by Robin Deeter
“You know I can’t talk about that,” Cy said.
“Do you have any suspects yet?” Johnny asked.
“A few, but it’s too soon to single them out. There’s a lot of stuff to sort through,” Cy replied.
“Which means he’s not even gonna give us a hint,” Johnny said, frowning. “I wouldn’t say anything to anyone.”
Cy said, “It’s nothing personal, Johnny. I can’t talk to anyone except Rob and those guys. I promise.”
Knowing that Cy didn’t lie, Johnny nodded. “Ok. I understand.”
Cy complained about Johnny, but he was a sweet kid and he always showed respect to him and Daphne. He felt bad that Johnny had lost his parents so young and he made a mental note to cut Johnny a little slack. Besides, he seemed eager to help around the place now that Leigh was there.
Looking at his future wife, he found her beautiful even though her clothes were dusty and her face pink from the sun. He felt that tug of desire again and knew that they needed to set a date for the wedding.
When the meal ended, Leigh rose from the table. “Where do you keep your tub? I could really use a bath.”
Images of Leigh naked in a tub of warm, soapy water assailed Cy, and he stilled once again.
Daphne said, “I’m so sorry that I forgot to tell you. Pa put in a separate bathroom after Ma got sick. We have a tub there. I’ll put some water on to heat.”
Leigh said, “I’ll do it.”
“No, you won’t,” Daphne said firmly. “You’ve probably stiffened up already.”
Leigh couldn’t deny that, but she didn’t think it was fair for Daphne to prepare a bath for her when she’d had a hard day, too.
Cy said, “I’ll do it. In fact, you ladies go sit in the parlor and I’ll do the dishes and put more water on for Leigh’s bath. I spent most of my day talking, so moving around will feel good.”
Johnny yawned and took his plate to the sink, putting it in the dishpan. “I’ll help you, Cy.”
Cy smiled. “That’s ok. I don’t need you falling asleep standing up. Go to bed if you’re tired. You’re not used to getting up so early.”
Johnny’s next yawn threatened to crack his jaw. “Ok. I’m too tired to fight you. Goodnight,” he mumbled as he walked out the door.
Cy chuckled as he started gathering the four tin dog bowls. “You must have worked the dickens out of him, Leigh.”
She rubbed her aching neck. “Johnny worked like a dog and I barely had to tell him to do anything.”
Cy gave her a disbelieving look. “Really? I have to yell to get him to do what I want. What the heck have I been doing wrong?”
Daphne chuckled. “You’re not a woman. Some men will do things for women that they won’t do for men. I think Johnny is one of them.”
Cy grunted as he split the scraps up between the bowls. The dogs remained lying down, but licked their chops in anticipation of the meal. When he was done, he lined them up on the floor and gave the dogs permission to eat. Leigh watched as Cy purposely waited until they’d started to eat before reaching right in their bowls.
The adult dogs merely looked at him while wagging their tails, but Queenie growled when he did the same with her. Cy calmly picked up her food with his hands, urging her to take tidbits from his fingers while he talked softly to her. Eventually, her tail started wagging and she stopped growling as Cy continued hand feeding her.
Cy stayed there the whole time Queenie ate, petting her and talking to her. When her bowl was empty, Cy continued petting her with his clean hand. Only when Queenie moved away did he move away.
He caught Leigh watching and said, “One of the most important things I teach the dogs is to not be aggressive about food. There may be a circumstance when I need to take food away from them and I don’t want anyone to get bitten if they happen to go near their bowls.
“Also, I never feed them before we eat. Dogs still think like wolves or other wild canines and the pack leaders always eat first. We’re their pack leaders, so we always eat first. I know that might sound mean, but it’s really not. It’s better for everyone if they know their place.”
Leigh thought this was brilliant. “I didn’t know all of that. You should train dogs for a living. I’ll bet there are people who would pay you to do that.”
Cy’s expression turned thoughtful. “That’s a good idea, but I’m not sure how many takers I’d get.”
“You’ll never know if you don’t try,” Leigh said. “You could put on an exhibition with your dogs and show people what you can do.”
Daphne smiled. “That would be fun. I’d help.”
“I’ll think about it,” Cy said. “You might be onto something, Leigh. Go on and relax now.”
Daphne said, “He’s so bossy. He thinks everybody is a dog that he can order around.”
Cy grinned. “You never do what I tell you to, so that’s not true.”
Leigh said, “Don’t start treating me like a dog or there won’t be any marriage.”
He laughed as they left the room.
Chapter 9
“You can’t just ask her like that,” Daphne said a couple of nights later.
Cy frowned. “I already asked her in my letter. We agreed to get married. I want to have the ceremony soon.”
“You don’t have a romantic bone in your body, do you?”
He took offense to her disapproval. “Yes, I do, but I don’t have a lot of time for that right now. I’m knee deep in this Branson robbery and she’s knee deep in work around here. Unfortunately, for me, there’s never gonna be a perfect time to have the wedding. Leigh understood that from the beginning.”
Daphne crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the sofa. “You could at least take her out to dinner and ask her then.”
Cy passed a hand over his face in frustration. “I never know when I’m going to be done for the day and she’s tired. I doubt she feels like getting all gussied up after working so hard. Besides, I don’t have a ring.”
Daphne’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t buy her an engagement ring?”
“No! I don’t want a long engagement and neither does she,” Cy said. “What’s the sense in buying her an engagement ring when we’re going to get married in a month? It’s not like it’s going to take long to plan a ceremony since there aren’t a lot of people attending it.”
Unbeknownst to them, Leigh stood on the stairs, fingers pressed to her mouth to hold in her mirth. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but she’d overhead them when she’d been coming downstairs. Although it was wicked of her, she was enjoying listening to Daphne taking Cy to task for his lack of romantic gestures.
Daphne said, “Men.”
“Why do women always say that? The truth is that I’d rather put the money I’d spend on an engagement ring into a really pretty wedding band since she’ll wear that for the rest of our lives. I want it to make her happy whenever she looks at it,” Cy said.
Leigh’s heart swelled over the sweetness of his statement. Daphne unwittingly echoed her sentiments.
“Goodness, I don’t even know what to say to that,” Daphne said. “I’m surprised to hear you say such a thing after everything that happened with Valerie.”
Leigh’s ears perked up at that. Who was Valerie?
Cy’s scowl returned. “I don’t want to talk about that. I just want to move forward … with Leigh. She’s quite a woman.”
Daphne chuckled. “So you like her, hmm?”
Cy grinned. “What’s not to like? She’s beautiful, fun, smart, and she knows what she’s doing around here. Watching that water flowing into that field today was amazing. Sly said that she designed the whole thing and it worked perfectly.”
His overall approval of her was a huge boost to Leigh’s self-esteem. The kitchen door banged open, making her jump, and the dogs barked as they rushed to greet their guest.
“Hey, guys!” Johnny called out. “Where are you?”
“In the parlor,” Cy answered. “Don’t b
ang the door like that!”
Leigh shrank back against the wall, hoping that Johnny wouldn’t see her as he passed by the stairs. Her hope was dashed when he started and said, “Leigh! What are you doing? Come here.”
Leigh wanted to whack him upside the head, but simply followed him. She avoided Cy’s narrowed eyes as she entered the parlor.
Johnny grinned. “It’s ready. My project. C’mon. I wanna show you.”
Daphne asked, “You mean we’re actually going to get to see it? I really thought you were just pulling our legs all this time.”
Johnny said, “No. Why would I do that? I’m no liar.”
Cy smiled at his annoyed attitude. “No one said you were lying.”
“Well, you guys don’t believe that I was actually working on something,” Johnny said. “That means you think I was lying.”
Leigh said, “Daphne was only kidding, Johnny. We know you’re an honest man.”
Mollified, Johnny nodded. “Ok. Sorry. Now, c’mon!”
Leigh followed Johnny first so she didn’t have to look at Cy, but she could feel his speculative gaze boring into her back. She was certain that he knew she’d been listening to his conversation with Daphne.
Johnny led them around the barn and onto a path that wound through some scrub brush towards the woods.
Cy asked, “Are we going to Cotton’s, Johnny?”
“Yeah. That’s where it is.”
“You’ve been up at Cotton’s every night?” Daphne asked.
“Who’s Cotton?” Leigh asked.
Cy drew alongside her and Leigh blushed. “Cotton is our other uncle. He’s Uncle David’s brother. Cotton never liked being called uncle for some strange reason. He’s also a moonshiner and a little touched in the head. Harmless, but crazy nonetheless.”
Johnny laughed. “Crazy like a fox, you mean. He’s not an idiot and he makes great whiskey.”
Daphne said, “No argument there.”
Cy grunted. “If I’d have known that’s where we were going, I would have brought a couple of empty bottles.”
“Don’t worry about that right now,” Johnny said.
They walked for another ten minutes before the trees gave way to a small clearing in which two tipis sat side by side. Leigh was instantly fascinated. She’d never seen a real Indian tipi before. One was larger than the other and she wondered why.
Johnny let out a sound like that of a mourning dove and the flap of the smaller tipi flew open.
“Johnny!” shouted an older Indian man as he came out of the tipi.
Leigh took in his buckskin leggings, breechcloth, and tunic. They were beautiful garments, adorned with red and white beads.
“Hi, Cotton,” Johnny said. “Look who I brought.”
Cotton strode forward, his bearing regal as he extended a hand to Cy. “Nephew, it’s good to see you. About dang time you get your rear up here.”
Cy grasped arms with him. “Sorry, Cotton. I’ve been busy.”
Cotton smiled. “Yes, Johnny told me that the wily coyote finally caught the rabbit.”
“Yeah, he did.”
“Daphne, you’re as pretty as ever,” Cotton said, his dark eyes shining.
“Thank you,” Daphne said as he embraced her.
“And who is this vision of loveliness?” Cotton asked, turning his attention to Leigh.
She smiled at him, wondering at his strange accent. It didn’t sound Indian, but she couldn’t be sure since she’d never spoken with an Indian before.
Cy said, “This is Leigh Hawthorne. We’re going to be married soon.”
“Married! Oh, you poor, poor girl,” Cotton said, putting an arm around Leigh’s shoulder and pulling her towards the larger tipi. “You must reconsider this arrangement. Has he brought you horses?”
Leigh said, “Well, no, but—”
“Fine pelts? Gold? Silver?”
“No, but—”
Cotton stopped suddenly and Leigh tripped. He wasn’t much taller than her, but he was very strong and able to keep her upright. “Watch your step,” he said before facing Cy. “What kind of brave doesn’t give a good bride price for such a beautiful maiden? I’m ashamed of you.”
Cy bristled. “I can’t give her father anything. He lives … somewhere else,” he said lamely because he didn’t know where Leigh’s parents were. “Leigh lives with us, so tying horses outside the house isn’t feasible, either. And since she’s gonna marry me, the horses will be hers anyway.”
Cotton patted Leigh’s shoulder consolingly and led her along again. “I’ll talk to him about his lack of consideration. In the meantime, Johnny has something to show you all.”
Cy fought his annoyance over the fact that Cotton kept an arm around Leigh as they followed Johnny around the tipis and onto another trail through the woods. The fifty-five-year-old Cotton was still a very handsome man and had seduced his share of younger women over the years.
However, he knew that Cotton would never do that with a woman Cy was interested in. It was just his jealous nature rearing its ugly head. He subdued that emotion, concentrating instead on their surroundings.
They arrived in another clearing where Cotton housed his whiskey still. A large pavilion stood before them, complete with tables and chairs. Cotton often hosted parties for his family and friends and since they were so far out away from other ranches, there was no one to complain when the celebrations became rowdy.
Johnny tried to control his excitement, but he was anxious to show them his creation. He desperately hoped that his family would like it. Walking over to where several tables had been put together, he stopped in front of them.
“You and Daphne have been so good to me, taking me in when no one else would,” he said. “You made me feel welcome and loved and I wanted to do something to show my appreciation for all that you’ve done for me.” He took a deep breath. “Ok. Here goes.”
Cotton helped him remove a huge buckskin tarpaulin from overtop of the tables. Daphne gasped and Cy’s eyes widened in surprise. Johnny had made a new arch for the entrance to the ranch and it was unlike anything Cy or Daphne had ever seen. “Sundance Ranch” had been carved into the thick, light pine wood in attractive lettering that had been stained a dark red that matched their barn.
A representation of an actual Sun Dance had been carved into the topmost part of the arch, separating “Sundance” and “Ranch”. Horses of various colors galloped underneath the ranch’s name. A sun symbol sat on the right side of the arch while the moon stood out on the left side. Johnny had applied several layers of shellac to the arch to protect it from the weather.
Cy reverently touched the letters, admiring the skill and attention to detail Johnny had put into the project.
Daphne said, “Oh, Johnny, this is beyond beautiful. It’s a work of art.”
Johnny shifted his weight back and forth on his feet. “You really like it?”
Cy shook his head. “No, I love it. I can’t wait to put it up. Daphne’s right. This is more than just an arch. I’ve never seen one like it. You never told us you could do woodworking like this.”
Johnny’s relief over their approval showed in the way his shoulders relaxed. “Pa taught me. He was a master woodworker, and I guess he passed it on to me.”
Leigh also touched the arch. “I’d say so. It’s gorgeous. We need to build you a wood shop, and you could make and sell stuff all the time.”
Johnny smiled. “You really think people would buy my stuff?”
Cy said, “Heck yeah. You have real skill, Johnny. Leigh’s right and this arch will be the perfect advertisement. We’ll put a sign below it saying that you made it and you’ll have customers in no time.”
Cotton nodded. “I’m very proud of him. He worked every night on it.”
Cy said, “You’re forgiven for sleeping late. Thank you, Johnny.”
“You’re welcome,” Johnny said.
Daphne hugged him. “People will stop and stare at it.” She kissed his cheek and let him
go.
Johnny blushed with pleasure over her praise. “I don’t know about that.”
Leigh said, “I do. I’ll stop and look at it every time I come home.”
“We’ll put it up tomorrow,” Cy said. “Between Leigh getting that pasture irrigated and you making this sign, it’s like a new beginning for the ranch. Ma and Pa would be real proud.”
Daphne sniffed. “Yes, they would be.”
Cotton put an arm around her. “I know you miss them and so do I. I wish my sister were here to see this and your father, too. He was a good man.”
Daphne nodded. “I miss them every day.”
“Don’t be sad.” Cotton kissed the side of her head. “They’re always with you. Come. We’ll have a celebratory drink.”
Cy said, “Sounds good to me.”
They went back to the clearing with the tipis. Cotton held back the entrance flap of the larger one and Daphne ducked through the opening. Cy put his hand on the small of Leigh’s back, urging her into the tipi. As she entered it, she looked around with open curiosity. Various types of animal skins and bright colored woven blankets covered the floor. Three sleeping pallets were situated around the fire pit in which a low fire burned.
Cotton left the flap open for ventilation and light. “Please, sit and make yourselves comfortable. When Johnny said he was bringing you, I thought it would be nice to have the evening meal together.”
Cy sat on one of the sleeping pallets and patted the space next to him. “Sit here, Leigh.”
She situated herself next to him, mindful of his closeness. Her pulse throbbed a little harder in her veins.
Cotton removed a large pot from where it hung over the fire and sat it on the ground next to the fire pit. He ladled some sort of soup into bowls and passed them around. Cy handed her a bowl and then accepted one from Daphne.
“You made turkey stew!” Cy said. “I haven’t had this in donkey’s years. Cotton makes the best turkey stew.”
Cotton smiled. “Thank you. I caught some turkeys in my snares yesterday so I thought I would put them to good use.”
Johnny had already tucked into the stew, drinking the broth first and then letting the vegetables slid into his mouth. Cy showed Leigh how to eat her soup that way. Cotton brought out a vessel that looked like the stomach of some sort of animal to Leigh. Possibly a cow. Cotton lined up five cups and poured a red liquid into them.
