Outlaw Heart Read online

  Copyright

  ISBN 978-1-60260-265-6

  Copyright © 2008 by Vickie McDonough. All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the permission of Truly Yours, an imprint of Barbour Publishing, Inc., PO Box 721, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683.

  All scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

  All of the characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events is purely coincidental.

  Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses.

  One

  Rocking M Ranch, Southwestern North Dakota, 1894

  “You want to do what?” Quinn McFarland shoved his hands on his hips.

  Anna resisted the urge to squirm under her brother’s stern glare. “I want to find some type of employment.”

  Shaking his head, Quinn spun around and looked out the parlor window with his arms crossed over his broad chest. No doubt he was thinking of all the work he had to do and that he didn’t have time to humor his little sister. He turned, slow, like a cougar about to pounce on its prey. “That’s utter nonsense. We have more than enough money and plenty of work around here. Women are supposed to work at home, not someplace else.”

  She knew he wouldn’t understand. Anna plopped onto the parlor’s settee, thinking that was the longest string of words her somber brother had said in a week.

  She loved their large log cabin and helping Quinn around the ranch, but something was missing in her life. How could she make her work-all-the-time-never-have-fun brother understand how she felt? Why, Quinn practically woke up the roosters each morning.

  He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. His dark brown eyes, so much like hers, softened. “Look, I realize you feel a bit lost since Ma’s been staying at Grandma’s for so long. And now Adam is gone, too. I can’t pretend to understand the connection you two have, being twins and all, but finding employment isn’t the answer.”

  Anna stared at her hands. What he said was true. While she loved Adam’s new bride, Mariah, she missed her twin terribly. He talked with her and joked. He knew when she felt sad, and if she was bored, he’d find something to challenge her mind or body. All Quinn did was work.

  Twisting her hands in her lap, she glanced up at him. “It’s been hard to lose Adam—”

  “We haven’t lost him. He’ll be back.”

  “It’s not the same. He has a wife now. He doesn’t need. . .me.” Thick with emotion, her throat tightened. She poured herself a cup of tea from the pot that sat on the low table in front of the settee. The cup clattered on the saucer as she lifted it.

  Adam had found the love of his life and was finally realizing his dream of drawing the West. His wife, Mariah, wrote dime novels for a Chicago publishing company, so traveling with Adam gave her the opportunity to get fodder for her stories. Anna was truly happy for Adam, but his leaving had left a hole inside her that nothing else could fill. Even praying hadn’t helped.

  “Have you written Ma about this crazy idea of yours?”

  Anna couldn’t look him in the eye, knowing she hadn’t mentioned her desire for a job to her mother. Mama would have had the same reaction as Quinn. Hadn’t she left her own children—albeit grown ones—to care for her ailing mother? She’d never understand Anna’s longing for something different to do.

  “I can tell by your lack of response that you haven’t.” He paced to the dining table and back into the parlor, his long legs making quick work of the short distance.

  “I have an idea.” Quinn snapped his fingers, crossed the room, and stood before her. Dressed in denim pants, a blue chambray shirt, leather vest, and boots covered in a layer of dust, he looked every bit the rancher that he was. His dark blond hair even had a perpetual ring-shaped indentation from where his hat had pressed it down. “I hadn’t mentioned this to you yet, but I’d planned to take our annual trip to Bismarck next month to stock up on supplies before winter comes. What if we go earlier? Maybe this coming Monday? We can visit Ma and Grandmother for a few weeks.”

  Anna set her teacup on the table and jumped up, clapping her palms together. “Truly? Oh, that would be wonderful! They’ll be so surprised to see us this early.”

  She dashed around the table and embraced her older brother. He was solid, hard muscled, and a good three inches taller than Adam. Not one to overly show emotion, he lightly embraced her and patted her back. She looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you, Quinn.”

  He cleared his throat and stepped back. “I’ve got work to do.”

  “Me, too. I’ve got to get busy so I’ll be ready. Three days is hardly enough time to prepare.” All the things she needed to do before leaving raced through Anna’s mind. Pack. Make a list of food supplies. Search the catalogs for anything else they would need over the long, cold North Dakota winter.

  “We can wait and go in a few weeks, like I’d planned, if it’s too much of a rush.”

  “No! I’ll be ready.”

  Quinn chuckled and shook his head. “Make your lists. Don’t forget ammunition and restocking the medicines for the animals. I’ll have Claude write down what we’re needing.” He grabbed his hat from the peg near the front door and left.

  Anna hurried to her room and threw open the wardrobe door. Fluffing the skirt of one of her wool dresses, she noted its thinness. She’d need to buy a new winter dress or two and another split riding skirt, and she and Leyna, their cook, needed to make a long list of food supplies.

  Excitement surging through her, she grabbed the stack of catalogs from the floor of the wardrobe and hurried to the dining room table. She loved going to Bismarck to visit her grandmother and to shop, and she couldn’t wait to hug her mother again. Oh, how she’d missed her. A smile tugged at Anna’s lips. And just maybe, if she worked things right, she could find employment there and not have to come back to the boring Rocking M Ranch.

  ❧

  Standing outside of the U.S. Marshal’s office in Bismarck, Brett Wickham rubbed his thumb over his deputy marshal’s badge. Was he really ready to resign? To call it quits and go back to ranching with his younger brother?

  “You sure about this?” Taylor watched him. “I’d love to have you back at the Bar W, but if you’re not ready to quit, we can get along without you for a while longer.”

  No, it was time. Brett had put months of thought and prayer into his decision. He was ready to live a slower life. After five years of chasing outlaws, his ache for adventure had been satisfied. Two dollars per captured outlaw would never make a man rich, but then he hadn’t done the job for the money. He’d served the state of North Dakota by capturing numerous thieves and murderers and seeing them convicted for their crimes and making life safer for the decent folk.

  “I’m sure. It’s time I went home. You still got the draft from the cattle sale?”

  Taylor patted his shirt pocket. “Right here.”

  Brett nodded. “You did a good job getting that herd here. Why don’t you go to the bank and get the cash for the draft while I tender my resignation. Then we can celebrate with a steak dinner.”

  Taylor smiled and rubbed his belly. “That’s my kind of celebration. After I go to the bank, I’ll find my wranglers and pay them their wages, and then I’ll meet you at that little café across from the hotel, all right?”

  Brett nodded and watched Taylor amble away until a wagon loaded with supplies blocked his view. His younger brother had been a skinny, pimple-faced kid when Brett left their Bar W ranch to realize his dream of becoming a lawman, but now Taylor was a man. His brother had stepped up when their father died and kept the ranch going. It was time now for Brett to go home and shoulder some of the responsibility.

  Maybe if he was lucky, some pretty gals had moved into the area or some of those giggly schoolgirls he used to tease had grown up. He smiled, remembering how he’d tied a frog to one of Sally Novak’s braids. The girl had squawked and thrashed like a chicken chased by a fox. Yep, he was ready to settle down and have some ornery boys of his own, but a man needed the right woman to do that.

  The window on the door rattled as he stepped inside the marshal’s office. The scents of leather and gun oil mixed with cigar smoke. Brett nodded at the young deputy seated at the desk. “Marshal Cronan in?”

  “Back there.” The man jerked his head toward the rear office.

  Brett saw his boss, Marshal Joseph Cronan, seated at the desk, his head down, as he studied a wanted poster. Brett knocked on the doorjamb, and the man looked up. His mustache twitched just before he smiled. He stood, offering Brett his hand. “Caught any more criminals, Wickham?”

  They shook hands. Brett sat after the marshal did and hung his hat on his knee. “Not since yesterday.”

  Marshal Cronan chuckled. “Well. . .I don’t reckon we can catch one every day, though I’d sure like to.”

  Brett let his gaze rove over the various posters mounted on the wall to his right. The office was rustic, messy, and reeked of cigar smoke, but that didn’t keep the marshal from doing his job.

  “So, ya ready for a new assignment?”

  Brett resisted the urge to fidget like a schoolboy in trouble. He hated disappointing the man who’d been his mentor. “No, actually I’ve uh. . .decided to. . .uh. . .resign.”

  Whew. That was harder t
o get out than he’d thought.

  Marshal Cronan pursed his lips and studied him. He narrowed his eyes for a moment; then resignation dulled his gaze, and he sighed. “Real sorry to hear that. I sure hate to lose a good man like you.”

  “I’ve got a younger brother who’s been running the Bar W since our pa died. It’s time I go back and do my fair share.”

  He nodded. “A man’s gotta do what he feels is best. I wish I could offer you a fair wage to stay, but. . .” He shrugged one shoulder.

  Brett knew the deal. A marshal risked his life for his job. He didn’t make a wage and only got paid if he captured and turned in an outlaw. If he and the outlaw were killed together, the marshal’s family was expected to pay the burial expenses of both men. It wasn’t right, but that was the way of things.

  Brett laid his badge on the marshal’s desk. “Thank you for taking in a rebellious youth and making a man of him.”

  The marshal nodded. His chair squeaked as he stood and shook Brett’s hand again. “I’ve got train robbers, cattle rustlers, and the Sallinger gang acting up again. I’m hoping you’ll change your mind.”

  Brett flashed him a wish-I-could-help-you smile, slapped his hat on his head, and walked outside, feeling freer than he had in a long while. Yes sirree, time for a new beginning.

  ❧

  Anna walked along the street that angled down a steep hill, taking in all the sights and sounds of Bismarck. The town seemed to sprout buildings as fast as her garden did weeds. Every time she came to visit there were new houses and stores going up.

  Anna enjoyed having her mother walk beside her after being separated from her for over a year. Ellen McFarland still turned heads at forty-seven. They greatly resembled one another with their blond hair and brown eyes. Anna hoped she looked as youthful when she was her mother’s age.

  “It’s too bad Quinn had to return to the ranch so soon. I’d hoped he could rest and visit more than a few days.” She looped her arm through Anna’s. “I missed you so much.”

  Anna smiled. “I missed you, too. Are you staying here much longer? Grandmother seems to be doing better.”

  Her mother’s cheeks turned red, and she looked away. “You children are grown now. Adam’s married.” She stopped and faced Anna. “I’m not sure that I will be returning to the Rocking M.”

  Anna’s heart fluttered. She wasn’t coming home?

  “I can see this comes as quite a shock to you, darling. Mother is doing better, but I don’t feel she should be living alone at her age. I’d love for you to stay here with us for the winter.”

  Anna started walking again. Was this the answer to her prayers? Her loneliness? Could she leave Quinn alone to run the ranch?”

  Her mother took her arm again. “It’s a lot to think about. You don’t have to decide right now. Let’s just enjoy our time together. There’s a wonderful little shop a few blocks over that has all manner of feminine accessories. They have the prettiest hair combs.”

  Anna thought of the long list of supplies she would have to purchase now that Quinn had returned home, and she found it difficult to get excited over a hair comb. People dressed in fancy clothing passed them by on both sides of the street. The large buildings blocked the view of the hills unless she looked up the street. She missed the wide-open spaces and quiet of the country.

  “I do hope Quinn will be all right. I pray for you children every night.”

  “It’s been a long while since we’ve had rustlers. I hope we didn’t lose too many head of cattle. At least they didn’t get any of the Percherons.” Anna swatted at a fly buzzing her face.

  “I worry about Quinn out chasing rustlers.”

  “He’ll be careful.” Anna flashed her mother an ornery look. “What he needs is a wife to settle him down.”

  Her mother smiled, brown eyes twinkling. “It will take a very special woman to do that.”

  “And a mighty patient one, too.” They shared a laugh.

  “If we don’t find a dress you like in one of the stores here in Bismarck, we can try looking in Mandan.”

  “I’m not that picky. I’m sure I can find something here.” Anna jerked to a halt as a man rushed out the doors of the Bedford Hotel and nearly plowed into them. He marched down the street without so much as an “excuse me.”

  Her mother shook her head. “Whatever happened to manners? I declare, some of the folks these days don’t know how to show even the simplest courtesy.”

  Anna scowled at the rude man and pulled her beaded reticule, the small handbag she saved for trips to Bismarck, farther up her arm. “Most of the cowboys on the ranch are quite polite, but we do occasionally get one who isn’t. Quinn soon puts them in their place if they act improper around me.”

  “He’s a good brother. He did a wonderful job of keeping that ranch going after your father died. I still regret not helping him more, but I was suffering my own grief at the time. Besides, Quinn was always determined to do things himself.”

  They ducked into Harper’s Mercantile. Anna’s eyes took a moment to adjust after being in the bright sunlight. The scents of leather, coffee, and spices filled the air, exciting her. Purchasing such a long list of supplies was a big job, but her interest peaked seeing the new items that the stores in Bismarck carried.

  Her mother had offered to make her a skirt, and Ellen fingered a charcoal gray wool, but Anna’s eyes drifted to a dark green.

  “Has it been hard for you since Adam and Mariah left?”

  Anna shrugged, not wanting to burden her mother with her worries. “I do miss him—both of them, if you want the truth. Mariah quickly became the best friend I’d never had.”

  “She’s a lovely woman and seems to be the inspiration that Adam needs. I’m glad I was able to go to their wedding.” Ellen smiled as if remembering the ceremony held in the tiny church in Medora last summer. “At least you know they’ll be back for part of the year. That should be a comfort.”

  “Yes, it is.” But it would be a long time before they returned from their travels. Too long. “I’ve been thinking of trying to find some kind of employment.”

  Her mother swiveled around, staring with her mouth gaping open like a widemouthed bass. “Don’t you have enough to do at the ranch? It’s most unusual for a woman to work unless she’s a widow with children to support or a schoolteacher. Really, Anna, that seems an absurd idea.”

  Anna sighed. Her mother’s response was the same as Quinn’s. Why did it matter if a woman worked outside the home? Surely there were jobs a woman could do better than a man.

  “Would you live in Medora?” Ellen shook her head. “Besides, you wouldn’t want to leave Quinn all alone, would you?”

  Hadn’t Ellen just asked her to do that very thing by inviting her to spend the winter in Bismarck? And how could she explain that Quinn was the one who deserted her? He worked away from the house all day, and in the evenings after dinner, his head was either in a book on cattle breeding or ranching techniques, or he was checking her bookkeeping. He simply didn’t know how to relax.

  “Why don’t you stay a few months here with your grandmother and me? We could have such fun. There are so many more things to do here than on the ranch.”

  Maybe an extended change of scenery would do her good. But did she really want to be in a crowded town for so long? “I’ll think about that.”

  “Do you see anything you like here?”

  “What about the emerald?” Anna was glad to be on a different topic.

  Her mother unrolled the bolt of green wool and held it up in front of Anna. “It looks good with your coloring, although a brown or gray would go better with your eyes.”

  “I think I will get this. I love the color.”

  They purchased six yards of the wool cloth and several other items then meandered out of the store. The streets of Bismarck were crowded with people. The one thing Anna disliked about the city was all the noise. People chattered everywhere, harnesses jingled as wagons passed on the streets, and the smells were so different than those of the ranch.

  “I need to stop at the bank and make a withdrawal. Then what do you say to eating lunch at a café?” Her mother tugged her across the street toward the Bismarck Federal Bank.

  “Oh, I’d love to.” Anna nearly bounced. The only time she ate out of the house was at a church social or when she came to town. It was a treat that she eagerly looked forward to.