Her Cowboy Knight Page 6

  Before long, Gabby stalked out, confidently checking all of the gear: rings, quintains, lances, barriers, etc. She walked the field to make sure the area was safe for the horses. She glanced up in the stands and saw Cooper sitting there. She gave a wave and a smile.

  Gabby’s brothers also stepped out, both walking horses. Gabby turned her head and went to join them, all business. She checked equipment on the horses. Meanwhile the crowd started filling in around Cooper and Moira. Crowd control started showing up as well, leading the cheering in front of the stands, and Moira said, “Come on, cowboy. Join in the fun. Just for today. I won’t tell any of your cowboy buddies.”

  Cooper laughed at her. “Ma’am, I don’t care about them. They cheer for cars going around in circles, so I guess I can cheer for make-believe knights.”

  So Cooper cheered when prompted, stomping his feet and doing ‘ye old wave.’ Gabby went back into the backstage area and more activity happened on the field with the squires and field hands and crowd stokers.

  Pretty soon, an announcer came over the loudspeaker. “Ladies and gentlemen, lords and ladies… please welcome our best squire demonstrating some training moves. Let’s makes some noise!”

  A black horse with blue trimmings came bursting out of the stable door, barreling toward the far end of the field. It took Cooper a moment to realize that it carried Gabby in a fine chainmail and a royal blue velvet tunic and tights. She was stunning and Cooper’s breath literally caught. Gabby wheeled the horse tightly at the end of the arena, grabbed a lance from the squire, and barreled toward the rings at the center of the ring. She hit her targets with deadly accuracy… all three of them. At the end of the arena, she wheeled back around, rearing for affect. The crowd went crazy, at the urging of the crowd stokers.

  Gabby settled her horse, squared her lance, and went for another target, this time at the quintain. Again, she hit with the dead center of the target, leaving the quintain spinning like a child’s top.

  At the end of the arena this time, Gabby acknowledged the crowd with a raised lance and slow turn of her horse, a stately move that let the crowd know that this time they were in for something special. She took her time handing off her lance to a squire. She reached to her side, pulled the sword from her scabbard, and raised it in salute to the crowd, brandishing it over her head.

  “Lords and ladies, please let’s have absolute silence so both horse and rider can concentrate.”

  As the field hands set out the equipment, Cooper could see what she would be attempting, and he felt his protective instincts start to rise. Moira put her hand on his arm and said, “Trust me, cowboy. She is in very little true danger. Her father has trained her very well, and she rides with extreme skill. Have you not seen that this week?”

  Cooper colored a little, but didn’t answer.

  Gabby kicked her horse forward and sliced at a series of targets on either side, hitting every one, then stabbing her sword into the last one and retrieving it on a blinding spin maneuver. She kept her body in constant fluid motion, the moves rehearsed and perfected, a martial artist in her own right. At the end of the arena, again she saluted the crowd, she and her horse took a bow, and then she wheeled and barreled toward the stable.

  “Lords and ladies, the amazing squire in blue! In but a moment, the king will share with you his favorite entertainment, the joust!”

  Cooper relaxed only when Gabby was no longer visible and the stable doors had closed. The next time the doors opened, William rode out in finery followed by the man with blond hair and another man. The crowd rousers whipped the crowd into a frenzy, based on their color knight, turning it into a competition in order to engage the crowd. The knights performed a little skit with the ‘king of the festival’ deciding who would fight in the competition. The knights competed in a choreographed joust with the crowd cheering when prompted.

  Kids around Cooper were entranced, but Cooper just watched Gabby, who had moved to the front of his section and had the crowd on their feet cheering for the blond man, Leo, who Cooper noted with some aggravation was pretty good-looking in his finery and handled a horse pretty well, too. Gabby moved to work with the knight on ring tosses and the pair worked in perfect unison, obviously a union of much practice. Cooper’s eyes narrowed even more.

  As the competition went on, the knights moved to jousting. Of course, Gabby’s partner Leo came out on top, but then suddenly the stable doors opened again and another knight came out, all in black and wearing his helm to conceal his identity. Cooper knew this had to be Declan. His part of the story was to ‘challenge’ the blue knight as the bad guy. The crowd booed, but the black knight showed skill and courage and an epic battle ensued that landed in the sand and ended with a sword battle with the blue knight winning as the hero of the joust. The crowd cheered, the king rewarded the blue knight, and the knights all paraded off.

  Cooper sat in the stands as the crowd exited, stunned. His Gabby, his magnificent Gabby had managed to surprise him yet again. Danged if she didn’t ride a horse as well as anyone he had ever seen… and he had spanked her for petting a horse. He felt himself grow hot at the embarrassment of it.

  * * *

  That night, Cooper got an even bigger peek into Gabby’s world. All of the players in the Faire gathered around a central fire and told each other stories of their day. As the night went on, they tried out new material for skits and sang songs. Here and there people sat around sewing costumes and repairing gear while others played games and children slept in their parents’ arms or at their feet.

  He learned a little more of the family history as well when he asked, “So, William, how is that you have a Scottish accent, but you served with my uncle?”

  William said, “Dual citizenship. My mother’s from Boston, and I was born there. I lived in Scotland until I was eighteen, but relations with my father got… complicated. I enlisted as a protest against him.”

  Moira wrapped her arms around his neck. “How’d that work out for you, aye?”

  William chuckled. “Parris Island was a bitch.”

  Moira looked at her brother. “And what are you laughing about?”

  Declan sobered quickly and ducked his head.

  Gabby whispered to Cooper, “Declan has his own issues with authority.”

  William said, “Gabby…”

  “What? I didn’t say anything specific.”

  Declan stood up. “Think I’ll wander for a bit. Gabby, why don’t you do your number with your brother?”

  Gabby jumped up with her little brother Eamon to do the classic ‘who’s on first’ skit, with a Ren Faire twist. Cooper watched the two of them, cracking up at the fake British accents and pseudo-medieval speech in the old comedy number.

  When their skit ended, Gabby walked up to him with the girl from the knife-throwing exhibit. “Cooper, I’d like you to meet my friend, Dezzie, or as you saw her earlier, The Great Desdemona.”

  Cooper stuck out his hand. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

  Dez laughed. “Gabby’s almost as dangerous, to be honest. Never known her to walk around without a knife.”

  Cooper raised an eyebrow. “That so?”

  Gabby wrapped her arms around his neck. “And don’t you forget it, mister.”

  Cooper leaned down to kiss her. Seamus walked by at that point. “Get a room.”

  William growled from his chair, “There will be no room getting. Gabby, don’t you think it’s getting a little late? Cooper, I think Leo has a bunk for you in his tent.”

  Gabby looked up into Cooper’s eyes and smiled. “My parents are a little old-fashioned… like medieval.”

  Dez chuckled. “And they will go medieval on your ass if you touch their baby girl. Night, Gabby. Nice to meet you, Cooper.”

  Cooper said, “Nice to meet you, too, Dez. And nice to meet the rest of you. Gabby, can I walk you home?”

  Cooper walked Gabby to the door of her tent and turned her to face him. He looked in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”


  She gave him a puzzled look. He continued, “For that first spanking I gave you. I should have given you a chance to explain yourself better. I was an ass. Can you forgive me?”

  She chuckled. “Well, you had told me to stay away from the horses. To be honest, we don’t let people we don’t know around our horses either. Da would have been just as angry at one of the volunteers for doing something like that. You should have seen what he did to the fire dancers who went near the destriers one time. I understood. Besides, you, um, kind of left me feeling something else for you that night.”

  Cooper leaned down to kiss her, then said, “I did, huh?”

  Gabby nodded. “Yes, sir, you did.”

  They heard rustling coming down the path from the fire, so Cooper gave her one more kiss. “Night, baby. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  * * *

  The next morning, Gabby woke up and stretched, smiling as she thought of the day before. Her family had really seemed to like Cooper, and he had enjoyed his day in her world. This might just work.

  “Gabby, could I have a word?” Her father’s formal tone caused Gabby to pause on the trail from the family camp to the jousting arena. Everyone else moved on ahead, leaving the two of them to speak privately.

  “Sure, Da.”

  “Well, I wanted to ask how things are going for you… at the Harrises’?”

  She started walking again. “Well, things got off to a bit of a rough start, but I’m holding my own. It’s a nice place.”

  He nodded. “And this fellow… Cooper… you like him?”

  Gabby smiled. “Sometimes I think he’s the best guy ever, and then sometimes I want to bash him over the head. So yeah, I think I like him.”

  William took a deep breath. “Well, I know it’s a long way to travel, and I’ve been thinking. Eamon is getting too big to be running loose. It’s time I trained him properly into the shows. I think for this city, I’m going to use him as the third squire. He’s worked very hard this week, and I think he’s ready. Why don’t you just stay at the ranch for the next few weeks, and do the job there, and we’ll make do without you?”

  As the words came out of his mouth, and their meaning hit Gabby, she felt as if her entire existence shifted. The anchor of her family no longer wanted her around. He was discarding her to make room for another, and that realization hurt more than she had words or emotions to express.

  She stopped walking, her mind rejecting the idea that she could be replaced so quickly. “But I have the demo ride…”

  “Seamus has been learning it, and he’s gotten quite good.”

  “Seamus…”

  “Don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. I mean, you could have been sick anytime. What would we have done then, eh?”

  Gabby didn’t mention that she had been sick many times and had gone on anyway, because that’s what you did when you worked the Faire; you went on no matter what. She had seen her father and uncle go on with broken hands and cracked ribs and never complain once, so what was a little fever or sore throat… or pneumonia.

  “Da, this isn’t necessary. I can come back for the weekends…”

  “Gabby, no, I’m bringing Eamon up next weekend. Now stay put and enjoy your time away. Think of it as a vacation.”

  “I’m not going to think of it as anything other than what it is, Father. This is a betrayal. If you wanted me out of the way, you should have just said so.” With that, she turned and ran down the path.

  * * *

  As Gabby ran, her hurt and shock receded, and her anger grew. By the time she got to the stable, she felt like exploding, or vomiting. She stomped into the changing room, slamming the door as she passed, not speaking to anyone. She looked up and saw that someone had prepped Thaddeus, and even that frustrated her, as she had hoped that the time spent with the horse would calm her. She blew out a frustrated breath through her teeth and spun on her heel, stalking back through the stable door into the dressing area.

  With jerky movements she pulled on her fine chainmail. When she snagged her shirt, she ripped it back over her head and slung it across the room. “Goddamnit!”

  She kicked a stool across the room, then tossed the small shield she sometimes carried for sword practice. As it clattered to a stop by the wall, she bent over the small table and tried to steady her breathing.

  When she had it under control, she jerked her chainmail back over her head, not even bothering to corral her riotous curls beyond a cursory attempt at a braid. She didn’t look in the mirror before she stepped out of the room, and looked right into a pair of very familiar blue eyes.

  “Hello, darlin’.” Her cowboy almost melted her heart, but then he opened his mouth and messed it all up. “Where are you headed, because I know you’re not getting on a horse and carrying sharp objects with a mad on like that.”

  Gabby felt every bit of her rage return full force, but she said coldly, “Mr. Harris, this is no affair of yours. Just step aside and let me do my real job.”

  Leo spoke up from off to her left. “I think he has a point, Gabby. I’ve never quite seen you this mad before.”

  Gabby felt the last of her control snap. Enough that this man who barely knew her questioned her skill, but Leo, who had ridden with her every day for the last twelve years? Too much. She almost saw the words coming out of her mouth rather than heard them. “Fuck off, Leo.”

  They weren’t loud words. They weren’t yelled or screamed, but their impact could not be understated. She heard a gasp and realized for the first time that her younger brother Eamon had stepped into the stable with her father sometime in the last few minutes.

  Her father’s face arranged itself into an instant scowl. “Is this how you’ve learned to talk the last week at this ranch, daughter?”

  She didn’t inform him that it was more like she had heard this language around Renaissance Festivals and even her father’s Marine Corps buddies her whole life. Instead Cooper spoke up. “I assure you, sir, she did not. In fact, she showed up with quite a blue streak of language all of her own the first day in my town… the sheriff even commented on it.”

  Declan grabbed Eamon by the shoulders and spun him toward the door. “Why don’t you go tell them we’re going to be a little late starting. There’s a good lad.”

  William kept his eyes on Gabby. “What on God’s green earth has gotten into you?”

  Gabby felt tears pricking her eyes. “You’re replacing me with a twelve-year-old, my boyfriend doesn’t trust me to do my job, and now even Leo doesn’t think I can ride. What could possibly be wrong with me?”

  She took a deep breath and met his eyes. “Look, Father, I’ve tried my best, and if I could have grown a penis, I would have, but that’s the one thing I just couldn’t do. I’m sorry.”

  Leo held up his hands. “Look, maybe I should go…”

  William said, “No, Leo, stay. You’re part of this.”

  Gabby gave a shuddering laugh. “By all means, Leo, stay. You’re more a part of the family than I am, apparently. I’m guessing you knew about this all day yesterday, and just didn’t tell me?”

  She could tell by his guilty expression that she was right. “Well, I can tell you now that he’ll drop you like a yesterday’s porridge just like he did me as soon as Seamus is old enough to joust.”

  She swung her gaze to her father. “But I’ve got news for you, Father. That time will be a long time coming… or has he not told you about the Marine Corps recruitment site he frequents on the Internet. He’s going to enlist, Father… and make you proud.”

  A gasp from the doorway alerted them all to the fact that Moira had joined the party.

  Declan muttered, “Oh, that’s done it.”

  Seamus stood up straighter. “And what if I do.”

  Moira gave him a hard look, then advanced to Cooper. “I apologize, Cooper, you’re not really seeing us at our best.”

  Gabby shook her head and clenched her jaw. “Oh, by all means, we must appear at our best. Did
he perhaps mention, in all your cozy chatting yesterday, the naked roll in the cow field we had?”

  “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” Declan’s oath pretty much summed up the gobsmacked look on all of her family’s faces.

  Gabby, however, knew she had finally crossed the line with Cooper. His body shifted just slightly, but his blue eyes turned that slight shade colder. “Yes, ma’am, that’s the truth. And I’m not ashamed to admit it, although I don’t think I’d have announced it to your family quite this way. But let’s not stop there. Sounds to me like we are in sharing mood right now, Gabriella. Let’s share it all. Yes, we were naked, but we didn’t have sex, but not for lack of trying. I intend to do it many times in the future. But let’s go farther. I also spanked your little bottom several times, something I also intend to do many, many, many times in the future… the very near future.”

  Cooper never took his eyes off Gabby as he said, “So we’ll be taking our leave of you folks now. I’m guessing that you can carry on without us.”

  Gabby said, “Cooper, I still have a show to do today.”

  Cooper shook his head. “No, ma’am, you’re still not getting on that horse with sharp objects.”

  William knocked down the final support to Gabby’s thin reserves of strength. “We don’t need you today, Gabriella. We’ll make do. You shouldn’t sit on a horse in your state.”

  Nothing he could have possibly said could hurt her more. She absorbed the words as physical blows to her body. All of the high color she had displayed earlier left her face, and it took everything she had not to lose what remained of her breakfast.

  Gabby looked around the room at all of the damage she had just done with her extended outburst and felt all of the fight go out of her body. This family that had always been her haven looked like strangers in their judgment.

  She raised her chin. “Very well.” She walked out of the stable in complete silence.

  Gabby immediately spotted Eamon leaning on the rail looking at Thaddeus. She walked over and leaned on the rail beside him.