When Tess awoke the next morning, Lenna, a young Apache girl with coffee-colored eyes and long black hair, greeted her. Looking to be about fourteen years of age and wearing a cotton blouse, calico skirt and knee-high moccasins, she’d been with Tess the night before and had been most helpful since she spoke a bit of English.
Tess had been disappointed to be separated from Cale, sleeping in a shelter with Lenna and what she guessed was Lenna's family. Cale had come briefly to check on her, kissed her, then bedded down somewhere else.
Tess exited the wickiup and leaned on her cane. Her leg ached more than usual this morning. She scanned the camp as it slowly came to life with activity. Stout Apache women brought cook fires to life, water was hauled from a nearby creek in gourds and buckets, and the buzz of chattering could be heard as food was prepared.
“Where is Cale?” she asked.
Lenna dashed off and returned in a short time. “He is gone. I am told he is hunting deer with Bipin.”
“Oh.” Disappointment hit Tess. He could’ve said goodbye, but inwardly she scolded herself for being too sensitive. These people were, by all accounts, close friends to Cale. Of course he would want to visit, to catch up on news, even to help with chores.
“Cocheta will want to speak with you later,” Lenna said.
The elderly woman had scrutinized Tess the night before, but proclaimed her tired and let her be. But Tess knew that some type of interrogation awaited her.
Lenna smiled, and Tess couldn’t help but like the girl. “But first we will eat,” Lenna added.
Tess enjoyed the thick, flat bread offered—called chigustei—and a cornmeal mush.
* * * *
Riding horseback, Bipin led Cale into the mountains. By midmorning, he stopped and indicated a camp beyond.
“I not go,” Bipin said. “We do not like the Irishman.”
“I understand. I can find my way back.”
Bipin nodded. “I will see you this night.”
“Tell Tess...” But he wasn't sure what Bipin should tell her.
“I will tell her you still hunt.”
Cale frowned. He'd need to return with an animal, which he didn’t think he could do. “Just tell her I'm scouting.”
Bipin agreed and departed.
Cale pulled the Winchester from its boot and guided Bo forward through the underbrush. Then he halted the horse, dismounted, and ground-tied him. He moved cautiously to the remains of a campfire and a canvas tent surrounded by pans, saddlebags, canisters, and a few Indian baskets.
The cock of a pistol hammer pierced the silence, and Cale froze, a gun at his head from the left.
“Ye hold it right there.”
“It's me, Hank. It's Cale.”
The pistol wavered, and Cale glanced to the side. The man that greeted him was filthy and disheveled, but beneath the brim of a well-worn Stetson, he'd know those green eyes anywhere. They were Tess's eyes.
Surprise filled Hank’s face. “Cale?” He lowered the weapon. “Well, I'll be damned. What in God’s green earth are ye doin' here?”
Cale turned to face the man who had once been his mentor, and his friend.
“I'm lookin’ for you,” Cale said. “It's been a damn goose chase, I'll tell you that.”
Hank laughed, a hearty bellow that Cale well remembered, and embraced him. “Boy, it’s mighty fine to see ya.”
Cale returned the hug, caught off-guard. He wished it could’ve been a happier reunion, but anger gripped him, and he was glad that he’d come here without Tess.
When Hank stepped back, the change in him was pronounced. While he’d always been lean, he’d been fit. Now his tall frame appeared gaunt. The white whiskers blanketing his face and the gray that had overtaken his red hair made him seem almost ghostly.
“These mountains whisper too much,” Hank continued. “I didna know how much longer I can stand it here. Come on.” Hank urged him toward the ashes of the campfire. “Let's sit and visit. I can make coffee.”
Cale sat atop an overturned crate while Hank built up a fire of mesquite wood and placed a dented pot of coffee into the flames.
“Where have ye been?” Hank asked. “I never did like how we left things.”
Cale decided to stay on friendly terms until he could determine Hank’s state of mind. “I’ve come from Texas.”
“I know ye lived with those red skins.” Hank shook his head. “You’re the one they call the Mountain Lion. They’re here, ye know—your Apache family.”
“I know.”
“Is that why you’ve come? To see them?”
Cale glanced skyward as a gust of wind brought the surrounding piñon pines to life. “No. I came looking for you. Tess is worried about you.”
“Tessie? She sent you?”
Cale nodded, not ready to reveal Tess’s location. “Were you ever gonna come back for her?”
Hank grabbed the coffeepot with a rag and poured the thick brew into two battered tin cups, then handed one to Cale. “She’s better off without me.”
“She doesn’t look at it that way. Why are you in the Dragoons?”
“Always liked it here.”
“That’s a load of shit. You never liked the Apache.”
Hank laughed, but the shrewdness in his eyes put Cale on edge. Hank may look like a mad man roaming the mountains, but he was far from it.
“Are you lookin’ for gold, Hank? Is that why you’re here?”
Hank paused, resting elbows on knees as he leaned forward. The crate he sat on creaked from the movement. “What if I am?”
“You’ve given up manhunting?”
“I’m not gettin’ any younger, m’boy. And you know these hills are a promisin’ lot.”
The wind whistled through the surrounding woods, and Cale readjusted his hat. “Maybe. Why’d you send for Lange?”
“Walt? I didna send for ’im.”
Cale took a swallow of the God-awful brew in his cup. “He’s here, and he says you did.”
Hank shook his head. “I haven’t seen Walt in over two years. It’s all done with, that group of ours. Old business. Doesna concern you. Had to do with me little girl.” He eyed Cale. “Have ye seen her?”
“Yeah.”
“How is she?”
She’s the most beautiful woman I know. She’s wild and haunted and frightened and still seeking the love of her pappy.
“She’s strong, Hank.”
He nodded, his attention seemingly elsewhere. “She married yet?”
“No.”
“She should marry, as soon as she can.”
“Why?”
“She should get herself a husband before her beauty fades.”
“I doubt that will ever happen.”
“Her beauty or gettin’ a husband?” Hank raised an eyebrow, but his gaze held a spark of recognition. “You’ve seen her, haven’t ye? Is she really that lovely?”
Cale didn’t respond.
“I shouldna be surprised. Her mama quite captured me with her lusty looks.” His voice faded a bit. “I still dream of Isabelle sometimes. She tells me I need to take care of our Teresa, so that’s what I’m tryin’ to do.”
“So you’re lookin’ for gold, and then what? You’re gonna take care of Tess with it?”
“Somethin’ like that.”
“Just answer me one thing. Why’d you let Saul hurt her?”
Hank paled and shrank back. “She told you?” His voice was so low Cale barely heard him.
“You’re such a bastard,” Cale said. “After that business with the Apache down in Mexico, I lost faith in you. I thought you were a man to look up to, a man I could respect. Even after, a part of me still imagined there was something good and right and justified in your character. A small piece of me always believed in you. But when Tess told me what happened that night, it all slipped away.”
Hank stared into the fire. “Why would she tell you? Ye don’t even know her.”
“I know her now. And God knows why, but she wants to see you.”
Hank’s eyes snapped to Cale. “She’s here?”
Cale gave one slight nod.
“Where?”
“She’s with Mohan’s band at the moment. Did you think she was dead?”
Hank shook his head. “No. But I spread the word that she was. It was safer for her.”
“Would Saul have come after her?”
“I guess he might’ve. But I took care of ’im.”
Cale had some idea of what Hank would say, but asked anyway. “What do you mean?”
“Saul’s not walkin’ this earth, not after what he did to my Tessie. I shot ’im in the head.”
Cale knocked his hat back, barely able to contain his rage and frustration. “Saul’s alive.”
Shock filled Hank’s gaze. “That’s not possible.”
“Tess saw him, two days ago, north of here.”
“Impossible.”
“Are you sure you didn’t miss?” Cale asked.
“Damn sure, boy.” He set the coffee down and reached for a jug, pulled the cork and took a swig. “Want some?”
“No.” Drinking rotgut with Hank held little appeal. “What happened that night?”
Hank’s shoulder’s sagged. “There was some bad business with Jim Bennett. He was gonna turn us all in for accidentally killin’ a few whores while on a manhunt.” He took another gulp of the sour-smelling liquor and shook his head. “You know these things happen. Bennett was bein’ unreasonable and Saul insisted he had to be dealt with. I didn’t agree and planned to talk things over with Jim the next day. But during the night, I couldn’t locate any of ’em—Saul, Walt or Tess. I knew somethin’ had gone wrong.”
“But Tess told me that you sent Saul to take care of the situation, including her.”
The astonishment on Hank’s face made Cale almost believe that he hadn’t known.
“Is that what she thinks?” Hank hung his head and sighed. “Well, it weren’t true. I had no idea she’d run off to find Jim. I had no idea that Saul and Walt followed her. Before dawn, I rode to the outskirts of Tucson and found Jim dead and Tess...”
Cale lifted his hat and ran an agitated hand through his hair. “Is that when you shot Saul?”
“You’re damn right that’s when I shot ’im.” The shrewd gleam returned to Hank’s gaze. “Right in the head. Then I took Tessie to the only place where I knew she’d be well-cared for—Tom Simms and his wife.”
“But you can’t be certain that Saul died.”
“I s’pose it’s possible, if you say he’s been seen.”
Cale watched the shell of the man across from him. “Why, Hank? Why did you keep Tess around those men?”
Shadows of sadness filled Hank’s green eyes. “I didna know what to do with her after the fire, and she was me daughter. I wanted to keep her close. I never meant to hurt her.”
“Why have you stayed away from her?”
“She didna deserve my life. As soon as I found her, as soon as I realized what Saul had done to her...I knew she was better off without me.”
Cale flicked what remained of the coffee from his cup onto the ground and stood. He wasn’t sure what to make of Hank’s side of the story. “I don’t know why, but Tess wants to see you.”
Hank went quiet.
“But you won’t come near her unless I say so,” Cale continued. He paused and watched the man who’d once been the great J. Howard Carlisle—cunning, relentless, and smart. Disappointment sat heavy in Cale’s gut. “I’m guessin’ you’d better watch your back if Saul really is here.”
Cale left Hank alone by his fire and returned to the Apache.