Big Sky Daddy

by Linda Ford

  Debris and disaster lay everywhere. The fence around the chicken pen was torn down. She saw at least three dead chickens. The garden was flattened, the turnips they’d dug but not picked up trampled to pieces. Ma’s herb garden was a mess, the flower gardens by the house torn. One step of the porch was broken.

  “Lilly.” Rose waved from the garden, where she was bending over something.

  The bottom fell out of Lilly’s stomach. Pa lay on the ground before Rose.

  Her feet leaden, her heart full of dread, she carried Teddy to the house. Ma’s hand was clamped to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.

  Lilly put Teddy on a chair and led Ma to another. “Ma, you and Teddy stay here.”

  Ma’s eyes focused on Teddy and she nodded. “Go see to things.”

  Lilly hurried from the house and did her best to avoid the cow droppings as she crossed to the garden. She knelt by Rose and looked at her pa. “How is he?”

  Rose shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  Pa groaned and tried to sit.

  Lilly and Rose gently pushed him down.

  “Pa, lie still until we see if you’re injured.” Lilly turned to Rose. “What happened?”

  “He was right behind me, but when I got to the house he wasn’t there.” Her voice quavered and she reached for Lilly’s hand. They held on tight, comforting each other.

  “I tripped,” Pa said. “Silly old man that I am.”

  “Did the cows—” Lilly couldn’t finish the question. She couldn’t bear the thought of Pa being trampled by the herd.

  “Where are you hurt?” Rose asked.

  “It hurts to breathe.”

  Rose and Lilly exchanged fearful looks. That could mean a number of things, from bruised ribs to severe internal injuries.

  “Take me to your ma.”

  “You wait here while we get something to carry you on.”

  The fact that he didn’t protest indicated how poorly he felt.

  The girls hurried to the barn to get a piece of canvas and wrap it around two poles, and then they raced back. Neither of them spoke. Lilly knew Rose was as reluctant as she to express the truth—that Pa might be seriously injured. Please God. Please God. She uttered the silent prayer over and over, knowing God heard the cry of her heart.

  They gently eased Pa to the makeshift stretcher and carried him to the house, where they laid him on the cot. Ma covered her mouth to muffle a cry as she rushed to his side.

  “Bertie, Bertie, oh my dear.” She bent over him, her hands hovering above him as if afraid to touch his skin.

  Pa opened his eyes, full of stark pain. “Now, don’t you worry. I’m okay.” But the heavy tone of his words said otherwise.

  Ma nodded and pulled herself together. “Girls, take Teddy and go outside while I see where your pa is injured.”

  Lilly took Teddy in her arms and the three of them left the house.

  The devastation before them brought a groan to Lilly’s lips. She would have sunk to the ground, but there was no place fit to sit. “It’s awful,” she whispered.

  “Why’d those cows do that?” Teddy asked, his voice small and full of fear.

  Rose grunted. “The Caldwell cowboys had a hand in this. That herd was purposely led here.”

  Lilly shushed her, tipping her head toward Teddy to indicate they should be cautious how they spoke around him.

  Rose hushed, but her scowl informed Lilly what she was thinking.

  “Where’s Blossom?” Teddy’s words rose with panic.

  “I expect both she and Grub were smart enough to get out of the way.” Oh please, God. Let the pup be okay.

  “Blossom,” Teddy called. “Come here, girl.”

  Lilly held her breath and waited. But there was no sign of either dog.

  “Grub,” Rose called. “How about some food?”

  “Look.” Lilly pointed toward Pa’s workshed, which was relatively unharmed except for patches of green manure dotting it. Blossom stepped out, Grub at her tail. As soon as they saw it was safe to venture forward, they trotted across the yard.

  She put Teddy on the ground and he wrapped his arms around his dog, laughing as she licked his face.

  Ma opened the door and joined them on the step. “Your pa is badly bruised. I can’t tell if he’s injured inside. We’ll just have to wait and see. I pray God will spare him.”

  Lilly took her hand on one side and Rose on the other. “Amen to that.”

  Ma looked about the yard. “Oh, my!”

  There wasn’t much else to say. Lilly added, “Rose, let’s get started cleaning up. I’m going to get Teddy’s crutch cleaned first. Teddy, you’ll have to make do with one until your other can be repaired.”

  “Okay.” He happily played with Blossom.

  Halfway across the yard it hit her. Teddy had walked at least a step or two. His leg did work. For a second she rejoiced. Then she stepped in a fresh cow pie. “Ugh. It’s going to take hours to clean this place.”

  “The sooner we get started, the sooner we finish,” Rose said, her expression grim.

  A tremor of fear skittered up Lilly’s spine. “Rose, what are you thinking?”

  “You have to ask?” She faced Lilly squarely. “What part did Caleb have in this?”

  “Rose, how could you think that? Why, he’d never do anything to hurt...his son.” She almost said he’d never hurt her. But could she be so certain? Hadn’t he promised they’d be safe from a Caldwell attack while he was working there? Why hadn’t he stopped this, or at least warned them it was coming? Perhaps tried to turn the cows away from the farm?

  But he’d been conspicuously absent.

  “I expect he was counting on one of us to make sure Teddy was okay.” Rose looked about.

  “I’m sure there’s another explanation.”

  “I’m not planning to accept just any old reason.” She kicked at a board torn from the chicken house. “Not after this.”

  Lilly scrubbed Teddy’s crutch and took it to him. Then with shovel and wheelbarrow she tackled the cow manure. Green droppings smeared the outside of the barn that had been built just that summer. It would take a good rain to wash them away.

  Meanwhile they would remain as a reminder of this dreadful day.

  She and Rose repaired the chicken house and buried the dead chickens. They were about to start work on the fence when Ma called out.

  “Pa says to salvage what you can of the turnips.”

  The girls crossed to the garden and picked through the damaged vegetables. Some could be used immediately. A few were whole, but most of them were trampled to a juicy waste.

  All the while she secretly waited for Caleb to appear, and hoped he could provide an explanation of why this had happened.

  She couldn’t believe he’d had a part in it. But she’d been wrong before in trusting people.

  Was she to be proven wrong again?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Caleb glanced at the sky, again assessing the amount of daylight he had left. He drove up to the Caldwell barn and unloaded the sacks of oats. He’d take care of the horse and wagon and then he would be on his way. He had a good chance of making it to the Bells before dusk descended.

  A few minutes later he rode from the yard. He saw no sign of Ebner or any of the other cowboys who normally hung about the place.

  As he neared the Bells’ farm he saw evidence of many cows having trampled the grass. Odd they had bunched up together like that. Just that morning they had been scattered in small groups across a large area.

  The closer he got, the more intense the signs grew. His jaws clenched. If he wasn’t mistaken the herd had headed directly for the Bells’. What would have spooked them in such a fashion?

  Or who? A shudder snaked across his shou
lders. Why hadn’t he seen Ebner back at the ranch?

  At the top of the hill overlooking the farm, he could see the cows had run right through the yard, trampling it into a dirty mess. Had Ebner done this?

  Stampeding cows were dangerous. They could as easily trample a child as a flower. He scanned the yard in a quick second. No sign of Teddy. He spurred the horse forward, leaning over the saddle horn. Teddy, Teddy, he silently cried.

  The boy was all he had left. If something happened to him—

  He couldn’t even finish the thought. He should have never left him there. Should have kept him at his side, no matter what.

  When had the distance down the hill grown so far?

  The horse’s hooves pounded, the sound reverberating in his chest.

  Then Teddy appeared, limping along, Blossom at his side, and Caleb sat back to catch his breath.

  Anger pounded against the back of his eyes. His son could have been hurt. If this had been a deliberate action—

  He rode more slowly toward the farm.

  Rose and Lilly were kneeling in the garden. He couldn’t be sure what they were doing, but they appeared to be picking up turnips. Strange. Why would they do that when there was so much cleaning up to do?

  He dismounted when he reached his son, swung Teddy into his arms, and went to join Lilly and Rose.

  Rose jolted to her feet, gave him a look of pure displeasure and stalked away.

  He saw they weren’t picking up turnips so much as looking for undamaged ones to salvage from the mashed mess. The cows had done this.

  Lilly stared at him, her sorrowful expression tinted with both hope and despair.

  “How did this happen?”

  “You need to ask? Where were you that you didn’t stop it? You promised.”

  Rose had not gone far, and was listening to every word. “Yes, let’s hear your explanation.”

  He didn’t want Teddy to hear this conversation. He put him down. “Go to the house.” He waited until Teddy went inside, walking with one crutch, and shut the door.

  “Ebner sent me to town.” His suspicions grew. The blacksmith had wondered why the wheel had been loose, suggesting someone had deliberately tampered with it.

  Ebner had planned it all along.

  “I see now he meant to keep me out of the way because he knew I’d oppose him.”

  Rose snorted. “Well, I hope he’s happy. The place is a mess. Pa is injured.”

  “He’s injured? How badly?”

  Lilly’s eyes misted. “We don’t know. He might have internal injuries.”

  “Lilly, you must believe I had nothing to do with this.”

  She averted her eyes.

  He knew she was having trouble believing him.

  He wheeled around and headed for the house.

  Rose trotted after him. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “To check on your pa.”

  “Ma can do that.”

  Lilly followed hard on Caleb’s heels. “Rose, for pity’s sake. You can’t blame Caleb for every evil the Caldwells have inflicted on us.”

  “Right now I can’t see why not.”

  Caleb ducked into the house. Mr. Bell lay on the cot, pale as the sheets.

  Mrs. Bell glanced up. Caleb had never seen her look so drawn and old.

  “How is he?”

  She responded the same way Lilly had. “We’ll have to wait and see. I’ve given him something to ease the pain.”

  “I pray he’ll recover.”

  “Thank you.”

  Caleb saw no accusation in Mrs. Bell’s eyes and was grateful. He didn’t dare look at Lilly again for fear of what he’d see.

  “Can I leave Teddy here for a bit? I have something I need to take care of.” He didn’t wait for their answer, knowing Teddy would be well cared for in his absence. If they’d let him, he’d return and help clean the place up. But they might never want to see him around again. At least that was the impression Rose had given.

  Did Lilly see things differently?

  He’d soon find out.

  He swung back into the saddle and retraced his route through the cow droppings, over the hill and onward to the Caldwells’ ranch.

  He rode directly to the cookhouse, where he guessed the men would be gathered. He swung down and stomped in.

  Ebner looked up and glowered. “Thought you’d gone to join your friends.”

  “What you did was lower than a snake’s belly. You chased a herd of cows over the land of an old man, an old woman and two innocent girls.” He took a step forward, his fists clenched at his sides. “Even knowing my son is there, a crippled little boy who can’t run from the stampede. That’s about the most cowardly thing I’ve ever heard of.” He would not mention Mr. Bell’s condition, lest Ebner feel he should take advantage of the Bells while they were down and hurting. “I’ll not work for an outfit like this.”

  A dozen men observed them. It helped ease Caleb’s tension to see half of them hang their heads in shame. The other half, however, sneered. A cowardly, dangerous bunch.

  “I’ll take my wages now if you care to give me them.”

  Ebner rolled his shoulders. “’Fraid that’s up to the boss.”

  “Right. When do you expect him back?”

  “Say, didn’t he and the missus ride in this afternoon?” The man who spoke had a face as cruel as a tornado, but he was one of those who hadn’t looked pleased about Ebner’s actions.

  “Shut up, Stu,” Ebner growled.

  Caleb didn’t nod his thanks to Stu. No point in making things worse for the man. “I’ll be collecting my wages, then.” He strode from the cookhouse, mounted the steps to the main house and banged on the door, ignoring Ebner as he hollered at him to stay away from there.

  A man opened the door. “Mr. Caldwell?” The man had a fine head of silver hair and wore a suit that had obviously been tailored to fit him to perfection. He lacked the menacing air Caleb expected.

  “Yes, what can I do for you?”

  “Name’s Caleb Craig. I’ve been working here a month, but I quit and I’ve come to collect my wages.”

  “You quit?”

  “Yes, sir. I can’t work for an outfit that deliberately attacks innocent, helpless people. It goes against my grain.”

  “I see. Well, come in and we’ll settle up.”

  Caleb followed the man across the hall to an office with a big mahogany desk, mahogany wainscoting and shelves lined with leather-bound books.

  “Have a seat.” Mr. Caldwell pointed toward a black leather armchair.

  “I’ll stand.” He held his hat in hand.

  “Suit yourself.” He wrote on a piece of paper. “Perhaps you’d care to tell me what you’re in such a high dungeon over.”

  Caleb considered whether or not to tell him, then decided it might help him judge the character of this man to see his reaction. “Your crew stampeded a herd of cows over the Bell farm, even knowing my son who has a crippled leg was there.”

  “Was your son injured further?”

  “No, but it was no thanks to your cowboys.” Again he decided against telling Mr. Caldwell about Mr. Bell’s injuries. “I’ll not be part of a crew that acts in such a cowardly way.”

  “You have proof my men did this?”

  “Who else would?”

  Mr. Caldwell gave him a piercing look. “Cows have been known to stampede for lots of reasons, many of them not man-made. It seems you’re jumping to conclusions.”

  Caleb nodded. So that’s the way it was to be. “I’ll take my pay.”

  Mr. Caldwell handed him the paper. “Present that at the bank in town and they’ll give you what’s owed you.”

  “Thanks.” He strode from the room without a
nother word and crossed the yard to his horse. He didn’t say anything to Ebner, who followed him demanding to know what he had said to the boss.

  He swung into the saddle and rode back toward the Bells’.

  Could be they’d ask him to move on.

  Welcome or not, he’d help them clean up before he left.

  Was it just that morning he’d been smiling at what he’d interpreted as Lilly’s acceptance of him?

  Would she welcome him now or side with Rose in wishing him gone?

  He’d soon enough know.

  For the first time he looked at the script Mr. Caldwell had given him and sat back. Twice what he’d expected for a month’s work.

  His first instinct was to turn around and ride back, demand to know why he had given Caleb that generous amount. Was Mr. Caldwell trying to silence his criticism with a bribe? He stared at the paper for a minute. It was enough for him to go east with Teddy and see that special doctor.

  Was this how it was meant to be?

  He’d promised Lilly he’d make sure she and her family were safe while he was there. He’d failed. Again. He folded the script, tucked it deep into his pocket and rode on.

  Dusk had fattened the shadows by the time he reached the Bells’. He put his horse in the barn, grabbed a shovel and set to work. He scooped and smoothed the dirt, then when he finished that, he lit a lantern and untangled the wire for the chicken yard.

  Lilly came from the house. “Caleb, it’s dark. Come inside for supper.”

  He stopped hammering. “You sure I’m welcome?”

  She nodded. “Where did you go?”

  “I went to the Caldwells’ to quit.”

  Her eyes were wide, the lantern light revealing surprise and—dare he hope—gladness.

  “What about taking Teddy east?”

  “Mr. Caldwell paid me generously. I can afford to take him to that special doctor.”

  “The Caldwells are back?”

  “Arrived today.” He pulled at the wire, trying to untangle it so he could nail it to the post.

  She grabbed the end and pulled it tight.

  He drove in the nails and moved on to the next post. In a few minutes they had the chickens securely shut in.

  There was something he needed to know. “You don’t believe I had any part of this, do you?”