The Horse Dealer's Bargain for A Bride

Chapter 1

Battle of the Golden Filly

Part I

The horse and cattle fair was busy this year too. There was the usual horde of noisy people who, along with their beasts, stirred up the dust of that small and isolated Texan plane. Elizabeth arrived at the bidding grounds early. Walking at her leisure, she gave a winning smile to one of the hands manning the horse pens. It warmed the lad so much that he let her pass through without challenge.

"Morning, my lovelies," Elizabeth said affectionately as she passed one horse after another. "You'll forgive the lack of treats. Got to hoard all I can for this beauty." Using no abrupt motions, and making sure to stay within the young mare's line of sight, Elizabeth extended her palm towards the true object of her visit. The beautiful filly sniffed her hand and let her rub its broad neck afterwards. "Who's going to be mine in just under an hour?" she cooed, to the horse's visible pleasure. "Why, you are, you sweet horse of the golden locks. Yes, you'll see—I'll let no one get in the way..."

After she left the holding pens, Elizabeth took up a prime spot in the bidding ground. She only had to wait five minutes before other buyers began to show up. Soon after that, the trader brought out the first horse to be auctioned, the same filly Elizabeth was interested in. As usual, he hawked out the horse's age, breed, and other characteristics.

Then the bidding began.

As Elizabeth expected, the price started low. It might be just a strategy, but she was sure it was a reflection of how everyone undervalued the young, small horse displayed before their eyes. It made Elizabeth smile to herself, feeling a bit smug at having taken the trouble to look closely at the filly and see prime traits that couldn't easily be distinguished at first sight. She was about to make her first and, she expected, last bid, when a new voice cut in with the exact same figure that was on the tip of her tongue.

"I'll take her for thirty," a man said, the price double of the previous bid. Shocked, Elizabeth scanned the small crowd for the latest bidder and received a different kind of astonishment when she found him.

The man was tall, had blazing blue eyes, and a mouthwatering appeal. She hadn't seen such a spectacular specimen of manhood in quite a while, and she might have stared longer if she hadn't realized just in time that the trader was on the verge of closing the deal with him. Anxious and annoyed, she peeled her eyes away from the man.

"Thirty-five!" she cried.

*****