“Those your words or his?”
Slim was a wiry fellow, as his name suggested, affable and remote most times that Tanner could recall being around the XP hands. Tanner noted the way the cowhand watched the young girl, his expression a mix of sadness and longing.
Ana climbed the steps with quick movements as Carrot and Fletcher joined Frank on the porch. The XP hands grinned at the girl, lecherous smiles that slammed a fist in Tanner’s gut. She stopped in front of Carrot.
Slim motioned him closer. “She can do whatever needs done, mister. Ana’s a good worker.”
Carrot guffawed in a way that darkened Slim’s countenance. “Shut up, Carrot,” Slim grumbled.
“Only Walt would say she was a good worker,” Fletcher snickered.
Tanner waded into the group on the porch. “Mount up and move out. Frank will lead off.” Tanner turned toward the older man. “Queen is in her stall.” He’d left the mare there on purpose. At least there Frank could mount up without having everyone stare at his awkward movements and the brace.
Frank nodded, glanced at Ana, Tanner, the men, then back at Tanner. His unspoken question was obvious.
Tanner took in the girl’s appearance, the dirty shirt and dowdy split skirt. Clothes that did not become her. “Can you keep an eye on a little boy and—”
“Mr. Price told me what needed done.”
He nodded. “Nothing more will be required of you.”
“Cooking. He said I should cook for the hands.”
“There is that, yes.” Tanner glanced at Frank. The older man shrugged and turned to follow the rest of the men. Slim stayed behind, but far enough away he couldn’t hear their conversation, his eyes on Ana. For all of the man’s tactics to appear otherwise, Tanner knew the cowhand was not only interested but maybe even wary of Ana being on the porch with another man. He decided to put the hand out of his misery. “Slim!”
The young man’s head snapped up.
Tanner motioned him to the porch.
“What is it?” Slim asked, his gaze shrugging over Ana.
“I want you to stay here with Ana.”
Slim’s jaw dropped; his eyes cut to the girl’s. “Mr. Price would have my head if I did that.”
“Why? There’s a lot of work needin’ done. Wood to be chopped and I don’t have time to do it. Ana might need you.”
“You stay then.”
“It’s my responsibility to keep tabs on the others.”
A wash of red streamed up into Slim’s cheeks. He rolled his eyes toward Ana, then away.
Levi came to stand in the doorway, hair askew. Eyes, round as pies, stared up at Ana.
The girl’s lip trembled as she reached out to the boy. Levi took her hand and smiled real big. “Are you going to help my ma?”
He tugged her inside. Ana gave a last, fleeting glance over her shoulder at Slim, then Tanner.
“I came to round up cows” was Slim’s comment.
Tanner descended the steps to stand next to the lanky cowhand. “There’s something wrong with Walt Price having this young woman work for him. He doesn’t treat her well.”
A muscle jumped in Slim’s jaw, anguish twisting his expression. “He treats her like a dog. She’s his—”
“Then it’s your duty to stay. Show her it doesn’t have to be the way it is.”
❧
“Your toast, Mrs. Cullen.”
For Levi’s sake Maira kept a straight face at the single piece of toast with jam Ana set on her lap even though eating was the last thing she wanted to do.
Levi gave a little bounce. “I’ll eat it!”
Doing her best not to move too much and wake the sharp pain that liked to jab up her side, Maira held out her right arm in invitation to her son. He crept close and tucked himself under Maira’s arm. When he rested his head against her chest, tears collected in her eyes. Thankfulness. She felt stronger now, and with the rain pummeling against the roof and Levi tucked close to her, life tasted sweet indeed. Ana’s shy, sad eyes concerned her. The girl hadn’t said much of herself, though Maira had heard her chatting with Levi throughout the dismal, rainy afternoon.
“I can’t tell you, Ana, how much I appreciate you coming.”
The young girl nodded.
“Ana says she came because she had to!” Levi offered.
Ana’s hair blocked her expression, but her bowed head said much about the young woman. Maira patted the side of the bed. “Why don’t you tell me what you and Levi did this afternoon?”
Like she was wooden, Ana perched on the edge of the mattress. Maira reached to touch the young woman’s arm. “I heard the two of you laughing.”
“Ana is funny!”
The young woman’s face tilted upward, a small smile pulling her lips upward before the whole effort was wiped away and her head fell again.
Levi tensed to say something. Maira silenced him with a squeeze to his shoulder and took a bite of the toast. “I’d like to hear what Ana has to say.” She touched the girl’s arm again. “Please, Ana. Tell me about yourself.”
At first, she didn’t think the girl had heard. Her concern grew with the silence. “You work for Mr. Price?”
“I’m his maid.”
“You enjoy your job?”
Ana shrugged. A hollow sound rang out, followed by the creak of wood. Maira turned toward the window. “What is that?”
“Slim. He’s cutting wood just inside the barn door to keep dry,” Ana said.
“Tan-wer had him stay.”
Maira rolled the information around in her head. She didn’t buy that the young woman was shy. Hearing her with Levi earlier had convinced her that Levi was having fun. Maybe the girl felt more comfortable with children than with adults. Walt Price was not this young girl’s father. He wasn’t married. Another thought rolled into her mind. She’d been the recipient of Walt’s oily stares once too often not to believe the idea could happen, but stating it outright seemed bold, and there was Levi to consider. “I think it’s time for a nap.” She smiled down at her son.
Ana leaped to her feet, as if her spine had been jerked taut by a string. She made her exit on soft feet, closing the door quietly. Maira’s heart squeezed at the girl’s distress.
“I’m tired,” Levi snuggled closer.
“You like Ana?”
“She smiles sometimes.”
Funny the way he said it. Even Levi noticed the girl’s solemn nature. “Smiling is good.”
“I tried to make her smile lots.”
She smoothed her hand down his cheek. “Let’s rest now. We’ll keep each other warm.”
Levi giggled a sleepy giggle.
The rain on the roof combined with the food she’d just eaten and Levi’s warm body pulled at her. She heard the front door slap open, then Ana’s soft voice answered by a deeper one. She opened her eyes and tried to focus on the conversation but could not. She blinked, then blinked again. It would have to wait for another time.
twenty
Tanner rode hard through the day, as did all the hands. Even Carrot seemed to curb his sullen attitude. They watched the dark clouds build throughout the morning as they worked to free eight head that had become bogged in the mud of a wide stream. Everything was a muddy mess. Rain puddled along the brim of his hat and dripped in a thin stream from the front. He tilted the hat back on his head, feeling the icy stream against his clinging, wet shirt. The rain could not touch the coldness in his soul, a barren thing ever since Maira had taken that bullet and Levi had spent that first evening tucked in his arms, sobbing. What they needed was someone who could love them without failing. They needed Jon. His brother had life burdens, but Jon lacked the specters that rose to torment on a moment’s notice.
He fought to think, the rain so cold on his arms. He twisted in the saddle and worked the buckle of the saddlebags with hands already stiff from the slashing rain. He shook out his oilskin and poked his head through. It was too late to keep him dry, but it would at least lend a modicum of war
mth.
Frank roped a stuck cow, pegging the bull in place. Tanner moved behind the animal, beckoning Fletcher to do the same. A whoop went up from another XP hand as a cow found its footing and climbed the bank to the other side of the wet-weather stream.
Even as Tanner dismounted to help a mud-caked cow, the rain came harder, faster. Slipping along the muddy bank, his boots offered no barrier against the water. Another step sunk him into muck up to his knees. Fletcher caught his dilemma and backed up before he, too, became mired. With Frank holding the bull, Fletcher used his horse and rope to pull Tanner free. The mud clung. Tanner bunched his toes within his boots to prevent the thick mud from sucking them right off his feet. As soon as he could, he let go of the rope and gained his footing.
Lightning spliced the dark clouds. Thunder roared seconds later. Like a great, dark veil, the rain was moving toward them. Carrot yelled, trying to move the herd back from the water, Tanner gained his seat on Cue and rode toward the lead cattle.
“Another bolt like that. . .”
Tanner understood what Frank meant. In a flash, lightning sizzled from the sky and struck a lone tree a hundred feet from the cows. Within seconds, they were moving, en masse, a ball of angry, frightened energy, their bawling becoming a cacophony. Tanner saw the threat. He stretched out his hand and slapped Queen on the flank. Frank’s face registered surprise as he tried to gain control as Queen lunged, her hooves digging hard into the ground. Tanner rose in the stirrups, yelling, hoping to turn the angry, frightened animals. He pulled his gun from its holster and shot into the air. Turn! Turn! Another shot. But they came, undeterred, eyes rolling in their heads, the ground vibrating.
“Tanner!”
He knew it was Frank. Fletcher was motioning to him. Frantic.
The lead cow roared closer, hooves churning, a ball of angry bovine behind him. Tanner gave his heels to Cue’s side, but the horse balked, quivered. He could feel the horse’s fear. He yanked on the reins and dug his stirrups into the horse’s sides. Rain slashed at him, cold and hard. More like balls of hail. Cue’s muscles bunched hard. Tanner’s fingers curled tighter on the reins. Any minute and he would be done. He talked to the horse in a calm voice he did not feel. Cue straightened out and heaved forward, jerking Tanner along. They cleared the middle of the stampeding animals when Tanner felt the jerk and slant of Cue’s gait. He pitched forward and rolled over the animal’s head. His right foot hung him. Suspended from the right stirrup, he kicked out. The cows were close, their hooves a roar in his ears. He gave a vicious kick, the cows almost on him. Cue righted himself just as Tanner pulled his foot from the boot and rolled to his feet.
He turned to the column of cows. A hundred feet. Seventy five. Tanner sank to the wet earth, moisture wicking through his pants. His hand dropped to his right holster. Gone. He’d lost the gun. Palming the left gun, he took aim at the first cow. His finger, cold on the trigger, seemed to have a mind of its own. One by one, six shots, and five cows went down in front of him. Tanner balled himself behind the shield of dead carcasses. Waited. The pounding of hooves heavy in his ears. He tensed for the feel of the first hoof on his back, imagined the piercing pain of the hooves pummeling him. Minutes stretched long, his heart slamming hard.
He heard a scream. Frank’s voice. Coming closer.
Fletcher was at his side first, helping him to his feet, clamping him on the back.
“Go.” He breathed hard. “The cows.”
Fletcher gathered his reins and bolted after the departing herd.
Cue stood far off, in a grove of trees. The animal’s knees were skinned, and lacerations on his right shoulder bled freely. Tanner’s hands went over the horse. He didn’t want to ride. Didn’t want to think. The cold rain pounded at him. He stared out at the pile of carcasses. Those cows had saved his life. Maira’s cows.
“Sit down.” Frank was beside him now, anger in the man’s eyes. “You have a death wish?”
He’d never thought for a minute the man could yell so loud. It reminded him of his stepfather. Of that last argument. The hail of hard words that had sucked away Tanner’s desire to stay home another day.
“Sit down! Now!”
Tanner leaned against Cue, but no, the horse was injured, too. Was he hurt? What was wrong with him? Frank was saying something else, but he couldn’t understand the words. He sank to his knees and took deep breaths, but they didn’t help. His teeth chattered. He hugged himself, nausea building. Driving rain slapped his neck and poured icy fingers down his back and chest.
“Tanner?” Frank’s voice, gentler now but still a rough edge that wouldn’t allow for stubbornness.
He raised his head, gulping a breath as the icy rain smeared along his face. His hat?
“Can you stand, son?”
He saw Frank’s hand reach down, noted the man’s stern expression. Reaching out, Tanner caught the man’s hand in a firm grip. Frank kicked his foot free of the stirrup. Tanner stabbed his boot into the hollow ring, seeing, for the first time, that his right foot was bare. In a disjointed way, he wanted to laugh; instead, he leaned forward and dragged himself upward, every muscle rebelling against the effort.
❧
Tanner held his head as Frank slid a cup of coffee in front of him. Frank draped a blanket over his shoulders and took a seat across from him as he ran a linen over his head, then hooked it around his neck. He took in the interior of the crude little shelter under a jutting ledge of stone. Nothing more than a very shallow cave, but it was dry and warm.
“What did you call that?” Frank growled.
The words hit hard. He shoved the cup of coffee away. Frank pushed it back. The first bloom of anger raged. “It’s not like I started that stampede.”
Frank pressed his lips together, nostrils flared. “You risked your life.”
“At least she’ll have plenty of roasts and steaks.”
“That wasn’t funny.”
Tanner cradled his head. “Wasn’t trying to be. I was only trying to. . .” Why were they having this discussion? “If you’ll recall, I saved your life.”
“And then you sat there and wasted time shooting off your gun.”
He cupped his hands around the coffee. “I was trying to get them to swerve.”
Frank dug his thumbs against his closed eyes and released a sigh. “I can’t tell you. . .” His voice was soft now, more controlled. “How afraid I was when Cue went down.”
“Everything worked out.”
The cowhand shifted and grimaced, rubbing a hand along his right leg. “It was a foolish risk. Getting yourself killed won’t help Maira or Levi. That boy has come to love you.”
Tanner absorbed those words, the worry that he saw in Frank’s eyes. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Didn’t look that way.” Frank clamped his jaw and lowered his eyes. “You scared me.”
“I thank you for your concern.”
“If you’d died. . .” As if doused with a cup of anger, Frank’s eyes flared again. “But taking those risks. . . That bull could have turned and gored you. It was like you were doing everything possible to put yourself on the line.”
“Can I just drink my coffee in silence?”
Frank’s eyes were penetrating, and Tanner felt as if his skin was being stripped from his body. Like Frank wanted to see to his soul.
It’s too black in there. You wouldn’t want to see it.
“You’re right.”
Tanner gripped the coffee cup tighter. Had he thought that, or said it out loud?
“Finish your coffee.” Frank plunged his hat on his head then struggled back into the saddle, using a boulder for a stepping-stone. “I’ve got to find out what happened to the men. We’ll save this for later. You get on back to the ranch.”
He watched Frank disappear knowing now he should have stayed at the XP hunting animals or, better yet, roaming from town to town, doing odd jobs. No commitments, no relationships that doomed him to certain failure.
Restlessness
surged through him, smothering his need for a warm fire, hot coffee, or even food. He needed to be free again. Feel the wind in his hair and the steady rhythm of the horse’s gait beneath him. He’d done his best for Maira. He could at least figure out the things he needed to for Jon.
Stripping the blanket from his shoulders, he stared down at his stocking foot. One boot. Almost laughable, except for his need to get moving. To be done with this thing.
twenty-one
Maira thought she might drown in Levi’s tears. She touched the center of his back, absorbing every shaking sob, her own mind reeling from the creeping reality of Tanner’s absence. Frank chomped on his lower lip as his palms traced a path up and down the legs of his denim trousers.
“I told him to come back here.”
She nodded, unable to put together the pieces of the puzzle. At supper, the whole crew had shown up at the table, except Tanner. Frank had come to her, explaining their last conversation. “Seemed to have something stuck in his craw. Might be he went back for his boot.”
A flimsy excuse. She knew it. Frank knew it. It mollified Levi though. “He lost his boot?”
The cowhand nodded and chomped his lower lip harder. “Saved my life.” He reached to pat Levi. “Chin up, boy. Tanner’s a smart man. He’ll turn up.”
“But we don’t know where he is.”
Maira stroked Levi’s back. If only she felt stronger. Her deepest fear gnawed. He’d left. For good.
The scraping of chairs signaled the meal was coming to an end. Boots scraped against the floor as the hands filed out. Through the closed window, Maira caught the distinct belch of one of the men.
“Really!” Maira made a face. “Like they were born in a mud pit with the pigs.”
Frank shot her an amused look and extended his leg out in front of him, expression sobering. “Do you want me to take some of the men to look for him?”
Valley of the Heart Page 12