Chapter Three

 

Not long after he’d seen the last of her dust, Sam spotted a couple of riders. They approached him cautiously. “Mornin’,” they called.

Nodog growled and this time he didn’t relax when the strangers came near.

Sam watched him out of the corner of his eyes, he knew if Nodog didn’t trust them, he shouldn’t either.

Sam eyed them curiously from the distance, nothing strange about them, cowhands obviously, only they didn’t look him in the eye. Sam didn’t trust a man that couldn’t look him in the eye. They quickly averted glances, one sat the saddle crooked, drooling tobacco down his lower lip, the other rider had an arrogant air about him, as he aggressively approached.

Their expressions wore arrogance.

An honest man, when riding into strangers camp would look him straight in the eye, maybe take off his hat, and smile a little. These men didn’t and he knew by the bristles on Nodog’s back that these men were not to be trusted.

Sam cast them a curious glance before speaking, “Mornin’.”

After burying a man, Sam wasn’t in the mood for stilted pleasantries. He needed to be moving along.

“Nice dog. Is he dangerous?”

Sam cast Nodog a quick glance and smiled easily. “Depends on who crosses him,” Sam said matter-of-factly. “He’s part wolf so he’s a little more high strung than most dogs. As long as you don’t pull a gun or flash a fist, or bother me, he won’t bother you.”

They’d been riding hard as their horses were foaming. Cowhands didn’t usually ride their horses so hard. Most knew better than to treat a horse like that, unless there was reason. Sam saw the fresh scrapes on their chaps, how worn they were as though they’d been out in the sticks all day, their guns at their hip and their expressions wore a guard.

“Well now, you’re a stranger in these parts, ain’t you?” the arrogant older one said, as he glanced at the grave with obvious curiosity, and leaned on his saddle horn.

Sam sensed the immediate tension rising between the three of them. He didn’t flinch or show fear.

“Yes sir, I am.” His voice remained cool, but steel-edged.

Determined to give them the benefit of the doubt, he kept a relaxed demeanor.

“Don’t see no one else about; you alone?”

“Just me and Nodog…” Sam smiled.

“Nodog, is that his name?” One of them laughed.

“It is.” Sam nodded, his voice staid and exact.

Sam figured he would learn more by keeping his mouth shut. Something Chase Rivers had taught him long ago, and Lee Nelson, his brother-in-law had always advised him to listen to Chase as he knew what he was talking about.

“Who’d you bury?” the other man asked, glancing at the grave.

“I didn’t.” Sam glanced down at the grave momentarily. “I found the grave…looks pretty fresh, don’t it?” Sam squatted and straightened the cross as exasperation climbed his back once more. Their small talk was unnecessary.

“Sure does…so what you doin’ out here in the middle of nowhere?” the first man asked as he smiled at his partner. The banter between the two men was meant to intimidate, but Sam indulged them a moment longer. The conversation was taking a different turn and Sam knew it wouldn’t be fruitful.

“Just travelin’ through,” Sam remarked, not glancing at them.

“On foot?” the other asked with a laugh.

“Yes sir, lost my horse yesterday.” Sam saw Nodog bristle, and bare his teeth, a sure sign there was trouble ahead. “Snake startled him, he threw me and took off. Thought I’d see about another horse when I get to the next town. He was always a little skiddish. I been walkin’ ever since. I walked over here to stay under the shade a while and cool off. Ain’t many trees out this way.”

“Lost it. Well now, what kind of man loses a horse?” the first man asked with a chuckle yet his sarcasm carried to his friend.

“A careless one, I guess,” Sam answered with a laugh. “How far is it to the next town?”

“Ain’t no towns out this way. There’s a few places about to get some supplies, but no towns around here. What’s your name, stranger?” the cowboy asked as his fingers twiddled with a rope in his hand.

“Sam, Sam Tanner,” he answered, watching the rope. “And who do I have the pleasure of speakin’ with?” Sam gauged their actions and voices thoroughly.

“George Tatum, and my friend is John Finley. We’re ranchers. We’re lookin’ for a girl—a woman.” George eyed Sam carefully now.

“Do tell, out here?” Sam frowned up at him. “In the middle of nowhere?”

“Yeah, you see she run off. We were concerned she might get herself hurt or into trouble. You see she ain’t right in the head,” John said.

His partner snickered.

Sam squinted up at them. “You mean she’s touched?”

George snickered again and eyed his friend with a grin. “One way of puttin’ it. Her pa died not long ago, reckon she didn’t get over it as well as everyone thought. You wouldn’t have seen her, would you mister?”

“Nope, you’re the first I’ve seen of anyone in a couple of days. This part of the country is pretty desolate, don’t you think?” Sam scratched his head as he took his hat off. He gazed out over the land that stretched for as far as the eye could see.

“Desolate, huh? That’s one way of lookin’ at it. This is ranchin’ country mister and ‘bout all you’ll find for miles around.”

“Now John, don’t it strike you as funny that a growed man would be out here in the middle of nowhere without a horse or a rifle?” George snickered again. “And a freshly dug grave at his foot.”

John turned a mean frown on Sam, his vexation at Sam more obvious now. “Strikes me real funny.”

Nodog growled.

“Not surprising, my horse took off, my gun fastened onto him,” Sam explained, his movements slow and deliberate, his voice calm.

“You do have a pistol though.”

“Yeah, I got a pistol. ‘Bout the only thing I use a gun for is my supper, though. I mean, I got Nodog. Guess I’ll have to find a stream and catch me something.”

Both men looked at Nodog.

“I ain’t sure I believe you.” George circled Sam now with his horse. His yellow toothed grin aimed at Sam.

“Well, it’s the Lord’s truth. Horses can smell the dead for miles, you know,” Sam commented.

“And you didn’t dig this grave?” John asked as George kept circling.

“Nope, what would I dig it with?” Sam asked, eyeing George. “As you can see, my hands are clean.”

He took his gloves off.

“Maybe that’s the girl in that grave. Maybe you found her and killed her,” John said. “Maybe you bein’ a black buckm, you had your way with her and killed her.”

Sam firmed his lips and steadied himself. “One way to find out: dig it up.”

George shot him a look of disdain, then shook his head stopping right in front of Sam. “I don’t think we’ll have to do that. It’s pretty clear she’s in there and you done it. Ain’t no one else about. Ain’t no one missin’ that we know of, ‘cept her. No sir, I’d say we found the girl alright, and the man that done her in. Now, what do you think we ought to do to you?”

If she was dead, they wouldn’t chase her anymore and Sam decided to let it lie.

“Depends, did you want her back dead or alive?” Sam laughed.

George made no attempt to hide his anger as he dismounted, and Sam waited for him to come closer. Nodog edged toward him, smelling him and growling. His teeth bared back, he growled loudly. As he did, Sam pulled a knife from his boot and stabbed the man, and then he ran like lightning. Nodog had jumped the man on the horse and had almost bested him when the cowboy pulled his gun and shot at Nodog. Nodog whined loudly and lay down.

Sam wasn’t sure if Nodog was hit, but he aimed to find out.

John chased Sam and before Sam knew what hit him, a rope was thrown around him and he was being dragged across the prairie. Rocks, dirt and cactus hit him all at once. The ground was unbendingly hard. He could feel his skin tearing, smell the blood. Knowing what the Shawnee had taught him, he became very stiff and didn’t move and let the dirt and rocks tear at his skin as he was drug for some time before John seemed satisfied he was dead. He had protected his head as best he could and blacked out the pain before it began. The Shawnee had taught him well. Still he’d be some time getting over the soreness of it all.

Sam heard a shot and heard Nodog squeal for a moment, then silence. Had they killed his dog? They would be sorry, if they did, that much he promised. A man could shoot at him, but if he raised a gun to his horse or dog, Sam was ready to kill.

Directly John stopped, got off his horse and came toward him. He spit his tobacco on the ground. Sam heard the sizzle of the tobacco. He held his breath and didn’t move. The best thing he could do now was play dead. John bent over him, but was satisfied he was either dead or close to it and remounted. “Guess that takes care of the girl and the stranger.”

As he rode off, Sam drew a quick breath. He lay still ‘til he heard the horse ride off. He had to make sure the stranger was gone before he got up, if he could get up. Everyplace on him felt as though his skin had peeled off him. Maybe he’d just lay here a while and rest, his mind directed him as he felt himself surrounded in a darkness that wasn’t there.

Two or three hours later, he cracked an eye as Nodog licked his face and whined. Pain registered all through Sam’s body, but he forced his mind not to think on it as he squinted to see. A horse was nearby and for a moment he was sure the cowboy had come back and wanted to reassure himself he was dead.

But directly he heard someone move about and as he squinted once more to see, he recognized her. Riley Morgan had come back, and Nodog had been bandaged on the leg.

She’d made a fire, gotten some water, and was trying her best to doctor him. He also saw Nodog panting heavily and laying on the ground with a bandage around one leg.

When she went to take his shirt off, he came to with a swear on his breath. “Dammit woman, what are you doin’?” he protested hotly.

“I’m tryin’ to heal you…” she whispered then continued to remove his shirt.

Sam fought to keep his shirt on.

“By takin’ my shirt off?” he yelled. “How bad is he?” Sam asked, staring at his dog.

“Nicked him in the leg is all; he’ll heal just fine. But you sure are cut up. You hold still so I can doctor this.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Let’s not be so loud or proud at the moment. I don’t know if anyone is about. I waited ‘til I was sure he was gone before I came in and made camp. Looks like you killed that George, alright. I’m obliged for that,” she exclaimed as she gently pulled the shirt away from him and the blood and sweat made it want to stick in places and she had to peel it from his body like the outer layers of an onion. Her hands felt gentle against him and he moaned despite himself. No one this soft had ever touched him, he was sure. The touch of her soft hands on his naked chest was unbearably sweet and provocative at the same time.

“Ain’t decent to strip me of my clothes,” Sam moaned.

“Be quiet. I’m doctoring you and I can’t doctor you between your clothes. Your skin is torn and it’ll get infected if we don’t put something on it. Land sakes they tore you to shreds. I found some aloe growin’ out here, and I’ll doctor you with that. It heals the skin better than anything. You hold still and let me tend it,” she directed firmly. “I once healed a man with burns on his body and everyone was amazed, but it weren’t me, it was the aloe. It’s like magic. I stitched Nodog up and he’ll be fine. He didn’t whimper when I bandaged him.”

“He don’t wear clothes either. Why did you come back?” he protested again. This time he couldn’t fight the sweet touch.

“Had to. Told you I was raised that way. You don’t leave nobody a foot in these parts. Without food, water, gun nor horse you’d die,” she argued. “Even with Nodog, you couldn’t make it.”

“That dog has saved me more times than I can count,” Sam protested. “Him and the horse are worth more than I got in my pockets…”

“Well, I’m glad you appreciate your animals and you’re probably right about that. That’s in your favor. This time Nodog needed some help too. So be quiet and be still. He was a better patient than you are.”

“Ain’t your concern…” Sam said in an almost sigh as her fingers spread the aloe against him. His whole body reacted to her touch and he couldn’t hide that fact either. “I’m a black man for God’s sake, what do you care if I die? Better me die than both of us.”

“You’re just a man to me. The fact that you’re black don’t mean a thing. When you gonna realize the war is over. You are a free man. My Pa hired many a black hands to help with the ranch, never treated a one of them different. Besides, a man that’s all I see. Anyway, I could say the same about you givin’ me a horse and gun too. You didn’t have to do that. You could have just left me…you didn’t. I’m a white woman for God’s sake.”

“That’s different, you’re a woman,” he explained. “No man leaves a woman stranded.”

“You didn’t have to bury that man neither, but you did. My Pa always taught me things about survival. He also taught me how to read a man,” she quipped. “He wanted me to know there was good ones and bad, and I had better learn to tell the difference. I’m pretty good at it now.”

“Read a man?” His head turned slightly to look at her. “Then why didn’t you read your foreman?”

Riley shot him a slight frown. “He was right under my nose, too close to be seen and detected. And…because I was too busy trying to run the ranch. I wasn’t looking at all the things he was doin’. You are right, I should have seen it comin’, and my dad would rise up from the grave to tell me so.”

She had cleaned up and her skin looked pretty and pink. She was tolerable to look at. But he wouldn’t notice any more about her, he determined, especially since her hands felt like velvet on his skin. The less he had to do with this female, the better.

“A decent man would do what you did: bury that fella and give me your horse. If you were of no character you wouldn’t have done that. You wouldn’t even think of doing that. So I came back for you. Figured we could travel by night and no one would see us.”

“We…” Sam shook his head and turned over so he could face her. But he was unprepared for the angel of a woman who bent over him to nurse him. She still wasn’t beautiful, however, something so sweet and innocent poured out of her face that Sam couldn’t take his eyes from her. No woman had ever captured his attention for long, but there was something almost angelic about her. She had no earthly idea what she did to him with those soft hands, sweet smile and eyes of an angel. “Look, I appreciate your decency. I do. But you ain’t usin’ your head, girl. The war might be over, but a black man is still a black man, and bein’ with a white woman…well, it’s not gonna work. Not here in the south at least.”

“Well, the way I see it, I ain’t gonna get nowhere out here by myself, and you ain’t gonna get nowhere without your horse. So we might as well stick together ‘til we can figure out what to do,” she insisted.

“Ma’am.” Sam rose and sat in front of her, ignoring the pain, wanting to be gentle and yet firm with her. He shook his head. “We can’t ride together nowhere. First time somebody seen us together they’d hang me and shoot you.”

“I’m aware you are a black man, kinda hard thing to hide. And there’s nothing I can do about that fact either. But we are both in a fix now. I reckon we are stuck with each other for a while…”

“No, ma’am.” Sam shook his head. “We ain’t stuck at all. You just need to get into the nearest town and tell the Sheriff what is going on at your place, that’s all. And I will be on my way; I’ll get me another horse and be on my way, you hear?”

Riley continued to doctor him as he sat facing her and he batted her hands away from him. She continued nonetheless.

“On your way, where?” Riley asked in a soft voice.

“Never you mind. Now you listen to me. You’ve had some troubles, but a Sheriff can straighten this out for you. You just gotta find one. They ain’t gonna be lookin’ for you as they think you are the one I buried. The one that got away thinks you’re dead. That’s in your favor. He’ll more than likely ride back to your ranch and tell them you are dead. That gives you an edge, at least for a while. They ain’t gonna be out lookin’ for ya.”

“They think I’m the one you buried?” she began. “You’ve done me another favor, it would seem. So the way I see it, I owe you. You couldn’t get rid of me now, if you tried.”

“You don’t owe me, and what’s to understand, so they tried to run you off your own land. It’s still you’re land…But you gotta get it straight and fast, too.”

“They were gonna talk to my lawyer and get him to fix it so it wouldn’t be mine anymore,” Riley said. “They as much as said they think I’m crazy. Do you know how easy it is for a man to declare a woman crazy in this country? Others talk about me a lot because I don’t socialize like most of the women folk. I wear pants and work like a ranch hand. Women get very little respect in this part of the country if they work for a living.”

“But you’re not crazy, even I know that. And now is your time to prove it.” He barely breathed the words. “Still, you’re right, women ain’t got much more rights than blacks. And you’re right, I seen it happen once. Man was married, had an eye for her younger sister. He put his wife away in one of them prisons and he married her sister a year later. The woman never got free. She wasn’t crazy when he put her in there, but I reckon in time she might have gone plum nuts.”

She stared down at him, her hand stilling. “You think I’m crazy?”

“Well, from what I’ve seen, no. Except for comin’ back here, you sure ain’t usin’ your head. But all you gotta do is get to town and tell the Sheriff and your troubles are over. Just like I told you,” Sam explained. “They won’t be following you today.”

“You just don’t understand, no one would believe me, and would think me crazy for sayin’ it.” She turned away. “Around here, they’d be on Harry’s side.”

“Look, I don’t think you are crazy…ma’am,” Sam finally admitted. “Just mixed up is all. And it’s understandable seeing as how they are chasin’ you.”

She looked at him and a slow smile spread across her face. “Thanks! That means a lot to me that you don’t think I’m crazy. You’ve every reason to.”

“But stayin’ with me is crazy…” Sam remarked.