“You’re welcome, Mr. Fairfax.”
“Oh please, just George if you don’t mind.”
“And I’m Raina.”
“Beautiful name. Will I see you again?”
“Yes. I’ll come by later and see how you’re getting along.”
“I’ll look forward to that.” Fairfax smiled.
Raina went to get a room in Mrs. Mullins’s boardinghouse for the night. She was surprised as she could not stop thinking about the enigmatic Mr. George Fairfax.
CHAPTER 17
Judge Parker was on his way from his house to the courthouse when he met Fairfax and Ty Kincaid with him. They talked for a moment, and after Ty explained the predicament that Fairfax had gotten into, Parker stared at the Englishman. “What are you going to do here in this country?”
“You know, I have a law degree from Oxford. It’s possible I might be able to use that here in this country.”
“I should think so. A law degree from Oxford, that’s better than what most of our lawyers have around here.”
“I’d really like to know more about American court procedure.”
“Well, come along to the hearing.”
“I’ll just do that.”
Fairfax and Ty went in and found seats. It was crowded there, and as they waited for the judge to appear, Fairfax told Ty how Raina had saved his life.
“Well, we have something in common.” Ty grinned. “She saved my life, too. You know, she could make a career out of saving fellows like us.”
They sat talking quietly until finally the judge appeared. He was not wearing a robe but his usual black suit. He listened to Ed Vernay, and then he listened to Aaron Jordan. It was a long-drawn-out affair, with Jordan getting angry.
Finally the judge said, “There are no witnesses to this, so my ruling is that you, Mr. Jordan, will pay Mr. Vernay for the sheep that were killed, and you, Mr. Vernay, will pay Mr. Jordan for the cattle that were killed.”
This was acceptable enough to Vernay. He said, “I know I’m innocent, Judge, but I’ll obey your ruling.”
“But it’s not fair! I didn’t kill any sheep,” Aaron Jordan complained.
“That’s my ruling, and you’ll pay right now before you leave this courtroom.” He waited until the men had put up the money and then said, “Now, there’ll be no more of this nonsense.”
Ty left the courtroom, but Fairfax remained behind as he wanted to see more of the court in action.
Ty met Raina, who said, “Fairfax is pretty well recovered. You know, he said he’d like to see a sheep operation.”
“Why would he want to do that?”
“He told me he might want to become a sheepherder.”
“Now there’s a thought. I might resign from Judge Parker’s marshals and become one myself.”
“No, it’ll be a little bit rough for your taste, I think. You can tell me about your misspent childhood, and George can tell me about England and Africa.”
“You know, Judge, I think we need to send somebody to keep an eye on that situation out there about the sheep and the cattle.”
“You may be right, Heck. All it takes is one more ambush of sheep on Jordan’s ranch and he’ll blow his top.”
“We’d better see a man out. If they see a marshal hanging around, that might stop them.”
“Who will you send?”
“Let’s send Kincaid. He’s familiar with the people there and with the lay of the land.”
“One may not be enough.”
“Well, I can send more if the war heats up.”
Heck left and found Kincaid coming out of the general store. “The judge wants to send a man out to keep an eye on this trouble between the Jordans and Vernay.”
“He thinks there’ll be some more of this?”
“Those sheep didn’t just wander onto Jordan’s land. Sheep don’t wander like that.”
“Well, what then?”
“That’s what we’re sending you for.”
“All right, Heck. I don’t know what good I’ll do, but I’ll see what I can turn up.”
Leoma rose from the porch where she had been sitting and stepped down to meet Ty as he got off his horse. “Come in for some lemonade. It’s warm but it’s wet.”
Ty noticed she looked as beautiful as ever. “Sounds good to me.” He followed her inside, and when she had sat down, he asked, “Where are all the men?”
“They’re all out looking for a sheep under every bush. I think it’s foolishness.” She gave him a big glass of the lemonade and asked, “What are you doing now, Ty?”
He tasted the lemonade. “Well, the judge sent me out to see if we could find out what’s causing the trouble.”
“Well, we know that, don’t we?”
“You mean Ed Vernay?”
“Yes, his are the only sheep around here.”
“I don’t know much about sheep, but I don’t think they wander much. Vernay’s sheep camp is miles from here.”
“Well, how else could they get here?”
“They may have been driven, Leoma.”
“By Vernay?”
“That’s not likely. Something strange about this. From what I hear, Vernay never lets his sheep stray. He always keeps them on his own land.”
She studied him carefully. “Are you going to talk to Pa?”
“Oh yes, and everybody else.”
“Vernay, too?”
“Sure.”
Leoma seemed troubled, and he asked what was bothering her. She said rather hesitantly, “You and Raina Vernay were pretty close at one time, weren’t you?”
“At one time.”
“I think you would be more likely to listen to her and to believe her.”
“No, that’s not so. Tell you what. I’ll be roaming around, and if I see something that looks strange with either cattle or sheep, I’ll look into it.”
They talked for a while. He got up and said, “I’ll be back to you and your family.”
“Are you going to talk to Vernay now?”
“Well, I’m going to look over the ground where all the sheep were killed. Will you show me where you found the slaughtered cattle?”
“I’ll take you.”
He stood up and said, “I thought about all those cattle and sheep dying.” He shook his head and said sadly, “I hate to see anything wasted.”
“So do I,” Leoma said.
Ty grinned and gave the young woman a wink. “Especially good-looking young women.” He laughed at her expression.
She said, “Never mind that!”
“Just making talk.”
“Yes, I notice you do that a lot.”
“You’re such an interesting lady, I can’t help it.”
Leoma gave him a quick smile then asked, “How many young women have you run after, Ty?”
“Oh, maybe three or four.”
“What a liar.”
“I expect I am. My life’s been pretty dull.”
“Mine, too, I guess. Nothing really exciting has ever happened to me. I wish it would.”
Ty glanced at her and said, “Like what?”
“Oh, nothing like you have—lots of adventure.”
“Most adventures are pretty hard. I can think of a few that I could have done without. But you’d better be happy you haven’t had too many of them.”
“Better to have an adventure that hurts than be bored to death.”
Ty shook his head, not understanding her. “Haven’t you had men who wanted you? I expect so.”
“Most of them were boring.”
“Marry a juggler. He can entertain you if that’s what you need. Didn’t you love any of the men who wanted you?”
“Not enough to spend the next forty years with them.”
Ty laughed aloud. “Well, that’s coming right out with it.”
The two studied one another, and then Ty said, “Come along. You can tell me more about your love life.”
CHAPTER 18
Raina was enjoy
ing George Fairfax’s company tremendously. He was the kind of man she had never met before, cultured, handsome, wealthy, and he had insisted that she take him out to look at the sheep.
“Why do you want to look at sheep, George?”
“Well, I just like to know things.”
They rode for a time and finally dismounted by a small stream and let the horses drink. As they stood watching, she asked him about his home in England. “Did you ever see the queen?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.”
“I’ve heard a lot about Victoria and her love for Prince Albert.”
“Well, everybody’s fascinated by that. She was only a young girl when she married him. Somebody asked her what she was going to do as a queen, and you know what she said?”
“No, what?”
“She said, ‘I will be good.’”
“What a fine thing for a woman to say.” She remained silent for a minute, gathering courage to ask her next question. “Have you ever been in love?”
“Well, yes.” Fairfax took off his hat and ran his hand over his blond hair. “I know something about love. I loved my wife greatly. Even though she’s gone now, I still think about her every day.”
“Do you, George?”
“I suppose I always will. I think when you have the right kind of marriage, husband and wife become one. Death may take one or the other, but there will be something still in you.” He turned suddenly and took her hand. “You remind me of her in a way, Raina.”
“Me? Like a member of the British aristocracy?”
“Yes, you do. You’re honest like she was. Beautiful as she was.” He suddenly raised her hand and kissed it.
For a moment Raina was unable to speak. Then she felt him release her hand.
“Tell me about this desire of your father’s to bring God to the Indians.”
“Not just the Indians, George. He wants to bring the Gospel to some of these outlaws.”
“Well, that would indeed be a miracle. I’d like to go to your father’s church.”
“All right. There’s a service starting soon. We can go now.”
Ty had been spending a great deal of time out on the range, primarily looking over the slaughtered cattle. After looking around for a while, he decided to go to the sheep camp. When he arrived at Vernay’s place, he saw Mikel working outside. “Hello, Mikel.”
“Hello, Kincaid. What are you doing out here?”
“Just looking around. What about you?”
Mikel stared steadily at Kincaid. “You’re not out here just for the ride.”
Kincaid arched his back to relieve the tension, then shoved his hat back from his forehead. “I wanted to look over the ground, at least Judge Parker wanted me to. What do you make of it, Mikel?”
Mikel was silent. He was not a man to speak a lot, for that was part of his Indian blood. He studied Kincaid and said finally, “Sheep aren’t likely to wander as far as they were. As long as they’ve got grass and water, they pretty well stay put.”
“Well, maybe you can show me where they’re supposed to wander from.”
Mikel shrugged. “You’d better get the boss to agree with that.”
“Sure. Where will I find him, Mikel?”
“In church.” Mikel grinned at Ty’s expression. “But maybe you’re not a church man.”
His words troubled Ty. “Well, I’m not, but I need to be.”
“The boss has been trying to get a church started. Only Indians come to the meeting.”
“How do I get there?”
Mikel turned to point. “He’s using an empty barn about a mile from the house.” He gave Ty directions.
Ty said, “Aren’t you going, Mikel?”
“No. I gave up on God a long time ago.” Then he seemed to think better of his words. “But I’ve been listening to the boss’s preaching, and it’s got me hooked. Maybe I’ll get converted and become a preacher.”
Ty laughed. “I’d like to see that. I’d come and hear you.” He turned his horse and rode toward the “church.”
As Ty rode up to the old, unpainted barn, he saw there were a great many horses and a few wagons outside. He dismounted and heard his name called.
Turning, he saw Raina, who walked over to him. “I’m so glad you came. Did you plan to sing in the choir?”
“No, but I’d like to hear a sermon.”
Raina smiled.
Eddie Vernay approached, accompanied by Fairfax. The preacher said, “You’re a long way from Judge Parker’s court, Kincaid.”
“For a fact I am. I came to hear a sermon.”
“Well, I suspect you didn’t come this far just to hear a sermon.”
Ty saw that the older man was good at reading what was in a man’s heart. “You’re right. The judge wants me to keep a close eye on things.”
“Have you found anything?” Vernay asked.
“Not much.”
“Well, you will. I’m not much of a preacher, but come in if you like.”
“I’ll do that.”
They all went inside, and Kincaid saw that it was a rough church indeed. The benches consisted of boards put across kegs for the most part. A few roughly hewn boards had been made into seats with straight backs. He grinned and thought, Nobody’s going to go to sleep while the preacher’s at it. Nobody could sleep on a bench like that.
Young Indian children were running around. The Indians had adopted the right side of the benches as their territory, and a group of white people sat on the left.
“Pretty good crowd,” Vernay said. “I’ve got the cook killing a sheep, and we’ll feed ’em good.” He grinned and said, “They kind of like manna. I don’t expect any to fall from heaven, but at least it’ll give ’em a motive for coming.”
“Good idea.” Ty nodded.
“Well, let’s get going here.” Ed Vernay walked to a spot in front where there was no pulpit at all or even a platform. He looked out at the congregation and smiled. There was a kindly look on his face. He said, “We’re going to sing some songs. My daughter, Raina, is a good singer. If you know ’em, just chime in. If you don’t, just sit and listen till you learn it.”
Raina was obviously startled. Her father had not told her this part of his plan, but she at once began to sing “Near the Cross.”
Ty and several others joined in. He enjoyed singing and did so with gusto.
Raina led the congregation in two or three more of the old church songs before she took a seat between Ty and George.
Finally Vernay said, “Now it’s time for a little preaching. I just want to remind you of one thing. There’s nobody in this church this morning that’s led a worse life than I did. I’m ashamed to tell you some of the things I’ve done.” He continued to tell of some of the instances he was not proud of when he was a young man, and he said, “For a long time I felt that I was too bad a man for God to save, but then I was reading the Bible one day, and I read about the death of Jesus on the cross. Let me read you that part of the story.” He opened the Bible and read about Jesus on the cross between the two thieves. After he read the story, he said, “It’s kind of hard to think about this, but here was a man looking at a Savior who was bloody, whose face was marred, who had been beaten almost to death, but this thief said, ‘Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ The first time I read that,” Vernay said, “I thought, well, Jesus won’t have anything to do with him. But then I read the next line, and I’ll tell you it knocked me out of the saddle. Some of you know it. When the thief said, ‘Remember me when you come into your kingdom,’ Jesus said, ‘Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.’”
Vernay halted for a moment, and Kincaid could see tears forming in his eyes. He dashed them away and then continued.
“You know that thief couldn’t do one thing to make himself attractive to God. He had been a thief, a criminal, probably a murderer. There was no time for him to go out and do anything good that would please God. He was just a poor, helpless, dying sinner, and I’ll
remember throughout all eternity, I think, how I felt when I read that Jesus welcomed him into His kingdom that very day. Something seemed to just turn over in my heart, and I realized I could be saved. It was something I’d never even thought of, so I made up my mind right then and there to do the same thing that the thief did. I just simply called on the Lord. I don’t remember the words,” Vernay said simply, “but I do remember telling God that I was a sinner, and I couldn’t do anything about that. I don’t know how long I prayed, but when the praying was over, I knew that I was a saved man. That thief has been with Jesus for two thousand years, just about, but his life with God began the day he died with Jesus. That’s what I want for myself, and that’s what every man and woman and young person here in this church needs. Just to be close to Jesus for all eternity.”
Ty was intent on the sermon when he felt Raina touch his arm.
She said, “Does that mean anything to you, Ty?”
He turned to her, a struggle raging in him, and he said, “I guess I’m just about where your father was. I thought I was too bad a man.” He said no more but just sat while the sermon ended.
When it was over, Ty, Raina, and Fairfax went at once to speak to Vernay.
George shook his hand. “It was a wonderful sermon, sir. You’re a mighty preacher.”
“I thank you, Mr. Fairfax.”
George added, “If I can do anything to help you, I don’t know what it would be. If it’s money, I can help with that.”
“Could always use money to build a better church, but even that’s not necessary.”
Ty stood by, and as he left, he saw that Raina had gone to stand beside her father and Fairfax, and he wondered what she thought about the man. He, however, was more troubled about his own condition. The sermon had affected him deeply, and all that day as he rode away and got out by himself, he could not get away from the words of the scripture. “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
For several days, Ty was very quiet. He couldn’t quit thinking about his standing with God, and he couldn’t get Ed Vernay’s sermon out of his mind. He tried to put it aside but was mostly unsuccessful until he and Gale Young were sent to make an arrest.
The Western Justice Trilogy Page 66
