Chapter 14 #3
Jane dabbed alcohol on a cotton ball and pressed it against Max’s lip. His head reared back and his eyes watered, but he did not make a sound. “Hold that there while I see to your hands.” He brought up his bound hands to his mouth, and Jane carefully washed his battered knuckles.
Gideon watched her ministrations. “You’re good to give your man so much kind attention, but it’s likely only a temporary balm, you understand.”
“What do you mean?”
Max spoke between clenched teeth. “He means they’re going to plant more fists in my face.”
Jane’s head swiveled to Gideon. “Is he right? You’re going to hurt him again?”
“Maybe. Where is your husband?”
“I told you. Around and about.”
“Then, yeah, he’s right.”
Jane wrung out the washcloth hard. “For God’s sake, how can I possibly know where Morgan is? It is a ridiculous question. Morning Star is twenty-six square miles. That’s more than sixteen thousand acres. He could be standing in the middle of any one of them right now.”
“Where did he set off to?”
“Blue Valley.”
“That doesn’t mean much. What direction and how far?”
She looked at Max. He shook his head. Jane told Gideon anyway.
“And the others?” asked Gideon.
Jane hesitated, and then relented. It seemed little enough to tell him. He wasn’t going to ride out to meet them when he could wait at the house to announce his presence.
Gideon lightly tapped the top rail of his chair. “What has Morgan told you about me?”
Jane was keenly aware that Gideon’s question served him alone.
He did not ask, “What has Morgan told you about us?” It came to her suddenly that Jackson Welling might not be one of the “others.” She could not say what the consequences might be, but in spite of not knowing, she asked, “Where is your brother Jack?”
Gideon did not answer immediately. His head tilted to one side as he studied Jane. He knuckled his beard. “He’s outside.”
Jane shook her head. “He’s not. You are lying.” She was not certain it was true until she said it, and then she was very certain that it was. “Yes,” she said with confidence. “You are lying.”
Gideon pointed to his right eyelid. “Was it twitching? Sometimes I don’t notice it, and I can’t really stop it, so…” He held up his hands in a helpless gesture. “I would not want to play poker with you.”
“Where is Jackson?”
“Nebraska. A little place called Falls City.”
“He did not want to join you?”
“He did, except that he couldn’t, seein’ how he got himself murdered for cheatin’. At cards, you understand. Not with a woman.”
Jane offered no condolences. Her face remained a mask, and she went back to attending to Max.
“You haven’t asked why I am here. You probably figured out this isn’t a regular family reunion.”
“Yes. Your actions have spoken to that. It seems clear you have business with my husband.”
“ ‘Business.’ That’s as good a word for it as any other.
Yes, I have business with my little brother.
” Gideon suddenly leaned back and called into the front room, “Avery! Go outside and see what’s keepin’ Marcellus.
He should have been here by now. And while you’re out, get—” He cocked an eyebrow at Jane.
She held up eight fingers. “Get eight eggs.”
Avery appeared in the doorway, shrugging into his coat. “Eight eggs.” He sniffed the air just as Gideon had done earlier. “Am I smelling potatoes bakin’?”
Gideon nodded shortly and pointed to the door. When Avery lumbered off, Gideon said, “Shouldn’t you be seein’ to those potatoes about now?”
“It has not been long enough.”
He shrugged. “Guess you would know. Just don’t get any ideas about ruining our dinner for spite. That’d be real inhospitable, and frankly, it would piss me off.”
Jane ignored him. She sat back and critically eyed Max’s injuries.
She wrung out the washcloth and applied one corner of it to a runnel of dried blood on his jaw just below his ear.
When he winced, so did she. “I’m sorry.” He waved off her apology as she withdrew the cloth.
Jane sighed inaudibly and turned to Gideon.
“Except for seeing to his pain, I am done here. I have some headache powders in my dresser that could help him if you will allow me to get them.”
Gideon jerked his chin at Max. “You have a headache?”
Max glared at him and said nothing.
“That’s a no, then.” He offered Jane an apologetic smile. “It’s the nature of some people to shoot themselves in the foot.”
Jane had no comment. She put the salves, alcohol, bandages, and cotton balls together, and then folded her hands in her lap under the table.
She stared steadily at Gideon. His lips twitched, but not his eye.
His amusement rankled but Jane gave no hint of it.
She was very aware of Max’s presence and knew he would insert himself if there were the slightest indication he should do so.
It was for that reason that Jane looked away first.
“You got any whiskey?” asked Gideon.
“I could make you coffee.”
“That’d be fine, but I’m still waitin’ for an answer about the whiskey.”
“In a cabinet in the front room.”
Gideon did not move. “Hey, Dix! You find the whiskey?”
The answer came back immediately. “Sure did.”
“Then bring it in here.”
Dix appeared in moments with a bottle and a glass. He set both down in front of Gideon. He rolled the matchstick to the corner of his mouth as he spoke. “Your brother ain’t much for spirits. This is all there is.”
“You looked in the cabinet?”
Dix nodded.
“You and Avery had some, though.”
“Yeah, we did. Warm us up, you know.”
Gideon looked as if he were going to come out of his chair, but a disturbance coming from the back porch actually kept him in it. “See what that’s about.”
Dixon’s hand hovered near his gun as he went to the door. At the last moment, he stepped sideways and peeked out the kitchen window. “What the—”
Jane was disappointed that surprise did not cause him to swallow and choke on the matchstick.
A gust of wind swept into the kitchen when he pushed the door open.
From her vantage point, Jane could not see who was on the porch.
Max could, though, and she looked to him for understanding.
When she saw his lip begin to bleed again as a frown stretched his skin, her heart began to hammer.
“Hey, Mrs. Longstreet,” Finn said as he crossed the threshold. His eyes widened when he saw Max. “Well, hey there, Max. What happened to you?”
Jane spoke quickly so Max did not have to. “He was in a bit of a scrape. Fooling around that got out of hand.”
Rabbit came up behind Finn and nudged his brother farther in to the room.
He got a good look at Max, shook his head, and then said to Jane, “Didn’t know about you having company, Mrs. Longstreet, but the extra hands turned out to be a good thing.
Got a delivery for you. Well, for Mr. Longstreet, but I reckon it’s all the same, the address being Morning Star ranch. Anyways, that’s why we’re here.”
Gideon was on his feet now, watching Avery back through the doorway carrying one end of a crate that was putting some strain on his shoulders. Marcie had the other end of the thing and puffing a little as they maneuvered it into the kitchen.
Gideon swore softly. “Couldn’t you leave it on the porch?”
“They were not having any of that,” Marcie said as he and Avery lowered the crate to the floor.
“They?” He forked two fingers at Rabbit and Finn. “You mean these two? You’re taking orders from these two?”
Avery’s broad features reddened in a way that could not be explained by his encounter with the outdoors. “It’s kind of hard to explain, but yeah, I guess we did.”
Gideon jabbed his fingers at the boys again. “Who are you exactly?”
“Exactly?” asked Rabbit, whipping off his hat to reveal an unruly head of dark blond hair, some of it sticking straight up. “I’m exactly Cabot Theodore Collins, and I go by Rabbit on account of no kid wants to be called Cabot Theodore.” His chest puffed. “And I happen to be about as quick as one.”
“I bet you are,” Gideon said under his breath. His eyes swiveled to Finn. “What about you?”
Finn also removed his hat. “Carpenter Addison Collins and folks know me by Finn. I named myself, and it stuck on account I only answer to Carpenter when it’s my gran who’s saying it.”
Gideon looked at Jane as he pointed to the crate. “Do you know what that is?”
“No.”
He swore under his breath and rubbed his forehead. “Marcie. Avery. Put it in the front room. Dix. Take Max and make him comfortable somewhere. He should probably lie down.” He stepped to block the boys’ view of Max’s bound hands as Dix led him out of the kitchen. “You fellows want to sit down?”
Rabbit and Finn exchanged glances. It was Rabbit who spoke. “That’s real kind of you, sir, and the potatoes sure got my mouth to waterin’, but our pap expects us back before dark, and mostly we do what he says.”
“Even if you leave now, it’s going to be nightfall before you get back.” Gideon nodded toward the window to draw their attention to the lowering sun. “Go on. Sit down.” He did not frame it as a request this time.
The boys sat, Finn taking Max’s chair and Rabbit taking the one opposite his brother. They flanked Jane.
“They should go back to town,” Jane said.
“They will. Maybe with an escort, seein’ that it’ll be dark soon. I reckon you boys came out here with a wagon.”
“Yes, sir,” said Finn. “Our pap’s buckboard.”
“Where is it now?”
“That one fellow with the scar—Marcie, I think you called him—he took it to the barn and said he would look after our mare. He helped us get the crate off first, and we stood by it just in case there were villains around on account of there could be just about anything inside it. We’re speculating that we took shipment of gold bars. ”
“Huh. Gold bars. You boys must like adventures.”
“Sure. We had us a few.”
“Well, let’s just say you’re having one now.”
Finn nodded, and Rabbit joined him. Neither of them looked at Jane.
She started to rise.
“Where are you goin’?” asked Gideon.