by Lilah Rivers
Barton smiled a bit. “You were saying?”
“I don’t think he’ll talk.” The two older men chuckled, but it didn’t last. “How are things in your household, Barton? Safe, happy?”
“My son’s anxious that things are moving faster.”
Elroy nodded. “I think he’s right.”
“He’s afraid Decker is using us, our family, setting us up as scapegoats when the fighting starts.”
A long, dreadful silence settled around the two men. “My family is already being targeted as traitors to the homesteaders’ cause.”
“Elroy, I’m … I’m sorry to hear that, truly.” Elroy smiled gently and clapped his hand against his friend’s arm, a moment of shared warmth lightening the air, but not by much and not for long. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Nothing you haven’t already done, I shouldn’t think. It looks like war is inevitable.”
Barton nodded, scratching his chin. “When that happens, our families will be face to face … you and I, my sons against yours …”
“Yes,” Elroy said, “I’ve thought it through a hundred times.”
“If only we could still resolve this issue somehow.”
“How? It seems all but certain that Decker wants a war to break out; probably swoop in and clean up the scraps, take all the land …”
Barton shook his head. “Makes me sick that I allowed him to enlist me.”
“No, Barton, we did what we had to do to try to maintain the peace. There are a lot of good ranchers, locals and even some of the bigger ones, but … this Decker, he’s got a lot to gain and nothing to lose. It’s a dangerous combination, Barton.”
Barton nodded, both men overcome by a somber silence. Elroy said, “What if we approached Bristol and Remington, Decker’s right and left hands here in Barnock? If we can create an alliance between the homesteaders and the local ranchers, with those two working with us, we could present a front that Decker just couldn’t get through.”
Barton seemed to give it some thought. “A saloon owner and a corrupt public official? Put our hopes in them?” A long, quizzical moment lingered. “We can both put down our arms,” Barton said, “take our families off the battlefield and let the others do as they wish.”
Elroy sighed, glancing around the landscape. “We’ll be taken as complicit, all of Barnock will know. Our names will be ruined forever; ours, our children’s and great grandchildren’s.”
“And engaging in this slaughter will bring them any kind of glory? It’s madness!”
“You know I agree, Barton. But … to run away, abandon our land? And that’s how it will look. That rascal Bristol will take our properties and everything on them. No, I’ve been run off by unprincipled men before; it’s not going to happen again.”
After a heartfelt pause, Barton said, “The children? Our wives?”
A sad smile broke on Elroy’s face. “My sons and your sons too, will have to make their own choices. Guessing only about my own, I feel the twins will want to fight, and in some ways, I would not in good conscience blame them.”
Barton nodded. “Same for my Josh and even Hugh; there’ll be no holding that young man back.” Another little chuckle passed quickly.
“We could scuttle the women out,” Elroy said, “if we can convince them to leave.”
Barton nodded. “To where?”
“Into town, the fighting won’t spill over into too much damage there. It’s going to be the beginning of the end of the town, no matter how it turns out, but that won’t happen all at once. They’ll be safe enough.”
“If we can convince them to leave,” Barton repeated. He didn’t seem any more hopeful for that outcome than Elroy was.
The two men looked out over the horizon, Austrian and black pine rising up from the green grass, a kestrel flying overhead in the clear blue sky.
Elroy said, “It is beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Barton agreed. “Worth fighting for … worth dying for.”
Elroy put his hand on Barton’s shoulder. “My daughter Bella, loves the Revolutionaries: ‘I know not what path others may take, but as for me …’”
“‘Give me liberty, or give me death.’” The two men nodded, sharing a silent commitment to see their quest through to the end, whatever it would be. “Who said that? Thomas Payne?”
“Patrick Henry, I’m pretty sure.”
Chapter 31
Bella had never been so nervous as when she was standing in front of Saul Decker. He had a rugged handsomeness she didn’t expect, but his face was weathered, his sins written in the crags of his face. He puffed on a big cigar, creating thick clouds of white smoke to fill up the small parlor, cradling a snifter of brandy in his other hand.
“I have to say,” Saul said with a considered nod, “you make an interesting case. Your fathers, good men that they are, mind you … they’re just not seeing things clearly. But I would see them both safe and sound, to live long and healthy lives; I’d wish that for any man and his family.”
Bella nodded and smiled, though his words rang hollow considering their context.
“And I’m intrigued with the idea of a new partnership, especially with such … forward thinking young people. As to your betrothal, well, I know how that can be. I wasn’t always this old!” He chuckled, and Bella smiled; she couldn’t muster a sound to go along with it.
But Saul fixed his eyes on Dean. “Odd for twins to have a rift though.”
Dean returned Saul’s glare with a shrug. “Not really. A lot of what you’ve heard about twins is probably myth. We don’t have any mental connection, no secret language.”
Saul looked Dean over, a long and tense silence passing. Then Saul shrugged, leaning back in his chair and puffing out a few more clouds of white smoke. “And how exactly do you intend to ‘make sure it gets done,’ as you put it?”
Bella and Dean both looked at Josh. They hadn’t discussed it, but it was crucial. Bella could sense her brother’s instant dissatisfaction, lower lip curling in.
Josh said, “Any number of ways, really. I may have to improvise.”
“Improvise? There’s a lot at stake here, young man; much to much for you to simply improvise.”
“With all due respect, Mr. Decker, I disagree. A plan can fail in any number of ways. But an opportunity presents itself, virtually from out of the blue.” Bella and Dean looked while Josh broke a little smile and went on to Decker, “I know these people. I know where there weaknesses are. I’ll be able to make it happen, don’t worry about that.”
Saul asked, “And when it does? Where do you intend to find yourselves?”
“On top,” Josh said with a slightly arrogant air.
My God, Bella thought, he’s really good at this. He couldn’t have been charming me in this same manner, all this time? It was an ugly thought, but not the first time it had occurred to her. Bella put it out of her mind. There was too much to think about as it was.
Saul huffed up a little chuckle, Bella and Josh sharing a glance, all three still standing before the great man.
Dean said, “You might as well take a chance. What have you got to lose?”
Saul looked at Dean as if surprised to hear from him. It had been established that Josh was leading the negotiation, and it would have been proper for Dean to remain silent, as Bella was deliberately doing.
Thinking it out a bit, Saul said, “In my experience, it’s been a mortal certainty that whenever it seems one has nothing to lose, one is almost certain to lose it all.” After another deliberate pause, Saul went on, “I wonder … what makes you think that I would want to see a range war break out between the homesteaders and the local ranchers? I’ve been talking to them, trying to persuade them to stay off that land. Why would I be wasting my time doing that if I were just trying to incite range war?”
“Maybe you’re not doing that,” Dean said.
“Maybe I don’t like to be insulted in my own home!”
Bella finally felt she h
ad to say, “I’m sorry, sir, I apologize for my brother.” Dean glared at her, looking like he was about to speak. But he said nothing.
Josh shrugged and said to Saul, “You’d do well to have them out of the way.”
Saul nodded before standing up and walking around from behind his big desk. “Gentlemen … Miss … I’ve no interest in your proposal, but I do appreciate you coming all this way. I promise you that your offer will stay in this room. You, Mr. Callahan, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders; I wish you good luck with whatever happens down in Barnock. Afterward you can come to me, if you like. I could use a man like you.”
Josh pressed a smile and offered his hand, which Saul shook. He ignored Dean and offered Bella a friendly nod.
“My man Donaldson will see you out.”
Bella looked back at the huge man then standing in the parlor doorway. He was even taller and broader than Josh, a square head and no neck, body thick in his work clothes. His scowling face didn’t seem to move, but it didn’t seem that he had to. Just standing there sneering at Bella told her everything she and the others knew about what they were to do next, and what might happen if they ever came back.
Climbing onto the buckboard, Dean asked Josh, “Well, now what?”
Josh had to shake his head. “Not sure.”
Bella said, “I didn’t like how … how courteous he was.”
“No,” Dean agreed, “me neither.”
Josh nodded. “That’s three of us. But we can’t make any assumptions about what he may or may not do. He might go to our fathers.”
Dean said, “What? Why?”
Josh sighed. “Word of our … um, our so-called romance. That could spark a real fight between the two factions.”
“What?” Dean’s voice got louder. “Why did we do this then?”
“Tell you the truth, it hadn’t occurred to me.”
“It hadn’t —? Well, that’s just swell!”
Bella said, “Dean, stop! It didn’t occur to either of us, we’ve no right to judge.”
Dean quieted up, but Bella had a strong suspicion that wouldn’t last. Proving her right, Dean went on, “He’s bound to make a move of some kind.”
“I don’t think so,” Josh said. “He may go to his cronies, Bristol and Remington, but I don’t know what difference that will make since I’ve already spoken to them about all this. I did anticipate this answer from Decker, and it means Bristol and Remington may still unite against him. It’s a very slim chance, however.”
Dean asked, “So we’re no better off than before?”
“We will be if Bristol and Remington come around.”
“And why would they?”
“Because I don’t think they trust Decker any more than we do, and they may have just as much to lose.”
“Their lives?”
Josh said, “Exactly.”
Chapter 32
Elroy walked up to Bella and Dean as they rode up to the house. “Where in God’s name have you been? It’s been hours, it’s almost nightfall!”
Bella and Dean shared a glance, hot nausea bubbling up in her stomach. She knew there was a chance of Dean confessing the truth, and as much as she was loathe to lie to her father, she shuddered at the possible outcomes of that confession. It could trigger the very war they were uniting in order to thwart.
But Dean said, “It was all my fault, Pop. I went to that new iced-cream parlor near Moss’ shop, and I went there to give Bella here some privacy with her … with Turner.”
“All right,” Elroy said, turning his attention to Bella as Jonah and Sybil stepped out of the house to join them. “How did it go?”
“Very well,” Bella said, “he and his family will be joining us for an early supper, after church this Sunday, just as we discussed.”
“Good,” her father said, and Bella threw up a little prayer that he would leave it at that. Then he asked, “It took over two extra hours to convince him, did it?”
“It’s my fault, Pop.” Dean shrugged as he explained, “There was a girl at the iced-cream parlor, very pretty. I have to admit, I was smitten. So I lingered a bit longer than I would have.”
“And I went to see the pastor, though I never did manage to get to the church.”
“What did you want to see Pastor Robinson about?”
Bella bit her lower lip, “Some spiritual guidance … regarding this conflict with the ranchers.”
“He’ll do that from the pulpit.” Elroy eyed the two of them, and Bella could feel his suspicion; she knew he was wondering what had really happened. But he can’t possibly guess the truth, Bella told herself, at least not here and now.
Jonah seemed just as unconvinced. He said, “Iced-cream parlor?”
Dean looked at his brother, tension humming between them. “What flavor?”
“Chocolate … and vanilla, with some other things. Called it a sundae.”
“Sundae,” Jonah repeated.
“That’s what she called it.”
After a long pause to consider, Jonah asked, “Well … does she have a sister for me?”
Jonah smiled, but Bella took it for insincere. Dean returned the same expression when he said, “She didn’t say.”
Another long, quiet moment passed before Bella said, “Why don’t you two park the buckboard and see to Glory and I’ll put dinner on the table.”
Dean shook the reins, and Glory pulled them toward the barn. But Bella could feel the stares of their father, brother, even their mother. She knew Elroy could indeed look into the facts, pay a visit to that iced-cream parlor. Bella said, “That was very clever, your story about the iced-cream parlor.”
“Not really,” Dean said, “there was the loveliest girl there, by the name of Cynthia.”
“Cynthia? Is that so?”
“Quite so,” Dean said with a little wink.
Chapter 33
Bella offered Turner Moss a friendly smile from across the table. Both families sat around the long picnic-style table in the backyard, overlooking the homestead. The fried chicken was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, the mashed potatoes fluffy and buttery. Lemonade washed it all down splendidly, but Bella couldn’t enjoy it the way she wanted to.
“Well, you can count on us,” Turner said. “I insist you come and stay at our home during the fighting.”
“God forbid,” Helen Callahan said, shaking her head.
“It’s very generous of you to offer,” Elroy said. “Perhaps the women —”
Bella couldn’t help herself from saying, “Father!”
“Bella, hold your tongue. If there is any fighting, I won’t have you or your mother becoming involved.”
“He’s right,” Jonah said, pausing as if waiting for an answer from either Bella or Dean, as if he was baiting them into saying too much and revealing their secrets.
Guilt was building up in her belly, cold in Bella’s veins. Turner seemed oblivious, smiling and casual. His parents were charming, his father soft-spoken with a gentle smile of his own. Both Ronald and Isla Moss were friendly and courteous, which made Bella feel even worse. She had no wish to hurt those good and decent people, but she felt it was inevitable.
