Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold Read Online Free Page B

her father, Reverend Pratt, George Detrick, and Michael Benton, the Mason butcher, give furtive looks her way.
    There was no doubt they all knew what Samuels was doing, saw her desperate struggles against his painful, invasive groping, and just looked away again. None of the townsmen were going to stand against the casual violence of the Double M men, and her father had come to some agreement with Charlie Meeks.
    White led the bay gelding he had caught to Meeks. Charlie pointed his pistol at the animal’s left front knee and turned to look Cord in the eye.
    “What do you say, tough man? I hear you raise good horses. How about I shoot one knee on each one of that bunch over there?”
    Even Samuels was concentrating on Charlie so intently his hand had stopped, and what Anne saw burning in Cord’s eyes made her swallow hard, even as he gave in. “All right. You win.”
    White dropped the rope. The bay gelding wandered to the edge of the yard, and began eating grass there. Anne wanted to shout at the animal. Run, run so far they can never catch you again, but she knew that was foolish. There were still half a dozen potential victims confined in the corral.
    Charlie called, “Hey, bring the bride over, Lem,” and Samuels shoved Anne next to Cord, who was standing unaided now although with Jimmy Meeks’ gun in his back. Things began to seem more and more unreal. Reverend Pratt came forward, pulled his prayer book from a pocket with a shaking hand, and at Charlie’s direction, began to read the words of the wedding ceremony in a setting that made a travesty out of the ages old vows.
    Anne did not look at Cord, but heard him slurring the words, unable to speak clearly if he had wanted to with the damage Meeks’ fists had done to his face. When her turn came, she found she too could barely form words with her swollen mouth and split lips. She repeated everything the preacher told her to until he said “to love, cherish, and to obey.”
    Then she lifted her head, found a small spark of defiance left, looked Pratt right in the eyes and said, “to love and to cherish.” No one else seemed to notice, and Pratt quickly dropped his gaze.
    Finally, the preacher intoned, “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” snapped his book shut, and hurried out of the way.
    Lem Samuels dragged Anne backward behind the men all looking toward Meeks and Cord. Charlie shouted, “And now for a little shivaree,” and then Anne’s own nightmare intensified to where she was only barely aware of Meeks’ steady, rhythmic beating of Cord. The rain of blows continued long after he slumped insensate in the cowboys’ grip.
    Samuels again shifted his hold to across her bruised and bleeding mouth, and this time she felt his right hand running up under Cord’s shirt to the top of the back of her dress.
    “Now hold still, bitch, and you won’t get cut.”
    She could not see, could only feel the knife cutting through her dress and all her under things, and into her back. At first she felt only the icy blade itself, then her blood welled, warm and wet, and with it came fiery pain.
    The bulk of her dress and petticoats and the tough cloth of her corset had spared her the worst of his previous pawing. Now when his hand returned, under the shirt and inside her gaping dress, there was nothing to protect her flesh from his deliberately cruel hand. The steady stream of threats and filthy talk was interrupted only when his mouth came down on her face, neck, or shoulders. The first time he bit her she screamed against his gloved hand. He pinched and twisted her breasts and nipples mercilessly, then moved down to her stomach and thighs.
    As Anne struggled against him with all her strength, the breakfast that had seemed so good a lifetime ago started to come up, sour in the back of her throat. She began to retch helplessly, choking under Samuels’ relentless hold. He cursed in disgust, shoved her away, and Anne fell to her knees on the muddy ground, vomiting up