"I'll be fine. You and I both know Eddington isn't half the man you are, Jake. It's more than tracking." She patted his arm and finally began to eat her own supper, which was only a small bit of potatoes and a buttered biscuit. She'd been sick the whole time she'd been in the family way. Old Mrs. Allen claimed that meant we'd have a boy baby. But Mrs. Daughtery assured us it meant a girl would be coming. How I hoped Mrs. Allen was right...even though I didn't much like her.
* * * * *
Early the next morning as we were all just getting up, there came a fierce pounding on the door. I heard someone calling Jacobi's name, and when I looked out the window of my loft room, I saw a big gathering of men on horseback in front of the house.
"Kane! It's Trask! I need to talk to you – it's urgent!"
"Hold up, Aldous," Jacobi called, a bit of anger in his voice, I imagined because of the scare it had given Laura – him showing up at our door so early. It must be something bad.
I hurried to finish getting into my clothes. The air was already hot and the day hadn't yet started – or, it wouldn't have, if Deputy Marshal Trask hadn't been beating on the door.
I heard the bolt slide free and Jacobi greet the marshal a little easier as he opened the house up to him, then closed the door behind him once more as he entered our cabin. I got just as close to the ladder as I could without anyone seein' me, so I could hear better.
"What's going on?" Jacobi asked in that no-nonsense tone I'd come to know well.
"We need you, Jake. I know you and Eddington aren't on the best of terms, and I hope you won't let your personal dislike of him keep you from helping us. We just got word this band of renegade Apaches we've been after has completely wiped out a settlement just north of the Red River, up near Bokchito. If we head up there now, there's a good chance we can catch them."
"What are they doing there?" Jacobi muttered softly, almost to himself. "I swear, those red bastards have gone crazy," Trask responded.
"We've got to stop 'em. The more they get by with, the more they try." "You're sure it's Laughing Wind's bunch?"
"It's got to be. The way they've murdered the victims – the brutality they've shown...my God, I don't believe they can be human."
"How many men do you have?"
"Fifteen."
Jacobi gave a short laugh. "That's all?"
"They're good men, Jake. Most of them steady with a gun." There was
hesitation in Trask's voice as he continued. "I'll admit, I have some reservations about a few of them. And Marshal Eddington bears watching, between you and me."
There was silence, as if Jacobi was weighing his decision, and I knew that was exactly what he was doing. Would he risk losing another family to these unpredictable Apache raids? Would he risk being killed by them himself, leaving Laura, me, and the coming baby to fend for ourselves without him? But I felt maybe the question that was most important was one I'd known he'd been thinking of ever since yesterday morning...would he be able to track down Laughing Wind to protect the future of others, rather than to avenge the past?
"Give me a minute, will you, Aldous? I need to talk with Laura."
"We need you, Jake. I'll wait outside – you go ahead and talk with your missus. I reckon every one of us has had to have this talk with our wives. I don't envy you." The door opened and shut.
I knew right then Jacobi was going. Of course, he'd have to talk to Laura, but his mind was made up, and she'd already told him she understood last night at the table. With duty calling him, and Laura's understanding, I knew he had to go. And, I reckon Laura did, too, because just then I heard the bedroom door open below my room.
"Laura—" I heard him start.
"I know, Jake. You have to go. Let me get your clothes for you and some food."
"I don't want to leave you."
"You'll feel better once this unfinished business is taken care of."
There was a long pause and I knew they were kissing. They did that a lot. I'd gotten used to it. My own parents never did that in front of Lisbeth and me. Papa might not have even known how, and if he did, Mama would've died of embarrassment. But it wasn't that way with Jacobi and Laura. They took to doin' it whenever they wanted, whether I was there or not.
After a minute, Jacobi called out, "Will, come on down here." There was a smile in his voice, so I knew he'd figured out I was listenin' to everything.
"Comin'!" I came down the ladder barefooted and sure enough, he was standing in front of the bedroom door with his arm around Laura.
"Will, I'm gonna have to leave for a little while. A couple-a weeks, maybe three at the most. I'm countin' on you to be the man around here while I'm gone. You see to Laura and if the baby comes while I'm gone, you run into town and get Doc Adler. Don't be gone out hunting or fishing all day. You check back in and make sure everything's okay."
I nodded. "Yes, sir." But in my head, I was thinkin' of a way maybe I could go along with him. He had needed me before, when Red Eagle had come after us. It was me that shot Red Eagle while he and Jacobi were fighting. And that's how we'd got up the money to buy our place. I hadn't figured out how to do it yet, but I knew I just had to go along.
Jacobi turned away to go let Trask know he'd be coming soon, for them to ride on ahead and he'd catch up.
I started for the back door. The least I could do was to saddle up old Blackie. And I'd check on Miss Elizabeth Bennett and her baby while I was there. Maybe something would come to me. I sure did need me a plan.
* * * * *
As it turned out, Laura came up with a plan of her own and it suited me just fine. Jacobi was barely out of sight when Laura and me sat down at the table to wait on the biscuits she made every morning.
"Will," she said, looking at me real serious, "I believe I know what you're thinking."
Well, I tried hard to blank out my thoughts, 'cause I figured she'd be plenty mad at me if she realized I wanted nothing more than to saddle up Arrow and go riding out after Jacobi.
She just smiled, and went on with what she was sayin'. "I know you want to go with Jacobi. And I don't blame you. Why, if I wasn't going to have this baby, I'd want to saddle up Miss Lizzy and ride after him myself."
"I been tryin' to come up with an idea, Laura. But I can't go off and leave you – just like Jacobi said, you might have our baby any day now."
Honestly, I was looking forward to the baby coming, even though I knew he wouldn't be any fun to play with for several years. By that time, maybe I wouldn't feel like playin' any more. I might be grown up by then. But I still wanted a brother.
She looked at me tender then, just like I really was her own boy. I felt guilty sometimes for wishing Laura and Jacobi had been my real parents. I wished Mama would've hugged me up a little more, and I wished Papa hadn't of been so hard about everything.
"I want you to go, Will."
I couldn't believe I was hearing right! I just sat and looked at her like my voice had deserted me again. But I knew better. This wasn't like it had been when Red Eagle captured me and I wasn't able to talk. And, by the look she gave me, I knew I had heard her right, after it sank in.
"But – what about you?" I managed to ask. "What about the baby?"
"I've thought of that. I'm going to ask you to deliver a letter to Mrs. Allen before you go after Jacobi. It'll be on your way. I'll write it real quick while we're waiting on the biscuits. I'm going to tell her what's happened and ask her to come stay with me until you all get back."
Why hadn't I thought of that? Such a simple solution to everything. Laura was pretty dang smart...for a girl.
"Here's what I want you to do," she went on. She gave me several things to remember, and some of them was like rules. The first one was, if I hadn't caught up with Jacobi and the others by nightfall, I had to turn back. He'd already been gone fifteen minutes, but I knew they'd have to stop for lunch somewhere if Marshal Eddington was with them. It was one of his peculiarities. I knew me and Arrow could catch them.
I hurrie
d outside to saddle up Arrow while Laura wrote her note to Mrs. Allen. Miss Elizabeth Bennett and her baby were both in fine shape today, and our other horses ate hungrily as I put their hay in front of them. In the last year since Jacobi, Laura, and I had become a family, we'd bought us some horses for breeding stock. Laura sometimes said Jacobi loved them as much as he did her. But she knew better.
I led Arrow to the house and tied him to the far porch railing before going back inside. My heart pounded at the thought of the coming adventure, and part of it was due to my worry over disobeying Jacobi. I'd never done that – not in the eleven months I'd known him.
When I went inside, Laura had everything ready. My clothes, a canteen of water, and the letter all sealed up and ready to go. The biscuits were almost done baking and I knew those were going to be my supplies for the rest of the day, and maybe on into tomorrow.
"Will, I want you to take your rifle with you. And plenty of bullets." Her voice got real quiet then. "You...you may need it."
I dutifully went to the gun rack and took my rifle from it, then reached for a box of shells and put them with the change of clothing Laura had laid on the end of the table, clean from the washing yesterday.
While Laura got the biscuits out of the oven, I packed up everything on Arrow, including my bedroll, and put the letter in my saddlebags. Then I came back inside and Laura handed me a packet of warm biscuits.
"Take care of yourself, Will." She looked into my eyes like there might have been something more she wanted to say. But she kept quiet a minute, like she'd stopped herself for some reason. I could see her eyes were misty again. "You and Jacobi...you watch out for each other."
"We will, Laura. I promise."
"And remember what I said about turning back if you don't catch up by night."
I nodded hurriedly.
"Promise me." She put her hands on my shoulders, and I knew she wanted me to understand how important it was.
"I promise," I said.
Suddenly, she hugged me to her, and I felt her lips brush the top of my head. "I'm so lucky to have you, Will. Keep yourself safe, and come home to me."
"I will." I hugged her back.
She let go of me and followed me out the front door. I mounted up, eager to be gone, but still uneasy about disobeying Jacobi. He was not going to be happy about it, but what choice did I have? He was riding with the likes of Marshal Eddington, a man none of us trusted.
"Oh, here—" She handed me three biscuits wrapped in a napkin to eat on as I rode, so I didn't have to get into my pack.
"Thanks, Laura. I'll keep him safe."
She smiled at me, and laid a hand on my boot in the stirrup. "And you, too."
I nodded. "If he doesn't kill me for leaving you, I'll be all right."
"You tell him I sent you, Will."
I put on my hat and turned Arrow up the road toward Mrs. Allen's cabin. Jacobi had near an hour's jump on me. I was anxious to be on my way.
"Let's go, boy," I urged the big horse forward into a gallop. I looked back just once to see Laura on the porch, still waving. I knew she'd be there until I was just a speck in the distance, going around the same bend in the road where Jacobi had disappeared earlier.
I was on my way.
Chapter 20
It was easy to follow the tracks, even if I hadn't known which way the posse was headed. With that many men and horses, picking up sign wasn't hard to do...even though I wasn't experienced at it.
Ol' Mrs. Allen hadn't cracked a smile when I'd ridden up, earlier. She just read Laura's note and said, "I'll get my things and head over there. Best be on your way, boy."
I didn't dally. I wanted to be gone too.
Now, I felt like I was gettin' close. I knew sure enough Marshal Eddington would stop for a rest at lunch. They'd need to rest the horses for a spell anyhow, by then. I knew Jacobi would be careful about that. I would be too. Much as I wanted to push Arrow, I wouldn't do it. Arrow was my best friend. I'd saved him from Red Eagle's cruel mistreatment, and now, there was no other horse more loyal to his master than he was to me. Except maybe Jacobi's horse, Blackie. They'd been together an awful long time.
My thoughts scattered here and there as I rode. One part of me was careful to make sure I was still on the right trail, another part of me watched for any sign of danger. But the last part of me took this time to think about how everything had happened, and what was to come.
We'd used the reward money from killin' Red Eagle to buy the cabin and land. Jacobi called it 'ironic' – Red Eagle had taken everything from Jacobi and me, killing both our families. But, when he'd come after us, that had been the end of him and his murderin' ways. We'd claimed the reward, and bought our place. So, even though he thought he'd defeated us, he hadn't. We'd made a fresh start.
My big worry, now, was that Jacobi was going to be really sore at me over leaving Laura – no matter what she'd said about her telling me to follow him. Somehow, I just didn't think he'd care. He'd told me to stay there and watch out for her. But, I reasoned with myself, he had needed me before, when we'd come up against Red Eagle. I'd saved his life that time. 'Course...he might not have been in that situation if he hadn't rescued me to begin with.
Well...here I was, and there was no goin' back now. Babies was women's business. Huntin' Injuns that was killin' people – that was for us men to take care of.
Right then, I saw the first sign that I was gettin' close to the posse. I felt like I'd been riding all day, but lookin' at the sun, I knew it couldn't be no more'n one o'clock. There was a creek bank up ahead, and I figured that's where they would have stopped to rest the horses and eat a bite. I slowed Arrow down when I saw how the dry, late June-baked grass had been trampled flat a few yards away, as if they had veered from the path to the creek for some odd reason.
I guided Arrow over that way, and we rode slow and easy so I could look for any signs I might've missed as to why they'd changed direction. I couldn't see anything. I kept on riding until the stand of trees by the creek bank began to shelter me, and welcome me into the sweet shade they offered from the blistering heat of the Texas summer sun.
"William Robert Green, what the hell are you doing here?"
I jerked around so quick I almost fell right off of Arrow. He gave a startled whinny, and I almost cried out myself, that voice frightened me so bad. It wasn't because it was Jacobi who'd come upon me so quiet like he done. It was what he said. He had only used my full name one other time since I'd known him, one day when I'd argued with him, and sassed. Now, I knew he meant business, just like he had that other time.
I tensed up all over, but I sat there on Arrow and I met his eyes. That was one of the hardest things I'd ever done, 'cause he was plenty mad. "Why in the cornbread hell are you here?"
I moistened my lips. "Laura – she sent me."
"Laura? Why do I get the feeling you talked her into this?"
"I did not!" I said hotly. "It was her idea for me to come with you!" Right then, with the way he was lookin' at me, I figured it would be a damn sight better for me to blame it all on Laura and sort it out later when he wasn't so fired up.
He gave a disbelieving snort. "Well, you turn your tail around and get back home. Give Arrow a drink and let him rest, then go on back."
Now, I hadn't ever told Jacobi 'no' straight out to anything before. But I was going to have to start now. I had no more intention of going back home than of growing wings and flappin' my way to the moon.
I reckon he could see my thoughts written right there in my eyes, cause somethin' changed in his face as he stood talkin' to me.
Maybe he was rememberin' how I'd shot Red Eagle and killed him while they fought, or maybe he was thinkin' about how he and I had been through a lot of the same kinds of rough patches, but I saw him come to a kind of understanding right then. It seemed to surprise him. And nothing ever surprised Jacobi Kane.
We just looked at each other, quiet for a few seconds, like he was waiting for me to say something. So
I did.
"I ain't never told you no about anything, except goin' back East. I look at you as my pa now, and I want to do right. But doin' right doesn't mean runnin' off and leavin' each other. You might need me."
He swallowed hard and took a couple of slow steps toward me. "Will – I don't want you gettin' hurt. Or killed."
"You don't want me in the way. You think I'm a kid. But I'm not. A kid wouldn't have been able to kill Red Eagle. A kid couldn't have saved your life..." I said it all real quiet and calm, just like I'd learned to do from him. It was just how he would've talked, so I knew he'd have to listen. If I had yelled it, like I wanted to do, I knew he would've sent me packin' just like he'd tried to do earlier.
He started to say something, but he didn't. He put his hands on his hips and looked down at the ground, and I knew that meant he was thinking about everything. He might not agree with me, but it meant he was weighing it all.
Finally, he said, "You're right. I could use you with me, Will."
He looked up at me, and I saw he meant it. That was everything to me. My own papa and I could have never spoken free about things such as Jacobi and I did. I just hoped I wasn't a trial to Jacobi as Papa had always claimed I was to him. I didn't mean to be.
"What about Laura?"
"She wrote a letter to Mrs. Allen," I was proud to tell him. "And she's going to go and stay with Laura until we get back."
"I suppose she thought of that, too."
"Yessir. I thought it was a good idea, though."
He gave a very faint smile, but it encouraged me.
"Yes. It was a good idea. And one I can live with. No doubt, Mrs. Allen will be of more use to Laura than you or I."
I slid off Arrow, my legs stiff from the hours of riding. Arrow smelled the nearby water and started toward it. Jacobi walked up to me and put his arm around my shoulders as we headed for the creek.
"You've gotten taller," he said, and the tone in his voice was kind of sad, almost.
I looked up at him. "I'll be twelve in August."
He nodded, and I felt his hand clench my shoulder gently. "I know."
Ride The Wild Range Page 8
