They started their climb down and upon reaching the canyon floor, Catalina stopped and turned back to Carver and Honor Elizabeth.
“I am just glad the Cavendish town folk will see Ma Fenwick hangin’ from a rope, so they can feel justified,” she said.
The pair looked at her and shook their heads.
“I can also respect that!” Carver said, as he took another bow.
Catalina turned around and shook her head with a smile, knowing the world would be a better place without Ma Fenwick in it. Looking skywards, she saw the first blush of pink on the wispy clouds that drifted high above in the Arizona sky. The only sounds they could hear now were the whining of the bandits’ horses. They saw the Fenwicks had cleverly used a natural indentation in the side of the gulley’s wall to serve as a makeshift corral. Honor was happy to see that the decision had spared the animals when the herd had made their charge and passed right by them in their protected recess. Suddenly, another unexpected sound rose in the air.
The trio looked down to see that Foster Fenwick had managed to survive the same way by darting into the large nook that held the horses.
“You killed them! You killed them all!” he whined bitterly.
Honor shook her head.
“I strongly disagree! We offered them a chance to surrender and in truth, you know this!”
Foster ran over to the body of Donnie and knelt in the shadow of the wagon. When he saw the man’s crushed skull, he reeled back, bumping into the tilted wagon. The slight jostling was enough for it to lose its precarious balance and with a groan of creaking wood, it toppled over, crushing Foster instantly.
“Well, if I was keepin’ score that would make it Wildes three and Fenwicks zero,” Catalina said with a sigh, the corners of her mouth turned slightly upward. She turned to Honor who was opening her mouth to speak.
“Perhaps, dear sister, we could include Ma Fenwick in that tally. After all, her trial is going to be nothing more than a formality.”
Catalina nodded, “Why not? I guess we’ll have to count the rest of the rustlers as bonus points!” The two sisters exchanged a relieved smile that once again, they had made it through another of the harrowing situations that had become their stock-in-trade in recent years.
“Now c’mon, we need to get a-movin!” Cattie said, as her hands fell upon two objects tucked in her belt.
“That sounds wonderful. Home to Cedar Ledge, which to me, is civilization!”
Catalina couldn’t agree more, but that was not what she meant.
“In time,” she said, eliciting Honor to cross her arms and tilt her head.
“I most assuredly do not like the sound of that! Where would you have us be off to, Catalina Mercedes Wilde?”
“Yes, ma’am, I would be curious about that as well,” Carver joined.
Catalina pulled the two bolts from the gate from her belt and waved them in front of her companions before nodding her head towards the canyon leading to the valley beyond.
“The three of us are gonna have us a little roundup! The herd is probably millin’ around out there in the valley by now! I say we get back as many as we can for their owners!”
Honor, who couldn’t rope cattle if her life depended on it as Cassandra liked to tease, leaned her forehead against Carver’s shoulder and sighed.
“Perhaps, Lijuan really did have the right idea staying behind!”
EPILOGUE
* * *
Cedar Ledge ranch
Alamieda, Arizona territory
Two days later
Lijuan had spent a busy morning attending to the finances of Cedar Ledge. There were several bills that ranged from large to small that called for her attention. Among them was one for the new stoves they had purchased for the set of bunk houses that lay along the edge of the Rock River, as it snaked its way through Cedar Ledge. That had been a big one and the smallest had been for the box of bandages she had hastily bought on credit at the general store when she had been preparing her back-up snare with the derringer.
Once she had attended to business, she retired to her room to quickly jot down in her journal, the latest on her recent adventure. A Wells Fargo telegram had arrived that morning from the Pinkertons saying they were closing in on Ping, who had left an easy to follow trail as he attempted to fence the belongings of the Huang family across San Francisco.
Once she had finished writing, she closed the book with a sigh. Years ago, when they were all so much younger, Cattie had insisted that like her, they should all keep journals. Whip had surprised the family the Christmas of that year, gifting each with leather-bound matching journals, even his sons as well. Since that time, it was an annual tradition for their father to give them new ones each Christmas for the coming year.
Lijuan wasn’t one who liked to commit her thoughts to paper, but she adored her little sister and knew Catalina would be disappointed if she were to opt out of the family custom. With a grudging smile, Lijuan had to admit there was never a lack of anything for the family to write about.
She flipped the journal shut and dismissed it from her thoughts as she grabbed a towel out of her closet. The girls were waiting and she was eager to join them. Lijuan paused only for a moment to pet Mr. Muffins who was dozing on the foot of her bed. As she dashed downstairs and through the house, heading into the kitchen for one of the exits to the back yard, Lijuan slowed and gave a jaunty wave to Mrs. Chow who was in the process of squeezing lemons for her perpetually fresh lemonade that the whole family enjoyed to a person.
Lijuan found herself running again, as she crossed the wide expanse of the neatly trimmed lawn. She passed by the elaborate gazebo tucked in one corner of the back yard. It had been designed by Mercedes Corderro during her brief and happy marriage to Whip. On its side grew the very lemon tree that bloomed with Mrs. Chow’s lemons. For no reason at all, she snatched one of the lemons as she went by the tree and onto the path that led to the mammoth ledges that dominated the landscape behind the ranch house.
The sun was shining brightly, but there was a bit of an edge in the spring air on this day. However, that was just perfect for where she was going. Lijuan found her spirit buoyed so much that the darkness she had felt the night of the incident at the cave had receded and with it, for better or worse, her vow to control the reckless side of herself.
Threading her way through the well-worn path, Lijuan wondered if the jubilant mood that flowed through her was because she had learned Cassie had returned late last night and she had not seen her yet. There had been so many years that a gulf had existed between them that the two sisters were determined to try and make up for. Lijuan had always loved her big sister so and that was why it had hurt so badly when she was unable to make inroads with the older girl as a child.
There had come that day when all that had changed, of course, and now, such a deep love passed between them. Without a doubt, she welcomed the idea of having Cassie home, and besides, she couldn’t wait to boast about how she had put everything together regarding the criminal activity at the Double J.
Reaching the top of the trail, she looked down, and her face lit up. Below her, between a series of jagged ledges that thrust up in the air was a somewhat smooth circular area and in the center of it were several bubbling hot springs, the largest of which found her sisters reclining within it. This was their special place! Her father and brothers always respected it being out of bounds to them and as tempting as it may have been, the four sisters vowed never to bring any of their paramours to it.
A quick dash led her to the edge of the pool. She was already peeling off her clothing to discard them with the mound of other garments from her sisters who were relaxing and giggling amongst themselves about something. With a flip of her wrist, the last of her undergarments landed on the ground. There certainly wasn’t any need for hesitation as the four sisters, having grown up together were far beyond any sort of modesty when it came to each other.
Honor Elizabeth held out her hand and helped gui
de the nude woman down into the pool lest she slip on the rocks. Lijuan thanked her and moved over and gave Cassie a warm hug before lounging next to her.
For the next hour, the quartet soaked up the revitalizing warmth of the springs, a perfect complement to the cool air wafting down off the dense mountains that made up the heart of their family’s ranch. This was the first chance for them all to be together since they’d wrapped up their fiery adventure in Beacon. Lijuan, Honor Elizabeth, and Catalina eagerly told their tales to Cassandra and had listened just as eagerly as Cassie detailed her masquerade as Miss Marla.
Just as Lijuan had relished boasting about her impromptu detective work, Cassandra, in turn, enjoyed relaying a blow by blow account of her fight that sounded to the sisters like it came right off the deck of a whaling vessel. They learned after surviving the ordeal, she had returned to Cloverfield to pick up Lily, but had elected to recuperate at the home of Bennet Boxhall to his unexpected delight.
Lijuan marveled at Cassie’s victory. The pair enjoyed their friendly competition, but both had complimented each other, as well as their pair of sisters who had managed to deliver justice to a band of murderous rustlers.
No lady’s version of a bull session, of course, would be complete without each of the four women going into juicy accounts of their latest conquests. It seemed no detail about their sexual adventures was too small to be left out. Their laughter grew even more raucous as each one of them tried to top the other one with their vivid particulars of their love ‘em and leave ‘em lurid romances.
As their laughter carried ever higher into the air, the Daughters of Half Breed Haven delighted in each other’s company. To them, it seemed like this familiar ritual would last forever. Lost in a hazy future yet to unfold, the truth would prove to be a different matter altogether, a long winding road littered with triumph and tragedy.
***
The ruins of Cedar Ledge Ranch
State of Arizona
May 1913
The morning sun was glinting off the silvery mane of hair that tumbled around the shoulders of Catalina Wilde. Though she was in her sixties now, her body, her face, everything about her had weathered the course of time astonishingly well … everything that was, except her spirits.
This morning, she was at one of the two places where she could be found most days. When she had awoken earlier, Cattie had considered heading over to her mother’s gazebo, but had passed on it. As hard as she tried not to, she always managed to catch a glimpse of the ruins of the once grand ranch house where she and her family had lived such happy lives. Long ago, she had even planted a line of fast growing trees in the center of the back yard to obscure the view of the forlorn family home. Not wishing to risk dredging up the old wounds, she decided it best to forgo the gazebo and head down to the river.
It had been an hour ago when she had left the bunkhouse that was now her home and made her way to the river’s edge. As she often did, she took a position, leaning against a boulder and stared at one of the nearby pastures. The once strong fence that she proudly had her ranch hands maintain to perfection was now but a decrepit, collapsing relic of another time. Sadly, she noted yet another whole section had fallen over into the overgrown tangle of wild grass.
Catalina had no way of knowing, however, this day was going to be another of the many turning points in her long life. The woman’s lonely sojourn was suddenly interrupted by the sound of one of those nuisance automobiles pulling up to the bunk house. For the life of her, she could not recall the last time a visitor had come calling on her, let alone in an automobile. By the time she rose to her feet and began making her way back to the bunkhouse, she heard the auto drive off.
Perhaps they had thought she wasn’t home and left. Catalina was almost going to turn back, but instead, she found herself continuing to walk. She raised one of her eyebrows as a young, brown-haired woman, with an almost equine face in a fancy city woman’s dress suddenly came walking around from the front of the bunkhouse with a nervous smile on her face.
Before the day was over, she would learn the pretty, young visitor’s name was Allie Mastluehr and a whole new chapter of her life would open tying the present and the past together. Catalina Wilde’s world would never be the same again.
******
Allie’s arrival and its effect on Catalina is revealed in the main series:
THE WILDES OF THE WEST #1: THE DAUGHTERS OF HALF BREED HAVEN
And also
The adventure continues in this companion series featuring the Wilde siblings in their solo (more or less) old west adventures with HALF BREED HAVEN #2 featuring Cassandra Wilde.
OTHER BOOKS IN THE WILDES OF THE WEST SERIES
NOW AVAILABLE
THE WILDES OF THE WEST #1: THE DAUGHTERS OF HALF BREED HAVEN
HALF BREED HAVEN #2: IN DANGER’S SHADOW
(A Cassandra Wilde adult western adventure)
HALF BREED HAVEN #3: DARK RIVALS
(A Lijuan Wilde adult western adventure)
ALL CAN BE FOUND AT THIS LINK
https://www.amazon.com/A.M.-Van-Dorn/e/B077GNX3GP/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
COMING SOON in 2018
HALF BREED HAVEN: SILVER, GOLD, AND DECEPTION
(A Catalina Wilde adult western adventure)
HALF BREED HAVEN: THE FORBIDDEN RANCH
(An Honor Elizabeth Wilde adult western adventure)
HALF BREED HAVEN: SING THE DEATH SONG
(A Dutch Wilde & Bright Feather adult western adventure)
HALF BREED HAVEN: DISASTER AT DEVIL’S CANYON
(A Blue River Wilde adult western adventure)
AND
THE WILDES OF THE WEST #2: DANGER DOWN MEXICO WAY
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A.M. Van Dorn
Wilde-Fire: Wonder Women 0f The Old West (Half Breed Haven Book 1) Page 31
