Chapter 14

 

Hallie smiled and refilled Ethan’s coffee cup. She had been right. After another week, their time together was back to normal. Even so, he had been rather quiet tonight, mostly picking at his food. He had even refused seconds on the pie. While buttermilk was his favorite, her peach pie was nothing to turn away. Something must be on his mind.

“Is everything alright?” she asked, sitting across from him and reaching for her fork.

An uneasy expression appeared on his face. “I’m not sure. Seems Claude Belts saw the old Indian a few days ago. Word is spreading around about it. Town folks are kind of upset. A lot of speculation as to why he’s in the area.”

Hallie stopped with the utensil of food half-way to her mouth. “They’re not going to do anything, are they?”

He shrugged and stared at her. “They’re having a rancher’s meeting tomorrow night at Bailey’s. Some folks are starting to say that maybe the old man is the reason for several cattle disappearing.”

Hallie dropped her fork, sending the bite of pie splattering on her plate. “But that can’t be true! What would he do with their cattle? It‘s just him and his wife, isn‘t it?”

Ethan picked up his cup and blew across the surface of the hot liquid. “I think folks are just looking for an excuse to confront them. Run them out.”

Emotions rushed through her thoughts. “Do you think they would hurt them? They’re just an old couple.”

He grimaced and took a sip of coffee. “A lot of older folks remember all the trouble back when it was dangerous to step outside your cabin door at any time of the day or night. They lost livestock, and worse, family members. The pain and misery of the past is still branded into them. All they see is a Comanche on the warpath.”

Hallie took a deep breath. She could sympathize with their feelings. It was hard to let go of old hurts and bad memories. How many times had her mother‘s knitting needles clattered to the floor at a strange bump outside the door? Or a sudden intake of breath from her father when the wind sent a branch down on the house? It was a fear that folks had to work hard at shedding. Maybe it still lurked inside of most of them.

And then, there was the war. She had been young during that terrible time, but losing her older brothers had made the memories stay with her. “We have to warn them. Get them to leave.” She gave him a pleading look.

“I don’t think anybody will do anything until after the meeting. I’m going to see how that goes, first.”

“I’ll go, too,” she announced, reaching for his empty plate.

“There’s no need for you to worry yourself over this, Hallie.”

She sighed and turned to look at him. “I’m a rancher, too. I have every right to go to that meeting. I imagine that Lila Leonard will be there.” Lila had been ranching on her own for over ten years. She and her husband had started up the place way back before the war. When her husband was killed, she took charge and had made the place what it was today. The Double L Ranch was legendary in the area.

He laughed. “You’re hardly Lila. . .uh, look, what I mean is that it’s safer for you to stay home,” he argued. “You know, just in case things get a little bit rough.”

She stared at him. Did he think she was just some scared little rabbit of a woman, ready to jump into her hidey hole at the first sign of danger?. She clamped her jaw for a moment before she answered. “I said I’m going, Ethan. And don‘t worry, like everyone else at the meeting, I‘ll be armed when I arrive. If there’s trouble, I know how to stay out of the way.” And there was nothing he could do to stop her. What she did was her own business, not his. He might boss that new wife after he sent for her, but Hallie was his neighbor. She made her own decisions. He was not in charge of her.

Ethan’s eyes met her stare. “You are one stubborn woman, Hallie Bolton.”

“Determined,” she corrected, giving him her best smile.