Page 31 of The Gold Rush Bride

“Don’t you be thinking of going for the hog leg on your hip. I’d kill you before you got it out of the holster.”

She believed him and raised both of her hands. “What do you want, Homer? Money? I’ve got some gold from today. A nice nugget, too. I’ll give it to you. Just go away, back to your hidey hole.”

“Oh, I’ll be goin’ back, but you and I have some business first. Get on up here and don’t think of doin’ nothin’ fast. You just take your time and come easy like. You’re gonna enjoy what I have in mind.”

“I doubt you have anything that would give me enjoyment. Not after Barnaby.”

Grimes’ face reddened, and he snarled, “Get up here and go to your tent. Real careful.”

She walked out of the river, never taking her gaze off of Grimes. “I’m not going in that tent unless you’re leaving.”

“I’m not leaving, girly, and you will go in that tent. Now!” He waved the pistol at her. “Unless you’d like Barnaby to find you with a hole in you.”

“I’ll go.”If I can get to the shotgun before he comes inside...it’s right by the opening to the tent, but I don’t know if I’m fast enough.She walked, head held high and back straight, to the tent and bent down to enter. It took all her willpower not to shake like a leaf, but she wouldn’t give him her fear to hold over her. Her stomach cramped and she thought she’d vomit. But she kept her head up and swallowed hard.

Grimes poked her in the back with his gun. “Get in there, don’t dawdle.” He pushed her into the tent.

She fell onto her knees and couldn’t grab the shotgun.

He followed her inside and stood by the opening. ‘Get your clothes off. Now!” He didn’t wave the gun this time, but kept it steady and aimed at her.

She stood and slipped off her suspenders, then slowly unbuttoned her shirt and removed it. Sadie stood in the middle of her and Barnaby’s bed with her muddy boots, but she didn’t care right now. She had to distract Grimes. “Homer, why are you doing this? You know Barnaby will kill you. You can’t run far enough where he won’t find you.”

“He’s got to catch me first. Now, shut up and do as yer told.”

She dropped her shirt on the mattress at her feet. Then she unbuttoned her pants. “I have to take off my boots to get my pants off.”

He stood with his legs apart enough to keep him steady. “Then do it quick like.”

She saw he was nervous.

He kept looking behind him, like he was watching for Barnaby.

Sadie was afraid he’d shoot her, but she wasn’t about to let him rape her, either. She’d rather die. She took off her right boot, but instead of setting it by the bed, she threw it at him. It hit his gun which went off as it fell out of his hand, shooting a hole in the back of the tent. She lunged on her knees to grab his gun and then turned to her back and aimed toward him.

He fell on her, trying to force her to relinquish the weapon.

She pulled the trigger.

He howled. It hit him on the foot. He backhanded her and then punched her in the face.

Sadie heard the bones crack and pain shoot through her face, but she didn’t stop fighting. She clawed at him, felt his cheek beneath her fingers and dug deep into the soft tissue and felt the blood run over her fingers and down his face.

He hit her again.

She ran out of cheek and let go of his face as she fisted her hands and hit at him as hard as she could. She connected with his face. Her hand slid on his blood over his cheek to his nose.

He howled. “You filthy bi—“

She hit him with her left fist, not as hard as she wanted but enough to push him away.

He howled, grabbed his nose, got up and ran as fast as he could out of the tent.

By the time she got out of the tent, he’d headed up the river. She shot at him but missed. He was too far away.

She walked back into the tent and got a washcloth from in the dirty clothes. No sense in bleeding on a clean one.

She fixed her pants, unlaced her left boot and changed socks. Her boots were too precious to foul them with a muddy sock. Then she put her boots back on, the socks in the dirty clothes and went out to the river. She dipped her gold pan into the cold, clear water and cleaned it out. Then she took the pan with clean water back to the tent, sat by the firepit and, after stopping the bleeding, she washed as well as she could.