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CHAPTER THREE
SHE LOOKED AT HIM with the level gaze of a woman set on having answers to her questions. And her query was what he might have expected. “Did you have a good reason?”
She indeed had the ability to cut through the deed to find the justification for his action. And he could do no less than answer her truthfully.
“I thought so. Still do, for that matter. He broke into my home while I was away, and killed my wife and son.” The words were blunt, their message harsh, and he awaited her reaction.
Her hand reached for him, the sympathy in her action obvious and she spoke quickly. “No one could blame you for taking revenge on him, Tyler. Surely the law didn’t accuse you of murder.”
“The sheriff said I had no proof that he’d killed them. Said it could have been anyone, and I’d taken out my anger on the first available prospect.”
“Had you no proof?” She awaited his words and he was willing to tell her what she wanted to know.
“His watch was attached to a braid of her hair. And he didn’t deny the killing to me, in fact he bragged about his taking of her body before he killed her. The fool waved his gun at me and told me how my son had run for his life, how he’d shot him down.”
His voice broke on the words, and Debra’s hand touched his, the warmth flowing from her bringing him back from the scene that haunted him still. He turned his hand to grasp her fingers and held them tightly within his own.
“He would have killed me,” Tyler said, “but I was quicker than he’d expected. I shot the gun from his hand and then fired again. I didn’t miss.”
“How long ago?” she asked, and he looked beyond her, as if his eyes saw the past clearly.
“Almost two years ago. I was put in jail, and when there was a general jailbreak, I took advantage of the fact and escaped. The rest of the prisoners stayed together and were caught.”
“You kept to yourself?” she asked, knowing already that he would not have relied on others to protect him.
“I ran as far and as fast as I could. Climbed into the first boxcar I saw at the train station and set off on my own. Been traveling alone ever since.”
She felt herself leaning toward him, not physically, but somehow able to see within his actions to the man who still felt the pain of his loss, who didn’t regret the life he’d taken in revenge.
He stood before her, tall, muscular, yet slim, as though his meals had been sparse of late, and she could not fault the man. That he might be telling her a tall tale was a possibility, but Debra Nightsong was no fool, and she’d long been able to see the truth when it appeared before her.
Today was no exception. The man might be running from the law, but in his own mind, he’d done no wrong, only avenged two deaths. That his actions had brought the law down on him was perhaps not fair, but nevertheless a fact. Could she turn him away, believing his story as she did?
“You can stay here,” she said. “I’ll not turn you in, Tyler, even if I get the chance. Whether or not you killed in cold blood, I suspect you felt you had the right to avenge your wife and son’s deaths. I’m not fit to judge you. I won’t even try.”
He loosed her fingers from his own and stood tall before her. His dark eyes met hers with a gaze that promised the truth, and she was prone to believe him.
“I’ll not play false with you,” he said. “I’ll stay here and help you.” His eyes measured her and he smiled. “I don’t know how far I can trust you to keep silent about me should the occasion arise, but for now I’ll have to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
Her hand was warmed by his, her flesh still aware of his touch, and she thrust it into her apron pocket, where her fingers curled in upon themselves. He was strong, a man taller than most, his shoulders wider than the men of her mother’s tribe, his ability to force her to his will not an issue, for she was wise enough to gauge the muscle beneath his skin, smart enough to recognize a man with the ability to hold his own.
The sun shone down brightly on the meadow behind her shed, the horses and her cow grazed peacefully at the end of their tethers and the man beside her had made his position clear. Debra looked beyond the animals and the lush pasture where they grazed, to where the hayfield lay, awaiting the scythe and the men who would reap its worth.
“Will you help me put up enough hay before I allow the neighbor to take his share?” It was not what she had planned on saying to the man beside her, but the knowledge that he was strong and capable of helping her hold her own, of lending his strength to hers for a time, made her seek out his promise.
“Where is your scythe?” he asked. So simply he agreed to her plan, so readily he acceded to her need.
“Hanging on the wall. I keep all my tools inside the shed,” she said. “If you’ll use the scythe, I’ll rake the hay. A day or so in the sun will dry it enough so I can bring it to the barn for storage.”
“We have a deal, Debra Nightsong.” His hand reached for hers again, and she slid it from her pocket, allowing him to grasp it in his own, warming it with the heat of his flesh. His eyes narrowed as he looked past the pasture before them, his sights on the same hayfield she’d measured with her own gaze. The hay was ready to be mowed, the sun promised to shine, probably for several days, for no rain clouds threatened in the west.
Debra felt a surge of satisfaction at the deal they’d formed. For a week she would have the help she needed. Her loft would be full, her animals would have their needs supplied for the winter to come. Perhaps the garden might thrive under a man’s touch, for she was not able to plow up the soil as she should. Her strength was not enough to turn over the earth for the space she required.
As if he knew her thoughts, Tyler leaned against the wall of the shed and mulled over the needs of her farm. She turned her gaze to him as he spoke, pleased that he seemed to so readily fall into the role she had set for him.
“I’ll use one of your horses to plow more space for a garden, Debra. Have any of them been broken to harness? Have you used them for plowing?”
“I’ve only used a shovel,” she said. “I don’t have the strength to hold a plow steady. It takes a man’s muscles to force the blade into the ground. And using the shovel takes me forever to prepare the ground for my garden.”
“I can handle that for you,” he said. “I’ll add to the space you’ve already set aside if you like.”
“I’ll plant corn if you prepare the ground for me,” she said quickly. “I only have room now for beans and tomatoes and such. I’ve got peas and carrots coming up, almost ready to pick.”
He looked back through the shed to where the chickens had strayed into the yard, pecking at the bits and pieces of food they found there. “Corn makes good feed for chickens through the winter. Can you have it ground at the gristmill in town?”
She nodded, feeling her spirits lift as she thought of the crop she might plant and then sow in late summer. If she could trust this man… And why shouldn’t she be able to? He was as good a prospect as the neighbor who had taken her wheat and left her the straw. As willing to help as the man who had mowed her hayfield and taken his greater share for granted.
“Can we work together for a while, Debra?” He asked the question softly, his voice falling on her hearing as a temptation, perhaps luring her into believing that he could be trusted, that his help would be hers for a time.
“Yes.” She accepted him so readily it shocked her. So easily did she acquiesce to his offer. “Yes,” she repeated. He was behind her now, looking over her shoulder at the animals in her pasture, his chore of putting up a corral for her well under way and she was comforted by the knowledge that for now, for these few days, she was not alone.
THE FENCE POSTS stood straight, the boards joining them nailed in place, each level with the next. Debra crossed her arms on the top rail, looking beyond the boundaries of her newly built corral to where her animals grazed in the sun. Another horse had joined her stable, a bay mare already with foal, purchased from a neighbor who needed ready cash. Already broken to the saddle, the mare would provide cash income if Debra chose to sell her after the birth of her foal. For unless she had a stud available on a regular basis, she would not be able to breed her mares at the right times.
Her resources sorely strained by the additional purchase, Debra consoled herself with the idea of a second colt or filly in the spring when the mare would deliver the first addition to her newly formed stable of animals. Her bank account was down to rock bottom, but the purchase was sound, Tyler had said, and she felt able to trust his judgment.
One dark night, astride one of her mares, he’d returned the gelding he’d confiscated as his own to its owner’s field, not divulging its origins to her, only saying that it had probably not been missed by its owner. Showing no guilt for his misdeed, he’d made her smile with his simplistic notion that his theft had only amounted to a loan from the farmer.
She admitted to herself that she would have hated the thought of his death at the end of a rope, should his crime have come to light, but not for the world would she let him know that she had ignored his theft and the subsequent return of the evidence.
His help had been invaluable over the past weeks, and she was reaping the results of his work. Her garden flourished, with corn hilled in neat rows, tomatoes forming small fruit on their vines and beans cooking in the big kettle in the house even now. A pan of peas had been shelled and cooked before she canned them in pint jars just yesterday. Carrots showed their orange shoulders just above the ground, awaiting her hand, and she planned the stew she would make from the last of the potatoes in her fruit cellar, plus a piece of beef she’d bartered from her neighbor.
A peck of peas and enough beans for a meal had earned her a chunk of stewing meat from his butchering. Summer was not the usual time for a steer to be sacrificed for the family’s needs, but the herd of cattle in the fields to the west of her property was prosperous, and her neighbor had killed one and cut it up for his wife’s use.
A quarter of the beef hung even now in the woodshed, and Debra planned for its use. She would cut it up, cook it in large chunks in her stewing kettle and then can it for her use over the next few months.
Tyler had said he was familiar with butchering and had given her neighbor a hand with his chore, earning her the beef as a part of his salary. The neighbor had quizzed him at length regarding his presence at Debra’s holding, and Tyler dutifully gave her chapter and verse of their conversation.
“I made it clear to him that I was merely a hired hand here, a man in need of money, and willing to work for it. I let him know that I admired you and respected you, Debra.”
“And did he believe you? Or did he seem to think the half-breed had taken a white man to her bed?”
Her blunt manner surprised him, although he wasn’t certain why it should have caused him any surprise. She was a bold woman, not afraid to speak her mind. He spoke again, wanting to ease her mind.
“He didn’t make any backhanded remarks, if that’s what you mean. Just seemed to accept my word for it. I think he admires you, Debra. He spoke highly of you and your ambition, your work here on the farm.”
She nodded, accepting his words of praise, almost as if they were due her. He could only hope that the townspeople were as well informed as to Debra’s conduct in the community. Putting the stain of a woman without honor on her was far from his intent. But people talked, gossiped when things didn’t seem to their individual standards, and putting Debra’s name on the line was not to be considered.
Their association had proved thus far to be profitable to them both, Debra considering herself the winner with a new corral and a pasture already partly fenced in.
Tyler said the neighbor had seemingly been satisfied regarding his presence at Debra’s farm, nodding agreeably when he was told that Tyler was helping with the crops and caring for the livestock. Agreeing that Debra needed help and hiring a hand to work for her seemed logical.
But, as Tyler said, the man had smiled broadly as he spoke of Debra’s hard work and her need for a husband. As if he considered Tyler an applicant for the position. Perhaps that would settle any gossip to be found in town, Tyler thought, and tucked the notion into the back of his mind to consider further.
He’d managed to work enough hours for the neighbor to earn himself a horse, not a prize package to be sure, but a ten-year-old gelding who promised to provide his owner with years of use. Debra didn’t own a saddle and had convinced Tyler that he could ride without the aid of leather between himself and his horse. His determination to purchase a saddle at the earliest opportunity was pure stubbornness on his part, she was sure, but it was an argument she knew she would not win. The man was determined to fit his animal out with all the requisite tools—bridle and bit and a saddle that would make his riding a comfort.
She scorned his need for such trappings, happy with the golden mare she rode, who obeyed the touch of her knees against her sides, the rope she tied about the animal’s neck enough of a guide for what she required of the mare she rode with pride. Tyler watched her, his eyes admiring her skill when she rode, and she delighted in the knowledge that he did not deny her ability to control her horse so easily.
Indeed, she could have ridden without even the rope in her hands, for the animal had been trained to obey her voice, and there existed between them a rapport that made their relationship a joy to watch. Yet she did not deny Tyler the right to his need for a harness for the plowhorse and the saddle he planned to purchase for his gelding.
The amount of hay she had decided to keep for her own use was cut in three days’ time, Tyler wielding the scythe, she spreading the harvest to dry in the sun. Raking it into rows the second day, she examined it and found it dry. By the time he’d cut enough hay to fill her loft, she’d spread it out, then raked it into piles, ready for loading onto a flat wagon from the shed.
Tyler hitched her pack horse to the wagon and together they scooped great armfuls of hay to the flat bed. Her rake gathered up the scattered bits and pieces and she added them to the pile that grew quickly. Hauling the hay back to the shed was but a small task, with Tyler doing the hardest part of the job, loading the hay into the loft for her use later on in the year.
Together they carried the fragrant piles up the ladder, tying it up in a quilt and hauling it through the hole in the floor of the loft, only to dump it and then rake it up into great piles in the drafty loft. Debra looked about her with a sense of pride, that she had managed to harvest so much of her crop with Tyler’s help. She felt rich with the knowledge that her animals would have feed for the long months of winter, thankful for the man who had lent his greater strength to her aid, and thus helped her make gains against the cold weather that was sure to come.
She stood looking at the bountiful piles of winter hay and caught the grin Tyler sent in her direction. He bowed with great ceremony, and approached her diffidently. “Does my work merit a reward?” he asked.
“What did you have in mind?” Her heart beat more rapidly as he surveyed her slowly, his dark eyes lingering on her lips, then traveling down the length of her body.
His words were bold. “Maybe a kiss. Even a hug, if you’re so inclined.”
She thought him a scamp, but reserved her opinion, judging that he’d earned at least a kiss, since it seemed so important to him, and she had more than enough to suit him. Approaching him, she tilted her head a bit, the better to reach his lips and brushed her own against the firm line that awaited her. His mouth softened beneath her touch and he reached for her, not allowing her to escape his embrace.
“How about the hug?” he asked, already taking possession of her with both arms wrapped about her.
“Was I to give the hug, or receive it?” At odds with her own response, she felt a blush climb her cheeks as his muscular frame pressed against her softer body, knew for a moment the heat of his embrace, and then as he bent his head lower, felt his lips snatch another kiss from her willing mouth. It wasn’t a peck, as she’d thought it might be, but a full-blown kiss, involving the damp touch of his tongue against her, edging between her lips, into the warmth of her mouth. He sought the length of her tongue with his, tangling them together, taking her breath with his venture into an intimacy she was not confident with.
She trembled in his grasp, feeling exposed as these waters were too deep for her to gain any sense of balance. “Tyler? Tyler, what are you doing?” She tried to catch her breath as she pulled from his grasp, only to catch a quick glimpse of his lips, curved into a superior sort of smile he’d slanted in her direction.
“What do you think, sweetheart? Just claiming my kiss, and about half a hug.”
“Half a hug? How do you figure that?” She brushed at her dress, unable to meet his gaze, and he laughed.
“I hugged you, but you didn’t hug me back. That’s half a hug in my book, lady. Can you do better?”
She shook her head. “Would you settle for a cup of coffee and fresh coffee cake? I’ve got a pot brewing on the stove and the cinnamon cakes are still warm.”
He grimaced. “Better than nothing, I suspect. But I’m not letting you off the hook, sweetie. I’ll get you another time.”
And that was exactly what she feared, she decided, climbing hastily down from the loft and heading for the house, as far and fast as she could march from his arrogant grin.
And yet, all of his teasing aside, it was a good feeling, she thought, pouring his coffee and cutting the cake, knowing that she was at least halfway prepared for the winter months, knowing that her stock would be fed. And wondering who would be pitching the hay from the loft?
THE FARMER WHO HAD CUT her crop last year was notified to come and take his share, and Tyler spoke with him about the price he should pay for the crop. Apparently surprised that Debra had a champion in residence, Samuel Shane agreed on a price for the hay, and bartered part of his butchering in the fall, plus apples from his orchard for his share of the harvest. If Mr. Shane was curious about Tyler’s place here on her farm, he did not speak of it, only nodded as he agreed with the conditions set out by Debra’s hired man.
Debra was pleased, cautious about expressing her thanks to Tyler, but aware that having a man standing in her stead was indeed a thing to be pleased with. In fact, she found herself thinking about his presence in her home and wishing fervently and silently that his time with her would not soon come to an end.
It was almost as if they shared the farm, she thought, pulling carrots from the garden, plucking beans from their stems. He, with the hammer and his greater strength forming the fences she needed, she with her skills in the kitchen, and throughout the house, making a comfortable place for them to live.
He appealed to her senses, his clean scent, his habits of cleanliness matching so closely her own. He swam nightly in the pool in the pasture, sharing the water with the animals that drank there after dark. His clothing was washed and hung on the clothesline, his trousers and shirts side by side with her own dresses and undergarments. She wondered sometimes what the neighbors thought of the man who lived on her farm with her, but had not sought out their opinion.
That there was talk in town was a given, but she could not bring herself to worry overmuch about gossip. What she did was her own concern, and not fit for speculation by anyone else.
With whom she chose to make her life was private business, and she chose for now to allow Tyler access to her farm and to the house she lived in. They seldom spoke of his past, only living with the knowledge that he might one day take flight from her life.
She had not offered him any glimpse into her own past, living in the present and walking a fine line in his presence. He slept on the floor in her bedroom, changing his mind apparently after the third night of sleeping beside her.
He’d spread his quilt on the rug beside the bed, and without a word had gone to sleep there. Unwilling to question his decision, lest he repent his change of mind, Debra had crawled into her bed each night and slept peacefully, knowing he was nearby, yet not fearful of his presence.
He rose early, stoked the wood-burning cookstove and went out to do chores while she cooked breakfast. Her privacy was not invaded by his presence, for he used the parlor in which to dress, storing his clothing in a drawer in her dresser, but keeping himself apart from her.
It was a strange arrangement, she knew, but it suited them both, and she found comfort in the companionship he offered. They spoke but little, only words that related to the work they did, he with his building, she with the gardening, and only when she sat on the porch in the evening and watched the sun dip beneath the horizon did she feel the need for more from him.
That he might fill a permanent place in her life was not considered, for she knew he would not linger longer than it would take for him to plot out his future. He had a horse now, and a bit of money set aside, due to his work on the neighboring farm. Soon he would surely be on his way, leaving her alone again.
But better off than before, for he had laid out the fencing for the pasture and by the time the second cutting of hay approached, he had completed the job. Her horses and the milk cow roamed at will beneath the trees, spending their days with heads lowered to the ground, where the meadow grass grew in abundance. The sides of her bay mare rounded more each week it seemed, and it seemed that by the end of winter she would see her own golden mare producing an offspring of her own.
Whether the mare had been covered by a wild mustang or perhaps the neighbor’s stud, a stallion who had frequently escaped confinement and roamed the far pastures and meadows, was a moot question. That her golden mare had had an encounter with the stud was a probability, she knew, and she spoke of it to Tyler.
“If she drops another golden foal, it will have been from the sorrel stud,” she said, watching the horses one day. He stood beside her, and his nod agreed with her prediction.
“I’ve heard that a mare such as yours only breeds true if a sorrel is the sire.”
“It’s what my mother’s people said. And they were experts at the art of raising horses.”
He turned to her, a question alive on his lips. “Did you have any problems in town yesterday?” She’d gone in to the general store with her supply of eggs and butter, and made the trip alone, Tyler remaining at the farm.
“The storekeeper asked if I had a man living with me.” Her voice was quiet, but he sensed the pain behind her reply. “He wanted to know if you had serious intentions where I was concerned. I suppose it was a backhanded way of asking if you were going to marry me.”
“Did he give you a bad time? Or didn’t you tell him the truth?”
“It was none of his business, but he knew already. My neighbor no doubt told about your working for him. And I made it clear that you were a hired hand, and not a permanent fixture here.
“At any rate, he was reluctant to sell supplies to me, but he needed my butter and eggs, so he had no choice. The townsfolk who don’t have animals of their own depend on farmers to supply their needs, and my butter is always rich from the Jersey’s cream.” Her smile smacked of the victory she’d known, there in town, where she had attained a degree of respect.
“So they talk about me being here. Has anyone asked you who I am?”
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t have offered anything anyway. I’m not known for being talkative. One of the ladies was curious about you, wondered if I’d known you sometime in the past, and was curious about your living here. She suggested that it didn’t look good for me to have you living here, what with me being a woman alone, but I made it clear that it wasn’t her concern. She only smiled at that and I suspect that there’s talk that we’re…” Her pause was long and he felt a pang of regret that she should be considered the less for his presence in her life.
“Have you ever thought of marriage? Has anyone ever approached you and asked to court you?”
She offered him a look of such surprise he almost laughed aloud. “What’s so strange about such a thing, Debra? You’re a beautiful woman, with a thriving farm, and surely there are men about who would want to possess both you and your property.”
“I’m still a half-breed. No matter how much land I own, or how well my land produces, I’m not a woman to appeal to white men. Perhaps for other reasons, but not for marriage.”
“Have you had problems with the men hereabouts? Have they bothered you?”
She shook her head, then seemed to hesitate. “A bit, but my shotgun has been sufficient to keep them at bay.” She clutched the top rail of the fence tightly. “I fear that I may be taken by surprise someday, that someone may come upon me when I’m in the garden or the shed and my gun is not with me.”
