Dance With A Gunfighter (39 page)

"What a big, handsome boy he is," she murmured.
Then she turned to the family and welcomed them, giving a special smile to the
little girl hugging her father’s leg. "You must be hungry," she said
finally. "Let’s go get something to eat."

Although they barely understood her words, she could see
they understood her welcome. With a nod, they followed her to the front porch
where she introduced them to Chad.

After lunch she showed them to a spot near a thicket of
paloverde so close together rabbits could scarcely squeeze between them. On the
far side, they could pitch a tent and live in privacy. Building a wickiup might
cause some consternation if any neighbors happened to see it, but if they
wanted to, it was all right with her.

"Apaches, Gabe?" Chad said as soon as they were
alone. "Are you crazy? The people of Jackson have been good to
you--watching over you and me, and the ranch, through all this. They were upset
enough back when you had a gunfighter working for you, and they shake their
heads over you writing to the Army to go easy on that murdering Black Cloud.
But when they hear you’re sheltering escaped Indians, that might be too much.
It could turn them against you."

Gabe didn’t miss a beat as she looked through her yard
cloth to come up with something to make a new dress for Kaiya. The calico she
wore was little better than rags. She remembered how Kaiya had clothed and fed
her when she was alone and scared. "The townsfolk have been kind. But
Kaiya is my friend. She helped me through a terrible time. I was alone and
frightened, and I don’t know what I would have done were it not for her
gentleness and cheerfulness. Now she and her family need my help. I can’t turn
them away."

"Some Apache are killing settlers not far from
Susan’s home," Chad said. "Johnny Henderson’s regiment is heading out
near Safford to try to capture some trouble-makers over that way. To the
townfolk, they’re the enemy."

"Anybody who tries to hurt them will have to get past
me first."

Chad shook his head. "You know they won’t do that.
They’re worried about you out here alone."

"You’re here."

"Yeah, a lot of help I am to you."

"You are a help. And Manolo and Kaiya will be a
tremendous help."

"You are the most stubborn woman!"

"Look at this place. I need Manolo now that McLowry’s
gone. And Kaiya can help me make enough butter and cheeses to sell in
town."

"McLowry might come back," Chad said.

She turned back to the yard cloth. "No."

"What happened between you two in Tombstone? I would
have thought that, with you getting hurt, he would have mother-henned you more
than ever."

She thought of Jess out there, somewhere, trying to find
Tanner. "In his way, he still is," she said.

Chad sighed with resignation, and said goodnight.

o0o

One night, loud squawks and cries from the hen house woke
Gabe with a start. She grabbed her rifle and ran outdoors, to find that Manolo
had already reached it. A coyote mother and her cubs scampered towards the open
desert. The full moon made them an easy target. Manolo lifted his rifle.

"No!" Gabe said. "Let them go. I like
listening to their night songs."

Manolo shook his head and went to repair the chicken
coop--the coyotes had dug under the fence to get inside.

One of the cubs had lagged behind the others, and when
they disappeared into the night, the cub stumbled then lay down as if dead.

Gabe ran toward it. It was a little thing, a male, his
nose still squashed flat like a newborn’s, and his body chubby and soft from
mother’s milk. She saw that he still breathed, but his eyes were shut. As she
stood there, he opened his eyes, and tried to get up, then lay back down with a
whimper.

"What is it, little fellow?" she whispered
soothingly. One paw was swollen twice its normal size, and the pad looked
inflamed. The cub cried out as she touched it. Peering closer, she saw that it
was badly infected. "Looks like we’re going to have to get you inside to
fix that up," she said, trying to calm him by gentle pats. The cub was too
sick to do more than pay her scant attention, and she picked him up and carried
him into the house.

Kaiya came running to see what Gabe was carrying.

"Come inside with me, we’ve got a sick pup
here," Gabe said.

Kaiya looked back at Manolo and both shrugged in
disbelief.

Gabe put the whimpering cub on the kitchen table, got some
bandages, iodine and hot water. As she washed the foulness from the paw, she
spotted a cactus needle embedded in the pad. Chad held the snarling cub down as
Gabe took hold of the thorn and began to pull. It was incredibly long, sharp
and hard. The pain must have been excruciating. With Chad and Kaiya’s help,
Gabe lanced, cleaned then bandaged the paw as best she could.

As Gabe worked, Kaiya told her that in Indian legend, the
coyote was a trickster. He was born before the start of creation, both the
oldest enemy of man, and man’s friend. His stories have both wisdom and humor,
and he teaches us to laugh at ourselves.

That was good, Gabe thought. She could use some laughter,
and some wisdom. She made up a bed of old blankets and cloths in a corner of
her bedroom, and lay the cub down. Poor little guy had passed out between the
pain and being handled in a way he couldn’t begin to understand. She decided to
call him Thorn.

o0o

Gabe and Chad managed to keep Manolo and Kaiya’s existence
unknown to the townspeople for over two months. During that time, they’d even
managed to celebrate Christmas together. Gabe put up a little juniper tree that
she’d decorated with red ribbons and candies. She did it for Chad and for Kaiya
and Manolo’s daughter, as well as for herself. She wanted to have a real
Christmas to celebrate the joy of life. It was hard, though. Very hard.

One January morning, the owner of the neighboring ranch,
John Whitney, came to visit with three of his men riding with him.

Gabe stepped out of the house, her rifle in hand.

"Hey there, Gabe," Whitney said.

"Hello, Mr. Whitney. This is a rare treat. How are
things at the Triple X?"

"Could be better."

"Want to come in out of the cold and tell me about
it? I’ve got coffee."

"This isn’t a friendly visit, Gabe. I’m here because
of stories some of the boys have been telling me. They’ve been out on the
range, near your cattle, and they’ve seen an Indian out there tending them. I
told them it couldn’t be. We don’t let Indians on our land around here. But
they insisted. So, I thought I’d come over here. You can tell me how they’re
wrong, and what’s really going on."

"I have two friends living on my property, helping me
with my cattle. Last year, they saved my life. I owe them, and I like
them."

"They’re Indians."

"They’re friends first. This is my property, Whitney.
I can have whomever I want here with me. And those I don’t want, I run
off."

His jaw tightened. "You’re making a mistake, Gabe.
What you’re doing isn’t smart. It’ll cut you off from the town, from the people
you need."

"Won’t be the first time, Whitney. Probably not the
last, either."

He pointed at her, his eyes flinty. "They’re your
responsibility. Just make sure you keep them in line."

She crossed her rifle in front of her, holding the stock
in one hand, resting the barrel on the crook of her arm. "I have no
worries on that score, Whitney. Just make sure you do the same with your men. I
don’t want them where they might cause trouble, or get hurt."

He stared hard at her, and she stared right back,
unflinching. Finally, he turned and rode away, his men behind him.

Gabe turned back to the house to find Kaiya standing in
the doorway. The woman’s black eyes were frightened as she gazed at the riders,
but filled with gratitude as she looked back at Gabe. Gabe realized that Kaiya
had understood, despite her smattering of English.

"I’m sorry," Gabe said.

Kaiya shook her head, then patted Gabe’s shoulder.

o0o

The days grew colder.

One night, Chad sat in his wheelchair, Gabe on a rocker,
enjoying the warmth of the fireplace. Chad reached over and took her hand in
his. "I’ve decided to leave Jackson," he said.

She nodded, her throat thick and aching. She had expected
that this decision was coming--she’d seen the letters and telegrams back and
forth between Chad and the facility in Denver where he’d gone after his
operation. Robert Weylach, the owner of the home, had written to Chad often
over the months. Clearly, he realized that within the depressed, silent young
man who’d come to him months ago, there was a highly intelligent person who,
with a little help, could truly make something of himself.

When Chad expressed a wish to study law--to do the kind of
work in which his wheelchair-bound existence wouldn’t hold him back--Weylach
had offered to help. He had connections with colleges and special work-study
programs and convinced the University of Colorado to take Chad on, and to give
him a position at the school library to help pay tuition. Weylach would allow
Chad to live at the home until such time as Chad was able to afford better
accommodations. It had all come together.

"How soon?" she asked.

"Next week."

Chad had written to Susan Flint and told her what he was
thinking about doing. Today, he’d received her answer encouraging him, and
reminding him not to forget about her when he was in Denver with all those
beautiful big-city women. He told Gabe about Susan’s letter. "She’s just a
child, Gabe. It’s madness for me to care what she says or thinks or
feels."

"When she’s eighteen, you’ll be twenty-four--and well
on your way to becoming a lawyer. That’s when you need to really worry about
what she says or thinks or feels. Just promise yourself one thing," she
said.

"What’s that?" he asked, curious.

"That if you do meet some big-city woman and you
think you’re in love with her, wait. Give Susan a chance. That’s all she’s
asking for--for you to wait until she’s grown up, and for the two of you to
meet again at that time. From what I’ve seen of that girl’s heart and her
mettle, I think that if you don’t wait, it might be the biggest mistake of your
life."

Gabe could almost see him thinking back to the days Susan
had spent on the ranch with him. Slowly, a grin spread over his face.
"What’s two years? Besides, I’ll be too busy studying to pay attention to
anyone else."

The two laughed, but then his eyes turned serious.
"What about you, sis? Do you really want to stay out here, with just Kaiya
and Manolo and their kids? What about your own life, your own family?"

"This is home. I don’t want to leave."

"Are you happy?"

She looked over her land and smiled, her eyes full of love
as she turned to her brother. "I’ll abide."

He nodded. "You don’t have to say it. You love
McLowry, and he’s all you can think about. Say, weren’t you only sixteen or
seventeen when you first met him? Like Susan?" Then he shook away the
thought and turned his twinkling eyes on her. "You moped around here like
a sick puppy for days after that."

"I did not!"

"I’m afraid you’re wrong there, sis," Chad said.
"But now I’m worried about you. I wasn’t going to say anything until more
time had passed, to give you time to forget about him. With me leaving, though,
I’ve got to tell you what I feel."

She shut her eyes, not wanting to hear.

"He was a gunfighter," Chad said. "I
thought he’d given that up--he had me fooled when he was on the ranch. But I
see now that he can’t settle down. I don’t want you to waste your life waiting
for him to change. I don’t think he can. He won’t be back, Gabe."

His words were like a physical blow. "I know he
won’t."

He held her hand. "You’ve got to forget about
him."

She shook her head. "I can’t." There were things
she would never tell Chad--how she had lost their baby, and how, because of
her, Jess had returned to the life he loathed and was once again hunting a man.

Chad stared at her. "I love you, little sister. Come
with me to Denver. Start over, meet new people, new friends. It’ll be
best."

Her heart was heavy. "This is home."

"I don’t want to think of you here wasting your life,
pining for a man who doesn’t care enough to be with you."

She stared down the long road that led to the house. The
old flappy-tongued saguaro was just a fuzzy haze on the horizon. "Maybe he’s
not here because he cares too much."

"That doesn’t make any sense! Come with me, Gabe. I
don’t want to leave you. Maybe I shouldn’t go either, I don’t know."

Her eyes flashed. "Don’t you ever say anything like
that, Chad Devere! Don’t you dare. I’m so proud of the opportunity you’ve been
given, and the brain in that hard head of yours that got you there, why, I can
hardly sit still for wanting to hug you all the time! You go on up to
Denver." She stared at him a long time, her chest full and aching. "Tell
you what, I’ll promise to come visit after you’ve been up there a while. After
you get your studies underway, and life has settled down enough to grow routine
and a little bit boring. That’s when I’ll come up and disrupt everything for
you, okay?"

"You’re one to do that, that’s for sure," Chad
said with a laugh.

"Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, Chad. I can take
care of myself."

"I know. That’s one of things I love about you."

Then he said goodnight, and left her sitting by the fire
with only her thoughts.

o0o

By late spring, when the days were turning warm, Thorn had
doubled in size. At times, he’d follow Gabe around like a dog, understanding
and obeying her commands, sleeping on the floor beside her bed at night. At
other times, he’d roam far, sometimes staying away for a day or two, but then
showing up and demanding to be petted. Always, he was cunning, sneaky and
willful, and at the same time playful and affectionate. Despite herself, Gabe
loved him, even when Manolo brought her an armful of dead hens, killed by Thorn
not for hunger but for the sheer sport of it. Manolo dropped the birds at her
feet, frowning and shaking his head.