Chapter 5 #3
“Well, I like working with the horses and mules and all, but I could be learning as much out here. I wanna be a cowboy, not a blacksmith. There’s a lot you could teach me about that and about hunting and tracking and such too.”
“I don’t know, Paddy. That book learning you’re getting is gonna be real valuable as you get older.”
“I can still do that, Mr. Marlowe. But I’d rather be out here. I can be a good help to you. I’m getting bigger and stronger all the time. I can even go and keep an eye on Henry when he goes into town and can’t find his way home for being brandy sick.”
Henry straightened up. “You still harping on that, you little pissant? I’ll show you brandy sick.”
Caleb forced back a laugh as his partner dragged the boy off the fence and playfully roughed him up.
The two were soon rolling on the ground, with Gabe joining in. It wasn’t long before Henry allowed them to pin him to the ground, with Bear barking and nipping at the “defeated” man’s pants and boots.
When they were all done wrestling, Paddy and Gabe climbed in triumph back onto the fence, and the dog settled down again.
The younger boy looked hopefully at Caleb. “That mean yes?”
“I ain’t said one way or the other.”
From beyond the two boys, Henry was dusting himself off. He shrugged with a look that said why not, but Caleb wasn’t convinced it was a good idea. Having Paddy out here was a responsibility he wasn’t sure he was ready to take on.
His own father had certainly not showed him the right way to bring up a boy. At this very moment, Elijah Starr was waiting for his dance with the hangman. The devil certainly deserved it. But for reasons known only to Judge Patterson, they hadn’t even held a trial yet.
“Hell, Caleb,” Henry put in. “Think of all the work we’ll have on our hands once them steers arrive from Texas.”
Surprised, Caleb frowned at him. Henry and Paddy certainly got along fine, but having a kid here all the time would be different. It would be like having a family.
“I’ll think about it, Paddy. Fair enough?”
The ginger-haired boy nodded, trying not to show his excitement. “Miss Sheila said you’d say that.”
“She did, huh?”
“Yep.” Paddy grinned. “She said you’d think on it careful, make a list of reasons why it was a bad idea, and then spend a week pretending you ain't already decided.”
Henry barked out a laugh.
“Woman knows you pretty well, partner.”
“She said that, huh?” Caleb asked Paddy.
“Yep.”
“When did she say that?”
“Yesterday. Saw her when Imala came into town. They was going to deliver a cart full of spuds to the general store.”
“And a whole satchel full of those beaded tobacco pouches Imala makes,” Gabe added. “She’s making good money selling them, my pa says.”
Caleb was glad that the friendship between Imala and Sheila had continued to develop.
He first met the Arapaho woman in late spring while he was chasing down the gang of road agents who’d murdered her husband, a miner named Smith.
They had a place about ten miles east of Elkhorn, and she’d decided to keep it after learning of Smith’s death.
She was a fine woman with tremendous courage, and she and Sheila had hit it off immediately.
Kindred spirits in a lot of ways, despite the difference in their ages and their backgrounds.
“Miss Sheila needed our help last week too,” Paddy said, smiling proudly. “She was scouting for a tree to cut down in a couple of months for her big Christmas party.”
“For the gala, eh?” Henry shot Caleb a quick grin. “You find one?”
“Yep. Gabe knew just where to look.”
Gabe nodded modestly. “Found one that was just the right size and shape, Miss Sheila said. Not far from the road between here and town.”
“Well, that’ll be convenient,” Henry said innocently.
Caleb said nothing. Since the shootout with Mad Dog McCord’s gang, he’d seen Sheila whenever he went to Doc’s house for dinner and a chess game, but she’d said nothing about the gala. He was starting to wonder if he might just be off the hook.
“I heard the whole town’ll be coming out for the thing,” Paddy said. “It’ll be like the eclipse all over again, but without all the strangers.”
Henry turned to Gabe. “Maybe I’ll stop by and talk to your pa about getting a team of horses to put up a tent out here. That barn ain’t near big enough.”
Caleb straightened up next to the fence and faced Henry. “You and me need to talk about this.”
“About the gala?”
“About you encouraging it.”
“I ain't encouraging nothing.”
“You're encouraging everything.”
“That's because somebody around here has to.”
“Exactly why we need to have that conversation.”
“Conversation?” Henry grinned and jerked a thumb across the valley. “Not with me, partner. But maybe with her.”
Caleb glanced out beyond the rise.
A lone rider was crossing the pale gold meadow. Even at this distance, there was no mistaking the dark duster, the broad-brimmed hat, or the way she sat a horse.
Bear recognized her too. The dog sprang to his feet and went tearing down the slope.
And from the grins spreading across Gabe’s and Paddy’s faces, they knew exactly who it was too.
Miss Sheila Burnett had come to call.