The Sextet Presents… By Male Order [In Days of Olde] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Elizabeth Raines Page A

Hope shouted. “Show yourself!”
    “This could have been so easy, Hope.” Abe Driscoll’s voice came from the side of the house, but Thomas couldn’t see him. Even in the light of the burning barn, that part of the house was hidden in shadows.
    The sound of a revolver cocking made Thomas’s blood run cold.
    He threw himself in front of Hope a moment before the shot sounded. Fire ripped through his shoulder, the pain driving him to his knees.
     
    Hope wanted to scream, but she swallowed her fear for Thomas and faced the threat head-on. Her gaze settled on the shadows of her house. As soon as she caught the movement, she took her shot. A hoarse shout was followed by shuffling steps. Driscoll appeared, stumbling into the light. Blood was quickly staining the front of his shirt.
    His eyes were wide, and a sickening groan escaped his lips. His hand dropped to his side, the gun sliding from his fingers and falling to the ground. He collapsed to his knees and fell forward.
    Then he didn’t move.

Chapter 10
     
    Hope signed the paper and handed the pen back to the banker. The bank was stifling in the early October hot spell, but she would bear it until she could make her escape once and for all.
    He blotted her signature and smiled. “Now that all the paperwork is done and the farm is sold, you are a very rich woman, Mrs. Adams. And you didn’t even have to dig the gold out yourself.”
    Rich .
    Funny, but the money itself didn’t truly matter to her. What did matter was the freedom that fortune gave her, as well as the courage.
    “Are you leaving soon?” the banker asked.
    She stood and nodded. “I depart today. I’m quite ready to quit this town and start a new life.”
    He rose and offered his hand. “The funds you asked for will be waiting in San Francisco when you arrive.”
    “Thank you, sir.” She shook his hand.
    Hope strode out of the bank, happy to see Alec and Thomas waiting for her with three horses. She’d given Hooper, Nightingale, and her colt to Mr. Smithson’s son, knowing they would find a good home with the boy. The horses they had now would get Hope and the men away from Clearbrook and help them start anew. They’d sell them as soon as they reached Iowa.
    “Should you be without your sling?” she asked Thomas when she saw he’d discarded it. The bullet had gone straight through his shoulder, and he’d been lucky enough the wound hadn’t grown infected.
    He gave his injured shoulder a roll. “It barely pains me now. Just a bit of stiffness. I’ll be careful with it. I promise.”
    Alec lifted her up onto the saddle while Thomas mounted his brown gelding. “Are ye ready, lass?”
    “To leave? Oh, heavens, yes.” She reined her horse and set it to trotting, happy to hear her men following. When she reached the town limits, she leaned forward and kicked the horse into a gallop.
    Freedom . It was all that had ever mattered to Hope—the ability to make her own choices and follow her own destiny. She jerked the ties on her bonnet loose, letting it fly away. She laughed, loud and long, feeling as though she’d been released from prison.
    Thomas and Alec caught her, Alec reaching for her horse’s bridle and dragging the animal to a halt.
    “Hope?” Alec’s gaze searched hers. “What’s wrong? Ye’re acting a wee bit odd today.”
    “Not a damned thing is wrong,” she replied, smiling before she turned her face to the sun. “For the first time in a long time, nothing is wrong.”
    “Then shall we make our way to Sioux City as we planned?” Thomas asked. “A slower pace might spare our horses.”
    What her men didn’t know was that Sioux City was only a beginning. She had other plans of her own—plans she hadn’t shared with them. Daring ventures that she was finally ready to put into action thanks to the strength her love for them gave her.
    “We shall, indeed, head for Sioux City,” she replied. “And at a more temperate pace. When we arrive, we’re heading straight for