Tracie Peterson - [Land of the Lone Star 03] (13 page)

“It looks like Judge Peevy is here again,” Hannah said, glancing out the window. It had been raining off and on all day, so to see a visitor was quite a surprise.

She opened the door and ushered the man into the house. “Goodness, come in, Judge. Let me take that wet coat and get you a towel to dry off with.”

“Much obliged, Mrs. Barnett. Much obliged.” Judge Peevy slipped out of the coat and hat and handed them quite willingly to Hannah.

Carissa got to her feet. “I’ll get you a cup of hot coffee.”

“That sounds really good. Might I trouble you to put a couple of spoonfuls of sugar in it?”

Carissa smiled. “Of course.” She put aside her sewing and hurried into the kitchen. Juanita had apparently heard the conversation and was already pouring the coffee.

“Thank you,” Carissa said, taking the cup and saucer. She added the sugar and hurried back to the room as Hannah handed the towel to the judge.

“Come sit over here,” Hannah instructed, leading the judge to William’s favorite leather chair. “What in the world brings you out on a day like this?”

The judge settled into his seat and dabbed the towel to his face and shirt. “It wasn’t like this when I left Cedar Springs. Just a few odd sprinkles—but certainly nothing like this downpour.”

Carissa stepped forward with the coffee and handed him the cup and saucer. The older man smiled. “Thank you. I must say the Southern hospitality here beats anything in the North.”

“Have you been north, Judge?” Hannah asked.

“I have. I’m afraid it did me little good. I went to see some people in Washington.”

“Oh, goodness,” Hannah said, shaking her head. “I had no idea you’d been gone. When did you get back?”

“I’ve been home only two days. I had to come right away and give Mr. Atherton the news myself.”

Carissa felt her stomach flip. “What news?” she asked before Hannah could speak.

The man sipped his coffee and smiled. “Very good brew. Thank you again.”

“Judge Peevy,” Hannah interjected. “What news did you bring?”

He frowned. “Are the boys back from the trail drive?”

“No. They won’t be for another few weeks,” Hannah replied. “I presume this is about the Atherton ranch.”

The judge nodded. “It is. I’m afraid the news will not be to your liking. The decision has been made to continue the negative example to those who fought against the North. The ranch is lost to Tyler.”

“No!” Carissa declared. “They can’t do that.”

The older man nodded. “I’m afraid they can. In fact, it will become part of several parcels put up for new ownership.”

“Then we’ll simply buy it,” Hannah declared. “William has already offered to do this.”

“I’m afraid there are some restrictions that will prohibit William from taking that action. You see, these tracts of land are to be made into homesteads. The plan is to encourage people to move west. The group in charge is trying to cultivate interest from those in the North and East. They want to find Northern families in particular.”

“How is any of this legal?” Laura asked.

The judge gave a harsh laugh. “I’ve seen all manner of wrong called legal since the war ended and those radicals took over, Mrs. Reid. At this point, I’m afraid there’s nothing more that can be done.”

“Tyler will be heartbroken. This is beyond belief,” Hannah said, shaking her head.

Carissa sat down and tried to organize her thoughts. She had long reasoned that she might take up a homestead, so maybe now was the time. “Judge Peevy, can anyone apply for these new homesteads, or must they have residence in the North?”

“I believe that is their hope, but not a solid requirement. Why, do you know someone who might wish to homestead?”

She nodded. “I do.” She glanced at Laura before looking back at the judge and smiling. “I would like to homestead. I wasn’t a Southern sympathizer, although my husband fought for the South. However, I am a widow with a child and would like to make a new life for myself and my daughter.”

“That should work, shouldn’t it?” Hannah questioned.

“Our uncle lives in Chicago,” Laura interjected. “We could even make the application through him—at least through his address. Might that not help?”

The judge considered this for a moment and drank his coffee. Carissa wanted to scream at the man and demand an answer, but she waited in ladylike patience. Finally he put the cup on the saucer.

“I believe you ladies may have something.” He nodded thoughtfully. “In fact, I see no reason this young widow should not be allowed to strike out on her own. She has a child to provide for, after all.” He smiled. “Let me see what I can do.”

H
e walked on the backs of those steers?” Sidley questioned in disbelief.

“More like ran,” Tyler interjected.

William nodded. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it, either. We came up on them to find Newt acting like he was crossing a bridge, only this one was made of cattle.”

Osage slapped his leg. “Well, if that don’t beat all.”

Newt looked up in confusion. “Couldn’t get ’em to move out of my way to walk through ’em. I only did what seemed reasonable.”

“Just like with the steer slidin’,” Tyler said with a grin.

“Saved my life,” Newt said, nodding most enthusiastically.

One of the trail drivers pushed back his hat and eyed Tyler. “What’s he talkin’ about? Ain’t he figured out that we was just funning with him?”

“No need to think that your intentions were other than proper trainin’,” Tyler declared. “We saw Newt slide under two steers. Saved him from being gored to death by a particularly mean piece of work that had in mind to charge.”

The men gathered round the fire looked at Newt with new respect. Sidley posed the question on everyone’s mind. “How’d you do it?”

Newt grinned. “Just like Andy showed me.” He looked at the boy who was seated beside William. “I saw that my only way out was under them beasts, so I hit the dirt runnin’ and gave a good slide just as I reached the side of the first steer.”

“And they just stood there?” Grubbs asked, shaking his head. He looked to Tyler. “He tellin’ it true, Lieutenant . . . I mean, boss?”

“He’s tellin’ the truth, Grubbs. I saw it with my own eyes. Slid right under the two of them and off the ledge into the river below.”

“Steer slidin’ saved my life,” Newt said. He took a long drink of coffee and smiled. “I’m sure glad you fellas taught me.”

“But that weren’t nothin’ but a joke,” one of William’s men said. “Ain’t no such thing as steer slidin’.”

Newt’s expression turned puzzled. “Whatcha mean?”

Tyler laughed. “Ain’t no sense in tellin’ him that it was a joke. That joke saved his skin. I figure if anything, this boy needs to be teachin’ the rest of you how to run atop the backs of steers.”

The men laughed, and Newt relaxed a bit. He looked to Andy. “Sure glad you’re gonna be all right. I thought for sure your arm was busted.”

Andy nodded. He had a good-sized knot on his forehead and his right eye was turning black, but he was alive. Tyler reached over and barely touched the boy’s jaw with his fist.

“You’ll have a great story to tell everyone when we get home.”

William rolled his eyes to the heavens. “His sister isn’t going to think it’s so great. I was charged with keeping Andy safe. Hannah thought him too young to be out here, and now—”

“And now she’s gonna realize she was wrong,” Osage said with a smile. “The boy’s just been initiated, that’s all. Got his shoulder pulled out of socket and back in, and took a hoof to the head. He’ll be just fine.”

“Weren’t no hoof,” Newt announced. “He fell off the ledge. It was something terrible to see.”

William put his arm around Andy, careful not to disturb the sling that secured his right arm. “Well, I for one am hoping that the bruises and pains will all be gone by the time we see your sister.”

“He can ride in the chuck wagon with me,” Osage threw in. “We’ll be short a hand, but we’re short a few head, as well.”

“Speakin’ of which, we’d best get some sleep,” William announced. “The ground’s too wet to move out, but we need to locate the rest of those beeves. I figure we’re still missin’ about seventy head.”

“We’ll find ’em, don’t you worry,” Grubbs spoke up.

Tyler chuckled and tossed the last of his coffee to the ground. “I don’t think I’ll have any trouble sleepin’ tonight. I’m worn out.”

“Me too,” Newt said, putting his cup aside and yawning. He stood and stretched, only to be surprised when a couple of the men jumped up and lifted him in the air.

“You’re the hero of the day,” one of them declared. “That deserves special treatment.”

They carried Newt off toward his bedroll with the other men laughing as they went. Tyler feared the men might mean mischief and throw Newt back in the river, but instead they lowered him to his bed and bid him good-night.

Looking at William, Tyler shook his head. “Been a long day, Will.”

“Yup, sure has.” Will turned to his young brother-in-law and smiled. “I’m proud of you, Andy. You did good.”

Andy looked confused. “I fell off the ridge and got hurt. Newt’s the one done good.”

“You went after the steers,” William countered. “You saw to stick to your responsibilities. Yes, it didn’t go the way you expected, but you done good all the same. You’re gonna make a fine rancher one day.”

“If Hannah will let me,” Andy said with a grin. “You know she has her heart set on me goin’ off to college.”

“We’ll work on her,” Tyler said, laughing. “Will’s got a way with her. I’m sure between the lot of us, we can keep her distracted while you grow up. By then you’ll be so good at ranchin’, she’ll know better than to try to send you off.”

Yawning, Andy nodded. “I sure hope so. I wanna help Will make a really big spread. Mr. Terry said maybe we could buy out his land one day.”

Tyler smiled, but inside he felt the overwhelming pressure of his fears rise. Ranching was his dream, as well, but at this rate he might always be forced to be someone’s hand. Or he might very well have to leave Texas. Neither idea appealed.

After days of being mired in the mud, William finally felt it safe to move north again with the cattle. The grass was thinning out considerably due to herds that had already passed ahead of them, and now the cattle were beginning to get restless. They continually wanted to stray to any place that might offer better grazing. Unfortunately, Kansas farmers weren’t very happy to share their crops.

“We need to keep them moving. My best guess is we can be in Abilene in a week,” William said, looking again at his map.

“Boss, we got riders approaching,” Grubbs called.

William straightened up and Tyler got to his feet. There were five men approaching on horseback. When they came close enough, they called out.

“Hello to the camp!”

“Welcome,” William said, stepping toward the now stopped riders.

Tyler followed, glad for the gun on his hip when he spied that two of the men were also armed with revolvers. Another quick glance revealed that the other three men had rifles on their saddles.

“What can we do for you?” William asked.

One of the men dismounted. “Name is Bosterman. Hank Bosterman.” He extended his hand. “I farm the lands to the north of here. We came to inspect your cattle. We don’t want you bringin’ in tick fever and infectin’ our animals.”

“You can look the herd over,” William replied, “but you needn’t worry. We’re not trailing up from southern Texas. We’re from up near the Indian Territory. North of Dallas.”

“That ain’t north of the thirty-sixth parallel,” Bosterman said.

William nodded. “True, but we haven’t had any tick fever in our area. Our animals are clean.”

“You can’t prove where you brought these longhorns from.” The man narrowed his eyes. “We got laws in this state. We’re aiming to have a few more before it’s all said and done. You ever seen an animal get sick from tick fever?”

“Can’t say I have,” William replied.

“Well, it ain’t pretty.” Bosterman looked across the horizon to where the cattle were feeding. “I’ve had animals die, and I don’t intend to see it happen again.”

Tyler wondered if the men on horseback would seriously challenge them or if they were just along for show. He didn’t want to risk a problem either way. He and William knew all about the fight of the Northern states for quarantine laws. So far they were few and poorly enforced.

“I understand town’s just about three miles to the east,” Tyler said. “Is that true?”

“More like five,” Bosterman replied. “What of it?”

“I was just thinkin’ that if you have telegraph, maybe we could send a wire to Cedar Springs. That’s near where we’re from. You could ask the sheriff there for verification of who we are and where our animals range. Believe me, mister, we didn’t work this hard to raise ticky beeves,” Tyler said.

“It’ll take a little while to confirm,” William said, “but in the meantime you can leave a couple of your men here to look over the herd.”

Bosterman looked to the four riders and then back to William. “I suppose if we can verify who you are and where you’re from, we could allow you to move on.”

William smiled. “Good. I’ll ride with you to town and pay for the wire. You can send it so there’s no fear that I’ve somehow tricked you. Good enough?”

Bosterman’s stern expression relaxed just a bit. “Guess so.”

“Good. Then let’s be about it,” William replied. “I left a wife who’s expecting a baby. Our wrangler did, as well, and we need to get these steers to market.” He looked to Tyler. “You let Bosterman’s men stay here with you. Feed ’em and see to their comfort.”

Tyler nodded. “Sure thing.”

Bosterman hesitated for only a moment, then motioned to two men. “Sam. Jake. You stay and look things over.”

The two men with pistols nodded and separated from the other two riders. William went for his horse. Tyler extended his hand to Bosterman. “Sure glad we could reach an agreement. Figured to have to fight Indians on the way up, but never figured to fight my own.”

The man refused to shake. “You’re Southern scum, as far as I’m concerned. Lost a brother in the War Between the States. You ain’t my own.”

Tyler swallowed hard and pulled back his hand. “Sure sorry you see it that way, mister. I thought the war was over.”

“Not for me it ain’t.” He narrowed his eyes. “Not for a good many of us. You ever lose someone you cared about? Have ’em outright killed?”

Tyler thought of his father and nodded. “I have.”

Bosterman considered Tyler for a moment. “Then you know what I’m talkin’ about. Ain’t easy to let go of a wrong done you—is it?”

The hatred Tyler held against the Comanche threatened to spill over into his anger for this man. He fought back words that would only serve to further aggravate the situation.

“It’s not easy,” Tyler finally admitted.

By then William had returned. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Bosterman went to his horse. “We’ll both be back.”

Tyler and the other men used the time to see to any repairs they had. The hours passed slowly, and when night came, Tyler felt more than a little concerned that William and the others hadn’t returned. Andy, too, was worried.

“You think they’ll kill him?” the boy asked Tyler fearfully.

The man Bosterman had called Sam stepped forward and put a hand on the boy’s good shoulder. “We ain’t killers, boy. We’re just lookin’ out for our own. Your pa is safe enough.”

Andy looked up at the man without fear. In that moment he truly passed from being a boy to a man. “Well, if he ain’t, mister, you’ll answer to me.”

Tyler hoped the man wouldn’t laugh or disregard the boy, and to the man’s credit he didn’t. In fact, he didn’t even walk away. He looked Andy in the eye and nodded. “I give you my word, son. Your pa will be safe.”

“He’s married to my sister,” Andy replied. “But I reckon he’s the closest thing I got to a pa.”

“He seems a good man,” Sam said. “You all seem like right good men.”

Tyler gave the man a nod. Just then Osage announced supper and the other men who weren’t on watch began to gather. Jake came up to join Sam, and both men looked to Tyler as if for an invitation.

“Well, come on then, boys. Osage makes a mighty fine meal.” Tyler turned to the gathering of men and let the tension ease away. “Let’s pray.”

It was nearly noon the next day when William and Bosterman returned. Tyler could see that the two men were talking and even laughing by the time they reached the camp.

Sam and Jake soon rode up from the herd and awaited instructions. Bosterman motioned them to join him. “Wire came through. These men seem to be who they say they are. We’re gonna take a chance and let ’em pass.”

“Didn’t see any sign of trouble,” Jake said. “’Course, them longhorn don’t usually seem bothered by the tick fever themselves.”