Page 1 of Short-Straw Bride

Prologue

Anderson County, Texas—1870

Ten-year-old Meredith Hayes balled her hands into fists as she faced her tormentor. “Hiram Ellis! Give me back my lunch bucket this instant!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Meri. Did you want this?” His voice dripped sarcasm as he dangled the small pail in front of her.

She lunged for it, but her hands met only air as the older boy snatched it away and tossed it over her head to his snickering brother. Meredith ricocheted between the two, never quite fast enough to get more than a finger on the tin.

Why was she always the one to get picked on? Meredith stomped her foot in frustration. She thought she’d gotten enough of a lead today after school, but Hiram must have been watching for her. He’d had it out for her ever since her family moved to the area last spring. Probably because the land they bought used to belong to his best friend’s family.

“Meri, Meri, quite contrary,” Hiram sang in a ridiculously high-pitched voice, skipping in a circle around her and swinging the lunch bucket back and forth. A group of girls came around the bend and stopped to giggle behind their hands. Meredith asked for help, but they just stood there smirking and whispering behind their schoolbooks. Even Anna Leigh, her desk mate and the one girl Meredith thought a friend. Angry tears pooled in her eyes, but Meredith blinked them away. She’d not let Hiram win.

“You’re a bully, Hiram Ellis.”

“Yeah?” Hiram stopped skipping and glared at Meredith. “Well, you’re a carpetbagger’s daughter.”

“My papa’s not a carpetbagger. He’s a teacher, just like your sister.”

Hiram’s face scrunched up like a pumpkin that had started to rot. “My sister teaches white kids. Not good-for-nothin’ darkies.”

Meredith raised her chin and repeated the words she’d heard her father say countless times. “They’re freedmen. And they have just as much right to learn as you do.”

“If those freedmen were still slaves, like they oughta be, Joey Gordon’s pa wouldn’ta been killed by Yankees, and Joey would still be here.” Hiram glowered and strode toward her, his boots pounding into the earth. Meredith instinctively retreated a step before she remembered she wasn’t afraid of him.

“You want this stupid tin back?” Hiram growled out the question as he halted a couple of feet in front of her. “Go fetch!”

He sprinted to the edge of the road and hurled the pail through a thick stand of pine trees. Meredith watched it fly, wondering why God thought it fair to give a mean-tempered boy such a strong throwing arm.

The bucket clipped a tree limb and disappeared over a small rise. A hollow clang echoed through the pines followed by a series of quieter thunks as it tumbled down the back side of the hill.

Meredith winced. Mama was going to skin her alive for bringing her pail home dented and busted. The only thing worse would be not bringing it home at all.

Meredith glared at Hiram and trudged forward.

“Meri, no!” Anna Leigh ran up and clutched Meredith’s arm. “You can’t. That’s Archer land.”

Archer land? Meredith looked around to get her bearings and swallowed hard as recognition dawned. Anna Leigh was right.

“No one steps on Archer land. Not if they value their life.” Anna Leigh shook her head, eyeing the trees as if their branches might reach down and snatch her off the ground. “Just let it go, Meri.” She backed away, tugging on Meredith’s arm. But when Meredith made no move to follow, Anna Leigh released her with a heavy sigh.

It couldn’t be as bad as all that. Could it? Meredith gazed through the pines, to the small hill that hid her lunch bucket. Her heart thumped against her ribs. It wasn’t very far. If she ran, she could get her tin and be back before the Archers even knew she’d been there. Then again, everyone in Anderson County knew the Archer boys were trigger happy and plumb loco, to boot. What if one of them was hiding out there somewhere, just waiting for her?

“I hear they got bloodthirsty hounds that can sniff you out the minute your foot steps off the road.” Hiram spoke in a low, husky voice. “Dogs that’d sooner gnaw your leg off than look at you.”

Meredith told herself to pay him no mind. He was only trying to scare her. But she couldn’t quite banish the image of a big black dog barreling down on her, teeth bared.

“You know Seth Winston . . . and his hand?”

Meredith didn’t turn around, but she nodded. The man ran a store near her father’s school. He only had three fingers on his right hand.

“Travis Archer shot them two fingers clean off when Winston tried to pay a call after old man Archer died. Woulda done worse if Winston hadn’t hightailed it outta there as fast as he did. And don’t think you’d be safe just ’cause you’re a girl. They peppered Miss Elvira’s buggy with buckshot when she came to collect the young ones to take them to the homes she’d found for them. Nearly put her eye out.”

“At least . . .” Meredith’s throat seemed to close. She forced a little cough and tried again. “At least they weren’t hurt too bad.”

“Only because they escaped.” Hiram came up beside her and spoke directly into her ear. “Five other men weren’t so lucky. They came out here at different times, each with hopes of buying the Archer spread. None of them were ever seen again.” Hiram paused, and Meredith couldn’t fight off the shivers his words provoked. “Their bodies are probably buried somewhere out there.”

Something rustled just beyond the pines. Meredith jumped.