“Do you want to leave him?”
“No. I love the big idiot. I just wished he loved me, too.”
“Maybe he does.”
“No. He feels a sense of obligation. He only came back because his visions told him Gibson would come after me since I was still his wife. He doesn’t even want me around when the baby is born.” Snapping the last of the beans, she sighed again and sat back in her chair.
“You look like you could use a walk. Let’s put all these on to cook.” Laura lifted the pot of beans onto the stove. “Then we’ll gather up Rachel and William and go pick some of those wild blackberries I saw yesterday on my way in. A few pies would be nice for tonight. Besides, a nice walk always helped me feel better when I was expecting William.”
“All right. But let’s not tell Micah.” Claudia gathered her hat and basket. “He’ll insist on sending someone with us. And the more men working on that barn, the sooner it’ll be ready.”
* * * * *
Micah drove the last nail into the wood frame he’d been working on. He stood back and wiped the sweat from his neck with his kerchief just in time to see Claudia and Laura walk into the forest pathway.
Fool woman should be staying safely in the cabin, resting.
Working to feed all these men was enough work for her. Now she went out on a stroll.
He signaled to Hank to follow behind them.
If Claudia saw her stepson watching over her, he knew he’d have another fight on his hands. But whether or not the lady wanted it, she needed protection, and he was going to see she got it.
* * * * *
By noon the next day the framed structure of the barn stood high above the fields, the sun shining down on the light cedar wood.
The men sat scattered around its base, eating their supper. Claudia and Laura walked among them, refreshing their drinks and talking with them about their wives and children. Most would be leaving after their meal to ride back down the trail a ways before dark. They meant to make the two day trip in a day and a half. They’d been away from their families and farms long enough.
“Looks like you’ll have another week or so to put up the sides, before you have to start harvesting that corn crop, Micah,” Frank Jensen said between bites.
“With Nathan’s help, I hope to have at least two sides up by then, Frank.” Micah ate a bite of cornbread, watching his wife move about the work site. “The snows are pretty hard up here. Those cows Hank and Henderson moved up here are going to need a place to keep warm.”
“What about the mustangs?” Ned Jones asked, sitting next to his stepfather. The boy had taken a liking to watching the wild horses during his breaks from the work.
“They’re pretty tough creatures, Ned.” Micah watched Claudia move to a felled log and set her pitcher down. She leaned over to rub her back, then hoisted a platter of meat into her arms to circulate among the men.
“Damn it.” Micah dropped his plate and marched on an intercept course for his wife. Grabbing the platter from her hands, he yelled for Henderson and thrust it at the waiting man.
“What do you think you are trying to do, woman?” He picked her up in his arms and headed back to the cabin. “Are you trying to kill yourself and the baby with all this work? Didn’t you hear what Doc said? He said you were to rest.”
“Micah, put me down.” Claudia tried to wiggle out of his arms, but her increased size limited her ability to do so. “I am perfectly all right. When I need to rest, I do. Right now there are twenty hungry men out there who came to help us. I have an obligation to see that they are fed.”
“Laura, Henderson and I can handle that.” He stalked into the bedroom and laid her down on the bed. “You’re going to stay in this bed for the remainder of the afternoon.” He stilled her attempt to get out of bed with a hand on her shoulder and handed her a mirror.
“Look at yourself, Claudia. You’re pale as a ghost. If you want to have that child coming too early to live then you just keep on fighting me. But if you want to really have that child be healthy and on time, then you lie down and rest.” He loosened his grip, leaning down to press a kiss on her forehead.
“You’re right, I suppose. But I’m not sleeping all day, just a nap,” she acquiesced, the fight completely out of her. Not even removing her boots, she curled around one of the pillows, yawning with her sudden tiredness. “I’m only doing this for the baby’s sake, not because you’re ordering me to do it.”
“I know that, little one.” He smiled as he drew the cool summer quilt up over her body. “I wouldn’t want you to do anything just because I ordered you to.”
His words were lost on her sleeping mind. He left the bedroom door open so a light breeze could blow through the room. Then, stepping out onto the porch, he signaled Hank over to him.
“Get your gun, son. She’s sleeping and I don’t want to leave her unguarded. I’ll keep everyone else away.”
“Okay, Micah. But you know if she sees me here, she’ll get real mad.”
“I know, son. But it’s my problem, not yours.”
Hank ambled into the cabin, reappearing with his Colt and a book he’d been reading. He positioned himself on the bench outside the door, the gun lying in his lap.
Satisfied his wife rested safely, Micah went to help Laura and Henderson see to feeding the men. The men joked about his doing women’s work. Micah laughed with them. He’d do anything to keep his wife and child from harm.
* * * * *
Once the men finished their meals, one crew climbed back onto the roof, pounding slats of weathered cedar on as shingles. The second group, consisting of men who needed to get to their families and farms, was packing up their tools and things onto a wagon. Micah spent time helping them and thanking each one for traveling up into the mountains to assist him and his family.
Micah saddled his buckskin and accompanied the wagon out onto the trail to be sure they were safely underway. Then he rode out to check on the mustangs and cattle in the grazing land on the opposite side of the valley. He sat on his stallion, looking back at his home.
It truly was a home now.
How things had changed for him in the last year when he rode down into the lowlands, driven by his visions. Now he had Claudia and the baby. He had the little boys and Hank. He even had in Henderson, a foreman who was turning out to be as good a ranch hand as he was a houseman.
He looked up into the sky, admiring the clear blue color and the warm sun beating down on him. Today, even he could believe things were turning out all right in his life, for once. He turned the buckskin back into the valley, deciding one more hand would bring that barn to fruition.
* * * * *
The blond boy was seated out front. To get to the woman he’d need to be silent. He wanted her in his grasp before Turner had time to attack.
The woman was his key.
Turner wouldn’t let anyone draw on him as long as he had her. He’d be too afraid a stray bullet would get her instead of him. Too bad that would be his undoing.
He’d spent his time watching for the rebel captain to return to Washington, knowing he couldn’t leave his wife there by herself for too long. Then he’d tracked him to the mountains. The man had been in such a rush to get to her that he hadn’t even once looked to see if he was being tracked.
It’d been so easy, and now revenge was his.
* * * * *
In the mood for some old-fashioned fun, Micah climbed to the roof on a ladder opposite Nathan. He smiled at his old friend, swinging his hammer into the same rhythm. Wordlessly, he picked up the pace, challenging him to a contest.
After a few minutes, all work stopped as the remainder of the men watched the two apply shingles at a furious pace. Cedar plank after cedar plank filled the last of the exposed roof. The sound of two hammers filled the afternoon.
Finally, Nathan succumbed to Micah’s superior size and strength. A cheer went up from the remaining men. Both men collapsed against the barn frame, laughing at their own c
ompetition.
“I still got you beat at physical labor, Nathan.” Micah wiped his brow with the back of his arm.
“You cheated, Micah. You had an unfair advantage.” Nathan descended his ladder.
“How do you figure? Better stamina?” Micah followed him down, joining him beside the well to splash water on his face.
“Naw. Bigger parents.” Nathan laughed, slapping his old partner on the back.
Micah joined his laughter, bringing the dipper up from the well bucket for a drink.
The dipper stopped halfway to his mouth, spilling its contents on the ground.
Blood rushed from his head to his feet.
“Hey, Micah, you know I was just kidding,” Nathan said, his words dying on his lips as his eyes followed Micah’s line of vision toward the cabin.
Laura, who was standing on the steps to their wagon, screamed, “Claudia!”
Then the valley went completely silent.
Claudia stood on the porch, the look of a frightened doe on her face. Behind her, with one hand around her neck was Gibson—his face a mask of pure evil. In his other hand he had a Colt pointed directly at her swollen abdomen.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen. Turner. Cantrell. What a pleasure to see you both again. Looks like you’ve been working hard here today.”
“You son of a bitch…” Micah started forward. The sound of the gun’s hammer cocking stopped him dead in his tracks.
“Careful there, Captain. You wouldn’t want me to get nervous now, would you?” He let out a tight, high pitched snicker.
“What do you want, Gibson?” Micah spit out through clenched teeth.
“Now that is a very simple question. And the simple answer is…you.” He moved Claudia farther out onto the porch. “But first I want all the rest of the men to move out away from you into one group where I can see them.”
“Micah, he can’t take us all.” Dave Burnside moved away from the rest.
“No, Dave.” Micah turned to look at the big rancher. “He’ll kill her. Just do as he asks.”
“You’re sure, Micah?” Nathan asked, moving Laura behind him.
“I’m sure.”
“He’s planning to kill you,” Nathan whispered.
“If he kills her first, my life will be over anyway.”
Nathan signaled the remaining men to move to one side of the barn.
“Tell them to drop any guns they have, Turner.” Gibson forced Claudia out into the sunlight as weapons thudded on the ground around the group. “Good. Now you, move over here. I want to see you writhing on the ground in pain.”
Micah moved away from the barn toward the house.
Suddenly a shot rang out. A tearing pain entered his arm, turning his body sideways. His eyes never left Claudia’s pale, frightened face.
“That was just to get your attention,” Gibson said, his lips twisted in a sneer. “I’m going to take you apart piece by piece. Then I’m going to leave just enough of you alive to witness the death of your lovely wife and child.”
“Let her go, Gibson. It’s me you want.” Micah ignored the tears in his wife’s eyes, willing her to trust him. He saw the movement from the corner of the house, near the outhouse. If he could just distract Gibson long enough…
“But that’s just the point.” Gibson fired a second shot. This one tore into Micah’s leg, bringing him down to the ground. “I want you to suffer. I figure knowing you can’t stop me from killing her will be the greatest torture for the mighty Micah Turner. No man is more vulnerable than when the thing he loves most is threatened. Just like the dream you took from me. That raw power was the thing I loved most. For that, you have to pay.”
Micah struggled to his feet. A third shot rang out, followed by a woman’s scream. Micah’s other arm was hit on the top of his shoulder. He remained vertical only by sheer determination.
“Please, you have to let him go,” Claudia begged.
“Dear woman,” her captor sneered into her ear, “your husband is going to die. But don’t worry. I plan to leave one bullet for you. That way you’ll both go to your graves together.”
In that brief moment, Claudia looked up at her husband. He looked her straight in the eye and winked. She saw the gun come up to take aim once more. Lifting her foot, she brought her boot down into the instep of her captor and threw her body sideways.
A final shot rang out.
Claudia and Gibson fell to the ground in a heap.
Micah hobbled forward, just as Claudia managed to wiggle out from under Gibson’s inert from. She rushed over to support her husband, her tears mixing with his blood on the front of his shirt.
“Are you all right?” he asked, squeezing her up into his side, his weight almost toppling them both back down to the ground.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine. But you have to get inside.” His weight was suddenly lifted from her shoulders by Nathan and Henderson. “You’ve lost too much blood.”
“I’m all right, love,” he whispered, fainting onto the two men’s shoulders.
“Oh, my God.” Claudia gasped, her hands flying to her face as he fainted. She surged forward, determinedly taking charge of the situation and giving orders. “Take him in to the kitchen table, Nathan. Doctor Dawson will have room to move around in there. Tom, could you and your brother get us a couple of buckets of water? Laura? I’m going to need something to bandage him with.”
People scurried in different directions while the good doctor followed the men into the cabin. Claudia started onto the porch to follow them, then stopped. She turned on her heel, walking over to the corner of the cabin.
Hank stood there, listlessly holding his Colt and staring at the dead body in front of the porch.
Claudia placed both her hands on the side of his face, forcing him to look at her.
“Hank, listen to me,” she said very carefully. “He deserved to die. He was totally evil. He was systematically using your father for target practice, and you had to stop him. Killing for the sake of enjoyment is wrong. But sometimes a man has no choice. You had no choice. Your father needed you and you did what you had to. Do you understand me?”
Hank nodded his head, his eyes slowly focusing on her face. The gun dropped from his hand. He threw his arms around her, hugging her close so no one would see his tears. She held him for a few moments, knowing he needed the release, then drew herself back.
“I need to help the doctor work on your father. But I need you to do something for me. See those two boys over there?” She pointed him to Adam and Joey, who stood staring at the cabin. “They need something to keep them busy. They’re worried about the only father they’ve ever known. Could you take them to hunt for a willow tree? I need some bark to make tea for your father.”
“I think I saw one, way out past the mustangs, Claudia.” Hank gave her an embarrassed, faltering grin. “Far enough to keep two worried little boys busy.”
“Not too far,” she said, hurrying back to the cabin.
At the door, she turned to watch the three walk off. Then she saw Dave Burnside and Frank Jensen drag the dead body off into the woods.
It was finally over. Now they could get on with their lives.
Before entering the cabin she said a small prayer that God would grant Micah a chance to live that life.
* * * * *
Later that night, Micah lay in their bed, resting comfortably with Claudia beside him, holding his hand. Doctor Dawson pronounced him one very lucky man, and Gibson a very precise shot.
“Apparently your great size was very much an asset to you, Micah.” The doctor put his cleaned instruments back into his bag.
“How so, Doc?” Micah squeezed his wife’s hand.
“Seems your large muscle mass protected your bones. The shoulder injury was more show than actual damage. The bullet barely grazed across the top. In your arm wound, the bullet passed completely through the muscle of your triceps. Even though the bullet to your leg lodged in the calf muscles, it missed the bones themselves
by less than an inch. On a man of average height and weight, the bullets would’ve shattered bone each time.
“You’re a lucky man, Micah. And I believe there are three young people outside who want to see you. That beautiful wife of yours has kept them all at bay while we stitched you up.”
“Doc, before you bring them in, I think you should take a look at Claudia. That was some fall she took out there. You know what I mean. Just to be sure everything is still all right with the baby and all.” Micah let go of her hand so the doctor could help her off the bed. “I’d also like to talk to Dave Burnside a moment before the boys come in. So, why don’t you take her into Henderson’s room to check her?”
“Why do you want to talk with Mr. Burnside?” Claudia eyed him suspiciously.
“He’s the county judge, love.” Micah simply stated. “I have some business to discuss with him.”
“Business.” Claudia’s hope sank and her anger rose just as quickly. “You nearly bled to death this afternoon, Micah Turner. But you go ahead and take care of your business, if it’s so important to you to be rid of us. I couldn’t care less.”
With that, she stomped out of the room, leaving the doctor to follow her. In the cabin’s main room she stopped in front of David Burnside.
“The big idiot wants to talk business with you, Judge. And I hope it makes him happy. Laura, could you come with the doctor and me while he checks the baby?” she asked, then stomped off to Henderson’s room.
“That’s one angry woman, Micah.” Dave shook his head, closing the door behind him. “What the hell did you say to make her that angry?”
“It’s a simple misunderstanding on her part, believe me, Dave.” Micah smiled up at the older rancher. “I have something I want you to do for me, and she thinks she knows what it is. When she finds out what I want to do, she’ll be a different woman.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. Now here’s what I want.” Micah listed several things, which Burnside wrote down.
Turner's Vision Page 28
