by Linda Ford
Lonnie trailed along behind Wyatt, carrying the kitten.
“Ma doesn’t allow cats in the house,” Cora warned.
Lonnie pulled to a halt. “I’ll stay out here with it.” He sank to the grass and trailed a bit of string for the kitten to chase.
“You all need a good strong cup of my red rot tea.” Ma guided them toward the table.
“Red rot tea?” Wyatt asked, swallowing hard.
Cora hid a smile as he glanced toward the door, his eyes wide, his shoulders tensing.
“Best thing to ward off a chill from your dunking.” Ma waited for everyone to sit, then poured tea into cups and passed them around.
Wyatt sat with his hands under his knees staring at his cup. He turned to Cora. “Red rot?” he whispered.
Lilly could not stop talking about her sheep and all they’d suffered, so the others did not hear his question.
Cora leaned closer. “Would you sooner be sick?”
He contemplated the tea. “Maybe.”
“Would it help to know that the plant Ma uses to make the tea eats ants?”
He jerked back. “You’re joshing.” He gave her such a doubting look she pressed her hand to her mouth to keep back a laugh.
“No, I’m not. It’s a carnivorous plant with excellent medicinal qualities.”
By now, the rest of the family had grown still and was listening to the conversation. Lilly and Rose sucked in their lips to stop from laughing.
Wyatt sat back in his chair and stared at the tea as if it might bite him.
Cora cleared her throat so she could speak. “Not to worry, though. Ma puts a few other things in with it to tame it.”
Lilly and Rose no longer tried to hide their amusement and giggled.
Ma smiled gently. “Wyatt, it’s perfectly harmless. Don’t let these girls tease you so. Why, people come from miles around for a supply of red rot tea each fall. It keeps them healthy and fights off chest infections.”
Pa sipped his drink. “Ma’s right. Look at me. An old man now and never sick with a chill. All thanks to Ma’s medicinals.”
Cora turned to her pa. “You aren’t old.” It bothered her to think of him in those terms.
He patted her hand. “I’m sure not as young as I used to be.”
A shiver snaked up her spine. “Don’t you even talk about getting old.” She didn’t want to think of losing either of their parents. Not for a long, long time.
“Age is not something I can control,” Pa said. “But no need for any of you to fret. I’m healthy as a horse.”
Cora studied him a moment. She couldn’t recall him being sick a day since he and Ma found them. Reassured by the knowledge, she turned back to Wyatt. “Don’t tell me a big strong cowboy like you is afraid of a little cup of harmless tea.”
He squinted at her. “How harmless can something called red rot be? You’re sure my insides won’t disintegrate?”
Cora shrugged. “Who knows? I suppose it depends on how tough you are.” She drank from her cup and gave him a daring glance. “Maybe you aren’t as tough as us Bells. Especially as, apart from Pa, we’re all females.”
As if to prove their toughness, Rose and Lilly lifted their cups and drank. Even Ma gave him a challenging look over the rim of her cup.
Wyatt’s gaze went from Rose to Lilly to Ma then to Cora. Finally, he considered his cup. He edged one hand from under his knee and grasped the handle gingerly, as if even touching it carried risk. He shuddered and slowly lifted the tea to his lips.
She laughed, and at the exact moment he swallowed she said, “Might be your last moment on earth.”
He sputtered but it was too late. His eyes widened. “It doesn’t taste bad.”
The Bell family chuckled.
But Cora couldn’t resist one last tease. “Let us know if your stomach starts to hurt or you begin to bleed from your pores.”
Wyatt squinted at her, informing her he didn’t believe a word of her warning.
“Cora,” Ma scolded. “Stop tormenting the poor man.”
Wyatt gave her a superior look. “Your ma is defending me.” He set his cup down and shifted, making his chair squeak. He glanced around the table. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but why don’t you report this mischief to the sheriff? Wouldn’t that put an end to the Caldwells bothering you?”
Five cups clattered to the table. Five pairs of eyes stared at him. Cora had told him the sheriff could do nothing.
“Or go to this Mr. Caldwell and ask him to stop his cowboys from doing this?”
Lilly shook her head. “It might make things worse. The Caldwells might get more aggressive.”
Rose planted her fists on either side of her cup and pursed her lips as she looked around the table, spearing each of them with her gaze. “The Caldwells aren’t the only people with a right to own land.”
Cora looked at her sister. Rose always wanted things fixed: have the Caldwells put in their place, get Ma’s remedies neatly noted in a little book, learn the facts about who their birth family had been and if any of them lived. Perhaps even search for them. In Cora’s opinion, Rose simply asked for more hurt, more reminder of how little they mattered to their birth father if she pursued the subject.
Cora would protect her younger sisters from feeling the devastation of such rejection.
Pa pushed back from the table. “While Ma makes supper, we’d best get some work done.” He trod toward the door.
Cora listened to his footsteps. Did they seem heavier, slower than the last time she gave it thought? She shook her head. She only considered it because of his reminder that he grew old.
Lilly grabbed Ma’s hand before she could push to her feet. “The sheep had a good soaking. Those that didn’t have been under a lot of stress. Ma, do you think some of this tea would help them? Maybe keep them from getting sick?”
Ma sank back and studied Lilly. “Sometimes we do all we can and still don’t get the result we want.”
Yes! Exactly what Cora wished Rose would accept. She shot her redheaded sister a look and gave a little nod. Listen to our wise ma.
Rose only widened her eyes to inform Cora she didn’t plan to change her mind. Rose could be so stubborn. So single-minded. To her own harm.
“But I must do all I can,” Lilly beseeched Ma.
“Of course you must, but how are you going to get a dozen ewes and their lambs to drink tea?”
Lilly shrugged, misery in her eyes and posture.
Ma patted Lilly’s hand. “I have a tincture that has the same medicinal qualities. I’ll get it for you.”
Ma hurried to the garden shed where she kept most of her herbs and healing plants.
Rose grinned. “There you go, Lilly. Your sheep will be just fine. Do you want help doctoring them?”
Lilly smiled at her twin. “I won’t be able to do it on my own.” She darted a glance toward Cora and then Wyatt.
“We’ll help, too,” Cora said.
The twins trotted out to get the tincture from Ma.
Cora faced Wyatt. “Do you object to helping with the sheep?”
His eyebrows rose. “Should I?”
“I don’t know. Seems cowboys often hate sheep.”
“Cowboys have the reputation of hating farms and farmers. Do I act like I do?”
She shook her head, mesmerized by the teasing gleam in his eyes. She forced her tongue to work. “You aren’t like most cowboys I know.”
His grin flashed. “And with your vast experience with men, you’ve known hundreds, I suppose?”
She gave an airy wave. “So many I couldn’t begin to count them.”
“And not one of them has cared for sheep?”
“Not a one.” Her smile flattened as she thought of the Caldwell cowboys
. “In my vast experience—” she tried to sound nonchalant “—they would like to see all sheep drown in the river.”
His grin fled. “That was downright stupid and callous and—” He lifted his hands in a gesture of defeat. “I can’t even begin to say all the things I feel about that dreadful deed.”
Cora admired his passion and ushered them outside. “You are not like any cowboy I ever met.”
He thrust his shoulders back and held his chin high. “I take that as a true compliment.”
As they walked out together, a wonderful warming feeling spread like sweet honey throughout Cora’s insides.
Wyatt looked about. “Where did Lonnie go?”
Cora saw him first. “He’s over by the pigpen.”
Wyatt called to him. “We’re going to help Lilly with the sheep. Do you want to come?
“Mr. Bell is going to show me how to make a rope.”
“Okay.”
Cora smiled. Pa would do more to heal Lonnie’s fear of men than anyone she knew.
They had reached the fence of the sheep pasture and she stepped away from Wyatt’s side. She enjoyed his company far too much for her own comfort. She would do well to listen to the same advice she wished Rose would heed. A person could be the cause of their own hurt if they didn’t take care.
Hadn’t she promised Pa and Ma and herself that she would not be hurt by Wyatt? She had no intention of being too free with her trust.
Grub sat outside the fence and jumped to his feet, wagging all over when he saw they were venturing into the pasture.
“No, you stay here, boy,” Cora said.
“Wouldn’t he be a help?”
Cora snorted. “You heard how good he is at herding turkeys. He’s even worse at herding sheep.”
“I have to ask why you keep such a useless dog.”
She gave him a wide-eyed look of shock. “Why, that should be obvious. It’s because he’s so cute.”
Wyatt roared with laughter. “He’s the ug—”
“Don’t say it,” she warned him.
He stifled a chuckle as he closed the gate behind them.
In the pasture, Lilly and Rose held a sheep as Lilly inserted a dropper in its mouth and held its jaws until it swallowed. Only then did she glance up. “If you two can catch them and bring them to me one at a time, it would sure go a lot faster.”
Rose marked the treated sheep with a little colored chalk and turned it loose.
“You know how to catch sheep?” Wyatt murmured.
“Sure. Reach out and grab it and drag it to Lilly.”
He leaned back on his heels and grinned at her. “It sounds as easy as catching a little pig.”
She rolled her eyes and pretended to ignore his reference. Inside, she chuckled at the memory of their first meeting. “How hard can it be?”
“If you say so. Grab that one. She’s close.”
They lunged for the ewe, but she bleated and trotted away, leaving Cora with had a handful of wool.
She sat on her rump and stared at the animal.
“You’re going at it all wrong,” Lilly said. “Just call them to you and hold each one under their chin. It’s not hard.”
Wyatt groaned. “Seems I’ve heard that before.”
Under her breath, Cora murmured, “I don’t much care for sheep.”
Wyatt choked. “And you accused me of not liking them. As if it was the worst possible crime a man could commit.”
She ignored him. This teasing brought her perilously close to the invisible line that she would not, must not, cross.
He nudged her with his foot.
Still she ignored him.
He pushed her over.
She gasped and stared up at him. “Why’d you do that?”
He planted his hands on his hips. “Why did you pretend you liked sheep?”
She scrambled to her feet and gave a dismissive toss of her head. “I never said anything of the sort.”
“You might as well have.”
She shrugged. “I can’t help it if you make huge assumptions.”
He took a step toward her.
Not caring for the look in his eyes, she edged away and considered the sheep. “We’d better get to work.”
He growled, “I should have brought my rope. I could lasso them.”
“Go around them,” Lilly called. “All you have to do is herd them my way. I’ll call them.”
As they moseyed around the animals, Lilly called, “Watch out for the ram. He’s harmless but he likes to butt.”
Wyatt jerked, looking around for the animal. “Cora, watch out.”
The urgency in his voice sent tremors up her spine, but before she could turn, something hit the backs of her legs and propelled her forward.
* * *
“Cora.” Wyatt could barely push her name past his teeth as the ram hit her from behind. He raced forward, intending to beat the animal off with his bare hands if he must. But the ram trotted off, his head high, as if pleased with his actions.
Cora lay facedown in the grass.
Wyatt squatted at her side. He reached out, wanting to roll her over and make certain she was okay but afraid she might be too injured. “Cora.” He touched her shoulder gently. “Cora, say something.”
Her ribs expanded in a great gasp. She lifted her head, spit out grass and rolled to her back to stare up at him.
“I don’t like sheep,” she muttered.
He chuckled, more from relief than any other reason. “Good to see you alive and kicking.”
She sat up and groaned. “I’m not kicking, but if Lilly wasn’t so blame fond of these horrible, smelly creatures, I’d sure be tempted to kick a ram.”
Suspecting she didn’t mean a word of her threat, he watched her closely. “I tried to warn you, but it was too late.”
“Seems to be the story of my life.”
There was a whole lot of information hidden in those few words, but now was not the time or place to ask about it. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Only my pride. Imagine my chagrin to be knocked over by a silly ram, especially in front of a cowboy.” She closed her eyes and managed to look pained. “Why is it you always see me at my worst?”
“I can’t imagine what you mean.” He couldn’t recall a time when he’d seen anything but her best.
“I’m sure you can. First, you find me falling on my face chasing a little pig. Then I trip on my skirt and almost fall from the barn. Now I’m falling on my face over sheep.”
“Best moments of my life.” He held out a hand to help her up.
She looked ready to slap it away, then accepted defeat and grabbed on.
He pulled her to her feet and kept hold of her hand even after she was upright. He looked into her eyes and smiled. “Yup, best moments of my life.”
“Oh, you.” She pushed him hard.
He staggered back but kept his feet. “What was that for?”
She shrugged. “You figure it out.”
He grinned. He liked teasing her. Liked seeing her chasing little animals and helping her sisters. Guess he liked most everything about her.
He spun away and reached for one of the ewes.
It mattered not if he liked anything or everything about Cora. Indeed, if he cared the least little bit about her, he would leave this minute, before he brought shame and censure to her and her family.
He looked toward the river and the campsite he and Lonnie shared. Fanny hadn’t foaled yet and couldn’t travel. Even after she did, they’d have to wait until the foal was strong enough before they moved on.
With a sigh of resignation, he bowed his head. How was he to give his horses a chance to rest, allow Lonnie to learn about normal family and yet protec
t the Bell family from being affected by his reputation?
How was he going to keep his secrets locked away? Even more important, how would he keep his heart safe?
Chapter Eleven
Cora accompanied her sisters to their shared bedroom to prepare for church.
Pa had informed Wyatt that the Bells attended church every Sunday. He hadn’t come right out and said the words, but his meaning was clear—Wyatt and Lonnie were expected to attend, as well. Poor Wyatt had looked as if he wanted to sprout wings and fly away. Lonnie had shrunk back into the shadows, so Cora hadn’t seen his expression, but his actions had said it all. They’d both acted as though church attendance threatened their safety.
Cora could think of no reason why anyone would think such a thing unless they were afraid of someone or something. But what could they possibility be afraid of? It wasn’t as if they were evil men with their likenesses on a wanted poster. She’d seen enough of them to be certain of that.
Their father was dead. They couldn’t be expecting him to turn up at any moment.
So who or what did they fear?
If only he would answer the question should she pose it to him. There were so many things she didn’t know about him. Reason enough to cling to her guardedness, she told herself.
She turned her attention to selecting a dress.
Every other day of the week she wore cotton dresses, some stained and mended. Normally, she didn’t give much thought to what she put on, so long as it was practical and allowed her freedom to work. She had two dresses saved for Sundays. She’d always thought the dark red one looked rather nice on her. But it was heavy satin with a high collar that would suffocate her in the summer heat. The other one, a cotton in blue-and-white stripes, would be cooler. She had worn it every Sunday for the past month without giving it a thought, but now she stared at it. The simple style seemed a little childish.
She realized Rose was watching her and brushed her hand over the skirt as if removing specks of dust.
“Something wrong with your dress?” Rose asked.
Cora shook her head. “It’s fine.”
Lilly and Rose moved closer and studied the gown.
“You could wear that lacy white shawl Anna gave you last Christmas. That would make it look nice,” Rose said.