Cat Nip Post XXIX

And then Thomas was out of my arms and arching through the air, body twisting and changing shapes, even as I watched. I gasped in the wonder of it, almost missing the event that had precipitated his change.

Olaf Bannister, shimmered in the light filtering through the door, his image wavering for a moment, before he too, launched himself and instead of cat and man, two full grown jaguars met in the air and toppled to the floor.

Whatever the outcome, the beasts needed space and so I stepped around and out, followed by the writhing mass of male cats that screamed and rolled, biting and tearing at each other.

I could see now, what had happened to Thomas on that night when I found him half-dead on the trail. The sheriff’s clothes were strewn on the floor of my cabin, gun belt and gun as well.

I hesitated. I am a healer. I may be many other things, and discovering new every day. But I am a healer. I knew I wouldn’t be able to kill the shape-shifting sheriff if he was the winner of their combat.

I held the gun in my hand and watched as the two struggled. The cats were of the same size, but Bannister was black as a panther. For a moment, the black cat pinned Thomas to the ground, as he tried to rip his throat out.

I changed my mind. I lifted the gun and aimed it.

Cat Nip Post XXVIII

I’m not sure what would have happened if the clip-clop of hooves striking the scattered gravel in my yard hadn’t interrupted us. I struggled off of his lap, and peered out the window.

“It’s Olaf Bannister,” I warned him.

He rose smoothly, handing me the blue dress he’d brought. “Put yourself together, I’ll handle the sheriff until you’re ready.”

I stepped into the shadowed corner and fumbled my way into my clothes. I heard the back door open and close, so I wasn’t surprised when I turned back to an empty room.

When I opened the door to greet my visitor, a black cat streaked around the corner of the cabin and sat by his feet, looking with interest at the sheriff.

"Sheriff Bannister,"I greeted him. "It's very early in the morning for a visit. Is there a problem?"

The sheriff stood uncertainly, and then asked, "May I come in?" At my nod, he pushed past me into my one room, looking around suspiciously. "Paddy says he found you sitting in the middle of the trail the other night. Said it looked like maybe you'd been doctoring something."

I sat on the chair that had recently been occupied by Thomas, and waited for the sheriff to make his point. The black cat promptly took up residence on my lap and sat rumbling interest as he watched the sheriff.

I recognized the purr and realized that Thomas Hunter still guarded me. I was happy to have him there, since Sheriff Bannister seemed very upset.

He looked at the cat on my lap and sneered, "Finally got yourself a familiar I see."

Holding Thomas in my arms I stood and took a step toward the looming sheriff. "If you have a question, sheriff, please ask it."

Olaf Bannister seemed nonplussed as I walked toward him. I felt the cat's muscles ripple and his claws unsheathe. A glance at my new friend showed that he stared at the lawman from unblinking, amber, eyes.

It appeared Thomas Hunter was coiled and ready.

Cat Nip Post XXVII

I tried to break away from the glance that held mine. Instead, the combination of his heated amber eyes and that mesmerizing purr had me leaning toward his seduction.

I could see in his eyes, the jaguar intended to mate with me. I was startled when I saw both beast and man as each pursued and captured its prey—me—in both my forms.

“No.” The word resounded loudly in the room, although I had only managed a whisper. “I don’t even know your whole name.”

He blinked and straightened on his chair, pulling his face back before his lips brushed mine. “Hunter,” he said, “Thomas Hunter.”

I blinked at his next words. “I’ve traveled a long way to find you. I’ll not leave alone.”

He declared his intentions gruffly, leaving me to mull over his words. “For now,” he agreed, “I will accept your no. But soon, Misery Hess, you’ll walk the night with me.”

His rumbled words promised a future destiny that I would have to consider. Not one to let man or cat, have the last word, I had to respond, “We’ll see.”

Just like that I was plucked out of my chair and found myself cradled on his lap. “For now, I will let you show your independence.”

He growled the words mocking my declaration. Then he dipped his head lower and nuzzled the mark on my neck murmuring his words against my flesh.

“But soon…” he nipped his way up my throat, across my stubborn chin, to claim my lips. “Soon,” he breathed his warning—his promise against my mouth, nibbling until I opened for him.

I realized then that I would have to be very clever to escape the wiles of Mr. Cat.

Cat Nip Post XXVI

The food was delicious. I amazed myself with the quantity of beef and vegetables that I ate. I kept my questions to myself until the chocolate cake was cut and served.

If he up and left after hearing my words, I wanted to make sure that I’d tasted that dessert. I’d heard tell of chocolate, but I’d never sampled it.

He seemed mighty interested in my reaction when I put that first bite into my mouth. What can I say? The flavor fairly exploded on my tongue, sending a riot of exquisite pleasure through my entire body.
I ate that entire piece and he cut me another, putting it on my plate before picking up his own eating utensils. I know I had a goofy grin on my face when I licked the tines of the fork, savoring every drop of the chocolate.

“I brought you another dress,” he nodded toward the brown package I’d set aside. Two things occurred to me then. I was sitting at the table in my nightgown and robe, and I’d had more gifts in the last two days than in the sum of the rest of my life.

All things considered, I was inclined to look with favor at Mister? “Ahem,” I cleared my voice, “What is it I’m to call you? I can’t name you Mr. Cat.”

“Call me Thomas,” he chuckled. It was a rusty noise echoing the laugh he’d made earlier, as though he intentionally practiced the sound.

I clutched my new dress modestly to my bosom, and nodded my thanks.

“Now, tell me,” I instructed him. I did not ask a direct question because there were too many things unknown.

I did not want to limit any information Thomas might offer by framing a specific question. His eyes continued their amber glow, intensifying as he looked at me. His purring grew louder, and it seemed to me that the temperature in my small cabin grew warmer.

Cat Nip Post XXV

I turned away from the temptation of his flesh, becoming more interested in the contents of the basket. The brown-wrapped package I set aside. The remaining items were a lavish assortment of food and I spread my only tablecloth in honor of the event.The cake alone, chocolate with chocolate icing, was more of a treat than I’d ever experienced.
But the roasted beef, not one but two slabs, had my mouth watering with need to sample the barely cooked flesh.

I found a second plate in the cupboard, rounded-up a knife and fork, though they didn’t match mine, and only then remembered my manners. “Please join me as I enjoy this lovely meal you’ve provided.”

When he slid his chair up to the table and filled his plate, I waited until his mouth was full of beef before I added, “As soon as we've finished, you can tell me who the sheriff is rustling cattle for, and why they want to kill you.”

He looked up, fork half raised for a second bite, and ordered, "Eat. Shifting takes a lot of energy. You talk too much."

Then he picked up the carving knife and cut a chunk of meat half the size of one of the roasts. He put it on my plate and motioned at it, repeating, "Eat."

I opened my mouth to argue, only to hear the rumble that started deep in his chest, reaching across the table as a command. His eyes changed, became the amber eyes of the big cat, and I closed my mouth with a snap and picked up my fork.

Cat Nip Post XXIV

“Well,” I fluttered over the food that he’d brought. “There should be enough here to feed both of us.”

He said nothing, picking up one of the two chairs I own to sit it astride. His gaze was fixed on me, and I couldn’t help my nervous reaction to his stare.

“I assume you are going to tell me what this is about?” It was a question, a fair one, or so I thought.

“Not what are you?” His voice was a low growl, as I knew it would be.

“I know all I need to know about what you are. You're a shape-shifting jaguar. It seems you’ve made me one of them too." I tried to keep the excitement out of my voice. I had never felt so right as the moments during the night I'd spent being a cat.

"I'm also a witch, and as you know, a healer. Do you do anything besides change from cat to man?” I thought the question relevant, but wasn't prepared for the loud laughter that poured out of him, nor the sensual line of his neck, as he guffawed at my question.

Cat Nip Post XXIII

Well, I could huddle in my bed and pretend that nothing extraordinary had just happened to me, or—not. After my initial bout with denial, I pulled a robe over the nightgown I’d donned, and went looking for food.

I was hungry in a way I’d never felt before…a deep, clawing need for…what? I thought about the big cat and shuddered. He was no longer outside my house. I could feel his presence when he lurked near, just as I could feel his absence now.

I was hungry, but except for the honey that I’d received in payment from Paddy, my cupboard was bare. So, when the knock on the back door came, I was sitting at my table, drinking tea. I did not mind having my sparse breakfast interrupted.

An old Indian stood there, basket in hand, waiting patiently for me when I answered the door. “For you,” he thrust the woven carrier into my hands and stepped back, turning even as I called out.

"There better be a dress in there too." He paused without turning. I'd spoken to the back of his head. Suddenly anxious to show my appreciation for the delivery, regardless of its contents, I called to him. “I’m sure you’re hungry too. Won’t you join me?”

He pivoted swiftly on his heel, doing an about face, surprisingly quick for an old man. I carried the basket into my kitchen and set the food on the table. It was heavy, laden with more than the offering of the day before. That was a good thing, since I was hungrier than the day before.My messenger stood, outlined by the rising sun, as it spread daylight behind him. Amber eyes met mine, and I felt a rumble begin in my throat.

He stepped inside, and the glamour or whatever charm he’d spelled to disguise his form, fell away. My breath caught in my chest, leaving me weak, almost suffocating. He was magnificent.

Cat Nip Post XXII

The bite shocked me, flooding my body with erotic heat. Mate…I heard him as clearly as if he had spoken. He poured waves of love over me and I shuddered under the unfamiliar sensation.

Ironically, that was what brought sense back. My name is Misery Hess and I am a healer. I repeated my one line as if it was a talisman against magic, and maybe it was.

Disgusted, he gripped me by the nape of the neck and dragged me up, shaking me violently as though he needed to get my attention. The force of the motion, cleared the remaining confusion from my brain and my cat glared stubbornly at him.

My name is Misery Hess and I'm a... Before I could finish my incantation, he released his hold on me, roaring a loud scream in the night. I wondered if the rustlers below heard it as I did. Mate.
I walked down the hill side, first on four trembling legs, that changed at some point to two. I knew he stalked behind, but I did not turn lest I give into the wild urge to stay and never be Misery Hess again.

I stumbled naked toward Clarence and my buggy. Once there, and seated, I pulled a blanket I kept in the back around me and urged my horse, "Take me home, Old Man. I don't know what just happened, but I need to be away from here."

The beast paced beside the buggy as I drove furiously away. He guarded me, even though it was he, I fled. I did not feel his absence until Clarence was once again in his stall and I was in my bed.

Cat Nip Post XXI

Thoughts of rustlers drifted away on the wind. I knew him, every new sinew and muscle in my body was familiar with the cat that stood above. His purring increased, overwhelming my resistance, burying the part of me that was Misery Hess.

He lowered his head and rubbed his muzzle against my furred shoulder, then stepped over my awkward sprawl and flopped down beside me. I flipped to all fours sniffing the air, straining to understand.

My name is Misery Hess and I’m a healer. The words floated through my brain and away. My cat lowered to her belly, and crouched beside the big male, meeting his unblinking gaze.

My name is Misery Hess and I’m a healer. The male cat snorted, and growled, showing white fangs. Then he stood and stalked angrily around me, tail twitching in short, tense jerks. I—she—we--recognized his need to dominate. His verbose rumbling and pacing didn’t frighten us at all.

I felt a smile blossom in the heart of my cat as the male jaguar circled, muscles rippling in the moonlight. Abruptly, as though he’d come to a decision, he rushed me, playfully nipping my shoulder, before he pinned me to the ground.

My cat was no match for his three hundred pounds of brawn. Carefully, he lowered his weight across my back. When I tried to roll away and resist, his teeth closed over the spot where shoulder and neck connect.

Cat Nip Post XX

And suddenly, I felt the fear that I had not felt before. Instead of the slow descent that had been intended, I ran, panicked as he chased me, his silence now more frightening than the low growl that had been emanating from his throat.



I needed to get to Clarence and my buggy. My feet flew over the rough ground, and I was subconsciously surprised that I didn’t stumble. Then I did fall, but that didn’t stop me. I scrambled on all fours, too frightened to stop, or look at my pursuer.

My muscles, unused to such abuse, screamed as I lurched forward, my awkward gait changing, as a vast awareness of power swept through my mind and body.

Suddenly, I was, as I had been in my dream—jaguar—racing on four legs, muscles rippling with new strength, my senses open and alert to the dangers of the night, and all focused on the big cat that followed behind, fear now transformed into delighted acceptance.

I skidded to a halt so quickly, that I sent a shower of fine rocks spraying outward, throwing noise and debris into the air.

A breeze that I had not noticed before carried the scent of burning cattle hair, and the sound of bawling cows. It also brought me the words of the rustlers as though making a gift of them to me. I ignored the big cat that now stood over me, purring as he approved my new appearance.

His sounds of pleasure/joy—both I suspected—intruded, blocking part of the outlaws’ conversation with Olaf Bannister. I butted the cat, enjoying the feel of his muscled shoulder on a primal level never experienced before. Hush… I mind screamed to get his attention.

Sheriff Banister’s words drifted on the wind. Moving them won’t be easy….must be careful…The big cat shoved, impatiently demanding my attention. I slapped him across the muzzle and admired my paw as it flashed out and made contact.

Tomorrow night were the last words heard from the sheriff before a mighty head-butt sent me tumbling backward with a force that left me sprawled in the dust, belly exposed, and a big cat straddling me.

Cat Nip Post XIX

The nice thing about being a healer, everyone expects me to be odd and keep strange hours. Clarence, of course, would have preferred, I think, a more traditional mistress, but it wasn’t to be. And so it was that we found ourselves back on the same road that we had already traveled twice in one very long day.

When we reached the sandy area where I’d found the big cat, I turned Clarence and diverged from the well worn path to follow an elusive track through the brush. Without exploring the why of it, I knew where I was going, and I traveled quickly.

When we reached the foothills that led to the bluff in my dreams, I drove Clarence ruthlessly. “Clarence, I will feed you double in the morning. Don’t let up now old man, we have a cat to save.”

I pulled leather atop the rise and left Clarence by a Juniper bush, climbing swiftly up the rocky way to the bluff. He was there, as I’d known he would be. His tail was swishing angrily as he peered down at the tableau below.

It was almost as it had been in my dream, but for one man who had been added. Sheriff Bannister warmed his hands at the fire and spoke to the rustlers as we watched. I could feel the tension coming from the jaguar and he gathered himself, preparing to spring.

I laid my hand on his shoulder. Slowly, eyes glowing with the blood lust from my dream, he turned his head toward me. One insistent word beat at my mind demanding…what? “…Change.”

He butted me with his head, driving me away from the edge of the cliff and down the slope. I half stumbled, trying to keep my footing at his aggressive shoves.

“Change,” he roared in my mind.

Cat Nip Post XVIII

He invaded my dreams that night. One minute I was in my bed, sleeping; the next moment, I was in the low foot hills surrounding Flat Rock. My night vision had improved, sounds were intensified, and I rolled newly found muscles in my shoulders.

The scent in the air teased my senses. I stretched and I flexed my fingers that had become sharp elongated claws. Testing the strength and capabilities of my new body, I crawled across the ground.

I heard the familiar chuffing sound and then he was beside me, belly crawling toward the edge of the ledge, as I was. The heat from his body scalded me and his purring, attempted to lure me from my goal.

I snarled at him, even took a swipe at his too close shoulder. It was important that I see below.

Two men squatted beside a fire, a branding iron heated in its coals. Fifteen or so cows milled restlessly close by. The cat in me recognized how easy this prey had been offered up. My claws slid deeper into the gravel underneath, preparing to spring.

I don’t know whether it was one of the men I intended to devour, or one of the cattle. My mind was a red haze of blood lust. The jaguar screamed a warning to those below and knocked me on my side. I rolled and fell.

I was on the floor of my shack, wrapped in my blanket…still me, Misery Hess. I rubbed my hands across my arms just to make sure that there was no fur there. It had been so real I felt like I needed to get up fast before I fell back into the dream.

Cat Nip Post XVII

I had an incredible urge to sink my fingers into that magnificent coat. Or, worse, lay my cheek against the powerful shoulder. The purr seemed to intensify, until that was the only thing in the world I heard. I shuddered, grasping for control.

“You’re stealing my will, or trying, aren’t you Mister Cat?” So the cat wanted to play?

My life is fairly lonely. It’s not something I dwell on, but the closest friend I have is Clarence, so an offer of friendship from this big cat didn’t seem too far-fetched or unwanted. Tentatively, I reached a hand to touch.

I froze in mid air. What did I want to feel—the brow, the neck, the belly? I looked darkly at him, and dropped my hand.

“Almost had me, didn’t you?” I stood up and brushed my new dress off disgustedly. And then as an afterthought I murmured, “Oh, and thanks for the clothes.”

It was his turn to stand mesmerized. I don’t usually have that affect on males of any species, so his attention got mine.

I headed back to my buggy. Clarence twitched his ears at me, as if to say, get a move on Missy, but he didn’t seem overly alarmed at the big cat that accompanied me to my conveyance.

I climbed in and took up my reins, prepared to leave. Before I urged Clarence toward home, I leaned down and murmured advice to the cat.

“The sheriff was at my house today asking about a marauding cat that’s killing livestock. If it’s you, quit. He said it had been shot.”

The cat stood, shoulder level with the seat of the buggy, one ear cocked, listening. I wanted to smack his nose. Instead I grasped his jaw with both hands and stared straight into hypnotic amber eyes.

“I missed the bullet last night, so today I could tell the sheriff the truth—I didn’t treat a cat for bullet wounds. I won’t lie if he asks again.” I dropped my hand, took up the reins and drove Clarence toward my shack, trotting homeward at a fast clip.

Cat Nip Post XVI

The leg was still tender, with a line of red marking what should have been a fading scar.

“Oops, better let me work on that," I told him as he purred, rumbling a deep resonating chest sound, loud in the night. “Roll over on your back. I need to check your belly. I don’t know how you found me last night, but I’m glad I could be of service.”

He shifted under my hands as needed, so that I could probe the stomach wound which had healed without issue.

The leg, though, that was a different story. I looked closer and saw the problem. I had missed an important part of the big cat’s injury the night before. He’d been shot. When I popped the bullet out of the hip, I was surprised it had caused that much discomfort.

It was really just a flesh wound, no more than a pebble under the skin. The slug fell to the ground, and I concentrated my healing efforts on the hip, drawing the pain and infection out, letting the positive healing power flow in.

I was tired but satisfied that I’d gotten everything this time and I slumped back on my hands. A sharp burn startled me. I thought at first I’d leaned on a snake. But on inspection, my hand had touched the bullet I’d removed from the cat’s hip. It was silver.

I took my handkerchief from my pocket, and much like earlier in the day, I gathered the bullet to look at later. It nestled next to the tuft of fur. The original coat purred loudly in front of me.

Cat Nip Post XV

It was early evening when Misery started back. Not as late, certainly as the night before, but late enough that Clarence was picking up his feet smartly, anxious to get home to his stall in the shed beside the chicken coop.

She wasn't sure when her conscious mind admitted that she was being stalked. Maybe, stalked wasn't the right word…the animal was running parallel to the trail, not bothering to keep hidden or pretend fear.

It was the jaguar from the night before. Misery didn’t look at him directly, keeping her eyes riveted between the ears of her horse. See no evil.Then he disappeared and she felt enormous relief at having avoided another meeting with the wild cat. She was soon to be disappointed.

He prowled onto their path, muscles rippling, head turned to stare at driver and horse, as they barreled down on him. The cat sat in the middle of the trail and snarled loud enough to halt Clarence in his tracks.

Having gotten their attention, the jaguar sat in the middle of the path and yawned, showing Misery his teeth that gleamed whitely in the darkening night. His eyes were amber colored, and glowing. She shivered. “What do you want?”

Misery knew that speaking to a wild animal as if he could understand, was irrational behavior. Nevertheless, that’s what she did. The cat made a chuffing sound, and dropped down on all fours, rolling to his side, inviting her, she thought, to do a follow up exam.

Cat Nip Post XIV

Misery intended to follow the trail while it was still fresh, but Clarence snorted and did the nervous dance he used to alert her that company was coming. Before she stood, she hastily pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and gathered the hair fiber.

She was leaning over Clarence, checking his hoof when the sheriff rode up to her buggy. “Got trouble?”

This would have been the perfect time to tell the law about the cat she’d treated the night before. Misery didn’t.

“No, sheriff, I was on my way to check on Myrtle and her new baby when Clarence seemed to be favoring his front leg.” The sheriff’s hand dropped uneasily to his own leg, and Misery wondered what that was about.

“So, you did your magic hoodoo on the leg and it’s all better now?” His tone was derisive and she was glad she’d done no magic hoodoo on Olaf Bannister's leg.

“I guess we’ll see,” she said, running her hands up Clarence’s flank before she moved to his tail, patted his rump, and then climbed back into the buggy.

Without further conversation, Misery shook out the reins, politely nodded her head good-day and trotted her horse toward Paddy’s place.

Cat Nip Part XIII

I dropped the hair sample and scrambled backward, putting distance between me and all that power. I was an untrained healer with no information about strange occurrences other than what I had learned in my own short life. I stared at the tuft of hair, not capable of leaving it behind, and unwilling to touch it again.

I’d heard it said about my mother, before I ran away, that she was a round-heeled woman who would fuck the devil if he asked. Some, like my step-father, had looked at me and my odd ways, and declared that the devil had asked.

It seemed as though an abnormal part of me that had been slumbering, was awakened by the aroma from that tuft of hair. My skin itched, as prickles of awareness skittered from the soles of my feet to the tips of my ears. My breath changed to short pants, my back arched, my fingernails scraped the ground that I clutched, and I had the incredible urge to scream, or yowl, or hiss—very loudly.

I shook off the strange reaction and pulled my attention back to why I’d revisited this spot. I could see the scrape marks covered in blood and bits of fur—obvious testimony to the existence of the big cat I’d saved. It looked like the cat had dragged itself a long distance to get to the trail I’d traveled the night before.

I don’t believe in fortuitous coincidence so I immediately pondered a deeper possibility. The cat knew I could heal it and had lain in wait for my passing. It sounded pretty incredible put like that.

Cat Nip Part XII

I’m not much for taking other people’s word for anything, so after I polished off the basket of food Ivers had delivered, I decided to do some investigating. I looked dumbly at the pile of chicken bones on my plate, and the empty tub of potatoes. I’d eaten wings, thighs, and breast, three rolls and even the butter that he’d packed.

The odd thing was I felt like I could eat more. Still, pleasantly full, almost purring with contentment that was unearned, I loosed the curious side of my nature.

Clarence was just as leery of stopping on the road in the daylight, as he had been the night before. I insisted, climbing down from the buggy with alacrity now that I was here.

The place that the cat had laid was scuffed, and drops of blood dotted the landscape. I crouched next to the show on the ground, and lifted a tuft of hair from sage brush where it had caught.

I smelled it. I don’t know why. It just seemed like another piece of information, the scent, so to speak. I didn’t really think that the aroma of cat would cling that long, or that I’d smell it if it did.

I was wrong. The scent nearly knocked me on my rump. And not in a bad way either. My body’s response was immediate. My breath caught and my lungs froze at the same time that cold chills were followed by hot waves of sensation never experienced before.

Cat Nip~Part XI

A picture of the big cat Misery had healed, flashed through her mind and she unconsciously stroked the bite on her neck. There was a small raised area where his teeth had sunk deep, but nothing more. When she touched the spot, it itched, igniting strange fires throughout her body.

Misery, lived in the country for two reasons--she was never wanted in town—needed sometimes, but wanted, never. Two, she didn't care for socializing; anymore than one person at a time was too many.

She was not pleased to find that traffic had picked up at her place. Usually when she heard a buggy in front of her house, she expected sickness or hurt.

This time, Misery knew before opening the door that she was receiving another payment. She answered the knocking to greet Old man Ivers, the town’s only restaurant owner. He stood with a basket of food, ready to shove it into her hands.

“What is it?” she asked, because he held the basket in front of him like it contained snakes.

“Order for this, and money to pay, was shoved under my shop door this morning. I’m just getting around to delivering.” He stepped closer, suddenly not so in a hurry to leave. “You look different.”

Misery didn't recall ever having a conversation with Mr. Ivers in her life. She knew him by sight, as he did her. He was the owner of the Cat’s Eye Diner, she was the local witch.

“Not really, I’m sure.” Misery backed away as he made a hesitant step toward her. The dress that had been delivered earlier by the amorous sheriff, settled protectively over her hips, and she felt a curious rumble begin in her throat.

Mr. Ivers must have heard the noise, because he blanched and backed up. She was glad that he was leaving, if not a little startled, by his hurry.

Misery held the basket and watched as he slapped the leathers across his poor horse’s rump, urging the animal into a lope instead of a sedate trot, like—well—like he was running away from something.

Cat Nip~ Part X

He stepped off the porch and winced as he limped toward Misery. “What’s wrong with your leg,” she queried. She didn’t offer to heal him. For some reason, bile rose in her throat at the thought of laying hands on Olag Bannister.

“Twisted it chasing a belligerent cowpoke who needed to sleep a drunk off. Damn leg just keeps acting up. Maybe…” Misery was shaking her head before he could ask and backing toward her slab of porch just as fast.

“Oh, almost forgot,” he reached into his saddle bag and pulled out a brown wrapped package. “This was left for you at the general store. I said I’d deliver it since I was coming your way.”

Misery caught the package out of the air and said thank you when he tossed it, still determined to wait outside until the man departed. No way did she want to be cornered by a randy lothario in a closed space she might not be able to escape.

He mounted his horse, tipped his head, silently saying good-bye, and rode off toward town. Misery stood outside watching until he disappeared from sight. Only then did she look with curiosity at the package in her hands.

She sank down on the step and tore the brown wrapper aside. Gifts were uncommon occurrences in her life and usually amounted to a jar of honey or a jug of spirits in payment for services rendered.

But this was different.She knew what it was before she finished tearing the paper free. It was blue. The prettiest dress she'd ever owned. Actually, it was the first store-bought dress Misery had ever laid hands on.