The Runaway

This is my first time writing a period piece. I realize the narration has misspellings which are intentional. The story is set in the late eighteen hundreds somewhere out west. I hope you enjoy it.

I believe it was late April that year I saw the dust from the riders as I looked up from stacking firewood. An oak had split the week before from a lightning strike in the west pasture. Cleo and Sage heard the horses long before I did, their ears perked up as they stared off into the distance anticipating the arrival. My Winchester was leaning against the fence so I grabbed it, cocked it and laid it on the top rail for easy access as I waited for whoever was riding up. I don't get many visitors so being prepared for strangers is part of my routine.

The wagon was accompanied by a rider, a fourth horse who was riderless. It was hitched to the back of the wagon. The dogs stood, hackles up when the two gruff looking men got close enough to see. Each of the pups baring teeth and emitting a slow growl as a warning. I stopped my chore waiting for them, rifle at the ready.

They stopped a decent distance away, the one on horseback attempted to dismount. The dogs changed his mind as they stepped closer, their growls a bit louder and more teeth showing.

They tipped their hats in greeting, the one on horseback asked, "Howdy, ma'am. Mind if I get down?"

I looked them both over, "I think you'll have to ask the dogs. I don't think you'll get a yes though."

He saw my rifle and didn't argue, "Well, we're looking for our umm, niece. We were camped just on the other side of the river last night, and when we woke up this morning, she was gone. She's had a fever, and we're worried about her. We did find her bonnet at the crossing. We stopped at the house on the other side of the river, and they hadn't seen her. Just wondering if maybe she made it this far."

"Well, that would be the Fremont place. I hear the river is flowing pretty good, and I hate to say it, but if she tried crossing, most likely she's halfway to town my now and most likely drown, I'm sorry to say."

"Mr. Fremont, you said? Well, he has some hands mending the fence and told us they'd be on the lookout for her. He said the same thing about the river. If you do see her, we'd appreciate you taking her to town. We'll be there for a couple of days. We're on our way to California to seek our fortune."

The uglier one in the buckboard looked around, "Where's the 'mister,' Ma'am?"

I replied with a grin, "My guess is he's behind something where you ain't gonna see him, his Sharps aimed right there on that pocket on yer vest."

He looked down as if he could feel the muzzle of a rifle pointing right at him, swallowed hard and apologized, "I didn't mean nuthin' by it ma'am."

I broke the awkward silence, "I'll watch for her, sure nuff. Looks like we might get another storm here fairly quick. Those clouds to the west look like they mean business. You boys should get going if you want to beat it to town. Talk to the sheriff about looking for her."

They both looked around trying to figure out which way west was. Upon seeing the dark thunderheads looming, they looked at each other and grimaced. The one who'd done all the talking thanked me then turned to his partner telling him to get going. They thanked me just before leaving, looking at the dogs one last time and scanning the yard for any sign of my husband and his Sharps. Cleo and Sage stood their ground making sure the two didn't dismount and cause anything like trouble.

I didn't get back to stacking wood until they'd ridden entirely out of sight about two miles down the road. It was then that my little flock of sheep appeared at the corner of the house. I thought it strange, so I whistled to Cleo, my Border Collie to round them up and get them back into their pasture. Sage, my big old mutt, followed me as I investigated the reason for their escape.

Cleo in the meantime had chased them back through an open gate keeping them in a nice group like she always does. When I got to the gate, I inspected it, closing and latching it several times to figure out why it was open. It was as solid as it ever was not showing a reason to be unlatched. I knew those sheep weren't smart enough to open it, so I stood there with a puzzled look on my face. I called Cleo back then looked for Sage who was staring into the barn, big bushy tail wagging. Cleo seeing her partner, sped past me to see what was going on. She too stopped at the entrance peering inside, wagging her tail.

I began to wish I'd brought my rifle as I cautiously approached the doorway. I called out to see if anyone was there, knowing those two visitors were long gone and thinking maybe that riderless horse had left someone here. I didn't hear a reply, so I sent the girls in to flush whatever or whoever it was out.

Just as the dogs disappeared into the barn, I heard a female voice laughing. I walked in to see a young woman laying flat on her back, both Sage and Cleo licking her face, tails wagging in complete doggy happiness.

I stood, hands on my hips, smiling as I watched my pups playfully devour the young woman. She was extremely dirty, her raven black hair matted and unkempt, her jeans torn, her shirt had only one sleeve, and her feet were bare. Despite her appearance, she was laughing and giggling until she saw me. Suddenly stopping, she looked at me with fear in her eyes, the dogs pausing wondering why their new playmate had quit the game. Cleo and Sage have never let me down in regards to judging someone. I knew by their reactions regarding the two strangers, and now this waif that the two were evil men and this one was not just a runaway with a 'fever.'

My smile must have put her at ease, but I could tell she was still afraid.

"You must be the runaway those men were looking for. You don't look feverish to me." I told her.

She begged me, "Fever? Is that what they said? Please don't tell them I'm here. I'll do anything. They kidnapped me after killing my family about a week ago. They want to sell me to some whorehouse in San Francisco. I heard them talking about it a couple of nights ago. I had to run away!"

"Calm down, you're safe here, young lady," I reassured her.

"Oh, thank you," she sighed, returning to pet and play with the dogs.

"When you're done, come on in the house. I may have something you can fit into. You're free to wash up and get something to eat. Then I might just head into town and tell the sheriff your story."

With her being occupied with the dogs I went back to my chore of stacking the wood. After a few minutes, both Cleo and Sage came bounding around the corner, their new friend not far behind them. Now that she was in the full sun I could see how dirty and beat up she was. Her wrists had been bound by the look of the red marks on them. Her feet were bloodied from walking over the bare ground without shoes. I stopped working to usher her into the house.

"I'm Patsy." I introduced myself to her.

"I'm Rebecca or Becky. Nice to meet you Miss Patsy and thank you for believing me."

"Set yourself down. I've got some biscuits, and salt pork and tea left over from breakfast, you're welcome to them."

"Thank you, I'm starved!"

I gathered the food together for her as she pet the dogs. They were hoping to get some more breakfast too but were out of luck today. I'd barely set her food down when Cleo and Sage's ears popped up again as they ran to the front door. I peeked out of one of my shooting holes to see a single rider gallop up the dust engulfing him as he stopped just in front of the porch.

"Hello in there! Anyone home?"

"Yes, and I got a bead on you stranger. State your business!"

"I mean you no harm, ma'am. I'm trailing a pair of fugitives that have a young woman with them against her will. I'm a bounty hunter. Wil Coggins is the name, ma'am. I saw their wagon tracks and wondered if they'd stopped here with the girl."

"You're not far behind them Mr. Coggins. They didn't have no girl with them. Said she ran off in the middle of the night. They was lookin' for her. They are headin' to town. If you hurry you can catch them."

He looked around a bit to see if maybe they had hidden the wagon and were maybe inside holding me hostage or something. Then he spied the tracks and knew they'd left.

"Thank you, ma'am. If you do see the girl, I'd be obliged if you took her to the sheriff in town. Her folks were killed, and we'd need her as a witness. If she's still alive."

"I'll keep a lookout for her. Good luck, Mr. Coggins!"

"Thank you, ma'am!"

With that, he rode off as Becky sat silently shivering from fear as far as I could tell.

"You're safe here Becky. Don't worry. Tomorrow I'll head into town and see what's going on with those men who killed your folks. Hopefully, Mr. Coggins and the sheriff will have them locked up."

"I don't want to testify, ma'am. I am scared of those men. They'll hurt me if they don't go to jail, I just know it."

"Relax, Becky. Eat, and we'll get you cleaned up and into some of my clothes if they fit. If you don't mind me sayin' so, you stink like my hogs. We'll burn those clothes, I hope they don't leave a stench while you're sittin' here."

"I'm sorry, ma'am.," she blushed as she devoured the leftovers of my breakfast.

I sat and watched as Cleo and Sage settled in at her feet. I felt sorry for her. She had to be on the downhill side of seventeen or so and had seen things that someone should never have to witness especially at her age.

After she finished, she politely put the dishes away after washing them. While she was doing that, I found some of my clothes that might fit her, probably a bit baggy but the things she was wearing should be burned. They were torn and practically hanging off her body. Besides that, they stunk to high heaven, one reason why the dogs liked hanging close to her.

I sent her out to get water for her bath. The day was warming up, and I needed to finish my chores. She brought back enough water to soak and rinse herself as I laid out a set of clothes to wear.

She started opening up a bit as she undressed, "Patsy, where is your husband?"

I paused, "That's a good question, Becky. He took off about this time last year to hunt Elk. Nobody round here seen him since. My guess is he couldn't handle farming, or I hate to think he got hurt somewhere and died all alone. I been takin' care of the place ever since hopin' he'd come home."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"I've gotten used ta living alone. Thanks, Becky. I don't know who has had worse luck, you or me. There's soap by the dishes you can use, and I left you a towel to dry off with. I hope the clothes fit you. I'm a bit larger than you so they might be kinda loose. I'll head into town tomorrow and check on those two men and get you some clothes. I won't let anyone know you're here. If someone asks, I'll just say my niece back East has a birthday and wanted western clothes."

"That's so sweet of you, Patsy."

Half dressed, she walked over to me wrapping her arms around my neck and gave me the best hug I think I've ever had. She let me go then finished undressing to wash. I took the dirty rags she was wearing and started to take them outside when she asked if I wouldn't mind washing her back.

I set the clothes on the floor and went to help her. She was completely naked now, except for that layer of dust and dirt covering her. She was scratched from head to toe, red lines in various directions. Only a few seemed to be made by the men who took her. I figured the smaller ones were from her running and hiding.

She covered herself with an arm on her breasts and a hand over her private area which I completely understood. I told her to relax, it's just us and the dogs. She eased up a bit and blushed, apologizing. I told her it was okay, I understood.

"I'm sorry if my rough hands hurt, Becky. You look like you've crawled through a briar patch."

"You're hands are fine, Patsy. They feel much better than those terrible men that took me. I got most of those scratches hiding from them when I run away. They gave me the big ones."

"You poor girl. Well, I don't think they'll be back. That bounty hunter guy was headin' after them. I'm sure he'll tell the sheriff, and that will be that. You just relax and take it easy here."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I do feel safe here. Will you teach me how to shoot? Just in case?"

"Of course, out here a woman has to know how to defend herself."

She turned to face me, hands no longer covering herself up. Opening her arms, she hugged me tightly. At first, I didn't know what to do. Her pert bare breasts against mine felt oddly nice. I relaxed, my blouse now soaked and soapy from her wet body. I hugged her back blushing at the same time. She let me go and turned back around to let me finish rinsing her. Then I realized I felt something I hadn't felt for a long time between my legs. I was warm and moist, not something a hug from a female has ever caused before. I shook my head telling myself 'no, it's just a flash,' I'm getting my monthly curse. I noticed the nipples on my breasts were hard too. Strange, they usually only got that way when it was cold out. I finished rinsing her off then left.

I took her old clothes out of the house and tossed them onto the burn pile. I was going to have to wash myself to get that stink off my arms. I walked back into the house and was greeted by an angel. She stood just in the light, her young face all clean and pretty. My clothes were baggy on her and looked strange. She smiled at me thanking me once again. I told her she was welcome and that I still had chores to finish up. She was welcome to stay inside or go out, whichever suited her.

I headed back out to finish up. After I finished stacking my firewood, I was walking to the barn and saw smoke from the wood stove. I didn't know what she was up to, but I hoped she wouldn't set the place on fire. I cleaned out the stalls and put away some of the tack I had used hauling the wood down to the house. It was pretty close to dark when I finally headed back in. I was happy she hadn't burned the place down and much to my surprise she'd cleaned up the entire place. She'd found my root cellar and some of my stored meat and made us a stew. It smelled delicious. She stood smiling at me, the table all laid out with knives and forks, plates, and even cups. I was impressed.

She told me to wash up giggling as she did. I smiled back at her and washed my hands then sat down. She served us both then sat across from me and said grace. I complimented her house cleaning telling her I'd meant to do it, but hadn't had a chance. She smiled and said she enjoyed doing it for me, it was the least she could do to repay me.

We finished up supper, and we both washed the dishes. I fed the dogs, then Becky and I walked outside to let the dogs go do their thing. The storm that was approaching earlier had moved away and left us high and dry. The moon was out, and we stood there gazing at it while the dogs rummaged around chasing a rat or some other critter.

When they'd finished, we headed back inside. I was tired and told Becky she could sleep in the bed with me since it was made for two and I didn't have anyplace else for her except the barn. She said she didn't mind and that a real bed would feel very nice. I gave her one of my nightshirts to sleep in.

She stood on the other side of the bed from me while we changed. Her slim figure in the lamp's glow caused that feeling again between my legs. I was thinking the curse wasn't due for another couple of weeks so why was this happening. When she'd crawled into bed, I blew out the lantern and got on my side.

We said goodnight and I fell asleep right away. Sometime during the night I woke hearing some god awful noises. Then I remembered Becky was in my bed. She was thrashing about mumbling something. I turned and cradled her in my arms, whispering that she was fine. She woke panting, telling me she had a bad dream. I held her and told her she was safe. It was all a dream and to go back to sleep. I started to let her go, but she grabbed my arm asking me to hold her until she fell asleep again. I gave in and held her to me. She turned onto her side and scooted her butt into me, laying my arm over her. She wiggled in tight to me. I lay there against her, holding her kinda like my husband used to hold me when he was cold. It was nice and strange at the same time.

She finally went back to sleep, but when I tried rolling away from her, she held my arm so I couldn't. When I woke up in the morning, we were still laying that way, all cuddled up together. I managed to get out of bed without waking her. I got dressed and let the dogs out, then headed to the barn to saddle my horse for the ride into town.

When I went back into the house, Becky was up. She smiled at me then walked over and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"What was that for?"

"For holding me last night. Did you notice I didn't have any more bad dreams?"

"Oh, no. I guess you didn't. Well, that's good. You're welcome. I saddled my horse, and I'm going into town. I should be back before dark. Make yourself at home. The dogs will let you know if someone's coming. There's a rifle there by the door and a Colt by the fireplace just in case. I don't think you'll have company, but you never know."

She smiled, "Thank you, Patsy. I think I'll be fine. I'll find something to do while you're gone."

I looked around and told the dogs to keep an eye on her. I headed into town wondering what I was going to do with her. I'd gotten used to living alone; maybe she could stay and help me work the ranch. We'd have to see depending on what those two fellas were doing.

It took some time to get to town. When I rode down main street I noticed a pair of coffins outside the undertaker's place. I slowed Buckskin down and looked as we rode past. Wouldn't you know it, the two fells that stopped by looking for Becky were asleep, laying out in front of the undertakers. I wondered if they'd run into Mr. Coggins.

I meandered down to the sheriff's office, tied up Buck and went to ask a few questions. I usually stop there when I go to town to catch up on gossip so I figured me asking about the two sleeping men wouldn't cause any harm.

The sheriff wasn't in, but one of the deputies was. He told me those two fellas were wanted men and a bounty hunter came lookin for them. They didn't want to go with him, understandably and they ended up dead. That bounty hunter was a pretty good shot it seemed.

I thanks Billy and headed back out to pick up some supplies and some clothes for Becky. While I was at the store, the sheriff and Mr. Coggins stopped by. They needed to telegraph somebody back East and let them know those two fellas wouldn't be hurtin' nobody no more. Plus, Mr. Coggins wanted the reward that came with them. I just listened to them telling the storekeeper what had happened not sayin' a word. When I got my supplies, I walked out sayin' good day to everyone. As I got back on Bucky, I smiled to myself knowing Becky would truly be safe now. She definitely would have fetched a pretty price to work one of those whore houses in San Francisco. They like them young and innocent looking girls there. I was actually proud of myself for taking her in and them two getting their just rewards.

I got back home a little before dark, Becky had made dinner again. She'd also found my needle and thread and had taken in the pants and top I'd giver her. They certainly looked much better on her than when I'd left in the morning. I showed her the clothes I bought for her and of course my thank you was a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

I was beginning to enjoy getting 'thank yous' from her. Probably because I hadn't had any in a very long time or at least that's what I told myself. I told her about the two fellas and guess what. More 'thank yous.' We ate and talked until bed. The dogs were happy; Becky had taken care of them. So we retired just as we had the night before. This time when I got into bed, Becky snuggled up to me just as she had the night before. I asked what she was doing, and she explained that since I held her, she didn't have any bad dreams. So, to prevent them we might as well sleep this way so she won't wake me in the middle of the night.