Free Her Sheriff Bodyguard by Lynna Banning Page A

woman, not a soldier. She think she must do this thing, and she is right maybe, but the risk, it is great.
    This man, Señor Hawk, try to protect her. I pray to the Virgin every night he will do so, but my lady she is stubborn like bull, even though she look like delicate butterfly.
    Each day I grow older by ten years. When we reach the end of this journey, my hair it will be white like albino goat. Ay de mi , what a hard thing this is to watch.
    C aroline inspected her face in the mirror mounted in the back room of the Oakridge Ladies Auxiliary hall. And scrunched her eyes shut. She looked ravaged. Dark circles spread like bruises under her eyes and her skin was so devoid of color she looked like a ghost.
    Despite Hawk’s advice, she had pinned her hair in the usual bun at her neck. Her concession to looking “softer,” as he had suggested, was the yellow calico skirt and ruffled shirtwaist she now wore. There shouldn’t be many men at an auxiliary meeting, so it wouldn’t really matter how she dressed.
    She wiped her damp palms down the sides of her skirt, straightened her shoulders and stepped out into the hall. Fernanda planted her plump form at her side. Sheriff Will Paine stood in the back, collecting the weapons from the few men as they entered.
    Hawk stepped in front of her and signaled that all was clear. He was carrying his rifle, she noticed. She knew she would be protected, but fear lay sour in the pit of her stomach and she had to keep swallowing to forestall the nausea that threatened.
    Mama must have had nerves like iron railroad spikes. She sucked in air, moved into the hall and faced her audience.
    A sea of placards waved. WOMEN STAND UNITED. VOTING RIGHTS ARE SACRED. DOWN WITH MALE DOMINATION.
    Oh, mercy. Men did not like to be accused of bullying.
    She made her way toward the raised platform amid a spattering of applause, but when she saw there was no lectern to position herself behind, her step faltered. She would be dreadfully exposed. She glanced at Hawk, saw his gaze scan the area where she would stand, and after a moment he nodded at her.
    She walked forward, ascended the single step and moved to the center of the platform. Then she turned and smiled at the crowd.
    Hawk placed himself two steps behind her and slightly to the left, keeping his lifted rifle visible this time to get the message across: harm her and you won’t live to tell about it.
    He studied the men in the audience, caught Will Paine’s eye and raised his eyebrows. Will gave him a lazy thumbs-up. Hawk prayed the sheriff had confiscated all the weapons without missing any.
    Caroline began to speak, keeping her voice calm and even, without even a tremor to reveal how frightened she was. Hawk knew she was terrified because the hands she clasped behind her back were shaking like aspen leaves in a breeze.
    â€œLadies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to hear my views on why women should be allowed to vote.” She paused and swallowed.
    â€œWe’re waitin’, honey,” a man called from the back. “We ain’t convinced, are we, gents?”
    A chorus of No’s rolled over her.
    â€œWell, then, gentlemen, I shall try to convince you. Did you know that when a woman marries, all her property, money in her bank account, a house, farmland, even the clothes on her back no longer belong to her? What she once owned now belongs to her husband.”
    â€œHuh! That why you ain’t hitched, lady?”
    Hawk winced. Some men sure liked hitting below the belt. But he hadn’t realized that a man owned a woman’s property no matter what.
    â€œNo, it is not,” she countered. “My marital preference is not at issue here. The issue here is fairness. The truth is, gentlemen, that women are not a race to be subjected, to be turned into slaves. A women is your equal.”
    â€œNot hardly!” someone yelled.
    â€œWhy not?” a woman screamed in answer. “I’m just