Jesse took the note from him and read it. Anger raged through him and he had to take a moment to remain calm.
“What’s going on?” Alex said, rushing up to the door without a shirt on.
His face went white when he saw the dead cattle. “That son of a bitch is dead.”
“Read this,” Jesse said and handed the note to Alex.
“Bring her back or your herd is dead.”
“Let’s go. That son of a bitch is going to die,” Alex said. “I’m done wasting time with them. It’s over.”
It was weird, but for once, Jesse was the calming influence, not Alex. But for some reason, he knew that Frank and Edward were trying to bait them into going to town. And if they went into town, he feared they would take Mattie.
“No, we’re staying here. If they want us, they have to come and get us. If we go into town, Mattie will be in danger.”
Alex frowned and shook his head. “They killed our cattle.”
“I’m guessing they have a ready-made alibi to deny they were the ones.”
“You’re not making any sense. We protect what is ours. No one gets away with shit like this.”
Alex was ready to take on the killers which worried him. “Yes, we do, but at this moment, they’re trying to bait us,” Jesse said. “Let’s pause for a moment and think of a plan.”
Alex shook his head. “Boy, not even a week of marriage and already our bride has tamed the savage beast in you.”
There was no way he would admit that Mattie did have a calming influence on him. Right now, his rage was like a simmering fire. When the time was right, those sons of bitches wouldn’t be breathing much longer.
“Hardly,” Jesse said.
They heard a gasp behind them.
“No,” Mattie cried. “What happened?”
Their bride stood behind them dressed in a pair of Alex’s pants and a shirt of Jesse’s. Evidently she’d tried to find some clothes and all she could find were theirs.
It was disobedience for her to be wearing clothes. That would earn her a well-deserved spanking, later.
“Did Edward and Frank do this?”
“Yes,” Jesse said. “Go back to bed, Mattie.”
There was a slight hesitation as she gazed out at the dead animals. “They are going to do everything to get me to return.”
They would try, but Jesse had no doubt it would never work. Already his hands were drawing into fists. They were going to regret killing their cattle.
Mattie stood in the door with her hands on her hips, giving the men of Bridgewater a sight in the pants and shirt. “I think we should deliver the cows to their store. Leave them on their doorstep.”
The men standing outside chuckled.
That wasn’t a half bad idea. Put them outside and pin the note on the cows with a return message. Come back and you die. But first he had to deal with the insurrection at home.
Somehow his wife had gotten the idea that she could control them. Wrong. In their home, Alex and Jesse were the ones who made the decisions.
“Mattie, go back upstairs, remove your clothes and wait for us,” Jesse told her.
Her sapphire eyes widened and she realized she’d broken a rule.
“We’ll be up after we finish talking to these men,” Alex said as he glanced at Jesse. “And you will be punished.”