She put her hand around his neck and said, “You do now.”
Chapter Fourteen
The song of the meadowlark made the plains seem like a benevolent place as Fielding led the two horses from water back to camp. Isabel’s full, dark hair cascaded around her shoulders where she crouched to roll up the gear tent. She pushed up from the bundle and brushed her hands against each other. Her eyes were shining as she met Fielding, close, and put her hand on his waist.
After the kiss, he said, “If you’d like to hold these horses like a good wrangler, I can start getting them ready.”
She gave him a lingering smile as she took the first lead rope. “This is a nice-looking one,” she said. “I like the coloring on him.”
“It’s called a dun. Some of these others have a dark mane and tail, but this one’s got these other dark spots as well—shadowing on the neck and shoulder, dark ear tips, shadowy face, and of course this stripe running all along the back. Plus the dark hocks and barring on the knees.”
“I like him.”
“So do I. He’s a good horse, never gives any trouble.” He handed her the other lead rope. “Here. I’ll get a brush.”
As he went to work on the dun, with Isabel standing close by, words came easy. “Like I said yesterday, I’ve had some setbacks. This is hard business, losing three horses the way I did. Always lookin’ over my shoulder. But I got myself into it.”
“You haven’t had much help.”
He shrugged. “Not worth complaining about. I think I just have to accept my losses, go back to the valley, and decide on what to do next.” He met her eyes. “I don’t know what your father will say.”
“I’m old enough to be on my own. He can’t take the key and lock me up. And besides, he knows that I know that he wouldn’t stick with you but just looked out for himself.”
Fielding did not speak for a moment. He didn’t mind having that kind of an advantage, but he didn’t want to say it out loud. So he said, “I’ve done what I could. And going back to the other point, I think I’ve had enough of being in the middle of this whole mess. But I need to see what things look like when we get back.”
When they had all the horses fitted out, they set off across the grassland. After coming down the switchbacks late in the afternoon the day before, they had ridden six or seven miles on a gentle downhill slope between two lines of hills. They came to water at dusk. Now in broad daylight, Fielding picked out the landmarks again and set a course across country. He led four horses and let the sorrel travel on its own. Isabel rode next to him.
They traveled southeast, leaving the town of Wheatland well to their left. Their path took them through rolling plains country, treeless except for the watercourses. By early afternoon they came to the hills overlooking the valley, and Fielding began to feel apprehension creeping into him. When they came to Antelope Creek about a mile north of his customary camp site, they stopped to rest in the shade and let the horses water.
Isabel crouched at the water’s edge and washed her face with small handfuls of water. When she stood, she still looked fresh in spite of several hours of sun and dust.
She came to stand by him. “You look worried,” she said.
“I don’t know what to expect.”
She smiled. “I’ll talk to him first. Don’t fret.”
“Oh, it’s not just that. It’s this bigger thing as well. I don’t know how much trouble Cronin wants to go to.”
“He ought to be running low on thugs, shouldn’t he?”
Fielding let out a weary breath. “You’d think so, but there’s always more to be had.”
“You’re not worried about Cedric, are you? I think the worst he would do would be to hit someone with a hairbrush.”
Fielding laughed. “That might be. But never rule him out. I wasn’t thinking of him, though. Cronin got Adler from somewhere, and there’s more like him. That’s Cronin’s style, keep himself in the clear.”
Isabel put her hand around Fielding’s neck and kissed him. “I think he’s got to be running out of steam.”
“We’ll just have to see.”
As they crested the last hill northwest of the Roe place, a hawk rose from the grass with a snake in its talons. The bird flapped away with the pale underside of the reptile trailing in the air. Isabel and Fielding looked at each other and smiled.
Down the hill and into the yard they rode. Isabel went into the house by herself as she had said she would. A few minutes later, she came out.
“I think you can come back either later today or tomorrow,” she said. “He’s not in a good mood, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.” She smiled at Fielding but did not come close as she took the reins of her horse from him.
“That’s all right,” he said. “I’ll take these horses back to the place where I stay, and then I’ve got a couple of other things to do.”
Fielding set up his camp and put out his horses for a while as he got cleaned up. The afternoon shadows were beginning to stretch out when he gathered the horses. He saddled the bay for himself and led the white horse bareback.
He rode into Selby’s place in less than half an hour. A breeze riffled in the young cottonwoods as Selby came out and met him in the yard. After the preliminary greetings, Selby asked how Fielding’s trip had gone.
“I had some trouble,” Fielding answered.
“With your horses? With the weather?”
“With some of the Argyle men. First it was Foote, and he left. Then it was Pence, and Adler after that. I had it out with both of them.”
Selby stared and did not speak. His ruddy face looked as if he had things to say and was holding them in.
Fielding went on. “I’ve had time to think about it, and I’ve decided I’ve had enough of these kinds of problems.”
Selby nodded, and his light blue eyes held on Fielding. “I don’t blame you. It hasn’t been easy on anyone.”
A wave of resentment came up, and Fielding stifled it. The less said, the better.
Selby spoke again. “I think everything’s going to blow over, though.”
“I wouldn’t know. If they wanted to get even for Mahoney, they might for these other two as well.”
“Oh, I don’t think anyone’s interested in gettin’ even at this point.”
“How’s that?”
Selby’s eyes opened wide. “Oh, I guess you haven’t heard yet.”
“No, I haven’t. I just got back, and you’re the first person I’ve talked to.”
“Well, big doin’s,” Selby began. “This comes by way of Ray Foote.”
“I would have thought he went home.”
“Well, he was goin’ to, but Cronin asked him to go out on one little job before he drew his pay.” Selby moistened his lips and continued. “Seems that Cronin had heard about the wild man livin’ out on Richard’s place, and Cronin didn’t like it. He wanted the Magpie for a line camp. So he went out there with Ray and Cedric alongside.”
“That must have been a good show of force.”
“Not so much. According to Ray, the crazy man came out of the stable, and as soon as he found out who Cronin was, he went into a rant about how Cronin had had a man killed and was trying to steal his place. Cronin said somethin’ high-handed, and the crazy man reached inside the door of the stable and came out with a shotgun. He blew Cronin right out of the saddle, and those other two lit out at a dead run.”
“Whew!” said Fielding. “Just like that.”
“How I heard it. They got up a party to go out there later, and the crazy man was long gone. They brought back the body, of course.”
“When did this happen?”
“Yesterday.”
“Huh.” That would have been about the time Adler made his way into the mountains.