“I don’t care what he says, I’m not going back to Miz McCutchen,” Orin said. “I’ll run away.”
“You won’t have to go anywhere,” Matt said.
“But what if the judge says I have to?”
“If necessary, we can go where nobody will take you away. Now stop worrying.”
Matt squeezed Orin’s shoulder, and he seemed to relax a little. Even Toby appeared more confident. Noah continued to cling to her, but Tess wiggled around until she could hold Matt’s hand as well as Ellen’s.
Ellen felt like a fool. She found herself being comforted by Matt’s words. She was an adult who had experienced the uncertainties of life, yet she couldn’t help but be affected by his confidence. Besides, Matt had never failed to deliver on his promises.
Matt descended from the porch to greet the judge. “Hello. I’m Matt Haskins.” He extended his hand in welcome as the judge climbed down from the buggy.
“Allen Peterson,” he replied. “You know why I’m here?”
“We’ve been expecting you. Let me introduce my wife.”
After disentangling herself from Noah and Tess’s grasps, Ellen moved down the steps to greet the judge. She’d had too much practice in the saloon pretending to be enjoying herself to worry that her expression would betray her nervousness.
“How do you do?” she said, shaking the judge’s hand. “I’m Ellen Donovan.” Hot embarrassment raced through her. “Sorry, Ellen Haskins. I’ve only been married a few weeks.”
Mercifully, the judge smiled. “My wife didn’t stop stumbling over my name until we’d been married more than a year,” he said, taking her hand in both of his. He turned to the four children huddled on the porch. “Considering the size of the task you’ve taken on, I’m surprised you don’t wake up nights dreaming about being single again.”
Smile, Ellen told herself. She wished she’d kept some of the makeup she’d washed off after breakfast. Matt might not like it, but she’d lay odds this judge would.
“It’s been something of a change, but one I’m glad I made.”
“You needn’t try your wiles on the judge,” Wilbur snapped as he got down from the buggy. “He’s here to decide that these children belong in an orphanage.”
“I hope he’s come with a less prejudicial attitude,” Matt said, his voice soft but steely. “I’d hate to think the law made up its mind before seeing the facts.”
“The judge doesn’t know you,” Wilbur said, not the least abashed. “When he does he’ll reach the same conclusion.”
“If you’re through trying to puff yourself up, Wilbur, I’d like to meet the children,” the judge said.
Ellen was relieved to know the judge wasn’t awed by Wilbur.
“They’re rather nervous about your being here,” Matt said. “The threat of being sent away to strangers frightens them.”
Ellen didn’t know how the judge would interpret Matt’s remarks. Western men were often kindly when it came to women and children. But when it came to the law, they could be merciless.
“I’m not here to frighten anybody,” the judge said, “especially pretty little girls. What’s your name?” he asked Tess.
Tess dived behind Orin and Noah.
“It’s Tess,” Noah said, bravely speaking up. “She’s my sister. I’m Noah.”
“And how old are you, Noah?”
“I’m almost six. She’s almost four.”
“Well, you’re a big boy for your age. I’m sure your father is proud of you.”
“I don’t have a father,” Noah said, “but Matt said he would be my father if you let him.”
“Would you like that?”
“Yes. He gave me a horse.”
“Bribery,” Wilbur intoned, as though it were a soul-threatening sin. “I told you this man would do anything to keep these children in his grasp.”
“It seems to me that giving a boy a horse is practical, especially when he lives on a ranch,” the judge said. He turned to Toby. “I’ve been hearing a lot about you, young man.”
Toby’s complexion went a bit pale, but he didn’t pull back. “If you been hearing it from him, you ain’t heard nothing good.”
The judge grimaced. “Clearly something needs to be done about your grammar.”
“That’s what Matt said last night,” Noah said. “He said if Isabelle heard him, she’d be over here every day.”
“She said your grammar was rotten, too,” Toby shot back.
“Who’s Isabelle?” the judge asked.
“Isabelle Maxwell,” Ellen said. “She’s my mother-in-law.”
“She used to be a teacher,” Matt said.
“Is she Jake Maxwell’s wife?”
“That’s the only reason they’ve gotten away with this mockery of a marriage so far,” Wilbur said, interrupting. “Everybody’s afraid to stand up to them because they’re rich.”
“But you’re not afraid, are you, Wilbur?” Matt asked.
“The servant of God is never afraid,” Wilbur announced.
“And you feel you’ve been directed by God to personally see to the welfare of these children,” Matt prompted.
“Any God-fearing citizen would do as much.”
Ellen assumed Wilbur was trying for modesty, but nothing about his personality or his opinion of himself showed even a nodding acquaintance with modesty.
“And you must be Orin,” the judge said.
Orin nodded, but his gaze flew to Matt.
“I heard about your parents,” the judge said. “It’s got to be hard to be without family.”
“Matt says I’m his family,” Orin said. “He said I can be his family always.”
“That’s for the judge to decide,” Wilbur said. “Now it’s time we sat down and got to the heart of this problem.”
“And what would that be?” Matt asked.
“Proving that you’re unsuitable to be the guardian of any young boy.”
“What about me?” Ellen asked.
“Everybody knows those two children you took in would be better off in an orphanage.”
Tess gave out a wail, let go of Noah’s hand, and threw herself at Matt. “You said you wouldn’t let them take me away,” she cried. “You promised.”
Tess having broken ranks, Noah followed suit, rushing over to Matt. Orin trailed him, leaving Toby by himself.
“Why didn’t you run away?” the judge asked him.
“Nobody wants me,” Toby said. “They don’t care if Matt is a bad influence. They say I’m a son of the devil already.”
“Who says that?”
“He does,” he said, pointing at Wilbur.
“God-fearing parents keep their daughters home when he comes to town,” Wilbur said. “Even their sons aren’t safe from him.”
“Three of them jumped me,” Toby barked.
“Those boys wouldn’t sully their hands with the likes of you.”
“I don’t know what ‘sully’ means,” Toby replied, “but they got a couple of black eyes for their trouble.”
“I don’t think the judge wants to hear about your fights,” Ellen said. “Would you like to come inside?”
“Keep close to the house,” Matt told the children. “The judge will want to talk to you.”
“What could they possibly have to say that would be of any importance?” Wilbur asked.
Ellen was relieved to see the judge shoot Wilbur a look that a more perceptive man would have taken as a warning. Wilbur, wrapped in an impermeable blanket of self-importance, didn’t appear able to understand that a person in authority could have an opinion that didn’t agree with his.
“Now tell me something about these children,” the judge said as soon as they were seated around the kitchen table and coffee had been passed around.
“All you need to know is that they’re constantly in trouble,” Wilbur began.
“I meant something of their background,” the judge said. “I’d rather hear from Mr. and Mrs. Haskins, if you don’t mind.”<
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“But I do mind,” Wilbur said. “Anybody in Bandera can tell you Matt is peculiar.” He turned his gaze to Ellen. “I offered to marry Ellen, but she didn’t have the courage to put herself in the hands of a man of God.”
“I didn’t love you, and you didn’t want my children,” Ellen said. “That seemed sufficient reason at the time.”
“They’re not your children,” Wilbur said. “You’re willful, Ellen Donovan. You should have bowed to the will of God.”
“Save your sermon for the pulpit,” the judge said. “I want to hear about these children. Start with Toby,” he said to Matt.
“Toby doesn’t know his father’s name,” Matt said. “I’m not sure his mother did. If so, she never told him.”
“How can you expect decent people to want the likes of him in their town?” Wilbur asked.
“His mother preferred her career as a saloon singer to being a mother, so she left him with her parents,” Matt continued. “They passed him from relative to relative until they threw him out.”
“Not even his family wanted him.”
“He got into a little trouble in town two years back,” Matt said, ignoring Wilbur. “I’d just bought this ranch and needed help, so I offered him a job.”
“You hired a fourteen-year-old?”
“I was only thirteen when Jake hired me to help take his herd to Santa Fe. So were Sean and Luke.”
“Who are they?”
“His parents adopted eleven orphans nobody wanted,” Ellen explained. “That’s part of the reason Matt wants to adopt Toby and Orin.”
“That still doesn’t make him a fit guardian for a young and impressionable boy like Orin,” Wilbur said.
The judge looked thoughtful before asking, “What about Orin?”
“I took him when his foster parents didn’t want him anymore.”
“They ask about him every day,” Wilbur said.
“Nobody wanted him until his grandfather left him some money.”
“How much?” the judge asked.
“I don’t know,” Matt replied.
“Why not?”
“I never asked.”
“How much?” the judge asked Wilbur.
“Seventy thousand dollars,” Wilbur said.
The judge whistled. “I can see how that would spark considerable interest.”
“Ermajean McCutchen is only interested in the boy’s welfare,” Wilbur said. “She admits she had a little difficulty with him, but she and her husband have two boys practically his age. They’d make perfect companions.”
“Tell me about your children,” the judge said to Ellen.
“They’re not her children,” Wilbur began. “They’re—”
“If you keep interrupting, Mr. Sears, I’ll send you outside. I want to hear from Mr. and Mrs. Haskins.”
“They’ll only tell you lies.”
“Perhaps, but people are always telling me lies. It’s my job to sort through until I get to the truth.”
Wilbur looked furious.
“Noah and Tess are the children of a woman I worked with at the saloon,” Ellen said. “I don’t know their father. The children were born before I met April.”
“Did she leave a will?”
“No.”
“The father hasn’t expressed any interest in them?”
“No.”
“Did you look for relatives?”
“April never talked about her family. There was nothing in her things to tell me where she came from. I didn’t know her last name. She wanted me to have the children. She said nobody else would want them.”
“They ought to be in an orphanage,” Wilbur said.
“What about Orin?” the judge asked.
“We wrote his family after his parents died,” Wilbur said, “but they were happy to have him placed in a loving, caring foster home.”
“If it was so loving and caring, why isn’t he still there?”
“He ran away,” Wilbur said. “Before Ermajean could find him, Matt tempted the child’s soul with visions of untrammeled devilment and whisked him off to this ranch. He has refused to return him despite being asked by the sheriff several times.”
The judge turned to Matt. “Is that true?”
Ellen didn’t know how Matt could smile in such a relaxed, confident manner with Wilbur determined to weave a net around him.
“Ermajean was happy enough to put up with Orin as long as the money from selling his parents’ property lasted. When that ran out he suddenly became unmanageable. Nobody in Bandera objected to my taking him until the provisions of his grandfather’s will became known. Orin ran away because he knew nobody wanted him. He’s not a difficult child. He was just scared.”
“The boy is willful and rebellious,” Wilbur said, unable to remain silent any longer. “He needs to be taught to yield to discipline. He won’t learn anything but wildness and corruption from you. You don’t go to church,” Wilbur announced triumphantly.
“We’ve all been in church every Sunday since I got married,” Matt said.
“But you never went before. You didn’t either,” Wilbur said, turning on Ellen.
“The one time I did go, everybody made it clear they didn’t want me there.”
“You can’t blame them for not wanting a Magdalene in their midst.”
“If she really were a Magdalene,” the judge said, “I can’t think of a better place than church.”
Wilbur didn’t seem fazed by the judge’s remark. “She can’t control those children,” he said. “The sheriff received constant complaints.”
“I couldn’t always oversee them because I had to work,” Ellen said, “but that’s changed now. I’m with them all day, I have Matt to help me with supervision and training, and they’re too far from town to cause any trouble there.”
“That doesn’t matter. You’re not the kind of person who ought to be entrusted with the upbringing of two young, impressionable children.”
“I served drinks in a saloon, Wilbur. I defy you to find even one man who says I did more.”
He looked mulish. “Patrick Lowell.”
“He lied to protect himself from his wife,” Ellen said. “If she divorced him, he’d be penniless.”
“He’s one of our most prominent citizens.”
“He wouldn’t be if he were broke,” Matt said.
“What does your family think about this?” the judge asked Matt.
“Everybody already treats them as part of the family. Isabelle has Tess calling her ‘grandmama.’”
“I’d like to talk to the children now,” the judge said.
“They’ll only say what he’s taught them to say,” Wilbur warned, “maybe even forced them to say out of fear.”
“I’ll watch for that.”
“I know them better than you,” Wilbur persisted. “I can—”
“You can wait outside,” the judge said, losing patience. “We have a long ride back to town during which you’ll have the opportunity to say anything you might have forgotten to say on the ride out.”
“I realize you need to talk to the children in private,” Matt said, “but I’d appreciate it if you’d see them two at a time. They’re all afraid you’re going to take them away.”
“That’s because you’ve been terrifying them,” Wilbur accused.
“As a matter of fact, he told them not to worry,” Ellen said, “that no one would take them away. I don’t know that I would have done the same thing, but it has served to ease their fears a little.”
“I’m unhappy that they should be so fearful,” the judge said. “Why is that so?”
“How could they not be frightened half out of their minds?” Ellen asked, her anger finally bursting her control. “They’ve been told they’re brats, hooligans who belong in an orphanage where people will know how to make them behave.”
“For their own good,” Wilbur said.
“I’ll be the first to tell you that Toby is not an easy boy to like,”
Ellen said, ignoring Wilbur, “but people in this town ought to be ashamed of the way they’ve treated him. He’s been called everything from a bastard to a devil. They even set three local boys on him. Only it backfired when Toby turned out to be a better fighter. And Orin knows no one wants him except for his money. Ask him how he was treated before Matt offered to take him in.”
Ellen hadn’t meant to lose control. She had intended to let Matt do all the talking just as he asked, but she couldn’t stand by and let Wilbur’s allegations go unanswered.
“This seems to be a damned mess,” the judge said.
“You can fix that by putting these children into decent, God-fearing homes,” Wilbur said.
“I’ll see the two older boys first,” the judge said. “And you,” he said, pointing to Wilbur, “will discuss with Mrs. Haskins how to educate these children if I should decide to let her adopt them.”
“You couldn’t do such a thing!” Wilbur exclaimed.
“I can, and I might,” the judge replied. “Mr. Haskins, you’d probably better stay with the little ones. I want them to be as calm as possible before I see them.”
“Ellen will do a better job of that,” Matt said.
“Possibly,” the judge replied, “but I doubt you and Mr. Sears would get much discussed before resorting to fists.”
So Toby and Orin stayed in the kitchen with the judge, Matt sat Noah and Tess in the swing on the front porch, and Ellen found herself walking toward the creek with Wilbur Sears. Wilbur flew into a tirade about Matt. Her first inclination was to argue every point, but she knew that would be a waste of time. Wilbur wasn’t going to change his mind about anything.
“Why do you hate Matt so?” she asked when he finally stopped talking long enough for her to get a word in edgewise. They had paused next to the tree-covered stream that flowed through their part of the valley. The sound of the water tumbling over stones helped to soothe her frazzled nerves.
“He’s not a God-fearing man,” Wilbur said. “He always thinks he knows what to do. He refuses advice from anyone.”
“A man is entitled to believe in and act upon his own opinions.”
Matt (The Cowboys) Page 18
