by Lilah Rivers
Elroy slapped Barton on the shoulder, but he took it as a final, parting gesture. The next time they saw one another, it was likely to be on the field of battle.
Chapter 47
Josh rode up to the Callahan Ranch just as his father was riding in from a different direction. Before he recognized who the rider was, Josh was trepidatious. He knew that a deadly enemy would probably arrive in greater numbers, but even so, any unknown rider was to be treated with caution.
Such were the times they were living and, it seemed increasingly likely, dying in.
But he had just as much reason to be nervous about seeing his father after a visit to the Archer homestead. There was no telling what had transpired or how angry his father would be. Having realized he’d never really had Bella to begin with, he knew he hadn’t lost her, but he could still lose his family, and for Josh that would be as good as death, perhaps worse. The two men climbed down from their horses.
“Pop,” he said with a smile, Barton’s serious expression telling the younger Callahan that his worry had been well founded.
“Son.”
Josh cleared his throat. “I went into town with that man Bristol. He’s seeing to the homestead claims, legitimately this time. And he thinks he can kick Decker off his own land too … that’ll solve things around here for a good, long time.”
Barton smiled. “Good, Josh, good work.” A long, tense silence passed. “Is there … anything else you want to tell me?” Josh stood there with a shrug, Patches shaking his head. “The girl, Josh, the Archer girl, her father told me all about it.” Josh dipped his head, eyes finding the ground in a sheepish display. “You countermanded my orders, Josh, showed very poor judgment.”
“I know, Pop, I know how … disappointed and upset with me you must be —”
“No, Son, no. I was … miffed at first, I can’t deny that. But Elroy showed me the light.”
Josh tried to imagine the scenario, but the more he thought about it the less sense it made. “Elroy did? Pop, I don’t understand, they hate us, and she’s betrothed to that store owner.”
“No, Josh, she’s not. Apparently he proposed just before his father was stricken and she didn’t know how to refuse him at such a delicate time.” Josh thought it out, things making more sense as his father explained. “But the girl’s heartbroken, Josh. She’s already told the other suitor that he’d best find love with somebody else. And she knows you got the wrong impression after the funeral. Apparently she was here, spoke to Hugh about it.”
“To Hugh? He … he didn’t mention it to me, not a word.”
Barton shrugged. “I can’t speak for him. But I think it’s time you reconsidered things. She seems like a very bright and worthy young woman.”
“She is, Pop, more than you could know without more experience in her company. She’s quite remarkable. She saved my life, did they mention that?”
“They didn’t.”
“At Nelson’s Creek, when we met. The day I came home soaking wet. I told the story rightly, but I left out the part where she rode in and saved me from drowning. I tell you, Pop, it’s … it’s our destiny to be together.”
“Then do!” Reading Josh’s confused expression, Barton went on, “What’s to stop you?”
“Well … the other ranchers, the homesteaders …”
“Stow the other ranchers and the homesteaders,” Barton said. “And they don’t hate us, the Archers, not at all. Elroy and I get along quite well; I hope we’ve set the right example for you and Bella.”
Josh asked cautiously, “You mean ... we have your blessing?”
“You do, Son, yes. She’s a fine girl, and you’re a worthy and admirable young man.”
Josh’s mind started racing, his heart doing likewise. “I … I have to see her; I have to talk to her!”
“Elroy already sent one of his sons to tell her,” Barton said. “He’ll explain everything. Dean, apparently he’s known for a while.”
“Yeah, he’s … he’s a good guy, good brother. All right, what about the other ranchers? No talkin’ ’em down?”
Barton shook his head. “We’ve got one more meeting tonight. You think this news about the land man will stop them in their tracks? They won’t be that impressed to see the homesteaders get those commons.”
“No, probably not.”
“What about getting rid of Decker, how long’s that supposed to take?”
Josh shrugged. “Had to ride into Lincoln for some charts, looking for a loophole. But he won’t be back until tomorrow, earliest.”
“Tomorrow … let’s hope they don’t want to head out tonight then.”
Barton turned to head out for his meeting, and Josh walked toward the rear of the property to find Hugh.
Chapter 48
Hugh was chopping wood in the back of the house, and Josh stomped straight toward him. His kid brother seemed unaware of Josh’s approach until he was just a few feet away, walking fast and closing in.
“Josh, what’s going —?” Josh grabbed the axe and threw it several feet away to land in the grass. “Josh?”
Josh pushed Hugh hard, hands against his chest, to send the smaller sibling stumbling back. “Bella came here to explain, and you didn’t tell me? How could you do that, Hugh?”
“All right, well, take it easy, Josh. I can explain.”
“Then you’d better start trying!”
Hugh held out his flattened palms to stop his older brother, words racing over his tongue. “You said she’d been lying to you, using you, and that she had a real fella she was in love with.”
“I was wrong, Hugh, which Bella could have explained to me personally if you’d given me the message!”
“You said your judgment couldn’t be trusted,” Hugh said, “especially where that girl was concerned. And I agree with you ... I still do. Are you sure about all this now, or is she just pulling another fast one?”
“Her father explained it to Pop. You don’t think he’d be taken in?”
“Not the same way you were, I suppose, not for the same reasons.”
“But I wasn’t taken in because Bella was true! And you almost ruined things between us forever! I should have known! What kind of understanding could you possibly have? You don’t know anything about love, how a woman can make you feel —”
“Oh come on! Have you ever even held her hand?”
“I … you … that’s not the point! I trusted you, Josh! And you may well have ruined any chance we had of being together, and set us all on a course for disastrous war.”
Hugh rolled his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Josh, I didn’t meant to do that, of course!”
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Hugh.”
“All right, well, it sounds like things are straightened out now; no harm done.”
“No thanks to you.” Josh pointed an angry finger into Hugh’s face. “I trusted you; I gave you my confidence, and you treated me like a fool!”
“I was trying to protect you, do what was best for the family.”
“You failed! I never should have trusted you … a child, playing childish games!”
Hugh shook his head. “Here we go, once again … Hugh the child, little baby Hughie. It’s not that way anymore, Josh!”
“Isn’t it? You act like you’re getting younger every day! I’m not even sure we should let you fight!”
“Just try’n stop me!”
Josh could hardly contain his frustration and disgust, his love for his kid brother turned sour like milk in his mouth. “I … I wish I could; I wish I could stop it altogether. I might have had a better chance if you’d come to me sooner!”
“I’ve already apologized! How many more times can I say I’m sorry?”
Josh snapped back, “What difference does it make? What you say is nothing compared to what you don’t say.”
Josh stomped away from Hugh, but he stopped and turned to add, “Let me tell you this; I won’t ever confide in you again! We may be brothers; I
don’t suppose there’s anything I can do about that. But we’re not friends, Hugh, we’re not friends now, and we never will be!”
“Josh —”
“No, Hugh, no.” Josh looked around as if the resolution to his feelings was somewhere close by, sitting in the grass. “I ... I can’t believe how you stabbed me in the back like this!”
“It’s not like I told Pop or anything; I kept your secret.”
“And you kept your own, Hugh … you kept your own! Well you can keep them all you want because you and me are finished!” Josh turned to stomp back toward the house, anxious to remove himself from Hugh’s presence before he did something he would regret.
Chapter 49
Barton surveyed the other local ranchers, cleaning their rifles and sharpening knives and even pitchforks. They sat in a somber silence, each man seeming to know what he’d be facing; death. But they clearly felt they had no choice, and as hard as Barton had tried even to that last moment to convince them otherwise.
“Gentlemen, if you’ll just listen to reason … If we unite with the homesteaders —”
“Then what? We don’t even know if that’s true, this fable about the claims. Why would we want the homesteaders to get their claim to the common anyway? If Decker and his big ranchers aren’t using it, we may as well.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair,” another repeated, “it’s fair enough! And once the homesteaders are gone, there’ll be plenty of land for us.”
“For Decker,” Barton said. “What makes you think he’ll abide us once the homesteaders are gone?”
The other ranchers exchanged worried looks, but one shouted, “It’s not about us and Decker, it’s about us and those confounded homesteaders! Now you go tell that Asher that we’ll meet ’em on the commons tomorrow at high noon. If they don’t show up, we’ll work our way southwest, burning every homestead we find!”
Barton left the meeting and rode straight out to the Archer homestead, as fast as his horse could go. He was greeted by the twins, Dean and Jonah, Jonah with a Winchester in his hands. They glared at Barton, and he knew very well the reason for their ire. They wouldn’t have any reason to trust him the way their father would, though in fact it was the Archer family who wronged the Callahans, were Barton interested in seeing things that way.
But he knew it was vital for all of them that the families put away whatever differences they still had.
“Tomorrow,” Barton said, “that’s … it’s so quick, isn’t it?”
“Why wait?”
Another called out, “We’ve waited long enough!”
“Too long,” another said, the men grunting and nodding.
“One more day,” Barton said, “that’ll give you time to make sure you’re well armed, maybe get some backup. We could send riders up to Broken Bow, bring in some guns from out of town.”
“Nobody from out of town cares,” one said.
“Tomorrow at noon, Callahan. And you better turn up and turn out; leave us in the lurch, we’ll come for ya personally, Callahan; you and your whole family.”
Chapter 50
Bella and her mother Sybil were huddled in a modest upper room at the Barnock Central Hotel, in the middle of town. Bella stared out the window, the lonely streets trickling with traffic; horsemen and carriages in the muddy thoroughfare. The smells of the horses wafted up through the window, a chill to the Nebraska breeze pushing the curtains against her face.
Sybil sat on the bed with her hands on her lap, eyebrows cramped in somber silence. “Maybe you should come away from the window, dear. You’ll catch your death.”
Bella couldn’t help smiling, though there wasn’t any mirth in it. “My death? We might as well die —”
“Bella, no —”
“I don’t even see why we’re here at all —”
“We’re here so we’re not a distraction, so we’re not used against the men as hostages or human shields. We’re not fit for such a thing, Bella.”
And Bella knew herself not to be anything like combat ready, there was little point in arguing. But it was a dismal notion to consider that she’d always be shunted to the side in certain instances, that she and all women were thought of as lesser creatures, closer to dogs and horses than equals. Some men showed their dogs and horses more affection and respect than their women.
“I’ve heard tell of female warriors, in the jungles of Africa, I think, or South America.”
“When you get to those places,” Sybil said, “then you can take up the fight.”
“There’s fighting enough to be done here, in this country; fighting to make it a better country, fighting to make our lives even better. We aren’t as gifted for brawling, I’ll admit, but why can’t we women vote?”
Sybil shook her head. “Oh, my dear, sweet child. Voting is what men do to make them feel that they have some control over their lives. But in truth, those who rule, rule likewise all over the world. Power corrupts, they say.”
“Yes, Mother, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. All the reason to have more women in power, we’re less prone to that sort of corruption.”
Sybil smiled. “Perhaps in the years to come, perhaps for your children … or theirs.”
“My children? Mine with Josh, you mean.” Sybil nodded but said nothing. “I’ll have them with no other man, Mother.”
Sybil sighed. “I know it, Bella, I do … and your father won’t stand in your way, nor Mr. Callahan.”
“I know, and I’m grateful. But with things the way they are now, I … I wonder if our victory may yet be snatched by the jaws of defeat.” A sad silence passed. “Why do they have to fight? They won’t listen to reason!”
“They rarely do,” Sybil said. “It’s in man’s nature, I’m afraid —”
“In men’s nature,” Bella corrected her mother. “All the more reason for women to be in power.”
“Power is what they fight for, my child; the right to govern the land, the trade, the resources. They have the love of money, which truly is the root of all evil.” Bella nodded, and Sybil went on, “That is why God created woman, Bella; not simply to serve and to sacrifice and to procreate, but … to give balance to man’s boisterous energy. We soften their edges, we supplement their shortcomings. But we do need to procreate, and we do need to sacrifice and to serve. That’s why we’re here in this room, Bella, and not at our home, perhaps to face slaughter.”
“And we’re safe here?” They both looked around the little room. “Your father believes so. You have to have faith in him … and in God.”
“You know I do, Mother! But … to sit here, helpless, doing nothing. Did Ruth do nothing? Did Jesus do nothing?”
“Don’t blaspheme, Bella.”
“I don’t mean to, but aren’t we meant to learn from their examples, and follow them?”
“But … what can either one of us do? Bella. Neither of us can shoot or wield a knife or a club —”
“I could wield a club —”
“No, Bella, no, you cannot throw your life away like that. The family needs you, Barnock needs you! I know it may not be clear or easy, but that’s what it is to have faith. We must do what is not easy, believe even when things aren’t clear.”
