Scars of the Heart

by Joni Keever

  Adams stood. “Proctor, that’s not what you said originally when you first talked with the authorities.”

  “It’s not?” Proctor scratched his head.

  “No, it’s not. You said you ran into the barn, that you tried to stop Roberts, that you saw him stab your father and barely got out alive.” Adams took a step closer to Proctor and Carly.

  Junior blinked his eyes rapidly as if trying to clear the fog. Carly felt encouraged. He was having a hard time keeping his story straight. She decided to skip that point for the time being and press another. “They were fighting, Roberts and your father? Did your father at least have something with which to defend himself? A stick or a gun or something?”

  “Fighting? What? No gun, no. A quirt, you know, for horses.” Proctor lifted his drink to his mouth and looked around the room. “Just to punish Kade with. You know. Kade was ’bout grown, too big for Daddy to hurt really. Daddy just had to make a point.”

  With another window check, Carly continued. “Sounds like Roberts was perhaps just defending himself then.” She eyed Junior warily.

  “What? No! He wasn’t defending himself. He did it. He stabbed Daddy. He killed him, on purpose. I saw it!” Proctor showered the air between him and Carly with spittle.

  “I’m sorry, Nelson—I’m just a bit confused. Were you there in the barn or were you hiding in the grain room? Was your daddy whipping Roberts or did Roberts just pick up a pitchfork and stab him?” Carly noticed the other men had abandoned their cards and moved closer to the conversation.

  Proctor rubbed his thumb and forefinger across his eyes. “I, uh, I don’t know. I mean, I don’t want to talk about this. Why are we talking about this?”

  Carly watched as he transformed from an angry man to a confused boy. But before she could ask her next question, Adams interrupted.

  “What do you mean you don’t know, Proctor? You’re going before the judge with this case in a few more weeks. Your attorney needs to know that your story is solid. You said you ran into the barn and saw Roberts stab your father. Did you or didn’t you?”

  Proctor didn’t like being the center of attention. He looked around the ring of expectant faces and took a step backward. “Yeah, that’s what happened. That’s exactly what happened. I, uh, I heard the yellin’. I ran to the barn. I went inside and saw Daddy fall. Kade went over and rolled him. There was blood, so much blood. Then I ran. I, uh, went for help, like I said.”

  Adams moved a step closer. “What do you mean you saw him fall and then Kade went over? If Kade stood close enough to stab your father, how could he run over to him?”

  Tennison spoke up. “If I remember correctly, Roberts claimed your father fell on that pitchfork. Is that what happened, Proctor? Was Roberts telling the truth and the whole thing was an accident?”

  Carly held her breath. She couldn’t believe their good luck. Never did she dream the other players would help her catch Junior in his lie.

  Proctor stammered. “No, no, that’s not what happened. It wasn’t an accident. Kade did it. Kade killed Daddy. He needs to pay for that. He left the pitchfork there. It’s his fault. It’s all his fault.” He took another step backward.

  “You just said, ‘He left the pitchfork there,’ Proctor. Roberts was telling the truth, wasn’t he? You’ve lied all along. Your father fell on that pitchfork. Roberts didn’t stab him.” Adams stood directly in front of the man.

  Though Carly couldn’t see Kade, she smiled at the window. She knew he was there. She hoped he heard every word. Even if he didn’t, the others had. They’d done it! They’d backed Junior into a corner and gotten him to admit the truth.

  “What are you looking at, Carly?” Buckley bounced his gaze from her to the window. “Who are you smiling at? Who’s out there?”

  Now Carly became the center of attention. She stammered. “What? No one. I wasn’t . . . I was just, uh . . .”

  Adams continued to quiz Proctor, but the other men turned to Carly. Tennison hurried to the window and peered out, then returned to stand by Buckley. “What is this? What’s going on here, Miss Dawson?”

  “Nothing, Mr. Tennison. I assure you I simply became confused during Junior, uh, Mr. Proctor’s recounting of the events. Didn’t you?”

  Her head spun, and she simultaneously wished she hadn’t drank the amount of whiskey she had and that she could have another drink right now.

  “Something does not feel right here, Miss Dawson.” Tennison glanced again toward the window; then at Proctor and back to Carly. “I’m beginning to feel like you may have orchestrated this whole thing, from securing an invitation from me to steering Proctor toward this conversation.”

  Carly laughed nervously. “But no harm was done here, Mr. Tennison. The important thing is, we got to the truth. Right? Kade Roberts was telling the truth. Proctor’s death was an accident. Kade is innocent of the crime he’s been accused of.”

  “You’re helping Roberts?” Proctor stared at Carly in disbelief. His wide eyes narrowed, and he advanced a step.

  “Well, I . . .” Carly searched the darkness beyond the window yet again.

  “Even if she is, Proctor, Miss Dawson makes a good point. You have falsified the happenings of that evening. It seems your father’s death was indeed an accident. Roberts is innocent.” Adams crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Proctor to explain.

  Nelson looked from one man to the next and the next. As his sights landed on Carly, he face reddened. “You little bitch! Why’d you interfere?”

  Adams tried to sum things up. “Settle down, Proctor. It’s over. We’ll have to go to the authorities with this.”

  “That’s right, Junior. This lie of yours has come to an end.” The group turned in unison toward the sound of the voice. Kade stood in the doorway of the office. “You’re going to the authorities and tell them the truth. Then you’re going to get out of my house and off of my ranch.”

  Carly smiled broadly, relieved to see Kade, elated that their plan had worked. She took a step in his direction. In a flash, Junior grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back against him. A cry escaped Carly. Both Buckley and Kade made a move toward Proctor, but he snatched up an empty bottle and smashed it against the nearby desk. Carly yelped and cringed as glass shards flew in every direction. A second later, Proctor held the jagged neck of the bottle at her throat. Kade and Buckley froze.

  Chapter Thirty

  “Proctor—” Kade’s voice held a warning.

  “Stay back, Kade! I’ll cut her! I swear I will.” He looked wild-eyed around the room. All the men stared at him with accusation, disrespect, contempt. Kade stood between him and the door.

  “She has nothing to do with this, Junior.” Kade held his hands in front of him, palms down. “Drop the bottle, man. This is between you and me.”

  “You killed him, Kade. You killed Daddy. Maybe you didn’t actually stab him, but it was your fault. And now I have nothing. You don’t get to win, Kade. You don’t get the ranch and the girl and leave me with nothing!” Proctor jabbed the bottle remains toward Carly.

  Kade noticed her wince as the glass pricked her skin. With Junior’s other hand ensnared in her hair, she couldn’t move any farther away. He held her firmly against his chest. Kade willed himself to remain calm, to not launch at the man. He concentrated on steady breathing and Nelson’s face.

  “Junior, I’m sorry about your daddy. I apologized then—I’ll apologize again. But it was an accident. You and I both know it. You saw him fall. I never would’ve caused him serious injury. I can’t bring him back, Junior. I can’t undo the past. But you can. You have the opportunity to come clean, to tell the truth, to do the right thing.” Kade took a step toward Carly.

  Proctor jabbed her again. She squeezed her eyes tight as a little yelp escaped her lips. Kade saw a thin crimson line form on her creamy skin. It took every ounce of the self-control he possessed not to leap across the space between them and close his bare hands around Junior’s throat.

  Ka
de clenched his teeth and pulled in a steadying breath. Any sudden movement on his part could mean the end of Carly’s life. Junior was crazed, desperate. Kade knew he had to proceed with extreme care.

  From the corner of his eye, Kade saw Buckley take a step forward. Without taking his sights off Junior, Kade quickly stilled Buckley’s movement with a raised palm. He appreciated the man’s willingness to help, but Kade knew Carly’s next breath depended on the finesse with which they handled this situation.

  “Listen to me, Junior. You need to think here. You’re creating a bad deal for yourself. You’ve lied about your father’s death. You’ve illegally sold off sections of my ranch. I can’t say that I’m not angry about that—I am. But I’m willing to let it go, Junior. I’m willing to let those waters rush on down the river if you do the right thing right now. Let Carly go. Let her go, and we’ll square things up with the authorities. Then you ride away, like a man.”

  But Proctor didn’t seem like a man. He resembled a boy. Tears slipped from his reddened eyes now. He shook his head from side to side. His mouth worked, but words didn’t come. Carly’s eyes were wide and filled with fear. Kade tried to convey all he could through his intense stare; reassurance, calmness, love.

  Finally Proctor found his voice. “No, Kade, no. It’s not fair. It’s not fair. You were always better than me . . . stronger, smarter, the favorite. You don’t get to win. I’ll have nothing. You’ll have it all.”

  Kade tried desperately not to focus on the drops of blood coursing down Carly’s slender neck. Yet his sights ricocheted from Junior’s contorted features to the creamy white skin that Kade’s lips had caressed just that morning. The little stream of blood continued downward and created a spreading patch of bright red on her bodice, begging his attention, demanding intervention.

  “I’ll be found innocent whether you come forward or not, Junior. I have witnesses here. And I’ll get my ranch back. What you do right now will not change either of those things.” He took another small step. “But I swear to you, with all that I am, if you hurt her, I will kill you. I will take your life before Carly’s body falls to the ground, and then you will have nothing.”

  Kade noticed Carly’s eyes widen, but he kept his sights trained firmly on Junior.

  For a moment, the only sound in the room was Proctor’s ragged breathing. Kade could almost hear the man’s heart slamming into the wall of his chest.

  Buckley interjected. “Roberts is right, Proctor. This is over for you. You can go out right, or you can go down badly. Drop the bottle. Let Miss Dawson go.”

  Proctor looked quickly to Buckley, then the other men, as if he’d forgotten they were there. Kade took advantage of the few seconds to reach behind his back. His fingers closed around the smooth hilt of his knife. Kade pulled it from the leather sheath tucked inside his waistband, laying the blade flat against his wrist to conceal it.

  Carly’s eyes darted from Kade’s fist to his face, and he realized she knew what he planned. Thankfully Junior hadn’t been as observant. Again Kade tried to convey his thoughts to Carly through a look. But Junior hid behind her, one hand wrapped in her hair, the other grasping the jagged glass bottle. Kade watched Carly swallow hard.

  “No, I, uh, don’t know . . . I can’t . . . Daddy’s dead . . . You’ll win . . . no.”

  Proctor continued to cry and babble. He continued to shake his head from side and side, and Kade suspected he was on the brink of snapping. He tried to reason with the man one more time.

  Kade took another step forward as he spoke. “Junior, I—”

  With a jerk, Proctor scrambled backward, pulling Carly along. “Stop there! Don’t come any closer!”

  Carly cried out as the bottle’s broken edge sliced her neck. Crimson flowed down her throat to her dress. Kade’s breath caught in his chest.

  Acting more on instinct than thought, his right arm flicked up like a sapling tree trap that had been sprung by a careless fox. The gleaming knife blade sped through the distance separating him and Carly. With a sickening sound, the finely honed metal plunged deeply into Junior’s shoulder. He yelled out and stumbled backward as his arm went limp, dropping the broken bottle to shatter around his feet.

  Kade lunged forward to scoop Carly into his arms. Buckley and Adams ran to Proctor. Kade turned and laid Carly on the poker table as Tennison rushed over to help.

  “Kade—”

  “Be still, Little One. Let me see how badly you’re hurt.” He cradled her in one arm while he gently moved aside her hair to inspect the gash in her slender neck. Bright-red blood continued to ooze from the cut.

  Tennison took a handkerchief from his pocket and doused it with water from a nearby pitcher. Handing it to Kade, he tried to steady his trembling hand and smiled weakly at Carly.

  After a quick cleaning and inspection, Kade exhaled forcibly. “You’re going to be okay. It’s deep but not too deep. You’ll need stitches, but you’re going to be fine.” He gazed into Carly’s eyes, wanting nothing more than to hold her close and carry her safely away. But he knew she had risked her own life for him; for his future, his freedom, his home. Their work here was not finished.

  Grabbing the fabric of Carly’s petticoat, Kade ripped a long piece loose and wrapped it gently but snuggly around her neck, holding the handkerchief in place to try and staunch the flow of blood. A tear slipped from one pale-green eye, but she smiled up at him.

  “We did it, Kade. We did it.”

  “You did it, my love. You were so good and so incredibly brave. I never should’ve let you talk me into this. If something worse had happened, I—” He couldn’t finish his sentence as the vision of Carly’s life slipping from her overcame him. He hugged her tightly and buried his face in her hair.

  “I’m fine, Kade. You said so yourself. It’s okay. We’re okay.”

  But he remained painfully aware of how close they’d come to not being okay. If that bottle had cut just a bit deeper, if that knife had missed the target and struck her instead of Junior’s barely exposed shoulder . . . A shudder rippled through Kade, and Carly clung to him.

  “Roberts.” Buckley drew Kade’s attention. “We need to get them both to the doc.”

  He and Adams stood on either side of Proctor, each holding an arm, more as support than restraint. Junior cried, head hanging, one hand over his bleeding shoulder. The other men had removed the knife and torn a sleeve off Proctor’s shirt to use as a bandage. The fabric was already soaked with blood, but Kade felt no remorse. Junior should feel fortunate that Kade had chosen the shoulder. Kade’s other option would’ve left Junior with a black eye patch for the rest of his days, just like his daddy.

  #

  The morning sun shone brightly, chasing the night’s chill from the earth. Mist lifted lazily from the fields, and a pair of cardinals chased each other through the trees. Kade wrapped the quilt tighter about Carly’s shoulders and eyed her warily.

  “Stop, nursemaid! I’m fine. You worry too much.” Her voice was stern, but she smiled in spite of herself. “You’re driving this buggy like a granny. At this pace, it’ll be nightfall before we get there.”

  “We shouldn’t even be going, Carly. You should still be in bed. You’ve been through a terrible ordeal, lost a fair amount of blood, and ended up with a half-dozen stitches in that pretty little neck of yours. I can’t believe I agreed to this.” He shook his head and considered turning the buggy around. But Carly’s color was good. Her eyes were clear. She seemed to be holding up fine . . . for now.

  She giggled. “The doctor gave his blessing and even lent us his buggy so I’d be more comfortable. Quit worrying.”

  The physician had done a fine job of cleaning and stitching Carly’s wound. He’d kept her in bed for three days, just to watch for signs of infection and ensure she was properly cared for. He’d even tended to her before he’d taken care of Junior, though Proctor’s injury was worse.

  Tennison and the others had conveyed the evening’s events to the doctor and again to the
authorities after they were summoned. The charges against Kade had been dropped. Though the doc predicted Proctor would not regain full use of his arm, Junior had survived.

  Kade left enough money with the physician to continue Junior’s care and for his transportation back east. What happened to Proctor after that was of no consequence to Kade. He hoped to never see the man’s face again. The Proctors had brought him nothing but grief.

  The story spread like a prairie fire. A few of Kade’s old acquaintances sought him out to apologize for their lack of support, to offer their congratulations. The ranch hands came around, wholeheartedly welcoming Kade home and pledging their allegiance. Several of the town’s women visited Carly, bringing baked goods and invitations to tea once she’d mended.

  The buggy topped a hill, and there, stretched out before them, lay the ranch Kade’s parents and grandparents worked so hard to build. Kade reined the black to a halt.

  The white stone house glistened in the sun. The stream running behind the structure sparkled as if jewels floated on its surface. Fat red cattle grazed contently on thick grass. Several glossy-coated mares wandered through a green pasture where their foals frolicked.

  “Oh, Kade! It’s lovely!” Carly hugged his arm tightly to her side as she sat up straighter to get an even better view. “Just lovely. I’m so very happy for you.” With that she turned to smile broadly at him.

  Kade barely noticed the grandeur that lay before them. He only had sights for Carly. The sun turned her hair to warm honey and danced within the green pools of her eyes. He couldn’t believe how closely he’d come to losing her . . . and yet, he reminded himself, their good-bye was inevitable. Once Carly felt strong enough, he would lose her to Virginia.

  “What is it, Kade? You seem sad somehow. I’d think you’d be thrilled. We did it. We cleared your name and saved your ranch. You’re here, Kade.” She waved one hand toward the ranch that lay beyond and laid her other hand against his cheek.