Crossing the Wide Forever

by Missouri Vaun

  “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Just tell me why you’re upset.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I think you do know.” Lillie was pressing her and she wasn’t in the mood for it.

  “If I say I don’t know, then I don’t know, dammit.”

  Lillie took a deep breath and walked right up to Cody, insinuating herself and her lavender scented perfume into Cody’s space.

  “Cody.” She put her hand on Cody’s arm. Her approach was soft, not demanding. “Please tell me what’s bothering you.”

  Cody was silent, but she persisted.

  “Just say the words the best way you know how and we’ll sort through them.”

  Cody looked down and dug in the dirt with the toe of her boot. Her fingers were full of Shadow’s mane, and she had her arm across his shoulder. Finally, she looked at Lillie.

  “I’m afraid that you’ll miss New York and you’ll leave.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Because all of this…this seems too good to be true.” She swept her hand through the air in an effort to indicate everything. Lillie obviously hadn’t had the sort of life where people disappointed you, where people you trusted let you down. There was no way Lillie could ever understand how it felt.

  “It is too good to be true.” Lillie brushed her fingers over Cody’s cheek. “But it is true nonetheless.”

  With just a touch, she somehow managed to diffuse Cody’s fears and make her feel as if everything was going to be all right.

  “How do you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Make me feel so good.” Cody circled Lillie’s waist with her arms and nestled her chin on top of Lillie’s head.

  “Probably the same way you do. Every time I’m in your arms, I’m certain that anything is possible.”

  “Well, we’re quite a pair then, aren’t we?”

  “Come back to the house. I think Shadow is fine out here without you.”

  “You know you’re soaking wet, right?” Cody playfully tugged at the skirt of Lillie’s rain-soaked dress.

  “Maybe you could help me change into something more comfortable…or nothing at all.” The corner of Lillie’s mouth quirked up in a teasing smile.

  They held hands as they ran to the house through the rain, laughing.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  After the rain, the next day, there were tracks around the barn that worried Cody. They looked like wolf tracks, but she wasn’t sure. The tracks traveled south from the barn. The Colt was at her hip so she saddled Shadow to investigate. The wolf wouldn’t be a worry except for the calf. And if there were more than one wolf then there was definitely a risk.

  Cody followed the animal tracks to the thread of a stream that cut across their property and fed into the Neosho Creek farther down. She dismounted and touched the damp soil around the tracks near the bank. The smell of moss and wet earth filled her nostrils. She dipped her cupped hand into the stream and sipped from it. The water was cool and fresh.

  The sound of a gunshot cut through the air. Shadow stepped back and perked his ears. Cody stood up and listened. When she heard the second shot, she knew it wasn’t from their house. It sounded as if it was coming from the direction of Joshua and Beth’s place.

  Cody was all the way at the southern boundary of their property, too far from the house to let Lillie know she was going to investigate. She climbed into the saddle and took off at a quick gallop. A third shot sounded by the time she had the farm in sight. That was three shots, the first two in rapid succession. As she drew closer, she didn’t see anyone outside the house, and that concerned her. Not even Patience was in view, playing in the yard.

  She pulled Shadow to a stop at the end of the fencerow and shooed him back. She took out her revolver and slunk low along the fence until she could get close to the house.

  Dropped to one knee behind a shrub at the corner of the fence, Cody considered what to do next. Before she could move, she heard Beth scream for Patience to run. A second later, the child erupted from the open door and swept past her position. Cody waited for Patience to disappear into the dark interior of the barn before she moved closer to the house. She crouched low, below the window near the open front door.

  Muffled voices were coming from the house, and then Beth cried out again.

  Cody steeled herself, braced her back against the plank siding. She took a deep breath. Something was wrong. She wasn’t sure where Joshua was, but Beth needed her. She spun the Colt’s cylinder to a live chamber and then launched herself up the steps to the front door.

  It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the interior space. The first thing she saw was Joshua on the floor. She heard a rustling sound and realized that Beth was struggling against a man on the other side of the room. He had her pressed against the pantry. He shoved her hard, and a few plates shattered on the floor from the rocking of the shelves.

  “Cody, look out!” Beth screamed, arms fighting against her assailant as he tried to cover her mouth.

  Cody pivoted. Heart pounding like a jackrabbit, she came face-to-face with the man who’d spooked Lillie when they were in Independence. His gun was holstered. Cody had caught him by surprise and didn’t give him a chance to pull on her.

  “Don’t.” She cocked the revolver and pointed it at his face. “And tell that other fellow to leave her alone.”

  “Well, if it isn’t the boy with the pretty wife. I guess we’ll be paying her a visit after this. She can’t be that far away.”

  The inferno of rage that surged through Cody at the mention of Lillie could not be quantified. She knew her face had to be flaming red because her cheeks were pepper hot.

  A scuffling noise erupted behind her, and Beth cried out. Cody swung around and fired at the second man, hitting him in the leg. She dropped to one knee and swiveled back just as the first man drew his pistol. They fired at the same time. His shot whizzed past; hers caught him in the chest, knocking him backward.

  He caught himself against a straight-backed wooden chair, but it toppled with him. From the floor, Cody swung around from her kneeling position just as Beth kicked the other man in his wounded leg, causing him to misfire a shot meant for Cody. The bullet splintered the floor at her feet. She fired and hit him in the gut. He flopped forward with a loud thump.

  She was scrambling now to get a clear shot at the first man, partially protected by the chair he’d knocked over. He was on his side, aiming right for her. Beth screamed Cody’s name, but it sounded far away. Everything slowed in that instant, suspended, the dust fragments in the sunlight streaming through the window above, scarlet splatters of blood across the plank floor from the wounded gunman, the sound of the Colt’s hammer echoed as if amplified, like a stone mallet hitting steel.

  She squeezed the trigger.

  A deafening discharge, and smoke erupted simultaneously from her gun and his.

  *

  Lillie adjusted the curtain along the rod.

  This was the last one to hang in the small window near the stove. She’d chosen blue fabric like Cody had seen in her dream. She stepped back with her hands on her hips to get a better perspective on her handy work. She smiled.

  She leaned back across the cabinet near the stove and pulled the curtains apart. Her focus shifted from near to far when she noticed Shadow walking up the road dangling loose reins.

  Shadow had stopped to sample some grass along the trail when Lillie reached him. She’d seen Cody leave on horseback, and now Shadow was back without a rider. That seemed strange.

  “Cody!” Lillie pivoted and shouted again. “Cody!”

  She waited for an answer. Nothing.

  “Where is she, boy?” She patted Shadow’s neck. She wheeled in every direction searching for Cody’s tall frame to be walking toward her.

  Then she heard two gunshots and then a third. And then a forth. She grabbed Shadow’s reins, hoisted herself into the saddle and headed back dow
n the trail in the direction he’d come. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if Cody were really in trouble. Cody had taken the pistol with her earlier when she’d left the house. Lillie had acted on instinct. She knew she wasn’t thinking clearly. Adrenaline charged through her system, pushing her forward. All she was thinking was that Cody might need her, that Cody might be hurt.

  Beth’s house was in sight in a matter of minutes. She’d check there first.

  The dark shape of the open door was all that she could see. The place was eerily quiet. She tied Shadow to the fence and ran toward the house.

  “Beth!” Breathless, she stopped on the threshold and took in the scene.

  Beth was kneeling over Joshua, and there was blood on his shirt. Cody was lying on her side just inside the door. Two other men were bloodied and unmoving.

  “Lillie!” Beth ran toward her and hugged her. “Oh my God, it was awful…if Cody hadn’t come when she did—” Her voice was choked by a sob.

  Lillie bent down beside Cody and slowly rolled her over. There was blood at her temple, but she was breathing.

  “Cody, sweetheart, wake up. Oh, Cody, talk to me.” Lillie stroked her face and checked for other sites of injury. She turned to Beth who was back at Joshua’s side. “How is he?”

  “Unconscious but alive.”

  “Are you hurt?”

  Beth shook her head. She clearly had a red mark on her cheek that would likely bruise, and the front of her dress was torn in a few places. Lillie’s mind jumped ahead to imagine the worst had Cody not intervened.

  Cody’s eyes fluttered and she flinched as if she were trying to leap to her feet.

  “Cody, you’re okay. It’s over. You’re safe.” Lillie tried to reassure her as she knelt beside her on the floor.

  Looking over at the lifeless form across the room, she realized she recognized his face from the livery in Independence. Her stomach seized. She covered her mouth with her hand as nausea washed through her insides.

  Cody partially sat up, touched her sleeve. “Patience is in the barn.”

  “Oh no, she must be terrified.” Lillie jumped to her feet. “I’ll get her. Beth, you stay with Joshua.”

  Cody tried to right herself as Lillie left in search of Patience.

  Her head was pounding. She touched her fingers to her temple and saw that there was blood. She scuffled sideways on her butt and leaned against the wall. The pistol lay on the floor next to her leg. She’d had five shots in the chamber and she’d used four.

  She closed her eyes and exhaled, trying to steady her queasy stomach.

  After a moment, Patience ran through the door into Beth’s arms.

  “Papa!” Patience cried and reached toward Joshua as she clung to Beth with her other arm.

  “Papa’s fine, sweetie. He’s just hurt so he’s sleeping.” She set Patience down. “You be a good girl and go sit in your room with your doll while we get Papa in bed. Run along now. Everything’s okay.”

  Beth waited for Patience to slip into the next room before she spoke. “I don’t want her around these bodies.”

  “Let’s drag them outside.” Cody swayed a little as she got to her feet as blood rushed to her head. She bent over with her hands on her knees.

  “You need to sit down.” Lillie was at her side.

  “No, I’m fine. I just need a minute.” Cody straightened but leaned against the wall. “Someone should go into town and fetch Mr. Sawyer.” Mr. Sawyer, who owned the mill and built the school, was sort of the default mayor of unincorporated Emporia. He’d know what to do in this sort of situation. He’d know who to inform in an official capacity.

  “I’ll go.”

  “You’re bleeding and you seem lightheaded. I’ll go.”

  “This is just a scratch.” Cody pulled Lillie outside. “I should go. This is the sort of thing a husband should take care of, not his wife. It wouldn’t look good if I let you go instead.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  “Let’s drag the bodies outside and then you stay and help Beth.”

  It took all three of them to move Joshua to the bed and then drag the other two men outside and away from the door. Cody didn’t want to leave the bodies in the house to frighten Patience. It was unsettling enough to have them on the ground outside.

  “I’ll be back shortly with Mr. Sawyer.” Cody started to put her hat on, but then changed her mind and tossed it onto a nearby chair. The still-bloody crease at her temple ached enough without something rubbing against it. Lillie followed her outside.

  “I can’t believe this was the same man we saw in Independence. But I would have remembered his face.” She looked down at his body as they stepped past.

  “I don’t know what I’d have done if he’d come across you first.” Cody hugged Lillie. “I heard the shots and I heard Beth scream. I had no idea what to expect when I got here.”

  “Thank God you weren’t seriously hurt.”

  She released Lillie. “You should probably get back to the house. I’ll be as quick as I can.”

  Lillie stood by the road and watched Cody ride off. Beth was leaning over Joshua when she entered the room. There was blood on the floor near the pantry and by the fireplace. Lillie wanted to offer to clean that.

  “Beth, how is he?”

  “It looks like the bullet passed clean through his shoulder. I’m more worried that he hasn’t woken up.” She straightened and looked at Lillie, the wet paths of tears on her cheeks. “After they shot him, one of the men pistol-whipped him with the butt of his gun. He didn’t move after that.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be okay.” Lillie moved closer to Beth. “Maybe you should change your dress. I’ll keep pressure on the wound while you do that.”

  Beth looked down, seemingly aware for the first time of her torn garment. “I must look terrible.”

  “You look terrific, considering. I just thought maybe Patience would be less frightened if you changed and I cleaned up out there.” She nodded in the direction of the main room.

  “Yes, of course. You’re right.” She changed positions with Lillie so that she could keep the cloth over Joshua’s exposed shoulder. “But then again, maybe we shouldn’t clean the floor until Mr. Sawyer gets here.”

  “Maybe you’re right.” Lillie caught Beth’s hand before she walked away. “And, Beth, we’ll stay here with you as long as you need us.”

  Tears gathered at the edge of Beth’s lashes. “Thank you.”

  *

  Cody was lucky to locate Mr. Sawyer at his mill. The mill was outfitted with a large saw and gristmill that had a lathe and shingle machine attached. Miles Sawyer was probably close to fifty and was a big man. He towered over Cody by at least a foot and outweighed her by a hundred pounds. It was his gentle but firm nature that Cody admired and even aspired to. The residents of Emporia and the surrounding country treated him like an affable elder statesman. He looked up from his work as Cody approached.

  “Hello there…” His friendly expression shifted to one of alarm, no doubt because of the blood on Cody’s shirt and the dried blood at her temple.

  “I need your help, Mr. Sawyer.” Cody stopped a few feet away from him. Other men who were working nearby looked up from their tasks.

  “Cody, for the hundredth time, call me Miles.”

  Her Southern upbringing made it hard for Cody to call a man of his stature and age by his first name, but she’d try. “Sorry. There’s been a shooting, and I wasn’t sure exactly how to handle the bodies.” Now the mill was at a standstill. Everyone turned to look at Cody.

  “Let’s step outside to discuss this.” He put his hand on Cody’s shoulder as they walked toward the sunlight and the open door. “Everyone get back to work!”

  “These two men attacked the Marshalls.”

  “Are they hurt?”

  “Joshua was shot. Beth is shaken up, but she’s all right. And Patience is fine.”

  “Did Joshua shoot them?”

  “No, sir, I did.”
/>   Miles was pensive. He rubbed his beard with his fingers thoughtfully.

  “I heard shots and went to their house as quick as I could.”

  “They’re lucky you were close by.”

  Cody knew her voice sounded unsteady. She’d described Beth as shaken up, but she wasn’t exactly feeling rock solid herself. “I’ve never shot anyone before.”

  He put his big hand on her shoulder again. “Son, sometimes we’re called on to do hard things to protect the people we care about. I’m sure you had no choice, and had I been the one to arrive first, I would have no doubt done the same as you.”

  Cody nodded, grateful for his words of support. She was trying hard to be the stoic man of the family that she was supposed to be, but in reality she’d have liked nothing better than to lean into him for a fatherly embrace. She sniffed and averted her eyes for fear she’d give herself away.

  “I’ll hitch the wagon. We should bring the bodies back here. I can notify the sheriff in Independence. Maybe he’ll help us identify them.”

  “I actually recognized one of them. I think he may have worked at the livery in Independence.” She followed Miles toward the barn adjacent to the Mill. “I remembered him. He seemed like a bad seed even from that one brief encounter.”

  “Well, that gives us a place to start.”

  “Mr. Walsh! Hey, Cody!” William Canton, the man who owned the general mercantile, waved to her as he crossed the street. He had something in his hand.

  “Hi, Will.” She pulled up to a stop, but Miles kept walking toward the barn.

  “This came earlier today for your wife.” He held a letter out to Cody.

  “Thank you. I’ll make sure she gets it.” She shoved it into her pocket and continued toward where Miles was hitching the wagon.

  “Are you all right?” He’d obviously noticed the blood too.

  “Yeah, just a little trouble out at the Marshalls’ place.”

  *

  Lillie was on edge until she saw Cody riding back alongside Mr. Sawyer’s wagon.