Eloise

The hand eased under my shoulders, then another hand went under my knees and lifted me as I coughed and tried to breathe.

"Easy girl," the weathered voice rumbled.

Whoever it was, they were older.

"Thank you," I whispered hoarsely.

"Hush," the man answered, hurrying back into town with me. He took me past the store and into the inn and in the light I looked up at Buel Faust and his angry expression. "Colt!" he snapped as soon as he entered and Colton stood from a table with a mug in front of him. "Water."

Colton hurried and got water from Jermiah Guffrey behind the bar, Jeremiah looking at me in stunned confusion as Buel set me down right on the bar. Tipping the cup to my lips, I drank the water as I held on to Buel.

"Who was that man?" Buel demanded.

"H-Henry," I whispered, still hoarse.

"Tell your sheriff a man name of Henry was abusin' this girl down by that river branch," Buel told Jeremiah angrily. "Had her down trying to get at her and choking her. Come close to killin' her before rapin' her."

"Henry Dufresne? He wouldn't do that," Jeremiah shook his head.

"He did," I told Jeremiah in a croak, rubbing my throat, my face red with shame. "He was."

"Walked up on it myself," Buel spat. "Broke his neck for'm. His body's still there and your sheriff can find it there."

"You KILLED Henry?" Jeremiah cried, making several others in the room jump up and hurry out of the inn.

"Should've made him suffer more, but she was out of air and almost gone. Took'm out quick'n clean once I saw what he was up to. Hands on her down there, his cock out and ready, choking her out. Stopped him before he got at her and before he choked her out and ended her. Boy," Buel rumbled as Colton pulled me down the bar and turned my face up to his to look me over. "She's just fine and the man is gone. Don't get your fire up."

"Should've brought him to me," Colton snarled. "Let me take care of'm. You hurt much?" he asked me.

"Not too much," I answered, my voice still raw as I coughed from speaking.

He held water to my lips again and I drank it, looking up at him in worry.

Papa came running in, his eyes huge. "You KILLED Henry Dufresne?" he demanded of Colton.

"I killed the man," Buel spoke up as the sheriff came in the door as well. "I was down at that creek, walking it to see where it joined and where it split. Came up on that man holdin' this girl in the dirt, choking her. Saying terrible things and calling her horrible names. His hands was on her and he had his cock out, ready to use her and she couldn't breathe at all. I broke his neck for you."

"Let her go! Eloise, what happened? What did you do? Let her go!"

"She cain't stand yet," Buel sneered.

"He told you what happened," I whispered hoarsely. "Henry was mad that I didn't want to marry him, said mean things to me and that he had to punish me. I couldn't breathe, Papa! He was saying he was... that I was only good enough to be his whore and that was all. I wasn't good enough for anything else. He had his hands on me and he ripped up my clothes!"

"We found his body," John Neirmier called, coming in the door. "Jess and Dave are bringing him up."

"I want a look at him," the sheriff demanded, grabbing a candle and leaving out the door quickly.

"We're going home," Papa told me angrily, coming close to pull me off the bar.

Colton moved so he was between us and Buel stepped to intercept Papa. "Don't think that's the best place for the girl just now," Buel told Papa. "You let that man at'r. Went and told him where he could find her and left her there alone for him to go get at."

"You don't get to decide what's best for MY daughter!"

"You," Buel barked at Jeremiah, "I'm getting this girl her own room for the night. Her own room with her own key that no one else can get to. Add it on to mine and my boys' rooms, the cost."

"She has a bed right across the road and..."

"And you caint' be trusted to care for her!" Buel yelled at Papa. "You likely have another old bitter widower to sic on'r! Better to see'r hurt'n used up close than see her happy and not under your nose. That the kind of man you are?"

"Her mother needs her!"

"YOU need her! I asked folks around why it was you wouldn't let the girl go. Your wife is sick and you need this one close to do all the things a wife should be doin. The cookin' and cleaning' and the like. You keep her close and arranged it with that old widower to have her close to help out so you didn't have to care for your wife and do her share of work too. The boy's about to leave as soon as he finds a single soul willing to marry him, looking and asking after every girl he can. He wants out so bad he's a running joke to these folks! All you care for is havin' her close enough that you don't have to do anything for your sick wife, or do any cookin' or cleanin yourself. Even have her believin she's worthless."

"You don't know anything about us! A few words over some whiskey by strangers don't mean anything!"

The sheriff came back in, his face red. "His pants was undone and down like it was his aim to take El. Red as her throat is, I have no doubt that all he says is true. You know it too, Abe, you know how Henry was. How angry he was and bitter about the way things was. I sent for Doc to look her over and see to her."

"There's no need for all of that, I am taking her home and getting her into her bed!" Papa grated angrily.

"No," Buel spat. "The girl is gonna sleep where she feels safe up in a room where she alone has a key. Alone where no one can get at her and yell at her and make her feel bad for what was done to her. I'm paying for her room. Tell the doc to come here and see her in a room upstairs."

"You don't get to come here and decide what's best for my daughter!" Papa yelled at Buel.

"MY daughter now. I'm claimin' her for my boy. He wants her for a wife and she wants him for a husband and you don't get to say no. Not after givin' her to that monster the way you did. They get to have each other and she's MY daughter now and I say she sleeps alone where she feels safe. You'll not get your hands on her again to try'n shame'n hurt as you have been. Ought to claim the boy too, take him up for my Gracie. She'll be ready to marry this winter when her birthday comes."

"You don't just get to claim other people's children!" Papa cried incredulously.

"You gonna stop me?" Buel asked darkly.

"Eloise?" Sheriff Compton asked me, interrupting the two men.

"Yes sir?" I asked, my voice still hoarse.

"What do you want to do?"

"Can I sleep here? In a room? I'll pay for it myself, I have my own money and..."

"I already said I would get it," Buel cut in, speaking more gently to me. "It's done, little one. Send the doc to wherever room you put her in."

"I want the room across from hers," Colton spoke up, turning to look down at me again, looking my face over in worry. "Make sure no one tries to come knockin' and draggin' her off."

"El?" Sheriff Compton asked.

"That's fine," I agreed quickly.

"What about... the other, El? Do you want to marry this man here? What was your name?"

"Colton Faust," he answered, not looking away from me.

"You want that, El?"

"You sure?" I asked Colton softly. "It may be I could never have kids. I'm a runt, I'm small and I can't do much or..."

"I'm sure," he interrupted. "None of that matters or changes anything. You'll do what you can and it'll be enough. More than enough. All I need. You need got out of here and a wife is needed up there."

"Alright," I agreed, coughing slightly again as I tried to clear my throat.

He held water to my lips again.

"So yes?" Sheriff Compton asked.

"Yes," I agreed softly.

"Then by power granted to me, I announce you two hitched," Sheriff Compton announced loudly, giving Papa a challenging look.

"You can't..." Papa began as Colton looked alarmed.

"I won't kiss you yet," he told me gently, his voice a deep bass rumble. "We'll wait till we get home and have Everett speak the words like he does for all of them. He has a bible'n all and always says the words and does the talking on Sunday morning for breakfast for the family. Plenty of time for all of that and time to get you settled in and safe first. We'll have real words said over us before it's true."

"Eloise, we need to speak!" Papa demanded.

"Alright," I nodded. "But morning is soon enough. Could you ask Sam to bring me some clothes please? My... some of my clothes have been torn and ruined. I want to rest. In the morning we can talk all you like," I told him in a whisper, gripping my throat.

Doctor Lee came in then looking like he'd been woken up.

In ten minutes, I was looking around one of the rooms at the inn. I'd lived there my whole life and never seen the inside of the rooms of the inn across the street from my Papas store. It was both strange and a bit of a let down. They were so... plain.

I was given something to soothe my throat and I was looked over, but I only had eyes for the man who more than filled the doorway. Staying well back and out of the way, Colton watched me with his big brown eyes and I stared back, hoping I hadn't made a mistake. I really wasn't sure about him at all, I'd been ready to dismiss him so easily when I thought it would make Papa stop trying to push Henry on me.

I was starting to feel a bit numb after all that had happened, all of it happening so quickly.

Henry was dead.

I should have been sad for him, or upset, but I was only grateful to Buel for saving me.

I should have been a little excited about getting married to Colton, but every time I looked at him, I felt a little more lost. His eyes saw a girl who needed help. Did they see a woman he wanted to marry? Or just someone he wanted to save? Would he love me? The way he looked at me, I wasn't very sure at all. He seemed so... hard and distant. Maybe it was just how he was, looking like his mind was on something else even as he looked right at me.

When Dr Lee gave me a bitter syrup, he pushed me to lay back right after. "That will have you sleeping real soon, Eloise. Dreamless sleep. You'll feel better come morning, alright?"

"Thank you Doc," I told him hoarsely.

"Just get some rest. In the morning... I want you to really think about everything, Eloise. I know sometimes it seems like just running away seems like a good answer, but never once has it ever been the right answer. You have no idea what you might be getting yourself into up there all alone with strangers."

"Thank you, Doc, I'll think hard on it," I promised him, already feeling drowsy.

He nodded, then tucked the blankets up around my chin before waving Colton out. Buel stepped in and looked me over as I blinked sleepily.

"You good, girl?" he asked in his deep rumbling voice. "Need anything?"

"Nnn," I managed, my eyes closing.

He blew out the lamp and shut the door quietly, then I was asleep.

Doc was right, I didn't dream at all and I was fairly sure I was grateful for that when I woke up. I felt stressed and upset about what had happened as I sat up. A knock on the door made me realize that's what had made me wake up. Rubbing my sore throat, I went to the door and peeked out, then let Sam in.

"Hey, El! How do you feel?" he asked worriedly. "Pa says they just tucked you in here and wouldn't even let him see you? They were just trying to steal you away and they won't let him come up? You asked for me, Buel said, so he let me up. Here's you some clothes. What happened? Pa hasn't said much and what he does say isn't adding up much. Them men really just trying to steal you?"

"No," I croaked, then winced as I took my clothes.

"Your throat's all bruised up! What happened? They do that to you?!?"

"Henry did that," I told him in a whisper, going to get a drink. "Henry cornered me down by the creek last night, put hands on me and almost killed me when I said I didn't want to marry him. He was hurting me and he tried... he was trying to... take me. Said I was gonna be his wife and he aimed to use me like a whore. Had me down and almost choked out when Buel came up on him and pulled him off me. Killed him. Saved me and brought me here to see the Doc and... said he'd take me up the mountain to marry Colton. Also said he'd take you up for his daughter who comes of age this winter."

"He what?" Sam asked, his indignant fury at my other news fading quickly at that last bit of news. "He really said that? He wants to take me with him too? Did he say anything else about this daughter? Is she pretty? Are you alright? He really just killed Henry? Pa never said anything about that, just that that man hauled you here from the creek and claimed you for a wife."

"It was his Pa who saved me, not him. He did. He claimed me for his son to marry and told Pa off. Said I was staying here overnight and then going with them when they left back up the mountain. Sheriff even announced us married, said he had that right. Or power. Something."

"So this is what you want? To marry that giant?"

"I don't know, Sam, what about Ma? And Pa was so upset and angry, but the old man was right... Pa handed me off to Henry just to keep me close to him. Henry who he knew has a temper and would hurt me. He didn't care so long as I was close enough to take care of Ma for him. He'd do the same again and again, I think. As long as I was close, he doesn't have a care for what I might want or what might happen to me. I think... I think I should go up the mountain and be a wife to Colton... He seems quiet and maybe a little cold, but I think that might just be his way. He looks at me mostly like... he wants to save me or he sees something in me. Something he needs. I think he'd be good to me and he said he didn't have a care that I wasn't as capable as other women. Or that I couldn't have children maybe."

"You think... he was serious about bringing me too, El? I know it seems rushed to you, but El... I need to get out of here. Pa has run off every single girl I've tried to court for four years now and I couldn't figure on why, not till last year. He just wants us around, doesn't want us taking off and having our own lives. I knew he couldn't deal with Ma at all after she got so sick, but I never figured he'd just squash our lives so that he wouldn't have to go through the trouble. I didn't want to believe it at first, but... as soon as he said yesterday that he'd given Henry permission for you... I knew it was just as I'd feared. El... Gene really has asked after you more than once. He's a good man, and..."

"You know I can't stand Gene and his terrible sense of humor. His cruel jokes aren't funny! They're just mean! And the things he says to Abby are horrible too. I can't stand him and I told you more than once I don't know why you're friends with him!"

"Who else would I be friends with?" Sam asked glumly. "Whit's nice enough and if I told him you were..."

"No! Whit is dull as mud and can hardly write his own name!"

"He's just not good with schoolwork and reading and the like! He's real good with horses, though, and animals. He's not overly clever at most things, but he's very good with animals."

"Cause they sense he's a halfwit!"

"He hates being called that!"

"I wasn't meaning his nickname Half-Whit, I meant it literally. He's a halfwit. I'd just come to despise him as much as I feel sorry for him, Sam! There just ain't no men local around here that would have me that are any good at all."

"El, it ain't like Pa says at all, you know that? Any man would have you, you ain't a burden like he says. Look how much he relies on you, him and Ma both. You're just as capable as anyone, even if you are small. He only tells you that so you think you have no choices. You do, and if you want, El, I'll..."

Sam cut off at the knock on the door, then Buel opening it and looking in. "You awake?"

"Yes sir. I wanted to thank you for last night, for saving me."

"Yup. You speak to this boy about what I said?"

"Yes sir."

"Boy, you want to go back with us for my Gracie?"

Sam blushed, standing up and holding a hand out to Buel. "Name's Samuel, sir, but everyone calls me Sam. Your daughter... she like the one you brought through last year?"

"Gracie isn't so tall and her hair is the same honey color closer to what her mama's was, otherwise they look alike as sisters. She's a might more shy, soft spoken. She told me she had a want for a man who could read and had plenty of book learnin'. One who could read her stories and talk of things like that. She doesn't have a care for practical things like the rest of us."

"She sounds... I'd very much like to meet her. I would pack all of my books, El's too... if you're serious?"

"I am. Go on and get packed then, we'll wait on you to head back up the mountain. Don't take too long, it's a long journey and lights wastin'. Girl, you need anything? Breakfast is waitin on ya downstairs. Colton is down there too."

"Is Colton shy like his sister?" I asked before Buel could leave.

"Colton isn't shy so much as just quiet. He has a way about him, always has, Doesn't talk unless he has somethin' to say. He's good and kind, though. Has a fiercely protective nature and will do right by you. See you taken care of."

I nodded, wringing my hands in worry a moment before finally picking up the clothes Sam had brought. "Hurry and pack up," I told him softly. "Pack all my things and yours too, but try not to let Pa know what you're doing."

"Not likely, he's at the door to the store, waitin' on me. I'll just have to ignore him and do it anyway. You stay here, though, El, you hear me? He gets his hands on you and he'll tuck you in the cellar and lock you in till the Faust's are gone and you know it. He cain't manhandle me, but he can you, beat you bloody while he's about it. All's he can do is yell and holler at me, and he cain't do that too much, not with as full as the town is this morning with everyone wantin' to know what happened last night."

"How many are downstairs?"

"A good few, but don't go tryin' to hide up here, El. Don't let them think you have something to hide from like you done something wrong. Pa's already spinning the story, makin' Buel out to be the one who done wrong. Tellin everyone he has you over here trapped up in a room. You need to go down and set it straight. I can walk you down if you want, soon as you're dressed like you need to be. I can wait outside your door, ok?"

"No, hurry and go pack. I'll go down alone, I'll be fine, promise," I told him quickly, shooing him out the door.

He left and I'd hardly pulled my clean dress on when the door opened again. "You ready?" Colton asked softly, then quickly looked away, turning his back on me as I buttoned the back of my dress.

"Almost. Let me bundle my other dress and I will be," I told him, my face burning with shame. "Usually folks knock."

"Pa said you was dressed!"

"I had to change. I'm ready," I told him, moving closer and looking down at my shoes as his massive frame blocked the door.

"I came to see you down, you was taking so long."

"Sorry... Sam and I were speaking," I breathed, rolling my shoulders uncomfortably. "I'll follow you," I told him, wanting him to move.

"See as you do," he nodded, stepping out to the hall and looking back like he was making sure I was, indeed, following him.

He moved slowly, constantly glancing back worriedly and I saw why when we reached the bottom of the stairs. The place was packed full, completely.

Buel was at a table eating like he didn't care about the people crowding him and Colton led me to the same table and held a chair for me. There was already a plate at the chair, along with a mug of milk and I sat down nervously looking around.

"There," the sheriff called loudly. "You've all had your look. Go on and let them eat!"

"It true he killed your intended and carried you off and locked you up there in a room?" someone called loudly.