Cole's Redemption (Love Amongst the Pines) (10 page)

             
"I'll tell
ya
,
Derm
. There's only one thing that could upset a man like that. A woman."

             
Dermott nodded knowingly, and glanced back with remorseful expression before he left to find Natty.

             
"Wake up for a minute, son," Judge called quietly. "What is it? Is everything all right?" He sat up, blinking. "It's okay, I just wanted to say goodnight. It's a far piece for me to ride at night and treacherous, too. So, I'm going to go set up camp down by the creek. I'm taking Dermott with me. That way we can watch out for each other and maybe get some early morning fishing in."

             
"I'd offer to go with you, but..." Cole held up his hands.

             
The judge laughed. "I understand. You just get some rest." He looked over to the now boarded up window. "I've taken a few days off from town. Not much going on these days. I think I'm going to stay on a spell. I like Dermott a lot, and you and Natalie need some time to get to know each other."

             
"There's no need," Cole said quietly. "We know each other enough."

             
"What does that mean?"

             
"It means that I know why I'm here. I'm going to dig her damn mine. That's my sentence. I'm not going to play house with her. She deserves better than that. Better than me."

             
The Judge nodded, "That's what you think?"

             
"I do. I have no future, no life to offer her. I'll just get her through the winter, and then you can take me back to town and finish what you started."

             
"Is that what you really want, Cole? You want to walk up those steps and throw yourself into a noose?"

             
"I made my bed, I'll sleep in it. Might be I could dig that mine deep enough; pull out enough silver to buy her another life, a better life."

             
"Might be. But, how do you know that's what she wants?"

             
"It's what everybody wants, Judge.
Except me.
I've already gotten more in life than I deserve. Now, it's her turn."

             
"For what it's worth, I think you're wrong. Just get her through the winter. If you want to go back and be hung then, I can't hold you here. No man can keep another man from dying if he wants to bad enough."

             
"Are you ready to die, boy?"

             
Cole had drifted off into an uneasy slumber. The shadows of the night wrapped around him and his dreams drifted back to another time where he lay injured, bleeding into the black, Illinois soil. Though he lay a thousand miles and two years away from that fateful night, the sound of the killer's voice haunted him still.

             
In the landscape of his dreams, he lay again on the soft patch of grass, waiting for the outlaw to end his life.

             
"I asked you a question!"

             
In his dream, Cole tried to focus his eyes beyond the still forms that decorated the dark grass with the color of a pale yellow dress and a blue baby blanket. The once vibrant clothing that covered his family were now bloodstained black in the dim moonlight.

             
"Go to hell," Cole said in a quiet voice.

             
Suddenly, the other man drew back his boot and kicked Cole sharply in his ribs. Swift pain shot through him as the blow connected with the already bruised muscle and bone. He clutched his side, but his physical pain was nothing compared to the gaping hole in his heart. His family was gone, and that agony was more than he could stand. It would only be a matter of minutes before the killers sent him to join them.

             
"Come on, Jared! If we're
gonna
get to Buckeye before sunset, we've got to go now!"

             
"Hold you're horses, Cal. I'm just
cleanin
' up."

             
Cole focused again. A chill settled over him. The haze of his pain muted into a dull throb. Every time his heart beat against his chest, the bullet wound just below his ribs seeped a bit more. He could feel the blood slowly ebbing out of his body, forming a warm, moist pool beneath him.

             
Another pair of boots stepped up beside him. He could just make out the figure of a second man, crouching down and leaning forward.

             
"Aw, he'll be dead soon enough. Let's just go.
Ain't
nobody
gonna
find them this far out, anyway. Nobody ever takes this road."

             
"I like to finish what I start. My father said that a man always completes the job."

             
"Yeah, but he
ain't
got a posse
trailin
' him and saddlebags full of stolen greenbacks, neither. They'll be
stretchin
' our necks for sure if they catch up with us."

             
"Fine. Let's hit the trail. There's not much left of this sodbuster, anyway."

             
Suddenly, Cole jerked sideways. He hadn't been a farmer. They'd just stopped to beg water for their horses. But the people who'd lived on this land were long gone. A half a mile up the road the thieves had jumped them, pistol-whipping him, and when Maggie had tried to run with the baby, she'd been cut down. Cole ran to help his wife and child, but the desperadoes only laughed at his efforts, and shot him as he leaned over them.

             
In the distance, he could hear the men gathering the horses. The animals snickering, and the pull and slap of leather, made an odd cacophony of music as the looters prepared to leave.

             
"Ah, hell, Jared. Why'd you go and kill that woman? Did you know she was
carryin
' a baby?"

             
"She got in my way. Besides, my gun's been
pullin
' high."

             
"Jared Greene, you are one heartless bastard." The second man muttered.

             
With a final slap of horsehide, the brigands set off. The sound of horses' hooves pounding into the dirt faded away, leaving behind the familiar songs of crickets and an occasional night bird's calling.

             
Cole jerked awake. He no longer lay in the Illinois dirt, and his wife and child were long buried. He brushed one bandaged hand against his abdomen and felt the rough patch of skin despite the bandages that wrapped his hands. A thick scar had formed over the old injury, but the hardness didn't end there. He had long ago allowed the pain of his loss to cover his heart like the tough flesh that had formed over the bullet wound.

             
He was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of someone approaching the cabin. It was Natty, returning from settling her uncle and the Judge for the night. He could tell it was
her
by the softness of her step, and the gentle rustling of her movements as she pulled open the front door. A dim candle flickered in her hand as she made her way through the room to her own cot. He watched as she set the light down and began to rummage through her belongings that had been carefully stored beneath her bed.

             
Cole knew he shouldn't be watching her without her knowing. He couldn't help but be fascinated by her small figure as she huddled about her tasks. He knew that if he wasn't careful, this strange creature
who
had pulled him from the gallows might just be the only one who could soften the hard shell that had formed around his heart.

             
It was just after dark when Natty slipped back into the cabin.

             
She'd helped Dermott and Judge carry out the blankets they'd be using for their camp. The two of them were happily sitting around the campfire, sharing stories of the old days, when her Pa and Ma first settled into town; when the mail actually came more than once a month, and other such things that she couldn't be a part of. It didn't matter. She was anxious to get back to the cabin.

             
The room around her was dark; shadows from a half moon night barely visible. The small shanty still smelled of their dinner, and if she concentrated, she could make out the faint scent of the room's only other occupant lying few feet away, sleeping.

             
Sighing, Natty walked over to her own cot. Without checking him, she bent to retrieve a small, wooden box. Pulling back the lid, she pulled out a length of white cloth. It was a dress, but not one as tattered and torn as her other bits of clothing. This one was special. It was the one her Ma had made for Natty when she was just a girl. A bit of fine lace crowded around the collar and, though it was dingy from years of storage and her prying little hands, it was still a garment worthy of a young girl's dreams.

             
"Oh, Ma," Natty sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to wear your dress." She sighed heavily, bringing up the material to brush against her face.

             
"Why won't you get the chance?" The deep male voice asked her.

             
Spinning around, she searched the darkness for Cole. He lay still as stone, his bandaged hands folded across his bare chest.

             
"How long have you been awake?" She asked, moving over to stand beside him. She still carried the dress, the length of it trailing just inches from the dirt floor.

             
"Long enough. You didn't answer my question. Why can't you wear the dress?"

             
She looked down, not willing to meet his questioning gaze straight on. "It's a wedding dress, and I'm already married. There wasn't time to get all gussied up."

             
He sighed. "I think you and I need to come to an understanding. Sit down."

             
"I know what you're going to say," she started. "You don't want to be married to me. It
don't
matter. We have a contract! You agreed to this wedding."

             
"I did; though, I admit, I was a little out of my head at the time."

             
"I know." She looked away for a moment. "It's okay if you don't want...I mean, you don't have to coddle me, or anything. I know what I look like, and I know I
ain't
pretty. I mean, look what it took just to get a fella to my door!"

             
"Natalie, wait. It's not like that."

             
"Yes, it is. I
ain't
half as beautiful as my Ma. She was tall and slender. She had a real woman's figure, if you know what I mean. Except for this mine, I don't have anything a man would want. My hands are all rough like pine bark, and my skin
is
too dark. I'm just plain homely. And even if I was a 'looker,' I don't have any manners or book learning. I'm not good for anything but mining."

             
"You're wrong.
Very wrong.
You're not the one who is damaged goods. I've done things I had to do. I'm not proud of them. But you deserve better. That's all there is to it."

             
"I don't believe you. Maybe you've made mistakes. You had your reasons. I know that you're still a good person. I'm
gonna
prove it to you. Even if you don't stay past the spring, I'm
gonna
show you."

             
He smiled then, a thin, bittersweet line that cut through his expression. "You can try," he whispered. In a moment, he closed his eyes, and Natty watched as the muscles in his face relaxed.

             
That was it. She had the winter months to convince him to stay.

             
When morning, came, the stealthy movements of his young

bride
awakened Cole. All right, he thought, I shouldn't be thinking of her like that. She was a lot of things, a new friend, his savior perhaps, even his benefactor for the moment, but he couldn't let himself think of her in those terms. Bride meant marriage to him; it meant a man and a woman together. It meant a future. Cole knew his time would run out by the spring thaw, and one season was not enough to offer any woman, especially if she was a cross between a wood sprite and a half grown girl like Natty.

             
Seeing that he was awake, she pulled the lid back on her pot. Bending down, she grabbed the coffee pot and poured the steaming liquid into a chipped mug. Carving off a piece of bread, she took the breakfast and set it on the table.