Chapter 1
It has always amazed me how circumstances can change a person for better or worse. I grew up privileged, lacking in nothing. When I say privileged, I do not mean that we were rich, because we were, by no means, rich. But we had each other, and that was all that had mattered. I was the youngest of three children. I had two older brothers, Matthew and Brian. They were handsome men, and full of life, they were sure to follow in my father's steps by taking over the ranch that we owned. It was not big, and we had to struggle to keep it running, but it had been in the family for many years, and we intended to keep it for our children, and their children. My father was a burly man but had a kind heart. At first glance, he looked as mean as a bear and could probably tear a man's heart out of his chest with his strong hands, yet as his daughter I had never seen him raise a fist towards anyone, nor say an unkind word. My mother was by far the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on, yet even though her beauty far surpassed many ladies, she was humble and loved everybody that she came in contact with. I had a wonderful life, surrounded by people who loved me, and I them, yet all that changed when I turned 19.
"Madeline Marie you change out of your brother's trousers right this minute. It is one thing to wear them when you're working outside but we are sitting down for dinner and you will act the lady you are." Her mother stood with one hand admonishing her while the other was pulling the bread out of the oven.
"But Mama, they are so comfortable and…"
"Madeline, listen to your mother. You're a beautiful young lady and I like to see you looking the part every once in awhile." Madie's father took the hat off her head and a tumble of red curls fell to her shoulders.
"Yes Papa," she grumbled and turned to go back to the bedroom when her brothers came running in with rifles in their hands.
"Pa, Mr. Cavanaugh is here, and he brought a bunch of men with them. I think they might be here for the money." Matthew, the oldest, looked worried as he relayed the information to their father.
"Papa, what money?" she was unaware of any debt they had to Mr. Cavanaugh, who was a friend of the family. "I thought he was your best friend Papa, why would he bring men with guns?"
"Stay out of this Madeline," her mother whispered harshly, fear inching it's way into her voice. "Now you come here and stand away from the door."
Just as her mother spoke those words, the door smashed open and Mr. Cavanaugh walked in with men behind him, pointing guns at her family.
"Mr. Bernard, I had hoped that we could have continued to be friends but it would seem that your failure to repay the money you owed me, has put a stitch in our friendship."
"I will have your money Mr. Cavanaugh, just give me a few more days," her father replied, his eyes locked on the guns pointed at his face.
"I'm afraid I don't have a few days. I myself have a deadline, and it appears I will have to collect my pay in some other manner."
Mr. Cavanaugh looked at Madie with lust in his eyes. "You're daughter would fetch quite a price at the auction in town tonight."
"My daughter has nothing to do with this," her father answered angrily.
Her mother grabbed Madie by the shoulders and held her tightly against her.
"I was afraid you would say that." Without a moment's notice, two of the men shot the brothers in the head. They both went down as Madie's father lunged for the gun, and in return he was shot in the gut. While he collapsed to the floor Mr. Cavanaugh stood above him. "You should have given us the money Charles," he said with almost a twinge of sadness, then shot him point blank in the forehead.
While this was happening, Madie's mother was screaming frantically, and shoving Madie behind her. All Madie could do was stand in shock, staring at her father and brothers lying in a pool of their own blood.
"Ah, Mrs. Bernard, I'm afraid you are too old to be auctioned off, even though you are a lovely woman. My men will appreciate you though, don't worry." Mr. Cavanaugh lurched for her mother nearly tearing the bodice of her dress and threw her to the ravenous men. They dragged her mother down the hall to the bedroom, and all Madie could do was listen to her screams as they proceeded to rape her.
"Now Madeline, what a beautiful name you have. It is a shame that you are clad in men's clothing. We will have to remedy that soon, we can't have you looking like a boy now can we?"
Mr. Cavanaugh grabbed her arm and yanked her out the door. Finally, once out of the sight of her dead family members, and the screams of her mother, Madie was able to awake from her catatonic state and break Mr. Cavanaugh's hold. Kicking him in the shin, the surprised man let her go to grab his ankle, and that gave Madie the chance to run. What she failed to see was the other man standing against the side of the house, invisible to all who weren't looking. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was the butt of a gun aimed at her head.
* * *
"You have got to put a stop to this. It is barbarism Mr. Larabee." Mrs. Travis slammed a piece of paper on the table that Chris Larabee had claimed for himself. The overflowing glass of whiskey spilled onto the table with the force of Mrs. Travis' fury.
"Mary, I have told you this before, I can not stop them if they are merely selling servant girls." Chris told her patiently, crumbling up the piece of paper declaring the auction to be held in the saloon tonight.
"I would not object to this if I knew the women were going to good homes. But you know as well as I do that most of these women were forced into the auction and most will be sold as slaves, not servants. Many will be forced to perform…acts that are unbecoming of an unmarried woman." Mrs. Travis pulled her shawl tightly around her as if trying to ward of the bad thoughts that were entering her head.
"I agree with you Mary, and I will make sure to be here tonight in case they slip up and I can put a stop to it, but don't get you're hopes up. For a lot of these women, this is the end of the line."
"Fine then, it looks like I will have to do this by myself." Mrs. Travis hiked up her skirts and exited the saloon in a huff.
"Woman troubles Chris?" Josiah asked, ambling over towards his table with a glass of brandy in his hand.
"She wants me to put a stop to the auction tonight," Chris mumbled as he took a long swallow of whiskey.
"She's got a point there Chris," Vin Tanner spoke up from across the table. "I've seen many women go to the wrong kind of men during one of these auctions. The men break and beat those women so you wouldn't be able to recognize your own daughter if she were walking down the street."
"Demons, taking the souls of the innocents," Josiah muttered raising his glass to the heavens before he downed it in one gulp.
Chris leaned back in his chair, pondering the situation. "We know all the good men who live in these here parts. If a man buys a girl that we know won't treat her right, then we'll just have to convince him that it would be best to leave town without the girl."
"Sounds like a plan," Vin smiled as he cocked his gun.
"Rally the boys up, we're going to make sure everything goes down as planned," Chris spoke to Josiah, who nodded his head and walked out of the saloon, in search of the other men who made up the rest of the Magnificent Seven.
* * *
"Wake up girl," a harsh voice spoke as a bucket of water was dumped over Madie's head. Sputtering with shock from the cold, Madie awoke with a pounding headache. Looking around at her surroundings, she was unable to make out anything that looked familiar.
The room was bare except for a bath tub filled with water, and a plain white dress on a stool. Next to the bath tub stood an old woman with eyes glistening with hate. She wore a dirty blue dress and her graying hair was pulled back into a strict bun.
"Get up girly and undress, you need a bath," the woman spat out.
"Who are you," Madie asked, trying to keep fear from her voice.
"My name is Mrs. Dandor and you get your scrawny body into the tub before I get one of those men in here to do it for you."
"Ok," Madie nodded her head as she started to strip self-consciously. There was no way she was going to let those men touch her if she had anything to say about it. Turning her back to the old woman, she finished stripping off her clothes and covering vital body parts she sprinted to the tub and jumped in. For a moment, Madie had lost the ability to breathe because of the shock of the cold water.
Almost immediately, once Madie was in the water, Mrs. Dandor took a scrubber to her body, nearly taking off the skin as she washed Madie. Every time Mrs. Dandor raked the harsh bristles over her body, Madie cried out in pain.
"Oh hush your mouth. We have to get all the dirt off your body. Beauty equals pain; didn't your mother ever teach you that?" Mrs. Dandor continued to use the harsh treatment for nearly a half hour. By the time she was finished, Madie's body was red and in some spots, bled from where Mrs. Dandor scrubbed vigorously. Next the evil woman attacked her hair, taking a brush and getting all the knots out of her hair, pulling large clumps as she worked. Occasionally, Mrs. Dandor would dunk Madie under the water and scrub her hair with soap. After the first surprise dunk and nearly drowning, Madie had to remember to take a large breath of air.
"Fine, you're done, now get out and towel off," throwing a large towel at the girl. Her teeth chattering, she could barely hold onto the towel because she was shaking so bad from the cold. It hurt to run the towel over her scratched body but it was the only warmth she was offered.
When Mrs. Dandor thought she was finished, she took the towel away and threw the dress in her direction. "Put that on," she ordered and walked outside.
Slipping on the dress, Madie was shocked to see how revealing and indecent it was. The material was nearly see-through, and she was not offered any undergarments. The bodice lifted her ample breasts and barely covered her nipples. The sleeves of the dress were short and stopped at the top of her arms. Utterly embarrassed, she covered as much as she could with the lack of material given to her.
The door opened up and a large man came in, looking at her with passion in his eyes. "My, my, my lookie at what we got here." The large man strode towards her, but was cut off by a sharp voice.
"You leave her alone Mr. Bramble, don't you know no better. These girls have to stay innocent if we want a high price." Mrs. Dandor stepped into the room, and stood in front of Madie. "Now you go back to Mr. Cavanaugh and you tell him to ready the girls, they are ready to be branded."
"Branded?" Madie cried out.
"Shut up girl," Mrs. Dandor back handed her without any notice. Madie placed a hand to her bruised cheek and sputtered in protest. "Now if you know what's best for ya, you'll get going." The old woman pushed Madie out the door and down a corridor.
The door at the end of the hall was open and she saw other girl dressed in the same manner, standing against a wall waiting in line for something. Mrs. Dandor pushed her into line.
Watching Mrs. Dandor leave, Madie turned to the girl standing next to her. A stunningly attractive girl with long, straight black hair and almonds shaped eyes.
"Where am I," Madie whispered to the girl, as she stared down the hallway to make sure no one was coming.
"We're being auctioned off," the girl looked at her coolly. "Why else would you join?"
"Auction? You actually joined to be auctioned off?"
"Of course, that's what all the girls paid for. We're to be bid upon by only the richest men. We will be given good homes where we will most likely be called upon to be mistresses." The girl said this so matter of factly as if she were talking about something mundane as going to church.
"I don't understand. We're being sold to other men, but we're being branded by Mr. Cavanaugh?"
The beautiful girl laughed, "think of it more as a loan. We are branded because we are the property of Mr. Cavanaugh. He sells us to the highest bidder. In four years time, if they really like us, they will pay an exorbitant amount of money or else they give us back. Then Mr. Cavanaugh re-sells us in a different town. If we're lucky, we can stay in multiple homes, be cherished by different men."
"What is wrong with you?" Madie asked, sincerely hoping for an answer. What would cause a girl to want to be sold as a prostitute?
"Look over there girly," the beautiful girl pointed at the women who sat on the opposite side of the room. They were dressed in fine clothes and conversed happily with each other. "Those are the women who have gone before us. They seem fine to me, more than fine, they're happy. What is wrong with wanting to be happy?"
"God meant for us to be with one man. To be loved and held by one man. Our husband is the only one we are allowed to be with. Once we are sold, we become whores."
"Oh God, a bible thumper, just what we need. Grow up girly, you're in the big leagues now. Whores got nothing on us, we are the elite, the most beautiful. This is where women who are widows, who have no families, go. Women can not survive, on their own, so this is the end of the line."
Mr. Cavanaugh walked into the room, smiling at the women in the room. Madie sank back against the wall, wishing the room would consume her body so as her families killer would not see her. But instead, he looked straight at her and had the audacity to wink. It took all of Madie's strength not to throw herself at the smug man. She knew she would not last a second in a brawl with him. She tempered her anger and watched him with narrow eyes as he walked across the room greeting various women.
"How do you do ladies," he addressed the room. Many of the women seemed to fawn over him as if he were some God. He was not her God, Madie thought to herself, praying a quick prayer to the Lord for strength through this terrible ordeal.
"I believe it is time to acquire your brand. It will hurt for but a moment. I do so hate to cause harm to any of you fine young ladies, but alas business must go on as usual."
Mr. Cavanaugh pulled out of the coals a red hot poker with an emblem attached to the end. The first of the women kneeled down and placed her arm down on the small table. He turned her arm so her forearm was where the brand would be placed. Madie saw steam rise, and the smell of flesh being burned. The girl screamed and tears ran down her face, but a moment later he was finished and he helped her up and placed a kiss upon her forehead, whispering gentle words in her ear.
One by one, the girls before her knelt down to receive their brands, each time Mr. Cavanaugh treated them as if they were priceless gems and appeared apologetic to have to cause them harm.
Finally it appeared that Madie was the last of the women to be branded. She stood in her place, not moving towards Mr. Cavanaugh. "Madeline, it is your turn. Come here darling," Mr. Cavanaugh beckoned to her.
"No, I refuse. You must let me go, I am here under duress and if you were a true gentleman you would let me go."
"But I am a gentleman. You asked to be here my dear Madeline." Mr. Cavanaugh smiled at her, yet his eyes were warning her to back off.
"You are a liar! You are no gentleman, you are a murderer!"
"That is enough. I think someone needs to be taught a lesson. Mr. Bramble," Mr. Cavanaugh called for the man. A moment later, the burly man popped his head into the room.
"Did you need something Mr. Cavanaugh?"
"Yes, take Ms. Bernard out back and have her whipped."
"Gladly Mr. Cavanaugh," Mr. Bramble smiled maliciously. He strode towards Madie and grabbed her by the arm, nearly dragging her out the door.
"He's an evil man. Get out if you can. He murdered my family. He might have murdered yours." Madie desperately tried to get her story out to the women who sat watching the barbaric display.
"Shut your mouth," Mr. Bramble slapped her across the face, nearly sending her to the floor if it weren't for Mr. Bramble's strong grip on her arm. He dragged her across the hardwood floor, Madie's struggled to gain her footing but the cold man kept pulling her, unbalancing her so her bare feet and knees were bloodied from being scraped against the hard surface.
"Maybe next time you'll learn to keep your mouth shut." Mr. Bramble laughed as he looked down at the girl he was dragging around like a rag doll. Madie prayed to the Lord above that she would not be killed from the pain he was about to administer. But then maybe if she died she would join her family in heaven and not have to deal with the evilness of men on earth.
Outside were two trees rather close together. Manacles were attached to the tree limbs. Mr. Bramble clasped to the manacles to her wrists so she was stretched between the trees. Madie closed her eyes and bit her cheeks to keep from screaming as the first lash of the whip cracked against her back. She endured ten whip lashes without uttering a word.
"Well look at that, now we have to get her into a new dress. Great job Mr. Bramble," the voice of the old crone, Mrs. Dandor, sounded behind Madie. "Now let her go so I can fit her into a new dress."
Grunting and groaning Mr. Bramble took the chains off of Madie's writs and without the aid of the chains, and due to the pain from her back, Madie fell to the ground in a broken heap. Despite the blood that was running down her back, her scraped feet and knees, and her bruised wrists, Madie refused to utter a sound. "Get her up and take her to the changing room. Make yourself useful for once, Mr. Bramble."
Mr. Bramble picked Madie up and put her over his shoulder, she lacked the energy to even fight back. They made their way back into the rundown building and into the room she had dressed in earlier. Mr. Bramble set her on the floor careful not to get blood on himself.
Mrs. Dandor cleaned her wounds and helped Madie dress herself in a new white dress, which was an exact replica of the previous one. Moments later Mr. Cavanaugh entered the room with his hands behind his back.
"My dear Madeline, when will you learn that it is better to work with me than against me. I'm only here to help you find a good home. Is that so bad?"
Madie could barely look up at him. The room was beginning to spin, and she knew that she would black out from the pain momentarily. She was awake though to see Mr. Cavanaugh come towards her with the red hot poker and grab her forearm, searing her flesh with the brand. Before she blacked out, she looked down and saw the initials DC. Darius Cavanaugh, that name would haunt her for her entire life.
This is a story that I wrote ages ago but one that I still love. I'm still in the process of finishing my previous Harry Potter story "The Past and the Future", so if there are any HP fans go on to my Profile and take a look. I'm taking a break though to upload this story, the first one is complete so as long as I can get some reviews I'll upload fast, but if not...(dum dum dum!!) So please review!!