[Texas Rangers 06] - Jericho's Road (2 page)

“
Any answer?” the operator asked.

“
Just say, ‘Will comply.’”

That ought to be short enough to satisfy the money counters, he thought.

The operator picked up a biscuit from the table and took a big bite of it as he went out the door. Tom asked, “New orders?”

Andy nodded. “Captain says our company is bein’ cut again. Says headquarters in Austin wants to reassign me to the Mexican border.”

Tom frowned. “If you’ve ever thought about resignin’, this might be the time. A man can get killed down there.”

“
A man can get killed anywhere. Deuce might’ve shot me if he hadn’t hit my horse instead.”

“
But it’s like a holy war along the Rio Grande. Been that way since the battle of the Alamo and doesn’t show any sign it’s fixin’ to change. You’re automatically somebody’s enemy on sight. It just depends on how light or dark your face is.”

“
Sounds like the Indian wars.”

“
The Indian wars are over with. This one’s not. Do you speak any Mexican?”

Andy swallowed a mouthful of stew. “Just a few cusswords I’ve picked up.”

“
You’ll have every chance to use them, and probably pick up a bunch more.”

The captain had not given Andy a deadline for showing up in Austin. Because the horse he had taken from Deuce was undoubtedly stolen, he left it in Tom’s custody and bought one at the livery barn. Rangers were obliged to furnish their own horses, but the state was supposed to pay for one killed in the line of duty. Andy trusted that he would be reimbursed. If not, he would still eat, though it might be a while before he could afford a new hat or a pair of boots.

Tom approved of the black horse. He rubbed his big hand down the back and the shoulder and finally patted the animal’s neck. “Got long, strong legs. He’ll serve you well in a chase.”

“
I hope I’m the one that does the chasin’.”

“
If not, you’ll sure be glad for those good legs.”

When Andy prepared to leave town the next morning, Tom said, “Sorry I couldn’t provide you a featherbed.”

The jail cot had been hard as a cement floor.

Andy smiled. “At least the price was right.”

Tom said, “I’ll ride with you as far as Shanty’s farm. Then I’ll be cuttin’ off and goin’ home.”

“
I’m glad for the company.”

“
If they send you by San Antonio, be sure to go and visit the Alamo. It’ll help you understand the trouble you’ll run into when you get to the Rio Grande.”

Riding down the street, Andy saw two women pull a buggy up near a general store.

Tom said, “That’s Bethel Brackett and her mother.”

“
I know.” Andy hesitated, wondering if he should ride over and greet them. He realized they had seen him, so he had no choice. “Give me a minute, Tom.”

Tom smiled. “Take all the time you want. If it was me and I was thirty years younger, I’d take the whole mornin’.”

Dismounting, Andy extended his hands to help the older woman down. She said, “We had no idea you were in town, Andy.”

“
Passin’ through on duty. You’re lookin’ fine, Mrs. Brackett.”

He turned toward the younger woman, who had been driving the horses. Bethel seemed reluctant at first to accept his help. “Andy Pickard, I ought not to speak to you.”

“
What did I do?”

“
It’s what you don’t do. You don’t ever come to see a girl. You could be dead and I wouldn’t know about it for six months.”

He thought her pretty, even if at this moment she was being petulant. He said, “If I ever die, I’ll write you a letter and let you know.”

“
You could’ve let me know you were here.”

“
Didn’t get in till late yesterday. Can’t stay. I’ve got orders to report to Austin.”

She frowned. “Even my brother Farley breaks down and sends us a few lines every six months or so. I’d write to
you
if I knew where you’d be.”

“
Half the time I don’t know that myself.” Andy could not tell whether she was angry or just a bit hurt.

She turned at the door. “If you run into my brother somewhere, tell him Mother and I are all right.” She went inside, leaving him embarrassed and not knowing what to do about it.

Tom had watched quietly. He drew in beside Andy and said, “That little girl thinks a lot of you.”

“
Hard to tell it, the way she acts.”

“
A woman likes to have some attention paid to her, and you ain’t done it. She’d follow you in a minute if you was to just ask her.”

“
Follow me to what? A tent camp in the brush with a Ranger company? She was raised better than that.”

“
You won’t be a Ranger forever. Sooner or later you’ll get a bellyful of cold camps and short rations. You’ll start lookin’ for a place to light.”

“
I don’t know as I could ever be a farmer like Rusty. Followin’ a mule down a corn row is too slow a life for me.”

“
Lots of Rangers go in for sheriffin’ when they get tired of the service. They can uphold the law and still sleep in a decent bed most nights. If you was to decide to give it a try I’d hire you as a deputy.”

“
Much obliged, Tom, but so far I’m satisfied with what I’m doin’.”

A former slave, Shanty York had inherited a small farm when his owner died. At first he had trouble keeping it because some neighbors objected to a black man’s being a landowner. Several of them burned his cabin one night. Rusty and Tom and other friends rebuilt it and none too gently elevated Shanty’s antagonists to a higher level of tolerance.

The old man looked frail. Nevertheless, he was working in his garden when Andy and Tom rode up. He seemed always to be busy so long as there was daylight to work by. Shanty took off an unraveling old straw hat and wiped a tattered sleeve across a black face shining with sweat. His broad smile displayed a solid row of white teeth. So far as Andy knew, he still had all the ones God had given him. “Mr. Tom! Andy! You-all git down and grab ahold of this hoe awhile.”

He reached out his hand, and each man took it. For most people Shanty would precede their names with
Mr.,
as he did with Tom. But he had known Andy since the day Rusty had brought him home, a hurt and frightened boy who spoke only Comanche. Shanty had helped care for Andy’s broken leg and patiently coached him word by word into remembering his forgotten English.

Tom exchanged a few pleasantries, then rode on toward his own farm. Shanty said, “You’ll stay and eat with me, won’t you, Andy?”

Andy said, “I wish I could, but I’ve got orders. Just want to drop by and see Rusty before I go.”

Shanty kept smiling. “You don’t need to worry none about Mr. Rusty. He’s doin’ fine, him and Miz Alice. I don’t know as they’ve told anybody yet, but she’s in a family way.”

Andy chuckled. “The old rusty-haired son of a gun. I didn’t know he still had it in him.”

“
It’s in Miz Alice now. She glows like the sunrise.”

It was useless to ask Shanty how
he
was doing. If he were on his deathbed he would declare that he was fine. His face gave little clue to his real age, but his short gray hair and the droop of his shoulders showed that he was getting old. Andy asked, “Anything I can send you from Mexico?”

“
Any necessaries, I can get right here to home. Can’t think of nothin’ I’d want from way off yonder.”

“
The Rio Grande is pretty far, all right.”

“
Too far for these weary old bones. You be careful you don’t come back speakin’ Mexican. Took us long enough to get you over speakin’ Comanche.”

Andy reached into his saddlebag and lifted out a small sack. “Brought you some rock candy to sweeten your disposition.” He knew the old man loved candy, but Shanty rarely splurged on such luxuries.

Shanty’s eyes teared a little as he struggled for words. “I thank you mighty kindly.”

Andy stalled, not wanting to leave. Every time he rode away he wondered if this might be the last time he saw the old man. He asked, “Would you like me to milk your cow for you before I go?”

“
She’s dried up for a little while. She’s in a family way too.” Shanty stared at him, his eyes serious. “You be careful, boy. They tell me there’s lots of wicked goin’s-on down along that river.”

“
There’s wicked goin’s-on everywhere.” Andy reconsidered what he had said and wondered if his experience with lawbreakers
was
making him a little cynical. Tom Blessing had warned him about that.

He turned once in the saddle to wave at Shanty, then reined the black horse in the direction of Rusty Shannon’s farm. The familiar terrain brought back memories, most of them pleasant, a few he did not want to dwell upon. Not far from here he had been part of an unlucky Comanche raiding party, come down from the high plains to steal horses. In a skirmish with Rangers and settlers his horse had fallen on him. Rusty had recognized that he was white and took him to his farm to heal. At first Andy had given him reason to regret his generosity, trying to escape back to his Comanche friends. He had eventually realized that the Indians had reached the end of their time as free-roaming horsemen of the plains. He had gradually accepted his place in the white world, though sometimes he still found himself thinking like a Comanche, feeling like a Comanche. He leaned heavily upon instincts that were sometimes so strong they puzzled him.

Like now, for instance. He sensed a horseman’s approach before he saw him. As he crossed over a rise in the wagon road he saw a man on horseback, moving diagonally toward him. He recognized one of Tom Blessing’s brothers. They stopped and visited a few minutes, but Andy did not mention what his instinct had told him. Most people did not know how to accept it.

Riding by Rusty’s field, he saw that the corn was tall and green, promising a good yield. He remembered a time he had found the crops beaten into the ground by a hail so devastating that Rusty had reenlisted in the Rangers awhile to make up for the financial loss.

Alice stood in the cabin’s open dog run, slicing a ham suspended from a rafter. She did not see him right away. She was a slender woman with light brown hair almost to her waist. He had always considered her handsome, though her sister Josie might have been prettier. Josie’s death had dealt Rusty a blow that for a time threatened to break his spirit. Eventually he had worked his way up from the darkness and had come to accept Alice.

Andy had been pleased, though he had one reservation: he feared Rusty might regard her as second best, a substitute; that Josie still held first place in his heart. Alice deserved better than that.

She gave Andy a sisterly hug, then pushed him off at arm’s length to look him over. “Don’t the Rangers ever feed you? You look like you haven’t eaten in a month.”

He grinned. “I eat Indian style. When I can get it, I eat all I can hold. When I can’t get it, I live off of what I ate before.”

“
I’ll slice some more ham and see how much you can eat for supper. I’ve managed to put some weight on Rusty. If you’ll stay around a week or so I’ll fatten you up too.”

“
Can’t. I’ve been ordered to Austin.”

She appeared disappointed. “A few days of company would be good for Rusty. He hasn’t been away from the farm much since plantin’ time.”

“
I guess he figures he did enough travelin’ when he was a Ranger. A man can get awfully tired of it.”

“
Don’t you get tired of it, Andy?”

“
Now and then. But soon as I rest up a little I’m ready to go again.”

“
There’ll come a day when you’ll decide it’s been enough, like Rusty did. You’ll want to settle down.” Her eyebrows lifted. “Are you goin’ to see Bethel Brackett before you leave?”

Andy looked down. “Already saw her, in town.” He abruptly changed the subject. “Where’s Rusty at?”

Her eyes told him she still wanted to talk about Bethel, but she said, “He went lookin’ for a heifer. He thinks she’s had her calf, and she’s hidin’ it out.”

“
Summer calves can be hard to raise.”

“
A farmer is ready to take a rain or a calf any time.”

She went into the kitchen side of the cabin. “I’ll start supper when I see Rusty come to the barn. How about some coffee while you wait?”

“
I can get it myself.”

Rusty had done his bachelor cooking at the fireplace, but Andy noted that a new iron stove had been installed. A shop-made table and sturdy wooden chairs replaced the crude homemade kitchen furniture that he remembered.

Coming up in the world, he thought.

He watched Alice, trying to discern sign of her pregnancy. All he saw was a brightness he had not found in her eyes before. He said, “Shanty tells me there’ll be three of you by-and-by.”