“It’ll be all right now, mi bella. You’re not to fret,” he whispered; then to lighten the moment he added, “Gaston won’t like it.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Jake.”
“I came as soon as I heard. Either Deke or I will be here from now on until this thing is settled.”
“The sheriff wants to talk to you and Deke,” she said, leaning back to look into his face.
“It’s his job. I’d be disappointed in him if he didn’t.”
She placed her palm against his cheek. “Oh, your poor eye. What happened to your face?”
“It ran into a big fist. Deke and I met up with Yancy Hummer and a couple of his friends.”
“Come let me put an ice pack on it.”
From the kitchen they could see Deke sitting on the porch steps. Trudy, with a cloth and a pan of water, was fussing over him.
“Deke was hurt too?”
“Yancy had his tail in a crack. He seemed to think I had something to do with Frank’s murder. I didn’t know what the heck he was talking about until Paco told me.”
I might not have hit him if he hadn’t said something insulting about you, querida. Then I wanted to tear his damn head off.
Mary Lee chipped ice, wrapped it in a cloth, and held it to his eye. He wanted to pull her down on his lap but was afraid to push his luck. It was worth a dozen pokes in the eye to have her near, fussing over him.
She told him about Eli and Trudy peeking in the window and finding Frank’s body. She spoke in detail about what had happened next.
“Someone slit Frank’s throat with a knife, then poked a broken bottle in the … hole. It’s too horrible to talk about. Doctor Morris says Mama is terribly sick. He doesn’t think that she’ll last long. She was staggering around yesterday like it took every bit of her strength to stay on her feet.”
“I’m sorry, querida.”
“Poor Mama. Trudy washed her today and put her in a clean gown. We even changed the sheets and she didn’t wake up.”
“If she can’t get well, it’ll be a blessing if she can sleep till the end.” Water from the melting ice chips was running down his cheek.
“The sheriff wants to talk to her. He thinks that she may have seen something. The door to the cabin was unlocked. The key was on the floor.
“Sheriff Pleggenkuhle said that it’s possible that a tramp walking along the highway thought he’d have a place to stay for the night. He tried the doors, found one unlocked and went in. When he discovered Frank, he killed him.”
“Was anything taken?”
“I don’t think Frank had anything to steal.”
“I wish I had put heavier latches on your doors. You’ll not be in here alone if I have to camp out on the porch.”
“Jake, I’m glad you’re here,” she said for the second time. Her wide eyes scanned his face, and she cherished every feature. “I may lose the court, but somehow things will work out. Daddy used to say that the Lord never puts more burdens on a person than he is able to bear.”
“You’ll not lose the court, miel.”
“That’s another Spanish word I don’t know. Don’t tell me it’s ‘stubborn little mule.’ It’s not long enough for that.”
“ ‘Miel’ means ‘honey.’ Is it all right if I call you that?” “Oh, Jake, I don’t know what to say. I’m afraid I’m bringing my troubles down on you when you’ve got enough of your own. If you hadn’t helped me with Frank, you’d not have had to fight today or be suspected of killing him.”
Jake dropped the ice pack on the table and was reaching for her when they heard a pounding on the door. Mary Lee hurried through the living room, hoping the sound hadn’t awakened her mother. She knew before she reached the door who was standing there, and was grateful for Jake’s solid body behind her.
“I heard what happened here last night.” Ocie Clawson moved to the side when Mary Lee pushed open the screen door and went out onto the porch. “Who killed him? Do you know? Not that it’s a great loss,” he added.
“I don’t know who killed him, and any death, even Frank Pierce’s, is a loss.”
“Did you kill him?” Ocie looked over her head at Jake. “What do you think?”
“Wouldn’t put it past ya and wouldn’t much blame ya if ya had. How about that little dude stayin’ here with ya? He one of yore jailbird friends? Gus Quitman tells me that he’s a crackerjack mechanic. Wants him to rebuild that old motorcycle of his.”
“It’s what he said.” Jake’s answers were short.
“Hear ya had a run-in with my men at the Red Pepper.” “You’re just full of news. One of them tried to knife me.” Jake showed where the tip of the knife had ripped his shirt and had left a beaded red streak across his stomach.
Mary Lee drew in a gasping breath when she saw it. “Was he a thin little weasel with teeth like a squirrel?” Ocie asked.
“That’s him.”
“He’s handy with a knife. If I remember right, you’re no slouch with a knife yourself.”
“I know how to use one. You know who taught me.”
“I should’ve kicked the hell out of them sons a bitches and put ’em off the ranch the minute they set foot on it. They’re not welcome at Paco’s — and won’t be anyplace else when I get through with ’em.” Ocie snorted. “The big galoot named Pete has a brain the size of a pea. Paco said ya ruined him … about.”
“Yeah, well he got in the first lick.”
“But not the last, huh?” Ocie grinned.
“When the odds are against me, anything is fair.”
“I’ll lay down the law to my men that as long as you’re here lookin’ after my kin, they’re to steer clear of ya.”
“I’m not your kin!” Mary Lee almost shouted.
“Maybe not,” Ocie said, unperturbed by her outburst, “but the kid is. It’s got Clawson blood.”
“Which is nothing to brag about,” she retorted, and tilted her chin defiantly.
“You stayin’ here nights?” Ocie looked directly at Jake. “That’s none of your business, but I’ll tell you this much: To get to Mary Lee you’ll have to go through me.”
Ocie snorted. “Don’t get your back up. Do my men look as bad as you do?”
“Why don’t you go find out?”
“I’ll look ’em over before I tie a can to their tail.” He looked over his shoulder. “The sheriff is here. I want a word with him.”
“Don’t let us stop you.” Jake, standing behind Mary Lee, placed his hand on her shoulder in a proprietary manner.
After Ocie left to join the sheriff, Mary Lee turned to Jake.
“Come in and let me put some iodine on that cut.”
“It’s just a scratch.”
“Then let me put some iodine on that scratch. The sheriff will want to talk to you and Deke.” On the way to the kitchen, she said, “Why do you think Mr. Clawson keeps coming out here?”
“With Bobby gone, your baby is all he has.”
“He’d better think again if he thinks he’ll have anything to do with it.”
“Ocie’s pa, Temple Clawson, was great on family. They were both disappointed in Bobby. Ocie might think he’s got another shot at raising a decent Clawson.”
“My baby isn’t his! How many times do I have to tell him?”
“Right now, I’m glad that he’s looking out for you, miel. Whoever grabbed your foot on the stairs meant to hurt you.”
“I’ve tried to think of something I might have done to cause someone to hate me that much.”
“We’ll see what happens now. I thought Frank had put someone up to it.”
“The sheriff told me that Frank and my mother were going to get married. She took it hard when he told her Frank had been killed.”
The sheriff came to the door. “Mrs. Clawson, is Mrs. Finley still sleeping?”
Mary Lee looked in the bedroom before she answered. It seemed strange to have the door to her mother’s room open.
“Yes, she is.”
&nbs
p; “I’ll be here for a while. Let me know when she wakes up. Jake, I want to talk to you.”
Before Jake could move, Mary Lee whispered, “You and Deke come for supper.”
He squeezed her hand and followed the sheriff out into the yard.
Chapter 21
“YA DUMB BASTARD! YA STUPID SHIT! Why’d ya have to go and show your hand? Ya ain’t no good to me now.”
Late on Saturday night, Lon Delano had come into the bunkhouse looking for Yancy.
“The jailbird killed Frank!” Yancy was in a foul temper. His lips were twice their normal size, and he had a cut high on his cheek. “It was him or the kid, and I don’t think the kid could’ve caught poor old Frank unawares.”
“No, but you could’ve.”
“What’re ya meanin’? I thought a heap of Frank. ’Sides, I was with Pete and Bowie.”
“Shit. They’d say their own ma did it to save their hides. Were ya pissed cause Frank was takin’ Dolly and the motor court?”
“Are ya crazy? You’re the one who wanted him to marry the old hag.”
“I told him if something happened to the girl, Dolly would get the court; and if he married her, he’d not have to wait long till it was his.”
“Maybe you killed him ’cause he wouldn’t do the girl in,” Yancy said slyly.
“I’ve got a hell of a lot better alibi than Pete and Bowie.” Lon’s eyes were hard and angry. “Ya had to go and jump Jake at Paco’s place. Right out there where God an’ ever’body could see ya. Now, that took brains! What’a ya think’s goin’ to happen when Ocie hears about it?”
“I’ll explain to him —”
“Shit. Ain’t ya learned that ya don’t explain to Ocie? Ya better start packin’ yore gear ’cause he’s goin’ to kick yore ass outta here.”
“Why? He ain’t got nothin’ to say ’bout what I do in town.”
“He told me and I told you — to lay off Ramero.”
“What’s he so all fired up about that jailbird for?”
“He thinks as long as he’s out at the motor court, assholes like you will stay clear of it. He’s usin’ ’im as a guard dog for the bitch that’s carryin’ Bobby’s kid.”
“That don’t make a damn bit of sense.”
“To him it does. Christalmighty! You could’ve waited and caught him in an alley or out away from town someplace. Paco carries weight in this town. I heard that what riled Jake the most was you bad-mouthin’ the bitch. That’s not goin’ to set good with Ocie a’tall.”
“Well that’s what she is — a slutty bitch! You ain’t carin’ a’tall that the bitch ’bout ruined Frank with that plate,” Yancy jeered.
“No, I ain’t carin’. She ort’a ripped it off of him for pissin’ in front of her.”
“Ya told him to get the jailbird to fight. He didn’t, but I did.”
“Ya better make yourself scarce. If Ocie see’s ya he’ll run ya clear outta the county.” Lon headed for the door, then turned back. “Where’s Pete and Bowie?”
“In town. At the livery. Pete couldn’t straddle a horse. What’a ya goin’ to do now, Lon?”
“Lucky for me that I’ve got more irons in the fire, and I’m not dependin’ on dumb-asses like you and Frank. Bastard got what was comin’ to him.”
Yancy looked into the cold, hard face of the ranch foreman and felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. Frank had said flat out that he was through taking orders from Lon and that he wasn’t going to marry Dolly. Lon couldn’t afford to let him run off at the mouth about his plans. Now he was dead. It wasn’t hard to figure out who had done it.
Yancy began packing his gear.
Dolly didn’t awaken until after supper was over. Mary Lee had cooked the boiled dinner and corn bread that she had started earlier in the day. When they sat down at the supper table with Jake and Deke, none of them had much of an appetite, but they ate anyway.
Now Deke had taken Trudy home to get a few things and to tell her mother that she was going to spend the night at the motor court. When Mary Lee heard a noise from her mother’s room, she hurried there to find Dolly thrashing about, rolling her head back and forth, her eyes staring at the ceiling.
“Mama, are you awake?”
The sunken eyes turned to her daughter bending over her. “Whiskey,” she muttered.
“I’ll get you some. The doctor said that you could have it. I’ll be right back.” Mary Lee hurried to the kitchen. “Jake, do you have any whiskey?”
“About a half bottle. Down at the cabin.”
“I never thought I’d ask someone for whiskey for my mother, but can she have some of it?”
“I’ll get it.”
“Thank you. Eli, go tell the sheriff that Mama’s awake.”
Back in her mother’s room, Mary Lee pulled a chair up close to the bed.
“Whiskey.” Dolly’s eyes suddenly focused on Mary Lee’s face.
“I’ve sent for some. It’ll be here in a minute.” She picked up her mother’s hand and held it between hers.
“You … hate me.”
“No, I don’t. You’re my mother. How could I hate you?”
“I’ve not always been … a good mother.”
“We won’t think about that now.”
Dolly rolled her head back and forth on the pillow. The hand in Mary Lee’s was limp and cool. When Mary Lee heard footsteps on the porch and then in the living room, she tried to get her mother’s attention again.
“Mama, the sheriff is here. He wants to talk to you.”
“Whiskey,” Dolly said, and her face puckered as if she would cry.
“Is Jake back?” Mary Lee called anxiously.
“I’m here.”
“Pour some in a glass, Jake.” Mary Lee looked defiantly at the sheriff. “The doctor said that she could have it.”
When Jake brought the glass with a couple of inches of whiskey in it, Mary Lee slipped her arm beneath her mother’s shoulders and lifted her so that she could drink. After gulping the strong-smelling liquid, she sank back down on the pillow, and Mary Lee got to her feet. Carrying the glass, she left the bedroom and nodded for the sheriff to go in.
In the kitchen, Mary Lee went straight to Jake’s arms when he opened them. She pressed her face to his shoulder. She was too miserable even to cry. In her wildest dreams she could not have imagined herself holding a glass while her mother drank the hated spirits that had ruined her life and made her own and her daddy’s a torment.
“Doctor Morris said to give it to her if she asked for it,” she said as if she needed an excuse for what she had just done.
Jake didn’t know what to say. He held her, rocked her in his arms and buried his face in her hair. He would have given anything to be able to ease her sorrow. He felt guilty because her grief was giving him the chance to hold her. For the first time since his mother’s death many years ago, someone needed him. It was a powerful tonic to be needed, and especially by someone as sweet and adorable as the woman in his arms. He breathed deeply the scent of her, and his heart pounded with love for her.
Sheriff Pleggenkuhle’s voice came from the other room, low and coaxing. Mary Lee listened for the sound of her mother’s voice but heard nothing. After what seemed a long time, the sheriff came to the kitchen door.
“She just stares at me. She’s not said a word.” The sheriff looked at the two of them accusingly. “You shouldn’t have given her the whiskey. We could have bargained for it.”
“You mean not let her have it unless she told you something?”
Sheriff Pleggenkuhle looked sheepish. “I know it would have been a rotten thing to do, but there’s been a murder and it will benefit all of us to find out who did it.”
“Maybe she doesn’t know anything. She came into the house just about midnight. I heard her in the bathroom. From the mess on the floor it looks like she crawled to the bed.”
“It’s likely that she doesn’t, but still I’ve got to hear her say that he was alive when she came to the house and
that she didn’t see or hear anyone go in the cabin after she left it.”
The sheriff noticed how close the two were standing and that Jake’s arm was around her, holding her to him.
“It’s a good thing, Jake, that Sheriff McChesney over in Oklahoma said the little dude was a straight shooter, or you’d be in jail. He said that if Deke Bales said you were with him, you were with him. That doesn’t mean that you didn’t sneak out, kill Frank, and sneak back in while he was asleep. So you’re not off the hook yet.”
“Are you accusing Jake!” Mary Lee punctuated the statement by stepping in front of Jake.
“At this point I’m not ruling anyone out. Not even you. Some are wondering why you’re not in jail, Mrs. Clawson. After all, you had as much reason to kill Frank as anyone.”
“I didn’t want him dead. I just wanted him to move.”
“Whoever killed Frank was crazy mad at him, mad enough to bury the bottle in his throat after they slit it with a knife. And he knew who it was or they’d not have gotten close enough to him to do it. You were mad enough at him, Mrs. Clawson, to attack him with the plate. Did a good job on him too.”
“You know why I did that. He was trying to draw Jake into a fight so he’d get in trouble and be sent back to prison.”
“Looks like Jake’s been in a fight.”
“Yeah, and I struck the first blow. I plowed into Yancy Hummer six ways from Sunday, and I’d do it again for the same reason.”
“I’ve talked to Paco. I know what happened.” At the door of the kitchen, the sheriff paused. “If nobody here killed Frank, there’s a killer running around out there. The women shouldn’t be alone in the house all night. I can’t leave the deputy here; I’ve got a whole county to patrol.”
“They won’t be alone. Deke and I will bed down on the porch.”
The sheriff leveled his gaze on Mary Lee. “Like the fox watching the henhouse, huh? When will the doctor be back?”
“Sometime in the morning, unless … I need him.”
“Tell him not to put her to sleep until after I talk to her again.”
Song of the Road Page 22