The horse stirred and neighed when Riley pet him again. “He’s a right pretty animal, Sam.”
“He is; that’s a fact. You can ride for a while…” Sam instructed.
She nodded and waited ‘til Nodog followed.
“If we should stumble upon people along the way, Riley, I want you to react to them like a kid. A boy; can you do that?” Sam asked. “It’s for your own protection.”
“Well, I’ll try.” Riley nodded. “Daddy always said I was child-like. But I’ve never tried to act like a boy before.”
“In some ways I reckon you are child-like,” Sam added. “But you listen; it’s important, Riley. You bein’ a boy makes things easier for me. At least this way, maybe they won’t hang me.”
“I wouldn’t let anyone hang you, Sam,” she whispered, then stared into his surprised eyes. “And if they tried, they’d have to hang me too.”
“Don’t talk like that, Riley.”
“What if we run into somebody and they want to take me with ‘em?” Riley asked.
“I’d tell them I was taking you to Dallas to meet up with your folks. Most folks wouldn’t volunteer to take you out of the way of their plans,” Sam argued. “Unless you’d rather go with them. In that case, I’m shed of you.” Sam turned away.
“No, I think I’ll stick with you, Sam. I trust you.” Riley wasn’t paying attention to him now as they moved on.
“I don’t know why you trust me.” Sam shook his head and glanced up at her. “You hardly know me.”
“Oh, I know you, Sam…” she whispered aloud. “Now!”
He stared at her. “Yeah…I reckon you do.”
Riley seemed to study that thought. “Besides, you’re a Christian man. You buried that man back there and you didn’t even know him. You could’ve left him in the tree, still hangin’. You told those cowboys I died, or let them think I did. That helped me. You didn’t have to do that. You gave me your horse and your gun. You didn’t have to do that, but you did. You done nothing but help me since I met you. So I trust you.”
“Any decent man would have buried him,” Sam reproached.
“Maybe. But for now, I’ll stick with you.” Riley smiled at him. “Besides, I’d like you to kiss me again…I mean when I’m not scared out of my wits. And when you really want to.”
“Riley! You got to forget that…”
“I know I should, but I know I won’t too. I know…we aren’t gonna talk about it. But I shore won’t forget it, Sam… will you?”
Sam looked away. “Naw…I guess not.”
She pinked and smiled but didn’t look at him.
Sam moved away, putting distance between them.
“You know this idea of getting a big lawyer might not work out, Riley.” Sam concentrated on the path they were going.
“I know. But I got money, Sam. I can pay them to work for me. Maybe I need a gunman.” Riley reached in her satchel and pulled it out. “And I need to get back to the ranch ‘cause some of my pa’s money is buried on the land.”
“Buried? Well, I hope you know where.”
“I do, and they don’t.”
“They declare you dead, someone can get the money in the bank. Don’t rightly know who, but someone is bound to touch it. They ain’t gonna let it just sit there forever.”
“They elect a guardianship, if I remember correctly. That’s what they called it when the money transferred to my name. That is until the will was read.” Riley seemed to study the thought for a minute then looked at Sam. “Sounds like bein’ dead has its drawbacks, don’t it? Maybe I should just go back, get my money and leave.”
“Well, at least they ain’t lookin’ for ya,” Sam scolded her. “But I don’t think I would just walk away from your ranch. Your daddy must have worked hard to build it. Can’t let all that hard work go for nothin’ now can you?”
“You’re right about that. I guess I’m safe, for now.” Riley smiled. “But sometimes, I get to thinkin’ I would like to leave, get a fresh start somewhere else. You know, where people don’t know me. Be a real lady.”
“Maybe someday you can. Stow that money Riley, someone might see it.” Sam barely looked at her and the money. “Ain’t nothin’ brings out the bad in people like money. Startin’ over is fine for those that need to start over, but you ain’t done nothin’ wrong to start over from. You’re a victim and we gotta straighten that out as best we can. If you go to a lawyer, a good one, you can tell them everything, and then let them do the work.”
“You don’t seem very interested in the fact that I’ve got money. I find that strange and wonderful too. I never met anyone who wasn’t interested in my money. It’s all my pa ever talked about: having things, money, property. Bein’ somebody. I never shared his ambitions though.” She laughed. “I just wanted to live on my ranch, and not worry about anything. I’d rather be happy than rich.”
“Your money is not mine, got nothin’ to do with me. I make my own way. And you…well, it’s in your favor not to be gloatin’ over the money.”
“That’s why I’m going with you, Sam. You’re honest.”
“But there are those that aren’t and we gotta watch out for those, Riley. Some would knock you in the head for what you got in your pockets right now,” Sam added, glancing at her. “That’s why I’m goin’ with you to Dallas, ‘cause I want to see you get there in one piece, and I don’t want to worry about you.”
“Thank you, Sam…” Riley sighed. “I knew you cared about me.”
“Think nothin’ of it Riley, I’d do it for anyone.”
“I think you would Sam, I think you would.”
Chapter Eight
Just the other side of Waco, Sam spotted a wagon moving east. It seemed peculiar to see a wagon headed east instead of north or west. The closer they got to the wagon the more curious Sam grew. Most wagons were headed west, and coming from the east. Nodog ran ahead and sniffed, barking and running about the wagon. He growled once then dashed back toward Sam and Riley.
As they come up to the wagon, Sam saw a Negro woman driving the team of horses and three kids peeking out behind her. Surprised to find a woman of color, Sam studied her long and hard then a slow smile lit his face. The way she slanted her eyes at him, and moved her well built body toward him, made him smile. The swell of her breasts beneath the plain dress she wore brought his gaze front and center, as she licked her lips and flashed her dark eyes at him. He looked about; there was no one else about.
“Mornin’,” Sam called as he strode straight up to her, and let Riley lead the horse in.
“Mornin’,” the woman said, eyeing him cautiously and then Riley and Nodog.
“Where ya headed, ma’am?” Sam asked as he stopped in front of her wagon.
“Other side of Dallas,” the woman replied, still eyeing him with open curiosity. “And you?”
“Dallas.” Sam nodded.
“Well now, that’s interestin’,” the woman suddenly smiled, showing a set of white teeth and sparkling black eyes. Her curly black lashes batted straight at Sam. Nodog went to the rear of the wagon and sniffed about.
“The name’s Sam Tanner, and this here is Riley,” Sam explained.
The woman nodded to Sam with a warm smile and then to Riley.
“Nice to meet ya, Sam,” she said as her smile faded when it landed on Riley. “What you doin’ with a white boy?”
Sam’s smile faded slowly. Nodog came back around, growling a bit. Sam glanced at him. “Easy, boy.”
Riley spit on the ground.
Sam turned to look at Riley. “Riley’s father was hung, I run into him on the trail. He was alone, so we teamed up. Are those your children?”
“That’s right, Dorothy is my youngest, then Tate, he’s the one just turnin’ into a man, and Mabel, she’s my oldest and my biggest help along the way.”
“Don’t see no man around, how come?”
“He’s dead…” the woman replied.
“Sorry.”
Sam studie
d the children who looked wide-eyed at Riley. “So why you headed east if I may ask?”
The woman twisted reins and spread her knees to lean on them, her dress spreading wide to accommodate. “We lived out west Texas way, got attacked by Indians too many times, our well dried up, my man got kilt so we are movin’ to my sister’s place over the other side of Dallas way.”
“Last I seen, there wasn’t much out that way for miles,” Sam said.
“That’s what my sister said in her letter.” The woman smiled at Sam again. “But she’s got a place of her own out there, and needs help to work it, so me and my kids are headed there. Better than being alone.”
“What’s your name?” Sam asked when she didn’t introduce herself.
“Mavis, Mavis Potts.” She frowned at Riley once more, and then glanced down at the dog. If her expression was a clue, she had little use for Riley or Nodog, Sam surmised.
“He’s part wolf, ain’t he?” Mavis curled her lip slightly in distaste.
“Yes ma’am. He’s been a fine dog, a good companion.”
“I don’t have much use fer a dog lessin’ they are hounds…to hunt with.”
“He hunts, when needed.”
Sam stared hard and long at Mavis, taking in the full figure of the woman, and the way she curled her lips at him when he looked at her. She was a right smart looking woman, Sam thought as his eyes strayed to the ample cleavage she seemed bent on displaying to him. The top two buttons of her dress seemed to strain to contain her, but Sam wasn’t complaining any. After all, this was a black woman. A woman of his kind. A woman he could probably have if he wanted her. At least that was the impression she was giving off.
“Well, since we’re all headed for Dallas way, maybe we should hook up,” Sam suggested.
“Won’t a wagon slow us down?” Riley asked almost immediately.
“Not that much,” Sam replied, not looking at Riley but watching Mavis’ smile curl around him. The woman was endowed with more than her fair share of womanly charms and there was no way she could hide that fact; Sam smiled at her. “We ain’t in that big a hurry, Riley.”
Sam glanced at Riley after a bit. “You and Nodog follow along, Riley, I’ll drive that team for you, Mrs. Mavis,” Sam offered.
“Right kind of you.” Mavis smiled and cast a quick smile at Riley. She scooted over on the wagon seat to give Sam some room and beamed at him as she handed him the reins. She jiggled a finger in her ear and laughed. “Lord it’s nice havin’ a man drive them dern mules of mine.”
Her cheeks shined at his intense gaze.
Riley called Nodog toward the back of the wagon.
Sam felt the warmth between him and Mavis and realized this woman wasn’t mourning her man she’d lost, but then maybe he was no account in the first place, Sam figured. Being with Riley so long had reinforced the fact that he needed some real female companionship. Mavis sure seemed willing enough.
They sat so close that it created a friction between them as his arms grazed hers almost constantly; she didn’t seem to mind and she didn’t move away.
Her confidence grew quickly when she looped her arm in his. Sam didn’t seem to mind. This might be just what he needed to distract Riley away from him.
After a long silence, Mavis glanced up at him and moved closer so he could feel her hips jaunting next to her.
“Why you helpin’ that white kid?” Mavis asked as she stared straight ahead of them.
Mavis didn’t mince her words, and he hadn’t formed any answers for her yet. “Somebody’s got to.” Sam shrugged, his voice going low and contrite. He didn’t want Riley to overhear and get her feelings hurt.
“He’ll cause you trouble and you know it. You should dump him in Dallas and come on out to my sister’s,” she suggested as though they were talking about night and day. “You’d be mighty welcome, there. I mean, well, my sister is a widow too. The two of us could keep you happy, I’m sure.”
Sam cast her a slight smile. “You think so? Two, huh? I ain’t sure I could handle two women at once.”
“I sure do, honey. I know it. That kid…he ain’t your kind of people. He’ll just stir things up fer ya when you get there. But I can provide a roof over your head and a ready-made family and plenty of work,” Mavis said, scooting closer to him. “Not to mention a few other things you might be interested in.”
Sam began to feel that crowded feeling and scooted away. “Well now, I’ll think on that. I sure will.”
Mavis smiled.
“You do that…just don’t take too long.”
Sam realized this woman hadn’t mourned her man at all if she could sidle up to him so easily. It bothered him and he tried to let go of it in favor of a willing woman, but something made him uneasy about Mavis. She latched on too quickly.
“That kid is a fool notion, and you know it. You’d do well to come with me. I got a warm bed I’d share.” She scooted closer and smiled. “I don’t mean to be so forward, but I could tell the minute I laid eyes on you that you was interested. The way you eyed me, all of me. Some things a man can’t hide. Been without a woman for a while, haven’t you?”
“Am I that easy to read?” Sam chuckled.
“You shore are, honey.”
Sam felt trapped, but he did need a woman. Riley proved that. Maybe it would take the edge off to take what this woman offered freely, and then he wouldn’t be so rangey around Riley. Yet, he couldn’t quite get the kisses he and Riley shared out of his head. No woman had put that much into a kiss for him before. He’d never been so heated up in his life. His response was something he’d been pondering for a long while and he’d have to distract himself if he didn’t want a repeat. Because the fact was, he sure enjoyed kissing Riley, even though she was white.
“That’s a right tempting offer, Mavis. But now Riley’s got business in Dallas,” Sam explained. “And I gave my word.”
“Then let him tend it, like a man, and you can come with me,” she tempted. “Kids don’t grow up, less you make them.”
“You shore don’t pull no punches, do you?” Sam cast her a strange look.
“Have to be blunt these days. Me and my sister are considering starting a bordello. We could make pretty good money in the right area. Cain’t afford the luxury of time. Don’t meet up with my kind often out on the prairie like we are. Figure I got to speak my mind. I need a man, I got three children. I can surely please you…” she began. “Just in the way you were looking at me, I could tell you were interested. No use fightin’ that. I’m willin’ if you are. Why, we could get married and have a passel of kids ourselves. Then we wouldn’t need no bordello.”
Sam eyed her and his eyes dipped to the cleavage once more. “That’s a tempting offer, mighty temptin’.”
She laughed. “Well, you just think on that real hard.”
After that, her arm went through his once more and she squeezed it off and on, bringing his attention to her every few minutes. She clung to him like a second skin.
Sam didn’t like being out of character, but he did have to get shed of Riley sooner or later and this might be his best chance. If Riley thought he was interested in Mavis, she might go on alone.
He just wasn’t sure he wanted her to…he should be, but he wasn’t.
***
Riley rode behind the wagon and eyed the children. All three of them watched her like a hawk. Directly, the boy peeked his head out. “How come you ridin’ with a black man?”
Riley shrugged. “‘Cause he came along…same time I did.”
“Is it true…they hung your pa?”
“Yeah,” Riley replied, not liking the lie on her tongue too much.
“What did he do?” the boy asked.
“You sure are a nosey one,” Riley snapped, wondering what Sam was doing, and why he was so anxious to help this woman and her children. But then something in the back of her mind reminded her that Sam was that kind of man, a helper.
“Well…you gonna tell me?” the boy prodded.<
br />
“He stole a horse…” Riley embellished her lie.
“A horse…well, that’s bad. Cain’t steal a horse in this country,” the boy replied, nodding.
“For sure and certain,” Riley agreed.
Mabel looked out now. “This Sam…is he any good?”
Riley screwed up her face. “What do you mean…any good?”
“Well, my mama’s latchin’ on to him like sugar candy. I want to know if he’s a good one or a bad one,” Mabel asked.
Riley studied the girl for a moment. This kid was older and protective, that was good. She could appreciate the fact that she was lookin’ out for her kin. “Sam’s alright. He took me in, and he shore didn’t have to.”
“Would he make a good daddy is what I want to know,” Mabel spelled it out.
Riley felt something rebel at that, deep inside her, but she slowly nodded. “Yeah…I guess so.”
“That’s a relief…‘cause I think Mama wants him.”
“Wants him?” Riley repeated.
“As her man.” Mabel smiled shyly. “You know what that means, don’t you?”
“‘Course I do. But she just met up with him. Oh.” Remembering to spit, Riley spit on the ground hard and nodded. “Kinda sudden, ain’t it?”
“No…Mama knows what she wants and goes after it. She said it don’t do no good to act shy about these things. I expect I’ll be findin’ me a man soon too.” Mabel’s eyes flashed at Riley. “I’m almost a woman now…”
“Yeah, in about six or seven years.”
“Sooner than that.” Mabel smiled. “You’re kinda cute, Riley…”
The kid was just like her mother, Riley scoffed.
Riley wanted to shrivel up and die. The kid thought she was a boy, a boy for the taking like her mother thought Sam was for the taking. It bothered her that she could lose Sam to this she-devil woman. But short of making a spectacle of herself she didn’t know what to do. Her father had taught her that anything worth having was worth waiting for, so if Sam was worth it, she’d wait, hold her tongue, but it wasn’t easy.
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