North to the Salt Fork (17 page)

“Shanes, take that outfit, go out back and get dressed. Arnold you go along and help him.”

The ranger made a face over his assignment, but he grabbed some of the things and motioned for Shanes to carry the rest. The storekeeper had been quiet up until then, but he shook his head when the two left.

“Lazy loafers,” he said under his breath. “The reason they're broke is they're too damn lazy to work.”

“We may change his outlook,” Jack said. “In my outfit, every man pulls his own weight or he's gone.”

“He won't last long with you, then.” The man made a face. “If he ever gets his belly full, he'll fall right back into the mold he came from.”

Jack was annoyed with the man and decided he should settle up and leave before he spoke his mind. “How much do I owe you?” he asked.

“Beans and all, I'd take ten dollars.”

“Why so much? Show me your list.”

The man turned bright red. “Uh, maybe I made a mistake in my arithmetic.” The man looked upset as he went back and refigured the total on a piece of brown wrapping paper.

“Them beans were worth two bucks a sack, that's four dollars,” Jack pointed out. “Overalls fifty cents, shirt the same, underwear seventy-five, suspenders two bits, shoes a dollar and the same for the hat. That comes to eight bucks. You can throw the socks in and it still won't come to ten bucks.”

“That's fine, that's fine,” the man said hastily.

Jack counted out the money, adding a few cents for some hard candy for his crew, and went out on the porch to wait for Cotton's return from the Shanes' home. Thankfully he could do simple arithmetic, he thought, or else he'd have been swindled by the bastard.

He wasn't long in coming back and soon they all mounted up. The newly dressed Shanes climbed in the wagon with Jangles and they headed west. There was still plenty of daylight left.

“What did Maw say when you gave her the beans?” Shanes asked when Cotton rode up to the rig.

“ ‘Oh, God bless that boy of mine.' She was mighty happy to receive the present.”

Shanes nodded from his seat on the wagon. “I'd've figured she'd cry.”

Arnold and Jack each had a line of twelve horses to lead, but by that time they were so well broken, they followed like babies. They traveled the well-used road through the rolling country with little difficulty. German farmers carrying produce in farm wagons let them go by with a solemn nod. None of them cracked a smile and Jack wondered if they ever did.

 

That evening they secured a place to camp beside a tank with water for two bits from a woman in her forties. Jack could barely understand her broken English, but she understood money well enough.

Jangles dug his mouth harp out of his sack after supper, beat the dust out of it, and played a few tunes to entertain the crew. After singing and laughing for some time, everyone turned in. Jack found Shanes a blanket and the boy thanked him again.

“Just pull your weight around here and we'll be square,” Jack said.

 

Before daylight they mounted up and left. It was midmorning and Jack was scouting the road ahead to make sure there wasn't anything or anyone to impede their progress. Good horses were a commodity that caught the conniving eye of many a white man as well as the Comanches.

A rocky outcropping hung over the road, which looked to Jack like a good place to jump someone. He rode back up a canyon and gained the top. Tall grass, pear cactus beds, and yucca ran wild across the flats there. Satisfied that nothing looked out of place, he dropped back to the road. In another mile he found a freestone-bottom creek and they watered the animals in the midday heat.

Cotton handed out leftover biscuits to everyone and they all squatted in the shade to wash them down with tin cups of fresh water.

“We getting close?” Jangles asked.

“Tomorrow we should find his place,” Jack said.

“Jangles said you-all are rangers?” Shanes asked.

“We do ranger work,” Jack said.

“I thought rangers worked all the time,” Shanes said with a frown, and narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“In Texas,” Cotton said. “You do what you've got to do so folks can live here.”

“I guess so,” he said, unconvinced.

“You'll learn more if you stick with us,” Jack said, motioning that it was time to ride on.

“Captain Starr, kin I become a ranger someday?”

“We'll see. You'll have to prove yourself first. Let's move out, boys. Our daylight's a-burning.”

 

They reached Tobin's ranch the next evening. The layout was what Jack expected, with corrals and buildings made out of lumber rather than adobe. He was impressed with a small irrigation system, which provided water for corn, vegetables and, farther down, green alfalfa. An engineer had laid out the watercourse, which snaked all over to follow a grade.

A woman in her thirties came out on the veranda as they rode up to the house. She wore an elegant divided riding skirt and matching blouse. She stood like a willow tree in a gentle breeze, delicate and poised, casting an eye over the horses before walking to the gate.

“May I help you?”

“You must be Mrs. Tobin.” Jack removed his hat and wiped his sweaty forehead on his sleeve before offering his hand to her. “I'm Captain Jack Starr.”

“My name is Nilla Tobin. These horses are for sale?”

“In a manner of speaking. Your husband has already agreed to buy them. We came here for delivery and payment.”

She shook her head. “He's my brother. I expect him to return any day, but he's not here as yet. Manuel will show you where to put the horses. I'll tell the kitchen servants that we have guests; we'll eat in an hour in the main hall.”

Jack nodded to his rangers and they followed her through the yard, entranced by the sway of her hips. There was something special about the woman, a certain quality about her. He never expected to find someone like her in the far reaches of Texas.

“You have a husband?” he asked.

She turned and smiled at him. “At the moment, no. Why do you ask?”

“I simply wondered.”

“Are you married?” She showed him to the doorway.

“Yes, with two stepchildren and a ranch in Shedville.”

“My, my, I was thinking you might be the soldier of fortune I've been looking for.”

Jack blushed, something he rarely did. “Sorry to disappoint you, ma'am.”

“No need to apologize. So, Captain Starr, what do you do for a living? You obviously spend at least some of your time trading horses.”

“Cash is short in the ranching business these days, so I try to take whatever comes my way.” He noted the gleam of her tile floors, which looked too clean to walk on. He hung his hat, gun belt and vest on a wall hook beside the door.

She was standing uncomfortably close to him when he turned to face her.

At a loss for what to say, he blurted out, “Was your husband killed?”

“Oh, dear, must we talk about him?” she cooed.

“I think it's a safe topic.”

She laughed, turned on her boot heels and with a flick of her fingers she beckoned him to follow her.

In the large and spacious dining room, she spoke with a Mexican girl who was setting the table, giving directions and gesturing toward the table, then moved to a cabinet and took out a bottle of whiskey. She poured double shots in two glasses and handed one of the glasses to him. “Here's to Texas dust.”

He smiled weakly, wondering where the boys were, and quickly downed his whiskey.

Nilla took a large swallow, recorked the bottle with the heel of her hand and lifted her half-full glass again. “And here's to a new Texas.”

She studied him intently as they clinked their glasses. He felt like he was being examined by her dark eyes like a horse for sale.

“Why have we never met before?” she asked, leaning forward and running her finger around the rim of her glass. “You hardly look like a sedentary rancher to me.”

“I have no idea,” Jack said, clearly uncomfortable.

“I've been to Austin for the social season several times.” She sipped her whiskey daintily, all the while never taking her eyes off of him.

“I'm sorry to say I've never been.”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “But you were a captain in the war?”

“Yes. I was a ranger before that.”

“And your wife waited for your long-delayed return, I suppose?”

“No, I came home and found my family had been murdered by the Comanches. I met my wife recently at a dance.”

Nilla looked amused. “She's lucky, Captain Starr. Very lucky.”

“Yes.”

“I can see you aren't interested,” she said abruptly. “What a waste.” She drank the rest of the whiskey in one swallow, stood and smoothed her skirts. “I'm always a day late.”

At that moment, the rangers clambered in for supper, followed by three of Nilla's ranch hands. The men looked like typical cowboys to Jack—simple, hardworking, good-natured boys. They wore freshly pressed shirts and Jack wondered whether it was expected of them by the lady of the house.

Nilla proved to be the perfect hostess at the meal and with her looks and charm she held his rangers' attentions. The food was generously portioned and the men ate with gusto. Shanes was agog at his surroundings, as if he couldn't believe such luxury existed in the world. The other rangers, while visibly impressed, were too busy flirting with Nilla between bites of tender beef, frijoles and fresh green beans.

After they finished the meal and thanked the hostess, Jack and his crew retired to the bunkhouse. Monk, who was the
segondo,
offered them hammocks to sleep in instead, since the bunkhouse was often oppressive during the long, hot nights. They accepted and strung them up in the twilight.

Jack hoped Tobin would return shortly; his encounter with Nilla made him want to be at home with Lucy. But as soon as his head hit the netting, he fell asleep and all feelings of homesickness were temporarily put to rest.

 

Before sunrise he was up and dressed. The light in the kitchen led him to the same Mexican servant from the day before, who was working hard with several other women to prepare breakfast. She quickly served him coffee and he took a stool, observing their tortilla-making process.

In addition to the tortillas, the women tossed scrambled eggs, fresh tomatoes and spices in a large skillet on the range top.

“Go ring the bell for the men,” the head cook said to the youngest girl, who rushed out to do her bidding.

In a short while, through the window Jack saw the crew out back, washing their hands and faces. They marched into the kitchen, exchanging pleasantries with the three women. Nilla did not join them for the meal and Jack wondered where she might be.

“While we're waiting for Tobin, why don't you boys team up with the ranch hands and help them out for the day? That alright, Monk?” Jack asked.

“Sure. Can we use some of the new horses? Most of the ones left aren't worth much. The Comanches got all the good ones.”

“Use them—they'll be yours soon anyway,” Jack said.

The ranch hands and rangers left, and he went into the library to examine a few books and pass the time. He found the selection interesting and was scanning an adventure novel in a corner chair where the light came through the window when Nilla walked in.

“Ah, you can read,” she said. She was in a flattering blue duster, standing much too close to his boots.

“I'm looking for pictures,” he said with a smile.

“You're a deep person, Captain Starr. I've watched you and I think there's an interesting story behind your one eye,” she said, referring to his black eye patch.

“I told you I was in the war and rode with the rangers. An eye is a small casualty compared to what others lost.”

She took a seat on the stuffed leather, hardwood-armed chair beside him. Her legs crossed under her duster, she assumed the look and position of one settling in for a long conversation.

“Yes, I remember. So, is Kansas the answer to a rancher's money problems?” she asked.

“It's about the only market we have.”

“I heard that many had to pass the winter with their herds up there. They couldn't sell them last fall.”

“I didn't go this year.”

“Do you raise horses?”

“No, ma'am. I was looking for a project to earn enough money to keep the bills paid.”

She shook her head and tossed her long, light brown hair. “I find myself attracted to you. But obviously you don't share that attraction.”

Jack was surprised by her brazenness. “Perhaps another time and place,” he said uncomfortably. “So, Ms. Tobin, when do you expect your brother to come back?”

She shrugged. “You are, no doubt, ready to ride home?”

“No doubt.”

“I can send a man to look for him.”

“He said that he'd be here waiting for me. If he's not back here in three days, I'll have to take my horses and leave.”

She nodded slowly. “You know he needs them.”

“I can sell them in Fort Worth. If he's stalling me, thinking that I'll take less or let him have them on the credit, he's barking up the wrong tree.”

“Plain enough,” she said. “Pardon me, but I have something to attend to in the kitchen.” She gave him a flirtatious smile and left.

Obviously she wasn't going to offer to pay for them. It became clear to Jack that Tobin didn't have the money for the horses and was off somewhere trying to raise it. But Jack had already made up his mind. He would leave in three days' time, with or without the money. With the faint scent of her perfume in his nostrils, he turned back to the book. He'd have to warn the rangers. This deal wasn't over.