Chapter 1 - The Snake Beneath the PorchThe rattlesnake struck Samuel Dawson on the hottest afternoon of the Wyoming summer.
One second, he was reaching beneath the porch for his son’s wooden horse.
The next, two burning fangs sank into his wrist.
Samuel jerked backward with a curse, striking the porch post hard enough to make the entire structure shake.
The snake coiled beneath the steps, rattling furiously.
He stumbled away.
His wrist was already swelling.
Samuel stared at the puncture marks.
He knew what they meant.
Venom.
His first thought was not about himself.
It was about the four children inside the cabin.
James and Joseph were barely two years old.
Emma was eighteen months.
And baby Daniel was only six months.
Their mother had been dead for almost a year.
Since then, Samuel had learned how to cook badly, sleep rarely, wash diapers with frozen fingers, and carry grief so quietly that even his own children did not know how heavy it was.
But this was different.
His fingers were becoming numb.
His heart was pounding.
The cabin suddenly seemed impossibly far away, even though it was less than twenty yards.
“Papa?”
Samuel closed his eyes.
James.
His little boy was awake.
“Stay inside, son.”
His voice sounded weak.
Too weak.
Samuel tried to stand.
His legs trembled.
He made it three steps.
Then collapsed against the porch.
“Papa!”
The cabin door opened.
James appeared barefoot.
Joseph stood behind him.
Emma began crying.
Samuel forced himself upright.
“No. Stay inside.”
But the older twin had already stepped onto the porch.
Then Samuel heard something else.
Hoofbeats.
Fast.
Growing louder.
A chestnut mare thundered down the dusty road.
A young woman rode astride it, her pale blue skirt pulled tight around her legs as she guided the horse toward the cabin.
She saw Samuel.
She immediately changed direction.
The mare slid to a stop.
“Sir!”
The young woman jumped from the saddle.
“What happened?”
“Snake.”
Her eyes went to his wrist.
Then to his face.
“How long?”
“Maybe five minutes.”
She knelt immediately.
“My name is Olivia Bennett. I'm the new schoolteacher.”
Samuel blinked.
A schoolteacher?
She looked nothing like any teacher he had imagined.
Dust streaked her boots.
Her hair was pinned badly beneath a straw hat.
And a small knife was strapped to her ankle.
“You know what you're doing?”
“My father was a doctor.”
That answer carried a story Samuel didn't have time to hear.
Olivia pulled a strip of cloth from her dress and tied it above the bite.
Then she drew the knife.
Samuel's eyes widened.
“What are you doing?”
“Keeping the venom from spreading.”
She cut into the wound.
Samuel's jaw clenched.
Pain exploded up his arm.
Inside the cabin, the children began screaming.
Olivia glanced toward the door.
“I'll take care of them.”
Samuel shook his head.
“You can't.”
“I can.”
She stood.
James watched her suspiciously.
Olivia crouched in front of him.
“What's your name?”
“James.”
“And who's the little man behind you?”
“Joseph.”
She smiled.
“Well, James, your papa needs brave boys.”
James frowned.
“How brave?”
“Very.”
The boy straightened.
Olivia walked into the cabin.
Within minutes, she had changed the atmosphere completely.
She found bread in her satchel.
The twins devoured it.
She lifted Emma onto one hip while rocking Daniel in her other arm.
Samuel watched from the porch, fighting dizziness.
The young woman somehow managed to calm four children without raising her voice once.
It was almost frightening.
Nobody had managed that since their mother died.
Eventually Samuel's eyes began to close.
“Don't sleep,” Olivia warned.
“I ain't sleeping.”
“You're dying if you do.”
Samuel forced his eyes open.
“Comforting.”
“You married?”
The question slipped out before Olivia seemed to realize she had asked it.
Samuel stared at her.
“No.”
“Good.”
She immediately looked embarrassed.
“I mean... that's good because—”
A voice came from outside.
“Miss Bennett!”
Olivia froze.
All the color drained from her face.
Samuel saw it.
He struggled to sit upright.
Someone was approaching.
Boots struck the porch.
Slow.
Confident.
A tall man appeared in the doorway.
His coat was expensive.
His black gloves were spotless despite the dusty road.
His smile was polite.
Too polite.
His eyes moved to Olivia.
Then to Samuel.
Then to the children.
“Edward,” Olivia whispered.
The man smiled.
“There you are.”
Olivia tightened her hold on Daniel.
Edward stepped inside.
“You made me come all the way to Wyoming to find you.”
Samuel pushed himself to his feet.
“Get out.”
Edward's eyes settled on him.
“You must be Samuel Dawson.”
“I said get out.”
Edward chuckled.
“You've been bitten.”
“Doesn't mean I can't shoot.”
Edward glanced at Samuel's empty holster.
“You're not carrying.”
Samuel looked down.
His revolver was still beneath the bed inside.
Edward smiled again.
“That's fortunate.”
Olivia stepped between them.
“You can't have me.”
Edward's expression changed.
“I already do.”
Samuel's chest tightened.
“What does he mean?”
Edward didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at the four children.
“That the Dawson children?”
Olivia's grip on Daniel tightened.
“Yes.”
Edward's gaze lingered on the baby.
“Interesting.”
Samuel suddenly understood.
The man had not ridden fifteen miles into the wilderness for a schoolteacher.
He had come for something else.
Or someone.
“What do you want?” Samuel asked.
Edward looked at Olivia.
“You know exactly what I want.”
Olivia whispered:
“They'll kill me.”
Edward's smile disappeared.
“Not if you come home.”
Samuel's blood ran colder than the venom in his veins.
Home?
Olivia hadn't simply run away.
She had escaped.
And whatever waited behind her had followed her all the way to his door.
Then Edward reached inside his coat.
Samuel braced himself.
Edward pulled out a folded piece of paper.
A marriage certificate.
Olivia stared at it.
Samuel stared too.
And beneath Edward's finger was a name Samuel had never expected to see.
Edward Whitmore and Olivia Bennett.
Samuel looked at Olivia.
“You're his wife?”
Olivia's eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
Edward smiled.
“She will be.”
Then somewhere beyond the cabin, another rifle cracked.
Edward's head snapped toward the window.
May you like
A bullet punched through the wall.
And suddenly, everyone in the cabin realized they were not alone.
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