Nathanial

by J. B. Richard

  Nathanial: Western Promises Series, Book 3

  ISBN-Paperback: 978-0-9991553-6-3

  ISBN-Ebook: 978-0-9991553-7-0

  Published by:

  Fig Publishing

  www.jbrichard.com

  © 2020 J.B. Richard .All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Editorial services by: Anne Victory, Editing and Gathering Leaves Editing

  Cover and interior design by TLC Book Design, TLCBookDesign.com

  Cover: Tamara Dever; Interior: Monica Thomas

  Images © Depositphotos.com: cowboy & horse @ Bestgreenscreen, @ renatas76; mountain landscape @ broker; leather swirls @ Mario7. Cowboy walking forward ©iStockphoto.com/Kanyakits

  Publisher’s Cataloging-In-Publication Data

  (Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)

  Names: Richard, J. B. (Julie Beth), author.

  Title: Nathanial. [Part 1] / J.B. Richard.

  Description: [Beaver Springs, Pennsylvania] : FIG Publishing, [2020] | Series: Western promises ; book 3

  Identifiers: ISBN 9780999155363 (print) | ISBN 9780999155370 (ebook)

  Subjects: LCSH: Adopted children—Family relationships—Fiction. | Runaway children—Wyomin— 19th century—Fiction. | Custody of children—Wyoming—19th century—Fiction. | Human trafficking—Wyoming—19th century—Fiction. | LCGFT: Western fiction. | Historical fiction.

  Classification: LCC PS3618.I343 N38 2020 (print) | LCC PS3618.I343 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6--dc23

  Printed in the United States of America

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Epilogue

  CHAPTER 1

  Nate ran a step behind Phillip, racing along the boardwalk toward the Hendersons’ general store. They were both hankering for a sweet, mouthwatering treat. And who better to ask than Phillip’s pa, owner of the mercantile, for a piece of licorice? Sailing past the storefronts, Nate jumped quickly out of the way of smacking straight into Ned, the telegraph man, who was just stepping out the door of the wire/post office. His near brush sent Ned, wearing his silly blue visor, spinning a circle to catch himself from falling.

  “Nathanial. Slow down, boy. Got somethin’ for ya,” Ned hollered, his words nipping at Nate’s heels as he raced on. What good old Ned probably had for him was a big ear-chewing for pounding down the boardwalk, disturbing folks. That lecture he’d heard before.

  “Got a letter,” Ned called after him, waving an envelope.

  Nate skidded to a halt while Phillip, who hadn’t looked back once, kept running.

  While Nate stood catching his breath, Ned hurried along at a healthy walk, shouting that he had gotten a letter from one Deputy Huckabee in Birch Creek, Nate’s best friend. They hadn’t seen hide nor hair of each other in months, probably four or five. He snatched the envelope from Ned’s hand and quickly tore open the paper.

  Howdy Nate,

  You’re never gonna believe it. Birch Creek is having a big shindig. Rides, cotton candy, games—all of it in celebration of the Fourth of July. There’s even gonna be fireworks. Ya just gotta come. Even if yer ma and pa say no, come anyway. I’ll be watchin’ fer ya.

  Your Buddy,

  Deputy

  “Judging by your smile, I take it that’s good news.” Ned tipped his chin toward the letter in Nate’s hands.

  “Best news ever.” He beamed. He had to ask Pa first, but he was going to Birch Creek.

  Nate ran across the street, forgetting about Phillip and the licorice, and dodged a horse and buggy.

  “Watch where the hell you’s goin’!” The driver shook his fist.

  Yeah, yeah, the old buzzard could go suck an egg. Nate had something important on his mind, and this matter needed tending to quickly. No time to spare. He had to have an answer this minute. He wanted to write Deputy back right away.

  What a stupendous Fourth of July this was going to be. Birch Creek was twice the size of Gray Rock, lots more people, and he would get to spend time with his good pal. What could be better than that? His feet slapped the boardwalk in front of the jailhouse, still legging it at a furious pace. Through the door he burst, jumping up to sit on the corner of Pa’s desk where he always sat when he came to the jailhouse.

  “Can I go? Can I, can I, can I … please?” He waved the letter in Pa’s face. Nate wasn’t above begging.

  “Nathanial, git that thing outta my face. You’re makin’ me cross-eyed.” Pa pushed the letter away from the end of his nose.

  Nate fanned air into Pa’s face with it one more time. The invitation had to be addressed this instant.

  “Boy, what is it?” Pa grabbed the paper and unfolded it, nodding several times while reading. So far, it seemed good, like maybe a yes. But then out of nowhere came a raised brow followed closely by a frown.

  What didn’t Pa understand? That would be a grand time. They couldn’t possibly pass up such an opportunity. Good friends, lots of laughs. And Pa worked hard. He deserved a holiday. Maybe Nate needed to do some convincing.

  He just could not hold in his excitement. As if he had no control over his mouth, at a hell-and-gone pace, the words rumbled out over his tongue, which wasn’t keeping stride and spit his thoughts out all jumbled up. “Carousel, ice cream, popcorn.” And the best, most ignitable word, “Fireworks,” exploded off his tongue, reverberating off the four walls.

  “Please.” Nate bounced as he begged. Not that batting his long lashes over his baby blues ever worked on Pa, but it was worth a try. They just had to go. “Deputy really wants me to be there.”

  As a family, they hadn’t visited with the Huckabees in what felt like forever. They could all go, even Jesse. Last time, he’d been away on official business.

  “Ya know, Jesse ain’t ever met Marshal Huckabee or Deputy Tate Horn.” They were both better-than-good lawmen. Nate was sure the experience would be educational for Jesse, being that he was so green at his duties as deputy. It hadn’t been quite a year since Pa pinned the star on him. “Jesse sure could learn a lot.” Nate shook his head, giving the impression that if Pa said no, it would somehow be sorely detrimental to his deputy.

  Pa leaned back in his chair, an amused grin spread across his face as he chuckled. Nate had a pretty good suspicion of what he was thinking: Nate was full of horse shit. Learning experience his ass. But Pa’s face wasn’t red, meaning he must not have been irritated, and Nate was determined.

  This was no time to surrender. Pa hadn’t said no, so he must’ve been rolling the idea around a little. Nate didn’t know how else to sell it, so he kept running with what was best for Pa’s deputy because it would benefit Pa. Nate smacked his p
alm on the desk like a preacher beating the pulpit with his Bible on Sunday morning, hellbent on saving Pa from making a mistake. This trip was necessary. Nate had to get him to see that.

  “Come on. The marshal’s your best friend.”

  After a minute or two of Nate’s lips flapping nonstop, Pa raised a solemn hand. What if he did say no? He was probably recalling what happened at Council Bluffs the last time Nate and Deputy were together. That hadn’t entirely been their fault. Deputy Tate was supposed to have been watching them. Instead, he’d had his eye on a pretty gal while Pa and Marshal Huckabee were busy testifying at the trial—lots of folks in town. What did any of them expect of two kids? Of course they had wanted to explore Council Bluffs on their own. It was more fun that way. An hour later, after the boys almost started a stampede of fifteen hundred head of cattle, Pa and the marshal had to do some mighty quick talking to keep that rancher from stringing up Nate and Deputy by their ears.

  “Promise I won’t raise any hell with Deputy.” Nate put his right hand up.

  Pa outright laughed. “Come anyway, even if yer ma and pa say no,” he read from Deputy’s letter. “That sounds like a whole lot of trouble to me.” He folded the letter, handing it back to Nate.

  “Well …” Nate wanted to know if they could all go.

  “I’ll talk to your ma,” Pa said with no hint of which way he might try to sway her.

  Nate hopped off the desk. “Let’s go.” He was ready to ride home now.

  Pa ruffled his hair. “Jesse and I have some business to attend to.”

  What Pa was really saying was he wouldn’t be home for a while.

  Nate slumped into a chair. Pa was always so darn busy with work. The town of Gray Rock had doubled in size since Nate had come to live there. But this was important too, at least to him. He couldn’t fault his father. When it came to family and community, Pa never ceased protecting them or providing for his family, and nothing took precedence over the people he cared about. He somehow juggled it all. It wasn’t fair for Nate to pout or hound him.

  “Can I come with ya? I’m a better deputy than Jesse anyway.” Nate flashed the star pinned on his shirt. He treasured his time with Pa, particularly when he got to be a deputy. There was no better lawman and no one he’d rather spend his days with, though Jesse was a close second. But he was more like a brother … annoying sometimes.

  Pa chuckled. Before he could comment, in strolled Jesse, stopping to regard the door hanging wide open. In Nate’s haste, he’d flung it but hadn’t taken time to shut it properly. Jesse clapped it closed without a word of fuss.

  “Where have you been?” Pa had been shuffling papers when Nate burst in. He must have been waiting on Jesse.

  Jesse sheepishly grinned, and that’s when Nate noticed the bright pinkness to his lips. “Kristy and her folks came into town, so of course I had to do right and talk a spell.”

  “I wouldn’t call that talk. I saw ya kissin’.” Pa pointed at Jesse. “That girl’s respectable. Keep her that way.”

  A flush rose into his cheeks as he wiped a sleeve across his mouth as if that would remove the smooching he’d done.

  “There’s a new family. Moved into that ol’ trapper’s shack near Bear Meadow.” Pa had a habit of introducing himself to those who rode into town, whether they planned on settling there or were just passing through. It was a nice way of saying he closely watched over Gray Rock and nonsense of the criminal type would not be tolerated. It kept the riffraff away.

  “You think there’s gonna be trouble?” Jesse worked too closely with Pa not to know what he was thinking most of the time.

  “Mrs. Henderson.” Pa sighed deeply. He had expressed on numerous occasions that he thought the wife of the store owner was a nosy, gossipy woman who ought to mind her own business. “Said some folks were in to buy supplies and had the look of trouble on them.” Pa shrugged. “Won’t hurt to ride out there.”

  Very true, Nate thought. What harm could come by saying howdy?

  Jesse nodded in agreement.

  As Pa rose from behind his desk, hitching his gun belt, Nate faced Jesse. “Guess what?”

  “You got caught with lipstick on your face too.” Jesse chuckled until Pa gave him a hard look. Apparently, he did not appreciate the wait.

  Although Jesse was Pa’s deputy, he was also like a son. That fact made it sort of rough on Jesse. Pa all around expected a lot from him, and like Nate, when Jesse stepped out of line, he got his ass chewed out for it. A plain deputy would only get a tongue-lashing if he did wrong at work. Lucky for Jesse, he was too old to get a whipping.

  “Yuck!” Nate thought about what it would be like to press his lips against a girl’s. He shook his head as if throwing off fleas. Why would he want to kiss a girl? Jesse had to be plumb loco. Yes, Kristy was pretty, but to smash his mouth, his face, to hers—how utterly disgusting. Nate shuddered. “No, silly.”

  “Let’s go, you two.” Pa headed for the door before Nate handed Jesse the letter. He took it as he grabbed Nate out of the chair, throwing him over his shoulder and carrying him out.

  “You look thirsty.” There was a boyish playfulness to Jesse’s singsong tone. Teasing was one of his favorite pastimes. He enjoyed it thoroughly, and usually, it ended with the two of them wrestling, which was always a good time.

  “Pa, help.” Nate giggled without knowing what Jesse had up his sleeve. He wasn’t worried. Sometimes Pa delighted in the hoopla. Then Nate became the monkey in the middle. Those were the best times. Nate loved his family.

  Jesse flipped him over, and he was held dangling by his ankles just above the horse-slobbered water.

  “You ready for a big drink.” Jesse laughed as he dipped him enough that Nate’s outstretched hands touched the water.

  He let out with a tickled scream for mercy. Pa shut the jailhouse door with a smack, which Nate was sure was meant for the backs of their heads. He reckoned Pa was in a mood. He got that way sometimes when he desperately needed a break, always pushing himself too hard. A lot of responsibility came with his job, plus family duties, and Jesse acting like a big kid didn’t seem to be helping.

  “Put him down,” Pa snipped.

  In one swift twist, Jesse twirled Nate right side up and flopped him onto the back of the saddled mustang, Buck, Nate’s other best friend.

  At the hitch rail where the horses stood lazily, Jesse scanned then returned the letter. “Sounds like a fine ol’ time to me … fireworks.” He looked up at Pa, who was sitting on the bay, and judging by the veins throbbing in his neck, he was irritated that Jesse was moving at a pace that didn’t fit his schedule. “Sheriff, you oughta go.”

  What? No. That wasn’t how Nate imagined the trip. Jesse didn’t seem to understand. He was supposed to go to Birch Creek too.

  Nate huffed, crossing his arms tight. “You’re part of the family. You gotta go with us.” He looked between Jesse and Pa for an answer, expecting to get his way, or maybe he’d have a fit.

  Pa rubbed his temple. “Son, Gray Rock can’t be without law for that long. One of us would have to stay. Who would keep the peace?” He was right, as always, and Nate thought a little more about it.

  It’d take a week there, then back, plus whatever time they spent in town for the celebration. But it wouldn’t seem right to leave Jesse. It would feel as though part of the family was missing. And it would be. He wanted Jesse to see the fireworks, and Nate had never witnessed the booming lights before.

  “Pin a badge on Big John.” Nate pushed with a feisty tone to get what he wanted. Johnny’s Pa had helped his father out before. “Jesse just has to go.” He wrinkled his nose up mean.

  “If he goes, then I’ll stay behind.” Pa wasn’t making him pick. Pa would make the choice and probably let Jesse go to Birch Creek. He did everything for them, even if it meant missing out himself. He was just like that. Nothing made him happier than making his family happy.

  “You’re forgettin’ somethin’,” Pa said. “Ma has a say in this.” />
  Ma hadn’t been feeling well as of late. She’d been gagging over a bucket three mornings this week and a few times after supper. Said the venison smelled funny and she couldn’t possibly eat any. She had drunk mint tea to soothe her delicate stomach, then gone to bed early.

  Jesse threw a leg over his saddle. “Kristy’s ma and pa plan on havin’ a big picnic on the fourth. Lots of folks from town are gonna be there. I’ll be just fine spendin’ the day eatin’ her fried chicken and peach pie.” He chuckled. “Havin’ the house all to myself.” He winked at Nate. “Two, three weeks without you jumpin’ on the bed, wakin’ me too early, might spoil me.”

  Nate rolled his eyes. Jesse never snapped at him for being underfoot, ever. To be honest, his partner doted on him. If Nate got his tail in trouble, Jesse always tried to bail him out. He never lied for him but would often expound on logical excuses until Pa was talked out of spanking Nate and he ended up with no more than a lecture and a wagging finger in his face.

  “All right,” Nate grumbled under his breath. Maybe Jesse would change his mind if he kept working on him. “Bet there’ll be balloons and cakes and pies.” He licked his lips as though tasting the yumminess.

  “Bring me a red balloon, a big one.” Jesse tweaked Nate’s nose. “I am sorry I won’t get to meet Marshal Huckabee or Deputy Horn.” Both boys loved when Pa told them stories of the old days when he, the marshal, and Tate rode posse together. Jesse often said he looked forward to the day he’d finally get to meet them.

  Pa shifted in the saddle, making it creak. “Ma still hasn’t said yes. She’s been feeling lousy lately. Might not suit travelin’ that far.” He lifted his hat, running his fingers through his dark hair. “A visit to Birch Creek does sound nice.” He grinned warily. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, showing how doggone exhausted he was, but it seemed his mood was turning around. “Nathanial, you might have to work on your ma.”

  Nate knew exactly what Pa was talking about. He owned a sweet smile, long lashes, and big blues eyes, and he knew how to use them. They typically worked to get him what he wanted from Ma. They were going to Birch Creek. He’d bet the mustang on her saying yes.