Pedro could clearly tell the identity of one of the men approaching the ranch. With the possible exception of Sam Butler, no one sat a horse more distinctly than Buck Cannon. The man seated aboard the wagon which accompanied the rider was a completely different story. He appeared to be Chinese(?) Pedro rubbed his eyes and the second glance confirmed the first. As duty required, he raised the muzzle of his rifle and fired. The few men scattered about the yard paused and looked out to the new arrivals.
Buck and Kim were already to the gate before John made it out the front door, Victoria, a few steps behind. As Buck passed Pedro atop the platform of the water tower he yelled up to the man, "Hey Pedro, like you to meet my new friend, Mr. Kim . " Buck smiled broadly.
Pedro nodded and as he did, the unusual little man stood up in the moving cart and bowed. Pedro , not wanting to seem rude , returned the bow, losing his balance as he teetered forward. He fell to the floor, narrowly avoiding the embarrassment of dropping to the ground. He could hear Sam's distinctive guffaw and Blue's boyful laugh from the corral. Ignoring them, he stood , hitched his drawers, and stared off into the open range, trying to look busy.
John couldn't help but notice the wide smile on Buck's face. It reminded him of the time his little brother won a third place ribbon for his calf at the county fair. He must be pretty proud of his new friend.
Buck drew Rebel right up to the porch. Kim spoke to the mule in his unique way and the animal turned the wagon in a tight circle before backing up alongside the younger Cannon. In one smooth movement he jumped down and faced his hosts.
"John, Victoria, this here is Mr. Huang Yong Kim. Mr. Kim, these are the folks I been tellin' you about , my brother, John, and his wife, Victoria."
As if on cue, both Victoria and John bowed respectfully.
"Welcome to the Chaparral" said one.
"Thank you for honoring us with your presence" said the other.
Mr. Kim politely bowed in return, saying nothing.
" Well, big brother have I got a story for you." Buck excitedly blurted. " Mr. Kim here done kept Ol'Reb from gettin' stole out from under me and then he run off Soldado too..."
"Soldado?" John roared, the look of disgust on his face matching the intensity of his voice. "Tried to steal your horse? Every single time I think we've got things ironed out with that fool..."
'No, no" Buck interrupted, placing his palms against John's chest." Wasn't Soldado what tried to steal my horse. It was three other guys."
"Who? Who were they?"
" I don't honestly know, John. Never seen any of 'em before. One of 'em got killed. Indian kid, but he wasn't like any other Indian I can remember. Looked a little A-pach but different. Different clothes, too. And he didn't have a gun."
"Whoa" Sam said. "Somebody tried to steal Buck Cannon's horse out from under him and he didn't have a gun? I'd say they were three stooges."
" Naw, Sam," Buck slowly answered ." I chewed on that one all night long. I don't know what they was but they wasn't stupid. They knew exactly what they was doin', and I can't believe I'm sayin' this, but they almost stole Rebel in front of my very eyes. They mighta done it,too, if it weren't for Mr. Kim ."
'Did you shoot the Indian, ?" Blue asked.
Buck answered. " Nah, he don't carry a gun neither, Blue. Nobody got shot. He fell off a cliff but..well... I guess you could say Mr. Kim kinda give him a little push."
The fact that Buck didn't laugh at that comment placed yet another twist in this already unusual story. The men all looked at Kim and back at Buck. Everyone paused.
Victoria broke the silence. " Forgive my poor manners, Mr. Kim. Would you like a cold drink? I am afraid we are out of lemons for lemonade but I'm sure I can find something in the pantry."
"Tea, perhaps?" asked Kim.
" Oh, I am so sorry. I am the only one who drinks tea and I'm afraid I am out of that as well. No one has gone to town this month and we are short on many things. Forgive me."
Kim walked to his wagon and pulled out a cloth bag. Victoria gracefully accepted the offering and untied the bag, taking a brief sniff of its contents. " Oh, my," she exhaled, placing her right palm on her chest. Taking yet another, deeper whiff, she closed her eyes and repeated her words. " Oh, my. Come out of the sun, please. I'll brew the tea. Will you be staying with us long, ?"
Before the small man could answer, Buck cleared his throat and spoke." Well, that there is kind of an interestin' question, Victoria. See, Mr. Kim was on his way to New Awlins and the Chaparral was kinda out of his way and ..well...I knew nobody would believe what we been through for the last day or so unless Mr. Kim hisself was here and he makes firecrackers and I got to thinking if we all could pitch in a little money and maybe if you could dip into yer rainy day fund ,John, we could have a real nice fireworks show and everyone could hear this story...so I kinda... well, I kinda I hired him and kinda promised to pay him..."
John shot Buck a hard glance. He was entirely too familiar with Buck's ability to spend his big brother's money.
" Oh, John" Victoria squealed. " I love fireworks! It would be grand! We can have our own private fiesta! John, the men haven't been to town for weeks . All they do is work. A break would so nice, wouldn't it, John?"She pressed herself against his tall frame and gazed at him with the look he knew to avoid.
There was merit in Victoria's argument, John had to admit. The men had been going at it for a while now and not a one had complained. Not once. Heck, he liked fireworks himself. It didn't escape John's mind that Mr. Kim had been there for one of his own and had acted selflessly. Yeah, it was a pretty easy decision to make.
" I would be happy to contract your services, Mr. Kim. Just let me know what you need and it will be there for you. "
The entire group let out a yell of approval, the loudest voice coming from the water tower. Victoria gave her husband a quick hug and headed to the outdoor kitchen with the prized bag of tea.
"Let's get these animals taken care of " John ordered "and if any of you are as interested in this story as I am you can come back here in five minutes. We'll take a break. You've all earned it."
Buck made it a point to have Blue lead Mr. Kim's animal to the trough. Once Blue was in front of the mule, Buck hollered out " Take good care of that steed, Blue Boy."
Blue gave his uncle a quizzical look and laughed, saying, " Steed? Uncle Buck this ain't nothing but a mule" as he reached for the halter.
Instantly the animal turned its head away from Blue. Going to the side the animal's head had turned, Blue tried again. The animal turned its head back the other way. When Buck went back over to the other side the "steed" turned again. Blue looked over to Buck who, along with Sam, was finding the entire affair to be extremely funny. Blue held out his arms at his side, not too sure how far to push things with another man's animal. Mr. Kim whistled softly and the mule slowly walked over to the trough by itself. Kim put his hand on Blue's shoulder and laughed sweetly when Blue looked at him. The little man's face put Blue completely at ease and the two men walked over to the wagon and freed the animal from its burden.
The ranch hands grabbed stools and buckets and headed for the sanctuary of the porch's shade. It would be a few minutes before the tea was ready but Buck began telling the story of the horse thieves who didn't shoot at him. None of the hands could say for sure where the dead Indian came from. Sam seemed to know a bit about the red-headed one but chose to keep his thoughts to himself. By the time tea was served, Buck had begun the story of Kim and Soldado. He was fully in his element by now and had the attention of every man on the porch. Reno leaned over the top of the house and listened intently.
The further Buck got into the story, the more animated he became. He rolled on the porch to the right, then rolled to the left. He kicked an imaginary Apache with his left foot , then kicked another with his right. He hunched over, then stood and removed an invisible arrow from his chest. The men kept glancing at Kim trying to balance the words Buck spoke with the modest little man who seemed to be enjoying the melodrama as much as anyone.
No one in the world had heard more ' Buckisms" than big John Cannon but when told of how Soldado wandered off , with his tail between his legs , the entire story took on a ring of truth. John believed every word of the story because it bore a belief that he had long harbored, that Soldado was a coward, a bully who manipulated lesser men to do his bidding. Most of Soldado's men were rejects from other Apache bands, easy to control. John quietly knew that Cochise was aware of this too, even though the words were never spoken between the two men.
Once Buck's story concluded, John did a most unusual thing. He allowed the men to remain on the porch rather than telling them to go back to work. Victoria noticed it immediately and hurried to get more cold tea into the men's glasses lest John change his mind. She then sat on John's knee, something no one had ever seen before and something which bothered no one. Even Big John seemed not to mind. He gave her a funny little look but then sat back and listened as those gathered peppered Mr. Kim with questions. The most obvious , of course, was " Where did you learn to fight like that?"
It wasn't fighting, he told them. It was a discipline, a discipline learned as a boy. Although born into wealth, Kim was sent to a cloistered school which preached piety, humility and self-sacrifice. It was here that young Kim was taught to integrate the abilities of the mind, the spirit and the body, to become as one with the elements surrounding him. What Buck had witnessed, he told them , was merely a piece of what he was taught, as much a mental and spiritual effort as it was physical one.
Later in his life, after his time at the school, a revolution took the father's wealth and , shorly thereafter, Kim's family. Kim was at the university by then, studying to be a healer, and fled China before he too, was killed. On his way to America, he was befriended by a young man from "Harvard, America". Over countless games of chess, the Harvard man taught Kim to speak English.
Of the men gathered, no one asked more questions of than Blue. His mind was open, and accepting. He had never been encumbered by the rigid dogmas which seemed to define his father and his uncle. He never would be. Blue soaked up Kim's words like a sponge and was about to ask yet another question when Pedro's rifle spoke. "Mano and Joe" he yelled.
The two men rode in at a steady pace. Something was obviously wrong with Joe. He sat in the saddle as rigid as a piece of oak. Mano 's face was pulled tight, not even a hint of a smile visible.
" Joe, you alright?" asked John. " What happened?"
" Got thrown" Joe grimaced. " My fault. Horse tried to tell me not to go down the hill but I wouldn't listen." Joe patted the neck of his gelding. " It was unstable. The whole hillside gave out 'bout halfway down and we flipped. He landed right on me. I'm darn glad I didn't hurt him. I was afraid I mighta."
" Forget the horse" Sam admonished. "What about you?" Get down here and we'll have a look at you."
"Can't"
"Can't what?"
"Can't move right now."
Sam stepped toward the injured man , arms outstretched to help. Joe painfully pulled his revolver and flipped it, grabbing the heavy gun by the barrel.
'Sam, you so much as touch me, I swear, I'll smack your head."
Sam immediately threw both hands into the air. " Fine. Have it your way. Whaddya plan on doin'? Just going to sit in that saddle for two weeks until it heals up?"
" Thinkin' about it." Joe grimaced.
John stepped over to Joe's left side unable to hide his concern . "What do you want us to do, Joe?"
" Just nobody touch me. " Joe replied. He kicked his boots out of the stirrups. Slowly the big man started rocking back and forth in a steady rhythm. After the fourth cycle he leaned fully forward and swung his right leg onto the horse's rump. He let out a long groan and remained in the awkward position for a bit. He worked his right leg off of the horse's butt and it swung down as Joe held onto the saddle. With his feet dangling in the air. Joe gently lowered himself until his boots were on the ground.
Turning around, Joe held his arms out to make sure no one came near. Taking short, tentative steps, stiff as a board, Joe began his journey to the bunkhouse. Not one person smirked. They all knew Joe Butler was as tough as they come.
As Joe moved away, everyone's attention turned toward Mano. He nodded politely to the strange little man sitting on the porch and addressed Buck.
" You had a busy day yesterday, eh amigo?"
" Well yeah, yeah I did, Manolito. How'd you know that?"
"Tell me of the men who tried to take your horse, Buck. What did they look like?"
Buck described the young brave who had fallen and died. He told Mano about the clothing and the distinctive knife. As soon as Buck described the odd sombrero of the second man, Mano looked to the ground and shook his head.
" They call him 'Dog'" Mano said. "He is a half breed Pima orphan who was taken in by the nuns. When he was thirteen he murdered a priest and stole his mule. He has been running ever since. Tell me of the other."
" Well, Mano he was real different. He's Indian, I'm sure of it, but he's got red hair. Long, dark, red hair."
"Well then, what I have been told is true. Do you know who this man is?"
" No, Mano , I got no idea. All I know is he wanted to steal my horse."
"It was nothing personal , Buck. He just wanted the horse. But that young man who died was his only brother and he blames you for his death. It is all very personal now."
" I never killed him Mano! He fell off the rocks. I swear."
"That does not matter. All that matters is that he is dead."
" Well, Mano. I s'pose the only real question here is who that redheaded Indian is."
Quietly, Mano spoke. "They call him Cimmaron."
Victoria gasped. Buck and John looked at her as the color fell from her face. She placed her hand over her mouth and gazed at Buck, the distress in her eyes undeniable.
Buck tilted his head and looked intently at Mano.
Mano met his gaze. " He is getting some men together and has promised that he will be coming to the Chaparral. He has vowed to kill you, Buck."
