Conner's Contrary Bride by Barbara Goss (accelerated reader books .txt) 📗

“The man watching me is getting nervous. I have to get back. Go home!” He turned and walked back to the mine, the bucket sloshing at his side.

Elsie heard the man at the mine entrance say, “It took you long enough.”

She watched them disappear into the mine before crawling back to where she was sitting before.

So, there were only two men. Conner had a gun, and she had a gun, but the patient wasn’t likely to have a gun. She smiled and whispered to herself, “We can do this,” before she crept slowly up to the mine’s entrance and slipped between the boards. It was dark inside, but she could see a dim light around the corner of the wall.

Elsie heard men’s voices, and she took out the gun, but her hands shook too much for her to make a move. She had to calm herself before her plan could work. If she went storming in, shaking like a leaf, they wouldn’t be bullied by her at all. She had to go in strong and be sure of herself. How could she find the courage she needed?

She prayed to God for strength, courage, and protection. She recalled the preacher telling the people in church to invite the Holy Spirit into their hearts and become one with God. He said that all a person had to do was acknowledge God and that his son, Jesus, died on the cross for all our sins. Elsie prayed as the preacher had instructed, and she felt strength almost immediately. She knew she could do this with God at her side. Was it God causing her to rethink her plan?

Her problem was what if Conner was bent over the patient or had his back to her, he wouldn’t have his gun at the ready when she snuck up on them. They could grab her, and her plan wouldn’t work at all.

She backed out of the mine, knowing she had to have a better plan.

Elsie went back to her original spot, and she thought hard about how to go about getting Conner out of there.

What if she stormed in there, and Conner pulled out his gun, and the two of them had the men surrounded... what about the patient? Conner would never leave a dying man, even to save himself.

 Elsie shrugged. All she could do now was wait for Bertie and the sheriff. She decided that while God had given her strength and courage, He also had given her a brain, and she had to use that first.

She was sitting and using the brain God had given her to figure out her dilemma when a sudden movement caught her eye: a man smoking a cigarette walked out of the mine, strolled a few feet away, and unbuttoned his britches to relieve himself. Elsie noticed a huge rock nearby, and she stood, walked over to it, and hoisted it up. She crept closer to the man, who was whistling as he relieved himself, which helped to hide the noise of her creeping up on him. Could she lift the heavy rock high enough? She didn’t have time to wonder. The man began buttoning his pants, and Elsie prayed as she hefted the rock high and brought it down on the man’s head.

He fell face down in the high weeds. Elsie grabbed him by the boots and pulled him farther into the weeds so he’d be hidden from sight. Next, she disarmed him and returned to her hiding place.

It wasn’t long before the other man came out, stood near the entrance, and scanned the area. “Abe?” he called. “Abe?” When there wasn’t an answer, he stepped out and started walking toward the well.

Elsie had a gun, but she knew she couldn’t kill anyone, so she picked up the rock and moved through the brush toward the well. It was a cumbersome crawl, holding the large rock as she went, but she finally made it.

The man wouldn’t hold still, so she left the rock and drew her gun. Without thinking, and purely on instinct, she stepped out into the open, pointed her gun at the man, and yelled, “Hands up.”

The man froze and raised his arms. “Who are you?”

Elsie realized that she was no longer scared. Besides having God with her, she knew that Conner was nearby, and that gave her extra courage. This was the last of the wicked men.

“A concerned citizen,” she said. “Now, throw down your gun belt and move back into the mine.”

The man did as he was told, but then he turned in her direction. “Hey, you’re just a young girl.” He went to grab her, but she fired the gun at his feet.

“One more step and I’ll shoot higher.” Elsie hoped the man couldn’t see her hand shaking.

The sound of the gunshot must have alerted Conner, for he came rushing out of the mine with his gun drawn. “Do as the lady says.”

Conner forced the man back into the mine, and Elsie followed. Once inside, she saw the patient lying still on the shelf. She watched as Conner tied the man’s hands behind his back—Conner had called him Moe.

Moe was compliant but curious. “What’s gonna happen to my brother?”

Conner took the sheet covering Mac and pulled it up to cover his head. “I’m sorry, Moe, but Mac died about an hour ago.”

Moe shook his head, and his bottom lip trembled. “And you said nothing?”

“How could I?” Conner asked. “Today wasn’t my day to die.”

“That’s one thing me, Mac, Abe, Gus, and Pete never done was kill anyone. We was just trying to scare you.”

“Just so you know,” Conner said, “he would have lived had you not taken him from the clinic and brought him to this dirty mine. You never put a clean bandage