After taking one look at John’s expression, she asks, “Are you alright?”
John nods. “Yeah. I guess. That badge carried a lot with it. Now that I’ve given it up, it feels a bit like losing an old friend.”
She nods. “Not that I’ve done anything like that, I can still imagine it’s really tough.”
John steps over to and checks on Cherokee. The marshal is sleeping, if somewhat fitfully. He steps back over to Joey. “Did you tell him what Red-Feather said?”
She nods, then looks at Cherokee. “It hurt finding out what grandfather went through. But learning that he helped Red-Feather and Silver-Moon began the healing. It served as a balm. Now Jahleesee will be able to have the closure she needs as well.”
“Are you going to go home soon? I know you wanna stay here with him, but there are still marshal duties to attend to. That is, unless you want to make me a full-on marshal.”
She shakes her head. “I can deputize you, but can’t swear you in as a full marshal without permission from headquarters first.”
“I’d figured as much. So, are you going to Guthrie to deliver the treaty?”
She nods. “It’s too important for me not to. Plus, someone needs to escort Wheeler as well. Feel like making a trip to Guthrie with me and Jake?”
John nods. “I get the feeling we’re needed elsewhere. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but . . .” He shakes his head unsure how to put his feelings into words.
Cherokee groans and says weakly, “How is someone supposed to sleep around here with you two muttering to yourselves?”
“Oh, pa. Don’t be cantankerous. Would you like some coffee?”
He grunts and nods.
Joey turns and leaves the room.
“So, John. Who’s going to be at your oath-taking ceremony?”
“I was hoping I could just swear-in, in front of you two.”
“Who else is going to be there? Swearing in is as public an event as a wedding, for much of the same reasons, too, you know.”
John sighs, crosses his arms and levels a look at Cherokee. “Is that so? Well, I guess I’ll have David and Bekah, Red-Feather and his family, the Lings and Josiah with his family.”
“Not Jake?”
John shakes his head. “His lies of more than a decade still rankle too bad.”
Cherokee nods. “Gather everyone together. Joey tells me that she and Jake will be heading to Guthrie with the treaty and the prisoner, soon.”
John nods. “She wants to stay here with you, but she knows it’s too important to leave to anyone else.”
“I know she does. She’s a good girl, she knows her responsibilities. I want you on the road to Norman before noon. You are carrying something vital to our nation, after all.”
John nods and turns for the door.
Just as he opens it, he hears Cherokee say, “Thank you for coming back for me. I owe you my life.”
John turns and looks at his soon-to-be-boss and smirks. “Then we’re good. I owed you my life for showing me the path to Grace. Let’s just call it even.”
Cherokee’s pained grin is friendly. “I guess we can, can’t we?”
John passes by Joey in the hallway and says, “Your Pa wants us to make my deputizing public. I’m gonna go get a few friends together.”
She sighs and nods, her acceptance of her father’s wishes somewhat reluctant in her impatience to get things done and over with.
John leaves David’s house and searches out the young doctor, with the feeling nothing is going to be the same from here on.
THE MID-MORNING SUN shining in the window of his hotel room wakes Jake. He rolls out of bed, feeling more refreshed than he has in longer than he can remember. He gets dressed and heads downstairs sedately. He’s surprised to see that the first floor of the hotel is almost completely empty.
When he asks Ben where everyone is, Ben simply replies, “Doc’s office.” Afraid something may have happened to Cherokee, Jake quickly thanks the young man and rushes over to David’s office.
His knock on David’s door is answered by Heart-of-Falcon, who ushers him inside quickly. Once she closes the door behind him, she places a finger on her lips, indicating silence and motions him to follow her.
They go to Cherokee’s room and Jake is surprised to see it’s full of people. He sees John standing in front of Cherokee, right hand on a Bible being held by Joey, left hand raised.
While John repeats the oath of office, being administered by Cherokee, Jake looks at Joey standing there in her guise as Blackwolf and sees a mysterious smile on the beautiful young woman’s face.
After he finishes the oath of office, John pins on the Deputy U.S. Marshal’s badge inside the right side of his vest, where Jake knows John had his Town Marshal’s badge pinned.
Cherokee’s voice is a bit weak, as he reiterates the duties of a deputy to John, each point of which, John nods and agrees to.
Once the exchange is complete, everyone in the room breaks out into applause.
Jake walks up to John and asks, “Just what is going on here?”
John gives him a thoughtful look for a moment, then says, “Last night, it was decided I would turn in my town marshal badge and become a federal deputy.”
Jake is floored by this. In so little time as one night, this much has changed. He looks over at the bed and sees the two marshals right next to each other. They wear identical expressions of smug pleasure.
Jake looks at the faces around the room. Other than Jake and John, of course, there’s Cherokee, Joey, David and Rebekah, an oriental couple, the livery owner, his sister, Red-Feather, Heart-of-Falcon, and a couple of older Apache teens.
Jake moves over to Red-Feather and asks, “You okay with being the marshal hereabouts?”
Red-Feather nods. “John’s gone so much, I am anyway.”
Jake grins. “Well, at least you’re able to stick around anyways.”
Red-Feather’s eyes go distant for a moment, then he nods.
“So it looks like we’re going to Norman with you,” David says to Jake as he approaches.
“Who is ‘we’?” Jake turns and looks at him.
“Bekah and I. We have vouchers to get paid for by the county, so we may as well make a trip of it.”
Heart-of-Falcon looks at David. “Want me to be nurse to Cherokee while you’re gone?”
David nods. “If it’s not too much trouble. We shouldn’t be gone more than a few days.”
Jake turns and looks at John, who is apparently deep in conversation with Cherokee and Joey both. He turns back to David. “How long do you expect it to take Cherokee to heal up?”
“It is literally only by the Grace of God he’s survived this long to begin with. Continued improvement is literally miraculous. Honestly, I can’t tell you.”
John comes up from behind Jake and says, “So, we need to get on the trail as soon as we can. Cherokee’s right, we need to get that treaty to Guthrie.”
Jake gives John a sidelong glance. “So, does this mean, since you’re a junior deputy, you get to do the dirty work of getting the prisoner ready to travel?”
John levels a flat stare at him. “I’m not the one that let them get away in the first place, but I’ll humor you.” Under his voice, he adds, “Not like it’s not my office or anything to begin with.”
Jake snorts as John turns and strides from the room. He turns to David. “How is it you understand the Cherokee, doc?”
David smiles and looks at his wife. “Oh, that’s a rather long story. I don’t think we really have the time. Ask me again, once we get to Norman.”
Cherokee starts to talk, but starts coughing instead. His coughing fit leaves him struggling and gasping for air for several minutes. Joey offers him a little water, but he is unable to stop coughing to sip at it and ends up sputtering, then spilling it.
David steps over to the counter, where a bottle rests. He grabs the spoon that’s right next to it and administers several spoonfuls to the coughing mar
shal.
Cherokee spends several more moments gasping, before finally asking in a dreamy tone, “What was in that bottle?”
“Laudanum.” David closes the bottle and sets it back down on the counter. “You’re going to need to take a bit of this to keep the coughing fits down. It will help. Trust me.”
Cherokee sighs more easily, turns a bit on his side and passes out immediately.
Jake notes the look of concern Joey gives at her father with. Apparently, she feels his eyes on her as she turns to look at him.
Jake nods and approaches from the foot of the examination table. Quietly, he says, “While he’s strong, he’s not that strong. It’s gonna take some time for him to rebuild his strength.”
Her eyes harden. “I know that. That doesn’t mean I don’t worry about him.”
Jake’s grin is somewhat forced. “I understand that. He’ll be okay, eventually.” He turns and looks at Red-Feather a moment, then looks at Joey. “How did Cherokee react to finding out about his dad?”
“All things considered, fairly well. It’s something that’s been hanging over his head for years. A lot of guilt. Now that he knows and has been released, he can start the healing process. Something else that’s gonna take some time.”
Jake nods. “I think we’re going to need to leave shortly.” He points toward Cherokee. “He’ll be alright while we’re gone.”
David steps over to Joey and says, “I trust Heart-of-Falcon to be able to work with Cherokee so much that Bekah and I will be going to Norman with you.” He shakes his head and points toward the unconscious marshal. “He needs to learn not to push himself so far. The next few days are crucial to his healing. Knowing you are handling things for him will help him concentrate on getting better.”
Joey sighs. “I know. I just wish I didn’t have to leave him. Not like there’s any help for it. Think he’ll wake up before we leave?”
David shakes his head. “I just gave him enough laudanum to keep him out for a day or more. Depending on how long we take in Norman, he may not wake up before we get back.”
Joey sighs, nods, then leaves Cherokee’s room.
Jake looks at David and grins. “Think I’ll follow suit. I’m gonna get my stuff ready to go, too. Think it won’t be long for you and your wife to be ready?”
David smiles and beckons Rebekah over to stand under his arm. “Of course not. Our bags are packed. We just need to get our horses ready is all. Go. We’ll meet up out front in a half hour.”
Chapter 17
John looks out over the quiet town of Norman as the party from Denver rides in during the late evening.
David agreed to drug Wheeler for the trip to keep him quiet.
John enjoyed the trip back to Norman. Josh, David and Joey kept a lively discussion going about politics with the Cherokee tribe. Rebekah rode on in stony silence.
John casts an uneasy eye at the relatively quiet eastern part of Norman. Things are too quiet, even for the east side. There’s something not right, here. He can feel it in his bones. He glances first over to Jake, who is riding stiffly as he looks about, starting at shadows, then at Joey, who rides as if there’s an enemy hiding behind every tree.
Joey pulls her repeater from the saddle holster and holds it loosely in her right hand, as she holds the reins in her left. Jake pulls his street howitzer and lays it across his lap.
John turns to look at their prisoner, still draped over his saddle, snoring away in his drug-induced stupor.
While the other two lawmen draw their weapons, John pulls his repeater from the saddle holster hanging off the saddle horn. He turns to David and Rebekah, then says, “There’s trouble. We can’t tell you what, yet. If something happens, find cover and don’t call out ‘til the shooting stops.”
Rebekah looks at her husband worriedly, then at John and nods. David looks long at his friend and nods.
He looks at Josh, then Joey and says, “I’ll take point. Joey, you make sure David and Bekah are safe. Josh, you’ll bring up the rear.”
Both of the other lawmen nod, then get into position.
The trip of the several blocks to Lyttle’s office ends without incident. However, the street is completely deserted.
John dismounts and tries the door. Finding it locked, he knocks loudly enough to be heard. He waits several moments, then bangs on the door insistently.
A small panel in the door slides open and John sees a pair of weathered eyes peer out.
After a moment’s hesitation, the eyes widen in the surprise of acknowledgment. “Marshal!” The door opens and Dawkins, the sheriff’s deputy, stands there, holding a repeater rifle at the ready. “Oh, am I glad to see you! We have trouble.”
John turns to look at the group, then back at Nick. He motions toward the group that has dismounted and the horse that is carrying the prisoner. “We have a prisoner we need to drop off. Can we come in?”
Dawkins opens the door and ushers the group in, allowing them to drop off the prisoner in the jail cell.
The transfer takes only a moment and the group meets back in Dawkins’s office.
Once they all meet back up, John demands “So, what’s all this about? Why all the security?”
The deputy sits down at his desk heavily with a sigh. “Around noon, we received reports of a bank robber over at First Bank. Sheriff Lyttle and I got over there a little while after it happened and came across what looked to have been quite the battle.” Tears gather in his eyes and his hands shake. “Several people were killed, a couple more hurt.”
John jabs his thumb at David. “He’s a doctor. Where your injured people at?”
“They’re over at the Emerald Fields Hotel.”
Joey hits the wall with her fist. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier? Are the Mallory’s okay?”
Dawkins shakes his head mutely.
As one, the entire group from Denver turn, rush outside and mount their horses.
THE TRIP OF FIFTEEN blocks takes the group a blessedly short amount of time. As the group rounds the corner, Jake is shocked to see that Paul’s livery stable is reduced to a few smoking remains. They gallop up to the hotel, dismount and rush inside to see a scene of horror.
The lobby of has several adult bodies covered with sheets and numerous bloodstains on the floor.
Jake makes it in the door first, takes one look around and, feeling his heart sink, calls out, “Andy? Andy, girl, where are you?” He looks behind the registration desk, and not seeing her there, he rushes over to the restaurant. As he crosses the lobby, he sees John lift one of the sheets and hears his quiet curse.
Jake looks around inside the restaurant for the most important person to him here, his daughter. “Andy?” he calls out.
Not seeing anyone in the restaurant, he turns back to look at the rest of his party. He has to find her. He knows she’s here, somewhere. There’s a scurrying sound behind him. He turns and sees movement in the door to the kitchen.
“Papa?” a timid voice cries out. “Papa! Papaaaaa!” Jake is almost bowled over by the cannonball of his daughter running into him and grabbing him about the waist.
He looks down at the small girl with a death grip about him. He puts his hand down to pat her gently on the top of the head. “Dear girl, what’s happened?”
She is openly weeping as she almost wails against her adopted father.
Jake looks out into the lobby and sees the rest of the group bowed in prayer over the bodies of the dead. He starts trying to move out there and hears a sound on the stairwell. He draws his revolver and holds it at the ready at the same time John and Joey draw theirs.
With his arm in a sling and with a decided limp, Paul makes it to the landing then turns the bend in the stairwell. He glances about shortly and grins. “Mein Gott! Are you all ever a sight for sore eyes!”
As one, all the marshal’s pistols are de-cocked and re-holstered.
Jake looks at John, then Joey and sees tears streaming down both of their faces. He looks back at
Paul and demands, “What happened?”
Paul motions to John and asks, “Seen all three yet?”
John nods.
Paul motions to Jake. “In a word, deputy, Richard. Doc, Sean is injured. Can you take a look at him?”
David looks at Rebekah, then back at Paul and nods. The young couple and Joey follow the giant livery man upstairs.
John steps over to Jake and shakes his head. “Well, we’ve come into a hornet’s nest. I’m sorry, Andy. I think everyone upstairs is going to be busy for awhile. I don’t want to be in the way. Mind if I ask you a few questions?”
Jake is appalled at the question. He holds up his hand. “I don’t THINK so! Can’t you see she’s distraught?” He pulls Andy closer to him as her trembling gets stronger. Jake glares at John, then shakes his head. “Why don’t you ask the Mallory’s?”
John points to the bodies and shakes his head. “We can ask, but they’re not gonna answer.”
Jake can’t believe what he just heard. His vision gets dark. He can feel the anger welling up in him. He hasn’t felt this angry since he heard about the Clan of the Night Owl being slaughtered during the war.
His hands start shaking and he looks down at Andy. No wonder she’s so scared. They were probably murdered right in front of her eyes. Just like her parents.
Once again, Jake looks at John and sees the track of several tears coursing down his old friend’s face. The Blood-Eagle HAS changed.
John holds his hand out, palm up, in an obvious question of “Are you going to question her or not?”
Jake shakes his head. His daughter has been through too much. He reaches down, picks the trembling girl up and hugs her tight. “It’s over Andy. You’re safe. I’m here now.”
The trembling, crying girl buries her face into her adopted father’s neck and continues to cry.
Jake makes his way over to a table, kicks a chair out from it and sits down, with is daughter still clinging desperately to him.
John sighs and points up the stairs. Jake nods and continues to comfort Andy in the restaurant.
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