Big Sky Homecoming

by Linda Ford

  He’d sent someone to fetch Mrs. Humphrey, who returned in time to make the evening meal.

  Billy joined the Caldwell family in the dining room though he’d said he’d sooner eat in the kitchen.

  To her credit, Mother did her best to keep a conversation going, but the atmosphere was as thick as a spring fog. As soon as was polite, Duke excused himself and Billy jolted to his feet and followed him.

  Outside, Duke stared across the dark plains in the direction of the Bell farm.

  “When we gonna see them again?” Billy sounded hopeful.

  Duke didn’t need to ask who he meant. “Soon, I hope.” He waited quietly and patiently for some inner guidance as to what his choice for the future should be, but by the time he and Billy went inside and retired to their rooms he still didn’t know.

  All he knew for certain was that whatever choice he made it would be made with Rose’s safety and happiness in mind.

  He tossed and turned much of the night, prayed fervently. By morning he knew he couldn’t stay. He would always be a Caldwell but he’d be one that could hold his head high knowing he’d conducted himself with honor.

  He made his way to the kitchen and gratefully accepted a cup of coffee and a hot breakfast.

  “Billy’s not up yet?”

  Mrs. Humphrey shook her head. “You’re the only one I’ve seen and you’re up unusually early.”

  “Got things to do. It’s not like him to sleep in. I’ll get him up.” Wherever he went, he’d take Billy with him. He climbed the steps quietly, not wanting to bring either Father or Mother from their room, and tiptoed into Billy’s room, which echoed with his footsteps.

  “Billy.” He glanced around. The bed was mussed. But then, Billy made his own bed and the covers were never pulled perfectly flat as Mrs. Humphrey would have done.

  He circled the room, looked in the wardrobe, though he couldn’t say what he expected to see. Because it was obvious Billy wasn’t there.

  Perhaps he had risen earlier and slipped outside. Duke moved to the window. Several cowboys headed for the cookhouse. The horses penned beside the barn blew out billows of steam.

  Ebner stepped from the bunkhouse, hitched his pants higher and looked toward the house.

  Duke felt sick when he saw the triumphant look on the man’s face. A dreadful thought jolted through his body. Had Ebner hurt Billy?

  Unmindful of any noise he made, he clattered down the steps and rushed into the kitchen. He stared at the mat in front of the stove. “Have you seen Patches—Billy’s cat?”

  “Not this morning.” Mrs. Humphrey stirred batter for something. “I assumed Billy had let her outside.”

  Duke’s heart delivered a punch to his ribs.

  Billy never left the cat unattended outside.

  “He’s not upstairs. I have to find him.” He grabbed his coat, shrugging into it as he leaped from the steps and glanced around.

  “Billy,” he called softly, not wanting to alert Ebner, who had gone into the cookhouse.

  Perhaps Billy had taken the cat out back. Duke circled the house, but there was no sign of cat or owner. He trotted to the barn. “Billy!” All he heard was the rustle of mice overhead and the coo of pigeons in the loft.

  He checked every stall and then climbed the ladder to the loft. Billy was not there.

  Duke sat on the loft floor and forced himself to breathe deeply. Think. Think. Where would he be?

  Chapter Seventeen

  Rose spent more time in the barn than her chores required but Duke’s presence seemed closer there. She stood in the spot where he’d kissed her. Her insides felt hollowed out and empty with missing him. She’d never considered herself impatient before but now her entire being had stalled, unable to function until she saw him again.

  She tipped her head. Did she hear approaching hoofbeats? She sighed. How many times over the past few days had she imagined a rider approaching and rushed outside to stare at the empty landscape?

  Didn’t the sound grow louder? She listened closer. Yes. She heard a horse. Her heart leaped with joy. Coming fast. Very fast. Someone approaching at that speed meant danger. Fear replaced joy and clawed at her throat.

  Could it be Ebner bent on another attack?

  Or a messenger bearing bad news?

  She rushed headlong from the barn, prepared to stop any threat. Never mind that she’d failed to do so in the past.

  The horse and rider raced toward her. Her breath whooshed out. It was Duke coming as fast as he could. She laughed—a sound of pure joy. He’d missed her as much as she’d missed him.

  “Have you seen Billy?” he called as soon as he was within shouting distance. “Is he here?”

  She blinked; tried to make sense of his questions. “Of course not. Isn’t he with you?”

  King skidded to a halt five feet from Rose and Duke jumped to the ground. “I can’t find him.” He rushed past Rose into the barn. “Billy!” His yell rang with desperation.

  Rose hurried after him and caught his arm. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  Duke shuddered. “Billy’s not at the ranch. I thought he’d come here. Where else would he go?” He pulled her into his arms and held tight as if to hold him together.

  “I suppose he might have gone into the house while I was in the barn.”

  He grabbed her hand and they raced across the yard and flung the door open.

  Ma and Pa stared at them.

  “What’s wrong?” Ma said.

  “Billy’s missing. He’s not here?”

  Pa got to his feet with more haste than he’d showed in several weeks. “How long has he been missing?”

  “I don’t know. He was gone when I got up this morning.” Duke rubbed the back of his neck.

  “Sit down and let’s reason this out,” Pa said.

  Duke perched on the edge of the chair.

  Rose sat next to him and, not caring what anyone thought, squeezed his hand.

  “Did something trigger this?” Pa’s voice was calm, reassuring.

  “My parents returned. I tried to convince my father to end the feud and to fire Ebner.” Duke shuddered and clutched Rose’s hand so hard her fingers turned white but she didn’t care. It was the least she could offer him.

  “It didn’t go well,” Duke continued. “Billy knew that. I suppose it frightened him. But where would he go?”

  Pa patted Duke’s shoulder. “We’ll find him. Did he take a horse?”

  “All the horses were present and accounted for.”

  “Then we know he couldn’t go far. Did he have any favorite places?”

  “Only here.”

  “Then I suggest you and Rose have a better look around. He might be hiding.”

  Before Pa finished speaking Duke was on his feet, still holding Rose’s hand as he rushed outside. They searched every building. They explored the nearby trees. Nothing.

  “I can’t believe my father chose to keep Ebner on after what I told him,” Duke said as they poked through Pa’s workshop. “I can’t stay there. I can’t be part of what they are doing to you.” He sounded so miserable she wrapped her arms around him.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “But if I leave the ranch, who will make sure you are safe?”

  She held him tight. “If Ma and Pa were younger I think I’d beg them to move.” She shuddered and his arms tightened around her.

  They clung to each other for the space of three heartbeats.

  “First things first.” His lips barely curved in his attempted smile. “We must find Billy. I simply can’t imagine where he’s gone.”

  “Would he go to town?” she asked. The idea was more preferable than him being lost outside with the temperature falling. And he could walk that distance, though he would have had to wal
k in the dark and cold. Her insides frosted at the thought.

  “Where would he go if he did? He’s uncomfortable around strangers.”

  “Lilly.” She almost shouted the name. “He’d go to Lilly.”

  They raced for the barn. His horse stood where he’d left him. Rose saddled Hope faster than she’d ever done in her life and led him from the barn to where Duke stood.

  “Someone coming.” He pointed down the road at an approaching wagon.

  They waited side by side, dread pitting the bottom of her stomach. No one would come calling this early in the morning unless it was an emergency. Sometimes people came with requests for Ma’s medicinals, but her twisted insides warned her this would be about Billy.

  The way Duke squeezed her hand, she knew he suspected the same thing.

  She was the first to recognize the occupants. “It’s Lilly and Caleb.” The wagon drew closer and she made out Teddy peering over the back of the wagon. She squinted at another person beside him. “It’s Billy.” With a cry of joy they raced toward the wagon.

  “Billy, you’re safe.” Tears washed her face.

  Duke trotted beside the wagon, his hand on Billy’s head. “You gave me an awful scare.”

  Caleb pulled the wagon to a halt. “Let’s go inside and talk.”

  They marched into the house where Ma and Pa waited. Ma held out her arms to Billy, Patches clutched to his chest, and hugged him. “Praise God you’re safe.”

  “Are you angry at me?” Billy’s voice trembled.

  “We’re only grateful you’re okay.”

  They pulled out extra chairs and gathered around the table. Rose stayed close to Duke’s side. She hoped he needed the comfort of her presence as much as she needed his.

  Pa looked from one to the other, his gaze resting at last on Billy. “Tell us what happened.”

  Billy shuddered and hung his head and soothed Patches. “I didn’t want anything to happen to her. I knew Lilly likes all sorts of animals.”

  Duke opened his mouth to say something. Likely to ask for more explanation.

  Ma signaled him to let her. “Billy, why did you think something might happen to her?”

  “Ebner said it would.”

  Duke squeezed Rose’s hand as his breath escaped in a blast.

  “Nothing will happen to Patches while you’re here,” Pa promised.

  “Can I stay here?” Billy’s eyes brimmed with pleading.

  Ma and Pa looked at each other and silently communicated. They both smiled.

  “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want,” Pa said.

  Billy bent over Patches.

  Two tears dropped to the cat’s fur. Billy brushed them away.

  Pa turned to Duke. “I think it’s best for Billy to stay here for now. He’ll feel more at ease.”

  Duke nodded. “I agree.” He freed his hand from Rose’s grasp and rubbed his palms against his thighs.

  Her heart ached for him. He felt he had to abandon his home and family.

  “Duke, do you mind if I explain the situation to my family?”

  All misery, he shook his head. “I could certainly use some wise advice.”

  So she repeated what Duke had said, how he’d asked his father to end the feud, how his father had said he had and how Duke, when he’d discovered Ebner still harassing the Bells, had tried to dismiss Ebner, but his father had chosen to keep the man, even knowing the specifics of what he’d done. How Duke didn’t feel he could stay on at the ranch.

  When she finished, a deep silence hung over the table.

  Duke squared his shoulders as he faced her parents. “I’ll understand if you want me to leave. If you feel uncomfortable offering me friendship.”

  Rose found his hand and held tight.

  Pa squeezed his shoulder. “Nonsense. We want no such thing. But, son, you face a difficult situation for which it would appear there will not be a happy outcome.” He turned to confront those gathered around the table. “We need God’s wisdom in this situation. Let’s pray.”

  The family, Duke and Billy joined hands around the table as Pa prayed. “God, grant wisdom to Duke to resolve his problems with his father. We ask you for peace, as well. Peace between neighbors that your name might be glorified. Amen.”

  Ma served tea and cookies. Slowly, Duke relaxed. “I served my parents cookies I’d made.” He laughed. “They couldn’t believe I knew how.”

  Ma chuckled. “It appears they are unaware of many of your abilities.”

  Beside him, Rose felt him stiffen.

  “That’s the problem in a nutshell,” Duke said. “They don’t see what I’m capable of.”

  “Son, maybe you need to make them see,” Pa said.

  “But how?”

  Pa shook his head. “I can’t say. It might be they’ll see you as a man if you confront the situation. Or they might see your strength if you leave the place. You’ll have to trust God to guide your steps.”

  “I wish He’d send me a map.”

  Duke seemed in no hurry to leave and Rose certainly wasn’t anxious to see him go. But the horses were still saddled and standing where they’d left them.

  “We need to see to the horses,” she said.

  “And we need to get back home.” Caleb and Lilly and Teddy prepared to leave.

  Lilly took a moment to go to Billy and give him a sideways hug. “I’m glad you knew you could come to me for help and I’m equally grateful you’ll have a safe place with my parents.”

  “Me, too,” Billy said. He turned to Ma. “Can I keep Patches inside?”

  “Yes, of course. I can’t imagine how you’d manage without her.”

  Rose loved her mother then as never before. Ma didn’t care for cats in the house but knowing how important it was to Billy, she allowed it without second thought.

  “You don’t care that I’m stupid and useless?” Billy’s voice quivered and he kept his head down.

  Rose and Duke both sprang to his side and the rest of the family gathered ’round.

  Rose spoke. “Billy, it’s what’s inside you that matters. Not what people might say about you. It’s what you know about yourself and I think you know you are a good, kind person.”

  Billy nodded. “Yes, I am.”

  “You hold on to that thought and don’t let anyone take it from you.”

  The others murmured further encouragement.

  As soon as Lilly and her family departed, Rose and Duke went outside and led the horses to the barn to tend them.

  Rose could see he struggled with a thought and waited quietly for him to reach a decision.

  He sighed. “I must go home. Mother will be worried. I don’t want her to think I’ve run away. Nor my father, either.”

  “I understand.” It touched her that he could be so considerate of them even though his father had hurt him so badly.

  He let out a gust of air. “What you said to Billy applies to me. I won’t let my father make me think I’m useless. I always thought of myself as being part of the Caldwell Ranch but only if my opinions are valued.”

  She watched him struggle with his choice. Pain darkened his eyes and pulled his mouth back into a firm line. “I’m sure you’ll do the right thing. My prayers go with you.”

  “Thank you.” He stood at King’s side but made no effort to mount.

  Her insides crackled, knowing he meant to say something more to her.

  His jaw muscles twitched and his eyes searched hers. But he said nothing. Instead he swung up into the saddle. As he reined around he finally spoke. “Goodbye.” And then he galloped out of the yard.

  She waited for him to turn at the top of the hill and wave but he raced onward without a backward look.

  She cradled her arms around her.
Surely she was only being fearful. He had been so focused on speaking to his father that he’d neglected to turn and wave.

  It meant nothing.

  Goodbye. Had he meant it as final? She reviewed everything he’d said, but could find no reason for her quaking uncertainty.

  Did he mean to confront Ebner with or without his father’s support? Would Ebner kill the son and heir in the hope of getting a stake in the Caldwell Ranch?

  She knew what she must do and she raced to the house. “Ma, Pa, I’m going after Duke. Whatever he plans to do, I’m going to stand at his side.”

  “Don’t do anything foolish,” Pa said.

  “Don’t turn your back on Ebner,” Ma warned.

  “I’ll be careful. I’ll also make sure Duke is careful.” She had no idea what he was riding into. She glanced at the shotgun.

  Pa noticed. “Whatever happens, you’ll have to settle it peaceably.”

  Rose nodded. She’d use a gun to protect Duke if she had to, but there was no point in borrowing trouble by showing up with a firearm. She dashed out the door and leaped onto Hope’s back.

  Pa watched from the doorway. “We’ll pray for you.”

  She breathed her own prayers as she thundered after Duke, knowing she had no chance of catching up to him and his big horse before he reached the ranch.

  What if Ebner intercepted him on the way over?

  What if he watched for her and tried to stop her?

  Her throat choked off at the thought, but nothing would stop her from reaching Duke’s side.

  * * *

  Duke allowed himself to cling to the memory of Rose’s sweet look as he galloped toward the ranch. Her confidence in him encouraged him. She was the sort of woman who would stand by him through good times and bad. Through sickness and health. For richer or poorer.

  He realized those words were part of the marriage vows.

  Love is like a red, red rose.

  He’d found his love and his red, red rose. But now was not the time to tell her. And after today he would not be in a position to speak of his feelings. A man had to have a home, a future...something to offer a woman besides sweet words.