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wondered how serious the trouble was, and what would happen next.
"What time is it?" Caro asked. "I guess about two or three."
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"Mama's already in the kitchen making coffee. Help me downstairs, Adeline."
Caro leaned heavily on her arm as they went down the steps, less out of physical necessity than a need
for emotional support. Neither of them could think of a thing to say. There was no need to state the
obvious. Most probably the trouble involved the Double Bar. The gunshots hadn't been far away, and the
family had been expecting an attack of this kind. Men were band-ing together and cutting fences in a
wide sweep through central Texas, either on their own initiative or because they were hired by belligerent
ranches. War hadn't been formally declared, but there was no other way to describe the state of affairs
between the Warners and the Johnsons.
"I hope it's over," Addie said grimly as Caro made her way down the last two or three steps.
"You hope what's over?"
"The gunfire. Right now they're heading straight for it, Daddy and the rest of them. Men are so foolhardy
with guns in their hands. I just hope no one's been hurt. I can't stand the thought of . . . " She bit her lip
and gripped Caro's hand tightly.
"You're thinkin' about Ben, aren't you?"
Addie was too distracted to hide her feelings. "They always depend on him to do everything," she burst
out. "Even Daddy whenever there's any trouble or danger, 'have Ben do it, have Ben take care of it.'
Ben has to watch out for everyone else, but who watches out forhim? He's only human, he's not
indestructible, and I . . . " She sighed with frustration. "Oh, I don't know "
"He can take care of himself. Don't worry 'bout him. "
"He'll be the first one to arrive on the scene, riding straight into whatever hornet's nest has been stirred
up. Oh, Daddy likes to think of himself as the one in charge, but we all know Ben'll be the one who has
to pick up the pieces or make the next move. "
"That's the kind of man he is. Cade and Peter are the kind who have to be guided and prompted. But
Ben is someone that others just naturally follow. You wouldn't want him to be any different, would you?"
No. But I don't want to lose him.And there was a fear in Addie's heart that she couldn't explain to
any-one. A fear that she had a large price to pay for her past mistakes. Time had given her a chance to
atone for the kind of person she had once been. But what if more was going to be demanded of her?
What if she was denied the life with Ben she wanted so desper-ately?
They went to the kitchen and sat at the table with May, who looked calm but fatigued, while outside the
house came the sounds of abrupt, sleepy-voiced con-versations. The bunkhouse had awakened. Minutes
ticked away, then an hour had passed, and as Addie paced around the silent kitchen, tension clawed at
her nerves.
"How long do you think they'll be?" she asked curtly, knowing neither of them could answer the question
any better titan she could. Still, she had to talk about something or go crazy.
"There's no way of tellin' ," May replied, method-ically stirring her tea. "Why don't you sit and have
somethin' to drink, sugar?"
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"It's the Double Bar," Addie muttered, circling the table once again. "Daddy's been expecting them to
make a move. Oh, why does he insist on fencing in all the water? It's pure contrariness on his part "
"Your daddy has the right to do whatever he wants with his own land."
"But he's leaving them with no choice, and I think "
"It's not up to us to think anything about it, just support your daddy's decisions."
Addie grumbled underneath her breath and darted a glance at Caroline, wondering if she agreed with
May. Caro was concentrating intently on her coffee, clearly wanting no part of the debate. There was no
way of knowing what her opinion was. Sighing, Addie de-cided to keep quiet and leave well enough
alone. She only hoped that whatever had happened, Russell would control his temper long enough to
listen to Ben. Ben didn't like the idea of the fencing any more than she did, and there was no doubt he'd
try to soften Russell's reaction to the damage that had been done tonight.
Another half-hour crawled by, and then Addie heard the thud-thud of a horse's hooves. Without a word
she darted to the back door of the kitchen and threw it open. Cade had been sent back to tell them what
had happened.
"Shootin'," he said, bursting into the kitchen, his eyes brilliant with excitement. "It was the fence all right."
He paused and gulped in a few deep breaths. "Hacked to pieces. And our line riders were shot at. "
"By whom?" Addie demanded.
"No one they could recognize."
"The Double Bar. It had to be." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]