Dorothy Garlock (19 page)

“May I impose upon your hospitality for myself and my men? I’m sure a few days is all the time we will need to come to an agreement, one way or the other.”

Mack had already retreated into himself but lifted his hand casually. “Tell the girl to find you a place to sleep.”

*  *  *

Her control almost shattered Johanna went back into the house after delivering the whiskey to the porch. The smile she had pasted on her face vanished the instant she stepped into the hall. For the first time in her life she felt hatred, hatred for that cruel, vindictive old man. She was feeling the after-effects of the effort it had taken to appear calm in the face of the deliberate affront. Glad beyond measure that Jacy was away from the house, she walked slowly back to the kitchen.

Jacy was spending a lot of time at the hacienda with Luis. It wasn’t proper for a young lady to go alone to a man’s house, even though Jacy had assured her that an older woman kept house for Luis and was there most of the time. Such behavior could ruin a young woman’s reputation. Oh, God, what was she thinking? Jacy’s reputation! Johanna had no doubt that she would be safe with Luis, and she was away from the house, where the old man couldn’t hurt her.

As the supper hour approached, Johanna grew apprehensive. Surely old Mack would come to the table if they had a guest. Would he make a scene with Burr? Would Burr control his temper? Ben had taken charge of Willard Risewick as soon as he left the porch. They had been closeted in his room for hours, and Johanna fervently hoped he had told him about the bitterness between the old man and his sons. She wished she could just set the food on the table then escape to her room, but she knew it wasn’t possible. It’s their affair, she told herself. Why should it matter to her if they went at each other hook and tong? It had nothing to do with her. Yet her fear of a scene remained as she prepared the food.

Burr and Bucko were the first to come into the kitchen for the evening meal. She smiled at Bucko and nodded coolly to Burr. He ignored her until he had built up the fire in the hearth. When it was crackling pleasantly he sat down in the fireside chair and rolled a cigarette. Johanna had her back to him when he spoke.

“Luis and Jacy are down at Red’s. Sometime this evening Luis wishes to speak to you.”

His calm voice plucked at her already taut nerves, and only a momentary burst of common sense prevented her from snapping at him.

“He knows where to find me.” She spoke calmly, but her insides were churning with curiosity as to why Luis wanted to talk to her.

“He wants to talk to you
outside
the house,” Burr said slowly and firmly.

“I’ll be here,” she replied casually, to hide her mounting concern.

“You’re the most mule-headed woman I’ve ever met!”

“And you’re the most asinine man I’ve ever met!” The words were out before she could stop them. Never would she have believed that a brief encounter with a man could cause the turbulence she felt whenever she came in contact with Burr. Her pride had taken a beating at the hands of the Macklins, and she wasn’t sure she was equipped to handle so much as one more abusive word. She put her hand to her head, her lips forming another retort, but before it could be voiced, Ben and Willard Risewick came into the room.

“Evening, Johanna.” Ben’s eyes flicked from her flushed cheeks to Burr.

“Ma’am,” Risewick greeted her politely.

Ben had a soothing effect on her. She breathed a sigh of relief. Dear Ben would take over the conversation and leave her free to persue her own thoughts.

Burr got to his feet to meet the guest. “Burr Macklin.”

The two men shook hands, and Burr urged Bucko forward, his hand on the boy’s back. “Bucko Macklin,” he said, and Johanna could swear she heard pride in his voice.

“Hello, young man.” Risewick’s eyes went from the boy to Burr. Burr looked steadily back at him, as if wishing he would voice the question about the boy’s parentage that was in his eyes.

The last of the platters of food were being placed on the table when Johanna heard the thump of Mack’s walking sticks in the hall outside. She glanced at the table to be sure there was a place setting for him, then brought the biscuits from the oven.

“Evening, Mack,” Ben said as casually as if Mack regularly came to the kitchen to eat.

Old Mack ignored the greeting and eased himself down in the chair at the head of the table, the one Burr usually occupied. He had shaved for the occasion and put on a clean shirt.

Burr motioned for Risewick to be seated on the old man’s right, and Ben sat across the table from him. Burr took the chair at the other end of the table, and Bucko sat beside him. The place left for Johanna was on Burr’s right.

She wasn’t sure she would be able to eat. Her stomach was unusually tense and her hands felt as though they were weighted. She looked often at Ben’s calm face. He chatted easily with the guest while old Mack sat at the head of the table watching and listening, his eyes unusually bright, his face flushed. Burr was civil when spoken to, and Johanna began to hope the meal would end without conflict. Bucko picked at his food. He looked frightened, Johanna thought. Perhaps he sensed the tension between Burr and old Mack, knowing that whenever the two had been together in the past, tempers had flared.

Burr leaned over and spoke to him. Bucko nodded, and Burr broke open a biscuit, put a piece of meat between the two halves, and handed it to him. The child got up as quickly as his lame foot would allow and without looking at anyone limped out of the room.

“Humph!” old Mack snorted scornfully.

“What brings you to the valley, Mr. Risewick?” Burr asked, and Johanna knew instinctively that Burr had sent Bucko away because he too was sure an explosion would come.

“I’ve come to make an offer for the land,” Risewick said smoothly. “I represent a company that will bring settlers out here.” Risewick glanced at the old man. “Mr. Macklin is considering my offer.”

Johanna thought she would choke on her food; she couldn’t swallow. She was unwilling to look at Burr’s face, afraid of what she would see there. She did look at old Mack, and what she saw on his face brought a chill down her spine. His steely eyes were on Burr, and his mouth had a demonic twist.

Burr showed no surprise at the announcement and Johanna was sure that Ben had already told him the purpose of Risewick’s visit.

“Mack may accept your offer and take your money,” Burr said firmly. “But this valley belongs to me and my brother, Luis. He has no right to sell it to you.”

“Mr. Calloway told me about you and your brother. I’ve no wish to become involved in a family conflict, sir.” As he spoke, Risewick looked steadily at the big blond man. “But if we buy the land we will bring a large enough force with us to hold what is ours.”

“I suggest you find other land and save yourself some trouble. I’ll not only fight you with men and weapons, I’ll go to the courts.” Burr’s voice had an edge to it.

“You just try!” Old Mack leaned back in his chair, his sunken eyes cold and a strange sort of smile on his face. “What good would it do you?” he jeered. “You and that damn Mexican ain’t my legitimate heirs. I never married your ma, didn’t need to. I saved her from a sculpin’ by the Apaches, and I plowed her. ’Twas no more than my right, and more’n she deserved, common as she was.” He looked pleased with himself, his eyes going from the fury on Burr’s face to the horror on Johanna’s to the shock on Williard Risewick’s. He failed to see Ben’s face; it was chalk-white and the hand that gripped his eating knife trembled violently.

Burr’s mug came down on the table with a bang. He got to his feet, his eyes dark with anger, his voice more deadly because he spoke softly.

“I don’t know how I’ve kept from killing you, but I swear to God, if you mention my mother again I’ll kill you, even if I hang for it!”

“You ain’t got the guts, you bastard. And if you did you still wouldn’t get my valley. I done told you the only way you’ll get it. Grandsons! Legitimate sons! If I could get this gal here in bed, I’d do it myself. If you don’t, by God, I’ll sell to Risewick and hope he brings back an army that’ll blow you the hell out of here.”

There was silence. A bitter, aching silence.

Johanna was perspiring with anger, not because of the reference the old man had made to her but because of the fiendish delight he was taking in humiliating the unconventional, white-headed giant standing beside her. Burr was huge in stature and passions, had been rude to her and seemed to enjoy taunting her; he had even made her angry enough to strike him; yet now she felt an inexplicable protectiveness toward him. She’d never before felt anything so passionate as her anger at this man and now because of him.

“I’ll talk with you later, Risewick.” Burr left the table, his meal still on his plate.

“Humph!” old Mack grunted. “Damn cur thinks ’cause he’s running things around here the land belongs to him. Well, I’ll show the bastard. Ain’t no bastard ever gonna get this valley!” He reached down for his walking sticks and heaved himself up and out of the chair. “Goddamn the son of a bitch,” he cursed. “The bastards took off my foot while I was laid up with a fever, but I’ll see them both in hell before they get my land.”

Johanna stole a quick look at him as he left the room. His face was blotchy red and he was breathing heavily. She could still hear him cursing as he went out the door and down the hall. Her heart was pounding and she closed her eyes for a moment. The silence was deafening, and when Ben spoke it seemed as though his voice came through a long tunnel.

“Please accept our apologies, Mr. Risewick. Mack takes some getting used to. I’ll pour fresh coffee and we can enjoy these delicious pies Johanna made for us.”

“I’ll get the coffee, Ben.” Johanna jumped to her feet, glad to have something to do for a few minutes so she could gather her wits.

“I’m mystified,” Risewick confessed. “Don’t think I’m prying, but I can’t help but wonder about what Mr. Macklin said about his foot.”

Ben took his time answering. “It’s true,” he said sadly. “Burr and Luis came back to the valley after the war and found Mack in the house Luis and his mother lived in until she died. He was raving with fever. They removed his crushed foot and saved his life.”

“A strange man,” Risewick said thoughtfully. “A very strange man.”

“He is that,” Ben agreed.

“Do you know where he came from originally, Mr. Calloway?”

Ben smiled before he answered. “I’ve known Mack for thirty years and in all that time he’s never mentioned a family or any specific place where he spent his childhood, but I got the impression he was from back East someplace. It was as if he’d never had a life before he came here.”

Johanna rose from the table and collected the empty plates. Her mind was flooded with troubled thoughts. The depraved old man enjoyed hurting Burr and Ben. She was sure of that. It must be that he was demented. No man in his right mind would do such terrible things to his child. He was evil! Evil . . . evil . . . evil. The words kept pounding in her head. Evil was all through this house; she could see it now, and feel it. The house was filled with brooding memories; memories of young Anna, saddled with the guilt of loving one man and bearing the illegitimate child of another. And of a small boy, lonely after his mother’s death, neglected and hated by his natural father. Jacy had felt the presence of the ghost in the house, and it was her reason for not wanting to stay there. Wearily Johanna raised her hands to her head, and her fingers massaged her aching temples. She was grateful that her sister had not been there to witness the scene that had taken place at the table.

E
leven

W
ith so much on her mind, Johanna was almost finished with the cleanup before she remembered that Luis wanted to talk with her. She was disgusted with herself. This house with all its conflicts had so absorbed and muddled her mind that she had confused her priorities. Jacy was her first concern—Jacy and her welfare. She was convinced now that she and her sister should not remain in this explosive environment. The episode this evening had brought that realization clearly into focus.

Looking up from the pan of sudsy water, she groaned inwardly. Burr was lounging in the doorway, his big body filling it—making her feel closed in.
Now is as good a time as any,
she thought.
I’ll take the bull by the horns.

“Mr. Macklin,” she said firmly. “I’ve decided to terminate my employment here and leave. Mr. Redford offered to escort Jacy and me back to town if the position wasn’t suitable.” She looked straight into his eyes, her determination clearly visible. “It’s not suitable and I want to leave as soon as possible.”

He looked at her thoughtfully, then moved his eyes slowly over her body. “You’d not be a bad-lookin’ woman if you had some flesh on your bones. We like our women strong and healthy out here.”

“Like your horses.”

“Exactly.” He sauntered into the room and sat down.

Johanna continued to work. “I’m not interested in your opinion of me. All I want from you is your cooperation in arranging our transportation to town, any town.”

“You’re not likely to be leaving, Johanna. You’ll realize that shortly.”

She breathed deeply in an attempt to calm her nerves. She should have known better than to try to carry on a conversation with him. She could feel his eyes on her but refused to turn around.

“If you refuse to help us, I’ll speak to Luis.”

Suddenly he was out of the chair and there behind her. He stood so close that she could feel his breath on her neck. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t raise her head, in fact couldn’t do anything. He brought out a primitive urge in her to scratch and bite, and she knew that if he touched her she would turn and strike him.

“I’ve decided to wed you,” he announced to the back of her head. “If Mack sells the valley all hell will break loose. I saw enough fighting during the war to last a lifetime. If all it takes to keep peace here is to wed you, I’ll do it. I’m no prize, being a bastard, but you’re no prize either. You’re a headstrong, contrary, disagreeable woman. After we get used to each other, we should fit well together. Of course, we may kill each other first.”