Westward Holiday (10 page)

              “I know.”  It was strange how comfortable she felt talking to Owl about these things.  He never seemed to mind, either.  “I feel like I’m letting Mitch down somehow.”

              “That’s ridiculous.  You haven’t let him down.  Does he love you any less because there has been no baby before now?” Owl asked.

              “No.”

              “Has he acted as if he’s upset with you about it?”

              “No.”

              “Then I wouldn’t worry about that.  If you keep thinking negatively, your body will not help make a baby,” Owl said.

              “Huh?” Sammi said.  “What does that mean?”

              Owl frowned as he thought about how to tell her.  “Negative energy can affect many things in our bodies.  If you keep thinking you’re not going to have a baby, then you won’t.  But if you believe that you’ll have a baby, you will.  Keep picturing your baby.  Talk to your baby.  Keep telling them that you are ready when they are.”

              Sammi gave him a look that told him she thought he was nuts. 

              He laughed.  “You might think I’m crazy now, but if you do what I’m telling you and what Marcus says, you’ll have a baby.  And if it’s a boy, you can name it after me.”

              “Owl Taylor?  I don’t think so.  No offense.  Mitch would probably like a junior,” Sammi said.

              “No offense taken, but you’ll see that I’m right,” Owl said.

              “I hope so,” Sammi said.

              Wednesday night Jake was surprised to see Jack Samuels come in the bar.  He wasn’t wearing his deputy’s badge so he assumed Jack was off duty.

              “Hey, Jack.  How are you?” Jake asked with a smile.

              Jack sat at the bar and said.  “I’ve been better.  Whiskey, please.”

              Jake’s eyebrows rose.  Jack was of age, but Jake had never known the young man to drink. 
Something must be really bothering him,
Jake thought.  His bartender instincts were rarely wrong about this sort of thing.  People would sometimes tell him their troubles when they wouldn’t tell anyone else.

              Jake gave him a shot of whiskey and said, “What’s going on?  Everything ok out home?”

              “Yep,” Jack said and downed the whiskey.  Jack made a face as the alcohol burned his esophagus.  He put the glass back down and said, “Another.”

              Jake smiled and said, “How about you pace yourself?  You’re not used to drinking.”

              Jack fixed his blue eyes on Jake and said, “How about you give me another one like I asked?”

              He reminded Jake of Dean.  Jack’s father had a way of looking at people with a stern authority that made them listen to him.  Jake poured another shot for Jack but gave the deputy a displeased look as Jack downed it.

              “What’s bothering you?” Jake asked.

              “You.”

              Jake slammed the bottle of whiskey down on the bar, startling Jack.  “Listen, Jack, I don’t have to take your smart mouth.  I don’t take it from anyone else, and I sure as hell ain’t takin’ it from you.  Do you understand me?”

              Jack closed his eyes and said, “I’m sorry, Jake.  I’m sorry.”

              Jake was surprised to see that Jack was on the verge of tears.  “Gus, take over a minute!  Jack, come with me.  Now.”

              Jack snatched the bottle of whiskey from the bar and followed Jake into his office.  Jake sat behind his desk and motioned for Jack to sit in one of the other chairs.

              “Now, what’s going on?” Jake asked.

              Jack took a healthy swig from the bottle and coughed a little.

              “Hey, slow down on that, ok?” Jake admonished him.  “Now spill it.”

              “She’s gone,” Jack said.

              “Who?”

              “Sparrow.  My fiancée.  She’s gone.  They left,” Jack said.

              “Oh.  I knew they’d be leaving for the winter soon.  I know you’re going to miss her,” Jake said.

              “No, she’s gone for good.  Uncle Black Fox just told me that her family left yesterday and they’re not coming back because they’re going to join up with the ones that left their tribe over the summer.  You know when they split the tribe because of the whole thing with Uncle Owl and all?” Jack said.  “I’m never gonna see her again, Jake.  I lost her.  I should have married her no matter what was going on and then there wouldn’t have been anything anyone could have done.”

              “Damn, Jack.  I’m so sorry,” Jake said.

              “I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her, Jake.  I didn’t get to see her one last time or anything,” Jack said.  “I thought about going after her, but her family never knew about us.  The only Lakota that did were my uncles and they never told anyone else.  Not even their wives.  Her father was never going to accept us because he didn’t want anything to do with whites after what happened this summer.  I guess it was doomed to start with.”

              Jake’s heart went out to the boy.  He knew how much in love Jack was with Sparrow and felt terrible about Jack having his heart broken.  “Love is hard sometimes.  I’m not going to tell you stuff like it’ll pass and you’ll feel better because right now you don’t want to hear that.  You know what you need?”

              “What?” Jack said as tears filled his eyes.

              Jake grinned and said, “You need to get rip roaring drunk and have a good time and I know just the people to do it with.  Come with me and bring that bottle.”

              Jake found Joe and Lacey.  He had Jack sit at their table and pulled Joe aside for a moment.  He filled Joe in on the situation.

              “Get him good and drunk, but keep an eye on him, ok?” Jack said.

              Joe smiled.  “I can do that.  Don’t worry; I’ll take good care of him.”

              “I knew you would.  Poor kid,” Jake said.  “I gotta get back to work.  Thanks, Joe.”

              Rebecca arrived around eight-thirty that night and things were in full swing.  Jake was slinging drinks down the bar and she watched the expert way he flicked his wrists to send them along their way.  He laughed and started juggling shot glasses.  He kept adding more until he had five going at one time. 

Those gathered around the bar cheered and clapped.  One by one, Jake took them out of the rotation and lined them up on the bar.  He filled them all at once, passed out four and kept one for himself.  He raised his and the other four drinkers clinked theirs against his and they all tossed them back. 

When she came behind the bar, Jake said, “There you are,” and kissed her soundly.

She laughed and said, “You’re in a good mood.”

“Why shouldn’t I be?  It’s a good night and now that you’re here it’s even better,” Jake said.

“Aren’t ya’ll sweet?” Rebecca said.  “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“Nope.  Just a certain southern lady I know who plays piano like nobody’s business,” Jake said.

The gang was singing and the song changed to one to which Jake liked to dance.  He grabbed Rebecca and pulled her out onto the dance floor with him.  She tried to protest, but Jake wouldn’t release her.  “Just pretend we’re out here like we were the other night.  Just concentrate on me, ok?  Don’t be scared.  I won’t let you down,” he said into her ear.

Rebecca nodded and they began moving.  She closed off her mind to all else but Jake and the steps came back to her.  He smiled his encouragement at her and she started to really have fun.  Then Jake started teaching her a new step at a time and she didn’t mind learning with other people watching.  When she tripped up, he straightened her and they did it again.  They laughed the whole time.  Too soon the song ended and Jake had to get back to the bar.

Luke and Seth started a waltz and Owl appeared before Rebecca before she left the dance floor.  He gave her a deep bow and held out his hand to her.  His black eyes smiled at her confusion but he never dropped his hand.  She took it and curtsied to him and then they were off.  They glided around the dance floor and Rebecca was astounded at his graceful movements.  When the dance was over, they bowed and curtsied again and the crowd clapped.  Rebecca was breathless by this time and slipped away to the bar to sit with Jake.

She fanned herself a little as she perched on a stool.  “Oh, my.  I haven’t danced like that in quite a while.  Where on earth did he learn to dance like that?”

Jake laughed and said, “Seth and Maddie taught him.  He gave Sammi away at her wedding and they had to dance so they showed him how to waltz.  He’s damn good at it.”

“I’ll say,” Rebecca said.  “I’m a little nervous about meeting your father tomorrow.”

“Aw, don’t be.  He’s gonna love you,” Jake said.

“I hope so.  Meeting parents is very important in a relationship,” Rebecca said.

Jake nodded as he poured a beer and handed it off.  “True, but there’s nothing to be worried about.”

Jake was right.  Calvin instantly adored Rebecca and when she went to freshen up at one point, he grabbed Jake by the shirt collar and said, “If you don’t marry that gorgeous creature and make me a grandbaby, I’ll slap you silly, boy.  Don’t you let her get away.”  He’d released Jake then and said, “I see what you mean about that accent.  I could listen to her all day.”

Jake laughed and said, “I told you so.”

“You listen to me about her, son.  My gut is tellin’ me that she’s the one for you,” Calvin said. 

Jake didn’t say anything, but in his mind, he agreed with his father.

As they drove back to town, Jake said, “Pa really likes you.”

“I like him, too.  I see where you get your charm from,” Rebecca said as she bumped his shoulder.

Jake laughed.  “Yeah, he’s full of charm when he wants to be.”

“I liked looking at those photographs of your mother and hearing stories about her.  She was a beautiful woman and passed along those looks to you,” Rebecca said.  She laid a hand on his arm and said, “I hope he does come to the saloon one night.”

“Yeah.  Probably a Monday when I can close early would be good,” Jake said.

“Yes.  There won’t be as much excitement on that night,” Rebecca said.  “I would like to play for him.”

“He’ll love it,” Jake said.  “You know, you could take tonight off if you wanted.  Give yourself a break.”

“Perhaps I will.  We’ll see.  Then I would be fresh for the weekend,” Rebecca said.

“There you go.  Then we can dance more,” Jake said.

Rebecca’s eyes shined at him.  “I think that’s a fine idea.”

              And dance they did.  Jake got her out on the floor every opportunity he could.  She was wearing a new shorter dress and when she spun around, he got to see her shapely legs.  Rebecca cut loose a little and had more to drink than normal.  Jake had imbibed more than his usual amount, too, but was still in control. 

              At the end of the night, Jake decided to walk Rebecca home before cleaning up because she needed to go to bed to sleep it off.  As they walked, she giggled about this and that and Jake laughed with her.  She was a little unsteady on her feet so Jake walked her up to her room.  It took them a long time to kiss goodnight and Jake almost gave in to his strong physical urges.  In the end, he saw her inside and left.

              Jack went home that night drunk again.  Dean was waiting for him on the porch.  Jack had put his horse away and walked over to the house.  He wasn’t feeling any pain and didn’t see his pa sitting on the porch swing.

              “Jack, come here,” Dean said.

              Jack started and said, “Damn it, Pa.  You scared me.”

              Dean chuckled.  “Sorry.  Come here and sit down.”

              “I just wanna go to bed, Pa,” Jack said.

              “Sit down now, Jack,” Dean said in his no-nonsense tone.

              Jack sat down and said, “What?”

              “When were you gonna tell me about Sparrow?” Dean asked.

              “When I felt like it,” Jack said in a surly manner.

              It earned him a hard slap on the back of his head.  “Ow!”

              “Don’t talk to me like that.  Why didn’t you tell me?” Dean said.

              Jack said, “Because I figured you’d be happy she was gone.”

              Dean frowned.  “Why would I be happy about that?”

              “Because she’s Lakota.”

              “You’re not making sense, Jack.  What’s that got to do with anything?” Dean said.

              Jack let out a sarcastic laugh.  “It’s no secret that you’re not big on them, Pa.”

              “Listen, just because I don’t always get along with Black Fox or He Who Runs doesn’t mean I have any problem with Sparrow.  She’s a sweet girl and I would have been happy to have her in the family, Jack.  I’m not happy that she left, especially because I know how much pain you’re in right now.  I never want to see any of my children hurt, Jack.  Just because you’re a grown man now doesn’t mean that I don’t want to protect you from getting hurt, you know,” Dean said.

              “You got your hands full with Mikey and the twins.  Don’t worry about me, Pa.  I’ll be just fine,” Jack said.  He made a move to stand up, but Dean held him down.

              “Jack, you’re my son no matter how old you get and I’ll always try to be here for you.  I know your heart is broken right now, but you gotta stop this drinking before it gets out of hand.  You didn’t go to work today and here you are drunk again.  Mitch isn’t gonna put up with that real long, son.  You gotta get it together.”

              “I don’t know what else to do, Pa.  I miss her so much.  And it’s not like before when I knew she’d be back, you know.  I’m never gonna see her again.  Is that how it was when Ma died, Pa?” Jack asked.  He didn’t remember much about Dean’s first wife, Sarah, but he still loved her.

              “Yeah, Jack.  I didn’t really get to say goodbye, either.  She was just gone.  The baby, too.  I didn’t know how to get along for a little while and it kills me that you’re going through the same sort of thing,” Dean said.  “I know how much it hurts, but you’ve got an important job in Dawson so just concentrate on that and lean on your family and friends.  That’s what I did.  It wasn’t easy, but bit by bit, it got better.”

              Jack sniffed and tried to keep from crying.

              Dean rubbed Jack’s back and said, “It’s ok, son.  Let it out.  It’s ok.”

              As Jack’s grief poured forth, Dean pulled him over to lean against him and tried to comfort his boy.  Dean held Jack and remembered when his son was little and he could pick him up to hold him.  It was so hard for him to believe that Jack was almost twenty. 

When Jack’s tears were spent he moved away from Dean and wiped his eyes. 
“C’mon, Jack.  Let’s go to bed,” Dean said and guided Jack inside.

              Jake got up around dawn to answer nature’s call and as he was going back to bed, he saw a strange light out the parlor window.  It wasn’t the sun, Jake knew.  When he looked out, he saw flames reaching high into the early morning sky. 

              “House fire,” he whispered to himself and ran to put on his pants and a shirt.  He stuffed his feet into his boots and raced down the stairs and out of the back door.  Jake ran up the street towards the flames, and then veered off towards the sheriff’s house.  He vaulted up onto the porch and started pounding on the front door and hollering for Mitch or Sammi.

              Mitch opened the door and said, “Yeah, we saw it.  Sammi, c’mon!”

              “I’m right here.  Stop yellin’,” she said and slipped out the door ahead of him.  She held a couple of buckets.

The three of them ran towards the house.  As they neared it, they saw a teenage girl run from the structure pushing two younger children ahead of her.

“Stay here!” she shouted at them and turned back to the house.

Mitch caught her and said, “No! You can’t go back in there.”

Tears ran down her sooty face.  “Sheriff, my parents are in there!  I have to get them out!”

Mitch kept a tight grip on her shoulders and said, “We’ll get them.  You mind your brothers.  I mean it, Rachel.” Mitch recognized the girl as Gary and Wanda Crispin’s daughter.  He knew the family and liked all of them.

Sammi took Rachel from Mitch and said, ‘C’mon over here with me.  Mitch is right.  You can’t go in there.”

Mitch and Jake ran for the house.  They stepped through the front door and Mitch couldn’t believe that the kids had gotten out.  The whole interior was ablaze and the heat was unbearable.  They couldn’t even get to the staircase to go upstairs and when the boards started groaning, Mitch and Jake got out. 

As they hurried from the building, beams and boards began falling where they had just stood.  Rachel began screaming and Sammi had to hold her back.  Mitch made sure that Sammi had Rachel under control before helping to organize a water line so that they could keep other houses from catching fire.

Sammi gathered the children to her and took them to the sheriff’s office to get them out of the cold.  She wrapped blankets around them and started getting the stove going so she could make them some hot chocolate.  She was thankful that Jack kept all kinds of supplies like that around.

When it was ready, she sat in front of them.  The boys, Shawn and Mason, started drinking theirs, but Rachel didn’t touch hers.  She just sat staring blankly at the wall with tears running down her face.  Sammi put her hand on Rachel’s arm and said, “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

There was no response from the fifteen year old girl.  Shawn, who was eight said, “Where’s Ma and Pa?”

Rachel looked at Shawn and said, “They’re dead, Shawn.  They’re dead.”

Mason, her six-year-old brother said, “Dead?”

“Yeah.  They’re not coming back.  You don’t come back when you’re dead,” Rachel said and fresh tears coursed down her face.

Shawn looked at Sammi for corroboration.  She stroked his cute little face, nodded, and said, “I’m so sorry.”

Mason began to cry and then Shawn joined in.  Sammi knelt down and pulled the boys against her as they wept.

Mitch came in their front door and headed quietly up the stairs.  Sammi had brought the children to their house.  A few neighbors had given them some clothing that would fit the three youngsters since they no longer had any possessions to their names.  Sammi wanted to get them cleaned up and feed them if they would eat.

Mitch found her in their room.  “Hi,” he said.  “How are they?”

Sammi looked at him with tears in her eyes.  “The boys are sleeping in the room across the hall and Rachel is bathing.  We need to talk, Mitch.”  She patted the bed next to her.

Mitch closed their door and sat down.  “What is it?”

Sammi wiped at her tears, but more kept coming.  “They have no one, Mitch.  Wanda’s sister is the only other family they have and she lives in Canada.  They’re estranged so there’s no way she’s gonna take on those kids.”