The rider drew closer. She could now tell it was indeed Zack. His horse was moving at what she had learned over the years was called a shambling trot. It was almost frolicking. Horses loved to run in the cold.
Dusty came walking from around the side of the house, leading the horse he had saddled for Bree. A black gelding with three white stockings and a patch of white on its nose. Bree’s favorite. She had named him Midnight.
Dusty had his hat pulled down tightly against the wind and was wearing a wool coat buttoned tightly. The bottom edge of one side of the coat was pulled up and tucked behind his gun. Ever his father’s son.
“Aunt Ginny,” Dusty said, a little surprised to see her.
“I just thought I would get a breath of fresh air.”
He nodded. “It sure is fresh on cold mornings like this.”
Bree came out and skipped down the front steps. She was in a heavy wool coat, jeans and riding boots. A wide-brimmed hat was pulled down over her temples and her dark hair was pulled back in a tail. She held a Winchester in her hands, and tucked it into the saddle boot.
She swung up and into the saddle and said, “I’ll be back before dinner.”
Ginny said, “Please be careful out there.”
Bree gave her a sidelong look. “When am I not?”
And she turned Midnight off toward the ridges and was gone.
Dusty said, “I’d feel better if she had a pistol with her.”
Ginny gave him a weary glance. “You know how I feel about the thought of her with a sidearm.”
Dusty shifted his feet a bit, and said, “Beggin’ your pardon. I don’t mean no disrespect, but it’s always safer to have a pistol with you as well as a rifle when you’re off in the mountains alone. And besides,” he gave his aunt a little grin, “she is Pa’s daughter. It’s about time she learned to use a revolver.”
Ginny shook her head. Bree had wanted her father to teach her to shoot a revolver for a long time. Ginny had held out against it for as long as she could, but she could see it was going to be a losing battle.
Her gaze drifted back toward the bridge, and he followed it and saw the rider.
“Looks like Zack,” he said.
She nodded. “I should go in and put some coffee on. He’ll be cold after the ride from all the way down the stretch.”
“Wonder what brings him out this way?”
“Probably old habits.”
That got a curious look from Dusty.
She said, “Normally when your father was gone, Zack would check in on us regularly. Now that you’re here and Josh is grown, there probably isn’t the need. But Zack has always been family, and old habits die hard.”
They watched as Zack crossed the bridge, the iron shod hooves making a clattering sound they could hear clearly in the crisp morning air.
“Aunt Ginny,” Dusty said. “Are you all right?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, it’s just that for the past couple weeks or so, you seem kind of...I don’t know. Not like yourself, I guess.”
“I’m just thinking about your father,” she said. “Probably worrying more than I need to.”
“I’m sure he’ll be all right. He’s ridden through those mountains dozens of times.”
“Even still, California is a far journey from here.”
Dusty nodded. “That it is. My ride up from Nevada a couple summers ago was sure a long ride. But I’m sure he’ll be all right.”
She nodded, though not with much enthusiasm. “I’m sure he will be.”
“There’s no one more capable than he is.”
Zack approached the house and reined up in front of the porch.
“Good morning,” he said. “Just passing by. Thought I might pay you a little visit.”
Ginny smiled. “You’re coming by to check on us in Johnny’s absence. Just like old times.”
He shrugged. “I suppose it’s not necessary.”
She said, repeating what she had said to Dusty, “Old habits die hard.”
“Yes’m, indeed they do.”
He stepped down from the saddle, and Dusty took the rein and said, “I’ll take care of your horse.”
“Thanks, Dusty.”
Ginny said, “We were just talking about California, and the long ride it is between here and there.”
Zack glanced at Dusty, then said, to Ginny, “I’m sure he’ll be all right.”
She forced a smile. “I’m sure.”
Ginny and Zack went inside and by the time the coffee was ready Dusty was coming in from the stable. He was rubbing his hands against the cold. “Boy that coffee smells good.”
Ginny had just sat down to a cup of tea and Zack had a cup of coffee in front of him.
Ginny said, “Pour yourself a cup and join us, and shake off the cold.”
Dusty shouldered out of his coat and dropped it and his hat on a chair, and pulled a mug from a cupboard.
Ginny took a sip of tea.
“All right,” Zack said. “Beggin’ your pardon, ma’am, but something’s wrong.”
She looked at him with puzzled innocence.
Dusty pulled out a chair and lowered himself into it. “You’re worried about Pa, aren’t you?”
“It’s just...” she started to say and then cut herself off.
Zack said, “Did you have one of your premonitions?”
“I don’t think I really have premonitions, Zack. Not in the traditional sense. Just a feeling that something’s wrong.”
He chuckled. “You always have that feeling whenever Johnny goes off on one of his long rides.”
“This one’s worse, though. It’s almost a feeling of dread. I can’t sleep without dreaming that he’s in some sort of trouble.” She shook her head and waved a hand dismissively. “Maybe it’s just because of how badly he was shot the summer before last. Maybe I’m worrying unnecessarily. Maybe I’m just being foolish.”
“I’ve known you a lot of years, ma’am. One thing I’ve never known you to be is foolish.”
“It’s just that he’s alone out there. On horseback. If he would just take the train like anyone else. Take the stage down to Cheyenne and then board a train. But no, he has to ride a horse through the mountains like some sort of solitary mountain man, from the old days.”
Zack took a sip of coffee. “I suppose, if you’d like, I could head out. We know he’s going to arrive at Matt’s place. I could take a ride down. Meet him there.”
She shook her head again. “No, Zack. You have a ranch to take care of.”
“Not much to take care of during the winter. Ramon can handle things till I’m back.”
Dusty said, “We could cut west, through the mountains into Oregon. We could easily be through in two or three days. There’s been a light dusting of snow up there, but nothing we can’t get through.”
“We?”
“I’m not letting you do this alone.”
“We can do it in three weeks. Four, tops, if the weather’s not agreeable. We won’t meander like your father, riding down to Cheyenne and then going west and working his way to California. We’ll do like you said, cut west through the mountains in as straight a line as possible, then directly south into California.”
“Boys,” Ginny said. “I appreciate this, but...”
“It won’t hurt anything,” Dusty said. “We’ll just make sure he’s all right. We can send you a letter once we get there, and then we’ll ride back with him in the spring. Besides, I’ve never met my Uncle Matt. And it’s like Zack said. Not much to do around here during the winter months. What little there is, Josh can take care of.”
Zack nodded. “All right. When do you want to leave?”
“As soon as this coffee’s finished. I’ll throw some things in my saddle bags and Fred can get a couple horses for us.”
Ginny said, “I hate to ask you to do this.”
Zack said, “You aren’t asking.”
“How can I possibly thank you both?”
&nb
sp; Dusty said, “No need. We’re family. We take care of each other.”
An hour later, Ginny stood on the back porch. She was once again in her heavy wool coat and had a shawl wrapped around her shoulders and neck. Dusty and Zack were riding across the bridge, their horses’ hooves making the familiar clattering sound. Then they headed off toward McCabe Gap.
Ginny watched until they topped a low hill and were gone from her sight. She turned toward the front door, thinking about pouring another cup of hot tea, and realized the feeling of dread that had been nagging at her was now gone.
27
Johnny and Joe rode hard getting back to the canyon, and they found the barn reduced to an assortment of charred, smoking cinders. There were two extra horses in the corral but in the darkness Johnny couldn’t tell if he recognized them or not. In the house they found Matt and Zack Johnson sharing a cigar, and Dusty was sitting in the parlor with Cora on his knee.
Dusty said, “Howdy, Pa.”
Johnny was grinning and extended his hand, which Dusty shook.
Johnny said, “Not that I’m not glad to see you, but I have to admit I’m a little surprised.”
“Aunt Ginny sent us. Said she had a real bad feeling about your trip to California. Looks like she was right.”
Matt told Johnny what happened.
Johnny said to Zack, “I’m glad you came. It’s always wise to take her gut feelings seriously. Not that I’ll ever admit that to her, though.”
Dusty said, “I’m just getting to know the girl who’s apparently going to be my little sister. I see you’ve been busy.”
Johnny found Jessica lying down in her room. Will Buck had struck her with the business end of his pistol, opening a wound over one brow. The blood was now cleaned off and a strip of bed sheet had been tied about her head.
“Peddie’s a good nurse,” Jessica said.
Johnny took her in a hug. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”
“Your son is an incredible shot. He took that man Buck out with one bullet, and he made it look like it was as easy as swatting a fly.”
“He keeps on the way he’s going, they’re gonna stop talking about me and start talking about him.”
Come morning, Jessica was on her feet, though Peddie insisted on fixing breakfast and brewed the coffee.
Johnny checked in on Ches. He had taken a bullet that cut through some shoulder muscle. The bullet had passed through and not hit any major blood vessels. By the time Johnny and Joe had returned to the canyon, Peddie had already stitched up the wound using common sewing thread.
When Johnny stepped into the bunkhouse he found Ches sitting up on his bunk with one arm in a sling and with the other hand he was holding a cup of coffee.
“My head got the worst of it,” Ches said, “It got hit on a small outcropping of ledge when I went down. I missed the whole thing. That shot your son made. I wish I’d seen it.”
“I’m just glad you weren’t hurt worse,” Johnny said.
Ches shrugged it off. “I’ve lived this long. It’ll take more’n just a poorly placed bullet to kill me off.”
Then he said, “Actually the worst of it was Matt and your friend Zack, and their way of preventing infection. Never heard of such a thing.”
Matt was standing there. “We lost the bottle of whiskey in the barn fire, but Mister Swan liked a drink of vodka every so often. Jessica still had half a bottle of it in the kitchen.”
Ches said, “Getting’ that stuff dumped into my wound was a good incentive to get out of the way the next time some’n pulls a gun on me.”
Dusty was down at the canyon entrance with Ben standing guard. Dusty said no one was going to slip past him, and Johnny had no doubt.
Johnny and Joe began sifting through the charred wreckage of the barn to see what they could salvage. Johnny found his bedroll partially burned.
“I won’t be using this anymore,” he said.
Joe found his saddle bags. They had been protected by a timber that fell over them and hadn’t burned. He pushed a hand into the bag and pulled out the whiskey bottle.
He said with his half-grin, “At least the important stuff wasn’t lost, after all.”
Johnny said, “I asked Ben about the details of what happened. Apparently Will Buck got all the way up here without being seen. He started the barn on fire and then waited off in the darkness while everyone came running out of the house. Gunned down Ches and then grabbed little Cora to use her as a shield.”
“I don’t think we’re gonna find much else here. I’m going to go grab some shut-eye. It was a long night.”
Johnny nodded. He thought maybe Joe had a good idea, but then he caught sight of Jessica over by the stone wall. The white strip of bed sheet was tied around her head and she was standing with her arms folded in front of her, gazing off toward the canyon floor.
He climbed out of the barn’s wreckage, his jeans and shirt blackened in places with soot, and walked over.
She heard the sound of his hard-soled riding boots on the earth and looked over to him as he walked up.
He said, “How’re you feeling”
She said, ignoring his question, “We got lucky last night. We’ve been watching for riders all this time, expecting Wells and his men to try some sort of attack. We never figured they’d hire someone like Will Buck to come in at us the way he did.”
“I was careless. I should have anticipated something like this.”
“How could you have possibly known? You can’t plan for every possibility.”
“A good military tactician does. I should have looked at it from their point of view. I was so focused on the best way to defend this place I never gave any thought as to what might be the best way to attack it.”
“Military tactician,” she said wearily. “Don’t you ever wish that you could be just a cattleman? Making your home out here, raising a family without having to have that gun at your side? Without all of the things you’ve had to do that have led to the legend?”
He nodded. “At least once a day.”
He took her in his arms and she rested her head against his shoulder.
She said, “I’ve known you only two months, and yet I love you so incredibly much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I was so afraid last night that you wouldn’t come back. That I would receive word that you had been shot down. And yet it was my dear, sweet Cora who was almost killed.”
“I wish I had been here.”
“I so wish we could begin our lives together right now. Right this very moment. Put this entire business behind us and start our new tomorrow right now.”
“So do I.”
“I wonder what they’ll say. Your daughter Bree. Your other two sons. Aunt Ginny. I wonder what they’ll say when you suddenly show up with a new wife and her daughter in tow.”
“They’ll love you.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because you are so incredibly worth loving.”
If she could have melted any further into him, she would have.
She said, “I wanted to hang on here a little longer. Give Cora one last Christmas here. But it’s too dangerous. Last night fully convinced me. Wolf was killed, along with Price, and we almost lost Cora. Matt’s wife has won.”
“No she hasn’t. This isn’t over yet.”
She nodded her head. “Yes it is. You’ve all been staying here for me and Cora. But it’s over. The time has come for us to pull out. If there’s gold here, she can have it. I hope she enjoys it. The price of hanging onto this canyon is just too high.”
Johnny held her tight. He wanted to find some way to fix everything. But he knew he couldn’t. He knew she was right.
Matt filled a tin cup of coffee and walked off behind the house. The outhouse was off to his right, and beyond were the rock walls that climbed sheer and straight. At this point behind the house, the wall was nearly thirty feet high. Such an incredible geological formation, he thought, which made this place so easily defend
able. And yet, despite this, the canyon had been invaded by one man last night, and Cora had almost been killed. And Ches. Wolf and Price were killed. In fact, if Zack Johnson and Johnny’s son Dusty hadn’t come along when they did, Matt would have gotten the next bullet. And perhaps Tom and Lettie and Mercy. Perhaps Peddie.
And it’s all my fault, Matt thought.
He started walking. A grove of aspen stood behind the outhouse, and he stepped into the trees. You didn’t see a lot of aspen in California normally. They tended to be found in cooler climates. But this canyon was at the edge of the foothills to the Sierra Nevada and the temperatures were much cooler than what was found further south toward the central part of the valley.
He stopped and leaned his back against one tree. He thought absently how aspens reminded him a little of birch trees. He realized the coffee cup was still in his hand and took a sip and found the coffee was growing cold.
He heard Peddie’s voice before he saw her. “I thought I saw you head out here.”
He nodded. He had wanted to be alone, but he couldn’t ask Peddie to leave. He never wanted to be alone so badly that he didn’t want Peddie with him.
Her light brown hair was tied back in a bun and a heavy shawl was pulled tightly about her shoulders.
“I wanted to be alone,” he said.
“Would you like me to leave?”
He smiled. “Never.”
She returned the smile. He wanted to put his arms around her but held this impulse back. It wouldn’t be appropriate.
She said, “Are you all right?”
He shook his head, looking into her gray eyes. “You are so incredibly beautiful. Do you know that?”
Return of the Gunhawk (The McCabes Book 3) Page 25