Unexpected (6 page)

“I was thi
nking about staying for a spell,” Cogan countered unmoved by the sheriff’s threat.

Josie could feel the heat of his body standing behind her.  She could even detect an odor of male sweat.  Yet, she couldn’t help but have that same feeling of
security with him there. She knew the height difference between them and felt a sense of satisfaction with the look of fear on the faces of Butch’s men when he approached. “We hired him on to help because Ryker won’t be back to good health for a few months.” Her eyes narrowed accusingly on Elroy again.

Gus
had to accept that even if he didn’t like it.  It wasn’t just because of the trouble he knew would happen, it was the fact that this big strong man was around Josie and could protect her.  He was jealous. This was a man in his prime and he looked like he could handle anything.  His upper torso was thick with muscle and easily defined in the shirt he wore. He was good with a gun, strong, and fearless. The worse part though, was that he seemed intelligent.  Josie wouldn’t fall for anything less. No, he didn’t like him there at all.  Yet, he really couldn’t send a man away in wake of what had happened even if he didn’t like him around Josie.   Butch had run off all their help and they’d been trying to do everything on their own.  Now with Ryker laid up, nothing would be getting done.

“You can’t just let him stay!” Elroy protested.

“I can do whatever the hell I like Elroy,” Gus countered over his shoulder. Then he turned back to Cogan pointing a deliberate finger at him. “Two months mister and then we’ll have words again if your still here.”

“I may
be waiting for that conversation sheriff,” Cogan said meaning he might just be.

“You stay away from them Elroy,” he tossed over his shoulder
after he made a sound of protest.

“You’re useless! Some
sheriff, letting a man get away with murder.  We’ll see what Butch says!” With that he released a holler and tore out of there at a full gallop with his two men following. Trail dust lingered in the air after they disappeared over the rise.

Gus
waited until they were out of earshot.  He turned his attention back to Josie while casting a wary look at the large stranger.  “I can’t protect you all day and night Josie, you know that.  They’ll be back.” 

“You’re the law.  You’re supposed to prote
ct people like us Gus,” she argued.

“I was a clerk be
fore I took the sheriff’s job.  There’s only so much I can do.  Just be thankful I didn’t fall victim to Butch’s bribes.”

“Bribe or not, you’re no different.  They could’ve killed Ryker.”
She waved a hand furiously toward the house where her brother was recouping.

Gus
took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  He leaned forward crossing his forearms across the pummel of his saddle. His expression was defeated. “Josie, I’ll do my best to keep them away from you.”

“That’s not necessary,” Cogan
finally spoke up from behind her.  “I can protect her just fine.”

“Now just a minute—”
Gus started to protest but he was interrupted.

“Unless you have any further business
Gus, I’d like you to get off my property,” Josephine cut in.  Josie would have never spoken to Gus like that a year ago, but she was fed up with the bullying that Butch was getting away with and no one doing anything about it.

Gus
’s eyes went over the two of them.  He really couldn’t blame Josie for her opinions.  He was a coward.  He was all about saving his own skin and he knew it, she knew it, and so did the large stranger.  Finally he nodded and turned his horse heeling him into a gallop.

When
Gus out of sight Josie turned to Cogan.  He was still standing directly behind her.  Her eyes came level to his chest.  He was wearing a white undershirt and it was soaked in sweat down the front with black soot from the blower clinging to it.  Slowly her eyes went up to his just to see him staring down at her. “Thanks.”

He gave a slight nod
returning his eyes to the receding sheriff. “They’ll be back.”

“I know.” She breathed.  “I shouldn’t ask you to stay.  Butch
has a lot of men that—“

“All the more reason.”
His eyes remained on the horizon.

Josie turned
to look in the same direction, not able to see anything, but it was as if he could.  Mind you he was a good foot and a bit taller than her. There was this look in his eyes too. It was just like the day before when he heard the doctor arrive outside the house.  This man must have amazing hearing.

Cogan cocked his head slightly and felt
himself smirk.

Elroy and his men stopped just out of view
over the rise, but he could hear them.  They were thinking of coming back tonight.  Well, he’d be waiting.

“Is something wrong?”

He looked down at her and instead of immediately answering, found himself studying her upturned face.  She was pretty, well, more than that.  She was beautiful.  She had rare shade of dark reddish brown hair. At the moment it was in a single braid down her back. Her eyebrows were slightly darker as were her lashes, but they just set off those stunning sapphire eyes.  Her mouth was enticing, full, bow shaped and the color of pale pink roses. Her nose was petite, and slightly upturned at the end with a spray of light freckles across the upper bridge. She had high cheekbones and a beautifully sculpted face, and when she was done maturing in her twenties, Cogan was certain she would be a very handsome woman. “No.”

His eyes were dark, the darkest she’d ever seen
.  Moments ago, and yesterday she’d seen them turn menacing. Today, they seemed warm and deep.  Still, meeting his gaze made her oddly uncomfortable. She tore her eyes away from his.  “The sheriff is a good man Cogan.  He just isn’t strong enough to stand up to Butch. I was hard on him.”

“
That’s all fine, but it doesn’t matter.” Cogan said.

Now what did that mean?
“It doesn’t?”

“No.  Elroy still thi
nks he can take what isn’t his.  The sheriff can’t be everywhere, good man or not.”

His eyes
met hers again as if his meaning was deeper than the need to obtain their land. She also noticed that he said Elroy, not Butch.  “I’d better go check on Thomas.” She murmured as she stepped by him and walked away.

Cogan’s eyes followed her until she went up the front steps into the house
.  Then he turned and stared out over the horizon again.  Elroy wanted her.  So did the sheriff. He could see why, but unlike Gus, Elroy wouldn’t wait for her permission.

Yes, he’d be waiting
for them tonight.  If they thought that Miss Hamilton was vulnerable because her brother was laid up, they’d be in for a big surprise.

After she shut the screen door, Josie turne
d to watch Cogan.  He was staring over toward the rise the men disappeared over again.  Hattie was right, there was something horribly menacing about him, but again, she was glad he was there for the sheriff’s visit. Chances were, the three of Butch’s men came just to seek revenge and there was nothing Gus could have done about it, but with Cogan there they didn’t take the chance.

Her eyes went over his broad shoulders.  He was made from solid muscle.  What kind of work gets a man a body like that?  Her brother Ryker was a
hardworking man and in good shape, but Cogan was exceptional. 

He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand as he
took one final glance at the distance before he turned to walk back toward the barn.

***

“What is that?”

Cogan looked up from where he sat on a pile of straw to see
Thomas come in the barn.  He held up the object Thomas indicated to. “A broadsword,” he answered before resuming sharpening the blade with a whetstone.

“Wow!
  That’s neat Cogan.”  Thomas plunked himself next to the large man.

“Yeah.
  It was a gift from a very close friend.”

“Can I hold it?”

He paused and looked at the boy. “You should only hold it if you know how to use it.  That goes for guns too,” he answered seriously.  “If you don’t, then you could really hurt yourself.”

“Is it sharp?”

He smiled.  It was rare for him to do that, but Thomas’s eager curious face reminded him of himself when he was that age. Young and innocent. It was so long ago. He reached down and picked up a piece of straw and brushed it along the blade. It split and curled away from the polished metal. “Yes.”  The boy’s eyes went wide with wonder.

“What
does that say?”

Cogan lifted the sword and tilted it so the daylight could
reflectclearly engraved script on the blade
.
“
It says;
Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam
,” he answered in perfect Latin.

“What does it mean?”

“Ask me another time.”

“Please.”

Cogan inhaled deeply staring down at those innocent sapphire eyes and give in. “I’ll tell you what.  I’ll teach you the phrase.  When you say it perfectly, I will let you know what it means.  It’s very sacred to me. Can you do that?”

The boy grinned from ear to ear.  “I will.”

Cogan spent the better part of the hour teaching him the script.  All the while his sword lay across his lap.  When the boy had it memorized, he stopped.  “Now you just have to learn how to say it properly.”

“I will. I Promise.” His eyes went to the sword.
“Can you teach me how to use it?” he asked excitedly.

Cogan considered this for a moment.  Then he nodded and
stood up. “Not with this one. You’ll cut your leg off before you learn right.  I’ll make you one from wood.  You can practice.”  It was also too heavy but he wouldn’t bring that up.  Boys his age liked to feel tough and invincible.

“That would be great!”

A bell rang in the background.

“
That’s dinner,” Thomas said.

“
You go.  I’ll be a moment.  I need to wash up.”

Thomas
rushed out of the barn as Cogan turned and sheathed his sword in the leather holder that was hung on the wall next to the stall his horse was in. His fingers moved over the crest on the hilt.  Then he quickly flipped the flap over it and turned away.  Those days were long past.  It was best to let them go.

He walked out to the rain barrel in front of the barn, bent over and dipped his hair in it rubbing the soot out.  The house had running water but it would be disrespectful to
go in there looking the way he was. It was a long busy day. He’d reshod the horse, fixed the wheel on the buckboard and started mending the corral fence that was ready to fall over.  It was obvious to him that this was a big spread and Ryker tried to manage it on his own but things were starting to let go.  However, the house was big and elegantly decorated so it was clear that this family had money, so why didn’t they hire more men?  He knew from the conversation earlier that Butch had run them off, but there were always men willing to stay for a buck or even to catch the attention of the young pretty Miss Hamilton.

At dinner he asked the question.

“Butch has threatened anyone that has tried to work for us,” Josie replied.

“You could hire men who are
good with a gun,” he suggested.

“Only Butch has them all hired,
and with his men no one will go against him. Butch is a very frightening man,” she explained. “We also can’t pay what he can.  Besides, men like that only bring trouble and can’t do much else.  You can’t trust them.”

“Butch is a soulless man,” Hattie offered.  “Everyone is terrified of him.”

Cogan shifted his attention to the aunt. “First off, a man is only as frightening as people perceive him.  It’s fear that empowers men like him.”  There was that heat in his chest again.  Yes, he knew that type of man.  Thing is, they bleed like everyone else.

“
He
is
dangerous.  Ryker wasn’t the first person he’s hurt. You will have to see for yourself,” Josie stated in agreement with her aunt.  Cogan didn’t know what they had been dealing with.  The whole town was afraid of him.

“
In due time,” he said casually. “How have you managed then?”

She took a deep breath and released slowly as events of the past years came back to her with that question. “It’s been hard. Ryker can be a force to be reckoned with at times, but he’s only one man.  Sooner or later Butch will lose patience again and do what he tried to do last night.  I’m terrified that they’ll succeed.”  She tried her best to keep her emotions out of her voice.  It was unsuccessful.  She was grateful that he never let on because she was sure he’d heard it.

“Now
there are two men,” he said easily while cutting into his steak.

“We shouldn’t ask you to stay for us.”
  Josie started to worry for Cogan.  He’d seemed to have made himself obligated to them with no reason to be. “We could have just gotten you in the middle of something you don’t need to be in.”