The Seekers

by F. M. Parker

  Celeste’s eyes lost their sparkle and she climbed to her feet. “I’m tired from the trip, Errin. I think I will rest for a while.”

  Errin immediately rose to his feet to help her.

  “I can walk well enough,” Celeste said. “Finish your meal and then take a siesta. Everyone else will.”

  Errin gazed after Celeste as she walked away over the earthen floor and vanished through a doorway. He looked down at his food. Without the presence of the woman, it was not so appetizing.

  He left the dining room and went out into the patio with its wide overhanging roof. He leaned against the wall in the shade and let his view drift out over the mountain and the great valley lying a thousand feet below him. As he looked at the ancient land created in an age long-lost in antiquity, he sensed a deep, gentle peace. He could be happy living the rest of his life here with Celeste.

  The hum of honeybees reached him and he walked about the patio until he found them searching for nectar in the hollyhocks growing in a large flower bed. There was no other sound. How restful the moment was with the sun hanging in midheaven, casting no shadows, and the women and children dozing.

  Lulled by the food in his stomach, he felt his own sleepiness putting weights on his eyelids. He took a wool blanket, hand-woven perhaps by Celeste herself, from where it covered a wicker chair and spread it on the ground in the shade. With the peacefulness of the old house surrounding him, he went to sleep.

  * * *

  Celeste awoke and lay listening to the quiet of the hacienda. Usually there were the cries and shouts of the children at play at the vaqueros’ homes. But for the moment, a deep hush held sway over everything.

  It was comforting to know Errin was in her home. She was pleased that he had accompanied her and Ignacio when she decided to come to the rancho.

  She rose from her bed and walked quietly through the house. She found Errin sleeping in the shade of the patio. For a time she gazed down at him, looking at his face and watching the rise and fall of his chest.

  She moved on to the front veranda. A summer storm was brewing. She could see it rising like an enormous bird, with its large head showing above the mountains that rimmed the south end of the valley. She sat down on a padded swing and gazed at the growing cloud mass. At the vaqueros’ homes, children began to play, chasing each other and laughing happily. Two women went into the weaving hut.

  “Will it rain?” Errin asked behind her.

  Celeste turned to look at him. “Yes, in a couple of hours.”

  “You seem very sure of that.”

  “I’ve spent nearly every summer of my life here on the mountain. I know how the storms come. Sit down with me and watch and see that I’m right.”

  “I’d like that.”

  They sat together in the swing without speaking, comfortable in each other’s company. A breeze came alive and drifted past, making pleasant sounds in the leaves of the tall trees in the yard. The storm grew, its head rising high in the sky and its broad wings spreading to cover the entire end of the valley. Distant lightning flashed and thunder muttered.

  Ignacio approached from inside the house. “Senorita, you have a visitor,” he said.

  “I saw no one arrive. Who is it?”

  “I think it best if you come and see for yourself,” Ignacio said with a glance at Errin.

  “Very well, Ignacio. Errin, watch the storm and see if I’m not correct about it raining very soon.”

  “I’ve already decided you’re right about that.”

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Celeste said. She motioned for Ignacio to lead the way and followed. Errin wondered about the new arrival and the unwillingness of Ignacio to speak the person’s name. Then he let the matter go and lazily gazed at the growing thunderheads.

  A short time later, Errin heard footsteps approaching from inside the hacienda. Celeste spoke. “Errin, I would like for you to meet a good friend of mine.”

  Errin stood up and turned. An old, gray headed Mexican was beside Celeste.

  “Vicaro Zaragoza, I want you to know another good friend of mine, Errin Scanlan.”

  “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Senor Scanlan.”

  The man’s words did not agree with his expression. Errin thought him quite reluctant to meet him.

  “Glad to know you,” Errin said.

  Celeste had also noted Vicaro’s reluctance. “Be at ease, Vicaro,” she said with a laugh. She looked at Errin. “He has had trouble with gringos and is cautious. I had to plead with him to come out here.”

  “Being cautious is why I’m still alive,” Vicaro said. He fastened a foxy look of his black eyes on Errin. “They call me a bandit and would hang me if they could catch me.”

  “Anyone who is a friend of Celeste, has nothing to fear from me,” Errin said.

  “I wouldn’t fear you even if you were not a friend of Celeste,” Vicaro replied with heat.

  Testy old fart, Errin thought.

  “Vicaro, is that a way to talk?” Celeste said in a rebuking tone. “I want you and Errin to be friends.”

  Vicaro’s expression instantly filled with remorse at what he had said. He bowed quite low to Celeste. “Please accept my apology, senorita. I forgot myself. That comes from a long life always full of enemies.” He straightened and turned to Errin. “My apology to you also, Senor Scanlan.”

  “I took no offense for I’ve had enemies myself.”

  “Than all is right,” Celeste said.

  “Certainly,” Errin said. “Now I know the answer to something else that I’ve been wondering about.”

  “What is that?” Celeste asked.

  “That this is the man who taught you to use a pistol. The man you called the best pistolero in all California.”

  The old bandit grinned broadly. “I taught her what I know. But the sharpest edge of her accuracy and quickness, she taught herself.”

  “I saw a sample of her courage. Without courage, skill means nothing.”

  “Without the will to kill, neither skill nor courage has value against an enemy,” Celeste said disparagingly. She did not want more talk of enemies and guns. “Vicaro, a storm is coming so please stay the night here in the hacienda. I do not like to think of you sleeping in the rain.”

  “That is kind of you. I accept.”

  “Good. Find Ignacio and tell him to give you one of the guest rooms.”

  “Very well, Celeste. Good day to you, Senor Scanlan.”

  * * *

  The thunderheads strode like giants up the San Joaquin Valley. Lightning flared brightly, trapped within the towering cloud masses and lighting them with a smoldering, infernal glow. Distant thunder rumbled like advancing artillery.

  The lightning broke free of the clouds and speared down to wound the earth. The rains came driving hard, wetting quickly.

  “See, I was correct,” Celeste said. “It’s raining.”

  “I never doubted you,” Errin replied with a gentle chuckle. He stopped the slight movement of the swing upon which Celeste and he sat. He lifted his head to draw in a deep breath of the rain filled air. He heard the pleasant drumbeat of the drops on the roof of the hacienda and in the yard.

  Lightning struck the side of the mountain a short distance above them. The hacienda shook. The bright flash blinded him, the thunder deafened him.

  He felt Celeste move against him and he put his arm around her shoulders. The touch of her body sent a thrill through him.

  “Errin?”

  He barely heard her above the turmoil of the storm. He looked down at her.

  She reached up with both hands and cupped his face, and her fingers gently caressed his cheeks, his eyelids, his temples. Her dark eyes were wide, and full of the most wondrous expression. Errin gazed at her with surprise and awe. Was this real?

  He bent and kissed her, a soft touch of his lips on hers. Then again, hungrily.

  Her mouth opened inviting him inside. He tasted the warm sweetness of her. What a truly lovely creature s
he was. Could he totally win her?

  Celeste leaned away and looked up at him. Her eyes searched his as if looking for the answer to an unasked question. Then she clasped him by the hand.

  “Come with me. I know a private place where we can talk.”

  She led him along shadow filled passageways to a far corner of the hacienda. They entered a room containing a large blanket draped couch, a chair, and a desk with papers and pens upon it, and several flowers in pots. She closed the door.

  “No one ever comes into this room except me,” Celeste said, drawing Errin down beside her on the couch.

  Her mouth curved into a happy smile, and her black eyes filled with a mischievous light. “Kiss me.”

  Errin leaned and kissed Celeste.

  * * *

  Errin lay on the couch and held the sleeping Celeste. The rain still fell, now a slow, gentle patter on the rooftop. He let his mind bask and revel in this moment lying with the woman and the music of the falling raindrops.

  They had made love. And he had told her all, of being a child slave, a highwayman, and shooting the two “thief-takers” who had tried to kill him. He had described the cruelty of the penal colony in Australia, of being flogged with the cat-o’- nine-tails. She had felt the scars on his back and a sob escaped her. Then he told her of his escape in the small boat, the death of Swallow, and being picked up from the sea by the American ship hunting seals and brought to San Francisco.

  She had listened silently to the very end. “I’ll never give you scars,” she had said, and kissed him. “Hold me.” She went to sleep in his arms.

  Quietly he rose from the couch and left the room. The storm was ending as he came out onto the veranda, and the last of the clouds were hurrying off to the north. He squatted down with his back against the adobe wall and looked out over the broad lands of the rancho. Far away and below him, the dark shadows cast by the clouds were uncovering the rain-drenched valley.

  A gloomy melancholy fell upon Errin. He was in reality an intruder into this grand place. What right did a thief and escaped murderer have to lay claim to such a beautiful woman as Celeste, who owned such extensive land holdings? Maybe he should leave before Celeste awoke. He rose to his feet with that thought hard in mind.

  The hacienda came out of the shadows of the rain clouds and into the full light of day. The rays of the sun struck the last remaining water crystals hanging in the air and sundogs began to flash their tiny, incomplete rainbows of dazzling colors. Errin felt his mood brighten. Once he had told Celeste that perhaps he had found what he had been searching for. He was certain now that she was the goal of his long journey. He would not voluntarily give her up. He reseated himself firmly on the floor of the veranda. The only way he would leave would be for Celeste to drive him away herself.

  Chapter 24

  Chun went swiftly along the fog-filled San Francisco street. She fervently hoped Levi wouldn’t be angry at her. He had warned her not to leave the home of Isaiah Green. But he had not come to see her the evening before as he had every other day. He might not come again this evening and she couldn’t wait one hour longer to see him. What had kept him away? Was he tired of her companionship? Was he sick? She had to know.

  She thought no one would recognize her and she would be safe for she wore a coat that hung to her knees and a scarf wound around her head and across the lower portion of her face. Both garments had been borrowed from Ruth, Isaiah’s wife. The attire was not out of place and would not draw attention to her. A dense, chilling fog blanketed the city. Ruth had tried to convince her not to go onto the street; however, she would not listen to the black woman’s pleas.

  She lowered her face and hastened past the two Chinamen standing on the street corner. She did not see them turn and watch after her through the fog.

  * * *

  “No blade work,” Ingram told Turk. The man was too quick to use his big knife. “Remember what the boss said.”

  “Unless somebody doesn’t pay up, then I’ll do some carving on him,” Turk replied.

  Kass, the third man spoke. “One of these days, the boss is going to take that blade away and carve on you.”

  “I wouldn’t let him do that,” Turk said and his swarthy skin became even darker with the thought.

  “Not much you could do about it, if he decided to do it,” Kass said.

  “Both of you shut up,” Ingram said. “We’ve got a job to do so let’s get on with it. Turk, you come with me. Kass, you stay out here on the sidewalk and watch for anything that might cause us trouble.”

  * * *

  Levi watched the three men standing in the fog in front of his office window and talking. When two of them moved toward the office door, he felt a premonition of danger and a chill went through him. He reached for his rifle, standing propped against the wall near him, and laid it across his knees below the edge of the desk behind which he sat.

  The day was Friday and he was preparing the payroll for his workers for they would want their wages on Saturday. With Errin away to the Beremendes’s rancho, Levi had taken on additional tasks and had to stay late in the day to accomplish the chore. He raked the nearly one thousand dollars of gold and paper money from the desk top into a drawer. Damnit, why wasn’t Errin here?

  The first man through the door was a redhead with rusty splotches on his face that looked like rotting flesh. The second man was rail-thin and dark as a Spaniard. Both stopped just inside the entryway and their eyes swept the room.

  The redhead pointed at the closed door that led into the room where Levi’s workers assembled before going out on a job. “Check that,” he ordered the dark man.

  “Right.”

  Ingram stalked forward until only the desk separated him from Levi. He stared down at the tense, young man. “You the owner of this here business?” he asked.

  “Half owner,” Levi replied not liking the prying question.

  “What kind of business do you run here?”

  “We contract out skilled workers,” Levi said. “We’ve the best carpenters, bricklayers and metalworkers in the city. What kind of job do you need men for?”

  “We don’t want any damn men,” Turk said sarcastically coming up beside Ingram.

  “I wouldn’t think there’s much cost to finding men and sending them out on jobs,” Ingram said. “This must be a real money-making business.”

  “It’s not as good as you might think,” Levi said and then fell silent waiting to hear the reason the two men had come. It would not be one he would like.

  “So you say,” Turk replied in a disbelieving tone.

  “We can help you be more profitable,” Ingram said with a knowing look. “That’s why we’re here.”

  “How would you do that?” Levi asked, and immediately wished he hadn’t.

  “By warning you about the terrible mean things that can happen to businesses near the waterfront. There are many troublemakers here. They get drunk and wreck and burn buildings, just for the plain hell of it. We think you need some protection against that happening to you.”

  “Yeah, and we are just the men to see to it that nothing bad happens to your business,” Turk added.

  “Once we put the word out that we’re watching over your place, no one will dare cause you any problems,” Ingram said.

  Levi understood the threat. He needed time to think and to talk the situation over with Errin. He didn’t think Errin would ever pay any man for protection. He gestured around at the scant furnishing of the office, a desk and three chairs. “I’ve nothing much to wreck or burn,” he said.

  Ingram smiled crookedly. “You’re not as dumb as you act.”

  “How much will this insurance cost to keep me safe from all those bad men you mentioned?”

  “We’ll see that you’re kept safe for thirty dollars a week,” Ingram said.

  “That’s steep, a man’s wages for two weeks of work,” Levi said. He gripped the rifle lying across his legs. “I have a partner and I’ll have to talk it over w
ith him.”

  “We want an answer now,” Turk said. He hooked a thumb in his belt near the knife and stepped threateningly forward.

  Levi started to bring up his rifle, but halted the movement before the weapon came into view when Ingram caught Turk by the arm and stopped him. “Now hold up, Turk. This fellow has the right to talk this over with his partner.” Ingram spoke to Levi. “But because we got to wait for your answer and come again, the price of the insurance goes up. Tomorrow the price will be forty dollars a week.”

  “Ingram, I like that, make him pay extra for us havin’ to wait,” Turk said.

  “Tomorrow we’ll be back,” Ingram told Levi. “Make the right decision. The smart one.”

  * * *

  Chun slowed as she drew near the door of Levi’s office and unwound the scarf from her face and head. A bright smile of anticipation at seeing Levi broke through her worry at disobeying him. She smoothed her hair, stepped quickly past the man looking the opposite way along the street, and entered the office.

  Two men were standing and talking with Levi. Both turned and looked at Chun.

  She gave the redhead and dark man a quick glance and stopped in her tracks, her breath catching and her heart almost stopping. Oh! What a dreadful mistake she had made. She recognized the men. She put her head down and without a word to Levi continued straight across the room and into Errin’s office at the rear.

  Ingram and Turk stared after Chun until the door closed behind her. Then Ingram turned to Turk. “Let’s go.”

  “Ingram, that was ...”

  Ingram shook his head and spoke quickly to cut Turk off.

  “He has until tomorrow, so come on now.” He went out through the door with Turk following. The third man joined them on the sidewalk.

  With heavy dread, Levi watched the men vanish into the fog. There had been a knowing look in the men’s eyes, and Chun’s fright upon seeing them told him something very dangerous had occurred.

  The men had hardly disappeared when the door opened from the rear office and Chun came hesitatingly across the room to Levi. He climbed to his feet and caught her by the shoulders. “Why in the devil ... ?” he started to scold her and then saw the terrified expression on her face.