Love As Big As Texas

by Hestand, Rita

  Knowing he was getting upset, she tried to refocus. "Where you from, Colby?"

  The man didn't hear her at first. Then he shook his head. "Kentucky."

  "Was it pretty back there?"

  "Pretty?" He looked confused. "Naw…it weren't pretty. We had a one-room shack and six people living in it. Pa kicked me out when I was thirteen, told me to go find my own way. I didn't even know what he meant. But I left. Didn't go far. I lived in the woods for a long time, stealing pigs and killing wild turkeys. Eating berries and such. I was happy back then. No one to beat me for not doing my chores. No one to holler at me for messing something up. I was on my own. But the winters were rough. Cold as all get out. Nearly froze one winter, but the next winter though, I killed me a bear and made me a coat. That was one fine coat too."

  "You've lived alone a lot, then haven't you?" Gabby felt his hard times in her heart. She realized that this man was quite simple and that he'd lived only by his wits all this time.

  "Alone…yeah. I guess I have. Never thought much about it."

  He seemed to be suddenly nervous that she knew so much about him. Uncomfortable.

  "My mother died when I was young. I missed her a lot." Gabby thought if she shared something with him, he might settle out.

  "Lost your Ma?" He asked, his face screwing up in a frown.

  "Yeah, I was seven." She told him.

  "My Ma she was a good woman." Colby told her.

  "Really, what happened to her?" Gabby asked, feigning an interest.

  "Pa knocked her around a lot. She got to where she didn't have much sense about her then. She was just there. She cooked for us, did her chores like Pa told her, but he kicked her around a lot. Pa was a mean one. Kind of like your Frank." Colby's teeth seemed to grit when he talked about it. "She finally just up and died on us."

  "Maybe it's a good thing you got away when you did, then." Gabby tried to smile at him.

  "Maybe." He looked at her. "You hungry?"

  "Not much…" she answered.

  "How come?"

  "I don't eat much…" She answered. "You see, me and Jimmy, my boy, we nearly starved up in Colorado. Frank rarely came home, and never with food or money. So now, when I eat, it hurts to eat much at a time. I guess I'll get better in time."

  "Old Frank nearly starved you and that boy, didn't he? You are a might skinny." Colby looked her up and down. "I kind of thought maybe he had."

  "Yes, he nearly did."

  "He was a mean one too." Colby mumbled. "Never liked Frank. Couldn't trust him."

  "Yes, you're right…" Gabby admitted.

  "Why'd you stay with him?" Colby asked sipping his coffee now and watching her over the rim of his cup.

  "Had to. He might have killed me if I tried to leave."

  Colby nodded. "Is the boy his?"

  "He was, yes." Gabby found that question strange.

  "He sure didn't act like he was. Never heard him brag on him or you either for that matter. Frank sure liked the ladies though. He liked them old whores."

  Gabby's head flew up and she looked Colby in the eye. "Did he? I was young when we went up there. When any man looked at me, Frank got upset."

  "Every night for a long time it was a new one. Then one night it all stopped. I couldn't figure that out. Unless he finally got the clap from one of them. I never understood it, he had you. What did he need them old women for?" Colby laughed.

  When she said nothing he looked at her sternly.

  "How come he didn't come home to you?" Colby asked.

  "I don't think he liked me very much after Jimmy was born." Gabby cried, feeling some strange emotion she'd never experienced before. "He was like your Pa, Colby, he liked hitting me."

  Colby nodded. "I ain't never hit a woman. You just remember, you do like I say, and I won't hurt you."

  "That's good to know." Gabby swallowed. "Maybe we can be friends."

  "Naw…we can't be friends. I gotta hold you hostage so I can get that money. I gotta make them think I'll kill you. Not that I like the idea, but I gotta have that money." Colby looked at her now.

  "You wouldn't kill me?" She asked swallowing hard once more.

  "No ma'am, I wouldn't want to at least. But I might have to. And I'd be right sorry about it if I did. I don't hold with killin' women."

  "You'll get your money, Colby." She assured him. "If you get the money, will you let me go?"

  "I don't know yet. Depends on if they get the law or not. Depends on whether I have any trouble getting the money. Besides, you could go with me to California…"

  "A woman would just slow you down, don't you think?" She asked.

  "Oh yeah, that's right. Then I guess I'll have to wait and see. But you are kind of pretty. I wouldn't mind having you for a wife, myself. Put some meat on your bones…"

  "I think I am hungry. I'll fix us something." She went to the stove and started slicing the bacon.

  "You got pretty hair, ain't never seen hair that color on a young woman."

  He watched her carefully.

  ~*~

  Swarming the shack with their guns ready, Ben and the others didn't find a sign of Gabby. It was empty. At least it was very early in the morning and the other shack was only a few miles up the road.

  Ben had so hoped that they had found her, but the disappointment was clouded with depression too.

  "They are bound to be at the other shack. Let's move." Doyle commanded.

  Since it was daylight, they'd have to move in very carefully.

  They rode their horses until they got fairly close to the next shack. then leaving them hobbled, they walked toward the cabin and as they got close they crouched down so as not to be seen.

  But Doyle was sure he'd found her when he saw smoke coming from the small smokestack.

  "This is it. Now boys, we can't rush them, he might kill her. He's probably in there with her now. We have to wait until he leaves or comes outside alone, to spring her."

  "But what about dad, he'll be alone?" Ben fumed.

  "No, half of us will go in here and get her, the other half will be on that Ridge with your father tonight. Joe, Carl and me will be at the Ridge. It will be up to you, Pedro, and Sam Cunningham to get her out. When you do, go home and wait."

  "Go home…but dad!" Ben shook his head.

  "I'll be there and so will my sharpshooters, now do as I say if you want this to go off right." Doyle frowned at him. "We have to use our heads with this, Ben."

  Ben nodded, but he wasn't happy.

  "Take Gabby home and keep your men posted there."

  "Alright."

  "Let's just keep a sharp eye out…for what goes on here right now." Doyle positioned everyone around the cabin and they waited. "Like I told you, he might decide to take her with him to get the money. Using her as a shield, if he does, then follow and lay low. We'll handle it from there."

  "Listen…they are talking…"

  "Doyle's right, he knows what he's doing, Ben." Pedro assured him.

  "It's just so frustrating Pedro." Ben murmured.

  "I know…"

  ~*~

  "I didn't have your money, Colby." She confided as she served him bacon and fried toast. "I almost wish I had. I'd give it to you for your operation."

  Colby stared at her strange like. "I think you would at that. I figured you livin' with Frank; you were probably just as mean as he was. But you ain't, are you?"

  "He thought so."

  "Is that the truth?" He asked.

  "It is. If I had money, I would. Frank never brought or shared anything with us." Gabby admitted. "I had to take a lot of leavings. I begged some too. That was the hardest thing, begging, and listening to people snicker because I had to beg. People threw scraps at us. I had to take them too."

  "How'd you eat then?"

  "We didn't a lot of the time. Other times my neighbor would share what she had with us. We got to be pretty good friends. Her husband ran out on her and left her there. She didn't have any money, but she so
ld things to get enough to eat on. She had some horses at first, then she sold her mother's jewelry."

  "If you didn't have the money, then what did he do with the money? He stole nearly two thousand dollars from me. It was the money I was gonna use to work the mine with. And he took it when he tried to jump my claim."

  "I don't know what he did with it, I never saw any of it." She answered. "Frank was a failure. He knew it, and he couldn't face it. When he finally admitted, his mine was no good, that's when he tried to jump your claim. If he took money from you, he never let on to me about it."

  "He took two thousand dollars of mine." Colby grumbled. "I'd saved for three years so I could finally work the mine. I'd have had money, if it weren't for him."

  "How'd he know where to find it?" Gabby asked.

  "I guess he'd been layin' for me for some time, watchin' my place. When I drank, I'd sometime haul that money out to look at it. More money than I ever had." Colby explained.

  "Why didn't you put it in the bank?" Gabby asked.

  "Don't trust banks. Especially in that place. They robbed the bank so many times the banker nearly folded up and moved on. But about the time he was ready to move out, someone would come along with a new claim of a strike and he'd stick around for that. I dug a hole and put it in a coffee can, but the night Frank showed up, I had dug it up to look at it. He hollered he'd filed on my claim, then he saw it, and grabbed it. I chased him for some time. A few days later, I caught up to him and killed him, but the money wasn't on him. That's why I figured you had it."

  Gabby shook her head. "Do you honestly think I'd let my boy die of starvation if I had the money?"

  "Naw…I reckon you wouldn't."

  "I might have attacked Frank myself if I'd known he had any on him. We were so desperate for food back then. We were like a small pack of wild dogs. I hated living like that. I don't want to ever go back to that again, if I can help it."

  "How would you have attacked him?"

  "We had a shovel. I could hide behind the door and hit him in the head with it. I'd thought of doing that many times, but they hung a couple of women in that camp one time and I just wasn't brave enough to try it, after that." Gabby admitted. "You ever kill anyone aside from Frank?"

  "Yeah…another claim jumper."

  "Who did you kill?"

  "Ole Man Rinny. He tried to jump my claim too. But I filed it at the county seat. It was all legal. I'm probably one of the few people in that town that had a legal claim."

  "How'd you kill him?" Gabby asked, curious.

  "Didn't take much from old man Rinny, I gun butted him and he keeled over dead. But he was old and the judge said I had an unfair advantage. So I hightailed it when I broke out of jail. Came here, thinking you had my money. I got to have that money." He looked at her and something changed his expression, as though he felt bad about what he was doing. "I’m not a mean man, but…I gotta get that money. Now I want you to know, I'm not greedy. I know I could have asked for more money from the Wyler's. But I figured they'd have that much cash on them from the sale of cattle and such. Most ranchers keep a stash of money. Easy to get to. If I'd have asked too much, it might have took too long to raise. 'Cause I'm more than sure old man Wyler puts his money in the bank. Banks won't hand out a big wad of cash…most times. I figured the fifty thousand would be enough to get me a stake somewhere and take care of my stomach too."

  "I have to admit that's not a tolerable sum." Gabby tried to smile at him. "If I had it, I'd give it to you Colby."

  "Why'd you marry up with that Wyler fella?" Colby asked her.

  "Ben Wyler's a very nice man, Colby, and I don't want to see him shot, because of me! I don't want to see anyone shot." Gabby tried to sound calm, but on the inside, she was a shivering mess.

  "Frank ain't been cold in the grave long." Colby eyed her carefully.

  "Well, I didn't mourn his death." Gabby disclosed quietly, the guilt of that admission bothering her. "There just wasn't anything left between us. He killed my baby…Colby, I couldn't forget that." She cried out. "Course because I didn't eat regular, the baby might not have lived anyway."

  "Baby? What baby?"

  "I was carrying another baby the last time he hit me. I lost it…"

  "I guess I could understand your hating him then. I'm sorry for that. I really am." Colby shook his head. "I don't think anyone knew about that."

  "My neighbor, she came to help. She heard him hitting me. When he left, she came over. Otherwise, I might have died right there, and Jimmy would have been left all alone, in that awful town." Gabby cried.

  "I guess you got reason enough not to mourn him then." Colby nodded. "But you would mourn this Wyler fella?"

  "Yes…I would. Please don't hurt him." Gabby begged. "Don't hurt anyone…because of me."

  "Here now, I like you, shore nuf, but I cain't promise not to hurt anyone. I gotta do what I gotta do." Colby muttered sourly and drank the rest of his coffee.

  "How long before this is all over?" She asked.

  "Tonight. I'll get that money tonight."

  Then the conversation started up again. "How far along was you when Frank hurt you?"

  "Seven months." She shrieked from the memory of it. She hadn't talked about it since it happened. Dredging it up made her emotional and she was trying to keep herself together.

  "Was it a boy or a girl?"

  "A girl…." She couldn't stop the tears from falling now. Talking about the baby hurt. That night was forever embedded into her memory.

  "I guess if you was that far along, he knew you were pregnant when he hit you." Colby kept on.

  "He knew…"

  "Did he do it a purpose?" Colby asked lowly.

  "Yes…he knew what he was doing. Of course he was drunk too." Gabby shook her head and she cried aloud. "Please, let's don’t talk about it, now…"

  "And yet, you didn't leave him?" Colby narrowed his gaze on her.

  "No…I didn't have to. After that he left and never came back."

  "Never came back, because I killed him? I reckon in some ways, I did you a favor."

  "I guess you did. That's a fact. After that, it took a while to get on my feet again. I wrote my father, wanting to come home. But he was dead too… He died of the small pox."

  This time there were tears in her eyes.

  Colby stood up over her and stared into her eyes. "You're in love with that Wyler man?"

  "Yes, very much…" She admitted. What did it hurt to admit it now? Ben would never know.

  Colby drew out a bottle and started drinking. She cringed. Men got mean when they drank.

  "That won't help your stomach." She cried.

  "Yes it will. It isn't whiskey, its laudanum. It dulls the pain some." Colby looked at the bottle.

  "Are you in a lot of pain?" She asked staring at him.

  "Yeah…all the time."

  Chapter Twenty

  But when nighttime came, Colby did the unexpected, he didn't tie her up. He'd decided he was taking her with him.

  Ben and the others were about to storm the cabin when Colby came outside with Gabby right behind him.

  He'd tied a rope around her arm, and tied the rope to his arm. He carried his gun ready.

  Ben glanced at Pedro. "Let's follow them…"

  "Si…" Pedro nodded, Sam came up behind them.

  "Can you get a clear shot, Sam?" Ben asked in a whisper.

  "Naw…not yet." Sam shook his head.

  They could hear Colby talking to Gabby now.

  "Now you keep quiet, and do exactly as I say and you won't get hurt." Colby instructed her.

  "You don't have to tie me," she insisted.

  "Now you just hush and be quiet. Let's go…"

  Ben looked at Pedro.

  They followed quietly behind them. Colby had long legs and he walked fast, faster than Gabby could keep up with and he yanked her several times. "Keep up, girl."

  "You're walking too fast." She cried in a whisper.

  "Gotta get t
o the Ridge. Now be quiet." He instructed once more as he continued on his way. "I got a feeling they are all around here girl."

  "How do you know that?" She asked.

  "Because the hair on the back of my neck is standing straight up, that's how."

  "Let's just go, get this over with…" Gabby wailed.

  "We're going. Don't you be trying nothing or you'll be dead, you understand?"

  "I understand."

  ~*~

  Jason Wyler walked the distance to the hill, sat the money he had stashed in a box, and sat on it at the top of the hill.

  He wondered how long it would take for Colby to show up. He wanted to get home for supper. If Doyle's sharpshooters were positioned correctly, this should all be over in a matter of minutes once Colby showed.

  He thought about Helena briefly. He'd been thinking a lot about her lately, especially since Gabby invited her to eat with them and Ben didn't put up a fuss. Helena had been such a big help when Vera and Jen got sick. She'd waited on them hand and foot, and never left their side but to sleep. And Jason had noticed. He'd appreciated her dedication to his wife and daughter.

  He'd waited a while now and he thought the time was at least right to announce to his son how things were going to be. He loved Helena and there was no use hiding it any longer. He was too old to waste time; he wanted Helena as his wife. When he fell in love with her was hard to tell. She'd been a part of the household so long, and he depended on her so much. However, since his wife died, he had noticed how she now doted on him. He'd seen a gleam in her eye too, many times throughout the years. He hadn't paid much attention to her at first, but as time went on, Helena played a big role in the center of his family. Vera loved her, Jen and Helena were best friends, and Helena had always catered to him.

  When she'd first came to the ranch she was just a young girl. She'd blossomed and at some point, he quit thinking of her as a girl, and more as a woman. He'd also quit thinking of her as a servant too. Even when his wife was alive, he had noticed her more than once. She was a fine figure of a woman.