What Is Mine
by
Janice Sagraves

ONE

He picked up his valise from the boardwalk in front of the stage depot, and turned out toward the town. But as he started to step down, he stopped. He had made extensive travel back east – what with this business venture or that – but this was his first time out west. Granted, the country was wild and breathtaking, and he could understand why his father had settled out here, but if this was what the locals called a city, they were very much deluded. With a frown, he pulled his hat down in front to shield his sky blue eyes from the bright June sun then stepped into the street. He had come for business – serious business – and he wanted to get at it. He could contemplate his surroundings later.

*******

After the hectic activity of April – much of which had been spent on the Ponderosa – they had passed through a calm, restful May, and Angelica Cartwright was grateful. Her babies were over their sniffles, she and Maggie had settled back into their home life, and her husband was, well, himself. She snickered as she pulled the thread through the toe of the battered sock. She needed to break out her knitting needles and buy some wool yarn. Why a man out on the range so much, especially in a Nevada winter, needed to keep his feet warm. And it wasn’t like money was a concern. She snickered again and shook her head, and the dark brown tendrils at the back of her neck jiggled.

The needle had just been woven through the shrinking hole when someone knocked at the front door. Angelica stopped, and her deep violet eyes turned in the direction the sound had come from. “Now I wonder…” But she didn’t finish her thought. She lay her mending aside, and rose from the tall backed blue chair near the stone hearth, and crossed the expansive room.

“Sheriff Jillian, what a pleasant surprise. You haven’t been out here in way too long. Please come in.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Dan Jillian slid his hat from his head then smoothed back his fawn-colored hair and did as she bade him. “Mrs. Cartwright, I’m awful sorry to call this late, but I need to see your husband. I hope he’s here.”

Angelica felt a sense of unease creep into her. “Yes, he’s here. He’s in his study. He’s working on the ledgers, but I know he will be glad for the interruption.” Her fine eyebrows lowered. “I hope nothing is wrong.”

“No, nothing’s wrong, but a matter has come up that I need to talk to him about.”

“Of course, come with me.”

Adam Cartwright sat hunched over the large mahogany desk in his dark paneled study. A lamp burned as bright he could make it from one corner of the blotter. He had always been good with numbers and keeping them in balance – something not lost on his father – but doing the books wasn’t what he would call a favorite pastime. The nib of the pen scratched over the paper until a knock disturbed it.

His head rose, and his dark hazel eyes went to the door. “Come in, Angel.”

Angelica stuck her head inside, and a smile turned her delicate mouth. “I hated to bother you, but you have a visitor. And he says that it’s important.”

The sheriff stepped in behind her. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t.” Adam stood and extended his arm out. “It’s not often enough that you’re in my house.”

“I’ll get some coffee.”

“None for me, ma’am, I’m just fine.”

“I’ll have mine later with you.”

“All right, I’ll leave you gentlemen to your business. And, sheriff, I do implore you to try not to be so much of a stranger in future.”

“I’ll do my best, ma’am.”

Then, with a duck of her head, she went out and closed the door.

“Sit down, Dan.”

“It’s not the longest ride from town, but from the back of a horse it is a bumpy one, so I’ll stand if it’s all the same to you.”

“Sure, go right ahead.” Adam came around and sat on the corner of his desk and clasped his hands in his lap. One eyebrow rose as he took in his friend’s face. “Okay, I’m listening, but I hope it isn’t as bleak as you look.”

“I don’t know if it is or not.” Dan’s fingers ran around the brim of his hat. “When the stage came in today it brought a stranger.”

Adam tittered. “It usually does.”

“Yeah, but this is no ordinary stranger, and, come to think about it, he’s not completely a stranger.”

Adam frowned. “I don’t think you came all the way out here to play word games, so just tell me.”

“His name’s Jordan Glover.”

“Jordan Glov…” Amber sparks darted through Adam’s eyes as he shot up from the desk. “Jamieson Glover.”

Dan nodded. “That’s right. You know how I always like to know who’s coming into my town, so I checked with Lou to get the names of the passengers. That one hit me right between the eyes so I went to look him up and found him in the hotel dining room. And when I laid eyes on him, I about fell over. Turns out he’s Jamieson Glover’s son, and when you see him you won’t have any doubts.” He ruffled his hair. “I never knew Glover had been married.”

“He hadn’t, not according to everything I know.”

“That’d explain a lot. Either he married her in secret or he didn’t marry her at all. And if he didn’t that means…”

“I know what it means, but that still doesn’t tell us why his son is here.”

“I asked about that and he’d only say it’s business, which he didn’t wantta talk about. But unless I miss my guess we’ll find out before too long, and I’m afraid we’re not gonna like it.”

Adam crossed his arms over his chest. “He must’ve said something to make you think that.”

“It’s not so much what he said as it was him. He’s just as slick as I remember his father being, and has that same big I little you attitude. The whole time I was with him I felt like I needed a bath.”

Adam ran his fingers back through his heavy black hair as he crossed the room and stopped before the floor-to-ceiling bookcases. “I wish I knew why he’s here. Maybe it’s nothing, but…” He turned back to the sheriff, and the sentence died in his throat as he caught Dan’s expression. “He did say something about why he’s here.”

“No, nothin’ like that. But just as I was about to go, he did wantta know who’d bought his father’s land. I told him he could find out over at the land office, where it was registered all right ‘n legal.”

Adam let out a hard breath. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this one bit. I’ll admit that it may be totally innocent, and if I hadn’t known his father I might be able to convince myself of that, but I still remember Jamieson Glover and all the trouble he caused with his hunger for land and power.”

“Yeah, but if he is here for something like that, then we gotta ask ourselves why he didn’t come before this. It’s been three years since Jamieson Glover was killed. If he really wanted it he shoulda come then.”

“If he was born out of wedlock, maybe he only just found out about his father or there could be any other number of reasons why he waited so long. Maybe I should ride into town with you and have a talk with him.”

Dan stepped to him, and gripped his arm. “I really wish you wouldn’t. I don’t want any trouble in town.”

Adam grinned. “I promise not to cause any.” A pensive scowl replaced the grin. “Of course, it may be better to let him come to me. And if he’s anything like his father – and there’s no guarantee that he is – he’ll let somebody else do his dirty work for him. But he may just be curious about some things. In his place I would be too, especially if I’d just found out all of this.”

“That sounds like a good plan to me. And while he’s in town, I’ll keep my eyes and ears open, and make sure my deputies do the same. If he is up to no good, I don’t want it slippin’ up on us.”

“That makes two of us. I still have vivid memories of that last affair and what it cost.”

“So do a lot o’ people. Now I’d better get back to Bantree.”

“All right, Dan.” Adam slapped an arm around his shoulders. “I’ll see you out to your horse.”

Angelica had just come down the stairs with baby Elizabeth – who had just turned one three days earlier – as the men left the study. Angelica wanted to know what had been so urgent, but she also knew that men’s business was none of hers.

Dan started to turn to the door, when, for the first time, he took notice of the painting that hung on the stone hearth. His eyes almost popped as he looked from it to Adam then Angelica then back to Adam.

Adam chortled. “No, it isn’t me. It’s my great-great-grandparents.”

“It sure fooled me.” Dan whistled through his teeth then turned back to Angelica. “Good night, ma’am.”

“Good night, Sheriff Jillian. And do come back soon.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll do my level best.”

Angelica sat down on the wine-colored settee with the baby in her lap as the men went outside. With absentmindedness, she began to play with her daughter’s silky red curls as her own eyes set on the flames that danced in the hearth. For some reason – which she couldn’t explain – she felt uneasy. She couldn’t put a finger on an exact reason, but it was there nonetheless, and if she was right to be disturbed, she feared that her husband would never tell her about it.

TWO

Adam had gone into Bantree straight after breakfast to check on the mail as he did every Monday and Thursday. For a while he had gone everyday, but after a time the impracticality of it had curtailed his postal runs. He had just stepped from the stage depot, which doubled as an ersatz post office, when a strange voice called to him. He looked up, and a quick breath ran into him. He had never before seen the man who now approached him, but he knew he was about to meet Jordan Glover.

The tall, slim young man stepped from the street onto the boardwalk with the grace of a gazelle. Blond hair peaked out from beneath the brim of his hat, and the way he carried himself brought back unpleasant memories. That he was the son of Jamieson Glover could never be denied, for the resemblance was uncanny. The only real difference Adam could see was the man’s sky blue eyes, his father’s had been yellowish-brown.

“Mr. Cartwright.”

Adam’s skepticism made itself plain in his face.

The man came to him with an outstretched hand, as he introduced himself. Then he must have caught Adam’s expression. “Oh, I had someone point you out for me.”

Adam reached out and pumped the proffered hand, and the man’s vise-like handshake caught him off guard for a second. “I knew who you were the moment I saw you. You’re the very picture of your father.”

Glover smiled. “That I take as a great compliment. It always pleases me when people say I’m like him.”

I wouldn’t be if I were you, Adam thought.

“But how fortunate it is for me that you came into town today. I was thinking of coming out to see you.” Glover took his hat off and fanned himself with it as his gaze trailed to the cloudless sky. “But since you’re already here it would save time to do it right now, but I don’t relish the idea of doing it right here in this sweltering street. I’m sure we can find a much cooler place where we can sit down.”

“I do need to get home,” Adam forced a grin, “but I don’t think my wife would mind too badly if I’m a little late.”

“Splendid. And since you’re more familiar with the town, I’ll let you decide where would be the best place. The only stipulation I would make would be is that it be someplace where we can talk in privacy.”

Adam felt his hair stand up on the back of his neck. “Well, my favorite saloon is The Wooden Nickel. It has a private back room and the coldest beer in town.”

“Great, I could use a libation after this heat, and a cold one would be even better.”

Adam nodded. “All right, just let me take care of these first.” He held up the envelopes in his hand.

“Certainly.”

Adam left the boardwalk and stepped to there he had tethered Dusty to the hitch rail. He put the letters into one of the pouches of the saddlebags then gave the big black a pat on the withers and rejoined his companion.

“Lou, keep an eye on my horse for me. I won’t be gone long.”

A hawk-nosed, balding man in spectacles poked his head out the ticket window of the stage depot. “Sure thing, Mr. Cartwright. I’ll watch him like he’s my own.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Then Adam turned to Glover. “The saloon’s not too far, so we can walk it easy.”

They started off along the boardwalk in complete silence. Adam tried not to stare at Glover, and once even tried small talk, but it didn’t catch or help the unrest that continued to grow in him.

Steve Balasco – the Wooden Nickel’s best bartender, and Adam Cartwright’s brother-in-law – showed them to the back room. “And I’ll make sure those beers are good and cold.”

Adam stepped back to the door with him and lowered his voice. “You or somebody stay close to the door.”

“Sure thing, Adam.” Steve’s charcoal eyes darted to the son of the man who had been responsible for almost getting him killed. “You’re right not to trust him.”

Then Steve gave a tug of his red brocade vest and went on, and Adam closed the door and turned around.

Glover had taken a seat at the table – most often used for private games of poker – and had already laid his hat on it. Adam pulled out a chair across from him and sat down just as Steve returned with the two beers on a round tray.

Steve put the two frosty mugs on the table and foam ran down their sides onto the green felt top. “Here you go, gents, enjoy. And if you need anything else just give a yell, I’ll be right outside.”

Adam thanked him and caught the flick of Steve’s sharp eyes toward Glover as he started out.

Once they were alone again, Adam spoke first. “I don’t believe in wasting valuable time by beating around the bush, so I think we should just cut straight to the heart of the matter.”

“An excellent idea. You seem to be a very astute man, Mr. Cartwright, so I don’t think I would be remiss in guessing that you already know why I’m here.”

“I think that’s a fair assumption.” Adam took a casual sip then wiped the foam from his upper lip with the back of his hand. “You want to know what happened to your father, as any son would.”

“Another good guess, but that’s only a part of it.”

Adam’s eyes narrowed over the rim of the mug. “Do go on.”

“I know that my father was murdered…”

“Whoa, now wait a minute.” Adam thumped his beer down hard enough until some of it slopped out onto the table. “There was no murder involved, unless you count a four-year-old boy. I don’t know what you’ve been told, or what you think you know, but Jamieson Glover arrived here in May of ’65. He bought some land, built a fine house then proceeded to try to buy more land. The only problem was that people already lived on that land. They had no desire to sell, but that didn’t stop him. Higher offers followed, and when that didn’t work the threats came. That was before I had settled here. I came to visit some friends, and that blew the lid off everything. Your father made the wrong assumption that I was a hired gun. After that things got really ugly. Some of my friend’s cattle were stolen and the calves slaughtered and left behind as a message. And an old man who never hurt anybody in his life was gunned down by one of your father’s henchmen and almost died.”

Glover shook his head. “I don’t believe that. My father was a businessman, not a killer.”

“I can understand you not wanting to accept the truth, but if you don’t want to take my word for it, ask anybody around here. They’ll tell you the same thing I just did. And while we’re about it, I never said your father was a killer, but the men he had working for him were.”

“I still don’t believe any of that.”

“Suit yourself. Now there’s something I’d like to know.”

“Of course.”

“Why it has taken you so long to get here. Maybe you only just found out.”

“No, I heard about it not so long after it happened, but my mother was sick. She was too ill to travel, and I didn’t want to leave her. But just over two weeks ago death ended her suffering, and once I had taken care of the final arrangements and saw that she had a decent burial, I was free to do what I haven’t been able to do for three years. But finding out about my father’s death is only a small part of my reason for coming out here. I long ago decided that I wanted to fulfill his dream. He didn’t see mother and me a whole lot as I grew up, but he came when he could. And I remember him talking about moving west and becoming a landowner someday. Well, I’m here to accomplish what others wouldn’t let him.”

Adam felt a cold jolt run through him. “Nobody tried to stop him until he decided he wanted what he had no right to take.”

“He’s gone and that doesn’t matter any more. Now before I ran into you today, I did some digging, and I found out that you bought up every bit of my father’s land, and it didn’t take you long to do it.”

“Well he didn’t need it, but I did. I went to his family, and they wanted no part of it. I also had my attorney do a thorough investigation, and he assured me that there were no heirs.”

Glover’s face flushed, and his voice rose, “I’m his heir.”

“Only if he married your mother and my attorney found no proof of a wife anywhere.”

“He never got the chance to marry my mother, but it was always understood that he would.”

“Then I’m afraid you can’t inherit unless he left it to you. But I also have it on good authority that he left no will.”

“None of that changes the fact that it is rightfully mine.”

“As I see it, it rightfully belongs to the one who bought it three years ago, had the deed legally transferred and registered at the land office, and has put blood and no small amount of sweat into it. I built my house on it, and when it burned to the ground, I built a second one. It’s where I’ll raise my children and someday will be buried on it beside my wife. So, before you even make the first offer, let me tell you that it isn’t for sale, at any price. I hope that clears things up for you so there won’t be any misunderstanding.”

“I can meet any price that you would suggest. I have become a very wealthy and influential man in my own right, Mr. Cartwright, and I can pay whatever you ask.”

Adam took an indolent sip of his beer. “I don’t think you listened to what I just said, so let me say it again. The land is mine, it belongs to me and my family and under no circumstances do I intend to sell it to you or anybody else. And if that isn’t clear enough for you let me put it another way, you can keep your money, and I’ll keep my property.” He took another sip, but his direct gaze never wavered.

Glover just glared at him for a few seconds then jerked to his feet. “Don’t think this is the end of it, Cartwright. I’ll have what my father would’ve wanted me to have and should by all rights be mine.” Then he snapped up his hat without ever having touched his beer, and bolted from the room.

As he stormed out, Glover almost ran Steve – who had posted himself outside the door – down. And if Adam seemed disturbed by recent events, he kept it to himself as he worked on his beer.

Steve whistled through his teeth as he stepped to the table. “I don’t know what you said to him, but whatever it was, it’s for sure he didn’t like it.”

Adam took a good slug of his beer and stood. “He feels that his father’s land should’ve gone to him, and I made it plain I wouldn’t sell, for any amount. And I got the impression that the reality that he doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on won’t stop him.”

Steve’s eyes grew darker. “Well if he’s anything like his father you could have trouble.”

“He gave me no reason to believe that he isn’t. In fact, he more or less threatened me.”

Steve’s face pinched. “That sounds familiar.” He slapped a hand onto Adam’s back. “I suggest that you go to the sheriff and tell him all about this.”

“I intend to, but only so he’ll have an idea that this thing could get out of hand. At this stage there’s really nothing he can do, Glover would just deny anything I told Dan. And it’s best that he thinks I don’t take him seriously.”

Steve snickered. “Give him enough rope…”

“Exactly.”

“At least it was nice of him to give you forewarning.”

“I don’t think that was his intention. I think that he just got so mad that his mouth ran away with his head.” Adam’s eyes seemed to set on nothing in particular. “And when I get home I’m gonna tell Angelica.”

“Of course, you’ll conveniently leave out any parts about any threats.”

“Of course.” Adam’s attention turned to Steve. “If we’re gonna find ourselves caught up in something like what happened at the Haymes’ place, she has the right to know. Now I’d better get going. Young Glover is shaping up to be very much like his father, and Jamieson Glover was a fast mover when the need arose.”

Steve gave him another swat, and they went out. Things had started to move, and there wasn’t time to waste.

THREE

Angelica sat on the settee, her darning lying forgotten in her lap. “I don’t understand why you never told me any of this before.”

He turned to her with his back to the dormant fireplace. “It happened before you came out here, and I didn’t think it was necessary. It had become a part of my past, and that’s where I wanted it to stay. I didn’t want it touching our lives together as it had so many others. A little boy died, Steve came close, Chris was shot in the leg, and I… killed a man face-to-face.”

She laid the needle and sock aside and went to him. “Adam,” she reached up and laid a hand against the side of his face, “I have lived out here long enough to know what it sometimes takes just to survive. Our father always told us that life is filled with contradictions, and one of them is that sometimes a life must be taken to save a life. Since I left Bangor I understand that better now.”

A ragged breath shook his long frame. “I was going through a hard time then, and I didn’t know why. I had become disagreeable and belligerent…” His eyes strayed away from her to the ceiling. “I began having bad dreams that I hadn’t had in close to a year, and it seemed like everything I did wasn’t enough to change it. I felt like I’d been caught in a trap that I couldn’t escape from, and I had no idea what to do about it.”

He looked back at her she had to fight not to cry out. She didn’t think she had ever seen such a look of desolation on that handsome visage or in those deep wells of hazel.

“And then I did something that I think to this day I’ve not forgiven myself for.”

She just watched him as pain manifested itself in his face.

“Pa had been worried about me so he went into Virginia City to see the doctor about it. Paul said he’d come out and talk to me. He found me alone in the barn, and I’m afraid I wasn’t at all nice to him when I realized what he was up to.” He smoothed his hair back with both hands then let his arms drop to his sides. “After he’d left I went into the house and proceeded to explode all over my family. To say that I said some unkind things would be way too mild. I ranted like a madman, and Pa couldn’t even talk to me.”

“I’m sure they understood that…”

“If that had been the extent of it, all right, but it wasn’t. Joe came outside to try to talk some sense to me, and I hauled off and hit him. I knocked my little brother flat. For all those years I’d never laid a hand on him, and goodness knows there were plenty of times when some would’ve said I was justified, but I never touched him. This isn’t to say that we never got into any shoving matches, but I never punched him.” He shook his head and looked down at the floor. “And he has never once mentioned it. I actually believe that he forgives me.”

She cupped his face in her hands and raised his head so that she could look into his eyes. “Of course he does, because he loves you as we all do. Love and forgiveness are synonymous, and you can’t really have one without the other.” Her chin began to tremble, and she bit down on her lower lip. “I adore it here, and I don’t want to leave, but if we must…”

He brought her hands down and clasped them in his. “We’re not going anywhere. This our home, right and legal and nobody is gonna push us off of it. I did everything according to law, and Jordan Glover doesn’t have a leg, uh, limb to stand on. But just to make sure everything has been covered – and I have no reason to think that it hasn’t – I’ll go into Bantree tomorrow to see our attorney. If I’ve missed anything or Glover has any recourse, he’ll be able to tell me, and we’ll work it out. It’s better to lock the barn before the horse is stolen.” He took her in his arms and pulled her to him. “I don’t relish the idea of a fight – any kind of a fight – but if that’s what I havta to do to protect what belongs to us, then that’s what I will do. No young upstart, I don’t care how powerful he is or thinks he is, is gonna drive us away. His father was stopped, and he will be too.”

“But Adam…,”

He placed a single index finger over her lips and anger sharpened his features. “No, I won’t be backed into a corner, but if I happen to be I’ll come out swinging. I’m a hardheaded, Boston born, stubborn Yankee and a Cartwright, a volatile combination to be sure, and I will not be pushed around like a pawn over a chessboard. If it’s a fight he wants, it’s a fight I’ll give him.”

She closed her eyes and listened to his heart beat. It unnerved her when he got himself all worked up over something. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t about the take this. If this man Glover shoved him, Adam would shove back and with greater impetus. And the idea that he could be hurt or… Her mind couldn’t go there, she wouldn’t let it. Her arms went around him, and she squeezed him closer to her. She wouldn’t lose him over this. She would fight – even kill to make sure that she didn’t.

*******

It had begun to cool toward night in the gathering dusk. Not so much that you would notice if you had been outside for a while, since it was so gradual and slight. But if you had stepped from a warm building, as Dan Jillian just had, the change could at once be felt. He took his makings from his shirt pocket and began to roll a smoke as he watched the goings on in his town, which had thinned out some.

The jail sat almost dead center of Bantree on the main street. Made of heavy logs and what many citizens boasted of as ‘escape proof’, it sported three eight-by-eight foot cells and an office with a small room for the sheriff’s bunk. It wasn’t as grand as the ones at the hotel, but it worked well enough for a single man.

“It’s turning into another nice evening.”

Dan looked around in the direction of the voice as he stuck the quirly in his mouth. “Maybe a little cooler than it was this time last night.” He took out a match and struck it along the doorjamb.

“Maybe, but it still feels good after the day’s heat.”

Dan put the tiny flame to the end of his cigarette and drew on it as Siddon Banning joined him.

The big man tugged at the front of his coat as his brown eyes focused on the sheriff. “Dan, we need to talk.”

“I kinda figured we did.” Dan puffed out smoke, and kept his gaze locked ahead. “I’m only surprised you didn’t come to me sooner.”

“You know that I’ve been at the lumber camp since yesterday and only got back an hour ago.”

Dan gave him a shrewd dart of the eyes as he took a drag from the cigarette.

Siddon frowned. “Nothing gets by you, so I have no reason to believe that this did.”

“It didn’t.”

Siddon ran his fingers over his coarse black mustache as his frustration began to mount. “Then I don’t understand why you didn’t…”

“I’ve been busy.” Dan took another lethargic drag, and his eyes never moved.

Siddon’s scowl deepened. Then he followed Dan’s line of sight, and it led him straight to the front façade of the Sinclair Hotel, the best lodgings in town. “I assume he’s still in there.”

Dan drew heavy on the cigarette, and the end burned bright red. As Siddon watched a spare young man, who also wore a star, stepped from the deepening shadows of the hotel’s porch. The deputy nodded then melded back into the gloom.

Dan still didn’t look at Siddon. “Yeah, he’s still in there.”

“Good, but we still need to talk.”

“Fine.” Dan took a final draw on the cigarette then flicked it into the street. “I’ve got fresh coffee on the stove.”

Without any further exchange, they went inside. A wall lamp next to the door and another on the desk gave the room a warm ambience that the heat generated from the stove only enhanced. Siddon pushed the door shut as Dan crossed to the purveyor of the warmth.

Dan wrapped a cloth around the coffee pot’s handle and filled a tin cup which he handed to Siddon then poured one for himself.

“I hope I’m not making too much of an assumption in saying that you’ve talked to Mr. Glover about his reason for being here.”

Dan sat the pot back onto the stove a little hard. “You’re not.” He sat down behind his desk and took a sip. “That was the first thing I did when I found out who he was.”

“Then I don’t understand why he’s still here.”

“Because he hasn’t done anything for me to run him outta town for. And for that same reason he’s at the hotel and not here enjoying my hospitality.” He sat forward and leaned his elbows on the desktop, both hands wrapped around his cup. “We havta remember that he isn’t his father.”

“Well from what I’ve heard, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. I had a nice enlightening chat with Steve Balasco on my way here. He told me all about what went on between Glover and Adam yesterday.”

“Adam told me all about it right after it happened, and we both agreed it was best just to keep an eye on him. That’s why Clint’s over at the hotel right now.”

Siddon’s thick brows knit. “I still don’t like it.”

“Maybe that makes both of us, but it doesn’t change the fact that there’s nothing we can do about it. When he does something that I can stick him in the jug for…”

“Somebody could be dead. It could even be Adam.”

Dan blanched, and his hands tightened on the cup. “You know as well as I do that the law isn’t perfect, it still goes by the idea of innocent until proven guilty. And you can’t get arrested for what you’re thinking or planning to do.”

“I wonder how many people have died for that little bit of philosophy.” Siddon slammed the cup down onto the corner of the desk and some of its contents spilled. “Thanks for the coffee.” He got as far as the door then whirled back around. “I just hope that Angelica doesn’t become a widow because you’re such a stickler for the law.” Then he stormed out and slammed the door.

Dan sat the cup on the blotter. The chair creaked as he leaned back in it, and his hands gripped the ends of the arms. “She won’t, not if I can help it.”

FOUR

Layton Scott had hung out his shingle in Bantree when the burgeoning metropolis had been just shy of a year old. A recent graduate of Harvard Law College at the time, his mouth had slathered at the kind of cases the west could throw his way. So here he was, sitting across from Adam Cartwright. And the notion that he could be instrumental in heading off a range war wasn’t lost on him.

“I told him that I couldn’t represent him because it would be a conflict of interest since I’m already your attorney.”

Adam shifted his weight in the chair. “Judging from what I learned about him from my confrontation yesterday, I can just imagine that that didn’t go over too well.”

“Believe it or not, he was very considerate. He simply asked if there were any more attorneys in town. I gave him their names, and he thanked me and left.”

Adam’s eyebrows lowered into a pensive frown. “You’re a pretty keen observer of people, Layton. I’d like to hear your impression of him.”

The attorney tented his hands in front of him. “Oily and I got the idea that he was going out of his way to be cordial. The veins in his neck stood out, and it made me think that maybe he was holding back on some anger.” He rested his arms on the desk and interlaced his fingers. “And let me make another observation. He strikes me as the kind of person that doesn’t like being told no. More than once he made an aside to his considerable wealth and powerful friends. And judging from what I know about his father, all I can say is, watch yourself, my friend.”

“That’s right; you did help Jamieson Glover to buy his land.”

Layton’s face flushed at the reminiscence. “Yeah, but if I’d known what he had in mind, I would’ve steered clear of him like one would a biting dog. In fact, I almost didn’t because I didn’t like him. Like with his son, I felt he was just a little too nice.”

“And now he’s here to pick up where his father left off.”

Layton pushed back the tufted leather chair and came to stand in front of the desk. “I assure you, Adam; he’s on very untenable ground here. The detective agency I used in New York was very thorough and is very reputable. I have used them before for other clients. They assured me that there was not and had never been a wife.”

“This Glover himself admitted as much to me that his father never married his mother. But it still bothered me about the possibility of a will.”

Layton reached down and took a grip of his friend’s wrist. “After all this time, don’t go looking for something that simply doesn’t exist. The Glover family attorney assured me that there wasn’t. He had been after Jamieson for years to have one made up, and the man laughed it off, and said he didn’t have time. And there’s no reason to believe that he took the time elsewhere.”

“Thank goodness for small favors, I suppose.”

“Adam, you have nothing to worry about from a legal standpoint. You did everything humanly possible to make sure that no one else had claim to Jamieson Glover’s property. And that his son is here now trying to do just that is through no fault of yours. And I would think that if he had a will from his father that he would have presented it by this time. He doesn’t strike me as the patient type. Now go on home to that lovely wife of yours, and let me handle anything that might come up, not that I’m saying it will.”

Adam took his hat from the corner of the desk and stood. “All right, Layton, you’ve never steered me wrong before, and I have no reason to think that you are now.” He extended his hand, and the attorney gave it a healthy pump. “It’s just that there’s more involved here than me.”

“I know that.” Layton saw him to the door. “But from here on in you let me do the worrying. After twenty years of practicing law, I’ve gotten good at it.”

Adam laughed. “All right, Layton, whatever you say. And thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Clients are a dime a dozen, but good friends don’t come so often that one can afford to neglect them.” He clapped a hand onto Adam’s back. “And I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”

Adam thanked him again then left. He went down the steps and stopped as he put his hat on. He started to head back toward the main street when he froze in his tracks. An icy chill ran through him as he watched as Jordan Glover – who seemed unaware of being observed – went into the office of Brady Nilsson, Attorney at Law. At least the sign tacked up beside the door said so, though his practices said something very different. If it was shady, underhanded or just downright illegal Nilsson could be counted on to have a hand in it, especially if large sums of money were involved.

The muscles in Adam’s jaws knotted then he went back up the steps and into Layton’s office.

*******

Lanny Craig was always on the lookout for ways that a twelve-year-old could make money. So it wasn’t like he hadn’t done this sort of thing before. He had carried buckets of beer for the Saturday night parties to Mae Gombill’s place on the edge of town. And it didn’t matter that most adults frowned on it. He didn’t care anything about soiled doves, and money was, after all, money. He had mucked out the stalls at Jan Ketchum’s livery and fed the stock. Smelly work, especially in the summertime, but it paid well. And then there were what he called ‘rattings’. In a place like Bantree the large rodents weren’t in short supply, so Lanny had no end of clientele. He was good at it, and word of his unique talent had traveled. He would sit and watch a rat hole – for hours sometimes – and when the interloper would enter one quick bop from a flat piece of thick oak that Lanny had carved for the job, and it was all over. Swift as a cat, his victims often didn’t see what was coming at them until way too late to do anything about it. Still, there had been a few episodes when those under sentence of death had fought back. Lanny’s young blood raced through his veins and arteries like boiling water just to think about it. One big red one with a black tail Lanny recalled had been a staunch defender of its life. So much so that the boy had almost hated to put a finish to it, but in the end the executioner had prevailed.

“All right, boy, I haven’t got all day.”

At the sound of the severe voice, Lanny looked up into the face of Lou Jacobs. He had been so deep in his musings that he hadn’t realized that he had come to the stage depot which doubled as the telegraph office. And he had no idea how long he had been standing there.

“Speak up, boy. Don’t just stand there all goggle-eyed.”

Lanny took a folded piece of paper from his shirt pocket and held it out. “I got a wire here what needs a be sent.”

The hawk-nosed man took the paper and adjusted his glasses then read it. Have important job. Need your best. Same meet as always. Will negotiate fee. Lou frowned. He didn’t recognize the handwriting, though he knew that he had sent wires to T.C. Hutchings at this address in San Francisco before. It had been a while, but he knew he had. “Just like always I don’t suppose you’ll tell me who wants this sent.”

“Jus’ like always I dunno. Somebody come up behind me, give it to me then enough to pay for it then he give me a whole dollar. You know that’s the way I work, Mr. Jacobs. Trustworthy.”

“All right, Lanny, pay up then you can skitter on to your next job.”

“Cain’t do that. I havta ask for that back when you’re done.” Lanny nodded to the paper in Jacobs’ hand.

“All right.” Lou couldn’t miss the fact that Lanny had begun to fidget as if biting red ants had infested his clothes. “I tell you what. You go on about your business, and you can come back later and get it.”

“Okay.” The boy scrounged three bits from his britches pocket then thumped the coins down on the window counter. Lou scraped it off into the palm of his hand and watched as Lanny sprinted off down the boardwalk. Lou snorted and shook his head then returned to the table along the wall. He sat down and laid the message out flat then his eyes gave it a quick scan as the telegraph key began to click beneath his fingers. He knew for sure that he had sent wires here before, but this was the first time that he had been disturbed by it, and he couldn’t say why. And maybe he wasn’t the only one who should know about it.

*******

Adam had thought thrice about telling Lee Haymes about the appearance of Jordan Glover, but common sense had overruled it. He had no reason to believe that this man would stop with one place any more than his father had. And since Lee didn’t get into town that often by the time he found out things could already be happening.

The big black clopped into the yard of the small homestead. Adam could only hope that his friend was there. He reined Dusty up in front of the barn. “Lee.”

Several seconds passed before a slender form emerged from the shadows of the barn, a horse collar in his hands. Lee Haymes’ mouth spread into a broad grin that rose to his amber eyes. “Adam. It’s a good thing you came when you did. I was just about to head out to take some fence wire to the boys working out by Duck Wallow Pond.”

“We need to talk, Lee.”

The grin dissolved as Lee’s gaze traced over his friend’s face. “Sure, step down and we’ll go into the house.”

Adam swung a long leg over his horse’s back then led the animal toward Lee. “Maybe some other time, but what I havta tell you would only upset Becky.”

“Becky’s not here. She took the boys and went to visit with Olivia Kelby. Since Turner died last month, she’s been over there a lot.”

“Then we don’t havta worry about being overheard.” Adam looked away from him.

“All right, you might as well give it to me with the hide on, whatever it is.” When Adam’s eyes came back to him, Lee knew that he had never seen them so black. He had known this man long enough to know that what he was about to be told would be something unpleasant.

“Jamieson Glover’s son arrived in Bantree the day before yesterday.”

Lee’s coloring bleached and his fingers knotted on the collar. He hadn’t heard that name in three years, and he would have been just as happy if he never did again. “And you didn’t think it was important enough to tell me before this.”

“I didn’t know how the wind blew until he jumped me in town yesterday morning. I think he plans on getting the ranch away from me, and there’s no reason to believe that he won’t try the same play that his father did.”

Lee just stood there then turned and hurled the collar back into the barn. He cursed, and stamped one foot against the hard packed ground. “After that mess back in ’65 I thought…” He cursed again. “I don’t suppose there’s any hope that you’re wrong about him.”

“I don’t think so. When I wouldn’t sell out to him it’d be mild to say he didn’t like it. And he let me know that it wasn’t by any means over.”

Lee took off his hat and riffled his fingers in his wispy brown hair. “I don’t know why it is every time things are going so well that the bottom falls out of the bucket. I don’t suppose you know what we’re gonna do next.”

“Nothing. We’ll let him make the first move, but we’ll try to be ready for it, whatever it is.”

“Then I think it’s a good idea that I let the others know about this. I’ll go se the O’Brien brothers’ right tonight and they can tell the others.”

“Good, but make sure they know that we’re not to do anything until he does. And whatever action he takes, we’ll act accordingly.” Adam slipped his foot into the stirrup and swung into the saddle.

Lee took hold of Dusty’s bit. “Adam, I sure hope you’re wrong about this.”

“So do I, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Now I’d better get started home.”

“All right. Adam, I’m sorry I lost my temper with you. I know you’d never keep something like this from me.”

“Don’t worry about it. I know how I felt when Dan first told me he was in town. If I hear anything else you’ll be the first to know.”

Lee just nodded then Adam gave Dusty his heels and rode out of the yard. Lee stood there and watched until his friend had disappeared beyond the fork in the road. He stuck his hat back on his head and started into the barn. In spite of all this there was still work to be done.

FIVE

Angelica had just come out of the kitchen with Elizabeth when the door to Adam’s study closed. Three little black-capped boys – now two years and two months – toddled along behind her. She put her daughter in the floor with her brothers, and pulled a bumpy, misshapen muslin bag from a small cabinet near the hearth. She undid the drawstring and dumped out a pile of wooden blocks. “Now play pretty while Mama gets some work done.” She ran a hand over Elizabeth’s flaming curls then came to her feet.

As the children began to make their stacks, their mother’s deep violet eyes returned to the study door. The sound of movement beside her diverted her attention for less than a second. “I don’t know what to do, Maggie. It has been just over a week since that odious Glover man came to town, and he hasn’t done a thing. I have watched Adam become tenser everyday with waiting. I have tried to get him to talk about it, but he utterly refuses. The most he has said to me about it is that it’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop. He says he doesn’t want to worry me.” She huffed. “I would think that he would have realized by this time that what worries him worries me, no matter how little he says about it.”

“I know, mum,” Maggie O’Shea said in her hearty Irish brogue. “It ires me to watch ‘im, too, especially in knowin’ the cause of it.”

“And three days ago was the last time he left the house. Oh, he does go outside, but poor Dusty I don’t think has even been out of the barn since then.”

Something cold and wet thrust into Angelica’s right hand, and she looked down at the big shaggy brown dog. The animal’s large chocolate eyes set on her face as she cupped its muzzle in her hands and raised its head. She scratched behind one of the floppy ears, and no one had to guess that it felt good. “Thank you, Buddy. I’m all right.” Then she gave him a small nudge in the direction of the fireplace. “Now you go play with the children. Go on.” She gave him another tiny push.

The dog went over and plopped down between Elizabeth and Addy. He just laid there, head erect and eyes on the growing tower of blocks. Then a ponderous paw reached out and everything toppled with a clatter to the joyous laughter of the children.

Angelica’s own laughter cut short as her eyes returned to the study door. “Enough of this. It’s time I had a talk with that man.”

Maggie tried to sequester her amusement. “And me and Buddy’ll stay right here with the little ones.”

Angelica glanced at the housekeeper then gathered her skirt and petticoats into one hand and flounced off.

Adam stood behind his desk, his gaze directed out the window to the glorious vistas beyond its glazed panes. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, his mind so far away that he didn’t hear the first three knocks. The opening and closing of the door and the clack of heels across the hardwood floor also went unnoticed. But the pair of warm arms that went around his waist from behind didn’t. His hands closed over hers, but his eyes never shifted, and he moved no further.

“I hate to see you so quiet and upset. And when you won’t even talk to me about it, it only distresses me more. Please, if you’ll just talk to me I think we’ll both feel better.”

“There’s really nothing to talk about and nothing you can do.”

She released herself from his grasp and came around to stand in front of him. Her sharp purple eyes met with his. “Adam Cartwright, don’t shunt me aside. Our wedding vows said for better or for worse, and if this is the worse then I will go through it with you, but I can do that only if you’ll let me. Please, sweetheart, don’t keep me at arm’s length. If this man is a threat to you then he is a threat to me and the children and our home. He’s even a threat to our own dear Maggie, and the men who work for you.” She put a hand against his cheek. “Adam, I love you. You are a part of me now, the best part. I am your helpmate, but I can’t help if you won’t let me.”

He watched as the emotion tracked across her delicate countenance then he pushed back a soft dark brown tress that had fallen over her forehead. A smile chased away some of his despondency. “I’m not trying to push you away; I just don’t want to worry you needlessly.”

“If you believe that your behavior of the past few days hasn’t got me worried then you’re a crazy man. Either that or you don’t know me as well as you profess to. And if you think my being aware of a creature like Jordan Glover doesn’t concern me then you are absolutely wrong. And if you’re so concerned about not worrying me I don’t know why you told about this man’s father and what happened three years ago. The barn door has been opened, the horse has gotten out and it is too late to back away from this now.”

He watched her with a certain amount of pleasure as she pulled out his desk chair and plunked herself down into it.

She crossed her hands in her lap and jutted out her chin. “And I am going to sit right here until you talk to me.”

He muffled a snicker with his hand and ducked his head.

Her fine eyebrows arched. “I fail to see any humor in this.”

“Not the situation.”

“Well I like that. If you think I’m so funny then maybe I should just leave.”

He sat down on the edge of the desk and took one of her hands. “You’re an absolute gem, and you don’t know how glad I am that you came in here. And you’re right; I do need to tell you some things.”

Her ruffled feathers still hadn’t been smoothed. “I’m listening.”

He released her hand and returned to the window, and he could almost feel those intense eyes follow him. “The other day, when I went into town to get the mail Glover waylaid me. We wound up at the Wooden Nickel. I thought I knew what he was after, and I had hoped that I could talk to him better than I could his father,” he took a deep breath, “but I couldn’t…. He wants the ranch.”

“Well it’s ours now, and he can’t have it. I do hope you told him that.”

“I didn’t come right out and use the word no, but I think he gathered what I meant.”

She left the chair and went to stand with him. “You think we’re going to have trouble with him.”

“I don’t have positive proof that we will, but I’d be willing to say that it’s a better than even bet.” He looked down at her. “That’s why I haven’t strayed any farther from the house than the barn. If trouble is on the way I don’t want you and the children left here without me.” He snorted. “Not that I don’t think Maggie wouldn’t give him a run for his money, but it’s my place to protect you and the children. And if Glover or anybody he may hire wants to harm you or them, they’re gonna havta go through me to do it. My family is my greatest treasure, and I’ll fight anybody to the death to safeguard it.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder. “We’ll fight him together. You’re not the only one who has treasures.”

Him arm went around her, and the closeness of her soothed and softened the edge of the indecision that had tortured him these past days. Once again he had underestimated her, though this time her reaction came as no surprise. His hold tightened on her as they looked out into the approach of night. That Jordan Glover would come at him, he had no doubt. It was the where, when and how that unsettled him, and the hope that he would be prepared.

*******

Dan Jillian had just poured a cup of coffee when someone entered the office behind him. He took a sip and turned around. “Well.”

Clint Wagner took off his hat and hung it on a peg by the door. “He’s just sittin’ over there in the lobby, pretty as you please, readin’ a newspaper like he does every night after supper.” He riffled his fingers in his wavy, straw-colored hair then crossed to the stove, and poured himself a cup. “He acts like he ain’t gotta care in the world.” He took a good drink and reacted to the heat.

“I suspicion that he knows exactly what he’s doing.” Dan sat down behind the desk.

“Maybe he does, but I sure wish I did.”

“That makes two of us. But I have no doubt that Brady Nilsson has been very helpful to him.”

Clint settled his lanky frame into the rickety chair at a front corner of the desk. “And that’s another thing that’s got me bothered. Everybody in town knows that Nilsson is the biggest shyster for miles. He’s as crooked as a bag full o’ bent nails, and even killin’ isn’t beneath him, though nobody’s been able to prove anything. Why nobody in their right mind would trust him as far as I could throw this here jail.”

“All honest, law abiding folk wouldn’t, but I’m not so sure that Mr. Jordan Glover falls into that category. You weren’t here three years ago, so you never got the chance to know his father.”

“I’ve heard talk, and I can easy say I don’t like what I’ve heard. O’ course talk comes cheap, and you can’t always believe what you hear.”

“True but you can believe this talk. I knew Jamieson Glover, but it wasn’t so much the man I knew as his actions.”

“I’ve always heard tell that that can be a pretty good judge of a man’s character or the lack of it.” Clint blew on his coffee so he wouldn’t get scalded again.

“Also true and if there happens be any, greed can sure knock it in the head. But in the first Glover’s case I don’t think there was any to start with. Still, according to Olivia Kelby, he stopped one of his hired guns from killing her after the man had shot her husband, and it was because she was a woman.”

“I guess that counts for something.” Clint took a wary sip.

“I suppose.” Dan rose from his chair with his cup and went to the window. He took a good swig as his eyes set on the front of the hotel. “I think I’ll go across to the Sinclair just to make sure that Glover is still there.”

“I’ll come with you if you want me to.”

“No, you stay and finish your coffee.” Dan took a final swig then sat his cup on the small cabinet by the door. “I won’t be gone long, and if Tim gets back before I do, send him on over.”

“Sure thing, sheriff.”

Dan took his hat from a peg next to Clint’s, put it on and went out. The day’s activity had slowed with the onset of dusk. Being June and with the days growing longer it wasn’t dark yet. He gave his hat a tug then stepped down into the street, dodged a buckboard and walked straight to the hotel. He stopped just inside the door near a tall potted plant in a brass urn so he wouldn’t be too obtrusive. His eyes floated about the lobby until they came to rest on the object of his visit. Just like his deputy had said, Jordan Glover sat in a black velvet upholstered wing chair near the staircase reading a newspaper. He was up to something, and Dan knew it, and it sent a cold chill to race along his spine to think about it. And what with Glover having made the acquaintance of Brady Nilsson – the most disreputable scoundrel in town – he had never been more certain of anything. He pushed his hat back on his head with a thumb and a fawn hank fell loose. Glover was being clever, and Dan knew he had to be more so, he only hoped he would measure up.

*******

By the time he made his destination, full dark had fallen and he could see the hamlet’s lights in the distance and hear the music from the saloons. He reined in his mount, and just sat there. It wouldn’t take him long the get into town and his arrival couldn’t have been better timed. The night would mask his entry, as it had in the past, and he should have no problem getting to Nilsson’s office. He pulled his canteen from around the saddle horn, uncapped it and took a good mouthful. He swished it around then spat and took a swallow. Somewhat stale and still tepid from the day’s heat, it nonetheless washed the grit of the trail from his mouth and throat.

His eyes rose to the star-littered sky as he hung the canteen back. “Nice night, but it ain’t home,” he said in a south Texas drawl then gave the horse a pat on the withers. “All right, Brazo, let’s go. We’ve got a job waiting.”

He gave the horse his knees and the husky mahogany bay – who had been chosen for his dark color to blend into the night and the shadows – ambled on at an unhurried pace. It didn’t pay to keep those who bought his services waiting too long, but it had been a tiring ride all the way from San Francisco, and a little longer wouldn’t make any difference. After all, they needed him more than he did them.

SIX

The stranger sat his horse back in the trees that encircled the clearing. He blended in like the rest of the forest denizens, hence the dark clothing, and the big bay stood like a rock. A long field glass he held to one eye as he watched the goings on of the homestead. He had been doing this for three days now and still no one seemed to know of his being there. This pleased him; it meant that he was doing his job well. He had learned much of his target’s daily routine, though he wondered why the man never left home. But it didn’t matter. In fact, the thought of having to go in to complete his commission gave him a certain thrill. It had been different during the war, when killing had been just killing, but this wasn’t the same. To dispatch a man without his being aware of your presence, and with so many others around took finesse and artifice and a good amount of talent, not to mention brains and guts. He lowered the glass but just continued to watch. It would be so easy to just raise a rifle and pick off his victim, but that wasn’t his style. Some of the men in this line of work liked to use them, but he preferred things up close and personal. His pulse began to race at the mere thought, and his breathing quickened. He would watch for his first opportunity then he would make his move. And then he would return to town to collect his twenty thousand dollars. Granted there were easier ways to make a living, but few of them were as lucrative, and they lacked an element of danger, something he needed to live.

*******

Adam had just finished currying Dusty – the third time in two days – and the animal shone like a chunk of coal for which he had been named. It had come to the point of where Adam had begun to have a difficult time in finding things to keep him busy. In truth of matter, he had become bored out of his skull. He loved it at home and being with his family, but he was a rancher, the kind that got down into the dirt with his men. This kind of stagnancy fair drove him crazy, and he would like nothing better than to saddle up Dusty and ride out at a full clip. However, with the presence of Jordan Glover and the possible threat he posed hanging over all their heads like the sword of Damocles, he felt better just staying put. If he should go, and if something untoward happened in his absence he would never forgive his lapse. So he would stay put, and try to keep from knocking his head against some hard object just for something different to do.

He had started to put the horse back into its stall when someone rode into the yard. Out of instinct, his right hand went down to the .44 on his hip. The leather loop was slid from the pistol’s hammer. He stood there and waited, and his other hand on the horse’s withers.

“I hope I didn’t ride all the way out from town for nothing.”

Adam felt the tension leave his body as he returned the loop to its previous position. He gave Dusty a pat then left the barn.

“Afternoon, Dan. It’s been a bit since I’ve seen you.”

Dan leaned forward and rested his crossed arms on the pommel. “I wanted to come out sooner, but you know how things come up.”

“I sure do. Step down and we’ll go into the house. There’s fresh coffee and Maggie baked pies this morning.”

Dan swung down from the saddle. “That sounds fine, and I sure would like some home cooking, but I can’t stay that long. I just thought you’d wantta hear about Glover.”

All but a thin rim of hazel remained in Adam’s eyes. “Not particularly, but I suppose I should. Let’s go into the barn where we’re not so conspicuous. When I’m outside Angelica likes to sneak peaks out the windows, and I wouldn’t want her to become more worried than she already is.”

“Sure.” Dan gathered his reins into his hand and followed after Adam, his mare trailing behind.

The sheriff entered the quiet, gray interior of the large building just as Adam returned Dusty to his stall. Dan dropped the reins and took a couple steps forward. His lungs filled with the scents of manure and hay and leather as his eyes made an involuntary dart toward the loft. He took off his hat and ruffled his hair to cool his sweaty scalp.

“This must be pretty important to bring you all the way out here.”

“I just thought you’d wantta know what Glover’s up to.”

“You could’ve sent Clint or Tim for that.”

Dan grinned. “I coulda, but I guess I just used it as a good excuse to see a friend.” He mouth evened out and he grew more somber. “To tell the truth, Glover’s up to something. I haven’t the slightest idea what, and it unsettles me more ‘n a little.”

Adam leaned back against the oat bin. “Well, now, just go ahead and tell me what he’s doing.”

“That’s just it, durn it all, he isn’t doing anything. He just sits around reading newspapers, taking his meals, going to saloons, sitting on porches or whatever. It’s almost like he wants folks to see that he isn’t doing anything.”

Adam crossed his arms in front of him. “Like maybe a town full of alibis.”

“That’s what I figured. And the fact that he’s thrown in with Brady Nilsson don’t make me rest any easier. It’s kinda like turning a fox into a chicken house. Somebody’s bound to get eat up.” Dan stepped to him and put a hand on his friend’s arm. “I just don’t want it to be you.”

Adam leaned away from the bin with a snort, and gave him a slap on the back. “Don’t fret so much. I don’t think they’re so stupid as to try something here. There’s always somebody around, and while they might get in, they’d never get back out. Even an idiot could see that.”

Dan’s brows lowered over his troubled eyes. “They don’t havta come in here to get the job done.” He gave his arm a wild fling. “A man setting out there in the trees with a long gun could do it, and nobody’d ever see him.”

One side of Adam’s mouth turned up into a lopsided grin. “I tell you what I’ll do; starting right tonight I’ll have some of the men scour the trees, and then we’ll set up a watch. We’ll just show Jordan Glover that we’re a step ahead of him. If they wantta try something, we’ll be ready.” His lone eyebrow rose and his head tilted to one side. “Of course, if you hadn’t ridden out here to let me know about Glover…”

Dan shook his head and stuck his hat back on. “I don’t even like to think about it.”

“All right, then we won’t. It’s too nice a day to dwell on such things.”

The sheriff got his horse and they went back out into the bright sunshine and fresh air. He climbed into the saddle then leaned down closer to Adam and lowered his voice. “Be careful. I still remember Jamieson Glover well enough not to trust his son.”

Adam gave him a thump on the leg. “That makes two of us. Now you’d better get going before feminine eyes catch sight of you. I’m not in any real big mood to try to explain away your being here.”

With that, Dan put his heels to the mare’s sides and headed out past the barn. Adam waited until he had ridden out of sight then turned for the house. He got about halfway when he stopped and looked off toward the trees. He just stood there for several seconds wondering why the sudden sense of unease. Maybe it had something to do with what Dan had just told him. He snickered at his foolishness then shook his head and went inside.

He sat straight up on the bay’s back, the field glass clutched in his right hand. The notion that his target had gotten wise to him ran through his mind like a steam engine. And he couldn’t shake it. He knew he hadn’t been seen, it couldn’t be possible at this distance. Still, he had made eye contact with this man, though he suspected, even hoped, that the other hadn’t been aware of it. He stuck the glass back into its pouch that hung from the saddle. No, he couldn’t gamble that he hadn’t been detected, so tonight he would make his move. He wasn’t sure how or when – and uncertainty always disturbed him – but it must be tonight. One way or another.

*******

Adam stopped at the foot of the staircase and just soaked up the idyllic setting. Angelica sat on the settee, the children gathered around her as she read from one of their picture books. The children seemed to hang on her every word. Buddy lay before the hearth, his head on his paws, his eyes set right on them. Maggie had begun to set the table for supper.

“Angelica, I’m going out to the barn for a few minutes. If I don’t get back don’t wait on me.”

“All right, dear.” She turned a page and resumed her reading.

Adam went on out and stopped just as he left the porch. The nearness of night had taken some of the edge from the day’s heat, though it was still quite warm. A peal of mannish laughter rose from the bunkhouse, and he couldn’t help but laugh himself. He shook his head then crossed the yard and went straight into the barn.

No one noticed as a shadowy figure slipped around the side of the building, one hand on the stock of the pistol on its hip. It moved like a stealthy cat as it stalked its unwary prey.

With a gruff woof, Buddy shot to his feet. A low, guttural growl vibrated from him, and his hackles stood along his shoulders and back in spikes. His eyes were set on the door. He didn’t move.

Angelica felt a sudden cold dread grab her. She laid the book aside and stood.

The dog barked once.

“Buddy, be quiet.”

There were no more barks, but the menacing growl persisted.

“Buddy, shush.” Angelica looked to Maggie, who stood like a statue with a plate in her hands. “There’s someone out there. Someone who shouldn’t be.”

The seconds that passed felt like an eternity.

“Maggie, take Buddy and the children into the kitchen.”

“Mum.”

“Please, just do as I say.”

Maggie picked up Elizabeth and herded the boys toward the kitchen. “Come on, Buddy.”

But the dog stood his ground. Angelica had to force him to go, and the growling never stopped.

Adam had just picked up his pocketknife from where he had left it earlier when blinding pain ran through his eyes as a crashing blow came down on the back of his head. His legs seemed to disappear, and he wasn’t aware when he hit the floor.

Angelica jerked a door to the gun cabinet open and took out a double-barreled shotgun. She took a box from a drawer then cracked open the weapon. She fed two shells into the barrels as if she had done it a million times before then closed it. Then she turned and started out.

He returned from making one last check to be sure that no one had come outside. His target lay in an unconscious heap before the feed bin. This would be too easy, but it didn’t matter as long as his clients were satisfied. He pulled his pistol from its holster and aimed it down at the black-haired man’s head. It would take only a second then he could get out of there. He thumbed back the hammer, but an icy feminine voice from behind made him freeze.

“If you pull that trigger, it’ll be the last thing you ever do in this life. Now move away from him.”

With slow deliberation, he looked around. She must have been all of five-foot-two and a hundred pounds soaking wet, but the shotgun she held looked like an artillery piece. And she had it pointed dead at him.

“I said to move away from him.”

“I don’t think you’ll do anything if I don’t.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you.” Her finger hovered over the triggers. “Now get away from him.”

He lowered the hammer, lest his shoot himself, but he never looked away from her. He didn’t like women, and he had never met one he trusted. But he also knew that no female had what it took to shoot anyone. His eyes narrowed, and he pulled the gun up a slight bit. “You won’t shoot. Not even to save him.”

Her eyes darted to the man on the ground then the shotgun leveled on the one that stood before her. “That’s where you’re wrong. I would kill a thousand men to protect him. One like you isn’t going to bother me. Now put that gun down and move back before you force me to kill you. And believe me that I certainly will.”

The corners of his mouth turned in a vile grin. “No you won’t.” His arm lowered again. The pistol pointed right at the unconscious man’s head. His thumb pulled back on the hammer.

An explosion split the still evening air. It hadn’t even dissipated when the men came pouring out through the bunkhouse door like hornets through a funnel. Pistols were in fists. Gun belts were in the process of being buckled on in great haste. Alphonse Sweet didn’t have on his pants or his boots, but he did have his big Navy revolver.

SEVEN

Adam groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. Someone spoke to him through a lessening fog as his aching head began to clear. He groaned again.

“Boss.”

Adam had become lucid enough to recognize the voice of his foreman, Chris McCutcheon. He felt a light touch on his back as he managed to sit up. “I’m all right. I think somebody hit me.”

“Somebody hit you all right. Some jasper come in here, cold decked you, and was gonna kill you.”

“Thanks for stopping him.”

“Not me.”

“Don’t tell me he got away.”

“Nope, he’s layin’ over there in a couple pieces.”

Adam’s eyes widened as his head shot around to Chris, and he winced. “A couple…”

“Your missus come out here with a shotgun and cut him square in two with both barrels.”

Adam’s eyes began to search for her. “Angelica.” They found her standing near Dusty’s stall, her hands clutched together at her waist. He reached out to her, and she couldn’t come fast enough. She knelt before him, and he knew he had never seen her eyes so large and luminous. They glittered in the lamplight with unshed tears, and her breathing soughed like the wind in the pines.

“I had to, Adam.” Her voice cracked. “He was going to kill you, and I couldn’t let him do that.” A tear escaped, and anger set her features. “I warned him, and I warned him, and I warned him, but he wouldn’t take me seriously.”

Adam glanced at the grisly remains of his attacker only a few feet away. “He does now.”

“Oh, Adam, I killed a man, and it isn’t something to joke about.”

He took her face in his hands. “And if you hadn’t he for sure would’ve killed me.” She began to sob, and he clutched her to him. “It’s all right, he forced your hand, and you did the only thing you could.”

“Forced or not, I took a life.” She raised her head enough until she could see the bloody corpse. She wailed like a child as her husband’s arms tightened around her, and he pulled her head down against his chest.

Fonse – a blanket swathed around him, his lower legs and knobby knees visible beneath – put himself between her and the dead man.

Adam looked at the sea of faces around him. “I don’t suppose any of you have ever seen him before.”

Chris glanced over at the former human being and a slight wrinkle crimped his nose. “He’s a stranger to us. I think we’d remember a man nervy enough wear Reb uniform britches around here.”

“Yes, I suppose you would.” Adam’s attention went back to Angelica. “You men look around while I take her into the house. I’ll be right back.”

Chris took hold of his arm. “Sure thing, Boss.”

With some help from Chris, Adam got to his feet and brought Angelica with him.

The men clustered together as they watched as the man they worked for headed back to the house with his wife. Her feet scuffed over the ground, and it seemed that she had to be held up.

Fonse scratched the back of his neck. “That’s one brave lady.”

Chris nodded. “And one scared lady. Now let’s get to what he said to.”

Juva Baily flicked a glance at Fonse as they started out. “A scared woman with a shotgun. No wonder that yahoo’s dead as a hammer.”

Maggie stood in the dining room, the boys close to her legs and Elizabeth in her arms. Buddy had put himself between them and any possible danger that could come through the front door. Maggie’s fingers were twined in the little girl’s hair, her tension palpable. Then the front door opened, and the housekeeper let out a heavy breath.

Adam read the woman’s questioning expression. “There was an intruder, but everything’s all right now. He won’t bother us any more. Angelica, you go on into the kitchen with Maggie.”

“Adam I…”

Again he took her face in his hands. “Don’t argue.” He gave her a light peck on the tip of the nose. “Remember what you once told me that your father said. Sometimes you havta take a life to save a life. And you saved mine.”

She gulped, and he could see how hard it was for her to hold onto her composure.

Maggie came forward, the boys hanging onto her skirt tail. “Come on, mum. I think ya could use a cup of good hot tea with a little bit o’ the Irish in it, and some babies to climb all over ya.” She handed Elizabeth to her mother.

Angelica held onto the child like a precious lifeline, and hid her face in the baby fine locks to stifle a sob.

“Come on, mum.”

Maggie’s nutmeg eyes flitted to Adam, and he saw pride there. He smiled and nodded then waited until his family – and that included Buddy – was secure in the kitchen. He then grabbed a rifle from the gun cabinet, loaded it and headed back outside. The dead man might have had friends.

Adam had just stepped into the yard when Juva came around by the breaking corral leading a big bay horse. “Boss, look what I found back behind the barn. It must be his ‘cause they ain’t nobody else back there or signs that there ever was.”

Adam joined the men as Chris and Juva began to search through the saddlebags.

After several minutes Juva stepped back. “There’s nothin’ here to tell who he was.”

Chris’ brow fell into a frown. “Here neither, but we sure know why he come here.”

Linc Wilson’s hand rested on the big .45 he wore. “And I think we gotta good idea who sent ‘im, too.”

“There’s no sense jumping to conclusions.”

Chris pushed his hat back to expose caramel hair, and his teal eyes flashed. “They ain’t nobody jumpin’ nowhere; Boss, but a lot o’ folks remember this Glover’s old man and with nothin’ fond neither.”

Adam propped the rifle over his shoulder. “A lot of us remember Jamieson Glover with a certain amount of distaste, but that isn’t proof that his son had anything to do with this. I’m not saying I believe that he didn’t, but suspicion would never stand up in court.”

Fonse rested his gun hand on the bay’s rump while the other held onto his blanket so he wouldn’t lose it. “Maybe we oughtta just ask ‘im. And they ain’t a thing says we gotta be nice about it.”

The rest of the men all gave clamorous agreement to that statement.

For a long moment Adam just stood there then a mischievous gleam filled his eyes. “And maybe we should let him come to us. Juva get Broomer saddled. You’re going into town.”

*******

The sun had no sooner set when Juva Bailey rode into Bantree like someone had put a fire to his horse’s tail. The loud clatter of Broomer’s hooves snagged the attention of everyone who happened to be outside. People stood and watched and it didn’t take them long to realize that he was headed for the sheriff’s office.

Dan Jillian and his two deputies – aroused by the commotion – stepped out onto the boardwalk just as Juva reined in his horse.

“Sheriff, you gotta come. You gotta come now. There’s been a killin’ out to the ranch. It’s the… Some snake slipped into the barn and…” But Juva’s voice drifted away into the night.

Dan went white as milk. “Somebody… Somebody killed…”

“Yeah, sheriff, you gotta come. It’s awful. I ain’t never seen nobody so shook up as Mrs. Cartwright.”

“All right, Juva. Clint, you stay here, and Tim I want you to go get one of the doctors.”

Juva shook his head. “They ain’t no need for that. I ain’t never seen nobody so dead.”

Dan stepped closer to the frazzled rider. “I thought he might be able to help the lady. Now I wantta know just exactly what happened.”

“They ain’t no time now. I’ll tell you on the way back.”

“All right, I’ll get my horse.” Dan jumped down into the street and took off toward the livery stable at a dead run.

So spellbound by the events that were unfolding before them, no one noticed when Jordan Glover left the chair he had been sitting in on the porch of the hotel. No one noticed when he went inside. And no one noticed the hint of a devious smile that turned the sides of his mouth.

*******

As soon as they had put a good piece of distance between them and the town, Juva slowed Broomer to a walk. Any sense of urgency and agitation he had shown in Bantree vanished. Dan overshot him as the mare continued to pound on along the road.

“They ain’t no need for that now, sheriff. We’ll get there in plenty o’ time just like this.”

Dan wheeled his mount and came back to him. He stood in the stirrups, and waved his arm back in a sweeping gesture. “The man who killed Adam could be getting away.”

“I never said it was the Boss who was killed. Truth is, it was the man who’d come to kill ‘im.” Juva gave his head a jerk as he clicked his teeth. “But the Boss’ missus changed his mind for ‘im. We’re all mighty proud o’ her. The Boss showed her how to use a shotgun, but she’d never used one on anything other ‘n a dead tree before.”

Dan’s mouth fell agape. “You mean she…”

“I sure do. Done a right up good job about it, too.”

Dan thumped back into the saddle. He blew out a breath through pursed lips and rubbed the heel of his hand over his forehead. “I thought…”

“I’m right sorry about that, but the Boss said to do it thatta way. It wasn’t you or most folks he wanted to trick.”

“Glover.”

Juva nodded. “If he had anything to do with this, the Boss figgers to let ‘im turn his hand. We’re not to tell no lies, let ‘im come to his own conclusions, as the Boss put it.”

“So he won’t be able to say he was deliberately misled to trap him.”

Juva nodded again. “Somethin’ like that.” He tapped two fingers against the side of his head. “The Boss is real smart about that sorta thing. So we’re s’pose to just go along with what he tells us. He ain’t never led us wrong before, so we don’t s’pect he will now. And one other thing, the fewer folks who know about this the better. If it got spread around that the Boss was still alive…”

“I understand. Now I wantta hear everything you can tell me, and start from the beginning.”

“I’ll tell you what I can.”

“Fair enough.”

Dan let his body settle into the motion of the mare as he listened to Juva’s telling of the episode. He could feel heat nibble at the back of his head, and his fingers gnarled on the reins. He had no proof that Glover had anything to do with this, but like his friend, he reasoned that it was a fair assumption. And if Adam had a plan for getting at the truth, then he would go along with it. And if it required the temporary removal of his badge, then so be it.

EIGHT

The homestead of the Angel ranch had become an armed camp. Measures were taken so that no second murder attempt could be made. Torches blazed and the men patrolled with rifles and shotguns. Even a rabbit couldn’t get in and out without notice.

“I thought you might like a cup of coffee to warm you against the chill.”

Dan looked around as Adam came toward him across the porch with a large pot and a cup. His eyes went down to the three little boys who followed along behind their father. “I think I would.”

Adam handed him the cup and proceeded to fill it. “I’m sorry you got the wrong impression when Juva rode into town, but I thought it was best that some people think that the man who’d tried to kill me had been successful.”

“I know, and I don’t blame you for that.” Dan took a sip then glanced up at the sky as he took out his pocket watch. With the press of a button it clicked open. “It’s almost ten. I s’pose I oughtta head back to town after I finish my coffee.” He closed the watch and stuck it back into his vest pocket. “I wouldn’t want anybody to think I’d been out here too long and come nosin’ around.” He frowned and took another sip. “I do wish you’d reconsider and let me tell Mr. Banning. I know how this is gonna hit ‘im. And that ain’t even to mention Steve and your sister-in-law.”

“I don’t like it either, but I don’t wantta put them in the position of having to lie to anybody. I do hate deceiving them, but right now it can’t really be helped.”

“Okay, this is your game right now.” Dan’s gaze lowered over the rim of the cup to the boys close to their father’s legs. “I see you still got your little shadows with you.”

Adam glanced down at his sons and grinned. “They’re too keyed up to sleep, and when that happens, mischief abounds. They’re wound tight as clock springs, and I thought their mother could use a break. She’s had it rough these past few hours.”

“Yeah, Juva told me all about it. You’re a mighty lucky man.”

“Yes, I am,” Adam put an arm around his boys, “a very lucky man. Well, I’m gonna go check on her and the baby. Elizabeth was fussy and Angelica was having trouble with her.”

Dan held back a grin. “All right, and I’ll let you know before I get ready to leave.”

Adam started back inside and the boys followed. Before he hadn’t known the big man as well as some of the others in town, but Adam Cartwright had never struck Dan as the marrying kind. He turned back to the night. He was glad to see that he had been wrong.

The door to the downstairs bedroom opened with a soft shush. A stream of light entered from the parlor, and fell over the edge of the bed where Angelica lay. Elizabeth had curled herself into a ball and snuggled close to her mother. Angelica held the child wrapped in her arms, and both appeared to be asleep. Adam came into the room and stopped at the night table and looked down onto two of the most precious things in his life. As he stood there he had to fight away the urge to gather both of them into his arms and press them to his heart.

“I’m not asleep.” Angelica moved her head just enough so that she could look up at him.

He glanced at his sleeping daughter. “I should’ve known that if anybody could quiet her, you could.”

“It wasn’t easy. I think she sensed that something was different and not as it should be.” Careful not to disturb the little girl, Angelica took one arm away and reached up to him. He grasped her hand and knelt beside the bed. “I hope the boys are behaving themselves.”

“They’re just fine, as long as somebody keeps an eye on them. Right now they’re in the kitchen with Maggie having hot chocolate.”

“Adam…” A heavy breath swelled her bosom, and the baby moved but never woke. “I killed a man. I know that I could have done no differently, and I would do it all over again if I had to, but still I killed a man and it feels…”

He squeezed her hand and held it to his cheek. “I know. I’ve killed more than one in my time, and no matter that it had come down to him or you or somebody you care for or in some cases even a perfect stranger, you still feel lousy. You havta convince yourself that you had no choice, and once you can do that, you’ll be all right.”

“But I did have no choice. He was going to kill you, even with me pointing that shotgun at him. He taunted me, and that smirk.” Tears ran back into her hair. “Well I wiped that away. I don’t think I have ever seen such a look of complete surprise on anyone as when I fired, and it hit him. He didn’t think I would do it.”

“If he’d known you like I do, he would have. You’re like a mother wolf protecting her lair and those she loves.” He stroked a hand over her tear-dampened hair. “I’m very proud of you.”

A tiny whimper left her as her eyes closed.

He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “At one time I feared that I had made a mistake in keeping you out here, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that you belong here, and tonight only confirmed that. If not for you, I would be the one lying dead.”

Her limpid eyes opened and rested on his face. “And the idea of that frightened me more than facing the unknown.” At last she couldn’t keep from crying.

He had just started to bend over her when a shadow blotted out a part of the light that came into the room, and he looked around. “Yes, Maggie.”

“Sheriff Jillian said to tell you that someone’s comin’.”

Angelica gasped, and her sobs ceased. Her fingers clawed into his arm, and her hold tightened on the child.

He brushed a hand over one of her wet cheeks. “It’s all right. I don’t think anybody’s gonna try anything now. And I won’t be caught off guard this time.” After he had managed to extricate himself from her grasp, he stood. “It’ll be all right, dear.”

He went out past Maggie, and had just gone outside when there a came a crash followed by a wail.

Maggie’s hands went to her hips as she turned back to the parlor. “Addy, don’t push your brother.”

Adam left the porch and came to stand in the yard with Dan, Chris, Juva and Fonse, each armed and ready for anything. His .44 left its holster.

“We’ve got Nate keepin’ watch around back,” Chris glanced to the heavens, “but he’d havta get real close to see who it is in this dark.”

The thump of hooves continued to come closer. The riders would soon be in the yard.

Dan stepped next to Adam. “It might be a good idea if you got outta sight. We don’t wantta tip our hand just yet.”

With only a nod, Adam hid himself behind one of the wide pillars of the porch, his pistol gripped in his hand.

By the time the horses came in past the barn Linc Wilson had joined the group. But it only took an instant to see that there was no need for alarm.

Siddon Banning and Steve Balasco reined up in front of the men. In the torch light it wasn’t difficult to see where there thoughts were.

Dan moved closer to them. “Evening, Mr. Banning, Steve. I don’t think I need guess why you’re out here at this time o’ night.”

“No, Dan, you don’t. There’s word going around town that Adam has been killed. We’ve come to see if there’s any truth in it.” Siddon’s dark eyes stayed riveted on the sheriff. “More wanted to come, but if the rumors prove to be right we didn’t figure Angelica would be up to it.” His gaze flicked to his companion. “But I thought, what with Steve being a member of the family…”

Dan nodded. “I understand.”

Steve leaned forward against the pommel and crossed his arms in front of him. “Dan, tell us what happened. We need to know, and I need to know what to tell Fiona.”

“That word of my death as been greatly exaggerated.”

Siddon and Steve sat straighter in the saddle as Adam walked out into the clear.

Without being asked to, Siddon got down. He went right to him and grasped his friend’s arms. “Adam.” However, once through the initial relief and delight, a storm cloud descended over him. “You’d better have a good explanation for scaring the wits out of us. Thinking that you’re dead once is enough for any man. I’m not as young as I used to be, and I can’t take much more of this. And Carolyn and the girls are half killed with fright.”

“And I’m sorry about that, but it couldn’t be helped. It’ll be righted as soon as possible.”

Steve dismounted. “I know you well enough to know that you don’t do anything without very good reason.”

Siddon’s eyes narrowed. “Somebody did try to kill you.”

“Yes, and it’s necessary that the fact that the would-be killer wasn’t successful not get out just yet. I’m sure somebody sent him here, and I want whoever it was to think he succeeded. And if it’s who I think it was it won’t take him long to act. Now let’s go in and get some coffee, and I’ll fill you in.”

Dan undid his horse’s rein from the hitch rail. “I’d better get back into town so I can head this thing off if I have to. All you need is a lot o’ folks trampin’ around out here.” He rose onto the mare’s back. “It won’t be easy not to lie about this, but I’ll hedge around it best I can.” Then he turned his horse and headed out.

“We’ll keep up the watch, just in case.”

“Good, Chris.”

After Adam had gone inside with Siddon and Steve, the men dispersed. Only Chris and Fonse stayed to keep watch over the front of the house. If the man who had come with evil on his mind to do evil had an accomplice, he would have to go through every man there to get at the Boss. And his failure would be just as disastrous, and not as polite.

NINE

The sun rose on a still fortified camp where men and guns remained in plain evidence. Steve had returned to Bantree around midnight to give ease of mind to his wife and the Banning women. Siddon, though, had spent the night. If Adam was right in his thinking, then a witness of some prominence could prove to be advantageous.

Adam and Siddon had just started into his study when someone knocked at the front door. With an intake of breath, Angelica whirled toward the sound, an empty bowl from dinner clutched in her hands. Maggie came around the table to her mistress, and neither woman moved. Adam answered the door.

“There’s a buggy comin’ with two men in it. Juva said one he didn’t know, but the other’s for sure Brady Nilsson.”

“All right, Chris, you and the men know what to do.”

“Yeah.” Chris rested his hand on the pistol on his hip. “And they’d better just mind their manners ‘cause I ain’t in the best o’ moods.”

Chris stomped back off into the yard, and Adam closed the door.

“This is it. Raise or call.”

“I’ll take the children into the kitchen.”

Maggie picked up Elizabeth and gathered the boys around her and went into the kitchen with them. Buddy’s toenails clicked against the floor as he trotted after them. Adam retreated into the study. Angelica – who wore the darkest dress she owned – took a seat in one of the chairs by the hearth and put on her best mourning face.

“I hope I can do this.”

Siddon took up a position behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll do just fine.”

The buggy came into the yard and stopped in front of the house. Chris approached them, his eyes little more than slits. “You’re in an all fired hurry. The body ain’t even cold yet.”

“Mr. Glover simply wanted to pay his respects to the widow. He didn’t know Mr. Cartwright that well, but he had only heard good things about him.”

Chris’ eyes darted to the blond-haired man who sat beside the lawyer. An oilier snake he didn’t think he had ever set sight on. “I’ll ask the lady if she wants to see you. But if she says no, you’ll turn this rig around and head right back into town.”

Nilsson glanced at his companion. “Of course, we don’t wish to distress the dear woman any further.”

“Wait here.” Then Chris turned and went into the house.

Nilsson shook his head. “I don’t know that this was such a good idea. Making an offer this soon after Cartwright’s death could look suspicious. I still think you should wait a decent interval.”

“No. I came here to get what belongs to me back, and I’m not interested in propriety. I’ll make the appropriate gestures, but she’ll accept my offer.”

“If you believe the talk in town.”

“Well I choose to. A young widow with four small children to rear on her own I would think she would prefer to be with her family.”

“I don’t know. I still think…”

A jab in the ribs hushed the attorney as Chris came out of the house.

“Mrs. Cartwright says she’ll see you, but I was told to tell you not stay too long. And it’ll do you wise to remember that I’ll be right outside. Now follow after me.”

Glover and Nilsson got out of the buggy, and did as the young ranch hand had told them. Once inside, the first thing that met them was a small, dark woman in the obvious embrace of grief. For a second, she took Glover aback, and the thought of courting the young widow flitted through his mind. Siddon Banning stood behind the chair she sat in like a protective sentry. She reached up to him, and he took her hand. Glover wasn’t happy about this development. He couldn’t make the proper overtures to her with the big man present.

The two visitors removed their hats as they moved into the room.

“I’ll be right outside if you need me, ma’am. You just give a holler.”

“Thank you, Mr. McCutcheon.”

With a last derisive look at the two men, Chris went back outside.

Siddon extended his free hand toward the settee. “Please sit down, gentlemen.”

They thanked him then took a seat. Now, for the first time, Glover noticed how deep a violet her eyes were. But it didn’t bother him that he was responsible for the sadness he saw there.

Introductions followed, and Angelica was unimpressed by the hollowness of their contrite sympathy.

“When we heard about the unfortunate tragedy that had befallen you and your family, my client suggested that we should pay our respects.”

“That is very kind of you, gentlemen.” She squeezed Siddon’s hand and it eased some of her butterflies. “I know that my husband would appreciate the kind gesture. But I am afraid that I can’t be very much of a hostess, though I could offer you some refreshment.”

Nilsson started to speak, but Glover cut him off. “No thank you, Mrs. Cartwright. It’s very kind of you, but that has nothing to do with why we’re here.”

Siddon frowned. “I suggest that if you have come for some other reason than to be respectful you tell it to me.”

Glover laid his hat on the seat beside him. “I can’t do that. This must be something between me and the lady, and of course, my lawyer.”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s all right, Siddon, I’ll talk to them if for no other reason than to get it over with.”

“Only if you’re sure.”

“I’m quite sure.”

He gave the back of her hand a pat. “All right. I’ll go into the study, but like Chris said, you just give a holler of you need me.”

She thanked him and he dismissed himself. When the study door closed behind him, Glover came to his feet.

“Mrs. Cartwright, I don’t know if you know that all this land once belonged to my father.”

Angelica’s teeth clamped against her lower lip. “I do. My husband told me the whole story.”

“Then you can understand why I would want it back. You might say that it is the legacy he left me.”

He smiled and it gave her a chill.

“What my client means…”

“I’ll handle this, Nilsson.” Glover turned back to her. “I know that if he’d had a chance, he would’ve left it to me.”

No one noticed that the study door had opened a crack.

“As I take it, you want to buy the ranch.”

“You take it right, Mrs. Cartwright. I’ll make you a fair offer.”

Angelica sat silent for a moment then her fingers dug into the chair’s arms like talons. “How dare you. How dare you come out here at a time like this and try to buy my husband’s ranch. He told me all about you, and I know that you threatened him.”

“That was merely a misunderstanding. Now any offer I make…”

“No, I’ll not sell at any price you would suggest. This is my home and my children’s home, and even if I would sell it, it certainly wouldn’t be to the likes of you.”

Glover stepped around the table and hovered over her. “I wouldn’t be too hasty in my decision, if I were you, Mrs. Cartwright. After all, accidents happen all the time, as I think you are aware.”

Her eyes had long ago gone purple, but now they became almost black. She jerked up from the chair so fast that she almost bumped him. “And sometimes those accidents have to be arranged and carried out by men without souls. I would like to know just how much money you were willing to pay to have my husband murdered.”

He grinned, and he made her think of a description she once heard someone make of a jackal.

“Money is irrelevant – it’s the end result that counts.”

“You did send that man out here to kill my husband.”

Nilsson laid his leather folder aside and stood. “As my client, I must warn you that…”

“Shut up, I’m handling this.” Glover edged closer to her. “There’s nothing she can say or do even if I did admit to something. It would simply be the word of a grieving widow looking to place blame for the tragic loss of her husband on someone against ours.”

Angelica’s hands wrung together at her waist, and she called him a most unflattering word that ladies just didn’t use. Cowhands did, but not well-bred ladies. She tried to slap him, but he caught her wrist. “Let go of me.”

The study door opened on a gush of air. “I suggest you do as she says.”

Nilsson’s mouth went agape as he thumped back onto the settee. Angelica pried the fingers loose from her arm, but Glover just stared past her.

Adam couldn’t help a smirk. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost, Glover.”

Nilsson by this time had recovered enough to make noises like a lawyer. “I demand to know what is going on here.”

Siddon’s dense brows lowered. “Like your client told you to, shut up.”

Adam brushed past Angelica and came to stand toe-to-toe with Glover. Their eyes met in a fierce glare, and the dropping of a snowflake could have been heard.

If Adam Cartwright intimidated Jordan Glover in any way, it didn’t show. “You still can’t prove anything.”

Adam’s voice lowered an ominous octave. “We’ll see.”

“He’s right, Adam, we still have no proof of any wrong doing on their part.”

“Innocent men don’t threaten women with more accidents. And that’s all the proof I need.” Adam took his gun from its holster and motioned the two men toward the front door. “All right, let’s go outside.”

Nilsson got an abrupt shove as he stepped away from the settee. “Mr. Banning, you can’t let him do this.”

Siddon moved closer to Angelica. “I never try to tell any man what he can and can’t do on his own property. I’m afraid it’s out of my hands.”

“I said outside.” Adam gave Glover a poke in the back with the barrel of the pistol, and the man spun on him.

When they left the front porch, Adam called to Chris, who stood near the barn with a shotgun cradled in his arms. At the sound of his name, the caramel-haired young man trotted over to them. “Yeah, Boss.”

“I may need some help with this.”

“Sure thing, Boss. Whatever you want.”

As they walked toward the large building where the fire pumper was kept, Nilsson’s nerves began to show. Glover remained cool and in control, but it wasn’t the case with his lawyer. They had just reached the large double doors when Fonse joined them. Adam instructed him to stay with the attorney while he and Chris took Glover inside.

“You don’t have to keep me here. I didn’t do anything.”

“The Boss must think you did, so you’re stayin’ put.”

“You could let me go.”

“And have the Boss cleave my head with an axe, I don’t think. Now keep your mouth closed or I’ll do it for you. And I guarantee you wouldn’t like my mouth closin’.”

Nilsson had just started to say something else when a shotgun blast erupted inside. The man almost jumped from his skin, and Fonse grabbed his arm to keep him from running off.

“They killed him.”

“Sounds like.”

One door opened, and Adam stepped out with the still smoking shotgun. He opened it and shucked the spent shells, then took two more from his pocket and reloaded it. “All right, Fonse, bring him in.”

Nilsson tried his best to keep from being taken inside. He drug his feet and pulled back against Fonse’s pull. “Please, Mr. Cartwright, this whole thing was his idea, not mine.”

Adam’s lone eyebrow rose. “That’s what he said about you.” Then he disappeared into the gloom.

The interior of the fair sized building was gray since light entered from only one small window near the single door at the back. A large red pumper dominated the space and a stream of sunlight glittered against its paint and metal. It had been bought after the first house had burned, but it had yet to be used.

Fonse closed the door, and Nilsson looked as if he would strangle on his own breathing. And then he saw it. Along one wall lay a body beneath a bloody blanket, only the bottoms of its boots visible. He hadn’t wanted to believe that Adam Cartwright would kill him, but here was the evidence.

“Please, Mr. Cartwright, don’t do this. You have my word that this was all Glover’s idea.”

Fonse snorted. “Your word ain’t worth the powder it’d take to blow up a dew drop.”

Adam came closer to him, and his fingers knotted on the lapel of the man’s coat. “But you being the enterprising sort that you are you agreed to go along for a price. However, if you tell me what I want to know, I might be persuaded to change my thinking.”

“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, just don’t kill me.”

Adam stooped next to the body, and rested the shotgun on his knees. “I want to know who hired the man who came out here to do me in. Glover said it was you, since he didn’t know anybody around here.”

“No, it was all his…”

Without any announcement, Adam jerked the blanket back to uncover the dead man’s torso, which had been pretty much severed from the lower part of his body. Nilsson’s eyes went right to it.

“Walsh.” The second the name passed his lips, it was obvious the Nilsson knew that he had made a slip.

“I thought so.” Adam recovered the corpse then returned to the shaken attorney.

Nilsson’s gaze never left the cadaver. “I… I never thought any man could ever get the best of Kyler Walsh.”

“No man did. My wife killed him.”

Nilsson’s wide eyes shot right to Adam’s face.

“And unless you want me to put you in the same room with her…”

“All right, all right, Glover came to me; I merely set him up with someone who could do the job. He wanted you out of the way so that he could approach your wife. He’d heard the talk that if anything should ever happen to you that she’d sell out and move away.”

“Okay, Chris, you can bring him back in!”

The rear door opened, and Glover came in ahead of Chris, the business end of a rifle jammed into his back. Nilsson looked as if he would swallow his tongue.

“He told us everything.”

Glover eyes bore into his former attorney. “Why you lousy rat. I didn’t tell them anything.”

Nilsson shrugged. “I always stand by my clients only so long as it is advantageous for me to do so.”

With a throaty snarl, Glover lunged at Nilsson, but Chris held him back.

“All right, Fonse, take them out to the barn.”

“Sure thing, Boss.” Then Fonse took them out at shotgun point.

Chris tittered. “It just gives me a tickle whenever that kind falls out with each other.”

Adam slapped a hand onto his back. “Me too, now let’s go give Fonse a hand.”

They went out, but as Adam started to close the door, his eyes went to the dead man. That could be me, he thought. One side of his mouth quirked, and he said a silent prayer of thanks for his Angel then closed the door.

TEN

Though the windows were open, the courtroom sweltered in the late June heat. Ladies’ fans fluttered, and the men – with the judge’s permission – had removed their coats. The evidence and testimony part of the trial was over, now the prosecutor gave his summation.

Sam Wakefield, his fingers hooked in his vest, stepped with great deliberation to the twelve men good and true. “Gentlemen of the jury, a colder, more calculating pair of have never heard of than the defendants.” His arm swung around to where Adam and Angelica sat in the front row. “They plotted and schemed to have Adam Cartwright murdered, to take him from his family all for the acquisition of land and money, and that we have proved beyond all doubt.” He turned back to the jury. “For a moment, put yourself in that room as these men worked out their diabolical plan. Imagine if you will how they cold bloodily worked out the details of the killing. You have heard the contents of the telegram that they hired an innocent, unsuspecting boy to send.”

Twelve-year-old Lanny Craig squirmed in his seat until his mother made him sit still.

“The same telegram that Lou Jacobs had the foresight to say he had lost when the boy returned for it, per the instructions of a mysterious person. The very same telegram that he later presented to Sheriff Jillian when he, like so many others, believed Adam to be dead.”

Hawk-nosed Lou Jacobs puffed out his chest as eyes turned in his direction.

“The telegram that proved later to be in the handwriting of one of the defendants, one Jordan Glover.” Sam clasped his hands behind his wide back and began a methodical pace before the men. “Now put yourself in the place of a young wife and mother…”

Adam reached out and took Angelica’s hand.

“…who walked into the barn to find her husband unconscious on the floor, his would-be assassin standing over him, a pistol aimed at his head. Imagine how she felt when this man forced her to use the shotgun she held to save her husband’s life. If you have any sympathy it must be with this man and his wife and their four young children. Imagine those little ones growing up without their father because of greed and nothing else.” Sam took a couple steps closer to the defendants table, but his attention was on the spectators. “They have no defense for what they have done. In this courtroom Jordan Glover has been quiet yet haughty and refused to stake the stand in his own defense. Brady Nilsson, on the other hand, did take the stand and threw his accomplice in this sinister crime to the wolves in a vain effort to save himself. And what he told us was enough to anger any just man. Now I know that some – like my learned counterpart for the defense – would say that he lied to protect his own skin. But taken together with the other evidence, we have no choice but to believe him.” He whirled and slammed his hands onto the front of the jury box. “Bearing in mind all that you have seen and heard in the nine days of this trial there is only one verdict that you can render. Only one verdict that sends a plain and unequivocal message…,” he drove his fist against the smooth wood, “that we do not allow such things in our town. You must find the defendants guilty as so charged,” he turned back to face Glover and Nilsson, “not only of trying to have a man’s life taken from him, but for the foul, cruel and wicked deed of taking him from those who love him. And in that, they must suffer the most extreme penalty allowed by the law.” He turned back to the jurors. “And I would make one last request of you before you enter into your deliberations. Take a good long look at Angelica Cartwright, and visualize her dressed in the black of mourning, her tear stained cheeks, and the anguish in her eyes. In that way you will know how to vote. I thank you, gentlemen of the jury.” Sam turned and headed back to his table. “They’re all yours, Milt.” Then he took his seat next to his assistant.

Tall, lean Milt Dourdan rose and stepped around the table. “Your Honor, I think at this time that a summation on my part would be wasted effort. The evidence has been most damning, and anything I would say could not help, and might only do more harm. The gentlemen of the jury aren’t stupid, and anything I would say would fall on deaf ears. So I have conferred with my clients, and they have made it plain that they don’t wish to drag this out any further. At this time they would like to change their plea from not guilty to guilty.”

Judge Laughlin Davis ruffled his silver-tipped chestnut hair then rested his thick arms on the top of his makeshift bench and locked his hands together. “Milt, through this whole sordid affair they’ve had the opportunity to change their pleas, but they haven’t even made a squeak about it. But now that it looks like they could get the book thrown at them, they decide to take my offer. Well I made it crystal clear from the beginning that said offer was only good until summation. I guess they didn’t hear so well,” he leaned closer to the table, “or maybe they think that they’re deserving of having my rules bent in their favor. Maybe money and influence can sway some judges, but I’m not one. It isn’t gonna happen, so you can either address the jury or sit back down.”

“Your Honor,” Glover stood, and got a keen look from his attorney, “my father came from a very prominent family back east, I think…”

“I know all about your father, Mr. Glover. I also know that folks died because of him, and one almost did because of you. Now I would take it ever so kindly that in my courtroom you will just shut up and sit down.”

A ripple of laughter ran through the spectators. Judge Davis banged his gavel until order resumed.

“If you’ve got nothing more you wantta add, Milt.”

“No, your Honor, my clients only want to get this over with.”

Davis agreed and dismissed the jury – with the stern admonition that if any reasonable doubt remained that they must acquit – who was shown into the jury room by one of the deputies.

Siddon came forward to where Adam and Angelica sat. His eyes darted to where the jury had gone. “All we can do now is wait, but there’s no need to stay in this stove. It’s no telling how long they’ll be in there. I think we should go back to my house. It isn’t so far from the courthouse, and Giles makes the best lemonade I’ve ever tasted. With ice from the icehouse, it’s perfect for a day like this.”

Angelica’s fanning grew more furious. “I must admit that I do feel a little wilted.”

“Then it’s settled.” Siddon started from the courtroom. “This’ll delight Carolyn to no end. She always loves an excuse to entertain.”

As they went out the prisoners were taken command of. They were marched out a back door under gunpoint. They would stay at the jail until the jury came back in.

*******

It was less than half an hour when the jury returned with their verdict. When everyone had settled in all rose as the judge left his chambers and took his place at his table. The shuffle of feet and the rustle of fabric soon died away as everyone was reseated.

Judge Davis turned his gaze on the jurors. “I trust that you’ve come to a verdict, mister foreman.”

A gangly, wizened man with a scruffy beard stood up. “We sure have, judge.” His fiery eyes turned on the defendants. “We find these two jackanapes to be guilty as sin.”

“And you all agree to that.”

One strong unified ‘yes’ rose from the jury box.

“All right, Rafe, you can sit back down.” The judge turned his attention to the defendants, who were urged by their attorney to stand with him. “It is the ruling of this court that you did willfully and with malice aforethought conspire to have one Adam Cartwright murdered something that doesn’t go over well around here. No sir, it doesn’t go over well at all. So to pay for that selfsame crime you’ll both each serve thirty years at hard labor. And it’ll be my recommendation that there’ll be no parole. You committed the crime, so you’ll serve the time for it.”

A low murmur ran through the spectators.

“That’s a bit harsh, your Honor.”

The judge fumed. “As far as I’m concerned, Milt, it’s not near harsh enough. I know Adam Cartwright and his little wife, and no two finer people ever lived. And when I think about what your clients did I see red. They need to learn that you can’t just go around having folks killed because it suites you, and if I could put ‘em away for the rest of their natural lives I for darn sure certain would. But by the Grace of the Almighty, and a very big shotgun they failed, and this is the most I can do. All right, sheriff, take charge of your prisoners.”

Deputy Clint Wagner had just come forward the take custody of the prisoners when Glover grabbed him. He pulled the young man’s gun from its holster then shoved the kid away. When people saw what was going on, women screamed and a mad scramble to escape began.

Dan took a gunfighter’s stance and raised his pistol in deadly aim. “Drop it, Glover!”

“I won’t go to prison!” Glover’s poisonous eyes turned on Nilsson. “And neither will you.”

The crooked lawyer started to beg for his life, but one shot ended it. Nilsson dropped in a heap. Glover then turned the gun on Adam, who had put himself between Angelica and danger. Two shots added to the bedlam. Amidst more feminine screams, Glover toppled back over a table. The gun left his hand as he landed hard on the floor and skittered away. Dan came to stand over him, his pistol pointed straight down. Adam pushed Angelica into Siddon’s protective hands then dashed around to where Glover lay.

Adam knelt beside the man who had tried to have him killed then tried to do it himself. He loosened Glover’s tie in an effort to relieve the man’s sharp breathing. He opened back the brown tweed coat and grimaced at the sight of the growing red splotch on the snow white shirt.

Someone said they would go for a doctor, followed by the sound of running feet. Then a voice announced that Nilsson was dead, but that didn’t register much more.

Eyes that had begun to glaze turned to Adam. “I’m not sorry for what I did, Cartwright.”

“I know, and that’s the sad thing.”

“If I couldn’t have my father’s land…,” a spasm of pain tracked over his face, “I didn’t want you to have it.” Then a rattle of breath ran from him, and his sightless gaze set on the ceiling.

With gentleness the man hadn’t earned in life, Adam closed the dead eyes. He pushed away from the floor. A quick look he shared with Dan spoke volumes then he returned to Siddon and Angelica. She broke free of the big man’s hold and rushed to her husband. She threw her arms around him, and never looked at the bodies on the floor.

“It’s all over. We can go home now.” She looked up at him, and he caressed a soft, flushed cheek. “He could’ve had so much, but he just didn’t know where to look.”

“Men like that never do.” Siddon clapped a large hand onto Adam’s shoulder. “Now let’s go back to the house and finish that lemonade. And we might even indulge in something a little stronger.”

Adam grinned. “If Angelica says it’s all right.”

“You know I don’t mind. I even think I could use a sherry after this.”

“Then it’s all settled. You can get your wits back about you before you head home.”

Siddon once again led the way out. Adam kept a tight grip on Angelica’s arm. But in the doorway he stopped and looked back to where the two bodies had been covered with blankets. He had come so close to losing everything. One eyebrow rose. Jordan Glover had indeed been Jamieson Glover’s son. Someone had said that the apple didn’t fallen far from the tree, and they had been oh so right. Both had tried to take what they had no right to, both had caused grief and pain to others, and both had died in violence. Like father, like son. Then he thought of his own father, and how much of an influence he had had been on his oldest son’s life. Yes, like father, like son, and he was thankful for it. Then he turned and went out with his wife.

THE END

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