The girl looked dejected, and Honor felt for her. She loved her Cattie dearly but knew Melinda's experience was not unique. Catalina enjoyed the conquest of the various women she bedded as it flew in the face of convention. However, she was always quick to move onto the next woman, the next challenge. She knew Catalina had invited Melinda to the Ranch, and the young woman had been there a couple of times, but that had been a few lovers ago, not even counting the woman from Mexico City, the night before at Cedar Ledge.
“When you see Miss Cattie, can you ask her when she might be coming up to Godspell again? She said she would visit soon, and it seemed like a piece since then,” Melinda asked. Honor smiled but felt a little sorry for her.
“You have my word. I shall pass that along when I see her,” Honor told her honestly. Melinda became joyful and hopeful.
“Oh, thank you, Miss Wilde, thank you! You all have a safe ride!” she told them before she hurried off with a skip in her step. Honor did feel bad for the girl but would never cast aspersions towards Cattie over it. All her sisters, including herself, could be the same way when they wanted to, she thought as the group slowly left Godspell behind them.
Morning at Cedar Ledge had found Lijuan taking her customary place at the table in the dining room for breakfast, and she discovered she was the only one. As she sat down Mrs. Chow delivered her food for the morning. The older woman was muttering to herself over something, but Lijuan had no idea what it could be. She only knew the woman was on the warpath…yet again. Lijuan stirred the food with her fork absently, looking out at the spectacular view the dining room afforded her.
The room was built on the corner of one wing of the house facing west. In the evening the most beautiful sunsets were available. In the morning, the sun rising in the east slowly lit up the mountains in a glorious way that she always looked forward to. The other window had a sweeping view of the valley, all the way to town. The buildings of Alamieda were just dots on the horizon, but Lijuan thought of the hundreds of people residing there with lives and concerns of their own.
Lijuan turned her attention back to the westward view. She had only been five or six when the ranch had been under construction and remembered little about it, but knew that it had been Catalina’s mother, Mercedes, who had picked the spot on the rise with the magnificent view. Abutting the rear of the house were the rocky ledges, dotted with cedar trees that gave the lodge its name.
She had heard her father reminisce with Catalina about how Mercedes had loved her sunsets. Cattie's mother had dreamed of many evenings sharing the sunset with the blended family she had found herself a part of. As day turned to night, breaking bread with her family had been her hope for her future. Those hopes had been cut short by her savage death. The grief that had engulfed the newly opened ranch in the aftermath of Mercedes' murder was something she did not want to let into her mind again. Instead, she thought about how often her father and Cattie spoke of Mercedes.
It seemed to Lijuan that her father rarely spoke much of her own mother since the day he had sat her down as a child and explained how she had come to be in this world. She often wished her father would open up about her, but William Henry Wilde was not one to be pushed on any subject, much less one that brought such obvious pain. Lijuan shook her head, wondering what brought such depressing thoughts to her head on this morning.
Probably a pall left over from the previous night, she finally reasoned. Her brother had been the most loving family member to her. To have him be as cold and distant as he had been the night before had shaken her to the core. She knew it was her carelessness that had brought it on. At least she could remember the one bright spot of the night being her dance with that Kincaid gentleman.
He was a handsome man and pleasant enough and Lijuan vowed to keep her eyes open for him in the future. She did not want to ask her father more about him, because he had to know that his daughters liked to spend time with gentlemen, but Lijuan was sure it would not be a comfortable topic for discussion. It was not something fathers wanted to think about let alone discuss.
Before she could reflect further on it, she heard the raised voice of Mrs. Chow, and then her father's voice trying to soothe her. A moment later the door from the kitchen opened, and the judge entered, and to Lijuan's surprise, Marisol Cristobel was with him. Lijuan tried to process what she was seeing. Did Marisol spend the night? Of course, she had, she told herself. That much was clear, but what wasn't clear to Lijuan was had she spent the night in the company of her father. She realized then that where it would be uncomfortable for fathers to contemplate who their daughters spent time with, it was equally unpleasant for the daughter to wonder the same about their father.
Lijuan shook her head, knowing she shouldn't be thinking of such things. The truth was that the older gentleman was quite fond of Marisol. He had done a generous thing by arranging with the Mexican authorities for her to stay in Arizona with him, to work for him. She did not know if their relationship progressed beyond just friendship. Lijuan concluded that it was none of her business. If Marisol made her father happy, then she was all for it. She also knew she could never extend those wishes for David and his clinging lover, Bright Feather.
“Good morning, my little daisy!” Her father greeted her cheerfully. She could not help the smile the nickname always brought to her.
“Father, Miss Cristobel,” she greeted them in return. The judge held out the chair for Marisol at the table.
“My lord, Mrs. Chow is in a mood today. She says there is food missing from the kitchen this morning,” he relayed as the two sat down for breakfast.
“She believes that I took it and brought it down to the party last evening, without telling anyone. Saints know I have been guilty of many things in this life, but that was not one of them,” Marisol said. Lijuan always had to focus more when she spoke, as having been a full-blown Mexican citizen, Marisol’s English was heavily accented, far more than Catalina’s for sure.
“Blast it! I was going to look at some papers for a trial next week after breakfast, but I left my glasses in my room,” The judge suddenly exclaimed with some annoyance.
“I’ll get them for you, Father,” Lijuan said.
“Not necessary, but thank you, Lijuan. I have a spare set over in my … sorry, your office,” he said. Lijuan smiled thinking of how her father still made that slip even though she had been running the business for four years. She wondered if perhaps her father did not want her to see that his bed had been slept in by two?
“You’re welcome, Father,” she said politely. The judge got up and exited to the office leaving behind an awkward silence until Marisol stirred.
“So, all of your sisters have gone already?” Marisol asked, trying to break the awkwardness.
“It seems so,” she answered, honestly perplexed at all the different matters that had arisen at the same time to call her siblings away.
“Thunderation!” they heard the judge exclaim in a shout from the office. The two women looked at each other in surprise, and Lijuan got up and headed towards the office with Marisol right behind her.
“What’s wrong, Father?” Lijuan asked as they rushed into the office.
“We have been robbed!” he exclaimed angrily.
“What did they make off with?” she asked. She was almost glad something had come up that would distract her from the previous night with David as well as the uncomfortable situation of sitting with Marisol in the kitchen.
“Look!” he exclaimed, pointing to the area above the mantle over the fireplace. “The old rifle that was passed down to Cassandra’s mother from Kelly’s father,” he said.
"That puts Mrs. Chow's missing food in a new light. It's likely the thieves are responsible for that as well," Marisol said reasonably. Lijuan nodded agreeing with her. Then another thought came to her, and she rushed to her desk.
"Wait a minute now. A gun is no good without …" She yanked open a desk drawer. "Ammunition! They got the bullets for Kelly's rifle, along w
ith the pistol and the ammunition I kept with it. Counting the rifle bullets, it looks like they treated themselves to three or four boxes worth, too," she told her father.
“It sounds like a regular arsenal,” Marisol commented.
"Just wait until we catch up with this trespasser, Marisol! This is a hard-working ranch, and I brook no patience with thieves too lazy to work for what they have. I’ll savor the moment the scoundrel is standing before me in a court of law so that I can throw the book at him."
Lijuan went to the window and opened it up. She saw some mud along the carpet below and footprints outside.
"I can promise you that will be real soon, Father. We got lucky with that rainstorm last night. The scoundrel left a clear path in the mud." She put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm on it!" she told him.
“Should I wake your brother, so he may accompany you on the hunt?” Marisol asked kindly.
“No, ma’am. Let him sleep. He gets credit since Mrs. Chow told me he stayed until the very end of the party,” she said in return. Her father gave her a big hug.
“Go get him, darling. When you find him, haul him into my office in Alamieda. Marisol and I are going to head there now,” he said. Lijuan nodded and went off to get her horse, Kong. The name meant glorious and bright. It fit her too. She was a strong mare of bright tan with a white forelock. It was not long, and she was on her way. She had a six-shooter and her hammer on her belt. With those, she always felt ready for anything.
Lijuan followed the trail easily. Part of her wished the thief had been a little more competent. It wasn't a test of her tracking skills she had worked so hard to learn. She would have liked to be able to brag a little to Cassandra.
"If the trail keeps being this clear, Kong, I'll run down this robber easily," she told her horse just before she heard a shot and the dirt puffed up ahead of her. Lijuan swung sideways, hanging along the side of Kong to stay out of target range. Another shot rang out, and as they approached several big boulders, she dropped off Kong and rolled to cover. Drawing her gun, she tried to find the shooter. Another few shots cracked the air, and she was able to get a good idea where he might be.
Lijuan crawled along, out of sight of the shooter until she reached a trail she had walked before. She headed up that way between the area’s rocks and cedar trees. Soon she could feel she was getting closer and moved as quietly as possible. As long as my luck holds, she thought, I’ll have him shortly. Peeking around the bend in the trail she smiled grimly. It was the robber all right; the supplies he had stolen were in a little clearing area along with him. She saw the back of a man off to the side, looking down where she had been, gripping Kelly’s rifle.
"Drop it and reach for the sky," she said fiercely. The man did and turned, leaving her shocked by his youth. "What! You're barely more than a kid," she exclaimed to the young man. He couldn't be much more than ten years younger than she was, and Lijuan was just shy of thirty years old. She let her eyes linger on his blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. It was a look she knew and loved from long ago. Lijuan shook her head to dispel that thought as she kicked the rifle out of the reach of any temptation he might have to go for it.
“You’re a little young to be starting a life of crime, aren’t you? At least I hope you are just starting, son!” she told him. The youngster didn’t say anything, and she frowned.
"Why did you break in and steal from our ranch?" she asked. He remained silent, and she sighed, taking her hammer from her belt. "So, you won't answer, eh," she said and reached forward quickly, taking his hand and held it down on top of a rock. She lifted her hammer into the air as panic flared in his eyes.
"Know this, son. I could make you talk if I really wanted to," she told him. He looked terrified, but then she put her hammer back on her belt and plucked the keepsake rifle off the ground.
"Come on. We’re going back to Alamieda. I'm sure my father, a judge, will get some answers out of you without me having to cripple you in the process," she told him and pushed him towards his horse knowing she still had to find her own. Once she had Kong it wouldn't be long before she had the young thief at her father's office and facing justice.
THE BADLANDS
Mexico
Honor's group rode well into the day. The exact point when Arizona became Mexico wasn't marked, but Honor knew when they had passed into neighboring land after they went past Fort Campbell. She had spied it far off to the east, and now it was far away behind them, out of sight. Dutch had told her that Fort Campbell was the closest fort the Army had to the Mexican border.
Honor was already making plans for her and Katie to stop there on the way back and hopefully spend the night. Her brother Dutch had many friends, and she was sure he would have some at the installation, so it shouldn't be a problem if they stayed the night. For this night though, she knew they were going to have to camp by a water hole that lay along their route in the heart of the badlands. It was not a prospect she was looking forward to, but it made sense to stop for the evening and then soldier on at first light. They would then travel into Los Valles de Trese and ultimately the Ybarra Coach Makers near Natchez in the Verde Abundante. The waterhole was still two hours away, and they were long overdue for a break. She spied a clump of boulders ahead and thought that would do nicely.
Looking back, Honor could see Katie chatting with the two sisters as she had done for the entire trip so far. Honor had exchanged a few words with Marquita, mostly about Catalina since she wanted to find something in common with the new companion she had acquired. Catalina’s ties to Mexico gave them something to discuss. She was a little relieved that Marquita had not asked how she had a Mexican sister because she didn’t want to go into Cattie’s heritage.
As for the hired man, Alvarez, he had said nothing save for a couple yes or no answers to questions the Melendez sisters put to him. Honor was sure she had seen him, out of the corner of her eye, appreciating her figure. She wasn't concerned though, because if he had the slightest untoward thought about her, she was confident that as a Wilde sister she could hold her own. It was confidence born of training and experience. As they drew close to the boulders, she raised her hand to indicate they needed to stop.
“Why are we stopping, Honor?” Katie asked. Honor was momentarily surprised. Katie’s voice almost sounded like the old friend that she missed.
“We have all been drinking pretty liberally from our canteens, and if you are like me, the notion of a privy stop is mighty welcome right about now,” she said with a touch of humor. Marquita laughed and immediately began to dismount.
“Absolutely! I was just thinking the same thing, Señorita Wilde,” Marquita said eagerly.
“Behind those rocks ought to do us,” Honor said getting off her horse herself. Valencia was dismounting as well. Honor glanced at Katie.
“Are you coming?” she asked her. Katie slowly nodded and dismounted.
“Yes,” she said with seeming reluctance.
"You wait here with the horses. You'll get a turn afterward," Valencia told the hired hand.
“He is a man, my sister. He can do it right where he stands,” Marquita said laughing as Valencia got down from her horse. Leaving him to stand guard over the animals, the quartet of women went around the boulders where they wouldn’t be seen. Honor was reaching for her buckle and saw Katie just standing, looking about.
“What?” she asked Katie.
“Just not used to going without a privy and with a bunch of people around. At least not anymore,” Katie said. What she left unspoken was that it reminded her of days in the cotton field as a young girl. In those days, it was not possible to wait for the few and far between breaks granted by the overseer.
“I forget, you do not have three sisters as I do. I would not be mistaken as a fan of attending to business in the outdoors, but we girls got used to it in our travels. I do not think twice about it anymore,” Honor admitted to her.
"Well, it aint something I ever expected to go back to," Katie said but relented
and reached for her own buckle. As the women began going about their business, Honor noticed out of the corner of her eye that Valencia was not joining them but seemed to be just standing there. Maybe she was shy like Katie, Honor thought, oh well; she can suit herself if her back teeth start floating. Valencia started to look like she was going back around the boulders when Honor heard the jingle of bells and became instantly alert. It was a warning bell.
By the horses, Alvarez had just lifted the flap on Honor’s saddle bags and was reaching inside of it. Suddenly a knife flew through the air and buried itself in the leather of the thick bag. Alvarez jumped back with a yelp of fright. He spun around and saw Honor lowering her throwing arm and liberating her pistol with her left hand. Valencia was behind her along with Marquita and Katie who was fumbling to tuck her blouse back in. They were all staring at Alvarez then.
“Grab a couple of handfuls of sky … NOW!” Honor snarled at the thief. Alvarez looked blank and Marquita drew her own weapon shouting.
“Reach now, you dog,” she cried. He raised his hands as Valencia quickly moved in and grabbed his six-shooter from his hip.
“Don’t try anything funny,” Valencia said.
“Shucks, you mean more than he has?” Katie asked angrily. Honor glanced at Katie.
“Putting your trust in strangers, Katie, not always the wisest move. Here is a chicken coming home to roost for you,” Honor couldn’t help saying. Katie looked annoyed, yet chagrined at the same time.
“I sure hate to admit it, but you be right. What do you have to say for yourself Marquita? He be your hired help and all,” Katie asked the long-haired woman.
“I am deeply mortified,” she responded slowly.
“I just bet you are,” Honor said frowning.
“No, I am sincere! I, like you, have basically trusted a stranger. When I told an amigo that we needed help hauling our merchandise up for sale in Godspell and the surrounding towns, they recommended Alvarez. They said he was looking for work, so we hired him as our driver,” Marquita explained which only served to prompt Honor to cock the .45.
The Reaper 0f The Rio Sangre: Special Edition HBH Version (Half Breed Haven Book 10) Page 9