Big Bad Professor(70)

“Are you still intent on being so stubborn?” he said.

Cora looked away in an instant, embarrassed, and fuming at letting her mind wander.

“Certainly not all men from this part of the country are so--so--incredibly forward and--and--quite frankly, uncouth.”

“Uncouth?” he feigned sounding hurt, but she could tell that he was slightly amused. “Says the Miss who was shouting at me not too many moments ago--saying things a gentleman should never repeat.”

They continued to walk on, when Cora’s dress snagged on a drying, thorned shrub. She teased frustratedly at her dress, battling against the bush.

“This wilderness is impossible!”

At once, she reached back with a pull, her dress finally being released, though not without a tear, and fell back onto her bottom, hitting an open patch of moist dirt.

She immediately felt her cheeks glow red.

“Now will you reconsider?” The man on the horse lent his hand down for her as she steadied herself upright, attempting to brush off the mud, but only smearing it further down the backside of her dress. The clouds began to gather more darkly, and Cora took a second thought.

“If I let you give me a ride, you should know…” She sighed and placed her hands on her hips. “I don’t like you,” she pointed up at him.

“Blunt,” he pursed his lips. “I would say I like that in a woman, but in this case...I couldn’t care less.”

“Fine,” she said.

“Fine,” he said.

And they rode on in silence.



Chapter 3

“Joshua Dansby,” Sheriff Pickett greeted Joshua and Cora as they rode in toward the station. A closed buggy door was being closed and carted off by the Deputy policeman.

“Sheriff,” Joshua tipped his hat and slung off.

The two men shook hands and Joshua got a good look at the scene. The robbers were already being brought into town, and the passengers were being escorted off of the train, and onto the platform.

“Glad you made it in time,” Joshua said.

“Well, thankfully I wasn’t too far along from the area,” Sheriff Pickett tipped his hat toward Cora, still sitting atop the horse, silent and her face flushed.

“Afternoon ma’am,” he said.

Cora nodded, red-cheeked and turned forward once again, clearly embarrassed to be seen with a strange man in such a way.

“Seems you tried to take matters into your own hands,” Sheriff Pickett laughed.

“When I got out there, they were already making off with the train. Glad the conductor seems to have taken his engine back.” He nodded in the distance to a bruised and bloodied conductor holding a wet rag to his face, clearly having been in an altercation.

“Well,” Joshua said. “It looks like there’ll be a delay.”

The two men surveyed the group of confused and stunned passengers. Joshua took a glance toward the sky, the clouds now dark as ever, ready to burst at any moment.

“Sheriff,” Joshua said. “Feel free to invite all the passengers to be able to stay the night at the Stanton. There are plenty of rooms open, and it will be all on me.”

“That’s mighty generous of you, Mr. Dansby,” the Sheriff replied.

“It’s the least I could do,” Joshua said.

The two parted ways as the Sheriff continued toward the platform, making arrangements for transportation and informing everyone about Mr. Dansby’s offer. It would be at least a day or two before the Lil’ Miss would be back in commission, and so all were offered a stay at the best hotel in town, The Stanton.

Owned by Joshua Dansby’s family, as were most of the business endeavors in the town, the Stanton was a prized jewel of the Western territory. It had a rustic charm that made it so all businessmen and wayfarers were pressed to stop by when coming through these parts. It was in convenient proximity to the mainstay of the town, but overlooked the rolling, unmarked hills of the prairie, a paradise in the West.

Joshua turned to the woman who still sat upon Kan, who was biding his time eating the grass by his feet.

“Would you like to come down?”

She refused to look at him, and he laughed at her indignation. She was an annoyingly stubborn woman. He was glad he only had to deal with her just this once.

“Alright,” she said. “I...I might need some help.”

Her face was red, and for a moment Joshua was almost taken aback by the way her cheeks flushed, and her braid fell to the side and framed her face.

“Oh, so now you want my help?” he said.

He helped her down, and she swayed as her feet hit the ground.

“You’ve never been on a horse before?” he mused, her large, brown eyes open wide as she attempted to figure out how to walk on the ground again.