Weathered Too Young (37 page)

“Here?” Slater asked, moving an index finger across his face to indicate just where the man’s scar had been.

“Yes,” she affirmed
,
trepidation suddenly filling her heart.

“And he didn’t give ya his name?”

“No.”

Slater rubbed at his chin with one trembling hand.

“What’s the matter, Slater?” Lark asked.
She’d known the
ugly st
r
anger
was evil
;
Slater’s reaction confirmed it.

Lark’s heart leapt as she hear
d
something—the wagon
,
the voices of the children.
Tom and Katherine
had returned from town
.
Slater rose to his feet, taking Lark’s hand and helping her to
hers.
He was still frowning as he studied her for a moment.

“Button this up,” he mumbled
,
lifting her shirtwaist to help her slip her arms through her sleeves.
“Otherwise Tom will think I
lost
my hold on things and had my way with you.”

As Lark r
eached back to
button her shirt
waist, the pain in
her arm made itself known once more.
The ecstasy of Slater’s affections had numbed it for a time, but with the e
nd of their passionate exchange
,
it returned.

“Here,” Slater said, turning her away from him and quickly fastening several of the buttons.

Tom burst
through the front door
,
Katherine at his heels.
He was pale
,
and Katherine was weeping.

“Someone’s been askin’ for you in town, Slater,” Tom said.
“Someone with long braided hair and one big ugly scar across his face.”

“I know,” Slater mumbled.

“Oh, Slater!” Katherine cried.
“It can’t be!
It just can’t be!”

“Who is he?” Lark begged
,
suddenly terrified.

Tom was worried
,
wearing an expression
of concern
she’d never before seen on his usually smiling face.
Katherine’s distress was even more obvious.

“
It’s
Samson Kane,” Slater said.

“No,” Tom breathed, shaking his head.

Lark watched as Slater pulled his pistol from its holster at his thigh.
He checked the rounds in the cylinder and holstered it again.

“Slater
,” Tom
began.

“Not a word, Tom.
Not one word,
”
Slater growled.

Tom nodded
,
and Katherine continued to weep.

“
I
’
m goin
’
to town,” Slater said.
“Get the children inside.
I’ll send Eldon and the boys to
keepin’ watch
.
Bolt the doors
,
and d
on
’
t let nobody in
’
til I get back.”

“Slater…he’s one man,” Tom said.
“We got three cowboys and me and you
. W
hy don’t we just wait for him to
—
”

“No,” Slater
growled.
“He ain’t that stupid.
If I ain’t back by dark, have the boys come inside the house with you.
Keep the children and the women away from the windows.
”

Tom’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re goin’ to send a telegram, ain’t ya?” Tom growled.

Slater didn’t answer—simply turned to Katherine and said, “Lark picked a fight with a cact
us, Kate.
Clean her up good and put some warm towels to it.”

Katherine nodded.
Charlie ran into the room then, followed closely by Lizzy and Johnny.

“Keep
’
em away from the windows, Tom,” Slater growled.
Stripping his slicker from the coat rack, he stormed through the front door and over the porch.

“Bolt the door, dammit!” he shouted as he spurred
Smokey to a
gallop
.

Tom closed the door
,
drawing the large bolt.
Lark gazed out the window—watched Slater ride away in a cloud of dust.

“Stay away from the windows, honey,” Tom said.

Lark turned to look at him.

“Who’s Samson Kane?” she asked.

“
Who i
s Samson Kane?” Lark repeated.
“Tell me, Tom…please!”

Whoever Samson Kane was to Slater, he was not
a
friendly acquaintance.
Furthermore, Lark was certain Slater had been about to say something important—something she desperately wanted to hear—but S
amson Kane had distracted him from
doing so.
Lark hated the man in that moment
.
Samson Kane—whoever he was, she hated him.

Katherine looked to Tom, shaking her head.

Tom inhaled a deep breath.
Lark could see his jaw clenching with frustration.

“Tom,” Katherine began
,
her expression that of warning and fear.

“
It ain
’
t right, Katie,” Tom growled.
“She has a right to be told.”

“Mama, I’m hungry,” Charlie said, tugging on his mother’s skirt then.

“Dang it, Charlie!” Johnny scolded.
“Can’t you see somethin’ ain’t right with Uncle Slater?
Can ya hold on until
—”

“But I’m hungry,” Charlie whined.

“Me too,” Lizzy sniffled.

“It’s all right, Johnny,” Katherine said, putting a comforting arm around her eldest son’s shoulders.

“I-I haven’t had a chance to start supper yet,” Lark said to Charlie.
“But…but there’s bread
,
and there’s still some strawberry jam in the jar in the cupboard.”

Charlie smiled at Lark.

“Mama?” he asked, looking up to his mother.

Katherine forced a smile and tousled his hair.
“Lizzy, would you get some bread and jam for Charlie and you?”

Lizzy nodded.

“Help them slice the bread please, Johnny,” Katherine added.

Johnny sighed with frustration.
He was old enough to understand that something was wrong.

“Please, Tom,” Lark pleaded in a whisper as the children headed into the kitchen.
“Please.”

“
Slater will have your head, Tom
Evans
,
”
Katherine said.

“He’s had it before, Kate,” Tom sighed.
He removed his hat—ran his fingers through his hair.

Katherine
looked to Lark then.
“You have every right to know about Samson Kane, Lark…but Slater should be the one to tell you.”
She glanced out the window, as
if
she feared
Slater might be able to hear her from off in the distance.

“I met him,” Lark said then.

“What?” Tom and Katherine exclaimed in unison.

“What do you mean you met him?” Tom asked.

“I met him…out beyond the east pasture,” Lark explained.
“He…he told me he was looking for an old friend of his…Slater Evans.”

“Lark!” Katherine exclaimed as tears filled her eyes.
It was only in that moment that Lark realized how fortunate she was that the cactus had been the only thing to hurt her.

“He wore his hair in a long braid
. H
e was blond
,
with a red beard and terrible scar across his face,” Lark continued.
“He asked me if I knew where he could find the Evans place
,
and I lied
.
I told him it was f
a
rther east.”
She paused
,
and Tom shook his head in astonishment.
“I couldn’t believe Slater would call such a man his friend.
So I lied.
I ran back to the house as fast as I could.”
Lark rubbed at her sore arm.
“I bumped into a cactus
.
Slater removed the needles
.
I-
I knew something wasn’t right
with that man
.”

Suddenly, tears sprung to her eyes—tears of fear—fear for Slater’s safety.

“Tom, he’ll find
out
soon enough that I lied to him,” she sobbed, burying her face in her hands.
“He’ll figure out that this
is
the Evans place
,
and he’ll…he’ll come for Slater…won’t he?”

“It’s all right, honey,” Tom said, pulling her into the security of his arms.
“It’s all right.
We’re here
,
and he’s just one man.
Slater won’t linger in town…just long enough to
—”

“Who is Samson Kane, Tom?” Lark pleaded
in a tearful whisper
.
“Why shouldn’t
we
know?
If he’s dangerous…well
,
then…well
,
then…
I’m
the
one who lied to him
!
He knows where to find me
,
and that’ll lead him straight to Slater…and all of you…to the children
!”

“
Samson Kane is a
shadow
of Slater
’
s past,” Tom offered at last.

“Tom!
Slater doesn’t want her to know
. H
e doesn’t want her frightened,” Katherine began.

“She’s plenty frightened already, Katie,” Tom growled.

Taking Lark’s face between his hands, he smoothed the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs as he gazed at her, frowning.

“Samson Kane…h
e
’
s bad through and through, Lark
—
vicious
,
mighty dangerous,” Tom explained.
“
We was all hopin
’
he was dead.
”
Tom shook his head.
“I can’t hardly believe he’s alive…can’t hardly figure why he ain’t still in the
penitentiary
.
It
’
s like a
bad dream…
him comin
’
back like this. I can
’
t believe it.
”

“But who is he?” Lark asked.
“Why is he looking for Slater?”

Tom inhaled a deep breath, slowly exhaling it.

“Slater managed to make hisself a few enemies
some
years back,” Tom answered.
“Samson Kane’s the worst of
’
em.”
Tom chuckled
,
though it was a chuckle of sudden understanding
,
not amusement.
“That’s how Slater knew it was ol’ Samson askin’ for him in town,” he mumbled.
“You seen him yourself.”

“
But why
is Slater going into town?
” Lark asked.
She clutched Tom’s
arms as terror washed over her.
“You asked him if he meant to send a telegram.
What would a telegram do?
Or d
oes he think
Samson Kane will go there
…to town
?
Does he intend to look for him
?
”

“
No,”
Tom answered.
“Kane’s as yeller as they come.
And he’s scared of Slater…no matter what he mighta wanted you to think.”
He paused.
“No
,
he’ll curl up somewhere
like
a rattler…hide in the rocks or the grass until he thinks Slater ain’t watchin’.”

“I’ve heard of him,” Johnny said. Lark glanced to see Charlie and Lizzy seated at the table eating bread that had been rather sloppily slathered with jam.
But Johnny was walking toward them.
“I heard of Samson Kane.
Daddy told me a story about him once.
He used to rob banks and such
. A
nd after he’d kill a feller…he’d gut
’
em like a fish
.”

“Johnny!” Katherine exclaimed
,
tears escaping her eyes to trickle over her cheeks.
“Don’t say such things!”

“But it’s true, Mama,” Johnny said.
“Samson Kane is a murderin’ outlaw.
Daddy told me the whole country rested easy once he was captured and locked up.
Daddy was sure someone would bury a knife in his belly out in
Yuma
. T
hat’s where Daddy said they had him.”

“Well, it looks like they don’t ha
ve him no more,” Tom grumbled.

“But…but why would he come looking for Slater?” Lark asked.
She was utterly frustrated, sensing there was still something she didn’t know—something important.
“And why would Slater want to send a telegram?”

Tom shrugged.
“Slater’s gonna want to know why Samson Kane ain’t at
Yuma
p
rison…and the sheriff in town oughta know an outlaw’s driftin’ close by.
” Tom paused,
and
a slight grin of mischief mingled with concern curved his lips.
“As far as why Samson Kane’s pickin’ on Slater…well, darlin’
,
let’s just say
Slater has a way of prickin’ at a feller’s temper.”

Tom had said all he was going to.
Lark tried not to be hurt that Katherine and Tom wouldn’t tell her more
. Y
et she was hurt—wounded.
She’d been with Slater and Tom for eight months—eight months!
She’d been Katherin
e
’s friend for more than four
.
Didn’t they care any more for her than this?
Didn’t they trust her?
Or was it truly because they were afraid of Slater’s reaction?
He’d told them not to say a word, but why?

Lark’s eyes widened
,
trepidation washing over her anew.
Only a short time before, Slater had begun to tell Lark something—something about his past.
She thought of the way he was forever going on about being old—being weathered.
Slater never talked about his life after cowboying—never.
He’d started to tell her something
. B
efore Tom and Katherine had arrived home with the children
,
Slater had started to tell her something.
He’d said there was a lot she didn’t know
about his thirty years.
Lark
felt a surge of fear tear through her.
Samson Kane was an outlaw
.
Slater was a man who didn’t want to talk about his past—didn’t want his brother or Katherine talking about it.
Could it be that Slater Evans had once run with Samson Kane? Could the reason that Slater never wanted to talk about or even think about his past—could it be because his past was that of an outlaw?

She thought of the fact that Slater rarely left the house without his gun and gun belt.
She’d even seen him strap it on to visit the outhouse.
On several occasions
,
she’d seen him from her bedroom window at night
,
carrying a lantern on his way to the outhouse
,
dressed in nothing but his boots, his underwear, and his gun belt.
She thought of the aging
Hereford
bull in the south pasture—the bull named Outlaw.
She understood then—everything.
She understood why Slater was so secretive about his past—
understood why he’d danced around his desire for her.
Lark understood what he’d begun to tell her in the kitchen
,
after he’d removed the cactus needles from her arm—after they’d been lost in impassioned kissing.
Slater had begun to tell her he’d once been an outlaw!

Lark’s mind was blazing with possibilities.
Perhaps Slater had helped Samson Kane rob a bank
,
helped him hide the money.
Slater did seem to have a great deal of money.
He bought cattle and horses as if it were no kind of burden where cost was concerned.
She thought of the coats he’d purchased for her last fall—of the books he’d given her for Christmas.
Perhaps Slater had helped Samson
Kane
rob bank
s
and
then given up his outlaw ways.
Perhaps Samson Kane had been caught and sent to prison
;
perhaps he’d spent his time there thinking about Slater and all the money he’d had.
Perhaps that was why he was after Slater
:
he wanted a larger share of their stolen money.