CHAPTER20
It was well past four when Blanche promised them she would return. Jakob saddled his horse and Martin came out and began to saddle his.
“Somethings wrong,” Martin said. “She would not deliberately be late. Not the first time we trusted her to go alone.”
“Agreed,” Jakob said, his fear growing with every passing moment.
Since they married, Jakob had fallen helplessly in love with Blanche. No, she wasn’t the perfect lady, but she was his lady, and he worried something had happened. Since the night he spanked her too hard, he’d felt remorse and the two of them had grown closer.
They knew how to push each other’s limits, and yet for some reason, he knew she would not have deliberately disobeyed today. Something was desperately wrong. And he was frightened she had not returned home.
Martin finished saddling his horse and stepped up into the mount.
“Let’s go,” Jakob said.
He’d never been in love before, and yet Blanche was all he could think about, dream about, and she made him see things from a different perspective. She made him a better man. She made him a loving man, and he realized he needed someone to help curb his control issues.
And he hoped that he made her a better woman.
“Be on the lookout. Maybe something spooked Sweetie and she’s walking not riding.”
“No, she’s too good of a horsewoman to let a horse get away,” Martin said.
They picked up the pace once they hit the main road, and while they were not racing, they were not moving slowly either. They had to find her.
“Damn, I’m worried about her,” Jakob expressed. “Something must have happened.”
“Me too,” Martin replied. “I can’t stand the thought of her being hurt.”
“Me either,” Jakob replied.
“She could be expecting our child,” Martin said.
The thought of her being pregnant spurred Jakob on a little faster. It was too early to know, but still it was possible.
As they neared town, they saw a horse come racing toward them.
“Is that Sweetie?”
“Yes,” Jakob said and galloped toward the horse.
Jakob grabbed Sweetie’s reins and pulled her to a slow trot. The animal’s eyes were wide with fright and she even tried to fight him a little.
“It’s all right, girl,” he said softly.
They rode a few more miles toward town. Sweetie began to act nervous as they neared the turn off to the falls.
“Let’s see if Blanche is at the falls,” Jakob said.
Martin spurred his horse and suddenly he pulled up on the reins.
“No,” he cried, grabbing his gun.
Gunshots rang out and Jakob turned the horse and headed back toward the trail to the falls.
“Martin?”
“Get the fuck out of here,” he yelled and then there were more gunshots.
He heard a loud roar and knew immediately what Martin was facing.
Dropping Sweetie’s reins, he spurred his horse toward Martin and hopefully a still living Blanche.
When he raced into the pool area, a big brown grizzly bear was on its back two feet. Martin fired another round of bullets and when the animal saw that Jakob was grabbing his rifle, he fell to four feet and turned and raced into the forest.
“Thank God, you came,” Martin said.
“Where’s Blanche?”
“Here,” she cried, and he saw she had climbed a tree. Not the best thing to do with a black bear, but full-grown grizzly bears were too large to climb. Thank goodness she’d done the appropriate thing.
“Thank goodness,” he said with relief. “We’ve been worried sick.”
He swung his leg over the saddle and dropped to the ground. Martin and he raced to the tree, Martin still carrying his rifle.
“I’ve been so scared,” she said, tearing up. “Have you seen Sweetie?”
“I’m hoping she’s just outside of here, grazing on grass. That’s where I left her,” Jakob said.
Slowly Blanche climbed down and when she reached the lower branches, she dropped into Jakob’s arms.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
A frown creased his forehead and he let her sink to the ground. Martin grabbed her.
“I’ve never been so frightened. I’m glad you’re all right.”
It was then that Jakob noticed that her right eye was all swollen and puffed like she’d been in a fight.
“What happened?” he said, reaching over and touching her brow.
“Ouch,” she said and pulled back. She licked her lips nervously. “Jakob, I really tried to be a lady. I try to be a lady every day to make you happy, but today I got into a fight.”
“A fight?” he said.
For the next five minutes, she told him what happened at the ladies’ luncheon. “Alice tried to kill me on the way to Treasure Falls. She hates me, and in some ways, I can’t blame her. My mother ran off with her father. That’s why I came here to the pond. Here, I spoke to my mother and she admitted she ran off with Alice’s father.”
A heavy sigh came from Blanche and she began to cry. “If you want to send me away, I understand. The reason we got into a fight is that she stole your locket. She ripped it off my neck and refused to return it to me. I told her it was a gift from you, but she didn’t care. She would not return it. She claimed it was a locket her father had bought for my mother.”
Anger as fierce as that ugly grizzly filled him. He glanced at Martin.
“Take Blanche and Sweetie home,” he said. “I’m going to town.”
Then he glanced at Blanche. “I’m your protector. I’m your husband. I’m supposed to do all the fighting for you. Next time, come home and let me do my job. Let me fight your battles for you.”
She threw her arms around him and cried. “I’m sorry. I feel like I’ve failed you.”
“No, we’re both still learning. But you depend on me now to take care of your battles.”