“They are okay,” Beth half-sobbed, wiping tears from her cheeks, “I’m sorry I dropped the reins.”
“It’s not your fault. I am just happy to find you all safe.”
Both Joey and Shanny were sitting in their crib with smiles on their faces, so Callie assumed they had not been as frightened as Beth had been.
“Come up on the bench,” she encouraged Beth. “I’ll tie my horse to the back of the wagon, and take over driving until we discover where the cattle and the others are.”
The thunder was still rumbling, but it was moving into the distance, and the mules seemed to have gotten over their fright. By the time the chuck wagon reached the end of the ravine, they could see the herd gathered below. The thunder was so far off, now; they could barely hear it, and Callie took a breath of relief, thankful nothing worse had happened.
Mr. Daniels rode his horse up out of the ravine and met Callie at the top of the ridge.
“Is everything all right?” he asked, getting down from his horse, and checking the mule team. “I saw the wagon racing along the top of the ravine, but then it was out of my sight, and I needed to keep up with the cattle.”
“The lightning frightened the team, and Beth dropped the reins, but I managed to stop the horses, so everyone is safe and sound.”
“You were lucky this time. I just hope we don’t run into any more storms along the way. I’ll unhitch the team, and hobble them, and then start fixing dinner. The girls are on their way up here, and Connor is staying down with the herd. I’ll relieve him later, so he can come up to eat. I don’t think the herd will be going anywhere since they wore themselves out running. So I will just stay down in the ravine overnight, and you won’t have to take a watch.”
Mr. Daniels patted Callie on the back. “You did good, girl. I’m proud of you. You got more gumption than I counted on. We might make it through this thing after all,” he smiled.
Callie gave a weak smile and tried to stop shaking. Everything had happened so fast, she hadn’t had time to think about anything but saving the children. She should have listened to Hank, she thought, as her breath started to relax, but it was too late to turn back now. She would have to forge ahead, whether she liked it or not. Swallowing her pride was not an option, and having to hear Hank say ‘I told you so’, was something she wasn’t going to let happen either.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
As one dusty day, melted into another, Callie started noticing the toll it was taking on the children. She had always criticized Chet for being so strict with the children and expecting them to do more than they were capable of. Now, it seemed she was doing the same thing, expecting the children to do men’s work when they were too young to handle such hard work, and most of them were girls.
She sat atop her horse, watching the herd plodding forward, and seeing how the children hung their heads in weariness, while never complaining. The dust constantly rose around them like they were walking through a never-ending dust storm. The hot sun streamed down on them, making its own paths through the dust-filled sky. Whenever they came near a water source, the herd lunged forward, breaking out of their listless movements, hastening into the shallows, plunging their dust-covered noses into the cool water, and sucking it into their throats. It would be a long time before they had a chance for another refreshing drink, and they seemed to sense it.
Had she been incorrect on insisting the children help take the cattle to market, despite the fact they were not actually equipped to do so? Was she being too, prideful and stubborn? Was she really looking out for the future of the children, by having them participate in something they were never meant to do? She was plagued with doubtful thoughts and guilty feelings and the drive was barely half over with.
Callie looked out at the dusty landscape, thinking of the pioneers who traveled over countryside, much like this, in order to make a new life for themselves. Wasn’t what she was doing, about the same thing, she justified?
Something caught her attention, and it wasn’t the cattle moving relentlessly in the direction they were being prodded, that made her catch her breath and strain her eyes, to see more clearly through the dust-covered distance.
Callie felt herself stiffen when she had to admit what she feared. This was the last thing she needed! How was she going to protect her cattle against the small band of Indians, headed in their direction? Her hand went to the butt of her rifle, which was in its sheath attached to her saddle. At first, the group had been riding slowly towards them, but now they were starting to pick up speed. One of the band, broke away from the rest, as he whipped his horse into a gallop, coming straight in Callie’s direction.
It was then, that Callie recognized who the Indian was.
“Chayton!” she called, feeling elated, after thinking the worst.
“On-thoe-gyah!” he called in return.
Chayton’s horse was brought to an abrupt stop, once he reached her. He jumped down from Khoon-gyah’s back, pulling Callie off of her horse, and holding her in his arms.
“I have missed you,” he mumbled in her ear. “But why are you out here with your cattle? Where is my son?”
“He is in the wagon, along with Shanny,” Callie laughed, with pleasure to have Chayton beside her. “Why are you out here?”
“The Kiowa and Comanche are split in their decisions. Some have agreed to live on the reservation, and others have taken to the hills, being scattered by the white man’s army, so they can’t group as one and continue raiding. My friends and I have agreed to join Kicking Bird, and live in peace with the white man, but before I went to the reservation, I wanted to come get my son.”
Callie’s eyes fell. “You would take him from me?” she asked in a shaking voice, knowing all along that had been the plan.
“I know you have taken good care of him, but he is Comanche. He would not learn of his heritage, living in a white man’s world.”
As he spoke three other braves joined them, but they remained on their horses.
“You remember my good friend Chogan. Bidziil and Avonaco, are with me as well.”
“So you are willing to remain on a reservation, where you can no longer live as the Comanche are used to?” Callie asked, trying to steel herself, for the moment Chayton would ride away, taking Joey with him, as she tried to stall for time.
“We saw the children, and I recognized Connor, so I knew you must be with him. I thought you had men to drive the cattle,” Chayton said, ignoring her question.
“We had no choice. Once Cooper told my workers that I had a relationship with a wild Indian, and he was the very Indian they had saved me from, they wouldn’t have anything to do with me. They left the ranch and told others about me saving your life. Now no one will work for me. My cook remained, but I couldn’t find anyone to help me take the cattle to market, so I decided to do it myself.”
“You are a brave woman. I honor you for that.”
“Only I feel bad that I have to make the children risk their lives, and work so hard, pushing the Cattle to Kansas. They shouldn’t be doing a men’s work. I wanted to raise the girls like young ladies, dressed in frilly dresses. Now look at them!”
“It is my fault no one will come help you,” Chayton, said in a low voice.
“I don’t care. The time I spent with you, has been worth it,” Callie admitted.
Callie paused, glancing up at the braves on their horses, all looking uncomfortable and anxious to be on their way. Suddenly, she got an idea.
“If you and your friends are just going to go live on a reservation, where you can’t leave, and have to live on farms yourself, why don’t you hire on to my ranch, as my drovers?”
“You want us to work for you?” Chayton asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Why not, no one else will set foot on my ranch. What will I do for workers, if you won’t come?”
“What will the other ranchers do, if you have Comanche working on your ranch?”
“They probably will hate it, but it is my
ranch, and since no one else wishes to help me, I will just throw it in their faces! You and your friends would have a lot more freedom, working for me, than living within the reservation. As long as you don’t cause any trouble, and have a secure job, the government won’t force you to stay on the reservation. Do you think your friends would agree?”
By this time, Connor, Ina, Tommy and Mr. Daniels rode up to discover what the Indians wanted.
“Chayton!” Connor called. “I thought it was you. Mr. Daniels wanted to shoot you, but I wouldn’t let him!”
“I thank you for that,” Chayton laughed.
“So what do you say?” Callie asked, looking hopefully up into Chayton’s eyes. “If you came to the ranch, I wouldn’t have to say goodbye to Joey, and you could teach him anything he needed to know about his heritage.”
“And what about us, would I merely be one of your hired hands?”
“We could be together,” Callie mumbled. “Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”
The thought of anything beyond that frightened Callie. While she felt she loved Chayton and wanted to be near him, she knew that marriage meant everything a woman owned reverted to her husband. Chayton had been raised in a different culture, and she wasn’t sure how Indians looked at marriage, or what she would be getting into if she agreed to become Chayton’s wife, but her world, they would have to live by the law of the land. She knew that legally, she would have to give everything up to Chayton if she ever agreed to marry him. She wondered if she would be willing to do that. Besides, she didn’t believe it was up to her to suggest such a thing, anyway.
“Yes, it would be a good thing,” Chayton mumbled, after a long pause. “I will ask my friends what they think.”
However, Chayton’s eyes held disappointment, and Callie felt it must be because he didn’t like the idea of working for a white woman.
Chayton turned to the braves and began speaking in his own language. As he spoke, Callie could see his friends starting to smile.
“I believe they think it is a good thing too,” Chayton told Callie. “Now my brothers will be able to ride out on the plains, as they take your cattle to market, and work on horseback, the way they were meant to do, instead of just farming the land, the way the government insists we do on the reservation.”
“I will pay them good money, so they can get the things they desire, only I will have to insist they buy some regular cowboy clothes. That way, it will show that even though they are Indians, they are willing to fit into our society. If they insist on wearing their Indian costumes, it will be hard for the other ranchers to see they are making an effort to reform.”
“My red brothers will not like that condition, but for their freedom, they might agree,” Chayton predicted.
“For now, it doesn’t matter. My children need to rest. I am glad you came. Come to the chuck wagon, so you can see how much Joey has grown, and I will have Mr. Daniels make you all a meal before we head out again.”
Chayton followed, Callie to the chuck wagon, his arm still around her waist, as they both led their horses behind them. Callie had thought she would never be able to see Chayton again. She almost couldn’t believe her stroke of good luck. Not only would she have someone to work the ranch, but Chayton would remain there as well. She had Cooper to thank for this, she thought; seeing as how she would never have hired on a group of Indians if he had remained with the rest of the drovers on her ranch.
Callie thought about how she was discovering that sometimes unhappy incidents actually brought about good results and that she should stop questioning her fate. Now, the children could ride in the chuck wagon, instead of having too much responsibility to worry about. Connor could keep droving if he chose to, since he was growing into a young man now, and Ina could drive the wagon, while Tommy and Beth played with the babies to keep them company.
Callie was starting to feel much better about everything. Her eyes could not be pulled away from Chayton’s handsome face. Her heart shivered, as she remembered the last time she was with Chayton. Now she hoped he would remain with her on her ranch forever. Then her life would be complete.
The band smiled and talked among themselves in their own language, as they ate. Callie explained to Chayton what she expected the men to do, and he interpreted for her.
“Joey is a handsome child,” Chayton stated, as he took his son up in his arms. I can see his mother in his face.”
When Chayton said that, Callie looked away. She had almost thought of Joey as her own child, but in truth, Chayton had loved the woman who gave him birth, or at least carried him, until her death. Joey would always remind Chayton of his dead wife, Callie thought sadly. He would teach Joey his Indian ways, and somehow he would slowly pull Joey closer to him and further away from her in subtle ways, the more time Joey spent with his father.
She supposed it should be expected, but up until now, she was the only parent Joey actually had known. As he grew older, he would see that he wasn’t actually her real son, and had always been Comanche from the beginning. Callie cleared her throat and gave a weak smile.
“Shanny and Joey have become inseparable,” she murmured. “They have been together since birth, and need to know the other one is close.”
“Then it is a good thing I will not have to take Joey from Shanny’s side,” Chayton replied.
“I am happy that you wish to stay with us, so they can grow up together,” Callie said, hoping Chayton would understand she never wanted him to leave her either, and it wasn’t just for the children’s sake she asked him to stay at the ranch.
“Yes, I do wish to stay with you, and your children,” Chayton murmured. “I just hope it does not cause you problems, once the braves and I return with you.”
“No one else would help me, so they have no room to complain,” Callie stated. “I was worried we weren’t going to make it, and I would end up having to marry Hank.”
“What is this about marrying Hank? Who is Hank?” Chayton questioned.
“Hank is the rancher who traveled back with me and my children, along with his hired men, who had chased you and your men off. He asked me to marry him, but I refused. However, before I left, I signed a paper, stating that if I couldn’t make it to Kansas, and had to return, that I would agree to marry him. It was the only way I could get him to make one of his helpers watch my ranch while I was gone.”
Callie went on to describe the provisions of the agreement.
“Are you sure this man will not send someone out to make sure something happens to you, so he will get your ranch?” Chayton said, his eyes turning darker, as he drew his brows together.
Callie’s eyes widened.
“I don’t believe Hank would ever stoop to something like that. I think he truly wanted me to marry him. He offered to take on my children, along with the ranch, if something happened to me because he knew there was no one else who would do it. Actually, he is a very kind man.”
“When you return, what will happen?”
“He will tear the paper up because it only said that if I couldn’t stick it out, and get my cattle to market, I would agree to marry him, because if I couldn’t sell my cattle, I had no way to support myself.”
“Then your friend would be disappointed if you did get your cattle to market, and didn’t die,” Chayton reasoned.
“He would also be happy for me, for having done it. He said my gumption was what he admired about me.”
“It is what I admire about you also,” Chayton smiled.
“We had better start out again,” Callie suggested. “I just hope there will not be any trouble at the stockyards when I show up with a bunch of Indians driving my cattle.”
“We will keep our weapons handy, just in case,” Chayton told her, with a laugh.
“Don’t you and your friends start any trouble,” Callie warned. “It is bad enough that everyone hates me because I am friends with you. We don’t want to make matters worse!”
“As long as they treat you with respect
, there will be no trouble,” Chayton promised.
“They will have to,” Callie reasoned. “After all, they are in the market for cattle, and my cattle are healthy and fat. We haven’t pushed them too hard, so I am sure the buyers will stick to business and only be concerned about the appearance of my stock, not my workers.”
“We shall see,” Chayton replied, as he swung up onto Khoon-gyah’s back.
Callie removed the saddles from the girl’s horses backs and had one of the braves stow them on top of the chuck wagon.
“You girls can rest a bit now,” Callie told them. “Beth can ride back with Shanny and Joey, and Ina and Tommy can take the bench, trading off driving the team. That will be a lot easier on you,” she smiled.
“I liked driving the cattle,” Ina insisted.
“After you’ve had some rest, you can do it again, if you wish,” Callie promised, feeling proud of Ina’s desire to help out, but she knew it was because Ina was always trying to compete with Connor.
Since Chayton showed up, Callie could breath easier. She did not have to worry about marauding Indians, because according to Chayton, the renegades were hiding in the hills, not to mention the fact that she had the Comanche band accompanying her now. The girls were safe on the chuck wagon, and there was only a little over a week left to push the cattle before they arrived at the stockyard. The closer they got, the better she started feeling.
Just before sunset, the group stopped for the evening meal, it almost reminded Callie of when she had camped with the Indians when they first took her. The sound of their strange, musical language, floating on the air, as they talked together, fell comfortingly on her ears. The campfire blaze rose and fell, as the breeze caught at it, and the pungent smell of smoke filled the air.
A tripod had been placed over the flames, with a cast-iron pot hanging from a chain, filled with beans and meat, which Mr. Daniels had prepared. The aroma of the food, mixed in with the smell of mesquite wood burning, and it comforted Callie as well.
Chayton spent his time playing with Joey and Shanny, sharing his food with them, as he laughed at their antics. The children talked with the braves since they had learned a lot of Indian words during their captivity, and during the time that Chayton had stayed in the cabin with them. They also used a lot of sign language. Callie thought the whole group looked happy. She was feeling happy, herself.
Beyond the Heart Page 24