A Season of Dreams

by Gilbert, Morris

  Dent had just stepped inside and heard Kingman’s words. He laughed abruptly. “Never heard of a kidnappee you couldn’t get rid of. But,” he added, “when the grub gets a little thinner, you may change your mind.”

  Ted Kingman had a stubborn streak. He had always been able to do anything—except stand up against his father. Now he was wondering what the future held. He looked up and his eyes met Maury’s, and for a moment the two of them shared a secret thought. “I like the company here,” he said quietly. His remark brought a smile to her lips and she dropped her head, a gesture that Pete caught and filed away.

  All afternoon they expected Kingman to come back with the sheriff. Dent pulled Violet and Ray off to one side, saying quietly, “We’ll have to give Kingman up.”

  “He really ought to go,” Violet said. “I can’t understand why he’s staying here.”

  Ray said, “I can. He’s tired of his daddy shoving him around.”

  Dent gave the young man a quick look. “I think you’ve got something there.” He hesitated, then added, “We can leave. I’ll take you two out of here. They’ll let us go.”

  “Go back home?” Violet asked. The temptation came to her, but she shook her head. “No, we can’t leave Uncle Pete. It wouldn’t be right.”

  “That’s right,” Ray added quickly. “I ain’t goin’.”

  “I declare,” Dent said mildly, a smile pulling at his lips, “you Ballards are stubborn as Stuarts! Well, I guess we’ll all stay, then. One good thing about it, we aren’t gonna get fat and ugly on what we’ve been eating around here. We’re about out of grub.”

  At half past three, they heard the sound of cars coming and looked out to see Kingman’s big black Packard pull up and stop. He got out, and Pete said, “I guess that’s the sheriff with him. Come on, Kingman, you’ve got to go, or you’ll have me arrested for kidnapping.”

  Ted Kingman got slowly to his feet. He walked outside and stood silently as his father and the sheriff plodded up the hill. As soon as they were close enough, his father said, “All right, Ted, we’ll get you out of this. Sheriff, serve that warrant.”

  “No need of a warrant,” Pete said. “We never kidnapped Mr. Kingman here. He was hurt and we took care of him. He’s free to go whenever he wants to.”

  The sheriff, however, had been primed by Kingman. He was an elected official and his backing came from the oil man. His name was Jennings, and he barked harshly, “Never mind that! I’m arresting you, Stuart!”

  Ted stepped forward at once and took a deep breath. It hurt his side and his lips felt dry. He spoke to the sheriff, but his eyes locked with those of his father. “You ever get slapped with a suit for false arrest, Sheriff Jennings? You won’t be wearing that star very long when the county has to pay a hundred thousand dollars.”

  “False arrest? What’re you talking about?” Jennings snapped. He cast a startled look at the elder Kingman, then back to the younger man. “You were kidnapped!”

  “No, I wasn’t kidnapped. I got hurt and these folks were kindly taking care of me.”

  Horace Kingman turned red. “Stop that foolishness, Ted. You were kidnapped and that’s all there is to it! Now come on, let the sheriff serve the warrant.”

  A quietness fell on everyone. The Stuarts had gathered in front of the house. All were watching carefully, and none more carefully than Maury Stuart. She had learned through talking to Ted the hold his father had on him, and she knew how rare a thing it was for people to be able to stand up when they’d been cowed all their lives. “Come on, Ted. Do it!” she whispered under her breath.

  Ted Kingman straightened up. He was wearing a tattered old shirt, handed down from Pete, and he was pale. He did not look like a millionaire’s son. Nevertheless, there was something in him at that moment that Pete Stuart suddenly took note of. He said nothing but watched carefully as the drama unfolded. “I’m not coming—Jennings isn’t arresting anybody—and that’s final,” he said emphatically, staring straight into the eyes of his father.

  As always, when Horace Kingman was opposed, he flushed and inflated like an angry bullfrog. “You come right now, or you’re out of the business! You’re out of my family! I don’t need a son who’s got no guts!”

  Again the harsh words fell on the stillness of the air, but this time there was a quick answer. Ted Kingman lifted his head, straightened his shoulders. “I’ve been out of your family for a long time. I don’t need a father who makes war on women and kids. The next time you come with your goons, I’ll be shooting back at you.”

  Sheriff Jennings said, “Come on, Mr. Kingman, there’s no need for a law officer here. Nobody’s holding your son prisoner.” He turned and walked away.

  Horace Kingman glared at his son in stark disbelief. “You’ll come around,” he whispered. “You’ve never had it rough. When you get hungry, come in and tell me you’re sorry and maybe I’ll let you come back in. But don’t bother coming unless you’re ready to tell me you’re wrong! . . .”

  They all watched as Kingman went down the hill.

  “Hallelujah!” Maury Stuart ran to where Ted stood. She stepped in front of him, and before he could move, reached up, pulled his head down, and kissed him firmly on the lips. Her lips were soft against his and she said, “Good! I’m so proud of you I could scream.”

  Dent grabbed his battered straw hat from his head and threw it up in the air. He jumped over to where Kingman stood and slapped him on the back, which sent pain down the wounded man’s side. Dent was grinning broadly. Then the others of the Stuart clan came around him. Mona came and took his hand. He looked down at her and her eyes were big as saucers. She had not understood what was happening, but now she whispered, “See, you can be good if you want to.”

  Ted Kingman felt a sudden rush of emotion. “I should have done this years ago,” he said. He turned to look at Maury. He could feel his lips tingle from her kiss, and he echoed Mona’s words, “I guess Mona’s right, you can be good if you want to.”

  Ted felt Maury close to him. He heard again her words, I’m so proud of you I could scream! He thought he had never heard anything in his life that pleased him more!

  DENT FINDS A CHANGE

  The siege stayed in place and day by day the intrepid little band bound inside the ring ate less and grew leaner. However, the decision of Ted Kingman to stay with the Stuarts had leaked to the newspapers. As a result, the numbers circling the house grew, but not with employees of the Kingman Oil Company.

  “Who are all those people?” Maury asked Ted. The two of them were standing outside the house looking at the tents and trailers and wagons that had been added to the circle.

  “I expect some of them own land around here,” Ted said.

  “Why’d they come here?”

  “Don’t you know?” Kingman was mildly shocked. “You’re smarter than that.”

  Maury turned to him and studied his face. “Tell me,” she said.

  “Why, these are people that Kingman Oil has fenced off from their land or stopped from fulfilling their leases so the company could take them over.”

  “But why’d they come here?”

  “Because if Pete Stuart can win, it would mean others could win. That’s why it’s become sort of a test for my father. Look!” he said suddenly. “Who’s that?”

  Maury looked in the direction of his gesture and narrowed her eyes. “It’s Johnny and Winona Dance,” she said. “You don’t know them?”

  “Oh, yes, I remember. They’ve got some land around here.” Again a bitterness came to his lips. “I suppose they hate us, too.”

  Maury had grown to understand the sensitivity of Ted Kingman. He was nothing at all like his father, and she wondered how the two of them could even be related. “They don’t hate you. It’s what your company stands for that they don’t like.”

  “It’s all the same in their minds,” Ted muttered.

  He studied the pair who walked up to the porch. As Pete came out and Ray came forward, it was Winona who said
, “You know, I just thought of something Johnny and I did last night.”

  Ray admired the smoothness of Winona’s cheeks, the steadiness of her eyes. She felt his gaze and turned deliberately to face him. Still she had not figured out how a white man could be honest in his admiration of an Indian woman. She feared to trust him, and yet there was something honest in the young man’s gaze.

  “What is it?” Pete asked. “You think of something, Johnny?”

  “I believe I did.” He looked over at Ted and said, “But I better not say it, not with him here.”

  Instantly, Ted ducked his head. “I’ll leave.”

  As soon as he was out of sight, Maury said, “You don’t have to worry about him.”

  “He’s a Kingman, isn’t he?” Winona said defiantly. “He’s the one that’s stepping on all of us.”

  Maury shook her head but made no answer. “What is it that you’ve done?”

  Johnny Dance was grinning. He had a naturally solemn countenance, but something had brought a deep amusement to him. “Winona and I were talking last night. Kingman trucks have been crossing our land to get at their Number Seven rig, the one he stole from our uncle.”

  Dent had come up to join them and hear this. “You mean that rig’s right in the middle of your land?”

  “That’s right. You see what that means, don’t you?” Johnny Dance grinned. “I’ve already started. We’ve got a bunch of people throwing a siege line around that rig. We got that bunch trapped in there. They can’t come out and nobody can go in. Kingman’s not the only one that can put a siege around an oil derrick.”

  Instantly, Pete said, “I’ve got to get word off to Amos. The newspapers need to hear about this. It’s a way to hit at Kingman I never thought of.”

  “We can get back through the lines,” Winona said. “What do you want? To send a telegram?”

  “Yes, to Amos, my brother. He’s a newspaperman, and he’ll know what to do about this.”

  There was excitement in the house that day. Kingman felt out of it, but then Maury came over to whisper, “Don’t feel bad, Ted. They don’t really hate you. They just can’t understand how you could leave money and everything you’ve had to come to this place.” She hesitated, then said, “I don’t understand it myself.”

  At ten o’clock that night, Violet and Dent were out at the derrick. Dent was holding a rifle in his hands and she had come to watch with him.

  “Do you really expect them to come up that hill again, shooting at us?” she asked quietly.

  Dent had been walking back and forth. Now he came over to stand beside her. She was leaning against the derrick, and the heavens were ablaze with stars and the moon poured a silver light down on her. “No,” he said quietly. “I don’t doubt they’d like to do that, but there’s too many witnesses now. I think it’s gonna be all right.”

  There was a quietness on the land. Somewhere far off a dog howled in a mournful way and Dent lifted his head listening. “Wonder what’s wrong with him? Reminds me of the way Trigger howls when he’s on a coon hunt. You remember Trigger?”

  “Of course I remember Trigger. He’s the best dog you’ve got, except for Roy.”

  “He’s better than Roy.”

  “No, he’s not.”

  “Trigger’s the best. Don’t you remember that time Roy walked right by that trail and Trigger came along and we found that big old coon up in the persimmon tree?” Dent slapped his side and put the rifle down. “I’d forgotten that. How old were you then, ten?”

  “Eleven.”

  “Those were good times, weren’t they, Violet? I hope they come back again.” He looked out over the flat countryside and shook his head. “I don’t like this country. I need to see some hills—something to rest my eyes on.”

  “So do I, but I’ve got to stay and help Uncle Pete. You don’t have to, though. He’s not your kin.”

  Dent shook his head. “I’ve thrown in. I’ll have to do what I came to do. That’s to take you and Ray home when this is all over.”

  She said nothing, and for a long time they just sat there. Finally, Dent put his hand on her shoulder and turned her around. “What’s wrong, Violet? We’re not as easy as we used to be.”

  “Aren’t we?”

  “No, you know we’re not. We used to have fun all the time. Now seems like I’m always hurting your feelings somehow or other. What’s wrong?”

  For a moment she said nothing. Then she turned her face up to him. The silvery moonlight gleamed in her eyes and her lips looked soft and vulnerable as she whispered, “I–I can’t tell you.”

  “Sure you can.” Dent put his hand on her other arm and held her as she looked up. “We could always talk. Don’t you remember when you got in trouble at school? You were afraid to tell your pa or your ma, but you always told me. What is it now?”

  “I can’t tell you.” Inside Violet was struggling to keep from showing her true feelings. His hands on her shoulders were strong and warm, and as she looked up at him, she was thinking, He thinks I’m just a baby, but I love him so much and I don’t know how to say it.

  Dent was concerned. He leaned forward, looking into her face more intently. “You’re not in trouble of some kind, are you, Violet?”

  “Not what you’d call trouble, but oh, Dent, I’m so miserable and unhappy!” She had been under tremendous pressure since she had left her home. All the long weeks on the road, then the difficulties at the oil rig made her suddenly feel alone and helpless in a way she had not felt for a long time. When she had been fourteen, she had realized she was practically a woman, that she could never go to Logan, or really to Anne, as she had when she was a little girl. There had been one day when she had felt the need to go, but somehow she could not force herself. Since that time, except for Ray and Dent, she had had no one really to share life with.

  Looking up at him, she whispered, “I wish I could tell you—” she broke off and knew she could not. To her horror, she felt tears start welling in her eyes and she blinked her eyes to bat them away.

  Dent saw she was disturbed. “You’re not crying?” he whispered. “What is it?” He felt very protective of her and he did then what he had done many times when she was a child. He pulled her forward and put his arms around her and began to stroke her hair. This was always what she liked when she was a girl, when she had cut herself or been disappointed and she had come to him. Now, he held her—but suddenly he was aware that this was no child. The fullness of her womanly figure pressed against him, and when she put her arms around him and held him tightly, he became agitated and whispered huskily, with some embarrassment for the feelings that rushed through him, “Now, it’s all right, Violet.”

  “It’s not all right.” Her face was against his chest now and he could feel her trembling. Reaching up with one hand, he pulled her head back and saw that the tears were running down her face. During that one still moment he forgot the years that he had known her as a child. This was no child but a woman, desirable, lovely, young. Obeying the oldest instinct in a man, he kissed her. To his shock and amazement, her lips were warm and receptive, and he knew that never again could he refer to her by any term such as “Little Sister.” He felt himself drawn toward her as he had never felt drawn toward a woman and he savored the softness of her form and the pressure of her lips on his.

  She pulled back suddenly, whispering, “That’s what’s wrong with me, Dent. You always treat me like a baby and I’m not. I’m a woman!”

  Dent cleared his throat and released her abruptly. “I–I reckon you are, Violet. I didn’t realize how you’d grown up. Just seemed to happen all at once, like.” He was confused. The revelation of what she was had come to him and he said, “I guess I’ll have to rethink what we are, but we can’t go back to what we used to be.”

  Violet suddenly smiled. The moon laid its silver waves on her face, and her dark brown hair and dark blue eyes reflected their gleam. She reached out, touched his cheek, and whispered, “I bet no woman ever kissed you like t
hat.” She was shocked at her own boldness and her face flushed.

  But Dent was amused. “You’re a woman, all right. No question about it. Already starting to learn how to torment a man.” He caught her when she would have moved away and ran his hand over her hair. “You’re a mighty sweet girl, Violet Ballard. You don’t know what it means to me to see someone sweet and gentle, innocent like you.” He reached out then, kissed her cheek gently and said, “You better go inside.”

  “Let me stay for a while. I want to be close to you.”

  “All right, but you sit down right there. You’ve got to start behaving proper if you’re going to be a full-grown woman.”

  The moonlight continued to bathe the prairie with its silver beams. It gave a strange ethereal beauty even to the ugliness of the land. The darkness hid the scars, and overhead the stars winked brightly as the two sat. Soon Dent reached down and took Violet’s hand and held it, without saying a word.

  Although Dent and Violet did not know it, Maury and Ted had been seated on the porch. They had been too far away to hear, but Maury said, “One of these days Dent’s gonna wake up and find out Violet’s not the little girl she used to be.”

  “Girl? Why, no, she’s a lovely young woman.” Ted was startled. “What makes him think she’s a little girl?”

  “Oh, she grew up with him. She’s still a little girl to him. He’s older than she is. Practically raised her, according to the way he tells it.”

  Ted strained his eyes and thought about the pair. “Well, she’s very beautiful. Do you think anything’ll come of it?”

  “I don’t know.” She looked over at Ted and said abruptly, “You think anything’ll ever come of me?”

  Startled by her words, Ted turned to her. “I’ve thought about you a lot,” he said, “wondered why you haven’t married.”

  She hesitated, then said, “I almost did once, but he was too possessive.”

  Instantly, Ted nodded. “I know what that’s like,” he said. “My father always wanted a son. But it wasn’t that he wanted me to be what I am, he wanted me for himself.”