by Lilah Rivers
The knocks on the door sent a nervous chill up Bella’s spine, eyes on her father as he stood up and stepped toward the door.
What now, Bella wondered, what next? Are they already on the attack?
One glance at her father told Bella that he was thinking the same thing. The twins were already on their feet, hurrying to the closet where the Winchesters were kept.
Bam bam!
Elroy said,, “Who calls like this, unannounced?”
“S’me, Mr. Archer, Richie!”
Bella recognized Richie’s voice, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t part of some terrible ruse. In any case, it was too late as Elroy pulled the door open. It was indeed Richie Knob, and he was alone. He fell into the living room, Elroy catching him before he hit the hard pine-slat floor. Richie was badly beaten, his face red and swollen, crusted with dried blood. His body was cramped, arms tucked into his cramped torso, legs bent.
Sybil cupped her hands over her face and gasped, muttering, “My Lord.”
The twins stepped around Elroy and Richie and out of the house, no doubt to survey the land for some trace of the culprits.
Elroy asked him, “Richie, what happened?”
“Got jumped; out in the fields, near the commons.”
“Who?”
“Don’t know, sir, they were wearin’ masks. White fellas, though, that’s sure. Four of ‘em. I … I tried to fight ‘em off, sir, best I could.”
“Sure you did,” Elroy said, “I’ll bet you gave ‘em hell.”
“Not as good as I got,” Richie said, cramping in pain.
Elroy looked up at Bella and the rest of the family. “We need to get him some help.”
Dean said, “I think we should ride out and get the doc, bring him back. It’s a rugged ride for a man in Richie’s condition.” Bella knew what he meant, that Richie looked unlikely to survive the rigors of the trail.
Elroy nodded. “Go, both of you; bring him back as fast as you can.” The twins nodded and stood, stepping away and out of the room, no doubt going directly to the barn.
Chapter 39
They carried Richie to one of the boys’ beds and Sybil cleaned his wounds and took his bloodied clothes to clean. After setting them to soak, Sybil joined Elroy and Bella at the kitchen table, pouring them all a bracing cup of tea, hot in Bella’s belly.
“Do you think it was wise to send both boys,” Bella asked her father, “together?”
“Richie’s life is at stake. Riding in the dark, at night? I’m afraid it’s necessary. Why?”
Bella looked around for a ready excuse. “Well, if men came at Richie, wouldn’t they come at us too, here?”
Elroy seemed to give it some thought, nodding and tilting his head as if newly impressed. But he said, “I think Richie was the warning. Whoever is responsible will wait for our response.” After a pause, he added, “That’s good thinking, though, Bella. You’re showing remarkable judgment of late.”
Bella smiled, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that Josh Callahan’s cleverness had been rubbing off on her. Instead, she said, “Whoever it was, do you think there’s some connection to the Comanche attack?”
Elroy turned to consider, then said, “Everything here is connected now. This may be Jesse and Samuel retaliating against us for not joining them on their plan with the trenches and wires. We know they take us for traitors.”
Bella nodded. “Unless … this Saul Decker is orchestrating everything; hiring the Comanche, having poor Richie beaten to within an inch of his life.”
Elroy rubbed his chin, staring off as he ran it through in his imagination. “But they were white, not Comanche, so there’s not any necessary link between who ordered one or who ordered the other. It’s true that they’re likely to be the same party, but hiring two different groups for each … errand.”
“Prevent any connection being made,” Bella said.
Elroy nodded. “Quite so.”
“And of anybody in the area who would have the power and the reason to orchestrate all his, ensure one side raises arms against the other …”
“Yes,” Elroy said, “that would be a plan worthy of Decker, and suited to his needs. We have no proof, of course.”
Bella knew this was so, and that even she and Dean and Josh had no more evidence than their three reports, one supporting the other. But she knew that revealing all this to her father could unleash chaos and at just the wrong moment. Bella was tempted, but in that crucial instant, she decided to wait and consult with Josh before doing anything that severe.
Instead, it was Sybil who said, “I hate that my boys are out there now, in the dark. I mean, what if this was a trick, to draw them out, lure them into a trap?”
Elroy and Bella glanced at one another, and she could recognize the sudden fear in his expression, mouth low and small, eyes wide. But it was too late to ride after them, and Bella knew Elroy would never leave his family unguarded, which could be a part of this sinister scenario.
There was no way to be sure, but Bella could see that her father, for the first time, was coming to see the futility of his own steady leadership. He’d come to the end of his worth, it seemed to strike him, and that could be a deadly blow to their cause and to their family.
Chapter 40
The homesteader men gathered in Jesse Hayden’s barn, their anger and frustration palpable in the air. Elroy was there alone, the twins left behind to protect their sister and mother and the rest of the homestead. Too many close calls and ugly possibilities had made it necessary to take such drastic measures, and Elroy knew that even more drastic measures would be necessary soon enough.
“This is an outrage,” Jesse said. “The boy beaten nearly to death?” The men groused and shook their heads. “Which one of your hands will be next? Maybe they won’t stop at a hand, eh? Many of you have daughters, almost all have wives; we’re not invulnerable to attack, gentlemen!”
“But that’s just why we need to exercise caution,” Elroy said. “We must consider what kind of retaliation we’re inciting. And we must also be careful as to who we blame for this! If we go off half-cocked against the wrong party, we’ll lose —”
“Our position at the table,” Jesse said. “It’s too late for all that nonsense, Archer.” He looked around, then back at Elroy. “Yer boys didn’t come?”
Elroy just shook his head, eyes locked on Jesse. Nothing more needed to be said of it.
Samuel Meyerson said, “Some think it might be a put-up job.” Others muttered, and Elroy directed his attention at Samuel, who seemed to feel he had to explain himself and was ready to do so. “The boy was badly beaten, that’s true, but he ain’t dead, an’ he ain’t gonna die. Just like how we were threatened by the Comanche … threatened, but we live this very day.”
“Make your point more clearly,” Elroy said, “and more quickly.”
“Your boys beat the hand themselves, and the hand went along with it. Then we all go to war the way you and your overlords intend!”
All eyes fell on Elroy, some of them with genuine hatred evident in their cramped brow.
“I’m the one trying to negotiate a settlement,” Elroy said, “at your behest.”
“Before Decker bought you out,” Jesse said.
“He did not,” Elroy said. “Don’t jump to such dangerous conclusions, friends. That jump goes both ways. There must be a less mutually destructive way.”
“The only question is who gets destroyed,” Jesse said, “and how soon.”
Elroy said, “You’re quite ready to take the bait, Jesse. Makes me wonder where you were last night, you and Samuel here.”
Samuel asked, “You’re making an accusation?”
“Do I need to?”
“Won’t make a difference, me givin’ you a good beatin’!”
“You can try,” Elroy said. The men faced him down, and he surveyed their contempt and growing readiness to make a bold, brash, and irrevocable move. “I am not in Decker’s pocket, nor on the side of the r
anchers, any more than to preserve all of our rights as locals of Barnock, as Americans. I certainly didn’t send any Comanche after you two and your team, and I’d have had nothing to do with beating poor Richie Knob. I’m certain my boys did not either. But don’t you think whoever did do this would only want to create the kinds of fractures among us? They certainly mean to move us to violence, and I still beg you against it.
“All right,” Elroy said, holding his hands out to call the rest, “everybody just take it easy a bit.”
But Jesse shook his head and waved his fist. “We’ve been taking it far too easy for far too long. We’re done taking it easy!” The other men threw up a rousing cloud of muttered agreement. “How long before they go further? This poor farmhand was just the promise of more violence to come! If we sit on our hands any longer, we’re practically inviting them to storm us!”
The other men agreed, heads nodding, voices mumbling out notions of revenge, strategies for their twisted notions of justice. This had been what Elroy was dreading, and he could see then that the words were bound to happen. There was no stopping it, no preventing it. He had only two choices; to go along with the mob and do what seemed prudent, or follow his conscience and stand aside.
Elroy had to ask himself, Is that truly what my conscience now demands? Nonviolence will not prevail. Richie’s been attacked, and I cannot be certain that the guilty party is or is not one of my own. The move could be just, or it could be that I’m being duped, made a fool. And the price for that folly will be death, for me and so many whom I love, and others whom I do not love but still do not deserve to die.
But I’ve tried to prevent their deaths and failed. Now the price must be paid, and I must be the first to begin paying.
The men started to rumble their plans, quantities and qualities of firepower, most strategic points of first strike. It was clear to Elroy that they meant to go in and slaughter the ranchers, one after the next, until there was essentially nobody left but the winners, whoever that would be.
Elroy’s blood ran cold, and he could already imagine himself ordering the stubborn Bella and dedicated Sybil to make a run for their lives, promising he’d see them again when he knew it as likely that he would not.
“Archer,” Jesse said, “what say you? Are you gonna stand and fight with us … or fight against us. There can’t be any standing aside, not this time. You take yer position, make yer stand here an’ now, for this time and all times.”
The other men all stared Elroy down, and he scanned the barn to take in their grizzly determination.
“My boys and I will fight, we’ve already decided.”
The other homesteaders glared at Elroy, eyes shifting from him to one another and then back. Elroy didn’t flinch, standing up right against them and with them at the same time. The men nodded and started muttering, the silent tension melting away.
Samuel said to Elroy, “You better fight well, Archer, all of you; we’ll be watching.”
Chapter 41
Turner Moss hurried through the front door and took his place in front of Bella, who’d let him in. With a comforting hand on each of her forearms, he looked her deep in the eyes. “Bella, I just heard about what happened to your friend, your farmhand —”
“Richie,” Bella said.
“Yes, what a terrible thing! Do you know who the culprit is?” Bella shook his head. “Cowards! Well, you can depend on me, Bella, you know that; your whole family can.”
“That’s very good of you, Turner. Perhaps … perhaps it’s well that you came by. Please, sit down.” Bella led him to a nearby loveseat, room enough for both to sit. “It was very sweet, your proposal that day, so tragically thwarted by what happened to your father.”
Turner’s head dipped a bit. “That was most regrettable, yes, but he’s with the Lord now. It was a natural passing, as God intended, as he would have wanted; surrounded by family and friends … soon to be family.”
Bella forced a smile. “Yes, about that …”
“You needn’t say any more, Bella. I know just what you’re thinking.”
“Oh, I … I very much doubt that.”
Turner pulled the familiar little ring from his vest pocket and got off the loveseat to kneel before her. “As I believe I was saying, Bella, will you be —”
“No, wait, Turner, I … get up, please, get up.” She guided him up off his knee and she stood until they were both on their feet. “Turner, what I never had a chance to tell you, what I’d been wanting to tell you for some time before that fateful day was, well … as much as I am fond of you, and have great admiration for you, I … I cannot accept your name, nor give you my troth. I’m sorry, Turner.”
He stood in a stunned silence, the ring idle in his hand as if he’d forgotten he’d been holding it.
When he said nothing, Bella went on, “I’m sorry, Turner, I know this catches you off guard and at a terrible time. And you may come to all kinds of assumptions, but I hope you won’t. I never meant for you to get the wrong idea. These things do just sort of happen, oftentimes.”
Still, Turner said nothing, just standing there with his eyes fixed terribly on Bella.
“I hope you won’t take it too harshly, it’s nothing against you. As I said, you’re a … a fine man, and I hope we can remain friends.”
Another long silence passed, but Bella was not going to say more; there was nothing more to say. Seeming to understand that at last, Turner cleared his throat and refocused on the ring in his fingers. He slowly brought it to his vest pocket and slipped it away, out of sight. Bella knew it was hardly out of mind.
“That’s … I see,” Turner managed to say, eyes darting around the room to look at anything other than into Bella’s eyes.
“I really am sorry, Turner.”
“Sorry, you’re … you’re …” Bella could feel the sadness and anger and frustration swirling around inside him, bottled up and unable to escape. “You’re sorry …” His voice was clenched, tense, and tight.
Bella took a comforting step toward him, but Turner stepped backward, bumping into an end table before moving past it, wincing in pain.
“Sit down for a minute, Turner. Don’t go like this.”
“No, I … I really don’t think staying would be very … appropriate.”
Jonah stepped into the living room as Turner backed toward the front door and pulled it open. “Turner, didn’t know you were stopping by.”
“Well, I … I was just leaving, actually.”
“Were you?” Jonah eyed Bella suspiciously, and then looked back at Turner. “Sorry to hear it. Your mother faring all right?”
“It’s a difficult time for her, but I’m doing all I can. In fact, I’d best get back to her now. Love like that … it doesn’t come around often, does it?” Bella looked down, this time her eyes unwilling to meet his. “Give my best to the rest of the family.” Turner backed out of the living room and closed the front door in front of him.
Once alone, Jonah turned to Bella. “What was that all about?”
“It’s none of your business,” Bella said. “You’re neither my father nor mother —”
“I’m your older brother —”
“I’m over eighteen, and I don’t answer to you, Jonah.”
Jonah rolled his eyes, arms dropping useless at his sides. “This is no time for your games and little rebellions, Bella! Things are coming to a head. If you know something I don’t, something you’re keeping from the family … other than Dean, of course —”
