“Does Odette know?”
“Of course not! She’s been with me almost four years now. I don’t know what it would do to her if she even thought that I doubted she was mine. I’ve been the rock she’s clung to. She was a silent timid little thing when I first saw her. She wouldn’t look anyone in the eye and didn’t speak a word for months. She’s changed since we came here. She talks and isn’t so ashamed that she can’t hear. I give credit to Dory and Jeanmarie for that.”
“Oh, God.” James turned his back to the house and looked off into the woods surrounding it. A single choked sob tore from his throat. “Oh, God,” he said again.
“I’m sorry, James. I should have told you the night I asked you to stay away from her, but I didn’t want to bring out the reason if I didn’t have to.”
“We’ve got to find out for sure,” James said tensely. “I’ll ask them if they slept with a woman that summer.”
“No,” Ben said firmly. “You can’t do that. Think of what it would do to Odette, and we still wouldn’t be sure.”
“But… I love her!” James blurted.
“So do I. That’s why I can’t let her marry you and have your children.”
Ben was silent after that. One part of his mind told him that he should take his daughter and leave this place. The other part asked him how he could leave without Dory if she refused to go. As loyal as Dory was to her brother, Ben was sure she’d not leave him here to battle his half-brothers alone.
The hell of it was that he couldn’t leave either because of what had happened to Steven. The same could happen to James and Dory would be alone. If she felt differently about Chip Malone, she could go there and let Chip and James figure out what to do.
“It’s a hell of a mess, James. I’d give anything if I didn’t have these doubts. At first I was going to take Odette and leave, then all this trouble came down and I realized that I love your sister. I won’t go and leave Dory to face those two and she won’t go with me and leave you here to face them.” James turned. The look on his face reflected the misery in his soul.
“Don’t go until Dory will go with you. She deserves more than living here and taking their abuse. I’ll be around, but I’ll stay out of sight until this trouble plays out. Tell Odette that I went to the mill. After a while, when I don’t come back, she’ll forget me.”
“She won’t forget you, but time will ease the hurt.”
James walked quickly to the barn. Ben stood beside the woodpile dreading having to face Dory and Odette. Knowing he had to do so sooner or later, he put his feet into motion and headed for the house.
Both Dory’s and Odette’s eyes were on him the instant he came through the doorway. He felt their anxiety and would have given anything to be able to tell them that things were all right.
“James said he was going to the mill.”
“Papa?”
Ben went close to Odette and repeated what he had said.
“Why did James go to the mill now?” she asked.
Ben shook his head. The hurt in her eyes cut him to the core.
“Papa? You don’t like James?”
“I like James,” he spoke slowly.
“No. You are mad at me and James.” Odette shook her head and huge tears flooded her eyes.
“No, honey. I’m not mad at you.” He pulled her to him and hugged her. He looked at Dory over her head. Dory’s face was set and the eyes that looked back at him were ice-cold and accusing. He stepped away from Odette and reached for the water bucket. “I’ll get some fresh water.”
Outside, he threw out a half-bucket of water and hung the bail of the bucket on the pump spout. He worked the pump handle until the water came gushing out and continued to work the handle until the bucket filled and overflowed.
When Dory called Ben and Wiley to come in to supper, her voice was even, but underneath Ben detected anger. It was evident, too, in the way she stood, shoulders back, head high. She had practiced this for so long that it came naturally to her not to allow her hurt and anger to show.
While at the table, Wiley talked and tried to act as if the tension didn’t exist. Dory spoke when she was spoken to, Odette not at all—her eyes going constantly to the doorway. The meal was finished in silence. Ben got up to leave when Wiley did.
“Good supper, Dory.” Ben waited for her to say something, and when she didn’t, he followed Wiley out the door.
“Lucifer!” Wiley exclaimed as soon as they reached the bunkhouse. “It was colder’n a well-digger’s ass in there.”
James was stretched out on a bunk, his clasped hands beneath his head.
“Do you want me to tell Dory you’re here?” Ben asked. “She’ll save some supper for you to eat later.”
“Suit yourself.”
Ben passed through the bunkhouse and into the barn. He leaned on a stall rail. His horse came up to nudge his arm. Absently he rubbed him between the eyes and stared unseeingly at the animal. His action, or lack of it, might have destroyed any chance for happiness not only for himself, but for Dory, Odette and James. He would explain his actions to Dory when the time was right. If she was the level-headed person he thought she was, she would understand.
How long he stood there, he did not know. When he became aware that it was pitch dark in the barn as well as outside, he went back into the bunkhouse. James hadn’t moved. He lay on the bunk staring at the ceiling. Wiley sat on the edge of his bed in his union suit, one leg rolled up. He was rubbing a foul-smelling salve on his injured leg.
“Phew!” Ben wrinkled his nose. “It smells like something’s dead in here.”
Wiley laughed. “I smelled it fer so long, it don’t even stink no more.”
Ben went to the door, opened it and looked toward the house. The light was burning in the kitchen. He saw Dory go past the window. Later, after the women went upstairs to bed, he would go bed down in the kitchen. The danger to Dory was still there. He must not let other matters overshadow that.
Wiley blew out the light. He had not asked the cause of James’s depression nor tried to prolong a conversation. For that Ben was grateful. He liked the old wolf, really liked him. In his younger days he must have been a man to reckon with.
Ben sat in the dark, his chair tilted back against the wall, absorbed in his thoughts. Putting the problem of James and Odette to the back of his mind, he tried to figure out why Steven would be going to Spencer in the middle of the week when this was the busiest time of the season for a mill. Prices were highest in early spring. The teamsters were ready to haul out the sawed lumber as soon as their loads were ready.
Another thought crossed Ben’s mind: who was in charge at the mill? Milo was supposed to be; but without Louis there to back him up, the men didn’t seem to pay much attention to him. And with Steven gone, who was keeping the tally and writing out the bills of lading?
“Ben! Ben!” Dory’s frantic scream reached him and sent the front legs of the chair crashing to the floor. He shot out of the door and into the yard. James was right behind him. “Ben! I can’t find Odette.” Dory was running toward him.
He caught her in his arms. “What did you say?”
“I can’t find Odette.”
“Calm down, Sis. What’s this about Odette?”
“James! I’m so glad you’re here.” Dory let out a strangled sob. “I went up to put Jeanmarie to bed. Odette was finishing up in the kitchen. When I came down she wasn’t there. I went to the end of the porch to see if she was emptying the dishwater because I knew she wouldn’t hear me if I called. I found the dishpan on the ground.”
“Get a lantern, James, and get Wiley out here to stay with Dory.” Ben gripped Dory’s upper arms. “Would she have gone to the outhouse?”
“No. She’s scared to go out there alone even in the daytime.”
“Are you sure she’s not in the house? She’d not hear you if you called.”
“I know that,” Dory replied with irritation in her voice. “She went out to empty the dishwater. S
he would not have left the dishpan on the ground and gone back in the house.”
“Does she do this every night?”
“Yes. She pours the rinse water into the dishwater and throws it out off the end of the porch.” Dory explained as if talking to a child. “Don’t just stand here, Ben. Do something. If Milo came and took her, he’ll rape her or let some of his dirty, slimy friends do it. Can’t you see that? He’s getting back at you for the beating.”
“That dirty, rotten son of a bitch!” James had returned with two lanterns and had heard what Dory had said. Wiley appeared with just his pants on over his union suit. His shotgun was in his hand.
“Stay in the house with Dory, Wiley. If anyone comes to the door besides me or James, shoot the son of a bitch.” Ben took one of the lanterns from James. “Let’s see if they left any tracks.”
After carefully searching the area from the end of the porch to the edge of the trees, they found one fresh hobnailed boot track.
“It sure as hell wasn’t Indians.” James peered at the track. “That’s the kind of boots a river pig wears.”
Ten minutes later they found where two horses had stood recently. The droppings on the ground were fresh.
Ben and James hurried to the barn and saddled their horses.
“They’d not hang around here after they took her.” Ben led his horse out the big double doors.
“I’m going to the mill.” James blew out the lantern and hung it on the saddlehorn. “The men will help search. One of them might know where Milo would take her.” He checked his sidearm and shoved a rifle down in the saddle scabbard.
“I figure she’s been gone twenty-five or thirty minutes,” Ben said as he mounted. “There were bugs on the horse dung. One of the horses shied and stepped in it. Could be it was not used to carrying double.”
By the time Ben had finished speaking, James was a dozen yards ahead and riding hard.
Ben didn’t allow himself to think beyond the moment. He couldn’t afford to let hate and revenge confuse his thinking. He followed James, trusting his horse to navigate the trail, while his eyes surveyed first to one side and then the other.
James suddenly hauled up on the reins. His horse reared. When he settled down James turned him to backtrack, then jumped from the saddle. He picked up something that lay on the ground, something that Ben had ridden by without spotting.
“She’s been this way. I gave her this today.” James stashed what he had found inside his shirt without showing it to Ben. He mounted and dug his heels into the sides of his horse, and the big black’s powerful haunches propelled it forward.
When they reached the mill, James rode past the bunkhouse to the back of the main building. He dropped the reins to ground-tie his horse and went swiftly to a door. Without hesitation, he kicked it open. The room was black as midnight. He struck a match and held it aloft. Both bunks were empty.
Back in the saddle, James followed Ben to the bunkhouse. Through the one windowpane they saw a group of men playing cards. The rest were watching or lounging on the communal bed that stretched the length of the building. All turned as James threw open the door.
“That son of a bitchin’ Milo has taken Odette Waller. When I catch him, I’m going to shoot the bastard. We need all the help—”
“James, wait.” Tinker stood.
“Can’t wait. We’ve got to find her and—”
“Wait,” Tinker said loud enough to override James’s voice. “It couldn’t have been Milo. He’s lyin’ over there drunk as a skunk.” Tinker jerked his head toward the end of the bed. “He’s been here since mid-afternoon.”
“The hell!” Ben went to look down at the man sprawled on his back, his cut and bruised mouth hanging open. He smelled as if he’d been dunked in a privy. “Where’s Louis?”
“He left this afternoon to go back up to the cutting camp. He’s mad as hell ’cause you’re not up there.”
“Jesus, my God, what’ll we do?” James took a trembling breath. “I was sure it was Milo.”
“Are all of Milo’s dogs here?” Ben demanded.
Tinker looked around. “I don’t see anyone missing, do you, Billy?”
The old man scanned the room. “Nope.”
Watching the men closely, Ben saw the flicker of a grin cross the face of one of the men who had backed Milo the morning of the fight. He was on the bed leaning up on one elbow. Ben went to him.
“Get on your feet.”
“What fer?”
“’Cause I want to see you fall flat on your ass when I bust you in the mouth.”
“What’d I do?” The man’s eyes scanned the room seeking help, then he got off the bed.
“It’s what you’re going to do, Rink. You’re going to lie, when I ask you who took my girl.”
“How the hell would I be knowin’? I been here all—”
A rock-hard fist connected with the man’s jaw, knocking him off his feet. Ben was on him in an instant, dragging him up and propping him against the wall.
“You’re Milo’s top dog. You do his dirty work. I’m going to ask you once more and then I’m going to carve you up.” Ben drew a thin blade from a scabbard hanging beside his gun.
With blood running down his chin, his eyes pleading for help from the other men, Rink tried to sidestep away from Ben. When he realized he couldn’t get past the big man, he looked past him.
“For God’s sake! Ain’t you fellers goin’ to help me?”
“If you know anything, you’d better tell him, Rink. He’s a mean son of a bitch. You saw what he did to Milo.” Tinker came to stand beside Ben.
“Why’er ya pickin’ on me? I ain’t the only friend Milo’s got.”
“You’ve always been so proud of bein’ his top dog, Rink. If you’ve had a hand in doin’ something to Waller’s girl and you don’t make it right, you’d better not work around me or any of these men ever again. A little shove here or there and—” Tinker drew his finger across his throat. He was playing on the fear all men had who worked near the spinning steel blades.
The what-the-hell smile the men were used to seeing on James’s face was gone. It was a cold-eyed, grim-faced stranger who stepped up to Rink and shoved the barrel of his gun in the man’s belly.
“You set this up for that son of a bitch! You turned a young, innocent girl over to a pack of river pigs!”
“Naw, James. I been workin’ here off ’n’ on fer two years. I ain’t never done ya no harm.”
“We’re not talking about me, you shithead. Who took Odette and where is she? Start talking or I’ll blow you straight to hell!”
“Don’t kill him yet, James,” Ben said. “He’ll spill his guts if he suffers enough. I lived with the Shoshone for a while and 1 know a place to drive a splinter that will make this bastard scream his heart out before it kills him.”
“My God!” Rink’s eyes were wild with fear. “Air you fellers goin’ ta let ’em kill me?” There was dead silence from the hostile-eyed men. “I ain’t done nothin. I ain’t never seen that dum— I ain’t never set eyes on her. I ain’t—”
“Ain’t what?” James moved the barrel of the gun down and pushed it hard against the soft organ that hung between Rink’s legs. “Go on, you piece of horse shit. Milo hired someone to take her, didn’t he?”
“Stop! Fer God’s sake, stop!” Rink yelled and tried to wedge his hand between the gun barrel and his manly parts.
“Talk, damn you!” James jabbed hard with the gun barrel. “I don’t have the time to drive a splinter in your gut,” James gritted. “Tell what you know or I’ll shoot your pecker off, then one ball at a time. Is Milo payin’ you enough for that?”
“Milo told me… he said… nobody’d know—”
“You stupid bastard. Milo got himself dead drunk so he couldn’t be blamed.” James pulled the trigger. The bullet passed between Rink’s legs and into the wall behind him. The man screamed.
“No! Please!”
“I only nicked your balls, you gutl
ess asshole!” James gritted. “The next time, I’ll blow ’em away.”
“Don’t shoot! I only done what he told me. For God’s sake, don’t shoot—”
“What’s God got to do with it? Do you think he’d care if I blew away everything you got down there?”
“Milo’s boss. I can’t buck ’im.”
“I’m boss now, and I’m not asking you again.” James fired another shot.
Rink screamed and began to babble and cry. “Oh, oh, God! Don’t. Please. I’ll tell—”
CHAPTER
* 25 *
Odette was wonderfully, supremely happy when James pulled her into the hallway and told her that he loved her and wanted to marry her. He said they would live together, make babies together, spend their lives together. He wanted a home of his own, a family. He wanted her.
She feared for an instant that this really wasn’t happening; but when she saw the tender look of love in his eyes, she was too stunned with happiness to think of anything but him.
Standing in his arms, her eyes on his lips, she read every word he said. He repeated over and over that her not being able to hear was unimportant. He would hear for both of them.
His kisses were sweet and gentle. She returned them with all the love her young heart had to give. She clung to him. Her hands moved up into his hair and down the strong line of his back and shoulders and up to clasp around his neck.
He gave her the heart pillow and she read the words I love you on it. He held it to her nose so that she could smell it, then kissed it and tucked it into the neck of her dress. After sharing gentle, loving kisses, he looked down at her and in his magnificent eyes there was the glow of love. He was so great a miracle that she trembled with the happiness that she could hardly believe was hers.
It was over quickly.
As soon as they stepped back into the kitchen and she saw her father’s grim, disapproving face and Dory’s sad one, she knew that something was terribly wrong. Was it because she couldn’t hear that her papa didn’t trust James’s intentions?
Sins of Summer Page 28