Dorothy Garlock (12 page)

“’N if’n the man insists on his right to buy government land the same as you did?”

“Then shoot the bastard or hang him. I don’t care which.”

“I’ll not be part of runnin’ a man off’n his land. I told ya that when I come here. Accept the fact he stepped in and bought it when ya didn’t.”

Adam got to his feet so fast it sent his chair crashing back against the wall. “Don’t be giving me any of your gawddamn advice! You work for me, by Gawd! If I say for you to get rid of that red sonofabitch, you get rid of him, or else flag your weak ass off my ranch!”

“Then I’m no longer aworkin’ for ya, Mr. Clayhill. I worked for the law too long to start breakin’ it now. I’ll be off’n yore land by sunup.” Case walked rapidly to the door, then angrily threw back the drapes and passed through.

“Don’t you turn your back on me, gawddamn you! I’ve paid you good wages. You walk out on me and you’ll wish to Gawd you’d kept your mouth shut and followed orders. I’ll blacken your name so you’ll never get another job in this territory or any other.” Adam followed Case down the hall to the door. “My say carries weight with the Cattlemen’s Association,” he threatened.

Case turned with his hand on the knob of the door. “Do as ya please. I’d not work another day for a sonofabitch like ya if’n I was starvin’ to death.”

“There’s plenty of men to fill your job,” Adam yelled as Case yanked open the door and stepped out on the veranda. “You watch your back, you sanctimonious blister. You Texans think you’re so gawddamn special, but you’re nothing but a bunch of spineless pricks!”

Case wheeled and his gun leaped into his hand so fast Adam never saw the move. “Ya watch yore
mouth,
Clayhill, or ya’ll find yoreself aclawin’ sky.” He spoke in the same unruffled voice, but every word struck the astonished Adam like ice. Case had moved in an easy, uncoiling motion. He stood in a half-crouch, his eyes pinpointed on Adam’s, his face expressionless, his eyes cold.

Instinctively, Adam knew he faced a killer. Case would shoot him where he stood. It was a side of the man he’d not seen before. Case Malone was a gunslinger, there was no doubt about that. He backed slowly into the hall and slammed the door shut.

“Della!” he roared. “Della!”

Logan sat up on the side of the bed and reached for his buckskin breeches. The roosters in Mrs. Gregg’s barnyard had started their morning chorus an hour earlier. Now, he could hear someone stirring in the kitchen. He had to clench his teeth to keep from groaning as he stood to pull up his pants and fasten his belt. His body was a mass of welts and bruises. The skin on the side of his face, where Shorty had struck him with the coiled rope, was as raw as a piece of fresh meat, bruised and swollen. He put his hand up to touch it and winced. He finished dressing, picked up his hat, his saddlebags, and left the room.

At the bottom of the stairs he followed the noise of ashes being shaken down from the grate in the cookstove until he reached the kitchen door. A lamp sat in the center of a cloth covered table and a woman stood at the stove.

“Ma’am . . .”

“Oh, my Gawd!” Frightened, she whirled to face him. “It’s you! You just about scared the wind ’n water outta me!”

“I’m sorry. I want to speak with Mrs. Gregg before I go. Do you mind if I wait here until she comes down?”

“You’re in no shape to be out of bed, much less tryin’ to fend for yourself on the trail. Mary’ll tell you that.” She pulled a chair out from the table. “Sit down. Coffee will be ready in a minute and meat and eggs a minute after that. Josh is doing chores. He’ll be in by the time it’s ready.” She was a plump, pleasant-faced woman with dark brown hair streaked with gray.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“I’ll swear to goodness you’re the most polite feller we’ve had here in a coon’s age.” She set a loaf of bread and a board on the table and placed a knife beside it. “Cut yourself off a slab of that bread and tell me if it isn’t the best you ever ate. Mary is the breadmaker around here. None of us can top her and we’ve about quit tryin’.”

Logan tried to smile, but the swollen part of his face wouldn’t allow it. He sliced the bread and smeared it generously with butter. The butter brought his thoughts back to Rosalee.

“I heard snatches of talk last night, Mrs. Hamilton. I heard someone say something about Mr. Spurlock being killed.”

Meta Hamilton shook her head. “Some of the loudmouths that come in here think they’re still herdin’ cows. I’ll swear. Mary told them to tone it down.” She removed a round lid on the stove with the poker and set the coffeepot down in the hole. “Mr. Spurlock was blind, poor man. Seems like some Clayhill riders stopped by the house and was ateasin’ his daughter. Mr. Spurlock heard her cry out and tried to get to her.” Meta went to the pantry and returned with a slab of bacon. “Well, anyway, he had a sharp stick and he poked it in one of the horses and it kicked him to death. Now, isn’t that awful? Those Clayhill riders are gettin’ bolder and bolder. They think they can do about as they please, ’cause there’s no law here to speak of. The bunch that stopped at the Spurlocks’ won’t be comin’ ’round here any more. Mary knows who they are and she’ll put the cabosh on that.”

“Did they mistreat Miss Spurlock?” Logan’s dark face showed no emotion at all and he used the same courteous voice, but his insides were convulsing with anger.

“Not that I heard of. Of course, it was a Clayhill drover telling it. He said they were just funnin’ with her and she got scared and screamed.” Meta turned the meat that was beginning to sizzle in the big iron spider.

“And when did this happen?”

“They were telling it last night, so it must of happened the day before that. Do you suppose it was the same bunch that jumped you?”

“I’ll know after I talk to Miss Spurlock.” Logan’s stomach had been growling as he came down the stairs. Now, his appetite had almost left him.

“Logan! What are you doing out of bed?” Mary’s voice came from behind him and he got painfully to his feet.

“Mornin’. I’ll be leaving, but I wanted to speak with you and thank you.”

“You’re welcome to stay.”

“I appreciate it. But I left a mare and a foal with the Spurlocks, and I think I’d better get on out there and see about them.”

Mary sat down at the table. Her dress was fresh, her face newly scrubbed and powdered. Her soft, brown hair was neatly piled high on her head. “Did Meta tell you what happened at the Spurlocks?”

“She told me.”

“I’d like to ride out there with you and pay my condolences to the family.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am. But it may not be safe.”

Mary laughed softly. “I’ll be safe, Logan. Being in the business I’m in assures that. Drovers, drifters, and even outlaws don’t want anything to happen to this place. The only trouble would be with the renegade Indians and they only attack at night.” She looked into his eyes, her smile both mischievous and knowing.

In spite of his anger, anxiety, and swollen face, Logan returned her smile. “How many renegade breeds have you met, ma’am?”

She looked at him, her eyes twinkling. “How many renegade madams have you met, Mr. Horn?” The question brought a dark flush to his face and she burst out laughing. “Don’t answer, Logan. I
am
a madam and my social status in this town equals yours. We’ll have a few good friends, but the majority will look down their noses at us.”

Logan held his coffee cup in his two hands and stared unseeingly at the cuts on his hands and wrist. After awhile he spoke in a thoughtful, careful way.

“I’ve been thinking, ma’am. I need a safe place to leave some papers.” He looked inquiringly from Mary to Meta.

“You can speak freely in front of Meta and Josh. They’re my family. We look out for one another.” Meta came with the coffeepot and filled their cups and Mary smiled at her fondly. “I’d never have made it without them.”

“Josh and I feel the same. It’s like she was our own daughter.”

“Daughter?” Mary laughed. “Meta! We’re the same age.”

“That makes no never mind. How many eggs, Logan? Josh eats three.”

“That will be fine,” Logan said and lifted his coffee cup to his lips. It was difficult for him to sip the coffee and the cup felt as if it weighed a ton. “I was thinking, ma’am, about the deed to my land and the receipt for the money I paid. The agent will hold off sending the gold and the notice of the sale to Denver until he hears from Clayhill. Until the sale is recorded I’ll have no legal claim if I can’t produce the papers.”

“Adam Clayhill will do everything in his power to run you off that land. If you don’t leave, he’ll try to kill you. Oh, he won’t do the job himself. That isn’t Adam Clayhill’s way. He’ll hire it done.”

“I’m going no place at all. I own the deed to that land and I’m staying.”

“That brings up something else. There’s bound to be a good deal of speculating about where you got the money to buy up a large chunk of the territory. Folks around here don’t have much cash money. They’ll be curious and . . . suspicious.”

“I figure they’d think I stole it. Fact is, I inherited it from my uncle. He owned a fur trading business and several large barges that took trade goods from Saint Louis to New Orleans. He also owned the boats that took the trade goods to the eastern ports. When he knew he was dying, he liquidated his assets because he knew I had no interest in the business. He left his money to me and advised me to invest in land and cattle.”

“Why did you come here? Why not Texas, Arizona or the Wyoming Territory?”

“I was born here. My mother was here.”

Mary put a generous amount of cream in her coffee and stirred it thoughtfully. “You mentioned your missing money belt that first night. I have one that belonged to my husband. You’re welcome to it.”

A glint of amusement showed in Logan’s gaze. “That was a hunch that paid off. I left one coin in the belt they took off me.” He looked down at his cup and when he looked up his eyes studied her gravely. “I’ll not forget what you’ve done for me, ma’am.”

“You owe me nothing, Logan. I was on my way to town.” She reached across the table and touched his hand. “I have an iron safe here. I’d be glad to keep your papers.”

“I’d be obliged. I was going to ask you that and if you’d keep my gold, too. It’s the money for my herd. I have stock certificates and money in an eastern bank, but if a cattleman is going to sell he’d want cash money.”

“I’d be glad to keep it for you, Logan. Of course, there’s no guarantee it will be here when you come for it. But if your money is stolen they’ll take mine, too.”

“Then we’ll cry about it together,” he said and pushed his plate back.

“You didn’t eat your meat,” Meta scolded.

“I hardly ever leave anything on my plate, ma’am. But I’m having a hard time chewing right now.” He stroked the side of his face. “I came pretty near to getting a broken jaw.”

“There’s no big hurry for you to leave, Logan.” Mary pushed back her chair and stood up.

“I thank you. And I want to pay for my bed and board.” He stood and reached for his saddlebags that hung on the rack beside the door. He stood still for a moment as the room swayed, then righted itself.

Mary took in Logan’s drawn expression and the way he held onto the back of the chair. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

He nodded. “I’m right enough.”

“If you insist on going, I’ll drive you in the buggy and Josh will drive your team.”

“I must go.” He placed several gold coins on the table. “The gold is very little for what you did for me, ma’am.”

“I didn’t do it for money. Put the coins back in your poke and I’ll put it in the safe along with your deed and bill of sale,” Mary said in a no-nonsense voice. She took the poke and the papers from his hand, slipped the coins inside, and left the room.

“Josh is usually in by now.” Meta turned worried eyes to the door. “What’a you suppose is keeping him?” The door opened and a stocky man with gigantic shoulders and iron-gray hair came in. “There you are, sugar,” Meta said. “Give me that milk bucket and wash up. It’s a good thing I didn’t start your eggs. Guess you know this is Logan. You almost broke your back agettin’ him up the stairs.”

Logan looked at Josh but made no move toward him. It had become habit with Logan since he’d been in the West to wait before extending a hand lest he be rebuffed. Josh’s face broke into a lopsided grin and he stepped forward, his hand outstreched.

“Howdy. I didn’t think you’d make it to yore feet fer a week. Ya was shore stove up.”

“I’m sure obliged to you. I was wondering how the women got me up the stairs. Now I know.”

“Mary pressed one of the . . . ah, visitors into helpin’,” Josh said with a broad grin. “I didn’t do it by myself.”

“How come you’re late, sugar?”

Josh put his arm about his wife and patted her bottom. They were both short and square and about the same height.

“There was a wolf hangin’ ’round the barn this mornin’. I first spotted ’im by the corral. He slunk off, ’n after milkin’ I saw ’im again. I got my gun ’n looked for ’im, but never got a sight on ’im.”

“Well, my, my! Do you think he’s after a calf?”

“He looked pretty gaunt, but I reckon he could drag down a calf.”

Logan put on his hat. “Thanks for the breakfast. I think I’ll go on out and try to get limbered up a bit.”

“Go easy, now,” Meta called. “Josh’ll come help with the team when it comes time to hitch up.”

Logan walked away from the house. The morning air felt good on his hot face, but didn’t do much to clear the buzzing in his head. He looked around to get his bearings, then moved toward the corral, not daring to hope the wolf Josh talked about was Brutus. He’d not had another glimpse of the wolf dog after he’d seen him drop in his tracks ahead of the team. Mercury’s shrill whinny broke the morning stillness and he waited impatiently for Logan to reach the pole fence.

“It’s good to see you, too, man. We came through this better than I thought we would.” He rubbed the nose of the big Appaloosa affectionately. “Have you seen anything of the boy? I figure if he’s alive he’d follow your scent.”

Logan went to the end of the corral and whistled two short blasts. His eyes anxiously scanned the brush on the hillside. He whistled again and waited. Almost immediately he heard a faint whine from a pile of straw inside the corral, and Brutus, moving slowly, came toward him.