Catch a Shooting Star jd edit 03 12 2012 html by Brianna Lee McKenzie Page B
Authors: Brianna Lee McKenzie
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dream, Papa,” she argued, her heart fluttering at the thought of losing him.
“It was as real as you are, Vanny,” he said, touching her cheek with his cool hand. “Tomorrow will be a good time…”
The old man’s eyes faded and the lids shut her out as he took another long breath and then settled into a deep sleep. She stood over him and kissed his forehead, wishing that she could talk him into staying alive longer so that her fate was suspended. She knew it was selfish, but there was too much at stake now for her give in to her fears, so with all her might, she silently willed him to heal himself.
Biting her knuckle, she pushed the chair aside and knelt at the side of his bed. Never being a pious person, she felt nervous and unaccustomed to this position, this act of putting her life in the hands of someone or something that she could not see or hear or even feel. But, kneel she did and fold her hands in front of her face, she did. And looking up and beyond the ceiling of the room, she opened her mouth to pray.
“Give me strength to face this,” she began, her eyes welling up with tears. “I know I don’t deserve to keep my father here with me, but he is all I have and without him, I don’t know how I will survive. If I marry the man who I am engaged to, I will surely die, for he is a cruel and hateful man. Father can’t see it. He is only concerned with the debts that Diego can pay and keeping our home in the family. But, I know with all my heart that the man will only cause me grief and misery. Please, deliver me from this fate.”
To seal the prayer, she crossed her shoulders and touched her forehead as she had seen Mama do before she died many years ago. Then, she rose to her feet and leaned to kiss her father’s forehead one more time before leaving the room.
Chapter Four
A hearty breakfast and a local newspaper occupied Travis Corbett’s attention for most of the morning while he waited for a reply from his ranch foreman, Tom. Two days had passed and he was getting irritated at having to stay in one place for so long. Two more days since the morning after he had met Savannah, when he had stayed in the shadows of the great mansion all night to make sure that she was safe, that he had not had a chance to go back to the plantation where his nemesis was hiding and two more days that his revenge was not satisfied, had slowly crept by. He knew that he could have killed El Diablo that morning as the man stood watching the girl’s window but something told him to wait.
He couldn’t put a finger on the reason that he’d left Robin’s Glen and the woman-child who lived there to discover their fate with the Mexican devil who visited there, but something told him to let her find out just what kind of a man she had invited into her home. Remembering his own wife’s demise at the hands of that man, he wondered if he should warn Savannah about the man’s dastardly plans for her. But, deep inside his soul, he knew that she would not listen to him, would not heed his advice and would, in fact, run straight into El Diablo’s arms just to spite the man who felt the urge to protect her.
So, he’d ambled back into town to wait for an answer to his telegraph, whiling away the days by covertly observing the people in the city of Atlanta. He sat, seemingly unnerved by the time that slowly passed while he waited for his reply, in a slat rocking chair on the porch of the Grand Hotel and watched life go by.
The locals seemed to fear him or at least feel uneasy around him, something that he had become accustomed to since he had slapped that pair of Colt Peacemaker pistols on his hips and strapped the Winchester to his saddle five years ago. The sheriff had warned him to remove his hardware or face a citation the first day that he had arrived, but Travis had refused to give them up, so all eyes followed him throughout the growing city. He was never again
“It was as real as you are, Vanny,” he said, touching her cheek with his cool hand. “Tomorrow will be a good time…”
The old man’s eyes faded and the lids shut her out as he took another long breath and then settled into a deep sleep. She stood over him and kissed his forehead, wishing that she could talk him into staying alive longer so that her fate was suspended. She knew it was selfish, but there was too much at stake now for her give in to her fears, so with all her might, she silently willed him to heal himself.
Biting her knuckle, she pushed the chair aside and knelt at the side of his bed. Never being a pious person, she felt nervous and unaccustomed to this position, this act of putting her life in the hands of someone or something that she could not see or hear or even feel. But, kneel she did and fold her hands in front of her face, she did. And looking up and beyond the ceiling of the room, she opened her mouth to pray.
“Give me strength to face this,” she began, her eyes welling up with tears. “I know I don’t deserve to keep my father here with me, but he is all I have and without him, I don’t know how I will survive. If I marry the man who I am engaged to, I will surely die, for he is a cruel and hateful man. Father can’t see it. He is only concerned with the debts that Diego can pay and keeping our home in the family. But, I know with all my heart that the man will only cause me grief and misery. Please, deliver me from this fate.”
To seal the prayer, she crossed her shoulders and touched her forehead as she had seen Mama do before she died many years ago. Then, she rose to her feet and leaned to kiss her father’s forehead one more time before leaving the room.
Chapter Four
A hearty breakfast and a local newspaper occupied Travis Corbett’s attention for most of the morning while he waited for a reply from his ranch foreman, Tom. Two days had passed and he was getting irritated at having to stay in one place for so long. Two more days since the morning after he had met Savannah, when he had stayed in the shadows of the great mansion all night to make sure that she was safe, that he had not had a chance to go back to the plantation where his nemesis was hiding and two more days that his revenge was not satisfied, had slowly crept by. He knew that he could have killed El Diablo that morning as the man stood watching the girl’s window but something told him to wait.
He couldn’t put a finger on the reason that he’d left Robin’s Glen and the woman-child who lived there to discover their fate with the Mexican devil who visited there, but something told him to let her find out just what kind of a man she had invited into her home. Remembering his own wife’s demise at the hands of that man, he wondered if he should warn Savannah about the man’s dastardly plans for her. But, deep inside his soul, he knew that she would not listen to him, would not heed his advice and would, in fact, run straight into El Diablo’s arms just to spite the man who felt the urge to protect her.
So, he’d ambled back into town to wait for an answer to his telegraph, whiling away the days by covertly observing the people in the city of Atlanta. He sat, seemingly unnerved by the time that slowly passed while he waited for his reply, in a slat rocking chair on the porch of the Grand Hotel and watched life go by.
The locals seemed to fear him or at least feel uneasy around him, something that he had become accustomed to since he had slapped that pair of Colt Peacemaker pistols on his hips and strapped the Winchester to his saddle five years ago. The sheriff had warned him to remove his hardware or face a citation the first day that he had arrived, but Travis had refused to give them up, so all eyes followed him throughout the growing city. He was never again
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