Nathan and Ash rode at a trot. The tracks of a mule and a man walking upon its sign were plain on the sandy ground. The broken stems of grass made the trail visible for several yards ahead.
“The mule’s path is as straight as a string,” Ash said. “You’d think he’d stop to graze some. He must’ve had some special place to go or was being rode hard.”
“I think he had a rider,” Nathan said.
“Yeah. That’d best explain his behavior.”
“I’ll be damned,” Nathan said, halting his horse and staring down at the grassy ground.
The tracks of two shod horses came in from the east and turned to follow the sign of the mule and the man.
“Nathan, the mule did have a rider. Now here’s a man bringing an extra horse. It’s all a trick to get a Mormon off by himself.”
“So he can be killed without anyone knowing what happened.”
“We’ll be too late to help him, but let’s ride,” Nathan said. He kicked the gray into a full run on the path of broken grass.
Two miles later Nathan called out to Ash and pointed at the sky ahead. A buzzard was circling, working up the wind on the scent of something dead. As the riders drove in under the buzzard, the carrion eater began to pump its wide black wings, scooping air, pressing it down as it climbed back into the sky.
The horsemen stopped. A brown mule and a blond man of forty or so lay motionless on the ground at their feet. The blood was black and congealed around a wound in the man’s chest.
“The shooting is hours old,” Ash said. “It was a trap. The poor bastard never had a chance. The killers rode off on the two horses.”
“DeBreen means to kill all the Mormon men. And he’s killed the mule to slow them down so he’ll have plenty of time.”
“Why does he want the men dead?”
“I don’t know. I’ll bet it has something to do with the women. It’s obvious he doesn’t want them to find out what he’s doing.”
“Then he must have some plan for them, or else he wouldn’t care.”
Nathan speculated on what should be done next. “We must warn Jake and Les not to be caught out alone. And Sam, too, but he’ll be on guard. DeBreen will see all of us as a threat to his plan.”
“The Mormons must be warned too,” Ash said.
“I don’t believe we should do that. Let this man’s death be the warning. That’ll scare the Mormons enough to keep them in camp. We’ll not tell about the shod horses and the two men. We don’t want DeBreen to attack in force before we figure a way to beat him.”
“We’ve got to whittle down the number of DeBreen’s men.”
“Right.”
“You reduced the number by two this morning.”
“I thought that would’ve stopped the killing of the Mormons. I was wrong. DeBreen has sent other men after them.”
“We can put the dead man across my horse’s back,” Ash said. “I’ll ride double with you.”
***
The funeral was held under a baking heaven in the late afternoon. Nathan stood on the outside of the congregation of Mormons and listened to Rowley’s eulogy for the dead. The order was given to fill the grave. Several women gathered around the widow to comfort her.
Sam spoke to Nathan. “If I’d shot DeBreen yesterday, maybe this man would still be alive.”
“You were correct in not starting a fight in the middle of the camp,” Nathan replied.
“Maybe.”
Mathias led the people from the gravesite and they reassembled within the camp. He began the evening sermon, dwelling upon the need to remain strong.
DeBreen and his men, their hats in their hands and their heads bent piously, had gathered with the Mormons. They quietly listened to the religious service. DeBreen kept his eyes away from the Texans, banded together on the side opposite the Mormons.
The Mormons began to sing “Rock Of Ages.” The voices of the large number of women drowned out the voices of the few Mormon men. Nathan would have liked to join in the hymn. But he did not know how to make music, how to sing the right song. In fact, he did not know all the words to any song. His life on the fringes of the frontier, isolated from family and church, had left him lacking in some ways. He resolved to correct that once he had returned south.
The singing ended and the assemblage of people drifted apart. Nathan noted the silent dejection of the Mormons. He felt sorry for them.
Ash was talking to Sophia. Jake moved toward Pauliina. Caroline was winding a course to the perimeter of the circle of handcarts. Nathan strode after her.
Caroline saw Nathan drawing close and halted, waiting for him.
“Would you like to go for a stroll?” Nathan asked.
Caroline glanced at the sun, swelling as it touched the western horizon. Already the yellow sphere was weakening, turning orange.
“Yes, I would. There is daylight left.”
“Good. Let’s walk by the woods.”
“All right.”
The shadows of the trees ran out to meet them as they walked away from the camp. Nathan felt a new and strange thing was about to happen to him. He wondered about his sense of expectation.
Caroline turned her eyes upon him. He saw tiny glints of orange sunlight reflecting from the green orbs, a beautiful combination of color, cool green and hot fire.
“Talk to me,” she said.
“What about?”
“Not about danger and death. About something that will make me feel good.”
As Caroline ceased speaking, a wolf howled far off to the south, a weird and lovely sound.
“Even the wolves sound sad and lonely,” Caroline said. “Must all life be that way?”
“Many times it is. I once knew a young man who often laughed and saw the most wondrous sights in the common things of this world.”
“That is a lucky man. I would like to talk with him.”
“You can never talk with him. Border thieves killed him.”
Caroline looked quickly at Nathan. “I’m sorry to hear he is dead. Who was he?”
“My brother, Jason.” Nathan lifted his face to the sky so that Caroline could not see the depth of his sadness. For a moment he watched the heavens. Time should have softened the memory. It had not. He dropped his gaze back to earth.
He told Caroline of gentle Jason and their life together. He described his battle with his brother’s killers.
Caroline told Nathan a little of her life. She said nothing of the death of the captain of the African Blackbird.
They walked slowly along the fringe of the woods. The air lay still and heavy with memories of the day’s heat. The daylight drained from the sky, spilling over the western horizon, leaving a blue-black heaven speckled with stars and a half-moon. A cloud moved across the moon and darkness flooded over the land.
A silence fell upon Caroline and Nathan. Neither broke it, letting the quietness extend as they walked on.
A rustling noise came from a short distance directly in front of them. Nathan caught Caroline’s hand with his left and drew his pistol with the right.
The weak light created an eerie silhouette of something on the ground. They crept closer to see. Whispered voices reached them. They halted and peered into the darkness.
The whispers ceased. The rustling sound became rhythmic. Caroline recognized the sound. Nathan felt her hand stiffen within his.
The moon tore free of the cloud. Its silver light fell upon the prairie.
Sophia and Ash lay upon the grassy ground. They were locked in each other’s arms as they took their love in the heat of the moonlit night. In their passion their strong young bodies thrust quick and hard, as violent as a knife fight.
Caroline clutched Nathan’s hand and drew him backward. Lovemaking was a private thing and should not be viewed by others. They stole away, their presence unknown by Sophia and Ash.
“I must return to the camp,” Caroline said. She extracted her hand from Nathan’s grip.
“Must you?”
“Yes.”
They crossed through the night’s silver-blue moon glow. Just outside the circle of handcarts, Caroline stopped. Nathan halted beside her.
She turned to him, raised her face, and kissed him. Nathan felt her lips, soft, parting, caressing his. His spirit soared at the wonder of her touch.
Then she pulled away. “That was for your kindness to me. But I shall never go to Texas.”
Before Nathan could speak, Caroline hastened in between the handcarts.
Nathan’s feeling of exhilaration crashed, breaking like thin glass upon rock. Wretched, he walked into the night shadows.