“ … ar … ance boys.” The man gasped for breath. The wheezing sound convinced Dianne he was suffering from damage to his lungs. She remembered a similar sound when one of the cowboys had punctured a lung.
“The Lawrence boys?” Cole asked.
Dianne froze in midstep. The words made sense now that Cole had voiced them.
Whit nodded, his head barely moving.
“Was Chester with them?”
Whit drew a ragged breath. “No.”
“Did they come to the ranch?” Cole asked.
“Yes.”
“What did they do to you?”
“Dragged … behind—” he paused and winced “—a horse.”
He broke off again. “Beat … with … shovel.”
Dianne gasped.
“Is Maggie hurt?” Cole asked.
“Dead.”
Dianne gripped the footboard of the bed. A wave of dizziness washed over her. Koko came into the room and moved to the opposite side of the bed from where Cole knelt.
“Maggie is dead?” Cole asked in disbelief.
Whit nodded, his eyes closing.
“Whit, did the Lawrence boys kill Maggie?”
Whit again nodded.
Cole looked to Dianne. “I’ll get some of the boys and head over to the ranch. I’ll send Levi for Doc Bufford and for the Hammonds—just in case.”
Dianne thought she might faint as Koko cleared away the strips of Whit’s shirt. The man’s chest was bleeding profusely. In all her days of dressing wounds and patching up damaged cowboys, she’d never seen anything this bad.
“What if the Lawrences are still there?” Dianne whispered.
“They won’t be there,” Cole said, getting to his feet. “They’d have never let Whit leave. They probably figured him to be dead—like Maggie.”
Dianne looked back at the bed. “Why would they do this?”
Whit tried to open his mouth to speak, but no words came from the misshapen jaw. “They probably came to scare them—get them to leave. Things obviously got out of control.” Cole’s stoic expression left Dianne trembling inside. How could he go out there—out into the danger of the night? How could she let him leave? What if the Lawrences were waiting out there for him? What if it was all a trap?
“Please don’t go,” she said, rushing to Cole’s side. “They might want to kill you too.”
“I’ll have plenty of men with me. I’ll leave some here as well. Keep things locked up. Stay inside. Only let the doctor or the Hammonds in.”
Dianne knew there was no sense in arguing. Cole had clearly made up his mind.
“Dianne, please come help me,” Koko requested.
Dianne looked into Cole’s eyes. She longed to kiss him, to hold him close, but the anger she heard in his voice kept her from doing that. He had every opportunity to touch her, but instead his hands were balled into fists at his sides. Dianne stepped back. “Please be careful.”
Cole nodded and left without another word. Dianne went to the door and watched him rush down the stairs. She heard the door open and close and felt the overwhelming urge to run after him.
“You have to stay here and wait,” Koko said softly. “I’ll need your help with Whit.”
Dianne knew she was right but felt so very helpless. “What if they’re waiting out there? What if this is just a trick to get Cole out there alone?”
“Cole has already said he wouldn’t go alone. Now come help me.”
The authoritative command of Koko’s voice nudged Dianne from her stunned contemplation. “What do you want me to do?”
They did all that they could for Whit, but he died nearly an hour after showing up at the Diamond V. Dianne watched Koko pull the sheet up to cover the poor man’s butchered face and broke into tears for the first time that night.
“How can they both be dead? I saw them at church just last week. We were talking about having a harvest party next month.”
Koko washed blood from her hands and arms. “It would seem the Lawrences have decided to take this into their own hands rather than wait for the law.”
“Do you suppose they plan to come after us next?”
Koko dried her hands. “We’re not alone, as the Farleys were. The Lawrences know we have a good many men.”
Dianne heard voices coming from downstairs. She opened the bedroom door and rushed to the top of the stairs to see what was going on. To her surprise, Levi was pointing the doctor to the stairs at the same time he was holding the sheriff back.
Dianne met Bufford midway. “He’s gone,” she said softly.
Dr. Bufford’s sympathetic expression was nearly her undoing. “I’m sorry. I’ll go ahead and look in on him if you don’t mind.”
“That would be fine. Koko’s with him.” Bufford nodded and continued up the stairs while Dianne met the questioning stares of the men below.
“What are you going to do about this?” Dianne asked the sheriff.
Tibbot seemed surprised. “I’m here, aren’t I? I came to arrest Farley for the death of his wife. They had quite a fight tonight.”
Dianne laughed cynically. “Maggie and Whit had no fight. The Lawrence boys killed her and then beat Whit half to death. He died just a few minutes ago.”
“That’s a pity,” Tibbot said. “I would have enjoyed hanging him.”
“You’re not hearing me. Whit told us everything.” Dianne moved toward the man, but Levi intercepted her.
“Any word from Cole?” he asked, taking hold of her arm.
She looked into his dark eyes and shook her head. “No. I’m worried the Lawrences will kill him too.”
“Now, Mrs. Selby, I can tell you with great certainty that the Lawrences had nothing to do with this murder.”
Dianne met the man’s gaze. “Whit told us the Lawrence boys killed Maggie. You’re free to go see his body and then explain to me how he got that way if not for the Lawrence boys doing him in as well. I can’t see Maggie being able to beat him that badly. He was no doubt dragged behind the back of one of the Lawrences’ horses.”
“He’s mistaken. It couldn’t be the Lawrence boys.”
“And why not? Because Chester Lawrence pays you on the side to say it wasn’t them?”
Tibbot clenched his jaw as he scowled. “Are you accusing me of lying?”
“I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m telling you that a dying man told us exactly what happened and you’re doing nothing about it.”
“It wasn’t the Lawrence boys. They were with me all day, and then we were all at the Walking Horseshoe tonight. It wasn’t them.” He spoke the words with great contempt.
Dianne stiffened, realizing the Lawrences were going to get away with murder. “How did you know about Maggie’s murder if you were at the Lawrence ranch all evening?”
Tibbot narrowed his eyes. “I was headed out there because of another matter. I got there just as your husband was arriving with his men.”
“Cole was all right?”
“Looked to be fine. We talked about what had transpired. He said Whit was here and was hurt. We found Maggie dead, and I had no reason to believe that anyone but Whit was responsible.”
“Well, if this man was responsible,” Dr. Bufford said as he descended the stairs, “then someone tore into him after the deed. The man is barely in one piece. It’s a wonder he was able to ride from his ranch to the Diamond V.”
“Well, that ain’t my concern.”
The sound of a wagon approaching sent the group out onto the porch, where they could see that it was Ben and Charity. Diane had never been so happy to see anyone in her life. There was a comfort just in having them here.
“We came as quickly as we could,” Ben said, helping Charity from the wagon.
“How’s Whit?” Charity asked.
Dianne shook her head. “He’s gone. Maggie too. The sheriff intends to do nothing about it.” They all looked to the sheriff.
Tibbot grew uneasy. “You have no proof that the Lawrence boys
were involved. I was with them, and I’ll testify to that fact if you try to prove otherwise.” He turned in a huff, marching to where he’d tied off his horse. “If I were you,” he declared after mounting, “I’d stay out of it. You’re gonna have your own problems as soon as a judge rules on the validity of your claim to the Diamond V. I’d be prepared to move if I were you.”
Dianne felt as if she’d been slapped. “What are you talking about?”
Tibbot laughed harshly. “You’ll hear about it soon enough. You should have known better than to lie about inheriting the ranch from your uncle. Fact is, the man died without a will.”
“He didn’t need a will to leave me this ranch,” Dianne replied angrily. “He had my name added to the deed.”
“Well, that’s not what we’ve found. There was only one deed and one name. Bram Vandyke. Fact is, even that deed is questionable. We’re waiting to hear what the judge thinks on that, and then we’ll be back to deal with you properly.” He reined the horse hard to the left and headed out, leaving the collection of people to stare dumbly after him.
CHAPTER 18
ARDITH SAT WITH CHARITY WHILE DIANNE EXPLAINED what had transpired that evening to Cole. Ardith marveled at her sister’s strength. She’d always admired that about Dianne. Even when they’d been children, Ardith had felt the need to play the tomboy in order to show that she, too, was not afraid of life. But she’d been terrified of so much.
“Can they take the ranch away from us?”
Ardith heard the worry in her sister’s voice. They all looked to Cole for answers. He shook his head. “We’ve got friends in the government. They go all the way up to the territorial governor. Don’t worry. No one is going to steal this ranch from us.”
Ardith wanted to take comfort in his words, but she knew there was too much that could go wrong. Life had a way of taking bad turns. It was one of the reasons she couldn’t say yes to Levi’s proposals—no matter how much Winona saw him as a father figure. No matter how much they both needed him.
“So has our Levi convinced you yet to marry him?” Charity asked as Dianne and Cole continued to discuss their plan. “For as long as he’s known you he’s been in love with you.”
Ardith stiffened. “He should forget such notions.”
Charity frowned. “Don’t you like him? Isn’t he good enough?” She sounded genuinely hurt.
Ardith shook her head vigorously. “It’s not like that. I’m not good enough for him .”
“Nonsense!” Charity said, a bit too loud. Cole and Dianne turned to see what was going on, then quickly resumed their discussion. Lowering her voice, Charity continued. “Why would you ever say such a thing? Levi adores you and Winona. He would make a good husband and father.”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t make a good wife. He deserves better.”
Charity laughed. “Child, there is absolutely nothing better than marriage to the woman you love. Levi is positively wasting away for want of your love. Why are you denying him—and yourself? I know you love him.”
Ardith couldn’t believe the older woman would pose such questions. The events of Ardith’s past were so fresh and raw in her own mind that she couldn’t believe they weren’t equally obvious to everyone else.
“I do love him,” she admitted, finding it strange that she should be so open with Charity Hammond. “But I can’t marry him.”
“Pshaw. Do you have a better idea?”
Ardith decided to speak despite the worried conversation taking place between her sister and Cole. “I love him, but I want him to have good things in life. I want him to marry a woman who hasn’t been … used … like me.”
Charity reached over and took hold of Ardith’s hand. “You know full well after what happened here earlier—what’s happening here now—that life out here is hard. It robs children of their youth and women of their hope. There’s more than one way to lose your innocence in this territory.”
“But I worry that if I marry him, he’ll one day come to resent me for the past—resent Winona. I know that Dianne will never feel that way. She’ll let me stay here forever; she’s already told me as much.”
“Dear child, Levi will never come to resent you. The poor boy has his own past, and for a long time he bore it in shame. Orphaned, with no people, he felt completely worthless. No one could vouch for him, and back East you know what that means. You can’t get a decent job without someone standing up for you. Ben and I have loved Levi like he was one of our own—but now it’s time for you to take over.”
“I’m afraid.”
Charity grinned. “We’re all afraid of something, but a person doesn’t ever need to be afraid of love.”
“You’re a useless excuse for a son,” Chester Lawrence declared. His third born, Joshua, stood across from him.
Chester pushed aside the papers he’d been working on and motioned the boy to take a seat. “You’ve always got your nose in some fool book. I need ranch hands, not scholars.”
“I’m no good at ranch work, Father. You know that.”
“Don’t sass me, boy. I won’t tolerate it. I need you to help your brothers.”
“Begging your pardon, sir, they don’t want my help.”
“They don’t want your whining and nonsense. Get out there and help them build those stalls. I don’t want to have to tell you again. After you get done with that, you can help them round up those steers we plan to sell.”
Joshua nodded, but Chester could see that the boy was not at all compliant in the matter. He was nothing like his brothers, Jerrod and Roy. He was soft and meek. Weak.
“Get out of here and get to work!”
“Yes, sir.” Joshua didn’t attempt to argue with him, and Chester was glad for that. He was in a fighting mood already, and he didn’t need an excuse to explode. The judge had told him that the Selbys were well liked in the valley and that Bram Vandyke had been even more esteemed than they were. It would be hard to pull off the scheme Chester wanted, but in time—maybe in a few years—the judge thought it might be possible.
“I don’t want to wait years,” Chester said, slamming his fist on his desk. He got up and grabbed his gun belt. Buckling it on, he strode to the front door.
“I suppose you’re going to her again,” Cynthia Lawrence said from the staircase.
Chester turned as he took up his hat. “What I do is my business, woman. You’d do best to remember that.”
“What I remember is that my money helped get you here. I don’t intend to be the laughingstock of this valley while you go behind my back with her.”
“Well, maybe I should just bring her home with me. You want to set her up in a room?”
Cynthia scowled and approached Chester. “Maybe you should build a brothel to go along with that silly town you’ve put together.”
He slapped her hard across the face but was surprised by her return blow. He grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm back and to the side. “Don’t you ever lay a hand on me again, woman. Do you hear?”
She fought to get away from him, but Chester only tightened his grip. “I’m waiting for an answer.”
“I hear you,” Cynthia said, nearly falling backward as Chester released her.
“Good. Now I intend to hear nothing more about it. Don’t wait supper for me.”
Portia paced the small confines of the range shack and waited for Chester to finish dressing. “I can’t stand it. Having nothing more of you than these occasional afternoons is so hard to bear. I want you to marry me.”
Chester fairly growled. “Aren’t you forgetting one minor detail? I’m already married.”
“But that could change,” Portia said smoothly. She didn’t know why he was in such a foul mood, but even their time together had not helped to restore his spirits. “I mean … it could change very soon.”
Chester stopped pulling up his suspenders and looked at Portia. His eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?”
Portia shrugged and cocked her head to one side. “Things happen.
People get sick and people die. Something could happen to Cynthia.”
Chester relaxed his gaze and nodded. “She hasn’t been feeling well. I guess you’re right.”
Portia came to where he stood. “I thought she looked in poor health.”
“Life out here has never agreed with her. She’s come to the place where she’s seeing Doc Bufford on a weekly basis.”
“That’s sad,” Portia said, tracing her fingers along Chester’s whiskered jaw. “You’re such a vibrant man. I’m sure having a sickly wife makes it difficult—even lonely.”
Chester took hold of her wrist. His grip was tight, almost painful, but Portia said nothing. The man was powerful—powerful enough to give her what she needed. And with any luck, he’d have the Diamond V by Christmas, tripling his wealth. “I don’t know what’s going on in that little head of yours, but if you’re suggesting that something could happen—something to hurry along Cynthia’s passing—well … don’t count on me.”
Portia’s countenance fell. She’d hoped Chester would feel the same way she did. She’d hoped that her enticements and occasional meetings for an afternoon of stolen pleasure would give him reason to want Cynthia dead and gone.
“I can’t stand people who are all talk. If you intend to take care of the matter, then do it. Don’t talk about it. If she’s gone, I’ll marry you.”
Portia nearly gasped. He was so matter-of-fact about the issue that he’d taken her off guard. When he released her, Portia could only stare after him as he went about continuing to dress. He didn’t care if she killed his wife. He just didn’t want to know about it or be a part of it. And that was fine by Portia. She always hated having to involve others in her plans.
“You going to keep moping?” Morgan asked Angelina as they rode the valley in search of horses. Angelina’s father wanted Morgan to pick them up a string of horses from the Diamond V. They needed to be swift and strong, as Marley wanted to make a fast trip to Utah, where supplies were awaiting them at the Corrine depot. They needed to make the trip and be back to the Diamond V before the heavy snows fell in the mountain passes.
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