“What the…?” Nick grunted as he slowly emerged from his sleep.
“You’ve got to wake up, Nick. Wake up right now!”
The urgent tone in Catherine’s voice snapped Nick’s eyes open and got his arm flashing toward the gun under his bed. The revolver was smaller than his modified Schofield, but his hand clasped around it tightly enough for him to thumb back the hammer without too much difficulty.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Joseph’s gone,” she told him.
“What?”
“Joseph’s gone.”
“What about the boy?”
“Sam’s at the table,” Catherine explained. “But Joseph’s not here. Sam said that he left.”
Nick pulled in a few breaths and gathered his thoughts. Since there wasn’t a fire or someone kicking in his door, his brain needed a moment to hit its stride.
“Put that gun down,” Catherine said.
“Huh?”
She reached out to push his hand down and ease the gun from his fingers.
“What’s on your hands?” he asked.
“Breakfast. I’ll finish cooking it while you find that boy’s father.”
Nick swung his legs over the side of the bed and struggled to clear his thoughts. “Maybe he just went into town.”
“No,” Catherine said emphatically. “He left. I can just tell. He even told Sam he might not be back for a long time.”
“Or at all.”
“What did you say?”
Nick’s eyes had cleared and he was more awake than if he’d been splashed with cold water. He burst into motion and started pulling on his clothes and boots as though the cabin had caught fire.
Catherine rushed to get in front of him before Nick bolted out the door. “What did you mean by that?” she asked. “Answer me.”
Rather than answer her right away, Nick left the bedroom and headed straight toward Sam. Since the boy was watching both of them, Catherine restrained herself from saying what she’d meant to say.
“Where did your father go?” Nick asked as he knelt down to the boy’s level.
“He didn’t tell me.”
“What did he tell you?”
Sam looked up as if the answer he needed was written on the ceiling. “He said he loved me and that I should stay here where I’ll be cared for. He also said I could go to Uncle Ken’s house if you didn’t want me to stay here. I like Uncle Ken I guess, but are you going to take care of me?”
Gently holding onto the boy by both arms, Nick made sure Sam was paying attention before asking, “What else did he say?”
“That he might not be back for a long time and that he loved me very much and was leaving to do something for Ma and Laurie.”
Nick let go of the boy and straightened up again. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered as he ran back into the bedroom. Before Catherine could ask another question, he stormed out of the bedroom, buckling his holster around his waist.
“What are you doing, Nick?” she shouted.
That wasn’t enough to get Nick to stop, so she followed him out the front door.
“Wait! Damn it, Nick just wait a second and tell me what the hell is going on!”
Her tone caught Nick’s attention and caused him to pause while lifting the saddle onto Kazys’s back.
“Do you even know where you’re going?” she asked, placing herself between her husband and his horse.
“I’ve got a hunch.”
“Then why not tell me? First Joseph disappears and now you want to follow. If you’re going to be my husband, then you should act like it, for God’s sake!”
After cinching up the saddle, Nick asked, “Did Joseph go anywhere recently?”
“Yes. He went into town the other night.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that before?” Nick grumbled as he craned his neck to look in every direction leading away from the cabin. “Why’d he go alone in his condition?”
“He’s doing well enough to ride with you to the graveyard,” she replied. “He’s doing well enough to help around here when you’re not around. He’s doing well enough to play with Sam. Since when did I have to tell you every little step he took? Now, will you please explain what you’re doing? Do you know where Joseph went?”
“I just might.”
With that, Nick started to climb into his saddle. Catherine pulled him back down again. When he dropped back to the ground and looked at her, Nick saw a defiant gleam in her eyes that told him she wasn’t about to let him leave things the way they were.
“After all we’ve been through,” Catherine said, “why won’t you trust me?”
“Trust doesn’t have anything to do with it. Time is a factor here. Joseph might have taken off to do something very stupid. Just step back and let me go check on something, Catherine. I swear I’ll be back before too long, whether I find out anything or not.”
Reluctantly, Catherine nodded and stepped back. It took every bit of willpower she had to keep from grabbing hold of Kazys’s bridle or even chasing after the horse once her husband rode away. Instead, she stood there and watched Nick leave. After he rode out of her sight, she turned and went back into the cabin, where Sam was waiting patiently.
The little boy looked at her and asked, “Are the eggs almost ready?”
FIFTEEN
Nick swung down from the saddle and stepped into the sheriff’s office. Stilson’s desk was empty, but the deputy named Miguel sat at one of the smaller ones. Since Miguel had been half-drunk the last time Nick had spoken to him, he doubted the lawman even recalled the instance.
Miguel dropped the book he was reading and covered it with an old newspaper before he even got a look at who was coming in. His round face was flushed and he jumped to his feet while shoving the pile of reading material behind him. “The sheriff’s not here,” he said.
“I just wanted to ask about the prisoner you had in here the other day,” Nick said. “The man that was found at the graveyard.”
Miguel’s eyes narrowed and he studied Nick closely. Cocking his head slightly, he wagged his finger at Nick and said, eyes wide, “I know you. You’re the gravedigger!”
“I am. I just wanted to know—”
“Sheriff Stilson won’t want to talk to you. He…uh…mentioned that before he left.”
“That’s fine. You could probably answer my questions. All I want to know is if anyone else has come in asking about the man who was locked up here.”
“You’re lucky you’re not in that cell,” Miguel said as he stepped around his desk and folded the corner of the newspaper up to check underneath it. “The sheriff thought for sure he’d have you in there right alongside that other one. You should’ve heard the things he said about having to let the both of you go.”
Nick nodded and fought to maintain his temper.
“What’s with the gun?”
When he heard that question, Nick put on a slightly embarrassed expression that had gotten plenty of use over the years. “It’s not much of a gun, really,” he said, opening his coat so the deputy could see.
Miguel looked for a second and shrugged. “It sure isn’t. I heard some things about you. Something about you running with a bad crowd some years ago.”
“Haven’t we all?”
“Hell yes,” Miguel replied, even though he looked like he’d run afoul of more baked goods than anything else. “Mister Van Meter came in here. Hell of a thing that happened to his family.”
“It was. What did he want?”
Settling into his chair, Miguel tossed the newspaper to one side and picked up the bawdy novel he’d been hiding. Now that he knew whom he was dealing with, he didn’t seem to mind flipping through the book. “He was asking about that fella we let go. Not you. The other one.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“He’s still hurt,” Nick said matter-of-factly. “The doctor’s charged me with looking after him. Since he still hasn’t
showed up yet, I need to know where he might have gone.”
“Like I said, he asked about that prisoner we let go.” Gazing over the top of his book, Miguel added, “I don’t know why he wanted the information, but he paid a good amount for it.”
“How much?” Nick asked.
The deputy shrugged and flipped a page of his book. “Ten dollars?”
Digging into his pockets, Nick fished out some money, counted it up and set it on the desk. “How about five?”
“Close enough,” Miguel said as he swiped the money from the desk and pocketed it. “The prisoner was after a horse. He asked where he could find a stable that had some for sale right before he left.”
“Is that it?”
“That’s all I know. He had an outstanding balance with the doctor, but I don’t know if he went there or not.”
“And when did you tell Joseph the man was headed for the stable?” Seeing the puzzled look on the deputy’s face, Nick added, “Joseph Van Meter.”
“Oh, Mister Van Meter left about half an hour ago. Maybe less.”
Calmly tipping his hat, Nick left the office. Once the door was shut and he’d put some distance between himself and the law, he jumped onto Kazys’s back and bolted for the stables. A few minutes later, he was riding down the street again amid a thunderous flurry of hooves.
Nick didn’t ease up until he arrived back at his cabin. Before both of his boots had touched the ground, he saw Catherine come through the front door to greet him. The anger that had been on her face when he’d left was replaced with relief.
“Did you find him?” she asked.
Glancing around, Nick asked, “Where’s Sam?”
“Inside, finishing up his breakfast. What about Joseph?”
“I didn’t exactly catch up to him, but I have a real good idea of where he went.”
“Where?”
Nick pulled in a deep breath and let it out like a gust of steam coming from a train’s engine. “I think he went off to find the men that burned his ranch.”
“Oh dear Lord,” Catherine sighed. “Are you certain?”
“Pretty much. He paid a visit to the sheriff’s office and talked to one of the deputies about where that prisoner went after he was let go. Joseph found out where that man was headed after he was freed and then followed. Both of them went to the stables and left town from there. Hank was working at the stables when I checked in there myself and said he told Joseph that the prisoner took the southerly trail out of town.”
“Is that enough for Joseph to track someone down?”
“It could be. So long as a man’s got the determination, he can find a way to do damn well anything. Besides, that gang leaves a pretty big set of tracks behind them, and Joseph’s not short on determination.”
Catherine shook her head slowly and crossed her arms. “What could he be thinking?”
“The same thing I’d be thinking if anyone did to you what they did to Missus Van Meter. I tell you, Catherine, when I saw what was left of that woman and that little girl, I wanted to gut those bastards myself.”
“He’d be a fool to do something like that. I don’t think he even has a gun. He’s going to get himself killed.”
“I know. That’s why I intend on going after him.”
“What?” she asked
Nick pulled open each of the bags hanging from Kazys’s saddle and checked inside. “You said it yourself. He’s going to get himself killed and I can’t allow that. Not after I went through the trouble of getting him and that boy away from that ranch.”
“Don’t talk about this like it’s some sort of whim, Nicolai.”
It was one of the few times he’d heard her call him by his full name and it caught Nick’s attention. Most of the time, he didn’t like the way folks often shortened his name without asking for the privilege. From her, however, the shorter version of his given name had always struck a sweeter chord.
“I know how rough it’s been for Mister Van Meter and that precious little boy in there,” she said, now that she had his undivided attention. “But things get hard for everyone, and folks deal with what comes their way. They get stronger for it. If not, they don’t survive. That’s just the way the world works.”
“You don’t have to preach to me on that subject.”
“Then why are you about to ride off, leave me behind and risk your neck after everything’s been so good for us?”
“Because this is a terrible mistake that Joseph’s about to make,” Nick said. “I need to fix it now, before you take Sam to see three graves instead of two.”
“Or four,” Catherine said quietly.
After thinking about it for a few seconds, Nick nodded and replied, “Two’s more than enough for that boy to look at.”
Catherine stepped up to him and held his face in her hands. She moved her fingers just enough to caress his cheeks and then slip them through his coarse, dark hair. “You’ve done more than enough already. You’ve saved Joseph’s life and his son’s. I’m so proud of you, but maybe I’m also a little selfish. Seeing what happened to Joseph made me think how terrible it would be if I lost you. I just don’t think I could live through it.”
“You’re not going to lose me,” Nick assured her.
Tightening her hold on him just enough to keep him from looking away, she asked, “And what happens when you cross paths with those killers again? Joseph’s going after them, so that means going after Joseph will put you in the same spot.”
“Not if I catch up to him fast enough. If you let me gather the things I need, I might be able to round him up before the day’s out. He’s still hurt, which means he’ll either need to rest more than that prisoner or will keel over somewhere along the way. Both of those things makes my job easier, just so long as I don’t waste too much time in getting there.”
“That’s just it, Nick. This isn’t your job.”
Nick didn’t look away from her. Instead, an old darkness crept into his eyes as he said, “Then maybe I just know a bit more about what Joseph is thinking than most anyone else around here.”
“And what’s he thinking about?”
“Revenge.”
Slowly, Catherine took her hands away and shifted her eyes from him. She became still and let out a measured breath. It now seemed she was several miles away from him. As Nick walked around her to collect the things he would need, she stayed in her spot with her arms folded.
After stuffing the things he’d collected into the saddlebags, Nick walked in front of her and wrapped his arms around Catherine’s waist. She resisted at first, but then hugged him and nestled her chin against the base of his neck.
“I’ll come back to you,” he whispered.
“You’d better.”
Nick brushed his lips against her shoulder, using his finger to gently ease down the edge of her blouse so he could touch her bare skin. As much as he wanted to follow through on that line of thought, he only kissed her neck before moving back up to nibble on her ear.
“This reminds me of something my father once told me,” he said.
“Nick, if this reminds you of your father…”
“No,” he chuckled. “Not like that. I told him once that I felt like someone was looking over me. He said there were no angels for outlaws.” Leaning back so he could see her face, Nick said, “I had to fight for years to prove him wrong. I wouldn’t subject any other man to that test.”
Catherine nodded and pressed her face against Nick’s shoulder one more time before he left. There was no way for her to talk him out of going, so she savored the last couple moments he was there.
SIXTEEN
As he rode away, Nick fell into thought. So far, he had been concerned more with what Joseph ultimately intended on doing rather than what how the rancher would actually do it. Nick was all too used to simply throwing his things into a bag and riding away. Most folks weren’t so transient, however, and in Joseph’s case, the man didn’t have much more than the clothes on his back. N
o matter how distraught he was, Joseph would know he’d need more than that if he was to ride off after anyone.
That meant returning to his ranch.
Nick touched his heels to Kazys’s sides, which got the horse moving at a full gallop. The dark stallion might have been old, but years of pulling a wagon had made him hunger for the thrill of tearing over a trail without anything dragging behind him. Kazys was gasping for breath by the time he arrived at the Van Meter ranch, but didn’t let up until Nick pulled back on the reins.
As soon as he saw Rasa tethered to a splintered hitching post, Nick knew he’d gone to the right spot. He tied Kazys next to the other horse, patted both animals on their noses and started walking toward the ruins of the main house. Before he could get within five paces of the front door, Nick saw someone moving inside. The figure stopped just short of the doorway, with both arms filled to brimming with scavenged items.
“Nick?” came Joseph’s voice from inside the house. “Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me. If you wanted to collect some of your things, you should have mentioned it. I would have let you borrow my wagon.”
“You’ve done plenty,” Joseph said as he emerged from the house.
Nick looked at the items Joseph was carrying. There were a few articles of clothing, which were used more for wrapping up a shotgun than anything else. Its barrel poked out of an old shirt.
“What’ve you got there?” Nick asked.
“Just some things I’ll be needing. Sorry about taking your horse, but I figured on returning her as soon as I rounded up one of my own. There’s got to be a few still wandering around here. If not, I’ll have to buy one.”
“What about Sam? Were you just going to leave him?”
“Catherine has been doing a fine job of taking care of the boy. Better than I could manage for now. I told him to go to his uncle’s if you two looked like you had your hands full.”
“Isn’t that a big decision to put on a boy’s head?” Nick asked.
Joseph squinted as if contemplating that was giving him a headache. Finally he waved off the question and muttered, “I can’t think about that right now. He’s taken care of himself before and he knows how to get to his uncle’s just fine.”
Man From Boot Hill Page 9