Distraction (21 page)

Cade glanced back over his shoulder at me and then
turned back to Jackson. “Try me.”

“Some of Williamson’s herd found their way back into
our pasture.

Cade looked back at me again. “Any idea how that
might be?”

I shrugged.

Jackson could not have looked more perplexed. “Why on
earth would Poppy know how those cows got there?”

Cade strode past his bewildered friend. “Just a
hunch.”

I would have given anything to spend the rest of the
evening alone in my room under the covers of the bed. I needed time
to clear my head and decide where to go next.

Libby caught me on the way inside, and she flashed me
a pleading look. “I know I told you to rest, but I could really use
a hand in the kitchen. Charlotte went back—” She truly looked at me
now for the first time. “Is everything all right, Poppy? It looks
like you’ve been crying.”

“I’m fine, Libby. Just a little tired. You were
right. I should have gone in to take a nap.” How badly I wished I’d
chosen that option instead of the ride. “I’d be happy to help you,
but you’ll have to excuse me from supper tonight. I find that I’m
really not myself this evening.”

“Don’t worry about helping me then. Go up and get in
bed. I can finish on my own.”

“Are you certain? I could lend a hand if you need
it.”

She put her arm around my shoulder and turned me
toward the stairs. “Go right up to bed, and I’ll bring you some tea
later.” She stopped and pressed her hand against my forehead. “I
hope you’re not catching a cold.”

“No, I’ll be fine after I rest.”

“I hope so. I need to go into town tomorrow. I
thought we’d step in to see Susan about a few more dresses,” she
said enthusiastically.

Tears burned the back of my eyes again. When had I
fallen so in love with this ranch, this life, this family, and
Cade? The same dreary feeling of homesickness I’d felt after
leaving Salem came over me as I thought about leaving Montana. Now
I had no home anywhere. “I really don’t need another dress, Libby.
However, if possible, can we see about sending that telegraph to
Salem after all? I think I need to send some kind of a message to
my grandmother. It is time she came to get me.”

Libby’s face dropped, and she looked truly
disappointed. I could not take hurting anyone else on this horrid
day. I leaned toward her and kissed her cheek before running up the
stairs to my room. I shut the door behind me and fell face first
onto the bed to have a good, long cry.

Dawn seeped past the edges of the curtains, and I
threw my arm across my eyes to thwart the stabbing pain of the
light. No dinner, a bottle of whiskey, and a sleepless night were
the perfect ingredients for a hellish morning. The firewater had
done nothing to help me understand and absorb what had happened.
And while Poppy’s confession helped explain her sudden appearance,
the cow hopping up, and the barbed wire flying over me, it was
still too much to believe. Witches lived in books, fairytales, and
nightmares and they certainly never looked like Poppy. And while
I’d never touched or kissed a witch, I was fairly sure they didn’t
have silken skin and luscious lips like her either.

I’d attempted to dull my senses with whiskey all
night only to realize that I could not wash the girl from my mind.
Even after all she’d told me, it took me only several hours steeped
in liquor and my own misery to realize that the worst part of it
all was the possibility that I would lose her for good.

An abrupt knock on my door sounded like a cannon
going off in my head. “Those cattle aren’t going to take themselves
home,” Samuel said through the closed door.

With all the extraordinary revelations of the
afternoon, I’d completely forgotten about the mysterious cattle
appearance. While the other incidences had occurred when Poppy was
trying to help me, a fact that was not lost on me and gave me
absurd pleasure even though it had all been done with some
unexplained sorcery, there was no reason for her to move
Williamson’s cows to my pasture. This time, I would check his fence
myself. But first I needed to drag my ass out of bed and find
Poppy. I had no idea what to say to her, or how she would react, or
if she’d even talk to me, but I had to see her.

The last person I needed to see when I’d finally
hauled myself downstairs was Charlotte, but she seemed to be the
only person left in the house. The judgmental glare she shot me was
nearly enough to send me back upstairs. I ignored her as I poured a
cup of coffee. Libby had left some biscuits and eggs on the stove,
but as appetizing as Libby’s food was, this morning it held little
appeal.

Charlotte was the only person around, so I had no
choice. “Where’s Libby?” Of course the entire goal of my question
was to find out where Poppy was.

“She went to town.” Apparently, the normally
talkative Charlotte had little to say today.

“Alone?”

“No.”

I downed the coffee and poured a second cup.

“Bad night?” Charlotte asked.

I swallowed back the second cup. “You could say
that.” I dropped the cup in Libby’s wash basin and headed
outside.

I pushed the brim of my hat as low as possible to
keep direct sunlight from hitting my eyes, but there was little I
could do to dull the pain in my head . . . and my heart. All of the
earth shattering revelations of the day before paled next to the
notion that I would lose Poppy for good.

***

Once again, I found myself sitting on my horse
weeding my neighbor’s cattle out from our herd. Once again, his
animals were agitated and wandered around aimlessly as if they’d
been dropped there by a tornado. Once again, there seemed to be no
explanation for how they’d gotten there.

Jackson ran after one of the animals. It bucked and
kicked like a wild bull. “I don’t know what Williamson is feeding
his herd, but these beasts are all crazy.” Winslow stopped and
pivoted on his back hooves to the right and the cow had no other
choice except to head into the corner where the rest of
Williamson’s misfits stood. “Are you going to check his fence today
when we drive these underweight cows back home? I mean this is
getting old.”

I peeled two more off the herd and sent them
scurrying toward Jackson. “Even if he does have a break in his
fences, our fences are secure. So unless these silly cows know how
to open gate latches there is no explanation for how they got
inside our pastures.” I rode toward him. “That’s the last one.”

Jackson’s cheeks were puffed out from hiding a grin.
“Maybe your guardian angel thought you need a bigger herd, and she
brought them over here.”

My face must have shown a much starker reaction than
he’d expected. His cheeks flattened. “I was only kidding, Cade.
Besides, I know she’s not an angel. She just looks like one.”

“Yep. Let’s get these cows home. I just hope we don’t
run into Mitchell again. If we do, this time he might just want to
keep his palm on his pistol.”

We were not a hundred yards past the ranch’s eastern
border when we spotted four riders heading toward us through the
cloud of dust. I recognized Williamson and his son immediately.
Deputy Carson rode with them looking smug and all together too
happy. The fourth man was dressed head to toe in black and had a
snarl that would scare his own grandmother. After Perkin’s brief
description, I could only assume the fourth rider was the new
marshal.

“What have we got here?” Jackson muttered. “The
posse?”

A confrontation with Williamson and the law was the
last thing I needed this morning. “Looks like we’re going to be
invited to a lynching,” I said. Jackson’s worried face snapped
toward me and I regretted my jest. “Just let me do the talking,
Jacks.”

Carson tipped his hat at us. “Boys.”

“Deputy.”

“Uh, actually it’s Sheriff Carson now, and this is
Marshal West. He’s taking over John’s post. I guess you heard.”

“I heard,” I answered. “I was sorry to hear.” I gave
a cursory glance toward the stranger and knew instantly I didn’t
trust him. “So they promoted you to sheriff, eh Carson? Are they
gonna give you a bigger star?”

“Quiet, Tanner. We’re here on official business.”
Carson could not contain a grin.

The new law man pulled the cigarette from his mouth
and squinted through the smoke at the cattle. “I understand you’ve
been taking some of this man’s herd.”

Jackson gasped in disbelief. The look I shot him
sealed up his mouth before he blurted something we’d both
regret.

“Actually, Marshal,” I leaned my arm across my
pommel, “after I was done clearing these trespassing animals off my
land, I was going to ride into town to lodge a complaint. This
man’s cows keep wandering in to my pastures. They’re eating my
grass, and with this drought, I don’t have any to spare.”

Williamson’s eyes grew wide, and he straightened in
his saddle. “Why, you lying, two-bit thief.”

I waved my arm over the cows. “Look at these pathetic
creatures, Marshal. Even the buzzards would have a hard time
finding anything to eat on them.”

Marshal West lifted his face. His lips were drawn
tight, and the look on his face told me he would gladly string me
up from the nearest trees, guilty or not. This was not a lawman who
wasted time with thought and reason. This was a lawman who threw a
rope around a man’s neck just for the pleasure of his hearing the
bones snap in two. And from the looks of it, it was my neck he
wanted in that noose.

“Shit,” Jackson muttered beneath his breath. He’d
obviously come to the same conclusion.

The marshal looked at the cattle and then lifted his
face. “So, you’re walking up the road with another man’s cows, and
you’re claiming you didn’t steal them.” His voice was hard and
cold, and it became clear that I was going to jail today one way or
another.

Appealing to my neighbor was my only chance.
“Williamson, come on. You knew my dad. You two built your ranches
up at the same time. When have we ever taken your cattle? Why the
hell would we start now?”

For a moment it seemed I’d gotten to Williamson. His
mouth twisted to the side, and he seemed to be considering the
logic of my statement. He looked at his son. “Tanner’s got a point,
Mitch. We’ve been neighbors a long time. Why would he start
stealing from us?”

“Doesn’t explain how the cows got over in his
pasture,” Mitchell said.

“Well, I suppose we’re going to have to check out our
fence line,” Williamson said. The old man always had more sense
than the son. For a fleeting second I thought I’d talked my way out
of the trouble, but then I glanced toward the town’s new
marshal.

The man shook his head and took a long drag on his
cigarette. He blew out several rings and then a silent laugh shook
his shoulders. “Why, if that isn’t the stupidest thing I’ve ever
heard in all my years as a lawman.”

“What do you mean?” Williamson asked.

In my mind, I wondered just how quickly I’d hang for
shooting a U.S. Marshal right off his horse’s back.

“These two men are walking down the road with your
cattle.” An angry, mocking chuckle spurted from his mouth around
the end of his cigarette. “They couldn’t look anymore guilty if
they had the words
cattle thief
tattooed across their
foreheads.”

Carson was obviously awestruck by his new boss. He
still hadn’t lost the stupid grin.

Williamson, who was never a bright man, seemed to
mull over the marshal’s suggestion. His son had obviously been
swayed, and he decided to coax the old man along.

“Marshal West is right, Pop. And this isn’t the first
time it’s happened.”

“Why the hell would we bring ‘em back to you?”
Jackson asked.

“I don’t know what your thinking was, all I know is
you’ve been stealing from us,” Mitchell nearly spit out the words.
His father looked convinced.

I glanced over at Marshal West. The same chilling
expression remained as if his face were frozen. It seemed to bother
him plenty that his cold, calculating scowl had no effect on me.
But he’d come out here to arrest cattle thieves, and he’d made it
clear he was not going back to town empty-handed.

“I’ll go in,” I said. “But you’re not judge and jury
out here
Marshal.
That shiny star doesn’t give you the right
to convict me. I want the judge out here in the next week. I have a
ranch to run.” I looked over at Jackson, who looked several shades
paler and close to retching. “Jackson had nothing to do with this.
He was only following my orders. My brother has nothing to do with
the tending the herd either. So you leave him out of this.”

Jackson’s mouth dropped open as he looked at me. “I’m
not letting them take you in alone, Cade.”

“He’s standing here with the stolen cattle too.” The
sheriff tossed his cigarette to the ground. “Looks like a thief to
me.”

I returned the unflinching stare. “Look Marshall,
it’s obvious you didn’t ride out here to investigate things. For
some reason, you rode out with the sole purpose of dragging my ass
back to that pitiful jailhouse. I don’t know if Carson, here, put
you up to it, or if you just decided you needed someone in that
cell so that the townsfolk knew you meant business, but you’ve got
me.” I looked over at Williamson, who seemed to be shrinking down
in the saddle as if he was having regrets. Once again, the old man
was my only chance. “Tell ‘em, Williamson, that Jackson has nothing
to do with this.”

“Tanner’s right, Marshall. The kid just lives at the
ranch and helps out. No need to arrest him too.” His voice wavered
some, and for a moment, I held out hope that he would drop the
charges.

Marshal West must have sensed it too. He shot orders
at Carson before Williamson could change his mind. “Take his guns
and tie his hands. The kid can take Tanner’s horse back to the
ranch. I prefer thieves walk to the jailhouse. Gives them less
opportunity to make a run for it.”