Matt (The Cowboys)

by Leigh Greenwood

  “I know what a ‘Ditto’ suit is,” Mabel said, her eyes snapping that Ellen should have the arrogance to presume to inform her about anything. “I can’t imagine what use Toby could find for one.”

  “To attract girls. I’m certain he’ll look very handsome.” Ellen hadn’t meant to aggravate Mabel, but the words popped out before she could stop them.

  “If he so much as speaks to my daughter, I’ll have him arrested,” Mabel said, angry red spots flaming in her cheeks.

  “Should I have Tammy arrested if she speaks to Toby first?” Ellen had little patience with Toby, but she wouldn’t stand around and allow Mabel to talk about him as though he were some kind of reptile.

  “How dare you imply that my daughter would have anything to say to that boy!”

  “I don’t know that she does,” Ellen said, determined to be fair-minded, “but you can’t put all the responsibility for such a friendship on the boy. Toby would never pursue a friendship with a girl who wasn’t interested. There are too many others who are.”

  “I can assure you my daughter is not interested.”

  “Then you can have no reason to care that Toby’s in town. If I don’t hurry up and choose a dress, I’m going to be late meeting my husband.”

  She shouldn’t have mentioned Matt. But if Mabel hadn’t pushed her so hard, she wouldn’t have had to marry Matt, and Mabel wouldn’t have to treat Ellen as a respectable married woman.

  “What use can you have for any of these dresses?” Mabel asked.

  “They’re preferable to going naked.” She had to get out of this shop. Mabel was causing her to say things she didn’t want to say.

  “I always thought you were common,” Mabel said.

  “What do you expect of a saloon girl?” Ellen turned back to the amber, cut-velvet dress. It was lovely, but it was just not sensible to buy it.

  “Surely you’re not considering that dress,” Mabel said. “It wouldn’t be at all suitable for you.”

  Ellen felt something snap. She drew her fingers over the material. “And why not?”

  “It would make you appear to be trying to climb above your station.”

  “And what is my station?”

  “You can’t have it because I wish to purchase that dress,” Mabel said, avoiding the question.

  If she had to spend every cent Matt had given her, Ellen wouldn’t walk out of the shop without owning that dress. “But I do mean to purchase it. Norma has already priced it for me. And I’ll take the red bombazine as well.”

  “I’ll wrap them up.” Norma took the dresses and went into the back of the shop.

  “You bought that dress just to spite me,” Mabel said. “You don’t deserve to be recognized by decent women. If you’re hoping to make everybody forget your true nature by covering yourself with extravagant clothing, I can assure you it won’t work.”

  Ellen had lost all desire to fight with Mabel. There was nothing she could say that would cause Mabel to stop hating her. She sighed. “I have a husband, four children, and a ranch to worry about. I also have a mother-in-law and several sisters-in-law who like me just fine. I’ll manage to survive without the acceptance or approval of you and your friends.”

  “Reverend Sears will see those children go to an orphanage where they belong,” Mabel said. “As for Orin—”

  Ellen felt a sudden urge to physically attack Mabel Jackson, to slap and scratch her until she’d ripped that smug, contemptuous smirk from her face. “Neither you nor Wilbur will get your hands on any of those children.”

  Norma returned with the dresses boxed and ready to go. Ellen handed her the money. Ten minutes ago she’d have been furious at herself for spending so much. Now she only regretted she couldn’t buy every dress in the shop just so Mabel couldn’t have them. At the same time, Ellen was ashamed of herself for turning into a snarling harpy. She had to get out of the store before she did anything else she’d be ashamed of. “Thanks, Norma.”

  “Bring them back if they need altering. You have such a lovely figure, it would be a shame if they didn’t fit perfectly.”

  “I certainly will. If you have anything else you think I’d like, hold it for me, please.”

  “If Matt keeps letting you go through his money like this, he won’t have that ranch for long,” Mabel said.

  Ellen refused to be drawn. “Good-bye, Norma.”

  She stepped outside the store. For a moment she didn’t move, just took deep breaths and let the tension flow from her body. She had to learn not to let Mabel Jackson upset her. She was married now. She and Matt would soon adopt the children. They would be safe. There was nothing Wilbur or Mabel could do about it. All she had to do was be calm and wait.

  She walked to Martin’s General Store. She had promised to meet Matt there, and she was late. When she arrived, he wasn’t in the store. She wandered the aisles a few minutes, then approached a clerk who’d twice offered to help her.

  “Has Matt Haskins been in?” she asked

  “He came in some time ago,” the clerk replied, “but he left when he heard the sheriff had arrested Toby.”

  Toby jumped up from the chair the minute Matt entered the jail. “He won’t listen to a word I say,” Toby said. “He just yells at me to shut up.”

  Toby had several bruises on his face, a cut lip, and a torn shirt. “What happened?” Matt asked Toby.

  “He got into a fight,” the sheriff said.

  “I can see that,” Matt said. “Will, take Orin and Noah and see about loading up our supplies. Toby and I’ll be over as soon as we can.”

  “Toby ain’t going nowhere. I’m going to lock him up.”

  Matt was determined not to lose his temper. “Let’s clean you up,” he said to Toby. “Ellen will have a fit if she sees you like this.”

  “She won’t care. She hates me,” Toby said.

  Matt poured some water into a basin and brought it over to a table next to where Toby sat. He took out his handkerchief, wet it, and wiped the blood from Toby’s mouth. “She doesn’t hate you. You’d know that if you stopped picking at the kids.”

  “They get in the way. Ouch!”

  “No more than you. You’ve ruined that shirt. I hope you have money for another. Did you buy your suit?”

  “I didn’t get a chance. Those yellow-bellies jumped me before I could get to the Emporium.”

  “He had to start a fight with the sons of three of the most influential men in town,” the sheriff said.

  “I didn’t start it,” Toby yelled. “They did.”

  “What happened?” Matt asked. “Don’t leave anything out.”

  “I was doing what you said,” Toby said to Matt. “I didn’t go looking for girls. I went to the photography studio to see how much it would cost to take a picture of me in my new clothes. I was going straight to buy my suit when they saw me and started calling me names.”

  “What names?”

  Toby turned red. “I didn’t care when they called me ‘Spic’ and ‘Mexicano.’ I knew they were just jealous because my black hair makes me more handsome than they are. Then they started calling me a bastard, saying my mama was a whore. Well, I couldn’t let them do that without saying something back.”

  “You can’t go around insulting decent women,” the sheriff said.

  “What did you say?” Matt asked Toby. Matt could tell Toby didn’t want to repeat it. He was probably too angry at the time to think, but he’d had time to realize he’d caused trouble for everyone.

  “I said they had to be bastards, too,” Toby confessed. “I said their mamas was so ugly they couldn’t get a man unless they paid him.”

  “Are those exactly the words you used?” Matt asked.

  “I didn’t call them whores,” Toby said. “I ain’t that stupid.”

  “What happened then?”

  “They jumped me. Three of them, the yellow-bellies.”

  “What happened next?”

  “I’ll tell you what happened,” the sheriff said. “P
hillip Jackson has a black eye. Joey Fitszimmons has a cut where his teeth came through his lip. Sam Triggs practically lost his scalp.”

  “The clumsy oaf stumbled over his own feet and hit his head on the edge of the boardwalk,” Toby said. “I didn’t touch him.”

  “You calling Sam a liar?” the sheriff asked.

  “You’re damned right.”

  “That’s something else you can repent of in jail.”

  “Where are the boys?” Matt asked the sheriff.

  “Probably down at the river cleaning up.”

  “You’d better catch them before they reach home. It’ll be much harder then.”

  “What’ll be much harder?”

  “Putting them in jail.”

  “I’m not putting them in jail.”

  “It takes at least two to make a fight, sheriff. If you put one in jail, you’ve got to put the others in, too.”

  “Do you know who your kid tried to fight?”

  “I’m not his kid,” Toby protested.

  “It doesn’t matter who he fought. The principle is the same. If you arrest one, you have to arrest them all.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Toby defended himself. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “That’s not what the other boys said.”

  “Are you sure they said Toby attacked them?” Matt asked.

  “Sure.” The sheriff looked uneasy.

  “I can’t imagine three boys admitting they let themselves get beat up by one boy a year younger than two of them.”

  “Well, they did,” the sheriff said.

  “Then they’ll have to say it in court. I’m pressing charges. I want you to arrest them immediately and hold them for trial.”

  “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to arrest Mabel Jackson’s son for fighting with a piece of Mexican—”

  “Watch what you say, Sheriff. The boy is my son—at least I want him to be, if he’ll let me adopt him. I’d hate to have to knock you down for insulting him.”

  “You’d hit me?”

  “You wouldn’t expect me to insult your son and get away with it.”

  “But my son isn’t—”

  “Your son is fortunate to have a mother who loves him and a father willing to claim him. Toby doesn’t have either. Or a whole lot of other things virtually every boy takes for granted. That doesn’t give anybody the right to pick on him, make fun of him, or hold him in contempt for things he can’t control. The boy has pride. Surely you can understand that.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “So either you arrest those other boys or let Toby go buy that suit he wants so badly.”

  The sheriff looked from Toby to Matt before he started toward Toby. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He kicked a chair out of his path, then faced Matt, anger and frustration flickering in his expression. He opened his mouth to speak but never got a chance.

  The door to his office burst open and Wilbur Sears entered. “I’m glad to see you’ve arrested that young demon. It’s time we made certain he can’t cause further harm to the young people of this town.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Matt felt sorry for the sheriff. He was caught between two interpretations of how to do his job. But Matt had no patience with Wilbur Sears. The man was a mean-spirited bigot who hid his small-mindedness under a mantel of self-righteousness.

  “All boys fight,” Matt said to Wilbur. “That doesn’t make them demons.”

  “Have you seen what he did to Phillip Jackson?”

  “Take a look at what Phillip Jackson and his friends did to Toby,” Matt replied.

  “He deserved much more. He’s a brute and a bully.”

  “When did one boy defending himself against three attackers make him a bully?”

  “Those boys didn’t attack him,” Wilbur contradicted, pointing an accusing finger at Toby. “He was the attacker.”

  “Did you see the fight?” Matt asked.

  “No, but—”

  “Then you don’t know who attacked whom.”

  “Phillip Jackson says Toby attacked them without provocation.”

  “Toby says the boys taunted him, and when he retaliated, they attacked him.”

  “And you believe him?” Wilbur asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then you’re a gullible fool.”

  “What if there are witnesses who say the others started it?” Ellen asked.

  Matt had seen Ellen, followed by a few townspeople, enter the office, but he’d been too angry at Wilbur to greet her. He had hoped she wouldn’t learn about this until he got it straight.

  “They’re lying,” Wilbur declared. “Phillip Jackson would never attack him. He wouldn’t want to be contaminated.”

  “I suggest you take a look at who those witnesses are before you call them liars,” Ellen said. “They happen to be faithful members of your congregation.”

  Wilbur pointed an accusatory finger at Ellen. “I wouldn’t have expected you to defend this boy.”

  “I wouldn’t have expected you to defend bullies by calling responsible adults liars. Addie Williams, Sarah Tull, and Tom Brayne all agree Phillip and his friends started the trouble.”

  “How do you know what they saw?” Wilbur demanded.

  “Because Tom told me.” Ellen gestured toward a tall man holding his hat.

  “Phillip and his friends provoked the fight,” Tom said. The two women standing next to him nodded their agreement.

  “You’ve stepped in a cow pattie this time, Wilbur,” Ellen said.

  Matt didn’t know when he’d been so surprised. He never would have guessed Ellen would defend Toby. He couldn’t help but be proud of her. She had backed Wilbur into a corner before he knew what was happening.

  “This trouble will make it easier for me to see those kids are put into an orphanage.”

  “That’s why I was certain Toby hadn’t caused the trouble,” Ellen said. “He knows what’s at stake, and he promised Matt he wouldn’t do anything to cause trouble.”

  “That boy’s a menace. He needs to be locked up.”

  “He’s hardly more than a child.”

  “I’m not a child,” Toby protested.

  Ellen ignored Toby’s interruption. “A child everybody criticizes and discriminates against at every opportunity. It’s you and people like you who’ve taught him to fight.”

  “I preach forgiveness, love, and eternal salvation.”

  “But you don’t practice it. You don’t love Toby. You won’t even forgive him the circumstances of his birth. We’re taking him straight to Ward Dillon to make sure he has no permanent injury. In the meantime, Matt and I will decide whether to press charges against those boys. We have enough witnesses to make them stick.”

  Matt snapped out of his stupor. Ellen had given him an opening he wasn’t about to let slip away. He took Toby by the arm, practically lifted him out of the chair, and headed for the door. He nodded a brief thanks to the three witnesses.

  “You can’t let them leave,” Wilbur said to the sheriff. “You’ve got to put that boy in jail.”

  “Self-defense isn’t against the law,” the sheriff said. “Until you can prove otherwise, they can take Toby home.”

  “I didn’t expect you to come to my defense,” Toby said once they were outside. “I thought you’d be happy if they locked me up.”

  “I’m sorry we don’t get along better, Toby, but I’ve suffered from unjust accusations more than once in my life. I refuse to let Wilbur do the same thing to you. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t have a good deal to say about your behavior this afternoon.”

  “Doesn’t sound like you’re glad they let me off.”

  “I am, but I’m angry the whole situation happened in the first place.”

  “It wasn’t my fault.”

  “Are you sure you didn’t do something to cause those boys to start picking on you?”

  “I don’t have to do nothing. They hate me.”


  “Why? What have you done to them?”

  “I don’t think it’s fair to assume Toby did anything,” Matt said.

  “He must have done something. The whole town can’t dislike him for no reason.”

  Matt’s pleasure in Ellen’s support evaporated. She hadn’t started to like Toby or believe there was any good in him. “If the whole town hated him, nobody would have said the other boys started it.”

  “Sarah and Addie wouldn’t have spoken up if Tom hadn’t practically forced them. That kind of feeling doesn’t come from nothing,” she said, directing her statement to Toby.

  They were headed to Mrs. Ogden’s house to pick up Tess. Matt wanted to ask Ellen to finish this discussion when they could have some privacy. It bothered him that people along the boardwalk should know any of what went on inside his family. Ellen and Toby, however, didn’t appear to share his concern.

  “The boys don’t like me because I’m better-looking than they are,” Toby said. “Their parents don’t like me because their daughters do. I ain’t done more than kiss a couple of them. That’s the God’s honest truth. Matt would kill me if I did something stupid.”

  Toby knows the consequences of unwanted babies,” Matt said. “He’s had firsthand experience.”

  “I agree he has a right to be angry,” Ellen said, “but I don’t think we should have to bear the consequences.”

  “I don’t go out with girls because I’m angry at anybody,” Toby said, looking at Ellen like she was crazy. “I do it ‘cause I like girls.”

  “Is that why you started making eyes at Tammy Jackson?”

  Toby grinned. “No. I started because I was mad at her ma for making trouble for Matt and Orin.”

  “Don’t you ever think, Toby? Do you look ahead and try to see if what you’re doing will cause trouble? Or do you just do what you damn well please because it’s fun?”

  The conversation stopped, at least temporarily, when they reached Mrs. Ogden’s house. Inside, Tess’s happy babbling about all the things she and her dolly had done with Mrs. Ogden filled the room. She had to drag Matt to the shed and show him that Mrs. Ogden had a kitten that looked just like Fluffy. She showed Ellen the dress Mrs. Ogden had made for her doll and said she’d promised to have a new dress the next time they came to Bandera. She wanted to know if they could come again tomorrow.