“Nathanial, sweetheart, come here.”
Nate tore away from the crowd and threw himself into the folds of Ma’s skirt. It was a soft, safe place, and his emotions were so mixed up he didn’t know how to feel. The only spot he felt more secure was in Pa’s lap or Jesse’s. Ma held out her arms, and Huckabee immediately delivered Elizabeth. She kissed her face a few times, hushing her cries in less than a minute.
“Kate, I do apologize.” It wasn’t the marshal’s fault that things had gotten out of hand, but he had been part of it. His soft face begged her forgiveness.
“Joseph, we’re all feeling unsettled right now. I can excuse Jesse to a point. He’s acting like an irrational son, losing his temper. But you—Nolan was the best man at your wedding. He wouldn’t let your family fall apart like this if that was you lying up there in that bed. I expected better.” Ma wiped at her eyes. “Nolan’s awake. He would like to speak to you.” Ma briefly paused, then through gritted teeth said, “I can’t believe I have to say this.” Before saying another word, she pointed a straight finger at Huckabee. “You don’t say a word to that man up there about whatever started this brouhaha down here. I have my suspicions, and he don’t need to worry about anything but getting well.”
Marshal Huckabee humbly removed his hat. “Yes, ma’am. Not a word.” He quietly headed up the stairs. His spurs didn’t even clink.
“You.” Ma’s straight finger now pointed at Jesse, whose eyes widened like a kid about to get his ass whipped. She jerked her head toward Pa’s office. “I’ll talk to you in a minute.” Then she eyed Prescott and Fletcher. “After I see these gentlemen out.” Ma went to the door, toting Elizabeth on her hip and Nate hanging tight to her skirt. She opened it wide. “Gentlemen.”
“I apologize, ma’am.” Fletcher dipped his chin as he passed by Ma, and Nate retreated deeper into the warm folds of her skirt. Fletcher disappeared out the door. Nate wished the man would never come back.
Judge Prescott stopped in front of Ma. “Kate, I need to speak to you. It’s vital.”
“Not now. Please.” Ma’s demeanor had softened. She looked like she might drop in pure exhaustion.
“Kate, this can’t wait,” he begged.
Ma let out a troubled sigh. “Jesse,” she called over her shoulder. He came hustling out of Pa’s study. “Take the kids into the kitchen and get them milk.” She gently passed Elizabeth off.
“Yes, ma’am.” Jesse took Nate by the hand. With ease, he pulled him off Ma, and the three of them went toward the kitchen.
Nate twisted in Jesse’s grasp and looked over his shoulder. Ma and the judge were engaged in deep conversation in a low tone so it wouldn’t carry to the ears of anyone else. Ma looked over at Nate. Tears made her eyes bigger than they naturally were. She gave the judge a small nudge. He, too, was now looking worrisomely at Nate. Then together they stepped outside, out of earshot. The door clicked shut.
“Jesse, what are they discussin’?” Nate’s gut tightened. He knew it had something to do with him. That look Ma had given him before she’d signaled for the judge to go outside where they would have more privacy, that look was one that made him believe that someday soon she might never see him again.
“Hard to tell.” Jesse handed Nate a glass of milk.
He drank it while Jesse fed Elizabeth hers. When their glasses were empty, the three of them gloomily waited in the study for Ma to return. Nate sat in Pa’s chair behind the desk. Jesse was in one of the cushioned chairs, using his hat to play peek-a-boo with Elizabeth. She was the only one to find something to genuinely smile about. It seemed like forever until the door finally opened.
Ma lumbered into the room as though she were in a trance. She plopped down hard into the only open chair and stared into the space between Jesse and Nate. It was as if she didn’t even see them, as if they weren’t there and she was a hundred miles away.
“Ma.” Jesse sounded nervous.
Nate’s grip on the desk chair tightened. His knuckles were white.
She snapped out of her deep thought, then looked from one to the other of them. “Sweetheart, come sit with me. There’s something very important that I need to talk to you boys about.”
Nate hesitantly pulled himself out of Pa’s chair. This was odd. Ma had never called them tight together like this. She always just came out with whatever she had to say. The formality of this felt more like a proceeding like he imagined court would be. Ma’s grimly lined face scared him too. He crawled up onto her lap. She bear-hugged him for a minute and sniffled.
She drew in a long breath, at which point she sobered. “Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher will be coming to visit tomorrow.”
“What?” Nate gasped. Tears burst out of his eyes. He shook his head. In the same instant, Jesse leaped out of his chair. His lips thinned, and Nate could tell on the tip of Jesse’s tongue was a big argument.
“Sit down, young man.” Ma was using her stern motherly voice.
Jesse dropped back into the chair without a word said.
“I know right now you’re the man of this house. But there are times when you need to listen to me. This being one of them.” Ma rubbed a hand down the side of her face. Tears began to roll out of the corners of her eyes. “I don’t know how to say it.”
Nate quivered. Jesse was on the edge of his seat with Elizabeth, who was yanking at her dolly’s yarn hair.
Ma cleared the choke in her voice. “The Fletchers will be visiting for a few hours every day until the trial.”
“Why?” Jesse asked without hiding his agitation.
Nate didn’t understand either and felt just as irritated. If the trial had been postponed, then what reason could the Fletchers have for being there? It wasn’t concern about Pa; that was for sure.
“A Mrs. Walter Gill has come forward and is willing to testify on the Fletchers’ behalf.” Ma began to sob.
“Who the hell is Walter Gill? I never heard of him or his wife.” Jesse was now scowling. Not at Ma, but it was evident that he was sorely disturbed by this entire situation.
“No!”
It had suddenly hit Nate. Walter Gill. Walt. The man Pa had killed. The man involved in stealing Kristy, Hattie, and those other ladies. The thin lady’s husband. Mrs. Walter Gill was that skinny mountain woman who’d been friends with Lucinda. Now it seemed she was getting chummy with the Fletchers.
“No,” he repeated several more times, the pitch rising until he didn’t recognize his voice. Nate was feverishly shaking all over. Ma rocked him, trying to calm him. He couldn’t catch his breath and choked on his cries.
“Will someone tell me who those people are?” Jesse snapped and smacked a fist down on the corner of Pa’s desk.
Nate and Ma jumped, but Jesse’s frustration was reasonable given the teary state produced by the mention of Mrs. Gill’s name.
Nate wiped his eyes, staring at Jesse. “She’s the thin woman we went to see. The one with all the kids. The man that shot it out with Pa, that’s his widow.”
The color drained out of Jesse’s face. He had heard the thin woman that day at Blue Sky Lake. He knew the connection between the woman and Lucinda and how she knew the relationship between Deloris and Nate’s birth mother. Her testimony would certainly hurt their defense in court, but would her word be good enough to guarantee Nate’s removal from his home? The thin woman’s actions reeked of revenge against Pa, but she had seemed to like Nate. So why would she purposely hurt him? Besides, her man hadn’t been any good. He reckoned that didn’t mean she was without feelings for the bastard.
Other than Elizabeth babbling to her dolly, the room was mournfully silent. Everyone, Nate suspected, was sadly reasoning through the same thoughts, except his little sister who was too young. Nate wiped at his eyes. Pa, upstairs fighting fever and infection, didn’t know he might soon lose a son.
Ma smoothed Nate’s hair while rocking him on her lap. He nestled his teary face into her bosom and didn’t care if he looked like a baby. It wasn’t something he normall
y would have done. He wished for a miracle. He prayed for Pa’s health to return. Maybe Nate would feel braver if Pa was well and was there to lead them all through this.
Jesse was well capable, but simply put, he wasn’t Nate’s father. He was a close second in every way. However, it was Nolan Crosson who had found Nate almost two years ago. He had then given Nate the Crosson name, a home, provided for him in ways no one ever had. Nate trusted and believed in that man more than any other, and the idiot Fletchers were attempting to sever that tight bond. Nate wanted strength to come to his pa more than he wanted the Fletchers to hop a stage and head back east where they belonged.
“What about the trial?” Jesse asked grimly. “Even if that skinny bitch does rattle off what she knows, Nate’s already been adopted so we gotta have a chance with that on our side.”
“Jesse, watch your mouth,” Ma scolded. She then kissed Nate’s head. “The day Nathanial was adopted, Judge Prescott assured me that Jim Younger would sign away his rights to Nathanial.” Ma blew out a deep sigh. “The judge checked the paperwork before coming to Gray Rock. He made a mistake. Jim Younger signed his rights over to the court, not to me. I was awarded the adoption.”
“So Prescott wants us to go along with these visits ‘cause he’s convinced that the Fletchers are holdin’ all the cards,” Jesse said dryly, his tone completely flat. “Well, I won’t allow it.” There was a hard manner about Jesse that said he had readily stepped into Pa’s boots and there would be no argument on the matter. He had made the decision, and that was final.
Numerous times, Nate had seen Ma and Pa talking things out. Both opinions were carefully weighed, but in the end, Pa was the head of the family so the choice and the responsibility fell to him.
Ma nodded, but not in an agreeable way, more that she understood Jesse’s protectiveness. “I’m afraid if we do that, then the Fletchers will push for the trial date to be set sooner rather than later.” Ma patted Jesse’s hand as she gave Nate a squeeze with her other arm. “You boys and Elizabeth are the sun, moon, and stars to that man upstairs. If he starts to come out of this and then finds out that one of his sons has been taken away, it’ll kill him.”
What Ma had said made perfect sense to Nate, although he didn’t want to have to spend a minute of time with the Fletchers. But for Pa, he could do just about anything. Pa needed more time for healing.
Jesse swallowed hard. That lump of pride that he’d forced down was surely turning his stomach. Nate felt a little sick himself. They had no other choice than to grant the judge’s request and allow the Fletchers visitation.
“I hadn’t looked at it that way,” Jesse said sorrowfully. His shoulders drooped to a beaten measure. “Okay.” He shook his head in disgust. “But I won’t allow Nathanial to be alone with them. So if they want to get to know him, they’ll do it with me right there, or they can shove off.”
“Mama.” Nate looked up into her tear-streaked face. “Do you think the Fletchers will win me?”
Ma slowly shook her head. “I have no idea. Unfortunately, Deloris Fletcher—” Ma choked up. “Shares the same blood as you. That might make a big difference in a court of law.”
“So what?” Jesse stammered. Nate knew what he was thinking. None of the three of them carried the same blood, but that didn’t mean they weren’t family.
“In a court of law, that relationship, though unfamiliar to Nate, binds him and the Fletchers. The judge confided that he has contacted some lawyer friends to seek precedence in this matter, and there isn’t any. Not one law or ruling on behalf of the adoptive parent nor the blood relation. But if I had to guess, I’d say any court would try to keep a child with kin when able.” Ma cradled Nate tighter into her bosom and wept.
He bawled harder than he ever had.
CHAPTER 23
At breakfast, Jesse burned the eggs, stuck fast to the skillet. Ma whipped through the kitchen, fetching broth for Pa and coffee for Doc.
Nate had heard some strange mumblings coming from Ma and Pa’s room last night when he was supposed to be sleeping. When Nate’s cries had reached Jesse’s room, he came and explained that Pa was delirious with fever. Nate knew enough to understand that wasn’t good. He was happy this morning that Pa had made it through the night. But even so, he hadn’t beaten this yet. Nate had no appetite for eggs or even his bacon, which he loved. He picked at the vittles on his plate.
“Why don’t you go get some fresh air? Do your chores while you’re out there.” Jesse picked up Nate’s untouched plate of food.
Nate shuffled toward the door.
A few minutes later, Jesse, with Elizabeth held in his arms, joined Nate on the porch. “Did you feed the horses?” he called.
“No, sir,” Nate grumbled. He didn’t feel like doing chores. He wanted to go back to bed, get up on the other side, and this time, Pa would be up and around and just fine.
Jesse jerked a thumb toward the barn. “Go on.”
Nate pushed up, thinking that Buck was probably anxious to see him. He took real good care of his horse. Maybe he would take Buck for a ride today.
He finished the barn work, gave Buck a pat on his soft nose, then returned to the yard with Jesse and Elizabeth, toddling through the grass. Jesse was a step off her pace, his arms outstretched in case he needed to save her from taking a tumble. Nate dropped onto all fours next to his sister. He barked and hopped along while gumming at her ankle, making her wobblier.
“Stop it. You’ll make her fall.” Jesse was a grump. He had been up all night the same as Nate, but Jesse wasn’t getting any breaks and he wasn’t used to taking care of Elizabeth, not this much anyway. That was typically Ma’s work.
Nate kept up his torment, ignoring Jesse’s scolding. Elizabeth plopped on her behind. Jesse was quiet. He hadn’t even tried to catch her. Nate turned and looked in the direction that Jesse’s eyes were narrowed on. A fancy black carriage creaked as it turned into the lane. There was no guesswork in figuring out who that was. Had Nate been smiling, it would have fallen right off his face. He got to his feet and stood tight next to Jesse as the solemn-looking carriage treaded closer. Nate suddenly felt cornered, as though he were under attack. His pulse quickened. He looked up at Jesse, who rested a hand on his shoulder.
“It’ll be all right, partner.” Jesse walked toward the gate. There was nothing casual or friendly in his mannerisms. His dislike of the Fletchers and this entire situation was plainly observable all over Jesse’s scowling face.
Mr. Fletcher halted the carriage outside the picket gate. “Good day,” he cheerily said and gave a wave as if they were all old friends.
Nate and Jesse looked at one another and likely were thinking the exact same thing. That Lem Fletcher was plumb out of his damn head.
Jesse didn’t offer a welcome. Nate sat down next to Elizabeth. He wasn’t willing to get anywhere near those two. Mr. Fletcher stepped down, then took his wife’s delicately bent wrist and aided her out of the carriage. Her white polished shoes clicked on the step down, and to Nate, the noise was the same as nails on a chalkboard. He was annoyed, and they had only been there for about ten seconds. This was going to be a long couple hours. Hours delivered to him straight from hell.
Mrs. Fletcher held up the hem of her hooped yellow dress with all its puffy lace trim away from the dirt as she proceeded to the gate arm and arm with her immaculately polished husband, who wore a dark pinstriped suit and black tie. He was the picture of a sober man who lacked humor. Together, they gave off an air and appearance of having an agenda, as though they were going to some sort of fancy gathering, a party, or to meet the president. Pa and Jesse didn’t even wear a tie to church half the time unless Ma made them.
Nate glanced at the upstairs window where Pa was fighting fever.
Ma stood in the window. Her lackluster gaze was on the Fletchers. She was a strong woman to deal with it all. Nate was a fighter too. He’d never been taught to give up. Besides, it just wasn’t in his nature. Inwardly, he sneakily grinned. An idea
was growing in his head. He wasn’t defenseless against the Fletchers, and it was time he stopped acting like it. For his plan to work, though, he’d have to do something that he was a little bit scared to do. It required him to be alone with Mr. Fletcher.
Nate scooped up Elizabeth and bounced the two of them over next to Jesse. The Fletchers had stopped outside the gate where Jesse stood on this side of it. They appeared hesitant to pass through, and Jesse wasn’t moving to open the entry for them. Hopefully, Nate’s grand idea would work and he could rid his family of all this unpleasantness.
“Hi.” His voice was too high. He was out of practice. Once upon a time, long ago, he was taught by his outlaw father to use his cute face and sweet little boy voice to swindle people. Nowadays, his ma and pa would blister his hide for even thinking about pulling those kinds of rotten stunts. On the other hand was Jesse, and as much as he would probably deny it, Nate was usually able to work him over until he caved in and gave Nate what he wanted. And honestly, it didn’t ever take much convincing. So he might be able to get away with his plan and escape punishment. If he could chase off the Fletchers, then it was well worth the risk of Jesse tanning his hide.
This time it was the Fletchers who stared at one another as if Nate had gone crazy. And it was true he wasn’t acting like himself. But he needed to convince them that he was perfectly content.
“I have a horse.” He forced a big smile. He loved Buck. In no way did Nate have the least little desire to tell these two about Buck, but he was counting on his plan to work. So along with his toothy grin, he ever so sweetly batted his long lashes.
“Isn’t that nice?” Mrs. Fletcher tilted her head, taking in the sight of Nate’s fluttery baby blues.
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