Home to Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 3) (25 page)

Chapter Seventy-Five

    
 
K
atie Elgerson sat in her highchair flinging freshly shucked peas at Samuel and giggling uncontrollably.

      Ottland crossed his arms and pouted. “They are making big mess!” he informed Emma as she washed Phillip’s hands at the big sink in the ranch kitchen.

      “Oh, you never made a mess at all,” Louisa rolled her eyes and scooped up the peas, tossing them into her apron.

      Katie threw another handful and laughed hysterically.  Roland walked into the chaos of the room and leaned in the doorway casually.

      On her first birthday Katie Elgerson was half the size of stout Samuel, and both Ottland and Phillip towered over her, each now over two years old. But she was completely undeterred by their size. She was swift and smart and could scamper away, as she was able to move more quickly than any of the boys.

      Colleen’s cooking lured the families to the ranch often. They’d all pack into the homey kitchen once the men had wandered the ranch giving Mark advice on how to handle his stock. They all admired his first attempts at breeding and it was clear that, in time, his horses would bring in huge prices.

      Colleen’s butters were so prized that the Billington Hotel paid her not only to supply them with fresh spreads daily, but exclusively as well. The couple was doing well making their way.

      The mills did well also. Mark’s dedication there gave Timothy and Roland more free time to enjoy their families, as everyone had hoped, now that the expansion had taken place. The business also employed so many workers that the nearby city began to thrive, holding huge fairs and competitions. The name Elgerson was often on everyone’s lips and was usually used with great respect.

      “Are those our dinner peas?” Roland asked nonchalantly as he watched Katie fire another round.

      “I was trying to get them ready for supper,” Louisa sighed with exasperation.

      “Alright, Miss Katie.” Roland lifted the child from the chair and she hugged the man around the neck.

      Emma chuckled, having never seen a more affectionate child. Soon she and Rebecca both were expecting another and there would be more children in highchairs and more peas on the floor.

      Timothy pushed open the screen door from the porch and Émigré and Cork burst in and began swallowing up peas from the floor and Louisa screamed and threw up her hands. “Now we’re not going to have any peas for dinner!”

       “No peas?” Timothy bellowed. “Whatever will we do with no peas?”

      “Oh, Daddy!” Louisa sulked.

      “Will these do?” Mark entered with a basket filled with fresh peas and a bushel of corn.

      Louisa shook her finger at Katie. “You can’t have these!” she scolded the child.

      Katie leaned over and kissed Louisa wetly on the nose.

      “Oh, great,” Louisa sighed and began shucking the peas at the high counter.

      Colleen found Rebecca on the porch and they spread out a crisp tablecloth on the table there and straightened the benches.

      “It’s good to see spring again,” Colleen sighed.

      “It’s hard to imagine you’ve been here a year.”  Rebecca remarked.

      Colleen looked out over the ranch. The barns were nearly filled with stock now and they had added a charming chicken coop. She watched the speckled hens pecking in the yard. The garden was producing from the generous spring rains and the grass was soft and bright.

      “I’ll start bringing out the food and send the kids out,” Rebecca smiled.

      Colleen nodded and took the bar from the nail on the pillar and rang the triangle brightly.

      The families filled the benches alongside the big table in the soft evening breeze, their voices light on the air with laughter and joy. The sound drifted on the breeze where it could be heard into the woodland.

      “Sound asleep.” Mark plunked down into the chair in the kitchen where Colleen was stacking dishes in the cabinet.

      “I’m not surprised, she didn’t stop all day.”

      “Colleen,” Mark said and he waited for her response.

      “Hmm?” Colleen turned to him.

      “Katie said something.”

      “Said something? A word you mean?”

      “Yeah.” Mark furrowed his brow.

      “That’s wonderful!’ Colleen sat down across from him. “What did she say?”

      “Pa.”

      “She said ‘Pa’?” Colleen had been coaching the child for weeks and she smiled.

      “Yeah. She said it three times. Every time I went to leave the room, she said ‘Pa’.”

      “That’s nice.” Colleen reached across the table and put her hand on his.

      “We did the right thing,” he mused.

      “Yes, dear, we certainly did.”

Chapter Seventy-Six

    
 
C
ork paced the length of the porch inside the railing like a caged animal in the soft evening light as Colleen returned to the house from the late milking.

      “What’s gotten into him?” Mark asked as he peered into the twilight watching the fireflies twinkling en masse across the wide lawns.

      “I don’t know. The animals were skittish too. It took several minutes for Clementine to let down her milk.”

      “I don’t think there’s a storm coming. Could be a fox. I’ll take a walk around in the morning, maybe get Émigré as well and take both dogs out.”

      “Be careful. Emma was telling me that there was a huge wolf spotted out by Hawk Bend. It might be a rogue male.”

       “Hmm,” Mark nodded his head.

      “Don’t forget you have that man coming in the morning to look over the colts.”

      “I don’t expect him until later. I’ll get out early, as soon as you’re done milking.”

      Colleen sat upright in the bed suddenly startled. Looking around the room she wondered what had awakened her. She considered that she might have been dreaming.

      Cork vibrated a low growl as he lay on the floor beside the bed and Colleen heard a horse whinny from the yard.

      “Mark,” she whispered, shaking her husband gently.

      “Uh, what?” Mark’s eyes flew open.

      “Listen.” Colleen sat silent.

      Cork growled again and the couple heard a brief creak.

      “Someone’s in the barn.” Mark knew the squeak of that hinge. He had heard it every morning when Colleen entered the barns. He was on his feet and into his boots and trousers in seconds, while Colleen slipped into her robe and lit the lantern, turning the wick down low. Mark pulled the rifle from above the armoire and dropped a handful of bullets into his pocket.

      “C’mon Cork.” He took hold of the animal’s collar at the kitchen door and stepped out onto the porch.

      At over a year old the Australian Cattle dog stood large for his breed, weighing over seventy pounds. He was devoted to Mark, quick to learn and follow direction. He stayed by his master’s side with gentle direction and waited tensely to go out into the yard.

      “Stay in the house,” Mark whispered to Colleen who stood with a heavy pistol in her hands. She nodded in response and he walked slowly out into the yard with the dog at his side.

      Mark and Cork skirted the edge of the clearing, staying along the border of the woodland. Mark knew it would give him cover with the dark tree line against his back, and Cork knew instinctively how to remain stealthy.

      The hinge squeaked again and in the deep darkness Mark could barely make out a figure emerging from the building leading several of the younger horses by their leads.

      “Horse thieves,” he whispered to himself and the dog growled low.

      Mark squatted down and hooked his fingers into the dog’s collar. He did not want to animal to attack. First he needed to know how many thieves he was up against.

      The thief closed the barn door behind him and began to lead the horses across the yard. There was clearly only the one man.

      Mark watched and waited studying the man. He had a pronounced limp, stood just about six feet, and was extremely thin. Mark caught his breath suddenly and stood up.

      “Jude Thomas!” he yelled out the man’s name, piercing the night and the dog sprang into action racing across the yard and leaping onto the man.

      The thief yelled out in pain and anger as Cork bit into his arm. The dog shook his head violently, forcing the man to collapse onto the wet lawn.

      “Call off your dog!” Thomas screamed.

      Mark walked up to the man and trained his rifle onto his chest as the horses fled towards the barn.

      “Cork!” Mark commanded sharply and the dog gave his head a final shake and backed away from Jude Thomas, growling under his breath.

      Colleen called out.

      “I’m alright,” Mark responded. “Get the horses in the barn and bring out some rope.

      “You must really want to swing from a rope, Thomas.” Mark glared at the man.

      “You can’t hang me!” Thomas spat. “You got nothing on me!”

      “Yeah, I know Jude. You were bringing the horses back, like you did with Cannonball last time. This time you will hang, Jude, but not by my hand. There are too many people in this county that would like to see that rope around your neck. I won’t deny them the satisfaction.” Mark knew the punishment for horse thieves and he knew with Jude’s history and reputation there would be no mercy this time. A horse thief could never be tolerated. When one man stole another man’s horse he took away his livelihood, his transportation and, sometimes his life. With his young horses gone, Mark’s investment in his ranch would be entirely lost. All the work, the hours, the money, the hopes and dreams would have been taken by this man. When Diana Weintraub died Jude Thomas had taken all of the beautiful animals that had remained at this ranch and left them to suffer horrible deaths in a scorching ravine. He didn’t even have the compassion to sell them off somewhere. No, this time there could be no mercy.

      Colleen returned from the barn with several lengths of rope in one hand and the pistol in the other.

      “Colleen, this is Jude Thomas. Shoot him if you need to.” The dog lay down at Colleen’s side.

      Colleen trained the pistol at the man’s head while Mark tied him securely to the upright pole that held the clotheslines. Colleen knew who Jude Thomas was. This was the man who had left Bernadette to have her child on her own, abandon her baby and bleed to death alone in the woods. Colleen’s face was hard and she knew how to use the gun.

      Jude looked up at her and winked. Colleen held her finger on the trigger and Cork growled.

      When the man was tightly secured to the square post Mark stepped back.

      “You need to watch him,” he explained to Colleen. “I’m going to get my Pa and Roland as well. I don’t expect he can get out of those bindings, but, if he does, you have my permission to put a bullet in him. Are you alright with that?” Mark looked at his young wife, his face serious.

      “Without hesitation,” she assured him, nodding firmly.

      Mark checked the horses briefly in the barn, saddled up Strawberry and rode out into the yard. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

      “Go get your daddy, Mark!” Thomas called out. “You don’t even have the guts to hang me yourself. Go ahead, leave me with your wife, you coward!”

      Colleen could see as the man struggled that he would not free himself easily and she lowered the gun.

      “What’s your name, honey?” Jude smiled cunningly, showing that he possessed only a few teeth.

      “Elgerson,” was Colleen’s curt reply.

      “You married that weakling? He’s no Elgerson. I knew his mama, I knew her really well. Marrying him does not make you an Elgerson, no matter what he told you.

      “I’ve been watching you,” he continued, “out here, you and your baby. I figure she’s about old enough that she was born last year.”

     The dog sensed Colleen’s apprehension and paced around the bound man agitated. Colleen lifted the gun and held her breath.

      “He had to be bedding you down about the same time he was having his way with that Shofield girl. Did you know that he was putting it into someone else while he was doing it to you?”

      Colleen took a breath. He didn’t know about Katie.

      “You’re nothing but swine,” she hissed.

      “I figure that man of yours is the one you ought to be sayin’ that to,” Jude chuckled lewdly. “I’ll wait till he gets back to see you slap his face.”

      Jude tried to squirm but the rope held fast.      “He’s going to bring back his daddy and Vancouver to fight his battles for him. He always does and he always will,” Jude talked on.

      He continued his dialog in hopes of aggravating the woman enough that she might come closer. If he could kick her he might have a chance at the gun, he thought. He might try kicking the dog as well.

      “Maybe they’ll bring along some of those tasty women they married. Boy, you sure can get it from some pretty good ones when you got all the money in the world. I couldn’t get to all you ladies myself, of course, with those damned men locking me up all the time, but I heard that my friends from jail had a bit of luck. At least one of them got into that pretty blond of Vancouver’s before he put a bullet in him.” Jude chortled spitefully.

      “He got nothing but her bullet in his chest,” Colleen corrected. “You keep talking and you might get the same from me.”

      “I’ll take ya,” he grinned. “You might be even prettier than the rest of them. Mark must have some kind of special equipment to keep a shapely thing like you happy.”

      Colleen fired the gun close to the man’s foot and he recoiled in the ropes.

      “Whoa there, honey,” Jude groaned. “You’re gonna get me all excited there playin’ with that gun.”

      Thomas spit onto the ground. “Yeah it was real nice thinking about Elgerson and Vancouver and those men I sent out here, enjoying themselves and watchin’ their women right under their very noses. Real nice.”

      Jude studied the girl’s delicate face in the brightening light of dawn, seeing her up close for the first time. Her hair tumbled across one side of her face and onto her shoulder. The sun began rising and the glow it cast behind her shone softly through her hair. Jude was physically held fast to the pole, but nothing held back his imagination.

      “Wow,” he whispered. “You really are something.” Jude decided that he had to admire Mark’s taste.

      “This is my place, you know. No bank can sell it off. I’ll always come back,” Jude threatened.

      Jude Thomas heard the hoof beats along the road and cursed. Cork circled the man and Colleen lowered the gun again to her side and sighed.

      “It’s been real nice talking’ to you, honey. I’ll come looking for you. You wait for me now.” Jude Thomas chortled.