The Jeweled Spur (3 page)

Faith had watched the scene carefully, but without fear. She had seen her husband deal with many rough, violent men, and never once had he failed to handle the situation well. She shifted Ruth, who was sleeping on her lap, and asked, “How much longer will it be?”

“Almost there,” Tom answered. He looked down at Jubal sitting beside him staring out the window. “Getting tired, son?” he asked, ruffling the boy’s auburn hair.

“I wanna see the ranch, Dad.” Jubal had watched with
interest as the man had shot at the antelopes, and now asked, “Can I shoot your gun when we get there?”

Tom winked at Faith over the boy’s head. “He never gives up, does he?”

“Like someone else sitting on this seat,” Faith nodded emphatically. “Stubborn as a blue-nosed mule, just like his father!” She stretched her back, made a face, and rearranged the child’s position. “It’s a long trip—but it’ll be good for us all.”

“It was nice of Uncle Mark to get us free tickets, since he’s a railroad official,” Laurie observed. “We’d never have saved enough for all of us to come.” She was accustomed, Tom realized, to the stringent economy necessary for a soldier’s family. She would have said more, but the train whistle blew its hoarse bellow in the air, and she glanced out the window. “Maybe this is it,” she murmured.

The conductor entered the car, calling out, “All out for War Paint—next stop!”

The Winslow family eagerly gathered their belongings, weary after the monotonous days of travel. As the train slowed to a stop, Tom stepped off first, gave Faith a hand with the children, then quickly piled all their luggage on the platform. Laurie kept a tight hold on Jubal’s chubby hand while taking a good look at the shabby little town before them. It was just like all the other small towns they’d passed through on the trip. And as always, townspeople strolled up to break the day’s tedium and to touch again for an instant the life they had left behind; to catch, in the train’s steamy bustle, the feeling of excitement and freedom that had impelled most of them to come to the West, but which had died as soon as they had taken roots there. The railroad provided the town a single pulsebeat once a day—emerging as a black ribbon out of the emptiness, touching War Paint, then moving on toward the desolate horizon.

“Tom!” The man coming toward them was dressed in a pair of brown trousers, a blue shirt and vest, and a low-crowned
black hat. Although Laurie had seen him only once when she was six, she knew at once this was her uncle, Dan Winslow. As he reached her father, gripping his hand and slapping his back, she saw he had the same build, tall and broad-shouldered, and the same dark hair and light blue eyes as her father. “And this is your crew, is it?” Dan Winslow said, turning from Tom. He removed his hat, took Faith’s hand, and smiled. “I’m glad to meet you. My wife would have come, but she’s home getting the house ready.”

“We’ll be trouble, I’m afraid,” Faith said. “I know what it’s like to have a bunch like this descend on you.”

Dan laughed this off at once. “Hope’s been looking forward to your visit more than anything I can remember. Gets lonesome out on a ranch.” Then he turned to Laurie. “And this is Laurie—” Laurie put her hand out, but he smiled. “Nope, I have to have more than a handshake from my niece,” whereupon he gave her a hug and a firm kiss on the cheek. He then stepped back and studied her with a twinkle in his eyes. “I think we better leave you in town, Laurie.”

Laurie’s eyes widened in surprise. “But—why, Uncle Dan?”

“You’ll be too much trouble at the ranch.” Dan winked broadly at Tom, adding, “You’ll have every cowboy on the place fighting over you.” He laughed at the sudden blush that touched her cheek. “Your father will have his hands full, I reckon.”

“Already been through all that, Dan,” Tom broke in. He put his hand on Laurie’s shoulder and smiled. “You have to remember she’s been the only girl on an army post with two hundred solders fighting over her. Spoiled rotten, that’s Laurie.”

“Oh, Daddy!” Laurie protested, but then the men turned and picked up the baggage. Dan Winslow led the way to a wagon fitted with a canvas to shield its passengers from the sun’s rays. As they approached, a young man leaped from the seat and yanked his hat off.

“Want you to meet my boy Cody Rogers,” Dan Winslow
said. Laurie inspected the young man covertly, remembering that this was her uncle’s stepson. His father had been killed at Bull Run before Cody was born. He was around twenty, she estimated, and a little under six feet tall. He was lean, but with the heavy shoulders and arms of a good roper, and there was a certain grace in the way he moved. He had a wide mouth, very dark blue eyes, and light blond hair that fell over his forehead. And then she heard Dan Winslow remark, “You don’t have to worry about this one pestering you, Laurie. He’s so much in love he gets on his horse backward.”

Cody shook his head. “Don’t mind what he says, Miss Laurie. I’ll see to it that none of those bowlegged galoots on the ranch bother you.”

“That’s like putting the fox to guard the chickens!” Dan grinned. “Well, let’s get started. I know you’re worn out from that long ride.” He helped Faith into the backseat of the wagon, then said, “Cody, you drive. Laurie, you take Jubal and keep an eye on Cody as well—he thinks he’s the best driver in the county!”

Dan got into the back with Faith and Tom, who took Ruth onto his lap. As Cody pulled out with a sharp word to the horses, Dan said, “Now tell me about this Indian situation, Tom. Are they going to break out this year?”

As the wagon rolled along with the wheels lifting and dripping an acrid dust, Laurie tried to listen to the two men talk, but Jubal was full of questions and wiggled like a worm. She kept him pinned down with much effort, until about half an hour later, she’d had enough and said, “Go get in the back, Jubal,” and the active five-year-old was passed back, her father depositing him in the open compartment of the wagon.

“Ever been in Wyoming, Miss Winslow?” Cody asked.

“Oh, just call me Laurie.” She glanced at the bronzed features of the young man who sat loosely beside her, then went on. “No, but we lived in Dakota for a few years. My father was with the Seventh Cavalry when Custer died.”

This caught Cody’s attention, for everyone in the country
had read of the tragedy she mentioned. The question as to who was responsible for the defeat was still being argued. “You ever meet General Custer?”

“Oh yes, many times.” Laurie thought back to those early days, remembering the tawny-haired general and said, “He used to take me up in front of him on his horse after the drills, and he’d race around as fast as the horse would run!” She reminisced about her days at Fort Abraham Lincoln, then halted abruptly. Glancing at him, she said shyly, “I’m not usually given to so much talk.”

“Well, you’ve got a lot to talk about,” Cody answered. “Not many people had a chance to ride on General Custer’s horse. How come your father didn’t get killed with the rest of the men?”

“He was with the detachment Custer sent out under Reno. They were the only ones who didn’t die that day.” She hesitated, then said softly, “It’s still sad to me—all those men dying. I knew some of them, just young boys no older than you, Cody.”

The wagon swayed and shuddered as it struck a deep depression in the road, sending the impact through the passengers. The sharp scent of dust rose beneath their feet, mixed with the strong fragrance of the earth—the harsh and vigorous emanations of the earth itself. One of the jolts was so violent that it threw Laurie against Cody. “Oh—I’m sorry!” she exclaimed and quickly moved back to her own place.

Cody gave her a crooked smile, his eyes filling with humor. “Why, that’s all right, Laurie. You can do that anytime.” He was laughing at her, Laurie knew, and suddenly she felt that she could like this lean rider very much.
He might be courting some girl,
she thought,
but he’s willing enough to flirt with me.
By the time they pulled up at the Circle W Ranch, the two were chatting freely, and as he helped her to the ground, she said, “Don’t forget, Cody, you promised to take me riding.”

“He might forget to work,” Dan Winslow said, having
overheard Laurie’s words, “but Cody Rogers never forgets when it comes to taking a pretty girl for a ride!”

****

Hope and Faith immediately took to each other, and the large dining room was soon filled with the smells of good food as the two women prepared the supper. It was a fun time, and when they all finally sat down, Dan looked around the table and shook his head. “What a bunch of Winslows!” The table was barely big enough for them. Hope held three-year-old Priscilla and five-year-old Cassidy, while four-year-old Pete sat squeezed up against her. Tom and his family occupied the other side. Dan and Cody sat at the ends.

“Wish Dad could have seen this, Tom,” Dan said, regret shading his voice. “He loved kids so much.”

Tom thought of their father, Sky Winslow, and said slowly, “He sure did, Dan. And Mother would have loved this bunch, wouldn’t she?”

Dan said, “Let’s have the blessing, and then we can light into this grub. My wife’s a poor cook, but do the best you can.”

The meal by the “poor cook” consisted of tender beef steaks, a bowl of thick gravy, hot potatoes boiled in their jackets, steaming beans liberally laced with onions and peppers, tender corn on the cob dripping with butter, and fluffy biscuits with golden brown tops. This was followed by apple and peach pies, which melted in their mouths.

Afterward, the children played noisily while the women washed the dishes. Finally, they put the children to bed, and just before Tom and Faith went to their own room, Dan said, “It’s good to have you here—all of you. I miss having a big family like we had back in Virginia.”

“So do I, Dan.” Tom shook his head, adding regretfully, “Those days are gone, though. Can’t go back.”

Dan Winslow gave his brother a strange look, glanced at
Hope, then said mildly, “Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Tom.”

Later, when Tom and Faith were in bed, Faith said, “They’re so nice, aren’t they? Hope is the finest woman!”

“Yes—but I know a finer one.” He pulled her close and thought about Dan’s words. “Wonder what Dan meant by that—what he said about the old days not being over? We’re scattered all over the country.” He named off the children of Sky and Rebekah Winslow—“We’re in Arizona, Dan’s here in Wyoming, Mark’s in New York, Belle and Davis are in Washington. Only Pet and Thad are still living at Belle Maison—the old home place.”

“He’s probably thinking of a family reunion,” Faith mumbled sleepily. “That would be nice.” An idea came to her and she said, “Maybe Laurie could go live with one of them. She could find a school in one of those big cities—” Then she fell asleep, and Tom held her until sleep overtook him.

****

Cody did not disappoint Laurie, and the next afternoon offered to take her for a ride. “Come on, and I’ll pick you out a nice horse,” he said. Laurie had raced around getting ready, and when she stepped out on the porch, Cody lifted his eyebrows. “Hey, you sure look better than what the cows usually see around here.”

Laurie was wearing her own riding outfit: a fawn-colored divided riding skirt, a brilliant scarlet blouse, a black vest, and a small, narrow low-crowned hat. Cody was surprised at how pretty she looked, noting the black hair that fell down her back and the large black eyes that sparkled with excitement. “Dance next Saturday night in town,” he said. “You’ll sure have to go and give the girls in this town something to get mad about.”

“Will you be there—and your girl?”

“Oh, sure,” he nodded, and as he turned to lead her to the
corral, he added, “Want you to meet Susan Taylor. She’s the prettiest girl in these parts, Laurie.”

“Bet you have lots of competition courting her, don’t you?”

Laurie had spoken in a jocular tone, but she noted that Cody hesitated, and a frown turned his wide mouth severe. “Yeah, I do,” he said briefly. He said no more but led her to the corral where the riding stock stood in the sunshine. “Now there’s a nice horse for you, Laurie,” he said, indicating a small brown mare with fat bulging sides. “That’s Nell. She’s so gentle all the kids can ride her.”

“Oh, I’d like something a little more spirited than that,” Laurie said. Her eyes scanned the horses. “I’d like to ride that mare—the roan with the white feet.”

“Why, you can’t ride that one, Laurie!” Cody exclaimed. “She’s pretty and fast, but downright tricky.” He shook his head, adding, “Some good cowpokes have gotten throwed by that hoss.”

“Oh, Cody, let me try!”

Cody was prepared to deny her request, for the horse was one of the most difficult on the ranch to ride. But when Laurie looked up at him, her face eager and alive, he finally gave in. “Well, I guess you can try her, but don’t blame me if you get throwed and get that pretty outfit all dirty.”

He took a rope from the corral fence and stepped inside. At once the horses began milling around, trying to avoid him. “Her name is Lady,” he grinned, “which she
ain’t.
Look how she’s hiding behind them other hosses. Knows exactly what I’m up to.”

Laurie had seen many men use a rope to capture a horse, but she’d never seen it done as neatly as Cody performed. Using only his wrist, he threw the rope between two horses Lady was using for a shield. The rope shot free, the end opening into a loop that Lady ran into despite all effort to escape. “Oh, what a fine throw!” Laurie cried. “I wish I could rope like that!”

“Maybe I’ll give you a lesson or two,” Cody grinned as
he maneuvered the mare to the hitching post. Snubbing her tightly, he pulled a blanket from the fence and threw it over her back, followed by the saddle. Cinching it down securely, he put the bridle on. Turning to the girl, he said, “Laurie, this just isn’t a good idea. Let me ride her, and you take my horse.” But she pleaded so earnestly that he finally just shrugged. “Well, try not to break any bones when you hit the ground.”

Laurie moved over to the side of the mare, stroked her sleek neck, and said quietly, “Lady, you and I are going to get along.” Gathering the lines, she placed her foot in the stirrup, and with one smooth motion swung into the saddle.