“In that case, you have no reason to stay.”
“You won’t come back?”
“No.”
“You’re going to work in Stocker’s saloon?”
“Yes.”
“I would have gone anywhere for you, done anything.”
She couldn’t speak. Her throat was too tight. She waited, and gradually she could see the hope die in him. The words he’d expected to change her mind hadn’t worked. Everything he’d dreamed had slipped beyond his grasp once more.
He turned and left without a word.
“Good. I hope that’s the last we see of that son of a bitch.”
Tanzy whirled on Stocker. “Let’s get one thing straight right from the beginning: I don’t know why you dislike Russ so much and I don’t care, but if you ever say anything like that about him to me again, I’ll walk out of here and never come back. Is that clear?”
“How the mighty have fallen.”
Betty Hicks had confronted Tanzy on the boardwalk: It was impossible to avoid talking to her without crossing the street. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you, you lying bitch.”
“Well, that’s making your opinion very clear, but I’m still not sure where I’ve fallen to or where I’ve fallen from.”
“Don’t play games with me.”
“I don’t recall doing anything with you except being forced to speak to you.”
“You can knock off the lady act. You’re no better than I am.”
“I never pretended I was. As you’ll recall, I didn’t believe working in a gambling hall made me a tramp.”
“You’ll find you’re wrong, especially now you’re nothing but a saloon girl.”
Tanzy smiled. “So you’ve heard already.”
“After the way Russ stormed through town, the place was buzzing. Everybody knows Russ threw you off his ranch and you came to Stocker begging for a job.”
Tanzy struggled to fight down the urge to set Betty straight, but she realized she’d have a better chance of finding out what Stocker was doing if everybody believed Russ had thrown her out rather than that she had left.
“Stacker offered me the job before,” Tanzy said.
“Well, now you’ll have to set your sights on somebody other than Russ Tibbolt.”
“So it seems. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”
“You can drop those hoity-toity manners. They won’t be wanted in the saloon.”
“I can assure you whatever I do will be wanted.”
She just hoped she was wanted enough that she could get close to Stocker and find out what she needed to know.
“You can’t let her work for Mr. Pullet,” Tardy said. “You’ve got to bring her back.”
“She doesn’t want to come back,” Russ said. “Now forget it.”
“I can’t,” Tardy said. “She’s the only one who really likes me. Besides, I think Welt’s cooking will poison me.”
“In that case I’ll fix you something right now so we can have a little peace and quiet,” Welt said.
“You’ll have more peace and quiet than you can stand,” Tim said. “This place will be dull without her.”
Russ slammed his hand down on the table. “I’ve already told you, she doesn’t want to come back so stop talking about it.”
“Can’t one of us go ask her?” Tardy asked. “Maybe you asked her wrong.”
“Too late,” Welt said, disgust in his voice. “He never did know how to handle a woman.”
“Which is all the more reason for me not to get married,” Russ said.
“But if you married her, maybe you could learn,” Tardy said. “Being around these guys is nothing like being around a woman.”
That came close to making Russ smile.
“I’m relieved to hear that,” Welt said. “Have you any more words of wisdom or timeless advice before I throttle you?”
“Yes, I do,” Tardy said, his mouth tightening stubbornly “I don’t know what went wrong, but you’ll be real sorry if you don’t fix it. You won’t ever find a woman like Miss Gallant around here again, not if you live to be a hundred.” With that he jumped up and stalked out of the cabin.
“Eat your supper,” Russ said to the others. “I’ll go after him. Maybe I can do better with a troubled youth. At least I know what that’s like.”
Tardy had run off to the corral in the trees behind the cabin. Russ found him leaning on the fence, a betraying moisture in his eyes. He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and squeezed. “We’re all going to miss her.”
“You’ve got each other. She was all I had.”
“You’ve got us.”
“It’s not the same. You think of me as a kid. I suppose I am, but I didn’t feel that way around Miss Gallant.”
“She was like that with all of us. Somehow she made us all feel a little bit special.”
“That’s because she likes people. She always saw what she thought I could become, not the stupid dope I am. I always tried harder because I didn’t want to let her down. Don’t you love her? She loves you.”
“How do you know that?”
“I may be a stupid boy, but I can see what’s in front of my face. She was always happier when you were around. She did little things because she knew you liked them. And she kept all those things you wrote. She used to read them over every day.”
Russ hadn’t known that.
“You never took your eyes off her,” Tardy continued. “Some evenings you’d sit in that big chair talking and acting like you were paying attention to what we were saying, but you’d be following her with your eyes.”
“It was better than looking at you or Tim.”
“You think I can’t tell when a person’s in love, but I can. I know you love Miss Gallant and I know she loves you. I was hoping you’d get married so I could live here with you.”
“You can still stay here.”
“I was hoping you’d have babies. I never had any brothers or sisters. I always wanted somebody I could hold and love. Babies don’t care if you’re lazy or ugly. They’ll love you anyway.”
The air had turned cool with the sinking of the sun. The gloom of the gathering dusk reflected Russ’s mood. He wondered how it could be that so many of the words coming out of Tardy’s mouth were his own, so many of his feelings shared as well. He wanted a wife and lover, but he wanted children, too. Someone who would love him without any qualification, would look up to him in awe, who’d think he was godlike, that his every word was wisdom, his every rule unquestioned. It was probably a character defect that he wanted to be loved like that, but after being scorned and hated for so long, he longed for it.
But no childlike love could take the place of the love of a woman who knew your faults, could list your imperfections without stopping for breath, and loved you anyway. He’d thought he’d found that with Tanzy. Despite what she said, he still didn’t understand what had gone wrong. He could have sworn she was willing to take a chance they could build a life free of the tension that had followed him for so long.
“I wanted just about the same thing,” Russ told Tardy.
“Then why did you let her go?”
“Because she didn’t want to come back. No matter how much you love a woman, how much you want her to be with you, you can’t force her. It won’t work. You’ll end up hating each other.”
“Do you hate Stocker?”
It surprised Russ to realize that in all the years Stocker had spent trying to ruin his life, he’d never asked himself that question. He’d thought he hated him, that he wanted him dead. He certainly thought he was a selfish, tyrannical man and wished Stocker would leave him alone, but that wasn’t the same as hating him. “No. I think he’s the worst man I know, but I don’t hate him. I guess I feel sorry he’s so miserable he has to be mean as a snake.”
“I hate him. I wish he was dead.”
Russ could sympathize. It would have been easy to hate Stocker, blame everything o
n him, but that wouldn’t fix anything.
“Don’t think about him. Think instead about yourself, about what you want to learn, what you want to do.”
“Is that what you did?”
“Not at first. I spent several years in prison before I learned not to waste my time on anger and hate. The boys and I decided to put the past behind us, to concentrate on building something here. It wasn’t easy, but we did it.”
And now he was ready for the next stage, a family, but he knew he’d never have one without Tanzy. Her leaving hurt, but her betrayal, her working for Stocker, hurt even worse. He couldn’t understand it. She wasn’t a cruel person, but she couldn’t have come up with anything that could have hurt him more. This was yet another time when a woman who was important to him had turned to a Pullet instead. What was wrong with him that made a man like Stocker Pullet preferable?
He was young and better looking, but Stocker was richer and more influential. He tried to do the right thing while Stocker forced people to do what he wanted. He couldn’t understand why Tanzy couldn’t see through Stocker. He guessed it was just another case of him not being able to understand women. His record was truly dismal.
But even as he reached that conclusion he rejected it. He didn’t understand what had gone wrong, but things had been different this time. They did understand each other. Something had happened to change her mind. She had been upset that he would burn Stocker’s buildings in retaliation, but that didn’t explain why she would go to work for Stocker, a man she disliked. There was something here he needed to figure out before his future slipped through his fingers.
“I don’t know what I want to do,” Tardy said. “Miss Gallant said I ought to get more schooling, maybe even college, but Aunt Ethel doesn’t want me back.”
“You stay here and do a good job and we’ll see about some more schooling.”
“I can’t get ready for something like that without help. Miss Gallant is the only one who can help me.”
“Talk to Oren. Maybe he can help,” Russ suggested. “Right now I think we ought to go back and eat our supper.”
“Welt isn’t such a terrible cook, but he’ll never take the place of Miss Gallant.”
That was the problem. Nobody could take Tanzy’s place.
The last week had been one of the most interesting in Tanzy’s life. She’d taken up her position as hostess in Stocker’s saloon. At first the men didn’t know how to treat her. Some had tried to act like she was one of the girls who sold drinks and dances. Tanzy quickly set them straight on that. She didn’t sell dances, she didn’t sell drinks, and she would not be mauled. She started carrying a small fan to use to rap offending hands. Even when drunk, the men could feel the sharp discomfort across their knuckles.
Some avoided her, unsure of what to do. When that happened, she could go up to the man, start him talking, and soon beckon one of the other women to keep him company. Some attempted to treat her with such formality she had to exert herself to get them to relax and enjoy themselves. She quickly figured out Stocker didn’t need her, that he’d only hired her because he liked doing anything he could to anger Russ, but she wanted to keep her position long enough to find out what was going on.
To that end she encouraged everyone to talk to her. A few beers, a few smiles, and a sympathetic ear and there wasn’t much most men wouldn’t tell her. She went to her bed every evening weary of it. She asked them about their lives, their families, their work. She asked them to tell her about the West, not neglecting any details. She asked about the rustlers because she’d been told they were lawless killers and that wasn’t at all what she was used to. She learned a few things, none of it very useful. Cattle were being stolen from everyone, but not enough to threaten anybody’s livelihood. There hadn’t been any robberies since the attempt on the stage. The men who’d tried to kill Russ wouldn’t say who hired them.
A stranger came to talk with Stocker one night just after she was supposed to have left. She had gone into the office where she kept her things and heard a voice she didn’t recognize. That wouldn’t have meant anything if she hadn’t heard Stocker say Russ’s name.
She froze, listening intently. She couldn’t tell what the other man was saying, but apparently what he said made Stocker angry for he started shouting. She couldn’t make out a lot of what he said because the other man was speaking, too, but it was clear he was talking about Russ and stealing cattle.
He had to be talking about stealing Russ’s cattle.
Tanzy knew Stocker hated Russ and wanted to get rid of him, but she’d never considered the possibility that Stocker would hire someone to steal Russ’s cattle. Or did she have it wrong? Had Stocker hired someone to rustle cattle from everybody so he could blame it on Russ? That possibility seemed even more farfetched until she considered the depth of Stocker’s hatred for Russ. He’d said he wouldn’t be happy until Russ was dead. Getting him convicted and hanged as a rustler and a killer was a way to do that.
Tanzy waited to hear more, but the man left. She hurried to leave the office but only saw his back. Stocker was still in his office. She stood there trying to think what to do next. It wouldn’t do any good to face Stocker with her accusations or go to the sheriff with her suspicions. She needed some proof Stocker was behind the rustling, but she had no idea how to get it.
If she could search Stocker’s office, maybe she could find something to take to the sheriff or even the commander at the fort, but Stocker kept his office and his desk locked. She didn’t know what she would do, but she would think of something. She’d shoot Stocker herself before she allowed him to cause Russ to be hanged. Maybe that made her as bad as her father and brothers, but she didn’t care. She was fighting for her future.
Tardy, what are you doing here?”
“I came to ask if you’d teach me some more.”
She hadn’t been able to sleep after last night. Unable to stay cooped up in her room, she’d left the hotel early and walked down to the schoolhouse so she could be alone and have some time to think.
“You must have gotten up mighty early to be here at this hour.”
“I stayed with Aunt Ethel last night.”
“I thought she wouldn’t let you back in the house.”
“She didn’t know. I snuck in after dark.”
“Somebody’s bound to tell her they’ve seen you.”
“I don’t care. Russ said he’d see about me getting some extra schooling, but I need somebody to teach me so I’ll be ready. I came to ask if you could help me.”
An idea occurred to Tanzy. “I’ll help, but you’ve got to help me, too.”
“How can I do that?”
Tanzy told him what she’d heard.
“You mean you still love Russ?” Tardy exclaimed, his face lighting up. “You’re not leaving him?”
“Of course I’m not leaving him. I was angry at first, but—”
Tardy threw himself at her, knocking the breath and the rest of her sentence out of her. “I told Russ you loved him, that all he had to do was ask you to come back.”
Tanzy laughed as she pried Tardy’s arms from around her waist. “What did he say?”
Some of Tardy’s excitement faded. “He said he had never understood women, not his mother, his sister, or you, so maybe it was best that he never got married. But he didn’t mean it. He’s been going around looking like he lost his best friend. He doesn’t even complain about Welt’s food. Tim swears at least once a day he’s going to kidnap you and bring you back. If he knew that you—”
“You can’t breathe a word to a soul.”
“Why?”
“Because it would ruin everything. You’ve got to act like you’re still mad at me. People will tell me more if they think I don’t like Russ. They know you do, so you have to pretend to be coming to me only because there’s nobody else. Until we find out what’s going on, you can’t tell anybody what we’re doing.”
Tardy’s eyes shone with eagerness. “What do you wa
nt me to do?”
“We’ve got to find out what Stocker’s plans are so we can stop him. I’ve tried to get into his office, but it’s always locked with a padlock. He’s got a padlock on his desk, too, so there’s no use thinking you can pry it open without splitting the wood.”
“Can you steal the keys?”
“I don’t know where he keeps the keys, but that’s not what I want you to do. I need to know when that man comes to see him again. I want you to study every night in the room where I keep my things. When anybody goes into Stocker’s office, come let me know. That means you’ll have to be very quiet and stay awake.”
“Where am I going to stay?”
“Do you think you could convince your aunt to let you move back in with her?”
“Why would you want me to do that?”
“It’ll look better. Besides, she hates me, so no one will suspect you’re helping me.”
“She hates me, too.”
“She was just angry at you for revealing she had wanted to marry Russ. I expect that hurt her pride. Did you bring any books?”
“No, but there’s plenty in the schoolhouse.”
“Then let’s go in and get started.”
Tanzy had to wait only two nights for the man to return, but she wouldn’t have known it if she hadn’t taken the precaution of checking on Tardy at least once an hour. She’d found him asleep on two occasions that evening. Clearly he was not one for late-night revels. She didn’t see him beckon to her until one of the men asked when Stocker had started letting beardless boys in the saloon after midnight.
“I’m helping him with some studies,” she explained. “Apparently he’s got a problem.”
“I’ve got a problem, too,” one of the men said.
“You’ll have a bigger one if you tell me what it is,” Tanzy said as she got up and left the table.
“I told you to watch what you say,” one of the men said in tones that were neither soft or dulcet. “That’s a mighty particular lady. She don’t put up with any rough stuff.”
Tanzy smiled to herself. If she could convince this crowd she was a lady, Ethel wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.
“There’s some guy in there I’ve never seen before,” Tardy said.
The Reluctant Bride Page 31
