“I didn’t know that she and Johnny had been in touch.”
“As far as I know they haven’t talked in years. I’ve never met her. She came to him because she was sick. He and a cousin took her to the clinic hoping Dr. Perry could do something for her. It’s too late. She’s dying.”
“I’m sorry to hear it. What did you want to see me about, Adelaide?”
“Have you heard about our Christmas carnival?”
“Oh, yes. Janna has talked of nothing else.”
“The teachers and the students are pitching in. Each room is going to do something to help us raise money. We want the families to have a good time. Will you donate an item from the tannery for our auction?”
“Of course.”
“That’s what I like to hear. I hate arguing with people 10 get them to cooperate.” She glanced significantly at Kathleen.
“You didn’t ask him to line up and wait for a lady to ask him to dance.”
“I didn’t ask you to wait for a lady to ask you to dance.”
“I swear to goodness, Adelaide.” Kathleen’s tone was one of exasperation.
“I’m going. I’ve pushed as far as I can go today, but—I’ll be back.” Adelaide put on her coat. “As much as I’d like to stay and visit with you fine folks, I’ve got things to do.”
“I’ll be going, too,” Barker said.
“Everyone is deserting me at once.”
Adelaide paused at the door. “I just had a thought.”
“Move back, Barker, this could be dangerous.”
“Smarty. Why don’t you write a Western story? Paul would set it on the linotype. We could sell autographed copies at the fair.”
“No one would buy a story run off on newsprint.”
“I think they would. When you’re famous like Sinclair Lewis or John Steinbeck, an item like that would be worth a lot of money.”
“Dream on, Adelaide.”
“I think it’s a good idea. I’d buy one,” Barker said.
“You don’t have to buy one of my stories, Barker. I get a dozen extra magazines from the publisher.”
“Come down to the paper and go through the archives. Find something to write about that took place right here in Rawlings. Remember the story Doc Herman told us about the wife who met the woman on the street who had been sleeping with her husband, knocked her down and landed in jail for assault? That would be a good subject.”
“I’ll think about it. If I do it, will you let me off the list of dancing girls?”
“No, but I’ll take you off the auction committee.”
“You are taking advantage of our friendship.”
“I sure am, sweetie!” Adelaide patted Kathleen’s cheek. “Gotta go. ’Bye, Barker.”
Barker lingered by the door after Adelaide left. “Has anything changed between you and Johnny?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I think he loves me and at other times I don’t.”
“Lucas keeps asking about him. It would be good for Lucas to get to know his brother. He thinks it’s because we’re Cherokee that Johnny doesn’t want anything to do with him.”
“That isn’t it. It has nothing to do with Lucas. Right now he has Isabel to worry about, and he isn’t sure how he’s going to make a living on the ranch. He has applied for a GI loan. I’m not sure if he plans to use the money to buy cattle or more land. He won’t use the money from the allotment check the government sent me while he was gone.”
“I’d offer to help, but it would be like throwing gasoline on a fire.” Barker’s usually stoic features took on a look of sadness. “Come out anytime, Kathleen. We don’t want to lose you, too.”
Barker drove away from Kathleen’s thinking about the day he told Johnny that he was his father. He hadn’t known what reaction to expect, but certainly not the hostility he had received. Over the years his son had become less hostile, but the resentment was still there. Barker knew better than to jeopardize their fragile relationship by offering financial assistance. Johnny had grown up to be an angry man with strong feelings about most things.
When Barker walked into the reception room at the clinic, Millie looked up and smiled.
“Hello, Mr. Fleming.”
“Hello, Mrs. Criswell.”
“You’re the third member of your family to be here today. Did Lucas suffer a reaction from his shot?”
“No. He’s fine. I’d like to see Dr. Perry if he has a spare minute.”
“I’ll call the nurse—”
“—No, this is business.”
“I see. I’ll go back and see if the doctor can slip away for a few minutes.”
Barker looked around as he waited. He remembered another time, seven years ago, when he had come to the clinic with Grant Gifford and two Federal Marshals to question Dr. Herman. The atmosphere was much friendlier now.
Millie returned. “It just so happens that the doctor is in his office.” She went to the connecting door and rapped before she opened it. “Mr. Fleming to see you.”
“Ask him to come in.”
After shaking hands, the two men assessed each other. Grant Gifford had told Jude about Barker Fleming, rancher and owner of the tannery, and about his being Johnny’s father. Jude remembered Johnny’s being taunted by folks down on Mud Creek because of his Indian blood. This dignified, handsome man seemed to be a father any man should be proud to acknowledge.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Fleming?”
“You’ve known Johnny for many years.” It was a statement. Jude nodded, and Barker continued. “I’ve known him for only seven,” he said regretfully.
“We were fourteen when Johnny came to Red Rock, to stay with Ed and Henry Ann Henry. He had a chip on his shoulder a yard wide, but Ed Henry got around that by getting him interested in horses.”
“I wish the man were here so that I could thank him.”
“Johnny paid him back. After Ed died, Johnny worked like a son of a gun helping Henry Ann hold on to the farm.”
“How is funding for the clinic going?” Barker asked, changing the subject abruptly.
“It’s tight, but that’s not unusual for a clinic in a town this size. We’re getting a little government surplus, which is a great help, and the community is very supportive.”
“My family has made a donation to the clinic each year for the past few. Absolutely anonymous, you understand.”
Jude nodded. “It’s appreciated.”
“We are prepared to increase our donation this year, but with a string attached. I’ll have our bank in Oklahoma City send a cashier’s check so that the bank here will not know the donor.”
“We would have no problem with that, if that’s the condition.”
“It is, and I’ll explain.”
Fifteen minutes later Jude walked to the door with Barker Fleming. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fleming. You can be sure that your request will be carried out to the letter.” He held out his hand.
“It was my pleasure,” Barker said, shaking Jude’s hand. “We would be honored to have you out to the ranch for dinner sometime soon.” He smiled. “We’re quite civilized. You’ll not have to eat but of a communal bowl with your fingers as my ancestors did.”
“I remember a time or two in Italy when I’d have been glad to eat out of a communal bowl.” And at home too, if my Pa had cared for me like you care for Johnny. “I’ll not forget the invitation.”
“I’ll have Marie or Mrs. Fisher give you a call. We appreciate your being here in Tillison County.”
“And I’m glad to be here. Your donation will help us a great deal. All of us connected with the clinic thank you for it.”
Jude sat at his desk for a few minutes after Barker left. A load had been lifted from his shoulders. Johnny Henry didn’t know how lucky he was.
Johnny Henry worked the posthole digger as if he were trying to reach China before suppertime. Sweat dripped from the end of his nose even though the temperature was only 70 degrees. He dug the holes faster th
an Pete could set the posts.
“Slow down, dammit,” Pete said gruffly. “Let’s take a breather.”
“What’s the matter, sailor-boy? Have you gene soft in your old age?”
“You’ve been a hard dog to keep under the porch today and about as pleasant as a bobcat with a belly full of cockleburs.” Pete sat down with his back to the post he had just set and pulled his cigarettes from his pocket. “What’s eating you?”
“I’m anxious to get this done while I’ve got cheap help.”
“I’ll be around for a while. No need to work me to death today.”
“It never occurred to me that you’d have a hard time keeping up with a youngster like me.”
“She—it! We’ve set twenty posts. How many horses do you have anyway?”
“Keith tells me thirty head. But I owe him every other foal for taking care of them while I was gone. Hell, I might have to sell the damn horses anyway.” Johnny sank on the ground and wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt. “Keith will buy them.”
“I thought you planned to build a herd from that stock.”
“I did, but things have changed. I’ll have quite a bill at the clinic, and then there’s the burial. I’m thinking about giving up ranching for the time being and getting a job.”
“What kind of jobs are to be had around here?”
“It doesn’t have to be here.”
“Yeah? I thought it did.”
“The government is starting a rural electrification program up around Duncan. Eventually it’ll work its way down here. I can operate heavy equipment. You name it, and I’ve driven it.”
“What about Kathleen?”
“What about her?” Johnny looked up, his eyes boring into those of his friend.
“You don’t plan to try and work things out with her? If you do, you can’t do it while you’re up around Duncan.”
“Why do you ask?”
Pete shrugged. “Curious, I guess. She’s special, and I like her.”
A wave of sickness rose into Johnny’s throat. He fought it down. Had Pete fallen in love with Kathleen? If so, Pete went after what he wanted and—he had a way of getting it. Henry Ann was the only woman Johnny knew that Pete hadn’t charmed.
Johnny got to his feet. “I’ll dig a couple more holes, then we’ll stop for the day.”
“Are you going back into town tonight?”
“Haven’t decided.”
“Before I go to the clinic, I’m going to stop by Kathleen’s and pick up the magazines. I betcha I’ve read some of her stories. We had a load of Western magazines on board ship. They were read and reread until there was nothing left of them.”
Watching Johnny, Pete noted that the posthole digger paused for a second or two on its way to the ground. He grinned with satisfaction.
“Okay, slave driver,” Pete said, getting slowly to his feet. “You’ve worked the holy hell out of me today. I’ll set three more posts, and then I’m on my way.”
“Suit yourself,” Johnny growled.
“Why don’t you come along. I’m going to ask Kathleen to come over to Jude’s for supper. I told him that I’d cook up a batch of corn bread to go along with the navy beans I cooked last night.” Pete chuckled to himself when he saw that Johnny was now wearing his Indian face. Not a flicker of expression was on it.
Pete continued to ramble on while he worked.
“I never had a decent piece of corn bread all the time I was in the navy. I asked the chief cook about it one time when we were sitting out from the Marshalls. He said that if I didn’t like what he baked, I could throw it overboard for all he cared.” Pete snorted. “That bread would’ve sunk a Jap sub if I’d a been lucky enough to hit it. Hell, I can make better corn bread with my eyes shut than those belly robbers that call themselves cooks.”
He watched Johnny attack the hole he was digging as if he were digging for gold.
The darn fool is eating his heart out for her and is too damn stubborn to admit it.
Chapter Fourteen
“You staying at Jude’s or coming back out here?” Johnny asked as he finished pouring water into the wash dish and hung a towel over Pete’s shoulder.
“Is that an invite?” Pete dipped his hands in the water and splashed his face.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Are you going to the clinic in the morning?”
‘I thought I’d go in about noon. Henry Ann’s bus will be pulling in then.”
“I’ll help string the wire on those posts.”
“It won’t take more than a couple of hours.” Johnny took off his shirt and headed to the bedroom to change his clothes.
“Henry Ann hasn’t changed much,” Pete remarked on the way to town.
“You still carrying a torch for her?” Johnny turned to look at him sharply.
“Yeah. I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Henry Ann. She was the driving force that made me want to be more than Mud Creek trash.”
“Don’t be getting any ideas about Henry Ann.”
Pete laughed. “Hell, if I did, she’d slap me down quicker than a goose shittin’ apple seeds. Don’t worry. I’m still more in awe of her than anything else. When I was young, she was my idea of a queen. I’d act the fool to get her attention. Couldn’t stand it when she ignored me.”
“She’s more than a sister to me. She’s—” Johnny stumbled for words, then became quiet as he remembered the hard times on the farm back in ’32 when he and Henry Ann were trying to save their cotton crop and Isabel was doing everything she could to make their lives miserable.
They reached town and Pete turned down the street where Kathleen lived. He slowed when he noticed a woman hurrying along the sidewalk.
To Johnny he said, “It’s Mrs. Cole. She’s the nurse taking care of Isabel.” He slowed the car, stuck his hand out, and waved.
Dale managed a slight wave of the hand, kept her eyes straight ahead, and hurried on.
“Know anything about her husband?” Pete asked.
“Only what Paul told me. The guy works for Oklahoma Gas and Electric, and he’s a real horse’s ass.”
“Yeah? In what way?”
“According to Paul, he’s not very well liked by the men who work there.”
“I think he’s mean to his wife. If I find out it’s true, I’ll catch him out some dark night and beat the shit out of him.”
“Christ on a horse, Pete. You’ve not changed much after all.”
“Nothing gets my dander up quicker than a man who beats up a woman or a kid. Far as I’m concerned, they’re not fit for buzzard bait.”
A pickup truck with a bedstead and a mattress was parked at Kathleen’s house when they reached it. When Johnny snorted on seeing it, Pete glanced very quickly at him, frowned slightly, and looked away, then back again, as if puzzled.
“You don’t approve of your wife’s company?”
“It’s none of my business who she keeps company with.” Johnny opened the door and stepped out of the car.
“I’m glad to hear that. I was afraid you’d poke me in the nose if I asked her out on a date.”
Johnny, rounding the car, paused. “Don’t try to add Kathleen’s name to your string of women, Pete.”
“String of women? Hell, son, I ain’t got no string. I ain’t got even one woman.”
Pete followed Johnny up onto the porch. The door was open. Johnny could hear Kathleen laughing. He opened the screen door and banged it shut to get her attention. She came through the living room from the kitchen, Barker behind her.
“Johnny, Pete, come in. Barker brought in a bed for me to use while Henry Ann is here. Pete have you met Barker? Barker Fleming, Pete Perry. Pete is Dr. Perry’s brother.” Kathleen made the introductions, then stepped back. After the first glance at Johnny, she didn’t look at him again.
The men shook hands, then Barker said, “How’er you coming with your corral, Johnny?”
“Good. Pete’s given me a couple days’ work.”<
br />
“If you need help driving the horses up from McCabe’s, let me know. Lucas and I will lend a hand.”
“That’s on hold for a while.” Johnny looked directly at Kathleen. “Need help setting up that bed?”
“Sure. Barker hasn’t brought it in yet. We were moving things around to make room for it.”
The men went to the pickup. Pete and Johnny carried in the springs, Barker the foot and headboards. Kathleen held open the door. Pete winked at her as he passed. It was more of a conspiratorial wink than a flirtatious one. She smiled.
Barker went back to the truck and brought in the bed rails and the slats while Johnny and Pete set up the bed. Kathleen watched. Pete was one of the most cheerful men she had ever met. His eyes flirted, his smile was continuous. He laughed at himself when Johnny told him that he was putting the side rails on upside down. There was a suggestion that, though he was probably slow to anger, he would make a very dangerous enemy when roused. Kathleen was sure that there was enough strength in his big, well-knit body to support that notion.
When the telephone rang, she hurried to answer it.
“Kathleen, this is Marie. Is Daddy there?”
“He’s here. I’ll get him. Barker, it’s for you.”
Kathleen stood in the doorway of the small bedroom while Barker spoke with his daughter.
“I didn’t think about you having to get another bed when I asked if Henry Ann could stay with you.” Johnny spoke as he tightened the nut on a bolt with the pliers Barker had left on the floor.
“I was talking to Marie on the phone and mentioned that your sister was coming. It was her idea to send over the bed.”
Barker finished his conversation and hung up the phone. “I have to go. One of the men has been hurt, and they need the truck to take him to the clinic.”
“Not serious, I hope.”
“Marie thinks it is, but then she’s quite upset. We won’t know until the doctor takes a look. The mattress is all that’s left in the truck. I’ll get it.”
“I’ll get it.” Johnny was already out the door.
“Thanks, Barker,” Kathleen called.
“Johnny’s daddy, huh?” Pete said from behind her.
“Yes. Johnny has had a hard time accepting him.”
After the Parade Page 16