A Cowboy's Love

By Ruth Ann Hixson

Clair Jenkins is a newly widowed mother of three with no money and little food. As she is walking back from town in the snow, Charley Hampton, a cowboy from a neighboring ranch stops to help her. They get lost in the blizzard but finally find their way. The next day Charley brings them food. He asks Clair to marry him and she accepts. Charley's promise to take care of them and protect them from an outlaw named Beecher, turns out to be more than he can do. Clair's former in-laws come west to take the children from her. Charley gets bushwacked on his way to town to mail a letter to his lawyer. When they are away to attend the hearing about custody of the children, someone sets fire to their cabin. Charley swears he is going to hunt Beecher down and kill him. Instead he is captured by the outlaws and Beecher tells Charley in lurid detail what he has planned for his family. Charley has to find a way to escape to protect his family from Beecher and his cronies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ruth Ann Hixson
• Release date: Dec 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781310095900

Ruth Ann Hixson

Ruth Ann Hixson is a retired newspaper journalist who writes novels, short stories and poetry. She lives in central PA with her adult son. Her daughter lives nearby. She has five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Book preview

A Cowboy's Love

Ruth Ann Hixson

Published on Smashwords by Ruth Ann Hixson

Copyright 2014

Cover image by Dreamstime

text by Betsy Riley

This ebook is licensed for your enjoyment only.This ebook man not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it or it was not purchased for your use only, please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is fiction and so is the location. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental. All the names and locations are from the author's imagination. Any real locations are used in a fictional sense.

This book or part of this book may not be copied without the author's written consent.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all the writers who have helped me learn the ropes of publishing.

Chapter 1

I am so cold. Clair Jenkins pulled the blue knit muffler up over her face and snugged the red knit cap down to her eyebrows. The wind grew stronger and the snow came down faster. She had to get home before dark so she wouldn't miss the turnoff.

It was a fool's errand, she muttered. Leaving her three children home alone, she walked to town only to find there was no mail for her. She sent her father-in-law a letter informing him of his son's death from appendicitis and requesting that he send her money. Then she waited four weeks giving the letter time to reach him and for him to send the money. But there was no letter. She even visited the telegraph office in case he wired it. There was nothing.

If someone hadn't taken an ax to the wagon wheel, she could have driven and brought the children with her. In desperation because they were running out of food, she left the two younger children in the care of thirteen-year-old Cara and walked. Stay inside and lock the door, she told Cara. She worried that Floyd Beecher would come around when she wasn't there.

He had begun coming around after Tom died, pretending to be concerned about them. But then he tried to make demands on her, telling her he would harm the children if she didn't do as he wanted. The last time he came she ran him off at gunpoint. Tom taught her to shoot the carbine and his pistol as soon as they arrived in Colorado.

They came west after Tom's father cut him out of his will. Tom staked a claim for a hundred and sixty acres of good land where he built them a one room cabin to shelter them until he could build a house. She didn't care so much for the isolation of the farm but she was glad to be free of her malicious mother-in-law.

As she topped a rise she began running down the hill. By the time she reached the bottom, she was winded and stopped to catch her breath, turning her back to the wind. She leaned forward with her hands on her knees. Thinking of her children, she murmured, God preserve us.

When she straightened up, she saw a rider coming over the hill. Fear shot through her as she thought it could be Beecher. She felt the canvas bag that hung from her shoulder for the reassuring hardness of the pistol she carried. She had no escape. A four strand fence of barbed wire ran along the left side of the road. On the right the brush was so thick she thought a rabbit would have trouble going through it.

Reason made her realize that the rider couldn't be Beecher. The horse was big and black. Beecher rode a bay. The man astride the horse was too big to be Beecher. She turned her back and began walking. When the rider drew abreast of her, he asked, You want to ride, ma'am?

She didn't answer but kept walking, so he asked again. She turned to look up at him just as a gust of wind blew his hat from his head. She ran after it to retrieve it. When she brought it back he had dismounted.

He grinned down at her. Thank you, ma'am. I reckon I better put that on a mite tighter. He took off his leather gloves and tucked one in each pocket of the new blue denim coat he wore. He unknotted the red scarf around his neck and tied it over his Stetson. Pulling it down over his ears, he knotted it under his chin making it look like a woman's bonnet. I'm Charley Hampton from the Rockin' M.

Clair studied his face. He wasn't young, neither was he old. Crow's feet crinkled at the corners of his gray eyes and his face was browned from years of working in all kinds of weather. Something about him made her want to trust him.

Now, do you want a ride? he asked.

As far as the fork in the road. We are going in different directions from there.

You're Tom Jenkin's wife.

Widow, she corrected. Did you know Tom?

Enough to say howdy if we met on the street. We weren't close friends or nothin'. He held down his hands for her to step up to the stirrup which was too long for her to mount easily.

Clair had never been on a horse before. In fact, she was scared of horses since she was a child when she saw a horse trample a man to death. She forced her fear down because it was urgent that she get home. After she was up, he swung up behind her, putting his arms around her to hold the reins. It made her uncomfortable to be that close to a stranger but she said nothing.

After Clair said nothing, Charley asked, Why are you walkin' when you could of took the wagon?

Someone took an ax to one of the wheels

Now who'd do somethin' like that?

Probably Beecher.

Floyd Beecher? He's one mean son of a ... gun. Why'd he do that?

To keep me home. Clair figured she might as well explain so he would stop asking questions. She told about Beecher ending with, I fear he will come around when the children are home alone.

How old are your kids?

Cara is thirteen, Simon is almost ten and Belle is just over a year old. She hoped that satisfied his curiosity so he would stop asking questions. He allowed the conservation to lapse into silence.

When they reached the fork in the road he turned right. I can walk from here so you can go on home, she reminded him.

I'll take you home. This storm looks like it's gonna turn into a full-blown blizzard. You can get home quicker ridin'. You'll hafta tell me where to turn off 'cause I ain't never been out to your place.

Though only her brown eyes showed between her hat and scarf, Clair used her gloved hand to shield them from the blowing snow because they were traveling directly into the wind. They rode in silence for a while until she suddenly said, Stop! We are going downhill. The turnoff is on the uphill side.

Charley reined in and dismounted. When he reached up to help her down, her bag swung forward hitting his shoulder. You packin' hardware?

If you mean do I have a gun, yes. And I know how to use it. Tom taught me to shoot his pistol and the carbine.

Good. He turned his back and stepped a short distance away

From the way he stood, Clair knew exactly what he was doing. She had been married for nearly fourteen years and she knew about men.

When he came back to her he asked, What about you? I won't look.

I am fine. I have had nothing but a drink of water since I left home this morning.

That ain't good. The way I see it, we got four choices: We can keep goin' the way we are an' we might come out at the Double Diamond; we can go back an' try to find our way to the Rockin' M; or we can turn west an' hope we come out at your place.

You said we have four choices.

He grinned down at her. We can stay here an' freeze to death.

Any but the last. I leave it up to you.

We turn west. If we miss your place, there's a line cabin a couple or three miles beyond. He held down his hands for her. Up you go.

She made a less than graceful mount that left her skirt higher than she wanted it. He tugged it down to her boot tops and went around to the other side to do the same. After he was up behind her he turned the horse to the west. At least then they weren't going directly into the wind. Clair could turn her head to the left and she didn't need to shield her eyes though she was feeling the cold more than when she was walking.

After riding in silence for a while, Charley suddenly asked, Do your kids have enough food an' firewood in case we don't get home tonight?

Clair thought about it a moment before answering. There is some food. Cara knows how to make biscuits and there will be milk and eggs. Yes, they have enough. Why?

We may have to find shelter an' wait out the storm if we miss your place. I'll try my darnedest to get you home, but that may not be enough.

Again the conversation lapsed until Charley rode into a grove of young pines and dismounted. Time to give Midnight a rest. He's gettin' pretty old an' he ain't used to carryin' double. He reached up to help her down. Stay on this side of the horse so he can block the wind. Move around some. Swing your arms an' stomp you feet. Wiggle your toes an' fingers. He followed his own advice.

I'm so cold, Clair declared. I should have dressed warmer.

I got my old coat. I just bought this one today. He untied an old brown canvas coat from behind the saddle and held it for her. "It's too big but it'll help block the wind. I wish I didn't shave this mornin'. That wind bites.

Reviews for A Cowboy's Love

[mum26 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a beautiful story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️