“I think that place the trail dropped off must have caved in at some point.” Heath could imagine it happening. Rocks tumbled and changed shape all the time. “Maybe a hundred years ago, a thousand or more folks could just walk straight up the side of the mesa. But it’s impossible to see from the ground unless you know it’s there.”
“So how did someone figure it out?” Sadie asked.
“A question I’d really like an answer to.” Heath was new to these parts. “You’ve never heard tales of such a thing? Old myths? Indian legends?”
The Bodens exchanged a glance.
“There are Pueblo folks who live on top of a mesa near here. But all I’ve ever heard about this place,” Justin said, “is that it’s unclimbable. That’s the myth that has held all these years.”
“Well, someone climbed it and did it easily enough to live up there. I’m not talking about our outlaw; I’m talking about whoever had a village up there. There are old huts made of adobe. They’re crumbled until only mounds of rubble are left, and brush has grown up through them. If the mounds weren’t so unnatural to the mostly smooth mesa top, I doubt we’d have recognized what they are. It didn’t have the look of the Mexican builders around here, nor what I know of the local Indians. Whoever lived there were ancient people.”
Heath thought of a few old ruins he’d seen in other places. There was a dark canyon in Utah and eerie, abandoned cliff dwellings he’d ridden through called Mesa Verde that had given him chills. No one knew who’d built them. No one knew where those folks had vanished to.
“I think those ruins may be a remnant of some long-dead-and-gone people. And I think they used to walk right up the side of that mesa. Can you imagine such a fortress? They would be invincible. They’d need only to watch over one narrow trail to protect the whole village.” Heath fell silent for a moment as he thought of those ancient people, cut off from their home. Much like he’d been cut off from his, except that was by his own choice. “But the trail caved in. The village was abandoned.”
Maybe they could have gone on living there, but it was no longer easy. In fact, having a stretch of that trail gone might have scared them. What if the rest of the trail collapsed? Heath didn’t worry about such things, because he had his pack with the spikes in it. He could get down if he needed to. But those folks could be trapped up there with no way down. They’d starve to death, one by one, in their fortress.
“But somehow, someone knew.” Sadie interrupted his somber thoughts.
That brought him back to the present with a dull thud. “Yes, someone knew the way up. And how is that possible if the only ones who knew are dead and gone?”
“Maybe they’re not as dead and gone as we think.” Cole’s brain was working. That always worried Heath a little. The man was smart, but he didn’t think like a western man.
“Rosita, come in here,” Cole shouted.
“And just what in the world do you think Rosita can tell you about this?” Sadie asked.
Cole crossed his arms and gave his little sister a sharp look. “Maybe she can’t tell me a thing. On the other hand, maybe she can tell me who goes back in these parts a long way. Maybe she knows the ones who tell ancient stories. Twisted-up tales we’ve never heard before.”
Rosita came in, looking worried. As her eyes slid to each one of the Bodens, she seemed to relax. Heath saw how much she loved these three. When she heard one of them shout her name, her first thoughts were of their well-being. Now that she was assured that they were all right, she could calmly handle whatever trouble they faced.
“What is it?”
Sadie moved to Rosita’s side. “We need someone who knows the old stories of this area.”
“You know I’m Mexican?”
Sadie nodded.
“Well, I have no Pueblo blood in my veins, and those are the folks who have had legends passed down from their distant past.”
“But do you know anyone who is Pueblo?”
Rosita had spent her life with the Bodens. Her mother, Consuelo, had been the housekeeper before her. Rosita had married young to a Mexican who’d worked as a hand for the ranch. When he died, Rosita had dedicated her life to the Bodens and had never been connected to an Indian tribe.
“My sister wasn’t in the tribe, but her husband’s family is Pueblo. Let me talk to her and see who she might know.”
“Right now, today.” Justin started across the room for the door. “I’ll ride in with you.”
“No, we can’t set out so late. It’s a far distance, and if Delfina can find one from her tribe to speak with us, they would not want to do it late in the day. If we set out early tomorrow, our chances of success are greater.”
Justin looked like it was rubbing him raw to accept the wait, but he nodded regardless. “We’ll go in the morning, then.”
“We will need to bring food along. I must prepare.” Rosita turned and left the room.
Justin took two steps to reach the door, then stopped so suddenly he nearly skidded.
Cole almost plowed into him.
Instead of moving on, Justin closed the door, turned, and looked at Cole. Then his eyes shifted to Heath. “Before we go, we need to ask you some questions, Kincaid.”
“About what?” As if Heath didn’t know.
“Just fire him and get it over with,” Cole said, crossing his arms. “We’ve got an outlaw to track down.”
Justin matched Cole’s stance. The two argued over one thing or another constantly. It was Heath’s bad luck that they’d finally found something they could agree on.
Keeping him away from their sister.
Sadie came up beside Heath and took his elbow as if nothing could keep her away from him. “Whatever you’re doing, just stop.” She stepped forward without letting go of Heath’s arm, looking ready to throw herself between Heath and her brothers if necessary.
That made him feel a little low-down, because the man was supposed to stand between a woman and trouble, not the other way around.
But these were her brothers. She could probably handle them better than he could. At least with less punching involved.
Sadie began with Justin. “You told Cole what you saw, Justin, but you couldn’t have heard Heath’s very proper and respectful request that we begin courting each other. He has done nothing I didn’t agree to, and his attentions are welcome.”
Hearing her say that made Heath want to drag her out of this room and find somewhere private enough that she could welcome more of his attentions.
“And Justin, I can’t believe you would tell Heath he shouldn’t spend time with me. He is an honest man, a hard worker, a faithful churchgoer, and he has the courageous heart of a lion.
“Now, if you two are going to stand here and tell me I can’t see such a fine man, then I am going to write to Ma and ask her permission. You will recall she was the daughter of a wealthy, powerful landowner who married a cowhand with no ranch and nothing to his name. That would be our pa.”
Justin narrowed his eyes. “We know our ma is married to our pa, Sadie.”
She sniffed at his interruption. “I suspect Ma will think your opinion is an insult to her and Pa. I think she might very well feel as if every word you speak is a slap in the face.”
“She will not,” Cole said.
“You know Pa likes Heath. You’ve seen Heath’s loyalty to us. I am not going to put up with any insults to him.”
Heath decided he wasn’t the one in this room with the courageous heart of a lion.
“I’m not really a penniless drifter, either,” Heath said. “I’ve saved some money, and besides that, I’m part owner of a ranch—”
“We don’t want to hear your list of assets, Kincaid,” Cole said, cutting him off.
Heath wasn’t real sure what an asset was, but it sounded like a word Cole hadn’t oughta be saying in front of a lady. He’d mention it later when Sadie wasn’t right here. “I have asked Sadie to come for a ride or take a walk with me. If you’re uncomfortable with tha
t, one of you can come along as a chaperone.”
“No, they can’t.” Sadie glared at Heath.
“Well, I don’t want them to come any more than you do, but I thought maybe they’d simmer down if I offered.” He looked at the flash of temper in Sadie’s eyes and knew how a moth felt when it flew straight into a flame. It was all he could do not to pay her some attention right here and now. “I’d like to speak to Sadie in private for just a few minutes.”
“No!” Justin and Cole answered at the same instant.
Heath gave a shrug of one shoulder. It hadn’t hurt to ask, but he wasn’t real surprised at the response. Still, tormenting the Boden brothers was its own reward.
“Yes, Heath.” Sadie smiled up at him as sweet as wild mountain honey. “I’d like a moment, too.”
Heath thought of all he could say to goad the two Boden brothers, but he had a moment of maturity, which he probably ought to stretch to more than a moment.
He looked from Cole to Justin. “I know you’re trying to protect your sister from a low-down cowpoke, and I don’t blame you at all.”
“You are not low-down,” Sadie gasped out.
Cole looked him straight in the eye. “Heath, it’s not that you’re low-down, and, well, you’re a fine hand and a knowing man and you’ve helped this family through a hard time. But it’s hard for me to believe anyone’s good enough for my sister.”
“Maybe you’re right and I’m not good enough for her. In fact, I should probably move on and leave her to find a worthy man.”
Sadie’s hand tightened on his arm until he felt her fingernails sinking into him.
“I’m just saying,” Cole continued, “I don’t know how to go on. If Ma and Pa were here, they’d be in charge of such things. I feel we need to leave this for them. To let you come in here and steal our sister’s affections . . . ouch!”
Heath saw Sadie’s pointy-toed little boot come back from kicking Cole. She’d aimed high, too. He wore tough leather boots, but she’d gotten him in the knee.
Cole looked to Justin. “Well, you say something then.”
“I say let’s get to bed. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”
And that was the most sensible thing any of them had said in a long while.
Heath headed out before he said something that made Sadie kick him as well, like he wasn’t good enough for her, and the idea of marriage to her chafed because of her father’s foolish wishes that kept her tied to the ranch. And it was hard on a man’s pride to come to a rich woman and become wealthy through her.
His cot in the bunkhouse was where he belonged.
22
Rosita packed saddlebags with food while the rest of them made short work of their breakfast.
John knocked on the door, then pushed it open. “The horses are ready.”
“Let’s ride.” Justin grabbed his saddlebag, and the others took theirs and followed him out the door. Justin spoke quickly with John as he mounted up. Someone had to run this place.
As they left the ranch yard, Heath and Sadie side by side, he looked at her and smiled. “We’re going for a ride, Sadie girl.”
She rolled her eyes. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
Heath patted her hand holding the reins. “We’ll take another one that’s less crowded. I promise.”
They were soon moving at a fast pace. Cole reined in his horse so he could drop back to be beside Sadie, then Justin did the same. “Bring up the rear, Kincaid, and watch our back trail.”
Heath fell in line behind the Bodens, who now rode three abreast. He saw Sadie try to drop back, but Justin caught her reins and kept her with them. Cole said something Heath couldn’t hear. Sadie swatted his arm but quit trying to escape.
Rosita took the lead.
They rode straight through Skull Gulch. Rosita’s sister lived by a mesa a far distance to the south called Meseta Blanca.
A few hours later, they finally reached her sister’s house.
“Wait outside.” Rosita gave the orders just like she owned a huge ranch and all of them worked for her.
Not a one of them disobeyed.
Delfina came to the door to greet Rosita. She wore a dress with only one shoulder, a long-sleeved shirt under it. She had on leather leggings, held with strips of soft doeskin leather. This was the traditional dress for the Pueblo people, while Rosita wore clothes similar to the Bodens with a few accents from her Mexican heritage. Sadie noticed they wore similar beaded necklaces.
Delfina waved at Sadie, then the men. Rosita spoke quickly in Spanish as she dismounted. Delfina took Rosita’s place and rode away.
Rosita said, “Delfina is going to Meseta Blanca. We are to wait here.”
Sadie turned in her saddle to watch Delfina ride straight for the almost-vertical wall of the mesa. It seemed to loom over their heads, though it was a mile away at least.
When at last Delfina reached it, she dismounted and tied the horse, and then seemed to walk straight up the rock wall.
“How’s she doing that?” Heath urged his horse toward the mesa.
“There is a stairway carved in stone,” Rosita answered. “I come and stay with Delfina every weekend, and yet I’ve only been allowed up that mesa three times in my life. They’re very private here.”
“Can we go look?” Sadie wanted to see it. Was it how Skull Mesa had been before some part of it caved away? “I don’t want to violate some custom and offend the people who live here.”
“So long as you don’t climb the steps, you will be fine,” Rosita said.
Heath started first, his eyes riveted on the mesa. Sadie trotted forward and heard the others coming. They then heard some talk behind them, and suddenly Cole caught up to them on foot and swung up behind Sadie.
He leaned forward and smiled down at Sadie. “I gave Rosita my horse.”
Mr. Helpful.
At least he let her ride beside Heath.
“So this is Meseta Blanca.” Sadie recognized the name of a village she’d never been near. Pa didn’t encourage her riding out into wild country.
Rosita caught up to them, riding Cole’s feisty black stallion with complete confidence. “The village of Meseta Blanca is on a mesa many times the size of Skull Mesa. The people of this village aren’t known for welcoming outsiders. Delfina will bring an elder down—if she can find one willing to speak to us.”
“If there’s a village up there,” Heath said, “then it’s not unusual that they would build on Skull Mesa, too.”
Sadie felt her excitement rise. Somehow the top of Skull Mesa had become a mystery that needed solving. If the elders of the Pueblo village knew of the history, maybe they could find out who they’d told.
If they learned who knew, it was a giant step toward finding out who wanted to kill pa and who’d shot at them from the mesa top.
“Delfina said the wise one is very old and tires easily, but he was the trader for the village for years and speaks English well. If he comes, he will come quickly.”
They reached the edge of the mesa and staked the horses out to graze as they looked at a stairway so steep it was more ladder than stairs. Steeper than the one on Skull Mesa, but close enough that Sadie knew the same people had built them both.
Meseta Blanca was an ancient village. Though the Pueblo Indians had a warlike past, in recent years—for as long as Sadie could remember—they’d become friendlier people. They weren’t nomadic like so many tribes. They built their homes of stone and grew crops. Sadie could see many houses scattered around the base of the mesa. There were cattle and horses, crops growing, and signs of a successful hunt with hides hanging to dry. Quiet people working around the adobe structures that had been built down here.
Sadie looked at the buildings and tried to imagine the ruins at the top of Skull Mesa as being from the ancestors of the Pueblo. Any resemblance was too vague for her to be sure of anything.
She would have loved to climb these stairs and see the village, but instead she waited there o
n the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, along the banks of the Cimarron River.
Water for the Pueblo village must have to be hauled up from the Cimarron to the mesa top. There couldn’t be a water source up there, could there? How much work was that? Or did the people come down to get water to cook and drink and bathe with, then climb back up? Whichever they did, the amount of work was staggering.
“Why do they live up there?” Sadie asked.
“Because it’s safe,” Rosita said. “Their village is impregnable. And with lookouts posted, all the villagers who live down here can be up these stairs in minutes. One man at the top of the stairway can hold off a thousand attackers.”
“But they can’t get horses up there, so that leaves them vulnerable to thieves.”
“No horse or cow can go up, but the Pueblo, armed with arrows, can drive off thieves while never being in danger themselves. It’s such a stronghold that defeat is assured, so no one even bothers to attack.”
She wanted to ask more questions, a hundred more questions. That was when it struck her that her life had been very narrow. Here this fascinating settlement was so near her home, yet she’d never come here. Pa had discouraged her from leaving the ranch or doing any travel. Now she was almost feverish to climb this ladder, compare this village to the one they’d found on Skull Mesa. And there were other wonders to see. Heath had spoken of a few, but there were more. The Grand Canyon wasn’t that far away. There was a train now that went all the way to the ocean. For heaven’s sake, her parents had made it to Denver in a single day.
This mesa made her want to see more of the world. Heath had traveled far and wide. She wondered, if he was serious in his courtship, if it led to marriage, would he travel some with her? He seemed mostly determined to return to his own home. And it didn’t matter because he’d have to stay here, at least until Pa was satisfied in whatever feverish part of his brain wanted all his children under one roof.
She looked at Heath, who finally tore his eyes away from the steps that seemed to fascinate him as much as they did her. Their gazes locked.
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