The Western Adventures of Cade McCall Box Set

by Robert Vaughan

  Cade had been under water for so long now that he could feel the increasing ache in his lungs from holding his breath. He desperately wanted air, but he was afraid that if he abandoned his position to take a breath, he might not be able to get back.

  He had to stay here.

  Cade gave one more hard yank on the rope, and he felt it come loose. Quickly he pushed himself out from under the collapsed wall, then raised up. But now the water was so deep that he couldn’t put his head above water while still sitting. He stood up, gasping for breath.

  The water was now almost to his waist, and he started working his way through it, back to the common room. There, he saw the panic-stricken faces of all who had been waiting for him.

  “I’ve got the rope!” Cade said with a triumphant smile.

  He tied one end of the rope off to an exposed stud, then he gave the other end to Beck. “Here you go.”

  The wind was strong and the water, which was now chest deep on Beck, was still rising. He had a difficult time but he managed to cross the space to the wagon. Once there, he secured the rope to the front wheel and then the back tying it off to the axel.

  “Send the first one over!” he shouted, his voice tinny against the roar of wind and rushing water. Tree limbs, pieces of collapsed houses, and other debris was whipping by both afloat, and in the air.

  “Arabella, get going,” Cade said moving her toward the window.

  “When are you coming?” Arabella asked.

  “I’ll wait until everybody is out.”

  “I’m staying with you.”

  A pained expression crossed Cade’s face. “You have to go,” he pleaded.

  “No.”

  “All right,” Cade said. He had to admit, he admired her courage and determination. He turned toward Maggie. “It’s up to you. You have to show everybody how to do this.”

  “Arabella, I’m going to die. I know I’m going to die,” Maggie said, too frightened to move.

  “No you aren’t,” Arabella replied. “Magnolia, you’re the only family I’ve got. I won’t let you die.”

  “You can do this, Maggie,” Cade said. “You’ve got to do it, for the others. The water is too deep to walk, so don’t even try. Just stretch out, grab hold of the rope, and pull yourself across to the wagon.” Cade helped her through the window. She did as Cade had instructed, and when she reached the wagon, Beck pulled her in, balancing it so that it didn’t tip over.

  Cade helped the others through the window, and all including Mrs. Rittenhouse, made it to the wagon bed. Lee Bowman had declined every opportunity to leave until now only he, Arabella and Cade remained.

  “Mr. Bowman, you’re next.”

  “I can’t go out there,” Bowman said.

  “You can’t stay here, the water is getting higher and this whole building is going to collapse at any moment.”

  “I can’t move,” Bowman said.

  “Arabella, you go,” Cade said. “I’ll bring Mr. Bowman.”

  By now the water was considerably higher, and even with the rope, Arabella had a difficult time negotiating the distance between the house and the wagon bed, but she was able to do so.

  “All right, Mr. Bowman there are just the two of us. Let’s go.”

  Cade climbed out first and holding on to the rope with one hand, he reached the other hand up to grab Bowman. But just as he did so, a tidal surge came through and the rest of the house was swept away, Bowman going with it. That also took out the rope that was tied to the stud as the force of the collapsing house dislodged the wagon bed from the tree.

  Cade looked around for Mr. Bowman but couldn’t find him, then he realized that he, too, was being swept away. When he looked toward the wagon bed, he saw that it was beginning to move swirling rapidly through the other debris. Without the rope to help, he started toward where he thought the wagon bed would be, fighting the current, as he tried to swim against it.

  “Cade! Take the line!” Beck shouted. Having drawn the rope back in, he now threw it toward Cade. The rope hung up on a snag of a tree, and Cade was able to make his way to it. Holding onto the rope, Beck and French were able to maneuver the wagon to Cade pulling him in where he lay collapsed on the floor.

  “Ever’ body grab a’ hold of somethin’!” Beck shouted. “We’re in for a wild ride!” They were now adrift, part of the flotsam that was being whipped along by the rushing water.

  “Everybody look out for Mr. Bowman,” Cade said between gasps of air. He raised his head to look toward where he had last seen the old man, but even the house was out of sight.

  4

  The rain and the strong wind stopped at about one o’clock. The stillness was stark as the residents of The Red House huddled together waiting for the first light of day.

  “Will you look at this,” Cade said when he could make out where they were.

  The wagon that had served as their makeshift boat was lodged in the branches of an uprooted magnolia tree.

  “Oh this poor tree,” Mrs. Rittenhouse said. “I hope it’s not the one that was in Miss O’Hara’s yard.”

  “If it hadn’t been for this tree, we very well could be in the Gulf, and we may not be floating, at least not in this wagon, but right now, I’ve got to get out of this thing.” David Andrews said, making his way to a spot of dry ground.

  “Me, too,” Maggie said as she grabbed onto a branch of the tree. It was then that she began screaming.

  “It’s over,” Arabella soothed. “Everything’s fine.”

  But Maggie continued to scream as she withdrew her hand from the tree branch.

  Cade found that snakes had taken refuge in the downed tree just as they had. He jumped out into the water that had receded to below his knees. He coaxed Maggie into his arms and carried her to the island Andrews had found. Arabella, French, Cline, and Beck, who was carrying Mrs. Rittenhouse, joined the other three.

  “It’s eerie,” Arabella said. “Do you think we’re the only ones left alive?”

  “There are others,” Cade said. “Look. Some buildings are completely gone, and others look almost untouched.”

  “Do you think we’ll find Mr. Bowman?” Maggie asked.

  No one answered her question.

  The city of Galveston opened all the public buildings that had not been damaged by the hurricane, and made them available as temporary shelters to the people who had lost their homes. Many of the citizens left town, including all but three of those who had been residents in the Red House. Beck, the seaman, found a berth onboard a ship, while French and Mrs. Rittenhouse found sanctuary in one of the public buildings that had survived the storm. They did not know the whereabouts of Joan Baker.

  One of the buildings that did not survive the storm was the Heckemeyer Stables, where Cade kept Barney. The building was destroyed, and twenty-one horses killed. Barney was one of the twenty-one.

  Cade felt an intense sense of grief and loss over the death of his horse, but he also felt somewhat guilty about mourning the loss of a horse, when people had been killed.

  “Oh, Cade, Barney?” Arabella said when Cade reported the loss.

  Cade nodded, but didn’t speak.

  “He was such a sweet soul. I’m so sorry,” Arabella said, embracing him.

  “What will we do now?” Maggie asked. “We have no place to stay.”

  “Yes we do,” Cade said.

  There was only one place that Cade could think of to go, and that was to the ranch that he and Jeter Willis owned. The MW was located about thirty-five miles from Galveston. It had two cabins, one that he and Jeter used when they were there, and the other was where Titus and Mary Hatley lived. The Hatleys had raised Jeter from the time he was five years old when his father had been shot and his mother had been abducted in an Indian raid. They were the “parents” who had raised Jeter, and one of the reasons he had wanted to buy the piece of land was to provide a home for the elderly couple.

  When Cade inquired, he found that the railroad bridge had been damaged i
n the storm, and there would be no way of getting off the island except by boat. He and Arabella and Maggie went down by the dock to see if the Bell and Sail had survived, and to see if Stan Virden had a suggestion.

  “Most of the small craft were pretty beaten up,” Stan said. “It looks like we’re all in this together, at least for a little while. If you want you can live here in the chandler shop for awhile. It won’t be comfortable, but you’ll be dry—at least you will be when I can get some boards to cover up that hole up there.”

  “We may have to do that,” Cade said. “But there has to be a way to get to the mainland.”

  “Don’t know why you’d want to. The wind didn’t stop at the water’s edge,” Stan said. “I told you, ya gotta place here.”

  Cade looked up at the row of ships that had been in port. Anchored at the far wharf was the Success. It was very obvious that the ship was preparing to get underway.

  “Wait here, for a moment,” Cade said, walking down to where a gangplank ran from ship to shore.

  “Permission to come aboard?” he called up.

  “Wait,” the sailor called back, as he left his position. When he returned a moment later, Cade saw that Pops was with him.

  “Cade!” Pops called down, a big smile on his face. “I was wondering how you fared. Are you wanting to join the crew?”

  “In a manner of speaking. May I come aboard?”

  “Sure, come on up.”

  A few minutes later, Cade returned to where the two women were standing. “Come with me,” he said. “I’ve got us passage to the mouth of the Navidad River.”

  Shortly after coming aboard, Pops opened the bosun’s locker.

  “It’ll take you a while to get to your ranch won’t it?”

  “Yes, I’d say it will,” Cade said.

  “A seaman’s garb may not be the most fashionable outfit you can pick, but it’ll be dry. Here put these on.” He handed them each a set of duck pants and a loose shirt.

  During the brief voyage down the coast, Arabella and Maggie had been restricted to “officer’s country” which was the quarter deck, while Cade earned their passage by working as an able-bodied seaman. He even went aloft to furl sails.

  “See how it all comes back to you?” Pops said. “It’s not too late—I can talk to the cap’n and sign you on.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Burke,” Cade said, using the proper address to recognize Pop’s rank. “But I think I’d better stay with the cattle.”

  The Success reached the mouth of the Navidad after being under way for less than three hours. It didn’t put in, but Pops ordered a boat lowered to take Cade, Arabella and Maggie ashore. Cade climbed down the rope ladder first, so he would be in position to help the two ladies into the boat. This was necessary because both the rowboat and the ship were riding the swells, and sometimes the end of the ladder would be as high as six feet above the bottom of the boat.

  Pops helped Arabella and Maggie onto the ladder, timing the swells as best he could. Then, when all three were in the boat, Pops leaned over to shout down.

  “Good luck, Cade!”

  “Thanks for the ride, Pops!” Cade called back. Now that he was no longer a temporary member of the crew, he felt no constraints about referring to his friend in such a familiar way.

  “Potter, take these people to the beach!” Pops shouted to the sailor who was manning the boat.

  “Aye, aye, sir,” Potter called back, and as Cade released the line that held the small boat to the Success, the young sailor began to row.

  When they stepped onto land at the mouth of the Navidad River, Cade saw at least a dozen unattended boats that had been deposited by the storm. Most were so damaged as to be useless, but he found one that looked seaworthy, and pushing it into the river, it proved to be watertight. After some searching, he also found some useable oars, then he called out to the other two.

  “Climb aboard, mates, we’re almost there.”

  “Mates?” Arabella replied. “All right, we sailed on the ship with you, but, mates?”

  “Arrghhh,” Cade replied in his best pirate imitation.

  Arabella laughed. “We’d better get into the boat, Magnolia, or I fear he’ll make us walk the plank or something.”

  Rowing upstream wasn’t as difficult as Cade had initially thought it would be. That was because instead of a downriver current, the storm had caused the Navidad to spill over its banks, and it was now a wide pool of still water.

  The farther up river they got, the less storm damage they saw, but even this far up, the river was still out of its banks, and because it was, the dock Cade had been looking for was no longer there. However, Cade was able to recognize the place where the MW landing should be and he put the boat in, then secured it to a tree.

  “So, this is the MW,” Arabella said as Cade helped her and Maggie out of the boat. “You’ve spoken about it, but this is the first time I’ve seen it.”

  “This is your ranch?” Maggie asked.

  “Yes, well, mine and Jeter’s. But we only have five hundred acres, so calling it a ranch is sort of putting on a bit of the dog.”

  “Un peu du chien?” Maggie asked.

  Arabella laughed. “Not a little dog, a bit of the dog. It is an expression meaning exaggerating.”

  “Ah, I see,” Maggie said, laughing with Arabella.

  They had to walk a couple of hundred yards to reach the ranch and when they got there, they saw Jeter repairing a fence.

  “Jeter,” Cade yelled.

  Jeter looked up at the sound of Cade’s voice, and the expression on his face registered his surprise at seeing them.

  “Cade? Arabella? What are you doing here?” Jeter asked. “And what are you doing afoot? Where’s Barney?”

  Cade paused for a moment before he responded. “Barney’s dead. He was killed in the storm.”

  Jeter shook his head. “I know what a store you set by that horse. The storm was that bad, was it?”

  “It was bad,” Cade replied without getting into specifics. “It was bad enough that we’re here seeking shelter.”

  “The Red House?”

  “It’s gone,” Arabella said, the tone of her voice indicating her sense of loss. “This is Magnolia Trudeau, Jeter. She’s been living with us.”

  Jeter nodded. “Glad to meet you ma’am.”

  Cade dropped the little bundle of clothes they had been wearing. “This is all we have left. The clothes we’re wearing now came from the bosun’s locker on the ship that brought us here.”

  “Damn, how bad was this storm?” Jeter asked.

  “Galveston was hit pretty hard, but the worst thing is, the number of people who lost their lives. Nobody really knows how many, but it has to be at least a couple of hundred.”

  “Did you lose anybody you know?” Jeter asked.

  “We watched one old man get washed away when the house floated out, and another woman who lived with us went to help out at an orphanage. We never heard from her, so we are assuming she is dead,” Arabella said.

  “That’s too bad.” Jeter was quiet for a moment, simply because he didn’t know what else to say. Then he smiled. “I’ll bet you folks are hungry.”

  “I’m so hungry I could eat the south end of a northbound horse,” Cade said. “We haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon.”

  “Then come on up to the house. I know Ma’s got a big pot of ham and beans on the back of the stove.”

  “How is Mary?” Cade asked.

  “She’s gettin’ by,” Jeter said. “Pa tries his best to see to her. Oh, I’ve put up another little cabin so we can hire somebody else to come take care of them and the place when we’re trailing next spring.”

  “Is it finished?” Cade asked.

  “Pretty much. I even built some furniture to go in it. Nothin’ fancy, but a hand could use it.”

  “What about these two women? Is it big enough for them?”

  Jeter rolled his eyes. “Probably not, but they could have our cabin and you and I
could sleep in the henhouse.”

  “The henhouse?” Arabella asked.

  “That’s what Pa calls my cabin. He doesn’t think too much of my skills as a carpenter. Come on. I’ll show it to you,” Jeter said as he picked up his tools and started toward the houses.

  They went first to the Hatley’s cabin. It had a large open room with red checked curtains at the windows.

  “Ma, look who’s here,” Jeter said taking the old woman’s hand. “It’s Cade. He’s come back and he wants some of your beans.”

  Cade leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I can’t wait, but tell me, do you have any cornbread?”

  A large smile crossed her face. “Now tell me boy, can you have beans without cornpone? It’s not hot, but you can crumble it up in some sweet milk, like you always do.”

  “You remembered,” Cade said.

  “Of course I remembered,” Mary said. “It’s my rheumatism that got me down, not my mind.”

  Cade laughed. “That’s good. I’ve brought you some help that’s going to stay here with you for a while. This is Arabella Dupree and this is Magnolia Trudeau.”

  “My, my, you’re both pretty little things, but why are you wearing these ugly clothes?”

  “A storm hit Galveston, and this is the best we could do,” Arabella said.

  “Can you sew?”

  “No, but we can cook,” Maggie said.

  “That’s good. Titus has to help me get around these days, and he thinks he’s on a cattle drive again. All he ever wants is beans.”

  Arabella and Maggie were given Jeter and Cade’s cabin, and Cade and Jeter moved into the new cabin. It was Jeter who, over breakfast the next morning, suggested that they go to Galveston to help with the cleanup, and Cade agreed.

  “I’m willing to help in the cleanup,” Cade said. “But while I’m there, I also intend to check in with the bank to see if our money is safe.”

  “Yes, good idea,” Jeter agreed.

  “Cade, Magnolia and I . . .” Arabella started to say, she hesitated for a moment before she continued. “I would never ask a man to do this, but Magnolia and I have no clothes to wear but the dresses we had on when the storm hit and these sailor clothes we’re wearing now. Would you . . .”