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

gratitude she had seen in his eyes, but something that strongly resembled love. When he looked at her the way he had at the train depot, she did not doubt that he loved her—his eyes said it all.

Elsie fell asleep, knowing they would consummate the marriage when Conner returned, and they would live happily ever after. She imagined them having children and growing old together.

Dr. Wadsworth had just sewn up a severely cut forehead, and Elsie’s back was to the door as she sterilized the instruments when the next patient arrived. She sighed without looking up to see the patient. Would the day never end? No sooner had one patient left than another took his place. She heard Doc ask the patient what the problem was, and the sound of the man’s voice made Elsie spin around.

“Why, I’m here to see Elsie Crenshaw.”

Elsie dropped the utensils and froze. It was Frank Timmons!

Before either the doctor or Elsie knew it, Frank had pulled out a gun. “Over by the wall, Doc. You, too, Elsie.” He threw a rope at the doctor. “Tie her hands behind her back.”

Elsie could feel the doctor’s hands shaking as he tied them.

Frank must have figured out that the doctor might try to tie them loosely because he yelled, “Tie them tighter.”

Elsie knew that she would die that day, and she prayed for a miracle because she wasn’t ready to die. She wanted her marriage consummated, and she wanted to have children in their new home.

“I didn’t turn you in, Frank,” she cried frantically, “and I won’t, so please, let us go. You can return to Gobbler’s Knob and no one will ever know what you did, I swear.”

“Funny you should say that,” Frank said. “I wasn’t in town five minutes when I saw a wanted poster with my name on it—wanted for murder.”

Elsie gasped. She hadn’t known the sheriff had put Frank on wanted posters.

She was surely about to die. Today was the day.

“Please, don’t harm Doc—he has nothing to do with this.”

Frank pushed Wadsworth into a chair and tied him to it, before locking the clinic’s door. Next, he put the “closed” sign in the window and stuffed a rag in the doctor’s mouth.

He turned to Elsie, grabbed her by the bun on her head, and pushed her toward the door leading to the house.

“No, not in there. Just kill me here.” Elsie knew that Bertie was in the kitchen, and she didn’t want her tied up or hurt.

“I aim to finish what I started in Gobbler’s Knob, first. Then I’ll kill you with delight. You’re the only one who can testify in court that I killed your mother. Once you’re gone, I’m a free man.”

“There are plenty of beds in here.”

He grabbed his coils of rope. “I need one with bedposts—you won’t kick me this time.”

Elsie couldn’t think of a way to keep him from going into the house. She knew he would take her into a bedroom and ravish her. Oh, how she wished Conner or the sheriff would burst in to save her.

Frank pushed her inside the house. The minute they entered the kitchen, Bertie turned to look at them.

“Who’s this?” Frank growled.

“That’s our housekeeper. Please don’t harm her.”

Frank pushed Elsie into a kitchen chair, grabbed Bertie, and stuffed a towel into her mouth just as she was about to scream. Then, he pulled off her apron and tied her to the door of the stove with the ties of the apron. “I’m not planning on hurting anyone except you,” he snarled at Elsie.

Elsie knew he planned to kill Bertie and Doc, too, because they would talk, so because of her, two wonderful people would die. She tried to recall what the minister had said in his last sermon, something like “God is our refuge and strength and very present help in trouble.” The whole time Frank was pushing her down the hall, she used these words as a prayer, repeating them all the way to the first bedroom.

Frank shoved her into Conner’s bedroom. It was the first time Elsie had been in the room, but she couldn’t take the time to view it, as she was struggling hard to get out of Frank’s powerful grip.

He took a sock from the bureau, shoved it into her mouth, and threw her onto the four-poster bed.

Elsie struggled as if her life depended on it because she knew it did, but he was stronger, and he gave her no chance to kick him where she had last time.

Frank held her down as he tied her wrists to the bedposts on the headboard and her still kicking ankles to the bedposts on the footboard. When he had finished, she lay spread-eagle across the bed, and feeling horribly vulnerable while he remained at the foot of the bed laughing.

“Not so smart now, are you?” He called her a foul name.

Thankfully, he hadn’t raised her skirt yet or tried to attack her, preferring, instead, to enjoy gazing at her lying there. She knew it was only a matter of minutes before he dove in for the attack.

God is our refuge and strength and very present help in trouble. God is our refuge and strength and very present help in trouble. God is our refuge and strength and very present help in trouble. She prayed, over and over.

The speakers at the convention were boring, and they didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know. He yawned several times as he hadn’t been sleeping well. All he could see when he closed his eyes was his little wife, standing on the train platform, waving goodbye. He was glad he’d gone back to kiss her. Conner missed her. He knew, for sure, he was in love, and he couldn’t wait to get back home