Ask No Tomorrows (27 page)

“
She chose her Indian husband over living with her own people.
He even offered to let her go and take the child with her, which is
not a custom for a chief. But he loved her. She loved him that much
too. They have been very happy, and he has led our people to peace
with the white man. Then their son grew up and he fell in love with
a girl that had been raised as a white. Katherine did not know she
was part Indian until Chase Rivers told her. She loved Chase, and
they have made many children and lived happily here in our
village.

“
Then Chase’s friend, Lee, wrote a letter and asked to come
with his black bride. Chase welcomed him into our village and they
have been happy many years and had many children too. So you ask if
a white and a black can live together in peace…I tell you, yes,
here they can. But one must truly love the other and sacrifice to
make this happy life. You must decide just how much you care for
this girl and if she feels the same.”

“
Would she be accepted here?” Sam asked. “I mean if I brought
her.”

“
As
your wife…yes. I would marry you. Only as your wife,” Burning Tree
said as he stirred his food over the fire. “In the eyes of our
people, you would be married.”

“
You would marry us?” Sam asked as though
thunderstruck.

“
Yes my son, it is the only way you could live here with us. As
joined together.”

Sam smiled at
the old man. “You are a wise man, Burning Tree, a very wise
man.”

“
You bring your young bride here and I will marry
you.”

Sam nodded and
left.

He had some
serious thinking to do. Not once had he considered living here with
the Indians again, but the chance to be with Riley every day made
him see the village with new eyes. Would she be happy here though?
It would be a different world for her.

Sam decided he
would stay there a while and think on it and see how his heart felt
later. He spent days examining the couples of which Burning Tree
spoke. The longer he stayed, the more his eyes were open to the
possibilities. His one question rested on Riley; would she come
here to be his wife?

***

The lawyer
seemed taken aback that Ethan Morgan was even considering turning a
ranch into a bordello, but as legal counsel he merely cautioned
him.

“
It’s highly irregular, and once the law moves that direction
things could change for you in a hurry, but right now, I see
nothing stopping you from doing it. Is this what Riley Morgan
wants?”

“
As
a matter of fact, she plans on living there, and running the ranch,
she just wanted some company. She’ll be alone out there and this
will solve her problem.”

When the
lawyer frowned, she added, “Besides, I really can’t take her back
with me to Boston, she’d be lost living there. It’s another world
there.”

The lawyer
shrugged, his bushy brows nearly meeting as he spoke. “Well, I
guess that’s settled. But I must warn you. Even though you two have
the land and money back, you could still face problems with this
Harry.”

Riley nodded.
“I think I have some evidence that Harry was involved in a stage
robbery not long ago. I think we won’t be having any more trouble
with him.”

“
I’m glad everything worked out for you. And I appreciate you
settling my bill before you leave for your home in Boston.” The
lawyer smiled and stuck out his hand when he saw Riley counting the
money out.

“
The Morgan’s always take care of their business.” Riley
twitched her mustache and, with a handshake, left.

She headed for
the Sheriff’s office next.

The sheriff
was a tall, broad man of middle age, but agile enough to get about
well on his own, Riley decided, when she witnessed him handling a
drunk cowboy who was looking for trouble. The Sheriff wasted no
time in throwing him in the jail and locking him up.

Then he came
back toward his desk and glanced at Riley.

“
Do
you have any proof of this accusation that you are making?” The
Sheriff finally acknowledged her as Ethan Morgan and Riley
nodded.

“
Of
course I do. He wore silver spurs like my cousin told me about in
her letter.”

“
You mean your cousin told you about his spurs in a letter? Why
would she do that?” the Sheriff questioned.

“
She wanted me to recognize him when I arrived at the ranch and
beware of his devilry.” Riley smiled. “She wasn’t sure she’d be
there when I got to the ranch or not and she didn’t want me getting
shot for one thing.”

“
I
see. Alright, if I send a posse out to round this Harry up, we’ll
check out your story. You might have to testify if you want to send
him to jail,” the Sheriff insisted.

“
Just get word to my cousin at her ranch then.” Riley nodded
and left.

“
I’ll do ‘er. And will any of the other ranch hands need
arresting?” he asked.

“
I’d expect they were all in on it. My cousin was outnumbered
or she would never have run,” Riley acknowledged after careful
consideration. “Oh…one other thing I should mention, Sheriff. The
cook put a snake in the bed of an old ranch hand out there, name of
Gordy. A poisionous snake. It was intentional. Riley was pretty
tore up about that, she’d known old Gordy for years.”

“
Well now, that’s serious. Thank you for all the information
sir, and give my regards to your cousin.”

Riley tipped
her hat and smiled then left.

Back at the
whorehouse, Miss Tilda was busy with a regular of her own and Riley
had to wait to tell her the news. She was almost bursting at the
seams to tell someone. But after eating, she went to her room and
lay on the bed.

She had to
admit she missed Sam more and more every day. She wondered if he
got to Arizona yet and if he was all right. She wondered if he
missed her as much as she missed him. Before she knew it, her eyes
closed and she was dreaming about meeting up with Sam again. It was
a pleasant dream and she didn’t want to wake up, but a knock on her
door had her scrambling half-asleep to answer it.

“
So
how did it go today?” Miss Tilda burst into her room.

Riley tried to
shake herself awake. “It went fine, Miss Tilda. The lawyer said
there was little anyone could do as long as I approved and since
there was no law out there. But that when the law did come things
could change.”

“
I’d expect that anyway. I wouldn’t sit there on your ranch
forever anyways. Well, now I’m gonna put it before the girls and
see what they think. If most are a mind to follow, then we’ll go
with you when you are ready. If not, I guess we’ll have to do some
thinkin’ on it. But are you sure you wanna do this?”

Riley nodded.
“Yeah, I’ve thought about it a lot, and I think it will be kinda
nice havin’ you there. I can still ranch, run things like I always
do, but we’ll have to lay down some rules about the cowboys I
hire.”

“
I
guess you aren’t too familiar with a whorehouse, but I already have
a lot of rules laid out and most know them. Won’t take no married
men, no sick men, no city officials either, too much trouble with
that.” Miss Tilda chuckled.

“
Fine, I’ll let you run it the way you see fit, then,” Riley
said quietly.

“
Riley, what’s wrong with you? You seemed to have a lot of
steam and fire when you first came to us, but now it’s like…I don’t
know. Almost as if you’ve given up. I can’t put my finger on what’s
wrong.” Miss Tilda’s face showed concern.

Riley
shrugged. “Everything is fine…I just miss Sam.”

“
Would you have married him, if’n he’d asked?” Miss Tilda
asked.

Riley looked
up at her, studying her kind face for a long while. “Sam and me…we
never did anything, except he kissed me a few times. Marryin’ a
black man ain’t legal and Sam is the kind of man that would seek
recognition of that marriage. But I think deep down he just don’t
think the lines can be crossed even though he has sister that
married a white man. That man was Lee Nelson, a special man in
Sam’s eyes.”

“
Really?” Miss Tilda asked. “I would think that bein’ raised
with a black and white situation he would be more for
it.”

“
Sam seems to define things as black and white with no gray
areas in the middle. He is a just and true man. But I’d never chase
him again, or go with him unless he wanted it.”

“
And…did you like his kisses?” she kept probing.

“
Oh
yeah…of course I did. Sam is so gentle, so…well, I ain’t never met
another like him. Probably never will either,” Riley admitted. “But
even though his kisses were heaven, it was when he sat up all night
in the pouring rain with Nodog by his side, watchin’ after me
because storms scare me, that impressed me more than anything. I
knew I loved him then…”

“
But he never touched you?” Miss Tilda’s brows
knitted.

“
No…”

“
And did Sam like those kisses?” Miss Tilda asked, pulling her
robe tighter.

“
I
think so…why?”

“
Because if he liked them, and he didn’t take the advantage of
you, then he must have thought a lot of you, Riley.”

“
That don’t make much sense, Miss Tilda.”

“
Oh
yes it does, Riley. And when you are older and wiser, you’ll see
why. Oh yes it does.”

Riley peeled
the mustache off her face and pulled her jacket off and laid it
nicely on the bed. “I’ll probably never see Sam again, and it’s
best if I try to wipe him out of my mind. ‘Course I can’t really do
that, just push him to a small dark corner of my mind is
all.”

“
Maybe…maybe not. He certainly could have had his choice of
women here the night he came about. He didn’t take any offers
though. He wasn’t even interested; I could tell.”

“
Sam was preoccupied keepin’ me safe all the time. He didn’t
have time for nothin’ else. He’s a very decent man. Wouldn’t allow
thinking that he could fall for a white girl. But for some reason I
didn’t have a bit of trouble dreamin’ about him…” Riley blushed.
“There will never be another for me…”

“
Just from what you’re tellin’ me, I think Sam was in love with
you. Really in love.”

Riley looked
down at herself then at Miss Tilda. “Why on earth would he? Half
the time we were together I was supposed to be a boy or a man. I
never had pretty clothes like you, Miss Tilda. And Pa always said I
was plain to look at. Once I proved myself as a ranch hand, he
never treated me like a girl again. And Sam…he just has such a soft
heart for anyone in trouble. No, now that I think on it, I’m sure
he just felt sorry for me…”

Miss Tilda
shook her head. “Love isn’t measured by clothes or looks, Riley.
It’s measured by your own heart and what you feel about a person.
You’re wrong Riley, and I hope someday I can show you…”

“
Goodnight, Miss Tilda…” Riley called to her as she was
leaving.

“
Night, Riley…”

***

“
You’re in love, aren’t you Sam?” Hattie smiled at him as he
stared into the campfire.

“
What? What are you talking about?” Sam asked as frustration
climbed his back.

“
You can’t hide it, you know.” Hattie came closer and sat by
the fire and Sam. “I should know. I tried very hard to hide my
feelings for Lee when we first met. I wasn’t sure how you’d feel
about me falling in love with a white man, especially after how we
were raised.”

Sam glanced at
her. “The looks you two were sparkin’ off, anyone could tell.” Sam
chuckled as he nudged his sister’s shoulder and laughed.

“
Tell me about her…” Hattie encouraged.

“
How could I start? Riley was this very unusual girl that
appeared out of nowhere one day when I least expected it.” Sam
smiled in reflection. “She wasn’t some knock out beauty, and yet
there was a purity, an angelic look on her face all the time. Like
you couldn’t look at her and not see it. Maybe it was the innocence
I saw in her eyes. I don’t know. But she appealed to me almost from
the moment I laid eyes on her. She was child-like in some ways,
terrified of storms, and yet she could be hard as nails too. She
was little and I don’t know…vulnerable. You felt like you just had
to wrap your arms around her and hold her. Hard-headed as a bull
though.”

“
Then your Riley was no ordinary young woman,” Hattie
concluded.

“
No…there was nothing ordinary about her. Even Nodog took to
her.”

Hattie smiled.
“I’d like to meet her someday, Sam.”

“
I
don’t know if she’d come here and live…” Sam said aloud, amazed
that he could put into words what was troubling him so.

“
Does she love you?”

“
Yeah…I think she does.” Sam sighed.

“
Do
you love her?” Hattie laid a hand on his.

“
More than I want to admit.” Sam eyed Hattie.

“
Then you should ask her, give her the choice,” Hattie
confirmed.