Serendipity's Choice

- Chapter 14 -

As they caught their breath, Serri realized she was half-naked. She put her hands over her breasts and turned away from Jake. He blushed and looked away.

"Oh, my. Here. This bastard owes you a shirt."

He got up off the floor and rifled through the drawers until he came to the clothes stash. He pulled out a blue, button-down shirt and handed it to Serri.

She gratefully put it on and buttoned it over her torn dress. She had a sewing kit in her supplies to do repairs later. Next, they used Noah's belt to tie his arms behind his back. Making sure he was secured, they climbed out of the wagon.

There, waiting for them, was the sheriff, Joe, and Percy.

Serri looked from one to the other in bewilderment.

"I can't tell you how glad I am to see you guys, but how did you find me?" she asked.

"Blame this guy," said Joe, pointing to Percy. "He kicked and screamed and raised such a ruckus, we had to go check it out. When we opened his stall door, he 'bout knocked us over to run after you. All we had to do was follow him."

Serri stared in amazement and walked over to give Percy a hug.

"That's twice you've saved my life, my friend."

"So, here's the deal," interrupted the sheriff. "You're going to get on that horse and ride like the wind toward St. Louie. Mr. Cole will be here 'fore long and I'll be damned if I'm going to let him lay a God-forsaken hand on this beautiful stallion."

"Yep. This saddle might be old," said Joe, patting the saddle on Percy's back. "But it'll do. The sheriff packed your supplies, 'long with a few extras, to get you safely where you're goin'."

Serri looked over at the sheriff quizzically, wondering how he knew what was going to happen.

"I had me a little talk with my new jail-bird friend Eric," said the sheriff, reading her mind. "He spilled the beans on their whole sordid plan. After hearing all that, I rushed right over to bundle you out of town. When you were nowhere to be seen, I packed up your stuff and set out to find you."

"But what will you tell Mr. Cole?" asked Serri.

"Well, we'll soon be on our way to let Eric out of his cell. He'll be the one who'll have to explain to Mr. Cole where the stallion is," said the sheriff. "And he'll need a pretty good story after Mr. Cole hears about his attempts to steal the horse once already. The timing seems mighty suspicious to me."

"And Noah?" Serri asked next.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about him. He'll be locked up for a very long time after what he tried to do to you," answered the sheriff.

"I can't thank you all enough," said Serri, as she gave each of them a hug. She gave Percy a quick pat on the neck, put her foot in the stirrup and swung into the saddle without even thinking about the trouble Mr. Cole had doing the same thing. Percy stood stock still, patiently waiting for her command.

Being no stranger to horses, Serri got comfortable in the saddle, gave Percy a nudge with her heels and off they cantered as she waved goodbye to her friends.

She and Percy would be safely in St. Louis soon, thanks to them.

At least, that was what she hoped.