Dorothy Garlock - [Colorado Wind 03] (42 page)

“Well, who’d have thought that rickety old thing could be made into such a handsome buggy,” Ellie exclaimed. “You’ve even put new spokes in the wheels and mended the seat and the top. Isn’t this nice, Vanessa? It surely beats riding in a wagon. You’re a jim-dandy, John, when it comes to fixing things.”

“I tole ya Mr. Wisner could do jist anythin’, anythin’ a’tall.” Mary Ben smiled at him proudly and moved over close so she could speak just to him. “Ya be careful while I’m gone. Don’t ya let that sneaky litle ole bastard get up close to ya, hear? Ya carry that old buffalo gun with ya, even when ya go to the outhouse.”

“Ya ain’t to be worryin’, gal,” he said gruffly. “Ya mind what Mrs. Hill tells ya.”

“I wish ya was comin’, Mr. Wisner. I ain’t been away from ya since ya come to the Cimarron.”

“I ain’t goin’ nowhere, Mary Ben. Nowhere a’tall. Ya go on with yore man.” There was a tender gruffness to his voice now. “Me ’n this ole yeller dog’ll be right here. It might be me ’n Clay’ll take us a ride over to see that fancy place, if’n yo’re thar awhile.”

“All right, but ya be careful. Ya stay here with Mr. Wisner, Mister, ’n don’t ya let nobody sneak up on him, hear?”

“Come on, Mary Ben.” Henry was waiting to help her into the buggy. “Van will drive you and Ma.”

“Bye, Mr. Wisner.”

“Bye, gal.”

“Henry, put this rifle in the saddle scabbard and stay by the buggy so you’ll be with the women.” Kain, mounted on Big Red, rode close and handed him the gun. “Jeb and I will scout a little and be back. Keep to the trail, sweetheart.”

“Y’haw!” Vanessa slapped the reins against the back of the horse and they moved out of the yard. As they turned down the lane leading to the road, Mary Ben and Ellie waved to Clay and John.

The silence that followed the leave-taking was broken only by the jingle of the harnesses and the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves. The terrain that opened before them was a succession of valleys divided by ridges crested with pines, their slopes sometimes dotted with clumps of aspen. Large yellow leaves floated across the trail, pushed by a cool autumn wind. As they traveled in a westerly direction the trail narrowed in places. The scattered boulders grew fewer, the trees thicker.

Ellie was quiet. Vanessa knew that her aunt was terribly nervous. It was evident in her stiffness as she sat in the seat and in the way she kept her hands folded in her shawl. Vanessa wondered what was going on in Ellie’s mind as she sat there between her and Mary Ben. She was on her way to a husband who had deserted her, to his home where she would not be welcomed, to take care of a man who despised her. Poor Ellie.

As sorry as she was for Ellie, the danger this trip represented to Kain was foremost in her mind. The old dread she had felt on the trip to Junction City returned tenfold. In a near stupor of fear, she scanned the trail ahead. There were a hundred places where a man could hide and shoot an unsuspecting traveler. She had to believe that Kain knew how best to deal with this situation, that he was doing all he could do to protect himself. Danger to herself from Primer Tass didn’t enter her mind. Kain. She prayed to God that nothing would happen to him. A numbness swathed her; she heard nothing of what Ellie and Mary Ben were saying. She saw her hands on the reins and from long training automatically did what a driver would do while she strove to keep panic at bay.

*  *  *

Kain rode to the crest of the hill, trusting more to his horse than himself, and sat there searching every foot of the landscape with his glasses, as Jeb was doing on the other side of the wagon track that wove among the rocks and trees. He was glad he had Big Red. The horse was spooky, and Kain had deliberately chosen him for just that reason. The animal could hear every sound, and could both see and hear better than a man. If there was a living thing nearby, Big Red would know it.

His horse’s ears began to twitch and Kain reached for his gun. A deer darted from the brush and raced toward the cover of thick trees. He nudged the horse and moved down from the hill and up another. He came out onto a bench and saw Clayhill Ranch backed up to the rugged mountain at the far end of a meadow. From where he sat he could see over a far stretch of country.

He took his field glasses out once again and watched the buggy approach. He focused them on Vanessa. Vanessa, his love, his life. Just looking at her made his pulse quicken! She reminded him of a bright new penny. But there was nothing hard and rigid about her. He had never seen a woman who was so beautiful—feminine and soft, sensual and exciting. She was all warm tones from the top of her flaming red hair and brilliant blue eyes to the white skin of her face and hands. And when they were wrapped in each other’s arms, when they were one, she was the most giving, most loving—He lowered the glasses and his hand automatically went to his stomach. Every day was precious to him.

When Ellie had announced her plans to take her place in Adam’s home, he couldn’t have been more surprised but realized it was a damn good idea. Old Adam was flat on his back and couldn’t do a thing about it, and possession was nine points of the law. Kain had no doubt that Ellie was in for a bad time with Della, but she had the law on her side or would have as soon as Randolph in Denver set the records right. In the meantime Ellie would run her bluff. Kain chuckled with admiration for the spunky little woman. Adam had finally met his match—if he was still alive. The doctor had said he was in bad shape and was unlikely to recover fully. But if the old bastard just lived long enough for Ellie to be in full possession when he died, even if he left everything to Della, the court would give something to Ellie and Henry.

Kain wondered who was running the business end of the ranch. The roundup would be over by now, but the business end was something he could help Ellie with if she got past the front door.

*  *  *

As the buggy approached the ranch Ellie was thinking the same thing. Would she get past the front door? She wasn’t prepared for the elegance of the white frame two-story house. The many gabled house was a splendid example of nineteenth-century architecture. Wide, railed verandas were supported by graceful columns decorated with elaborately carved cornices. Long windows opened up onto the verandas on both the lower and upper floors. Stained glass panes adorned the upper part of the windows as well as the doors. Shrubs and a carefully attended lawn surrounded the house as well as a white picket fence. The elegant house looked as if it belonged on a shaded street of any large city rather than this isolated area. Behind the house was a large barn, various outbuildings and a vast number of pole corrals.

In a glance Ellie knew beyond all doubt Adam Clayhill was a very wealthy man. Resentment burned like a flame in her and solidified her determination that she and her son would no longer be cast aside. They would stay and take what was due them.

Kain and Jeb came down out of the hills and rode with Henry alongside the buggy as it approached the ranch. Vanessa breathed more easily and smiled her relief at her husband. Her ordeal was over for the time being and Ellie’s had just begun. As she pulled the horse to a stop beside the front gate, the ranch hands at the outbuildings watched; but none approached. Kain, Henry and Jeb rode to the hitching rail and dismounted. Jeb attached a lead rope to the halter of the horse pulling the buggy and tied it to a iron ring in one of the fence posts, then climbed up into the buggy to wait.

Ellie stood for a long moment before she opened the gate and led the party up the cobblestone walk to the wide veranda. Vanessa had never seen her aunt carry herself with more dignity and determination.

A few minutes after she rang the bell, the heavy oak door was opened by a Negro man wearing a black, long-tailed coat and stiff white shirt.

“Yas’m?”

“I’m here to see Mr. Clayhill.” Ellie’s voice at first held a slight tremor, but strengthened at the end.

“Mastah done took to de bed. He sick, he doan see nobody.”

“I know that. How is Mr. Clayhill?”

“He jist lay dare. Doctor man says he ’spect he gwine ta die.” He rolled his eyes upward. “I ain’t ta let nobody in.”

Kain stepped forward and pushed on the door. “Step aside. We’re coming in.”

“But, suh, Mis Della say nobody—”

“To hell with Miss Della.” Kain pushed him back with a firm hand on his chest and stepped inside. “Come on in, Ellie.”

Ellie walked into the wide hallway and immediately took off her wrap and her hat and hung them on the halltree as if she had been doing it for years. The servant stood against the wall. His eyes went from Kain to the top of the stairs and back, and there was a frightened look on his face.

“What is your name?” Ellie asked.

“Joseph.”

“Joseph, ask Miss Della to come down. Who else is in the house beside Mr. Clayhill?”

“Miss Cecilia. De rest of ’em gone.”

“Who is Miss Cecilia?”

“She be . . . She be . . .”

“Is she one of the servants?”

“Yas’m.”

“Tell her to come, too.”

“Yas’m.” He scurried away and disappeared through a door at the end of the hall.

Ellie turned to the others still lingering beside the door. “Take off your coats. We’re here to stay. Henry, in a few minutes you and Jeb can bring our things in.”

“What the hell are you up to, Kain? Why have you brought
her
here?” Della stood at the top of the wide staircase that rose from the center of the hall to the second floor balcony. She wore a flowing, white peignoir. Her hair was down around her shoulders and she had a hairbrush in her hand.

“As to what I’m doing, I brought the lady here. As to why, she’ll tell you herself.”

Della started down the steps. “You’ve no doubt heard about Adam’s fit of apoplexy from that spineless, backwoods doctor. What do you hope to gain by bringing another one of Adam’s bastards here? Heaven only knows how many more will turn up. He’s screwed enough women to populate the Colorado Territory.”

Joseph and a Mexican girl emerged from a room at the back of the hall. They stood with their backs to the wall, watching Della.

Ellie had moved down the hall by the time Della reached the last step. She confronted her there.

“I’m Mrs. Adam Clayhill. I’m here to run my husband’s house and to take care of him. If you wish to stay until sundown, I advise you to keep a civil tongue in your head.”

Della’s body stiffened and her face was as still as a beautiful stone statue. Then she began to laugh; it was high, and shrill and ugly and meant to intimidate. Kain, watching, knew it wasn’t going to work. Ellie had turned her back on Della and was speaking to Joseph.

“You heard what I said, Joseph. I am Mr. Clayhill’s wife. I am here to stay. I want to see the rest of the house. I’ll need a room for myself and one each for Mr. and Mrs. DeBolt and for my son and his wife.”

“Yes’m.”

“Joseph! You black bastard! Don’t you dare obey her. They’re not staying!” Della moved around to face Ellie. Ellie ignored her and spoke to Cecilia.

“You’re Cecilia. What do you do here? Are you the cook? The maid?”

“Oh, my God! This is rich. She’s Adam’s whore!” Della’s voice rose to a screech and the look Cecilia shot her was pure hatred.

“If that’s the case, I doubt Mr. Clayhill will be needing your services.” Ellie spoke in a calm, unruffled voice. “Does your family live here, Cecilia?” The woman shook her head. “If I told you to leave, would you have somewhere to go?” She shook her head again. “Very well, you may stay and work in another capacity. Is that agreeable?” Cecilia nodded and cast a gloating look at Della. “You can show me where things are.”

“This has gone far enough! Far enough, goddamn it!” Della threw the hairbrush against the wall. “I don’t care if you married Adam a hundred times, you’re not coming in here and taking over.”

“Oh, but I am.” Ellie’s calm blue eyes looked directly into Della’s blazingly angry ones. “And I believe that as long as you have this resentful attitude toward me, you’ll be happier somewhere else. I’ll have someone drive you to town. Be ready to leave by noon.”

“You
are telling
me
to leave? This has been my home for twenty years! I’ll not leave because one of Adam’s . . . little diversions tells me to. Jesus Christ! He’s amused himself with dozens of women like you!”

“No, the other women were not like me. Mr. Clayhill and I are married. The marriage is recorded. Our son’s birth is recorded. We were already married when he went through the ceremony with your mother. The poor woman was taken in by his charm, as I was. You have no claim here, and you are no longer welcome, even if you are Kain’s sister. Joseph, I’ll need your help to get settled in. But first you can help Miss Della pack and get ready to leave.”

“Goddamn it. Kain—” Della looked at her brother. Kain lifted his shoulders and grinned.

“You may as well go, Della. Your reign at the Clayhill Ranch has ended, and you can kiss Adam’s money goodbye.”

“Adam’s lawyer will put a stop to this,” she threatened.

“Why don’t you go on down to Denver and talk it over with him? I think he’ll tell you you haven’t a leg to stand on.”

“I’ll do that. I’ll just do that!” Della flounced up the stairs and turned at the top to look down. The people in the hall below were making themselves at home and didn’t even seem to notice that she left them.

“Well, that’s settled,” Ellie said. “Henry, you and Jeb bring in our things. Vanessa, you and Mary Ben go on upstairs and find rooms to sleep in. I’m going to look over the kitchen with Cecilia, then she’ll take me to see Mr. Clayhill. Is there someone with him now, Cecilia?”

Vanessa put her hand into Kain’s. “Isn’t she amazing? I’m so proud of her.”

“So am I, honey. I haven’t had so much fun in a long time.” He chuckled.

“Shame on you.” She reached up and kissed his chin.

“I’ll go out and talk to the men and find someone to drive Della to town. She’ll not go in style this trip.”

“Do you think she can stir up trouble with the men?”

“She might try, but it won’t do her any good. Della hasn’t been very tolerant of the workers here. She’ll want to get down to Denver and see what she can find out from Adam’s lawyer. Logan said he was going to tell Randolph to get in touch with him and tell him what’s what. She’ll know when she gets there what she’s up against.”