Savage Desires (1st in Savage Series)

Chapter Fourteen

Allie stepped off the train and looked around the crowded station, feeling completely overwhelmed. She held tight to the handle of her suitcase and tried to make her way through the crowd. She felt as if the mass of bodies was closing in on her and breathing was getting difficult. She had never been in a town as big as Helena and had never seen so many people at one time. No one paid any attention to a young girl on her own as they hustled and bustled about, going on with their daily lives.

Allie saw a gap in the crowd several feet to her left and she started in that direction, desperate for a chance to catch her breath and get her bearings straight. She was almost there when she tripped over an older gentleman's cane and fell headfirst toward the cobblestone walkway. She was sure she was going to crack her head open when two strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind and stopped her fall.

"You alright there, doll?" her rescuer asked. Allie could not see his face because he was still holding her from behind but the voice sounded like it belonged to a boy not much older than her. She pulled herself out of his arms and turned to face him.

"I'm fine, thank you." she said. "And don't call me doll." she added. Then her breath caught in her throat as she took in his appearance. Though he couldn't be much older than her he was already tall, probably close to six feet and his body was more muscular and manly than any of the boys she had known back home. He had thick, dirty blond hair sticking out from under a brown leather cowboy hat and his bright blue eyes were full of amusement as they looked down at her.

"Sorry. Why don't you tell me your name and then I won't have to call you doll anymore?" he replied with a boyish grin that showed the dimples in his cheeks. Allie bent to pick up her suitcase but his hand reached it first.

"I'll get it for you…?" he raised his brow as he looked down at her.

"Allie." she said. He smiled again and she immediately felt comfortable with him.

"Jack." he replied holding out his hand. She placed her hand in his and he shook it several times before releasing her. "Nice to meet you, Allie."

"Nice to meet you too." Allie replied and then she cast another nervous glance around the crowded train station. She had no idea where the stage office even was. She had seen hundreds of buildings and rows of streets when the train had approached the city.

"Where ya goin'?" Jack asked as he chewed on a piece of jerked meat that was hanging half out of his mouth. Allie had never met anyone that looked like him. He was wearing dirty black trousers, and a stained white shirt that was frayed around the wrists and neckline beneath a dusty brown vest with a button missing. His boots were scuffed and the right one nearly had a hole through the toe. What caught her attention the most was the shiny revolver hanging in the worn out holster around his waist.

"I'm looking for the stage coach office and why do you have a gun?" Jack wrapped his arm around her shoulders and began to lead her through the crowd. Allie marveled at how well he was able to maneuver between the mass of bodies.

"I'll take ya to the stage office, cuz you'll never find it on your own, doll, and I carry a gun because it was my pa's and it makes me look tough." Allie found herself laughing.

"So how old are you, doll?" Jake asked as they exited the crowded train station and he let go of her. She matched his steps down the damp cobblestone streets.

"I'll be fourteen next month." she said, hoping that this cute boy wouldn't think she was too young to talk to. "And don't call me doll." she added as an afterthought.

"So you're thirteen." he stated and she smoothed out the skirt of her pink dress and rolled her eyes.

"I'll be fourteen next month." she repeated and this made him smile broadly as he nodded.