Tracie Peterson - [Land of the Lone Star 03] (7 page)

She shook her head. “No . . . and I don’t pretend to understand it all.”

Tyler started to say something, then shook his head. “I suppose nobody really understands. Seems to me like somethin’ could have been worked out a long time ago to let us all live together in peace.”

“I’m sure wrongs have been committed on both sides,” Carissa replied softly. “That’s usually how it goes.”

Tyler looked to where the children were playing and nodded. “I suppose that’s true enough. Still, there have been a lot of unprovoked raiding parties in the last few years. The Comanche and Kiowa seem bent on puttin’ an end to the white man’s existence. They’ve murdered a lot of innocent settlers—children, too.” He turned his gaze back on Carissa. “How would you feel if they killed Gloria and Daniel?”

The very thought caused her to stiffen in fear. She had heard accounts of babies being dashed onto the rocks and killed. She shook her head. “I wouldn’t want justice,” she finally said.

Tyler’s brows drew together. “I don’t believe you.”

She shrugged and fixed him with a hard stare. “I wouldn’t want justice. I would want revenge.”

For a moment neither said anything. Carissa couldn’t help but wonder if she’d angered Tyler by suggesting that his motives weren’t justice as much as a desire for payback. A part of her wanted to further the statement and let him know that she certainly didn’t fault him for wanting revenge. She could understand that passion—that need. Even if the very thought terrified her.

I
hope the rooms are to your liking,” Hannah said as she opened the door to the first bedroom. “Carissa, I thought this might work well for you and Gloria.”

Peering inside, Carissa found a small, but adequate, space. An iron-frame bed stood against one wall with a small oak nightstand beside it. Across the room was another larger table with a bowl and pitcher on top.

“It’s very nice,” Carissa said, nodding. “More than enough room for Gloria and me.”

“I had Will put the bed against the wall so that you could have Gloria on the inside. That way she won’t fall out at night.” Hannah smiled and turned to Laura. “Come, and I will show you to your room.”

Carissa wanted to follow after them, but didn’t. She knew Tyler would be coming along shortly to help Brandon bring up her things, and she wanted a chance to talk to him. Besides, she hadn’t been encouraged to join Hannah and her sister.

She walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. It felt comfortable enough. The mattress felt firm, but not hard. Carissa gave a sigh and closed her eyes for a moment. She was glad that Marty had taken the kids to play. Gloria had been so rambunctious that morning, and Carissa held little patience for her antics.

A noise drew her attention, and Carissa opened her eyes to find Tyler watching her from the doorway. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb your rest. You looked . . . well . . . you looked comfortable,” he said, setting down the two trunks he carried.

“I was just enjoying the quiet.” She got to her feet. “I had hoped to talk to you for a minute.”

He straightened and smiled. “I’ve always got time for a pretty lady.”

She frowned. “This is serious.”

“Is something wrong?” His tone took on an edge, suggesting he was all business.

“It’s just this . . . well . . . this whole Indian thing. I didn’t want to say anything to Brandon or Laura, for I know it’s already hard enough for Brandon to leave my sister in her condition.”

“So what is it that has you worried?”

Carissa drew a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I want you . . . I mean, I wonder if you would be willing to teach me to shoot. You mentioned it once before.”

His stance immediately relaxed. “Is that all?”

“I know you men plan to leave in the next two days, so that doesn’t afford us much time, but I want you to teach me what to look out for . . . what kind of signs we’d see if the Indians were going to attack.”

“You probably wouldn’t see any signs,” he replied. “They’re crafty that way. They know the land and how to survive on it. I’ve seen bands pick up in the middle of the night and slip right past the army. If they decide to attack this ranch, you probably won’t see it comin’.”

“Then how are we supposed to protect ourselves?” she asked.

Tyler considered the question for a moment. “I’ll take you out to shoot this afternoon. We can get a lot of practice in before I have to leave. Chances are you won’t need to worry. Like I said before, Hannah has earned the respect of the Comanche. Word among the tribes is that she’s a friend to the people.”

“And so they’ve never attacked this ranch?”

“No. They’ve taken things from time to time. Mostly a few steers and some horses. Will lets them, however. He feels that if he shows a willingness to overlook small thefts, the Indians won’t be inclined to make trouble.”

His words gave Carissa little comfort. “You will be gone for a very long time.”

“There will still be men here. Will’s got a good right-hand man in Juanita’s husband, Berto. And there will be others. You’ll be well looked after.”

“I couldn’t bear to lose Gloria.” Carissa’s words were choked as she fought her emotions. “I couldn’t bear to lose Laura or Daniel.”

Tyler stepped rather awkwardly toward her and started to put his hand to Carissa’s shoulder before pulling back. “I know, but don’t go borrowing trouble. Things have been peaceful here for a good while. With the war over and the army forts resupplied, the days of the Indian wars will soon come to a close.”

She trembled. “Do you really believe that?”

“I do. The Indians will either give up and go to live on the reservations, or the army will kill them. I don’t see that there will be much in the way of compromise.”

Tyler tried not to dwell on his earlier words to Carissa as he showed her how to handle the Henry repeating rifle. “Hold it tight against your shoulder,” he instructed. “It’s got a recoil to it.”

Carissa looked at him in confusion. “Recoil? Will it hurt?”

He looked at the petite woman trying hard to hold the rifle up and shook his head. “This is crazy. That rifle is almost bigger than you.”

“I can handle it,” she told him. He reached out to snug the rifle tighter against her shoulder.

“I’ve no doubt you can, but after a shot or two, you’re gonna be black and blue if you don’t keep that thing tight. Maybe it’d be better to teach you to fire a revolver.”

She relaxed the rifle at her side and narrowed her eyes. “I thought you said the range is shorter on the revolvers. If I am to be useful, I ought to be able to shoot a rifle.”

He laughed. “Honey, you’d stop any Indian in his tracks just by givin’ him that look.”

His comment obviously took her by surprise. Carissa’s mouth dropped open, and she giggled. “My father always said I could freeze a man in his steps with that look. Maybe it will come in handy.”

Hoisting the rifle back to her shoulder, Carissa nodded toward the cans Tyler had set up. “So now what?”

He came to stand behind her. “Sight in your target. Remember what I told you about this particular Henry.”

“Pulls to the right,” she said.

“So lean into it.” He steadied her arm. “Squeeze the trigger.”

To Tyler’s surprise, she wasted no time. The rifle discharged and she held her ground. He grinned. The shot missed the mark, but she was still standing. Better yet, she was looking at him with a smile to match his own, despite the cloud of gun smoke that rose between them.

“Can I do it again?”

Tyler thought that if he hadn’t already had feelings for Carissa, that simple statement would have won him over. “We can stay out here as long as you like.”

After another few shots, Carissa commented on the heat of the barrel. “It’s really warming up.”

He nodded. “It’ll do that. Some of the fellas in the war said they’d fire it in battle until it all but glowed red. Why don’t we rest for a few minutes and let it cool down?”

Carissa handed him the gun. “It isn’t as hard as I thought it’d be.”

Tyler laughed. “You haven’t hit the target yet.”

“I will.” She moved away to the shade of a sycamore and leaned against the trunk. “I’ll do what I have to in order to protect my daughter.”

He could hear the determination in her voice. How different she was from the flighty young girl he’d first met in Corpus Christi. It was sad, he thought. She had gone from one extreme to another.

“You know, there are other ways.” He crossed to where she stood fanning herself with a straw bonnet. The air was heavy, and Tyler figured they were due another storm before the day was out.

“Other ways of protecting? Don’t you think I know that?” She sounded offended. “I came to be with Laura instead of staying in Corpus. I could just as easily have remained there, but I knew it would be safer for Gloria here. At least I had hoped it would be. I had thought about how calm and peaceful it would be away from the city. Now I have to worry about whether or not we’re going to be attacked by Indians while you and the other men are off on some fool cattle drive.”

Tyler was surprised at the comment. “You think this drive is foolish?”

She met his gaze and nodded. “I didn’t at first, but once I started hearing about all the risks I changed my mind.”

“We didn’t make this decision lightly,” Tyler said, trying to choose his words carefully. “When William first talked to Mr. Terry, neither was convinced this was the best plan. Then they talked to other folks who had made the same trip. They considered other routes, as well. You really have no idea all the planning that went into this.”

“I suppose I don’t,” she said, her voice softening. She pointed to the sky. “It’s starting to cloud up. We’d better get back to my lessons.”

She started to walk past him, but Tyler reached out and took hold of her arm. “Carissa, you don’t have to put that wall between us. I don’t fault you for your fears, but I do want to help if I can.”

“I know, but . . .” She fell silent, and though Tyler waited for several minutes, she didn’t finish her thought. Instead she smiled. “Come on, I need to hit that target.”

That afternoon, Carissa sat with Hannah, Juanita, and Laura to discuss the distribution of chores. They had barely started when Juanita’s eighteen-year-old daughter, Pepita, joined them. She was quite the beauty, with long silky black hair and dark eyes.

“I’m sorry to be late,” she announced, taking her seat. “Andy, he wanted to show me the new foal.” She smiled and nodded to Hannah.

“That’s all right. We just settled down to business,” Hannah replied. “I took Mrs. Terry’s advice when she was last here.” Hannah handed a piece of paper to each woman. “She said we women would get along a whole lot better if we had a plan.” She paused. “I know this is difficult, and I’m not fooling myself to believe it won’t be hard without our fellas. The ranch is never the same with the men gone. However, there will be plenty of work, and we need to see to it that we benefit each and every family.”

Carissa took the paper offered her and looked at the schedule. It seemed simple enough. Each day was listed out and the chores were given with one or two names beside each duty.

“As the gardens flourish we will have more work to manage, with weeding and canning and such,” Hannah said, looking at her list. “But for now these are the main things we need to focus on. Juanita is in charge of the kitchen, but since we will still have some thirteen people to keep fed, what with us and our children and the remaining hands, she’ll need help. So each day I’ve assigned one of us to work with her. Carissa, I remember you saying you liked cooking, so I hope you don’t mind that I put you on cooking twice in the week. Pepita will double up as well and Sundays are less work because we try to prepare most everything on Saturday, so Juanita says she is good to work alone.”

Carissa nodded, looking at the paper. She was assigned to Mondays and Fridays. “Looks good.”

“Laura, you mentioned that you were quite handy with a needle, so I put you and Pepita on mending and sewing twice. Is that acceptable?”

“Absolutely,” Laura replied. “I’m impressed that you’ve managed this so neatly. I think it looks quite orderly.” Pepita nodded her approval.

Carissa studied the list for a moment. There were all the regular chores of milking, gathering eggs, gardening, washing and hanging out clothes, ironing, cleaning, cooking, and seeing to the children. But along with this were a few of the other tasks that normally would be assigned to the men, such as bringing in wood and water. She wondered why the remaining men on the ranch couldn’t handle those jobs.

“Berto and his men will be busy with the livestock, keeping watch of the place, and other jobs that keep the ranch running in a smooth fashion,” Hannah continued, as if reading Carissa’s mind. “The men have been working hard to put up enough wood that we shouldn’t have to worry about ordering any in or cutting it ourselves. However, we may find it necessary to split some of the wood from time to time.”

“Berto say he would keep the wood split,” Juanita offered. “He will see to it each night before bed.”

Hannah nodded. “I really appreciate that.” She flipped her paper over. “You’ll see on the back that we will also have some of those chores that aren’t done daily. We have soap to make, and I remember you saying that you were working on curtains and rugs for your new place, Laura.”

“Well, I hardly expect you to help with that,” Laura replied.

“We’ll work together. You’re helping me keep my ranch running, and in turn we will help you keep your farm running. I have arranged with Berto to have a detail of men go over to the farm once a week to check on everything. The important thing will be to ensure that no one has broken in or caused mischief. They will tend the garden, as well, although they weren’t too happy with that assignment.” She laughed and shrugged. “Will promised them a nice bonus, and that softened the blow.”