The Unexpected Partner

Chapter 33

There was someone chasing her. Claire ran and ran but her legs could not move fast enough. She made the mistake of looking back and saw there were four felons on her tail, the men that had hurt her father! Before she could start running faster, she tripped on something, but she quickly carried herself up and started running to the cabin on top of the hill. When she got inside the warm adobe, she knew she had eluded the trouble. But she was wrong. Looking down in front of her feet, she saw blood everywhere and a few feet away, laying there lifeless, was Shane's body.

Claire jolted up from her bed. She was sweaty and gasping for air, realizing that the whole thing was only a dream. A nightmare. She got up from her bed and saw the morning dew outside the small window. She couldn't believe that she dreamed about seeing Shane dead in his cabin. Out of the blue, a thought came into her mind. What if Shane was at his cabin?

A week had passed by since she went to the two towns to look for Shane, making today three weeks since she had last seen him. There was no way she imagined bearing the worry for this long. But enough was enough! She simply could not wait any longer.

There was this sort of irritability to her, the kind that could be seen on her face. She quickly got dressed into a comfortable dress and made up her mind that she was going to Shane's cabin. If she didn't find him there, she would look all over the south side of the mountains and past the river. She would go as far as it took to find him. No inhibitions anymore!

After getting dressed, she ran to her father's room where she saw him sleeping. She was so sick and tired of all the lies that she decided she was going to tell him the truth. I am going to find Shane, and no one can stop me! She was livid. The nightmare really lit the ember that she was trying so hard to extinguish.

"Papa!" She shoved him a little with her arm.

He quickly jerked up. "What...what is it?"

"I'm leaving."

"What?" He questioned, waking up completely but still feeling like it's a dream. "Where are you going?"

"I am going to find Shane."

"What?" He exclaimed, feeling fully awake.

"I am going to find Shane."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"I'm going to his cabin in Creeks Valley. I have your pistol; I'll shoot anyone that's not him."

"Creeks Valley? Claireen Maryann Conley, this is too dangerous for me to allow!" He raised her voice at her. Something he did once in a blue moon. "Why are you troubling yourself so much for this man?"

Claire felt overwhelmed with emotions. She felt angry, indignant and beyond all, scared. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and yelled, "Because I fancy him!"

John's eyes began to look like an owl. Claire realized what she just said and felt some weight being taken off her shoulder when she admitted that. "Yes," she continued, "I like Shane, and I need to go find him. I can't stand waiting anymore. I can't stand not knowing what happened to him." When this emotion started to creep into her soul, Claire did not know. Maybe it was the way he looked at her with his piercing eyes, or the way she felt at the touch of his hand, or maybe it was the way he protected and cared for her when they were trying to catch the bandits. Maybe it was all those things together that made her realize she was in love.

Her father felt sympathetic to her. "I understand that. I can go and look for him-."

Claire cut him off, "Papa, you can't even ride a horse yet."

She was right, he was not in well enough shape to go riding a horse across the hills. He couldn't believe the next words that came out of his mouth as he said, "If you love him, no one can stop you."