Jenni Sauer's Stories

The first thing Dalton noticed as he stepping into the White’s ranch house was how many looking glasses there were. They all but lined the walls in what Dalton considered an overly showy display of opulence. Owning one looking glass was enough to display wealth- only those with money could afford one. But here, there were dozens and dozens. Delilah White looked at her reflection in each one as she passed, making eye contact with herself and offering a pleased little smile each time. They reached the parlor and she asked him to sit, offering him a cup of tea or some refreshment. “Thank you, ma’am,” he said. “But I’m just here to speak with your husband and then I’ll be on my way. My ranch and my boys need me back tonight.” Standing there he saw what other men found so attractive. Her smooth skin, her shimmering locks, her delicate curves, her sweet scent. She was unmarred by the harshness of frontier living and that was so impossible to find out here that seeing it up ...

The boys’ mouths all fell open, offering a clear view of their half-chewed food. Aaron’s eyes went wide with fear and it was Jacob who whispered the words they were all thinking. “She tried to kill you?” “She did.” Her voice was soft, quiet. “Twice. That’s why I ran away from home. That’s why I want to stay here.” Hawk, who had spent most of the conversation focused on his food, nodded in understanding, attention still on the plate before him. “I ran away ‘cause Pa liked to work me over with his belt. Once Ma died there just weren’t no reason to stay.” Dalton stared at him. For the last three years he’d clammed up at the merest mention of his past. Now, one word from this girl and he talked about it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she replied. “Losing a mother’s not easy.” He shook his head, a serious frown on his face. “How old were you when you lost yours?” “I was just a baby,” she said. “I don’t even remember her...

Dalton had to admit she was a good cook. He’d even go so far as to call it amazing. And his boys seemed to take to her- after they’d gotten over the fact that her name was Snow. “Snow White?” Andy demanded when she was properly introduced to everyone at lunch. “That ain’t a name!” “Yes, it is,” the girl insisted. “Nuh-uh.” “He’s right,” Drew jumped in. “Snow ain’t a name.” That was funny, coming from twins named Andy and Drew. “I think it’s a nice name,” Aaron noted, his tone of wonder still present. He hadn’t quite gotten over the idea that she was a fairy. “I think it’s stupid,” Jacob felt the need to add. Cyril grinned. “Yeah, who’d go and name their girl Snow?” “My mama,” she said, with a small smile. “The way my daddy tells it, she was carrying me one winter when she got herself stuck in a barn during a snow storm and she felt me coming. She had me there on the barn floor, keeping her mind off the pain by focusing on the barn’s little window, ...

“Purpose?” Dalton said, not sure he liked where this was going. She nodded. “At Mrs. Hawthorne’s- that’s the finishing school Delilah sent me to when she first wanted to get rid of me- Miss Hawthorne- that’s Mrs. Hawthorne’s sister-in-law who taught deportment- said that it was our job to find someone who needed us and make them our purpose in life. I think she meant we were supposed to marry them, but I won’t make you do that. What you obviously need is someone to take care of your house and your children and I intend to do just that.” She gave a firm nod of her head to punctuate the statement. “Listen, Miss White,” he began. “Please, call me Snow.” “Miss White, you need to understand, I appreciate the thought behind it, but you can’t stay here.” “Whyever not?” she demanded. “You don’t have to worry about me putting you or the children in danger. Delilah only wants to kill me and it’s not like you have any girls so they aren’t a threat to her.” “That’s not wh...

Dalton didn’t believe her, of course. Henry White was a respected man and his wife didn’t seem the type to go around trying to kill people. But then there was a terror in her eyes he couldn’t ignore. She seemed genuinely afraid for her life. The only explanation was that she was soft in the head. Surely that was the case. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it,” he said, disregarding how stupid it sounded. “And I’m sure she and your pa are very worried about you right now.” “Probably not,” she said with a shake of her head. “Delilah thinks I’m dead and she no doubt told Daddy I’m visiting friends so he won’t worry himself sick about me.” “If she tried to kill you why don’t you talk to the sheriff?” he asked, wondering why she wasn’t in town being someone else’s problem instead of here being his. “He’s the one who she had try to kill me,” she said, matter-of-factly. “I promised him if he let me go he’d never see me again, so you can see why I can’t exactly go talk to him abo...

The girl stood and ran a hand through her disheveled hair, pulling out the remaining pins and tossing her head to free the locks of their bun. “My name’s Dalton, ma’am, Dalton Prince,” he began. “I own this here ranch. I’d like to know who you are and what you’re doing here, in my house and in-” He swallowed hard here, uncomfortable, letting the unfinished sentence hang between them. She looked up at him, her pins sticking out of her mouth as she attempted to twist her hair back into a bun. Now that she was out from under the blankets, he could see that her dress was in as sorry a state as her hair, mud splattered and much the worse for wear. But it was a respectable dress, none too fancy but not too plain either. He guessed she came from a good family. Which certainly didn’t explain anything. In fact, it only raised more questions. She finished poking her pins back in her hair and turned to him. “I stopped here to wait out the storm last night but no one was home. ...

Every member of the household was in the room in five seconds flat, plowing the two boys down in their haste. They stood in a circle around the bed, staring at the dark-haired figure as she stirred in her sleep. No one spoke, as if they thought making a sound would break the spell that seemed to hang about the room. Letting out a small sigh of contentment, the girl opened her eyes and sat up, smiling sleepily at them as if she woke up with a circle of boys around her bed every day. “Good morning.” The boys all turned their eyes to Dalton, looking to him to reply to this stranger. She was quite pretty, with black hair that was falling out of her bun to frame her pale face. Her lips were deep red and Dalton wondered if she was wearing paint on them. She must be. No lips could be that red naturally. Her eyes were big and dark, like little lumps of coal that sparkled and shone in the light. She stretched a little and looked from one boy to the other before resting her gaz...

“Dalton, why’s it so clean?” Andy asked, wrinkling up his nose as he stepped into the house. He was the first one in after his guardian but the other boys quickly pushed passed him to see what he was talking about. “I didn’t realize our floor was all the same color,” Andy’s twin, Drew, said, a bit in awe. The twins were ten and the wild redheads of the bunch. They’d first come into Dalton’s life when he’d caught them stealing eggs from his henhouse. “How are we going to find anything?” moped Jed, a nine-year-old brunet with a permanent pout on his face. Though considering he’d lost his entire family not more than a year ago, no one could really blame him. “It’s all so organized.” “Dalton, what’s going on?” seven-year-old Jacob demanded. He was the only one of the boys actually related to Dalton, though distantly. Dalton shook his head, just as confused as the rest of them. They’d spent the night in town because of the storm and he’d expected to come home to find the p...

“Delilah tells me you’ve been causing trouble.” Whenever Snow thought of her stepmother it was always the same image- the woman pausing a moment to catch her reflection in one of the many mirrors she had lined the walls of the ranch with. It had always been a favorite pastime of hers, staring at her own reflection, admiring her own beauty. “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammered. She found it cold all of a sudden and she fought to keep her teeth from chattering as goosebumps crawled up her arms. “I’ve never liked liars, Snow,” he said, his tone soft and gentle, as if she were a frightened animal or a child. Perhaps that was how he saw her, how he’d always seen her. “So let’s be honest with each other. You’re in Delilah’s way and that makes her unhappy. And when she’s unhappy everyone’s unhappy. Especially me.” She had known what was going on between the sheriff and her stepmother behind her father’s back for some time now. But she hadn’t breathed a ...

Snow would’ve run faster if her skirts hadn’t been caked in mud and drenched from the storm. Rain beat down as she ran against the force of the wind, darkness surrounding her. The moon, which was supposed to have been full tonight, was covered by black, angry clouds, the only light coming from the lightning that filled the sky. This wasn’t how she planned to spend her eighteenth birthday. She couldn’t hear anything over the roar of the rain, the thunder that shook the earth, and the pounding of her own heartbeat. But she knew he knew he was coming and if she stopped for even a second he would catch her and that would be the end. She was going to die tonight. The fact washed over her as she ran, causing her to stumble. She sank to the ground beside a tree and stayed there as the realization settled in that no matter how far she ran he would still catch her. It was only a matter of when. The more she ran the longer she put it off. That was all. Escape wasn’t tru...