The sun was barely up, but Samuel was in a hurry to get out of that cabin and down to Rock Creek as fast as his horse would carry him. Surely Minerva Mullins had some white paint somewhere in that durned store! He didn't think he could stand one more night surrounded by glowing pink walls.
He looked around unbelievingly. The color was bad enough in daylight. But with the orange firelight shining on it, it Was damn near terrifyin'. Samuel glanced down at the boy standing beside him. Thankfully, the kid seemed to agree with him. He didn't know if he could bear bein' around two people who thought a pink cabin was "lovely."
Luke looked a sight different in dry clothes and the morning light. True, he was still too skinny, but Abby's cooking would soon fix that up. Samuel wasn't quite sure how he'd come to agree to Luke's staying with them. But he did know that what he'd heard during the night had done a lot to persuade him.
Maverick had heard it first. Samuel remembered being wakened by the big dog's soft whine and sudden movement. Harry, sound asleep with Abby, didn't stir. Samuel had lain quietly in the darkness, his side pressed against that damned bundling board, and strained to hear what his dog had.
Then the sound came to him. Softly at first, then as time passed, it came a little louder, a little harsher. It took him a few moments to identify it, and when he did, he hadn't known what to do about it.
On a pallet by the fire, Luke Daley was curled into a tight ball beneath his blankets. In the flickering light Samuel watched as the boy's little body jerked and flinched as if trying to escape something. And with the tiny movements was the sound. Crying. Whimpering. The rough little hellion who'd stood up to a man three times his size was crying in his sleep.
Samuel had shushed Maverick and laid back down himself, though he knew he wouldn't be getting any rest that night. He was sure that Luke wouldn't welcome sympathy from him. In fact, the boy would very likely be embarrassed to know what he'd been doing. So Samuel had left him alone. But he'd also realized that he wouldn't be sending the boy on his way anytime soon.
No child should cry in his sleep. Samuel snapped back to the present when he heard Abby talking again. "Are you sure?" Abby asked, eyeing the oddly matched pair before her.
The big man glanced down at the boy beside him. There was no indication of night terrors on the child's surly face. If anything, the runt looked as if he was ready to do battle again.
"Yes, Abby. I'm sure." Samuel grabbed his hat off the nearby peg and jammed it on. "I think we can handle goin' to the store by ourselves."
The fight started in the middle of Main Street. No one was quite sure who'd thrown the first punch, but it was easy to see who was liable to throw the last.
Luke straddled the other boy's chest and pounded his fists rhythmically into his target's face. By the time Samuel rushed out of the store, drawn by the noisy crowd, Luke's opponent had a bloody nose and was yellin' like all get-out.
A raw-boned little man with wispy gray hair was dancing back and forth around the tussling youngsters, trying to get a hold on one of them. Samuel pushed his way through the crowd easily, stepped into the fracas, and lifted Luke with one strong hand.
As soon as he was free, the bloody boy lit into a captive Luke like a weathervane in a twister. He got in a couple of solid punches to the stomach before Samuel reacted. Then the big man laid one hand on the boy's head and held him at bay, easily dodging his still swinging fists.
Finally the gray-haired man plucked the other boy from Samuel's grasp and gave him a good shake.
"What'd your ma just tell you about fightin'?" For a small man his voice thundered over the now quiet crowd.
"Weren't my fault!" the bloodied boy shouted, jerking his head at Luke. "He started it!"
"Ain't so!" Luke squirmed fiercely, trying to escape Samuel's grip. "You're a ding-blasted liar!"
"You can't call me no liar!" The other child rushed forward, but the older man grabbed him again.
"I just done it!" Luke crowed loudly, sparing a sneer for Samuel, hoping to make the big man set him free. "You're a no-account liar, like I said!"
The tired-looking man sent a weary glance at Samuel and nodded at the store. Samuel understood at once and completely agreed. Without a word, he turned around and half pushed, half carried Luke to Mullins's Mercantile.
Murmurs of disappointment from the crowd washed over the two men and boys as they stepped inside. Minerva hurried from behind the counter, wiping her clean hands on a stiff-with-starch white apron. She shot a quick look at Luke, then turned her full attentions on the other boy.
Stepping up close, she ignored the older man and grabbed the boy's left arm in a firm grip. "Obadiah Mullins!"
Luke snickered at the name, then stuck his tongue out at the furious boy across from him.
"What am I gonna do with you?" Minerva paused only for breath. She didn't wait for an answer. "How many times have I told you I don't want you fightin' in the street?"
"Blast it, Ma, where else can a body fight?"
"1'Don't you talk to me like that young man
She kept a grip on her son and glared at the gray-haired man behind him. "And you!"
He shifted uncomfortably. "Now, Minerva —" "Alonzo Mullins," she went on, "what kind of father can't keep a child out of trouble?"
Samuel watched with interest as Alonzo and his son, both wearing matching expressions of befuddlement, groped for answers to the rapid-fire questions. Then it was Samuel's turn.
"And shame on you, too!" Her black eyes snapped as she stared at the huge man. "Got no more sense than God gave a rock!"
"But —" Samuel started to remind her that he'd been in her store when the fight started.
"Don't make no difference that the boy's not yours. When you're in charge of a young'un… then by thunder, be in charge!"
The boys shared half-smiles as they watched the adults getting most of the grief. The two men stood silent under Minerva's tirade, though Samuel's jaw was clenched and he thought he saw poor old Alonzo grinding his teeth together.
Finally Minerva reached into her pocket, pulled out a plain white handkerchief, and wiped the blood off her son's face. Then she shot a warning look first at him, then at Luke.
"Now, while we finish up our business, I want you two to go on outside and find a way to talk to each other."
The boys started to move, but her commanding voice stopped them.
"You recall I said talk!"
"Yes'm," Obadiah mumbled.
"Yes'm," Luke repeated, walking beside the other boy to the front door. Just as they reached it, the adults heard him ask, "Where in hell did you get a name like Obadiah?"
The other boy laughed. "That ain't nothin'! You should hear what they called my brothers!"
Samuel was fairly certain there wouldn't be another fight, but he was determined to get back to the cabin quick, just in case. Luke had surprised him. Somehow Samuel wouldn't have thought that the boy would be so willing to fight. Especially with a boy so much bigger than himself. Though the two were about the same height, the Mullins boy outweighed Luke by at least twenty pounds. But, he thought, smiling, for a little fella, Luke was a ring-tailed terror.
Samuel still found it hard to believe that the kid had inflicted so much damage on the bigger boy. And all Luke had to show for his tussle was a rip in his new shirt and a small bruise under his right eye.
"That'll be enough of that," Minerva stated flatly. Samuel jumped and turned to face her. "What?"
"I said that'll be enough. I ain't blind, you know." She turned her back on him and walked behind the counter again, where she started boxing his order. "I can see you standin' there, puffin' out that chest o' yours all proud as can be of that little scrapper of yours."
Samuel looked to Alonzo for support, but the man just shook his head and moved off toward the storeroom.
"I wasn't… " Samuel said.
"Hmmph!" Minerva slammed a bag of sugar into the box and smirked at him. "You're all alike, you men. Why, the last time Obadiah got in a scrape, he won, and you'd a thought Alonzo's buttons would fly off." Smoothing her impeccably neat hair, Minerva stopped suddenly and pointed an accusing finger at him. "Young and old, you're all the same. Just interested in struttin' for the hens is all." She pushed the box toward him and Samuel rushed to pick it up and get outside. Her voice followed him out the door.
"If it ain't screamin' Indians, it's outlaws or each other, and when you ain't got no one else, some of you will turn on your women!"
He closed the door after him but still heard her last comment. "You're all alike, I say!"
Alonzo Mullins was waiting by the storeroom's outside door. As Samuel pulled the wagon alongside, the older man picked up two of the paint cans and shrugged.
"She always like that?" Samuel asked quietly.
"Hell." Alonzo smiled. "When she gets a bee in her bonnet, Minerva can talk till she gets blue in the face. But she finally wears down."
Samuel grabbed the last two paint cans and set them in the wagon beside the others. He looked down at the smaller man and found himself returning Alonzo's conspiratorial grin. Suddenly they were both laughing. And Samuel realized with a start that the other man wasn't scared of him. In fact, Alonzo just might even like him a little.
A few minutes later the wagon was rolling out of town. Samuel somehow wasn't surprised to find Luke and Obadiah smiling and waving goodbye like lifelong friends. And he didn't even mind when Luke started in chattering about "what Obadiah said," though it appeared the other boy had an opinion about everything. Just like his mother.
Alonzo Mullins stood on the freight plat form behind his store and thoughtfully watched the big man's wagon until it disappeared from sight. He'd heard all about Samuel Hart from Minerva, but he hadn't put much stock in what she'd said. To Alonzo's way of thinking, womenfolks changed their minds too damn easy. He remembered quite well all the times he'd heard Minerva and her nosy friends speculating about the silent giant who'd hardly opened his mouth to the townsfolk until the last week or so. And now, after spendin' a little time with him over coffee and cookies, they all decide that he's just a wonderful man. Just a little shy is all.
Alonzo himself hadn't been so sure. But now, after seein' how he took Minerva's tongue lashing without battin' an eye, well… maybe the women were on to something this time. The man sure hadn't acted like no ragin' monster. Not even when the kids were havin' at it.
Minerva called to him from the store, and Alonzo pushed away from the plank wall he'd been leaning on. Turning to go back to work, Alonzo let thoughts of the mysterious Samuel Hart drift away. Only time would tell what kind of man the big loner really was. But in the meantime, maybe ol' Samuel'd like to do some fishin'.
"I still don't understand why you don't like the pink," Abby said quietly as she watched Samuel stir the open can of white paint.
"It ain't fittin' for a man!" Luke commented and continued to cover the pink walls with a fresh coat of white.
"I don't see why not," Abby said, frowning at the boy's back. "White will look so… plain."
And thank God for that, Samuel told himself silently. But she sounded so disappointed that he added, "When your sleepin' room is finished, you can paint it anything you want, all right, Abby?"
Her lips curved slightly. "I suppose it will have to do," she said quietly. "But, Samuel, could we at least use my bright yellow on the trim in this room?"
He sighed, surrendered, and looked at her. She looked so damn hopeful, he knew he couldn't refuse her. Besides, when she was gone he could paint over the whole mess. Samuel looked away. He didn't want to think about that now. "Sure. You just show Luke. He's doin' a good job there."
The boy glanced over his shoulder, then went back to work.
"Yes, he is," Abby agreed, smiling. Then she frowned suddenly and asked, "How did you say he hurt himself again?"
Luke stiffened slightly, and Samuel cleared his throat uneasily. The two of them had agreed not to mention anything about the fight to Abby. Didn't seem worth the trouble. She'd only get herself in a state fussin' over the boy.
"He… uh," Samuel said, "fell off the freight platform at Mullins's." "Strange," she mused to no one in particular, "that he could simply fall off."
"Yeah, well." Samuel grabbed his hat and moved for the door. "Gotta keep your mind on what you're doin'."
"Where are you going, Samuel?" she asked.
"I'm gonna get started on that room," he answered and opened the door. "Oh, good!" He turned to look at her and felt his blood race at the brilliant smile she gave him.
"Oh, and Samuel — do you think you could make up a bed for Luke today, too? He shouldn't have to sleep on the floor, you know."
He stared at her. She was amazing. The woman could think of more things for a body to do… Finally he nodded and went outside before she could come up with anything else.
Why did she always have to look at him like that? With complete trust and faith shining from her eyes. Samuel knew that for some reason, Abby Sutton believed in him. He didn't quite understand why, but a part of him liked it very much.
It felt good to please her.
Chapter Ten
Abby filled the coffeepot for the second time that morning, then set it on the stovetop. The breakfast dishes were sparkling clean, the cabin floor neatly swept, even the windowpanes glistened in the sunlight.
Then she sighed and looked around at the plain white walls. Samuel was wrong, she told herself glumly. The cabin didn't look nearly as cheerful as it had when it was pink. Why, even the red and white curtains lacked a certain something when surrounded by plain walls.
She jumped when the pounding started up again. Samuel was certainly working hard at adding that room. Why, he'd worked until long after dark the day before and was at it again right after breakfast today! Now her head pounded in time with Samuel's enthusiastic hammer. But she couldn't complain. Not since the man was building her a bedroom, for heaven's sake. And she had to admit that since Luke had arrived, she wouldn't mind having a little privacy. Although, a little voice inside her whispered, she would miss having Samuel so close to her every night.