A Place Called Harmony (33 page)

T
HE
T
RUMAN
F
ARM

By the time Clint Truman made it home he was slumping on the bench. Karrisa ran the baby inside and then helped him down from the wagon, both her hands already covered in her husband’s blood.

“It’s not bad, dear. Feels like the wild bullet of Dollar’s just slid along my side.”

“Hush,” she said, with more anger than he thought his Karrisa could be capable of. “You’re leaking all over the place. We should have stayed at Ely’s.”

“No.” He bit back pain as they walked up the steps. “I don’t want the others to know I’m hurt. The McAllen women were frightened enough, and Dollar would be very happy to know one of his wild shots hit me.”

“Well, Clint Truman, I’m going to be very mad at you if you die on me.”

He fought down the pain long enough to laugh as she lowered him into one of the kitchen chairs and began stripping off his shirt. “So you like having me around, dear?”

She didn’t answer for a while. She just steamed around gathering towels and heating water. The medicine box she’d insisted on putting together after Matheson had been shot was about to come in handy.

When she finally came back to him, her beautiful blue eyes were still filled with anger. As she gently washed the blood away, she whispered, “Clint, I love you. Underneath all the gruff manner and toughness is the kindest man I’ve ever known, but if you die on me I plan to be furious.”

He saw the tears and wanted to hold her, but she was on a mission to bandage him up. When she finally tied off the bandage around his ribs, he pulled her to his knee and held her close.

“When I saw Dollar Holt push you out the door, I thought I’d go mad. If you love me half as much as I love you, I think I understand why you’re so angry now. I was so crazy to get to you that I didn’t even feel the bullet slice along my side.”

Karrisa wiped her tears against his shoulder and pounded on his wide chest. “I love you twice that much. I couldn’t believe you were standing out there facing down four outlaws.”

He laughed, forgetting the pain. “We going to argue about this, dear? I wasn’t alone. Gillian was armed and Ely was there. Even the preacher helped.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to argue with you. But first you’ve got to promise me you won’t die on me.”

“I promise.” Closing his eyes, he wondered what he’d ever done in this lifetime to deserve this shy woman who only showed her temper when she thought he was hurt.

“I’m putting you and Danny both down for a nap while I finish unpacking.”

Clint didn’t argue. She made him a funny-tasting tea and he slept the morning away. When he woke, he felt much better and managed to down both breakfast and lunch at the same time.

When they climbed into bed that night, Clint held her close and whispered, “I love you.”

She kissed his cheek and answered, “I love you more.”

He smiled, figuring they’d have this argument for the rest of their lives, and he didn’t mind a bit.

Just as the sun shone golden across the western windows, Patrick grabbed one end of the quilt, helping Annie spread it on the floor of their new home. “When I’m a rich rancher someday, I’ll build a big house in the center of our land and we’ll use this little place as our getaway hideout.”

“I like that idea, but will we be getting away from our kids or your sisters?” Annie giggled. “I thought you’d never convince them to stay with Ely last night. They were all sure they’d be killed in their sleep, and what did they wake up to but an outlaw raid on the trading post. They were so upset all day. Every single man who passed by had to take his turn comforting them.”

Patrick took the basket packed with supper. “I noticed the more upset they got, the more the preacher circled. I think he might be sweet on Pamela-Anne. He kept patting her hand even after she stopped crying.”

“She’s twenty-two, Patrick. Plenty old enough to have a beau.” Annie set the plates out as if she were setting a fine table and not a picnic.

He shook his head. “I think it should be like it is in the Old Testament. The oldest daughter has to marry first. Otherwise we’ll never get Edna married off. Not only is she scraping six feet tall, she’s bossy as all get-out.”

“But Pamela-Anne is sweet and the prettiest of your sisters. With all that red hair she’s not likely to be lost in a crowd. If the preacher marries her, he’ll be able to find her in the congregation.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t have the sense of a newborn calf. Everyone back home bossed her around and she let them. My stepmother treated her like she was a personal maid from the time Pamela-Anne was ten. I always felt sorry for her.” He took his plate from Annie. “And saying she’s the prettiest in my family isn’t saying much.” He winked. “All the men got the great looks in the McAllen family.”

“Well, if the preacher comes asking for her hand, you’d best be thinking of what you plan to say.”

Patrick frowned. “I’ll tell him he’ll have to take a lot more than her hand. I’ll threaten him if he ever hits her. I won’t want that for my sisters. They’ve had a hard enough life as it is.”

“You’d beat a preacher up?” she asked.

“If he hurts my sister, I’d probably send Shelly over to do the job. Folks don’t know it, but he’s meaner than me.”

They laughed and ate their first meal in their first home.

Except for a bed frame, they had no furnishings. Patrick wanted to build every piece. He hammered up nails to hang their clothes on and built a long counter by the cookstove in the corner. With two rooms they shouldn’t have much trouble finding each other, but after living in the tiny bedroom upstairs at Ely’s and the hay loft, the house seemed big and quiet.

As she picked up the dishes, he pulled out the box that Mrs. Dixon had given them all those weeks ago when they’d passed by her place and decided to help. They’d both agreed not to open it until they had a home, just like she’d told them.

“What do you think is in it?” Annie whispered.

“It doesn’t matter. She was sweet to give us a wedding gift.”

“Our one and only.” Annie pulled the yard of yarn that kept it closed, and then Patrick slowly lifted the lid.

A tiny scrap of paper rested on top of a huge key. Patrick took the paper. “Fredericksburg, 1836. The bend of Turtle Creek.”

Annie looked at the key. “Wonder what this opens?”

Patrick shook his head. “Probably nothing. Maybe the Dixons just found the key.” He lifted the scrap of paper. “She probably wrote down the place where she found the old key. If she’d had the chest that went with this, she probably would have sold it. It’s a worthless key, I’m afraid.”

“No,” Annie pulled the key away from him. “It’s priceless. It’s our only wedding gift.”

Patrick set the key and paper back in the box. “All right. It’s priceless. We should put it somewhere safe and keep it always.”

Like two kids they stepped into the game.

“But where?” she asked.

Patrick pulled a rock from the fireplace. “I built this thinking if we ever got any money, we could hide it in here. Look, the space is just the right size for the box.”

Annie slid the wedding gift in place and Patrick put the rock back. “It’ll always be there to remind us how lucky we are.” He winked at her. “Now for my favorite part of the day.”

“What’s that?” She giggled as if she didn’t know.

“Bedtime,” he answered.

F
EBRUARY
1877

The winter wind might howl outside Truman’s big new barn, but all were warm inside. A hundred people, dressed in their Sunday best, had come to celebrate. Harmony, Texas, was officially a town with a post office, a church, a ten-room hotel, and Momma Roma’s café. Lots had already been marked off for a dozen more homes, and by spring they’d apply to be the county seat.

Gillian Matheson stood with Truman and McAllen watching folks listen as a fiddler tuned up. Over the months the three had become close friends. Brothers in a dream.

“We did it,” Gillian announced. “We’ve become a town.” He noticed Ely over near the front already dancing with the children. They were all trying to imitate his funny jig. Truman had told him and Patrick about Ely’s family. They voted to keep it to themselves and let the man continue his dream, only slowly they’d each brought him into their own families. The wives fussed over Ely and made sure he ate properly and took a bath monthly. Daisy still balanced his books and Annie made it over a couple times a week to help Patrick’s two oldest sisters cook for all the people Ely was always inviting in for a meal. Even the girl, Jessie, did her part by watering down Ely’s whiskey.

Patrick shook his head. “I’ve still got a lot of work to do,” he said more to himself than the other two. “I’ve got four full crews building and another crew of bricklayers and we still can’t keep up with the need. Folks are moving in wanting to start businesses, and tents run a quarter mile along the creek.”

Music filled the barn as folks, most with no dancing skill at all, began to twirl around the room. Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Wright led the promenade in their new clothes without patches.

“He’ll be the richest man in Harmony one day,” Truman commented as they watched Wright linking arms with his wife. “He’ll take on any job that’s honest.”

Truman raised his eyebrow to Gillian. “I heard he even corralled your gang, Matheson, while you took Daisy out for a dinner at Momma Roma’s café. It takes a great man to take on your gang.”

Gillian nodded. “He charged me double, but it was worth it. Ely had me give management rights to the cemetery to Wright and his family. As long as there is a Wright to manage it, I have a feeling the cemetery will be kept in good shape. Mr. Wright even went down and brought up rocks from the creek for Granny Gigi’s grave. Momma Roma cried when she saw how beautiful he’d made the site. Offered him and his family free supper for a month.”

Gillian caught his wife’s glance and knew she wanted to dance. He looked at Truman and McAllen. “Aren’t you two dancing?”

“No.” Patrick smiled. “Annie’s so big she’s about to pop. Our new young doctor claims the baby is overdue, but I don’t trust him. How can he be a doctor? I don’t think he’s even shaving yet.”

“You were young once, McAllen,” Truman grumbled. “Hell, it seems like only yesterday.”

“I’m still young. What about you, Truman, you too old to dance?”

“No. I could dance, only there’s just one lady I want to dance with.” He nodded toward his wife. “Problem is she told me yesterday that she’s in a family way. I told her to be sure and take it easy tonight and not overdo it.”

Both Gillian and Patrick slapped Truman on the back and started giving him advice.

When Daisy finally pulled Gillian away to dance, he couldn’t turn her down. “You’re the prettiest girl at the dance,” he whispered as they began.

“Thank you, but Jessie is shining tonight.”

Gillian looked over at the girl who’d saved his life a year ago. She’d grown to be taller than Daisy and was turning into a young lady before his eyes. “She’s dancing with Shelly?” Gillian said in surprise.

“Shelly can hear the music.”

“I know, but she can’t even talk to him.”

Daisy smiled at her brilliant husband who could plan a town and couldn’t see what was right under his nose. “Jessie’s set her heart on Shelly McAllen. He’ll be twenty-three when she turns sixteen, and I’m guessing it won’t be long before she asks him to marry her.”

“No. That’s not happening.”

“Why, because he can’t talk?”

“No. I don’t care about that. But she’s part of our family and I don’t want Mathesons mixing with McAllens. There’s no telling what would happen. I’d better put a stop to this now. Next thing you’ll be telling me is one of my boys is marrying the Truman girl.”

“That won’t happen for a while, Captain. A Truman girl hasn’t even been born yet.”

“But she’s coming and I plan to start warning my boys now.”

“Yes, honey, you can do that later. For a while how about we all just live in Harmony.”

And they did.