Ask No Tomorrows (5 page)

“
Sure does…so what you doin’ out here in the middle of
nowhere?” the first man asked as he smiled at his partner. The
banter between the two men was meant to intimidate, but Sam
indulged them a moment longer. The conversation was taking a
different turn and Sam knew it wouldn’t be fruitful.

“
Just travelin’ through,” Sam remarked, not glancing at
them.

“
On
foot?” the other asked with a laugh.

“
Yes sir, lost my horse yesterday.” Sam saw Nodog bristle, and
bare his teeth, a sure sign there was trouble ahead. “Snake
startled him, he threw me and took off. Thought I’d see about
another horse when I get to the next town. He was always a little
skiddish. I been walkin’ ever since. I walked over here to stay
under the shade a while and cool off. Ain’t many trees out this
way.”

“
Lost it. Well now, what kind of man loses a horse?” the first
man asked with a chuckle yet his sarcasm carried to his
friend.

“
A
careless one, I guess,” Sam answered with a laugh. “How far is it
to the next town?”

“
Ain’t no towns out this way. There’s a few places about to get
some supplies, but no towns around here. What’s your name,
stranger?” the cowboy asked as his fingers twiddled with a rope in
his hand.

“
Sam, Sam Tanner,” he answered, watching the rope. “And who do
I have the pleasure of speakin’ with?” Sam gauged their actions and
voices thoroughly.

“
George Tatum, and my friend is John Finley. We’re ranchers.
We’re lookin’ for a girl—a woman.” George eyed Sam carefully
now.

“
Do
tell, out here?” Sam frowned up at him. “In the middle of
nowhere?”

“
Yeah, you see she run off. We were concerned she might get
herself hurt or into trouble. You see she ain’t right in the head,”
John said.

His partner
snickered.

Sam squinted
up at them. “You mean she’s touched?”

George
snickered again and eyed his friend with a grin. “One way of
puttin’ it. Her pa died not long ago, reckon she didn’t get over it
as well as everyone thought. You wouldn’t have seen her, would you
mister?”

“
Nope, you’re the first I’ve seen of anyone in a couple of
days. This part of the country is pretty desolate, don’t you
think?” Sam scratched his head as he took his hat off. He gazed out
over the land that stretched for as far as the eye could
see.

“
Desolate, huh? That’s one way of lookin’ at it. This is
ranchin’ country mister and ‘bout all you’ll find for miles
around.”

“
Now John, don’t it strike you as funny that a growed man would
be out here in the middle of nowhere without a horse or a rifle?”
George snickered again. “And a freshly dug grave at his
foot.”

John turned a mean frown on Sam, his vexation at Sam more
obvious now. “Strikes me
rea
l
funny.”

Nodog
growled.

“
Not surprising, my horse took off, my gun fastened onto him,”
Sam explained, his movements slow and deliberate, his voice
calm.

“
You do have a pistol though.”

“
Yeah, I got a pistol. ‘Bout the only thing I use a gun for is
my supper, though. I mean, I got Nodog. Guess I’ll have to find a
stream and catch me something.”

Both men
looked at Nodog.

“
I
ain’t sure I believe you.” George circled Sam now with his horse.
His yellow toothed grin aimed at Sam.

“
Well, it’s the Lord’s truth. Horses can smell the dead for
miles, you know,” Sam commented.

“
And you didn’t dig this grave?” John asked as George kept
circling.

“
Nope, what would I dig it with?” Sam asked, eyeing George. “As
you can see, my hands are clean.”

He took his
gloves off.

“
Maybe that’s the girl in that grave. Maybe you found her and
killed her,” John said. “Maybe you bein’ a black buckm, you had
your way with her and killed her.”

Sam firmed his
lips and steadied himself. “One way to find out: dig it
up.”

George shot him a look of disdain, then shook his head
stopping right in front of Sam. “I don’t think we’ll have to do
that. It’s pretty clear she’s in there and you done it. Ain’t no
one else about. Ain’t no one missin’ that we know of, ‘cept her. No
sir, I’d say we found the girl alright, and the man that done her
in. Now, what do you think we ought to do to
you
?”

If she was
dead, they wouldn’t chase her anymore and Sam decided to let it
lie.

“
Depends, did you want her back dead or alive?” Sam
laughed.

George made no
attempt to hide his anger as he dismounted, and Sam waited for him
to come closer. Nodog edged toward him, smelling him and growling.
His teeth bared back, he growled loudly. As he did, Sam pulled a
knife from his boot and stabbed the man, and then he ran like
lightning. Nodog had jumped the man on the horse and had almost
bested him when the cowboy pulled his gun and shot at Nodog. Nodog
whined loudly and lay down.

Sam wasn’t
sure if Nodog was hit, but he aimed to find out.

John chased
Sam and before Sam knew what hit him, a rope was thrown around him
and he was being dragged across the prairie. Rocks, dirt and cactus
hit him all at once. The ground was unbendingly hard. He could feel
his skin tearing, smell the blood. Knowing what the Shawnee had
taught him, he became very stiff and didn’t move and let the dirt
and rocks tear at his skin as he was drug for some time before John
seemed satisfied he was dead. He had protected his head as best he
could and blacked out the pain before it began. The Shawnee had
taught him well. Still he’d be some time getting over the soreness
of it all.

Sam heard a
shot and heard Nodog squeal for a moment, then silence. Had they
killed his dog? They would be sorry, if they did, that much he
promised. A man could shoot at him, but if he raised a gun to his
horse or dog, Sam was ready to kill.

Directly John
stopped, got off his horse and came toward him. He spit his tobacco
on the ground. Sam heard the sizzle of the tobacco. He held his
breath and didn’t move. The best thing he could do now was play
dead. John bent over him, but was satisfied he was either dead or
close to it and remounted. “Guess that takes care of the girl and
the stranger.”

As he rode
off, Sam drew a quick breath. He lay still ‘til he heard the horse
ride off. He had to make sure the stranger was gone before he got
up, if he could get up. Everyplace on him felt as though his skin
had peeled off him. Maybe he’d just lay here a while and rest, his
mind directed him as he felt himself surrounded in a darkness that
wasn’t there.

Two or three
hours later, he cracked an eye as Nodog licked his face and whined.
Pain registered all through Sam’s body, but he forced his mind not
to think on it as he squinted to see. A horse was nearby and for a
moment he was sure the cowboy had come back and wanted to reassure
himself he was dead.

But directly
he heard someone move about and as he squinted once more to see, he
recognized her. Riley Morgan had come back, and Nodog had been
bandaged on the leg.

She’d made a
fire, gotten some water, and was trying her best to doctor him. He
also saw Nodog panting heavily and laying on the ground with a
bandage around one leg.

When she went
to take his shirt off, he came to with a swear on his breath.
“Dammit woman, what are you doin’?” he protested hotly.

“
I’m tryin’ to heal you…” she whispered then continued to
remove his shirt.

Sam fought to
keep his shirt on.

“
By
takin’ my shirt off?” he yelled. “How bad is he?” Sam asked,
staring at his dog.

“
Nicked him in the leg is all; he’ll heal just fine. But you
sure are cut up. You hold still so I can doctor this.”

“
I’ll be fine.”

“
Let’s not be so loud or proud at the moment. I don’t know if
anyone is about. I waited ‘til I was sure he was gone before I came
in and made camp. Looks like you killed that George, alright. I’m
obliged for that,” she exclaimed as she gently pulled the shirt
away from him and the blood and sweat made it want to stick in
places and she had to peel it from his body like the outer layers
of an onion. Her hands felt gentle against him and he moaned
despite himself. No one this soft had ever touched him, he was
sure. The touch of her soft hands on his naked chest was unbearably
sweet and provocative at the same time.

“
Ain’t decent to strip me of my clothes,” Sam
moaned.

“
Be
quiet. I’m doctoring you and I can’t doctor you between your
clothes. Your skin is torn and it’ll get infected if we don’t put
something on it. Land sakes they tore you to shreds. I found some
aloe growin’ out here, and I’ll doctor you with that. It heals the
skin better than anything. You hold still and let me tend it,” she
directed firmly. “I once healed a man with burns on his body and
everyone was amazed, but it weren’t me, it was the aloe. It’s like
magic. I stitched Nodog up and he’ll be fine. He didn’t whimper
when I bandaged him.”

“
He
don’t wear clothes either. Why did you come back?” he protested
again. This time he couldn’t fight the sweet touch.

“
Had to. Told you I was raised that way. You don’t leave nobody
a foot in these parts. Without food, water, gun nor horse you’d
die,” she argued. “Even with Nodog, you couldn’t make
it.”

“
That dog has saved me more times than I can count,” Sam
protested. “Him and the horse are worth more than I got in my
pockets…”

“
Well, I’m glad you appreciate your animals and you’re probably
right about that. That’s in your favor. This time Nodog needed some
help too. So be quiet and be still. He was a better patient than
you are.”

“
Ain’t your concern…” Sam said in an almost sigh as her fingers
spread the aloe against him. His whole body reacted to her touch
and he couldn’t hide that fact either. “I’m a black man for God’s
sake, what do you care if I die? Better me die than both of
us.”

“
You’re just a man to me. The fact that you’re black don’t mean
a thing. When you gonna realize the war is over. You are a free
man. My Pa hired many a black hands to help with the ranch, never
treated a one of them different. Besides, a man that’s all I see.
Anyway, I could say the same about you givin’ me a horse and gun
too. You didn’t have to do that. You could have just left me…you
didn’t. I’m a white woman for God’s sake.”

“
That’s different, you’re a woman,” he explained. “No man
leaves a woman stranded.”

“
You didn’t have to bury that man neither, but you did. My Pa
always taught me things about survival. He also taught me how to
read a man,” she quipped. “He wanted me to know there was good ones
and bad, and I had better learn to tell the difference. I’m pretty
good at it now.”

“
Read a man?” His head turned slightly to look at her. “Then
why didn’t you read your foreman?”

Riley shot him
a slight frown. “He was right under my nose, too close to be seen
and detected. And…because I was too busy trying to run the ranch. I
wasn’t looking at all the things he was doin’. You are right, I
should have seen it comin’, and my dad would rise up from the grave
to tell me so.”

She had
cleaned up and her skin looked pretty and pink. She was tolerable
to look at. But he wouldn’t notice any more about her, he
determined, especially since her hands felt like velvet on his
skin. The less he had to do with this female, the
better.

“
A
decent man would do what you did: bury that fella and give me your
horse. If you were of no character you wouldn’t have done that. You
wouldn’t even think of doing that. So I came back for you. Figured
we could travel by night and no one would see us.”

“
We…” Sam shook his head and turned over so he could face her.
But he was unprepared for the angel of a woman who bent over him to
nurse him. She still wasn’t beautiful, however, something so sweet
and innocent poured out of her face that Sam couldn’t take his eyes
from her. No woman had ever captured his attention for long, but
there was something almost angelic about her. She had no earthly
idea what she did to him with those soft hands, sweet smile and
eyes of an angel. “Look, I appreciate your decency. I do. But you
ain’t usin’ your head, girl. The war might be over, but a black man
is still a black man, and bein’ with a white woman…well, it’s not
gonna work. Not here in the south at least.”

“
Well, the way I see it, I ain’t gonna get nowhere out here by
myself, and you ain’t gonna get nowhere without your horse. So we
might as well stick together ‘til we can figure out what to do,”
she insisted.

“
Ma’am.” Sam rose and sat in front of her, ignoring the pain,
wanting to be gentle and yet firm with her. He shook his head. “We
can’t ride together nowhere. First time somebody seen us together
they’d hang me and shoot you.”

“
I’m aware you are a black man, kinda hard thing to hide. And
there’s nothing I can do about that fact either. But we are both in
a fix now. I reckon we are stuck with each other for a
while…”