She stared at her hands. ‘Dan,’ she said softly.
He knelt in front of her and cupped her small hands with his. ‘I have a train ticket for tomorrow afternoon. You’ll be safe now.’
‘No,’ she said. She started to cry. ‘You just got here.’
‘You have another life now. I ain’t welcome. I never shoulda come.’
‘You didn’t want me, Dan. I ached for you. Years I ached.’
‘Mandy, Mandy, you were too young.’
‘You’ve been with teen whores.’
‘Not quite that teen.’
‘Sally isn’t much older. You’re with Sally. You’ve been with her since CK died.’
‘Where did you hear that?’
‘I . . . just assumed. She has everything now. She’d get you along with the saloon and whorehouse.’
Dan smiled at her. Her face was clean, fresh from a pillow. Now he saw the girl, the features he once knew so well. ‘I live in Tucson and Yuma now. I don’t even visit Abilene no more. Besides, Sally can’t stand me, never could. No, you’re wrong, little girl.’
She searched his face again, eyes wet but no more crying. ‘You look so old, Dan.’
Dan chuckled. ‘I told you that years ago. I got this new dude suit and hat but it’s still the same battered, shot-up me underneath. Not sure I ain’t still too old for you.’
Mandy smiled. ‘Even after all these years, I still miss the trail.’
‘Do you, girl? They’ve been lonesome since you went away.’
‘Since you sent me away.’
Dan rose and stepped back and sat on the edge of the bed. ‘It’s late for you to be out running around. I better get you back to the college.’
‘We got a way of sneaking in and out. Did you do anything with Kathleen?’
‘Nothing was ever gonna happen with that filly. I’m only here to see one woman. She ain’t much for seeing me.’
Mandy looked back at her hands again. ‘So much has changed, Dan.’
‘You got yourself a Roger now.’
‘Yes. He’s been wonderful.’
‘He’s got plans for you, girl.’
‘I know.’
‘Dan cleared his throat. ‘You been with him?’
She jerked her head up to meet his gaze. ‘What do you mean?’
Dan felt anxious. He wrung his hands, his breathing shallow, his chest with an ache, not wanting to hear what he might. ‘He’s a man. You’re a woman. I mean nature. You been with him?’
Her hands started to shake. ‘How can you say that, Dan? You know I could only be with one man and one man only. But you didn’t want me. Maybe you still don’t.’
‘Maybe things is different now.’
‘You told Roger you didn’t know. You said you just knew he wasn’t for me. How could you say those things to him?’
‘That’s the way his trail twisted for me. You ain’t the same girl, Mandy, you think different now. Your life has changed. He don’t think you want the same end for Monte Steep. He’s talking legal stuff. And I ain’t even found the jasper yet.’
Mandy sighed. She openly looked over Dan from socks to undershirt to his straight, black hair. Her emerald gaze rested on his face. ‘Tell me what happened with Big Nose Rox Levant.’
He told her everything since One-Ear Shocky Harris answered his ad in the Tucson paper, The Arizona Citizen. About meeting Jeremiah Dickers, learning of the claim and the swindle – learning of a lawyer, Oliver Ashby and the bookkeeper Jenny – the widows who owned the claim, and Zack Deller – Deller marrying the widow, Sarah, moving on her ranch – the shootout with Handsome Jack Mills, Dickers and Levant dying, Yuma, the last known town for Steep, the mining town of Darion. He said he wanted to physically see Zack Deller in order to satisfy his suspicions.
Dan said, ‘So what happens when we find Monte Steep, no matter what name he goes by?’
Mandy blinked, an emerald hardness in her eyes. ‘We shoot him down like a snake.’
Dan nodded. ‘You been practising the draw?’
She lowered her eyes. ‘No.’
‘Your boy, Roger’s got different ideas. He wants to do everything legal.’
‘So, we can do it legal. Then we shoot down Steep and anybody riding with him.’
Dan leaned forward and studied that face he wanted beside his. He placed his hand on her cheek. ‘You got some wrinkles in your life, girl.’
Mandy sat back in the chair. She pulled the blanket tightly around her. ‘I know. The man I admire wants to do things one way. The man I love wants to do them another. I want both.’
‘You want both men?’
‘That won’t work.’
‘You might get to liking Roger enough to be with him.’
She shook her brown-copper curls. ‘I was jealous the way Kathleen pushed herself on you. That’s why I was so snippy. I thought she might have her way.’
‘Not with you in the same county, on the same earth.’
Mandy shivered. ‘You know you can take me now, Dan, right there in your bed, make me a real woman.’
‘Don’t think I ain’t tempted.’
‘Do it. Look at how much I shake? I can’t be in the same room with you without wanting you so bad I lose control. Dan, you should have done it on the trail.’
‘You ain’t ready, Mandy.’
‘I couldn’t be more ready.’ She pushed to her feet and moved to the bed.
Dan stood. He pulled the blanket and let it fall to the floor. He gathered her to his arms and kissed her well, feeling her lips melt against his. Her arms went around his neck and she pushed tight. She continued to shiver in anticipation against him.
Dan slid his hands up to her shoulders and pushed her away at arm’s length. ‘No.’
Mandy blinked and frowned, breathing heavy. ‘Dan, please.’
‘We got unfinished business.’
‘Yes, right here, right now.’
‘You still got Roger.’
‘Dan, I’ve never kissed him like I just kissed you. I never would.’
‘He thinks you’re gonna marry him.’
‘I can’t, not if I can have you.’
‘You just said you got two men.’
‘I only want this with you.’
‘I been full of hate so many years – maybe if I was a better man.’
She jumped at him, her arms tight around his neck. ‘You’re the best man for me.’
‘We got to get the business done first, Mandy. And not here. Maybe I’m a dumb jackass for letting this pass but when it does happen, it’s forever for me. I got nothing left for nobody else. I got nothing inside me. I don’t know how much I can love. Or even if I can.’
‘I’ll show you. I’ll show you how to love. I’ll make you want to love. I’ll bring more love out of you than you ever thought you had.’ She kissed him.
‘You know I’m a hard case, Mandy.’
‘I can soften your heart. Get me on that train. Take me now and take me with you.’
Dan pushed her and sat her back in the chair. ‘I got to find Steep first. It’s the only life I lived all these years. I get all soft and sloppy and wrapped in you, what I’ll do is get myself killed.’
‘But, I’ll be with you. I had your back in Bismarck; I’ll have it wherever we go.’
‘You ain’t even been practising. You can’t let that skill go fallow.’
‘I won’t. You’ll see. I’ll be as fast as I once was.’
Dan knelt in front of her again. Her fingers quivered but she had stopped shaking. He slid his hands along the dress outline of her slender legs. ‘I can’t have you marrying Roger Farnsworth. That can’t happen.’
‘Then take me with you.’
‘When I find Monte Steep, I’ll send you a wire. You come out and we’ll go after him together. I don’t care about legal parts done and everything right and proper. And I don’t want Roger with you. After it’s all done, we’ll get a good look at each other and see what’s what.’
&
nbsp; ‘I can undress now and give you a real good look, see what you remember.’
‘You’re a lot more woman than the last view I had.’
Mandy heaved a long, shuddering sigh. She closed her eyes. ‘You’re doing it again, Dan. I got one man I admire and one man I love. You’re denying me the man I love. I can’t promise you I won’t marry Roger Farnsworth. You take that on the train with you tomorrow.’
Chapter Twenty-One
His black hair had grown to his collar, shiny and straight as part of his quarter Cherokee heritage. He left it like that and shaved the goatee to just a long, cookie-duster mustache. He packed his western clothes and pulled on the fancy, dude get-up he’d worn to North Carolina. With a new clothes-look, he’d have to change his name. He decided he’d use his murdered brother’s name – call himself J.J. Jordan. He wanted to get entrenched in the town of Darion. He wanted to find the ranch.
Dan checked into the Darion Hotel, which was rougher and more temporary than many he’d known. With his horses boarded in the stable, he spent time in the Darion Saloon – and found himself back to splintered wood construction, rotgut whiskey, miner brawls, burly bartenders and overweight whores with little charm. The Deller Waterhole across the road looked better, but he wanted to spill drinks with miners, not business owners. In one week, he witnessed two gunfights. Miners were far from home and Darion was no substitute.
The town did have a marshal.
Slipper Hawthorne looked about mid-thirties. In striped shirt sleeves, he carried a belly pot, and kept his thin, straight hair, the color of muddy water, short. He had gray, piercing eyes that swept over Dan as he completed a walk round through the saloon. He wore a pair of Peacemakers and probably had notches on them.
He swung back and stopped in front of Dan, the gray eyes unfriendly with typical lawman suspicion. ‘I know you, mister?’
Dan sighed. ‘You don’t know me, Marshal. The name is Jordan – J.J. Jordan – I’m here to buy a silver claim. I’m looking for the lawyer, Oliver Ashby.’
‘Just had lunch with the gent, he’s probably in his office by now, or off in an outhouse someplace.’
‘You know him well?’
‘Well enough, why?’
‘Then you must know Zack Deller.’
‘Ain’t hardly nobody in town don’t know Zack, or of him.’
‘I know of him,’ Dan said. ‘This is his town. You belong to him too?’
The marshal glared. ‘If I gotta haul you off to jail, I’m gonna be real mad. I don’t like the paperwork.’
‘Haul me for what reason?’
‘We can come up with something.’
‘Don’t want no trouble, Marshal. Just looking for a mine.’
‘Then you ought to be heading off to the lawyer’s office.’ He turned and stomped out of the saloon.
Through the batwing doors, Dan saw him cross the road to the fancier Deller Waterhole. One of the regular drunks standing by Dan mentioned that the marshal carried lusty thoughts for the beautiful, fine-figured Sarah Deller – who had come from one of the largest cattle ranches in Kansas just outside Dodge City and was the once-widowed owner with her sister of the Sarah D silver mine. Another drunk mentioned that the fair Sarah was also the wife of Zack Deller, a fact Marshal Slipper Hawthorne had better not forget.
With the pot belly stove going and fresh cups of coffee, Oliver Ashby hauled a folder out of a wood file cabinet and spread papers on the oak desk. He frowned at Dan. ‘Are you sure about the Sarah D, Mr Jordan?’
They both sat in stuffed, red leather armchairs. Walls were filled with books. The office smelled musty, the stove taking its sweet time bringing warmth.
‘I know some of the history,’ Dan said. He had a sip of coffee. It tasted terrible. He put the cup on the desk to remain untouched.
Ashby took a sip of his. He had the shape of a pear, small shoulders wide girth, and his face tapered down to a small, shriveled chin below his pencil mouth. His eyes were brown and revealed nothing about his thoughts. He put the cup down. He leaned back in his chair and made a steeple of his fingers. ‘I have to tell you, Mr Jordan. I don’t think the claim is for sale.’
‘This is the Wild West, everything is for sale – property, towns, people and silver claims. Ain’t that true?’
‘Well, that particular claim belongs to Deller Enterprises.’
Dan sat straight with a look of surprise. ‘Why, don’t Zack Deller have an office right there next to yours? I seen it coming in.’
‘Yes, he does. Do you know Mr Deller?’
‘Only by reputation.’
‘You see, Mr Jordan, the mine carries a rich claim, the vein still thick and pure. Almost a hundred-thousand dollars has been pulled from it.’
‘I got a couple million in gold,’ Dan said. He thought he should have said more. Why not five million?
It was enough. Oliver Ashby sat straight and put his elbows on the desk. ‘Well now, I’m sure we can find a real moneymaker for that amount.’
‘Ain’t interested in no real moneymaker. I want the Sarah D.’
‘Why?’
‘Sentimental reasons.’
‘I’m afraid Deller Enterprises wouldn’t consider selling.’
‘Mr Ashby, why don’t you put me next to Zack Deller and we’ll see what develops. He got a ranch someplace outta town, ain’t he?’
‘Yes, I’ll get in touch with him and we can ride out there in a couple days, if he agrees. First, tell me what is so sentimental about it.’
‘How far out is the ranch?’
‘About an hour.’
Dan leaned back. ‘Didn’t the claim used to belong to a coupla civil war widows, Ida, and her sister, Sarah Collins? Sarah had a coupla little girls.’
‘It belonged to Sarah’s husband, Ben actually. Before he went off to war Ben sold it to her and Ida as partners. That way there’d be no argument about it being handed down to a woman in case he got killed in the war. Courts don’t take kindly to women and property. The sisters lived together on the ranch. Because of the war they had no money to operate the mine. The ranch and selling beef to the army barely kept them alive.’
Dan said, ‘Then along come this fella, Zack Deller. And he sweet-talked Sarah right outta her heart. Got her to marry him and moved on out to the widow ranch.’
‘Yes.’
‘Then the sister, Ida, went and got herself killed. Not too clear on how that happened.’
Ashby nodded. ‘A horse fall – an accident – terrible—’
‘Was that before or after Zack Deller met the widows?’
Ashby cleared his throat. ‘I believe Mr Deller was smitten with Sarah from the first.’
‘That’s when you met them all and got yourself entwined with their business.’
‘Well, the widows couldn’t operate the mine and were looking to sell. I arranged for the purchase by Mr Deller. I believe that’s when he fell in love with Sarah.’
‘Fell in love, sure. Sister Ida got a claw in her gut over that, didn’t she? Did she think a swindle was going on?’
‘I . . . really don’t think so.’
‘Too bad about her accident.’
‘Yes, terrible. Why are you so interested in the history?’
‘Don’t wanna buy a pig in a poke. I got to make sure everything was legit down the line.’
‘I can assure you, Mr Jordan—’
‘You only got a short jump on what you can assure, mister. Now the way I got it, somebody else was interested in the mine – a coupla fellas from Missouri, one by the name of Jeremiah Dickers, who maybe even paid somebody money for the claim.’
Oliver Ashby shook his head while he blinked. ‘Oh no, I’m sure there was nobody else. I would have known.’
‘Yup, you sure-’nuff would have.’ Dan crossed his leg and pushed his chair back slightly. Even sitting there, he could pull his Peacemaker and plug the lawyer’s lanterns out. Instead, he said, ‘Who handled the facts and figures? Wasn’t it a bookkeeper? A
gal named Jenny . . . Jenny. . . .’
‘Jenny Troup. Yes, she worked for Mr Deller.’
‘How close did she work?’
‘A scandal there. They said I was involved. She was married don’t you know. When the affair came out, her husband came after me. I’m afraid I had to shoot him.’
‘What happened to her?’
‘Her husband had kicked her out before he came for me. They had no property. I’m afraid she went down, down, down.’
‘Here in Darion?’
‘No, last I heard she was in Yuma in one of those . . . places.’
‘And the affair wasn’t with you.’
‘No, of course not. Folks are saying it might have been with some stagecoach shotgun rider on the Tucson-Yuma run. She was sure running with somebody.’
Dan chuckled. ‘More likely it was the same office she worked in with that fella, Zack Deller.’
‘That’s impossible,’ Oliver Ashby said, his brow sweating.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Two hours after sunrise, Dan was in the saddle. The road to the ranch was farther north than Dan had looked. He kept Mesa almost a quarter mile behind the lawyer. He slowed the chestnut and kept pace out of sight. The barren land rolled to craggy bluffs dotted with sagebrush and mesquite and an occasional juniper. Air carried icy chill making the land look hostile and deadly. No place to be alone or stranded.
Little more than an hour later, the terrain began to change. First, he saw the twisted wire fences with barbs that had popped up across the country. A part of the Colorado River diverted to flow east. A created lake opened irrigation streams in all directions for grass to grow. Longhorns and shorthorns roamed along the grass within the fences. The road turned, branched into, and went by a ranch yard. Dan held back.
He wanted to see the man.
He halted Mesa and waited beside the fence. The yard was big enough to swallow Oliver Ashby and his roan. Cattle bawled from every direction. Ashby swung down and went into the house. Dan heeled Mesa forward at a trot. He passed an open gate with an overhead sign, Sarah D, and went on by – a stranger on the trail riding through. He kept the trot until the fence ended and land became cold and barren beside the road once again. He found a juniper just in eyesight of the road and reined up. Some kind of birds had made a fragile nest in the juniper and complained loudly at the invasion. The nest was noisy with occupants who had to be freezing.
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