The Outlaw's Bride
Page 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Isobel slumped in her chair, her arms folded on the windowsill and her head resting on them. The acrid tang of smoke filled her nostrils. Shots continued to ring out, as they had most of the night. Someone had broken into Tunstall’s store, and men were still carrying away the looted goods. Isobel could hear them laughing as they drank whisky and boasted about their victory.
Sniffing, she shut her eyes. She had not slept, and now the first purple light of dawn was beginning to streak the sky. How could she sleep? How could she ever go on? But, of course, it wouldn’t be long before Jimmie Dolan remembered her. She would face her own death soon. It hardly seemed to matter.
Memories of Spain and the rich pastures of Catalonia drifted through her thoughts. Horses cantering over green hills. White cliffs. A crashing blue sea. Grapes. Grazing sheep.
And then she saw New Mexico. Blue sky arching heavenward. Fragrant piñon trees. Gurgling streams. Yuccas covered with thick white blossoms. Spiny cacti garlanded in pink blooms.
She imagined she was bending to pick one of those cactus flowers. Leaning forward, her hair fell over her shoulders. She straightened and placed the blossom in a pair of strong, sun-weathered hands.
“Noah,” she whispered. “Noah.”
“Isobel…” The voice came from somewhere outside herself. She tried to turn her head to see his face, but the wound in her shoulder hurt too much.
“Isobel…” She heard her name again. Or was it the wind whispering through the junipers? “Isobel…”
A warm hand stroked down her neck. She jumped. The chair tumbled backward on the floor as she struggled to her feet. And there he was…the tall hero of her dreams. Noah Buchanan.
“Didn’t mean to scare you, darlin’,” he said, “but we don’t have much time. Got to get out of this place while Ike’s keeping watch.”
Isobel blinked. “Noah? Are you alive?”
“Me, Billy Bonney and a couple of others made it out of McSween’s house in the dark just before the shooting got really hot. I’m not sure who made it and who didn’t because I took off in this direction to find you. I didn’t even know you were in Lincoln till I heard you shouting for Susan this afternoon.”
He stopped and rubbed his hand over his forehead. “Mac got killed, you know. Dolan’s men shot him. I saw it all.”
“Noah…” It was the only word Isobel could force out of her mouth.
“C’mon, darlin’. Ike won’t be able to steer those drunkards away from the house much longer. Let’s head out.”
Isobel moaned as Noah lifted her into his arms and carried her from the room that had been her prison for five days. She tilted her head to see Ike Teeters standing in the doorway.
“Good luck, Mrs. Buchanan,” he said, giving her a friendly wave. “You’re fine company, ya know? Easy to talk to. Say, send me a letter when that first little one gets borned. Juanita can read it to me. She knows her ABCs real good.”
For the first time in many days she was able to muster the trace of a smile. “Thank you, Ike. I hope Jimmie Dolan won’t harm you. He’ll come looking for me to hang me.”
“Hang you? Naw, I just made that up. Didn’t want them drunks to get their hands on ya, is all. Dolan might’ve forgot he even had you. I shore ain’t gonna remind him.” He gave her a snaggletoothed grin. “Well, so long. Guess it’s time for me to go join the boys.”
As Ike stepped out the front door of the Cisneros house, Noah carried Isobel out the back. His horse was waiting, and Noah settled his wife against his chest before spurring the horse away from the scene of murder, bloodshed and mayhem.
They rode through the hills, skirting the road as the morning light filtered through the trees. When they had reached a clearing safely away from danger, Noah reined the horse.
“Ike told me Snake tore into you,” he said gently.
Isobel gazed into eyes the color of the New Mexico sky. “I killed him, Noah. I was wrong to do it, even though I was fighting for my life. It’s not my place to take a life. I know now, revenge is not the way.”
“And I won’t need to make Snake pay for what he did to you.” For a long time he gazed at the gray smoke marring the sky over Lincoln Town. “The minute I figured out it was you yelling at Susan Gates through the window of that house across the street, all the bluster went out of me. I just wanted to get to you—protect you. The push to avenge Dick’s death seemed downright worthless compared with the chance to build a life with you.”
“Oh, Noah, I was sure you had been shot or burned alive,” she murmured against his neck. “I thought I had lost you forever.”
“I couldn’t let that happen, darlin’. I love you too much.”
A smile tilted her lips. “And I love you, Noah Buchanan.”
“Good,” he said, giving her a hug. “Love’s about all we’ve got, because I don’t intend to take you anywhere near Lincoln County again. I’m going to write John Chisum and cancel the purchase of the land. We’ll go north somewhere and start over. I can run cattle for someone up there. We’ll build us a little place—it may not be much—but it’ll be ours and it’ll be clean and safe. Isobel, I’d like to give you children. I’d like to provide for you and protect you—”
“And write stories for me?” With the hint of a giggle, she drew out the New York letter she had transferred to the pocket of her yellow dress. “‘Sunset at Coyote Canyon’ is to be published, Noah. And the magazine wants more of your stories. I’ll type the second one you wrote, shall I? I’ll use my Remington. Maybe we’ll live on the land I won back from Snake Jackson. It’s beautiful, rich pasture just north of Santa Fe. Green country with mountains covered in whispering aspens.”
But Noah heard nothing. He bent and kissed Isobel’s lips. His arms tightened around her, seeking solace for all those empty days…enfolding the woman with whom he would share a lifetime in this land of enchantment.
Epilogue
For my readers who are as interested in the historical portrayal of the Lincoln County War as in the love story of Noah and Isobel Buchanan, I offer this final note.
BILLY BONNEY (alias Billy the Kid)—Escaped from the burning McSween house with several other Regulators just minutes before Alexander McSween was shot. Lived for three more years, during which he engaged in more killings and daring getaways. He was shot to death on the night of July 13, 1881, by Sheriff Pat Garrett, a former friend. Billy was twenty-one years old.
JIMMIE DOLAN—Financially ruined, he brought himself back to power and wealth through an advantageous marriage and several shrewd business moves. Took over the Tunstall Mercantile in Lincoln and the Tunstall ranch on the Rio Feliz. Later served as county treasurer and territorial senator. Died a natural death on February 26, 1898, at age fifty.
SUSAN GATES—Moved to Zuni, New Mexico, with Dr. Taylor Ealy and his family. Taught school to the Indians there. Married Jose Perea, a young Presbyterian minister. Later moved with her husband to Jemez and then to Corrales, New Mexico, where she became the mother of a son.
TAYLOR AND MARY EALY—Served as missionaries in Zuni, New Mexico, from 1878 to 1881. Returned to Pennsylvania, where Dr. Ealy began a medical practice and a profitable baby powder company. More about the Ealy family can be read in Missionaries, Outlaws, and Indians, edited and annotated by Norman J. Bender.
JOHN CHISUM—Returned to Lincoln County after the Seven-Day War. Built a new home, the “Long House,” at South Spring River Ranch. Developed a malignant tumor on his neck. Went to Kansas City and Arkansas for treatment but died in Eureka Springs on December 20, 1884. Buried in Paris, Texas. Read more about John Chisum in My Girlhood Among Outlaws, by Lily Klasner.
JUAN PATRÓN—Moved his family to Puerto de Luna, New Mexico, after the Lincoln County War. There he was murdered by hired assassin Mitch Maney on April 9, 1884. Patrón was twenty-nine years old. Maney’s case never went to trial.
SUSAN McSWEEN—Started her own ranching venture in Three Rivers, an area distant from Lincoln. Rema
rried in 1884. Obtained a divorce in 1891. Became wealthy through skilled management of her vast land and eight thousand head of cattle. Considered “a woman of genius.” Died in 1931 at age eighty-six.
The following books, among others, provide a well-rounded view of the history of the Lincoln County War:
Violence in Lincoln County, 1869-1881, William A. Keleher
Pat Garrett: The Story of a Western Lawman, Leon C. Metz
Maurice G. Fulton’s History of the Lincoln County War, Robert N. Mullin, ed.
John Henry Tunstall, Frederick W. Nolan
Billy the Kid: A Handbook, Jon Tuska
Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life, Robert M. Utley
High Noon in Lincoln: Violence on the Western Frontier, Robert M. Utley
Merchants, Guns & Money: The Story of Lincoln County and Its Wars, John P. Wilson
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In writing The Outlaw’s Bride, I traced the historical events of the Lincoln County War in New Mexico. Except for the fictional participation of Isobel Matas, Noah Buchanan and Rattlesnake Jim Jackson, the characters and the sequence of events are as accurate as I was able to uncover in my research. Although any errors are my own responsibility, I owe my thanks for research assistance and inspiration to Tim Palmer, Terry Koenig, Lynn Koenig, Lowell Nosker, Bob Hart and the Lincoln County Heritage Trust, Jeremy and Cleis Jordan of Casa de Patrón, Father John Elmer, Sylvia Johnson, Nita Harrell and Sue Breisch Johnson.
Deep appreciation goes to my editor, Joan Golan, and my agent, Karen Solem, for their constant support and encouragement.
Dear Reader,
Years ago, I lived in a town near Lincoln, New Mexico. While visiting there, I listened to descendants of the figures in the Lincoln County War talk about their ancestors. It was interesting to hear that some of them viewed Billy the Kid as a murderer without a conscience, while others called him a misguided and misunderstood boy. Some said he had killed dozens of people, others claimed he had lied about those killings and had shot only one or two people.
What is truth? The Lincoln County War is well documented, but even historical documents fail to agree on certain details. As I researched this story, I became increasingly frustrated about who had recorded the truth and who was lying.
Pondering the events, I began to understand one thing in crystal clarity. Jesus expressed it when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 (New Living Translation)
Jesus is Truth. God the Father is Truth. The Holy Spirit is Truth. Only in Him can we rest from doubt.
When trouble creeps—or bulldozes—into my life, I use the Bible as a filter. When I lay the Word of God over worries, fears, and confusion, the lies are blocked and the truth becomes clear.
Few of us have lived through anything as violent as the Lincoln County War. But we all search for truth. He’s easy to find…just open your Bible!
Blessings,
Catherine Palmer
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
What are Isobel Matas’s primary goals at the start of the story?
What goals has Noah Buchanan set for his life?
Is revenge the same as justice? Is there any good reason to seek revenge against an enemy?
What did God mean when He said, “Vengeance is mine”? How should we understand that statement? How should we act?
In what ways did Isobel change during the course of the story? Why? How did Noah’s goals change? Why? What role did their Christian faith play in their transformation?
The Lincoln County War, as it is now known, played out in a small town with little significance in the world. Yet it affected the lives of many people. Why did those on the McSween side feel justified in their actions? How did those on the Dolan side rationalize their behavior?
Dozens of people died in the conflict. Were any of those deaths justifiable?
How did Isobel, Sue McSween, Beatriz Patrón, Susan Gates and other women in Lincoln Town behave during the conflict? What do you see as the role of women in the Old West? Is it different now?
Guillermo Pascal offers Isobel the life she has always wanted. What reasons can you give for her decision to turn him down?
Do you think Noah and Isobel will live happily ever after? Why? Do you think their faith in God is important to their successful future?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6648-7
THE OUTLAW’S BRIDE
Copyright © 2010 by Catherine Palmer
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*A Haven Novel