by Logan, Jake
She squared her shoulders and smiled at him. “Don’t you worry your pretty head over us, Mr. Slocum. We are, as you say, strong women and made of tough stuff. And besides, every man I’ve ever met has brought nothing but trouble with him. Off with you.”
He kissed her again, hard this time. She kissed him back, then pushed him away. “Off, I said. Before I change my opinion of men . . . John.”
He walked the horse and mule to the front fence, the fence where so much had occurred, and stopped at the gate. Judith, looking fresh as a spring daisy, save for her red-rimmed eyes, stood waiting for him. About her waist rode her six-shooters, oiled and holstered.
She had never looked more like a child and a woman to him, all at once, than at that moment. Someday, Slocum thought, someday soon, Judith, you will make men weep and vow to the moon and the sun anything for you. If I were a younger man and wasn’t always on the run, I’d be one of them.
“Mr. Slocum,” she said in a very businesslike tone, “I have given the matter much thought.” Her eyes locked with his, then looked down again. “And I will accompany you on your travels. It is only right. I am, after all, the one who shot this foul creature.” She nodded toward the dead bundle on the mule.
“Yes, you shot him, Judith.” Slocum tried not to smile. “But I believe it was my shot that killed him. Don’t forget that. It is important. Shooting someone and taking their life are two different things, after all. And you are too young to have killed someone.”
And then she broke, as he’d hoped she would, and collapsed against him, much as she had done the day before. “I . . . I can’t stay here, Mr. Slocum. I can’t, I just can’t.”
“Ruth needs you, Judith. Just for a time. She has a lot to figure out. Your parents are not well. Your mother will heal, in time. Your father, though, I fear, will not. He is addled and is losing ground. I don’t say this to scare you, but you should know what you face.”
“I am not afraid of that. As long as Ruth and Mama and the children are all right, we will muddle through. I know that.” She looked up at him. “But I need to see the world, Mr. Slocum. I cannot stay here. Something inside me is telling me I have things to do, people to see, places to go. Isn’t that how you feel? You said yourself those were things you needed to do.”
She looked so hopeful to him. He sighed. “I know, Judith. Believe me, I know. I don’t suppose it will help you to hear that we all go through what you are feeling. Every blessed one of us.”
She looked up at him, her eyes welling. She shook her head, and he kissed her forehead and hugged her. “Just don’t be in such a rush. There’s plenty of time for happiness, once you find the right person.”
“What if I already found him?” She looked at him, searching, he knew, for some sign from him, for something he could not give her.
“Then you’ll both know. Trust me, Judith. You’ll both know it.”
He mounted up, urged the Appaloosa, leading the mule and the dead man, south to Slaterville. From there, he would ride southeast to Arizona, and the little graveyard on the knoll at the Rocking D. To visit some friends.
Watch for
SLOCUM AND THE SPIRIT BEAR
407th novel in the exciting SLOCUM series from Jove
Coming in January!