Ride The Wild Range

by Cheryl Pierson

  It was during one of these long days of riding, when there was no energy in us to speak of anything together, that my mind began to run in circles about what we'd find when we reached our cabin, and how it might affect me and Jacobi.

  If Laura'd already had the baby, of course, it would be a reason to celebrate. But how much celebrating would I be doin' once the baby took my place in our family ... in Jacobi and Laura's hearts?

  How could I ever compete with the love they would feel for their own child, compared to me? I wasn't feeling sorry for myself, but it never had struck me before that I might be displaced. Then, I felt stupid that it had just now occurred to me.

  Oh, I knew Jacobi and Laura would be kind to me, no matter what. And I always tried to make them proud of me. I thought guiltily of the day when I'd been so rude to Marshal Eddington, and figured maybe Jacobi hadn't been so dang proud of me that day. But, he had defended me, in his own rock-hard way, even though I knew he'd been less than pleased with me.

  Still...a baby. A tiny, cuddly little thing you could hold like a kitten or a puppy and love. I was way past that. Even though there'd been plenty of times, even this past year, I wished I could've just sat on someone's lap and been hugged up – I wouldn't have dreamed of it. But how I cherished those casual hugs Laura gave me every now and again, or the touch of Jacobi's hand on my shoulder! It meant everything, and just for a moment, I felt a pang of envy for the baby run through me. I was certain that, in my own family, there had not been an over-much show of loving affection when I'd been born. Even if I didn't remember back that far, I just knew it hadn't been that way. But, oh, how I wished it had been!

  * * * * *

  We reached Colbert's Ferry late that afternoon and I didn't know when I'd ever been more happy to see any place on this earth.

  Mrs. Colbert fixed us a heaping plate of fried catfish and cornbread, along with pinto beans, and I ate more than I had eaten since the last time we'd been here a few days back.

  That night as I lay on my bedroll, I thought about how close we were to gettin' back home. I was ready. Miss Elizabeth Bennett and her new foal were waiting for us, as well as our other horses I'd come to love so much.

  And I missed Laura. I wondered if she'd ever have time to talk to me anymore once the baby came. I loved being able to sit down with her and talk about all the books she'd read. I had only just learned to read this past year. Laura told me she had never gotten to travel, but reading was a grand way of doing that without ever leaving home.

  My sigh was heavy enough to draw Jacobi's attention. He raised a dark brow in question. I wasn't sure I wanted to say anything about my thoughts. My fears.

  As it turned out, Jacobi must have already had some kind of idea, because he said, "Are you thinkin' 'bout gettin' back home? Thinkin' 'bout Miss Lizzy and the foal?"

  "Kind of wonder how they're gettin' on."

  There was a silence between us, and in the distance, I could hear the familiar night sounds, an owl off in the woods somewhere, and a coyote a long ways away. Soft murmurs from some of the other men who stood by the fire and drank coffee, even on this hot night, floated to us in bits and pieces.

  "Don't guess we ever named him before we left, did we?"

  "We'll think of somethin'."

  "I know there's somethin' else on your mind."

  "I guess...maybe I was just thinkin' about our baby, too."

  Jacobi remained quiet, allowing me to choose my own way of bringing up my worries.

  "I hope it's a boy," I finally said. "I've been thinkin' 'bout what I could do with a brother. There's not much a sister would be good for."

  "Mm. Still, if it's a girl, we have to just take what we get and do the best we can."

  "Yeah. I guess." I could hear a hint of amusement in his tone, but it didn't anger me. I figured he was just trying to help his own thoughts in that direction. This wasn't the first time we'd had this conversation. I didn't know what I expected him to do about it. If it turned out to be a girl, we'd just have to try and make the best of things. Bein' the father of the baby, he was gonna have to be happy, no matter what – just like Laura would. And I would have to pretend I was, too.

  "You know, I think Laura might like having a girl, Will. Women are like that sometimes. And she already has a son. You."

  I shook my head in the darkness. "But I'm not really—"

  "Will." His voice was not harsh, but firm. It was the tone that meant for me to be still and listen, right then. "You are. You are...our son." He just let those words roll over me, and warm me. But, as good as it felt to hear that, I wondered what would happen when he had his own son. And right then, I changed my mind and began to hope for a sister, so I would never have to be faced with the possibility of being replaced.

  I drifted off to sleep then, my last thoughts of a pig-tailed girl with Jacobi's dark eyes, following me down to the creek with her own fishing pole.

  Maybe it wouldn't be so bad...

  * * * * *

  Somewhere in the middle of the night, I woke up to the sound of a commotion at the nearby ferry station.

  I propped on my elbow in the darkness and looked toward the edge of the riverbank where men were tying their horses near the station. Two of the Colbert men had come out to speak to them. Jacobi squatted beside me in the darkness, and I knew he had been watching much longer than I had.

  In the hot stillness, I could hear their low voices as they came nearer. We'd pitched our bedrolls a few yards away from the station, a piece apart from the others we'd been riding with. I glanced over toward them and saw only Marshal Trask had awoken, his tall body illuminated by the light of the low fire that kept the ever-present coffee warm for those who might want a cup.

  "Wonder who it is?" I said quietly.

  "Eddington, best I can tell," Jacobi answered.

  Now I could hear him too, and as the men came closer, I could see his paunchy form in the moonlight. He walked slowly, with a limp, and one of the other men stayed nearby, as if to help him.

  "Looks like maybe...he's hurt somehow..."

  "Mm-hm."

  Jacobi's voice was low. I knew he was taking everything in, and being a grown man, he was understanding more than I could. I was sleepy, still, and even though our bedrolls were laid out on the ground, I doubted my bed at home could've made me any more comfortable than I was right now.

  Still, my curiosity was getting the best of me as I watched the men make their way to the doorway of the station structure.

  "You'll keep 'til mornin', Marshal," Mr. Colbert said. "Martha'll see to your injury, come daylight."

  Eddington said something in return that I couldn't understand, because I'd laid back down and had already begun to fall asleep again. But Jacobi bristled beside me, his normally easy-going way disappearing as his body tensed.

  "You heard me, marshal," Mr. Colbert said in a steady tone. "Now...pitch your bedroll out here for what's left of the night and we'll see you come mornin'."

  Jacobi crouched, half-standing, as if he fully expected he'd have to go intervene. Was Marshal Eddington drunk? Something told me that wasn't the case. He was just rude, expecting to be catered to. I had never liked him. Not since the first time I'd met him, nearly a year past. I knew Jacobi felt the same way.

  But, the Colberts went back inside, and Marshal Eddington and his men picked out a spot to make camp for the few hours remaining until dawn.

  The tenseness went out of Jacobi and he laid back down on his blanket. But I knew he wasn't completely relaxed. I could feel the way the air crackled around the entire camp with Marshal Eddington's return.

  I sure did dread having him riding along with us for the next two days. I knew Jacobi would be none too happy about it, either.

  * * * * *

  As it turned out, I didn't have to worry about Marshal Eddington's company. That next morning, Jacobi and me were up as the pink streaks broke through the gray of the early morning sky.

  I could smell bacon cooking already, a
nd Jacobi seemed pretty amused at my hurry to get everything packed up and ready to go so we could eat. I walked down by the river a ways and took care of my business, then headed back up to the camp.

  Miss Martha and her daughters had taken down the plates and started dishing up eggs and potatoes, bacon and biscuits. They handed each of us a steaming plate, heaped with some of the best-smelling food I'd ever seen. Jacobi and I sat on one of the long benches at one of the tables and I dug in to my biscuits, not caring if they didn't have any jelly on them. Butter was wonderful.

  We ate pretty much in silence, and we ate quickly. I could feel Jacobi's urgency. He probably wouldn't have even taken time to eat, I thought, if he hadn't had me along with him. He had a look about him that was restless and ready to travel.

  Jacobi paid Miss Martha for our meals and she slipped a warm paper packet into my hands as we turned to leave.

  "Some extra biscuits and bacon to tide you over, young man." She put a hand on Jacobi's arm as he reached for more money. "Keep your money, Jacobi. I know how much growing boys tend to eat. Maybe you can get him to share with you – I put enough in for both of you, I think." She smiled and winked at me, then looked at Jacobi once more. "I heard you and your missus are expecting any day now."

  Jacobi nodded. "Yeah. I hated to leave, but—"

  She patted his arm. "You hurry on back. I'm sure everything'll be fine. After all you've been through you deserve this happiness with your new family."

  "Thanks for your kindness, Martha."

  "It's the least I can do, to keep your boy fed at least part of the way back." She cocked her head. "You aren't waiting on Marshal Eddington, are you? He's liable to be laid up a day or two."

  "No. He's got his men to help him along. What happened to him, anyhow?"

  Miss Martha leaned close. "The official story is, he was shot at by Indians, but one of his men told it that he was cleaning his pistol and got careless...shot himself in the thigh." She raised a brow meaningfully. "He and the bottle don't get on too well, if you get my meaning." She waved a dismissive hand. "Bullet went through, clean, so there's no digging it out, but I 'magine he's gone and gotten it infected already. You'll probably hear him holler halfway to Fort Worth when I go to cleaning it."

  Jacobi laughed. "He'll be happy to have you waiting on him while he's here."

  "Yes, the Good Lord have mercy."

  "Take care, Martha." He put his hat on as he stepped outside the door. "You too, Jacobi. And send us word when you're able, about the new baby, will you?"

  "Sure will."

  We walked to where we'd left our horses, ready and waiting, and mounted up.

  "Kane, you leaving us?" Trask asked, as he left the group he was talking with and came forward.

  "I've been gone too long as it is, Aldous," Jacobi answered. He smiled, but his eyes were set. We were leaving.

  Marshal Trask must have seen it too, for he laughed aloud and offered a friendly hand to Jacobi, who reached to shake it.

  "Don't let me stop you, then, Jake. You get on home to your wife. You may already have a surprise waiting for you, time you get there."

  "I'm hopin' she'll hold off 'til tomorrow tonight – full moon and all. I want to be there with her."

  Trask nodded. "I know. I appreciate you coming with us. Seems you have a way of finding those Apache. Now, justice has been served, for all those poor souls they've murdered...including your wife and children."

  "I was glad to do it, Aldous, as long as it was you doin' the askin'." His gaze flicked over to where Marshal Eddington lay on his bedroll, calling for one of the men to bring him coffee and a plate of food.

  "Yeah," Marshal Trask replied in a slow drawl, and even I understood what he was saying, though he didn't put it into actual words. Nobody held much respect for Marshal Eddington, it seemed. "Well, he's got enough help to get him home...even if they have to make a litter for him."

  Marshal Trask's eyes twinkled when he said that, and Jacobi shook his head. "He does love the attention."

  "Anyhow, Jake, I 'preciate you comin' along, especially with your wife expecting, and all."

  "Come see us when you get down this way next time."

  "You do the same, if y'all get up around my neck of the woods. I'm in Sallisaw now, not too far from Fort Smith, just across the Arkansas border." He ducked his head toward me in farewell. "Goodbye, young 'un. Pleasure havin' you ride along with us."

  "Thank you, sir," I answered, flicking Arrow's reins just a bit to get him moving after Blackie's lead, southward.

  As we rode past where Marshal Eddington half-lay, propped against the side of the station, he gave us a look of angry disgust. "Kane! Where're you going? You need to wait—"

  Jacobi drew up short, and Arrow almost ran into Blackie. I guided him around from behind Blackie to where me an' Jacobi was side by side. "Wait for what?"

  "Mrs. Colbert's gonna fix me up here in a minute. I'll be ready to ride by this afternoon."

  Jacobi shook his head. "No, Oscar, you need to heal up a day or two before you head back."

  An ugly sneer crossed Marshal Eddington's face. "I always figgered you just like this. A glory hog. Gotta ride home and tell everyone what a great Injun fighter you are. Well, you oughtta be. You an' that brat of yours got red Injun blood flowin' in your veins. Maybe somebody ought to've done you in too, while we was at it."

  A terrible, deadly silence settled over the camp. Jacobi didn't answer, but his body tensed, and he was as still as a stone statue, sitting there atop Blackie.

  What was wrong? Maybe his anger burned so hot he wasn't able to move. The idea that such a man could sit there and insult Jacobi in front of God and everybody sent a rush of heat through my veins, straight into my heart.

  In the next instant, I threw myself off of Arrow and ran at Marshal Eddington, with no thought about it. "Son of a bitch!" I heard myself yelling. "You rotten son of a bitch!"

  The next thing I knew, I'd planted a facer into Marshal Eddington's nose, and all I could think of was the last man I'd done that to – Red Eagle, himself.

  The plate of food he'd been complacently eating from flew out of his hands before he could even realize what was happening and set it down. Scrambled eggs went sailing over his right shoulder, bacon and biscuits over his left.

  He made a noise that sounded like one of the little girls in my class at recess, screaming while another one chased after her. He tried to push me off of him, but I was like a rabid dog Papa had told me about seeing once. I was so mad I was even slobbering like the mad animal he'd described to me.

  "Get him off of me!"

  "Don't you ever say things like that about my Pa! You hear me—"

  At that point, several of the men had been brought back to reasoning, though I still didn't have my own wits about me. I felt hands on me, pulling me back away from ol' Marshal Eddington, But my mind was still in a red fog. I had a snapping point, and I reckoned Red Eagle and Oscar Eddington had both found it.

  The only thing I recognized was the feel of Jacobi's hand, firm on the neck of my shirt, hauling me out of the midst of the rest of the men. Reason was slowly being restored. He was not angry with me; this, I knew. I felt it in the solid brush of his fingertips against my skin.

  "Will!" His voice was firm, and I stopped struggling then, knowing he had me. The other hands fell away, and he set me down, looking me over quickly. "Are you all right?"

  I was breathing hard and fast. I wiped my face with my shirtsleeve and nodded.

  "Is he all right – I can't believe—"

  "You shut your mouth, Eddington." Jacobi's voice was cold as a trip to the outhouse in January. I looked into his eyes as he knelt in front of me, eye-level.

  "I'm fine, Pa," I murmured, and his fingers squeezed my arms where he held me. It had come natural, this time, calling him 'Pa'. I knew he felt it too.

  "I ought to kill you!" Eddington's eyes were murderous, and now that I had regained my senses, it dawned on me I had made us an ene
my for life by making him look foolish in front of the other men. He looked back and forth at me and Jacobi, so I wasn't certain who he meant to kill, but I was pretty sure he meant me.

  Jacobi turned to look at Eddington, rising swiftly to close the few steps between him and the marshal. "If you ever lay a hand on him, Oscar, you'll answer to me."

  Eddington was busy wiping the blood off his face, but he looked up at Jacobi, his thick lips twisting in a sneer. "Go on. Tell me you know a hundred ways to kill me, and all of 'em would make me wish I'd never come into the world at all!"

  "You said it, Eddington. Not me."

  Eddington took a final disgusted swipe with his dirty bandana at the trail of blood that kept trickling from his nose.

  "I believe 'em, Kane," he spat. "All those rumors about you bein' part Injun your own self. You're no better'n Laughing Wind hisself. A murderin'—"

  Jacobi jumped for Eddington, who had quickly gone for his knife. Jacobi landed squarely atop the marshal's belly and delivered a hammering blow to his jaw at the same time. He easily knocked the marshal's blade out of his hand as if it were child's play. Eddington let out a loud oomph when Jacobi's fist connected with his belly.

  But Eddington had learned a few tricks of his own, and he was surprisingly quick to be as fat as he was. I'd always felt sorry for his horse, having to tote him all over creation, as heavy as he had to be.

  Jacobi knew what Eddington's next move would be before he made it, it seemed like. I'd only seen Jacobi fight twice before. The first time was when Red Eagle found us and tried to jump us. I could tell both Jacobi and Red Eagle knew they were fighting for their lives, but I couldn't see much, bein' as how it was in the middle of the night. The fight Jacobi and Laughing Wind recently had was just as serious – a fight to the death, for Laughing Wind. But, in the heat of the battle that had been going on around me, I hadn't absorbed the skill Jacobi had. The way he rolled and punched and parried Eddington's blows was like some kind of a dance.

  After a few seconds, it was all over. I knew it wouldn't take Jacobi long to end what he'd started.

  Eddington stopped trying to fight and was covering his head, instead. He was making the little girl noises again. Jacobi had sure beat the hell out of him, and it made my heart glad. I reckoned Jacobi understood just how I'd felt only a few minutes ago. I knew there wouldn't be one word of lecture from him about me tearing in to Marshal Eddington, when he'd gone and done the same thing his own self. He rolled away from Eddington and came to his feet, breathing hard and just looking at the marshal for a few seconds. Then, he reached down and picked up his hat, dusting it off.