward off her boulder. She blinked several times, swiped her arm over her tear streaked face and glared up at him as her heart struggled to slow itself. 

“Shouldn’t you be keeping an eye on Penelope?” she snapped, angry at being caught in such a vulnerable state. 

Ance’s broad shoulders shrugged as he tossed the bandana he’d been holding out for her and Audrey caught it quickly. “Penny will be fine. The horse can keep an eye on her.” 

“The horse?” Audrey muttered, as she mopped up the last of her tears. 

Instead of responding, Ance dropped to one knee, picked up Audrey’s boot in one hand and gently grasped her ankle with the other. Audrey swallowed hard as she trembled. “What are you doing?” 

“Putting your damn shoes on. You seemed to be having trouble,” Ance grumbled without looking at her. “Is there a reason you took off running like a brain addled coward and worried your damn daughter and me?” 

Audrey’s first impulse was to bristle at the insult but she held back her sharp retort as he tenderly slid on her second boot, and instead she focused her attention on his final few words. 

“You were worried about me?” she whispered. 

Ance snorted and shoved himself back to his feet. The fact that he was still shirtless was not lost on Audrey’s roaming gaze. “Of course I was.” Ance grumbled. “You’ve been bristly for days then you tried to turn into a seductress just before you took off running into the forest wearing nothing but your goddamn underclothes.” Ance shook his head. “And I find you sobbing out here like a person who’s lost their best damn friend… what the hell is going on in your head?” 

“Well I…” Audrey began but Ance raised his hand to silence her. 

“Keep it simple. I ain’t got the patience for a bunch of feminine blah, blah, blah.” 

Audrey blinked several times and then burst out laughing. She was quite certain she must have resembled a crazy person as she clutched at her stomach and was unable to quell her loud guffaws. 

Ance shifted his feet and pulled off his hat before shoving his hand through his thick brown hair. “What the hell’s so funny?” 

“You,” Audrey gasped, swiping more tears, these of laughter, from her cheeks. 

Audrey was more than a little surprised when the corners of Ance’s lips lifted in a smile and his deep, rumbling laughter mingled with hers. “I can honestly say I’ve never enjoyed being laughed at quite so much.” Ance admitted. “Now, why are you laughing at me?”

Audrey stood up and smoothed out her trail worn blue blouse. “You are the most blunt and honest person I have ever met and I find it refreshing.” 

Ance’s brow creased before he plopped his hat back on his head. “You do?” 

“Yes,” Audrey sighed. “You don’t sugarcoat things or tell me what I want to hear. You’re honest and I can trust you. After dealing with crooked businessmen while running my ranch and putting up with men like Rodger, your harsh honesty is welcome.” 

“Well..uh..thanks.” Ance’s hands fell to his sides. “So, why did you run off?” 

Audrey chewed her lip as she stared into the trees. “You know why.” 

Ance grumbled under his breath. “Because of the other night?” 

Audrey threw her hands up and growled out her frustration. “I want you, Ance! It has been a long time since I’ve wanted to be with a man. To have him touch me, taste me.. Hell, talk to me! You say you aren’t what I need, and, frankly, you aren’t what I expected to fall for in a man but…” Audrey flopped back down on her boulder and her shoulders sagged. “There ya go.” 

Silence reigned for several painstakingly long minutes. Audrey stared down at her boots, taking note of their worn state, and silently wishing she’d been born with the ability to read minds. 

“Damn…” Ance muttered. Audrey glanced up at him through her lashes and realized he was staring hard at her as if she were some great puzzle he was trying to solve. “You said you liked honesty so here it is. I want you, Audrey. I want to be the man to touch you and taste you. The thought of any other man doing those things causes me to see red. I still say I’m not what you need. I can’t promise I’ll settle down and live in one place because I need the freedom of open range and sky. I can’t promise to love you. What I can promise is that I’ll be mean and hateful most days and downright grumpy on others. I won’t promise to be faithful…” 

“Then no.” 

Ance’s eyes widened with surprise and then narrowed. “I knew you’d change your mind.” 

“You’re wrong. My mind is still made up. I want you and I want the companionship of being with a man and sharing things with him.” Audrey stuck her finger into his bare chest. “I would happily accept you just as you are, Ance. Your grumpiness, your moods, your withdrawn nature. I would accept your roaming spirit and, though it would hurt to watch you leave when the trail called your name, I would understand and never hold you back; instead I’d be there waiting whenever you happened back my way. I can even accept your hesitation to promise love because I can’t say that I love you either.” Audrey somehow managed to remove her finger from his hot flesh. “But I will not be with a man who can’t even respect me enough to offer faithfulness. I can assume you’d want me to be faithful to you..” 

Ance growled in response and Audrey shrugged. “Unless you can offer me faithfulness in return, I won’t be with you, Ance. No matter how hot and bothered you make me.” 

“Hot and bothered…?” Ance mumbled. 

Audrey took a step back as his gaze turned hungry. “We should be getting back to Penelope.” 

“I don’t think so,” Ance countered, grabbing her arm and holding her in place. “We’ve got more to talk about…” 

Audrey’s insides clenched as her legs trembled. “Talking isn’t what you have in mind.” 

Ance nodded and his gaze drifted down to her lips causing her to cease her chewing “Hell no it isn’t.” 

Audrey wanted to give in to him but couldn’t… “Ance, if you want to be with me, you’ll be with only me. Until you’re willing to agree to at least that much, you can consider me off limits.” 

Ance’s deep blue eyes narrowed. “Audrey…” he warned. 

“Are you going to let me go or force me?” Ance released his hold on her and she nodded, willing he heated body to calm itself. “We should be getting back to Penelope,” Audrey repeated and this time when she turned to walk away, Ance didn’t stop her. 

---

Damn her. Damn her and every other woman in the world straight to the fiery pits of hell! Ance had never in his life been so pissed off, confused and downright frustrated! 

Audrey wanted to kill him! That had to be the answer. She wanted him dead… though he couldn’t see what good that would do the woman. Surely she realized what she was doing to him. His body ached for her and his cock throbbed in his damn pants….

Stubborn headed female! 

Faithfulness? She was hung up on a little thing like faithfulness? Who the hell was faithful in this world? Surely not any person in any relationship he’d ever seen… She could accept all his other claims that he’d tossed at her hoping to scare her away but got hung up on the damn word faithful. 

Would Ance want her to be faithful to him even if he didn’t love her? Even if he was out riding trails and away for long stretches of time? 

An image of Audrey being touched by another man, another man’s lips on her lips as their bodies became tangled up in sheets had Ance’s fists clenching and his head pounding. 

Yes. Yes, he wanted her to be his and only his… 

So it was only fair to give her the same in return. Honestly, he wasn’t sure why he’d said that to begin with. Ance wasn’t a man who laid with many woman. He was always riding the trails and only visited the brothels a few times a year. It was more of a boredom killing activity than much else…. None of those women had ever lit him on fire the way Audrey did with just a simple look. 

Ance sighed and rubbed his face. Was he ready to take that step? If he laid with Audrey it would be stepping into a world that Ance had shied away from his entire life. He’d be part of a family whether he liked it or not.. Could he be that man?

Ance slowly made his way back to camp but he stayed on the outskirts and simply watched Audrey and Penelope. Penelope cast several curious glances at him throughout the day as he remained separated from them but Audrey seemed bound and determined to ignore he existed altogether. 

Ance watched them make headbands and necklaces from twigs and leaves. He listened as they made up songs and told wild tales about Indians and walking on clouds–the latter came from Penelope of course. Ance’s heart swelled at the love he saw between mother and daughter. Ance hadn’t’ realized that something like that existed…. Was love real? Hell, he already knew the answer to that. But was he capable of it? Hell, he knew that too. 

Penelope had taught him that he could love and that love was something real because he loved that girl with all he had. But could he love her mother? Could he take that step? 

Darkness began falling and Ance got a good fire burning and took a seat beside Audrey and Penelope. Penelope never paused in the story she was telling but Audrey stiffened at his sudden proximity. 

Ance was shaking like a damn leaf as he took in a deep breath and mustered up his courage. He’d thought hard that day and had come to the only conclusion he could. These two were a part of him, they were his, and he was theirs… whether he liked it or not. 

Ance put his lips to Audrey’s ear and felt her tremble. He swallowed hard and prayed he wasn’t jumping into something that he’d regret. Closing his eyes, Ance let his breath wash over her tender skin and whispered, “There won’t be any woman but you.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Audrey’s body hummed with anxiety as she finished singing Penelope a gentle lullaby and the girl drifted off to sleep. Audrey knew what tonight would hold. She couldn’t quite believe that Ance had changed his mind and agreed to her term of faithfulness. She hoped he wasn’t only lying to have his way, but honestly, Audrey didn’t believe he would do that. Ance was too honest a man and she believed he meant what he had said. 

Which meant that tonight, Audrey would once again know the pleasure of being with a man. 

Sparing a quick glance at Ance on the other side of the fire caused Audrey’s heart to pound and her mouth to suddenly go dry. Ance was watching her with a hunger and lust that stole her breath. Audrey knew her eyes echoed that same want. 

Penelope was sleeping soundly when Ance rose fluidly to his feet and motioned for Audrey to come to him. Audrey was certain that her stiff, jerking movements were the opposite of seductive as she walked around the fire to her waiting man. 

Ance reached out his large, calloused hand and smoothed a lock of her blond hair behind her ear. “How about we take that swim now?” 

Audrey could do little more than nod. Ance took her hand and led her through the moonlit shadows to the water’s edge. The gentle roar of the waterfall filled Audrey’s ears and drowned out the sound of her moan when Ance stooped low and tasted her lips. 

Audrey let herself get lost in his kiss just as she had so many nights ago. A low growl rumbled from Ance’s chest and vibrated against her mouth. When his teeth nipped at her bottom lip, Audrey realized what he wanted and she eagerly deepened the kiss, plundering Ance’s mouth with her tongue and warring for dominance over the outlaw. 

Ance’s bearded face was rough against her tender skin but it only served to intensify the sensations coursing through her. Audrey’s knees buckled and in response, Ance’s hands circled her waist and hoisted her into the air so her legs here straddling his hips. 

The proof of the arousal she was lighting in him pressed against Audrey’s legs and caused her to tremble. Nothing in her life had ever made her feel so powerful as to know the want and need she was able to ignite inside such a tough and deadly outlaw. 

Audrey was surprised by Ance’s strength as he effortlessly carried her to an outcropping of rocks and sat down upon them, nestling her in his lap with her legs still straddling him. Audrey had always been a woman with a broad and strong build, equipped with more muscles than softness. She’d certainly never been the delicate type of woman that a man tended to carry…but with that one action, Ance made her feel small and purely feminine. 

“You taste like whiskey,” Ance growled as he moved his lips to her ear before nipping and licking his way down her neck. 

“Whiskey?” Audrey breathlessly questioned.

Ance grunted and his blue eyes locked onto her brown ones as he nodded. “You burn me, lady.”

Audrey tossed her head back and buried her hands in his thick brown hair as his hand brushed against her breast, teasing it to a hardened peak. Ance released his hold on her and swiftly undid the buttons of her blouse before tossing it aside. The cool night breeze chilled Audrey’s skin and then she gasped when Ance tore her underclothes and shoved them aside, exposing her breasts to his hungry gaze. 

“Ance!” Audrey scolded. “These are my only underclothes!”

Ance grumbled under his breath and stooped his face low, letting his breath blow against her sensitive nipples. “Less I have to take off next time,” he growled. 

With that, Ance had clearly had enough talking and he took her breast into his mouth and suckled it with a wild abandon. Audrey clung to him, digging her nails into his broad shoulders as she threw her head back and moaned his name. 

Ance’s hungry mouth worshiped every inch of her exposed flesh before he finally growled and stood, placing her on her feet so suddenly that Audrey nearly collapsed. “Why did you stop?” she demanded, while feebly attempting to stand straight on her trembling legs. 

Ance let his gaze travel lazily down the length of Audrey’s body, pausing on her breasts as a rumbling growl left his chest. “We’re still a bit overdressed for that swim.” 

Ance reached for the buttons of his shirt and Audrey shook her head. Quickly she pushed his hands out of the way and managed a smile up at him. “Let me.” 

Ance’s blue eyes darkened as he let his hands drop in submission. Audrey’s fingers were shaking so drastically that she could barely take hold of the buttons to undo them. She could sense Ance’s impatience as he shifted his feet and growled but he said nothing and did not try to stop her or undo the buttons himself. 

Ance hissed out a breath as Audrey slid his shirt from his shoulders and her fingers grazed across his bare skin. “Damn, lady, whiskey…. You are whiskey.” 

Audrey’s heart hammered against her ribs as Ance removed his boots, gun belt and trousers. She kept her eyes on his chest, a blush covering her cheeks as she realized he now stood before her in all his naked glory. 

Ance chuckled quietly. “You aren’t gonna get shy on me now, are you?”

Audrey chewed her lip as she unconsciously crossed her arms over her chest. Ance shook his head, slid his fingers in the waistband of her split skirt and pulled her toward him. “Don’t hide yourself from me.” 

Audrey let her hands fall and wished she knew what to say…. She could scarcely breath let alone speak with this giant of a man standing so close. Ance oozed masculinity and power and Audrey felt quite small powerless beside him this way…

Until she glanced down through her lashes and saw the evidence of his arousal. Dear Lord have mercy! Ance was a sight to behold… his body was littered with scars, visible in the moonlight, but every inch of him was thick and hard. 

He was a man forged from years of hard living and fighting for survival. Audrey had no doubts about his deadliness. She knew that with very little effort he could reach out with one hand and very likely end her life. He was a force to be reckoned with…

And he was all hers. She was powerful in this moment. Ance had come to this riverbank with her because he wanted her, because she made him ache with need just as badly as he did her. 

Feeling a bit more sure of herself, Audrey took a few steps back, despite Ance’s grumbling protests. She turned her back on him, slid from her skirt and loosed her hair from the back of her head. As the blond locks cascaded down her back, Audrey glanced over her shoulder, flashed Ance a coy grin and headed straight for the water. 

The river was surprisingly cool against her skin and Audrey gasped when it reached her waist. She bit her lip hard to keep from cursing and fleeing back up the bank, neither of which would do much to enhance the moment. 

The cold was forgotten instantly when Ance’s long body was suddenly pressed against her. Audrey leaned her head back against his chest and felt his arousal in her back as his long, strong arms circled her waist and his rough hands, gently caressed her aching breasts. 

Audrey rocked against him as one of his hands slid down her stomach and brushed the curls between her thighs. Audrey tilted her head back and Ance swooped down and crushed his lips against hers. His tongue delved into her mouth as he drank her in. A cry of shock and pleasure was muffled by the kiss when Ance’s finger slipped inside of her. 

“You are mine, Audrey,” Ance growled against her mouth. “So wet and hot for me.” 

Audrey could only whimper in agreement because it was true. She was a quivering, overheated mess and wanted nothing more than to let Ance have his way with her. 

Audrey bucked against his hand as Ance hooked his finger and began to tease that magic spot within her. Audrey was nearly ashamed at just how wet she grew, at how wantonly she moaned against his mouth, at the way her body rode his hand eagerly….. She was nearly ashamed of these things but not quite. There was far too much pleasure clouding her mind for anything like shame to have a place there. 

Audrey felt herself rising higher as Ance lowered his lips to her neck and then her shoulder. He suckled hard, nipping her for good measure, and Audrey knew he was marking her yet she couldn’t find it within herself to care. 

“I have to have you now, Audrey,” Ance growled against her ear. 

“Yes.. Please…” Audrey gasped. 

Ance quickly pulled his finger from her and spun her around. Audrey watched in a hungry daze as Ance swiftly licked the finger he’d been driving her mad with before grabbing her hips, hoisting her into the air and pulling her body down on him. 

With one fluid motion, Ance was buried deep within her. Audrey cried out at the sudden fullness she felt inside and was thankful that Ance had anticipated the noise and captured it in his mouth. 

Never in her life had Audrey felt as stretched and full as she felt now. “So tight,” Ance growled as he lowered his head and nipped at her shoulder. 

“Ance, more.. Please..” Audrey’s mind was swirling as her legs wrapped tight around his hips. “I need more.” 

Her encouragement was all Ance needed to hear it would seem because it caused something in his eyes to light up.. It was as if a careful control he’d been holding onto was suddenly gone and Audrey could do nothing but hold on for dear life as he began to move swiftly within her. 

His mouth sought her breast and his tongue lapped lazily at her aching nipple as Audrey buried her hands in his thick brown hair and moaned out his name. 

The moonlit water lapped at her bottom as she bounced against the outlaw. Sweat slicked his skin and Audrey found herself pressing her lips to his shoulder, eager to taste him. Ance let out a growl that was more animal than man and his movements increased. 

Higher and higher, Audrey climbed. She was certain that if she didn’t find her release soon she would die from the sheer aching pleasure that Ance had roaring within her. 

Audrey was at the edge and when Ance reached one hand down between them and ran his thumb over her throbbing womanhood, it was that final push Audrey needed to be sent tumbling off the peak. 

White, hot light exploded behind her eyes. Ance’s name left her lips on a loud cry as she became deaf and blind to all else but the erotic release Ance had given her. Faintly, Audrey was aware of Ance letting out a roar of his own before he suddenly pulled her off of him and the evidence of his release shot out across her stomach. 

Audrey trembled as the aftershocks rocketed through her body. Ance pulled her close to him, her legs still wrapped around his hips. He buried his head in her shoulder and Audrey ran her hand through his thick air as his erratic breathing slowly returned to normal. 

She was surprised by the tender kiss he pressed against her collarbone before he raised his head and met her gaze. “You are whiskey, lady. Not only do you burn but you leave a man with wobbly legs and a dizzy head.” 

Audrey blushed, suddenly very aware of her surroundings. They were out in the open, in this pool of water, with the waterfall behind them, the moonlight above them, and Penelope asleep only fifty yards away at camp. Ance seemed to come to his senses as well. He used the river water to clean her off before turning and heading for the bank, carrying Audrey up and out of the water. 

Another tender kiss was pressed against her hair before Audrey found herself sat down upon her feet. She clung to his arms several long moments before she was certain her legs would hold her up. 

“Are you okay?” Ance questioned with more tenderness in his voice than Audrey had ever heard there before. 

She met his eyes but couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Of course,” she whispered. “You’re not the only one with wobbly legs.” 

A smile curved Ance’s lips and Audrey could see his blue eyes sparkle in the moonlight. He truly was a handsome man. Audrey was unsure what to think as Ance helped her into her clothes, though she had nothing to wear beneath her shirt since Ance had seen fit to destroy her things. 

“I shouldn’t have done that…” Ance admitted and then he shrugged. “Apparently I can’t think real clear when I’ve got you for the taking in front of me.” 

“Well…” Audrey wanted to think of a witty comeback but found herself simply stuttering several times before closing her mouth. She watched Ance as he dressed himself and tossed his gun belt over his shoulder. 

Without a word, Audrey and Ance made their way back to camp. Audrey suddenly felt quite awkward. She didn’t know what to say or how to act after what they had shared in that water…. Were they together? Or was it simply two lonely people finding comfort in the physical connection they shared? Was there more? Did she want there to be more? Did Ance? 

Audrey’s mind was whirring with doubts, fears and unanswered questions. She didn’t voice any of this to Ance, however. He didn’t seem the kind of man who would appreciate the chatter–as a matter of fact he himself had admitted he didn’t have patience for feminine blah blah blah, as he had called it. 

When Ance laid down and motioned for Audrey to lay with him, she shook her head. “I don’t think I should…” she whispered. 

Ance frowned and his eyes narrowed as he studied her. “Why?” he questioned, his voice so low it was barely audible above the crackling fire. 

Audrey swallowed hard and nibbled at her lip as she pushed her hair behind her ear. “I wouldn’t want Penelope to catch us cuddled up and begin to ask questions that neither of us are ready to answer.” 

Ance didn’t say a word. He didn’t nod in agreement, nor did he voice any disagreement, instead he rolled to the other side and gave her his back. Audrey sighed. “Are you angry?”

“Nope,” Ance grumbled. “I’m going to sleep. Wouldn’t want Penny waking up and asking what we’re still doing awake.” 

Audrey glared at him before stomping over to her bedroll beside her daughter and curling up there. Why was he so damn moody and complicated?! Did he truly want to announce to Penelope that they were together? That would be setting Penelope up for disappointment when all of this was over and Ance was suddenly gone from their day to day lives…. Because he himself had admitted that he wouldn’t stay for good. 

With her core still aching from his lovemaking, and her mind a jumbled mess of confusing thoughts and emotions, Audrey closed her eyes and willed herself to get some sleep–she had a feeling she would need it to deal with Ance, and his grumpiness, come morning.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ance woke with the dawn the next morning. In truth, he hadn’t slept more than an hour the night before. His body had been too overheated from the way Audrey had given herself to him in that water–and his pride had been too wounded by her rejection of his offer to hold her. 

Ance had no idea why he’d thought they would curl up together and sleep. Hell, he had never, not once in his life, held a woman close to him after lovemaking….Shit, he’d never called it lovemaking before!

Ance chewed on the cigar in his mouth and studied her sleeping form. His mind drifted back to the night before. Ance growled low in his throat as he remember the way her touch had seared his skin. The sound of his name leaving her moaning lips had been intoxicating. 

And then, when Ance had been feeling open and more true emotions than he’d felt in his entire life, Audrey had turned down his invitation to give her more of himself and it had hurt. Ance couldn’t explain it but Audrey made him feel…tender. 

Never before had Ance wanted to touch a woman tenderly, kiss her softly, hold her gently in his arms… Damn he had wanted to do those things so badly Audrey, which of course, only served to further piss him off. 

Hellfire!! He was supposed to be a full grown man in charge of his own emotions and body for God’s sake! But even now, watching Audrey dream, Ance was fighting the urge to swoop down, take her in his arms and kiss those frown lines from her brow and he was losing the battle. 

Then Penelope shifted upon her bedroll and Ance’s attention was drawn to the girl. He remembered Audrey’s excuse for turning him down and he sighed as he sat back on his heels. 

Audrey had been right to deny him. If Penelope had seen them sleeping together, the girl would have asked questions that Ance had no idea how to answer. He didn’t want to do anything that would hurt or confuse that girl. 

Penelope’s brown eyes opened slowly and lit up when they fell upon him. Ance saw her mouth open and he quickly put his finger to his lips and tilted his head toward a slumbering Audrey. Penelope giggled and nodded as she sat up and stretched her arms over her head. 

Without a word, Ance grabbed up her metal brace, raised her skirt up a bit and fastened it to her leg. He could still remember the difficulty he’d had accomplishing that simple task when Penelope had first come into his life. Things had certainly changed a lot since then–hell, he had changed a lot since then. 

Ance shoved himself to his feet and held out his hand to help Penelope get to hers. “Where are we going?” she whispered. 

“For a walk. I want to gather up some things for breakfast,” Ance replied. 

Hand in hand, Ance and Penelope walked into the sparse forest they’d spent the night beside. “Those birds sure make pretty music,” Penelope noted happily. 

Ance frowned. He hadn’t ever bothered listening to the songs of birds. He would have considered that a foolish thing and a waste of time before Penelope. Now he decided to give it a try. Falling quiet for several moments, Ance let their whistles and tweets fill his ears. 

Finally he shrugged. “They sound alright.” He grinned down at the freckled girl. “You sing better though.” 

Penelope giggled and launched into a story about the horses at her ranch and how she was beginning to really miss home and wanted Ance to meet her favorite pony who, apparently, was solid black save for one white foot and a white heart on its forehead. 

Ance hung on her every word, partially because Penelope seemed to always steal his attention, but also because of the distraction that the chattering girl gave him from confusing thought of her mother. 

Ance glanced up as they entered a small meadow and he put his hand on Penelope’s shoulder to get her attention. Penelope gazed questioningly up at him and he slowly pointed toward the three rabbits munching on clover. 

Ance’s first instinct was to kill one for a hot meal but then he recalled Penelope’s reaction to killing that fish only a few days ago. “Penny?” he whispered. “One of those would make a real good meal for us today. Do you mind if I kill one?” 

Ance saw her begin to chew her lip and it reminded him of Audrey which had him grumbling under his breath. “Rabbit stew is real good,” Penelope finally admitted. “Go ahead and get one but let the other two go.” 

Ance chuckled, realized that he’d have to make camp early tonight to fix that stew and pulled his knife. The trio of rabbits had yet to notice his presence so Ance gripped the tip of hi knife, let his breath out slowly and flicked his wrist. 

The knife went sailing through the air and hit its target perfectly. The unlucky rabbit died instantly and his companions made a hasty retreat into the forest. Once Ance had the rabbit gutted, he tied it to his belt and searched the meadow for Penelope.

“Look, Ance!” Penelope exclaimed from beside the tree line. “Wild onions!” 

“Fill your pockets then, girl. We’ll need ’em for supper tonight.” 

It took nearly half an hour but Ance and Penelope finally gathered up enough berries and even a few bird’s eggs for breakfast. They were heading back toward camp when Penelope gasped and ran to a cluster of wildflowers. The delicate purple flowers were tiny but they smelled decent enough Ance supposed. 

“Ance, braid my hair and put flowers in it!” Penelope exclaimed with excitement. 

“Penny, we don’t have time for that,” Ance scolded. “We have to get back to camp before your mama wakes up and starts to worry.” 

Penelope shook her head. “She won’t worry. She knows I’m safe with you.” The con artist of a child stuck out her bottom lip and batted her lashes up at him. “Please, Ance?” 

Ance crumbled like a muddy bank after a rain storm. He knew the damn girl was playing him like a fiddle and yet he couldn’t seem to stop himself from giving in to her. With a sigh, he nodded, sat down their sack of food and crouched down. With an ear to ear grin, Penelope turned her back to him and stood still as his calloused hands braided up the long blond strands of her hair. Once he had that completed and tied up with a leather strip, Ance stuck several of the flowers into it and then stood up straight to admire his handiwork. 

“Not too bad if I do say so myself.” 

“Thank you, Ance!” Penelope beamed before wrapping her arms around his legs and hugging him tightly. 

Ance smiled down at her and patted her head gently. “Anything for you, Penny. Just don’t go telling too many people that I’m doing hair now and picking flowers.” 

“Can I tell mama?” Penelope inquired as she pulled away. 

“Yeah,” Ance sighed. “Yeah, I reckon you can tell your mama.” 

He grabbed up his sack of food and motioned for Penelope to get a move on toward camp. Ance glanced over at those purple flowers and with a grumble, he tore off a handful of flowers and leaves and clutched them in his gnarled hand before setting off toward camp with Penelope. 

---

Audrey’s dreams had her smiling but that smile quickly faded when she began to wake and reality settled back in. In her dreams things had been so simple…. Ance hadn’t been a roaming outlaw with no urge for family life. Instead he’d vowed to stay beside her and not leave her side. They had raised Penelope together and spent their nights tangled beneath the sheets at her ranch home. 

Audrey knew that wasn’t their future–Ance wouldn’t want a life like that. It would be too stable, predictable and confining to a man who had lived the way he had. 

Audrey could smell eggs and she frowned. How would Ance have gotten eggs? She also smelled something sweet near her and she slowly blinked her eyes open to find a spray of wildflowers directly in front of her face upon the ground. 

The purple petals were small but they were fragrant and very pleasing. Where had they come from?

Audrey glanced around camp and saw Ance crouched beside a small fire frying eggs while Penelope was down beside the water skipping stones. Her hair was newly braided and filled with the same wildflowers that were beside Audrey. 

Had Ance….? 

Audrey sat up gingerly, her body stiff and sore from sleeping upon the ground. She desperately missed having a bed to lay upon at night–though it wasn’t the sleeping arrangements that were to blame for all her aches. Her hips were tender from Ance’s hands gripping her tightly, her nipples ached from all his attention and her upper lip and chin felt as if they’d been rubbed raw by his beard. 

Ance’s deep blue eyes instantly fell upon her and Audrey felt her heartbeat quicken. “Good morning,” rumbled lazily from his chest. 

“Good morning,” Audrey whispered back. She ran her teeth across her bottom lip as she picked up the flowers. “Are these from Penelope?” 

Ance grunted before removing the pan from the fire and shaking his head. “No.” 

Audrey could hardly believe the truth she was suddenly left with. “You picked me flowers?” 

Ance handed her a plate of eggs and berries. “Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill, Audrey. Hell, it’s just a handful of wildflowers,” he stated without meeting her gaze. 

Before Audrey could speak, Ance hollered for Penelope and held up a second plate. “Come on and eat, Penny. We gotta get a move on.” 

Audrey’s mind was a jumbled and confused mess that entire day. Ance was a mystery–a puzzle–and she simply couldn’t figure him out. He seemed different today. Sure, he was still a bit prickly and he was grumbling and growling just as much as before, but there was also something softer about him today. 

The flowers were only the start. More than once while they’d been cleaning up camp, he’d taken her elbow gently or let their hands graze together as they walked past one another. More than once, Audrey had been tempted to jump into his arms and let him kiss her senseless but then she would remember Penelope and it would bring her back to her senses. 

She and Ance had to be sure of what each of them wanted before they involved Penelope in anything they were doing. Audrey didn’t want Penelope to think they were going to be a family or anything more than they were until Audrey herself knew what they were…..

Not to mention that they all had to survive long enough to figure out what the future would hold…. Barnaby and his hired guns were still out there and Rodger might very well had lived through his injuries and be on the road to recovery. After yesterday and what she and Ance had shared last night, Audrey had somehow forgot about the danger they were all truly in… 

It all came crashing back down on her in that moment and her stomach twisted. Ance glanced her way and he must have seen her conflicted emotions written on her face. He moved his horse closer, while Penelope napped in his lap, and he reached out a hand and took Audrey’s elbow gently. 

“Are you okay?” he questioned, true concern lacing his voice. 

Audrey let out a shaky breath. “I just realized that it’s pointless to be so worried about a future when there is a fairly good chance that none of us will live long enough to be concerned with it.” 

Ance’s lips turned down in a frown and his blue eyes narrowed. A low growl rumbled from his chest his grip on her elbow tightened. “I won’t let a goddamn thing happen to you, Audrey, and neither one of us will let a damn thing happen to Penny.” 

“Ance…” Audrey began but Ance shook his head. 

“Lady, I…” he sighed and released his hold on her elbow to rub the back of his neck. “I’ve never had a reason to think about a future and…and I might have finally found a reason so you better believe I ain’t gonna let anybody take it away from me now.” 

A/N: Updates should become more regular after this weekend. I’ve been sick but things seem to be straigtening up now and the kids are back in school so i have a bit more free time :) I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

Audrey woke abruptly from a sound sleep. She sat up and blinked several times, attempting to recognize her surroundings. She’d been dreaming of Ance’s calloused hands roaming her body and the tingles still resonating throughout her body told her that the dream had been a very good one…. 

But a dream was all it had been. The last two nights, Penelope had been plagued with nightmares and having a hard time sleeping so Audrey had cuddled her and held her close and Ance had simply watched on…neither had attempted a repeat of what they’d shared at the river three nights ago. 

Audrey was more than ready for all of this to be over. She was angry that her daughter had been put through such terrors simply because of a selfish man’s blind desires and wounded pride. Every time Penelope whimpered during her nightmares, no doubt seeing images of the terrible men who had so far attempted to harm her, Audrey had felt a helpless rage grow stronger within her. She would do anything to protect her daughter but she had no way of fighting dreams. 

Audrey heard a groan and instinct had her glancing at Penelope before her good sense told her the groan had been far to deep to have come from her daughter. 

Her head whipped around to where Ance was sleeping on the other side of their dying fire and Audrey realized it was he who had been groaning. The man was writhing around in the dirt and appeared to be in pain as he battled with some unseen opponent.

Audrey pushed herself to her feet, careful not to disturb Penelope, and went to Ance’s side. She crouched down and put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle shake. Before she could whisper his name, his calloused hand shot out and closed tightly around her throat, cutting off her breath and any possibility of crying out. 

Audrey felt panic clutch at her heart as she clawed desperately at his arm and fought to get away from his vice-like grip. Ance’s fingers were like steel and Audrey knew there would be bruises–if he let go before she died from lack of oxygen. 

Audrey managed to get her nails into his skin and she raked them down his forearm, fighting for dear life as her vision began to swim and her lungs burned. Ance’s blue eyes flew open and the wildness in them did not bode well for her life. 

Then slowly, he blinked, his eyes widened and he released his hold on her just as quickly as he had taken it. Ance’s sat up quickly, scooted back a bit and hopped to his feet as Audrey stayed on her knees and coughed due to the sudden rush of air to her abused lungs. 

“Audrey….” Ance whispered. “Damn, lady, are you alright?” 

Audrey managed to nod as she rubbed at her throbbing neck. “I’ll be fine,” she rasped. “Next time I wake you up, it’ll be with a stick from a good long distance.” 

Ance took hold of her elbow, much more gently than he had her throat, and pulled her up to her feet. He positioned her beside the fire, put his finger under her chin and tilted her head. Audrey’s heart thundered at his nearness but any thoughts of romance quickly vanished when she heard his quick intake of breath followed by a string of curses that were quite colorful. 

“Dammit, Audrey, ya gotta let me be when I get like that. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Ance scolded. 

Audrey scoffed. “I hardly think it’s my fault, Ance. You were having a nightmare and I was simply trying to comfort you just as I would Penelope.” 

Ance released his hold on her and stepped back, glaring every moment. “I don’t need to be coddled like some goddamn child, Audrey.” 

Audrey mocked his angry facial expression as she put her hands on her hips. “Fine, I’ll never do anything to show I care about you again, you damn ogre.” 

Ance’s brow quirked up. “Ogre?” 

Audrey shrugged one shoulder. “Well you are grumpy enough to be one…and you smell,” she threw in for good measure. 

Ance laughed quietly as he shook his head. “I hate to tell you this, lady, but you don’t smell much better.” 

Audrey couldn’t help but to laugh and a broad smile curved Ance’s lips, drawing her attention to that scar that marred his cheek. “What were you dreaming of, Ance? Sometimes it helps to talk about our dreams to keep them from coming back.” 

The good humor left Ance’s face. He growled at her and shook his head. “It ain’t none of your damned business, Audrey. Don’t be sticking your nose into places it don’t belong.” 

Audrey felt the sting of his words but tried to remind herself that Ance was a wounded man and, just like with animals, wounded creatures often lashed out and bit the hand of the person who wanted to help them. She cocked her head to the side and looked into his blue eyes. “Ance, you know I’m right here… you can talk to me.” 

“I don’t need anybody,” Ance spat. “Stop petting on me like I’m some kind of puppy dog. I’ve been alone my whole life and fending for myself and I sure as hell don’t need some meddlesome woman attempting to fend for me now.” 

With that Ance stomped away into the darkness. Audrey chewed her lip as she saw him take a seat on a rock, his broad shoulders and large frame illuminated in the moonlight that was shining. Audrey was tempted to curl back up to Penelope and forget about the grumpy jackass but then she remembered the way he had been so attentive to her and to Penelope lately and the gentleness he had shown…

Ance had a big load he was carrying and Audrey knew it wasn’t fair to make him shoulder it alone. Perhaps the man simply needed a push and he would let some of that anger go that he held onto so tightly. With a sigh, and a toughening of her skin, Audrey made her way through the darkness toward him and the glow of his burning cigar. 

“Ance…” 

“Leave me alone, Audrey. I’ve never had anyone and I don’t need anyone now.” 

Audrey snorted and before she could stop herself, her hand shot out and smacked him roughly on the back of the head, knocking his hat off and sending it tumbling to the ground. 

Ance quickly covered his head with his hand and turned his neck to look at her with wide eyes. “What the hell was that for?” 

Audrey scraped her teeth across her lip and laughed lightly. “For being a stubborn, hard headed, horse’s ass.” When Ance simply glared, Audrey sat down beside him on the rock. She could feel the heat and power radiating from him and it stirred that desire back to life within her. 

“Ance, you’re not alone anymore and I don’t believe you were perfectly content being alone before.” 

“I was…” 

“No, you weren’t. Everyone needs someone, Ance. Maybe not a forever someone or a constantly at your side someone but everyone needs to know they aren’t completely alone in life.”

Ance stared off into the night and chewed his cigar silently for a long while. Finally he sighed. “If I tell you about my damn dream will you leave me be?” 

“I might,” Audrey replied, her lips twitching with suppressed amusement. 

Ance scratched at his bearded cheek. “I was dreaming about the night I got his,” he pointed at his scar. “My mama was a whore in a brothel and that’s where I was raised. She didn’t have a bit of time or care for me but I was feeling sick one night when I was about Penelope’s age. I decided that I would go to her in some foolish childish attempt to have a real mother.  The man she was entertaining wasn’t too happy and he busted a whiskey bottle across my face. I damn near died but an outlaw patched me up in another room and believe it or not my mama came to check on me….” Ance snorted. “Course she was drunk on brandy with all her lip stick and rouge smeared and her hair in a mess. She had a ruler in her hand and she screamed and yelled as she beat me with it. Then she left the room and I was alone with the outlaw again.” 

Audrey swallowed hard. What kind of monster did that to their son??? “Ance, I’m sorry…” 

“What the hell are you apologizing for?” Ance snapped. “I don’t reckon you’re the whore of a woman who cared more about cock and brandy than her own flesh and blood child.”

Audrey winced at the harshness in his tone. “No, but no child should have had to endure what you endured.” 

Ance shrugged. “It made me strong.” 

Audrey shook her head. “It made you cold,” she countered. 

“Gotta be cold to make it in this world,” Ance replied stubbornly. 

“Is that what you want for Penelope?” Audrey questioned, turning the tables on him. “For her to become cold and angry? To shut herself away from the rest of the world and lose every bit of her innocence and light? Do you want her to see the world as a dark mean place?”

Ance sighed as he pulled his cigar from his mouth and tossed it down upon the ground, snuffing out the flame beneath his scuffed boot. “No.” He glanced up at the stars. “That’s why I saved her from Barnaby.” Ance met her eyes. “She has nightmares, Audrey, I know that, but trust me when I say that I saved her before they could kill her soul. These nightmares are nothing compared to what they’d have turned her into…”

Audrey laid her hand on his cheek and smiled comfortingly as tears pricked behind her eyes. “I know that, Ance. I will be forever grateful to you for saving her life and keeping her safe.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Audrey.” 

“I know I don’t.. You’re a good man, Ance. You have rough edges but a good heart.” 

“Don’t be giving me more credit than I’m due, Audrey.” 

“I won’t,” Audrey bumped him with her shoulder. “My daughter was lucky to meet you. It’s strange really when you think about it. Rodger took one father from her and then he turned around and, in a way, gave her another.” 

Ance swallowed hard and the expression on his face clearly said he feared for her sanity. “Father?” 

Audrey laughed. “Yes. Penelope loves you, Ance, and you love her. It’s plain to see that you care about her want to protect her and see that she’s taken care of. Surely you had to realize that she would see you as her father.” 

Ance was quiet a moment and then he sighed. “I don’t know the first thing about being a pa…” 

“Well you’re doing a pretty good job.” Audrey stood up and held out her hand. “Now come on. Let’s go get some rest.” 

Ance put his hand in hers. “I have a better idea,” he growled before pulling her down on his lap. Audrey trembled when his warm lips laid tender kisses to the bruising and tender flesh of her throat. “I put bruises on you, Audrey. I’m sorry for that.” 

“It was my fault, Ance. I shouldn’t have disturbed you during a nightmare.” 

Ance shook his head and looked into her eyes as his knuckle gently caressed the throat he had recently throttled.  “I’ll never hurt you again. I promise you that.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ance held out his hand to bring Audrey to a stop. She pulled her horse up beside his and swiped sweat from her brow. “Why are we stopping?” she questioned. 

Ance tilted his head toward the grove of trees on the rise in the distance. “Old man Thompson lives over that rise. I’m gonna leave Penny here with you while I go let him know we’re coming.”

“Does he not like company?” Audrey asked as she slid from the saddle and Ance helped Penelope down into her arms. 

“No, he doesn’t.” Ance replied, adjusting himself in the saddle now that he was riding alone. 

Penelope rubbed at her sleepy eyes. “Will he like us?” 

Ance glanced toward the setting sun and nodded. “Of course he will, Penny. There’s not a thing about you a person wouldn’t like.” Penelope beamed but Ance could tell Audrey wasn’t quite as easily convinced.

She told Penelope to stay beside her horse before walking several feet away and motioning for Ance to follow. With a sigh, Ance dismounted and did just that. “What’s wrong, Audrey?”

“Is everything going to be okay with this man?” she whispered before nibbling at her bottom lip. 

Ance found his eyes following that movement just as they always did and he longed to take that full lip into his mouth and nip at it himself but new he couldn’t with Penelope watching on. “It’ll be fine. Old Man Thompson is…odd but he’s a decent enough man. He doesn’t much care for people so I figure I’d better warm him up to the idea that he’s gonna have some around for a while before I take you ladies in there.” 

“Warm him up?” she questioned skeptically. 

Ance chuckled. “He owes me a few favors. I’ll just go see if he remembers that.” 

“And if he doesn’t?” 

Ance winked. “Then I’ll remind him. Now, you stay here with Penny and keep your gun handy just in case someone happens by.” Ance hooked his finger on the handle of her revolver and pulled her toward him. “I won’t be gone long,” he assured her, feeling that heat rushing through his veins that was getting all too familiar every time he was near Audrey.

Audrey nodded and before either could stop themselves, they were pressing their lips together. Ance moaned in the back of his throat and pulled her closer. Audrey whimpered and laid her hands on his chest. Ance breathed in her scent and lost himself. This woman had a control over him that was strong and powerful and all he ever wanted was more of her. 

“That’s so romantic,” Penelope giggled, her tone a mixture of amusement and exasperation. 

Ance quickly leapt back away from Audrey’s whose cheeks were flushed bright red. He hopped on his horse, swallowed hard and then rode off toward Old Man Thompson’s, leaving all explanations for that kiss up to Audrey like the coward that he was. 

Ance chose not to dwell on the kiss or the reason why he’d felt so compelled to taste Audrey. Ance had hoped that after being with her a few times, his desire for the woman would decrease–it seemed the opposite was happening. 

Ance topped over the rise and saw Old Man Thompson’s cabin nestled within the trees. Ance slid from his mare’s back and let his gaze scan the surroundings. Old Man Thompson was well known for his hostility toward visitors and his traps to keep them away. 

Ance sidestepped a clump of twigs before picking up a large rock and throwing it onto them. They gave way and collapsed, revealing the spike filled hold beneath them. 

“You’ve gotten worse at hiding them, old man,” Ance chuckled just before he took a step, felt the snare tighten around his ankle and found himself flipped upside down and dangling from the air. 

“I got me one! I got me one!” The crazy bastard’s voice filled the air and Ance heard his boot steps coming his way. “Damn, I got me a big one!” Old Man Thompson cackled. “Wonder who it could be.” 

“You better let me down from here, you one-eyed son of a bitch,” Ance growled. 

“Ance?!” Old Man Thompson snickered. He entered Ance’s line of vision as he crouched down just out of reach of Ance’s outstretched arm. Old Man Thompson flashed a nearly toothless grin on his face as his green eye sparkled. “What brings you out this way, Ance?” 

“Killing you if you don’t get me down.” 

“I might leave you up there!” Old Man Thompson smacked his thigh. “You make a mighty fine lawn decoration, heehee!” 

Ance growled just before pulling his gun and aiming it at the crazy man’s deeply wrinkled face. “Let me down.” 

Old Man Thompson laughed, stood straight and began to dance around him. “Can you hit an upside down moving target?” 

Ance was tempted to give it a try but knew he couldn’t kill the man. He needed his help to keep Audrey and Penelope safe. Instead, Ance holstered his gun, pulled his knife and swung himself upward. With one clean slice, Ance cut through the rope, prepared himself for pain and crashed to the ground. 

As Ance gingerly got himself to his feet, swiping dirt off his backside in the process, he suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of Old Man Thompson’s rifle. 

“You got some nerve coming around here, Ance. You know I don’t like nobody bein’ around my place.” Old Man’s Thompson’s earlier good humor and eccentricity seemed to have vanished, reminding Ance of just how unpredictable the man could be. 

“I’m cashing in that favor you owe me,” Ance replied, holstering his knife and crossing his arms over his broad chest. 

Old Man Thompson’s green eye widened as his brow rose. “Favor?” His gaze shifted as he lowered his gun. “I don’t remember owing any favors.” 

Ance reached forward and gripped the old man by the shoulder. “Sure you do,” he insisted. “That favor I did you is the only goddamn reason you’re living in this nice little cabin in the Indian territory instead of six feet under the ground becoming worm shit.” 

“Worm’s gotta eat,” Old Man Thompson stated with a nervous chuckle. “I’m afraid my memory ain’t what it used to be. It’s a hazard of old age, don’t you know.” 

Ance nodded as he turned away for a moment. Letting out a slow breath, Ance turned back to Old Man Thompson and, faster than the man could react, Ance snatched away his rifle and stuck the barrel in Old Man Thompson’s grizzled face. “Is it coming back to you yet?” Ance growled. 

Old Man Thompson laughed nervously and nodded as he scratched at his dirty gray hair. “It might be flooding back to me just a little.” 

Ance’s finger tightened on the trigger and Old Man Thompson threw up his hands and nodded heartily. “Oh yes! That favor! Of course I remember. You’re always welcome here, Ance. What can I do for you?” 

“That’s more like it,” Ance said as he placed the butt of the rifle upon the ground and leaned against the barrel, taking pressure off the ankle he’d twisted in Old Man Thompson’s trap. 

“I see you haven’t gotten any friendlier since I saw you last,” the old man grumbled. 

Ance snorted. “That’s rich coming from the man who caught me in a trap and held me at gunpoint all within five minutes of me showing up.” 

“No offense, Ance,” the one eyed man grinned sheepishly. “I can’t be too careful anymore. All kinds of uncivilized folks are running around the territory these days.” 

Ance’s thick brow quirked up. “Uncivilized? As opposed to what? You aren’t calling yourself civilized now are you?” 

With a cackle, Old Man Thompson snatched back his rifle and cradled it in his arms. “Of course I am,” he insisted. “As civilized as dog shit, I am.” 

Ance thought about asking what the hell that was supposed to mean but then decided he didn’t care quite enough to have that particular discussion. “I need you to do something for me, Old Man.” 

“What would that be, Ance? Far as I remember you aren’t the type to ask for favors.” 

Ance nodded. “Normally I wouldn’t be but circumstances have changed a bit. I have to go take care of some things and I need you to keep an eye on some other things for me.” 

Old Man Thompson rubbed at his whiskered chin. “By things you mean people?” 

“You aren’t near as dumb as you look,” Ance conceded. 

Old Man Thompson cackled and slapped his leg. “So you want to go kill some folks and you want me to, what? Help you out? I ain’t strapped on a gun belt in quite some time, Ansel.” 

Ance shook his head. “What damn good would you be in a gunfight?” he chuckled. “Hell you can only see what’s to the right of you and even that eye’s beginning to fail you.” 

“Can’t argue with cold hard facts,” Old Man Thompson grinned. “So what do you need?” 

“Barnaby Wallace kidnapped a girl with the help of another man. I saved the girl and then her mama found us and, well, she’s in a bit of trouble herself. I need to go take care of Barnaby before he finally sends a man good enough to get the killing done that Barnaby has in mind but I need a safe place for the girl and her mama to stay….” 

“No, no, no, no, no….” Old Man Thompson shook his head forcefully, turned and began to walk away. 

Ance had anticipated such a reaction and he reached in his pocket and pulled out the money pouch full of coins. He gave it a shake and the old man stopped in his tracks. “I’ll pay you, you one-eyed jackass. This pouch has gold coins in it.” 

“Gold coins?” Old Man Thompson turned quickly and his smile stretched from ear to ear. “Where did you get gold coins?” 

“I relieved a wealthy banker of his heavy load as he was relocating supplies. His horse was damn thankful for the assistance.” 

“And the banker?” 

Ance grinned. “Mad as hell.” He shook the pouch again. “So, will you help me?” 

“Pay me now.” 

“No,” Ance snatched the sack away when Old Man Thompson reached for it and the older man grumbled under his breath. “You’ll get your money when I get back and those ladies are safe and sound–and they better be in the same shape I drop them off in too. No testing out traps or elixirs on them, you understand?” 

“Dammit, Ance, I haven’t made any elixirs in a while. I gave that up after I killed my last goat.” 

Ance rolled his eyes. Old Man Thompson had spent a good deal of time, (and quite a bit of money on poor unsuspecting critters), trying to create the perfect sleeping potion to poison the waterhole near his cabin with when those he considered uncivilized passed through. 

“So do we have a deal?” Ance questioned. 

“Let me see the gold.” 

“No. You’re gonna have to trust me. This sack doesn’t open until I come back and see the ladies safe and sound.” 

Old Man Thompson scratched at his hair and gummed at his bottom lip as his gaze flitted from the sack to Ance’s face and back again. “Fine.” he finally muttered. “Fine, they can stay here but you best pay up when you return, Ance.” 

“I’m a man of my word,” Ance assured him. “I’ll be back in a moment with the ladies… oh and it would be in your best interest not to point your gun at them. The older one swings a pretty good pistol.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Mama, why did Ance kiss you?” Penelope asked the moment Ance disappeared over the rise. 

Audrey rested her fingertips against her tingling lips and cursed Ance for the coward that he was for leaving her to come up with some explanation by herself. “Sometimes adults kiss,” Audrey replied, hoping that simple answer would satisfy the girl. 

No such luck. 

“Because you’re in love?” 

Audrey choked on air as she stared down at the innocent happiness on her daughter’s freckled face. “What?” she gasped. 

Penelope tilted her head. “Do you love Ance?” 

“No,” Audrey answered much too quickly. 

Penelope’s face fell. “You don’t?” 

Audrey hated that they were having this discussion. She hated that her answer had caused her daughter pain. She hated even more that she wasn’t at all sure she had told the girl the truth. “Penelope, sometimes with adults relationships can be complicated.” 

“Complicated?” Penelope’s forehead wrinkled up in confused. 

Audrey sighed. “Yeah. It’s not as easy as simply yes or no.” 

“Why?” Penelope inquired, seeming to grow more confused by the moment. 

Audrey flopped her back against a tree. “It just is.” 

“So you kissed him but you don’t love him because it’s comp… copli..com..”

“Complicated,” Audrey filled in. “And, yes, that’s right.” 

“But Ance loves me, right?” 

“Yes,” Audrey assured her. “He loves you very much.” 

“And he’s coming home to live on the ranch with us when he gets done beating the bad guys?” 

Audrey had no idea how to answer that question and was immensely grateful and relieved when several does and fawns came into view in the distance. 

“Look!” she whispered excitedly as she pointed toward them. 

Penelope saw them and her brown eyes widened as their conversation was forgotten and every bit of her attention became riveted on the deer. Audrey breathed out a sigh of relief and vowed to slap Ance hard when she saw him again for leaving her to deal with those questions alone. 

And of course those questions had only served to confuse her. Did she love Ance? Nibbling on her lip, Audrey realized that she couldn’t answer that question with a no.. did that mean the answer was yes? What would Ance have to say about that? Audrey could only imagine him running away just as quickly as his legs could carry him and never once looking back. 

She forced her mind to turn away from such thoughts and focused instead on the deer and her daughter’s fascination with them. Audrey lost herself in such a daze that she didn’t realize anyone was approaching until a twig snapped only a few feet to her right. 

Audrey spun quickly, reaching for her gun as she did so and then let out a curse when she realized it was only Ance. He chuckled as he raised his hands in mock surrender. “Please, don’t shoot.” 

Audrey snorted as she took her hand off her gun. “I probably should.”

Ance chuckled at her surly tone which did nothing to improve her mood. “And why’s that?” he inquired as he stuck his cigar in his mouth and slid a match box from his pocket. 

“For kissing me like you did in front of Penelope and leaving me to answer all her questions,” Audrey hissed, happy that Penelope was still distracted by the grazing deer. 

“What kind of questions?” Ance asked with narrowed eyes. 

“Questions about love and a future, Ance,” Audrey snapped. “Questions that I’m sure would have sent you running if you hadn’t run already.”

Something flashed in Ance’s eyes and Audrey was fairly certain that it was uncertainty and maybe a bit of hurt before he squared his shoulders, took a long draw off his cigar. “Well come on then ladies. It’s time to go.”

---

“Well, well! Aren’t you a pretty sight. I was wondering what Ance was doing traveling with a couple of tagalongs since he ain’t known to be real sociable, but the sight of you tells me all I need to know.” 

Audrey managed a weak smile as the one-eyed man grinned a toothless grin that accentuated the dirt crusted wrinkles on his face. She cast a sideways glance toward Ance and heard him grumble. 

“Alright, old man, give the woman some breathing room,” he muttered, shoving Old Man Thompson back several feet. 

Audrey breathed out a sigh. Clearly this man was odd just as Ance had warned and he knew nothing about personal space–either that, or he simply did not care one bit about such pleasantries. 

“Are you jealous, Ance? Afraid the woman might meet a real man and tell you goodbye?” Old Man Thompson asked as he waggled his bushy brows. 

Audrey simply stood there with no idea what to say. She had never met a man more outrageous and yet she couldn’t quite decide if it was offence that she felt toward his outlandishness or amusement. 

“Don’t test my patience,” Ance warned. 

“You never had much patience to start with,” Old Man Thompson replied, cradling his long rifle in his arms. “And it seems love has made you testy.” Old Man Thompson’s lips twitched just before he broke down into a fit of laughter. 

Before Audrey or Ance could say a word, Penelope shook her head. “They don’t love each other,” she stated. And then she frowned. “It’s comp..complit..complicated.” 

Audrey couldn’t help but notice the sadness that replaced the craziness in Old Man Thompson’s eyes as he looked down at Penelope. 

“You told her we don’t love each other?” Ance growled into Audrey’s ear while their companions were distracted. 

“What was I supposed to say?” Audrey hissed back. 

Instead of responding, Ance stepped forward. “Alright, let’s get these women settled in so I can be off. I got things to take care of.” 

“By things he means people,” Old Man Thompson grinned, tearing his eyes off of Penelope. “Now let’s show you around my lavish estate. There’s the cabin, it’s only got one bed in the loft but I’m sure you ladies won’t mind sharing with an old man.” Audrey glanced toward the primitive and dilapidated cabin that appeared barely big enough for one person and couldn’t understand where the man had come up with the word lavish…. And she was certain that she shivered outwardly at the thought of sharing a bed with him. 

“They get the bed and you can have the porch,” Ance warned. 

Old Man Thompson shook his head. “You done asked me to give up my solitude! Now you want me to give up my bed too?”

Ance nodded. “I think you’re being compensated enough to live without your bed for a while.” 

Audrey saw Old Man Thompson’s eyes glimmer and she wondered just what compensation Ance was talking about. Was the man paying for their safety and keep while he went out chasing Barnaby? Ance grumbled and waved his hand. “Well let’s get them settled in. I got places to go, you old fool.” 

---

“Audrey, I want to talk to you,” Ance grumbled before leaving the tiny cabin and stepping out into the darkness. 

Audrey cast a glance at her daughter, sitting in the floor playing with a deck of cards with a doll that Old Man Thompson had given her sitting in her lap. “She’ll be okay, ma’am,” Old Man Thompson promised from the rickety rocking chair where he sat sewing a patch onto a worn pair of trousers. 

“Yeah, mama, I’ll be okay. Me and Annabelle are playing poker the way Ance taught me. I really like Annebelle,” Penelope caressed the red yarn atop the dolls head. “Thank you for giving her to me, Old Man Thompson.” 

Audrey’s gaze went to the old man and she saw his throat bobble. He might be odd, a bit rude and quite eccentric but Audrey had a feeling that deep down inside, his heart was made of pure gold. “Don’t mention it, Penelope. My little daughter, God rest her soul, would have liked knowing her favorite doll had gone to such a good mother.” 

“Audrey?” Ance called from the door. 

Audrey rolled her eyes. Would it kill the man to say please? She laughed inwardly. It probably would. 

She rose from the tattered chair she’d been sitting in and stooped down to kiss Penelope’s hair. “I’m going to go speak with Ance a moment. You be good for Old Man Thompson.” 

“I will, mama.” Penelope promised with a smile. 

“Take your time, ma’am,” Old Man Thompson laughed and sent her a knowing wink. “These things are best when not rushed… then again rushing is sometimes a bit of fun to, isn’t it?” he cackled. 

With a blush so deep red, Audrey could feel it down in her toes, she dashed out the door and abruptly ran into Ance’s broad back. He whirled around and steadied her before she had a chance to fall and Audrey took a moment to collect herself, enjoying the way his strong arms felt wrapped around her. 

“Slow down, woman. You came barreling out of there like a team of horses,” Ance scolded, even as his thumbs gently caressed her arms. 

Audrey smiled up at him in the lantern light on the tiny porch. “You’re more than likely more accustomed to folks running away from you as if they were a team of horses instead of running toward you in such a manner.” She batted her lashes and Ance chuckled. 

He pulled away from her and held out his arm. “Walk with me?” 

Audrey didn’t like the sadness in his blue eyes. She had a suspicion they were only taking this walk to give him a chance to say goodbye before he ran off into a situation that could very likely end with him dead. She hooked her arm though his and allowed him to lead her out into the night. She was a bit nervous after hearing about all the traps Old Man Thompson had around his property to keep intruders out, but Ance managed to steer clear of them all and he led her a safe distance from the cabin with the glow of the distance lantern light barely flickering through the trees. 

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” Audrey whispered, pulling her arm away from him and wrapping both her arms around herself. 

Ance sighed and rubbed his neck. “Yeah. I have to go and take care of those people before something happens to Penelope…” he placed a calloused hand gently upon her cheek. “Or to you.”

Audrey leaned into his touch. “You’d better come back to us, Ance. Don’t go get yourself killed.” 

“I don’t plan on dying anytime soon,” Ance assured her. He dropped his hand to his side when his gaze fell to her lips and he realized she was chewing on the bottom one. “What’s wrong? Whenever you chew that damned lip it means you’re either thinking hard about something or something is wrong.” 

Audrey scoffed. “Are you a mind reader now?” 

“No.” Ance stooped low and dropped a feather-light kiss to her lips. “I’m a lip reader.” He stood straight and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Now what’s wrong?” 

Audrey wanted to scream and cry and yell. She wanted to shout about the unfairness of life. Rant and rave over the fact that she had finally found a man who made her want a future with a man and there was a very good chance that man was going to die before they ever even had a chance at that future!  

Instead of doing any of that, however, Audrey simply smiled a sad little smile and tilted her head as she gazed up into his deep blue eyes. “It’s complicated,” she whispered. 

Ance nodded in agreement. “Real complicated.” 

“Are you going to say goodbye to Penelope?” Audrey questioned. 

“No.. I can’t.” 

“You have to,” Audrey scolded. “I won’t cover for you on this one. You have to tell the girl you’re leaving for a while. She’ll want to hug you goodbye.” 

“I don’t like goodbyes,” Ance grumbled. 

“Then you can have an, ‘I’ll see you later’, but you’re going to let Penelope know you’re leaving. If she realizes you’ve left without telling her it will break her heart.” 

“Fine,” Ance muttered. His eyes flashed with want. “But first, I’m gonna give you a proper, ‘I’ll see you later.’” 

Audrey swallowed hard and barely had time to catch her breath before Ance descended on her in a rush of passion and heat. 

---

Ance climbed into the saddle of his mare and glanced up onto the porch and both the teary-eyed ladies he was leaving behind. Penelope’s cheeks were red and blotchy from her weeping and while Audrey had managed not to break down quite as badly, her eyes were red and swollen from the tears she’d been trying to hide from him. 

Damnation, this was ripping his heart out!

Ance hadn’t realized just how completely his heart was invested in Audrey–sure he’d known just how attached he was to Penelope but this realization of what Audrey meant to him only served to strengthen his resolve that he had to leave. 

Barnaby had to be dealt with as did Rodger York. Until both men were dead and buried, he could never know just what kind of future he could have with Audrey and Penelope. Hell, maybe Ance could be a family man…. After all, he’d always been good at riding away from anything and everything. He’d never lost a damn thing that he’d missed, but as he tipped his hat to the ladies and started away, he realized that those days were over….. 

He wasn’t just riding away unfazed and happy to have his freedom and the open sky.. No, he was riding away with a broken heart, a heavy soul and leaving a fairly good chunk of himself behind him.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Audrey woke up the next day at just before noon feeling puffy, tired and raw. Ance was gone, Penelope had cried until the early dawn hours and Audrey had taken over the task of weeping once her daughter had finally found sleep. 

Now a new day was upon them and, just as she always had, Audrey knew that she had to pick herself up and carry on as if she weren’t worried sick. She had to be strong for Penelope. 

Audrey smelled meet frying. She rose from the bed, smiled down at her daughter curled up with her new doll, and made her way down the ladder and out of the loft. Getting Penelope up that ladder the night before had been a challenge and Audrey certainly wasn’t looking forward to getting the girl down today. If Ance were here the man could toss her over one broad shoulder and….

Audrey shook her head. Ance wasn’t here. He was off risking his life because Audrey had been too blinded by her work and caring for Penelope all these years to realize what a monster Rodger York was until it had been too late. 

After scolding herself and reminding herself that those types of self-loathing thoughts would not do anyone any good, Audrey focused her attention on their host as he stood over a pan full of sizzling meat at the small cook stove.

“What are you cooking?” Audrey inquired as she stepped closer. 

“Fried opossum,” Old Man Thompson replied before smacking his lips and rubbing at his gaunt stomach. “No finer eatin’ around. I caught it fresh just this morning.” 

Audrey fought hard to keep from turning her nose up and maintain a polite smile. Beggars couldn’t be choosers when it came to meals, and while fried opossum wasn’t her idea of a good meal, it would fill their bellies and was very kind of Old Man Thompson to prepare for them. 

“Thank you for the meal,” Audrey tipped her head. “I must attend to some personal matters outside but when I return is there anything I can do to help with the meal.” 

“Just bring your big appetite, missy!” Old Man Thompson waved his wooden spoon in her face. “I’ve got bread in the oven and squirrel gravy over the fire pit.” 

Audrey’s smile faltered and only sheer iron will kept her from gagging. Rodents were not her first choices when preparing mealtimes at home. “Great,” she managed to offer politely. “That sounds delicious.” 

---

“Mommy, I loved that gravy!” Penelope beamed as Audrey washed the dishes from their meal in metal bucket on the porch and Penelope dried them. “Do you know how to make it like that?” 

Audrey shook her head. Thank the Lord she did not. While the meal hadn’t tasted too horrible, it had been the mental thought of those beady little eyes, long tails and big yellow teeth that had nearly done her appetite in. “No, I don’t, sweetheart.” 

“That’s okay.” Penelope shrugged. “I’ll bet Ance does. He knows how to make just about everything. He cooked us some squirrels before you found us.” 

“I’m sure he’d be happy to make you some squirrel gravy,” Audrey assured her daughter. “Make sure you get all the water off those plates now, we don’t want to stack them in the cupboards wet.”

Penelope frowned as she ran the towel over the plate. “I wonder what Ance ate today.” 

Audrey’s heart tightened at the innocent concern in her daughter’s voice. She reached out a soapy finger nad poke her nose. “Probably steak and potatoes.” 

Penelope giggled. “Or fried muskrat.” 

Audrey shivered. “I’ve had quite enough rodent to satisfy me a good long while.” 

“Ladies?” Old Man Thompson called as he rushed from the woods and toward them at a fast pace. 

Audrey took one glace at his harried appearance and worry in his eyes and tensed. “What’s going on?” she asked. 

“We uh…” Old Man Thompson glimpsed over his shoulder and that’s when Audrey heard the hoof beats pounding toward them. “Y’all need to get in that house and stay there,” Old Man Thompson encouraged. “We’ve got company a’comin’!” 

---

Ance gnawed on his jerked beef as he fought to stay awake in the saddle. He’d been riding hard since leaving Old Man Thompson’s the night before and it was growing later in the evening with every minute. He’d have to stop soon before his mare collapsed beneath him. 

Ance wished he didn’t need rest. He wanted all of this settled and done as quickly as it could be. But he wouldn’t be any good in a fight if he didn’t rest a bit along the way and the journey would take a hell of a lot longer if he pushed his mare until she died. 

With a sigh, Ance led his mare down into a sheltered draw. He slid from her back, removed her saddle and let her quench her thirst in the runoff stream. Ance did the same before wetting his bandana and cooling off the back of his neck. 

He and his mare would rest for a few hours before continuing on their way. If Ance continued at this pace he could be out of Indian Territory and hunting Barnaby by tomorrow night. 

Riding with Audrey and Penelope had taken much longer because he hadn’t pushed them too hard. He’d stopped at least twice a day and every night. The trail sure was quiet without them… Ance had always been a man who loved the silence but he guess he didn’t mind the noise so bad when it was those two ladies causing the racket. 

Ance grabbed a hardtack biscuit and went to the top of the hill to scan his surroundings. Five figures on horseback were illuminated by the glowing sun in the distance and he paused. It would seem the Indians were keeping an eye on him. 

Ance raised a hand in greeting and to let them know he knew they were there and meant them no harm. One of the figures raised a hand back and they all turned in unison and rode out of sight. Ance wasn’t too concerned for his safety. Indians weren’t the savages that the government seemed to want folks to believe…at least not all of them. Hell, Ance trusted them more than he did most other folks.

He would certainly not let his guard down completely during his rest but he didn’t foresee any problems. It had only been a scouting party was his guess, and they’d been curious about his presence. He was a lone man out here riding through and of no threat to them. 

Darkness had settled around Ance’s resting place when he realized that perhaps he hadn’t been as correct about the Indian’s lack of interest as he’d thought. Suddenly two of them were appearing at his side which meant at least three were hiding somewhere in the dark. 

“Good evening, y’all.” Ance waved his arm toward the small campfire. “Have a seat and rest a while.” 

Without a word both men crouched down across from him. Ance studied them out of the corner of his eye as he poked at the fire with a stick. They were young braves, probably early twenties, and they were calm and didn’t seem to be looking for a fight. 

“Are you hungry?” Ance asked. “I don’t have much but you can have some hardtack and jerked beef if it suits you.” Ance knew that when dealing with the Indians it was best to be as polite and welcoming as you could. They were used to being treated poorly and respect meant everything to them. 

“No,” one replied quickly in accented English. “I am Running Deer and you are in our territory.” 

Ance nodded. “I know. I’m only passing through. I don’t mean anyone any harm.” 

“We get many that say they only pass through. And they kill our braves and force our women.” 

Ance shook his head. “I have no interest in killing anyone unless they attempt to kill me first and I got enough problems caused by women without adding yours to them.” 

The braves leaned in close to one another and whispered quietly in their language. Finally they turned back to Ance and the only brave who seemed to speak nodded. “You have been in our territory before. Your face is one we know.” 

“I come through from time to time,” Ance admitted. “I like the peace and quiet I find here.” 

“But it is not peace and quiet that brings you this time,” the brave noted pointedly. “You are in a rush. Why?” 

Ance pulled a cigar from his shirt pocket and dug in his pants pocket for his matches. “No disrespect meant, gentleman, but my business is exactly that. I like my privacy.”

“When in our territory you have no privacy. There are too many men riding through. We want to know why.” 

“I have no idea,” Ance shrugged. “I’m by myself.”

The brave raised a thick black brow. “You have no idea why a big group of men on horses is going in the direction you came from?” 

Ance  felt his stomach drop into his feet. A big group? It couldn’t be….Surely if Barnaby was riding toward Old Man Thompson’s, if the man had been trailing them, Ance would have known….. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know any of those men on horses, would you?” 

“They are after your woman and child, are they not? The ones you left with Old Man Thompson?”

Ance pushed himself to his feet, panic in it’s rawest and purest form gnawing at his gut, though he worked hard to maintain a stoic expression. “You say those men were heading the way I just came from?” 

“Yes. They appeared to be in a hurry. Barnaby Wallace does much business with our people here in the territory. We recognized him among them. I do not care for this man or his business ways and thought you would appreciate knowing of his presence.” 

Ance didn’t waste time replying as he grabbed his saddle and tossed it over the mare’s back. The Indian’s rose as well.  “You have never caused our people problems and that is why we told you of what we saw. We will part ways now and wish you the best of luck with your woman and child.” 

Ance merely offered a curt nod before adding his saddlebags to the horse’s back and letting out a yell to urge her into the fastest gallop she could manage. If he had left Penelope and Audrey like sitting ducks for that fat bastard… if Barnaby had taken them, or worse, killed them…. Ance dug his heels deeper and prayed he hadn’t made such a mistake.

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

Ance knew that his prayers would be going unanswered when he saw the plume of smoke rising in the morning sun in the distance. He passed a wandering saddled horse and realized the man lying dead nearby had probably been the rider. 

Ance slid from his mare’s back and approached the man who was lying face down in the grass and dirt with an exit wound through his back. He grabbed the man by his dirty black hair, lifted his head to get a glimpse of his face and then quickly dropped his head back onto the ground and dismissed him. Ance had no idea who the man was. 

He continued on his way on foot and paused at one of Old Man Thompson’s spike-filled holes the man was so fond of. A body lay inside, impaled through the stomach and most certainly dead. Ance was fairly certain he recognized the face as that of a man who worked for Barnaby. 

“Son of a bitch!” Ance snarled. He’d turned his emotions off after leaving the Indian’s the night before. He had turned off any thought or feeling and simply focused on riding hard and fast to reach Old Man Thompson’s, refusing to think about the possibility that he’d find anything wrong when he arrived.

All those emotions he’d refused to feel came careening back into him at once. Panic, fear, dread and nausea all swirled in Ance’s gut and made it hard for him to breath. He pulled his gun and ran, coming upon more dead bodies, both horses and men, as he went. 

The silence weighed heavily all around him. No laughter, no singing, no critters, no anything. Just silence. 

The source of the smoke soon become clear when Old Man Thompson’s smoking woodshed and barn came into view. It was clear the fire was old–probably from yesterday. All that was left of it was smoldering ashes.   

Ance stopped in his tracks and scanned the surroundings. It was still and silent. Dead silent. Did Ance dare walk to the cabin, step through the broken door and see what lay inside? Part of him longed to simply run away. Turn and flee and never look back. 

This was all his fault. If he stepped into that house and found his ladies lying dead upon the floor… if he had lost them simply because he hadn’t been there to keep them safe…

Ance gagged. He knew he had to go inside. If they were… he swallowed hard. They deserved a proper burial before Ance went hunting vengeance. 

His stomach clenched and rolled violently when he stepped up onto the creaking porch steps and saw the thick, drying pool of crimson blood. Ance drew a deep, shuddering breath and stepped inside the cabin. 

He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the change in light. Dust motes floated through the sunrise streaming in the window as the light breeze blew the burlap sack curtain. The cabin seemed even more silent than the outdoors had. 

A body was sprawled beside the window and Ance clenched his fist when he realized it was Old Man Thompson. The man was dead with more than one gunshot wound to his chest…. It would seem Ance wouldn’t be giving away his pouch full of gold after all. With a heavy heart, Ance walked to the man and draped a tattered blanket from the chair over his body. 

Ance wasn’t sure what to feel as he realized that Penelope and Audrey were not dead in the cabin. Then he glanced toward the loft and realized he hadn’t checked everywhere just yet. The ladies may have tried to hide from Barnaby and his men up there and, if they had, they may still be there… 

Ance went to the ladder and slowly made his way up it. He closed his eyes tight as he neared the top, counted to three, prepared his heart for the worst and let his gaze go to the tiny loft bedroom. 

Empty. 

Barnaby hadn’t killed them. 

Barnaby had taken them. 

Ance growled and slid back down the ladder. That son of a bitch had stolen them! The thought of what those men would do to Penelope filled Ance with rage and when he thought of them touching Audrey, a jealousy and desperation like Ance had never felt before raged to life inside him. 

Ance strode toward the door, intent on tracking the direction Barnaby and his men had gone when a scratching sound caused him to pause. He stood very still and listened closely. Seconds ticked by but finally the sound came again… It sounded as if it came from beneath the chair. 

“Hello?” Ance called out as he walked slowly that way. “Is someone there?” 

“Ance?” a faint, little voice replied. 

Ance’s heart pounded. That was Penelope! He quickly went to the tattered chair and tossed it aside. He ran his fingers over the wooden planks and found several that were loose. With a curse, Ance pulled them aside and found the little girl staring up at him with those wide brown eyes. She was filthy from the dirt, her blond hair was a tangled mess and her freckled cheeks were pale. It was clear from the swollen redness in her eyes that she’d been crying and Ance wasted no time in reaching into that hole and pulling her out to safety. 

He clutched Penelope tight to him and kissed her hair as she began to cry. “I didn’t think anybody would come,” she gasped.

“I’ll always come for you,” Ance vowed. “Don’t you ever worry about that.” 

With a hopeful heart, Ance glanced into the hole, sure that he’d see Audrey as well but then he realized the space was too small. His heart fell once again. “Penny, where is your mama?” 

Penelope sniffed and moved her head from his shoulder. She swallowed hard and her cheeks trembled. “I don’t know. She hid me but there wasn’t room for her. I heard Old Man Thompson tell her to hide but she said no. She said she was going to protect me….” Penelope let out a choking sound as she sobbed. “I heard her yelling and loud bangs… they were gunshots and I just closed my eyes and stayed quiet because she had told me to. Did they kill my mama, Ance?” 

Penelope’s swollen eyes went to the blanket covered figure upon the floor. Ance quickly shook his head and grabbed her chin gently. He turned her face toward him and her eyes met his. “Your mama isn’t dead, Penny. I’ve searched this place and she ain’t here.” 

Her eyes widened with panic, “They took her, Ance! They’re going to hurt her! We have to get her back.” 

Ance nodded as cold, hard resolve settled in his chest. “Don’t you worry, Penny,” he assured the girl. “I’m getting your damn mama back.” 

A/N: i know it’s short but i haven’t had much time to write the last couple days and I wanted to give y’all something to read. Hope you like it!

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

“Jail?” Ance growled and clenched his fists tightly. “He’s in jail?” 

The robust, full-figured woman in front of him adjusted her bustier and fluffed out her skirt. “Aye. The foolish lad got himself tossed in jail. I got his wire just yesterday.” 

Ance rubbed his tired face as he cradled a slumbering Penelope in his arms and stood in the dimly lit entry way of Big Madge’s brothel. It was a fancy brothel with velvet trimmings on the furniture and red shades over the lamps. Ance had ridden hard for three days to get here after tracking Barnaby’s tracks west a while and realizing the man had taken Audrey to a fort he liked to stay in when not selling his wares. 

The fort was old, abandoned by the military and beginning to show its age but it was well armed and nearly impossible to simply walk into. Ance had needed help. He’d needed a safe place for Penelope and the only other place he could think of was here. He didn’t think Audrey would approve of Penelope living in a brothel while he was gone but Ance wasn’t the type of man who had many people to turn to for help. 

Madge reached forward and pushed a strand of blond hair from Penelope’s face. “The little lass looks plumb tuckered out, Ansel. Why are ya runnin’ ‘round in the middle of the night lookin’ dog tired yourself and packin’ a wee gal like this while lookin’ for that roamin’, lyin’, cheatin’ son of mine?” 

Ance adjusted the load in his arms and sighed. “I need Irish’s help.” 

Madge snorted before waving a man upstairs at the sound of a lightly chiming bell. “Elsa is ready for ya now, Matthew,” she urged. Matthew cleared his throat, tugged at his collar and then bounded up the grand, heavily polished staircase, taking the steps two at a time. 

Ance shifted his feet. “I’m in a hurry, Madge, and I need your help too.” 

“What do ya need me to do, lad? I’m runnin’ a business here and don’t have much time for favors.” 

Ance nodded. “I understand that, Madge, but I have to go rescue this one’s mama,” Ance tipped his head toward Penelope. “And I need a safe place for her to stay.” 

“Here?” Madge’s green eyes widened and she laid her hand over ample bosom as her red painted lips formed an circle and she shook her head. “This is no place for a wee lass such as this one, Ansel! And just where is her mama?” 

Ance grunted. “Do you have a spare bed where I can lay her down? She’s heavier than she looks.” 

Madge appeared torn a moment as she rubbed at her rouge-covered cheek. Finally she nodded. She waved a woman sitting on a chaise lounge in the corner. “Watch the desk for me, Marie. I’ll be down in a moment.” 

Ance followed Madge down a back hallway to a bedroom behind the kitchen. She pointed at the small but tidy bed in the corner and Ance gently laid Penelope down. The girl whimpered but didn’t wake. Ance removed her brace to allow her to sleep more comfortably and then pulled the covers up to her neck. 

He was quick to sink down in the chair beside the bed and lay his tired head in his hands. Three days it had been since Audrey had been taken. Three days since Ance had slept. Three days since he’d been able to do more than simply pick at his food. Three days that he had been afraid to close his eyes for fear that he’d see images of just what those bastards might be doing to his woman. 

They would break her… Ance was going to get her back, come hell or high water, but he couldn’t help but think that the woman she came back as probably wouldn’t be the same person she’d been before. 

Ance was tired. For three days he and Penelope had ridden from sunup to sundown. For three days the girl had cried daily, rarely slept herself and constantly rambled on about her mother. When she did sleep, she often woke up screaming from the nightmares of the sights and sounds she’d seen and heard because of Barnaby’s men. 

Ance nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He quickly sat up straight and realized Madge was standing there appearing quite concerned with a shot glass of whiskey in her hand. Ance took the offered drink and downed it quickly. 

“Ansel, just what is goin’ on with ya, lad?”  

Ance let out a long sigh, his mind far too tired to focus on the anger that he had been so consumed with for days. “I made a mistake, Madge, and now someone I care about a whole hell of a lot is in a hell of a lot of trouble.” 

Madge went to the small gilded mirror on the far wall and raised a brow as she tidied up her hair. “And just what kind of trouble are we talkin’?” 

Ance cracked his knuckles and popped his neck. Sure he wasn’t the type to open up and have chats but Madge needed to know the truth and, hell, she was a friend of sorts–though Ance would never tell her that. He didn’t want folks knowing he considered them friends.. He had a reputation to uphold. 

“I took a job for Barnaby a few months back. The job was to take some goods into Indian Territory to sell and make a handsome profit doing it–” 

Madge turned on her heel and paused in her examination of the crows feet showing beside her green eyes. “I never have cared for that snake of a man and I’ve told ya not to be doin’ business with the likes o’him!” She shook her head. “Why can’t you and that son of mine ever listen to good sense and begin’ makin’ your money the honest way.” 

“By selling ourselves for a few pokes?” Ance inquired dryly as he scratched at his bearded cheek. 

Madge laughed lightly, her full face and large chest bouncing as she did so. “Ansel, lad, I don’t have to sell myself these days. I turned a pretty profit doin’ so durin’ my time but now I have other ladies make the money for me.” She wiggled her brows. “Nowadays when I lay with a man it’s for the sheer fun of it.” 

Ance shook his head and if the circumstances of his visit here had been different, he probably would have chuckled. Instead he leaned back in the chair and ran his finger over the scar on his face. “I realized while taking the load for Barnaby that this girl here was part of it. At first I wasn’t gonna step in since bad things happen every day and we all get dealt a certain hand in life… but then one of the other men tried to force himself on her while Barnaby was asleep and I couldn’t let him. I saved the girl, and after a failed attempt at leaving her in an orphanage I decided to keep her with me.” 

“Ansel Adams as a papa,” Madge’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “I just never would have pictured a thing like that.” 

Ance shook his head and let his gaze go to the sleeping angel upon the bed. “Me either.” He turned back to Madge. “With Irish’s help her mama caught up to us and then we realized that we had Barnaby on our tail wanting revenge since I stole Penny away from them. I took the girl and her mama to Old Man Thompson’s for safe keeping while I went after Barnaby but Barnaby must have realized what I was going to do because he rode in just after I rode out. Audrey hid Penelope under the floor which is all that saved her from being kidnapped or killed… Old Man Thompson and Audrey weren’t as lucky. They killed that crazy bastard and they took her with them.” 

Madge was quiet a moment before filling a second shot glass with whiskey and refilling the one still held loosely in Ance’s hand. “Sounds like a mess, Ansel,” she acknowledged and they down their shots as one. “And now ya want to leave the lass here with me while ya go rescue her mama from Barnaby? Ya must really love that woman if you’re willin’ to risk yourself so. That’s not the Ansel Adams I know.” 

“Love don’t have a thing to do with it,” Ance grumbled. “I promised to keep them safe and I failed. I might be a rude, anti-social, son of a bitch but I keep my goddamn word, Madge. I promised this girl here that her and her mama would see their ranch again and I aim to keep that promise.” 

“Whatever you say,” Madge cooed gently as if she were consoling and angry child.  

Ance growled as he sat his shot glass on the small table and crossed his arms over his chest. “Will you let Penny stay here or not? If not then let me know now so I can think of somewhere else. I don’t have a long time to wait.” 

“Have you thought of the possibility that this Audrey woman might already be dead?” Madge questioned. 

Ance shot to his feet and clenched his fists. His nostrils flared as he pointed a finger into Madge’s face. “She’s not dead, dammit! Barnaby needs her because he knows good and well I’ll come for her. He’s using her to get to me.” 

“Get your damn finger out of my face, Ansel Adams, before I remove it from your person,” Madge warned with a flash in her green eyes that told him she was quite serious. 

Ance lowered his finger but didn’t back away. “Will you help me or not?” he snapped. 

“Fine,” Madge relented. “The lass can stay here and I’ll see that she is taken care of ‘til ya get back. Now, I’m only doin’ this because my son is so fond of ya.” 

“Your son is a pain in my ass,” Ance growled. 

“We all have our legacies,” Madge agreed. “Fergus’ will be known as the man who was a pain in all our asses.” 

“You said he’s in jail?” Ance inquired. 

“Two counties over. His wire didn’t say what he’d done wrong but knowin’ my boy, it had somethin’ to do with swindlin’ money or beddin’ women.” 

Ance nodded. He looked toward the bed and smiled at the sight of Penelope sleeping so peacefully. Stooping low, Ance placed a tender kiss to her brow, though the girl never moved. She truly had been exhausted. He grumbled when he saw Madge watching him knowingly with amusement in her eyes. “You love them both don’t you, Ansel?” 

Ance swallowed hard. “Yeah.” 

“I was in love once,” Madge sighed. “Fergus’s daddy was the only man I ever did fancy myself in love with–then the bastard ran off with a red-headed twit in a corset laced far too tight.” Madge snorted. “I’ll take care of your little girl, Ansel. You go get your woman. Love is a rare thing and, while it doesn’t always last, it’s best to hold onto it while ya can.”

“I don’t want to wake her,” Ance stated, blaming the tightness in his voice on fatigue instead of the emotions weighing so heavily upon him. “If I write a note will you see that she gets it. She can read a bit but might need some help.” 

“I’ll do whatever ya need,” Madge laid a gentle hand on his arm. “Don’t ya worry about her none, Ansel. She’ll be well taken care of here. And she’ll learn the fine art of runnin’ her own business.” 

Ance shook his head. “That’s one of the things I’m worried about.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

“You are quite unpleasant,” Audrey stated bluntly as she curled her nose at the man currently keeping an eye on her… not that anyone needed to keep an eye on her. She was chained to a wooden support beam, down in a dark cellar somewhere in a giant stone fort. It wasn’t as if she could go anywhere.

The man keeping watch sneered in the glowing lantern light as he chewed at his filthy fingernail with his crusty teeth. He winked one pale gray eye at her and grinned. “I’ve got something filthy for you, you little bitch.”

Audrey rolled her eyes. “If you think for one moment I would let you shove your dirt crusted friend inside me, you are sadly mistaken.”

“And just how would you stop me?” he asked as he stepped closer. Audrey could smell his stench and it turned her stomach but she remained standing tall and looked him straight in the eyes.

“By taking my knee and sending the favorite part of your anatomy on a crash course into your stomach.”

He paled a bit and he raised his clenched fist. “Why you little…” Audrey knew he was going to hit her and she closed her eyes only to hear the door open and Barnaby’s voice fill the air.

“Don’t you dare put a mark on her, Gus,” he warned.

“Didn’t you hear her mouth?” Gus spat. “She needs to be taught a lesson about respecting men and learning her place as a woman.”

“I respect those who earn my respect,” Audrey assured him. “I fail to see a single man in this room. I see nothing but little boys who are angry because they lost their toy and now want to fight with the other children because of it.”

“You are a mouthy one, aren’t you?” Barnaby laughed with amusement, causing his large belly to shake beneath the red jacket he wore. He rubbed at his graying mustache and tilted his head. “After Ance makes his appearance and I kill that thieving bastard, I believe I might end up keeping you instead of selling you to the savages.” Barnaby clicked his tongue and turned his attention to Gus. “But just in case I do decide to sell her, don’t bruise her. The savages like them better without bruises.”

“How thoughtful,” Audrey muttered.

Barnaby grabbed her chin and pulled her face toward him. “I would have preferred to have you and that little brat but you hid her good, didn’t you? Oh well, if there’s any good luck left in the world, you hid her so good no one was able to find her and she’s already dead from thirst.”

Audrey’s heart fell to her feet as her legs trembled. She sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case. She had hid Penelope under that floor in a desperate attempt to save her life–all she could hope for was that Ance would have realized Barnaby was in the territories and came back in time to get Penelope back out.

Hiding away her emotions while these two men looked on, Audrey simply tossed her matted hair over her shoulder. “My daughter will live a long and happy life in spite of the best efforts of you and Rodger York. And you are a fool, Barnaby, if you believe that Ance is coming for me.”

“And why is that?” Barnaby questioned as he released his hold on her face and folded his hands on his belly.

“Ansel Adams is a selfish, mean, brooding, angry man who cares about nothing but himself. He is more than likely rejoicing with whiskey and cheap women now that he’s been relieved of his burden.”

Barnaby shook his head. “Don’t insult my intelligence. I know Ance, my dear. Ance is a man who, in the past, lived only for himself and did not care about anyone else. Then he stole the girl from me and he killed to protect you both. He left you with that crazy recluse so he that he could come hunt me down and that alone tells me that you and that little girl mean something to him. You have changed something deep within the man and he will come for you.”

Audrey stood straight, wishing she had use of her arms which wrapped around the post behind her and chained together. “I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”

Barnaby headed toward the door, motioning for Gus to go out ahead of him. The skinny, dirty man leered a moment at Audrey before heading out of sight. “You had better change your way of speaking to me, woman,” Barnaby warned. “I am all that stands between you and Gus, and all the other men here like him, that would like nothing more than to shove themselves inside of you until you’re left bloody, broken and used up upon the ground. They’ll kill your soul and leave behind nothing but the shell of the feisty woman you once were. Trust me, Audrey, you would much rather have me as your ally than your enemy. Just ask, Ance. He’s going to learn that the hard way.”

Barnaby left the dank cellar and Audrey found herself alone for the first time since she’d been brought here. She had no idea exactly how long it had been since there were no windows and no way to measure the passing of time…. Audrey knew it had to have been days and days that she had been down among the must and mold trying hard to keep a brave face on in front of her captors.

Now, finally alone with no prying eyes leering in her direction, Audrey slid down the post and fell upon her backside to the ground as hot, angry, sad, desperate tears streamed down her face.

Was her daughter alive? She had no way of knowing. Was Ance coming or was he out hunting Barnaby somewhere else? She had no way of knowing that either. Audrey hoped and prayed he’d gone back to Old Man Thompson’s and found Penelope. She didn’t care if he came for her, as a matter of fact, she hoped he wouldn’t. She didn’t want to see Ance die for her–she simply wanted him to take care of Penelope.

Audrey sniffed and wiped the side of her face on her shoulder. Her body was cramped and stiff from being tied up to this post and her wrists were raw and sore. She’d only been given a bit of bread now and then to eat upon and her stomach ached with hunger. The sips of water she’d had did nothing to combat her terrible thirst or the dryness of her mouth.

These men were the worst sort and the threats and leers were getting harder and harder to combat. She was finding that her strength was failing and she no longer found it easy to feign toughness and fearlessness. In truth, she was feeling anything but tough and she very very afraid.

Every time she closed her eyes, Audrey heard the gunshots and saw the blood. The screams filled her senses and the sight of Old Man Thompson looking into her eyes as those bullets had torn through him was seared into her memory. The man had died protecting her and her daughter and that was a bigger burden of guilt than Audrey knew how to carry. If Ance did the same…..

Audrey trembled and let her chin fall into her chest. She only had hope. Hope that Ance had found Penelope and that he and her daughter were safe, sound and staying far away from any kind of trouble. If Penelope was dead than Audrey figured she might as well be too.

---

Ance lay on his stomach atop the hill and gazed down at the jail in the moonlight. This town, if it could be called that, was nothing but a few dilapidated wood buildings, a muddy street and this stone jail sitting about a hundred yards from what he guessed was a general store.

Now Ance just had to figure out how he was going to bust Irish out. He knew the man was there because that god awful cart advertising his product was parked behind the building.

He only had one horse which wouldn’t be strong enough to break out the metal bars of the window… Ance’s mind went to his saddlebags and the dynamite that was stored there. He supposed that would probably break a wall.

There were less destructive ways to bust a person out of jail but Ance didn’t have a lot of time for elaborate plans. He had to get Irish, cash in on all the favors the bastard owed him and go after Audrey. He had to save that woman. Failure simply wasn’t an option.

Working hard to ignore the exhaustion in his bones and the ache in his head, Ance shoved himself to his feet. He tied a bandana around his face, leaving only his eyes exposed. He pulled two sticks of dynamite from the saddlebags and ensured his pack of matches was still in his pocket. Ance whistled quietly to encourage his mare to follow him and, keeping a low profile, he made his way through the darkness to the back wall of the jail. He climbed upon a crate and peered into the barred window.

“Irish?” he whispered, his gaze falling on the Irishman sound asleep on a cot with his red hair a mess and his mouth hanging open as his breath whistled through the gap in his front teeth.

He was alone in the cell and for that Ance was grateful. He didn’t want to have to worry about other witnesses fleeing the jail with them. Ance didn’t have a bounty on his head and he wasn’t looking to get one now… he had to be around to protect his ladies.

“Irish?” he hissed a bit louder.

Irish snorted as he jerked awake and glanced around the dark cell. The only light came from a flickering kerosene lantern beside a wooden door that no doubt led to the sheriff’s office. “I’m over here, you thieving bastard.”

“Ansel!” Irish’s green eyes lit up and Ance growled.

“Don’t say my damn name. Where’s the sheriff?”

“Asleep in the office would be my best guess,” Irish replied. He yawned loudly. “Most normal lads and lasses are sleepin’ at this hour”

“You better be glad I’m not,” Ance growled. “Now take cover under your bed.”

Irish frowned. “What?”

Ance held up the dynamite sticks. “Take cover.”

Irish let out a gasp and dove under his bed as Ance struck a match and lit the fuse on each stick. He sat the sticks beside the wall and then took off running for cover, pulling his mare with him.

The blast that followed moments later, ricocheted through the tiny, nearly abandoned town. Stone, dust and wood shattered in the night and was sent sailing up toward the starry sky, raining back down as Ance covered his head with his hands.

As the noise faded, Ance took off at a run toward the jail, ignoring the debris still falling all around him. He leapt over the crumbled wall and found Irish cowering beneath the cot.

“We gotta go!” Ance growled as he heard yells and shouts begin to ring out from nearby.

Ance grabbed Irish by the arm and gave him a hard yank. “I’m comin’, ya crazy bastard!” Irish cried. “I think ya just about blew my head off!”

“You’re welcome!” Ance grumbled as he hopped on his mare and Irish hopped on behind him. They galloped off into the darkness while everyone in the town was still scrambling around attempting to figure out what in the world had just happened.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

“While I appreciate ya savin’ my arse back there, I’m forced to wonder the why of it since ya don’t usually take to bustin’ me out of jail in the middle of the night,” Irish stated breaking the silence as the two men sat beside a small fire just after daybreak. 

Ance rubbed at his tired face. Damn, he was tired. He glanced at Irish and sighed. “I need your help.” 

Irish’s green eyes widened and he shook his head roughly before shoving his finger in his ear and rubbing. He frowned as he tilted his head and stared at Ance. “Either my hearin’ is failin’ me or you’ve been in the damn sun too long and aren’t feelin’ yerself at all. Did ya truly just ask me for help?” 

Ance rolled his eyes but he was too wore down and raw to engage in the usual back and forth banter with Irish. “Yeah, I did.” 

Irish’s amusement was replaced with concern. “What’s the matter then, Ansel?” 

“They took her, Irish…” 

“Took who?” Irish demanded. “Wee Penelope?” 

“No…They took Audrey.” 

“So ya did as I said then and went after the lasses. Who is it that took Audrey and where is Penelope? I know ya wouldn’t leave the lass unprotected.” 

Ance peered off into the sunlight and shook his head. “Penny is safe. I left her with your mama…” 

“My dear sweet mama. Tell me, did she chat your ear off about how much she loves her favorite son?”

Ance rubbed at his bearded cheek. “Something like that.” 

“I’m glad to hear the lass is safe,” Irish admitted. “Who is it that took Audrey, then, Ansel?”

“Barnaby,” Ance growled. 

Irish hissed in a breath. “I don’t like the thought of that kind and carin’ woman bein’ in the hands of a man like that one.” 

Ance’s fists clenched in the dirt and small rocks beside him and Ance let out a roar before throwing a handful of those rocks through the air. “For once in our lives we agree on something.” 

Irish scooted back away a bit and a faint smile curved his lips. “It would seem I was right about the lass and her mama. You’re in love, aren’t ya, Ansel?” 

Ance just stared at the ground. He couldn’t talk about emotions just now. His were far too raw. Irish sighed. “Why would he take your woman, Ansel? Is he that angry with ya?” 

“Of course he is. I hurt the bastard’s pride. He killed Old Man Thompson, took Audrey and he would have taken Penelope too if her mama hadn’t hidden her and kept her safe.” Ance swallowed hard. “I have to get her back, Irish.”

Irish patted Ance on the back and for the first time Ance didn’t threaten the man’s life for the contact. Truth was he needed the support just now. “O’course ya do, Ansel! I’m gonna help ya. What do ya need me to do?”

Ance rubbed at his tired face and sighed. “Help come up with a plan to get into that fort Barnaby’s got himself holed up in. I’m not much of a planner .” 

Irish’s face lit up. “Ya just leave this to me, Ansel! If there’s one thing this Irishman knows a bit about, it’s makin’ a plan to get exactly what it is he’s wantin’.” 

“I’m gonna catch a bit of sleep while you think things through,” Ance mumbled, before stretching out on the hard ground and resting his head on his arm. 

His exhaustion outmatched his worry and Ance was quickly snoring. When he woke it was a little after noon and Irish hopped into his line of vision nearly instantly. “Ansel! I have it!” 

“What do you have, Irish?” Ance grumbled. 

Irish laughed. “The idea, Ansel! I know how we can get into that fort! But first I need somethin’ to help the plan come together just right.” 

Ance didn’t like the sheepish glow in Irish’s eyes. “What do you need?” 

“It could prove to be difficult to get since ya went and blew the town up the way ya did, Ansel, but in order to provide a good distraction and get ya into that fort, I’m gonna be needin’ my cart and the supplies it’s loaded with.” 

“Please, tell me you’re not serious…” 

“I’m serious, Ansel,” Irish insisted with a nod. “I can dazzle them with tales of my two dollar cure-all elixir and ya can hide in the back until it’s time for ya to make yourself known.” 

Ance rubbed at his neck as he pushed himself to his feet. He had asked for Irish’s help and if this was the plan then Ance would go with it. Barnaby and Irish had never met one another face to face and so Barnaby wouldn’t know the man when he came pulling up. 

If Irish could get himself invited in and keep everyone busy, Ance could slip from the wagon and search the fort for Audrey–hopefully finding her safe and sound somewhere inside. Finding her would be priority number one–killing Barnaby and every single son of a bitch working for him, would come second. However, one thing was for sure… Ance wouldn’t leave that fort until it was covered in blood and not a single one of those bastards were left breathing. 

“Well let’s get going then, Irish. I’m sure the sheriff will welcome us with open arms.” 

---

Audrey had lost all track of time and had no way of knowing how long she’d been locked up. She was hungry, she was tired, she was constantly thirsty and the whirling in her mind was becoming more chaotic. How long could a person go with only minimal food and water, locked in darkness and tied to a post before they lost every ounce of their sanity?

Audrey knew she must be getting close. 

At least she no longer had a guard posted in the tiny cellar with her, watching her every moment and leering from the shadows. And it wasn’t as if she were truly alone… she had the rats for company. 

They scurried around her, and she cringed each time they brushed against her legs and arms. Audrey could only hope that they didn’t decide they were as hungry as she was and begin to munch on her flesh…. 

Audrey couldn’t help but wonder what was going to become of her. How long would Barnaby hold her here before he got tired of waiting and either let those other men have her or sell her to the Indians she kept hearing so much about whenever Barnaby came around. Apparently Audrey would be worth quite a decent amount of money to a brave looking for a wife. 

Nearly every thought Audrey had was consumed with Penelope. Was she okay? Had Ance found her? Was her daughter even alive or had the hiding place that Audrey had so carefully tucked her into become her grave? 

Audrey heard footsteps approaching outside the wooden door. She lacked the strength to lift her head completely, couldn’t even toss her tangled hair back, instead she simply sat there in the dirt with her head down and her shoulders slumped waiting to discover who was coming and what they wanted. 

She hoped it was someone with a meal–even though her meals consisted of nothing but bread crusts and tiny sips of water. At this point her stomach would be happy with whatever slop was tossed down in front of her. The door opened and Audrey saw the shiny tips of Barnaby’s boots as the man approached her and the lantern he must carry illuminated the darkness. 

“Good evening, Audrey,” he stated jovially as if he were a warm and gracious host and she his guest. “How are you?” 

Audrey didn’t respond. Her throat was raw from lack of water and her tongue felt swollen. She certainly wasn’t in any mood to be clever or have any kind of debate with the man. 

“I have some news for you today,” Barnaby continued. Audrey slowly raised her head and watched him sat the lantern he had brought in with him on the small table as he leaned against a support post. “I had hoped to keep you with me and use you to lure Ance to me, however I simply don’t think the man is coming. It’s been a good solid week and he hasn’t shown up. Your daughter is no doubt dead, Ance, while I believe he will come, isn’t coming quickly enough, and I can’t pass up the opportunity I’ve been presented with.” 

Audrey’s brow rose as she wondered what opportunity Barnaby was referring to. He had such a smug expression on his wide, wrinkled face that Audrey knew it couldn’t possibly be anything that would be good news for her. 

Barnaby rested his hands on his oversized belly. “I’ll be taking a shipment of goods to a group of savages tomorrow and among them is a man quite interested in having a pale skinned woman for his fourth wife. He’s willing to pay me quite a pretty price for you and, as a businessman, I just can’t pass it up.” 

Audrey felt her heart dropped. While she had known that eventually this would come, she found that the thought of it still filled her with fear. If only she knew that Penelope was safe.. If she knew her daughter were safe, Audrey could face absolutely anything! However, this not knowing, this constant worry gnawing at her gut, along with the knowledge of what lay ahead for her, was taking one hell of a toll on her. 

“You have nothing to say?” Barnaby asked, seeming quite disappointed. He snorted when she only remained silent and let her head fall back down. He took a breath, preparing to speak, but was silenced when a new set of footsteps walked through the door. 

“Boss?” Gus’s voice filled the tiny cellar room. 

“You had better have a good reason for interrupting me,” Barnaby warned. 

“There’s a cart outside, sir. It’s a merchant. He says he has an elixir he’d like to tell us about as well as a few other wares.” 

“An elixir?” Barnaby questioned with confusion. “What kind of elixir and why would I be interested in it?” 

“Hell boss, he says it can cure anything wrong with you and he only wants two dollars a bottle. The men are bored and restless so I figure it couldn’t hurt to let him in and give them a bit of entertainment.” 

Audrey’s heart began to pound against her ribs. Hope blossomed to life inside of her even as she desperately attempted to tamper it down. A cure all elixir for only two bottles a bottle? Dare she let herself believe that it could be….. Irish ?

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

Ance was cramped up and overheated as he remained curled up in the makeshift compartment inside Irish’s cart. His hiding place was nearly impossible to see if someone happened to look inside the cart–it had also been made to hold cargo much smaller than Ance.

His knees were in his chest and he was having trouble drawing deep breaths because he was so constricted. He hoped no one would open the compartment too quickly because if they did, he’d come popping out as if he were spring loaded.

Getting the cart hadn’t been too difficult. Ance had left Irish out of sight, ridden into town as if pasing through and expressed his interest in owning the thing. The sheriff had been so desperate for money to help rebuild his busted jail that he’d happily taken Ance up on his offer, never realizing that Ance had been the one to blow up the building in the first place.

The four and a half days it had taken them to make their way to the fort had been torture for Ance. There’d been nothing for him to do but worry and envision all the terrors that Audrey had probably been forced to endure. He had at least been able to catch up on a bit of rest in the back of the cart during the day while Irish drove up front. He felt rested, strong, able and more than a little pissed off and ready to get his woman back–ready to bring Penelope her mother back.

He sat in his tight quarters, his knee pressed against his nose and making breathing quite difficult, and listened to a guard demand Irish to stop his cart and explain his reason for being there. Ance rolled his eyes when Irish began a long winded, rambling sales pitch touting the extreme benefits of his elixir with just enough Irish brogue in his words to draw a man’s attention. He claimed that with the help of his elixir a man could shoot crows from the sky, hit can at two hundred yards, lift two hundred pounds without straining and get rid of any and all ailments, aches, pains and malfunctions. It sounded like a load of fresh horseshit to Ance but it was clear the men listening were interested as they began talking back and forth.

“Just wait here a minute, Irishman. We’ll go see about letting you in!” One of them called.

Ance wished they’d damned well hurry. If he didn’t get his goddamn legs out of this position soon, he’d be forced to drink a bottle of Irish’s snake oil poison just to have hopes of ever moving again. It seemed as if hours passed, though Ance knew it had only been minutes, before the creaking of metal hinges and scarping of wood against dirt indicated that the heavy fort gate was being swung open.

The cart lurched as it started forward, sending Ance’s nose into knee and causing him to let out a string of curses under his breath. He had a feeling Irish’s great plan had included him cramped up in this compartment just for Irish’s sick and twisted amusement.

Barnaby’s voice suddenly filled the silence and Ance fought the urge to burst from his compartment, lunge from the back of the cart and slit the bastard’s throat then and there. Ance closed his eyes and breathed deep as he listened to the conversation going on outside the cart.

“What’s your name?” Barnaby asked.

“Fergus is the name my mama gave me, sir, but Irish is what ya can call me. That’s what all my friends call me,” Irish replied with a light laugh.

“Irish? I’ve heard that name before. Aren’t you a two-bit thief and a scam artist?” Barnaby demanded. Ance nodded, though he couldn’t be seen. Irish’s reputation was certainly an earned one.

“Only to those lesser lads and lasses without the brains for business sense and science, good sir!” Irish exclaimed. “I am a scientist and a businessman and neither of those things are respected among farmers and cow herders.”

Barnaby’s laughter filled the air. “You are certainly right about that!” he agreed. “Us businessmen are often looked down upon but we’re just making a living the same as everyone else.”

Ance growled. Making a living by selling children and women to Indians and white men alike that would turn them into slaves to do their bidding. Ance might be a man who killed without remorse, stole what he needed to get by, (and some things that he simply wanted to get by), and had no real respect for anyone, but he damn sure had never hurt a woman or a child–and he never would.

“Would ya allow me to rest up here a while and tell ya about my new product?” Irish questioned. “I believe your men could benefit from but a mere swallow and perhaps we could work out a deal o’sorts to sell my elixir together and earn a bit more cash. Your reach stretches just a bit further than mine ya see….”

“You’re a long winded man, aren’t you Irish?” Barnaby chuckled with amusement. “I don’t know how much use I have for selling elixirs… of course the savages might pay good money for such strong spirits that can perform such miraculous feats.”

“And ya see that’s why I want to have ya for a partner there, Barnaby. Ya are the finest businessman I ever have heard tell of.” Ance grumbled under his breath but knew Irish was doing a good job at getting on Barnaby’s good side. Barnaby always had been the type of man to want his ego stroked.

“I’ll tell you what, Irish, I don’t know that I care about going into business selling lies in a bottle, but you most certainly seem as if you might be an entertaining guest to have over dinner. Why don’t you come on in? We were about to sit down to a meal.”

“That sounds like a slice of heaven to me!” Irish quickly agreed. “I’m a wee bit gaunt in the middle.”

“Just park your cart over there by the stables and Waylon will put your horses up. Cayhill, you get up on that turret and keep watch, everyone else come on in and eat. We’ve got some traveling to do tomorrow so you’ll need a good meal and a rest.”

Ance stiffened. Traveling? Barnaby hadn’t been planning to wait here until he showed up? Maybe the man thought he wasn’t coming… or maybe he’d never held Audrey here at all and the woman was already sold off or….dead.

Ance’s heart tightened in his chest and he shook his head. He couldn’t have been wrong again! He knew Barnaby. Audrey had to be here… Ance simply had to find her.

The cart lurched once again as Irish took it to the parking place that Barnaby had indicated. Ance heard the chatter of conversation grow fainter as all the men made their way inside. He felt Waylon unhooking the horses and knew that it was now or never.

Waylon and Cayhill, neither were men he knew by name, were the only men left outside if Ance was guessing correctly and he could get one of them to talk and give him Audrey’s whereabouts before he killed them and made his way to the woman.

Ance unhooked the latch on the inside of the compartment and swung the door up. With relief, he breathed in his first bit of fresh air in over an hour. Slowly Ance stood and stretched out his stiff and aching muscles.

The back hatch was suddenly thrown open and Ance found himself staring at who he assumed was Waylon. The man’s brown eyes widened and Ance saw his mouth begin to open. Leaping forward, Ance grabbed him around the neck and hoisted him into the cart, clamping a hand tightly over his mouth.

“Do you know who I am?” Ance growled. The man nodded roughly. Ance pulled his knife from his leg holster and pressed it against Waylon’s bobbing throat. “You helped Barnaby steal from me.” Waylon shook his head roughly as tears reddened his eyes. “Don’t lie,” Ance warned, pressing the knife tighter against Waylon’s throat until a small red droplet of blood oozed out beneath the blade.

“Where is the woman?” Ance hissed as he loosened his hand a bit to allow Waylon to whisper.

“Go to hell,” Waylon spat.

Ance chuckled. “Wrong answer.” He pressed deeper with the knife and Waylon thrashed in his arms as it bit into his skin. Suddenly Ance froze when he heard Irish’s voice.

“O’course I can allow ya to have a few free samples of my elixir!” he called loudly, clearly attempting to warn Ance that he was coming. “It wouldn’t be right of me to ask ya to go into business with first allowin’ ya to sample the product, would it?”

Ance cursed loudly. He opened the side window, opposite of where Irish’s voice was coming from and clambered out, pulling a bleeding Waylon with him. The men thudded to the ground but thankfully the sound was masked by Irish singing loudly.

Ance glanced under the cart and saw Irish’s scuffed up boots with holey soles approaching the door on the other side. The unmistakable gleam of Barnaby’s polished boots were behind him. Ance heard Irish pick up a crate of clattering bottles. “We’ll enjoy this inside if ya don’t mind, Barnaby. I’ve been out in this sun for days and would enjoy the chance to shade my eyes.”

“Boss, can I try it first?” Ance recognized the voice of a man named Gus. “I want to see if it helps my aim.”

Another man laughed. “There ain’t no damn help for your aim.”

“Where’s Waylon?” Barnaby’s voice spoke up.

Ance glanced down at the dying man in his arms and hoped they wouldn’t look to carefully for him. “Probably loving on them horses. You know how he is. Can we go on in and eat now? I’m starving!” the second man exclaimed.

“Are you a bunch of hired hands or a handful of toddlers?” Barnaby grumbled as their footsteps faded into the distance. “Sometimes I just can’t tell.”

Ance let his breath out slowly when they were gone. He glanced toward the main gate of the fort and saw that Cayhill was indeed up on the turret but his attention was focused outside the fort and not inside. Ance moved Waylon back out of Cayhill’s sight and looked down at him.

The light was going out of his brown eyes but Ance shook him roughly. “Tell me where she is, you bastard.”

“The cellar has several rooms…” Waylon whispered. “But your woman ain’t down there anymore… We killed that bitch.”

Ance let out a growl and slid the knife deeper, finishing Waylon off and dropping his body to the ground. Ance knew he couldn’t leave him there just in case someone happened back out so he dragged him into an empty stall in the stable and tossed a bit of straw over his body.

The cellars… how did he get down there? Ance had no doubts that’s where Audrey truly was and he knew she was still alive. Waylon had been attempting to have the last laugh before dying–it had been the desperate cruelty of a dead man that had had him telling Ance Audrey was dead.

Now that his faith in her presence and her life was renewed, Ance had to get down to business. First things first, he had to get rid of Cayhill. He couldn’t risk the man seeing him taking Audrey out of her prison.. Then again there wouldn’t be too many people in any shape to help stop Ance thanks to Irish’s poison. Giving the men here free samples hadn’t been part of the plan but Ance had to admit that it would certainly help. It would either cause the men to fall on their asses or it would kill them dead…. Either one would work for Ance, though he hoped Barnaby wouldn’t drink that watered down mule piss. He wanted that man to be clear and sober when Ance shed his blood and took his life.

Ance looked up toward the sky and the sun that was getting lower toward the west. This would be a job better done at night but Ance didn’t have time to wait. He wouldn’t leave Audrey locked up any longer than she already had been… he only hoped she wasn’t broken.

Staying close to the stone wall and doing his best to keep cover between himself and Cayhill, Ance moved forward. It helped that Cayhill was too preoccupied with the scenery outside the fort to give the inside any real attention at all.

Irish clearly had everyone busy inside and Ance was hopeful they wouldn’t come popping out again until he had Audrey safely outside the fort and hidden. Ance looked up at the turret Cayhill was standing in. It was a good thirty feet tall and Ance knew those steps were too rickety and old for him to be able to slip up them silently and surprise the other man. If Cayhill caught him approaching and rang that bell beside him then Ance could kiss his own life, and Audrey’s, goodbye.

Stepping back so he could draw a good bead on Cayhill, Ance slipped his smaller knife from his boot. His aim would have to be true and his arm strong to take the man’s life from this far away but it had to be done. Letting out a slow breath, Ance sent the knife sailing through the air. He wasn’t disappointed. The blade sank deep in Cayhill’s temple just as the man pulled off his hat and he fell lifeless without so much as a sound.

Now to find the cellars. Common sense told Ance the entrance would be behind the main building and so that’s where he headed with only the hope that Audrey would be whole and well leading him onward.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Five

Barnaby had been gone a long while. Audrey’s hope that the man in the wagon had been Irish coming to save her with Ance in tow was beginning to fade. Then again, hadn’t she herself wanted Ance to stay far from here? She did. She didn’t want him here. She didn’t want him to die for her. She wanted him to take Penelope and raise her, care for her and leave Audrey to whatever fate she was in store for. As long as Penelope was safe and sound nothing else in the world mattered. 

Audrey’s chin fell to her chest and she was about to give in to the sleep that was fighting to claim her when she heard a scraping sound on the other side of the heavy wooden door to the room that was her prison. Knowing it was Barnaby or one of his associates Audrey tensed and tried to prepare herself for whatever they had in store for her. 

The door swung open and Audrey frowned. There was a shadowed figure in the entryway but they carried no light and it was impossible to make out any details about them. Why would Barnaby or one of the other men come down into the dark cellars without a light? 

The figure stepped through the door and their head thudded against the wooden beam. A low growl filled the room. A growl that Audrey recognized. Her heart leapt into her throat. 

“Ance?” she whispered, her voice cracking and her throat burning from so long without use. 

“Audrey?” Ance’s voice was a welcome sound. No matter how selfless Audrey had tried to be in wishing he would stay away, she felt an undeniable relief at his presence. 

A match flared to life and she saw him. He looked dirty and tired and there was something dark down the front of his clothes which Audrey thought might be blood but he was there, he was whole and his deep blue eyes were staring straight at her. 

“Damn woman you look like hell,” he muttered as he strode forward and tossed the dying match to the ground. Suddenly he was on his knees and his arms were around her as he buried his head in her neck. “Damnation woman, I’m sorry they got you… have they hurt you, lady?” 

Audrey shook her head and cursed the tears that streamed down her cheeks. “No… they’ve just kept me tied,” she assured him, her voice a mere whisper which was all she could manage. “Ance, Penelope.. Please tell me you found Penelope….” 

Ance lifted his head and his large hands tenderly cupped her cheeks. “She’s just fine, Audrey. I got her out of there and she’s…..she’s in a safe place.” 

“With who?” 

“Irish’s mom,” Ance replied, sounding sheepish. 

Audrey had questions but now wasn’t the time. “Ance we have to get out of here… Barnaby planned on selling me in the morning to some Indians…” 

“You aren’t getting sold to anyone, Audrey,” Ance vowed, that possessive tone his voice washing over her and causing her to tremble. Damn this man did things to her that no other man had ever done. “Now Irish has Barnaby and his men busy sipping elixirs and eating dinner. I killed the only two men keeping watch outside. The plan is to get you out of the fort and then come back in and kill them all.” 

“That’s a lot of killing, Ance…” Audrey replied, chewing her dry, cracked lip. 

“And it’s going to be done,” Ance assured her. “As long as any of these men are still breathing air they’re a danger to Penny and I won’t let them live.” 

Audrey knew he was right. As much as the thought of so much death and blood made her soul hurt, there truly was no other way. Barnaby and these men had made their beds and now it would seem Ance was going to see that they lie in them permanently. 

“Untie me, Ance. I want to help you get them.” 

Ance pulled his knife and sliced the ropes that held her wrists. Audrey nearly cried out from the pain as she moved her arms to the front for the first time in a good solid week. The blood began to rush back to her fingers and Audrey shook them out as she whimpered. 

“I don’t think you’re in any shape to help, woman,” Ance stated as he stood straight and held out his hand. 

Audrey glared up at him as she put her hand in his and he lifted her up. This time Audrey did cry out as her legs refused to hold her weight. She lurched forward and fell fast. Ance’s arms were around her long before she had time to hit the ground. “Dammit, it hurts!” she exclaimed with frustration. 

“Of course it does. You ain’t used your muscles in a long damn time, you’re half starved, more than a little dehydrated and you’re exhausted. You are going to be safely outside this fort before the real fighting starts and you ain’t gonna fight me on that.” 

“I want to help, Ance,” Audrey argued stubbornly. “She’s my daughter.” 

Ance nodded and scooped Audrey up bridal style. “Yeah and she loves her mama and I promised her I’d bring her mama back safe and sound. Now, dammit, Audrey, if there’s one thing that this bullshit has taught me, it’s that I can’t….” Ance swallowed hard. “It’s that me and that girl, can’t lose you. So shut up, keep your damn head down and do as you’re told.” 

Audrey buried her head in his shoulder and remained silent. She swallowed hard as she took in what Ance had said… he didn’t want to lose her. Was it possible that he was falling in love with her just as she had him? Somehow during all this craziness, Audrey had lost her heart to this deadly outlaw who loved her daughter so. 

Audrey wanted a future–a future where Ance lived on the ranch with her and Penelope and he fell asleep beside her every night and woke up next to her every morning. But Ance wouldn’t want that… he’d made it clear he wasn’t the type of man to settle down in a home with a family…. 

Audrey shook off her thoughts as Ance started up a rickety wooden staircase toward the open cellar door. Now was not the time to worry about a future… now was time to simply try not to die. It was a time to focus on getting back to Penelope and getting her daughter home safe and sound. Audrey sighed with fatigue. She was so tired of spending every waking moment worrying and fighting simply to live. 

The shadows were lengthening when they climbed out of the cellar. Audrey drew in deep breaths of the first fresh air she’d breathed in since she’d arrived at this fort. Her eyes took in the sight of the sky and low lying sun. The scents and sights flooded her senses. But what struck her the most was the quiet. 

“What exactly is Irish doing to entertain Barnaby and his men?” she whispered. 

“Letting them sample his elixir,” Ance replied. 

Audrey’s eyes widened. “Hell, they may be dead already.” 

“That would simplify things,” Ance agreed. 

 The two fell silent as Ance carried her to a back wall and a spot where the wall had crumbled and was only about four feet tall. This spot was in line with the front turret where guards were usually posted but now no guard stood there… Audrey wondered if that was because he was inside with Irish and the others or if he was because Ance had killed him. 

She glanced at the blood chest she was laying against and realized it was probably the latter. Audrey curled tighter into Ance as he carried her over the wall and across the arid landscape. They topped over a rise and came to a large cluster of boulders and rocks. Audrey saw Ance’s mare grazing on the tough weeds on the other side of the rocks and Ance gently sat Audrey on the ground beside her, propping her against the rocks. 

He went to the saddlebag and pulled out a canteen of water and a sack. Audrey took both and greedily drank several deep swallows before looking in the sack and realizing it was hardtack and jerky–not her favorite fare but a much better meal than she’d had in a while. 

Ance crouched beside her and smoothed her knotted hair from her face. “You stay here with the horse, Audrey. If I’m not back in a decent amount of time, you hop on her back and you ride like the hounds of hell are on your ass until she collapses beneath you and then you run on your own two feet until you can’t go another step….” 

“You’re coming back to me, Ance… you have to,” Audrey countered, shaking her head and looking into his eyes. 

“That is most certainly the plan, lady,” Ance agreed gruffly. He leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to her brow. Audrey’s heart went haywire in her chest as it thudded against her ribs. 

“You better come back, Ance. Penelope needs you.” Audrey swallowed hard and put her hand on his bearded and scarred cheek. “I..I can’t lose you either.” 

Ance swallowed hard, nodded once and then stood and strode away without so much as a backward glance.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Six

Ance slipped back over the crumbled wall and took cover behind a post when he realized that Irish, Barnaby and seven other men had come outside.

“We’ve taken your potion, Irishmen, now we’re gonna test our aim,” one of the men stated as he pulled his revolver and nearly dropped it when he stumbled sideways.

Drunk. Ance realized each and every one of these men were dog drunk and flying high on Irish’s elixir–all of them except Barnaby and Irish. Of course Irish hadn’t sampled his own concoction and Barnaby had clearly thought better of it as well. Could Ance murder a bunch of men who were clearly out of their heads and would barely be able to fight back?

Hell yes he could and a bit easier than if they were sober.

“Ya want to test your aim, then?” Irish asked. He grabbed the hat off a man who’s face was quickly becoming a nice shade of green. “I’ll toss this hat up in the air and we’ll see just how many times ya can hit it before it falls back to the dirt.”

Ance watched Irish throw the hat followed by the man failing miserably to hit it. Ance remained out of sight and attempted to think of the best way to go about taking out these men. As he’d told Irish before, he wasn’t much of a planner.. Ance tended to simply go in, guns blazing, and hope things went in his favor–he had learned he couldn’t live that way any longer.

Ance now had a woman and child to think of.

Ance’s planning was interrupted when one of the men, a skinny, dirty bastard named Gus, broke away from the distracted group of men all attempting to shoot the hat full of holes, and headed toward the back of the main building and toward the cellar doors.

He had a leering grin on his face and his tiny eyes kept darting to Barnaby who seemed unaware that the man had left and instead was watching the other men with amusement. Ance had a feeling he knew where Gus was going and why… Rage boiled within him.

Silently Ance slipped behind the man and followed him down the cellar steps and directly to the door of the room Audrey had been kept in. Gus adjusted his pecker in his pants and grinned as he reached for the door. Ance growled, pulled his knife and slid up behind him.

Gus stiffened when the blade pressed against his dirty neck. “She ain’t here anymore,” Ance stated, pressing his lips close to Gus’s ear and keeping his voice at a low, angry growl.

“Wh…who aint?” Gus stammered, his hand reaching for his gun until Ance’s knife tightened against his trembling throat and he thought better of it.

“The woman you came down here to see,” Ance growled. “My woman.”

“Y..your woman?” Gus feigned innocence as his voice raised several octaves. “I didn’t know she was your woman.. Why I was just coming down here to free her, Ance. I swears that to ya.”

Ance chuckled but there was not an ounce of good humor in the sound. “I’m sure.” Without bothering to hear anything else Gus had to say, because Ance knew good and well what the bastard’s true intentions had been in sneaking down to the cellars, Ance slid his knife across his throat and dropped his limp body to the ground as his blood pooled around him.

Now it was only Barnaby and six men left. Ance liked those damn odds.

He slipped back up the stairs and reached the top just in time to hear Barnaby call an end to the gunshots and target practice. “Where the hell is Cayhill?” he demanded. “I told the man to keep watch.”

“Boss, I ain’t seen Waylon neither,” another man spoke up. “He never did show up for supper.”

“Okay, Irishman, as entertaining as I’ve found your constant chatter and nonsense, I think you might be up to something.” Barnaby’s voice was angry and threatening.

“I’m up to nothin’ at all,” Irish insisted.

Ance quickened his pace, knowing that Irish was in trouble. “Damn you! Don’t lie to me. Who’d you bring with you?” Barnaby bellowed.

“I didn’t bring a soul ya fat bastard,” Irish snapped and Ance thought it sounded as if he were struggling, probably being held in place.

“If I kill you I’m sure your partner would make himself known,” Barnaby growled and Ance heard the sound of the shot just as he rounded the building.

His gut clenched when he saw Irish fall facedown in the dirt. Ance paused, hoping the Irishman would move but he remained still and silent. Rage flowed to life inside Ance’s veins. Irish was the only damn friend Ance had in the world and this fat bastard might have just killed him–when combined with all the other wrongs Barnaby had committed toward Ance lately, the man was just begging to die…

And Ance was going to grant his wish.

With a roar, he pulled his gun from his holster. There were seven men and he had six shots in his revolver before he’d have to pull his derringer or find cover to reload.

Ance could hear nothing other than his blood rushing through his ears as he took aim at one of Barnaby’s men and squeezed the trigger. The evening air was shattered by the sound of bullets and screams of pain. Ance felt the fiery sear of bullets striking his own flesh but somehow it was almost as if his rage kept him removed from it as he focused on only one thing–killing.

It wasn’t until Ance was standing there staring Barnaby down with bodies littering the dirt around them and an empty gun in his hand, that Ance realized he might just die himself today. Barnaby’s gun was still loaded and the bastard had it aimed at him.

Ance had never seen Barnaby look so angry. His white mustache blew wildly as his heaving breaths whooshed out his nose. His face was red, his eyes narrowed and his large belly rose and fell rapidly with his panting. Ance dropped his gun and slowly pulled his knife, which was still sticky with the blood of the men he’d already killed today.

“Ansel Adams… I never thought I’d see the day that we’d be enemies,” Barnaby hissed.

Ance shrugged. “I never did care much for you, Barnaby. I just liked your money.”

“And now?” Barnaby demanded. “What is so different now? Why did you steal that girl from me? You made a laughing stock out of me, Ance! Those savages had been expecting her and you damn near got me scalped when they realized I didn’t have their shipment!”

“Damn near, huh?” Ance replied.

Barnaby scratched at his head with his free hand. “Yes, damn near.”

“That’s a shame,” Ance growled.

He had no idea if he could throw his knife quickly enough to avoid a fatal shot from Barnaby’s gun. He could feel blood soaking through his shirt and pants leg as he stood with his weight on one leg. He was already injured and that would slow him some…

He readied himself for the possibility that this might be the end. At least he knew Audrey would be safe. She had a horse, food, water and was smart enough to find her way back to civilization. She would ask around and learn just where Irish’s mother was and in doing so she’d find Penelope. Audrey was no helpless damsel and for that Ance was damned grateful. He just had to be sure he killed Barnaby at the same time as Barnaby killed him so she would have one less monster to contend with.

Ance let out his breath slowly and flicked his wrist just as the sound of three gun blasts rocketed through the encroaching darkness.

Ance hissed when Barnaby’s bullet sliced through the side of his arm, grazing him and taking a good chunk of skin as it went. Ance’s knife flew true and sank itself deep in Barnaby’s chest as Barnaby stumbled forward and stuttered in shock several times, blood dripping from between his pale lips.

Who had fired those other two shots?

Looking behind Barnaby, Ance saw Irish laying on his side with his revolver resting against his stomach and, looking past Irish, Ance saw Audrey leaning against the wall with one of the dead men’s revolvers in her hand.

As Barnaby fell to the ground, Ance ignored the pain in his leg and rushed to her, stepping over Irish who was muttering under his breath. Ance reached Audrey and simply wrapped her up in his arms. He pulled her strong and yet beautifully feminine body against his and simply breathed her in.

“Damn you, lady… I told you to stay,” he managed to grumble only because he knew that grumbling would be expected.

“I don’t think so, outlaw. When you love someone you don’t let them rush off to danger without doing everything you can to keep them safe.”

Ance dragged his head from her neck and looked down at her with a mixture of fear and shock. She had just admitted that she loved him.. Did he love her back? Hell yeah he did.. But could he give her what she wanted? He still didn’t know…

Audrey’s brown eyes were soft and knowing as she raised a hand and gently buried her fingers in the beard of his scarred cheek. “You don’t have to say anything, Ance,” she promised.

She pulled out his arms, though he noticed she didn’t move away from the support of the wall beside her. Audrey’s eyes widened when she saw the bullet wound on his side and the second on his leg. “You’re hurt!” she exclaimed.

“Not too bad,” Ance promised. “Flesh wounds is all they really are,” he winked. “And I happen to know a lady that’s real good at sewing those up.”

Audrey blanched before swallowing hard. “Oh goodie.”

“Earth to the lovebirds,” Irish called out from the dirt. “Do any of ya mind comin’ and helpin’ me up? I got shot too, ya know. And a bit worse than that oak tree sized bastard ya keep lovin’ on, Audrey. I could use a wee bit of lovin’ myself. If it weren’t for my help those lads would have been sober enough to hit what they were aimin’ at a bit better then what they did.”

Ance let his fingertips trail down Audrey’s face before turning his attention to Irish. He limped to his friend and looked down at the bloody hole in his side. “You’ll be fine, Irish.”

“Ya need some work on your bedside manner,” Irish grumped as Ance moved away from him and picked up his discarded revolver. He refilled the cylinder and walked to one of the men on the ground. Taking aim at his face, Ance pulled the trigger.

“What are you doing?!” Audrey demanded.

Ance shrugged. “Making sure they’re dead. I won’t risk someone coming by, rescuing one or more of these bastards and having them come back for vengeance.”

Ance could hear Audrey muttering under her breath but he ignored it as he went to each man and ensured they were finished off. When he had finished, Audrey and Irish were both waiting for him at the cart. Ance reattached Irish’s horses before mounting his mare, which Audrey had ridden to the fort.

“Let’s get the hell out of here before these lads begin to give off a less than pleasant odor.. Or at least more unpleasant than their natural smell anyhow,” Irish stated.

“We’ll ride for a few hours and then make camp. Audrey here is pretty good at taking care of bullet wounds and she’ll see we’re sewed up proper.” Ance informed him.

Audrey didn’t respond. She simply folded her arms over her stomach and stared straight ahead with a far off look in her brown eyes. Ance worried about her but knew nothing could be done now. She was clearly bothered by what had happened during her time here and bothered by what he’d done when he’d shot those men a second time.

Ance supposed he didn’t care if she was mad. He’d rather her be mad and alive than happy and shot in the back. With a sigh, and knowing they’d have to talk later, Ance led his companions out of the fort and away from the carnage they’d left behind them.

A/N: I hope y’all enjoyed the chapter! We’re nearing the end of our tale but there’s still a few loose ends to tie up! I hope y’all plan on staying ’til the end ;)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Audrey cleansed the blood from her skin in the tiny waterhole they’d happened across. The moonlight shone off the muddy water which wasn’t fit for drinking but was her only option for cleansing Ance and Irish’s blood from her body. 

Both men were patched up and currently resting beside a small fire. Audrey settled down on her haunches beside the water and let her mind wander. Being held prisoner in that tiny, dark room with little food, little water and constant fear for her daughter, Ance and herself had certainly taken a toll on her. She felt drained both physically and emotionally. Add to that the fact that Audrey had helped kill someone, had watched Ance shoot seven dying men pointblank in their heads and had him act less than enthusiastic with her declaration of love, and Audrey was simply ready to crawl under a rock and sleep for years before ever showing herself again. 

Audrey wasn’t foolish. She knew that those men had to die. If one or more of them had recovered from their injuries, they would have surely come back after Ance or Audrey, putting Penelope in danger. It wasn’t the fact that Ance killed the men that had her stomach feeling a bit shaky, it was the fact that he hadn’t acted even the smallest bit bothered by the task. The man had acted as if he were doing something as simple as watering flowers each time he’d pulled the trigger. 

She let out a sigh as she glanced up at the night sky. She wasn’t sure what had possessed her to admit that she loved Ance. She did love him. He was the first man to make his way into her heart since Alexander had been murdered. She knew a life with Ance would be difficult. She had no false hopes or expectations that he would settle down on the ranch and be a constant feature. She expected he would come and go as he pleased and only be around when it suited him. 

Could she do that? Could she be an outlaw’s mistress? Would he truly be faithful while he was away and could she, despite all her big talk, truly handle a relationship such as that? 

“You need sleep, Audrey,” Ance’s deep, gravely voice gently floated over her and Audrey knew the answer to her unspoken question was yes. To be with Ance, to be near him even only temporarily and sporadically, was worth any separation in between. The man was worth it. 

“So do you,” Audrey replied as she looked over her should to see him standing there, his weight resting on his good leg and blood covering his tattered shirt and pants. “And it isn’t right that you can walk so quietly and sneak up on me even with bullet wounds.” 

“I didn’t sneak,” Ance countered. He slowly lowered himself to sitting beside her with his wounded left leg stuck out. “You were just too lost in thoughts to hear me.” 

Silence fell for a moment but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Audrey wanted closeness and so she reached out her hand and touched Ance’s. She was happily surprised when he entwined his fingers with hers and rubbed her wrist with his thumb. “I like being in the open like this,” Audrey whispered. “It’s nice to breathe fresh air after so long in that prison.” 

Ance’s grip on her tightened fractionally. “I’m sorry they got you, Audrey. I should have been paying enough attention to realize he was tracking us.” 

“Don’t blame yourself, Ance,” Audrey scolded. “Penelope and I kept her plenty distracted I’m sure. You weren’t used to traveling with company.” 

Ance grinned a devilish grin that stole her breath. “It wasn’t Penny that had me distracted, whiskey lady.” 

Audrey felt her core tighten and tremble as Ance gazed at her hungrily and stroked her wrist. Now was not the time for such things and so she quickly averted her gaze and focused her attention on the water. “I want to get back to Penelope as quick as possible but there is something I’d like to do first.” 

“What’s that?” Ance asked. 

“I want to go back to Old Man Thompson’s and give him a proper burial.” 

“You sure?” Ance grunted. “There’s one hell of a mess there and it’s gonna be a bit worse than it was when you were taken.” 

Audrey nodded as she swallowed hard and her stomach flipped. “I’m sure. The man died trying to protect us and I want to see him buried properly…” Audrey nibbled her lip. “There was also a doll there.. Did Penelope take it?” 

Ance shook his head. “No, but then again I didn’t give her time to talk about a doll.” 

Audrey pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her free arm around them. “Old Man Thompson gave it to her and she truly loved it.” 

Ance nodded. “Then she’ll be getting back the doll.” 

“I miss her so terribly,” Audrey lamented, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat. 

Ance adjusted himself upon the ground and pulled her closer. Audrey went to him and laid her head against his broad chest, taking comfort in the sound of his steadily beating heart. “I’ll get you back to her as soon as I can,” Ance promised. “But there is something I need to take care of first.” 

“What?” Audrey asked, wondering what in the world could possibly be more important than getting back to Penelope. 

Ance pulled a cigar from his pocket and stared down at it. “We’re going back to Grandy and I’m gonna be checking on Rodger York. If the man’s on the road to recovery, I intend on making sure he doesn’t reach his destination.” 

Audrey nodded. Yes, of course they had to see that Rodger was taken care of before they could return to Penelope and get home to the ranch. As long as Rodger was alive, he was a danger to her daughter’s safety and Audrey was tired of seeing her daughter in danger. 

“We should probably sleep, shouldn’t we?” Audrey inquired, her words emphasized by the yawn that followed them. 

Ance’s deep rumbling chuckle vibrated against her ear and she felt his lips brush against her hair. “Sleep sounds good about now.” 

The pair helped each other to stand and Ance grunted in pain as he adjusted his weight onto his good leg. “You know Irish might just let you have a bottle of that elixir to help you with your wounds,” Audrey teased. 

Ance snorted. “It’ll cure me or kill me one.” 

“Yes, and the miracle will cost you a mere two dollars a bottle,” Audrey laughed lightly. “It’s lucky that Irish is your friend, Ance.” 

Ance grunted as he lit his cigar. “He didn’t help cuz we’re friends. He helped because he owed me about twenty favors–not the least of which was busting him out of jail so he could help.” 

“What was he in jail for?!” Audrey demanded, realizing this was the first she’d heard of it. 

“Twas merely a misunderstandin’,” Irish insisted sleepily from where he lay beside the fire. “I had allowed the sheriff’s wife to test out the elixir and I’m afraid it made her a wee bit free with her lovin’. She began wantin’ her a bit of attention from an Irishman, and of course, bein’ the businessman I am, I was all to happy to meet her needs…” 

“I must have done something real bad in a past life,” Ance grumbled as he lay down upon his bedroll and held out his arm for Audrey.

“Why’s that?” Irish questioned as Audrey lay down and settled herself against Ance’s chest, more than happy to finally be close to the man again. She loved him and she would take advantage of what time she had with him–even if it would prove to be fleeting. 

“Because the only goddamn friend I have in the whole world is a good for nothing, skirt chasing, lying, cheating Irishman.” 

“Ansel,” Irish sat up and batted his lashes with a crooked grin on his face, emphasizing the gap in his teeth. “I do believe that’s the first ya have ever admitted that I’m a friend.” 

“Must have been the blood loss talking,” Ance grumbled as he put out his cigar and pulled his hat over his eyes. 

Irish was all smiles as he rolled over and fell silent. Audrey snuggled up closer to Ance and kissed his jaw. “Goodnight,” she whispered. 

“Goodnight, Audrey,” he replied. “And uh.. About what you said earlier.. Back at the fort…” 

Audrey felt her stomach churn wondering just what he was going to say. He swallowed and lifted his hat so he could look into her eyes. “Me too.”

Audrey blinked several times and before she could process that he had just told her he loved her in his own way, Ance had the hat flopped back over his face and clearly no longer felt the need for conversation. 

Maybe, just maybe, Audrey would get to keep her outlaw for more than just this one adventure. With a smile on her face and hope in her heart, Audrey laid her head against his chest and let sleep claim her exhausted body.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Ance drew in small breaths to combat the stench as he glanced at Audrey. He had given her his bandana and it was tied around her mouth and nose but he could see the discomfort and tears in her brown eyes. 

The scent of decaying flesh, both horse and man, was strong around them and Ance knew the sights of the rotting bodies was going to plague Audrey’s nightmares for a long time to come. He remembered his first time seeing a rotting corpse when he’d been ten years old–now and then it still haunted his dreams as well. 

Old Man Thompson’s cabin came into view and Irish called out. “I’ll be stayin’ back here,” he stated. “I’ve seen about enough for now and I can’t fit this here wagon through all these holes and traps. Take the wee lass with ya if she wants to go.” 

Ance turned his gaze to Audrey who sat stiff backed in the wagon seat. “Do you want to come? You don’t have to. I can take care of this myself,” he assured her. 

Audrey shook her head. “I’m coming,” she insisted, her voice muffled beneath the red bandana. 

Despite his trepidations, Ance nodded. If there was one thing he’d learned about Audrey, it was that once the woman had her mind made up about something it was pointless to try to change it. He rode up alongside the wagon and gently helped Audrey onto the saddle behind him. It had been nearly a week since he’d been stitched up and his wounds were healing but still tender and he was careful to keep from tearing the wounds and undoing all the knitting up they’d done so far. 

Together the two rode in silence toward the cabin. Ance was careful to sidestep any remaining traps and he did his best to keep Audrey away from the grisliest of the bodies. His mare was clearly less than happy about the smell as she tossed her head but Ance forced her onward. 

He dismounted slowly when they reached the porch and pulled Audrey down. “Are you sure you want to go in? I can take care of this myself…” 

Audrey’s brown eyes, while red-rimmed and sad, were also full of determination as she looked up at him. “I want to come in, Ance. Stop trying to protect me.” 

Ance grumbled under his breath and waved his arm toward the door. “After you then. I won’t be caught protecting you again.” 

Audrey glared at him, clearly not happy with the snark in his tone. Ance wasn’t pleased with it either. With a sigh Ance grabbed her arm gently. “I’m sorry,” he ground out, unaccustomed to apologies. “I think we both need to finish this up, finish the rest of our business and then take a good and proper rest.” 

Audrey leaned into his touch and laid her fingertips against his beard. “I think you’re right.” 

Happy to have the snappiness behind them, they walked hand in hand into the cabin. Ance felt Audrey stiffen as the scent assaulted their scenses. It was as if they’d run into a brick wall of decaying flesh and Audrey pulled out of his grasp, turned on her heel and dashed outside before losing the contents of her stomach on the porch. 

Ance sighed and followed her out. He took the bandana from her hand, went to the hand pump well and cleaned it off before taking it back to her and laying it across the back of her neck as she sat in a rickety rocking chair with her head between her knees. 

“I’m sorry, Ance.. I thought I could but…” 

“Don’t you worry about it none, Audrey. I’ll take care things.” 

“I don’t want to cause you any extra trouble…” Audrey insisted, never looking up from her boots. 

Ance patted her shoulder. “If there’s one thing I know about females, it’s that they’re nothing but extra trouble.” 

Ance saw her lips twitch with a hint of amusement and that made him feel comfortable enough to leave her sit while he went in search of a shovel. 

Ance took care of the task of burying Old Man Thompson quickly and he tied together two sticks with some leather cord to make a cross to mark the grave. Once that was done, Ance went back to the front of the house and led Audrey around back so she could see the gravesite. He left her standing beside it as he went back in and found a doll which he assumed was the one Penelope had forgotten. 

“You ready to be moving on?” Ance asked quietly when he rejoined Audrey outside. 

She nodded, her eyes instantly going to the doll in his hands. “Yes. And Penelope will be so happy to have her doll back, Ance. Thank you.” 

“She’ll be getting this doll soon enough,” Ance agreed. “But first we have things to be taking care of in Grandy.” 

Audrey tilted her head and let out a tired sigh. “Grandy here we come.” 

---

Audrey sat up abruptly, unsure what had awaken her from such a sound sleep. The first thing she realized was that she was lying upon the bedrolls alone. Ance was not beside her. She glanced to the other side of the fire and saw Irish snoring soundly. 

Where was Ance? 

Gazing through the darkness and shadows, Audrey eyes fell upon the sillouhettes of two men. One she instantly recognized to be Ance, his broad shoulders and tall build were nearly impossible to miss, but the other was a bit smaller and she would swear that was a feather hanging from his hair….

Indians!! 

“Irish!” Audrey hissed. “Irish, wake up.. Ance needs our help.” 

Irish jerked to alertness and frowned. “What’s the matter, lass?” 

“Indians…” Audrey whispered. “He’s up there with an Indian.” 

Irish followed her gaze and shook his head as he relaxed back against his bedroll. “Don’t ya worry your head about that none. Ance can handle the situation just fine.” 

Audrey chewed her lip and wanted to smack the loafing Irishman. Those were Indians! They couldn’t be trusted! She could only see one but she had heard many times that where you saw one Indian there were always more. Thankfully she’d avoided trouble with them on her ranch but she knew other ranchers, older ones, that hadn’t always been so lucky. 

Audrey did not draw an easy breath until she saw Ance tip his hat to the Indian and head back her way. The Indian hopped on the horse beside him and rode off into the darkness. “What are you doing awake?” Ance asked as he laid himself down beside her. 

“I woke up and realized you weren’t here… Ance, what did that Indian want?” 

“You need rest, Audrey. You haven’t had a decent night sleep since we left that cabin four days ago.” 

“Ansel Adams, you will answer me now.” Audrey exclaimed, feeling her nerves fraying even more. She had always been a level headed person but the constant movement lately, the constant fear, the constant death around her, the nightmares keeping her awake at all hours of the night and the constant separation from her daughter was taking its toll on Audrey. 

“Calm yourself down, woman.” 

“Don’t patronize me, man,” Audrey snapped. “What did he want?” 

Ance snorted and rubbed at his face. “He and his party have been dogging us since we left the fort. They’ve just been keeping an eye to make sure we don’t mean trouble and to keep trouble off our backs as well.” 

“So they..they’re helping us?” Audrey asked with confusion. 

Ance nodded as he motioned for her to lay down against his chest. “That’s about the size of it. Now lay down here and rest, Audrey.” 

Audrey laid her head down but couldn’t seem to fall asleep. “Are you certain they don’t mean us harm?” 

Ance sighed. “I trust them more than I trust most white men. Those Indians have never done me a bit of harm and, if not for them, I wouldn’t have known that Barnaby had taken you from Old Man Thompson. You owe them your life, Audrey, and Penelope’s. You shouldn’t judge them so harsh.” 

Feeling thoroughly put in her place, Audrey picked at the buttons of Ance’s worn and stained shirt. She’d cleaned it the best she could in the river but there would be no saving it… They’d reach Grandy in another three or four days and each of them needed a good hot bath and clean clothes before they left there. 

“I suppose there are things in this life I just don’t know much about,” Audrey admitted. “I was always told Indians were savages.” 

“It’s not your fault. That’s what most folks want you to think. Just like all Irishmen are drunks and all outlaws are pure evil.” 

“Irish doesn’t do much drinking,” Audrey countered. “And you don’t have a purely evil bone in your body.” 

“Well they say that all female ranchers are sharp-tongued harpies with more hair on their chests and chins than most men,” Ance added. 

Audrey laughed lightly and pressed her lips against his ear. “Is that true, outlaw?” she purred. 

“Damn you, woman,” Ance growled and just like that, he was taking her into his arms and loving her in the way that only he could. Everything around them was forgotten as Audrey lost herself in his warmth and strength.. Only half aware of Irish turning his back to them and covering his head with his thin pillow.

Audrey had obviously lost all shreds of decency because she couldn’t find it within herself to care that they were so near someone else. She had been so long without Ance’s lovemaking and all she wanted was to have him take away some of the worry and stress that had been weighing her down for so very long. 

Ance pulled the blankets over their heads to offer the illusion of privacy and Audrey’s ability to think was lost completely as his lips roamed over her chest. 

Audrey let him love her. Her outlaw. He was hers and she was is…. At least until his roaming ways dragged them apart–which was bound to happen before too long.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The trio rode into Grandy four evenings later. Eyes everywhere were immediately turned in their direction. Ance knew they made one hell of a sight. They were filthy, their clothes torn and stained with dirt and blood. Audrey’s blond hair was a rats nest of tangles around her face and dirt smudged her freckled cheeks. 

They were tired, wore down and each of them ready for a nice hot bath and a good nights rest on a real bed…which was strange since Ance had never in his life felt he needed a real bed. 

But before baths and beds could be had, Ance needed to figure out if Rodger York was still in town. If the man was healing up and somewhere in Grandy, and if he caught sight of Audrey, things could go real far south real fast. 

“Irish, take Audrey to the hotel and get her a room.” Ance laid some money in Irish’s outstretched hand. “Make sure you order a nice hot bath and I’ll be along when I can.” 

“Ance, I want to come with you,” Audrey argued. 

Ance shook his head. “This man has gone out of his way to prove he’s a danger to you and I won’t have you running around this town looking for him when we have no idea where he’s at.”

Audrey’s jaw locked stubbornly. “But…” 

Ance rubbed the back of his neck roughly. “Now dammit, woman!” he exclaimed, drawing even more attention from those passing by. “Would you for once in our lives together not argue with me? I’m trying to keep you safe, for chrissakes! Now get your filthy ass to the hotel and wait on me while I see to the business.” 

Audrey glared at him a moment longer before finally nodding. Ance turned his gaze to Irish who quickly led the cart away with Audrey sitting stiff-backed and mad as hell beside him. 

Ance shook his head. That damn woman would be the death of him. 

Ance wished he had a cigar but he’d long since run out of them. That would have to be another stop he made before returning to the hotel. But first he was going to pay a visit to the doctor. 

As he made his way down the road, Ance was aware of the wide berth he was being given. He couldn’t blame folks. His clothes were stained in dirt and blood and he no doubt smelled like the backend of a hog. Ance dismounted his mare, careful not to put all his weight on his leg, which was healing up quite well–hell he didn’t even have to limp on it any longer and didn’t when there was anyone around other than Irish or Audrey… weakness wasn’t something he was willing to show to anyone else. 

Ance walked up the rickety staircase to a door that bore the name ‘Dr. Ramsey Habernacle’. Well that name was certainly a mouthful. Ance chuckled as he knocked twice and waited. 

Footsteps neared the door and it was thrown open to reveal a sharply dressed, rather short man with a gold pocket watch chain tucked into his pocket, a gray top hat and a well groomed mustache. “Well don’t just stand there,” the man snapped. “I’m a busy man, what do you need? Are you injured? You smell dead!” 

“I don’t need anything myself, sawbones, I got my wounds tended to already. I’m actually looking for somebody and I heard tell he’d been brought here to Grandy in pretty bad shape.” 

The doctor let out a snort and yanked his glasses from his face. He began cleaning them on a stark white handkerchief he pulled from his pocket. “Sawbones?” he snapped. “I don’t appreciate the disrespect from a ruffian such as yourself.” 

“And I don’t appreciate it from a gussied up old bastard such as yourself neither.”

The old man stared up at Ance a moment, his mouth working up and down but no words coming out. Finally he sputtered, fixed his glasses back upon his nose and yanked off his hat. “Well why don’t you tell me just who you’re looking for and I’ll tell you whether or not I’ve treated him,” he snapped as he ran his hand through his thinning hair. 

Ance grunted. The doc seemed the straight forward and to the point type and Ance appreciated people like that. “I’m looking for a man named Rodger York,” Ance replied, the name leaving a bad taste on his tongue. 

The doctor nodded as he replaced his hat. “Well yeah, I treated a man by that name,” he replied. He rubbed his mustache. “He was burned up mighty bad from a trip and tumble he’d taken into his own campfire after drinking a bit too much. Truly unfortunate turn of events. It was a sad way for a U.S. Marshall with his record to meet his end.”

Ance scowled at the reverence in the doctor’s voice as he spoke about Rodger and it took a moment for what the man had said to truly sink in. “His end?” Ance growled. 

“Yes. If you were friends I’m sorry to have to tell you but he succumbed to his injuries shortly after he came here.” 

“He’s dead?” Ance’s fists clenched. He hadn’t wanted Rodger to be dead. He’d wanted the joy of killing that son of a bitch himself. “Are you sure?” 

The doctor tugged down his waistcoat and puffed out his chest. “I’ve been doctoring for thirty-seven years! Long before you were a gleam in your papa’s eye. I can promise you that I know what dead is and how to diagnose it!” 

“Well calm yourself down then, sawbones,” Ance grumbled. “Is he buried at the graveyard at the edge of town?” 

“Yeah, that’s where we put him,” the doctor folded his hands on his lean stomach. “He came to long enough to tell me he didn’t want his body sent anywhere else. That he didn’t have any family…..”

Ance didn’t wait to hear the rest of what the doctor had to say. He quickly showed the man his back and made his way down the stairs with the doctor grumbling about his rudeness behind him. Ance was certain the doctor wouldn’t lie to him about Rodger York’s death but Ance had made too many mistakes lately and was going to go see the man’s grave for himself. 

He took his mare by the reins and led her down the road to the graveyard beside the church at the edge of town. His eyes quickly found one of the fresher graves and Ance let his boots carry him to it. The limestone grave plaque was plain enough and written there were the words ‘U.S. Marshall Rodger York. Died due to complications from burn wounds. A true loss for America.’

Ance sneered and barely contained the urge to kick the headstone and piss on the mounded dirt. He turned his back on the grave and headed back into town. He stopped by the general store and made an order for all the supplies they’d need to get back to Penny and make the journey to the ranch. 

Once that was complete Ance surveyed the meager selection of clothes available and got a change for both himself and Irish before picking out a brown leather split skirt with black embroidered ivy on the legs and a light blue blouse for Audrey. He figured they’d both look real nice on her. He picked up a new pair of shoes for her as well, remembering the worn state hers were in and the way he’d seen her wincing lately when she’d been walking around. 

Ance had the clothes packaged up and tossed in a handful of cigars, some candy and a new set of clips for Audrey’s hair since hers had been lost during her time with Barnaby. He had his bundles under his arm and was heading for the door when he paused, his eyes drawn to a selection of items that the store clerk kept under the glass cabinet. 

“Do you like those, sir?” the clerk asked, as he placed his glasses on his nose and walked over with keys in hand. “I can get them out for you if you’d like to study them more closely.” 

Ance cleared his throat, felt his heart seize up and shook his head as he strode out the door without a word leaving the golden bands shimmering in the sun streaming through the window. 

---

“Dead?” Audrey gasped as she sat back down hard upon the bed. 

Ance nodded and tossed the bundles from the store upon the tiny chair by the door. Adurey couldn’t believe it. She’d been so worried about Rodger coming for revenge against her–she truly hadn’t believed he would die. 

“That means I’m a murderer, Ance….” she realized aloud. “What if I’m wanted?” 

“You’re not,” Ance assured her. He picked up one of the bundles and held it out to her. “I brought you a change of clothes. Now you better get in that bath while it’s still warm.” 

Audrey stared at him in shock. “How can you be so calm? Are you certain he didn’t tell anyone I am the one that shoved him into that fire?” 

“Dammit, woman, don’t be admitting things out loud in a town. You sure do have things to learn about outlaw living,” Ance scolded, though Audrey knew him well enough to hear the amusement in his tone. 

She glared at him and he shrugged. “Why are you so worked up? The man was dead and it was ruled an accident. You had plans of killing him anyhow so I can’t see how this is any different than those.” 

Audrey sighed. He was right. All that mattered was that Rodger York was good and dead and he wouldn’t be coming after Penelope. “I’m ready for that bath now.. And a hot meal.. and a real bed…” 

“Typical woman,” Ance grumbled. “Full of demands. You go ahead and get in that bath. I’ll take Irish his clothes, see to that meal and be back shortly. Lock the door behind me.” 

“You don’t have a key, Ance,” Audrey reminded him. 

Ance chuckled. “Lady, I believe you’re forgetting who you’re with. I don’t need a key.” With that, Ance picked up another of the bundles and went out the door. 

Audrey locked it behind him and then quickly tore open the package he’d given her like a kid on Christmas morning. Sitting atop neatly folded clothes was a pair of leather ankle boots. They were beautiful and soft and Audrey was truly touched. She hadn’t voiced a word of complaint to Ance about the state of her own shoes, or her feet because of them, but he had somehow known she’d needed them. 

Next she grabbed up the light blue blouse with sleeves that would fall to between her elbow and wrist and a modest neckline. She smiled as she remembered the way he’d grumbled and attempted to force her blouse to stay closed before they’d entered town. The neckline of the blouse was torn and revealed her underclothes beneath it.. A fact that the Ance’s possessive nature clearly hadn’t been comfortable with. 

The skirt really caught Audrey’s eyes. Soft, supple dark brown leather with delicate ivy embroidered in black running up the legs. Audrey pressed the cool leather against her cheek and sighed. She truly was a lucky woman and when she saw the clean underclothes that were also neatly folded among the clothes, she knew she was probably one of the luckiest. 

Wasting no more time, Audrey quickly shed her soiled clothes and slid into her steaming bath. Instantly the soreness and fatigue that had been plaguing her body began to fade away. 

Audrey was just finishing up washing away the last of the dirt from her hair when she heard something scraping at her door. Her hand instantly went toward the revolver on the chair beside the tub but stilled when the door opened and she realized it was only Ance, balancing a try of food on his hand as he stepped inside. 

Audrey’s stomach rumbled at the sight of the covered dishes but then her gaze rose to meet Ance’s blue eyes and she quickly realized that the food would have to wait. Her man was hungry as well and it certainly wasn’t for whatever he’d carried in on that tray.

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty

Sunlight streaming through the window woke Ance the next morning. Audrey’s soft skin and lean body were pressed tight against his and they were tangled together in the hotel sheets. 

Ance looked down at her peaceful face as she breathed lightly against his bare chest. The sun shone on her freckled cheeks, and her full lips, still a bit red and swollen from his kisses, curved into the hint of a smile. Ance wondered what she was seeing in her dreams to cause that smile. 

Tracing his fingertips along the slight curve of her strong arms, Ance thought about the unexpected turn his life had taken. He’d always thought he’d live wild, free and roaming until one day he was taken down and his life ended… never had he thought he’d meet a little girl who would make him want to be a father and even less had he thought he’d ever meet a woman who made him want to settle down. 

Settle down… those two words scared the great Ansel Adams damn near to death. Could he be that man? Could he be a man who put down roots, stopped wandering, slept under roof every night and obeyed the law? Or would that life smother him? Would he eventually break, snap, and take off into the night breaking the hearts of the two women in the world he loved?

Ance would never ask Audrey to give up the ranch she’d worked so hard building, nor would he want Penelope living the life he lived… but could he adjust to theirs? Or would Audrey and Penelope simply be another stop he made during his wanderings until his life finally got snuffed out. 

That wouldn’t be very damn fair to them. 

But since when did Ance care about the feelings of others? 

Since Penelope Reynolds and her mama had come into his life was the simple and complete answer to that question. 

Ance let out a slow breath and gently kissed Audrey’s blond hair. She groaned lightly and her eyelids fluttered open. Ance looked down into those brown eyes and realized that maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad sight to wake up to every morning from here on out. 

“Good morning,” she whispered, curling her body closer against his. 

Ance smiled down at her. “Good morning….except it’s closer to noon.” 

Audrey’s eyes widened as she looked toward the clock in the corner. “I have never laid in bed this long!” 

“You needed the rest,” Ance assured her. “We both did.” 

Audrey’s teeth began nibbling at her pink bottom lip and Ance sighed. “What?” 

“I.. I don’t want to rush you since I know you’re healing but…” 

“You’re ready to get back to Penelope?” 

Audrey smiled. “Yes. I miss her.” 

Ance squeezed Audrey tight. “I miss her too and don’t you worry none about me healing. I’ve been shot up worse than this before.. Hell I’m damn near good as new. I ordered some things at the mercantile yesterday. I’ll go pick it up, get you a horse of your own and….” 

“Let’s take a few days of rest before we leave, Ance. You said it will take about four or five days to reach Penelope, right?” 

Ance simply nodded. Audrey sighed. “I’m not up for that just now. I don’t think you are either and I know your horse needs rest. I’d rather rest a bit and be feeling my best when I return to Penelope. I don’t want her seeing us bruised, haggard and all stitched up.” 

“Women..” Ance grumbled. “They never can make up their minds.” As she glared at him and snuggled closer, Ance couldn’t help but feel that there was something else behind her hesitation to leave. Was she sensing the end of their journey together the same as he was and attempting to prolong it? 

“We can rest here two or three days and then we’ll get back to Penny. My stitches will be ready to come out by then and your bruises should be good and gone by the time we reach her.” 

“Is there anyway we can send her word to let her know we’re okay and that we’ll be there soon to get her?” Audrey inquired. 

Ance shifted and cleared his throat. “No, there’s no wires out there where she is and mail would take too long. By the time the letter reached her, we’d be there.” 

“Where exactly did you leave her?” Audrey questioned suspiciously. 

“A safe place…. With Irish’s mother.” 

“If that place is so safe why didn’t you take her and I there to begin with instead of taking us to Old Man Thompson’s?” 

Ance grumbled under his breath and rose from the bed with a growl. He unwrapped his new clothes and began yanking them on, fully aware of Audrey watching him from the bed where she lay wrapped in the tangled sheets. “Because I hadn’t thought of her back then.” 

“So is Penelope on a homestead with her? Does she live in a town? Penelope loves horses.. Are there horses there?” 

Ance chuckled. “Uh… there’s some hitched there from time to time. Now I’m gonna go get some lunch. Why don’t you get dressed and join me down in the café when you’re ready.” 

Without giving Audrey time to say another word, Ance grabbed his gun belt and boots and darted out the door. Holy hell! He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so damn scared of someone. He could only imagine the damn hell that woman would raise when she learned her daughter was in a brothel! 

Ance shivered. She’d probably kill him. 

---

To say that Audrey was suspicious would have been an understatement. Ance was hiding something from her and she’d be damned if she wasn’t certain the man was scared of her! What could he have to hide that was so terrible? 

Where was her daughter?

Audrey knew wherever it was had to be a place that Ance felt safe or he’d never have left her, nor agreed to rest here a couple of days. Audrey’s reasons for wanting to stay were not wholly for the rest and healing they both desperately needed–it was also to savor simply a few more days at Ance’s side. Audrey knew that when they returned to the ranch that would be the end of having him near her like this. He would ride off into the sunset and only come around when it suited him. 

That was what they’d agreed to wasn’t it? A relationship with no strings, commitments or promises? Why oh why had Audrey ever agreed to that….?

She slid from the bed, her body aching in the most delightful of ways from the way Ance had loved it all night long. She realized with a smile that it had been their first night spent together in a true bed. She had loved waking up naked, skin on skin, and tangled up upon the warm mattress. It had certainly been a feeling she could get used to. 

Slipping into her underclothes, Audrey let her thoughts return to Penelope. Just who was Irish’s mother–the woman who was now in charge of her daughter? Audrey had never heard Irish mention the woman much and Ance didn’t seem to eager to share details….

Suddenly Audrey realized the woman must be a criminal… she was possibly a wanted woman and that’s why Ance hadn’t mentioned her before. Perhaps she was an outlaw, a bank robber, a gambler or a salesperson the way her son was! 

Audrey’s first instinct was to rush to her daughter’s rescue but she scolded that impulse. Ance was considered a bad man by lawmen’s standpoints but he was a good man in all the ways that mattered–just the same as Irish was. She wouldn’t judge Irish’s mother simply because of the life she lived… Audrey just wished she knew what that life was! 

There was one person she hadn’t questioned about the woman. A person who knew her personally and wasn’t quite as close-lipped as Ance by nature. After slipping into the last of her clothes and lacing up her boots, Audrey fixed her hair back on her head and left the room intent on finding Irish and learning all she could about his mysterious mother. 

Irish was not in his room and so Audrey went down to the café. Instantly her eyes picked Ance out of the crowd. He was sitting at a back table, his broad shoulders and massive frame causing him to stand out. His blue eyes met hers and he waved her over–Audrey ignored him. 

Instead she made her way to the gap-toothed, red-haired man currently wooing a woman beside the window. Audrey walked up to the table and cleared her throat loudly when the diners didn’t seem to notice her. “Hello Irish,” she stated politely. “I’d like to have a word with you if you have a moment.” 

Irish smiled in return, “I’ve always got a moment for an old friend,” he assured her. “Would you give us a moment, lass?” he asked the woman sitting across from him. 

She seemed quite perturbed as she tossed down her napkin and rose from her seat. “I didn’t realize you were interested in older women,” she spat before letting out a high pitched snort that made her sound rather ill and stomping away. 

“Older?” Audrey raised a brow and took the woman’s abandoned seat. “Irish, surely you have better taste than that? If her nose got any higher in the air she’d be in danger of taking a bird to the nostril.” 

Irish laughed heartily. “I don’t have much in the way of standards when it comes to women, lass. I like them all. Old, young, short, tall, thin, full-figured and even high-nosed.” He waggled his red brows. “And with the way you and ol’ Ansel have been lovin’ on one another every night while I lay lonely and cold has left me feelin’ a bit in need of some company.” 

Audrey’s blush went from her toes to the roots of her hair as she quickly let her gaze go to Ance who was glaring in their direction and clearly not happy that she had ignored him. Audrey turned back to Irish. “I am sorry that I interrupted your lunch, Irish. I just have a few questions and I think you can answer them for me.” 

“With the way Ansel is starin’ over here and the pressure he is currently puttin’ on his cup of beer, I’d say ya had better get to askin’ quick before he decides he’s had enough of waitin’.” 

Audrey waved her hand. “He’ll be fine. Now what I need to know is who is your mother? Ance says he left Penelope with her but he won’t tell me anything about the woman or where exactly my daughter is.” 

Irish’s green eyes lit up. “My mama is a one of a kind lass. A saint, a godsend, a perfect angel sent from heaven above.” 

Audrey nodded. “What’s her name? Does she live in a town? A ranch?” 

“Madge is her name,” Irish replied.  “And she is the best momma a boy could have asked for. She runs a very successful….” 

Irish paused and Audrey frowned. “What? A successful what?” 

Irish’s smile grew more broad and he took a sip of water. “Home for runaway girls. She takes in strays, as she calls them, and she teaches them all the skills they’ll need to get through life and finds them jobs to make a bit of money. The lasses she trains pay her a bit of their earnings for the time that they live there.” 

Audrey was confused. That sounded like a wonderful thing. Why would Ance not want to tell her that? “I don’t understand why Ance wouldn’t just tell me..” 

Irish winked. “Ahh, that’s because my mama is very secretive about her business. Ya see those strays of her aren’t all castoffs, some are runnin’ from those that would do them harm. My mama has sworn everyone to never speak of it outside the walls of her home.” 

“So why are you telling me?” 

“Because she’s my mama and has to forgive me. Ansel, on the other hand, she’d probably thump his head quite nicely if he were to speak of it.” Irish reached across the table and tweaked her nose. “Don’t ya be angry with him. When ya meet my mama you’ll understand that a woman like her has to be obeyed. Even a man of Ansel’s stature has to respect the lass.” 

Audrey found herself laughing lightly. She stood from her seat and patted his shoulder. “Thank you, Irish. My heart feels better now knowing exactly where my daughter is and who she’s with.”  

“I do what I can lass. Now get back to Ansel before he comes over here and thumps my head for stealin’ ya away.” 

Ance was grumbling as Audrey sat down at the table. “Don’t be so grumpy,” Audrey scolded. “You should have told me about Madge. I wouldn’t have had to worry if you had.” 

“You shouldn’t have worried anyhow. I told you it was fine,” Ance snapped. Then he frowned and his blue eyes narrowed. “Irish told you about his mama?” 

“Yes,” Audrey sipped at the lemon water that Ance had ordered for her. “I think it’s wonderful that she helps those girls learn the skills they need and find work.” 

Ance began to choke on the beer he’d been attempting to swallow. Audrey rose and swatted him on the back several times until he growled and swatted her arm away. “Damn woman, don’t break my ribs!” 

“Are you okay?” Audrey questioned. 

“Fine,” Ance assured her. He cleared his throat and rubbed at his watery eyes. “So you’re okay with where I left Penny?” 

“Of course I am,” Audrey nodded, her stomach rumbling loudly as a serving lady sat two steaming bowls of stew on the table. Audrey laid her napkin in her lap and picked up her spoon. “Maybe she’ll even learn a thing or two.” 

Audrey glanced up just in time to see Ance glance at Irish who threw a charming smile back and waved. Ance simply nodded and took a bite of his stew. Audrey sighed and wondered about the oddities of men. 

---

The next two days were something new and different for Ance. He and Audrey spent nearly every waking moment together, learning more about one another. He learned each and every one of her nuances and expressions. He studied the way she moved, the way she would often stare off into space with a hint of a smile on her face. 

Audrey was everything–beautifully flawed perfection and Ance knew he could never live a life that didn’t have her in it. And seeing her just last night, playing poker, sipping at whiskey and fitting in with gamblers, outlaws and cowpokes alike only solidified that in Ance’s mind. 

Tonight would be their last night in this town and, while Ance was eager to get back to Penelope, he would miss having Audrey to himself with no responsibilities or worries. 

He stepped into their hotel room with his arms loaded down with the supplies he’d load into the cart in the morning before they left. Audrey was sitting beside the window and chewing on her lip. She didn’t even seem to notice he’d entered the room and he took those few moments to simply study her. He loved her body–it was strong and yet still feminine. The body of a woman who knew what hard work was and didn’t shy from it. Her blond hair, flecked with browns and golds, was streaming down her back and her full freckled cheeks held high cheekbones. But it was those eyes…those brown eyes that were so expressive and seemed to look straight through him that always captured Ance the most. 

“What are you thinking about so hard?” Ance asked. 

Audrey jumped and let out a gasp as she spun to look at him. “How do you do that?!” she demanded. 

“Do what?” 

“Sneak up on me!” 

Ance chuckled quietly as he deposited the packages on the ground. “I don’t sneak, you just don’t pay attention.” 

“It looks like they’re setting up for a party down there,” Audrey noted, glancing back out the window. 

Ance flopped onto the bed and rested his head on his arms. “Yep.” 

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a good party. Food, music… it could be a good time.” 

Ance raised a brow as he turned his gaze toward her. “Just so long as you know that I don’t dance.” 

Audrey nodded. “Understood.” 

Ance sat among the crowd feeling awkward as hell. What was it with this goddamn town and dances? Hell, the last time he’d been here with Penelope they’d had a dance! The reminder of that time with the little girl had a ghost of a smile curving Ance’s lips. 

He was getting tired of being surrounded by so many people. He was ready for open sky, peace, quiet and air. Ance watched Audrey in the crowd as she danced and laughed with Irish. When Audrey threw her head back and her light laughter floated across the air to him, Ance decided he was tired of watching her enjoy herself with a man who wasn’t him. 

Ance stood and grumbled under his breath. Damn that woman. 

When Irish saw him coming, he shook his head and pulled a startled Audrey tight into his arms. “Ya cannot have her back, Ansel. Ya should have kept her close when ya had the chance. She’s my lass now.” 

Ance crossed his arms over his chest and raised his brow. “She’s mine, Irish.” 

Irish sighed and released his hold. “I’m always left lonely,” he lamented as he covered his heart with his hand. 

“I’m sure you’ll find a nice woman one day, Irish,” Audrey assured him, soothingly, as if consoling a child. 

Irish bowed deeply as he waved Audrey toward Ance and then excused himself to go romance a lass who had had her eye on him all evening. 

Ance cleared his throat awkwardly. “I can’t really dance,” he mumbled. “I just kind of spin around…” 

“I like spinning just fine,” Audrey assured him, the dazzling smile on her face doing away with his nerves. 

Ance put her arms around her and pulled her close as they spun slowly. She rested her head against his heart and Ance felt peace fill him despite the restlessness he’d been plagued with mere moments ago. 

“I love you, Ance,” Audrey whispered. 

Ance squeezed her a little tighter. “Me too, whiskey lady.” 

“But I don’t belong to anybody,” Audrey added, the smile plain to hear in her voice. 

Ance chuckled and pressed a kiss to her hair. “Yes you do,” he assured her. “And so do I.” 

A/N: Is anyone else missing Penelope? I’m thinking it’s time to get back to her, aren’t you?

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-One

“Ah, there be my mama’s place now,” Irish announced jovially as he rode atop the cart. Audrey had been surprised when he’d insisted on coming with them, though Irish had insisted it was only because he wanted to see the angel that gave birth to him and not because he was loathe to be away from Ance who was finally treating him with something less than hostility every once in a while. 

Audrey had noticed that Ance’s normally quiet demeanor had been even more silent than usual today and he’d seemed surly and withdrawn. She glanced at him when she heard him grumble and he and his mare fell behind her on the mare he had purchased for her from Grandy. 

Audrey frowned. “Is something wrong with your horse, Ance?” 

“No, dammit, I just… aw hell.. Don’t kill me, okay?” 

“Kill you?” Audrey laughed lightly. She turned her gaze back toward Irish’s mother’s home. “Why would I……” her voice trailed as several things caught her attention at once. 

This home or Madge’s was here alone, by itself with no neighbors, no crops, no corrals… There was a hitching post with several horses hitched up front. The building was old but in good shape with two floors and balconies up top. The windows were covered by fine red satin with gold tassels and a wooden plaque on the balcony above the front door read, ‘Madge’s Irish Paradise’. 

But it wasn’t those things that truly alerted Audrey to the fact that something was amiss. No, the tell tale sign that she’d been misled was the big busted brunette in nothing but a corset and a bustle leaning over one of the second floor balconies, waving a handkerchief as a smile lit up her heavily painted face–while a man wearing only his trousers nibbled at her neck. 

“Irish! Irish is back!” she exclaimed. “Oh am I happy to see you, darlin! It has been far too long!” 

Audrey was seething… boiling really.. As she turned to Ance. “A brothel!?” she exclaimed. “You left my daughter in a brothel!?” 

Ance’s blue eyes widened. “You said Irish told you,” he growled. 

“Of course he didn’t tell me that!” Audrey shouted, not caring if she sounded hysterical. 

“I may have left out that wee little detail,” Irish admitted sheepishly. 

“Little detail!?” Audrey was certain that the men beside her had gone completely daft! The little twit on the balcony hollered out for Irish again and Audrey laid her hand on the gun in the waistband of her skirt. “Shut her up, Irish, or so help me God, I will.” 

“Audrey, calm down.” Ance interjected before Audrey could succumb to her itchy trigger finger. “I had to think of a safe place for Penny to stay and I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. This is a safe place.” 

“Safe?” Audrey was certain that Ance had been in the sun too long and his brain had been thoroughly fried. “You would consider a filthy brothel where drunkard men go to lay with dirty and diseased women a safe place for a little girl?” 

“Excuse me, lass?” Audrey whipped her gaze around to see a plump woman wrapped in crushed velvet cut low on her ample bosom. The woman had dark hair, sharp eyes and was tapping her foot with irritation as she glared at Audrey with that same emotion. “I’ll forgive ya that off the cuff remark seein’ as how ya have never been to my establishment before. But let me assure ya now that my home is anythin’ but filthy, any man I suspect is lost in drink is not allowed past the front door and my beautiful girls are indeed quite clean and absolutely disease free, I promise ya that.”

Audrey slid from her horse and approached the angry woman. “You’ll have to excuse me if I lack respect for your chosen profession, ma’am,” Audrey replied, meeting the woman’s gaze head on as she came to a stop mere feet away. 

Both women stood with their hands on their hips, staring one another down and Audrey could see the surprise on the plump woman’s face. This must be Madge and she apparently wasn’t used to anyone standing up to her. Audrey was not a man and therefore not the type to be intimidated by a strong woman–she was a strong woman herself. 

“You’re a feisty one, aren’t ya?” Madge asked as a smile deepened the wrinkles in her cheeks. “It’s no wonder our Ansel fell in love with ya. Though I won’t take ya disrespectin’ me or my gals while you’re here. Would ya like to see your daughter, then?” 

Audrey decided to let her own anger go in that moment. She only wanted her daughter and as long as Penelope was safe, sound and hadn’t been exposed to too much of what went on between men and women behind closed door, Audrey would keep her mouth closed for now and simply be grateful. 

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to thump Ance in the head just as soon as the two had a moment alone. She glanced back at him and it was clear from the look on his face as he dismounted his mare that he knew he was still in quite a bit of trouble. 

Audrey returned her attention to Madge. “I am more than ready to see my daughter,” she admitted, tears clogging her throat.

Madge nodded and stepped away from the door. A second woman, this one wearing heavy make-up and a scarlet dress that accentuated her assets stepped outside with Penelope walking alongside her. 

When Penelope saw Audrey, her freckled face lit up. She cried out and ran as fast as her leg would allow toward Audrey and Audrey was quick to meet her half way. She fell to her knees upon the porch and pulled Penelope into her arms. 

Tears fell from Audrey’s eyes as she held her daughter close, breathed her in and felt the peace that comes from knowing your child is safe and in your arms. 

---

Ance had never seen a damn thing in the world like Audrey. Most people shied away from Madge. Ance had never seen anyone approach the woman while she was angry and he’d certainly never seen anyone stand toe to toe and stare Madge down. 

But then again, Audrey wasn’t like anyone else he knew. Audrey was… well, she was Audrey. She had seen things and done things over the past few months that would have broken many people but somehow she just kept moving forward. There were nights that Ance knew bad dreams plagued her but, hell, most folks who had lived something other than a cushy life with silver spoons and servants, had their share of nightmares. 

Ance hadn’t missed the look that Audrey had sent his way. She might have decided to put her anger aside for the moment but that didn’t mean he was safe from her wrath. For the first time, Ance didn’t look forward to getting her alone again….

But the sight of her and Penelope holding one another so close on that porch made Ance decide that whatever wrath he faced was well worth it. Those two were everything to him.. They were his family.

He had made a good choice in leaving Penelope here. The girl was fresh faced, well rested and seemed genuinely happy and healthy. Ance was relieved to say the least. He had half expected to ride in and find her wearing a corset with her face painted up as she worked behind the desk. Audrey truly would have killed him then–and he’d have had to kill Madge. 

“Ance!” Penelope’s voice rang out in the afternoon air and Ance strode toward her quickly. He scooped the girl up in his arms, lifting her high in the air and twirled her around. She was laughing breathlessly when he finally stopped moving and propped her on his hip. “I missed you, Ance! Did you miss me?” 

“I’ll tell you what, Penny. Ain’t nobody ever missed anybody quite as bad as me and your mama missed you.” 

Penelope raised her head and looked in his eyes and Ance knew a scolding was coming. “Then why the devil did it take you so long?” 

Ance grumbled under his breath while Audrey hid her amusement behind her hand. “Because, you pain in the butt little girl,” Ance growled as he kissed her temple. “I was busy shooting bad guys and rescuing your mother.” 

“I did a bit of rescuing myself,” Audrey was quick to speak up. 

“Well it still took too long. I thought you might have forgot all about me,” Penelope informed him with a pout on her chubby face. 

Ance shook his head and sat her down on her feet, holding her steady until her leg was good and secure beneath her. “You women are more damn trouble then your worth,” he grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Never satisfied with nothing no matter how hard a man tries.” 

Ance knew that the smile tugging at his lips wouldn’t match his words and it was clear from the grin that Audrey and Penelope shared that they noticed that. Madge stepped forward. “Well why don’t we get in and eat some supper? We’ll get Audrey and Penelope back in the livin’ quarters before my evenin’ rush arrives? Audrey’s a pretty lass and I’d hate to see what Ansel would do to the first man that attempts to woo her.” 

Ance’s temper was instantly riled by the thought but he shrugged. “I wouldn’t have to do much. Audrey would send the man running with his tail between his legs.” 

“Aye, it’s true,” Irish lamented. “Not even my charms can woo her away from that burly beast of a man.” 

“Yes, well your charms are all that might save your life once I get my hands on you, Fergus,” Madge snapped, pointing her thick finger at Irish’s face. “You’re goin’ to be explainin’ just why ya were locked up and you’ll be lucky if I ever let ya leave here again.” 

Irish grinned. “With the company I’d have here, mama, I’d have to say it would be lucky if I got to stay awhile.” 

Ance was chuckling as Madge took Irish inside by the ear and Irish began crying out, whimpering and begging the woman for mercy. Ance took Penelope’s hand in his and walked to Audrey. “We better get on inside, Audrey. We could use some supper and I’m eager to lay myself down in a real bed tonight.” 

“I’m sure you are,” Audrey replied, her voice ice cold. “We’re not done talking about things that need to be talked about, Ance.” 

Ance sighed and nodded. “Of course we aren’t, woman. Of course we aren’t.”

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Two

Audrey stared down at her daughter and smiled. Penelope was sound asleep upon the cot in the room. She had her own room here at Madge’s but had insisted that she had to sleep in the same room as her mama and Ance for tonight because she didn’t want them to get lonely. 

Audrey had curled up in the cot with Penelope and held her until she’d been snoring peacefully. Penelope was all curled up to the doll that Audrey and Ance had gotten back for her. Her big brown eyes had lit up brighter than the sun when she’d seen that ugly, ratty old thing–it made Audrey happy they’d endured those scents and sights to retrieve it. 

The door opened behind her and Ance slipped into the room as silently as always. Audrey kissed Penelope’s smooth brow, pulled her blankets up to her neck and then stood slowly and stretched out her legs. 

“Where have you been?” Audrey teased. “Out sampling what Madge’s Irish Paradise has to offer?” 

Ance snorted. “You know better than that. I had things to take care of,” he replied as he flopped down in the chair beside the fireplace and slid out of his boots. 

Audrey was fighting back her smile as she walked to the chair and laid her hand on his shoulder. “You’re avoiding me aren’t you?” 

“Why would I do that?” Ance grumbled without looking at her. He pretended he was too busy examining a hole in his sock but Audrey knew the real reason he wouldn’t look her way. 

“The same reason that you’ve avoided being alone with me all day,” Audrey stated. “You’re scared that I’m going to hurt you.” 

Ance chuckled. “Woman, I ain’t scared of a damn thing in the world. Why would I be scared of a little thing like you?”  Audrey crossed her arms over her chest and glared down at him. He glanced up, met her gaze and then sighed. “Okay, yes, I’ve been avoiding being alone with you. I don’t look forward to getting my ass jumped for doing the best I could damn well do.” 

Audrey sighed and sat herself down upon his lap. Ance’s arms snaked around her as she put her hand on his bearded cheek and traced the scar there. “I’m not going to lecture, get mad, yell or complain, Ance. What I am going to do is thank you.”

“Thank me?” Ance frowned. “Really?” 

“Yes,” Audrey kissed him tenderly and laughed at his unhappy frown when she pulled away without letting him deepen the kiss. “I’ll admit when I first realized where you’d left Penelope I was angry but it was an anger born of concern for my daughter. I was worried about what types of things she would see, hear and learn while being in a place like this… But now that worry is gone. Penelope is healthy, happy and still quite uneducated in the goings on between men and women. Now, I’m just relieved and a million times thankful for you, Ance. You have saved my daughter and myself so many times…. We would have never made it without you.” 

Ance shifted in the chair and Audrey knew that her praise was making him uncomfortable. That was too bad because he was going to hear it. The man had spent his whole childhood unloved and his entire adult life so far believing himself unlovable and bad. Audrey was determined that he know he had just as many good qualities and that he was indeed, quite lovable. 

“Don’t be bragging on me just yet, woman,” Ance grumbled. “I ain’t got you two home yet. There’s still plenty of time for something to go wrong.” 

“But even if it does, we’ll be okay.” 

Ance chuckled. “If you say so.” He frowned as he looked down at her. “I would have swore by that iciness in your voice outside at the steps that you were gonna wring my neck when you got me alone. Why’d you act so damn angry if you weren’t?” 

Audrey smiled and batted her lashes innocently. “Because it’s fun to watch you squirm, Ansel Adams. You know for a big, tough outlaw you sure do scare easy.” 

Audrey saw the amusement in his eyes. He laughed quietly, hauled her up out of the chair as he stood and carried her to the bed. “I’ll show you just how big, bad and scary I can be, whiskey lady.” 

Audrey felt herself tremble. “I’m not scared of you.” 

Ance’s grin flashed in the darkness as he blew out the light. “You should be,” he assured her, just before he descended on her and made all thought impossible. 

---

Ance woke early the next morning and felt a smile pulling desperately at the corners of his lips before he even opened his eyes. “What are you doing, Penny?” 

“Watching you sleep. Waiting on you to wake up so we can do something together,” Penelope replied simply. 

Ance opened his eyes and took in the sight of the beautiful girl. A girl he saw as his. A girl he’d do anything for. “What did you have in mind?” he asked her. 

She shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe we could go for a walk. Mama is still snoring.” 

Ance glanced over at Audrey and this time the smile couldn’t be stopped. She looked as if she were a train wreck victim. Her arms and legs were sprawled in every direction, her hair was a tangled mess and the side of her face was smashed against the pillow as a bit of drool gathered on the fabric. Thankfully they’d had the good sense to put their nightclothes on before they’d gone to sleep–Penelope probably would have had a lot of questions had they not. 

“Alright. Let me get up,” Ance sighed. He threw off the covers and stood slowly, stretching out his arms and legs as he did. He had to admit that a bed sure felt better than the ground….. He’d never really thought so before. It was strange how things were changing–how he was changing. He now preferred a bed instead of the ground and he didn’t much like being alone without Audrey and Penelope by his side. 

Ance pulled his trousers and shirt on over his underclothes and slipped on his boots. He grabbed up his hat and gun belt and opened the door for Penelope. “Ladies first.” 

“You should go first,” she countered with a grin. “Age before beauty.” 

Ance was shaking his head as he stepped out. “Who taught you that?” 

“Elsa. She also taught me to always get money upfront. Cuz once a man is done playing games he might leave without paying.” 

Ance nearly choked on his tongue. He looked down at Penelope as they stepped out the back door and into the morning sunlight. “How about we don’t tell your mama about that particular lesson Elsa taught you?” 

Penelope frowned. “Why not? It’s important for her to know in case she ever plays games with a man.” 

Ance shook his head and rubbed at his neck. “She ain’t the type to play games, Penny, and I’m sure she already probably knows about that rule since it’s an old one. We’ll just not tell her and if it ever comes up and I think she needs to know, I’ll fill her in.” 

Penelope shrugged. “Okay.” 

Ance noticed that she wasn’t limping nearly as badly today as she had in the past. “Your leg feel good?” he asked. 

“Yes,” Penelope put out her arms and smiled as the wind whipped her dress. “It doesn’t hurt much.” 

Ance knew it was because she was settled down in a home and not constantly being jostled around on a horse and abusing her leg. Just another reason why Audrey and Penelope wouldn’t fit in with the life he’d had before they’d come along…. Could Ance go back to that life if it meant not having them beside him everyday?

“Ance, when are we going to go back to the ranch? I really miss my horses and I miss my kitty and my puppy. Sunshine and Blackie probably miss me too…” 

“We’ll go back whenever your damn mama says she ready,” Ance snapped as he strode to the well and clenched his fists. Damn, why did life have to be so hard? If Penelope and Audrey had never come along he wouldn’t feel so torn!!

Ance felt a tiny, soft hand wrap around his pinky and he glanced to the side to see Penelope looking back up at him with a sad smile. “Are you sad, Ance? What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing’s wrong, Penny,” Ance assured her, forcing his bad mood to stay at bay. It wasn’t right to take out his frustrations and fears on an innocent girl who wouldn’t understand. “You’ll have to wait ’til your mama wakes up and talk to her about going back to the ranch. I’m sure she’s just as ready to get back as you are.” 

And Ance had no idea what would happen once he had the women home sweet home.

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Three

Audrey saw home in the distance. Her big white ranch house with two stories, wrap around porches and a balcony on the back where the master bedroom was located. Hanging baskets of flowers, large barns and corrals full of horses she had bred and raised. Audrey had missed this place. 

And despite her worries of what would become of it during her absence, Audrey saw that Pete, Jake, Elliot and Anna had kept the place running smooth. Audrey should have known they would but she’d always been a bit controlling and certain that things would fall apart without her. 

“Damn…” Ance mumbled behind her. “That’s a house.” 

“Mama and pa bought it when they got married,” Penelope informed him. “I love it here! There’s lots of animals.”

“It was little more than a ramshackle cabin when we moved here.” Audrey smiled at the memory. “We built the bigger house after selling a couple good horses before Penelope was born.” 

“You sure ain’t hurting for money, are you?” Ance grumbled. 

“Ya got ya a rich one, Ansel!” Irish laughed jovially. “I wish I could have gotten her to fall for my charms before she fell for ya.” 

Audrey laughed lightly as Ance glared at the Irishman. Irish had insisted on coming with them, though he swore it was only because he needed to head in that direction to start up his new business venture–selling household wares door to door–and then of course relieving home owners of a few of their own belongings while he was there–without their knowledge. 

It had taken them nearly a month get here. A month of traveling, stopping from town to town, sleeping in Ance’s arms each night and waking up in his arms each morning. A month of falling more in love with him, of watching her daughter fall more in love with him, of growing more and more attached to the idea of a family. 

But soon Ance would be leaving…. He hadn’t mentioned wanting to stay and Audrey would not ask him to. She had told him she would never ask him for commitment beyond faithfulness and she meant that. She wouldn’t ask him for more and be the one to push him away. 

That was the one thing that made her homecoming less than perfect. 

“Ance! Come to the barn, Ance! I can show you my favorite pony!” Penelope exclaimed from where she rode with Ance on his mare. 

“We’ll all go to the barn,” Audrey assured her. “I’d like to speak to Elliot about how things have been going around here and I can see him at the main barn.” 

“Ms. Reynolds!” Jake cried when he saw them approaching. “Penelope!” Jake was a nice boy. Only seventeen but strong and smart and saving up a bit of money to pay for good schooling back east. He came running to them as they approached the corral and then paused as he took in the sight of Ance. 

Audrey knew Ance painted an intimidating picture, especially  with the protective way he was glaring at Pete with his arm wrapped securely around Penelope’s middle. “Pete, is blacky and sunshine okay?” Penelope asked happily. 

“Yeah.” Pete pulled off his hat and ran his hand through his shaggy brown hair. “Yeah, they’re doing just great, Penelope. They’ve missed you something awful though. It sure is good to see you back in one piece.” 

“I suppose I have a few introductions to make,” Audrey finally cut in. “Pete this is Irish,” she announced pointing at the man who bowed deeply in his cart seat. “And that is Ance. Without the help of these men, I never would have gotten Penelope back.” 

“What exactly happened to her, Ms. Reynolds? And where’s Marshall York?” 

Audrey felt her body stiffen at mention of that name. She shook her head and fixed Pete with a stern glare. “We’ll discuss all of that later.” 

He nodded quickly but he was clearly confused. “Sure…” 

“If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go speak with Elliot.” Audrey dismounted and headed for the barn. She knew that Ance and Irish would see to Penelope and honestly, this ranch meant a lot to Audrey. She was eager to hear about how it had been doing during her long absence. 

“You sure are a sight for sore eyes,” Elliot announced when Audrey came to stand beside him at the barn door. 

“So are you,” she assured him and the dusty, sun wrinkled, work-hardened old man wrapped her in a tight hug. “It sure is good to have you home. Anna was getting mighty worried.” 

Audrey pictured the man’s wife in her mind. Her wrinkled face, tight bun and white hair contrasted with the warmth of her blue eyes and the brightness of her smile. “We’re back safe and sound thanks to some friends I made along the way,” Audrey assured him. “I’ve a long story to tell you, though I’d rather only tell it once to everyone and have it be without Penelope’s ears around to hear.” 

“I understand. I see that the Marshall isn’t with you. I never did care for him… did you learn not to trust that devil?” 

“Yes, I did.” Audrey chewed her lip and fought off her own regrets about the way she had trusted such a rotten man. “How has the ranch been?” 

“Running smooth. We’ve had a bit of trouble with some fences falling down but that just needed a bit of love and care… it’d been a while since we’d fixed ’em real good. Pete got bit by a rattler out in the woodshed shortly after you left but he healed up fine from it. That mare you bred to Lightning had a colt and let me tell you, he’s his daddy’s son through and through–or shows promise of it with that temper.” 

Audrey head spun at the onslaught of information. “That’s real good.” 

She saw Penelope leading Ance by the hand to the pony corral. Ance’s gaze kept coming to her but Audrey avoided it. She wasn’t at all sure how she would handle it when the man finally decided to say goodbye. So instead of thinking about that, she turned her attention back to her horses and hearing about all the goings on at the ranch in the last few months. 

---

Audrey was thoroughly exhausted when the time finally came that night that Penelope fell asleep and the ranch became quiet. She had sent Anna, Pete, Elliot and Jake to town so they could have a few days off after working nonstop while she’d been away. Ance and Irish were playing poker in the den and, so,  Audrey slipped quietly out the back door with a lantern and made her way up the small hill behind the house to the single grave resting beneath a large oak. 

She sat down in the long grass, folding her legs beneath her and stared at the arched stone with Alexander’s name carved deep within it. Guilt ripped at Audrey’s heart. 

“I found our daughter, Alexander. I trusted a man I shouldn’t have trusted and he nearly caused her death–or worse. But she’s back now, she’s healthy and happy and the man is dead. I learned just before I killed him that he was your murderer.” Audrey chewed at her lip as tears gathered in her eyes. “Alexander, I’m so sorry I didn’t see it! I invited that man into our home time and again. He sat at our kitchen table and dined with Penelope and I and the entire time it was him who killed you! Him who took you away from us! I should have known.. I should have seen…” 

“If your husband would blame you for that then I’d say he wasn’t a very good man,” Ance’s deep voice was gentle as it floated up behind her. “And since I know what a strong, smart woman you are, I know that Alexander couldn’t have been a bad man because you wouldn’t have loved him.” 

Audrey rose quickly and swiped at her face. “What are you doing out here?!” she demanded, embarrassed to have been caught speaking to her long dead spouse. 

Ance shrugged. “I heard you come out and I was worried. It’s dark and, well hell, I’m a bit over protective. Given the short time we’ve known one another and the hell we’ve been through, you can’t really blame me I don’t think.” 

“No, I don’t guess I can,” Audrey admitted. She rubbed at her arms and Ance reached out and grabbed hold of her hand. He pulled her to him and she willingly fell against his chest, breathing in his comforting scent and feeling safe and cherished in his strong embrace. 

Ance sighed and kissed her hair. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened, Audrey. Not to Penny and not to her father. Bad people live in this world right along with the good and those bad people, they’re relentless and cruel. All that matters now is that you’re safe, Penny’s safe and Alexander would be happy knowing that.” 

“He would have hated you, you know,” Audrey laughed lightly. “You would have been Alexander’s worst nightmare of a man. He was a very law abiding, right and wrong, black and white kind of man.”

Ance chuckled. “Given the way I’m holding you, if I were in his shoes, I’d hate me too.” 

“He was a good man, Ance,” Audrey whispered. “And so are you.” 

Ance’s voice was so quiet that Audrey had to strain to make out his words when he replied. “I’m better with you and Penny.” 

Audrey’s breath caught. Was he saying what it sounded as if he were saying? Did she dare let herself hope that he wanted to stay? “Ance…”

Before she could finish speaking the horses began crying out and kicking up a fuss in the main barn. “What’s going on?” Audrey exclaimed. Yipping and growling soon answered her question. 

“Coyotes,” Ance growled. “Get to the house, Audrey.” 

“I don’t think I will,” Audrey snapped. “This is my ranch.” 

“Yeah and I’m the only one out here with a gun, now get your ass to the house.” 

Audrey glared at him but raised up her skirts and ran toward the house. She grabbed her rifle from inside the back door just as gunshots rang out and she heard coyotes crying out in pain. Howls and yips echoed off the plains and began to fade into the distance. 

Penelope began to scream from her room and Irish ran onto the porch. “What’s all the fuss about?” he demanded. 

“Coyotes,” Audrey replied. She put the rifle in his hands. “Go help Ance. I need to see to Penelope.” 

Without waiting for Irish to respond, Audrey ran up the stairs to her daughters room which was just beside the main bedroom. Penelope was sitting up in bed with her kerosene lamp glowing beside her and big tears rolling down her red cheeks. 

“Who’s sh..shooting?” she managed to gasp as she drew in deep, stuttering breaths of air between sobs. “Is it more b..bad men who want to k..kill us?” 

Audrey’s heart broke for her daughter. She shook her head quickly and climbed into bed, pulling Penelope into her chest. “No, baby girl. It’s not bad men. Those bad men are all gone. It’s just Ance shooting at some coyotes that were after the horses.” 

Penelope sniffed loudly and looked up at Audrey with tearful, brown eyes. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I’m sure. I was out there when they showed up.” 

“Why were you outside after dark?” Penelope questioned. 

Audrey sighed. “I was talking to your pa’s headstone.” 

Penelope giggled, the sound thick through her clogged throat. “It’s rock, mama. It can’t hear you.” 

“No, but I like to think he can.” 

Penelope was quiet a moment. “I don’t remember him, mama.” 

“No, I know you don’t,” Audrey agreed softly, stroking Penelope’s hair as she laid down and pulled her daughter against her on the pillow. 

“Ance is like a pa, isn’t he? He takes care of me and we have fun together. I love him mama and he loves me.” 

Audrey nodded, though she couldn’t speak for fear that the tears she was desperately fighting back would fall. She knew that Penelope desperately needed a father. The men that worked on the ranch didn’t fill that void. While they certainly cared about Penelope and would help her and protect her if need be, they had no interest in playing with her, talking with her, teaching her or being a friend. 

“Do you think he’d be my pa, mama?” Penelope continued. “He loves you and you love him, I’ve heard you say it. Couldn’t you get married and then he could stay here with us and we could be a family.” The excitement in Penelope’s tired voice broke Audrey’s heart. 

“Penelope, we can’t force him to do those things. Ance wasn’t looking for a family when we came along and he wasn’t looking to have a house and a ranch and be rooted down. He loves us both but some men just aren’t cut out to live on ranches. Ance likes the open sky and freedom.” 

“Better than he likes us?” Penelope whispered sadly. 

Audrey cursed under her breath. She prayed that Ance wouldn’t hurt her daughter by leaving but knew she would never try to force him to stay. A wild stallion was meant to be wild. Tying ropes around him and locking him up would only break his spirit and kill his soul. Audrey wouldn’t be the one to do that to Ance. 

“Not better than us, Penelope, and I have no doubt that he’ll come see us often, but he’s wild and meant to be free–kind of like that baby bunny you tried to rescue last year. Do you remember?” 

Penelope nodded, her eyelids clearly getting heavier than she could manage to keep open. “I sure wish we could turn him into a tamed bunny, mama.” 

Audrey couldn’t help but smile at the image of Ance as a bunny with a twitching nose, whiskers and furry tail. She kissed her daughter’s messy hair and sighed. “Me too, baby girl. Me too.”

Audrey lay there in the low lamplight on Penelope’s bed for a long while. Penelope was sound asleep and Audrey was beginning to doze when a light knock rapped against the open door. Audrey’s eyes opened quickly and she Irish standing in the doorway with the ghost of a smile on his face. “Ansel wanted me to tell ya that the problem is taken care of for tonight. He says there weren’t no real damage done to the livestock and for ya to get ya some sleep. He’s gonna stay on the porch to make sure the beasts don’t come back.” 

Audrey could only nod as she fought back the wave of disappointment, nausea and pain that slammed into her. Irish walked away and if he’d said anything else Audrey had no idea. All she could think of was that this was the end. This was it. Ance was distancing himself and soon he would be gone.

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Four

“Are ya sure this is what ya want, Ansel? Ya didn’t even say goodbye to the lasses, ya great big coward. I’m sure even now they’re cryin’ their wee eyes out over ya. I know ya have always been a bit of a jackass but I never truly thought ya pure evil ’til now.” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Ance growled. “I didn’t ask you to come with me and I wish you’d quit trying to be my second shadow.” 

“After today I’ll be the only person who wants to be around ya, Ansel. Ya need to get your arse back to that ranch and the two women that love ya.” 

Ance rolled his eyes. “I plan on it! Damnation, Irish, why do you think I left so goddamn early? I’m going into town to pick up some traps for them damn coyotes and then I’ll be heading back.” 

Irish blinked several times from atop his horse. “Ya mean ya aren’t leavin’ for good?” 

“Hell no.” Ance rubbed his neck. “I don’t much care for sharing my feelings with you, but I need those two women, Irish, and I’m not too proud to admit that. I’m willing to give this settling down thing a try… given the amount of space and open sky at that ranch, it may not be so bad.” 

Ance had been on his way to Penelope’s bedroom last night, had been standing just out in the hall, when he’d heard mother and daughter talking. Their conversation had made Ance realize, more so than ever, that he couldn’t leave them. While he didn’t appreciate being compared to a bunny, he also knew that sometimes, just sometimes, wild mustangs could be tamed… it just had to be their choice and not something forced about them. 

Ance was choosing to stay. 

He rubbed his face tiredly as town appeared in the distance. He hadn’t slept last night as he’d thought so hard about the future and kept watch for the coyotes to come back. Now he was exhausted and having to deal with civilization. He really didn’t like towns and people. And this would be a town full of people who didn’t realize he didn’t’ appreciate small talk, being told hello, waving or any other contact really unless it was necessary. 

Irish gasped and Ance quickly pulled his hand off his face. “What?” he demanded. 

Irish’s eye’s were wide as he pointed at Ance’s hand. “What be that glitterin’ bit of gold I see upon your finger….” 

Ance cursed. The darkness had kept it hidden before but now that the sun was rising of course Irish would spot the gold. Hell, he was an Irishman after all which meant he probably had a bit of leprechaun in him. 

Ance glanced down at the ring he’d purchased before they’d left Grandy. Yeah, even then he’d known deep down that he wouldn’t be going anywhere. “That’s proof of my intention to stay.” 

“Did ya give Audrey one as well?” 

“She’ll find it when she wakes up.” 

“Ya mean ya did not speak with her? She didn’t agree to wear your ring? Ya did not discuss things, Ansel?” 

Ance grumbled and urged his mare faster. “No, I didn’t discuss things. If she doesn’t want the damn thing she can take it off. Now shut the hell up, Irish, before I slam my fist into your gap-toothed face.” 

---

Audrey woke the next morning with Penelope’s elbow in her mouth. After disentangling herself from her slumbering daughter, Audrey rose from the bed and stretched out her back. She had animals to feed and chores to do since she’d given everyone else the day off. 

She wondered if Ance and Irish would be willing to lend a hand. She was certain Ance would but the thought of Irish carrying a feed bucket was nearly enough to make her laugh out loud. 

Slipping silently from the room, Audrey walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. The sunrise outside was bright and beautiful but the house was unusually quiet and something felt off. Bumps rose up on her skin as her hair stood on end. 

Audrey rubbed her hands up and down her arms and scolded herself for being childish. Life had been so full of danger lately that she was still getting used to the fact that the danger had now passed and she didn’t need to be on her guard. 

Where was Ance? Audrey needed to speak to him. She needed to tell him that she would support any decision he made but that it was her hope that he would stay–that he would be what her daughter needed–what she needed. 

“Ance?” she called out softly. “Ance, where are you?” 

Thinking the man must still be on the porch asleep, Audrey headed out there and searched. She walked the length of the wraparound porch to no avail. There was no Ance. Panic rose within her. Surely he wouldn’t just leave?! He wouldn’t just take off in the night without so much as a goodbye for Penelope! 

Audrey stormed back into the house. “Ance? Irish?” she called out, her voice echoing throughout the downstairs. She checked each and every room but there was no one…. 

Audrey sank down to her knees in the empty den. Her shoulders heaved, her body shook and hot, angry tears poured down her cheeks. Another man she loved had just left her life without so much as a goodbye… and this one had done so by choice. Audrey raised up her hands to cover her face and paused when she saw the golden band glittering there upon her finger. 

What in the world? Where had that come from…..

Bootsteps on her wooden floors caused Audrey to still suddenly. It wasn’t Ance, Irish or Penelope’s steps. These steps were heavy and one foot was dragging a bit. A tongue clicked and a cold chuckle filled the air. A chuckle that froze Audrey’s blood in her veins. “Why so blue, sweetheart? I tried telling you I was the only man for you and you just wouldn’t listen. Now I’ve come back from the dead just to be with you.” 

Audrey lowered her hands and raised her face. Fear shot through her, followed by a strong dose of disbelief and disgust. 

Standing before her, appearing quite smug, was none other than U.S. Marshal Rodger York–or what was left of him. 

He was skinny, unkempt and his clothes were falling apart at the seams. But that wasn’t the truly disturbing fact about the man. No, what caused her stomach to churn were the scars he was covered in. It truly appeared as if his skin had melted upon the right side of his face. His right eye was covered by a patch and a part of his lip was missing so that his teeth were visible even with his mouth closed. 

Rodger reached out his hand and she saw that it too had been badly burned and scarred. “Don’t shy away from me now, Audrey. You did this to me. You shoved me into that fire and did this to my face. I’m truly a thing of nightmares now.” 

Was Audrey dreaming? That had to be it. She had to still be asleep and this was just another of her nightmares! Rodger York was dead! Ance had seen his grave!! “You’re dead,” Audrey stated as she got to her feet, glancing around for anything that could be used as a weapon, while fully aware of the gun on Rodger’s hip. 

Rodger chuckled coldly his lips pulling back in a sneer as his icy blue eye flashed with cold, unfiltered hatred. “You’re right. U.S. Marshal Rodger York is dead. What choice did I have but to talk to doctor into agreeing to announce me dead and have me buried? My career was ruined since no one is going to trust a man who looks like a monster. My career was all I had other than you and now you are what’s left.” 

Audrey took a step back. “You’re crazy, Rodger. I wouldn’t have you after Alexander was murdered, I wouldn’t have you after Penelope was taken, what in the world makes you think I’d have you now when I know that all of that was because of you?” 

Rodger shook his head. “I did all of that for us!  I did it so we could be together!” he bellowed. He reached his hand up and yanked off his hat and Audrey blanched when she realized that scars covered his head as well and his hair only grew in patches along the right side. “Can’t you see that we’re meant to be, Audrey?” 

“No, Rodger. I can’t see that,” Audrey stated firmly, despite the fear causing her voice to tremble. This man was completely insane. “I don’t want to be with you. You killed my husband. You had my daughter taken. You’ve lied to me, hit me and threatened me and laughed at me when I learned what you truly were.” Audrey backed up as she spoke. She reached behind her and gripped the iron fire poker. “Why would I want to be with you?” 

Rodger took a step forward and Audrey held up her free hand. “Stop!” she ordered and surprisingly he did. His eyes went down to her hand and Audrey realized he’d seen the golden band that was upon her finger–a band that she didn’t truly understand nor know what it was doing there! 

“You’re married?!” he exclaimed. “Who? Who did you marry? The big one? Ansel Adams? I’ll kill him, Audrey! You are mine! Mine! Do you hear me?!” 

Audrey let out a cry of shock as Rodger lunged for her she grabbed up the poker. Rodger was on her too quickly and he shoved her back against the wall as the poker clattered to the floor. The air left Audrey’s lungs in a rush as her back struck the unforgiving wood. 

“I’m going to have you before I kill you, you bitch! You should have been mine all along,” Rodger hissed, his hot breath putrid against her skin. Audrey shook with fear and disgust as he rubbed his smooth, scarred cheek against her face. “You smell good,” he whispered, his hips rocking against hers as he held her firmly against the wall. 

“You stink,” she gasped, just before she threw her head forward and bashed it against his. Rodger let out a howl of pain and stumbled backward as he clutched at his recently healed burn scars. Audrey’s intention had been to hit him and run for her rifle but she hadn’t been quite prepared for how badly the blow would addle her as well. 

She stumbled out of the den, gripping the wall and went to the back door with Rodger bellowing behind her and his dragging steps catching up. She saw her rifle but before she could grab it, a hand closed around her hair and yanked her back. 

Audrey cried out with pain as she was tossed through the air and landed upon the floor with a resounding thud. Her breath left and she heaved when Rodger’s boot connected sharply with her chest. Audrey curled up into a ball to protect herself. 

“I will have you!” Rodger growled. He grabbed her by her hair and then slammed her face into the wood floor. Blood filled Audrey’s mouth and pain radiated through her nose. Her mind went blank as her vision swam and she fought to hold onto consciousness. 

“Mama?” Penelope’s frightened voice filled the air. “Mama!” she cried out louder. 

“There’s the little brat bitch now.” Rodger stood and Audrey knew he was going to Penelope. “And without her brace.. The little cripple can’t run away!” Audrey tried to clear her vision but her head still swam. Pain radiated through her chest each time she drew a breath and it felt as if she were being stabbed. 

But she had to save her daughter. 

“Get your hands off me!” Penelope cried out. “Mama!” 

Audrey dragged herself across the floor. Her bleeding nose and mouth left puddles on the floor that she smeared across the wood as she slid through them. 

The sound of a hand striking flesh was followed by Penelope crying out with pain. It fueled Audrey to find the strength to move faster. She reached up a hand, sweat slicked her skin when the pain in her chest nearly became too much. Audrey grabbed the rifle, rolled onto her back and pulled herself up against the wall so she was sitting. 

“Hey Rodger?” she called. 

The man paused, his hand raised and poised to smack Penelope once again. Slowly he turned as he stood straight. “What?” he snapped. There was a sneer on his face but it quickly disappeared when he saw her. “Audrey, no….” 

Audrey pulled the trigger. She screamed in pain as the recoil of the rifle rushed through her. But Rodger didn’t scream. Audrey’s aim had been true and he was now sporting a hole through the left side of his chest. 

Rodger fell to the floor instantly. A sobbing Penelope rushed to Audrey, crawling across the floor and throwing herself into her mama’s arms. Audrey ignored the pain and held the girl close. “Mama, is he dead?” Penelope whispered. “Why do bad men keep coming?” 

Audrey kissed her hair, the pain in her chest and head nearly more than she could handle.  “He’s dead, Penelope. And I promise I’ll always protect you from the bad men, baby girl. Always.”

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Five

“Damn, that was a rifle shot!” Ance growled. 

Were them damn coyotes back? It had to have come from the ranch which was over the next rise in the distance. Without waiting for Irish to respond, Ance kicked his mare into a gallop and raced toward the ranch. 

The house and barns came into view. Ance took in every sight and sound but could see or hear nothing out of place. The horses were quiet, the chickens were still, nothing was amiss. There were no coyotes that was for sure. 

So why the hell was someone shooting a rifle? 

Ance felt fear grip his heart and he rode his horse right up to the porch before leaping off and rushing into the house. He could hear sobs, Penelope’s sobs. Ance pulled his gun and followed the sound of her crying. He found her near the back door and instantly he stopped. 

Penelope was clinging to Audrey who was on the ground, leaned against the wall and unconscious… at least he hoped she was only unconscious. She was covered in blood and her breathing was shallow. There was a rifle on the floor beside her which explained where the shot had come from. 

And the dead man on the floor must have been what she’d been shooting.  Ance went to the man and stared down at him with shock. He was covered in burn scars, monstrous and nearly unrecognizable but lying dead from a bullet hole to the chest was Rodger York. 

“Ance?” Penelope whispered. “Where were you?” 

Ance holstered his weapon and went to her. He scooped her into his arms and held her tight. “I had to go into town and pick up a few things. I thought I’d be back before you were awake.” 

“He hurt mama,” Penelope whimpered, pointing at Rodger. “And he hit me. Ance, is mama going to be okay? She fell asleep and won’t wake up.” 

“Who the devil is that?” Irish’s voice came from behind them. 

“A dead man,” Ance growled. “Take him outside, Irish, and then get to town and get the doc out here. Audrey’s hurt bad.” 

Without a smart comment or single word of argument, Irish grabbed Rodger under his arms and dragged the man out the back door. “Where’s your brace, Penny?” Irish asked her. 

“In my room… I heard mama yelling and I heard him. I used the wall to hold myself up and slid down the stairs on my backside trying to get to her.” 

Ance wanted to focus on Audrey but couldn’t just leave Penelope down here. Hell, Audrey might be dying and Penelope didn’t need to see that. Ance was stiff legged and fighting hard to remain cold and turned off to everything that was going on as he carried Penelope up the stairs. He sat her on her bed and helped her into her brace. 

“Now listen, I want you to stay up here until I come get you, okay? I’m going to tend to your mama and as soon as she’s settled in and feeling a little better I’ll come get you and let you come see her, okay?” 

“Okay….” Penelope was nearing tears again and Ance cursed under his breath. He grabbed her doll from the bed and handed it to her. 

“I need you to be strong for me, Penny. I can’t be worrying about you while I’m trying to help your mama.” 

Penelope hardened her chin, squared her shoulders and nodded. “Okay.” 

Ance nodded, patted her head gently, taking note of the red welts on her cheeks. He took a deep shuddering breath and heading back downstairs. His heart was heavy and his chest tighter than he could ever remember as he stepped up to Audrey and knelt beside her. He ran a gentle finger down her cheek. “Audrey, I need you to wake up, lady. Come on now…” 

He took note of her injuries. It looked as if she’d had her face bashed against either the floor or the wall. Her lips were split and swelling and her nose was bleeding. He hoped that was what had knocked her unconscious… Slowly Ance began running his hands down her body, checking for other injuries. 

Audrey let out a loud moan of pain when Ance reached the left side of her ribs. He moved his hand back up and cursed. He wasn’t a doctor but he knew a thing or two about wounds and broken bones and Audrey had a couple broken ribs. 

Ance was trembling with rage. It was a desperate rage. A rage that he had no way of easing. Rodger was already dead so Ance couldn’t kill him. Ance had left the ranch for only a couple hours and had damn near lost the only two people in the world that he knew for a fact he couldn’t live without. 

Ance went to the kitchen and quickly built up a fire in the stove and put a pot of water on to heat so he could clean Audrey’s face. While that was warming, he returned to his woman and, as gently as he could, lifted her up bridal style in his arms. 

She moaned and her eyelids fluttered open. “Ance?” she whispered, her voice laced with pain. 

“Shh, don’t try to talk. Your ribs are broken and you’ll only hurt yourself.” 

“Penelope?” 

“Is upstairs in her room and just fine. You took care of him, whiskey lady, I’m proud of you. But I obviously can’t leave you two for longer than five minutes because every time I do, you wind up in some kind of trouble.” 

A smile graced Audrey’s bloody lips and Ance felt his heart lighten a bit. “You came back,” she whispered. 

Ance sighed as he went up the steps as gently as he could. “Of course I did. I was only going into town to get some traps for them coyotes since I couldn’t find none around here. I planned on being back before you woke up.” 

“You shouldn’t…plan..” It was clear that Audrey was in terrible pain and it broke Ance’s heart. “You’re a… terrible planner.” 

“I know.” 

“Why am I…wearing a ring?” Audrey questioned. 

Ance stepped into her master bedroom and was wowed at the size of the fireplace, the double doors out to the balcony and the massive canopy bed. He laid her down gently upon the blankets and rubbed at his neck. “For the same reason I’m wearing one,” he grumbled, uncomfortable with the current turn the conversation had taken. ““You don’t have to wear it if you choose not to.” Ance shrugged. “It’s up to you. Now I’m going to go get that water I had heating so I can clean you up a bit before the doc gets here.” 

Ance didn’t give her time to speak before all but running from the room. Hell fire if the woman didn’t want that ring, if she didn’t want him to wear the matching one, he didn’t know what the hell he’d do with himself. Irish seemed to think he should have gotten on one knee, spouted out pretty love words and asked her to be his wife… then gotten a preacher and been blessed and signed papers which would be stamped by a man in a robe who liked to tell people what to do..

Ance had no use for all of that. He didn’t give a rat’s ass what anyone else thought. He loved Audrey and, in his heart, she was his wife, his one and only. That was enough for him. But maybe he could have tried to say something romantic–then again he never had bothered with pretty love words so far and the woman didn’t seem to mind. Maybe she wouldn’t mind this time either. 

Ance went to the kitchen and took the water off the stove. He grabbed a rag and then filled a plate with some biscuits and ham left from the night before. Holding the water bucket in one hand and the plate in the other, Ance went back upstairs. He sat the water outside Audrey’s room and went to Penelope’s. 

“Here’s something for your stomach, Penny. I figured you might be hungry.” 

“How’s mama?” Penelope asked as she moved to the edge of the bed and took the plate. 

“She woke up but she’s hurting real bad. I’m gonna get her cleaned up and Irish should be back soon with the doc. You just stay in here until the doc gets done tending to her, okay?” 

“Okay pa.” 

Ance paused. He’d been leaving the room but his foot stopped in midair. He glanced back at her. “Pa?” 

Penelope’s face turned red and she looked away from him. “Sorry… It slipped out…” 

“Well let it slip out more often then,” Ance stated. “That’s alright.” 

A smile lit up her face and Ance knew it was mirrored on his own as he left the room and returned to Audrey. His smile faded when he remembered the rings and he picked up the water and walked hesitantly into the room. 

Audrey was staring at the ceiling and didn’t say a word as Ance began to tenderly clean the blood from her face. When he moved the rag to her neck, she sighed. “I never…. gave much thought to marriage after Alexander died. I never…. thought I’d want another man beside me.” 

Ance merely grunted and continued to clean her off, rinsing out the rag now and then. “I love you, Ance, and I… would be proud to wear your ring.. Not… that you asked me.” 

Ance heard the teasing in her tone and he met her brown eyes. “I don’t know how to go about doing all that romance nonsense.” Ance grumbled. “Hell I don’t even want a wedding if we can get by without one, though if it means enough to you, I reckon I’d do it. All I know is that I can’t leave you and Penny. The two of you are the best thing that’s ever happened to a man like me and I’d like to stick around.” 

“And when did you buy the rings?” Audrey asked. 

“Grandy.” 

“That long?!” Audrey gasped and then winced in pain. 

“Calm yourself, whiskey lady,” Ance scolded. “And yes, that long. I bought them before I even knew for sure I wanted to use them. Now before the doc gets here and starts asking questions, what the hell happened?” 

Audrey shivered as Ance finished cleaning her face and neck and tossed the rag into the bucket of water. “I…woke up and came..downstairs to start the chores. I realized.. You and Irish weren’t here.. I thought you’d left us… I…I was distracted and he came.” 

“You were crying weren’t you?” Ance growled. “Damn woman, you sure know how to cut a man. You thought I’d left for good without so much as a goodbye.” 

“I’m..sorry…” Audrey whispered. 

Ance just shook his head. “Well you know now that you were wrong. What happened when he came?” 

“He was talking crazy.. And he looked like a monster.. He faked his death.. So he could come be with me.. Then he saw ring and he.. He attacked me. I almost made it to the gun but he.. Grabbed my hair.. Threw me down and kicked my chest before slamming my face into the wood… Then Penelope came… I could barely stay conscious but I.. I got the gun and I shot him.” 

Ance was relieved to hear that nothing worse had happened but he was angry and guilt ridden that he hadn’t been here to protect Audrey and Penelope. He was supposed to be their protector and yet he kept failing. Audrey’s hand gently stroked his cheek. “Don’t do that, Ance. Don’t…blame yourself. Didn’t you say… just last night that there are bad people in this world….and they are relentless and cruel?” 

Ance sighed, leaning into her touch. “Yeah, I did. I won’t fail the two of you again, Audrey.” 

“You never have failed us, Ance. We love you.” 

Ance stood up and picked up the bucket of bloody water. “I’m going to go down and start cleaning up down there. You stay in bed. If you move around too much with those busted ribs, you could poke a hole in your lung. When the doc gets here I’ll bring him up.” 

“Ance… I love you.”

Ance smiled back at her. “Me too, whiskey lady.” 

Ance left the room and went downstairs. He began mopping up blood with rags and towels , not wanting Penelope to come back downstairs and see that mess again. As he cleaned, his anger built and built until he finally could not stand it any longer. 

Standing up straight and tossing down the rag, Ance strode out the door. He found Rodger’s body covered with a canvas tarp. He yanked off the tarp and stared down at that bastard’s scarred face. He pulled his gun and aimed it down at the bastard’s face. Everything in him wanted to pull that trigger over and over until he ran out of bullets. 

Ance was about to do just that when he thought of Penelope. If she heard a volley of shots, after the morning she had, it was liable to do real damage to the girl. Grudgingly, Ance holstered his gun and settled for taking his boot and driving it into Rodger’s chest until he could barely lift his foot off the ground. 

He then tossed the tarp back over Rodger’s dead body and headed back inside to finish cleaning. 

A/N: Woohoo! Four chapters in two days. You are welcome :) Truthfully this story is nearing it’s end and that seems so strange to say after how long I’ve been working on it!! Love y’all! And thanks for all your support so far!

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Six

Ance was pacing the porch when Irish finally arrived with the doctor. The doctor didn’t appear much older than Ance. He had a limp, a clean shaven face watery gray eyes. “What the hell took you so long?” Ance growled. “This don’t look like any doctor I’ve ever seen. Do you know anything about medicine?” 

The doctor switched the leather satchel he carried to his other hand and sighed. “I hear that quite often so let me say that your originality is lacking. I’m thirty-four years old, sir, and I’ve been practicing medicine to some degree or another since I was six, since my father was a doctor as was his a doctor before him. Now if you’ll stop with your rude questioning, which I’m sure is simply due to the worry and fear that you frontier types aren’t good at expressing, I’d be obliged to be shown to the patient’s room so I can examine her.” 

Ance simply stood there dumbfounded a moment. Had this skinny, limping, weak-eyed, baby faced, puny man just insulted him? Hell he’d used so many damn words that Ance was having trouble stringing them all together and figuring that out. 

Irish laughed lightly. “Ya were at least right about the rude part, doctor, though ya were wrong about what caused it. Birth caused our Ansel to be a bit of a cactus.” 

“No one asked you, Irish,” Ance growled. “Now let’s get inside. It took you long enough to get here and she’s in pain.” 

Ance stomped across the porch and heard the doctor and Irish following behind him. He led them up the stairs and into Audrey’s room. She was laying on the bed and seemed sound asleep. Ance worried… what if she had a concussion and that was the reason for her drowsiness?

He went to the bedside and stooped low to kiss her brow. “Wake up, whiskey lady. The doc is here.” 

Much to Ance’s relief, Audrey’s eyelids fluttered open and her brown eyes were clear as she gazed up at him. “Is Penelope still okay?” 

“I’ll go sit with her while the doc checks you out, okay?” Ance suggested. 

“Okay.” 

Ance turned to the doctor. “You better be real gentle with her and make sure she ain’t hurt no worse than I figure. I already know she’s got some broke ribs and her face is a mess. Make sure that bastard didn’t do anything worse.” 

“I am a doctor, sir.” he sniffed indignantly. “That’s what I do.” 

Ance growled and strode back out of the room with Irish behind him. “The sheriff is on his way here, Ansel. He had to take care of something else but then he was going to come and get the body.” 

“Good,” Ance grumbled. “The sooner that rotting son of a bitch is out of here, the better off we’ll all be.” Then Ance frowned. “He didn’t recognize you, did he?” 

“Shite no,” Irish shook his head. “I had the good doc go and fetch him. I know better than to go showin’ my face ‘round members of law enforcement. They don’t take too kindly to seein’ me for some reason or another.”

“Yeah,” Ance snorted. “I wonder. Well you better just keep your head down while the sheriff is here. I don’t need you getting arrested from the ranch. If I have to bust you out of jail right here then that could make things rough for Audrey here at the ranch.”

Irish stepped in front of Ance just before he could open Penelope’s door. “What do you want, Irish?” Ance demanded with annoyance. “I need to see to Penny.” 

“Are ya just the dotin’ father and…husband these days? I take it that Audrey agree to keep your ring?” 

Ance sighed. “Yeah, you nosy bastard, she did. Of course she might be suffering side effects of a head injury so once that clears she might be singing a different tune.” 

“I don’t believe she will. Though to make it legal ya know ya will have to sign papers and such.” 

“Since when do I worry about legal?” Ance grunted. “As far as I’m concerned my feelings, her feelings and these rings are all we need and I’ve read up on common law marriage so I know damn well it’s allowed. That said, if Audrey wants things done the other way around then we’ll sign some damn papers.” Ance nudged Irish aside. “Is your curiosity satisfied enough now that I can tend to my daughter or would you like to sit and chat about the weather?” 

Irish was laughing as Ance stepped into Penelope’s room. Her plate was empty and she was sitting and staring out the window. “You okay, Penny?” Ance asked quietly. 

“No…” She looked his way with tears in her eyes. “Are the bad men going to keep coming, pa? Is it always gonna be like this?”

Ance clenched his fists and took several deep breaths to combat the anger that her words stirred in him. How dare those bastards do this to Penelope’s innocence. Those no-good, worm shit bound, sons of bitches! 

“No, Penny, it won’t always be this way. Now listen here–” Ance crouched in front of the small white rocking chair she was sitting in. “The world’s full of bad people, Penny. We’ve all gone through our own share of pain and suffering and, let me tell you that I know how terrible it is to be your age and have your belief that the world is good be stolen from you. But you can’t let it stop you from being happy, Penny, because there are good people in the world too. Your mama is good, you’re good, lots of people are good.” 

“You’re good, pa,” Penny assured him, placing that chubby soft hand upon his bearded cheek. 

Ance smiled. “I’m better now than I used to be,” he agreed. 

“And Irish is good too,” Penelope added. 

Ance chuckled. “Let’s not get carried away now, Penny.”

Penelope giggled. Ance stood up and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Pa?”

“Hmm?” Ance replied, finding it a strange, new and surprisingly pleasant thing to hear himself referred to by that term. 

“Are you staying here now? Mama said you weren’t going to.. She said that you were wild and would want to leave. She said we shouldn’t ask you to stay because it wouldn’t be fair but…” Penelope chewed at her lip in a way endearingly similar to her mother. “But I really want you to stay. I don’t want you to leave us.” 

Ance sighed. “I’m not going anywhere, Penny. I’m gonna stay right here with you and your mama for as long as the two of you will keep me around.” 

Penelope’s face lit up with the brightest smile that Ance had ever seen grace it. She leapt from her chair and crashed into his arms, knocking him off balance and causing them both to tumble against the white bedspread covered in pink and purple flowers. 

“Really pa? You’re really gonna stay forever! I’m so happy! Have you told mama?” 

Ance propped himself up on his elbow and smoothed her blond hair from her face. “Yeah, me and your mama talked a bit about things.” 

“Was she as happy as me?” Penelope inquired. 

Ance chuckled. “Well she didn’t knock me down in the bed, but yeah, I reckon she wants to keep me around a while too.” 

Irish poked his head in the room and Ance quickly rose from the bed and cleared his throat. “What do you want?” he grumbled. 

Irish winked at Penelope who giggled in response and then met Ance’s gaze. “That person from town who I said was coming has arrived.” 

“Did he see you?” Ance questioned. 

“No, I saw him ridin’ in while I was on the porch preparin’ to head out onto the barn. Ya might want to get down there though. He may want to talk to someone about what happened.’ 

Ance nodded. “Penny, Irish is gonna stay in here with you and keep you company while I go talk to someone. Why don’t you have him help you take care of your doll. Irish always has enjoyed playing with dolls.” 

“Haha, Ansel, well the joke is on you, isn’t it? Cuz I do rather enjoy takin’ care of little dolls.. Especially when their mama is our beautiful wee Penelope.” Irish winked and Penelope giggled. 

Ance just shook his head as he left the room. He paused outside Audrey’s closed bedroom door and fought the temptation to barge in and check on her. He wasn’t used to the possessive and protective nature that Penelope and Audrey brought out in him and it was certainly going to take time to learn to control he. He had to go deal with the sheriff and trust that the doctor would take good care of Audrey. 

Ance stepped out on the porch to find a lean, grizzled old man with a thick gray beard and sweat stained hat standing over Rodger’s body. “Hell. We thought he was dead,” the sheriff stated, his voice just as trail worn as the rest of him. “The governor is even planning a party in honor of his memory.” 

Ance grunted and spit on the dirt beside Rodger’s rotting corpse. “He sure as hell don’t deserve a party.”

The sheriff looked at Ance for the first time. “You’re a good sized bastard, aren’t you?” he questioned bluntly. “What’s your name and what exactly happened here today? Why is Rodger York at Ms. Reynold’s ranch?” 

“I reckon she’ll be referred to as Mrs. Adam’s from now on and I’m Ance.” Ance had to be sure that this sheriff understood he wasn’t going anywhere. He had to stake his claim so to speak. “Rodger York is here because he faked his death to be able to come after Audrey.” 

The sheriff studied him a moment and rubbed at his mustache. “And why exactly would Mr. York have done that?” 

“Because his brain got busted up during childhood, or maybe he took a few too many hits during his younger days, hell I don’t know. All I know is that that bastard murdered Alexander Reynolds, had Barnaby Wallace kidnap Penelope and, after attempting and failing to take Audrey by force to his bed, faked his own death so he could come after her as a ghost.”

“That’s quite a tale.’ 

“I don’t tell tales, sheriff. Now I got a damn question for you.” 

The sheriff’s slate gray eyes lit with amusement as the lines around his eyes deepened. “And what’s that?” 

“Are we gonna sit out here gabbing all goddamn day or are you gonna get this bastard out of here? I’m about sick and tired of smelling his ass on my woman’s ranch.” 

“I’ll get him out of here but I need to talk to Penelope and Ms. Reynolds and see that they tell the same story that you do….” 

Ance stepped in front of the sheriff and stopped him with nothing but a look. The grizzled old man and the hardened outlaw stared one another down, neither willing to back down. “I done told you that she’s Mrs. Adam’s now and you won’t bother either of them today. Penny has been through enough in the last few months thanks to you not doing your goddamn job and catching her father’s killer before he could do more damage and Audrey is up in bed with broken ribs and a busted face. When I think they’re ready to talk to you, I’ll bring them into town, but you won’t be bothering them a minute sooner.” 

---

“You said that to a lawman?!” Audrey demanded, though her voice was quiet due to both her broken ribs and the fact that Penelope was sound asleep on the bed between them. 

“Yep,” Ance slid his thumb across her brow in the darkness. “The bastard needs to know I don’t respect him. He didn’t do his job when Rodger murdered Alexander and you said yourself he didn’t seem to eager to help when Penny was taken. Too many lawmen hide behind that badge and don’t really do a damn bit of good. I don’t like them.” 

“Any of them?” Audrey asked and Ance knew she was smiling. 

“Nope.” 

“I’m tired.. Why am I tired? I slept all day.” 

“Because your body is trying to heal, woman,” Ance reminded her. “You have two broke ribs and your face looks a hell of a lot like it was trampled by cattle. 

“Wow,” Audrey intoned dryly. “Such a romantic man I have.” 

“Nope, you certainly don’t have that.”

“I’m going to go to sleep before I slap you,” Audrey warned. “You’re in for it just as soon as I can get up out of this bed.” 

“The doc said you have to stay in this bed for at least a week and you’ll have to take it easy longer than that to give your ribs time to heal.” 

“I have a ranch to run,” Audrey grumbled stubbornly. 

Ance leaned across Penelope and kissed Audrey’s brow. “And you have a crew who knows just how to do it and a man who isn’t new to horses.” 

“You’re more accustomed to stealing them than caring for them.” 

Ance laughed quietly. “I think that medicine makes you mean.” 

Audrey chewed her swollen bottom lip. “Sorry.” 

“Don’t worry about it.. I’ll make sure I get my payback later.”

“I’m sure you will,” Audrey assured him. Then Ance saw her chewing that lip again and he sighed. 

“What, Audrey? You might as well spit it out. I know what those teeth on that lip means.”

Audrey glared through the darkness. “I’m just unsure about something..”

“What?” 

“Ance.. I know that you love us, Penelope and me…”

“Damn right I do,” Ance agreed. 

Audrey nodded. “But I just want to make sure that staying here, marriage, adopting Penelope and settling down are really what you want. I don’t want you doing them just because you feel you have to or you’re stuck…” 

Ance shook his head and decided it was time to tell her exactly how he felt. It wasn’t something easy for him to do and he probably wouldn’t make a habit of it but she needed to hear it now. “Whiskey lady, I’ve known for a long time that you and this little girl are all I need. You’re my future. I’ve done my fair share of rambling and roaming and let me tell you that none of that felt even half as good as laying in this bed with my wife and our daughter. I love you, Audrey.”

Audrey’s eyes lit up. “I love you too, Ance.” 

“And I don’t do anything I don’t want to do,” Ance added. “And I’m laying right here so that oughta tell you something.” 

Audrey laid her hand on his bearded cheek. “It does. It tells me everything.” 

“Good.’ 

“But Ance?” 

“Hmm?” Ance asked, sleeping fighting to claim him after the long and stressful day they’d all had. 

“I want a wedding.”

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Seven

The early afternoon air was crisp and cool as Audrey stood upon her back porch and surveyed her land. The cream-colored lace dress she wore was beginning to itch slightly but she was loathe to take it off. Today had been one of the very best days of her life and she wanted to keep it going for as long as she could. 

When Audrey and Alexander had gotten married there hadn’t been any guests and they had simply signed paper at the courthouse back east and listened to a judge say a few words about the sanctity of marriage. It had been necessary because their families had been gone and there’d been no one to invite. 

Audrey had wanted something different with Ance. She’d wanted a small affair with their friends and with Penelope. She’d wanted to stand up with Ance and claim him hers for everyone to hear. The white tent and flickering lights were still set up in the yard and Audrey could hear voices laughing and talking as the wedding guests milled around and waited for the new husband and wife to make an appearance to the after party. 

Speaking of her husband….

Audrey felt her strong arms snake around her middle and she was pulled back into his broad chest. She breathed in the scent of witch hazel, hay and horses and sighed as she relaxed against him. 

“Let’s never, and I do mean never do anything like that again,” Ance growled against her ear. 

Audrey felt her body tremble as his breath washed over her. It seemed that the last couple of months here on the ranch together every day had done nothing to ease her passion for this man nor his for her. 

“I know you didn’t want all of this, Ance, but thank you for letting me have it.”

“Yeah, yeah. If there’s one thing I know about women, it’s that you’re all nothing but trouble.” 

Audrey smiled and turned her head to look up at him. He’d trimmed up his beard, though the stubble was still thick on his face and his scar stuck out even more sharply, adding to his ruggedly handsome appeal. “You should have run while you had the chance. Now you’re stuck here forever.” 

Ance chuckled. “There’s no place I’d rather be stuck, I reckon.” 

Audrey snuggled up tighter into his embrace and sighed with sheer happiness. It had taken her physical injuries a good solid six weeks to heal. Both she and Penelope were plagued with nightmares quite often and more often than not Ance and Audrey found themselves making room for Penelope in the middle of them on their big bed, but things were getting better. 

Three months had passed since Rodger’s attack and Penelope was having fewer nightmares, and Audrey was finally beginning to stop looking over her shoulder every five minutes certain that someone was after her. 

Ance had been a rock during it all. Yes, a grumbling, growling, overprotective, possessive, brooding rock, but a rock just the same. And if Ance weren’t grumbling, growling or brooding as he remained possessive and overprotective, then Audrey would assume something must be terribly wrong with the man. 

God, how she loved him. 

Her reasons for waiting three months to have their wedding weren’t purely because of her injuries or nervousness over another attack, there had also been fear. Fear that Ance would realize he couldn’t be tied down to the ranch, that he’d realize he’d bitten off more than he could chew and be miserable here. 

But that hadn’t happened. 

Ance seemed quite content and happy here with her and their daughter and for that Audrey was beyond grateful. He rode the fields and helped with the horses and only complained when asked to go into town–something he hated doing with a passion. 

He tucked Penelope into bed every evening and loved Audrey to sleep every night. He was truly everything Audrey could have ever asked for and more. 

“Now that we’re officially husband and wife are you regretting buying these rings?” Audrey teased. 

Ance kissed her hair. “You’ve been my damn wife since you agreed to wear that on your finger. Now they just have record of it to keep for all those record keeping types to know what everybody else is doing. Nosy bastards, every one of them.” 

Audrey laughed. “You don’t like them either?” 

“Nope. I can’t stand a person who sticks their noses into other people’s business.” 

Audrey just sighed. That was her man. 

“We should be getting back to the party,” she whispered. “They’ll be wondering where we are.” 

“You are one hell of a woman, Audrey. I don’t reckon I’ve ever been to a wedding where a brothel full of whores were on the guest list.” 

“Have you ever been to a wedding?” Audrey countered. 

“Well, no, but that’s not the point.” 

“Those ladies mean a lot to Penelope. They kept her safe and I’m grateful for that. I had to invite Madge and her girls.” 

“Well Pete and Jake sure seem happy they’re here,” Ance admitted. “I’ve never seen two men more nervous and beside themselves all day.” 

Audrey laughed as she thought of her two young ranch hands and the way they’d fumbled and stuttered all day while trying to impress all the pretty ladies. Their wedding guest list had been small. Irish, Madge, her eight girls, the ranch hands and Anna, and that was it. 

Irish had stood up for Ance while Anna had done the same for Audrey. It had been small but perfect–just as Audrey had wanted it. 

The music kicked up a little louder and Audrey heard Irish beginning to sing. “We better get out there before it gets any crazier than that. I believe that damn bastard found the whiskey.” 

“You love Irish and you know it.” 

Ance snorted. “About as much as I’d love a rotten tooth.” 

Audrey laughed and spun in his arms. “When will you ever admit that you aren’t nearly as bristly and mean as you put on to be?” 

“I’m just as mean and bristly as I seem to be,” Ance replied with a smile tugging at his lips. “You’re  just blinded by my manly charms.” 

Audrey laughed loudly and smacked his chest. “And right there is proof that you’ve spent too much time around Irish! You’re beginning to sound like him!” 

Ance rolled his eyes and took her hand. “Well come along now, woman. Let’s go get the party over with so I can get you out of that damn dress.” 

---

“Mama looked so pretty today, didn’t she pa?” 

“As pretty as a picture,” Ance agreed with the sleepy girl as he helped her out of her brace and adjusted her sleeping gown. 

“I’m sad that Madge and the girls have to go home tomorrow. I wish they could stay here forever.” 

Ance barely kept himself from laughing out loud. He’d already heard the whispers in town about Audrey and her outlaw man that she’d taken up with. He could only imagine what all those nosy high-class harpies would say if suddenly Audrey had nine whores living here as well! 

“We’ll go visit one day, Penny. Your mama and I plan on taking you on a trip in the spring and we’ll make sure that’s one of our stops.” Ance was happy when he saw the smile that graced Penelope’s face. She made herself comfortable on her pillow and he pulled her blankets up to her chin. 

“Is Irish gonna leave tomorrow too?” Penelope questioned. “I like it when he’s here. He’s funny.” 

Ance grumbled under his breath. “I’m sure he’ll stay. I don’t think turpentine would get that bastard to go anywhere.” 

Penelope’s eyes widened. “Mama told you not to cuss like that around me!” 

Ance tweaked her nose. “Yeah, well mama’s not here right now…” 

“I’m not?” Audrey’s voice came from the door. 

Ance turned and was surprised by just how sheepish he felt. He retuned his gaze to Penelope and kissed her cheek. “Get some sleep, Penny. Tomorrow we’re gonna practice some more commands on your pony. I think she’ll be show ready come spring.” 

“Really?” Penelope beamed. 

“Really.” 

“Ance?” Penelope whispered. He leaned closer. “I hope you aren’t in too much trouble with mama.” 

Ance chuckled. “I think I can convince her to forgive me but, just in case, why don’t you tell her some nice things about me and butter her up?” 

Ance stood up and went to the door. “Ance? Really? Calling Irish a bastard right in front of her?” Audrey scolded quietly in the hall. 

Ance shrugged. “It slipped out.” 

Audrey glared. “I’m sure.” 

Ance loved that glare. “Tuck Penny in and come to bed. You can tell me just how mad you are behind closed doors.” He winked and saw her blush before she turned and disappeared into Penelope’s room. 

As Ance began making his rounds to ensure every door and window in the house was locked, he thought about the way things had turned out.  He was surprised by his new life and just how much he enjoyed it. He’d always imagined that being tied down to a house and having a family would be hell. He’d figured it’d be like wearing a shoe to small and he’d hate it every single day. But Audrey and Penelope had changed his thinking. 

He loved waking up to that woman’s beautiful face every morning. He loved helping Penelope with her ponies, checking the fences for breaks, working with the horses, having Audrey beside him as they rode in unison, doing the working that needed to be done. He loved tucking Penelope in at night and he loved falling asleep with Audrey in his arms. 

Irish had stayed close by too and as much as Ance wanted to grumble and complain, truth was, the man was like a brother nowadays and Ance enjoyed having someone around he could trust and depend on. 

And in true Audrey fashion, the woman was already planning a trip in the spring so that Ance could have a bit more of that open sky and sleeping under the stars that she knew had always meant so much to him. Ance wasn’t sure what the hell he’d done to earn such a life but he was damn happy that he’d done it. 

Satisfied that the house was secure and no unwanted visitors would get in, Ance made his way back to the bedroom. He opened the door, stepped inside and froze at the sight he was met with. 

“What’s the matter, outlaw?” Audrey whispered as she sat perched upon the bed in black garters, a red corset and absolutely nothing else. “Cat got your tongue?” 

“Holy hell, woman…” Ance closed the door behind him. “Are you trying to kill me?” 

“No, that wasn’t the goal…”

Ance kicked off his boots and slid off his gun belt, never taking his roaming eyes off her delectable little body. “Where did you get a get-up like that?” 

Audrey winked. “You can get all kinds of nice presents when you invite a brothel full of working women to your wedding.” 

“So your intentions weren’t completely true by inviting them?” Ance teased, undoing his buttons in record time and letting his white shirt fall to the floor. 

“What can I say?” Audrey replied, her eyes raking over his torso. “Maybe I’ve got a little outlaw in me too.” 

Ance stalked his way toward the bed with a smile on his lips. “After seeing you like this, I’m not sure if I should be thanking God or the Devil for you, whiskey lady. Either way, I’m damn glad you’re mine.” 

A/N: That’s the end of ‘Dancing with the Devil’ y’all! Thank you so much for reading and supporting me during this story! As you can see, I didn’t do an epilogue. That’s because i want to leave this open just in case i decide to write Penelope her own story, which i am thinking about doing. I have a couple other projects to finish up before I do, but if you click that little follow button on my profile, i’ll send out messages when I get ready to write the next one. Thanks again y’all!