A Headstrong Woman(133)
“Did you have to kill Elijah? You’re willing to kidnap me now; why not then?”
“I wanted it all, Alexandria, you; the land. It would triple my land if I could add yours.”
“What changed, or are you still after both?”
“No, this is personal now, Alexandria; you get in a man’s blood and you just won’t leave. You should have been in the saloon a few weeks ago when Lane came in. The poor pathetic fool; he was really torn up by your marriage, both of them really.”
“Why, Tristan; what about me is worth killing for?” Alexandria shrugged hopelessly lost and confused by the whole situation. What had she ever done to send a man overboard?
“You shine and make others pale in comparison, Alexandria; you’re full of fire.”
“And you’re just full of it,” Alexandria said on a half hysterical laugh. She could hear others closing in on them; did she wait for them or act now?
“Alexandria!” Jonathon called.
Tristan’s gaze flew to the path behind her; his gun came up. Alexandria raised her gun and fired causing Tristan’s aim to falter. She watched Tristan glance down at his chest before he looked back up in surprise.
“Alexandria!” she could hear Jonathon closing in on her, his voice panicked as her ears began to roar and fire spread through her left arm and shoulder. Tristan crumpled to the ground seemingly in slow motion as Alexandria let her arms drop. She had shot a man.
“Alexandria, are you okay?” Jonathon asked as his gaze looked her over frantically.
“My arm and shoulder really hurt,” she told him in confusion.
“How bad is it?” he asked as he guided her to a boulder and gave her a gentle shove on to it. Alexandria’s father arrived on the scene with a torch. Alexandria was vaguely aware of her husband probing her shoulder and intense pain but her attention fixed on Tristan’s fallen form with regret and relief. He would have killed Jonathon she was sure but she hated that she had killed him, she mused as she stared at his now blank eyes. She glanced down at her shoulder and noted her own wound for the first time.
“The baby!” Alexandria panicked.
“The wound’s removed from the baby, Alexandria; if we can stop the bleeding I think the baby will be fine,” her father informed her. Alexandria’s tear filled eyes met her husband’s.
“Our baby,” she said desperately.
“Our baby should be fine, let me pack this wound and wrap it and let’s get you to the doctor,” Jonathon said gently as he pressed ripped petticoat to the wound. Clay helped and Jonathon was soon scooping his wife up to carry her to the buggy. Several other men had arrived and volunteered to see to Tristan’s body. Alexandria laid her head on her husband’s shoulder and closed her eyes tight; the pain had registered with her conscious, making her wish for the numbness of moments earlier. Around her, the women fluttered with concern; Alexandria ignored them; she wanted to shut it all out and make it all go away.
“I’ll drive the team,” Michael offered after seeing Carolyn safely into her father’s home on the edge of the school and church’s property. Alexandria lost conscious after the first few moments of the bone jarring trip into town and sank into a merciful oblivion.
***
“Your baby is fine,” Dr. Carver again reassured her a few days later. “You just need to rest and let Esther and Molly see after you and Lilly.” Molly was Esther’s daughter and was wonderful with Lilly.
“Thanks, Dr. Carver,” Alexandria smiled at him. A few moments later Jonathon returned to her side with a cup of tea and plate of toast from Esther.
“Esther said to eat; no arguments,” Jonathon informed her.
Alexandria shook her head in amusement. “She really does believe that eating will restore my strength and blood doesn’t she?”
“Apparently; I have an update for you.”
“Oh?”
“Simon Moody is behind bars. They found falsified documents, crooked deals by the dozens, and at least a few previous partners in crime who were angry enough with him to make a plea bargain.”
“Good; I’m glad he can’t cause anyone else pain and difficulty.”
“It’s wild to think isn’t, that two men could become so obsessed that they would resort to such measures.”
“What I cannot comprehend is their wanting me that badly,” she admitted.
“That I can understand,” Jonathon teased her.