“I Thought Nobody Would Come,” She Said. The Cowboy Had Ridden All Night to Find Her
Chapter 6
The shot shattered the silence.
Samuel pushed Clara down.
The ball struck the wooden beam behind them.
Thomas ran.
Samuel chased him through the mill.
They reached the riverbank.
Thomas jumped onto a waiting horse.
Samuel fired.
The shot missed.
Thomas disappeared into the rain.
Clara ran outside.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
She looked at the beam.
The bullet was lodged deep in the wood.
Samuel turned toward the road.
“He will warn Harrow.”
“What do we do?”
“We go to the magistrate.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
They returned to the farmhouse.
Samuel saddled two horses.
Clara mounted.
The rain had almost stopped.
They rode toward the village.
The road was muddy.
Samuel kept close.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Finally Clara said:
“Why did you come?”
Samuel looked at her.
“You asked me to.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I mean why did you really come?”
He was silent.
She waited.
“I’ve spent years telling myself I had no right to want anything from you.”
Clara’s heart tightened.
Samuel continued.
“You were your father’s daughter. I was a hired hand.”
“That never mattered to me.”
“It mattered to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved you.”
She nearly pulled the reins.
Samuel continued riding.
“I didn’t say it because I thought loving you meant wanting something I couldn’t give.”
Clara’s eyes filled with tears.
“You could have told me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Of losing the one person I couldn’t bear to lose.”
She rode beside him in silence.
Then she reached across the space between them.
Her hand found his.
Samuel looked down.
Neither let go.
By dawn, they reached the village.
But the magistrate’s office was locked.
A note was pinned to the door.
Called to the Harrow estate. Return tomorrow.
Samuel stared at it.
“He planned this.”
Clara looked toward the eastern road.
“What now?”
Samuel folded the note.
“We go to Harrow.”
