Xenia’s Renegade (15 page)

Seymour hesitated, but only long enough to let a businessman in. He then nodded to the Indian. “Come with me.”

“But the sign—”

“Forget the sign. We’re going to my office. Now, follow me.”

The Indian nodded, stepped through the door and followed Seymour across the room and up the stairs to his saloon office.

****

Mea Ann filled the coffee cups and Chapa set a bowl of scrambled eggs and a basket of biscuits to join the potatoes and the bacon on the breakfast table. With a surprised look, Chapa said, “Well, look who’s coming here.”

Ty couldn’t believe his eyes. Hobbling toward the table, Xenia held her side, but was walking better than he thought she could have so soon after her injuries. He jumped up and moved toward her quickly. “What are you doing out of bed?” He took her arm.

“I heard everyone laughing and talking in here and I wanted to be a part of it.”

“Well, you come right on in and have a seat. We’re glad you’re joining us, but now, don’t you over-do.” Chapa rushed to get another plate.

“Are you sure you’re up to this, sister?”

“Yes, Mea Ann.” She smiled at her sister. “I’ve got to get back on my feet so I won’t stumble when I go down the aisle as your maid of honor.”

Wilt grinned. “So you don’t mind if I marry your sister?”

Xenia slipped into the chair Ty pulled out for her. She reached across the table for Wilt’s hand. “I’m very pleased you and my sister are getting married. All I ask is that you be good to her and make her happy, because she deserves it.”

“You’re right, she does deserve it, and I will do my best to make sure she’s a happy wife, Xenia. I love her with all my heart.”

“He’s already made me happy by asking me to marry him. And I love him the same way he does me.” Mea Ann leaned toward him. “I know he’ll be a wonderful husband and father.”

Chapa put the jellies and jams on the table along with a plate for Xenia. “If he’s not, he’ll have to answer to his Aunt Chapa.”

Ty didn’t join in the conversation. He still wasn’t sure this marriage should happen. He’d even questioned Wilt about it for some time last night, but his cousin wouldn’t concede that marrying a white woman could be a mistake. Even when Ty brought up the disastrous romance with Verna McGill, Wilt had said, “Mea Ann is not the McGill woman. She’s a beautiful and honorable person who loves me as much as I do her. It doesn’t matter to her that I have Sioux blood in me.”

When Ty reminded Wilt how happy he’d been when he was married to Juanita, the beautiful half-sister of an Apache warrior, Wilt said, “I loved Juanita, Ty, and if she hadn’t died we’d still be married and have a few kids. But she
did
die—and after we’d only been married for a few months. That happened over five years ago, and I never thought I’d want to marry again. I was wrong. I’ve found happiness again, and that’s because of Mea Ann. I’m not about to pass up the chance to have a wonderful life with her.”

“But she’s white, Wilt. You may think she loves you now, but she’ll turn on you one day. You can’t trust a white woman. Especially one you’ve only known a short time.”

“Drop it, Ty. I’d like to have your support, and even hoped you’d be my best man, but that’s up to you. It doesn’t matter what you say or whether you like it or not, I’m marrying Mea Ann Poindexter. And I’m marrying her soon.”

Ty gave up. He decided to let Wilt see for himself what a mistake he was making, because he was sure Aunt Chapa and Xenia wouldn’t like the idea of their marriage any more than he did.

But that was yesterday, and now, this morning, Xenia was giving her blessing. So was Aunt Chapa. Ty knew there was nothing he could say to stop his cousin now. The man was going to have to learn the hard way. When Mea Ann walked out on Wilt, instead of saying he’d warned him, Ty would support him as best he could. After all, Wilt had certainly supported him after Verna left him.

Chapa’s voice cut into his thoughts. “You’re going to do it, aren’t you Ty?”

His brow wrinkled. “Do what, Aunt Chapa?”

“Where in the world is your mind this morning? You haven’t heard a word said here.”

“I’m sorry. I was thinking about all the work we have to accomplish out on the range this morning. Since I didn’t get into town last night, I want to get the work done so I can go this afternoon and see why Bullins is out of jail.”

Xenia looked at him. “He’s out of jail?”

“That’s what one of the hands said.”

Xenia trembled and dropped her fork to the table. Her voice was a whisper. “Will he find me here?”

Ty realized he’d frightened her. He put his hand on her arm. “Don’t be afraid, Xenia. Nobody is going to bother you here. We’ll all see to that.”

“That’s right, Xenia,” Wilt said. “We’ve even told the hands to be on the lookout for strangers or anybody that isn’t supposed to be on the ranch. You have nothing to worry about.”

Ty could tell Xenia wasn’t convinced. He picked up the bowl of eggs. “Here, eat a few of these and you’ll feel better.”

She frowned at him.

He chuckled. “Aunt Chapa always told Wilt and me that if you weren’t sure about something, grab a bite to eat and you’d feel better about it.”

“I sure did, and it works, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does, Aunt Chapa,” Ty and Wilt said almost in unison.

Xenia gave them a wry smile, took the bowl and dished out a spoonful of eggs. “Then, if you both think it’ll work, I’ll try it.”

Johnny let out a yell and Mea Ann said, “It looks like my son wants to join the rest of us for breakfast.”

“Do you want me to get him?” Wilt looked at her.

“I will.” She stood. “Just don’t eat all of those eggs before I get back.”

Ty started to say something, but there was a banging on the back door. He got up. “I’ll get it, Aunt Chapa.”

Ty opened the door. He was surprised to see Tony standing there. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve got a problem, Boss.”

Chapa picked up the bottle of laudanum on the table beside Xenia’s bed. “Are you sure you don’t want to take a little? Your face tells me you’re in pain.”

Xenia shook her head. “I think I just overdid it getting up for breakfast.”

“Don’t try it at the midday meal. I’ll bring it to you.”

“I’m sorry to put you to so much trouble.”

Chapa shook her head. “It’s no bother. The boys may not be back, anyway. They said they didn’t know how long it would take to fix the fences and round up the cows.”

“What happened? They left so quickly I didn’t understand what they were saying.”

“It seems sometime during the night, somebody cut the fence and either ran the cows out or they managed to wander out. Tony said it looked like they were run out because there were a several horse tracks about.”

“Why would anyone want to do that?”

“I don’t know, but there are some ruthless people in this world. Somebody probably decided we had a nice herd and wanted to take a few of them for themselves.”

“But don’t they have your brand?”

“The old ones do, but there are a lot of new stock. We planned to do the branding in a few weeks.”

Xenia sighed. “I wish I knew more about ranching.”

Chapa patted her shoulder. “Anything you want to know, you just ask me. I’ll tell you all about it. But right now, I think it’s time you took a nap. You look plum tuckered out.”

“Thank you, Chapa. I think I’ll do that.” Xenia followed her to her room and climbed into bed. “Do you mind opening the window? I sleep much better with the fresh air, and it’s a little stuffy.”

“I’ll do it right now, and I won’t bother you so you can sleep.” She started toward the door. “When Mea Ann finishes bathing Johnny, I’ll tell her you’re napping and we can get started on her lessons.”

“Lessons?”

“She asked me to help her learn some things about being a ranch wife. I thought we’d start with cooking. Wilt likes to eat.”

“That sounds good.” Xenia closed her eyes.  “I won’t sleep long.”

“You sleep as long as you want to. I’m going to close the door so we won’t bother you.”

Xenia felt herself already drifting off, so she didn’t bother to answer. 

****

“This sure looks suspicious, Boss,” Newt said as he picked up a section of the downed fence. “The cows didn’t break through this fence. It was cut.”

Ty took the wire Newt held toward him. “You’re right. This wasn’t broken.”

Wilt walked up. “Are you looking at the same thing I am?” When Ty and Newt nodded, Wilt went on, “Somebody wanted to make sure our cows got out of this pasture. This fence was cut in several different sections.”

“And it looks as if the cows were run out in a hurry. Look at those tracks. Some were made by shod horses, not cows.”

“Who’d want to do such a thing, Boss?”

“I don’t know, Newt, but I aim to find out.” Ty looked at Wilt. “Vester and Tony went to see if they could round up the cows. We should string more wire in case they get them back soon. I’ll go to the ranch and get it if you and Newt want to see if there are any places that can be patched.”

“I’ll go, Boss. I moved it out of the tack room the other day and you might have trouble finding it.”

Ty nodded. “Then Wilt and I will get busy on these downed wires.”

“We could use some of the broken wire to wrap around the cut ends. That will help us get it up faster.” Wilt looked at Ty. “Do you have any cutters in your saddle bag?”

“Don’t think so. I wasn’t expecting to work on fences today.”

“I think I have some.” Newt headed to his horse. “I seldom take them out of my saddlebag ’cause you never know when you’ll find a downed fence out here.”

“Thanks, Newt.”

“Here you go.” Newt handed the cutters to Ty. “If you fellows think you can handle the repair work, I’ll get the extra wire from the ranch and then ride out and see if I can help the guys round up them cows.”

Ty picked up the end of a cut wire. “Let’s get busy, cousin.”

The cousins worked mostly in silence, but occasionally one or the other would offer an explanation of why somebody would want to cut the fences and steal the cows. None of their guesses seemed likely, so they gave up trying to figure it out. By midday, the fences were repaired.

Wilt pushed back his hat, ran his fingers through his hair and looked across the meadow. “Well, it looks like we finished just in time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look coming here.”

Ty looked in the direction Wilt pointed. “Well, I’ll be damned. It appears they found most of the cows.”

Wilt frowned. “Wonder why Vester’s not with them.”

“I don’t know, but let’s get enough fence open so we can get the cows back in the pasture.”

After the cows were secured, Ty turned to Tony. “Where’s Vester?”

“When we learned the cows had been scattered in all directions we each took off in a different way. I ain’t seen him since he headed off.”

Ty’s brow wrinkled. “Which way did he go?”

“He went south. I remember, ’cause I went north. When Newt caught up to us, he went east. We figured nobody needed to go west ’cause they’d be headed back here.”

“Wonder why he didn’t come back here?”

“I don’t know, Boss. You know he ain’t much of one to tell us what he’s doing. He didn’t this time. either. He just rode off.”

Wilt walked up. “Couldn’t help hearing your conversation. Maybe he went back to the ranch. All he’d have to do is circle back a little and he’d be there.”

Ty nodded. “You could be right. Since we’re done here, let’s head back to the ranch.”

“Hold it, Boss.” Tony pointed across the field. “I think I see somebody coming now.”

It took Vester twenty minutes to get the three cows with him to the pasture. Two were muddy from their bellies down. After getting them in the pasture, he looked at Ty. “Took me too damn long to get them fools out of the mud. I should of left them, but I knowed you wouldn’t like that.”

Ty almost smiled. “I appreciate you taking the time to get them out, Vester. Every cow is important to this ranch.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.”

Wilt nodded. “Well, fellows we appreciate your help with rounding up and getting the cows back. Why don’t you knock off early and head back to the ranch? I’m sure you—”

Two shots rang out in the distance. No other shots followed.

“That’s a distress signal,” Newt said.

“Yes, and it sounds like it came from the house.” Ty headed for his horse.

Without taking time to ask any more questions, the others followed.

****

“Do you think they heard the shot?” A teary Mea Ann asked as she cuddled Johnny close to her.

“I’m sure they did. It won’t take them long to get here.” Chapa put the rifle down beside the back door.

“Maybe you should have waited, Chapa.”

“Absolutely not, Xenia. When you let out that blood curdling scream, I thought the devil had you for sure.”

“I know, but—”

“No buts, young lady. If you hadn’t awakened and saw that man climbing in your window, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”

“But he’s gone now.”

“That doesn’t matter. We can’t let him get away with this.”

Mea Ann looked at her sister. “Chapa’s right, Xenia.”

Chapa shook her head. “I shouldn’t have opened that window.”

“I asked you to open it, Chapa. I wanted the fresh air.”

“Yes, but—”

“Please, I want the two of you to calm down. I’m calm, and I’m the one who saw his ugly face.”

“Can you tell us what he looked like, Xenia?” Chapa asked.

“I didn’t get a chance to look him over very well, but I know he was kind of short and had a beard. He looked mean.”

“Had you seen him before?”

“I don’t think so, but he scared me so much I don’t even know if I’d recognize him again.”

“I think you’re still in shock, sister.” Mea Ann shifted Johnny to the other shoulder. “When it hits you what happened, you won’t be so calm about everything.”

Xenia smiled at her sister. “Maybe not.” She turned to Chapa. “Do you think you could make us all a cup of tea?”

“Of course I can, if you’re sure you’ll be alright.”

Xenia nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

She hurried to the kitchen and Mea Ann sniffed back tears.

With a weak hand, Xenia reached out and touched her sister’s arm. “Please, don’t be so upset. I know it was scary at first, but I’m fine, and I’m sure it’ll never happen again.”

“Are you sure you’re alright? When you fell out of bed, I know you landed on your sore side.”

“It hurts a little, but I’ll be fine.”

“You’re so brave, Xenia. I could never take this as well as you are.”

“I don’t know, Mea Ann. I think you’re pretty brave, yourself.”

“Why would you say that?”

“You’re about to marry a man you’ve only known a short time and you know without a doubt our parents would object to your union. I think that’s brave.”

Mea Ann smiled. “I really do love him, Xenia.”

“I know you do, and I truly believe Wilt loves you. In spite of everything, I’m proud of you for having the courage to go against what everyone in the family would say about your marriage.”

“Everyone in the family except you, little sister.”

“You’re right. I’m the exception. I’ll always support my big sister.”

Chapa returned with three cups of tea. “Here you go, ladies.”

“Thank you.” Xenia reached for the cup.

“Oh, my goodness, Xenia. Look how your hand is shaking. Don’t spill it. It’s hot.”

“I’m fine, Chapa. I—”

The sound of horses sounded in the back yard. Almost instantly, the door opened, and Wilt and Ty rushed in.

All the strength Xenia had used to keep herself calm seemed to slip away when she saw Ty’s face.  Tears filled her eyes and the cup of tea tumbled to the floor.

Though everyone started toward her, Ty reached her first. She couldn’t control herself any longer. Without a moment’s hesitation, she threw her arms around his neck and began to sob.

****

Ty was shocked. Not only because the women all looked scared, but mostly because Xenia was clinging to him. He wanted to push her away, but he also wanted to crush her against him closer than she already was.

“Is she alright?” Wilt asked.

“She will be.” Mea Ann reached for his hand. “She woke up when a man tried to climb into her room through the window. She screamed, and it must have scared him off, because by the time Chapa and I got in there, he’d already climbed back out and was running toward those woods on the side yard.”

Chapa took up the story. “By the time I got the gun and came back, he was gone. I didn’t know what else to do but send a signal to you fellows.”

“You did the right thing.”

Ty looked down at the sobbing and shaking woman in his arms. “Did he hurt you, Xenia?”

She didn’t answer and he looked at Chapa. “Do you know?”

“She fell when she tried to hurry out of the room and re-injured her side, but I don’t think he touched her.”

“I knew she was taking this too well,” Mea Ann said.

“What do you mean?”

“She hasn’t even cried or complained at all. She’s been as calm as she could be. She’s even tried to calm Chapa and me down.” She looked at her sister. “She only fell apart when you two came in.”

Wilt patted her shoulder. “When we arrived, it must have hit her how much danger she was in from him.”

Ty looked up at him. “Wilt, will you go out and tell the hands what happened. Also, set up a schedule for them to get back to watching the house. I don’t intend to leave the women again without a man being available.”

“Kerry’s usually here,” Chapa said.

“But this time, he went with us to fix the fences. That won’t happen again.”

“I agree.” Wilt leaned down and kissed Mea Ann’s cheek. Then, he kissed the top of Johnny’s head. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

She nodded and smiled at him.

Ty looked at Chapa. “I think she needs to go back to bed, but not in that room.”

“I’ll change rooms with her,” Mea Ann said.

Ty shook his head. “No. I have a feeling I know who was behind this, and that puts both you and Xenia in danger. I’ll be sleeping in that room for the time being. Xenia can sleep in my room.”

“That’s a good idea. Your room will be safer with the thorny bushes outside the window.” Chapa moved to Xenia’s chair. “Honey, do you want some more tea?”

Xenia seemed to realize she was clinging to Ty. She let him go and bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Don’t worry about it.” He awkwardly patted her shoulder. “Now, how about that tea Aunt Chapa seems to think you need?”