Mail Order Surprise by Malone Misty

Author:Malone, Misty [Malone, Misty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blushing Books Publications
Published: 2016-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Austin walked Sheriff Montgomery out to his horse. The sheriff was ready to mount when he and Austin saw two horses heading toward them, riding hard. "Are those your men?" the sheriff asked.

"Not mine, no. I can't recognize them yet, but they're not my men."

The sheriff stepped in front of him and had his hand on his gun. He was ready to draw it, when Austin recognized the riders. "It's Elliott and Ben Wagner." He immediately remembered this whole thing started when Georgia was on her way to their farm. "Georgia was going to go visit them this afternoon. They're probably checking to be sure she's okay."

Sheriff Montgomery relaxed his hand, letting go of his gun. They didn't have long to wait before Elliott and Ben were in front of them. Elliott was obviously concerned, seeing the sheriff. "Has something happened, Austin?"

He knew he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about the stranger at their ranch, but before Austin could think of a good explanation, Elliott held up a bloody handkerchief. "When Georgia didn't show up, Ben and I started over here to check on her. We saw some fresh horse manure, so we slowed down to take a quick look around. It looked like something or someone had been dragged along the ground. Then there were numerous horse prints and footprints. Looking further, we found this down close to the creek. Is Georgia okay?"

"She's fine, Elliot." Austin turned to look at the sheriff, unsure what to do.

The sheriff paused momentarily, then addressed Elliott. "Can you show me where you found this?"

"Sure, Sheriff. What's going on?"

Austin met Grant's eyes, which seemed to be asking a question. "I think we can trust them, Grant."

That seemed to be all the sheriff needed to hear, as he started explaining what had happened. "Mrs. Barrington came across an injured man on her way to your home. She came back here and got her husband. He and some of his men brought him back here, where Doc Williams took a bullet out of his back and bandaged him up. He was hurt pretty bad, but he's still hanging on."

"Do you know who he is?"

"We don't," Austin answered. "We don't know why he was on our land, or anything else about him. Until we can figure out who he is and who shot him, the sheriff thinks we're all safer if we don't let anyone know he's here."

Elliott scratched his head. "But if you ask around someone might know who he is."

"True," Sheriff Montgomery admitted. "But what if whoever shot him thinks he's dead? If he finds out he's still alive, he's apt to come after him before he comes to and can tell us who shot him."

"I see what you're saying," Elliott said. "So what can I do to help?"

"Can you show us where you found this bloody handkerchief? Maybe we'll find something else that will help us figure out what's going on."

"Sure, we'll do that." Elliott and Ben took Austin and Sheriff Montgomery to the grassy patch by the brook.

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