Chapter 22
“Delaney, we need to talk for a few minutes.” Ma was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing her nightgown. She should have looked sweet and loving and kind.
Ma was all those things . . . well, a little light on the sweet. But right now, what she looked like was grim, dead serious, and intent on speaking her mind.
Roz was asleep, so Ma kept her voice low. Yet it didn’t matter if their voices disturbed Roz’s sleep. They were having this talk either way.
And Delaney had a notion of what it might be about.
Ma stood from the bed with her arms folded across her chest. “You seem to be taken with Owen,” she began.
Delaney had accepted long ago that her ma could read her mind. She sometimes read things in her mind that Delaney hadn’t read yet.
“Taken?” Delaney was buying time to think. So far she hadn’t thought of much.
“How much time have you spent alone with this boy?”
Boy? Delaney almost smiled. But her self-preservation instincts prevented it.
Then, because she hadn’t thought of a thing, and Ma was the smartest woman she knew, in truth the smartest person she knew, she said, “We haven’t hardly spent any time alone, but he’s a man I respect, Ma.
Tough and smart. Hardworking and savvy in the woods.
He and his Marshal friends did the very best they could in a terrible situation.
They kept their heads, all of them, but Owen .
. .” Her voice faded as she looked up at Ma.
“I’d like to spend more time talking with him, to get to know him.
He is a fine man, Ma. You know the men I’ve grown up around.
They’re all hard men to measure up to. I haven’t met many men in my life, and until Owen came along, none have measured up to Pa and my brothers. I think Owen does.”
Their gazes held. Delaney thought she’d maybe surprised her mother. Maybe she hadn’t expected such straight talk from her.
Ma tilted her head slowly, as if she were trying to get whatever she was thinking to balance itself. “Are you in love with Owen?”
Delaney hadn’t actually considered that—well, not much because she didn’t exactly know what being in love felt like.
“I feel . . . drawn to him. Interested in him. And tomorrow we’re going to ride to Cheyenne, and as soon as he turns over the men he’s arrested, he’s going to ride off.
And as skilled as he is, it’s going to take a long time to find Tex. If they do find him . . .”
She felt the burn of tears behind her eyes, and Delaney never cried. Not even when she thought Boone was dead, although later she’d gotten around to it once she was alone. And it was Owen who’d helped her get through it. She’d started wondering about him then.
Ma nodded and sat beside her on the bed.
“I need more time with him, Ma,” Delaney went on, “but he’s going to ride off real soon.” The tears spilled over. “I may never see him again.”
Ma pressed a handkerchief in Delaney’s hand, and she wiped her eyes with it.
In a quiet but firm voice, Roz said, “I’m gonna stick like a bur to Morgan.”
Delaney lifted her head and saw that Roz wasn’t asleep but just lying there still. She’d heard everything.
“In the end,” she continued, “he’ll marry me just to stop me from chasing him. If Morgan rides off tomorrow to search through the Rockies for the rest of his life, I’m going with him. You oughta do the same.”
Ma added, very sternly, “You’re not riding off into the wilderness with two men.”
“We’ll see about that,” Roz snorted.
Ma frowned, while Delaney almost smiled. It was more than clear that Roz didn’t consider Ma to be in any position to issue orders.
“I was only fourteen when Morgan rode off, heading to a war of all the stupid things. But I loved him with all my heart. I think I married that worthless Herman Beck because my heart wasn’t working right then—I was too young to know better.
I also figured Morgan would never come back.
His pa was as mad as the fires of Hades over him fighting for the North.
He told Morgan when he left to never come back.
And when Morgan’s brother died, it would’ve been dangerous for him to go back, and he never did.
The only good thing that no-account Herman ever gave me was my son.
I never thought I’d see Morgan again. Now that I have, I’m not letting him out of my sight. ”
“Do you think you could get Morgan to marry you tomorrow?” Delaney asked Roz. “That’s the only way it’s proper for you to leave with him.”
“Doubt it. He’s so all-fired worried about Tex, he ain’t thinking of much else. Either way, when he comes back from his searching for Tex, I’ll be there. And then he’ll marry me.”
Delaney envied the woman for her confidence . . . or was it stubbornness? She wasn’t sure which. “W-what should I do, Ma?”
“Nothing right now,” Ma said with a yawn. “Let’s sleep on it, see what tomorrow brings. Good night, Roz.” She then lay down on the bed and scooted herself toward the wall.
Delaney gave a long sigh, then slipped in beside her ma.
The dining room was empty and dark.
Owen followed Grizzly. What a name that was. When he first heard it, he’d thought it amusing. Now he had to wonder just what attributes the colonel had to earn such a nickname. He was about to find out.
Up until now, Owen had been addressing the man as the colonel and not Grizzly. Should he keep doing that?
Owen braced for trouble . . . and for questions he didn’t know the answers to.
“So you’re thinking of not requesting reappointment to your Marshal job?” Grizzly the colonel asked.
Owen was braced so hard, he almost fell forward. He quick sat down at the table farthest from the door into the lobby. Then he looked up at Grizzly. Was he wrong in what he’d expected?
He studied the colonel for about five seconds before he knew he was not wrong.
At least the man had started with a question he could answer.
“Yep, I’ve always had a wandering star hanging over my head.
Until the last year or two anyway. I haven’t made this decision lightly because I like the job of Marshal. I think I’m good at it.”
The colonel didn’t respond, so Owen went on.
“I don’t have the usual Marshal’s job. I don’t act as guard at trials, nor do I deliver subpoenas and summonses, or reward money to folks who helped catch wanted outlaws.
Somehow I’ve ended up chasing outlaws and, like with Clive, delivering prisoners.
It’s part of that wandering star, I reckon.
Not many men want those kinds of jobs, and I’ve stepped forward when they ask for volunteers and get picked for the job.
Morgan, Tex, and I have teamed up steadily for the last few years and gone after men who broke out of jail and outlaws wanted on federal warrants. ”
“And you don’t want to do that anymore?”
Owen surprised himself, and maybe the colonel too, by smiling.
“I guess that wandering star has set along with the sun. I don’t feel it hanging overhead like I used to.
Nope, I don’t want to do that anymore. I haven’t quite figured out what I’ll do next, but I’m capable of plenty.
I’ve got another couple of months left still in my four-year term, so I’ve got time yet to consider the future while I go searching for Tex.
I wired the man I receive assignments from and told him what happened.
He knows I’ll be gone awhile and approved it. He wants to find Tex, too.”
The colonel nodded, then locked eyes with Owen. “What about my daughter? Whatever this new job is you’re gonna do, are you planning to do it with Delaney at your side?”
Silence hung between them.
Owen felt like a young buck being chastised.
He hadn’t thought of himself as young for so long, he almost liked it.
Yet he wasn’t a young buck, and he figured he’d best make that clear to Grizzly right now.
He wasn’t sure what was the right or wrong thing to say, nor how to say it. He just said what was on his mind.
“Your daughter, Colonel, is as fine a young woman as I’ve ever met.
Fact is I’ve never known a woman as wise and brave and kind as she is.
Yes, I feel like there’s something very special between us.
I have an inclination, once I find Tex, to ride to Fort Russell and see if your daughter would .
. . would have an interest in going for a walk with me.
We’ve spent some time together and have already gotten to know each other a bit. ”
Grizzly stared at him. “Are you not going to ask for my permission to spend time with my daughter? That’s what I was expecting.”
Feeling a little confused, Owen said, “I was hoping you’d be willing to have me underfoot, but no, what I’m thinking of is between Delaney and me.
We’ll be making our own choices about the future.
If we decide we suit each other, I won’t be asking anyone but her for permission.
I wouldn’t mind your blessing, though, Colonel.
If she needs your permission, well, she can ask for it herself.
” Owen paused, then added more firmly, “But you withholding your permission won’t stop me from chasing after her. ”
Grizzly’s eyes narrowed. Clearly his last statement didn’t please the colonel. Owen didn’t want that. He liked this man. He liked Delaney’s whole family. He had to admit he’d never done much thinking on how to impress a sweetheart’s pa, especially not one called Grizzly.
“You know, I have the power to appoint U.S. Marshals to serve at the fort. I could use another judge advocate, too. But you’d have to join the U.S.
Army for that to be possible. And once you’re in the Army, well, you can be ordered to move to other places.
It’s an interesting life, but it can separate you from your family.
Of course, the Frontier is so settled these days, you’d likely be allowed to take your wife and children along with you. ”
Wife and children? Owen swallowed hard. He felt the need to tell old Grizzly here to stop planning his life.
And yet it wasn’t a bad plan.
“The Marshal who’s stationed at the fort doesn’t roam around much. We keep him plenty busy doing federal work. And I’ve just received word we can appoint a second Marshal. I could put your name in for consideration. You’d still be a Marshal, but you wouldn’t be wandering.”
It was a really good plan.
“I appreciate the offer,” said Owen, “but I’ll need to think about it. It’d sure make all my decisions easy . . . including courting your daughter.”
“What I’ve seen of you so far has impressed me, Son.”
Son? It reminded Owen he hadn’t seen his own family in a long time.
“For now, I’ve got to go find Tex.” And he would find him.
He might be gone awhile, though, searching for him.
If that stream he’d fallen into connected to the Colorado River, Owen might have to ride all the way to Mexico to find him.
Would Delaney wait for him? Every man in that fort and the whole town of Cheyenne was sure to be interested in her.
He wondered what she’d think of going along with him, helping him hunt for Tex.
“What I’ve seen of you has impressed me, Colonel.
You’ve raised some fine children. Boone, I could see myself being good friends with him.
Bowie, he’s almost legendary. You’ve spoken of your sons, Crockett and Jedediah, and they sound like fine men, too.
You’ve brought up Delaney to be the best kind of woman there is.
And Mrs. Bridger could tame the West single-handedly. ”
“Whatever my young ones have grown up to be is more owing to Hester than to me. I was gone too much, and those times I got back home, I’d be so blessed by my children I was humbled.
” Grizzly stood from his chair. “Let’s get some sleep now.
Oh, one last thing before we turn in. If you treat my little girl wrong, Son, I’ll kill you.
And no one, not even your tracking friend Morgan, will ever find your body.
In fact, I’ll arrange it so he’ll be afraid to even look for it. ”
Nodding, Owen said, “Somehow that doesn’t even surprise me. In fact, I’d be disappointed in you, Colonel, if you hadn’t said it.”
He followed Grizzly up the stairs. After saying good night, Owen went to his room.
He locked the door behind him, though it was probably a waste of time.
If Grizzly or anyone in his fierce family decided they wanted to get to him, they’d for certain find a way.
On the other hand, he hadn’t treated Delaney wrong yet.
He hoped.
Stripping down to wash up, he put clean longhandles on for the first time in way too long. Then he finally got to lie down on a bed.