Matt (The Cowboys) (33 page)

“You don’t have to worry about him,” he said, coming to stand next to her. “I won’t let him touch nobody.”

“Suppose he’s got a gun,” Orin said.

“We got guns, too,” Toby said. “I can—”

“Nobody’s getting a gun,” Ellen said. “We aren’t even sure who he is or what he wants.”

The man was big, and he looked grimly determined. Or angry. He also looked very attractive. She’d expected him to be ugly, maybe because what he’d done was so ugly. She kept glancing toward the corrals, hoping to see Matt, but she heard nothing, saw no one.

The man brought his horse to a stop in front of the porch. He didn’t dismount. “Howdy.”

“Howdy, yourself,” Toby said.

Ellen squeezed Toby’s shoulder. She inclined her head without speaking. The man looked undecided. He glanced at both boys, at Tess on the porch. The ranch was quiet. No sounds told of the presence of three other people.

“Your husband about?” he asked.

“Somewhere,” Ellen said, squeezing Toby’s shoulder again when he opened his mouth to answer.

“He likely to come to the house soon?”

“He’d better,” Toby said. “Supper’s about ready.”

Ellen wished Toby hadn’t said that. Western custom dictated that she extend hospitality to all visitors, but she couldn’t invite this man to eat with them.

The man stayed in the saddle, looking around, his expression one of simmering anger.

“Can I help you with something?” Ellen asked. She wanted him to go away.

“I’m looking for a boy,” the man said.

“We ain’t got no extra boys,” Toby said.

Ellen felt Orin press closer to her. “I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific,” Ellen said.

“His name is Hank Hollender. I’m his uncle, Wayne Hollender.”

Ellen didn’t understand why she should suddenly feel more frightened of this man. His confirming his identity didn’t change anything.

“We ain’t letting you—”

Ellen’s fingers dug deep into Toby’s shoulder. “Why would you look for him here?”

“I tracked his horse in this direction.”

“I would have thought it was too dry for tracking.”

The man smiled without humor. “I was a tracker for the army. I can track a horse across rock. Besides, it was my horse he stole. I’d know its track anywhere.”

“That’s a lie!” Toby exploded. “Hank said it was his horse.”

She should have sent Toby to find Matt. She knew he couldn’t control his tongue for long.

Wayne Hollender’s expression turned ugly. “You people trying to steal my nephew?”

“We do have a boy here, but I don’t know that he’s your nephew.”

Hollender’s expression turned really ugly. “How many boys named Hank could be missing at the same time?”

“Hank’s not missing. I know exactly where he is.”

Ellen’s body sagged with relief. Matt had come out of the house behind her. She and Toby turned to him simultaneously. Orin moved to his side immediately.

“This man says—” Toby began.

“I heard what he said.”

“He wants to take Hank. You can’t—”

“Hank’s not going anywhere.”

If it were possible, Hollender’s expression grew even uglier. Ellen wondered how she could have thought him handsome.

“He’s my nephew. You have no right to hold him here.”

“We’re not holding him,” Matt said. “He came here on his own. He’s still here because he asked us to let him stay.”

Ellen reached out to Matt, put her hand on his arm, looking for the same kind of comfort Orin found by being close to him. She almost wished she hadn’t. Matt had spoken in a calm voice, had maintained a noncommital expression, but his body trembled with his anger. Ellen thought of his rage when he’d seen the marks on Hank’s back. This was worse.

“I’m his uncle,” Hollender said. “I’m responsible for him.”

“Even if he doesn’t want to stay with you?”

“That’s none of your business,” Hollender said. “Where is he? I want to be going.”

“I’m concerned about his safety,” Matt said. “This looks like something for a judge to decide.”

“I don’t need a judge to tell me my nephew belongs to me,” Hollender thundered. He dismounted. “Now where is he?”

“I have some questions I want answered,” Matt said.

Hollender had a rifle in a scabbard on his saddle. Ellen thought she saw his eyes cut toward it. “I don’t give a damn what you want,” he shouted.

The door to the house opened behind them and Hank pushed his way to the front. “I’m never going anywhere with you,” he shouted at his uncle. “I hate you. I—”

Without warning Hollender sprang forward, grabbed Hank’s arm, and pulled him down from the porch. Almost as quickly Ellen saw Hollender fly through the air and land in the dirt a half dozen feet away. He looked stunned to find himself on the ground.

“You’re making a big mistake,” he said to Matt, inching toward his horse at the same time.

Matt had gone down the steps and directly to Hollender. The man reached for his rifle, but Matt’s hand closed over his like a vice.

“Get on your horse and ride out while you can,” Matt said, his voice now almost a growl. He tore Hollender’s hand from the rifle, jerked it from its scabbard, and tossed it to Toby. “I’ll bring your rifle to town when I talk to the judge about Hank.”

“I’m not leaving without my nephew.”

Then he attacked. Head down, he barreled into Matt like some mad longhorn bull. The two men went over in a heap, Hollender on top of Matt.

“Smash his face in,” Toby yelled.

“Beat his head into the ground!” Hank shouted.

Noah had come out of the house behind Hank, but he was so frightened, he stayed close to Ellen. The minute the fighting started, Tess had jumped up from the swing, run over, and burrowed into Ellen’s skirts. Toby and Hank continued to dance around the combatants, shouting encouragement to Matt.

For a moment Ellen worried that wouldn’t be enough. Hollender was as big as Matt and enraged. He fought like a madman. But as quickly as Hollender had knocked him down, Matt turned the tables and was on top. Matt had an expression on his face unlike anything Ellen had ever seen. He looked like he wanted to kill Wayne Hollander. He pommeled Hollender’s body with his fists, knocked him down every time he attempted to get to his feet, grabbed him by the throat, and pounded his head on the ground.

“I hope he kills you!” Hank yelled. “I hope he kills you dead!”

When Hollender’s face turned purple, Ellen’s body went rigid with terror. Matt
did
want to kill Hollender. He was doing it.

“Matt, stop!” she shouted.

But Matt didn’t stop. Rage consumed him so thoroughly, her words hadn’t penetrated to his brain. She had to do something immediately or Matt would kill Hollender. Galvanized into action, she ran down the steps.

“Toby, help me pull Matt off.”

“No!” Hank shouted. “I want Matt to kill him.”

“Why should we stop him?” Toby asked.

“If Matt kills him, he’ll go to jail.”

Orin joined Toby and Ellen in their attempt to pull the two men apart, but their efforts were useless against Matt’s strength. His arms were like iron. Even Toby was powerless to loosen his grip on Hollender. Then suddenly, as though he realized what he was about to do, Matt released Hollander and threw himself off the gasping man. He got to his feet slowly, his gaze never leaving Hollender.

Ellen stared at Matt, unable to believe what she was seeing. His face was a mask of hatred that had turned his face ugly. In that moment the face of the man who’d killed her parents flashed into her mind, the ugliness of his expression when they’d sentenced him to hang, his damning her soul to hell. She forced the image from her mind. Matt was nothing like Anthony Howard. Matt wasn’t a killer. He was just angry at a great injustice.

Gradually Matt reined in the emotions that for a few minutes had overpowered him. His face relaxed into the kind, considerate man Ellen recognized. Only now she knew what she’d only sensed before. There was another part of Matt, a part capable of violence.

They stood there in a nearly silent tableau, everyone watching Hollender as his eyeballs righted themselves in his head, as the purple hue gradually left his skin, as his breathing slowed from body-wrenching gasps to labored intake. No one said anything when he finally sat up, but Orin retreated to the steps. Hank moved next to Matt. Toby stood his ground. Ellen put her arms around a very frightened Noah and Tess.

Matt looked normal, calm, quiet, and contained.

“You nearly killed me,” Hollender said without getting up.

Matt said nothing.

Hollender attempted to get to his feet. No one moved to help him when he fell back. They just watched, quiet as vultures perched in trees waiting for an animal to die. In a moment Hollender tried again. He got to his feet this time, but he had to hold on to his saddle to keep from falling.

“Get on your horse and leave,” Matt said.

“I’ll get the law on you,” Hollender said. “You’ll be the one answering the judge’s questions.”

“Ride out,” Matt repeated.

Hollender seemed revitalized by a sudden jolt of energy. He pointed his finger at Hank and shouted, “He belongs to me. I’ll get him back any way I have to.”

“I know what you did to that boy,” Matt said in a low, steady voice. “If you ever touch him again, I’ll kill you.”

“I’ll get him back,” Hollender said.

But the energy had gone out of him. His words sounded more like a whimper than a threat. No one said a word as Hollender tried three times before he was able to pull himself into his saddle.

After he managed to gather up the reins, he circled his horse, then looked over his shoulder at Matt. “I’ll get him back.” Then he left, his horse moving at a slow walk.

They remained silent until Matt turned toward the house. Then they all burst into conversation at once. Matt signaled them to be quiet. “I don’t want anyone to leave this house alone,” he said, “not even to go to the corrals, to milk the cow, or to collect eggs. If you see anyone you don’t know, let me know immediately. That is a very dangerous man, and we haven’t seen the last of him.”

“Why can’t I help Toby plow?” Noah asked Matt.

“Because the plow is bigger than you are,” Matt replied. “It would drag you all over the field.”

“You can help me.”

“I’m a cowboy,” Matt said. “We don’t know how to plow.”

Ellen smiled at Matt’s reaction. It was obvious Noah was a town kid. No boy raised on a ranch would have made that mistake.

“How come Toby knows how to plow?” Noah asked.

“He learned before he came here,” Matt said.

The entire family had been organized to plant the garden. Matt had sent Toby all the way to Bandera to borrow a plow and a mule to pull it. Ellen thought they should buy their own mule and plow. With all these mouths to feed, it was impossible to consider doing without a garden.

Once again she caught herself thinking like she’d be here next spring. With each passing day she found herself more emotionally attached to this group of people, found it more difficult to think of leaving. The lynchpin was Matt. She had thought she understood him. Now she wasn’t sure.

She knew he liked her. He would sometimes look up and smile at her in a way that seemed to say he liked her being here. While his touch was still pretty much limited to quick kisses and putting his arms around her, she sensed a wellspring of emotion behind those gestures. And that was where the confusion set in.

He never stepped over the line they’d drawn at the beginning. Much to her surprise, she found herself being frustrated, wanting more. She told herself that was foolish, that wanting more would inevitably make their situation untenable.

“No, Tess, you’re supposed to put just one bean in each hole.” She hadn’t been paying attention. The child had dropped at least three beans in every hole.

“They keep falling out of my hand,” Tess said.

“Don’t pick up so many at one time. Take one out of the bag and put it into the hole. Then take another and put it in the next hole.”

“You take a whole handful out of the bag,” Tess said, pointing to Ellen’s fistful of beans.

“But I only drop one in each hole. Now go back and take out the extra beans.”

“Why?”

“Because we won’t have enough to plant the whole garden if you don’t. The beans won’t grow big if they’re all planted in the same place.”

She went back down Tess’s row to see how long she’d been planting beans by the handful.

“I’ve been taking out the extra ones before I fill the hole,” Hank told her when she asked if he’d covered up holes with multiple beans. “Matt told me she’d probably start doing that when she got tired.”

As usual Matt had foreseen and solved the problem before it happened. She didn’t know how he did that. She watched Tess to make sure she only put one bean in each hole before going back to her own row.

She did want more from Matt. She didn’t love him, but she liked him so much that she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Even now, looking at him as he taught Noah how to place a slice of potato in the hole with the eye facing up, she felt a warmth curling in her toes. The man was beyond attractive. Maybe she ought to buy him a new wardrobe, one that hung on him rather than fit his body like a glove. His well-rounded bottom and powerful thighs were sheathed in denim stretched to capacity.