[Texas Rangers 05] - Texas Vendetta (10 page)

“I’ve got Farley here, Bethel. He’s hurt.”

She hurried toward the wagon. Her flaring skirts startled the team, and Andy had to draw hard on the reins. Bethel gave Flora and the old man only a glance. She looked anxiously over the wagon’s sideboards. “What happened to him?”

Andy said, “He’s been shot.”

Flora said, “He lost a right smart of blood.”

Elnora Brackett and a black woman came onto the porch. Farley’s mother watched anxiously as Andy and Flora helped Farley climb the steps. Color drained from her face. She said, “Bring him in. We’ll put him in his own bed.”

This was a large house in comparison to most Andy knew. Jeremiah Brackett had been a prosperous farmer before the war and before confiscatory Reconstruction taxes had stolen much of his property.

The black woman led the way down the hall and into a spartan room devoid of furniture except for a bed and a chair. Farley had not spent much time in this house after going off to war and later coming home to the desperate life of a fugitive, defying the occupation authorities.

His mother said, “That bandage is soaked. It needs changing.” She held her son’s hand as Andy cut through the bloodied cloth. “Is Farley in trouble again?”

She had reason to ask, for her son had led a reckless life after returning from the war. Andy told her, “No, he got this in the line of duty.” He explained about delivering Jayce Landon, about standing off a mob, and about shots fired on a dark street. He said, “I brought Farley here because I thought his family would take better care of him than anybody.”

Bethel touched Andy’s arm. “You did the right thing.”

“He didn’t want to come. He thinks you-all still hold it against him for his daddy gettin’ killed.”

Bethel seemed surprised. “We got over that a long time ago.”

Mrs. Brackett had lost two sons in the war and her husband in its aftermath. She said, “He’s the only son I have left. He should know we’d stand by him.”

“That’s what I told him. Maybe he’ll believe it, comin’ from you.” Andy doubted Farley was in any condition to follow the conversation. His eyes were vacant, staring at nothing.

The wound looked angry around the edges. Elnora fretted about the possibility of blood poisoning. She cleansed the opening and replaced the bandage with help from Bethel and the black woman.

Only then was there time for Andy to introduce Flora and her father and explain why they were with him.

Bethel said, “Thank you-all for your help. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want to.”

Flora said, “It won’t be long. Soon as I think them Hoppers are lookin’ the other way …”

Andy said, “I’ll go over to town and fetch the doctor. We don’t want to take any chances with Farley.”

Bethel asked, “Have you had anything to eat?”

“I guess I did, but I don’t remember when it was.”

“I’ll fix you something before you go. Maybe we can get Farley to take some broth.”

In the interest of time Andy settled for warming up some beans and smearing a heavy load of butter on cold biscuits. He was aware of Bethel’s eyes. She stared at him while he ate.

She said, “You quit coming around to see me.”

“I’ve been tied up with the Rangers.”

“Before that, though. I hope I didn’t say or do anything …”

“You didn’t. I just got real busy. Anyway, it seemed to me like you were havin’ company enough without me. And I had a notion that I reminded you of the night the state police came.”

The memory darkened her expression. “I would remember that anyway, with or without you. I kept hoping you’d come around. You will come back, won’t you, with the doctor?”

“Yes, I’ll want to see what he thinks about Farley and how long he’ll be laid up. Then I’ll visit with Rusty before I report back to the captain.”

She touched his hand. “If what happened to my brother is any measure of life with the Rangers, I don’t want to see either one of you go back.”

He did not pull his hand away In the past he had wondered how a girl like her could have a brother like Farley. He stared at her, trying to find any facial resemblance. He said, “It’s a pretty good life most of the time. There’s more boredom than excitement. The food’s good when we’re not out on patrol.”

“The pay isn’t much, is it?”

“I don’t need much. They feed me. Rusty Shannon never let me pick up any wasteful habits.”

“Maybe you could use some. Maybe you could come and see a girl once in a while.”

“You mean that?”

“If I say it, I mean it.”

He had heard that statement from Farley several times. Farley and his sister might not look alike, but they thought alike in some ways.

Bethel came outside to watch Andy get on his horse. He said, “Looks like you-all have had a good rain.” The ground was muddy, and water stood in the fields.

“A storm passed through here a few days ago. All we got was rain, but your friend Rusty caught a terrible hail. It just about wiped him out.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Andy paused a moment, feeling a rush of sympathy for Rusty. “I’ll be back with the doctor soon as I can.”

Andy was not prepared for the ruin that had been Rusty’s field. A maturing crop of corn had been battered into nothing more than stalks, standing bare and broken. Leaves and half-developed ears were pounded into the muddy ground. The devastation was complete.

Approaching the cabin, he saw that its roof was newly shingled, as was the roof of a smaller cabin Rusty had built for Andy when he had expected to bring Josie Monahan home as a bride. Several chickens pecked about the yard. Some had lost many of their feathers. Patches of bare skin showed through.

Andy called out. He heard an answer and reined his horse toward the shed where Rusty kept his farming implements and tools. Rusty stepped out into the open, leather harness in his hand. Recognizing Andy, he forced a smile, though Andy knew smiling must come hard to him these days.

“Hey, Andy, I’ll put this stuff away, then we’ll go up to the house.” Rusty went into the shed, emerging without the harness. The smile was gone. He looked haggard. “Tom Blessing told me you’d be comin’. I suppose you got your prisoner delivered.”

Andy dismounted to shake Rusty’s hand. “For what it was worth.” Andy would tell him about it later. Right now he was having difficulty absorbing the damage he saw around him. “Looks like you had a buffalo stampede.”

Rusty had always stood tall and straight. Now his shoulders sagged. His voice was weary. “You can put up a fight against most things that come at you. You can whip down a fire or dam up against a flood. But a storm like this, all you can do is hunker down and watch it happen.”

“I see you got new roofs.”

“Neighbors.” Rusty led Andy into the kitchen. “Had anything to eat?”

“Ate dinner with the Bracketts.”

For a moment Rusty’s eyes seemed to light up. “I’m glad you went by to see that Bethel girl. She’s been askin’ about you.”

“It wasn’t on account of her.” Andy explained about the Jayce Landon affair and Farley’s being wounded.

Rusty frowned. “Farley always did draw lightnin’.” He and Farley had had their differences. “Lots of young men around here think Bethel Brackett is the best-lookin’ thing in a hundred miles.”

“She looks all right.”

“Just all right?”

Andy was aware that Rusty had been trying a long time to promote a romance between Andy and Bethel. “Why don’t you pay court to her yourself?”

Pain came into Rusty’s eyes. “You know the luck I’ve had when it comes to women.”

Andy wished he could take back what he had said. It had slipped out. “I’m sorry.”

“No matter. I’ve halfway come to accept things like they are. I didn’t need that hailstorm, though.”

Rusty turned away, but not before Andy saw grief rekindled in his eyes. On the mantel stood a tintype of Josie Monahan. Andy could only imagine how many times a day Rusty must look at that picture.

He asked, “Ever hear anything from Alice?” Alice was Josie’s younger sister.

“Not directly. Got a letter from her mother. Clemmie said the boy Billy keeps askin’ about you.”

“Nothin’ from Alice herself?”

“I’ve got no reason to expect anything. There’s nothin’ between us. Never was.”

Andy had hoped there might be.

Rusty poked at coals banked in the fireplace until they glowed red. “I’ll boil us some coffee. It’ll tide us over till suppertime.”

Andy placed small sticks of dry wood atop the coals. “What’re you goin’ to do, Rusty? You’ve lost the year’s work. It’s too late in the summer to replant your field.”

“I’ve got meat in the smokehouse and hogs runnin’ loose on the river. I won’t starve.”

“You’re not one for sittin’ around idle.”

“There’s always work to do if I feel like lookin’ for it. But lately I’ve been askin’ myself what’s the use?”

Rusty’s dark mood made Andy uneasy. He said, “How about gettin’ away from this place for a while? Come back to camp with me. You could sign up with the Rangers for three months or six months, however long you want to. The captain said he’d be tickled to have you.”

Rusty toyed with the idea but resisted at first. “Rangerin’ is for young men like you.”

“There’s older men than you in the force. Len Tanner is about your age. The Morris boys ain’t far behind.”

“I’ll admit it’d be good to ride with them again.” Rusty walked to the door. He looked out past the dog run to his ruined field. “The thing is, I’m gettin’ to where when night comes I want a real bed, not a blanket on the hard ground.”

Rusty was thin and drawn. Andy wondered how many meals he had cooked, then not eaten. “I always thought you enjoyed your time with the Rangers.”

Rusty nodded. “I did, even with the long trips and the days I didn’t eat. There’s a lot of satisfaction in ridin’ with a bunch of men you like and respect.”

“Then come along with me. I guarantee that the captain will be pleased to see you.”

“I’ll admit I’m a little tempted.”

“It might do you good to see some fresh country. This farm could pretty well take care of itself from now till spring plantin’.”

Rusty gradually warmed to the idea. “I could turn the milk cow and her calf out together. I could take the chickens over to Shanty so the coyotes don’t get them.”

Perhaps later, when more healing time had passed, Andy could talk Rusty into traveling up north to visit the Monahans. If he spent time close to Alice, he might finally see what everybody around him already knew.

Bethel Brackett stood on the porch watching as Andy and Rusty dismounted in front of her house. She spoke first to Rusty, then to Andy. “Going back to camp already? I hoped you might stay awhile longer.”

Andy said, “It’s time I reported for duty. Just came to see about Farley so I’ll know what to tell the captain.”

He caught a moment’s disappointed look before she hid it. She said, “Farley’s stubborn and hard to get along with, but he always was. He’s raisin’ a ruckus about wantin’ to go back to camp.”

“He can’t be ready yet.”

“No, but he thinks he is. Nothing counts with him except what he thinks.”

“What about Flora Landon and her daddy?”

“They’re still here. Farley actually smiles when Flora comes into his room. I think he’s a little taken with her.”

Guess he’s got some human feelings after all, Andy thought. “Reckon they know where Jayce is at?”

“I make it a point not to ask questions. If anybody comes around hunting for information, I won’t have to lie to them.” She managed a weak smile. “You-all are not in too much of a hurry to stay and eat dinner with us, are you?”

Rusty took the decision out of Andy’s hands. “We’d be much obliged.”

That was how it had always been, Andy thought. He never got to make a decision of his own unless he was by himself. He was always in Rusty’s shadow, or someone else’s.

He remembered how to reach Farley’s room, but he chose to follow Bethel anyway. He enjoyed looking at her, though he would not tell her so, or Rusty.

Farley lay on his bed, atop the covers. Pale, unshaven, he was fully dressed, even to his boots. His shirt was only partially buttoned because of a bulky bandage wrapped around his ribs. He grunted at the visitors, either a halfhearted greeting or a dismissal. He had always lacked confidence in Andy, and he had only a strained tolerance for Rusty. Both had gotten in his way more than once.

Farley said, “I hope you’re ready to ride, because I sure am. I may just beat you back to camp.”

Andy saw worry in Bethel’s eyes. She said, “You wouldn’t get ten miles from home before you fell off of your horse. You’d lie there and bleed to death.”

Farley said, “I got hurt worse than this in a skirmish with the Yankees and still rode thirty miles before dark.”

Bethel shrugged. “How can you talk sense to a man like that?”

Andy saw no reason to tell her it was useless to try. She knew it better than he did. But he sensed that Farley understood the truth. Despite his blustering, he was not ready to ride, nor would he be for a while.

Rusty said, “Farley, I hear you and Andy turned back a mob.”