Chapter Thirty
When Percy Gaines returned to Chugwater with his new bride, he was blissfully unaware of the tension gripping the valley. Sara Sue was a pretty woman, tall and slender, though certainly rounded enough that no one could doubt her sex, even from a distance. She had high cheekbones and a dusting of freckles across her nose. Her hair was a bright red.
“Here it is,” Percy said, taking in the town with a sweep of his arm. “What do you think?”
“It’s very . . . small,” Sara Sue said.
“Well, yeah, maybe so, but that just means you’ll get to know everyone. Come on, I’ll introduce you to some of my friends before we go out to the ranch.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Sara Sue said. “We’ve been on the train since five o’clock yesterday morning. I must look a mess.”
Percy laughed. “Darlin’, if you was covered in mud right now, you’d still be the most beautiful woman in Chugwater. You’d better come on, now, because once we reach the ranch we won’t be coming back into town that often.”
Sara Sue smiled and put her hand to her hair. “All right,” she said. “At least I’m not covered with mud,” she added with a laugh.
The first place Percy took her to was Fiddler’s Green. Sara Sue hesitated just before they were about to go in.
“Percy, isn’t this a saloon?”
“Yes, but that’s all right, because it’s almost like some sort of fancy club. Nice ladies come in here all the time. Miss Meagan comes in here, ’n there’s not a lady with more quality in the whole town than Miss Meagan.”
“Oh?” Sara Sue said, lifting an eyebrow. “Should I be worried about your Miss Meagan?”
Percy laughed. “Darlin’, you don’t need to be worried ’bout no other woman in the whole world. ’N anyway, she ain’t ‘my’ Miss Meagan. She belongs to Mr. MacCallister.”
“Are you talking about the MacCallister who is our neighbor?”
“I sure am. There ain’t no finer man anywhere than Duff MacCallister.”
“I can’t wait to meet him.”
“I expect you’ll be seeing him real soon. But for now I want you to come on in and meet Biff Johnson. He’s another real good man.”
Percy led Sara Sue into the bar, and Biff, who was talking to one of his lady servers looked up, saw him, and smiled.
“Percy Gaines,” he said, starting toward him. “Welcome home, my friend, welcome home!” He smiled at Sara Sue. “And so this is your new bride?”
“Biff Johnson, I would like you to meet Mrs. Sara Sue Gaines.”
“Mrs. Gaines, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Biff said with a broad and welcoming smile. “Percy, she is every bit as beautiful as you said she was. Please, come join me at my table.”
“Oh my,” Percy teased. “Sara Sue, you must have really made an impression, because Biff doesn’t invite just everyone to his special table.”
“That’s only part of it,” Biff said. “Mim?” he called back to the girl he had been talking to when Percy and Sara Sue came in. “A bottle of champagne for the newlyweds.”
“Champagne? I don’t know,” Percy said. “I’ve never had any champagne before, I don’t know what it tastes like.”
“You’ll like it,” Biff promised.
A moment later Biff popped the cork to the squeal of delight from Mim, who was standing by. He poured the champagne, then held the goblet out in a toast toward Percy and Sara Sue.
“To a fine young man, and a beautiful young woman, may your days together be long and fruitful.”
They drank their toast, then the smile left Biff’s face and he grew more serious.
“Have you heard from anyone here while you were gone?”
“No, why?”
Biff shook his head. “Things aren’t going well. Houser has laid claim to all the open range in the valley, and he has cut off water supply to half a dozen of the small ranches.”
“There’s nothing he can do to me. I’ve got enough grazing area that I don’t need any of the open range, and the Bear and the Little Bear creeks that I use for water come from Sky Meadow.”
“Are you about to go out to your ranch now?” Biff asked.
“Yes, I parked my buckboard down at the livery. I figured I would need it to carry all of Sara Sue’s things, and I was right. I think she brought half of Kansas City with her,” Percy teased.
“Duff asked me to tell you if I saw you, to stop by Sky Meadow before you went out to your place.”
“Oh, I’ll do that for sure, because I want him to meet Sara Sue,” Percy said. “But I’d rather do that later. Right now I’m anxious to get back home, and I’m anxious to show off the place.” He smiled at Sara Sue. “I can’t wait until you see it.”
“No, you don’t. Listen to me!” Biff said rather sharply. “I’m telling you, that you need to go see Duff first.”
“What?” Percy asked, surprised by the sharpness of Biff’s words. “Biff, what is it? What has happened?”
Biff was quiet for a moment.
“Percy, please, don’t go home now,” Biff said, now his words soft and pleading. “Because if you do, you’ll see that there is nothing to go home to.”
Percy felt a hollow sensation in the pit of his stomach, and a light-headed dizziness.
“Biff, please tell me what happened.”
“Your house is gone. It burned down.”
“What? You mean it caught on fire and there was nobody there to stop it? I thought Mr. MacCallister was going to have someone watch the place for me while I was gone.”
“There was someone there, Percy. Sam Kirk was there.”
Percy nodded. “Well, Sam’s a good man. I know he would have prevented the fire if he could. But what happened to Ollie? I thought Ollie Keegan was the one who would be watching out for the ranch.”
“Ollie Keegan was killed the very next day after you left.”
“Keegan killed? Who killed him?”
“Nobody knows. And about your house, Percy, it was no accident. It was arson. And they found him—Sam—shot dead, lying on the ground outside what was left of your house.”
“What? Ollie and Sam both killed? At my place?”
“Yes. And Percy, I think there is something else you should know,” Biff said, the tone of his voice as somber as when he told of the burned-out house and the killing of Ollie Keegan and Sam Kirk.
Percy shook his head. “Whatever it is, it couldn’t be any worse.”
“It’s bad enough,” Biff said. “You have no herd left. All of your cows are gone. Whoever killed Sam and set fire to your house, also took your herd.”
“Oh, Percy! What sort of place have you brought me to?” Sara Sue asked.
Percy didn’t answer his wife’s question. Instead he was quiet for a long moment, then he nodded.
“You’re right, Biff. I think we do need to stop by and see Mr. MacCallister.”
* * *
As Percy and Sara Sue approached the ranch, they passed under the name SKY MEADOW RANCH, which was worked in wrought iron letters between the open rails of the arch that spread its curve over the entryway.
“Oh, what a beautiful place,” Sara Sue said.
“Yeah, it is. Mr. MacCallister’s a pretty rich man, but he’s real nice about it. I mean, he ain’t like some rich men who think they’re king of the roost.”
Before they reached the house, they were met by Steve Emerson, who greeted them with a broad smile.
“Welcome home, Percy. It’s good to have you back,” Emerson said.
Percy introduced Sara Sue to the man he described as his best friend.
“I think you’re goin’ to like it out here, Mrs. Gaines,” Emerson said.
“I hope she likes it,” Percy said. “But I must say I brought her home to an absolute mess. I heard about my house being burned ’n my herd being rustled.”
“Your herd wasn’t stoled,” Emerson replied.
“What do you mean? Biff said that my herd was gone.”
“Yeah, they’re all gone from your place. But they ain’t really gone, seein’ as they are all here, on Sky Meadow. We’re holdin’ ’em in the corral for you.”
A happy smile spread across Percy’s face. “That’s really good news,” he said. “Thanks.”
“You don’t need to thank me. As far as any of us can tell, your cows all come here by their ownself. Go on up ’n see Mr. MacCallister. He has some other news that I think you will like.”
“Really? I don’t see how it can beat what you just told me.”
A few minutes later Duff and Elmer greeted the couple.
“Steve told me that my cows were here, on your place,” Percy said. “I want to thank you for that.” The smile left his face. “Oh, and I heard about Ollie and Sam. I’m sorry about that . . . I feel responsible for it.”
“There is nae need for you to feel so,” Duff said. “The only one responsible is the blackhearted cretins who killed them, whoever they may be. And I’m sure they are the same people.”
“I’m sorry, Sara Sue, I seem to have brought you home to a mess,” Percy said.
Duff smiled. “As they say, ’tis always darkest before the dawn. By the way, we were expecting you today, so Wang is preparing a feast for you, and Meagan and Vi will be here as well.”
“That’s very nice of you, Mr. MacCallister,” Percy said.
“Percy told me he had nice neighbors, and I can see that he was telling the truth,” Sara Sue said. “That nice older gentleman that Percy just introduced me to told how some of the men will help us rebuild the house.”
“Older gentleman,” Elmer said with a little laugh. “Yeah, we’re goin’ to help with the new house, but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
* * *
Wang had prepared Peking duck. Because there were so many for dinner, he had cooked two of them, and was now slicing the birds in front of the diners. The skin of the two birds was especially crisp, and served with sugar and garlic. The meat itself was served with scallions, cucumbers, sweet bean sauce, and Chinese pancakes.
“Oh, I’ve never seen such a thing,” Sara Sue said.
“Just seein’ it is only half of it,” Elmer said. “Wait till you taste it.”
The meal was every bit as good as the presentation had promised, and everyone ate with gusto.
“You must tell me how to prepare that!” Sally Sue said.
“He won’t be able to tell you how he done it,” Elmer insisted. “It’s prob’ly one o’ them things he has to keep secret.”
“I cannot tell,” Wang said.
“See there, what did I tell you?” Elmer crowed.
“It is not a thing that can be told, but it is a thing that can be shared. I will teach you,” Wang said.
“Well, I’ll be damn. Percy, your bride must have made quite an impression on Wang,” Elmer said. “I never thought he’d tell her nothin’ at all like that.”
After dinner Duff invited everyone into the parlor.
“Let’s talk about your house,” Duff said.
“Yes, Steve said that my house would be rebuilt.”
“Nae, lad, your house will nae be rebuilt.”
“Oh well, I . . .”
Duff smiled. “This is the house that will be rebuilt,” Duff said, walking over to a table upon which was spread a large piece of paper.
“What?”
“Come and have a look,” Duff said.
Curious as to what he was talking about, Percy and Sara Sue walked over to the table to look. There, on the sheet of paper, was the drawing of a house, three times as large as the one that had burned. The house had a front porch, covered by a roof that was supported by four posts spread across the front. It had wings that spread to either side. And below the drawing was a floor plan that showed a kitchen, dining room, living room, and three bedrooms.
“I . . . I don’t understand,” Percy said.
“Well, ’tis sure I am that there will be wee ones coming along someday,” Duff said. “And when they do, you’ll be for needing a bigger house than the one you had. So, I had the architect in town, Swayne Byrd, draw these plans out for us to follow when we build your house.”
“We’re goin’ to build it for you, Percy,” Elmer said. “All the boys from the ranch here.”
“But the building material . . .”
“All your friends and neighbors pitched in to buy the material, and Bob Guthrie at Guthrie Building Supply, gave us a very good price.”
“And there’s enough money left over to furnish the house,” Meagan said. “Sara Sue, Vi and I will help you pick everything out, and then we’ll help move you in, won’t we, Vi?”
“Oh yes indeed!” Vi said.
“Oh,” Sara Sue said as tears began to roll down her cheeks. “I can’t believe all this. What a wonderful thing for you to do!”
“What did I tell you, Sara Sue? I told you that we had the best neighbors in the world, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you have told me that, and I can see now that you weren’t exaggerating at all. You actually do have the nicest neighbors in the world.”
“No, I don’t have the nicest neighbors in the world,” Percy said resolutely.
“Oh, Percy, how can you say such a thing, knowing what they have done?”
Percy smiled broadly and reached over to put his hand on Sara Sue’s cheek.
“We have the best neighbors in the world.” Percy emphasized the word we.
“Oh! As soon as we are moved in, I want to invite all of you over to be our very first houseguests.”
“In the meantime . . . you will need a place to stay, so I’ve made arrangements for you to stay here,” Duff said.
“I can’t stay here without doing something to repay you,” Sara Sue said. “I shall keep your house spotless.”
“Except for the kitchen,” Elmer said.
“Why not the kitchen?”
“The kitchen belongs to Wang,” Elmer explained. “Oh, I suppose you can go in there, if you aren’t afraid of Wang coming after you with a cleaver.”
Sara Sue and the others laughed.
“I shall leave Wang with his domain,” she promised.