Tyra's Gambler

by Velda Brotherton

  They fell into an exhausted sleep, Zach and her curled around each other, Josh a few feet away, and awoke near sundown. Waking in his arms was the most contented she’d felt as long as she could remember.

  Weary to the bone, she crawled onto Morgan to ride out behind them. Once again both men told her to go her own way so as not to be with them when they were caught. But she couldn’t have left them now, no matter the consequences of remaining.

  They followed the Brazos River all day. When the brothers declared a grove of trees along the sandy bank a good place to make camp, she slid from her saddle with a groan.

  “What would be a dream,” she muttered, while dragging the saddle along the ground and plopping down beside it, “would be to wake in the morning to the smell of coffee boiling on the fire.”

  “I’d go for that.” Josh brushed a clear place and wallowed out a bed. “Wouldn’t mind a slab of bacon, either. Can’t you just smell it frying?”

  Not hearing Zach, she scanned the surroundings. “Where’s Zach?”

  “Said he was hungry and was going hunting.”

  “In the dark?”

  Before Josh could reply, a gunshot sliced the stillness. “Reckon we’d better build a fire.” He rose and stumbled around gathering dead limbs. Soon flames lit the night.

  Zach appeared in the circle of light carrying a rabbit by its hind legs.

  Delighted, she leaped to her feet. “Didn’t know gamblers were such good shots. You must be able to see in the dark.”

  “Haven’t always been a gambler. Now come on over here, girl, and hold him so I can skin him. I’m so hungry I could eat him fur, guts and all, but reckon that’s not too good an idea.”

  She hurried to his side, and together they began to clean their supper.

  Zach made precise cuts through the skin, then peeled the fur neatly off while she held the animal by its hind legs.

  “Where’d you learn to do that?” He grinned, teeth showing white in the firelight.

  “Same place I learned to ride. We first came over here from England, I started hanging out with the men who took care of the animals for Blair. I was just a kid then, but one thing I knew was I wanted to become a woman of the west. They finished raising me, taught me to talk western, to shoot and ride, to take care of the animals, and to butcher our meat. Didn’t make Blair too happy. He was always sending me to my room, but I’d crawl out the window and shimmy down the rocks, get on my horse, and ride out. He’d get so mad he’d turn four colors of red, but he finally gave up.” She laughed, and he joined her.

  “Reckon you could be handy to have around.” Chuckling, Josh produced a green bough, skinned off its bark, and ran it neatly through the naked carcass, then propped it over a bed of hot coals on two forked sticks.

  “I’d almost eat it raw,” Zach joked while the three sat near the fire watching the meat cook, the fat spitting noisily onto the glowing coals.

  She drew in a long breath. “That smells heavenly.” Leaning back on her arms, she gazed up into the star-strewn darkness. “Lord, isn’t that beautiful?”

  “Stars are like someone shot holes into the night, letting the light from heaven shine through.” Josh turned the rabbit so the heat reached the other side. “Ought to be done in a while.”

  Zach cleared his throat. “He always was a poet.” The tone of his voice revealed an emotion that surprised her. Like he’d found something of great value, something he was afraid of losing. Made her want to put her arms around him, rest his head on her shoulder.

  The aroma from the cooking rabbit teased at her senses. Hunger gnawed at her stomach, and it growled. “If that doesn’t get done soon, I’m going to eat it raw.”

  The two men chuckled. Zach took the rabbit from the fire, laid it on a flat rock to cool enough to handle. Everyone eyed the meat, like it might get up and run away. After a long silence, Josh tore a haunch loose and gave it to Tyra, let Zach have the other, and he took the smaller front legs. No one said a word till each had devoured the meat and sucked at the bones.

  She took off her bandana and wiped grease from her hands and face. “I’ll draw up some water before we—”

  “Don’t none of you make a move, or I’ll put a hole through you.” The gruff voice shouted out of the darkness.

  Zach darted a quick glance toward their gear, piled against a tree, close but not close enough. Tyra looked about to bolt. He yelled, “Don’t, girl.”

  “He’s right. Don’t any of you try anything.”

  “Brother, did you pick the wrong bunch. We don’t have anything for you to steal. In fact, if you happen to have some coffee, we’d be happy to share a slightly gnawed-on rabbit bone in return.” Josh held out a morsel.

  Tyra backed quietly into the dark shadows under the trees, pausing only to snatch her Colt from the pile of gear.

  “Smelled the meat, plus you got horses, you got gear, and I’d bet you got a couple six-shooters, maybe a rifle.” The coarse-voiced man rode to the fire ahead of two others. He had a black beard and wore a fur coat that made him look like a bear.

  Zach drew a breath of relief. These weren’t lawmen caught up to them, just a wandering gang of young toughs looking for booty. “My brother’s right, though. We’d be glad to trade what’s left of our meat for some coffee.”

  “What the hell makes you think we’re gonna share our coffee with you?” Black Beard said.

  “This might persuade you.” From under the trees Tyra drew a bead on him. “Want to try me out, go ahead. I’m one hell of a shot, and I’m not afraid to put one through your head. Though your gut is more inviting. Could hardly miss that mass.”

  Still in the saddle, Black Beard twisted to face her, raised the rifle.

  She fired, and the bullet caught him high in the chest. He took a nose-dive off the horse.

  A second shot knocked another man out of the saddle. Josh had dived after his gun in the noisy scramble and taken down the second rider.

  Zach made it to his gun in the ensuing confusion. He aimed at the only one left on his horse, merely a dark form. “You want to gather your buddies up and hightail it out of here, or you want down there with ’em?”

  The slight man climbed down and stepped into the firelight. “Don’t shoot. I ain’t in no mood to die tonight. Care if I check my brother?”

  “Do or don’t, it’s up to you.” Josh moved over beside Zach. “I’d as soon put a bullet in you and call it well done with.”

  “He’s just a kid. Let him see to his kin,” Zach said.

  Josh made a sweeping motion with the six-gun. “Go on ahead, then. Toss your gun first. What made you ride up on us, anyway?”

  The gun went to the ground. “We’re hungry. Thought we might get something to eat, or at least something we could trade for food. Wasn’t my idea.” His voice trembled on the edge of tears, broke, and he sobbed.

  On hands and knees, he scrambled to the still groaning form sprawled on the ground from the second horse. He leaned down close. “Sam, please, Sam. You okay?”

  Zach’s throat closed. “Goddammit, kid. Why didn’t you just ride in and ask for help. Is he breathing?”

  “I can’t tell.” The kid was on the verge of breaking down.

  “Tyra, honey, could you come here and give us a hand?” Zach laid his gun back with the gear and went to kneel next to the kid, who was sobbing wildly.

  She approached, still holding the Colt.

  “Put that thing away, please, and give me a hand with this boy.” Knowing how she disliked being ordered around, he softened his tone.

  “I didn’t mean to kill him, but I thought he was going to shoot one or all of us.” Tyra appeared as upset as the boy kneeling there on the ground beside his wounded brother.

  Zach put his hand on her arm. Her muscles quivered under his touch. “Not your fault, Ty. He’s far from dead. Let’s see how bad it is. Back of his shirt is bloody.” He tore the fabric away to reveal a wound. “Looks like the bullet went clean through.” He hesitated,
ran his fingertips over a series of thick scars that striped the youthful skin. What had happened to this child? He shook his head, returned to the matter at hand. “Help me roll him over.”

  She did, and when the boy lay flat on his back, his shirt front was soaked in blood. Zach ripped the tattered material away to reveal an entry hole through the upper shoulder muscle.

  “He’s not bad. We’ll clean it up, and he should be fine in a few days. Right now it’ll hurt like fury, but that will go away after a while. If it hit the bone, that’ll be a different story. I know that one from experience.” He finished tearing the bloody rag off the boy’s chest and arm.

  “We got some hot water on the fire.”

  Tyra rose and went to her saddlebag. She pulled out what appeared to be an undergarment of some kind. “We can use this to clean it, then make a bandage out of what’s left.”

  While she tended to the wound, Zach tried to calm the kid down. “What’s your name, son?”

  “Micah.” The kid hiccupped hard a few times. “Sam gonna die?”

  “Not from this. But your friend there did. Hope you learned a lesson from this.”

  The boy nodded, wiped snot from his upper lip, gazed in the direction of the unmoving bearded man.

  “Who is he?”

  “That’s Hiram, and he ain’t no friend. Was all his idea. We met up with him on the trail. I think he’s dead. I never thought—I mean, he said we’d just take a horse or two and ride off. Didn’t want no gunplay. Bragged he was a true outlaw.” The kid drew in a ragged breath. “We thought that would be fun, riding with a real bad man.”

  “What are you doing off out here, anyway?”

  He shrugged, shot Zach a smart-aleck smirk. “Beats where we was at, by a long ways.”

  “You almost died.”

  “Been better if we did.”

  “You mean you’d rather your brother had died like Hiram?”

  “We was in a workhouse for orphans. You seen the marks on Sam’s back. And ever day was worse.”

  “Where is this place?”

  “A ways from here. Cain’t tell you that. They’d beat us half to death.”

  Tyra finished with the bandage, fetched a canteen, and turned it up to Sam’s dry lips. He gulped at the cool water, pawed air for more when she took it away.

  “Easy, honey. Not too much.” She fingered sweat-drenched hair off his forehead. “I’m so sorry.” It was a whisper that Zach barely made out.

  “Don’t you go thinking you’re to blame, Ty. These boys chose to put themselves in danger. You were only protecting us.”

  She glanced up at him with tear-filled eyes. “I know, but…”

  Arms around her, he pulled her close to his chest. “You hush up now, girl. This boy is gonna need your care the next few days, so don’t go breaking down on us.”

  Holding her like that, her fine hair tickling his cheek, her warm tears wetting his shirt, he finally admitted something he’d been denying all this time. She was the woman he’d searched for all these years. The one who would make him the man he tried to be but always fell short. Tough and tender all rolled into one. He kissed the top of her head.

  “It’s all gonna be okay, darlin’. I promise you. You hear me?”

  She nodded, wrapped her arms around his middle, and hung on for a long time. He enjoyed holding her. Being on the run, they didn’t have time for such foolery. It might be a long while before they shared another moment like this.

  The ever-silent Josh stood and stretched. “I’ll take care of the body. Glad I didn’t kill some poor little kid. Maybe this’ll teach those two a lesson. Sometimes we have to learn the hardest way there is not to go trying to do folks harm. It can bring the wrath down on you. This was the boy’s fault, Tyra. Don’t you go fretting anymore, either. We both did what we had to.” He stooped, wrestled the bulky body over a shoulder, and walked out of the ring of firelight.

  She remained in Zach’s embrace until Josh returned. Sam and Micah had fallen asleep next to one another on a blanket. Josh settled with his head on a saddle, and after a while Zach stretched Tyra out in the nearby grass and lay down beside her, one arm draped across her waist.

  The next morning he opened his eyes to bright daylight. Hell, it’d been ages since he’d slept through sunrise. Everyone was still asleep. For a long moment he lay where he was. Birdsong filled the sweet morning air. Tyra lay next to him, her expression peaceful in sleep. A dapple of sunshine formed a halo of her hair. What a beautiful world this could be, were it not for the evil that dwelt here.

  He moved carefully away from her, fetched their one rifle, and went out to get breakfast. Those boys would be hungry. What in hell they were going to do with them, he had no idea, but they couldn’t go back to the horrors of the workhouse Micah had spoken of. And considering his and Josh’s fate, they couldn’t stay with them. Neither could Tyra, but he’d leave that for another day.

  Chapter Nine

  One day turned into another in which the law didn’t catch up with them. The monotony of the sun rising and falling was broken only by the changes in landscape. Still, Zach and the other four members of their small party were worn out at the end of each hot day. They finally rode out of the hills and struck the Marcy Trail, headed west where water became more scarce. At last it appeared they might have outridden any posse.

  Late one afternoon Zach squinted into the sun, lowered his gaze to stare off into the distance. Searching for something, anything that looked familiar. Been away too damned long to even recognize anything, but he’d only been a kid when he left, and saw things through totally different eyes back then. It was still Texas, as far as the eye could see and then some.

  Thinking of kids, what were they going to do with these two boys? Sam was recovering nicely, as the young will do, and both were tough as knots. Maybe that came from being kicked around most of their lives. Beaten with a whip regularly, for God’s sake. He’d like his hands on those cursed evildoers.

  For some reason he didn’t yet understand, Tyra took up with them both, and sometimes they spent hours riding together and talking. She must have some sort of connection that he didn’t know about. He’d ask her, if he could work around to the question.

  Later that day, she rode up beside him, and he reached out a hand. She tucked hers there and gave him a tiny smile. Her hand was small and limp in his. The girl was worn out, her skin flushed, her appearance weary. Probably wishing about now that she’d gone on north the first time Josh brought it up. When he turned to study her closer, he spotted something glinting in the sunlight off to the east. Like water. Water? Springs. Here and there would be springs. Some that never ran dry, no matter what. He’d forgotten all about them, what with all that had happened since they began this trek. All he’d cared about was getting as far from Texas lawmen as they could, more for Josh’s sake than anyone’s.

  Josh came riding back, excitement lighting his dark features. He too had seen the water. e’He was so fired up his words ran together. “I know the law may be hot on our trail, but they’ll likely find our bones if we don’t get some water. You remember how dry this place can be.”

  Zach glanced at their back trail. “I also know those rangers are like dang wolves on the trail of prey. They won’t give up. Once we cross the border—”

  “We need the water bad, brother. And the border is still a long way off. Besides, when did you last hear of the rangers giving a hoot about the border? They want me, they will come all the way into New Mexico Territory to get me, and take the consequences. They will still have me.”

  Zach felt a pressure from Tyra’s hand, and he glanced at her. A hopeful expression, but she said nothing. She wouldn’t. Not about this. He nodded, and she smiled. “Okay, water it is. Get the boys. They’re probably chasing locusts or mice, up front.”

  By the time they reached the three pools of water huddled together, the sun had slid below the horizon and stars glimmered from the ashen sky. Soon they would be bright enough to pluc
k like berries, or so they’d appear. No moon tonight. Only starshine.

  The horses snorted and tried to get the bits in their teeth and run flat out to the sparkling water. The two boys bailed off and into the pool where their horses drank.

  “Leave one to get drinking water from.” Zach led the other horses to a larger pool. The largest would do to fill their canteens, then to bathe in. By morning it would be clear enough to use for breakfast water. At the first post along the trail, he’d bought a water carrier—two canvas bags stitched together to hang behind a saddle. With five people plus horses in their group, more water was needed than the canteens they carried. When Tyra told him about her cash, they’d also stocked up on canned items.

  Zach slid down off his horse and went to make sure she was okay. She allowed his help, but gave him one of those looks he’d come to recognize as an “I can do this myself” stare.

  Before anything else, they filled every water container they owned, Zach showing them how to carefully lower each one in the pool so as not to stir up the muddy bottom. She unpacked the cooking vessels and filled them, too.

  “That way we can drink from them while we’re here and leave the canteens and bags for when we get underway. Should be trading posts ’long the way, but who knows about water enough to bathe in?”

  Zach was impressed. “That’s a very good idea. Now, let’s let our lady have the first bath, and give her some privacy.”

  She approached him when she’d finished filling the vessels. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather wait. Let the boys go first, so they can eat and go to bed. They look exhausted. Could we ask Josh to go in with them? Keep an eye out?”

  Rather than argue, he nodded. Josh agreed, and when he and the boys were finished and settled down, she took Zach’s hand, whispered in his ear, “Do you suppose you could watch out for snakes while I bathe?”

  He laughed. “Girl like you scared of snakes? Can’t figure it. But aren’t you afraid I’ll peek?”