A much shorter chapter; I wanted to give a break to you who are reading. And I'm hoping you are enjoying...okay, not enjoying but at least find this story interesting enough to follow to the end.
Chapter 7
Adam gathered the stakes and the ball of twine to mark the new property line. The compass was in his pocket and the tripod and its necessary accoutrements were tied onto his saddle. Adam told Sullivan that he should hire a professional surveyor, that he knew the basics but didn't think it would be legally binding.
Sullivan snorted. "That gambler, Dayton, he doesn't really care – all he wanted was the money, said he had no use for land; agreed to my terms and signed the hand-written bill of sale before he left town. So, if you want to edge a bit out, enlarge my section by a few feet, I don't think he'll give a goddamn. Besides he's given me the option to buy more land should I want at any time in the next five years. Now you just pack up all you need and do your job."
"Yes, sir," Adam said curtly. "I will do my job to the exactness required."
"Just like you Cartwrights – disgustingly honest. A man won't end up on top like that. Strike while you have the advantage, that's my belief."
"We've done just fine being 'disgustingly' honest, just in case you haven't noticed."
"That a fact?" Sullivan smiled. Adam got under his skin but he'd rot in hell before he'd let that Cartwright know. "Heard you went to visit your family yesterday."
"Yes, sir. Had Sunday dinner with them. It was on my own time. Hannigan told me Sunday was mine to do as I wanted, but if you think you own my Sundays, dock my pay." Adam went back to adjusting the saddle, his horse snuffling for stray pieces of hay on the barn floor.
"Better watch that smart mouth of yours, boy." Hannigan said. "And you best put in a full day's work. I expect to see quite a bit of progress on marking that property by tomorrow. And don't think I won't be checking-up on your progress in the morning."
Sullivan walked back to his house and Adam watched him, his jaw working. There was something distasteful about Sullivan, something he didn't trust. Titus Sullivan was tall but had developed a slight paunch, his stomach hanging over his trousers. Adam considered that if Sullivan did more hard work, he wouldn't be turning soft.
A sense of relief flowed over Adam at the thought of getting off the property. It would be nice to ride out and work by himself for a change instead of having Sullivan check on him four or five times a day, standing off a distance and waiting until Adam noticed him. That way, Adam would be unsure just how long Sullivan had been there. Adam was sure it was to make him believe that Sullivan was ubiquitous and that no matter what he was doing, Adam had to look over his shoulder; it was Sullivan's way to rattle him. And as soon as one chore was finished, Sullivan gave him another one. Sullivan had even mentioned in passing that the roof of the house needed fresh shingles and it wanted painting. Adam ignored the comment but knew those jobs would soon be coming his way.
He threw his saddle bags over his horse. Adam paused - one saddle bag was unbuckled. Adam reached inside, felt a piece of paper and pulled it out. He unfolded it and read.
"Adam, meet me at the yew trees at 10:00. Please. I need to see you. All my love,
Devotedly yours, Ginevra."
Adam read it one more time and then folded it and put it in his shirt pocket. Then he packed his saddlebags with the twine and stakes and left for the old Rackard Ranch.
~ 0 ~
Adam had left his equipment and ridden to the yew trees; he hadn't wanted to leave his work. Knowing Sullivan, he might send someone, or just ride out himself to see if Adam was diligent. If he was gone, well, that might cause his firing and his loss of Ginevra.
But she was there and Adam dismounted even before his horse stopped. Ginevra ran to him and he hesitated to embrace her; he had been working in the hot June sunshine and his hair and shirt were damp with sweat. But Ginevra wrapped her arms about him, not caring. He returned her embrace and they kissed. But instead of feeling relief, Adam just became more agitated, more desirous of her.
"Ginny, why the note?"
"You haven't called me 'Ginny' since I was a girl."
Adam chuckled. "You still look like a girl with those freckles across your nose." He smiled but she did look like a girl. Suddenly he saw her as she was - young. For the first time in a long time, Adam looked at Ginevra with a stranger's eyes. Seven years wasn't that great a span between a man and a woman, a husband and wife, but Adam knew that Ginevra had yet much to learn. And her age suddenly hit him. Hoss and she were the same age and yet Hoss wasn't ready to go off alone and check line or stock line shacks by himself. Yet Adam had believed that Ginevra was ready to be a wife, ready to fulfill his hungers and needs and perhaps have his child. But she was still a girl and there was no getting around it.
"Adam don't be silly. Kiss me again. I've missed you so."
He kissed her. She still roused him, still made him gasp with her intense beauty but she was too young; he knew it now and it almost brought a sob to his throat. Had his instant attraction for her been mistaken for love?
Adam had known some girls his own age and even older back east. He had even spent one night in the canopied bed of a professor's wife and had learned quite a bit from her; she told him she liked beautiful young men. But he had never mistaken any of those attractions for love.
Ginevra reached up to touch Adam's cheek. "Is something wrong?"
"That's what I was going to ask you. Why did you need to see me this morning? I have work to do and if I don't get it finished, well, it won't be good."
"It's just that I miss you so. I was thinking that tonight I would slip out of the house and we could meet. Having you so close and not being with you is hard."
"Ginevra, that's not a good idea. I think we need to stay away from each other for a while. For both our sakes."
Ginevra stepped back. "Why are you saying that, Adam. Is there someone else?"
"Ginny, I haven't been off this damn ranch in over two weeks except yesterday for Sunday dinner with my family. Who else would there be? Your housekeeper?"
"Then why don't you want to see me? Don't you love me anymore? Did your father convince you I wasn't worthy of being a Cartwright as my mother wasn't?"
"What are you talking about? No, nothing like that. I just came to the conclusion that maybe you are too young to be a wife. If we wait until you're 18…"
"That's over a year. You'll meet someone else in that time, I know it." Her eyes filled with tears and Adam couldn't resist anymore. He pulled her into his arms. Ginevra held him as well, pressing her cheek against the damp fabric that smelled like him, gave off his essence of moist warmth and a sweet, mossy smell of all outdoors.
"Listen to me, sweetheart, and take what I say seriously." He held her at a distance. "You're only 16. Taking care of a house and me and handling all the duties, why, it would be overwhelming. And what if you…became with child. You're too young and I can't, in all good conscience and with loving you the way I do, put you in such situations."
"Teresa married at my age!"
"And she died along with her child."
Ginevra walked away a few steps and Adam watched her small back; for some reason it moved him. "I'm not my sister."
Suddenly a new thought came to him. "Who did she marry?"
Ginevra turned. "What?"
"I asked who she married. I've heard a bit about Teresa but not who she married. Who was it?"
"Well…I don't really know. I was at my Aunt Pauline's when I was told. My aunt told me that Teresa had met someone and that he lived in California. She went there to live with him and then she died giving birth. The baby was stillborn.
"I remember I asked questions but my aunt, she didn't…there was a secret but I didn't ever know what it was."
"You never asked your mother?"
"No. When I came home about two years ago, my mother was barely able to talk, was barely conscious while I was there. The doctor would stop by to give her morphine shots for her pain and he told me to give her laudanum if she awoke and was in pain. She would mumble about things, things I couldn't follow and she called me Teresa. I don't think she knew it was even me."
Adam slipped an arm around her small waist. "Don't think about it then. It's not that important. But you are." Adam kissed her golden hair.
"Are you going to leave, Adam? Are you going back to the Ponderosa?"
"No, I'm staying. But if I don't get back to my surveying, staying won't be up to me."
And with one final kiss, Adam left for the Rackard property. He had no plans to leave the Silver T and it wasn't just for Ginevra anymore. He had overheard Hannigan tell Lew to get the 'running iron'. That might very well explain why Adam was kept working so close to the house, explain the missing Cartwright steers and the need for grazing land a distance from the Ponderosa. It wasn't a spot any of them would pass on their way to and from town. Any stolen steer would be able to graze without anyone bothering to stop and examine an altered brand.
But before he told his father and Roy Coffee, Adam knew he needed proof, not just suspicion. But the proof would have to wait for another day.
