At that point, several of the men had been brought back to reasoning, though I still didn’t have my own wits about me. I felt hands on me, pulling me back away from ol’ Marshal Eddington, but my mind was still in a red fog. I had a snapping point, and I reckoned ol’ Red Eagle and Oscar Eddington had both found it.
The only thing I recognized was the feel of Jacobi’s hand, firm on the neck of my shirt, hauling me out of the midst of the rest of the men. Reason was slowly being restored. He was not angry with me, this I knew. I felt it in the solid brush of his fingertips against my skin.
“Will!” His voice was firm, and I stopped struggling then, knowing he had me. The other hands fell away, and he set me down, looking me over quickly. “Are you all right?”
I was breathing hard and fast. I wiped my face with my shirtsleeve and nodded.
“Is he all right—I can’t believe—”
“You shut your mouth, Eddington.” Jacobi’s voice was cold as a trip to the outhouse in January. I looked into his eyes as he knelt in front of me, eye-level.
“I’m fine, Pa,” I murmured, and his fingers squeezed my arms where he held me. It had come natural, this time, calling him ‘Pa.’ I knew he felt it, too.
“I ought to kill you!” Eddington’s eyes were murderous, and now that I had regained my senses, it dawned on me I had made us an enemy for life by making him look foolish in front of the other men. He looked back and forth at me and Jacobi, so I wasn’t certain who he meant to kill, but I was pretty sure he meant me.
Jacobi turned to look at Eddington, rising swiftly to close the few steps between him and the marshal. “If you ever lay a hand on him, Oscar, you’ll answer to me.”
Eddington was busy wiping the blood off his face but he looked up at Jacobi, his thick lips twisting in a sneer. “Go on. Tell me you know a hundred ways to kill me, and all of ’em would make me wish I’d never come into the world at all!”
“You said it, Eddington. Not me.”
Eddington took a final disgusted swipe with his dirty bandana at the trail of blood that kept trickling from his nose.
“I believe ’em, Kane,” he spat. “All those rumors about you bein’ part Injun your own self. You’re no better’n Laughing Wind hisself. A murderin’—”
Jacobi jumped for Eddington, who had quickly gone for his knife. Jacobi landed squarely atop the marshal’s belly and delivered a hammering blow to his jaw at the same time. He easily knocked the marshal’s blade out of his hand as if it were child’s play. Eddington let out a loud “oomph” when Jacobi’s fist connected with his belly.
But Eddington had learned a few tricks of his own, and he was surprisingly quick to be as fat as he was. I’d always felt sorry for his horse, having to tote him all over creation, as heavy as he had to be.
Jacobi knew what Eddington’s next move would be before he made it, it seemed like. I’d only seen Jacobi fight twice before. The first time was when Red Eagle found us and tried to jump us. I could tell both Jacobi and Red Eagle knew they were fighting for their lives, but I couldn’t see much, bein’ as how it was in the middle of the night. The fight Jacobi and Laughing Wind had had was just as serious—a fight to the death, for Laughing Wind. But, in the heat of the battle that had been going on around me, I hadn’t absorbed the skill Jacobi had. The way he rolled and punched and parried Eddington’s blows was like some kind of a dance.
After a few seconds, it was all over. I knew it wouldn’t take Jacobi long to end what he’d started.
Eddington had stopped trying to fight and was covering his head, instead. He was making the little girl noises again. Jacobi had sure beat the heck out of him, and it made my heart glad. I reckoned Jacobi understood just how I’d felt only a few minutes ago. I knew there wouldn’t be one word of lecture from him about me tearing in to Marshal Eddington, when he’d gone and done the same thing his own self. He rolled away from Eddington and came to his feet, breathing hard and just looking at the marshal for a few seconds. Then, he reached down and picked up his hat, dusting it off.
The other men had all gathered around, and even Mrs. Colbert and her daughters had come outside and stood watching. Marshal Eddington began to holler like a wild man when he saw everyone watching him.
“I’ve got witnesses! Kane, you’re going to pay, one way or another! You and that whelp of yours—”
Jacobi took a step forward, planting his foot squarely on Eddington’s wounded thigh, directly over the bullet hole.
“Son of a—!” Eddington screamed. He tried to roll, but Jacobi dropped to his knees, grabbing Eddington’s arm and twisting as he kept his weight on the wound.
“Don’t threaten me, Eddington. Never, ever threaten my family, or me.” He leaned close and spoke so softly no one else but me and Marshal Eddington could hear. “Don’t force me to pick one of those ‘hundred ways’, Marshal. I promise you, I will do it.”
Slowly, he came to his feet, releasing the marshal’s arm and relieving the pressure on his thigh. “Mount up, Will,” he said, without turning to look at me. He was keeping a close eye on Eddington, but the marshal made no move against him now. He lay, defeated, in a whimpering bloody pile on his bedroll, amidst the remains of his breakfast.
I did as I’d been told, quickly getting astride Arrow, and taking Blackie’s reins up in my hand as I waited for Jacobi. He turned away from Eddington and started toward where I sat, ready to ride.
Eddington rose up on one elbow. “Don’t walk away from me, you damned half-breed! Don’t you have anything to say?”
Jacobi kept walking. He reached for the pommel of the saddle and swung up easily into it. Finally, he looked at Eddington, meeting his hate-filled glare with a steady gaze of his own that never faltered.
“Yeah. I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time, Eddington. Cross me again, I can promise you more of the same. Stay away from me, you sorry jackass.”
Jacobi glanced over at where Marshal Trask and Sheriff Kilmore stood, giving them a farewell nod.
“Thank you, Jacobi!” Sheriff Kilmore called, lifting a hand in salute. “Hurry on back to that woman of yours.” He gave him a wide friendly grin, and Jacobi returned it.
“Stop by on your way home, Miles. I may have a new member of the Kane family to introduce you to.”
Amidst laughter and more good-natured teasing, we headed southward, riding toward home. It was as if Marshal Eddington didn’t matter. Like Mama would’ve said, right now he wasn’t nothing more than a toot in a whirlwind. He lay forgotten on his bedroll. But I could feel his eyes boring into my back until we rode around the bend in the road, out of sight. I knew he wouldn’t forget what had happened on this hot July day, but neither would Jacobi.
We rested the horses often, because even as hot as it had been during the whole time we’d been gone, that day was the worst of all. As we rode, we could see the heat shimmering up from the ground ahead of us, and it was like riding into an oven that just never ended.
But we were stopping at the places Jacobi knew along the way that might have even the barest trace of water for the horses, and shade for us.
I’d eaten part of the biscuits and bacon Mrs. Colbert had packed for us and sat now at the edge of a small creek in the sweet shade of the big trees along the bank. I’d taken off my boots and socks and put my feet in the cool water. I never wanted to get back on a horse again.
I glanced guiltily at Arrow. He probably was ready for a good long rest himself.
“We’re almost home,” Jacobi said from behind me, and I could hear the laughter in his tone.
I sighed. “I’m glad. Aren’t you?”
He walked over to lean on the huge old tree I sat beneath, chewing on a stalk of grass. “You know it. I didn’t want to go in the first place.”
I could see the worry in his face as he thought of Laura. “I bet everything’s fine,” I said. “She’s probably already had our baby by now. And you had to keep your promise.”
He smiled, and when he did, there was
a warm light in his eyes for me that let me know in my words he’d heard something that meant a great deal more to him than what I’d actually said.
He didn’t answer for a few seconds, and I began to wonder if I’d said something wrong, instead. He was looking past me now, toward the other side of the creek. “Yeah,” he murmured. “I had to keep my promise.”
There was somethin’ that had me wondering ever since Jacobi had killed Laughing Wind. Now, I blurted it out like some dang fool. “Do you believe your wife knows you’ve done it?”
He looked at me as if he didn’t understand at first, then he chuckled. My face flushed hot and I could feel my ears burning.
“Yes. She knows,” he answered, laughter still in his voice. “But, son, she would have understood if I hadn’t been able to keep my promise to her.”
“When you promise, though, you have to do it,” I said solemnly. I’d never thought to hear Jacobi say it would be all right if you broke a promise!
“Yes, that’s true. But there are exceptions. I promised to find Red Eagle and his band and kill them for what they did to my family, and to me. So it was partly for them. But, Will, you were the one who made me see I was giving up living because of what had happened in the past.”
I nodded. I remembered how we’d talked about wanting to be happy again, both of us, despite what those red devils had done to our families.
“I don’t believe that Deborah, or Rebecca or Dalton would want me to give up being happy again just to avenge their deaths.”
“Then why did you go? I don’t understand.”
“I went because of them, partly. But mostly I went because of…of you and Laura. And our new little one.”
“But—Laughing Wind wasn’t after us. We’re safe enough where we are now.”
Jacobi smiled and looked down. “Yes, we’re safe enough now, Will. But Laughing Wind and his followers didn’t give up after Red Eagle was killed like I thought they would. They continued to raid and kill and destroy, and they got bolder and bolder. Someone had to stop them. It’s my job to make the world a safer place for you and your new brother or sister.”
A silence fell between us. My heart felt like it was about to squeeze out of my chest right then. He went for me? I wouldn’t have ever thought that in a million years. It was right then it hit me between the eyes that anybody who would walk right into an Apache camp to rescue a young boy, as Jacobi had done for me, must care a great deal. To go out again to fight Indians to keep me and Laura and the new baby safe only proved again that the impossible had truly happened.
Jacobi Kane had done something for me I didn’t believe my own father would have done.
Jacobi truly loved me as his own son. Somewhere in these past months, something had happened between me and Jacobi that I couldn’t explain. I couldn’t name the instant I’d become more than a victim he’d rescued, more than a boy with no home he’d taken in. But the relationship between us now was closer than I’d ever had with my own father. To hear him say he’d gone to fight Laughing Wind, risked his life again—for me—was like being handed a wonderful gift I’d never expected in my life. I meant as much to him as he had come to mean to me.
“Will?”
My eyes filled with tears, and I kept my head turned. I swallowed hard to try to get control of myself. The next thing I knew, Jacobi was on one knee beside me. I turned and buried my head against him. “Thank you,” I managed to say.
He gave my shoulder a quick squeeze and tousled my hair. “Guess we oughtta thank each other,” he said roughly. “I wouldn’t have this life I’ve got if it hadn’t been for you.” After a moment, he stood up. “Let’s get going.”
Reluctantly, I pulled my feet out of the water and wiped them dry on my pants legs, then put my socks and boots back on. I hated to leave that cool running stream, but I was suddenly as anxious to get back home as Jacobi had been all along. For the first time, when thoughts of my new brother or sister came to me, I was surprised to discover that I believed I would be happy with either one. This was our family. The new baby would have all the love—and protection—Jacobi and me and Laura could give.
****
We had us another half a day’s ride left when we made camp that night. I knew Jacobi didn’t want to push the horses. But I also felt that he stopped a little early that evening because of me.
“We could’ve made it on home,” I said, as we lay on our bedrolls. We’d found us a little clearing beside a small creek just as the sun was going down. We were both so bone weary we didn’t do anything about gathering wood to build a fire. We finished up what was left of Mrs. Colbert’s food after we unsaddled Arrow and Blackie, and we bedded down as darkness fell, right after we ate.
“We’ll be there by noon-time tomorrow.”
My eyelids were already heavy. “Seems like we been gone a long time.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. By the tone of his voice, his mind was elsewhere.
“You thinkin’ ’bout Laura?”
“Huh? No. Thinkin’ about Eddington.”
That brought me awake a little. “You ain’t worried are you, Jacobi?”
He chuckled. “No. I don’t guess that’d be the word for it. But remember what I told you about not lettin’ a man behind you?”
I swallowed, nodding in the darkness. “He’s behind us now. Is that what you’re thinkin’?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re almost home.”
“I know. But it still pays to be careful.”
I smiled, just thinking about how Jacobi had quickly put an end to Eddington’s taunts. He had sure showed ol’ Marshal Eddington! “You sure whooped the tar out of him, Jacobi.”
There was laughter in his tone when he answered. “I had some help in that, I think, Will.”
“He didn’t have any call to say what he did,” I answered defensively.
“No. But don’t ever do that again,” Jacobi said firmly. “You let me handle it. At least, for a few more years.”
Resentment rose up in my chest. “Why? I busted his dang lip for him—”
“He could’ve done you some real damage, son. He’s a grown man, with all a man’s muscles and strength that you don’t have yet.”
“Then, why didn’t he?”
“Because he wasn’t expecting you to do what you did—same as Red Eagle, that night. Surprise is a mighty weapon, but an unpredictable one. You just never know when the other person’s going to regain his ability to fight back.”
I was silent, thinking about what he was saying. In my heart, I knew he was right. I’d been too angry to be afraid, both times. I hadn’t thought of the consequences. No telling what would’ve happened if Jacobi hadn’t been there each time.
I had put him in danger by my actions. I stopped breathing for a moment, at the very thought. My anger had made me foolish, in more ways than one.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly.
“It’s all right. Just somethin’ to think on.”
“I won’t do it again.”
“I’m countin’ on that, son.”
After a moment I added, “But it sure felt good.”
“I know. But Eddington won’t forget.”
I wanted to tell him I knew that. But I was too tired to answer. My thoughts had already turned to home, and seeing Laura again. The last thing I remember was seein’ the moon right over me, and the Evening Star. I made a wish, mumbling it aloud, but by this time, I figured the Good Lord already knew exactly what I was wishing for with all my heart, and He didn’t need the Evening Star to help Him figure it out. A gentle breeze blew over us as if in answer, and I drifted off to sleep.
****
The next morning, Jacobi woke me early. “Let’s get started before the heat sets in.”
Within the half-hour, we were headed south again on the last leg of our journey. Even Blackie and Arrow seemed like they knew we were nearly there. Arrow wanted to run full out, but I held him in check. It was too hot for that already, and we
had to pace ourselves and our animals.
Jacobi was right. We made it home when the sun was almost directly overhead.
As we came around the bend in the road, we saw a gathering of horses and a buggy, too, tied at the side of our cabin, where there was some shade.
It could only mean one of two things, both of them serious. Either Laura was havin’ our new baby, or…someone had…I gulped, unable to bear such a thought. It had to be the baby.
Jacobi swore under his breath, and he and Blackie raced for home, with me and Arrow right behind them.
In a flash, he was off of Blackie, running for the door. He crashed in, and I could hear several women greeting him. They sounded happy, and my pulse slowed. I dismounted and looped Arrow and Blackie’s reins around the front post, temporarily. I’d come back and see to them just as soon as I found out what was going on inside.
As I entered the front door that Jacobi’d left standing open, one of the ladies, Mrs. Winston, smiled at me. “Hello, Will! Welcome home! You’ve got quite a surprise waiting for you. Your mother has just had the new—”
Jacobi opened the bedroom door, and leaned out. “Will! Come see!”
There was an odd expression on his face. Though he was smiling, it was different, like he had some kind of secret.
I hurried through the group of people toward him, and into the bedroom. He closed the door.
Doc Adler looked at me from across the room. “’Bout time you Kanes got home,” he said gruffly, but there was a twinkle in his eyes.
Laura smiled at me and held out her arms. I came and hugged her, a lump rising in my throat. “I tried to wait for you two, but I couldn’t,” she said, releasing me with a pat on the arm.
“Well, of course you couldn’t, Laura Lee, not with the load you were carrying,” Doc said. “Look here, Will.”
From the small baby cradle behind him, Doc reached down to pick up a new baby wrapped in a blanket. “Your new sister.”
My heart fell. But I kept a poker face. I had made a promise to myself that no matter what the baby was, I was going to love it and be the best big brother I could be.
Red Eagle's Revenge Page 7
