Chapter 3

Ezra scooped the young girl into his arms. "Nathan, we need to get her to the room above Mrs. Travis'."

"You right, I'll go ahead and get everythin' ready." Nathan ran out of the room, with Ezra pushing past people to get Madie the help she needed.

Ezra fended off questions and the knowing looks he was receiving from his companions. He finally made it outside and he took a moment to breathe in the fresh, cool air. Slowly, he started to regain his senses and question his own motives.

"What the hell have I done," Ezra asked himself. A moan responded to his question. Ezra looked down at the beautiful woman, "from the lips of an angel." The sight of her took his breath away.

"Ezra," Nathan called from a window, "you can bring her up now."

Ezra could only nod because the ability to speak had failed him for the moment. Continuing on his path, he took the stairs to the second floor, and entered the room to which Nathan held the door open.

"You just set her on the bed," Nathan pointed to the small bed already made up with blankets.

"What is going on here?" Mrs. Travis asked from the doorway. Both men turned around, going for their guns at the newcomer. "Hold it boys, it's just me." Mrs. Travis eyed the men's hands as they slowly relaxed their tense arms. "Who's the girl?"

"One of the ladies from the auction," Ezra responded softly.

"Well what is she doing here? I hope one of your men didn't buy her," Mrs. Travis took on a severe tone. She looked like she had been awoken from sleep because her hair was down, and her robe seemed to be haphazardly thrown onto her slight frame.

Ezra looked at Mrs. Travis over his shoulder, not at all pleased with what she was implying. "I had acquired her Mrs. Travis," Ezra spoke in a dangerous voice, one not generally heard from the laid back gambler.

"I see," Mrs. Travis pursed her lips. "Then I suggest you leave Mr. Standish. I will help Nathan and we will call you when she is able to go back to work."

Ezra let out a harsh laugh. "It is amazing how you people think so little of me," Ezra whispered more to himself, but Nathan heard what was said. "She will not be working Mrs. Travis, not as a servant or a whore." Ezra turned around and noticed the rest of his entourage in the doorway. "She will be my wife." Without another word said, Ezra pushed through the men that stood there in stunned silence not knowing what to think of the conman.

* * *

"So what is the verdict? Will she be ok?" Ezra asked Nathan the next morning, looking over at the prone figure lying in the bed.

"She's pretty banged up Ezra. Her feet and knees are scraped up like she been dragged all over the place. She's also been whipped, her back is a mess of scars, and…"

"And what Nathan?" Ezra prodded the man to continue, he was already displeased with what he was being told.

"She was branded," Nathan spoke softly. "The initials DC were seared onto her forearm. There's no way that'll heal. She'll have that the rest of her life."

Ezra's face hardened like stone, on impulse he hit the doorframe. "That son of a bitch Cavanaugh."

* * *

At the sound of something being hit and the harsh words of a man, Madie woke up, scared that the kind man who took her in had only been a dream. She was startled awake and looked around the unfamiliar room.

"Oh," a voice uttered. Madie looked to see who else was in the room. Standing were two men, one was black and she vaguely remembered him last night as she kept awaking and falling back to sleep. He was the one who re-bandaged her back and cleaned her cuts.

The other man was the one who had rescued her, a handsome man at that. "Mr. Standish," Madie was able to croak out.

"Madeline, I am terribly sorry if I have awakened you, go back to sleep darlin' you're safe here."

"I think I have slept long enough…if that is okay with you of course." Madie bowed her head with a look of submission upon her face.

"You can do whatever it is that you like Madeline." Madie felt the side of the bed dip and she opened her eyes to see her future husband looking down at her with care in his eyes.

"I want you to understand Madeline, that you are not my property. You are your own person and I respect that."

With everything that had happened recently, the tenderness that Madie saw in this man was in such stark contrast to the utter horror that she had had to endure, that the dam that held back her emotions finally broke. At first she clasped her arms around herself and frantically looked away from Ezra, struggling to regain her composure. When that did not work she bit down hard on her lower lip, hoping the physical pain might distract her, but that also did not work.

"Madeline," Ezra uttered her name gently, seeing the inner struggle she was having with herself.

Upon hearing her name, Madie could no longer hold back the tears. It was heart wrenching to hear the pain emanating from her voice as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

At a loss for what to do, Ezra awkwardly placed a hand upon her arm and that was all Madie needed to throw herself against the man who had saved her life. Both seemed unaware that Madie was merely clad in a blanket, it was purely comfort that Ezra offered the young girl and it didn't even enter his mind to take advantage of her in the current state she was in. As Madie clung to Ezra's lithe body, Ezra's hand lightly caressed Madie's back that was consequently covered with bandages to aid in the healing process. He knew that she would always have the scars from the vicious beating she had received and Ezra dearly wished that he could take away the suffering that she had endured by the hands of men who did not even deserve to live.

Minutes passed and Madie was finally able to gain control of her emotions, yet she did not pull away from him. He was nice and warm, and she loved the feel of the slight stubble of hair on his cheek against her own. She felt safe and she did not want to let go. Burrowing deeper into his embrace she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck.

"He killed them," she finally whispered, a catch in her throat.

"Who?" Ezra dreaded the answer to the question.

"He killed my family. He killed them in front of me. My brothers, my father, my mother…they hurt my mother so. I heard her screams as they…" A sob escaped her lips as the memories came flooding back to her mind. "I need to go back there. I need to bury them. I need to find our preacher and have a proper burial. I need…I need…" She lapsed into silence as the reality of what she needed to do sunk in.

"Sshh, darling…don't you worry about that. We'll take care of everything." Ezra pulled her as close as he dared without hurting her. "And I swear to you that I will find the men responsible for this and bring them to justice. They will not go unpunished."

* * *

Days had passed and since then, the Bernard family had been laid to rest. A beautiful funeral was held and many of the town people came to pay their respects. Once everything had been tied up, Madeline was ready to go ahead with her new life. She missed her family terribly, but she was engaged to marry Ezra, and she did not want to disappoint her future husband.

Madeline sat outside the general store, watching as families went about their business. It was nice and relaxing to enjoy the peacefulness of the day. At first she wondered if she was even capable of happiness, with the brutal murder of her family and the awful end that awaited Madie if it weren't for Ezra. But she came to believe that God had sent Ezra to her for a reason, and who was she to question Him. She should accept the cards that she had been dealt and go on with her life as best she can.

Speaking of cards Madie pulled out the card deck from her little purse, and gently ran her fingers over the gift that Ezra had given her. When she found out yesterday that he was a card shark, she confessed to him that she did not know how to play cards. Gaping open mouthed at her, Ezra pulled out one of his various card decks and handed it over to her.

"My dear, at the soonest opportunity I will teach you how to play. No wife of mine is going to be a novice at the great game of poker." Flashing her, his trademark southern smile he chucked her on the chin and left her gazing fondly after him.

* * *

Weeks had passed and Madie and Ezra were still unwed. Madie began to grow a bit uneasy, worrying about what it was that she should do and how she should bring up the sensitive topic. Madie spoke to Mrs. Travis about her current thoughts, but she just smiled and offered her simple platitudes.

It felt rather lonesome in town since the group of seven left to help a group of Native Americans. She hadn't heard from Ezra for awhile and she was beginning to get scared. 'What if something happened to him?' It was all she could think about.

For the moment she was living in Mrs. Travis' spare bedroom until the wedding, but everyday she would let herself into Ezra's room and tidy up the place. She hoped that when he returned and saw that she had taken good care of the place, he would be pleased and feel lucky to have her as his wife.

Thank you to all those who had reviewed. I love hearing what you think!

BethGisborne: I'm glad that you like Madie being a Christian. I feel that it is so important to make Madie strong in both God and in character. Trust me, she'll go toe to toe with Ezra and anybody if she feels it necessary.

Boomagoo: This is an old story so it means a lot to me that you think it is well written! I'm still working out old kinks so hopefully the writing will improve even more! Yeah!

Princesssfiona: Thanks for sticking around, hopefully you love this chapter and the others to come.

Betsylupin: Ezra is by far my favorite character and I look forward to digging in deeper to see how he would react in situations given new people in his life. I think Madie is going to have a great impact on Ezra and even vice versa. This is a different twist on the slave/master plotline and I look forward to pursuing the plot further on in the story. Thanks for the compliments! And your questions will hopefully be answered by either this chapter or chapters to come.

Keep on reviewing everyone, it brings such joy to my life!!!!