“Not with you, I don’t,” was Dutch’s curt reply.
Smoothing the front of his uniform, Vellaneau shot him a self-satisfied grin before getting in the last word. “Frankly what you want or don’t want I don’t give a damn about, Dutch. I’ll see you at the fort. Colonel Caine has a mission for us in Nevada, and we best be ready for it.”
Vellaneau took a last look at Dutch's face, twisted with annoyance before he strode out through the massive double doors that marked the entrance to the ranch house. After untethering his horse from the hitching post that was made up of two anchors with a metal bar running between, fashioned long ago by Whip as a nod to his naval career, the officer trotted down the curve of the driveway and onto the straightaway.
Quickly he crossed the bridge over the Rock River and found himself at the gate to the ranch. To his surprise, he saw a man in a well-cut suit sitting in a buggy staring up at something. Following the man's eyes, it seemed that he was looking at the prominent metal circle with the shiny silver letters HBH within it that graced the top of the sign proclaiming the ranch as Cedar Ledge.
"Can I help you, friend?" his voice held a hint of a challenge. Something about the sight of this man raised his hackles, but he didn't know why at least not yet.
The man smiled and waved at the sign, "You have got to love this family, putting Half Breed Haven right up there on their sign. It sounds to me like they are sending a message that they are thumbing their noses at anyone who doesn't approve of them."
Vellaneau maneuvered his horse closer until he was right up alongside the carriage. Looking down into it, he caught sight of a large bouquet of roses sitting next to him, immediately giving him away as a suitor, most likely for that arrogant bitch Cassandra that he’d had words with once.
“Maybe so. You got a name, mister?”
The dapper looking man extended his hand up to Vellaneau, but he chose to ignore it. As he withdrew his hand, the man said, "Captain the name is Kincaid, Killian Kincaid, esquire."
Attempting to see if he was indeed there to court or do business, Vellaneau went fishing by casually saying, “If you here to drum up clients, I doubt the family is needing to sue anybody or need a defense against anything.”
Kincaid laughed, “I assure you, sir, I don’t need to roam the Alamieda countryside looking for work. This is strictly a social call. I’m here to come calling on Miss Lijuan Wilde!”
Bristling as if he had just been surprised by cannon fire, Vellaneau leaned back in his saddle and tipped his hat. "I don't believe Miss Lijuan is receiving visitors today. She's resting."
"I'll just have to find that out for myself. Good day, Captain, and thank you for your service!" the jubilant lawyer laughed as he whipped the reins surging past the officer and his horse. As the buggy pulled through the gate, it kicked up an enveloping cloud of dust leaving Vellaneau sputtering and his body feeling flushed knowing that he now also had a romantic rival for the Chinese beauty.
***
In Lijuan's office Judge William Henry "Whip" Wilde was just closing the door to the safe. After he spun the tumbler, he grasped the handle to the satchel of money he had retrieved from within it and passed it to Catalina who had been leaning on the desk with her hands behind her.
“It’s high time we got this down to the Detweiller Savings and Loan. Considering Lijuan nearly died for it we, should see it finally finish its journey. Probably should have deposited it right away but nursing our little daisy back to health has been what’s mattered.” He said as he ran his fingers through his thick, silvery hair.
“That’s the gospel truth, Papacito!” she chimed in buoyantly as she took a quick look in the bag filled with the money from Old Man Garcia.
“You sure you don’t mind riding into town to do this, Peppercorn?”
"Sure don't! Our foreman's got things under control down to the cattle pens, and besides, we've all been pitchin' in since Lijuan's been laid up!"
Slowly he pulled out the chair on wheels and eased himself behind the desk and spread his hands out over it. “Feels mighty strange to be behind this again. When I turned running the ranch over to Lijuan, I never thought I’d sit here again. Anyway, thanks. I was going to ask Honor to do it, but her friend Katie showed up from Godspell, and they went on a picnic up at Narrow Lake.”
Catalina’s eyes shifted out the window for a moment towards the two twin mountains called “The Notches” that held the cool waters of Narrow Lake between them. She wouldn’t have minded being along for that picnic as well.
“Nice to hear they’re friends again. I know there was a whole spell of time when they weren’t gettin’ along.”
Whip nodded, “Apparently, everything they went through in Mexico did have the benefit of bringing them back together again. I’m delighted for that because I only want happiness to come my buttercup’s way. And, of course, I want that for all my young ones.”
She dropped the satchel of money onto Lijuan’s desk and strode behind him, rested her hands on his shoulders, leaned in, and kissed him on his cheek. “That’s what makes you the great papa that you are.” He slowly turned around in the chair and took her hand.
“When I say all that means you, too. Now Cassie didn’t go into any detail, but the drift I got from my sunflower was that she was a bit worried about you after you had to kill Victor.”
A stab of pain rippled through her, and her eyes became downcast, “Papa, I don’t really know how much I can talk about that just yet.”
“I understand.”
She looked back up at him, and in those brilliant blue eyes, she saw all the love and compassion he held for her, and it made her almost want to cry. They had been so blessed to have this man as their father, and her mother had been so fortunate that her short life had at least ended knowing his love. As she thought about Mercedes, she wondered if now the time might be to find out if The Reaper had been truthful in those last moments of his life. Still, she hesitated and instead asked something different.
"Victor loved my Mamacita. Did you know that? He didn't want her to leave Mexico."
Plucking his pipe free from the pocket of his black vest, Whip puffed it to life after snuffing out the match he had used by waving it and then looked up at her with a somber face.
“When another man is in love with the woman you’re in love with, you can always tell. I knew he didn’t want her to leave with me. She did tell me that he begged her not to. I didn’t like it, but he was one of her oldest friends, and that’s all she ever wanted from him—his friendship. So, I let it go. We married, we built Cedar Ledge, had the most beautiful baby, and then she was gone. I’m not ashamed to admit I never even thought about how he would feel about her death. I was destroyed by it. No one else’s feelings mattered. Now to hear that over two decades later he was still stewing about it to the point where he would have killed your sister just because she looked like me—the man who took his love and led her to his death. You did what you had to do. That’s your father talking, not a judge.”
"I know. It was just hard is all," she said, looking away toward the bag of money on the desk before steeling her courage once more. "There's somethin' else I wanna ask you," Whip said nothing but simply waited for her to speak.
“Did my grandfather come to you after Mamacita died to try to buy back this land?”
Whip stopped puffing on his pipe and held it in front of him looking at her with narrowed eyes. "Why, yes, yes he did. He reasoned that I would be too grief-stricken to stay here because everything would remind me of Mercedes. Cedar Ledge was truly her dream after all. Some of it made sense, but we had just built this house. I knew this ranch would be the place to raise my family; there was no leaving it. In fact, I knew Mercedes would be devastated if we gave it up. So, of course, I refused. He was very distraught, but I assured him that the land would be in good hands and that it was your legacy. He seemed to accept it. Why do you ask?"
Catalina wasn’t quite sure she was ready to reveal everything she le
arned from Victor and from the elderly servant that had worked the Corderro Vineyards for decades. Victor had made the bold claim that Montezuma’s treasure lay buried on Cedar Ledge, and old Diaz had told her an incredible tale of a fortune that was said to have been spirited away from Mexico, safely tucked away on Corderro land, now Wilde property, for centuries. To her, despite mounting evidence, it still all seemed so fantastical. Her father was a man of reason and to suggest this to him—it gave her great pause.
Fortunately for Catalina, a knock at the door prevented her from answering. She bounded away from the desk and threw open the door. She had been expecting to see perhaps Cassandra, but instead, it was a heavyset man, with long stringy brown hair flowing down from underneath his ten-gallon hat. It was Thorney, the Wildes' most loyal and trusted ranch hand. He took his hat off in her presence as he always did each day when he first laid eyes on her. Catalina couldn't help but chuckle thinking of the countless of times she had told him he didn't have to, but the ranch's worst-kept secret was he had long nursed a crush on her.
"Sorry to interrupt boss, Judge Wilde," he said respectfully, "but we just got a huge feed shipment in, and someone needs to sign for it. Usually, Miss Lijuan takes care of that," he finished as he pulled several papers free that were sticking out of his back pocket. Just for a moment, he gave Catalina that sheepish grin that he always did.
“Okie, dokie, no problem, I’ll just sign that passel of papers!”
Whip held up his hand. “Just a minute, Peppercorn. I want to look them over first and make sure we’re getting a fair price.”
Thorney handed them to Catalina who then turned them over to her father. She watched silently as he took out his glasses and began to review them. With a smile, it brought her back to her days as a child watching him work in this very office. She had no way of knowing her happy mood was on the verge of being completely shattered.
CHAPTER 32
Back upstairs after taking time to pack up his things into a saddle bag intending to depart Cedar Ledge shortly and rejoin Bright Feather back at Fort McCallister, Dutch returned to Lijuan’s room. Slowly, he opened the door and walked in. His sister was now on her side facing away from him and snuggled against her back was the big orange tabby Mister Muffins who had been her beloved pet after she brought him back from an adventure the girls had amidst a fiery, burning ghost town.
He had wished to speak with her before he left. To apologize for how badly he had treated her the night of the party when she had almost let slip the secret they carried all these long years. To date, there had been no ideal time to speak with her with so many well-wishers always present. Still, he was glad that she was asleep and resting so she could be back on her feet again. You can't keep a hellcat down; he chuckled to himself. He would make sure he returned before his detachment left for Nevada and set things right between them.
Dutch was just turning to leave when Cassandra entered the room. She gently pushed the door behind her, but unnoticed by her, it failed to shut all the way, leaving a gap. Cassandra’s eyes were rife with worry as they had been ever since she had discovered her injured sister at the border fort.
“How is she today?”
“Shhh, keep your voice down a peg, Cassie. She’s sleeping.”
Cassandra gave him a wry smile. "Dutch, you don't spend time on the trail with her like the girls, and I do. Feel free to talk in your regular voice. It's not going to wake her up. Trust me. I've seen her sleep through just about anything."
Suitably chastised, he answered her. "Fine. Now as to your question, she's doing good. I think she might even try to cut back on her bed rest tomorrow."
“That’s wonderful!” she said, her face lighting up at the news.
“Yes, I think she’s improved so much that I feel later I might finally talk to her about the night of the party. I treated her terribly when she nearly spilled everything. I have to apologize and beg her forgiveness.”
Cassie’s sudden change in demeanor and unforeseen reaction caught him completely off guard when she seized his arm and spun him around hissing a most unexpected word at him.
“No.”
Mirroring what Vellaneau had done to him a few minutes earlier, Dutch shook her off and stepped back still stunned, but angry as well. "What the hell is wrong with you? Where do you get off manhandling me? We aren't kids anymore, and why wouldn't you want me to apologize to her?" his voice flared, but he still managed to keep it as low as he could. The silence of the grave filled the room as Cassandra crossed her arms and stared at him coldly.
***
Unbeknownst to the siblings, downstairs standing at the entrance of Cedar Ledge was Killian Kincaid, his bouquet of roses in his hand. Before him was old Mrs. Chow, who had let him in only moments before. She took a moment to lean in and smell the roses before she smiled and picked up a tray of tea where she had rested it on a table underneath the rack where the Wildes hung their pistols and holsters.
“Forgive. I not take you to her. Judge need his tea every day at this time. You go up. Third door on left. Lijuan will love these but don’t stay long. Girl need rest. Much rest!” She fussed before hustling off to the other wing of the ranch house that held Lijuan’s office.
His eyes glanced around the Great Room, admiring the beauty of the stonework and the floor to ceiling windows. He could get used to living in a place this grand that was for sure. Just for a moment, he looked down at the bouquet he was clutching. He had spent a pretty penny not only on this one but on another one he had used earlier in a fruitless attempt to arrange a date with another promising—and well to do—target of his affections. Hopefully, he would have better luck with Lijuan Wilde.
Remembering he would only have a short time to give it a shot, he made his way up the stairs. Arriving at the top, he noticed to his left a full-length mirror that hung there at the end of the hall. He took a moment to make sure he looked his best and then started making his way down the hallway. On one side there were rooms and on the other the railing overlooking the Great Room. Quickly he zeroed in on the door the old Chinese woman had indicated. At the sound of heated voices from within, he halted his advance and leaned in to listen through a crack between the door and its frame.
“I’m sorry, Dutch. I shouldn’t have done that. I did mean what I said though. Don’t apologize for the party.”
Dutch was still incredulous at Cassandra's demand. "Why wouldn't I? I was cold to her! Unfairly. I could tell how much it hurt her and I never want to see her hurt. She's my little sister. I love her dearly as we all do. And she loves me, and then I go and treat her like …"
Cassandra’s eyes flared, and she lost control for a second time stepping forward, her outstretched hands grasping his tunic, yanking him forward until they were eye to eye. Fire seemed to be dancing around her emerald green irises.
“No,” Cassie hissed, fighting to keep her voice down as well, “She doesn’t just love you, Dutch, as her brother, she … she …” Dutch held his breath, Cassandra was nearly hyperventilating, and he’d never seen her like this before, she the calm, cool, collected member of their family.
Forcing the words through her mouth, at last, she said what he already knew, what he had always tried to deny. "She has feelings for you. When we were kids, you could call it a crush, but it's well beyond that."
Outside the door Kincaid’s eyes widened in shock, leaving him to lean in closer to the crack so as not to miss a single word of this unbelievable exchange.
“You’re talking crazy,” he said feebly, knowing it was a losing battle.
“You know it’s true—we both do!”
“I’m her half-brother.”
"Of course, you are, and that's what's tearing her up inside because she knows how wrong it is. It makes her so angry, and she lashes out. These assholes we are always going up against, I believe she enjoys hurting them with that hammer, her gun, her fists, and her feet as a way to release all that that shame and rage built up inside of her. Blue River told
me about that bandit in Mexico, one blow from that hammer would have killed a man, but from what I understand she pounded his head into so much mush. Dutch, she's mixed up and confused. You and I made her that way. We're to blame. We both share this guilt."
Cassandra’s chest was rising and falling like mad, but he looked away from his distraught sister to look at the back of Lijuan’s head and saw that she hadn’t moved. Satisfied that she was still asleep, he turned back towards his overwrought older sister.
Running his hands through his hair, his face contorted into a mask of pain. “I don’t want to hear about guilt, Cassie. I’ve been feeling nothing but that since the party. First with Lijuan, and then with Bright Feather! I’ve been lying to the woman I love more than life itself. She knows something is amiss, but I’ve lied to her. How can I tell her that Lijuan’s hostility towards her is because she sees her as some kind of rival?”
Cassandra opened her mouth, trying to find some words, but none came out. Dutch felt the sweat trickling down his head as he became flushed. At long last he was being forced to confront this madness he’d long tried to sidestep. He shook his head and just stared at her before his choking voice filled the air.
"But what choice did I have? How could I tell her I was mad that Lijuan almost slipped up in front of everyone and told what happened? What was I supposed to do—tell Bright Feather about a twelve-year-old girl and her fourteen-year-old brother who got into their father's liquor cabinet to celebrate, to celebrate him knocking out the teeth of the bully who was picking on her at the schoolhouse that day—I'm supposed to tell the woman that I love that this kid and his sister went down to the shed by the river and proceeded to get drunk out of their minds for the first time in their lives? I'm supposed to tell her that this girl was leaning against her brother, telling him how much she loved the protection that he gave her, for standing up for her, making her feel safe, and making her feel loved and welcome, especially when this girl's older sister was jealous and resentful of her and made her feel unwelcome in her own family?"
The Boot Hill Express: Special Edition HBH Version (Half Breed Haven Book 12) Page 22
