“Well, if these two ain’t the best lookin’ peacocks in all Lost Creek,” said Del O’Connell when he laid eyes on Hunter and Ella.
And he wasn’t the only one who thought so. Plenty of men’s heads were turned when Ella walked past. And women were seen sneaking unladylike glances at Hunter, too.
Both Hunter and Ella laughed at O’Connell’s remark, noting that he, too, was pretty spiffed up for an old stagecoach driver.
“The wife makes me wear these duds,” he explained. “I don’t feel comfortable at all. But then I ain’t had enough to drink yet.”
Mrs. O’Connell poked her husband in the ribs. “Now you behave yourself,” she warned. “And don’t forget to dance with my mother.”
O’Connell rolled his eyes. “She hates dancin’ with me!”
“I know she does, but she’d hate it even more if you ignored her all night. If you don’t dance with her she’ll be insulted!”
“Okay, I’ll dance with her ... but not until I’ve had a few more drinks.”
“Del!”
“I promise I won’t break her toes this year. I’ll be real careful.”
Hunter and Ella laughed. “Did you really break your mother-in-law’s toes last year?”
“Not all of ’em,” said O’Connell.
“Well, I’ll still take a chance,” said Ella. “You will dance with me sometime tonight, won’t you, Del?”
“If my wife lets me,” he replied with a laugh.
“You better dance with him soon, before he gets to drinkin’ too much,” Mrs. O’Connell advised Ella. “Otherwise you’ll be walkin’ on crutches ’til July like my mother did.”
“Hey!” said O’Connell happy to have the opportunity to change the subject, “Here come Mary and John Avery.”
“How come you’re not out there dancin’?” asked Avery as he and his wife walked up to greet the others.
“That’s just what I was thinking,” Ella said. “The next song they play,” she told Hunter, “is going to be our first dance of the night.”
Hunter bowed and said, “It’s my honor to be ordered out onto the dance floor by you.”
“I hope you know how to waltz,” O’Connell said to Hunter.
“As a matter of fact, it’s one of the few dances I know. Why?”
“Because that’s what the next dance is gonna be.”
“How do you know that?” asked Hunter.
O’Connell smiled, but didn’t answer. Instead, he took off his hat and waved it till he caught the eye of the fiddle player in the band. O’Connell nodded his head. The fiddler nodded back.
Abruptly, the music stopped and the fiddler raised his hands to get the attention of everyone in the hall.
“Quiet everybody!” he called out. “I have an announcement to make. Quiet!”
The big crowd slowly grew still.
“Tonight is a special occasion!” exclaimed the fiddler. “A very special occasion, indeed! Tonight, as I’m sure you’ll all recall, is the one-year anniversary of Mary and John Avery!”
Everyone in the valley, of course, knew the story of how the Averys had been rather suddenly bound in holy wedlock. They all erupted in both laughter and applause. But while the laughter quickly subsided, the applause continued growing louder and louder, showing the Averys that there was no maliciousness in this tribute.
The Averys were somewhat embarrassed, but they fully understood that the nature of their wedding ceremony was something they could never live down, so they figured that they might just as well be good-natured about it.
To the delight of the crowd, the Averys kissed each other. And then, as the fiddler led the band in a waltz, they took a few spins around the dance floor, the only couple waltzing, and listened to the cheers and hand-clapping of their neighbors and friends.
“You’ve got a devilish sense of humor, Del,” Hunter said appreciatively
“Thank you,” replied O’Connell.
“Now what do you say we join the happy couple on the dance floor?” Hunter suggested to Ella.
“A good idea,” said Ella. And with that, the two of them became part of the growing throng of people who were both waltzing and congratulating the Averys.
As the dance ended, Hunter spotted Ree and William Sloan coming into the hall. With them was young Dave Bennett.
“Let’s go say hello,” said Hunter to Ella, gesturing in the direction of the Sloans.
When Hunter and Ella reached them, Ree was already engaged in animated conversation with a woman she hadn’t seen since last August. She waved her greeting to Hunter and Ella and happily went on talking with her friend.
“Can I get you a chair?” Hunter asked William.
“Dave Bennett’s gone to get one for me, thanks,” said Sloan.
A moment later, Bennett returned carrying a hardback chair and set it down.
“Nice to see you,” said Hunter to Bennett, shaking the young man’s hand.
“Nice to see you, too.”
“You know Ella!”
“Yes, we’ve met a few times during the winter.”
“Say,” said Hunter, “I hear you’ve a job down south of here.”
“Yeah. I’ll be clearin’ a big section of land at the Caldwell place. I’ve been here in town for a while gettin’ supplies and a last touch of civilization before I set out for the line shack I’ll be livin’ in for the next five or six months.”
“Five or six months?” said Hunter. “That sounds like a pretty big job. How much land are you clearing?”
“Oh, it’s a big job, all right. I’m clearin’ about sixty acres of tree stumps and boulders, plus I’ll be diverting Hemlock Creek so it’ll pass through the section I’m clearin’.”
“Sounds to me,” said Hunter, “like more work than one man can handle.”
“It would be,” conceded Bennett, “except I’ll be usin’ dynamite to do any a’ the work that’s too much for me and two mules to handle.”
“Well,” said Hunter, “a little dynamite will go a long way to help even the odds between you and a big boulder.”
“I sure hope so,” laughed Bennett, “otherwise I’m gonna be out there for a whole lot longer than just five or six months.”
While they talked, Hunter, out of the corner of his eye, noticed Bledsoe walk past them into the crowded hall. Because he’d heard that Bledsoe had a job out at S. J. Lindstrom’s ranch, and because he had seen him around from time to time without incident after their initial clash back in October, Hunter didn’t think much of seeing him here at the dance. After all, everyone else was here, so why shouldn’t Bledsoe be here, too?
Ree finally broke away from her old friend and came over and took Hunter by the arm.
“Make an old lady happy and dance with me,” she said.
“I’ll do my best,” Hunter promised.
He took her out onto the middle of the dance floor and soon a small crowd formed around them to watch this tall, good-looking man dance with a woman who, just several months ago, couldn’t get out of bed.
Ella, watching from the edge of the hall, was not to be outdanced. She stepped around in front of William Sloan and held out her arms.
“You wanna dance with me?” Sloan laughed.
“That’s right.”
“You’re crazy,” he said, shaking his head.
She took hold of his hands anyway and said, “Then let’s both be crazy! Come on ... the music is slow and besides, you can hold on to me for support instead of your cane.”
“You really wanna dance with me?”
“I sure do.”
Sloan glanced around the hall, wondering just how foolish he was going to look in the eyes of all these people, then under his breath he swore, “What the hell.”
He got up, looked Ella in the eye, and said, “You wanna dance ... okay, we’ll dance. Let’s go!”
And dance they did. It wasn’t anything graceful, but it was dancing, just the same.
The circle that had formed around Hunter and Ree opened up as Ella and William Sloan drew near. Pretty soon it closed again, but now both couples were inside the circle.
Ree was surprised—but happily so—to see her husband up and dancing, a proud and pleased look on his face.
And then, as if on cue, Hunter and Ella guided their respective partners toward each other, stepping away at the last moment to let Ree and William Sloan dance in each other’s arms for what was surely the first time in more than five years.
The crowd, led by Hunter and Ella, applauded the Sloans. Ree, for her part, had to brush away tears of happiness. But William Sloan’s gaze was steady, his eyes clear, and his hold on Ree sure and firm. He didn’t see the crowd or hear their applause. He saw and heard only what was important, the delight in Ree’s eyes and the lilting melody of the music.
Hunter wasn’t particularly sentimental, but right then he felt a little misty. There was something else he felt, too, something deeper and more fundamental. At that moment, seeing the way Ree and William Sloan looked at each other, and the way they held one another, Hunter suddenly felt as if he had had a glimpse into the future ... his future ... and Ella’s future. They would grow old together, with dignity and grace, just like the Sloans. And someday—somewhere—old though they may be, they would dance together with a love as deep as the depth of time but still fresh with the passion of their youth.
“I want to dance with you,” he said to Ella. There was something in the tone of his voice that told her that this dance meant something special. The feel of his hand on her back, pressing her close to him, convinced her that she was right. And before long, their dance together meant something special to Ella, too, for she had never before danced with a man who had ever held her so tightly, yet at the same time, who had held her with such tenderness and care. Right there, for anyone with the sensitivity to see it, Hunter was proclaiming his love for her. And Ella, by resting her head against his shoulder, accepted that love and offered him her own.
They danced for a long time, slow and fast dances alike, until Ella breathlessly said, “You’re wearing me out, Warfield. There won’t be anything left for the bedroom.”
Hunter laughed, took her hand, and led her off the dance floor.
“I’ll get you some punch,” he offered.
“Thanks. I’ll be over by Ree and William,” she said.
But on her way over to where the Sloans were sitting, she was intercepted by Del O’Connell. “You ready for that dance now?” he asked.
Tired as she was Ella couldn’t say no. They danced a lively polka that had Ella gasping for air. Feeling merry with all the drinking he’d been doing behind his wife’s back, O’Connell was ready to dance some more. Ella tried to politely refuse. But O’Connell was having much too much fun and he wouldn’t hear of it.
Dave Bennett finally came to her rescue, tapping O’Connell on the shoulder asking if he could cut in.
“Oh ... well, sure,” said O’Connell with just a touch of regret. And then, more cheerfully, he added, “She’s the best damned polka dancer in Lost Creek so you be careful, boy, and be sure you don’t break any of her toes.”
“I’ll be careful,” promised Bennett.
When O’Connell hurried off to dance with someone else, Ella sighed with relief and said, “You saved my life.”
“I think I saved your feet,” laughed Bennett. “It looks like Del forgot that he’s the one who keeps breaking people’s toes. They took his mother-in-law out on crutches again about half an hour ago.”
Bennett walked with Ella across the dance floor in the direction of the Sloans, who were sitting at the far end of the hall. They got halfway there before Bledsoe stepped in front of them.