[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
hair and wide-set eyes.
Ask away, he said.
Did you do anything that would make me un-
faithful to my husband?
He half smiled.
No, he said. Not, very much . . . maybe just a
little.
She felt sad all at once.
I don t remember doing nothing with you, she
said.
Well, I guess it don t matter, then, he said. Be-
Dakota Lawman: Killing Mr. Sunday 197
sides, I ve got me a woman up in a place near here. So
if you don t tell, I won t, either.
You mind turning your back so I can get dressed?
You want to dress, go ahead, he said without
turning away.
In the greatest frustration she turned her own back
to him and pulled on her dress, then sat on the side of
the bed and put on her shoes, lacing them with all due
deliberation. Would it be possible to kill him, to shoot
him cold so he could never say anything to Otis? Poor,
poor Otis. She felt like weeping for him, for the sor-
row and uncertainty he must be going through worry-
ing about her. She vowed to make it up to him
somehow. Perhaps they could start fresh like he d
wanted to by taking her on the picnic. She would stop
being hard on him and maybe it would work out be-
tween them and she could truly learn to love him
again.
You said you had a gal near here, she said.
Possibly in a place called Sweet Sorrow, he said.
How about taking me with you, then? I m from
there, too.
Maybe you know her, he said.
What s her name?
Clara, he said. Monroe. I m her husband.
Something told her to fear this man, the fact that the
newschoolteacher hadtoldothers she was awidow.
No, she said. I never heard of anyone by that
name.
He shrugged, set his hat on his head, and opened
the door.
You d leave me here, stranded?
198 Bill Brooks
Your troubles are none of my own, he said. I
imagine some Good Samaritan will come along sooner
or later.
What sort of man do you consider yourself to be
leaving a lady alone like this on these wild grasslands?
The leaving sort of man, he said.
She was mad enough to fight him, but she knew she
could not win and so stood in the doorway and
watched him ride off. She never felt more alone in all
her life. With his leaving, the sun suddenly broke
through the clouds as though a sign of better things.
She took the busted-bottom chair out front and sat
with her face lifted toward the light. She felt cold
from the inside out. Cold and violated in a way she
never could have imagined.
Dear Lord, let me be saved and let my husband be
saved as well. Let me get returned to him and let me
be a good wife from now on. Then a terrible thought
entered her head: what if the man had violated her?
And what if his seed was to grow in her? She was ter-
rible old to bear children. But she d known of other
women old as she who had. It caused her to weep
thinking of the possibility.
Jake and Toussaint found her sitting on a busted-
bottom chair out front of the shack muttering to
herself.
Martha, Jake said. You all right?
She opened her eyes.
She couldn t be sure it wasn t more men come to
have at her and threw her hands up in front of her face.
It s okay, Jake said dismounting and kneeling
next to her. We ve got you now.
Dakota Lawman: Killing Mr. Sunday 199
He tugged her hands away so that he could look
at her.
Are you hurt anywhere?
She simply stared at him.
Did anybody hurt you, Martha?
She glanced at Toussaint who sat the mule holding
the reins to Jake s horse.
I don t know, she said.
Jake wiped dirt from her cheeks, smoothed her
hair, his ministrations gentle.
Come on, Martha. Toussaint and me are going to
take you home.
She didn t offer to get up. Jake lifted her and set
her on behind Toussaint.
It s all right, he said. Everything will be all
right. Just hold onto Mr. Trueblood.
We did okay, Toussaint said as they started back
to town. We didn t have to kill anybody and we got
Martha back.
It s a good day, Jake said.
I m still wondering something, Toussaint said.
What s that?
Who that Indian stole those three nice saddle
horses from.
It s enough we got Martha back, Jake said.
Let s not concern ourselves with other mysteries.
Yeah, Toussaint said. But it didn t stop his won-
dering.
24
g,h
here the roads diverged, Toussaint stopped
Wand said, I been thinking I ll ride over and see
Karen. Can you handle the rest of this by yourself?
Sure, Jake said.
They transferred Martha to the back of Jake s
horse. She still seemed a bit lost in the head.
I ll swing round sometime tomorrow to collect
my pay, Toussaint said.
Jake nodded, said, Thanks for your help on this.
Didn t have to kill nobody, didn t have to bury
nobody. Nice way to make a living. See you back in
town.
Jake put spurs to the horse, anxious to be back in
Sweet Sorrow again.
He stopped near Cooper s Creek to water the horse
and allow him and the woman to stretch their legs.
This is where it happened, Martha said. Right
near here, where me and Otis was having a picnic . . .
and . . . Tears spilled down her cheeks thinking
about it, the joy of that day before the Swede came
Dakota Lawman: Killing Mr. Sunday 201
along and the sorrow that followed after he came
along.
It s over now, Jake said. That man who took
you the Swede he s dead. He won t be bothering
you again.
That old fellow killed him, didn t he?
Yes, it looks like maybe they killed each other.
Good, Martha said. Wasn t a one of them any
good.
Best not to think about it further, Jake said, then
helped her on the back of his horse and rode on to the
town.
Once arrived, Jake reined in at the general store.
He helped the woman down and walked her to the
front door. She hesitated, pulled back.
Go on in, Jake said.
I m afraid, Martha said.
Of what?
I m afraid Otis won t want me no more . . . now
that I been. . .
Don t be silly. You were all he talked about when
we found him. Go on and go in.
Jake waited until she did, then rode his horse over
to the livery where Sam Toe sat repairing a cinch
strap. Sam Toe looked up, looked at the horse. As-
sured it had not been abused he toted up a paper bill
and handed it to Jake. Jake looked at it, then
reached in his pocket and paid for the rent of the
horse.
I don t see that mule, Sam Toe said. You lose
him?
Toussaint s still got him. He should be in later to-
202 Bill Brooks
day, maybe tomorrow. When he does, come and see
me and I ll pay what I owe you on it.
Jake started to walk up to the school. Sam Toe
said, You get that fellow you were after?
In a manner of speaking, Jake said and contin-
ued on.
In a manner of speaking? Sam Toe said to him-
self, shaking his head. Sure enough some high talk
for a damn lawman.
Jake found Clara at the school a series of addition
problems written in chalk on the board, the children
with heads bent doing the problems on smaller chalk-
boards, the click and clack of their chalk like some-
thing with bad teeth chewing bone.
Clara saw him standing in the doorway and came
to the back of the classroom.
You ve come back for the boy, she said.
Yes, but if you could watch him just a bit longer,
until I can arrange to take him tomorrow to the or-
phanage down in Bismarck, I d appreciate it.
She hesitated with her answer, then said, There s
a favor I d like to ask you as well.
Sure, name it.
Can you go to my house and have a look at my
father?
What s wrong with him?
She explained how William Sunday had come to
dinner and how she d found him later lying in the
rain, how he seemed to have a fever and she didn t
know what to do for him, and how he d told her
there d be men coming for him to kill him.
Kill him?
Dakota Lawman: Killing Mr. Sunday 203
She hesitated, wondering if she should tell him
everything. He wore a badge, after all, and maybe it
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]