Weathered Too Young (43 page)

“
Well, one time me and old Samson had a go
-
around.
I’d seen him kill a deputy down in
El Paso
,
and when I caught up to him…well
,
we did go around
,
u
sing fists and fe
et and whatever else was handy.
Now,
o
l’
Samson carried himself a big
knife
…
an
Arkansas
t
oothpick
,
they call it.
Sailors use
’
em a lot…wear
’
em in a holster on their back.
But not Samson Kane…nope.
He sheathes his at his leg…his thigh
,
opposite his pistol.
Anyway, me and Samson was goin’ around
,
and
he up and pulls this knife…
starts
pokin
’
it at me. I can
’
t even recollect how, but somehow, I got hold of the knife and gave him a sting he won
’
t soon forget
…
right
a
cross his face like this.
”
Lark watched as Slater indicated the place on his face where Samson
was scarred
.

“
You
gave him the scar
?” Lark asked.

“Yep,” Slater said, shaking his head.
“I suppose that’s another reason he don’t care too much
for
me.”

Johnny chuckled—silencing his momentary amusement when his mother glanced at him with disapproval.

“
Samson Kane
was madd
er than a hornet…
but
bleedin’ and hurt enough he couldn’t go
’
round with me much after that.
So I drug
him off to
the county
jail
,
and t
he doc in town stitched him up.
I testified in court to what I’d seen him do
—
to the murder of the deputy
. T
hen I drug his sorry hind end to
Yuma
.
They locked him up
,
and
I
went on my way.”

“But this ain’t the first time Samson Kane’s escaped from
Yuma
, now is it, Slater?” Tom urged, nodding at his brother.

“No,” Slater admitted.
He inhaled a deep breath
,
exhaled
,
and said, “A c
ouple years later, I
’
m ridin
’
along mindin
’
my own
…
and I hear a voice behind me say,
‘
Y
er done
fer, Marshal
Evans.
’
I drew my gun and turned, but I heard gunfire before I’d pulled my trigger.
The bullet grazed my head just here.”
Slater turned his head
and
parted his hair on the left side of his head with his fingers to reveal a thick scar.
“The graze to my head dizzied me up a bit
,
and before I got myself straight, ol’ Samson Kane shot me again…here…in the shoulder.”

Slater
unbuttoned his shirt
and pulled it aside to show the children the scar
at
t
he front
of his shoulder.

“It’s worse at the back,” Lizzy said.
“I seen
it
one day when you
were
bathin’.”

“Lizzy!” Katherine exclaimed.

“Did ya now?” Slater chuckled.

“
But how did you get him back to
Yuma
?” Johnny asked.

“Shot him in the leg,” Slater said.
“And when he fell off his horse, I kicked
him
the gut
and
beat the sense out of him…tied him up, tossed him over his horse
,
and took him back.”

“Why didn’t they hang him?” Johnny asked.

Slater shook his head. “I don’t know
. T
hey were supposed to.”
He paused, chuckling
to himself.
“Now I’m thinkin’ I shoulda made sure they did…or
else
hung him myself
when I had the chance
.”

“Well, I think that’s just about enough talk of outlaws and shootin’,” Katherine said.
“It’s late
,
and you children need to be gettin’ to bed.
”

“Aw, Mama,” Charlie whined.
“I wanna stay up and hear more about cowboys and outlaws and such.”

“And that’s exactly why you need to get to bed,” Katherine sighed, rolling her eyes with exasperation.

“You’re not gonna get upset and run off again, are ya, Miss Lark?” Lizzy asked.

Lark blushed.
“No, Lizzy,” she said.
“I’m fine now.”
She looked to see Slater smiling at her.
He winke
d
,
and she said, “I’m just fine.”

“It was Chet Leigh’s horse
we seen out there
, Slater,” Tom said.
“
He was pretty far off…but there a
in’t no mistakin’ that strawberry roan he rides.”

“
And o
l’ Outlaw ain’t nowhere to be seen
,” Eldon
added
.
“L
ittle Joe neither…though
Chet
must n
aughta
had time to let loose the Angus
bull
.
Sue’s
right where we left him last night
.”

“Well, it
ain’t coincidence,” Slater
grumbled
.
“Chet Leigh ain’t gonna just show
up one mornin’ to cause trouble…not
without help.
He’s too yellow for that.
Nope…he met up with Samson Kane somewhere
. T
hat idiot cowboy is ridin’
with that dirty outlaw
.”

“Chet’s from
Texas
, Slater,” Tom reminded his brother.
“He
knew who you was
. H
e probably heard Samson Kane askin’ around about ya somewhere between here and
Yuma
.”

Though the men conversed in lowered voices, the quiet of early morning somehow made their conversation more discernable.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon.
Lark had
risen from her bed, dressed
,
a
nd was preparing to start break
fast when she heard Slater, Tom
,
and Eldon’s discussion.
Now she
stood just outside the kitchen, listening as the men sat at the table talking.
Tom and Eldon had been
out that morning searching
for any evidence
that
Samson Kane
might be
lingering nearby.
From what Lark had heard so far, it sounded as if Samson Kane now had some
assistance with his vengeful intentions
—Chet Leigh.
Lark thought of the last time she’d seen Chet Leigh, and her hand involuntarily
moved to her
cheek at the memory.
The swelling and bruising Chet’s attack had left on her face were long gone
,
but the horrible recollection of his abuse would never leave.

Still, even for the frightening memories she
now
possessed of both Chet Leigh and Samson Kane, it was Slater she was worried about.
No doubt Chet hated Slater for beating him senseless and sending him away.
He’d probably relish the chance to beat Slater senseless in return
.
Furthermore,
she already knew what Samson Kane’s intentions toward Slater were.
After all, the outlaw had tried to kill him before.
It was unlikely his plans had changed.
The thoughts of what either villain would do to Slater i
f they caught him off guard sent
a tremor of terror shooting through her.
Why couldn’t Samson Kane have died in prison the way her father had?
Why couldn’t Chet Leigh just have ridden away and never looked back?

Weary of eavesdropping, for she wan
t
ed to know every detail of what the cowboys had discovered
, Lark stepped into the kitchen.

Slater looked to her
,
and her heart leapt as he smiled.
Even the danger lurking in the
lingering
dark
hours of morning
couldn’t dampen the sheer elation she felt
at seeing
his smile
,
for it
reminded her that
he loved her—that he’d
fallen
for her.

“Samson Kane and Chet Leigh…what will they do?” she asked.

“Cause trouble,” Slater answered.

“Ol’ Outlaw is gone…and Little Joe too,” Eldon offered.
“It was Chet
who let
’
em out.
Ain’t a doubt in my mind.”

“They’re tryin’ to draw us out,” Tom explained.
“They know how important them bulls are…and they’re hopin’ some of us will r
ide out to try and round
’
em up.
”

A sudden vision of
Samson Kane’s
vile,
malicious smile crossed
Lark’s
mind
,
and she win
ced at the sickened sensation
the
image
left in her stomach
.

“Will you
ride out
to round them up?
” Lark asked.

“No,” Slater mumbled.
“Samson Kane ain’t too good with a gun
,
but Chet Leigh
is
. A
nd both of
’
em
are such cowards they’d try to
shoot
us
from
a distance instead of facin’ us
like men.”
He glance
d
to Eldon and added, “And any of you boys are fools to think
Chet
won’t pick you off just because he used to
ride with ya
.
Once a man turns to outlawin’…he don’t usually look back.
”

“Well, we can’t just sit here
and do nothin’
, boss,” Eldon grumbled.
“We can’t just sit
on our fannies
and wait.
Can we?”

“Not for too long, no,” Slater said.
“
But there oughta be a posse of
m
arshals here by tomorrow mornin’.
Once I sent that telegram
requestin’ reinstatement
…well
,
they know Kane’s here now
,
and they’ll come for him.”

Tom chuckled.
He
shook his head
,
having been amused by something or someone.

“And what’s so funny?” Slater asked, frowning with disapproval.

“I just never thought I’d see the day when you’d be willin’ to wait somethin’ like this out, that’s all,” Tom answered.

“We got women and children here now,” Slater said.
“You know th
at, Tom.
We can’t risk a shoot
out…not when they
can see us
and
we can’t see them.”

Tom nodded.
“Oh, I know it
.
I
do know it,” he said.
“I was just admirin’ yer patience…
s
ince you didn’t seem to be born with too
much
of that particular virtue
in the first place.”

“I got me plenty of other virtues, little brother,” Slater said.
He glanced to Lark, winking at her.
“Just ask Lark.
Ain’t I got plenty of virtues, baby?”