by B. M. Bower
CHAPTER XXVIII
ALL RIGHT AND COMFY
Seabeck was a fine weather prophet, for that time at least. It didstorm that night and the next day and the next; a howling, tearingblizzard that carried the snow so far and so fast that it almost woreit out; so that when the spasm was over, the land lay bleaker andraggeder than ever, with hard-packed drifts in all the hollows and bareground between. Of course it was out of the question for Billy Louiseto leave the Cove while the storm lasted, so she took care of Marthyand the pigs and chickens and cows, and between whiles she tormentedherself with direful pictures of Ward up there alone on Mill Creek.Sometimes she saw him raving in fever and wanting a drink which hecould not get, so that thirst tortured him; then calling for her, whenshe could not come. Sometimes she saw him trying to hobble somewhereon those crutches, and falling exhausted--breaking more bones, perhaps;or catching more cold, or something. She was a most distressed BillyLouise, believe me, and she wished a hundred times a day that she hadstayed with Ward; she wished that, in spite of Marthy's need of her.She was terribly sorry for Marthy; but Marthy had not broken any leg,and besides, she was not in love with Marthy.
On the second day John Pringle battled through the storm to see whatBilly Louise would have him do. And Billy Louise gave him instructionsabout finding a man and sending him up to the Cove at once, and lookingafter the Wolverine ranch until she came, and having Phoebe send upsome clothes for her. She felt better when she had set the wheels inmotion again, and as she stood in the door and watched John's broad,stolid back out of sight on his homeward journey, she made up her mindthat she would start at daylight for Mill Creek, and she didn't carewhether it stormed or not. She simply would not leave Ward there aloneany longer. She almost wished that she had told Seabeck about Ward; hewould have sent a man over to look after him. But she was selfish, andshe wanted Ward to herself; so she had not so much as mentioned hisname to Seabeck.
She milked the two cows by lantern light, next morning; and the pigsdid not seem to want to leave their nests when she poured theirbreakfast into the trough by the wavering light she carried. She madecoffee for Marthy and took it to her in bed, and told her that shewould leave plenty of wood and kindling, and that Marthy must sleep aslong as she could and not worry about a single, living thing. She saidshe must get an early start, because it might be "bad going" and shemeant to bring Ward back with her if he were able to travel at all.
"I can't be in two places at once, Marthy, so if you don't mind, I'llbring him down here where I can look after the two of you at the sametime. You'll let me, won't you? Or else," she added hopefully, "I'lltake you both down home. Would you rather--"
"I'd ruther stay here where I b'long," said Marthy dully. "But I don'twant you should go t' any trouble about me, Billy Louise. I've rustledfer m'self all my life, and I guess I kin yit. If it wa'n't fer myrheumatiz, I'd ask no odds of anybody. I ain't goin' t' leave, anyway.Charlie might come back, er--"
"Well, you needn't leave." Billy Louise told herself that she was notdisappointed, because she had not hoped to persuade Marthy to leave theCove. "You don't mind if I bring Ward down here, do you, Marthy?"
"No, I don't mind nothin' you kin do," said Marthy in the same dulltone, pouring her saucer full of coffee and spilling some on herpillow, because her hands were not as steady as they used to be. "Hekin sleep in Charlie's room, if yuh want he should." She took two bigswallows that emptied the saucer, handed the dish to Billy Louise, andlay down again. "I don't seem to care about nothin'," she remarkedtonelessly. "I'd jest as soon die as live. I wisht you'd send word toSeabeck I want t' see him, Billy Louise. Oh, it ain't about Charlie,"she added harshly. "He's shet uh me, and I'm shet uh him. I--got someother business with Seabeck. Tell him to bring a couple uh men alongwith him."
"Is there any hurry, Marthy?" Billy Louise stood holding the cup andsaucer in her two hands, and stared down anxiously at the lined oldface on the pillow. A faint, red glow was in the sky, and thelamp-light dimmed with the coming of day. "You don't feel--badly, doyou, Marthy?"
"Me? No, Why should I feel bad? But I want t' see Seabeck and a coupleof his men, jest as quick as you kin git word to 'em."
"Which ones?" Billy Louise was plainly puzzled. Was Marthy going tomake him take those cattle back? It was like her. Billy Louise didnot blame her for feeling that way, either. If she had had the money,she would have paid him herself for the cattle.
"It don't matter which ones. You send 'im word, Billy Louise, like thegood girl yuh always have been. You've always kinda took the place ofmy Minervy to me, Billy Louise; and I won't bother yuh much longer."
"Oh, of course I will! The stage will go up this forenoon. I'll senda note to Seabeck. It won't be any bother at all. What shall I say?Just that you want to see him?"
"I kin write it m'self, I guess, if you'll bring me a pencil and paper.I can't seem t' git used to a pen. I kin write all I want t' say."
Billy Louise let it go at that. She brought the paper and pencil andwent after Blue, while Marthy, sitting up in bed, wrote her note.Billy Louise was eager to start; and I don't think anyone should blameher if she hurried Marthy a little, and if her parting words were few,and her manner slightly abstracted. She knew just how Marthy wasfeeling--or thought she did; and she was simply wild with anxiety overWard.
Blue discovered before she was out of the gorge that his lady was wildover something. Never had she come so near to being a merciless rideras on that nippy morning. There were drifts: Blue went through them ingreat lunges. There were steep hills: but there was no stopping at thetop to breathe awhile and admire the view. Billy Louise rode with aneye upon the climbing sun, and with her mind busy adding up miles andminutes.
She rode up the creek trail at a long lope, and she pulled up at thestable and slid off Blue, who was wet to his ears and moving every ribwhen he breathed. (Blue was a good horse, with plenty of speed andstamina, but Billy Louise had given him all he wanted, that morning.)She went straight to a corner of the hay corral and stopped with herhands clutching the top wire.
"Ward Warren, for heaven's sake, what are you doing?" You couldn'thave told from her tone that she had been crying, a mile back, fromsheer anxiety, or that she "loved him to pieces." She sounded as ifshe did not love him at all and was merely disgusted with his actions.
"I'm trying to sink my loop on this damned buzzard-head of a horse,"Ward retorted glumly. "I've been trying for about an hour," he added,grinning a little at his own plight.
"Well, it's a lucky thing for you he won't let you," Billy Louiseinformed him sternly, stooping to crawl under the bottom wire. "You'vegot about as much sense as--" She did not say what. "Give me thatrope, and you take yourself and your crutches out of the corral, Mr.Smarty. I just had a hunch you couldn't be trusted to behave yourself."
"Brave Buckaroo got lonesome," Ward said, looking at her with eyesalight, as he hobbled slowly toward her. "You'll have to open the gatefor me, William. Rattler'll make a break for the open if he sees acrack as wide as your little finger."
By then he was near enough to reach out an arm and pull her close tohim. "Oh, William girl, I'm sure glad to see you once more. I gotscared. I thought maybe I just dreamed you were here; so I tackled--"
"You tackled more than you could handle," Billy Louise finished withher lips close to his. "You haven't got any sense at all. You mighthave known I'd come the very first minute I could."
"I know--I know."
"And you ought to know you mustn't try to ride Rattler, Ward. What ifhe'd pitch with you?"
"In that case, I'd pile up, I reckon. Say, William, a broken leg doestake a hell of a time to get well. But all the same, I'll top oldRattler, all right. I'd top anything rather than spend another nightin that jail."
"You'll ride Blue," Billy Louise told him calmly "I'm going to rideRattler myself."
"Yes, you are--not!"
"Do you mean to say I can't? Do you think--"
&
nbsp; "Oh, I guess you can, all right, but--"
"Well, if I can, I'm going to. If you think I can't handle a measlyold skate like that--"
"He's been running out for nearly two months, Wilhemina--"
"And look at his ribs! If you'll just kindly go in the house while Isaddle--"
"I'll kindly stay right here, lady-girl. You don't know Rattler--"
"And you don't know Billy Louise MacDonald." She wrinkled her nose athim and turned back to unsaddle Blue. "I really didn't intend to goback right now," she said, "but seeing you've got your heart set on it,I suppose we might as well." Then she added: "We're only going as faras the Cove, anyway; and I really ought to hurry back to look afterMarthy. Charlie Fox and Peter pulled out and left her there allsolitary alone. I've been staying with her since I left here. I toldher we'd be down there, and stay till--further notice."
Billy Louise did not give Ward much opportunity for argument. He wastoo awkward with his crutches to keep up with her, and she managed tobe on the move most of the time.
I may as well admit that she was horribly afraid of Rattler, andhorribly afraid that he and Ward would find it out. She did not hurrymuch. She took plenty of time to put Ward's saddle on Blue, and whenshe finally took her rope and went in after Rattler, who was regardingher from the corner of the stack where he might run either way, shewished that Ward was elsewhere--and she did not much care where.
But Ward was anxious, and he stayed where he was by the corner of thestable and swore in violent undertones because he was condemned to lookon while his Wilhemina took long chances on getting hurt. Not a moveof hers escaped his fear-sharpened eyes, while she went carelesslyclose to Rattler, and then, with a quick flip, landed the loop neatlyover his head. Ward would have felt less pleased if he had known howher heart was thumping. He saw only the whimsical twist of her lipsand thought that she was enjoying a distinctly feminine sense oftriumph at her success.
Billy Louise led Rattler boldly up to where lay her saddle and Ward'sbridle. She hoped she did not look scared, but she was wondering allthe time what Rattler would do when she "piled on"; pile her off,probably, her pessimism told her, for Billy Louise was no ladybroncho-fighter, for all she rode so well on horses that she knew.There is a difference.
"Sure you want to tackle him, lady-girl?" Ward asked her, after he hadhimself attended to the bridling--since Rattler was touchy about thehead. "Of course, he isn't bad, when you know him; but he's liable tobe pretty snuffy after running out so long. And he never had a womanon him. You better let me ride him."
"Don't be silly. You couldn't even mount him, with that game leg. Andbesides, don't you see I've been wanting an excuse to ride Rattler eversince I knew you? You must have a very poor opinion of my riding."
"Oh, if you put it that way--" Ward yielded, just as she knew hewould. "I haven't a doubt but what you can handle him if you take anotion. Only--if you got hurt--"
"But I won't." Billy Louise braced her courage with a smile and pickedup the saddle blanket. But Ward took it from her and hobbled closeenough to adjust it.
"He knows me," he explained meaningly. "Better let me saddle up. Hedon't know but what I can cave a rib or two in, if he don't behave.Just hand me the saddle, William, please."
"You're only trying to scare me out," Billy Louise accused him, with avast relief well hidden. "I'm not a bit afraid of him."
"All right; that'll help some." He steadied himself by the horse'stwitching shoulder while he reached carefully for the cinch. "I guessI'm more scared than you are."
"I know you are. I've taken too many tumbles to let the prospect ofanother one worry me, anyway. Why, Blue ditched me himself, threedifferent times when I first began to ride him. And even yet the olddevil would like to, once in a while." Billy Louise was actuallytalking herself rapidly into a feeling of confidence.
She needed it. When she had helped Ward upon Blue--and that was noteasy, either, considering that he only had one leg fit to stand on--andhad gone to the cabin for her bag of nuggets and Ward's roll of moneywhich he had forgotten, and had exhausted every other excuse for delay,she picked up Rattler's reins and wound her fingers in his mane, andtook hold of the stirrup as nonchalantly as if she were mounting Blue.
She went up at the instant when Rattler jumped sidewise from her. Shegot partly into the saddle, clung there for a few harrowing seconds,and then went over his head and plump into a snowdrift beside thestable.
"Good God!" groaned Ward and went white and weak as he watched.
"Good gracious!" grumbled Billy Louise, righting herself and diggingsnow out of her collar and sleeves. "Stop your laughing, Ward Warren!"(Ward was not laughing, and she knew it.) "I'll ride that ornerycayuse, just to show him I can. You Rattler, I'll fix you for that!"She turned to Ward and twisted her lips at him. "I see now why younamed him that," she said. "Because he rattles your teeth loose."
"You keep off him!" Ward shouted sternly.
"You keep still!" Billy Louise shouted back at him. "We're going tofind out right now who's boss."
Whether she referred to Rattler or to his master she did not stipulate;perhaps she meant both of them. At any rate, she caught the horseagain and mounted, a great deal more cautiously than she had at first,in spite of Ward's threats and entreaties. She got fairly into thesaddle and stayed there--with the help of the horn and the luck thathad thus far carried her through almost anything she undertook. Shewas not a bit ashamed of "pulling leather."
"Now we're all right and comfy," she announced breathlessly, when thefirst fight was over and Rattler, like his master, had yielded to theinevitable. "And we know who's boss, and we're all of ussquindiciously happy, because we're headed for home. Aren't we,buckaroo?"
"I suppose so," Ward mumbled doubtingly, for a moment eyeing hersidelong. He was not quite over his scare yet.
"And say, buckaroo!" Billy Louise reined close, so that she couldreach out and pinch his arm a little bit. "Soon as your leg is allwell, and you're every speck over the hookin'-cough, why--you can bethe boss!"
"Can I?"
"Honest, you can. I've"--Billy Louise had the grace to blush alittle--"I've always thought I'd love to have somebody bully me andboss me and 'buse me. And I--" Her lips twitched a little. "I thinkyou can qualify. What was that you said just as I was getting on thesecond time? I was too busy to listen, but--"
"But what? I don't remember that I said anything." Ward got hold ofher free hand and held it tight.
"Oh, yes, you did! It was sweary, too."
"Was it?"
"Yes, it was. You sweared at Flower of the Ranch-oh."
Billy Louise stopped at that, since Ward refused to be baited. Shesensed that there were bigger things than a "sweary" sentence in theforefront of her buckaroo's mind. She waited.
They came to the gate, and Billy Louise freed her hand from his claspand dismounted, since it was a wire gate and could not be opened onhorseback. She closed it after him, looked to her cinch, tightened ita little, patted Rattler forgivingly on the neck, caught the horn withone hand and the stirrup with the other, and went up quite like a man,while Ward watched her intently.
"'In sooth, I know not why you are so sa-ad,'" murmured Billy Louise,when she swung alongside in the trail.
Ward caught her hand again and did not let go; so they rode hand inhand down the narrow valley.
"I was wondering--" he hesitated, drawing in a corner of his lip,biting it, and letting it go. "Wilhemina, if old Lady Fortune takes anotion to give me another kick or two, just when life looks so good tome--"
"Why, we'll kick back just as hard as she does," threatened BillyLouise courageously. "Don't let happiness get on your nerves, Ward."
"If I wasn't crippled, it wouldn't. But when a man's down and out,he--thinks a lot. The last three days, I've lived a whole lifetime,lady-girl. Everything seems to be coming my way, all at once. And I'mafraid; what if I can't make good? If I can't make you happy"--hesqueezed
her fingers so that Billy Louise had to grit her teeth to keepfrom interrupting him--"or if anything should happen to you--Lord!I--I never knew what it was to be crazy scared till I saw you fall offRattler. I--"
"You've got nerves, buckaroo. You've been shut up there alone so longyou see things all distorted. We're going to be happy, because we'llbe together, and we've so much to do and so much to think of. You mustrealize, Ward, that we've got three places to take care of, and you andme and poor old Marthy. She hasn't anybody, Ward, but us. And she'schanged so--got so old--just in the last few days. I never knew aperson could change so much in such a little while. She's just let goall holds and kind of sagged down, mentally and physically. We'll haveto take care of her, Ward, as long as she lives. That's why I'm takingyou there--so we can look after her. She won't leave the Cove. I--Iwas hoping," she added shyly, "that we could sit in front of our ownfireplace, Ward, and have nice cozy evenings; but---well, there alwaysseems to be something for me to do for somebody, Ward."
"Oh, you Wilhemina!" Ward slipped his arm around her, to the disgustof Rattler and Blue, and made shift to kiss her twice. "Long as youlive, you'll always be doing something for somebody; that's the wayyou're made. And nobody's been doing things for you; but if the Lordlets me live, that's going to be my job from now on."
He said a great deal more, of course. They had nearly fifteen miles togo, and they rode at a walk; and a man and a maid can say a good dealat such a time. But I don't think they would like to have it allrepeated. Their thoughts ranged far: back over the past and far intothe future, and clung close to the miracle of love that had broughtthem together. There is one thing which Billy Louise, even in her mostself-revealing mood, did not tell Ward, and that is her doubts of him.Never once did he dream that she had suspected him and wrung her heartbecause of her suspicions--and in that I think she was wise and kind.
They found Seabeck and Floyd Carson and another cowboy at the Cove,just preparing to leave. Marthy, it transpired, had wanted to make herwill, so that Billy Louise would have the Cove when Marthy was donewith it. Billy Louise cried a little and argued a good deal, butMarthy had not lost all her stubbornness, and the will stood unchanged.
When Ward understood all of the circumstances, he hobbled into thekitchen and signaled Seabeck to follow him; and there he counted outfive hundred dollars from his last gold-harvest and with a few crispsentences compelled Seabeck to accept the money. (At that, Seabeckstood a loser by Charlie's thievery, but no one knew it save himself,since he never mentioned the matter.)
Billy Louise and Ward were married just as soon as Ward was able tomake the trip to the county-seat, which was just as soon as he couldwalk comfortably with a cane.
They stayed the winter in the Cove, and a part of the spring. Thenthey buried grim, gray old Marthy up on the side hill near Jase, whereshe had asked them to lay her work-worn body when she was gone.
They were very busy and very happy and pretty prosperous with theirthree ranches and what gold Ward washed out of the gravel-bank whilethey were living up on Mill Creek, so that he could prove up on hisclaim. They never heard of Charlie Fox again, or of Buck Olney--andthey never wanted to.
If you should some time ride through a certain portion of Idaho, youmay find the tiny valley of the Wolverine and the decaying cabins whichprove how impossible it is for a couple to live in three places atonce. If you should be so fortunate as to meet Billy Louise, she mighttake you through the canyon and point out to you her cave andMinervy's. It is possible that she might also show you the washoutwhich always made her and Ward laugh when they passed it. And if youride up over the hill and along the upland and down another hill, youcannot fail to find the entrance to the Cove; and perhaps you will liketo ride down the gorge and see the little Eden hidden away there. Youmay even ride as far as Mill Creek; but you will be told, very likely,that no one ever found any gold there. And if you should meet them,give my regards to Billy Louise and Ward--who never calls himself afootball these days.
THE END