“Not that I wouldn’t have wanted to handle you more,” he added.
“The problem is, I am quite certain you did handle me more,” Callie emphasized.
“If that is the case, why have you waited so long to bring it up?” Cooper asked.
“Because…because it has been bothering me all this time, and I needed to know.”
“Well, now you know. I dried you off and took you to your bed. If you were thinking it was something else, perhaps it was because that is what you wished I had done,” Cooper accused.
“You are being absurd,” Callie frowned. “It makes me worry that I can’t trust you, Cooper. You brought the wine and prepared the tub. I believe you were hoping to put me in a position where you could take advantage of me.”
Cooper stood up abruptly, knocking his hat off of the couch.
“I never planned such a thing. I just wanted to do something nice for you. I resent you accusing me of….”
“You can’t deny it, Cooper. Both, you and I know what happened that night, and I am afraid I am going to have to ask you to leave, after the cattle drive.”
“If you are so sure, I used you, you would have accused me the very next morning. I am just wondering what brought this on now… unless…”
He stepped closer to Callie, kneeling down in front of her, and placing his hand on her stomach.
“You have a little part of me in there, don’t you?” he said softly.
Callie jumped up, swiping Cooper’s hand aside.
“You can either, go on the drive, and earn your percentage of the profit from the cattle sale, or you can leave now, and I will pay you an extra month’s wages. It is your choice,” Callie growled.
“You aren’t going to get rid of me that easily. If You are going to have my child, you might as well agree to marry me, here and now. If not, I will tell the boys, and everyone else in the region, how I caught you red-handed letting that Comanche have you, and it’s his little papoose you have inside of you.”
“That is ridiculous! Chayton has not been back here since that one time in the barn.”
“Doesn’t matter, I caught you at it once, and I must tell you, the view over the stall door was quite a sight. Don’t look so shocked. I barely got out of the barn, before you left the stall. Only that heathen could have come back several times over since then, and unless you admit I am the father of your child, who, do you think everyone else will believe the father is? Especially, after it is born and bears the look of a Comanche since Comanche blood runs through my veins.”
Cooper gave Callie a steady glare.
“You know how the people round these parts hate the Comanche. The only reason they accept me is because my mother was raped by them, and she had no choice in the matter. However, you are a whole different story. You wanted that Indian’s hands all over you. It could have been his seed inside of you, growing, had you conceived back then.”
“If that is how you wish to approach this, you might as well leave today,” Callie hissed.
Cooper merely laughed.
“Hell, Callie, I wouldn’t even have to say anything to anyone, and they would end up shunning you, the moment you started looking in a mothering way. They know you aren’t married. How many choices do you think they will consider you had? They will either suspect me, or your Indian friend. Now I’m not one to back out on my responsibilities, so you might as well make the best of it, and accept my offer.”
“For all I know, you took advantage of me, hoping I would conceive; giving you the opportunity to acquire this ranch legally. For that very reason, I would rather blame it on Chayton, than give you any credit! You can say what you please, but I would rather have Chayton beside me, than the likes of you! At least, he has honor, and never tried to force himself on me, or take advantage of me, otherwise.”
“If that is how you want it. You might as well get my next month’s wages ready, and pay the boys off too, because, by the time I leave here, they will all be coming with me. They went to a lot of trouble to save you from that Indian, and then you welcome him back here! Once they learn the truth, they will wipe their feet of this place. There are plenty of other ranches needing drovers to help them drive their cattle to market. Good luck on getting your cattle there now!”
“Fine!” Callie spat.
Cooper bent and scooped up his hat up from the floor, and jammed it down on his head.
“And if you think you are going to get Mr. Prichard to help you; I plan to stop at his spread, and inform him of the situation as well. He will probably never set foot on your ranch again, along with all the other ranchers around these parts.”
“I should have expected that is the kind of person you were. I trusted you, Cooper, and now I see you are no better than Chet!”
“Yes, I know how you hated Chet. Only you don’t have to mourn his death, now that you have everything Chet worked his whole life for!” Cooper replied.
“For what Chet put me and my sister through, I deserve it! With or without you, or any other rancher, I am going to make something out of this ranch, even if I have to do it all myself!”
“Good luck with that!” Cooper sneered, as he headed for the door, slamming it behind him, after he passed through.
Callie stood before the door, looking through the oval window at Cooper’s back, as he strode down the path, heading towards the bunkhouse. She may end up regretting this, she thought, but allowing Cooper to remain, after what he had done, and the fact she was going to end up giving birth to his offspring, was something she refused to accept. She straightened her shoulders, and pulled the door open, stiffly walking to the cabin, where she pulled out her cash box and her ledger book.
Callie carried both to the bunkhouse, where she could hear Cooper talking to the drovers. When she opened the door, all eyes turned towards her.
“Cooper has decided to leave us,” Callie stated. “I don’t know what he is telling you, but you have the choice to stay and help with the drive, or leave with him. If he has told you of my relationship with the Comanche Indian who took me, it is true. I won’t deny it, because Chayton treated me fairly, although he took our cattle, and me and the children along with them. Even so, he never harmed me, and he trusted me with his son. However, Cooper has overstepped his bounds, by using me in a vile manner, while I had no way to refuse his actions. You can believe what you want, but if you choose to leave, tell me now, so I can pay you, and you can pack your gear, and leave my ranch.”
“We don’t appreciate Indian lovers,” Randy said in a low voice. “That buck killed your husband, and took you captive, and you agreed to allow his hands on you? It is disrespectful to your dead husband.”
“I did not love my husband. In fact, I despised him, but I suffered with him since I had no choice. It was an arranged marriage I could not get out of. Therefore, I don’t care about disrespecting him. He was the cause of my sister’s death, and I have no remorse over his death!”
“All you wanted was his ranch,” Ted accused.
“I didn’t want any part of this ranch, but when he died, I was stuck with it. Now it is mine, and I can run it however I see fit. It is none of your concern who I choose as my friends, but if you wish to judge me, that is on your own head.”
“We risked our lives going after those heathens, and so did the other ranchers who helped us,” Buster complained. “Then you save that heathen’s life? It is like a slap in the face!”
“I couldn’t just watch him die. He did not plan to kill Chet. Chet fired at the Indians first.”
“As well as he should have,” Sam pointed out. “If some Indian raiders show up at your spread, it is natural to defend it.”
“They only wanted a milk cow. They were willing to trade a horse for it, so it wasn’t like they intended to raid the ranch. Only when Chet fired his rifle at them, all bets were off, and they decided to take what they wanted. Had Chet just traded the cow, nothing would have happened.”
“You don’t know that. In
juns have been known to trade things, and then come during the night and not only take back what they traded but everything else they could get their hands on. You’re from a big city. You haven’t lived out here long enough to discover how untrustworthy those savages are,” Randy accused.
“I am not going to argue with you about it. It is up to you if you wish to stay. Otherwise, I will pay you all, and you can find work elsewhere,” Callie stated.
“How about it, boys, you coming with me or staying with this Indian lover?” Cooper asked.
“Considering you are half Indian, yourself, you don’t have much justification to make that statement,” Callie accused. “After all, you wanted me to love you! You accuse the Comanche of being underhanded and untrustworthy, but if that is the case, then you can count yourself as lower than they are, since you claimed to be civilized, and have proved that you aren’t. You took advantage of me in a way, which Chayton has never done.”
“You boys coming?” Cooper bellowed as he glared at Callie.
“As soon as we get our pay,” Randy stated.
Callie opened her cash box, and handed out their pay, as she wrote down the transactions in her ledger.
“I will be sorry to see you all go,” Callie told them. “Seeing as how you judge me, while not putting any blame on Cooper, it is better you leave, though.”
Callie turned and left the bunkhouse. She was shaking so drastically, that she could barely hold onto the cash box and ledger.
“Are you leaving too?” she asked Mr. Daniels as he walked up beside her.
“Lean on me ma’am,” he said, putting Callie’s arm through his elbow. “I have no feud with you. Don’t even know what this is all about, but if you want me to remain, I am willing to do so. They say you’re an Indian lover, but I lived with the Indians for a time in my younger days, and I learned to appreciate their ways. Our government has treated them badly. It is no wonder they are retaliating.”
“What am I going to do, Mr. Daniels, if I can’t get the cattle to market?”
“Ask Mr. Prichard to help. He likes you well enough.”
“Only he hates the Indians as much as the rest of the ranchers,” Callie informed him.
“At least give it a try. All he can say is no, and if that is his answer, then we will just have to figure it out on our own.”
“I’ll go see him tomorrow,” Callie sighed. “In the meantime, would you mind coming up to the house and helping me with the furniture?”
“No problem there, ma’am,” Mr. Daniels smiled.
“You can call me Callie,” she told him, as they walked up the path towards the house.
“We can help too,” Connor called when he saw the two heading towards the new house. “Why are Cooper and the others leaving?”
“I will tell you later. Come on then, I can use all the help I can get.”
Callie and Mr. Daniels walked arm and arm, leading ahead of Connor and the girls.
“I’m going to start paying you double,” Callie told Mr. Daniels.
“No need for that,” he chuckled.
“Doesn’t matter, I am going to do it anyway,” Callie promised, and Mr. Daniels patted her hand.
As it turned out, Callie did not have to go visit Mr. Prichard. The next morning, he arrived at her front door.
She and the children had moved into the new house, the evening before after they had arranged all the furniture, and she told Mr. Daniels, he could have the cabin to live in.
When Callie heard the knock at her door, she thought it was Mr. Daniels needing something. However, when she looked through the window of the door, she saw it was Hank, standing there, with his hat in his hand.
“Hello, Hank,” she murmured. “I was planning on coming out to see you today,” she informed him.
“Cooper stopped by. He had an unbelievable story to tell me, so I came to discover the truth of it,” Hank responded.
“Come in and have some coffee,” Callie offered. “I just finished making a pot. The babies are still sleeping, and the children are out doing their chores.”
“Thank you, Callie,” he said, hanging his hat on the hook in the entrance way.
They sat down at the kitchen table, and Callie poured them both a cup of coffee.
“I am going to tell you the truth, Hank. You may not like it, but at this point, I am through trying to please others.”
Callie began relating the story about Chayton, and how she had saved his life and ended up falling in love with him. Then she went on to explain what Cooper had done and that she feared she was carrying Cooper’s child, but she refused to marry him.
“That makes it kind of difficult on you,” Hank murmured. “You don’t have anyone to work your ranch, and no father for your future child. What do you plan to do?”
“I am not sure, but I will not marry Cooper, after how he used me. I’ve managed so far.”
“Only that was when you had the drovers working your ranch.”
“I was hoping maybe you would be able to help me out, and let me borrow a couple of your men.”
Hank shook his head.
“I would love to do that, Callie, only I have my own cattle to drive to market. My men don’t like the Comanche any more than anyone else in this area. There is just too much bad blood between the Indians and the ranchers. However, there is one way it could be done.”
“How?” Callie asked anxiously.
“Well, if your ranch was a part of my ranch, your cattle would be considered mine as well. We could drive all the cattle to market together.”
“I am not selling you my ranch,” Callie protested.
“Like I told you before, I don’t want to buy your ranch. I want you to join me, by becoming my wife.”
“I’m sorry, Hank,” but I don’t love you. I just got through telling you how much I love Chayton.”
“Chayton can’t help you. The government is rounding up all the Comanche and Kiowa and putting them on a reservation. Once they get the renegades to come down from the hills, they will be sending them to prison. I doubt you are ever going to see Chayton again. If he is a part of those rogue Indians, he will end up being sent to prison, or possibly hung. If he isn’t, he will be regulated to his reservation. If he leaves it, they will consider him a criminal.”
“There are other Indians farming off the reservation,” Callie pointed out.
“Because they were farming before all this Indian trouble began. Either they were wives of trappers, or had white women as their wives. Some worked for the military or were scouts for the government or wagon trains. They were never a threat to the settlers and had left their tribes a long time ago.
“So I am offering you a way to save your ranch, Callie. I promise to treat you well, and when Connor grows up, he can work your ranch and live in your big house.”
“If I don’t marry you, then what?” Callie looked worried.
“Then I can’t help you. You will be on your own, and I doubt you can scrape up any drovers before it is time to head the steers out to market.”
“You won’t let my herd be driven with your herd?”
“My men would resent it, Callie. Marrying me is the only way.”
“I appreciate your offer, Hank, but I will have to turn it down. I will just have to find another way.”
“There is no other way, Callie. You need to accept the fact. Running a ranch is hard work. You need a man to help you do it, and I don’t think some rogue Comanche Indian is going to be the answer.”
“Mr. Daniels has agreed to remain,” Callie muttered.
“What is he going to do? He’s old. He’s a cook. You need to rethink this, Callie. After you have calmed down, why don’t you come see me? There is still a month before it is too late to head out to the stockyards.”
“I will find a way,” Callie said stubbornly.
“If not, promise me you will come see me,” Hank insisted.
“Perhaps,” Callie mumbled. “Thanks for your offer, anyway, Hank. I
am sorry I can’t see myself clear to accept it.”
“Good luck, then,” Hank said softly and got up from the table.
Callie walked beside him, and gave him a hug, before he lifted his hat from the hook, and placed it back on his head. Then he left. She knew she would never reconsider. If Chayton never came back, she vowed to remain single for the rest of her life. Now she had to decide what she was going to do about getting her cattle to market.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Callie was surprised to discover, only a day later, that she wasn’t carrying a child after all. She remembered how her milk had fallen off because of overworking, and decided that must be the reason she had not been regular on her monthly course, which made her believe she had conceived. However, if that had not happened, she never would have learned the truth about Cooper, because of her own suspicions, along with her miss diagnosis of her condition, prompted her to confront Cooper. Cooper, himself, believed he had fathered a child, which caused him to admit his actions concerning that night. Perhaps he had been hoping to bring on such a condition, and that was why he had jumped to those conclusions, right along with her, Callie thought, remembering she had not mentioned anything about her condition when she accused him of using her.
Now a great relief flooded over Callie, but it was really too late because she had admitted her relationship with Chayton to both the drovers and Mr. Prichard. Not having to give birth to an ill-gotten child was just one problem she didn’t have to face. Getting the cattle to market was a whole different challenge, but Callie resolved that she would not let it stop her from realizing her own dreams.
That morning, as the children, along with Mr. Daniels, gathered around the breakfast table, Callie decided to reveal her plan.
“I want to talk to all of you,” Callie began, as she looked at the children, hopefully. “You all know that the drovers left the ranch. They were angry at me because I was friendly with Chayton, so now we don’t have anyone to take the cattle to market. However, there are five of us who can ride a horse, or steer a wagon. It won’t be easy, but I propose that we take the cattle to market ourselves.”
Beyond the Heart Page 21