Chapter Twelve
A small but well-kept homestead appeared about supper time. The trail had changed. Open land stretched out on both sides like the arms of a rough farmer plowing his fields. Ace spotted smoke coming from a chimney. A man was standing outside of a barn with a young boy tending to a chore nearby.
“Stay here,” he told everyone except Bonnie. “Come on. Act like a man.”
Bonnie pulled her bandanna over her mouth and tucked her head down and then left the trail with Ace and rode west toward a cattle fence.
Ace waved at the man and boy standing in the distance.
The man jumped onto a work horse and rode out to chew the cud with Ace. He was older, around forty-five or so, with a stern face, but he seemed honest, and his build hinted at a life of hard work. “Help you, stranger?” he asked.
“I’m Ace Carter. Running a herd up to Wichita,” Ace explained, leaning forward on his saddle. “Got hit by some bandits last night and earlier today. They were wearing yellow bandannas.”
The man scanned Bonnie with careful eyes and then focused back on Ace.
“Name’s John Wilkins. Gang calling themselves ‘the Steers’ showed up in this area about two days ago.
Hit my ranch. Stole a few head. Shot my brother in the leg.
He’s in the house with my wife. Doctor had a hard time getting the bullet out. ”
“How many?”
“Few of ’em,” John answered. “We fought ’em off, but two of ’em got to my herd. I’d say there were about seven or eight of ’em.”
Ace related their encounters with the bandits on the trail. “Put a hurting to ’em.”
“Good.” John looked at Bonnie again. “Fella, forgive me for saying, but you look worse than a horse thirsting for a spot out of the sun.”
“Just tired, is all.” Bonnie had lowered the pitch of her voice again in a passable imitation of a man.
“He’s been sick,” Ace told John.
“Yeah, a lot of that going on.”
“Listen,” Ace said, leaning back. His back was aching worse than a weathered barn. “I got word a scoundrel named Roscoe Carver is riding the trail. Might want to keep an eye out for him.”
“I’ve heard of him.” John shook his head.
“Built my spread close to this trail for a reason. When herds come past, they stop. Wife makes money cooking up some good grub for trail hands. I make money selling water and hay. If a hand is sick or hurt, we get a doctor. Not much, but winters are hard out this way, and supplies don’t come cheap. ”
“And the guns are bloody,” Ace added.
John nodded his head. “Seen my share of trouble. I grew up in New York, right in the city. Just as bloody there as it is out here. Man just has to pick his poison, is all.”
“Yep,” Ace agreed. This fella ain’t bad. Thought he was from the north, the way he talks. Must’ve come West to find a better life. Built his spread close to the trail to make some extra money the best he can. Not a bad deal.
“Will you be wanting some service?” John asked.
“Water for the horses. Some fresh hay wouldn’t hurt,” Ace answered. “I can pay for some warm grub, too.” He reached down into his front pocket and pulled out some money. “Got three more men back there with the herd.”
“Only three?”
“Small herd,” Ace explained. “How much for some warm grub and some water and hay for the horses?”
John rubbed his chin. He cast a cautious eye at Bonnie as he did. “Well, I just made a run into town to get some supplies. Got plenty of flour and beans.” He named off his price. “Sound fair?”
“More than fair.” Ace paid the fee. “I’ll ride back and bring the herd forward.”
“Put ’em out yonder.” John pointed to a far field. “Let the herd graze there. Field ain’t been grazed in a while. Grass is good.”
“Looks good,” Ace agreed. He respected men like John. “Let’s go,” he told Bonnie.
Bonnie kept her eyes low and didn’t say a word until they were out of earshot. “The way he looked at me—he knows.”
“Maybe. Don’t matter.”
“Does to me,” Bonnie insisted. “I’ll stay out with the herd, if it’s all the same.”
“Reckon that ain’t a bad idea. I’ll bring you some grub.”
Bonnie stopped her horse dead in its tracks. “Why are you doing this?”
Ace brought his horse to a halt. He looked into Bonnie’s eyes—under the shadow of her hat and past all of her fear—and saw a beautiful woman.
She don’t need to be on this trail like this, all scared up in a bad way.
She belongs in a house of her own, tending to her own family and kitchen.
Reckon I’ve seen worse. Seen women who was taken by the Comanche or Apache or Mexicans…
seen what was done to them. At least Bonnie still has fight in her. That’s something.
“What am I supposed to do? Tell you to ride off?”
Bonnie shifted on her saddle. Ace knew she must be saddle sore. “Ain’t used to being cared about, is all.”
“Reckon not.”
“You don’t even know me, Ace. Makes me?—?”
“Think I want to see what’s under your clothes, right?” Ace outright asked.
“I’m a woman,” Bonnie confirmed.
Ace got his horse moving, Bonnie reluctantly following. “See that sky up there?” he asked. “All blue, got a few clouds in it. God put that sky up there. At times, the sky gives rain. Other times, the sky is dry and hot. Don’t matter who’s under the sky. Sky does what God wants.”
“It’s always been that way.”
Ace rode at a slow pace. The sky was sure hot and dry, at least for the time being.
That was okay. The land went through cycles.
Some summers were miserable, some mild, some wet.
One summer Ace had gone through was so wet the rivers flooded.
Another summer, he’d suffered through a drought so rough, cattle didn’t have grass to eat.
“We ride under the same sky, Bonnie—and we’re all gonna die under the same sky.
Don’t matter where you’re at in the world.
Same sky covers the world. Same God made the sky,” Ace went on.
“When a fella fights in a war, the death he sees is the same no matter what. Don’t matter if the war was fought a two thousand years ago or yesterday. ”
Bonnie opened her mouth, then closed it.
“Bullet can kill on this trail or any other place.” Ace looked around at the land as he rode.
“Hunger is the same, and so is everything else. Today, a baby is coming into the world about the same time someone is dying, I reckon. Today, a man and woman are standing before God, becoming husband and wife. Today, a woman has lost her soul in a saloon.”
“Ace?—?”
“Let me finish.”
“Go on, then.”
Ace kept his eyes moving. He was a trail leader.
A smart man. Leaving her eyes lazy was dangerous.
“Point I’m trying to get across is that the days the Good Lord gives us to live on this earth ain’t much, ’cause death rides up quick.
Just makes sense to me to ride honest on the saddle.
Someday, a man—and woman—is gonna have to give an account of the days they lived before God. ”
“That’s right,” Bonnie agreed.
“Wouldn’t think too highly of myself if I told you to ride off, knowing Roscoe Carver is after you. Cowards back down from a fight.”
“But it ain’t your fight.”
Ace looked directly into Bonnie’s eyes. “Is now,” he said, which hushed her up. “Like I just said, we’re all under the same sky. God expects a man to be a certain way. What’s a man supposed to do if he hears a woman crying out for help? Ride off?”
Bonnie shook her head.
“Enough said, then.”
She’s scared and uncertain. We’ve already been run at two times. Doubt the bandits we tangled with will be back. But she knows Roscoe Carver ain’t gonna turn off the trail. Even if she gets free of that dirty coyote, what will she do when we reach Wichita? She’s got a boulder resting on her mind.
Ace rode back to the herd. He told Finn, Clyde, and Dallas the plan. “John has a decent setup. We’ll get the horses rested for a bit and let the cattle graze.”
“And fill our bellies.” Clyde smiled.
Ace looked at Clyde—at his smile. He saw an honest, decent sort that he respected and liked.
Instead of just nodding his head, he found himself wanting to smile back and say something good.
Though his gut told him to ride off, stay distant and rough, he resisted the urge.
“Yeah, you’ll fill your belly, Clyde. You’ve sure earned it. ”
“He sure has.” Finn clapped Clyde on the shoulder. “Best fella I’ve ever been on the trail with. Sure sleep good knowing he’s around.”
“Yep,” Dallas agreed.
Clyde blushed. “Aw, fellas, I’m just doing my job.”
“You got a red pepper on your face, Clyde?” Finn joked.
Clyde tucked his head down. “You best stop that, Finn.”
“Let’s get moving?—?” Ace stopped when he saw a rider coming up from behind, way down the trail. “Rider,” he said, whipping out his rifle.
Dallas, Finn, and Clyde pulled their rifles just as quickly. Clyde moved his horse in front of Bonnie’s—a move Ace respected.
“Rider ain’t holding a rifle,” Finn told Ace.
“Ain’t slowing down, either,” Dallas added.
Ace waited with his rifle at the ready. A few minutes later, a man in his early twenties rode up, carrying a badly bruised face and a wounded side. “Ain’t wanting no trouble. Heading to John Wilkins place.”
“What happened to you?” Ace demanded.
“Riding up from Texas. Ran into some bad fellas a good day’s ride from here. Got beat pretty good. Would be dead right now. One of them was told to ride me off and shoot me down like a dog. Tell you what, if it wouldn’t of been for a tree limb hanging low, I’d be dead for sure.”
“A tree limb? What’s that got to do with anything?” Clyde asked.
“Pushed the tree limb back and let it hit the fella behind me, then tore off like lightning. He shot at me a few times. Bullet skinned my side pretty good, but I ain’t much worse off.”
“What’s your name?” Ace asked.
“Name is Edwin Hogan.”
“Can you tell me who you saw, Edwin?”
Edwin shot a sideways glance at Bonnie, who was staring at him. “Well, there were a handful of them. Couldn’t place a single one, though.”
“What did they look like?” Ace demanded.
Edwin winced and touched his side, then gave off a few descriptions. “I best be getting on. Know John pretty good. Grew up around here. He’ll tend to me. Need some grub, too. Ain’t eaten in a bit.”
“We’ll be along shortly.”
“You best not wait too long, mister,” Edwin warned. “Heard some names being said. One fella called another fella Roscoe. The fella named Roscoe was scalding mad because some gal got free from him. Had death in his eyes. If he catches up to your herd it… well, it’ll bloody.”
“Appreciate your help.” Ace reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar. “Here. For your troubles.”
“Hey, thanks. Those varmints I ran into robbed me blind.” Edwin obviously appreciated Ace’s kindness. “I best be on.”
“We’ll be along shortly. Gonna let the cattle graze and the horses rest.”
“Mister,” Edwin warned Ace again, tossing a careful eye at Bonnie, “you best stay well ahead of those snakes I run into. That’s all I’m gonna say.”
As Edwin rode off, Ace looked over at Bonnie. She was staring down the trail like a wounded dog looking for a man to help it.
Yeah. It’s gonna get real bloody, all right. Already has.