“If we can find him some good leather stock, I bet he can.”
“I better eat and ride home.”
“You can spend the night.”
“I can be home in a few hours. I enjoyed you taking me along, but this old married man misses his wife and the kids. Those two big boys and the girl are mine now, too. I won’t forget them, but Miles is a treasure.”
“Let’s eat. I’ll have them saddle a horse for you.” They went by the barn and he told Jimenez to find Hampt a good horse and put his gear on him.
Monica had supper on the table. With large cuts of beef on their plates, they passed bowls of potatoes, gravy, green beans, and fresh baked sourdough bread. They worked hard at eating, bragged on her cooking, and laughed a lot.
“What convinced his daughter to come home?” Marge asked.
“When your husband asked him if he was divorced yet. Petal said he’d denied ever being married. I guess she figured out then that he’d lied to her,” said Hampt.
“Poor girl.”
“She’s had a rough life,” said Chet. “Lost her mother. But her father’s on the mend in his life. Maybe not from his handicaps, but they will live better in the future.”
“How did she get hooked up with that man?”
“There are buzzards like him floating around all the time, looking for poor girls.”
“Well, I am lucky none found me,” Marge teased.
“No, I’m glad none got you, too.”
After the meal, he sent Hampt back to his wife on a good fresh horse that he could run home on.
With Marge under his arm, they headed for the bedroom where they fed the baby and went to bed. He found sleep fast and woke before dawn. Monica was downstairs in the kitchen with coffee made and he sipped on a hot fresh cup.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to go up on the Rim to see Reg and Lucie, and their new baby, but I can’t leave until Sunday. I never realized all the things I’d need to do here.”
She shook her head. “You’ll still be helping people when the Good Lord comes for you, and he’ll have to wait.”
“Oh, Monica. I’m just one man who likes to ranch and wants this territory to become a state.”
“I better get Marge up, so she can help that girl find some dresses. You taking her to town?”
“No, I may go look at the East Verde Ranch, and come back tonight.”
“You tell her. I don’t want to be the mail service here.”
He looked at Monica’s back and shook his head, but she never saw him do it.
She delivered his fried eggs, pushed the bowl of German-fried potatoes at him, along with the bacon. Then she went for coffee and poured it in his cup.
“Something wrong?”
“Why?” She whirled around and frowned at him.
He held up his hands. “You sound awful sharp this morning.”
She pointed her finger and shook it in his face. “If you tell her I told you, I will never tell you another thing.”
“What is it?”
She leaned over and whispered in his ear. “She fell off that jumping horse yesterday. I’ve tried to get her to quit but, of course, she made me promise to not tell anyone, especially you. She could have been hurt. But don’t you say one word about it.”
Her words sobered him up sharp-like. How in the hell did he handle that? Her number one thing in this world was jumping her horses. And the baby was here, so she had nothing holding her back. Maybe he better take her to town and see if she would tell him anything about her fall. Damn, sometimes things in life made a big mess that was harder to handle than a ranch or law problem.
Not much in their lives they hadn’t worked out, but her jumping was something he knew she wanted to do so bad. The whole notion hurt him, but he damn sure didn’t want to lose her.
“Eat your breakfast,” Monica said. “It won’t be good cold.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She shook her head in defeat. “You ain’t no tougher than I am about this matter. I can see that now.”
“I may shoot the damn horse.”
“Oh, no. You wouldn’t do that. Ain’t his fault anyway.”
“No, but I’m tempted.”
He found Jimenez and had him hitch the team. Maybe he could convince her to jump lower ones. No need to bring her groom in on it. All the poor boy did was what she told him to do. After that, Chet went down and checked the course. On the third jump there was a new bar in the top notch. She probably broke it in her fall.
He shook his head and went back to the house.
“Going to the Verde? Monica said you didn’t tell her where you were going today.”
Liar. “No I’m going to drive you to town to get Petal a dress or two. I can go by to see Bo and check on the contractor he hired to fix the place.” He kissed her. Then he sat down. “Jimenez is hooking the buckboard for us.”
“It will take me a little longer to be ready. I thought you might go to the Verde today?”
“I can go Friday, or next week, when I go to see Robert, as well as Reg and Lucie.”
“Oh, hey, I’m grateful you’re taking me to town.”
“Good.” He clamped his hand on top of hers.
She winced at his touch.
“You hurt?”
“No, I just jammed it a little, that’s all.”
“Is it broke?”
“No, silly. I’m fine.”
“I hope so.”
“I better go see how Adam and his nanny are doing. Then I’ll be ready to go to town.”
“No rush. The horses are ready.” He noticed her slight limp on the right side. As she went to check on the baby, she was doing her best to hide it. Damn.
“She’s pretty sore,” he whispered to Monica.
She shook her head. “I know. I know. You can’t tell her a thing about that jumping.”
“Thanks. I owe you one.”
Marge came out wearing a canvas duster coat. The morning was cooler than usual. He helped her on the seat and she sat down gingerly.
“It’s so nice to have you home. I almost feel like a wife again.”
“Good to be here. What else did you hurt when you hurt your wrist?”
“Oh, nothing. My hip is a little sore.”
“You don’t need the doctor to check you?”
“Of course not. I just tripped and fell. Clumsy me.”
“Alright. I’m just concerned.”
“Alright. Alright, my horse took a fall. I know you worry about me jumping, but I’ve only had some minor spills. The dirt in the pen is sandy and not caliche hard. I won’t jump him that high again, unless I’m certain he can clear it. Oh, Chet, I didn’t want you to worry about me. I’m sorry.”
He hugged her. “You and Adam are all I have close to me. Make those lower jumps, please?”
“I will. Now did that ruin your day, finding out about me being clumsy?”
“No, but I worry about your safety, for both our sakes.”
“Well, you go and get shot.”
“Someone has to bring justice to this territory. I don’t take many chances.”
She squeezed his leg. “Let’s have fun today. Tell me about this poor girl.”
“She’s young. But all girls have become young to me. Her and her father live in a trap. And I don’t think they always have food. He’s a craftsman, but I can see he has no leather to make things. Have you gone by their new house?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, that’s a nice place, and with paint it will be great for them.”
“I thought so, too. Poor girl is in rags. Lost, and she agreed to come back on her own free will. I think she saw the mistake she’d made.”
“Should I have a doctor check her? She may have been exposed to some disease.”
“Yes, but make it her wish.”
“I understand.”
“You take the world on your shoulders. Are we going by Jenn’s first?”
“If she can get off, I’m
sure she’d like to go. Cole and Valerie are up at Oak Creek honeymooning. Jenn may not have enough help.”
“We’ll see. I enjoy her company and she can help me boost this girl’s morale.”
“She needs a ton of that.”
They went by for Jenn who had enough help and, with him standing in the back of the spring seat, they drove to Bo’s office and let him off.
“I can make it from here. When you get done this afternoon, I’ll be at Jenn’s place. Take Petal to lunch. You need any money?”
“No, we’re fine,” Marge said after he kissed her.
“You two are a great couple,” Jenn said, and they drove off.
He and Bo walked over to the house.
“You can meet my new lady,” Bo said. “Marge invited me to the party.”
“Hell, you knew you were invited.”
“It was still nice to be asked. You will meet her anyway.”
“I’ll look forward to meeting the lady.”
“Rhineheart, the contractor, says we’re lucky they have the matching wood siding on the house here in stock. So he can make a pretty good match on that enclosure on the back. The shed is going up and the barn renovation is going good, too. He went by and looked at Beam’s saddle shop and got ideas how to make him racks and shelves. Good enough?”
“That should work.”
“He’s making a place in the barn to park the buggy inside, as well as harness racks on the wall. There’s way more room in that barn than he’ll ever need for his shop. So, they’re making a heated area that can be opened up in summer weather. Making a stall in the back of the barn for the horse to get out of the weather, and a hay shed at a distance so the shop won’t catch on fire, or the barn, either.”
“You sound like you’re getting it done.”
“I guess Marge’s got enough paint and brushes. She said your foreman had enough ladders and they’re bringing them.”
“I guess so.”
“How did your trip to Crown King go?” Bo asked.
“She agreed to come home with us. Hampt went with me.”
“Yeah, if I got in a fight, I’d want him to back me—or stand in front of me, would be even better.”
Chet shook his head. “Hampt is a prize. He married my sister-in-law, May, and he’s got her singing and playing the piano. As long as she was around all of us, we never knew she could do that.”
“Now isn’t that something.”
“They have a new boy named Miles.”
“I knew that. You and Reg each have a new one. Who’s next?”
“Susie, my sister.”
“You will soon have a tribe.”
“I do now. JD says we will be diaper-ville.”
“I’m scaring up a few more places that are for sale around that Windmill ranch.”
“Good. I figure, in time, we’ll need them.”
“They’re cheap enough.”
“If you can stand the temptation, let’s go down to the Palace Saloon and have lunch.”
“No problem. What will you do next?”
Chet shook his head. “Maybe finish up down there at Tubac, come home, and put my boots up and relax.”
“What are you going to do the other twenty-three hours of that day?”
“Hunt and fish.”
The two were still laughing when Chet held the batwing door back for him to enter the Palace Saloon ahead of him.
They found a table and ordered the chicken-fried steak and frijoles with sourdough bread to go along. The girl went off to turn in the order and bring their coffee.
Chet wondered how his Force was getting along in the south. Were JD and his bunch getting the windmill setup in place? He would have this business about setting up McCully at the house and shop done by the weekend.
One of the boys would need to bring in that horse and buggy for Petal to drive her father to the party on Saturday. When he met Marge later, they could figure it out. That whole day Saturday might wear that poor man to death. No, McCully’d make it—he was tough and had his daughter back to support him. Marge’s horse wreck worried Chet, too—if anything happened to his wife, he didn’t know what he’d do.
After their lunch, he parted with Bo Evans and went back over to Jenn’s. They were seated in back in a booth, talking.
“You need lunch?” Jenn asked.
“No, I ate at the competition. You get her dressed?”
“Oh, she cried,” Marge said. “But we have her fixed for the occasion, and after that, I think she is relieved to be back home. I had the store send him some new clothes, too. Your friend, Kathrin, said they would handle it. I was so busy having that baby when Kathrin came to help me that I didn’t realize it, but she’s going to have one, too.”
“I told you that.”
“I must have forgotten. She and her husband are coming Saturday. They knew what I bought the paint and brushes for. I invited them.”
“We’ll have a crowd. Bo and his lady friend are coming.”
“Who is that?”
He shook his head. “Jenn may know. I don’t.”
“I’m not sure who she is, either. He’s a nice guy. He’d be a good catch since you dried him out,” said Jenn.
They laughed.
“My man does it all,” Marge said, smiled, and patted his arm friendly-like.
“Let’s go home. I need them to bring him the horse and buggy in Friday so she can bring him to the party.”
“Oh, yes, we can do that. The ranch hands scrubbed it clean. It was under a foot or so of dust and cobwebs.”
After helping Marge climb aboard, he clucked to the team and turned them around in the street. “Thanks for taking care of those two so well. Did Petal talk to you and Jenn?”
“Yes. She is glad you came for her. I think she was desperate was why she went off with him.”
“I figured that.”
“You look tired,” Marge said.
“I’m fine. We’ll have lots to do in town to get set up for Saturday. Tomorrow, I’ll help Raphael get everything in there that we can move.”
“I bet he’d enjoy having you. He is a great admirer of you.”
“I admire him and his men.”
“Oh, Chet we are so lucky. You have all these ranches going so well. We have a son that I thought I’d never have after my past experience. And you are generous to all of us. That little man needed this break and he told us he was so pleased. I know he will do well.”
“I think he’ll make good saddle makers out of some of the ranch boys.”
“You’re going north to see Robert and Reg next week?”
“I need to do that. Robert’s efforts are paying our ranch payrolls. I don’t think we appreciate him enough. I don’t want him to have the big head, but he is really doing a great job.”
“I know. I do that payroll. We have to use some money from our bank account for large expenses. But Robert is doing his share of earning this ranch’s expenses.”
“Sarge’s cattle sale operation is still the best moneymaker. And he’s doing it right.”
“Were you surprised about Victor taking his place?”
“No, we are bringing on good men. Victor is one of them.”
“What will you do?”
“Find them a good cook and make Victor Sarge’s right hand.”
“Good. What about Robert?”
“I want him to pick a foreman and make him a supervisor.”
“Why do that?”
“Cowboys don’t like to drag out timber. The men he needs are more farmer types who enjoy driving horses.”
“I am learning. What about Reg?”
“Those two have built a ranch out of that place with mavericks. Like the old days, when my grandfather and my dad caught wild mavericks and built the first Byrnes herd in Texas. I’m glad Reg got to become experienced at doing that.”
“Did that amaze you, that they could do that?”
“Not only me, but Lucie, who was raised on a ranch west of
there, was also surprised that there were that many mavericks roaming our new ranch.”
“It’s a large place.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be glad when I can go see it again. They have a big house and all.”
“Yes. Maybe next summer that boy will be big enough to take along.” He turned the team in the driveway.
“I bet he will be. He’s really growing.”
“He sure is. Raphael must be waiting for me to get back. I see him coming to meet us.”
“I bet it’s all about the party.”
“We can handle it.”
He helped her down and told her he’d be in shortly.
“Chet,” Raphael said, “with the two wagons I am sending, we have lots of oak and mesquite to cook those two carcasses. There is enough. I have a cooking crew picked. They know what to do and are excited. They’ll all go in and get set up. They brought up the spit from the Verde that John built. He also made one for the hog we butchered. It is real nice. John is such a great blacksmith. We plan to take four wagons to town in the morning early and get busy cooking. We have two large pots to cook the beans the women have cleaned. We have some ovens to bake bread. Monica gave us the sourdough starter. Mexican women can make delicious sourdough bread.”
“I’ve had some they made. When you get an empty wagon, send someone to go get the beer I ordered at the Palace. He’s expecting someone to pick it up.”
“Si. We are taking bedrolls. A big number of us will sleep there tomorrow and Saturday night. I have three good men to stay here on the ranch to be sure no one raids this place.”
“Good idea. Is there music?”
“Oh, si, we always have music. Will Señora May be there?”
“I’m sure she will be.”
“She can sing. Oh, she is very good.”
“She’ll be proud to sing.”
“There’s lots of open land and trees up there where the house is to park rigs. Scotch the wagon wheels. It’s on that hill.”
“Oh, si. We will have a good time.”
Chet made it to the house in time to wash up and eat the supper Monica was putting on the table.
“How’s Adam?” he asked his wife.
“Fine, Rhea’s putting him to sleep.”
“Good. I’m taking a shower and will probably go to bed early. There’s lots going on tomorrow.”
A Good Day To Kill Page 20
