Free Mail Order Annie - A Historical Mail Order Bride Romance Novel (Mail Order Romance - Book 1 - Benjamin and Annie) by Kate Whitsby

meet her Maker.
                  At that moment, a short loud report blasted through the clearing, and the sound echoed up the canyon and around the cliffs of the valley to return again. The suspended moment, in which the bear glowered down at his prey with the certainty of conquest, lingered and extended, dangling like a great weight over the edge of a precipice. Anne stared back up at the bear, meeting its gaze with equal composure. Then the bear dropped the wagon back to its place. The wheels bounced once in the soft earth, then settled down with a wobble and a belch of strained wood against iron fastenings. The shafts knocked against each other. The bear stood motionless, as if considering something in the distance. Then it too crumpled to the ground with a hollow bump, and the same shuddering bounce recoiled through its fleshy body before it subsided into a heap.
                  Anne stayed where she was in the repressive silence. Only the distance trickle of the creek over its stony bed interrupted the oppressive quiet. Then she saw two dusty old boots walking around the wagon. They stopped just next to the bear. Then Moran squatted down and peeked under the wagon at her, his brows knitted in concern. “Are you alright?” he asked.
                  Anne nodded mutely, unable to muster either relief or joy at seeing him. Moran extended his hand under the wagon, and she placed her own inside its big hollow. He drew her out, inspecting her. He noticed the sheet of wet blood that now saturated her stockings, and he hummed in thought. Propping his rifle against the wagon, he lifted her up into his arms, cradling her like a baby, and carried her back to the cabin, where he laid her gently on the bed. He gave the devastation of the room not the slightest glance. He took a clean sheet down from the shelf above the bed and tore it into strips. He peeled back the threads that remained from her stockings and then soaked a cloth in the bucket of water near the stove. He bathed the blood away from her injuries and dried her leg with a clean towel before tying the strips around it. “You should stay off of it for a day or two, just to make sure it doesn’t start bleeding again,” he told her.
                  Anne shook herself from her daze. “I’m okay. Really. I can walk on it just fine, now that it’s bandaged. Besides, it was my fault that the bear came into the house. I didn’t clean up the breakfast dishes quickly enough. I should have known better.”
                  Moran shook his head, still frowning in concern at her leg. “You couldn’t have known. You’re new to this kind of life.”
                  “Thank you for bandaging my leg,” she pronounced deliberately. Then she thought twice and added, “And thank you for saving my life. I don’t know how to thank you properly.”
                  “Forget it,” he barked shortly. “I should have been paying closer attention. I should have got there sooner. I should have protected you from danger.”
                  “You did,” she reassured him. She took his hand. “Sit down please.” She pulled him down to sit next to her on the bed. “I’m sorry.”
                  “For what?” he started in surprise. “What do you have to be sorry about?”
                  “I’m sorry for doubting you,” she lowered her eyes to the quilt, and tugged at a loose thread to hide her shame. “I’m sorry that I’ve been so cold to you since yesterday. That was wrong. I won’t do it again.”
                  Moran shook his head again, but did not withdraw his hand. “You don’t owe me anything,” he maintained. “You have a right to think and feel and act anyway you want. If you feel cold, then act cold. I would rather you show me honestly how you’re feeling than to put on an act.”
                  She could not