Chapter Twenty-One
It took three weeks before his back healed properly. He knew he'd carry the scars the rest of his life. But it had healed well, thanks to Bonnie's doctoring. Dal put a shirt on and got up from the bed. Bonnie was fixing breakfast.
He leaned into her, raised her hair and kissed her on the neck. She giggled. "You are better, aren't you?"
"I think I'll live." He smiled. "Thanks to you."
He was finally back on his feet. He was talking about going to see Banister again, and Bonnie jumped him.
"I won't have it. You are not gonna go back there again. I don't want them to kill you…don't you understand?"
"I understand honey. But this has got to be straightened out. The water thing is between me and Banister, it has nothing to do with Lee. I've got to try to keep this from blowing up into a full-scale war. The sooner, the better." He insisted.
Bonnie tried to talk him out of it. But Dal was set on talking to him.
"What if he doesn't want to talk. What if Lee jumps you again." Bonnie insisted.
"If Banister is around, I don’t think he will."
"What makes you say that?" She put her hand on her hip and waited for his answer.
"Because Frank, Banister's foreman didn't like what Lee pulled last time and said so. I think Frank would go straight to Banister and tell him. Bonnie, everyone on the Banister ranch is not out to get me. Lee wants me for himself, and I think he's acting on his own, not Banister's orders. I aim to find out for sure."
"Why would Lee have it in for you?" Bonnie muttered as she puzzled over it.
"It had to be something that happened long ago. But sooner or later I'm sure I'm gonna find out."
"Take Daniel with you, then." She encouraged.
"Why?"
"Last time you went over there, they beat you and left you for dead. This time at least Daniel can bring you straight home."
He walked over to her, tipped her chin and kissed her on the lips. "You worry too much."
"Dal…."
"Daniel's got some chores to do. And I want him doing them. We still got a lot of work to do around here before winter settles in, Bonnie. I need as much help as I can get."
"I'll help."
"You already help enough, you and Becky both. You fix the finest meals I ever ate." He smiled at her. "You keep the house clean. That's a lot of help."
"Well, I'm glad you like my cooking."
"I like everything about you, Bonnie…" He said and planted another sultry kiss on her lips.
This time she threw her arms around his neck and held on. Her shyness was quickly fading away. For once he felt comfortable kissing her anytime he wanted and even around the kids.
But fate played a hand when Banister paid him a visit that afternoon.
When he saw him coming, he told Bonnie to go inside and stay there until he left. Bonnie obeyed him.
"John." He greeted him coming up to the hitching post while John hobbled his horse.
"Dal, I heard you came to see me." John squinted in the noon day sun. He was dressed in his regular suit, with his big hat on his head. People recognized him from far away by that hat.
"Yeah…I was coming today again…" He explained.
Dal turned and walked to the steps, he sat on the porch and looked up at him. "What's on your mind, John."
"I'm sorry about what the boys did!" John admitted his face screwed up like a wad of paper. "What Lee did. He wasn't under my orders to do that. I wanted you to know that."
"I kind of figured that was the way of it. Your man, Frank spoke up about it. It was Lee's doing."
"And I'm sorry for that too. I didn't tell him to hurt you. But I had no idea you'd come to my place." John explained. "I had no idea he'd do something like that either. I wanted you to know that. In fact, I've fired Lee for it."
Dal's head jerked up in surprise.
"Just so you know, I wasn't trespassing. I wanted to settle our differences before they got out of hand. One of us had to make a move, don't you think?"
John nodded. "You're right. That's why I'm here today."
John came closer and sat a few steps down from Dal. He took out a paper from his coat pocket and started to hand it to him. "I'm gonna pay for the water."
"What changed your mind?" He took the paper.
"Two things really. First, you killed my cow. It was only one cow, but it was my cow. Now, I realized you could have killed more of them if you wanted. You had the right. I know that. You chose not to. I appreciate that. You didn't shoot at my men. I liked that too. You could have picked a couple of them off, I'm sure. So here's the money for the water feeding. I can't fault a man when he makes the right choices."
"What's this paper about?"
"Just saying I'll pay a yearly fee for the water rights. That's all. Makes it all legal."
"I'm glad…I'm glad we can settle this peaceably John. And I'll gladly pay for the cow I killed."
The old man studied the ground for a moment. "Alright. That's good." He looked about the place for a moment, then he turned to look at him. "I see you are making improvements around here. It's beginning to shape up, like a real spread."
"I'm trying, yes. It's not much yet, but it will be someday."
"I never figured you'd do it. But then, I've been wrong about a lot of things." John glanced at him. "Mostly about you. You've proved you have the gumption, I like that in a man."
"Takes a big man to apologize too. I accept." He offered him his hand.
John eyed him a minute then shook it. "You keep up the work you are a doing and one day you'll have a fine spread here."
"Forgive me John. But I'm a little puzzled as to why you are giving up the fight, so peaceably." Dal studied the older man for a long moment.
John was quiet a moment. Looking out onto the fields he nodded. "I guess because you remind me of myself. I was young and stubborn once myself. I refused to do a lot of things that other people wanted, too. I like that about you. But then there's that little girl in there and those kids…I got to thinking about them too. They've had it pretty hard. I stood by and selfishly watched them nearly starve. That wasn't right. Of any of us. And they managed a long time without you, me or anyone else. They didn't take much charity either. Your wife…she's a strong one. She's got pioneer spirit. That takes a lot of guts. And if it's one thing I admire, it's guts."
"She is something, isn't she?" He smiled.
"Good luck Dal…and I mean that…" John said, standing and going to his horse.
"And to you too. You are welcome anytime, Mr. Banister."
John looked down at him seriously. "Thank you!"
And he rode off.
Bonnie came out on the porch and watched the dust behind him. "What did he want?"
"He's paying for the water." Dal said staring after him too.
"Do you mean it?" Bonnie came closer.
"Yep. Got it in writing too." He handed her the paper.
"Oh Dal!" She jumped into his arms. She kissed him hard on the lips and smiled when she came up for air. "I can't believe it. It's finally over!"
"Yeah, it kinda surprised me too. I sure wasn't expecting it to be that easy. Takes a real man to admit when he's wrong."
"He admitted it?"
"He did."
"Then our troubles are over, aren't they?" Bonnie smiled.
He had a niggling in his head though. He wasn't so sure of that. There was still Lee to worry over. And Dal knew that he wasn't big enough to just drop it. Even though he had bested him, Lee wouldn't stop until he had a showdown. But there was no use worrying Bonnie over it. She deserved to have some good times in her life. She sure hadn't had any for a long time.
"Let's have a cook out in the backyard and celebrate." He turned to smile at her again.
"Sounds wonderful. We certainly have a lot to celebrate."
"Yeah…now maybe I can finish the bed." He kissed her again.
"That sounds like a good idea to me!" she murmured
for his ears alone.
So they celebrated that day. He was able to put Lee to the back of his mind and took out a side of beef to cook from the smokehouse. Daniel helped and when he heard the news about Banister he was tickled too.
"I gotta admit, I'm glad." Daniel admitted.
"Yeah, me too." Dal slapped him on the back and together they took the beef to the spit they built outside.
Samuel was almost as happy about Mr. Banister as Dal and Daniel were, but he smiled at the fun they were having. Martin complained as usual, but in a nice way.
Daniel got a fiddle out of the old shed and began playing. He wasn't great with it, but he wasn't bad either. Dal danced with Bonnie and Becky and Martin. And Samuel watched biting into a big piece of watermelon with a big smile.
The Odom's were having a good time!
Chapter Twenty-Two
It had been a month, and Dal and the boys had finished the fence. There hadn't been any trouble with Banister and things were looking good.
It was time to finish the beds. So Dal got the boys to help. He let them work on it themselves some, with his guidance. But Bonnie knew nothing of it.
When it came time to shellac it, he let the boys do that all by themselves. All three of them were tickled that Dal trusted them for the job.
Samuel showed some real promise, he was meticulous and the results were stunning.
That next Saturday Dal told them they were going to town. All but the girls. Bonnie and Becky didn't mind, because they were busy baking. Dal found it a little strange that Bonnie would rather stay home, but he liked it too.
He took the wagon in and he stopped off at Dora Franklin's house.
"Why Dal, it's good to see you?" She grabbed him around the neck and hugged him.
Dora was about sixty-eight and lived alone. She loved company, so when Dal showed up with all three boys, she was tickled.
"Mrs. Franklin, are they done yet?" He asked anxiously.
"Just finished the last one last week. I was wonderin' when you'd come get them. That's a lot of mattresses. I had to get my little friend from over at the Covington's farm to help me move them around, they are heavy, but we managed alright. I got them out back. Plenty of good ticking and prime feathers.
The boys looked at each other. What was she talking about?
But the mystery was solved when they went out back. There on her porch was a big stack of feather mattresses.
The boys' eyes rounded.
"Are those for us?" Daniel asked.
"Every one of them. Dal asked me to make them and I did. He's already paid me for them so I wanted to have them ready when he was. You'll sleep good on those."
"You think the girls will like them?" He asked.
Daniel's eyes widened and a smile broke over his somber face. "Oh yeah. They'll love them. New beds, for all of us. We didn't know you were making everyone new beds?"
"I wanted to surprise you. That's why it took me so long to get it all done. Okay boys, let's load them up in the wagon."
"I'm as proud of those as any I've made, Dal." Mrs. Franklin was saying.
"I'm glad you had some help." Dal looked at the stack.
"Oh, Lonny don't mind helpin' a bit. He's a good boy."
"Lonny Covington?" He asked.
"That's the one. He's nearly grown now and he's lookin' for work, where he can get it." Mrs. Franklin said, watching the boys try to lift some of the mattresses.
"I'll keep him in mind when I need extra help. I'm going to have to hire some help when my crop comes in this next spring. I was planning on going down to the river and seeing if there were any down there that could use a little pay and some hot meals."
"Well, down by the river, there's a fair share of people out of work. I'm sure you could ask them. They all look like they are half starved. I've sent them food as often as I could." She said. "Times have been hard this year. The drought didn't help much either."
Samuel and Martin were having a time keeping up with Daniel. "Don't drag them in the ground boys, you'll be sleeping on those." He informed them.
"Yes sir." They replied and picked the bottom of the mattress up off the ground.
"You got yourself a ready-made family there, Dal. How you getting' along out there?"
"We're doing just fine, Mrs. Franklin. Now that Mr. Banister isn't giving us any trouble over the water, we are doing great."
"I figured John would come around eventually, but he's got a throw a fit every time something happens that isn't his idea. He needs that water worse than anyone. And I'm proud you married Bonnie. She's a good girl. I'm glad she found herself a decent man."
"Well, we better be getting home. I want to get those mattresses in the house before it rains again." He started backing away.
"Let me know if you need anything else."
"I sure will." Dal smiled back at her as the boys loaded the last mattress.
Martin shot him a frown. "We could've used your help, Dal."
"You did a fine job of it, boys. Now let's go home and enjoy them."
Martin rode in the back, on the edge of the wagon, his feet hanging over. He was fussing because he couldn't ride in the front on the seat, with the rest of them. Dal heard him. He knew it was always frustrating being the youngest, but there wasn't a thing he could do to change that.
There was a storm brewing and Dal wanted to get home before the mattresses got soaked.
He speeded up the wagon and he never realized when he dumped Martin on the side of the road.
He pulled into the yard and yelled for Bonnie.
She came running out and when she saw the mattresses she couldn't believe it.
"My God, Dal. Where did you get all of these?" Her eyes widened with surprise.
"Mrs. Franklin made them for us. Nice, huh?"
"Oh my gosh. Well, let's get them in now before the storm hits.
"I haven't got the beds put together yet." He told her.
"The beds, you mean you made a bed for everyone?"
"Well sure, it wouldn't be fair, us having a brand new feather bed, and them not…" Dal laughed.
They unloaded the wagon and set them in the kitchen.
"Come on, let's go get the beds in now, boys." He called to them.
They were in the shed and starting to drag out the bed pieces when Dal suddenly looked about. "Where's Martin?"
"I dunno. Maybe he's in the wagon." Samuel said and shrugged his shoulders.
Daniel glanced around. "I haven't seen him since we got home."
"Neither have I. Let's go see where he has gotten to," he said, a worry wrinkle feathering his brow.
When Bonnie saw them coming out without the beds she called to them. "What's keeping you?"
"Have you seen Martin?"
Bonnie glanced around. "I thought he went with you."
"He was. But I haven't seen him since we got back…"
"Oh Lord…." Bonnie grabbed her stomach.
"Now don't fret, honey. We'll find him." Dal assured her.
"Get your rain slickers on." She hollered.
She went to get hers.
Becky came up to her from the kitchen. "What's the matter, where are the beds?"
"We got to find Martin…" Bonnie cried.
Becky's eyes rounded. "He's lost?"
"We don't know. Let's get in the wagon and go look for him."
Everyone jumped into the wagon and they headed back the way they came.
The rain had come before they got out of the yard. He sighed heavily, at least he'd gotten the mattresses inside. Now he had to worry about Martin.
They called his name along the way, but no one heard a thing.
By the time they reached the spot where he had laid in the road, the rain was coming down hard.
"Oh my God!" Bonnie cried because Martin wasn't moving.
"Don't panic. We'll fix him up. I guess when we sped the wagon up he fell off."
"Let's get him home…and hurry." Bonnie cried.
Becky held his hand all the way home in the back of the wagon. Daniel kept shaking his head. "He never even yelled out, or nothing."
Because it was raining so hard, they couldn't see how bad he was hurt but Dal was worried. If anything happened to Martin, he'd be to blame.
When they pulled in, Dal grabbed Martin in his arms and carried him inside.
His head was bleeding. "It's his head. Bonnie, get some bandages, and Becky go get him a change of clothes, honey."
Becky ran to the boy's room and grabbed Martin's change of clothes out of the drawer. She ran back inside the room as fast as she could. "Is he gonna be alright?"
"We don't know." Bonnie cried as she cleaned his wound.
"I better go for the doctor." Dal hollered.
"I'll go with you," Daniel said.
"Okay. We'll be back as soon as we can." He told them.
Bonnie glanced up with worried eyes at Dal. "Yes, hurry."
"We will…"
All the way into town Dal was beating himself up for not noticing. Daniel must have been going through the same feelings as he looked scared.
"It's going to be alright, Daniel."
"I sure hope so…"
"Me too." Dal whispered a prayer.
Two hours later the doctor was standing over Martin and examining him. The doc was a weather-beaten old man who had seen too much death. His face mirrored it.
"What do you think, Doc?" Bonnie asked, the urgency in her voice cracking.
"Has he come to at all?" The Doc wanted to know.
"No…"
"I'll bandage his head again, but there's not a lot I can do for him, except check on him from time to time. You've already done all I would have been able to do."
"But…is he going to be alright?"
"He's got a head injury, and there's just no telling how bad that is. We'll just have to wait and see. Sometimes, people come right out of it, and sometimes it takes forever. We don't know enough about the brain to be able to tell anyone. Just leave him be, don't be moving him around just yet. Try to feed him, give him plenty of water. That's all we can do, until he wakes up."
"How long will that be?" Becky cried.
"It's different with every patient. He could wake up in the morning and be fine. Or he might lay there for a long time and not wake up at all."
Brides of the West-Part One Page 17
