by Bill Sheehy
Martin didn’t like it but couldn’t see what he could do. Picking up the reins he nodded at the other man. ‘I guess. However, the pressure on Marcy is starting to be too much. I was hoping you’d be bringing my share of the money. I’ll go see if I can quiet her down a little.’
Riding on toward town, Martin wasn’t feeling as good as he had a short while back.
Chapter 44
Riding back to the ranch, Tony wasn’t having a good day either. Meeting the woman in the bank, the rest of the day was kinda hazy. He got through his lunch and five minutes later couldn’t have told you what he ate. The way she had her hair piled up on her head with long curls laying over her shoulders, almost flowing like light brown watered-down molasses was all he could think about. A woman had never affected him that way before. Not that he’d met many women. Actually, other than his ma, and, well, Marcy Baynes, he hadn’t even talked to many women. Not since his days at college. Then he’d been too busy, learning, to pay much attention.
Thinking about those years at school made him remember where he’d seen that big man who’d got off the stage earlier. He didn’t think he’d ever heard the man’s name, but from what someone said, he was part of a bunch of men who hung out at one of the more notorious saloons. That in itself wasn’t anything, but the fact was that many times Martin Baynes was seen with the man having supper or sharing a drink. Thinking of that caused Tony’s forehead to crease in a big frown. I wonder, he said silently, what that fool Martin has got himself into.
But he didn’t waste too much time thinking about his once friend, not when he had the woman in the bank to remember. Elizabeth. A nice sounding name. And pretty. Lordy, how pretty she was.
After taking care of his saddle horse and heading for the kitchen his smile was still showing enough to tell his mother something had happened.
She had been kneading bread dough in preparation of baking but stopped when her son came into the room. Dusting flour off her hands and turning to the stove to pour a cup of coffee she stopped when she saw her son’s face.’¿Por qué?’ she questioned, ‘what is this? What has brought such a smile to your face? Ah, wait uno momento. I have seen that look before. When a man sees a woman he gets that look on his face. Don’t tell me, you were in the bank this day and,’ she clasped her hands together happily, ‘at last you have made up with Miss Baynes. Sí, that is what has happened.’
‘No, mama. Miss Baynes, well, I went into the bank but she wasn’t there today. But Marcy is still a woman of the city, not of the ranch. When she finds a husband it’ll be someone from the big city. No. It is another. A newcomer to Baynes Springs.’
Olivia Rodriquez’s smile slowly faded. ‘The daughter of another ranch? Sí, I know of a few, mostly over to the east. Mr Allen often talks of them. He worries they steal beef. Not to sell, no. That is why he does nothing. They are poor, he tells me, and taking a single head once in a while is only neighborly. Is the woman who caught your eye from over there?’
‘No, she is a new clerk at the bank. A widow woman of my own age. She lives at the boarding house.’
The woman, not frowning but not as happy as she was at her first thought, went back to kneading the bread. This was something she’d have to discuss with Mr Allen.
Chapter 45
Elizabeth, while trying to look busy, thought about the young rancher, Tony Rodriquez. Finally she turned to Ivor.
‘Mr Ivor, you know there’s a deputy marshal in town, don’t you?’
Ivor prided himself in knowing most of what went on in the little town. He nodded but didn’t say anything.
‘Well, he took his lunch at the boarding house and, well, he walked me back afterward. He wants to take me to dinner over at the hotel. Do you think that’s a good idea?’
‘Mrs Havilah, there’s no mister in my name, call me Ivor. And yes, it doesn’t surprise me. There aren’t many single women in this part of the country and, well, I reckon you have to expect being asked to dinner once in a while.’
‘But,’ she hesitated, ‘I’ve been thinking about that other man, Mr Rodriquez. Well, he seemed like a nice enough man. But to tell the truth, other than my husband, Roy, I don’t know much about men.’
Ivor smiled and sitting back in his high-backed chair, looked up at the ceiling, thinking. Making his decision, he nodded. ‘Young Rodriquez is the foreman out at the Frying Pan. That’s almost as big a spread as the Baynes’ ranch. Tony came to the ranch when the owner, George Allen, hired his ma as a housekeeper. The youngster was raised on the ranch, even went off to school in Kansas City. Now that he’s got his full growth he’s bossing the ranch. Old Allen ain’t a young man any more and he leaves pretty much everything up to Tony.’
Elizabeth nodded. ‘He appeared to be, well, interested in me.’
Ivor smiled. ‘I can understand why that’d be. It seemed likely he’d be courting Miz Baynes, but that somehow didn’t work out. And as I said, there ain’t all that many pretty young women around here. I’d say ya really can’t be surprised to find every eligible man in the territory coming by to met up with ya.’
Noticing her hesitation, he quickly went on. ‘But of them all, I gotta tell ya, that Tony is about the best of ’em.’
Maybe so, she thought, thanking him and going back to the counter. Picking up a paper from the pile of forms she started reading, only the words blurred. Yes, he had a nice smile, kind of an innocent smile. But, she shook herself, that isn’t the point. Frowning she stopped her thinking from running wild. What, she asked herself, was she doing? She had to keep her thoughts on what was important. It hadn’t been that long since Roy died and here she was thinking about another man. It wasn’t appropriate. Anyway, she was in Baynes Springs for a reason. She was here to finish her pledge to Roy. That was more important. Nodding, she silently declared she’d not let the rancher’s interest interfere.
Chapter 46
Jackson Drazen was also letting his mind wander. After spending the afternoon looking over the Circle B he’d returned to town. Now, relaxing, he was thinking, making plans. It helped to just lie back on the bed and consider various scenarios. The end result was to have both the bank and the Circle B ranch. Money wouldn’t get either one, although once he had them the cash money sitting over in the iron safe would cement the ownership.
First he considered Martin. There was the weakest link. If his sister learned of his part in the train robbery, would she send him packing? Marcy was the strongest of the pair. But could he count on her to do what he wanted? Probably not. She had gone out on a limb, handing most of the bank’s available cash to her brother. Now she was nearing the end of her tether. The bank was very important to her. Until she and her bank were safe and secure Martin would get no more money. There were men to pay, supplies to purchase and everyday expenses of running a big operation like the Circle B. That meant he either had another source of cash, which was unlikely, or he was getting close to the end of his rope too.
OK, the man told himself, when the time came, Martin would simply be blown away. To get to that point meant getting Marcy on his side. Well, he’d used his good looks before with some success. And face it, the woman wasn’t getting any younger. Many more years and she’d be an old maid. Thinking about her, he didn’t think she’d stand for that happening. It would take a man with more than what most men in this part of the territory had. It’d take more than a horse and dreams. Yes, it’d take a man of the world. A man like himself.
Winning her over shouldn’t be hard. After all, what experience with men did she have growing up in a small, isolated community like this? Seeing a plan begin to form, he came up off the bed smiling.
And to get things going, he’d start with dinner tonight. Yes, a candlelit dinner. If there were any candles in this town.
Chapter 47
Olivia Rodriquez had had other things on her mind the morning she had first met George Allen. She recalled how sitting the saddle of the old paint horse made her bruised thigh throb.
&nbs
p; Normally Carlos hadn’t been a mean man. Only when he drank too much of the sour-tasting pulque. The cheap liquor did strange things to the man. That night had been her fault, certainly. She knew better to say anything when he was like that. Better to remain silent and not make any noise. Be like a mouse . . .
. . . The moment Carlos had come into the cabin they called home, it started. Pushing through the door he slammed himself into one of the two chairs at the table. Taking a pull from the clay jar, he frowned and started yelling.
‘That damn gringo, Señor Lavery, is pushing me for money. Man, he knows I ain’t got no money. You know what he did? He sent that foreman of his. Told me the only way I could make things right was to do what Señor Lavery wanted.’ Drinking again from the jar, for the first time he glanced at the woman who had been standing quietly at the brick fireplace, stirring a large pot of some kind of bean stew.
Olivia knew better than to say anything. It was the price she had to pay. Her mamcita had told her not to go with the man. Would she listen? No. Carlos had a good job at the gringo’s cattle ranch. And he was handsome. Even her mama thought he was. That, she’d said, was his problem; he was too handsome but not to be trusted. She didn’t like the look in the man’s eyes. Now she, Olivia, knew her mama had been right.
‘Listen to me, woman,’ her man yelled, slamming the jar down on the table, ‘it is the way it has to be. José is mean and if Señor Lavery don’t get what he wants, it won’t be just my job that goes, he’ll beat me. Maybe even kill me. No, it is the way of it. There is nothing I can do.’
‘Carlos, what are you talking about?’ She had to ask. But she knew. Since the time the gringo rancher had seen her on the street, she knew. Since becoming a woman she knew what men were thinking when they looked at her.
‘We will drive the horses into the corral in the morning,’ said Carlos, his words coming quietly. ‘You will help me. José will be there and . . . he will take you to the hotel.’
‘No. You can not ask this. I will not be handed off like a . . . like a piece of meat.’ The man came out of the chair, backhanding her. Landing on the dirt floor, she curled into a ball when he stepped toward her.
‘You will do as I say. I am the man of the house and you will do as I say.’
That was when he kicked her.
The bruise on her thigh was large but the same color as the smaller one on her face. Now afraid and hurting, all she could do was follow behind the small herd of horses. Carlos had worked hard on those animals, breaking them to the saddle. When drunk, he might be a beast, but the man was a good worker and did bring some money to the casita. Un poco, not much, but more than she’d ever seen before.
Hazing the horses into the corral, Carlos dismounted and taking the paint’s reins from her hand pulled the animal over to one side, to where a big man sat his horse, watching. Not looking up or at the other man, Carlos handed the thin leather thongs to the big man sitting his big bay horse.
‘Now Carlos, you’re showing some sense. Señor Lavery will be a happy man.’ Smiling at the woman on the paint’s back, he jerked the reins and turned the horses away from the corral, heading toward town.
Olivia didn’t think, simply let herself slide down out of the saddle. Off the horse but not knowing where to go or what to do, she just stood there in the thick dust of the street.
‘Damn it woman,’ Carlos came running over, grabbing her by the arm and jerking her off her feet. ‘What are you doing? You’re gonna get me killed!’
‘That’ll be enough of that,’ Olivia heard someone say. ‘Where I come from we don’t treat women that way.’
José, turning back, climbed down off his bay. ‘Señor,’ he said, casually hitching his heavy gunbelt to a more comfortable position around his waist, ‘you forget. You are not where you come from. This has nothing to do with you, so step away.’
‘Nope, can’t do it,’ the young man said, reaching down to help Olivia to her feet. ‘Olivia, are you all right?’
Before she could answer Carlos threw himself at the young gringo. Turning quickly, the man took Carlos’ blow only to hit back, burying his fist deep in Carlos’ stomach. Retching, bent over and puking whatever he had in his stomach, Carlos slumped.
‘All right,’ yelled José, ‘I warned ya.’
Olivia cowered to see the big man jerking a long, silvery bladed knife from a belt sheath. The stranger stood for an instant, then almost calmly pulled his Colt and shot the attacking man.
‘Do ya know what ya’ve gone and done?’ snarled Carlos, lying in the dirt, holding his stomach. ‘That’s José, Señor Lavery’s man you’ve killed. You’re a dead man.’
Chapter 48
Out at the Frying Pan, changes were being made. Mr Allen only nodded when Mrs Rodriquez told him about her son.
‘Now, Olivia, for a long time it’s been clear as the nose on yer face. Much as ya wanted it, there’d never be a wedding with Tony and the Baynes girl. Ain’t in the cards. I dunno what happened, but, well, I got my ideas.’
She had found him sitting at the table in the arbor. Having brought out a fresh pot of coffee she refilled his cup and poured herself one. Sitting across from him she watched as he spooned sugar in the cup and slowly stirred it.
‘What do we know about this woman?’ she asked, worry lines creasing her forehead. ‘A clerk at the bank? New to town?’
Allen reached out and patted her free hand. ‘One of the hands told me she’s a widow woman. Staying at the boarding house old Cornwall has there. Don’t know much more’n that.’
‘A widow? Was her husband killed in the war? Does she have children? Oh, George, there’s so much we don’t know.’
‘I reckon you’re right. But face it, woman, Tony’s a man grown. He’s got to make his own mistakes. You’ve done a wonderful job of raising him. His head is on straight. It won’t do you or him any good to get worked up in a lather. I reckon it’s time to let him be the man he is.’
Putting her cup to one side she reached over to hold his hand with both of hers. ‘But I’m so afraid.’
‘Yeah, and that’s something I’ve never been able to convince you not to be. Ya know, I’ve been feeling a little tired lately. More’n usual. Now,’ he said quickly seeing the look on her face, ‘it’s another something we ain’t gonna worry about. But it is time for us to have that talk we ain’t had in a long time.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘Olivia, you and I have had a long time here. We’ve been able to keep people out of our front yard and not bothering us. I didn’t want it that way, you know that. But you had that damn fear. Well, I guess it’s time to bring the cat outa the bag.’
‘Oh, George, can’t we just let things go on? Why do we have to change anything?’
‘Because of Tony. His growing into being the rancher he is. The man we raised him to be. Honey, we can’t keep hiding out. It’s been better’n twenty-five years since I killed that man down below the border. In all that time there ain’t been hide nor hair of any Texican rancher. Old Lavery’s likely dead hisself. And here we’ve been hiding our faces fer nothing at all.’
‘It is something we had to do. The man was too big. I hated it, our having to leave your little ranch just when you were getting a start.’
He smiled tenderly, ‘Honey, what would ya have had me do? Leave ya there? We both know what kinda man Lavery was. And you, a beautiful young girl? Wal, hell, ya weren’t much more’n a child. Now, don’t go thinking back to that. With you married to that fool, Carlos, there was no way we’d even been able to be together. Killing Lavery’s man stopped him from taking ya away. Carlos would never do anything, ’ceptin’ what he was told to. So we did what we had to do. Coming up outa southern Texas, wal, we ain’t done so bad. The Frying Pan’s a lot more ranch than that little bit of land I had down there on the border. No sir, and that’s the truth.’
‘But why can’t we just go on? Why do you want to change things now?’
‘Honey, I told ya. Cuz
of Tony. It’s only right. He’s got to be told and, wal, then we got to put things right. C’mon, ya knew sooner or later we’d do it. So, I’ve decided. Tomorrow you and I’ll take the buggy into town and catch the stage into Dodge City. Love, we been living as man and wife for more’n twenty years. It’s time we made it real and legal. It’s time we let Tony come into his own.’
Olivia’s smile softened. ‘George, he’s known for a long time. There aren’t any secrets on this ranch. Most of those who know have enough respect for you, they’ve never let it be important. Ah, bueno, if you say we go, we go. I’ll talk with Tony. Now, you look tired. Why not rest a bit before supper.’
Yes, Tony may know about her ma and Mr Allen, but how would he react to learning Mr Allen had once killed a man? And had run?
Chapter 49
Late in the afternoon the old men sitting on the hotel porch watched as Jackson Drazen came out and for a moment stopped to look the town over. Glancing over his shoulder at the men sitting in the shade, he nodded and turned up the street, disappearing into the bank.
Hearing the door open, Marcy Baynes looked up and felt her stomach clinch. Maybe he has heard something about the federal bank’s money, she thought. Smiling at him she waited as he walked back to stand in front of her desk.
‘Good afternoon, Miss Baynes. Have you a few minutes? I certainly don’t want to take you away from your work, but...’ he stopped and at the woman’s gesture, took the client’s chair.
‘Mr Drazen, of course I have time for you. Actually, there isn’t much business for me to be taking care of today. We have our busy periods, that’s for sure, but not this time of year. Mostly that only happens when one of the ranches ships stock or someone comes in for loans to buy seed.’ She knew she was jabbering but being nervous couldn’t stop the flow of words. ‘What in heaven’s name can I do for you today?’ There, she had it out.