Bushedwhacked Bride (40 page)
“Well, you can’t!” declared Henry.
“And you can’t leave, either,” Joshua told Dumpling.
Amid a chorus of female sobs, he added to Cole, “Go on,
now. Leave.”
Cole’s expression had turned bitter as he glanced from Joshua to Henry. “Don’t you men think my brothers are
good enough for your daughters?”
Joshua cocked the pistol. “Neighbor, don’t push it. Get
out of here now, all of you, before I change my mind and
give Jed back his pistol.”
Even as he spoke, Mr. Holler grabbed a rifle from his
buckboard and pointed it toward the men. “I’m backing
up Joshua. Get going.”
His features taut, Cole turned to his brothers. “Come on, boys. We’re not welcome here.”
“But our women!” protested Billy.
“Leave them behind.”
These words brought lamentations from the girls and
violent protests from the boys as Dumpling Hicks and the
Holler sisters clung to their men.
“Cole, we ain’t leaving without them,” Billy said
adamantly.
Cole drew himself up with dignity, facing down his
youngest brother. “What are you going to do, Billy?
Shoot the girls’ fathers, their mothers, maybe even the
good folks of this town? ‘Cause that’s what it’s gonna
take for them to leave with you.”
Billy wavered, his expression miserably torn, as
Dumpling clung to him, sobbing.
“Listen to your brother, son,” Joshua warned. “He’s speaking the truth. And let my daughter go.”
Billy hesitated another long, agonizing moment. Sens
ing his indecision, Dumpling gazed up at him, her ex
pression one of stark anguish. With tears now burning in
his own eyes, Billy reached out and brushed a tear from
his sweetheart’s flushed cheek. “Honey, you gotta go
with your daddy.”
“No, let me stay!” Dumpling pleaded. “I don’t believe you’re an outlaw, Bobby Lively. Not for a minute. And
even if you are, I don’t care.”
In a steelier voice, he repeated, “Go with your daddy,
honey.”
“No, Bobby, don’t make me,” she implored.
He gently pushed her away. “Go!” he ordered hoarsely,
in a voice that made her flinch. He turned to his brothers.
“The women stay.”
Luke, Wes, and Gabe stood stoic-faced with their
women. Not waiting for more argument, several men
from the church rushed forward to pull Beatrice, Mayb
elle, and Minerva away from them.
Only the sounds of female wailing could be heard in
the background as the five Reklaw men turned and
proudly escorted Ma and Jessica to the buckboard.
Chapter Thirty-six
They drove away, Jessica wedged between Ma and Cole,
the boys in the back. She glanced at the younger
Reklaws; their faces were grim. Turning around, she
noted that Cole’s features were clenched with fury, while
Ma was wiping away tears.
“That’s it, then, boys,” Ma announced hoarsely to the
group. “We’ll pull up stakes and move further west.
We’ve saved us up a good grubstake for this very day—
didn’t we, boys?”
No one answered.
Jessica turned to Cole. “Don’t you have anything to
say?”
His dark gaze, burning with pride, met
hers. “What can I say, Jessie? Didn’t I warn you this
would happen? I told you if we got too cozy with the town,
sooner or later we’d be exposed. Now look what you’ve
done to my brothers. You’ve broken their hearts. It would
have been better never to have taken them to Mariposa.”
Again noting the boys’ glum faces, Jessica responded,
“Cole, how can you say that? Think of all your brothers have gained. They’ve grown from coarse criminals to de
cent young men.”
“Yeah, but it’s a world they were never meant to live
in,” Cole replied bitterly. “To heck with that town, I say.”
Jessica was horrified. “How can you condemn the
town, when you know there are good men there who must
have known about the gang for ages but kept your secret?
And when everyone defended you today? If not for
Joshua Hicks, you’d all be in jail.”
Harshly, he replied, “Defending us was one thing—ac
cepting us, another. It was fine to humor us, to let us act
as champions for the downtrodden miners, until it was all
brought home. Sure, the miners helped us escape, but when push came to shove, my brothers weren’t good
enough for those men’s daughters.”
At last understanding Cole’s wounded pride and anger,
Jessica implored, “Cole, put yourself in the fathers’
shoes. If it were your daughter, would you want her to
marry a known criminal? To live on the run, just as Mr.
Holler feared?”
Jessica’s pleas fell on deaf ears. His expression grim, Cole worked the reins and said not another word to her.
***
When they arrived back at the farm, the boys jumped out
of the buckboard, then huddled together. Approaching the
house with Ma, Jessica was appalled to watch the four
make a beeline toward the barn. “Where are you men
going?” she called out.
Billy whirled. “We’re gonna go rob Buck Lynch’s
stage.”
“What?” Jessica cried.
“He’s the one that got us in trouble with our women,
by bringing old Lummety out here,” asserted Gabe. “He’s
got it coming.”
“Yeah!” added Luke.
“No!” Jessica retorted, rushing toward them. “I thought
you boys promised me you’d give up your life of crime.
You can’t start backsliding now. You’ll lose everything.”
“We’ve already lost everything,” put in Gabe. “We’ve
lost our women.”
“Yeah, and Buck Lynch is gonna pay,” Billy added.
Jessica turned to Cole. “Please, stop them.”
He only shrugged. “Aw, let the boys blow off some steam while you females start packing.”
“Cole!” Wildly Jessica beseeched Ma. “Eula, please,
can’t you help?”
But Ma only shook her head. “Cole’s right. It’s too
late, now. Come on, Jessie, let’s pack.”
In a panic, Jessica whirled back toward the boys. But
Ma was right—it
was
too late. The boys had already disappeared inside the barn. She tried to entreat Cole again,
but the look on his face stopped her cold.
***
“It’s all over now,” Ma lamented. “All over now.”
When Jessica followed Ma into the house, she found
the morose woman mumbling these words, dirge-like, as
she swung her broom across the kitchen floor.
“Aren’t you going to do anything about the boys?”
Ma shrugged her shoulders. “What’s to be done now?”
“You could try to stop them from committing another
robbery and making things worse.”
“What’s the point? Cole is right that you never should have taken us into town to that church. You’ve gone to
meddling and made things much worse.”
“Do you think having your sons rob the stage will improve matters?”
“Can’t see how it makes much difference,” Ma muttered.
Jessica flung a hand outward. “So what would you
have us all do now?”
“We’ll pull up stakes and start over, just like we agreed.”
“And your boys will resume their life of crime?”
“Yeah, they probably will.”
Jessica regarded Ma in disbelief. “What has happened to you? I thought you were determined to reform your
boys.”
Ma glanced up, her bitter gray eyes meeting Jessica’s.
“I was till you went and broke all our hearts, till we found out what that town is really like. Them folks think they’re
all fine and good, but they’re narrow-minded hypocrites.
Now I’m plumb through fighting. And if you don’t want
to see Cole and the others in jail, I’d advise you to help
me start packing, missy.”
Jessica trudged off to her room and made a stab at
packing. A few minutes later, she spotted Cole sitting on
the front porch swing, and went outside to join him. Even though his expression remained remote, she tried again to
reach him. “Cole, please, go after your brothers. If you
don’t want to do it for me, go inside and look at your mother’s face. She’s heartbroken.”
Cole stood. “And who did that to her, Jessie?”
She stood, balling her hands on her hips. “Well, if I
did, it was with the best of intentions. I was trying to bet
ter all of your lives. I’m not going to apologize for that,
Cole Reklaw!”
He regarded her with suspicion and hurt. “Are you
coming with us?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think I know you anymore.”
He stepped closer, passion burning in his gaze. “Jessie,
you always knew me. You just wouldn’t accept me. At
heart, I’m an outlaw. We’re all outlaws.”
“I refuse to accept that.”
He shook his head resignedly. “I thought I could
change—that we could all change—but now I know
better.”
Hurt seared Jessica. “Do you? Well, I’m not leaving with a man I can’t respect.”
Tightening his jaw, he glanced away. “Look, I need to
get going again, go to the hideout and fetch our grubstake.”
“That’s right, Cole,” she replied harshly. “Run.”
They were regarding each other angrily when both
tensed at the sounds of hoofbeats. Jessica glanced off to the
west to see two buckboards approaching, stirring up dust.
“Looks like trouble,” Cole muttered. “I’ll fetch my
rifle.”
She grabbed his arm. “No, Cole, wait. Just look—it’s the Hicks and Holler families!”
He gazed ahead, doing a double take. “You’re right.”
He eyed her balefully. “Don’t look so happy, sugar. You
think they’re coming for coffee and apple pie?”
“If not, why are their daughters with them?” She
laughed and clapped her hands. “My heavens, Reverend
Bliss is there, too!”
Cole strained his neck. “Hot damn—woman, you’re
right.”
Both waited anxiously as the buckboards came to a
halt in the yard. The entire Hicks and Holler clans were present, as well as the reverend. And from the beaming
expressions on all the girls’ faces, Jessica knew this small caravan was bringing good news.
Joshua Hicks hopped out of the first conveyance, and
Henry Holler climbed out of the second. As the two men
approached the porch, Joshua turned back and said,
“Preacher, you wait with the women while we speak with
Clay.”
Bliss waved from the first buckboard. “Certainly,
Joshua.”
There was dead silence as the men climbed the steps.
“Clay,” Joshua said warily.
“Joshua,” Cole responded with equal caution. “So
where’s your brother-in-law, the sheriff?”
Joshua smiled sheepishly. “I think we were all a bit
hasty back at the church.”
“Yeah, Pa, you sure were!” called Dumpling.
As several of the women tittered, Joshua scowled at his
daughter. “Hush now, Dumpling, and let your pa handle
this.” He turned back to Cole. “Now, Clay—”
“Where’s Lummety?” Cole persisted.
Henry answered, “Gideon Mayhew is guarding him
for us.”
“So you men haven’t come to arrest us?” Cole inquired.
“Hell, no. We’ve come because . . . “ Lowering his
voice, Joshua confided, “Well, the girls wouldn’t give me
or Henry any peace unless we all came out here.”
“I see. What do you have in mind?”
“First, we want the truth from you,” said Henry.
“All right.”
“Are you boys the Reklaw Gang?” Joshua demanded.
Cole glanced at Jessica, then defiantly answered,
“Yeah, we are. What about it?”
Joshua eyed Cole sternly. “Now, Henry and me have
some mighty unhappy girls. They want to run off with your boys, and they swear if we don’t let ‘em, they’ll do
it on their own.” He sighed. “We know if we don’t let ‘em
go, we’ll lose ‘em. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but sooner or later we will.”
Henry added, “So Joshua and me figured we may as
well take charge of things and do this on our own terms.”
“What are your terms?” Cole asked.
“First, what are your brothers’ intentions?” Joshua
countered. “Where are you folks heading? What will
you do?”
“We’ll go as far as possible, maybe even
Wyoming
Territory
, and buy a big ranch.”
“And will you give up your lawless ways?” Henry
asked.
Glancing briefly at Jessica’s tense face, Cole replied, “I
think I can answer for myself and my brothers there. I
know I’d be willing to give up lawbreaking—for the love
of the right woman.” He looked again at Jessica, and
when she smiled back tenderly, eyes filled with forgive
ness, he broke into a grin.
The fathers consulted among themselves a moment,
then Joshua said, “All right, sir, here are our terms. We’ll allow our daughters to marry your brothers. But the boys
have to take a blood oath that they’ll never again break
the law. And once you move away, they have to let the
girls write their mothers, let them know where you are, so
we can all visit.”
Cole nodded. “Sounds fair enough.”
Jessica cleared her throat. “Cole, aren’t you forgetting
something?”
“What?” he asked blankly.
“The
boys,”
she said pointedly.
“Oh, the boys.” For once the masterful Cole went pale.
Joshua was glancing around. “Yeah, where
are
the
boys?”
With a cough, Cole recovered. “Actually, they were all
pretty upset and went for a ride to blow off some steam.
Jessie and me’ll go fetch ‘em—won’t we, darlin’?”
She glowered at him.
Cole turned toward the house and yelled, “Ma!”
Ma emerged on the porch with her broom, regarding
the visitors with anger and mistrust. “What are these
folks doing here?”
“They’ve had a change of heart,” Cole answered.
“Looks like we’ll be having us some weddings, after all.”
Ma dropped her broom and pressed her hands to her
sagging cheeks. “Oh, my stars!”
“Yeah,” Cole went on urgently. “I was just explaining
to Henry and Joshua how the boys went riding off to—
you know—blow off steam—”
“Yeah,” she agreed, grimacing.
“And how Jessie and me’ll go fetch ‘em back to be
with their ladies. Maybe you can entertain these folks while we’re gone?”