Changes
by
Janice Sagraves

ONE

Siddon Banning stood in front of the stage depot awaiting the arrival of the big red Overland coach. A man he was waiting for would be a passenger on that coach, and he wanted to be there to properly welcome him to his town. He had been entertaining the idea of engaging another doctor for some time, but he had been lax about it. But back in April, when one had not been enough, a fire had been built under his rump, and he forced his nose to the grind stone to find another. Well, two weeks ago he had found him and now the man would soon be there to take up practice and give Dr. Robey a hand by taking up some of the slack. With a growing metropolis like Bantree one doctor was no longer enough, if it ever had been. This man, however, he hoped that his people would accept, in spite of what he had once been.

*******

June had busted out all over, and after a harsh winter and cold spring it was more than welcome. The migratory birds had returned and animals had come from their lairs to live in the summer sunshine. The dense green leaves of the trees created oases of shade, and made fine sanctuaries for the aforementioned birds as well as squirrels. For the middle of the month the temperature was somewhat warmer than usual, but nobody had complained.

Adam Cartwright was going through the mail he had just picked up when a cheerful voice caught him from behind. “Good morning.”

Adam looked around just as he stepped into the street. A well dressed, slim man of about medium height was coming toward him with an energetic stride. “Good morning. I don’t think I’ve seen you in town before.”

“You haven’t. I arrived yesterday. My name is Graham Montgomery,” the man said and extended his right hand.

“The new doctor,” Adam said, as he took the proffered hand and shook it. “Siddon said you were coming, but he’s told us little else about you.” His dark hazel eyes narrowed. “I’m picking up a bit of a southern accent, aren’t I?”

“You’re picking up a lot of one,” the doctor said proudly. “But then I’m from South Carolina so it’s to be expected, and before you ask, I hail from a plantation not far Charleston, and I did serve in the Confederate Army.”

“I take it that you’ve been asked the questions to those answers before.”

“Do you have a problem with those answers?”

Adam couldn’t miss the defensive posture the man took. “No, the war’s over.”

“Would it make a difference if we were still fighting?”

“Well, that isn’t a Confederate uniform you’re wearing, and a man can’t help where he’s born so I like to think it wouldn’t.” He glanced up at the sky, and a luminous smile spread. “But let’s not go into such things on such a pretty day. How do you like it in Bantree?”

“It’s a nice town.” His acorn brown eyes roved about him. “Bigger than I expected.”

“Yes, it has grown quite a bit in the last few years. So what do you think of your benefactor? I trust you’ve already met Siddon Banning.”

“Not only met him and his fine family, but I had supper at the Banning mansion last night. They’re good people.”

“Some of the best I’ve met out here or anywhere, for that matter.” Adam could see that the man’s bright demeanor had tarnished, and his mouth set into a firm, flat line. “Something else you wantta know?”

“Is there a reason you haven’t told me your name?”

Adam grimaced and shook his head. “An oversight, nothing more. It’s Adam Cartwright. I live not far from here with my wife and boys.”

“I know all about you, Mr. Cartwright,” the doctor said, as the pleasant attitude returned. “Mr. Banning had only glowing things to say about you.”

“That’s Sid, all right. Always paints a pretty picture.”

“Maybe you’d like to go for a cup of coffee?”

“I wish I could, but I havta get home.” He held up the parcel of envelopes then went about stuffing them into his saddlebag. “My wife got a letter from her sister, and if I don’t get it to her as quickly as she thinks I should she’ll skin me good. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do it some other time.”

“Whatcha doin’ talkin’ to that Reb, Cartwright?”

The two men looked around at the seedy-looking individual standing about a foot from them on the boardwalk.

“Minding my own business,” Adam said, as his hand rested on the big Colt on his hip, a gesture not lost on the doctor, “and I suggest you do the same, Calder. Now why don’t you go have a beer before somebody else takes offence at you… again?”

“Bah,” the man said gutturally, waving them off with both hands then stomped away toward The Wooden Nickel saloon.

“Was the threat necessary?”

“With Vint Calder it always is,” Adam said, and took his hand away from his gun.

“He’s not the first to act that way toward me, and he won’t be the last, I’m afraid. Are you sure you want to be seen with me?” the doctor asked, his head tilted to one side as if gauging the man before him.

“Nobody tells me who I can and can’t be seen with.” He tittered. “And I could ask you the same thing,” Adam said, with a show of teeth, “I can be a pretty unsavory character, as my wife, father and brothers would tell you. Now I do need to get home.” He undid the reins from the hitch rail then put his foot into the stirrup and swung up onto the back of the big coal black horse. “Maybe some time when you aren’t too busy you’d like to come to my house for supper. Our housekeeper is one of the best cooks between San Francisco and New York.”

“I’d like that, Mr. Cartwright. I’d like that just fine.”

“Great. You just let us know when you’re ready.” Adam tipped his hat to the man as he flashed another grin then turned the black and headed out of town at a good clip.

Graham Montgomery stepped back onto the boardwalk, but his eyes never left Adam Cartwright. He had heard much about this man from Siddon Banning, and now he had firsthand knowledge to round out what he had been told. Just from this chance meeting he liked what he had seen and heard, and he hoped that Adam Cartwright didn’t let him down like so many others had.

*******

Adam entered the parlor side of the large ell-shaped room, keeping his bluster to a minimum. Since the coming of his sons two months ago he had learned some new methods to doing things. No longer did he call for his wife upon coming inside and clomping about the house like a bull moose looking for a mate was a thing of the past.

He spied the housekeeper from the corner of his eye as he hung his hat on the coat stand by the door and began unbuckling his gun belt. “Is it that time already? No wonder I’m hungry.”

“Miss Angelica thought you would miss it,” Maggie O’Shea said in her hearty Irish brogue, as she placed a plate of fresh baked crackers and sliced apple next to a board with a wedge of cheese and a knife.

“Now when have I missed a mid-morning meal?”

She eyed him warily but didn’t answer.

“Where is she?” he asked as he approached her with the envelopes in his hand.

“She went up to the study for a breath. Your sons have been testy this morning.”

“Why is it when they’re bad they’re my sons, and when they’re good they belong to her?”

“I couldn’t say, sir, havin’ never been a mother meself,” she said but kept her back to him as she went about her chore.

With a snort, he started for the stairs, and her nutmeg eyes danced with mischievousness, and a wicked grin barely turned her lips.

The door to the oak paneled room opened quietly, and he peered around it. “I thought you came up here to rest. This doesn’t look like resting to me,” he said and stepped inside.

“I intended to,” Angelica Cartwright said as she turned from the floor-to-ceiling bookcases along the far wall, “but when I got up here I couldn’t. This always seems to be the dustiest room in the house. Men must carry their own supply of dust with them that they can sprinkle around at will.” She stuffed the rag into an apron pocket.

He went to her and gave her an affectionate peck on the mouth. “You got a letter from Patricia.”

“This is the first one I’ve had from her in a while,” she said, as she took the envelope from him and eagerly tore the flap loose from the wax seal. “I hope nothing’s wrong.”

“Why is it when women haven’t heard from somebody in a while, they automatically assume something’s wrong?”

“Experience,” she said, without looking up from the unfolded page, “and training.”

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke again. “I met the new doctor just as I was getting ready to leave, and he seems like a likable chap.” But she didn’t answer as her deep violet eyes continued scanning the words before her. “If only he wasn’t green with two heads and a long spiky tail.”

“That’s nice, dear,” she said absently and kept reading.

He watched her for a second longer. “She must have some pretty interesting things to say.”

“She doesn’t come right out with it, but something is wrong, just like I suspected,” she said, her eyes following the written words.

“Well, if she doesn’t say so, how do you know some…?”

“Because she’s my sister, and I know her,” she finally looked up at him, “and that would explain why she’s coming here.”

“Here? At our reception I heard her say that she would never step foot in Nevada again, if she could help it.”

“Well, apparently she can’t help it, because she and Brian, and the children are coming here. According to this,” her eyes darted to the page, “she was going to stay in town with Mother and Fiona but has changed her mind for some clandestine reason and will explain when they get here.”

“It could be perfectly innocent and simple.”

“Nothing has ever been innocent, simple or perfect with any one of my brothers or sisters, and I doubt this is an exception.” She crumpled the paper in her hands and held it against her throat. “Oh, Adam, I hope it’s nothing serious. What if…?”

“Now don’t go borrowing trouble,” he said, as he pulled her to him. “It could just be that she thought a visit would be nice, after all, she hasn’t seen you since we were married, and eleven months is a long time to go without seeing somebody you love.”

“Still…”

“There you go again. Stop fretting.”

“But what if it is trouble?”

“Then we’ll worry about it when we find out for sure if it is. Now, does she say when they should get here?”

A crinkle filled the room as Angelica smoothed the paper, and her eyes searched it. “She says around the tenth.” Wide purple-blue pools shot to his face. “Tomorrow’s the tenth.”

“That’s exactly right, and I’ll go in and pick them up if they’re on the stage, but around the tenth doesn’t mean the tenth. They may not get here for a few days yet, so stop worrying, and just remember what I said.”

“All right,” she said dolefully, as his arms hugged her closer. “Still, I hope this isn’t trouble.”

He rested the side of his tanned, weathered face against the top of her silky, dark brown head. He stared off into space, and his mind reeled back to the episode with Vint Calder. “So do I, sweetheart…. So do I.”

TWO

Angelica was fidgety as a chicken on a hot stove, as Maggie put it, and wanted everything to be perfect when her sister saw her house for the first time. “How does this look, Maggie?” Angelica said, as she adjusted a clear glass vase on the fireplace mantle.

One corner of Maggie’s mouth drew in as she turned around. “It looks fine, just like it did on the table by the front door.”

“I know, but this looks better, don’t you think?”

“Yes, mum, if you say so. You know, Miss Patty is going to like your house just fine.”

“I know, but it’s so much different from what she’s accustomed to.”

“That may be so, but that doesn’t make it any better or worse, now does it? And what really counts is that you and Mr. Adam like it here.”

Angelica grinned and giggled. “You’re one-hundred-percent right. I guess I am being a little silly, aren’t I?”

“Just a might. Now, would ya mind helping me with this?”

Angelica consented meekly and went into the dining room and took two corners of the large emerald green damask table cloth.

“I don’t think this is necessary,” Maggie said as they straightened the large piece of cloth over the top of the table. “The one you crocheted would be just fine.”

“I know,” she said, as she diligently smoothed it with her hands, “but…” She stopped and looked up to find herself the object of an intense stare. “I’m still doing it, aren’t I?”

Maggie nodded. “And you that have always made fun of the nabobs that try to impress others with material things.”

Angelica grinned then jerked the piece of fabric away. “Go get my crocheted one.”

“Yes, mum.”

But before Maggie could get it, a clamor of hooves and wheels entered the yard.

Angelica whirled toward the door, her arms full of green. “They’re here. It’s too late now,” she said and tossed it to Maggie then bolted into the parlor.

Angelica burst out onto the porch as Adam was getting the luggage from the back of the two-seat buckboard. “Patty!” she squealed and rushed down the steps, her arms spread wide.

“Angie!” Patricia Dwyer shouted, as she rushed at her sister.

As they embraced, Adam was once again reminded of how much they looked alike, right down to the deep violet eyes and long black lashes. At that, however, he still thought his Angelica was the most beautiful woman in the entire world. With a shake of his head, he sat a small suitcase on the ground.

“Oh, Patty, it’s so good to see you. Nearly a year is too long for us to be apart.”

“Yes, it is, and when Europe didn’t…” Patricia glanced away then went on. “I just wanted to be with my sister.”

Now Angelica knew she had been right, something was definitely amiss. “Well, you’re here, and that’s what matters.” Then Angelica looked down to a small copy of her sister. “Jennifer,” she said, as she stooped and put her arms around the little girl. “My but you’ve grown since last year.”

“I’m five now,” the child said, as she held up all the fingers on her right hand.

“I can tell because you’ve become a fine young lady.” Then her attention went to the boy standing by her. “Hello, Jared.” She reached out to him, but he sidestepped and backed up. Her gaze flitted to Patricia, and now she had an idea what the problem had to do with, or rather whom. “It’s so good to see you again. I think you’ll like it here.”

“I just wantta go home,” the dour faced boy said.

“Jared,” Patricia snapped. “Mind your manners.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he growled, and dug his toe into the dirt.

As she stood again, Angelica came face-to-face with Brian Dwyer.

“Hello, Angelica,” he said, took her hand and graciously kissed the back of it. “London and Paris were nice, but there’s nothing like being home.” Then a sad light filled his saddle tan eyes. “I hope you don’t mind us barging in like this.”

“Not at all,” Adam said, as he stepped next to them, a valise in each hand. “Since yesterday this is all she’s been able to talk about.” He gave Angelica a wink then started up onto the porch.

She fired him a stern leer then turned back to her sister. “He’s right. I have been a bit pent up, and Maggie will be in her element. You know how she’s always loved to make over the family, especially the children.” She hooked her arm in Patricia’s and began subtly easing her toward the steps. “I want you to meet our sons as soon as they wake up from their nap. They had some excitement last month when they met Adam’s family for the first time, and now they’re in for some more.”

“I can hardly wait. Mother says they’re the very picture of their father.”

A tiny flame lit the base of Angelica’s brain. “They do, and his name is still Adam.”

Brian helped Adam finish unloading the buckboard while the womenfolk and children went inside. Nothing, however, was said about their reason for being there. That would come later.

*******

Angelica sat in the bedroom chair breastfeeding little Hiram while her sister stood over the cradle looking down at his brothers, both full enough to bust and drowsing.

“Such beautiful babies,” Patricia said, as she stroked Addy’s small head. “They do indeed look like Adam. I’m glad. I think boys should look like their father, just like Jared does.”

Angelica watched her, and it only solidified her conviction that something was wrong, and it had to with her nephew. “You were vague and evasive at supper about your reason for coming here, and why you’re not staying in town with Mother and Fiona.”

“Do I have to have a reason to want to stay with my sister in her splendid, big house?” Patricia said, as she sat on the side of the bed. “And I must admit that Adam is very nice, once you let yourself know him. When you were first married I wasn’t sure you had made a right choice, though almost anything has to be better than Hazelton Greenwood. But I can see how happy he makes you, and I know that it was.”

“And are you happy?”

Patricia’s sharp eyes drilled into her. “Why would you ask such a thing? I’m married to a good man, and I have a beautiful daughter and a…” her head ducked slightly, “fine son.”

“You might as well tell me. You know I’ll eventually worm it out of you anyway, and we have never been ones to keep secrets from each other.” She snickered. “Maybe from Lucinda, but not from each other…. What’s wrong with Jared?”

Patricia went pale as the moon rising outside and fists knotted at her sides. Then everything gave way at once and she slumped forward against her knees, covering her face with both hands. “Oh, Angelica, I don’t even know him any more,” she said through a whimper. “I don’t even know my own son any more.” Slowly, she sat up straighter and turned to face Angelica, tears streaming down her wan cheeks. “He’s changed. When Brian went into the Army in ’63, Jared was only three, and too young to understand. Then last year when Brian came home, Jennifer warmed right up to him, but Jared was cold and distant. We had hoped that he would grow out of it as he got to know his father again, but it’s only gotten worse. He’s become even more defiant and belligerent and acts like he doesn’t need us – especially Brian – or want us telling him what to do.”

“Do you know why?”

“Yes, part of it, anyway. Last January – before Brian returned home – he made friends with some of the older boys in a less affluent part of the city.”

“You mean the slums.”

“I’m afraid I do. I guess he idolizes them for the way they – many of them without fathers – take care of themselves. I forbade him from ever going back there, and so has Brian, but he’s defied us every step of the way and done exactly that.”

“And what about Brian?”

“It’s tearing him to pieces that his own son seems to hate him. At first we thought it was because Brian had left him when he was so young, but we’ve begun to think there’s more to it. But whatever it is, Jared won’t forgive him.”

“Do you?”

Patricia went perfectly still except for the quivering of her chin. “Yes, because I love him. I didn’t want him to go either, but I know why he did, and I respect him for his decision…. I’m only glad he didn’t leave Washington City and go where the fighting was. Maybe that’s selfish, but I can’t help it.”

“It’s not one bit selfish,” Angelica said, as she stood and disengaged her sleeping son, who stirred ever so slightly, “and I’m sure you’re not the only woman who’s felt that way.” She discretely pulled up her chemise to cover herself then placed the baby with his brothers. Buttoning up the front of her dress, she sat next to her sister. “Whose idea was it for you to come out here? Yours…” a devious light glinted in her eyes, “or Mother’s?”

“It was Mother’s. She thought it could do some good to get Jared away from a town environment, and both Brian and I agreed.” Her crying started up again. “But now, I don’t know.”

Angelica put an arm around her sister’s shoulders, and she could feel her trembling. “How many times have you known Mother to be wrong about anything?”

Patricia laughed in spite of herself and wiped her wet cheeks with the backs of her hands.

“It will be all right.” She put her other arm around Patricia and hugged her close. “And after helping to raise his own brothers, if anyone can straighten him out, Adam will. You just watch.”

*******

Adam stepped out onto the front porch, and the man standing before him and looking out into the night moved not one muscle. He had watched this father with his daughter, and no one had to tell him how much love Brian Dwyer had for her, and she for him. But when it came to the boy, it hurt Adam to watch and made him want to put the lad over his knee and wail the daylights out of him. If he and his brothers had treated their father that way when they were young Jared’s age, they wouldn’t have gotten any older, at least not without a serious limp. He couldn’t imagine why a son would behave that way toward his own father, and it, frankly, made his blood boil.

Quietly, he moved to stand next to his brother-in-law, and Brian finally turned his golden tan eyes to Adam.

Adam got the impression that he wanted to talk, but they didn’t know each other that well yet. They had only met at his and Angelica wedding, and there had not been much in the way of conversation between them. Anyway, that was the reason he gave himself for the man’s continued silence.

“When you’re ready,” Adam said and squeezed his shoulder, then went back into the house.

Brian turned toward the barn, and his ash blond head dropped, and his square shoulders began to shudder minutely.

THREE

With summer had come the chores that came with running a ranch, particularly one the size of The Angel. Adam had just come into the house when he became aware of angry voices spilling from the kitchen along with the aroma of biscuits and frying ham.

“I’ll not have you talk to your mother that way, do you hear me? Now go to your room until you think you can act better, and don’t you dare come out until I say you can!”

“But I’m hungry!”

“You should’ve thought of that before you called your mother such a word! Now go on!”

Adam had entered the dining room when the grim-faced boy whizzed out past him, knocking him into the buffet and rattling the chafing dish that always sat there. Collecting his wits after the mishap, he went on into the kitchen.

Angelica was consoling her weeping sister while Brian stalked back-and-forth and stroked his finely trimmed mustache that was darker than his ash blond hair. Maggie stood at the stove, eyes blackened and a wooden spoon held in a death grip in her right hand. She was the first to notice Adam, but didn’t call attention to him.

“If I thought it would do any good I’d wear out a buggy whip on that boy,” Brian grumbled.

“I’m not trying to intrude, but I couldn’t help but overhear.”

All eyes went to Adam – except for Maggie’s, which were already there – and Brian’s pacing stopped.

“I’m honestly sorry about that,” Brian said, and he ran his fingers back through his thick, wavy hair. “We come here for a visit, and he behaves like one of those street ruffians he insists on hanging around with.”

“Angelica told me about it last night,” Adam said and moved closer to them.

“We had hoped that getting him away from Bangor would help,” Patricia said through her sniffles as she daubed her red, puffy eyes with a lace-edged handkerchief.

“Well, you only got here yesterday,” Adam said with a cheerful smile. “Just give him some time, and let him get used to the idea.” Then a stroke of genius dashed across his face. “I tell you what, after breakfast I’m going to take a couple spools of fence wire over to a friend of mine. Brian, how about you and Jared come with me? Lee has a boy around the same age. They might get on, and it’ll give us three a chance to get to know each other on the way there and back.”

Patricia pulled loose from her sister and went to her husband and took his arm. “Oh, Brian, that’s a wonderful idea. It will give him a chance to meet someone his own age that comes from a different life.” Her hopeful gaze went to Adam. “Is he a good boy?”

“Kip’s a fine boy. One of the finest I’ve ever known. You couldn’t ask for a better role model.”

“Brain,” she said, and her fingers tightened on his arm, “please.”

Brian’s eyes narrowed as they turned on his brother-in-law. “You mean that?”

“I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t.”

One could almost see the wheels turning behind the tan eyes then his attention went back to his wife. “All right,” he said with a warm smile, and patted the back of her hand. “At this stage I’ll try anything.”

*******

The two-seat buckboard ground along the dry, dirt road leaving puffs of thick, brown dust in its wake. Adam, at the reins, and Brian sat up front while young Jared sat behind them, his arms crossed over his chest. If the boy’s expression said nothing else, it said plainly that he hadn’t wanted to come.

“So, how do you like Nevada so far, Jared?” Adam said with a chipper ring to his voice as he glanced back at the boy. “You’ve come at a good time. Summer in the mountains is like nowhere else on Earth. But if you really want to see something special, you should come here in the winter. Maybe you and your family could come back for Christmas. Would you like that?”

Adam could’ve sworn he heard the sound of crickets coming from the back seat. His dark hazel eyes went to Brian, but neither said a word. He had always heard that actions spoke louder than words, and right now they were shouting.

“How long before we get to your friend’s ranch?” Brian asked in an effort to change the subject.

“Did you see that big oak back there with the lighting shattered limb? It means we just crossed onto it.”

“Good. Aren’t you excited to meet someone your own age? Maybe he’ll show you around, and maybe you’ll become friends. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

“I already have friends, and I don’t want any more,” Jared said dryly.

“Not the kind I approve of.”

“Well I don’t care…” Jared started sharply as he leaned forward.

Brian’s face grew harsh. “What have I told you about talking to me and your mother that way? Maybe you would like to have a conversation like the one we had before we left home.”

Jared flopped back in the seat and folded his arms over his chest again.

“So, how long have you known this man? You haven’t told me much about him. Is he a good friend?”

“The best.” Adam’s eyes locked onto the backs of the horses’ dobbing heads as distant memories returned. “If not for him and his wife, I’d most likely be dead now. He found me by the side of the road coming out of Bantree, badly beaten, robbed blind and bleeding to death. He got me into the wagon and took me home with him.” One side of his mouth crooked. “And when I had nowhere else to go, they gave me a place to call home.”

“Patricia’s mother did tell us something about that.”

“What happened to the man who robbed you?” Jared asked, suddenly showing some interest in something.

“He wound up like most men like that do.”

“Having respect?” the boy asked.

Adam’s fingers tightened on the reins. “Dead.”

“An accident?” Jared asked with a faint quaver to his voice.

“Not likely.” Adam wondered if he should give the full details, but maybe it would save this youngster from the same fate. “Somebody used a shotgun on him, close up…. It turns out the killer was more afraid of him than he was of getting caught.”

It went silent for several seconds then Jared spoke up haughtily. “I wouldn’t get caught.”

Brian’s back took on a defeated curve, his shoulders slumping. “Nice try,” he said so that only Adam could hear.

Adam wanted to believe that the boy didn’t really understand what he had just said, or grasp what he had been told. Adam had been to the cities before and seen the poor, displaced, unsupervised and, in many cases, unloved little guttersnipes. He couldn’t fault a child forced into lawlessness simply in order to survive, but he also believed that Jared had glamorized their so-called independence. He himself couldn’t understand what it was like not to have his father around as a boy, and he knew that was behind this for Jared. He didn’t know what he could do about it, or even if he should interfere, but if asked to he would, maybe with reservations. His eyebrows drew into a scowl, and his mouth pinched. Why did life have to get so complicated? With a shake of his head, he gave the reins a snap, and the horse picked up speed. They would soon be to the Haymes’, and he was glad.

*******

Lee Haymes had just led his saddled roan out of the barn when he heard what sounded like a buckboard drawing closer. At least, he guessed it to be a buckboard since it didn’t sound heavy enough to be a wagon. He stood facing the road until he saw the vehicle clear the trees. He watched it until it got close enough to make out its passengers and the sides of his mouth curved.

“Is that…?”

With a touch of surprise, Lee glanced around at his son. So engrossed with the approach of company, he hadn’t heard the nine-year-old come out of the barn with his own horse. “It sure is.”

“I brought you that fence wire I promised to the other day!” Adam shouted, and brought the harnessed horses to a stop near the man. “Hello, Kip?”

Kip acknowledged him brightly as Adam’s long legs came out of the buckboard.

“Did I catch you two at a bad time?” Adam said as his hand shot out to his friend.

“No, we were just on our way to help the hands with the branding,” Lee said as he took the proffered hand and shook it robustly. Then his amber eyes lit on the two who were now standing next to Adam.

“Lee, this is my brother-in-law Brian Dwyer, and his son Jared. They’ve come out from Bangor for a visit.”

Brian was polite in his greeting, but when it came to Jared, the boy simply stood there looking sour. He obviously had no intention to take Lee’s hand until a poke from his father made him.

“It’s good to meet you, young man,” Lee cheerfully said. “This is my son Kip.”

Kip was cordial to the man, but his effort was wasted on the boy, who’s attention seemed more focused on Kip’s little bronze mare.

“I tell you what,” Lee said as he put an arm around his son’s shoulders. “Why don’t we go into the house and have a cup of coffee before we unload that wire? Mr. Dwyer, I’d like for you to meet my wife, and my other son. Kip, why don’t you show Jared around?”

There was something about this kid that Kip didn’t care for – though he couldn’t be sure just what – so his “All right, Pa,” was less than enthusiastic.

“Well, I don’t…”Brian started, shooting his son a dubious look.

“It’ll be all right,” Adam encouraged. “Kip’s a good man.”

Brian reluctantly agreed, and Lee made Kip promise they wouldn’t leave the homestead then the men went on into the house. Jared followed after Kip as he went to tether the horses to the hitch rail at the front porch.

“Is she your horse?” Jared asked as he ran his hand over the mare’s glistening coat.

“You bet your boots she is.”

“Where did you get a horse like this?”

“Adam gave her to me,” Kip said, as he scratched between her eyes. “She’s a cow horse, you know.”

“And he just gave her to you?”

“She got hurt in a stampede when they drove my father’s cattle here. Adam said I could have her if I would take care of her.”

“And you can ride her?”

“Of course I can,” Kip said, with a superior air. “I’ve been riding since I was a little kid.”

“I bet I could, too.”

“Have you ever been on a horse before?”

“No, but it doesn’t look all that hard.”

“It wouldn’t be if what you’re trying to ride couldn’t think for itself, but horses are smart and when they don’t wantta do something…” Kip snickered as he recalled more than a few spills.

“I could make any horse do whatever I wanted it to, even this one. Let me ride her, and I’ll show you.”

“No, you heard what my father said. We’re supposed to stay right around here.”

“You don’t have to do what he tells you.”

Kip felt a hot sensation run through him. “Maybe you don’t, but I respect my father, and I know he’s watching out for me.”

Jared’s face took on a sarcastic slant. “You’re a sap if you believe that. Nobody’s gonna watch out for you but you. You take what you want, and you don’t have to put up with others telling you what to do.”

“Maybe you like living that way, but it’s not for me, and I don’t think you should try telling others how to do things. It’s none of your business.” Kip was almost instantly sorry for speaking so harshly, he hadn’t been raised that way. “I tell you what. My mother baked some gingerbread this morning, and I’m hungry. Would you like a piece?”

A glint of light caught in Jared’s eyes. “Sure,” he said smoothly, “I like gingerbread, too.”

“All right, you wait here, and I’ll be right back.”

Kip went up onto the porch and gave him the once over then went on inside.

“Are you boys having a nice time?” Becky Haymes asked, as she jostled baby William, now a little over a year old, to sleep.

“I don’t like him very well, but I’m trying. I told him I would get us some gingerbread. Is it all right?”

“Of course, dear, but only one apiece.”

Kip agreed and got two pieces of the fragrant, golden brown cake from the bread safe on the rickety breakfront then started back out. He wished he could stay with the men, but his father had told him to watch after this little snipe and show him around. He was just about to open the door when he heard the clatter of hooves, and he dropped the cake and dashed out onto the porch. “Hey!” he shouted, as his hands wadded into knots. “Come back with my horse!”

FOUR

Adam, once again riding the big dapple gray gelding, and Lee on his roan, had immediately set out after the boy. The child didn’t know the country, and his father had quickly informed them that his son had never been on a horse before in his life. They hadn’t ridden too awful far when they simultaneously caught sight of what they sought.

“There he is,” Lee said dryly. “I guess we’d better get him.”

“I guess.”

Jared was sitting on the ground nursing his scraped elbow when a shadow fell over him, and he looked up as Adam and Lee stepped down. He swallowed hard then his eyes grew sharp.

“You look like you took a fall,” Adam said, as he crouched before the lad.

“I’m all right,” Jared said abrasively.

“Here, let me see.”

“I don’t need any help.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” Adam gently took the boy’s arm and examined the badly abraded skin through the tear in his sleeve. “It’s not too bad. You’ll live, at least until we get you back to Kip.” Adam looked over to Lee. “How’s Nugget?”

“She skinned her nose and may’ve pulled a tendon in her right foreleg, but I don’t think there’s anything else,” Lee said, and patted her on the neck.

“And for your sake, you’d better hope not,” Adam said, and turned back to the boy.

“I’m not afraid of him.”

“I guess you aren’t, but then you haven’t done anything smart yet so why start now. All right, son.” Adam gripped to boy’s arm.

“I’m not your son.”

“Lucky me. Now let’s go.” Adam stood and brought Jared to his feet. “You have some explaining to do when we get back.” He glanced at Lee and shook his head.

Adam put the boy onto the dapple’s back then climbed up behind him. He waited for Lee to come alongside leading Nugget then they started back for the house.

*******

Kip was on the porch, pacing back and forth like an expectant father when they rode into the yard. “They’re back!” he shouted, as he opened the door and stuck his head inside. Then he rushed to the steps, instantly freezing the moment he saw his horse favoring a front leg. What before had been a minor flame at once turned into a full blown conflagration as he rushed down to meet them.

Brian raced outside, his heart beating wildly. He said a silent prayer of thanks as he saw his son then ran down after the Haymes boy. “Jared!”

“He’s all right,” Adam said, as he brought the youngster from the saddle and stood him down.

“Jared!” Brian went to his knees and flung his arms around his first-born child. “Thank God you’re safe.” Then he seized the boy’s arms firmly, and held him away. “What did you think you were doing? You don’t know how to ride a horse.”

“He made me do it,” Jared said, his eyes flicking to Kip.

“I never!”

“Don’t lie!” Brian gave him a hard shake. “He told us what happened, and I believe him because I know how you’ve become! So just stop it!” He gave his son another shake. “Now I think you owe Kip an apology.”

Brian dragged his son over to where Kip stood with his horse.

“Go on,” Brian said, and nudged him forward.

“I won’t…”

“Jared, do as I say, and do it now.”

With reluctance, Jared turned back to Kip. “I’m… I…” He looked again at his father and got a stern nod. “I should’ve listened.”

Kip’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you’re all right.”

“Yeah…, I’m all right.”

“Well, I can take care of that.”

Before anyone knew what was happening, Kip lunged at Jared, and they hit the ground in a cloud of dust.

“Kip!”

Lee rushed to grab his son, and Adam got hold of the other boy, but Kip still landed a fist hard in Jared’s face then took one in return. It wasn’t easy separating them, and the men had their hands full.

“Cut this out!” Lee said, and finally pulled Kip away.

“Not until I pay him back for what he did to my horse!”

“You and what army!” Jared said defiantly, as he tried wrestling free of Adam’s hold.

“I don’t need an army to beat the tar outta you!” Kip tried pulling loose from his father and got jerked back.

“I said that’s enough! Now, Kip, settle down. This isn’t helping a thing.”

Adam sequestered a grin as he watched Lee wrangle with his son. “Kip, your mouth.”

Kip stopped struggling and brought the back of his hand to his mouth, and it came away bloody. Fury renewed flashed in his face, and he once more lunged at his adversary. “Why you!”

“I… said… stop it,” Lee said evenly, as he gave his son a yank back. “Now I know better than to ask you two to kiss and make up, so I think, Adam, you should just take Jared back. When they cool off some we’ll try this again.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me. But I think first helping us unload this wire will help.”

“Good,” Brian spoke up, and his eyes drilled into his son. “Maybe it’ll teach one of us that there’s no shame in hard work.”

“Kip, put Nugget away then come back and give us a hand.” Lee slapped a hand on his boy’s back and gave him an understanding smile.

“Yes, sir.” With soft words, Kip began leading his horse toward the barn, but not before shooting Jared Dwyer the nastiest look he could conjure up.

*******

Jared was even more silent on the way home than he had been before. The skin around his left eye had begun to color and only part of the dust had been brushed from his clothes. His ash blond hair was still disheveled from the tussle in the dirt, and a couple buttons had been torn off the front of his shirt.

“Wait until Patty gets a look at that eye.” Brian muffled a snicker with his hand. “She’ll have a fit. She’s always been very protective of the children, maybe a little too much so.”

“I guess most mothers are,” Adam said, and gave the reins a flick.

“I suppose she’s still a little gun-shy after what happened to our first child.”

“I didn’t know you had another child.”

“Her name was Suzanne, and she was two-years-old,” Brian said with a nod. “Patty was not far along with Jared. She had gotten sick, and the baby slipped away from her. Somehow Suzy got out of the house and…” Brian took a long, laborious breath and glanced away from Adam as he batted his eyelids. “She fell down the cellar steps…. By the time she was found… it was too late.”

Adam reached out and squeezed the man’s shoulder, but no words came between them.

“How’re you doing back there, Jared?” Adam asked, and shot a devious look at Brian.

Jared only grumbled his words drowned out by the clatter of the wheels and the thump of hooves.

Adam felt guilty finding amusement in the boy’s discomfort, but what Jared had done had earned him that soon-to-be black eye. Kip had seen it as his duty to call this stranger to account, as many a boy had, himself and his brothers included. And if Nugget had been hurt to the point that made it necessary to destroy her, well, he cringed at the thought and urged the horses faster.

FIVE

Patricia sat in a chair at the dining table, a pan of water close by. Jared, sitting in a chair before her, was getting his face washed while Adam and Angelica and his father and little sister stood by.

“Does it hurt much?” Jennifer asked in a small voice.

“Not much.”

“Brian Dwyer, I can’t believe you just stood by and let that young ruffian do this to your son,” Patricia said, as she daubed the wet cloth gently at her son’s ever darkening eye. “He could’ve been seriously hurt. Have you looked at his arm?”

This Adam couldn’t let lay. “Kip didn’t do that.”

Patricia glanced at her son, her eyes becoming purpler. “That’s not what Jared told me.”

“I don’t care what he told you,” Adam forged on. “That happened when he took Kip’s horse without permission, and rode her so hard she fell. Fortunately for him, both he and the horse weren’t too badly hurt. Kip was just making sure he remembered not to do that again.”

Patricia’s harsh expression turned on her son. “Is that the truth?” When he didn’t answer her or even look at her, she slumped back in the chair, and her hands went to her lap. “Am I ever going to learn not to believe anything you say?” She threw the cloth into the pan and water splashed onto the table, wetting the fine damask. “Jared, I…” With a flounce, she jerked to her feet and rushed into the parlor with a rustle.

“Mom.”

Brian stepped around in front of him, tiny sparks lighting his tan eyes. “How many times have I told you not to call her that? She’s your ‘mother’, not some…” But helpless rage burned away the rest of the words, and he hurried off after his wife.

Angelica shot Adam a look then sat down and took over what her sister had started. She washed the wavy blond hair back from the youngster’s face as she cupped his chin in her hand. “Jared, your parents really do love you. I don’t know what you’re so angry about, but it doesn’t help a thing to hurt them that way. Couldn’t you just…?”

“This ain’t none of your business. So why don’t you just stop meddling?”

Angelica saw the blood drain from Adam’s face, and it instilled fear that mingled with the hurt. She knew her husband wouldn’t let this be, but she also knew better than to say anything to him, if she even wanted to. Calmly placing the cloth in the pan, she gave Adam a final look then walked out with a stately carriage.

Adam stooped in front of the girl, and a warm smile touched his eyes. “Sweetheart, why don’t you go on with your mother and father and Aunt Angelica? Your brother and I need to have a little talk.”

“Are you gonna spank Jelid?”

“No, sweetheart,” dark hazel fire darted in the boy’s direction, “I promise that I won’t spank him.” Not yet, he thought. “Now go on.”

When the child had left them, Adam slowly stood, like a long snake uncoiling from a basket, and went to hover over the boy. He could see Jared’s discomfort escalating, and it was a guilty pleasure. Bending at the waist, he firmly grasped the boy’s arms and stood him in the chair so that they were at eyelevel and only inches apart.

“Let’s get one thing straight” Adam said, in a low, scathing tone that left no room for guesswork. “You can talk that way to your father; you can talk that way to your mother, and me or anybody else you want to…. But if you ever talk that way to my wife again…, I’ll put you over my knee, and there won’t enough left of you to sweep up with a broom when I get done. Do you understand me?”

The boy gulped as he looked into those menacing eyes.

“I said…, Do… you… under… stand… me?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yyyyes, sir.”

“That’s better. Now why don’t you take that pan of water into the kitchen and let Maggie finish you up? And in case you don’t already know it, she won’t take any of your sass either. She’ll just backhand you into the wall. Now go on.”

The boy clambered down from the chair – his eyes constantly darting to Adam – then got the pan and started for the kitchen. Once at the door, he stopped and turned his attention back to Adam, who firmly planted his fists on his hips. This was enough, and the boy went on.

With a shudder and a groan, Adam spun on his heel and went into the parlor where little Jennifer was consoling her parents with small, patting hands. He had to find Angelica and do the same for her, and he guessed he knew exactly where to find her.

Angelica knelt at the cradle, gently rocking it while her sons slept. She hadn’t bothered to wipe away the tears that stained her cheeks and had reddened her eyes. She knew she shouldn’t let what that little monster had said do this to her, but such hateful words coming from someone she thought loved her burned. Reaching down, she touched one of the diminutive, black-capped heads and heaved a heavy sigh. The thought of her own sons turning on her seized her heart, and she understood what her sister was feeling.

The comforting, strong hand on her shoulder sent a rush of breath through her and quickened her pulse. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head over so that the side of her face rested against it.

Adam could feel her tears on the back of his hand, and it caused a fierce flame to rage through him. He had never spoken to her in such a manner, and he wouldn’t allow anyone else to, not even family. And if he had to take that brat out behind the barn and beat him to within an inch of his life, then so be it.

The hand pulled away from her then she felt his arm go around her as he knelt next to her, and it worked as a salve to ease the pain. His warmth, so close to her, made the distasteful episode begin to recede into the background, and she gladly let it go.

“Why?” she said, as he finally looked around into the splendid face. “There’s no reason for him to behave this way, especially toward his mother and father. Brian and Patricia have always been wonderful parents, if maybe a trifle overindulgent at times, but still good parents. And he’s been such a good natured child until now. So why?”

“Who knows with one that age? Children get some odd notions into their heads, and sometimes it makes them lash out, usually at those who love them. My father and I had more than quite a few rows before I left for college,” he snickered, “and quite a few after I got back.”

“Arguments and disagreements are one thing, but Jared has gotten downright odious. Patricia told me about those boys he has been keeping company with, and I suspect that’s behind it. Some of it, anyway.”

“He’s definitely angry about something, that’s for sure. It’s just a matter of finding out what. But getting close to him is like getting close to a cactus, you’re gonna get stuck.”

She couldn’t help the faint snicker that erupted from her, and she didn’t try to stop it.

“Now that’s better,” he said, and kissed her earlobe. “The secret to dealing with this is not to let it get to you.”

“Like you didn’t in the dining room? I saw that look on your face. I was afraid you would kill him.”

“Well, I certainly didn’t, not that it didn’t enter my mind.”

“If I know you, though, you didn’t just let it go. What did you say to him?”

“Let’s just say we came to an understanding and leave it at that, shall we?”

She could see that any further prodding would only reap more silence. “All right.”

His arm hugged more tightly about her as she looked around and saw that they were the object of a pair of keen blue eyes. She wanted to pick up the baby, but before she got the chance to act on it, Adam scooped Addy into his arms. She kissed the fuzzy little forehead then leaned her head back against her husband. What had happened had been unfortunate and unpleasant, but she wasn’t going to let it taint this moment. She wouldn’t give Jared the satisfaction.

*******

Supper had been a quiet affair; in fact, the dining room had been like a tomb, even though Mrs. Cadence and Fiona had come from town for the family get-together. She had tried getting her daughter’s and son-in-law into lively conversation, but it hadn’t really worked, though Adam did try. No one had wanted to talk to Jared or each other, for that matter, and he had felt like an object of scorn. The old Jared it would have hurt, but not the new one, he told himself as he stood on the front porch watching the evening’s activities. The day was winding down, and in a few hours the cloak of night would move in, but for now the yard was bustling.

“Evening, boy,” said a sapling thin, freckle-faced young man of small stature, with a hammer and a bag of nails in his hands.

Jared didn’t say anything and only looked at him.

“My name’s Juva Bailey,” he said, through a broad grin as he sat everything down by one of the porch posts. “What’s yours?”

“Jared. Jared Dwyer.”

“Hi, there, pardner. You’re from the city, ain’tcha?”

“I don’t keep it a secret, and I’m not ashamed of it.”

“Do you have a reason to be?” Juva said with a snicker, as he ran his hands along until he found a loose board.

“No.”

“That’s real good,” Juva said, and took a nail from the bag and positioned it. “A man can’t help where he comes from, and it’s good when he likes it. You do don’tcha?”

“Sure I do. I like it better than here. I miss my friends.”

“A man can always use friends.” He picked up the hammer and drove the nail into the weathered wood. “O’ course, there’s them’s that’s more enemies even when they say they ain’t.”

“Not mine.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.” Jared stooped as the man rummaged in the bag and came out with another nail. “Does he make you do that?”

“Sure he does, he’s the boss. O’ course, if I don’t want to I can always draw my pay and quit.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“’Cause I like it here. The money’s good and the grub’s first-class.” He poised the hammer to strike. “A man’d be a mule-headed fool to give that up. And that my folks didn’t raise.”

As the man pounded the nail home, Jared’s eyes drifted to the pistol on his hip. “Have you ever killed anyone with that?” he said, as he gestured to the gun.

Caught by the abruptness of the question, Juva’s head shot up and his eyes momentarily flitted to his Colt. “Yeah,” he said, as some of the brightness drained from him, “a couple. But it was forced on me and there ‘tweren’t no joy in it. There ain’t no good feelings about killing a man, boy, even when you got no choice.”

This seemed to go right over Jared’s head. “How old were you when you learned to shoot?”

“Nine. We lived in Texas, so my Daddy thought I oughtta know.”

“You weren’t much older than me, and I bet I could, too. Can I try?”

“You’d best ask your daddy first. Now, why don’t you just run on? I got work to do.”

“You could let me.”

“What, and get my hair lifted? Now scoot.”

Jared stood and watched him as he came out with another nail. With a huff, the boy turned and bounded down the steps, kicking at the dirt as he trounced toward the barn. He would show them. He didn’t need to ask anyone to let him try it, and he knew he could. “You just wait,” he grumbled. “I’ll show you all that I can shoot.”

SIX

“Adam,” Angelica said, as she flounced down the stairs, “are you going into town?”

Adam looked up from where he was putting on his gun belt. “You know I am?” A knowing grin turned the corners of his mouth. “So what prompted a question you already know the answer to?”

She came closer to him and began rubbing her hand over his arm. “Patricia and I have been talking, and we thought the trip into town would be a good time for you and Jared to get to know each other better.”

One eyebrow rose skeptically. “I tried that yesterday, and you saw the result of it.”

“I know, but we thought it would be good for him to get away for a short time.”

“Ah, the plot thickens, and with a co-conspirator, no less. You two want me to talk to him about his errant ways, am I correct in assuming?”

“Please, Adam. What could it hurt?”

His grin widened and light sparkled in his mischievous eyes. “The seat of his britches.”

“If you need to.”

Adam knew when he was defeated, and with Angelica it didn’t take much. In their eleven months of marriage, he had discovered that he had a difficult time denying her most things.

“All right, but if he comes home with another black eye, I don’t wantta hear a word from you or your sister. Is that understood?”

“Perfectly,” she said, and gave him a peck on the lips.

“Well, I guess I’d better go round up the little outlaw and hitch the team to the buckboard if I plan to be back in time for dinner.”

“You’re a love.”

He took his hat from the coat stand by the front door and stuck it on his head. “More like...”

But her lips smothered the rest of the words, and his arms stole around her, and he squeezed her close to him then looked into her face. “You’re a spell caster, you know that?”

“Of course I do. Now you had better get going.”

With a shake of his head, he gave her another kiss then went out to do what he really didn’t want to.

*******

It was approaching eight-thirty in the a.m. when Adam drove the buckboard into Bantree. The town had become a bustling metropolis of five hundred people, a far cry from its humble beginnings as a lumber camp. Jared’s eyes scanned warily about him as they went directly to the new post office.

“After I see if we have any mail,” Adam said, as he halted the horses along the boardwalk, “we’ll go on to your grandma’s like I promised you.”

He was just helping Jared down when someone began calling to him, and he looked around to see dark-haired Tom Piedmont walking briskly toward him. Tom worked as a desk clerk at the Sinclair, the best hotel in town, and had for going on seven years.

“Good morning, Tom.”

“Adam, I want to talk to you. It’s important.”

“All right, go right ahead.”

Tom’s gray-rimmed blue eyes darted to the youngster. “Not in front of the boy.”

“Well, why don’t you just tell me what it concerns and let me judge if he should hear it or not?”

“Fair enough…. It concerns, as you put it, that Rebel doctor Mr. Banning imported.”

“Dr. Montgomery? What about him?”

Tom’s attention returned to the boy who had, by this time, stepped closer to Adam.

“I think he’s grownup enough to hear this, so go ahead.”

“If you say so. I think you oughtta know that there are some folks who don’t want him here.”

“Does that include you?”

“Yes, as a matter-of-fact, it does. In plain terms, he’s a traitor to his country. You know as well as I do that if it hadn’t been for the stubbornness of those in the south there wouldn’t have been a war. And a lot of good men, including my kid brother, would still be here.”

“That may be so, but the war’s over and has been for a year.”

“Do you know he’s from the state and city where the whole thing began?”

“He told me.”

“And it doesn’t bother you?”

“No, it doesn’t. Like I said, the war’s over, and I think it’s time to put differences aside and rebuild the country like Mr. Lincoln wanted us to.”

“Then I take it you won’t join us in driving this betrayer out of town?”

Adam’s eyes grew keener, and the muscles in his jaws knotted. “You take it right, and if I were you or anybody else thinking about doing something stupid I’d think twice. There’s no need for anybody to get hurt or killed over this. And I’m sure he would be the last one to want it that way.”

“How so sure?”

Adam stood silent for a second and eyed the man he thought he knew. “He’s a doctor.”

Deflated, Tom whirled with a huff and stomped off across the street.

“Are they gonna kill this man?”

“I don’t think so,” Adam said, as he looked down at the boy. “But I’ll be there if anybody tries.”

“Why do you wantta go sticking your nose into what’s none of your business?”

Adam firmly took hold of his arm. “It is my business. What he did wasn’t a killing thing, and I think everybody deserves a chance to start over if they want to, don’t you?”

One could almost see the ideas forming behind the child’s eyes. “Anyone?”

“Anyone. Even you.” Then he said on a more cheerful note, “Now, let’s get the mail so we can go have that visit. But first I have one stop to make.”

*******

Graham Montgomery had just taken the pot of coffee from the small wood burning stove in the kitchen when the sound of knocking made its way back to him. With a grunt, he sat it down on a cabinet and started for the parlor.

Coming down the narrow hall he could make out what appeared to be a man through the lace curtains on the door, and he appeared to be alone. He wished he could just ignore it, but on the off chance that it could be a patient – not that he had had one since he had gotten there – he opened it back, and his eyes widened with surprise.

“Mr. Cartwright, I certainly didn’t expect this,” he said, with an easy southern accent, and his eyes lowered to the boy. “There’s nothing wrong, is there?”

“No, I just thought that since we were already in town, we’d come by and see how you’re settling in. This is my nephew, Jared Dwyer. He’s out here with his parents and sister all the way from Bangor, Maine.”

“My,” the doctor said with a good-natured smile, “you are a bit of a way from home. I guess we both are. Why don’t you come on in, if you’re sure you want to?”

Adam couldn’t miss the message in the man’s arched eyebrows. “We’d like that just fine, wouldn’t we Jared?”

The boy only gave an absentminded nod.

“I just took a pot of coffee off the stove,” his gaze went to the youngster, “and I’ve got some gingersnaps that Mrs. Banning sent to me. Do you like ‘em, young man?”

“They’re my favorites,” the boy said brightly, the first time Adam had seem him enthusiastic about anything.

“And I think I can even come up with some milk to wash ‘em down with,” Graham said, as he pushed the door together. “You go on into the parlor and make yourselves to home, and I’ll go get everything.”

It didn’t take long for Graham to get to the kitchen and back. “Since I got here – except for a few well-meaning folks, very few – I’ve felt like an outcast. Here you go,” he said, as he handed a steaming cup to Adam. “And like I promised, here are your gingersnaps.”

Without any prompting from Adam, the boy thanked him and took the small box of cookies and glass of milk then sat back on the settee next to his uncle.

“To tell the truth,” Adam said, as he watched the man over the rim of his cup, “this is more than just a social call.” He took a sip. “We ran into Tom Piedmont in front of the post office.”

Graham froze for a second then took a seat in a rocking chair by the dormant fireplace with his coffee. “I’ve already met Mr. Piedmont, and some others that have the same ideas he does.”

The crunching of cookies went on around them, the boy’s eyes continually darting back-and-forth between the two men.

“And I can imagine that Vint Calder was one of them.”

“Yeah, but never alone.” He took a long drink. “Anybody can see that he’s spoiling for something.”

“You’re right about that. Any time there’s trouble, you’re always gonna find Vint right in the middle of it. And he won’t jump in with both feet until things start to really heat up. Sometimes he’s even been known to heat things up himself if they’re moving too slow for him.”

It went quiet for several seconds with only the sound of Jared’s busy teeth.

“When I was in the Army it never mattered what color uniform a sick or wounded man had on. If he needed my help, he got it without hesitation. It surprised me at first, but those boys in blue never really felt like the enemy. I guess getting my medical training in the north had something to do with that.”

“Have you told Tom and the others that?”

“Do you think they would listen if I tried? I think they know all they want to know and aren’t ready to listen to anything I have to say.” He snorted and sat his cup on its saucer with a sharp chink. “They know I was with the Confederate Army, and that’s enough for ‘em. It doesn’t matter that I never raised a gun against anybody.” He snorted again. “Heck, even the men I served with gave me what-for because of it, but I was there to save life not take it. I came here for that same reason, and nobody is gonna drive me off, especially not those self-righteous sons of…” His words trailed off as his eyes shot to the boy, who was obviously listening to every word said in his presence.

“How does Elias Robey feel about it?”

Graham snickered. “I don’t think he would mind if I had three horns and a tail…,”

This reminded Adam of how he had described the new doctor to his wife when she hadn’t been listening, but he kept his grin on the inside.

“…he’s just glad to have somebody to take some of the load off him,” Graham continued.

“Elias is a good man, and I think he’s been at this too long and has seen too much to be so petty.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I think I am, and if you need anything you be sure to let me know. Now,” Adam said as he put down his half-empty cup and saucer, “you about done, boy? We need to get going. I want to stop and see my mother-in-law then get home. I’m sure my wife is wondering what’s become of us.”

They came to their feet, and the boy needed no prompting. He also had no problem in taking the rest of the cookies at the doctor’s insistence.

“I’m glad you came,” he said, as he saw his guests to the door. “You’re the only ones – other than Mr. Banning, and his man Giles – to come see me.”

“Just give it time while everyone gets used to the idea. Although, there are some who’d die first.”

“And if one of ‘em is Vint Calder, I don’t think the town would suffer the loss.”

“Neither do I,” Adam said, with contained amusement to his voice.

The two men looked at each other without expression for a second then broke out in laughter. Again, the youthful eyes darted back-and-forth from one masculine face to the other. He crunched into a cookie and felt something become larger inside him as he watched his uncle, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. This tall, blacked-haired man – which he had only met briefly once before – instilled something he couldn’t put a name to that even his friends didn’t.

After a parting handshake with the doctor, Adam steered his nephew outside, and the door closed behind them.

“Uncle Adam?”

Adam looked down at him and realized how much he liked the sound of that. “Yes, Jared,” he said, and rested a hand on the boy’s back, wondering if it would be objected to. It wasn’t.

“Do you think there’s gonna be trouble?”

“I hope not, but knowing some people the way I do, I’m afraid there may be.”

“Maybe you should stay out of it and let ‘em run him off.”

“Don’t you like him?”

“Yeah, I guess so, but…”

“No buts.” Adam’s eyes studied the young face looking up at him. “Sometimes we just have to follow our heart, no matter how unpopular it makes us with others. And if trouble does come, I can’t, with a clear mind, do nothing. A man doesn’t have to like trouble to go walking into it. When he sees something wrong, and he feels that he can do something about it, he has to. Now, does that answer what you wanted to know?”

“Yes, sir.”

Adam’s eyebrows rose in pleasant surprise. “Good. Now let’s go see your grandma and cousin Fiona.”

Jared agreed and got a pat on the back then they started up the boardwalk as he polished off his cookie and started in on another one.

SEVEN

Angelica was sitting on the settee mending an old shirt that her husband was unwilling to part with when she became aware of voices out on the porch. She turned at the waist toward the front door as Adam and Jared came in.

“And you really think I could learn to ride a horse?” the boy asked eagerly, his bright eyes locked on Adam’s face.

“I don’t see why not, but I don’t think we should ask Kip to teach you, do you?” Adam said with a mischievous gleam in the dark hazel.

The boy ducked his head. “No, sir.”

“Now why don’t you go into the kitchen and see what Maggie’s fixing for dinner?” Adam raised his head and made a big production out of sniffing the air. “It smells like fried rabbit.”

“All right.” Then Jared spun on the ball of his foot and bolted into the dining room with typical boyish bluster.

Putting her mending aside, Angelica got up and went to Adam as he hung his hat on the coat stand.

“What did you do to that boy?” she asked, as she glanced back toward the dining room.

“I’m not exactly sure,” he said, with a shrug. “On the way to Bantree he didn’t say half a dozen words mixed in with an assortment of grunts, but on the way back I couldn’t hush him. I’ve never heard so many questions come from one child.” He snorted. “With maybe the exception of Joe when he was that age.”

“Well, I don’t know what you did, but whatever it was, please keep it up.”

They shared a laugh, but then his bright demeanor tarnished. “I’m afraid we’re headed for trouble in town.”

“Trouble? What kind of…?” But her fine brows knit as realization came. “The new doctor?”

“I’m afraid so. Some people seem intent on taking offence at his being there…. And you know that Vint Calder is right in the middle of it.”

The breath whistled in past her teeth. “Did Siddon tell you this?”

“No. I was buttonholed by Tom Piedmont – who let it be plainly known where he stood – then Jared and I went to see Dr. Montgomery right after I picked up the mail.”

“What has this man done to anyone that they should want him gone?”

Adam eyed his brother-in-law warily as the man came down the stairs and joined him and Angelica. “He’s a former Confederate, and some people are unwilling to overlook that.”

Brian’s eyes took on a sharp edge. “This I can understand. The secessionists brought about the war, and because of them a lot of men died, on both sides. And I won’t even go into the civilian casualties.”

“He was a doctor, and he was there to mend or try to mend what the war had done. He wouldn’t even pick up a gun. He said, and I quote, “I was there to save life, not take it.” I don’t know about you, but I think he deserves a chance to rejoin the country. I think we’ve been divided long enough.”

“You’re being naïve if you think people are just going to forgive and forget, and this is just going to go away,” Brian said, as his eyes narrowed. “I lost friends in that war and two cousins.”

“A lot of people did, including me and probably even him.”

“I like him.”

All eyes turned toward the dining room as Jared stepped into the parlor.

“Jared, why don’t you go upstairs to your mother and sister? This doesn’t concern you.”

Adam had to clamp down on his lower lip to keep from putting in his two cents, but he didn’t want to come between a father and son.

“I said go upstairs, and it’s no longer a suggestion.”

“No,” the boy said, as he sidled close to Adam, “Uncle Adam’s right. He’s not hurting anyone. And Mom’s always told me that we have to forgive, even when it’s hard.”

A sad light streaked over Brian’s face that Adam couldn’t and Angelica obviously didn’t miss.

Brain gently took his son’s arm. “Please, Jared, go up…”

“You’re just a coward!” the boy blurted, as he jerked away. “Riley’s dad was killed at Shiloh and Scut’s lost an arm at Gettysburg while you hid in Washington City just like they said you did!” Then he ran from them and bolted up the stairs and disappeared into the study, slamming the door behind him.

Now it was out, and Adam couldn’t remember when he had ever seen such an expression of pure hurt on a man’s face as he did Brian Dwyer’s.

“Now we know what my son thinks of me. And he obviously hasn’t forgiven,” Brian said sadly. “If you’ll please excuse me, I need some fresh air.”

Brian moved to the front door like a man bogged down in thick mud then went out. Deep, sad violet eyes turned to Adam and words were unnecessary. He felt Angelica’s arm slip around him, and he held her tightly. Then, without a word, he released her and went outside.

Brian stood in the shade of a large pine, his back resting against the corner of the work shed, his mind definitely not on his surroundings. His melancholy tan eyes looked out beyond the rim of the clearing, and his heart ached in his chest. He had never dreamed that his son could be ashamed of him, but now he couldn’t deny that it was so.

“Why didn’t you spank him?”

Brian’s head pulled lethargically around as his brother-in-law came to stand next to him. “If I had thought it would help, I would have. I’ve nearly worn out a razor strop on him, but it does no good, and I’m tired. I thought when I came home that I would just start from where I had left off.” He shook his head and snorted. “What I hadn’t figured on, though, was my son growing up and away. I don’t even know my own boy anymore.”

“And for a man to hear that his own son thinks he’s a coward doesn’t exactly help.”

“Unfortunately, this is also true…. But I never once for a moment thought…” Brian’s gaze turned back beyond the trees.

“Have you talked to him about why you didn’t fight?”

“I’ve tried, but every time I do it sounds like hollow excuses, and I simply can’t make myself say it.”

“Then tell me. I’m not an impressionable boy.”

Brian pushed himself away from the building and stepped almost into the fronds of a huge Ponderosa. “There’s not much to tell,” he said, as he turned to face Adam. “It’s not that I wouldn’t have fought, and maybe even died, if they had sent me, but it got around that I have my own freight company. So, when they told me that I would be in charge of handling logistical supply, I couldn’t very well say no. It was a very important job…,” he snickered, “and a big one, and I never shirked it. I’m proud of the part of I had in winning the war, but you heard him. His so-called friends have convinced him that I ran away from the fight.”

“He’s only seven-years-old, and it isn’t too late to get him back. I’m not saying it’ll be an easy fight, but it’s one well worth winning.” Adam’s long legs took him to stand before the man. “Did you know he wants to learn to ride? And one of my hands told me that he wants to learn to shoot.”

“Riding I have no objections to, but I draw the line at the guns. They can cause too much sorrow, and I don’t think it’s a skill he’ll need in Bangor.”

“Whatever you say. You are his father. Now,” Adam rested a hand firmly on his shoulder, “let’s go eat. I’m starved, and the smell of that rabbit is only making it worse.”

It did Adam good to see some humor in the man’s face. Clapping an arm over Brian’s shoulders, they started back to the house talking about something less hurtful and sharing another laugh. A new stage of the war to regain his son had begun for Brian Dwyer, a fight, as Adam had put it, well worth winning.

*******

Graham Montgomery stepped inside and pushed the door together. Miss Elberta was a durn sight better cook than he had ever been, and her beef stew stuck to a man’s ribs and not to the inside of the cook pot. And the thought of any pie he would try his hand at made him shudder just to think about it. His snicker filled the void of the small parlor as he hung his coat on the peg by the door.

He had just started back toward the kitchen when the breaking of the parlor window caused him to whirl. As he did, a rock struck the floor only a few inches from his feet and rolled to a stop.

“Go back to your secesh friends, Reb! We don’t want ya here!”

He rushed to the window and looked out through the broken pane. A small cluster of six men stood in the middle of the street. Bottles were clutched in fists and raised to lips, and he couldn’t miss the ugliness in their faces.

“Go back to that nest of rattlesnakes you call South Carolina!” slurred the one he recognized as Vint Calder. “Boy, didn’t we make you all squeal!”

His nasty laugh made the doctor’s blood simmer. We, I bet you never had on a uniform in your life, he thought. He considered – against his better judgment – going out on them, and he would probably just get his head busted. But before he could, Sheriff Jillian came and scattered them off.

He opened the door, as the sheriff came up onto the porch.

“You all right, doctor?” Dan asked evenly, as he pushed back his hat and a shock of hair fell loose.

“I’m fine, sheriff. All they did was break a window,” he said, and glanced back at the rock.

“You know, maybe you should go back to South Carolina,” the sheriff said, no civility or concern to his voice at all.

Graham couldn’t miss the hardness of the flint-like eyes looking back at him. “Suppose I don’t want to?”

“Then you’ve got to know that things like this are gonna happen.”

“I thought you were sworn to protect anybody from people like that?”

“I was, and I’ll protect you the best I can because it’s my job, not because I like it. I come from Michigan, and so did my Uncle Wes.” Then he curtly tipped his hat and went back down the porch steps.

The sheriff’s emphasis on the word ‘did’ had come like a shotgun blast on a moonless night, and drove home understanding. Dan Jillian had also lost a family member in the war fighting for the Federals, and as a result, he, like so many others, held a grudge against southerners, all southerners or maybe just those who had served in the Confederate Military. Either way, it didn’t make any difference.

“Well, at least now I know where I stand with him,” Graham said, as he closed the door.

The barrel of snakes he had found himself in had just gotten more wriggly, and he didn’t care for the sensation at all. However much he might want to leave, though, he couldn’t do that. Siddon Banning had sent for him and put his trust in him, and he couldn’t just back out on that trust. But tonight and from now on he would sleep with one eye open and with a loaded pistol under his pillow.

EIGHT

Dinner had gone fairly smoothly, though a hurt father and one small boy did little more than pick, and the tension had been thick enough to slice. Afterward, everyone had gone quietly back about their business, and Jared continued to avoid his father like one would a biting dog.

Adam, who had decided to stick close to home after the previous blowup, sat at the dining room table cleaning his gun. This was not a chore he neglected. He and his brothers had grown up under their father’s maxim – only one of many – that if a man took proper care of his tools they would, in turn, take care of him.

Everything he needed was set out before him. He had pushed back the table cloth and spread newspaper over the tabletop where he worked. If he got gun oil on the fine mahogany wood or scratched it, he would spend the rest of the year in the bunkhouse. The sides of his finely sculpted mouth rose until the outer corners of his eyes crinkled. Angelica was not a hard taskmaster when it came to the running of the household, but she did have her standards. And when she did scold – for one offence or another – it was more like being struck with a feather than a belt.

“Whatcha doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Adam asked, with a lopsided grin and never taking his eyes from his chore.

The boy came around to the side of the table for a better vantage point. “You’re cleaning your gun. Can I watch?”

“If you’d like,” Adam said, glancing up as he ran an oiled rag attached to the end of a metal rod down the barrel.

Jared pulled out the chair closest on his uncle’s left and eased into it. Propping his elbows on the table, he rested his fists against his cheeks and watched intently. “Do you do that everyday?”

“No, but I don’t let it get dirty. That can be the difference between living and dying out here. A dirty gun isn’t trustworthy, and when you need it most it could let you down.”

“Is it hard to learn to use one?”

“Not so much,” Adam said, with a headshake. “The really hard part is learning when not to use one. Sometimes you can solve a problem with words or your fists, and that way nobody gets shot. And sometimes it’s best to just walk away.”

“Isn’t that cowardly?”

“Not necessarily. It’s better to look like a coward than to wind up killing somebody or getting killed. And it doesn’t matter what others think as much as what you think, and you know you’re not a coward.”

The boy sat silently watching, as if weighing what had just been said to him then his eyes rose to Adam’s face. “Could you teach me to use one?”

Adam felt his heart drop. The boy hadn’t paid one bit of attention to what he had just been told. “I’m afraid your father has definite ideas about that, and if I did I would be going against his wishes. And that I can’t and won’t do.”

“Sure you can. It doesn’t matter what he wants, I want to.”

Adam stopped and focused all his attention on the boy. “Yes, Jared, it does matter, because he’s your father. He loves you and only wants what’s best for you, and he doesn’t think you need to know how to use a gun in Bangor.”

“Well, what if I don’t want to stay in Bangor? What if I want to come out here and live? Then won’t I need to know how to use a gun?”

“I think it would be fine if you wanted come out here to live, but there are a lot of men who do that don’t know how to use one. But I don’t think that’s a decision you have to make right now.”

“Then you won’t teach me?” the boy asked, in a small voice.

“I can’t.” Then his face brightened, and he reached out to touch Jared’s arm. “But I can teach you how to ride. I have a nice little mare who would love to have a boy take her out in the summer grass.”

“But I still want to learn to shoot.”

“Then why don’t you ask your father? And if he changes his mind, then I’ll teach you.”

The boy’s face drew into a scowl then he slid from the chair and scuffed out of dining room. He knew his father wouldn’t say it was okay, because cowards don’t like guns. Still, if Uncle Adam thought he should ask, he would, but he knew he had better be ready for a disappointment, and then he was on his own.

Adam’s gaze didn’t leave the boy until the lad had gone outside. He had hated to turn the youngster down, but he couldn’t go against what Brian wanted for his son. With a curse under his breath, he turned back to his work with jerky movements. Why hadn’t someone told him that being an uncle could be so much of an all fired pain? With another epithet, he slammed the rag down onto the table and began putting the big Colt back together.

*******

It was just after supper when Jared approached his father as he and Adam sat around the cold fireplace sipping brandy. His mother and aunt were in with the babies, and he had no idea where Jenny had disappeared to. He didn’t know why he was bothering to do this, except that Uncle Adam had asked him to. And for some reason that made it seem right and he knew Uncle Adam wouldn’t teach him without his father’s permission.

Adam watched the boy as he stopped next to the big overstuffed chair his father sat in. He hoped this would be a step toward reuniting father and son, but a small voice in his head told him not to be so sure. This rift had been widening too long for it to be this simple, especially when Brian gave the answer Adam knew he would.

“Can I ask you something?”

Brian’s head snapped around. Jared hadn’t wanted to ask him anything in a long time. “Yes, son, what is it?”

Jared’s eyes flicked to Adam, and he got a nod of encouragement. “Uncle Adam said for me to ask you if it was all right for him to teach me how to shoot.”

Brian couldn’t miss the glimmer of hope in his son’s face, but his mind was made up about this. “He was right to do so, but the answer is no.”

Jared looked like an observation balloon that someone had stuck a knife into and let the hydrogen escape all at once. His face crumpled and his hands bunched into wads. “But why not? I don’t wantta kill anyone, I just wantta learn.”

“Jared,” Brian reached and tenderly took his son’s arm, “you know how I feel about guns. I saw enough of them in the Army to last a lifetime.”

“But you didn’t even fight.”

“No, but I knew men who had, and I saw what it did to them, and how it changed them.”

“But I’m not gonna fight, I just wantta learn how to shoot.”

“Jared, it’s no,” Brian said more firmly.

Adam couldn’t miss the defiant light that flamed up in the boy’s eyes, and the hard set of his jaw.

“I knew you wouldn’t,” the boy said harshly, as he jerked free of his father’s grasp. “Cowards are afraid of guns, and they think everyone else has to be, too. Well, I’m not! And I wish you weren’t my father!” Then he whirled to face Adam. “I wish you were!” Then he ran for the front door.

“Jared!” Brian called after him as he came to his feet.

The front door slammed.

“He’s mixed up right now, and I don’t think he meant that.”

“I know he did.” Brian slumped back into the chair and emptied his glass. “I don’t know what to do any more. It seems like everything I say and do, as far as he is concerned, is wrong.”

Adam stood and put his own glass on the mantelpiece then went to the liquor cabinet and got the brandy decanter and returned.

“My own son hates me,” Brian went on.

“I think hate is too strong a word,” Adam said, as he filled the man’s delicate snifter. “Because of the war, the two of you have drifted apart. Just give him time.”

“Nothing will change as long as he believes I’m a coward. I had thought that just now…” He took a good slug of his brandy. “I just don’t know what to do any more.”

“Have you told his mother about this new revelation?”

“Oh, no,” Brian said, as he looked up at him, “I couldn’t do that. It would only finish tearing her apart.”

Adam rested a reassuring hand on his brother-in-law’s back. “Families usually find a way to work out their differences.”

“I hope you’re right, but I…” His head fell into his hand, and he closed his eyes.

Adam could feel a slight trembling in Brian’s back, and he wished there was more he could do.

Jared stalked back-and-forth, fuming and muttering to himself. “I don’t know why he has to treat me like a kid. Just because he’s afraid, doesn’t mean I am.” He punched the air as if striking someone. “Oh, how I hate him. I wish he hadn’t come back. I wish he had…” Jared froze, and his eyes went wide. He hadn’t come to the point where he could wish his own father was dead, not yet. Then he resumed his pacing and cursed as he had heard his friends do many times, something he had learned not to do in front of his parents. He had gotten more than one good stropping because of it. Then he suddenly stopped again as his old plan returned to him.

Jared’s heart beat madly as he eased the front door open a crack and peered inside. His uncle was standing so that his back was to him, and between him and his father. Stealthily, he reached inside to where Uncle Adam’s gun belt hung from the coat stand. With deft fingers, he pushed the buckskin loop from the pistol’s trigger as he had seen done before then began sliding it from its holster. His eyes kept darting from it to the two men and back. His breathing had quickened to where he wondered if they could hear it. Finally, the big Colt’s barrel cleared the leather. It was heavier than he thought it would be. No matter. Then he pulled his hand out and closed the door.

He undid a button on his shirt and stuffed the gun inside still clutched in his hand. He wanted to run with his prize, but fear that someone would stop him rose tantamount. With measured steps, he went down into the yard and toward the corner of the porch. Once behind the house where there were plenty of trees for target practice and away from prying eyes, he could show everyone what he could do without anyone’s help.

NINE

The first shot cut violently through the peaceful evening and brought Adam and Brian to their feet, the latter’s empty glass shattering against the floorboards. As the bedroom door sprung open the babies had begun wailing. Angelica stood holding her sister’s arm, and their fear was undeniable. Then came the second shot.

“Stay here!” Adam shouted to the women then bolted for the door with Brian right behind him.

Adam took the doorknob and instantly noticed the empty holster, and his eyes shot to Brian.

As they got out onto the porch the hands had started at a run toward the back of the house. Adam and Brian raced down the steps and ran with them.

Jared stood near a stump, a faint wisp of smoke curling up from the gun’s barrel, and his eyes were directed down.

“Jenny!”

Brian ran to where his little girl lay in a frilly heap near the base of a large pine.

Adam jerked the pistol from the boy, his eyes like daggers. “Juva, go into town and get a doctor,” Adam barked, as he turned to the man.

“Which one?”

“It doesn’t matter. Now go!”

Juva ran back toward the yard, and the men went along to help him with his horse.

Brian didn’t even notice his son as he rushed past him, Jenny’s small limbs dangling limply from her father’s arms. With one last withering look at Jared, Adam turned and followed after them.

The babies’ crying had become even more piercing. Maggie had come from the kitchen to see what the commotion was about and stood with Angelica and Patricia. The front door burst open, and Adam entered first. In behind him came Brian with his unconscious daughter.

“Saints preserve us,” Maggie said softly.

“My baby!” Patricia screamed and dashed forward.

“I’ll get some water and towels.” Maggie spun and raced into the dining room.

Angelica ran into the bedroom to see to her terribly frightened sons while Adam led the way upstairs. No one noticed Jared standing in the front doorway, arms hanging lifeless as his sides.

*******

Dr. Montgomery had just lit a parlor lamp to ward off the darkness when boots pounded up the porch steps. After the day’s activities, he suspected that someone had come for him with a rope. He reached for the pistol on the mantelpiece and checked its load, just to make sure. He didn’t want to use it and hoped its presence would be intimidating enough to stop them.

Then someone began banging on the front door. “Doc!” More frantic banging. “Doc!”

Maybe this was legitimate, and maybe it was just a Yankee trick. But what if it wasn’t a trick? What if someone did need his help? What if someone died while he…? He cursed as he ran his fingers back through his thick hair and stomped to the door, the gun in his hand.

Through the lace curtains the man looked to be alone, but he couldn’t really tell. He jerked it open. Before him stood a thin, freckled young man of small stature, and he was definitely agitated over something.

“Doc, you gotta come.”

“Slow down. What’s wrong?” Graham asked, as his eyes scanned around and behind the man.

“The Boss’ …” Juva frowned and shook his head. “Mr. Cartwright’s niece got shot, and she’s bleedin’ somethin’ fierce.”

Now nothing else mattered as Graham’s eyes locked with the anxious ones before him. “A girl? How old is she?”

“I dunno. Five or six maybe.”

Graham winced then jerked his coat from its peg and started shrugging into it. “All right. You go on down to the livery stable and get me a horse while I get what I need here.”

“I thought doctors used buggies,” Juva said, with a puzzled expression.

“Not this one. Now get going.”

“Yessir, Doc.”

Graham closed the door as the man hurried back down the steps. His first patient since coming here, and it turned out to be a child. But there wasn’t time to dwell on that. He had to get out to the Cartwright ranch as fast as he could. “Please, Lord, let it be in time?” he prayed softly, as his mother had taught him.

*******

As Adam came down the stairs – the pistol clutched in his right hand – he saw Jared huddled on the hearthstone, his arms wrapped around his knees. He wasn’t, however, in the mood to give the boy any notice. And he feared what he might possibly do to the youngster if he did.

“Uncle Adam,” Jared said meekly.

Adam kept right on going without looking at him and went straight to the bedroom.

Angelica knelt by the large cradle, rocking it and singing to soothe her sons. The boys had calmed down and were slipping into slumber when she felt a strong, reassuring hand on her shoulder. As if she had been wound by a key and was running down, her motion of the cradle slowed to a stop, and she looked around at him kneeling beside her. His eyes were dark and brooding, and fear raced through her like a wild torrent. “Oh, Adam, she isn’t…?”

“No,” he said, and rubbed her cheek. “Brian and Patricia are with her, and Maggie is handling things in strong Maggie-fashion.”

“How bad is it?”

“The bullet hit her in the side, and if she were an adult I’d be a bit more hopeful, but she’s so… small and delicate.” Tears filmed the surface of his eyes and glittered in the warm lamplight.

Lovingly, she pushed the characteristic black wisp away from his forehead with her fingertips. “Maybe the doctor will be here soon. Maybe he can tell us that she…” But her words drifted away.

As she watched him, he went from compassionate tenderness to raging fury as it flamed up in his face. She had seen him like this but few times since their marriage, and it always unnerved her. In these spurts of intense anger, she felt him capable of doing harm to someone, and being most unpleasant about it.

“Somebody needs to take that boy out behind the woodshed with a buggy whip and leave his body there,” he snarled.

A cold chill ran through Angelica as he gripped her fingers like a vise.

“I saw him just now when I came from upstairs, and I knew better than to go near him. I was afraid of what I might do to him.”

“Oh, Adam, you could never…”

“Before Vince Decker got to me you would’ve been right, but now…” His mouth went to a hard, flat line, and the muscles in his jaws knotted. “When I saw that little girl lying there like a broken doll, the first thing that came into my mind was hitting him with my gun.”

“But you didn’t. You remembered that he’s only a boy.”

“That had nothing to do with it…. I remembered my father.”

For Adam, for Brian and Patricia, for their children, even for herself, she wanted to break down and bawl like her sons had. She agreed that Jared deserved a sound whipping, and exile wouldn’t hurt, but right now they should only concern themselves with getting that precious little girl through this.

A gentle hand pushed her head against his chest and a protective arm went around her and held her tightly. It always felt good to hold his wife and feel her warm and close, especially in troubled times. He directed his attention to his sons – now sleeping soundly – but all he could see was sweet Jenny lying in the dirt and bleeding. If only he could undo what had happened. If only he could put that boy over his knee and beat the absolute living tar out of him. If only…

*******

The two horses drummed through the approaching dusk, the trees standing in darkening silhouette against the graying sky. A lone wolf called mournfully off in the distance, but the plight of those who had invaded his territory was of no concern.

The stocky mahogany bay the doctor rode stayed a full length behind the cowhand’s dusky roan. Not because it couldn’t keep up with the smaller horse, but because the doctor had never been out this way. Getting lost could prove catastrophic, maybe even fatal for one small child, and being alone out here was not a comforting thought.

As they came through a stand of pines, the lights of a house sprang up in the distance.

“Almost there, Doc!” the young man shouted back over his shoulder.

The doctor felt the sense of urgency that pervaded him, swamp him all at once. Finally, they were near their destination and drawing closer. Finally, he would be allowed to do what Siddon Banning had brought him out here to do. Then a thought struck him like a bucket of water on a campfire: he hoped they weren’t too late.

TEN

Adam burst from the bedroom as someone beat franticly on the sturdy oak front door. Jared still sat huddled on the hearthstone, and still got no attention.

Adam jerked the door open.

“I got one, Boss.”

“Thanks, Juva. You made good time, Dr. Montgomery.”

“I had to ride hard to keep up with your man,” Graham said, with a faint smile and came in. “Where’s the girl?”

“Upstairs,” Adam said and pushed the door together. “I’ll take you to her.”

Jared watched them as they rushed up the stairs, Uncle Adam leading the way. His eyes never left them until they disappeared from sight down the hall. He shifted on the hard surface – his arms still wrapped around his stiffened legs – and shivered. Even the roaring fire in the hearth couldn’t warm him, and he had never felt so alone in his life. Since what he had done, he had ceased to exist as far as the others were concerned. His parents hadn’t come from his sister’s room, and his aunt had stayed with the babies. The few looks he had caught from his uncle and the housekeeper had been withering, to say the least. He took a heavy breath and hunched forward against his knees. If they hadn’t hated him before, they certainly did now. He closed his eyes and tears dripped onto the stone. The one person in the whole wide world who had never turned from him, and he might have killed her.

*******

Half an hour dragged into an hour when Adam and Dr. Montgomery finally came back downstairs, the doctor carrying his medical bag.

“She’s a very lucky little girl,” Graham said. “A few inches more and it probably woulda killed her. As it was it just tore through the fatty tissue and didn’t hit anything vital.”

“But she lost so much blood,” Adam said, as they left the last step, “and she’s pale as a little ghost.”

“Yes, but fast action on everybody’s part here made my task easier.”

“Now for the big question,” Adam said, as they turned to each other. “What about infection?”

“Well, I cleaned up the wound and put a clean dressing on it, but we’ll keep an eye on her, just in case,” Graham said, as he sat the black leather bag on the table behind the settee. “Have you ever noticed what a good class room war makes?” He began rolling down his right shirt sleeve. “We learn all kinda things that in peacetime we just don’t seem in any real big hurry to discover.” He started on the other sleeve. “I remember when supplies would get pinched, especially there toward the end o’ the fighting. Sometimes we didn’t have enough sutures to sew those poor lads up. Well, we were getting pretty desperate, until we got the bright idea to use horse hair.”

“Horse hair? Isn’t that too stiff?”

“Sure is,” Graham said with a wry grin as he scratched the back of his head. “So we tried boiling it, and you know what? The boys that got the horse hair got far less infections than those who got the suture or sewing thread. So we started boiling those and the cases dropped even more. Like I said, war is a great way to learn.”

“But at such a price.”

The doctor’s face grayed. “I know, but I try to think of those that were lost as dying for something better for others.”

“Like slavery?” Adam said, as he handed the doctor his coat.

“I was referring to what they taught us in medicine. And that institution, sir, I don’t believe in, and never have.” Graham slid one arm into a sleeve. “Granted, my father did, and so did my brothers, but when I was five I saw a slave beaten and another hanged for stealing a pig.” He shook his head as he settled the coat over his back and shoulders. “And that wasn’t why I joined the Confederate Army. I just couldn’t go against South Carolina. Can you understand that?”

“Yes, I can. Home is a very important thing, and it’s more than just a house, a city, a state or a country. It’s a part of what makes us who we are, and it’s very difficult to turn your back on.” Adam clapped a hand on the man’s shoulder. “But you aren’t out here to discuss politics.” He glanced back at the fading light beyond the windows. “By the time you get back to town, it’ll be dark, so why don’t you stay here for the night? My housekeeper can rustle you up some supper and a cup of coffee, and we have plenty of beds.”

“I sure would appreciate that, and I would like to stay close to the girl tonight.”

“Then it’s all settled.” Adam ruffled his fingers in his heavy black hair. “When I invited you to supper, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

“Well, the food’s still gonna taste the same, and I’m hungry as a bear.”

Just then Angelica rustled out of the bedroom, pulling the door quietly closed behind her.

“The doctor has graciously accepted my invitation to stay the night,” Adam said, as he turned his attention to her.

“That’s fine,” she said, as she came to stand next to Adam.

Graham’s eyes nearly popped from his head when he saw her. With her dark hair pulled fashionably back into a chignon at the nape of her neck, and her deep luminous eyes, she reminded him of someone else.

“And how is our little girl, doctor,” she said, as she took her husband’s arm.

“She’s not as seriously hurt as I at first thought, though at that age, anything can be serious. But we’ll know better in the morning.”

She reached out and took one of his hands. “Thank you and God bless you, doctor. Now I’ll see to readying a room for you. Please excuse me.” Then she gathered the sides of her full skirt and petticoats and went in through the dining room.

Adam couldn’t miss the man staring after his wife, and that lone eyebrow rose. “I don’t mind a man admiring my wife, but the way you’re looking at her could make me jealous.”

Graham looked around and caught a hint of mischievousness in the man’s face. “I didn’t mean to gape,” he said and looked back toward the dining room. “But she does so make me think of my own dear Cynthia.”

“Your sweetheart?” The sadness in the cobalt blue eyes before him made his heart twist. He had seen it in other men before, and it made him dread what would come next.

“My wife…. She died of the scarlet fever eight months after I left home.”

Adam’s trepidation had been realized, and it only made the man more human. “I’m sorry to hear that. My father lost my mother when I was born, and the mothers of both my brothers, so I recognized the look right off.” He squeezed the man’s arm then turned it into a friendly pat. “Before you fill up on Maggie’s mulligan and turn in, how about some brandy. Or, better still, what about some fine Kentucky bourbon?”

“After this day, I sure could use it.”

“Fine.”

Graham followed him to the tall liquor cabinet on the other side of the room, and no one had even noticed Jared asleep on the hearth stone.

*******

Patricia Dwyer sat on the side of the bed holding her little girl’s hand and running her fingers through the soft dark brown tresses. Since she had been shot, only once had the child awakened, and that had been for only a few minutes. But it had been long enough for the doctor to ask how she felt. Patricia’s lids clamped shut and squeezed out the tears as the frail words returned to her. “My tummy hurts.” Then her head fell, and she began to pray again.

The door opened quietly and the footfalls were muffled by the heavy rug.

A slight whiff of air as someone passed her made her look up.

“I thought I would check on her before I turned in,” Dr. Montgomery said, as he felt the child’s forehead.

“Are you staying?” Patricia asked hopefully.

“You’re brother-in-law talked me into it,” the corners of his mouth curved, and his eyes twinkled rakishly, “but he didn’t have to twist my arm when he mentioned food and a soft place to sleep.”

“I’m so glad.”

“We’re very grateful to you, doctor, for all you’ve done.”

Graham’s head snapped around as the little girl’s father came out of a darkened corner. He judged by the redness around the man’s eyes that he had been crying.

“I’m just glad I could help, and more so that it wasn’t as serious as it coulda been.” Graham turned his attention back to the sleeping girl. “She’s very pretty. She looks like her mother.” He caught a faint blush in the woman’s cheeks. “Now I want to check my handiwork one last time.” He pulled down the covers and raised the tail of the little one’s gown. The child still didn’t move or wake. Then, once satisfied that everything was as it should be, he pulled it down and covered her again. “Just fine. She should sleep through the night, but if you need me, I’m in the room across the hall. And try not to worry, I think everything’s fine.”

Then he wished them good-night and they returned it, and he slipped out. Brian put a comforting arm around his wife’s shoulders, and they looked down at their child.

“We can’t loose her, too. Not after Suzy, not…”

He brought his other arm around her, and she rested her head against him and wept. And she didn’t see the tears running in rivulets down her husband’s face.

*******

Moonlight streamed into the dark room past the parted drapes and stars danced beyond the window pane. The boy tossed fitfully on the bed – wrestling with the bedspread – until a whimper brought him awake. With a start, he sat up and looked about him. He wasn’t on the hearth any more, but in his own room. Someone, probably Uncle Adam, had him carried upstairs. His shoes and socks had been removed, but he still had on his clothes.

His young heart slowed from the nightmare he had been having. It hadn’t really been a nightmare, but reality playing over in his mind. He had seen his sister drop and again seen the harsh looks directed at him. And so much blood. Oh, how sorry he was. If only he had listened. Now his little sister could die because he hadn’t, and if she did he knew his parents would never forgive him. No one would, and for a change, he didn’t blame them.

“Jenny.”

Then he flopped over onto his stomach and buried his face in a plump pillow and tormented, stifled sobs filled the dark. He wasn’t as grown up as he pretended, and he didn’t want to be. He had hurt Jenny, and he hated himself.

ELEVEN

Jared had become invisible as – all morning long – he found himself shunned by his family. He wished the doctor had stayed, since he had been the only one who didn’t seem to hate him. But right after breakfast, Dr. Montgomery had headed back to town, and Jared found himself alone again in a house filled with people.

Maybe he should run away. He didn’t know where he would go in this wild country, but it didn’t really matter. As long as he got away and the others weren’t forced to look at him, he didn’t care. Maybe he would get lucky, and a wolf would eat him. And he didn’t care for that either.

Quietly, after checking to make sure no one was around to catch him, he opened the front door and went outside.

About twenty minutes later, Adam came down the stairs into the parlor. He had wanted to check on that dear little girl before going out to get at some badly neglected work. Since the coming of the Dwyers he had found himself – for one reason or another – not doing as much as he should.

He had retrieved his gun belt and pistol from the safe in the study, and was buckling it on as he went to get his hat. As he took it from the coat stand, his eyes caught the slightly ajar door then he shrugged it off and went out onto the porch.

It was a glorious summer morning, and his lungs swelled with the warm, pine-scented air. Before they were married, he had told Angelica about his plans to return to Boston. “Why would you want to live in a stuffy old city when you have all this?” she had asked him.

“I honestly don’t know,” he said, half to himself.

Tugging his hat on, he went down the steps and started toward the barn with a brisk stride. Once he got Dusty saddled he would go out and help with some fence building in the east pasture. He had been idle long enough.

Upon entering the barn, he instantly saw that one of the saddles lay haphazardly next to a stand. The little buckskin mare everyone called Blinky – for which he couldn’t figure out why – had been brought from her stall. He went to her and gave her a pat on the withers. “Did you try saddling yourself, girl?”

Movement caught the corner of his eye, and he saw a foot disappear past the end of the oat bin. He walked over and looked down into the space between it and the cow’s stall.

“That’s a bit of a tight fit.” But he got no answer. “Come out of there.”

“No,” Jared said flatly, without looking at him.

“Look, boy, we can do this one of two ways. The easy way or my way, and my way you won’t like.” Adam’s voice grew sterner. “Now come out of there.”

The boy didn’t move and still wouldn’t look at him.

“Don’t make me tell you again.”

Jared extricated himself from his niche and came to his feet, straw sticking to the knees and seat of his britches. He turned his back to his uncle and stood like a rock.

“Still Mr. Tough Guy, huh? Well, I think we need to talk about a few things. Climb up on the bin.” His voice went up an octave. “I said climb up on the bin, and remember what I said about my way.”

Reluctantly, the boy did as ordered. Adam sat next to him, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you decide to take a little trip?” he asked coolly. “Or were you planning on stealing my horse? They hang horse thieves out here, you know.”

This got the desired result as the boy looked around at him. “You wouldn’t hang me, would you?”

“Well, you didn’t actually steal the horse, so I guess not.” Adam watched him closely and the side of his mouth crimped. “You know, running away from a problem never solved it.”

“I didn’t think anyone would care. Everyone hates me.”

“Nobody hates you. It’s just that right now we’ve all been concerned about your sister.”

“I’ve seen the way you all look at me, when you do look at me. And no one wants to talk to me either.”

“You can’t blame anybody for being angry with you. If you had abided by what your father told you to, none of this would have happened. But because you didn’t want to live by the rules like the rest of us you could’ve killed your little sister, but fortunately she’s going to be all right. You defied your father, and it only made things worse.”

“But he’s a coward, and he doesn’t care about me anyway.”

“I happen to know that he cares about you and you sister very much.”

“No he doesn’t, not me anyway. He left, and then he didn’t even fight. He was afraid to.”

“Did somebody tell you that or did you come up with that piece of knowledge yourself?”

“My friends said that only cowards don’t fight. They teased me about him all the time.”

Adam’s eyebrow rose. “And these you call friends? Let me tell you something about your father. He didn’t fight because he was ordered not to. He would have fought, and died, if that had been what they sent him to do. But your father has a good head on his shoulders, and the Army needed that head for something other than to get shot at. He was put in charge of making sure that the supplies got to the men in the field. And he was very good at it.”

“How do you know?”

“We won the war, didn’t we? It takes more than just soldiers to do that. They need food and weapons, and ammunition for those weapons. Then they need tents to live in, horses and saddles, and clothing. And the doctors need what it takes to save those men’s lives when they’re sick and wounded. Your father was one of the men who made sure they got it, and I, for one, think you should be very proud of him.” He put an arm around the boy’s shoulders. “Your father may be a lot of things, but a coward isn’t one of them.”

“My friends said he got the Army to keep him out of the fighting.”

Adam snickered. “Believe me; no soldier gets the Army to do what it doesn’t want to.” He snickered again. “Very few people do.”

“I wish I could believe you…, but I just can’t. My friends…”

“Aren’t really friends at all. A friend is somebody who stands by you when you need him.”

“They did.”

“Did they? I think you’d better take a closer look. And when you do, I don’t think you’re gonna like what you see.” Adam stood and turned to Jared, whom he now saw as nothing more than a confused little boy. “Now,” he started, on a cheerier note, “we’re putting up some new fence line, and I havta go to work. How would you like to come with me and give us a hand? I’ll even help you saddle up Blinky.”

The melancholy dissolved from the boy. “You mean that? You really want me to?”

“I just asked you, didn’t I? I can always use an extra set of hands, and I’m sure we can find plenty for you to do.”

Jared’s face dropped slightly. “But I don’t know how to ride.”

“Now’s as good a time as any to learn. We’ll go tell your Aunt Angelica so nobody’ll get worried that you’re gone. Okay?”

“Do you think anybody’ll care?”

“I know they will,” he said, and lifted the boy down from the bin. “And when we get home, we’ll eat like only hard working men can. Whadaya say to that?” Adam couldn’t miss the enthusiasm bright in the child’s eyes.

“Okay.”

“Good. Now let’s stop wasting time jawing when we need to get to work. There’re only so many hours in a day.”

He clapped a hand on the youngster’s back and they went to Blinky. Not being used to it, there was only so much Jared could so, but Adam had a knack for letting children think they were doing more than the actually were.

*******

Vint Calder sat at a back table in his favorite saloon, nursing a bottle bought with most of the last bit of money he had to his name. He had gotten up that morning crankier than usual. He was a man already possessed by a sour disposition, and the appearance of that damnable rebel doctor had soured it even more.

It wasn’t that he had anything against this man personally, after all, he hardly knew him, and certainly knew nothing about him. That is, other than the fact that he had betrayed his country. But, still, that wasn’t why he hated him and wanted him run out of town. Vint never really had what one would call a tangible reason for hating anyone – he just seemed to be at odds with most everyone.

He sloshed more of the burning liquid into his shot glass and took it down in one jolt. It made his bloodshot eyes water even more, but he was beyond noticing.

His whisky clouded gaze went past the makeshift bar – a wooden plank on three sawhorses – to lock onto the batwing doors on the other side of the room. He had long since become deaf to the noise around him, and had become paralyzed with drink, except for one arm.

“Ah oh,” said one of the men at the bar, as he leaned back against it. “It looks like old Vint is getting up a good head o’ steam for something.” He took a swig of his warm beer.

“Yeah,” his taller companion said, “and I think it’s a pretty good guess what. Since the new doc got here he’s been like a hornet-stung grizzly. And I don’t think it has anything to do with the man being a former Reb either. Vint Calder just naturally hates everybody, and I doubt he even knows why he hates him.”

“Well, you gotta admit that hating a Reb ain’t such a bad thing.”

“Yeah, maybe, but I look at it that the war’s over, we won, and we can afford to let bygones be bygones.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you’d fought agin ‘em.”

After a long silence the tall man said, “I did. I was with the 55th Ohio.” He sat his mug on the bar then rolled up his right sleeve. Holding out his arm, he made sure the other man saw the long jagged scar extending from his wrist to just past his elbow. “I almost lost it at Gettysburg and did lose a lot of good friends, and I figure if I don’t hold a grudge, others can do it, too. Now let’s finish our beers and get back to the saw mill. I’m suddenly tired of being in town.”

The other man agreed and they turned their backs to the building rage they had been focused on.

Vint sat his empty glass down hard, his fingers so tight around it the knuckles had blanched. He was ready, and Heaven help that lousy Reb.

TWELVE

The day had been long, the sun hot and the work hard, and Adam and Jared were ready for supper and rest. They reined in their horses in front of the house while the men went to the bunkhouse.

Adam thought about helping the boy down, but decided against it. His nephew had pulled his weight with him and the hands and he could do this on his own. “Well Jared, I don’t know about you, but I could eat a house,” Adam said, as his foot touched the ground.

“Me too,” Jared said, as he brought his leg over as he had seen his uncle and the men do. “I’ve never been so hungry or tired.”

“You worked really hard today,” Adam said, and wrapped his reins around the hitch rail.

“I didn’t know work could be so much fun.” The boy emulated his uncle with the reins.

“I don’t know about that,” Adam raised both eyebrows, “but it does get a man’s blood running. And we’ll sleep like a couple of logs tonight.” He came to the boy and slapped and arm around the child’s shoulders. “Now let’s go in and see how your sister’s doing and what Maggie’s got for us. Sound good to you?”

“Just fine. Uncle Adam,” Jared said, as he looked up at him, “do you think my parents will be proud of me?”

“I think so, I know I am, and your Aunt Angelica will be, too. Now, let’s go get washed up. Us working men eat enough dirt out on the range without getting it into our food, when we can help it.”

The boy heartily went along with that, and they went up the steps, and into the house. As they came in, Brian was coming down the stairs with an empty glass, the dregs of milk covering its bottom. Adam couldn’t miss how the man’s face hardened when he saw his son.

“How’s our little girl doing?” Adam asked brightly, as he removed his hat on the coat stand.

“She’s doing much better.” Brian’s eyes had become like two polished onyx marbles. “She’s even hungry.”

“That’s great.” Adam unbuckled his gun belt and started to hang it next to his hat, but his eyes turned to the boy, and he froze.

“I promise not to bother it this time.”

Adam gave him a wink then hung it up and tousled the boy’s blond head. “Now let’s go find some water. Your son’s a real fine worker. If he hadn’t been out there to help, I doubt we would’ve gotten as far along as we did.” His grin widened.

“What could he do?” Brian asked coldly.

“Carry nails and water, and a bunch of other things. He had his first taste of jerky without too many complaints. And he swings a mean hammer, especially when he hits the wrong kind of nail.” Adam gave the boy a teasing gouge with his elbow. “I bet you lose the one on that right thumb.”

The boy examined his damaged digit then looked to his uncle. “Have you ever?”

“I’ve lost count.”

“Then I don’t mind.”

They were interrupted by the sound of someone driving into the yard. With a perplexed frown, Adam opened the door. “Hal,” he said as a stocky, balding man came up onto the porch. “Isn’t it kinda late in the day for you to be this far from the saloon?”

“That it is,” the man said, as he mopped his face with a less-than-clean handkerchief. “But Mr. Balasco said you oughtta know what’s goin’ on in town, and he sent me to tell you.”

Adam invited the man inside then asked, “What is going on?”

“A mob’s building up to go after that new doc, and getting nastier by the second in The Golden Wheel.”

“The Golden Wheel?” Brian asked as he came forward.

“It’s a saloon,” Adam glanced back at him. “Lynch talk?”

“All kinds o’ talk, with Vint Calder right in the middle of it instigating away, just like he always does.”

“That’s him all right. Why do these things always seem to happen right at mealtime?” Adam looked at those around him and heaved a sigh. “Well, I guess I’d best get going.”

“We had,” Brian said forcefully, as he thumped the empty glass down on the small table by the front door. “The man helped my little girl, maybe even saved her life, and, like you said, we’ve been divided long enough, and he does deserve a chance.”

“Fair enough,” Adam said, with an approving nod and took down his gun belt and began putting it on again. He then went to the gun cabinet and took out a rifle and began loading it. His eyes darted to Brian. “You know how to use one of these?”

“Papers weren’t the only thing I handled in the Army. When you think the city could be invaded at any second, every soldier gets pressed into service. Even we paper pushers. Now let’s go.”

With a wink, Adam handed the long gun to him.

“Can I come, too?” Jared chimed up eagerly.

“Not this time, son.” Brian rested a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You might get hurt.” A warm smile turned the sides of his mouth and rose to his eyes and erased the harshness. “And that I don’t want to risk.”

“All right, let’s go. I’ll saddle you up a horse, unless you’d rather go with Hal.” Adam said, and stuck his hat on his head.

“I can ride, too.”

“All right. Jared, tell your mother and Aunt Angelica where we’ve gone.”

The boy halfway nodded then stepped into the open doorway and watched them go.

Angelica came into the dining room from the kitchen with a stack of plates and began setting the table, when she noticed the boy. “Oh, you’re back, Jared. Where’s your uncle.”

“He and Daddy are going into town,” he said, without looking around.

“This close to supper? What on Earth for?”

“There’s trouble with that new doctor, and they’re going to help.”

Angelica went motionless as the last plate struck the table a little harder than it should have, and she didn’t see Jared step outside.

THIRTEEN

With the urgent necessity of speed, it hadn’t taken the usual amount of time to get into Bantree. Hal and his buckboard – unable to keep up with the pace of the riders – lagged behind and got in a few minutes after Adam and Brian did.

Tying their mounts to a hitch rail in front of the sheriff’s office, the men slipped their rifles from their scabbards and dismounted. They went up onto the boardwalk and couldn’t miss the noisy rabble coming for The Golden Wheel just across the street.

“Wait here.” Adam went into the office, and wasn’t in there but a couple minutes. “The sheriff isn’t there. He’s probably already at the doctor’s.”

The front parlor of Dr. Montgomery’s small house looked more like the waiting room of a large hospital. Men stood together, their voices in low, serious conversation. Firearms weren’t in short supply, and the expressions they wore spoke more eloquently of the trouble they expected.

A rapping came at the front door and the talk ceased. Steve Balasco broke free of the group to answer it. Parting the lace curtains, he grinned and unlocked the door then opened it. “I see Hal made it,” he said, as Adam and Brian came in. He closed the door again and relocked it.

“Steve Balasco, I’d like for you to meet my brother-in-law, Brian Dwyer. He and his family are visiting from Bangor.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Brian,” Steve said, and shook the man’s hand. “We’ve really got ourselves a situation here,” he turned to Adam, “and I’m afraid it won’t get better without somebody getting killed, or at least shot.”

“You could be wrong,” Brian said.

“Steve usually isn’t. Now, I’ll introduce you around while Steve gets us some coffee.” Adam’s brow creased. “It’s the least you can do. Thanks to your timely summons, we’re gonna miss supper.”

The lamplight glittered in Steve’s charcoal eyes. “I’ll get that coffee.”

As Steve went back to the kitchen, they joined the others and Adam made good on his introductions. Siddon Banning, Sheriff Jillian and ten other townsmen welcomed Brian warmly and were glad for the other guns.

Things soon settled back to quiet talk as the men waited for the other shoe to drop.

Brian – munching on a sandwich that had been hastily slapped together – noticed the doctor looking out the front parlor window, now filled with a new pane. Slipping away, he went to stand next to the man. “You would think that people would be glad the war is over.” He shook his head as he watched out the window. “But some just want to keep fighting it.”

“I know.” He finally looked around to Brian. “I never fought, but I saw my share of dying. Did you serve?”

“Yes, but I didn’t get into the fray. I was posted in Washington City, in charge of supply to get the wherewithal to the men so they could fight.” He turned to the doctor. “And it wasn’t because I’m a coward. It was because I was ordered to.”

“I never thought that, and even if I did, I’d never say it. In wartime, we do what’s required of us, whatever that may be. Like it or not.”

Brian’s attention returned outside the window. “My own son thinks I am…. Just because I’m not a killer of men, and have the scars to prove it… my son is… ashamed of me…. And I don’t know how to get him back…. I came home to a stranger.”

“My family was different when I got home, too. The house that I and my brothers and sisters were born in was a shambles. My mother and youngest sister had died of the cholera, my wife of scarlet fever, three brothers were lost to the war, one came home blinded…, and my father didn’t know anybody anymore…. He died two months back, and it was a blessing…. War is a cruel master, but even at that, some good does come from it.”

“I suppose if you look hard enough you can see it, but it takes a while, if you ever do.” Brian looked back out the window and went stiff as a ramrod. “Here they come,” he said, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Rifles were grabbed up, and the men gathered around Brian and the doctor so they could see out.

“Here we go,” Adam said, as he handed Brian his rifle.

“All right, everybody knows what to do,” Siddon said, with an authoritative, booming voice. “And we’ve agreed, doctor, that you’ll stay inside. I didn’t have you come all the way out here just to get shot.”

“I don’t think…” Graham started.

“Hey, gray belly!” cut him off. “Why don’t you come on out and see what we’ve got for ya?”

“Calder,” one of the men grumbled.

Looks were exchanged then someone reached for the front door knob.

A group of seventeen men had gathered at the base of the front porch steps to the doctor’s house.

“Come on out, gray belly!” Vint Calder yelled. “We’ve got a surprise for ya!”

Their laughter ceased as the door opened. Siddon Banning came out first, followed by Adam, Steve, Brian, Sheriff Jillian and the others. They lined up, shoulder-to-shoulder on the porch, and held the rifles across their chests.

For several seconds, silence held court then Siddon spoke. “Why don’t you all move on before this thing gets uglier than it already is?”

“Not until we ride that traitor out of here,” Tom Piedmont said venomously, as he shook the burlap bag grasped in his fist, and a few downy feathers drifted free. “This is a decent town, and we don’t want the likes of him here.”

“I thought I knew you better than this, Tom,” Adam said calmly. “I guess you’re not the fair-minded man I thought you were.”

A blush of shame flitted across Tom’s face, but was just as quickly gone.

“Don’t pay no mind to ‘em,” Vint said.

“It’s hard not to with all them rifles,” a square, red-haired man slurred.

Another belched. “I don’t care.” He held up a bucket of steaming tar and stirred it with a stick. “I’m ready to do what we come here for.”

There was a chorus of hearty and drunken agreement.

“Come on, let’s get ‘im,” Vint urged them on.

As they started forward a shot rang out, and they stopped and lurched backward.

“The first man to step foot up here,” Dan Jillian said, smoke still curling up from the barrel of his rifle, “gets a slug in his gizzard. Now go home before somebody gets killed.”

“If anybody gets killed it’s gonna be that traitor.”

“Well, for your sake, you’d better hope he doesn’t,” Siddon said, as he pointed his rifle at the purveyor of those sage words, and the man slunk back. “Now why don’t you listen to the sheriff and go home? The war’s over, so let it stay that way.”

Through all this, Vint Calder had been edging his way around to the end of the porch without being noticed. Then, with a bound, his boots thumped the plank floor. Brian stepped in front of him to block his way. Calder drew a knife from the sheath on his belt. As he raised it, the butt end of the rifle’s stock bloodied his mouth then he was shoved off into the dirt.

“Anybody else wantta try that?” Dan Jillian snarled.

The unruly, besotted mob went dead silent as they looked down at their fallen leader.

“Maybe the next one won’t get off so lucky,” Adam said, as his piercing eyes went from one face to the other. “There’s been no killing yet, so why not stop it now before there is?”

Suddenly, there came another shot, and Vint dropped his gun into the dust. He grabbed his arm and blood oozed out between his fingers. All eyes went to Brian, his rifle smoking now.

“I said I knew how to use one,” Brian said with a cocky grin.

Behind them, the door jerked open, and the doctor pushed his way out between them. Siddon glared at him, but Graham’s eyes said it all and he thumped down the steps.

“Get outta my way,” the doctor said, as he shoved his way through the mob. He stooped next to the injured man, ignoring the poisonous eyes locked on him. He pried the fingers loose and tore the grimy sleeve then examined the wound beneath. “You’re not hurt bad.” He looked at those around him. “Somebody might-as-well get him inside, so I can patch him up. I wouldn’t want him bleeding all over the sheriff’s jail.”

Calder was helped to his feet. “This don’t change nothin’,” he rasped, as he glared at the doctor.

“I didn’t expect it would. Now take him inside.”

Two men took him up onto the porch and into the house, followed closely by the doctor.

Dan Jillian went down a step. “You have a choice. You can go home or you can spend the night in jail. It’s up to you…. So what’s it gonna be?”

Tom Piedmont stepped forward. “All right, Sheriff, but only because you’re telling us to. But this doesn’t end it. We still don’t want him here.”

The look came into Adam’s eyes that clearly said he had had enough. He trounced down the steps and stopped face-to-face with Piedmont, his hand tightening on the gun. “It might interest you to know that Dr. Montgomery lost those he loved in the war, too. But he doesn’t hate Yankees. He could, and I wouldn’t blame him if he did.” Adam looked at each one of the troublemakers. “The war is done. It’s time to bind up the country’s wounds and become one people again. Don’t shame the memory of the men who died to do that…. Don’t shame the memory of your brother…. End it here.”

Shame filled Tom’s face, and the other men averted their eyes. “I hadn’t thought of it that way…. I guess none of us did.” He turned to the others. “All right, fellas, let’s go.”

The bucket of tar was dropped, spilling its contents into the dirt. The men went off in a silent bunch, the bag of feathers also being discarded along the way.

Brian came down to stand next to his brother-in-law, and they watched them go. “Do you think it’s safe enough for us to leave?”

“We’ll stay a little while longer just to be sure, but those we stood with us tonight can handle it from here on. And I’d even place a bet on the good doctor himself.”

“Daddy! Daddy!”

Adam and Brian turned at the sound of pounding feet rushing toward them.

“Jared, what are…? How did you get here?”

“I hid in the back of that man’s wagon, under a cover.”

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“Oh, Daddy, you were so brave. He was, wasn’t he, Uncle Adam?”

“He sure was, and I’m glad he was here.”

“Boy, did you ever take care of that big bully. I guess they won’t mess with you no more, huh?”

“Not if they’re smart,” Adam said with a wink to Brian and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“And you weren’t even scared.”

Brian handed his rifle to Adam and stooped in front of his son then leaned closer to the boy. “Just between you and me,” he whispered, “I was scared out of my wits.”

“You were?” Jared said, his eyes widening.

“Yes, I were.”

“Well…, that makes it even braver…. Uncle Adam told me you were no coward, and now I know it. I’m so proud of you.”

Brian’s eyes misted as he glanced up at Adam. “Do you really mean that, son?”

“You bet I do…. I was wrong, and my friends were wrong. Uncle Adam told me that they aren’t really my friends, and he was right…. I do love you…, Daddy.”

“Daddy,” Brian said with a smile of sublime satisfaction. “That has to be the sweetest word in the world.” Then he threw his arms around the boy and hugged the child tightly. “I love you, too, son. And if I have any say about it I’ll never leave you again.”

Adam’s own satisfaction etched itself in the lines of his face as he watched father and son. “Let’s go on back inside. And who knows, Jared, maybe there’s some more gingersnaps,” Adam said as they went up onto the porch.

“Just wait’ll I tell Jenny,” Jared said breathlessly, as they went inside.

*******

It was shortly before nine o’clock when Adam came up the stairs. Brian was standing outside his daughter’s bedroom, the door slightly ajar, and his ear close to the crack. Adam eased up behind him, and Brian put an index finger to his pursed lips, and they listened.

“Tell me again, Jelid, how blave Daddy was,” came the girl’s wee voice.

“Well you just shoulda been there,” the boy gushed. “He just stood there on the porch with Uncle Adam and the other men.”

“Was he scared?”

There was a pause.

“Our Daddy’s never scared. He was in the war, wasn’t he? Now let me finish,” he added tersely.

Both Adam and Brian smothered a titter.

“There was a lot of talking and yelling, and then this man, he had to be seven feet tall…,”

Adam and Brian’s grins broadened, for they knew that Vint Calder couldn’t be over five-foot-eight.

“… came up onto the porch, and he pulled out this great big knife,” the boy went on.”

“And tell me again what Daddy did.”

“I will,” Jared said impatiently. “Now let me finish.”

Adam gave Brian a nudge and got a nod in return and they started for the stairs. They had heard this all before on the way home, and they knew that they would be regaled with it in days to come. But right now, all that mattered to Brian Dwyer was that his son had come back to him. Now he truly was home.

FOURTEEN

After the face-off over the new doctor, a week, a joyous seven days, had passed, and it was time for Brian and his family to return to Bangor. They would be leaving on the next morning’s stage, but first something had to be taken care of.

Jared rode Blinky alongside his uncle’s big black horse. He had gotten his riding lessons as promised, and he sat ramrod straight in the saddle. “Uncle Adam,” he asked, as his face scrunched, “do I really havta do this? I mean, I didn’t hurt her too bad.”

Adam looked at him through the corners of his eyes. “No, you didn’t, but you could have. And you did take her without permission. You owe Kip an apology, and I think you’re grownup enough to do it.”

“But what if he won’t accept it?”

“I think he will. Lee Haymes is a good man, and Kip’s like his father. So I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Do you know what you’re gonna say?”

The boy’s mouth drew into a puzzled pucker. “Not really.” Then a glimmer of hope brightened his face. “Maybe you could do it for me.”

“That wouldn’t accomplish anything. You made the mistake, and now you have to apologize for it. I’m not the one who took Nugget.”

“I was afraid you were gonna say that,” Jared grumbled.

Adam’s finely sculpted mouth crooked into a grin. “There are some things a man just has to do, whether he likes it or not, that other people can’t do for him. Now, why don’t we pick up the pace some before the day gets completely away from us?”

The boy looked up at him, and Adam’s infectious grin spread to his face as well. “All right.”

With the nudging of heels, the horses moved into a lively trot, carrying their riders under the dense canopy of the trees. Adam had grown to enjoy his nephew as he thought he never would. Jared had been a pain, to say the least, but once he had found his father again that had all changed. And Adam hoped that it wouldn’t be so long before he came for another visit.

*******

As Adam and Jared rode into the yard of the Haymes’ place Becky Haymes was hanging fresh wash on the line to dry. Young William sat on a quilt under an immense oak tearing the petals off a flower.

“Good morning, Becky,” Adam said brightly, as he waved to her.

She stuck a wooden pin over a shirt sleeve and looked around. “Adam,” she said, and approached them, wiping her hands on her apron. “Please get down. Lee isn’t here. He’s out with the men. They are clearing off Golden Meadow to make room the expanding herd.”

“I’m sorry I missed him,” Adam said, as his foot touched the ground, “but we really came to see Kip. Is he here?”

Her attention went to the boy just leaving his mount, and she smiled. “He’s in the barn.” The light filtering through the trees twinkled in her clear blue eyes. “After you’re done, come in and have a cup of coffee. And I have milk and fresh baked honey cake.”

“Can’t we have the cake first?” Jared looked at him pleadingly as he finished tethering his horse as his uncle had.

“No, this has to be done first then we can think about her stomachs. Thank you, Becky,” he said, and tipped his hat to her, and they started across the yard.

Kip was in Nugget’s stall giving her a good currying and talking softly to her when feet crunched in the straw behind him.

“I see Nugget’s being spoiled.”

Kip’s face brightened at the sound of Adam’s voice, but quickly darkened when he turned around and saw Jared. “Yeah,” he said dully, and turned back to the little bronze mare, the brush working furiously.

This came as no surprise to Adam. He had known before they left the house this wouldn’t be easy for either boy. But it was something that had to be dealt with. Animosity would only grow, and he felt that Jared had matured enough in the past week to own up to what he had done. And he had never had any doubt about Kip.

“Well, I think she can wait a few minutes while we tend to what brought me and Jared here.”

Kip, however, seemed unwilling to put the brush down and even acknowledge Jared’s presence.

“Jared has something he wants to say to you, and the least you can do is listen.”

Kip went motionless, the brush hovering over the horse’s withers. He put it down then left the stall and came to stand in front of Jared, but his eyes went to Adam.

Adam gave Jared a nudge, and the boy’s reluctance could plainly be seen.

“I…” Jared scuffed his toe in the dirt floor and kept his eyes to it. “I’m sorry.”

“Speak up. Even I can’t hear you, and I’m sure Kip can’t either.”

With a heavy sigh, Jared finally looked up, but his eyes stayed away from Kip, and his voice rose. “I’m sorry…. I shouldn’t have taken your horse… especially after you told me not to…. I could’ve killed her.”

“And yourself,” Kip said evenly.

Jared finally looked at him. “She is all right, isn’t she? I mean…,”

“She’s fine and getting better every day.”

“Tell him everything, Jared. Tell him what you told me.”

“Do I havta?” Jared said, as his nose wrinkled.

“You said you would, and a man doesn’t go back on his word.”

“All right,” he said glumly. “It’s just that, I don’t blame you… for hitting me…. I was… I was wrong.”

Adam saw the hint of a smile curl one side of Kip’s mouth.

“It takes somebody big to admit he made a mistake,” Kip said, and extended his hand. “And I’m willing to forget it if you are.”

Jared just gawked at the offered hand then his mouth spread from ear-to-ear, and he took it.

Adam got between them and slapped his arms around their shoulders. “All right, now that that’s settled with a handshake let’s go get some cake.”

The boys were wholeheartedly behind that. They went out through the big doorway, the youngsters chattering like a couple of magpies. The hatchet had been buried and given way to the opening of a friendship.

*******

The morning had dawned bright with very few clouds in the sky, portending another fine Nevada summer day. Breakfast this morning had been taken more quickly than usual. Brian and his family had to get into town to catch the morning stage for the first leg of their journey home, and time was of the essence.

Adam put the last of the luggage into the back of the two-seat buckboard. “That does it,” he said, as he brushed his hands together.

Angelica stood near the porch steps with her sister and little Jennifer, who had recovered nicely from her injury. “I wish you didn’t have to go back so soon. We just begin having a good visit, and it’s time to leave.”

“I know, but Brian needs to get back to his work. Not that it needs him more than his family does,” Patricia shot a knowing look to her husband, “and I think the business can manage, but it’s time. And we want to visit some with Mother and Fiona before we leave.”

“I think that’s a splendid idea,” Angelica said. “She’ll probably pack all sorts of food for you to take along.”

“Are you ready to go, sweetheart?” Adam said, as he picked up the little girl.

Her small head bobbed, and her ringlets bounced. “Uncle Adam, can we come back?”

“Would you like that?”

Again her headed bobbed, but with more exaggeration.

“Then you and your family are welcome any time. And maybe next time I can teach you how to ride. I may even be able to find a pony just the right size for you. Would you like that?”

This time the nod was huge, and she flung her arms around his neck and squeezed. “Oh, Uncle Adam, I wuv you.”

Adam’s arms tightened around her, and he found himself wishing for his own little girl. “And I love you too, sweetheart.”

She leaned back and looked straight into his face with a tiny frown. “And Jelid, too?”

Adam glanced at the boy standing with his father. “And Jared, too.”

Brian took out his pocket watch and checked the time. “If we don’t get going we’re sure going to miss that coach. Then we’ll have to stay another day.”

“Could we anyway, Daddy?” Jared said, as he looked up longingly at his father.

“No. You’re mother’s right. I do need to get back to my work.”

“There’s always Christmas and next summer,” Adam said.

“Could we, Daddy?” Jared pleaded.

“We’ll see,” Brian said, and extended his hand. “Thank you, Adam, for all you’ve done. Thanks to you, I have my son back.”

“I didn’t do that, you did.” Adam pumped his hand. “Jared saw for himself that his father is no coward. And I want to thank you for the other night. If you hadn’t been there to stop Calder, things could have gotten really ugly.”

“I’m just glad I was able to.” His eyes flicked to his son. “Since my homecoming, I had begun to doubt myself.”

“A man does that once in a while, but the strong ones usually pull it out at the right time. Now, if we don’t get going, you will have to spend another night.”

The sisters hugged, and Jennifer was handed over to her father. Patricia and the children were helped into the back seat, and Brian got up front with Adam.

Jared leaned forward, and put his lips close to his uncle’s ear. “Do you think that I could ride Blinky again when we come back?”

“I don’t see why not.”

The boy’s voice lowered to a soft whisper. “I love you, Uncle Adam.”

“I love you, too, son”

Then Adam felt the child’s lips against the side of his face, and it made his heart pound. This he had to look forward to with his own sons, and it made his spirit soar. He glanced back at the boy sitting next to his little sister, and his smile telegraphed his feelings. Then he turned back around and the look between him and Brian said more than any words.

With a flick of the reins, the horses started off at a trot past the barn. Good-byes and waves continued until they disappeared around the large wooden structure and the sound of the horses’ hooves diminished. Angelica daubed at her eyes with her handkerchief and managed a sniffle.

“They’ll come back,” Maggie said at her elbow.

“I know. I just hope it doesn’t take so long this time.” Angelica turned to the housekeeper and did her best at a smile. “I think I would like to bake a cake. Something special for supper.”

“That’s a fine idea. It’ll keep us busy until our Adam returns, and I’m sure the boys will do their part.”

With a glance back to where her family had disappeared, Angelica went up the porch steps and into the house, Maggie close behind. She already missed her sister and the children and Brian. But she had her Adam and the boys, without whom her life wouldn’t be complete.

The horses’ hooves clopped over the ground and the buckboard moved through the shade of the immense pines. Mother, son and daughter talked and even laughed in the seat behind Adam, and it made him smile. He glanced over to Brian Dwyer sitting next to him, an expression of the most complete satisfaction on his face. He and his son had found each other again. Adam could only guess at what was rushing through his mind, but he had a pretty good idea what it had to do with. He no sooner turned his attention back to the horse when he felt a small hand on his shoulder.

“Uncle Adam?”

He didn’t think he would ever get used to that, and he hoped he never did. “Yes, Jared, what is it?”

“Is it all right if I get up there with you and Daddy?”

“Ask your father.”

“Can I, Daddy?” the boy asked a bit timidly.

Brian looked to his wife and got a nod. “Come on, son.”

Brian helped him over the seat, and he nestled down between the two men. He looked first to one then the other.

“I love you, Daddy,” Adam heard him say. “And I love you, too, Uncle Adam.”

And that he never wanted to get used to either.

THE END

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