Rosa grew absolutely still. She did not know what to say, for no man had ever affected her like this.
Finally he reached over and pulled her so that she turned to face him. “Rosa, I can only tell you what’s in my own heart. For me, you are the only woman on earth. I love you for your beauty, but that’s not who you are. That may fade sometime, as it does for all of us, but I tell you what. When this beautiful dark hair is white, I’ll still love you, and when this strong figure is dim and bent with age, I’ll love you even more than I do now. After you’ve lost the bloom of life, I’ll love you, Rosa, for you’re the one woman, I think, that God has made for me.”
Rosa was moved. She leaned toward him, and he brought her to him with a quick sweep of his arm. When he kissed her, she felt the desperate hunger, a feeling that came to her as it never had before. She knew she had this power over Faye, this way of lifting him out of the ordinary, to touch the vague hints of glory a man and woman might know.
She moved to catch a better view of his face, and when she saw the heaviness of his lips, she thought she knew what he was telling her. And something like a pair of shears seemed to cut a restraining cord.
He put his arms around her and drew her into himself.
Even though he was saying all of these wonderful things, she was not yet completely sure of him, of how he felt, and she had a dread of making a mistake with him. For a moment, she watched him. She felt no anger and offered no resistance.
He lowered his head and kissed her again.
It was what Rosa wanted. She could sense that he felt the luxury of it as well. For her, it was a need that she could neither check nor satisfy. She knew the pressure of his arm and his mouth was too much for her, yet her own arms were tight about him, holding him as he held her.
Finally, with an effort, Riordan removed his arms and ended the embrace. He said simply, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Rosa.”
She was shaken by the kiss, and she said, “Your family wouldn’t like that, and I’m not sure I could live in the East. People would make fun of you for taking a Spanish woman, especially one who is also part Indian.”
“I think all couples have to make some adjustments when they come together, but God will help us. And if I could have my way, I’d live out here half of the year. Buy a ranch with some peace and quiet where we could come and be close to your family. And then have another home in the East where I could go to visit my family.”
“You think that’s possible?”
“I think it is. We’d better get some rest. Well, we only have one blanket. You wrap up in it.”
“No.” She smiled. “We’ll share it. I trust you, and I never thought I’d trust any man.”
They lay down on the blanket and pulled it around them.
Rosa felt him relax as he fell into sleep. She whispered, “I love you, Faye.” Then she went to sleep, a smile fixed on her face.
“Did you get Hannah on her way, Ringo?” Eileen asked.
“Yeah, I hired four men to take her to her new post. With that many watching her, she’ll be fine. Shame to waste a good woman like that. She’d make a fine wife.”
“She’s doing what she thinks is right,” Eileen said. They had finished breakfast, and no one spoke for a while, but she knew they all had the same thoughts—that Faye might be hurt or even dead. Eileen said, “I want us all to pray for Faye. He’s come a long way, but he’s in trouble, and I want us to ask God to keep him.”
She bowed her head, and the other members of the family did the same. Afterward the men left, and Eileen turned to Chenoa. “What do you think about my son marrying your daughter?”
Chenoa gave Eileen a direct look, and there was pain in her eyes. “You can’t know what a hard time Rosa has had. She had to give up everything that she wanted to keep the family together. We would have starved, Eileen, if she hadn’t helped us. She had to work in a terrible, despicable saloon just to make money to feed us.”
“I treasure her for that, Chenoa. She’s a fine woman. All she needs is to let God come into her life.” The two women had begun to grow close during the Riordans’ brief stay. Eileen had never been around people of the Ramirezes’ class, but she saw fine things in all of them. “You know, Faye loves Rosa, whether he fully realizes it yet or not. How would you feel about it if they married?” she asked again.
“We’re from two different worlds, Eileen.”
“I know, but if they love each other, God will make a way.”
Riordan and Rosa were so happy to see the familiar ranch come into view. As they rode closer, Riordan saw Ringo and knew the hand recognized them. He ran into the house, and Riordan imagined his telling all inside that their loved ones had returned.
Sure enough, there was a stampede as everyone rushed outside.
When Riordan and Rosa dismounted, Caleb grabbed Riordan. “Son, you’re back! Thank God, you’re back!”
Riordan was shocked. His father had never shown this sort of appreciation or love for him. It seemed to sink down into his spirit. “I’m back, and I’m all right.”
“As I told the boys and Eileen, the first thing I want to say is how proud I am of you. You are a real man, and I’m proud to have you as my son.”
Eileen was standing close. Riordan put his arms around her and saw the tears in her eyes. “You brought her back, son.”
The Ramirezes were gathered around Rosa, all of them trying to hold back the tears. Rosa could not.
“He brought you back,” Juan said. “I didn’t think anybody could.”
“He saved me, but I think I knew already what kind of a man he was.”
“Come on into the house,” Chenoa said. “The food’s ready. I know you two are starved.”
“We’re pretty hungry.” Riordan smiled. “Your daughter’s a pretty good cook, but even she can’t make beans and bacon burnt over a campfire taste very good.”
They all went to the table, and when they were all gathered, Rosa said, “There’s something I must tell you. While I was being held at Beecher’s house, they locked me in a room. I had time to myself, and I began to grow afraid. Not of what Henry would do, but of what I had been.” She went on in a steady voice, and finally she said, “So I asked God to save me, and He came into my heart and gave me peace.”
“Well, hallelujah!” Chenoa said. “That’s wonderful news!”
Leo demanded, “How in the world did you do it, brother?”
“Well, it was mostly Gray Hawk. He found me and guided me to them and helped me get her away.” He went on to tell the entire story. When he finally finished, everyone agreed what a wonderful thing it was that God had delivered them.
Finally Riordan said, “One other thing I want to make clear. I haven’t had a chance to talk to you, Mateo, to ask you to give me your daughter as my wife, so I’m asking you now, you and Chenoa. I love her, and I always will.”
His announcement brought smiles and cheers and applause and congratulations.
Finally Caleb said, “We’ll be happy to welcome you and your wife to our home, won’t we, Eileen?”
“Of course we will. We love her already.”
Caleb nodded. “I’ve been critical of you, Faye, but I’m so proud of you now I’m about to bust.”
Suddenly Mateo said, “What about Beecher? He’ll be after you for besting him again.”
“I don’t want to take a man’s life, and I’m not going to do it unless he absolutely makes it necessary.” He shrugged and said, “I’m handing in my badge as marshal, and Rosa and I are going to start a new life.”
Rosa came and stood beside him.
He put his arm around her and looked down at her. “Well, we’ve got everyone’s permission. Now all we need is somebody to marry us, and we’ll have our whole life together.”
CHAPTER 23
A slight breeze brought some comfort from the heat of the day as Caleb and Eileen sat on the front porch. They had spoken for a long time of the problem that Faye was facing, b
ut no matter what, they could think of nothing that seemed certain to bring a solution.
Chenoa came up and leaned against one of the pillars of the post. She gazed out into the distance and said nothing.
The silence grew so heavy that finally Eileen said, “What’s troubling you, Chenoa?”
“I’m worried about Rosa and Riordan.”
Caleb instantly said, “You’re worried about their marriage.”
“Yes. Your son is a fine man, and we all have the utmost respect for him, especially since he risked his life to save our daughter, but I’m not certain that the marriage between them would be a good thing.”
Caleb shifted uneasily in his chair and glanced over at Eileen. Finally he said, “Why would you say that? Faye can give her a good life.”
“We’re hoping he’ll go back to the East with us,” Eileen said. “He’s becoming well known as a painter and could make a good living for her. Besides, we would help them.”
Chenoa turned and faced them both. There was a troubled look on her bronze features, and she said reluctantly, “I think it would be hard on Rosa because white people look down on other races.”
Mateo joined them now. He stood beside his wife and listened intently to what was being discussed.
“I think that depends on the people,” Eileen said. “Some dislike other races, but others have no problem with people of different ethnicities.”
Mateo said, “If they lived here, it would be different. No one makes anything of a white man who marries a woman who has Indian blood, but it would be different in the East.”
“You can’t know that, Mateo,” Eileen said quickly.
“You know it’s so, though, don’t you?” Mateo said, his dark eyes fastening on Eileen. “You’ve seen it happen, I’m sure.”
Eileen glanced at Caleb, knowing both of them had the same thought. They both had memories of people from their social class marrying outside the white race. Even though it was a European race, there were still problems.
“Rosa would be unhappy among the rich, white people,” Mateo said. “Many would not accept her. You know that’s so.”
A silence fell across the four of them, and finally Chenoa said, “Will your son want to take our daughter to the big city?”
“I haven’t heard the plan, Chenoa,” Eileen answered, “but I’ve got a plan of my own.”
Caleb instantly turned to face her. “What kind of a plan? You haven’t said anything to me about it.”
“I have my secrets, and besides, nothing may come of it. Let me think on it a little.”
Riordan and Rosa came in from a ride. They dismounted, tied their horses to the rails, and started into the house.
“Let’s go get something to drink,” Rosa said. “I wish we had some ice. At least the water will be wet.”
The two went inside.
Rosa went out to the springhouse and brought in a cool pitcher of water. “We’ve got enough lemons and sugar for lemonade.”
“Sounds good.”
Rosa made the lemonade efficiently and handed him a glass. “You always had ice available in the city, didn’t you, Faye?”
“Pretty much. I don’t miss it all that much, though.” He drank several swallows and said, “There. That washes the dust down.”
They sat there talking idly, and finally he reached over and took her hand. He looked at it.
She watched him, wondering what he was thinking. Her hand was strong and showed signs of work.
He smiled at her and tightened his grip on her hand. “You’ve got strong hands,” he remarked. “I like that. How do you feel now?”
She smiled and said, “For the first time in my life, I’m content, Faye. I never knew where I was going. All I could see was another day in that vile saloon where I had to fight men off. But now it’s different.”
“I’m glad, but you still looked concerned about something. Please tell me about it.”
“Well, I’m a little worried. If we stay here in the Territory, it’ll be simple.”
“You mean nobody pays any attention to intermarriage here.”
“That’s exactly right,” Rosa said. “But if we go to your home in the East, some people would be unkind. I’d bring shame to you.”
“You think that bothers me?” Riordan said at once. He extended his other hand and held her in a grip. “I love you, Rosa, and if we have to live at the North Pole, that’ll suit me fine.”
She laughed and shook her head. “I don’t want to live in all that ice.”
“Our parents have talked about this.”
“What do they say?”
“Well, they say that they’re so glad to have me back alive they’ll be happy to see me married.”
The two sat there sipping the lemonade.
Finally Rosa said, “We haven’t had time to think about it. I’d like to get you away from this place. Somewhere it will be safe. Beecher won’t stop until he kills you, Faye. You know that.”
“That’s the kind of man he is. I hate to run, though. It seems cowardly.”
“It’s either that or face him, and you said you didn’t want to shoot another man.”
“I don’t. I don’t want to ever kill another human being. So I talked to my mother, and we’ve come up with a plan. She is a very wise woman.”
“What sort of plan?”
“We’ll get married, and then we’ll go to the East, but not for very long at our home. I’d like to go somewhere in the Smoky Mountains. It’s beautiful there. We could have a fine honeymoon.” He grinned. “Did you know that the Bible says that when the Hebrews married, the man didn’t go to work for a year?”
She stared at him in disbelief. “What did he do?”
“The Bible says he just made his wife happy.”
Rosa suddenly laughed. “I like that a great deal. Yes, we’ll do that. You can just please me for a year.”
“I’m serious, Rosa. We’ll go to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and we’ll do two things. We’ll have a great time just being in love with each other and enjoying the scenery and just being together. And I’ll be painting, and you’ll be in my schoolroom.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, there are ways that Easterners have that you’ll need to know about. Nothing too difficult—what to wear, what utensils to use at a meal, things like that.”
“You consider yourself an expert in women’s clothing?”
“Oh, definitely!” Riordan grinned broadly then dropped Rosa’s hands and rubbed his palm across his chin. “I could teach you which fork to use. We’ll be among some high-class people there. So when we go back to my home, everyone will fall in love with you, just as I have.”
“It sounds too good to be true.”
“Well, here’s what I’d really like to do. I’d like for us to have a house here somewhere. Not a fancy one. Just someplace we could come. I love the West. I’d like to do some painting here of the people, the cowboys, the Indians, even the outlaws and the marshals. We could spend half our time here and then have a house somewhere close to my parents and go spend time with them. That way both families will have their grandchildren close. By the way, I’d like to have a great number of children. We’ll talk about that. How do you like my plans, sweetheart?”
“I love them!”
“Good. Now about these children. I’d like to have at least four. You can have them one at a time or all at once….”
The house was busy with people getting ready to make the trip to Fort Smith. Riordan had gotten up that morning and said, “I want to get rid of this badge. It’s like a weight on me.”
“You sure you want to do this?” Mateo said. “It’s quite an honor to be a marshal.”
“Yes, they’re great men, but it’s not for me, Mateo. I want to give this badge back to Judge Parker and put this gun away for good.”
“I think that’s wonderful.” Eileen beamed.
“You’ve proven what you are—a real man.” Caleb nodded. “Now, it�
�s time to move on to a new life. I love the idea of you two spending half your time close to us, and half here. That’ll make all of us happy. Won’t it, Mateo?”
“I think we’d all better take the hands with us,” Rosa said.
Instantly Riordan looked at her. “You’re thinking we might run into Henry along the way and his bunch?”
“I think he’d like nothing better than to catch you out alone.”
“All right. We’ll all go. Just leave a few hands here to take care of things.”
They left as soon as they had finished packing and made the trip in record time. When they pulled the buggies up in front of Judge Parker’s office and tied their horses, Riordan went upstairs at once. His parents and Rosa followed.
They found Judge Parker at his desk, as usual. He rose at once and said, “Well, Marshal, I’m surprised to see you.” He came around and shook Riordan’s hand. “The whole Territory is talking about how you took this young lady away from Henry.”
“It was mostly Gray Hawk,” Riordan said.
“Well, in any case you got her back. I was trying to scrape a big posse together to go after her, but you never know about Henry. He might have killed her just out of spite.”
Riordan reached up, unpinned his badge, and said, “I appreciate you letting me serve with you, Judge Parker, but I’ll be leaving now. We’re going back East for a time.”
“Well, I think that may be a good idea. Sooner or later we’ll catch up with Beecher. Nothing would please me better than to see him hang on that gallows out there.”
“Judge, I want to thank you for taking care of my boy,” Eileen said.
“Why, it’s more like he took care of us.” Parker smiled. “I’ll be losing a good man, but you were meant for a different kind of life. Besides, it’s good that you’re leaving the Territory. Beecher won’t ever forget you made a fool of him. I’ve been talking to Heck Thomas. We’ve got a number of marshals available. They’re going to leave soon and run the Fox into the ground. We’ll get him. Don’t worry about that.”
The Western Justice Trilogy Page 24
