Chapter 8 – Fences

It was somewhere after two o'clock in the morning when we got back to the hotel, and I was more than ready to go to bed. What had started out as a challenge, to exchange the crutches for a cane probably a week sooner than I should have, had turned into an exhausting proposition. And one I probably shouldn't have made.

I wouldn't have gotten any sympathy from Bret; he was always after me about being too eager to heal whatever wound I was suffering from. He was right, of course, but he had a bad habit of doing the same thing himself, and I was in no mood to hear him tell me what I shouldn't have done.

I bid him goodnight and headed for my room, and I heard him say, "Bart, wait, let's talk about this."

"Can't," I answered. "I'd fall asleep on ya."

"Not even for five minutes?"

"Brother Bret, there is no such thing as five minutes with you. Five turns into ten, then twenty, and an hour later you'd still want to bat it back and forth. Tomorrow. I can't think when I'm this tired."

"Alright. I'll see you in the mornin'."

Of course, I got undressed, boots and all; even laid the gun belt in the bed with me. As soon as I lay down, I was wide awake. Why did this happen? I was worn out, exhausted, and all I wanted to do was sleep. And my mind was having none of it.

I wasn't giving my brother the satisfaction of coming back to the sitting room to talk about Eamon Garrity's predicament. No sir, I was going to lay here until I fell asleep or the morning came, whichever happened first. So I let my mind go wandering. What was Morgan Everton's objective? To be the wealthiest man in the territory? To own the largest ranch? Or a combination of both? Who did he want killed? That was the biggest question of all, and without knowing more about the man, that was the one I couldn't answer. And why pick Eamon? Was he just in the wrong place at the right time? Or did Everton have some ulterior motive?

I kept running the questions over and over in my brain and eventually I fell asleep. Once I got there I stayed there, until I heard knocking at my bedroom door. "Huh?" was the best I could manage, and it was enough for Bret to open the door.

"Don't you have a lunch appointment at noon with Ally?" he asked me.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because it's past eleven o'clock."

I said something under my breath that wasn't meant to be heard and started to swing out of bed. I got to my feet and as soon as I put any weight on the right leg my knees gave way underneath me, and I'd have hit the floor hard were it not for the quick thinking of my brother. "That leg doesn't like what you did to it, son," he told me, and I was forced to agree with him.

"Well, it's the only right leg I've got, so it has to work," I declared to him as I grabbed for the cane. "Can you do me a favor? Go down to the livery and get the buggy for me, then bring it up here? I promise I'll sit down with you as long as you want to talk about Eamon Garrity when I come back this afternoon."

I was waiting for a lecture about overtaxing my body parts, but I didn't get one. Instead, Bret just shook his head and smiled. "Sure, I can do that for ya. If you can drop me at Nora Garrity's house when you pick up Ally. I want to fill her in on what we found out last night."

I was sort of surprised. "Before we know the whole story?" Then I saw his face and I shut up. His eyes were alive at the prospect of seeing Nora again. I couldn't blame him for that; she was certainly a fine looking woman. "Go on then, scoot. Go get that buggy for me," and I shooed him out of the room so I could get ready.

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It was a beautiful day; you'd never know how hard it was raining just yesterday morning. I took Ally to lunch at the Tucson Café, a place you could take a lady and not worry about rowdy cowboys or being disturbed. Besides, the food there was top-notch. Afterward we took a drive, and I showed her all the places I knew from my last sojourn here, and marveled at all the new places that had sprung up since that time. She was impressed with the fact that I knew where things besides saloons were located. When I thought I was Doc Holliday and spent time in Tucson, there was nothing much to do but play poker and try to drink (try being the operative word). So I spent a lot of time riding Noble around the countryside.

There was one particular spot I wanted Ailish to see, and I headed west out of town to show it to her. In the Tucson Mountains a small, obscure lake existed, right in the middle of nowhere, and it reminded me a lot of Little Bend. I didn't know that at the time, but I knew it was comfortable and familiar. The areas didn't look anything alike, but I'd spent many an afternoon lazing under a tree with nothing better to do. We were almost there when we were brought to a halt by a fence with a sign posted that read: "Private Property – Keep Out. Everton Ranch." It was my first encounter with anything even remotely associated with Morgan Everton, and I was mightily disappointed to be barred from a spot I had pleasant memories of.

Ally read my unhappiness correctly and asked about it. I explained just a bit of what we'd learned last night from Eamon, excluding where we'd found him and what he was doing at the time. That part I left for Nora to disclose. Included in that explanation was what little we knew of Morgan Everton. Frustrated by our inability to visit a place that held fond memories, I turned the buggy around and drove east. There was one more site I'd frequented during those long days and nights in Tucson, and we headed there now. Upon our arrival we were met with the same result; a fence and a sign barring 'trespassers.' I know, I know, I don't have any right to criticize someone buying land and fencing it off; after all, it is their property. But I already had a feeling about Morgan Everton, and I was rapidly growing more aggravated. I had to remind myself that it wasn't fair or reasonable to intensely dislike a man I hadn't met.

But then I never claimed to be fair or reasonable.

I turned the buggy around once more and drove us back to Tucson. "I'm sorry I couldn't share those places with you, Ally. They really are lovely and I wanted you to see 'em."

She reached over and patted my hand. "It's alright, Bart, I saw them through your eyes, and that will do for now."

We drove back to the rapidly expanding city in relative silence. I hadn't wanted to get into a conversation last night with Bret, but I did now. When I walked Ally up to her door, Nora met us. "I hoped to catch you before you got a chance to slip away, Bart. Bret's coming for dinner tonight at seven o'clock, and I would be pleased if you would join us."

Ally turned back to me and grabbed my hand, the one that didn't hold my cane. "Oh, please do, Bart. It would be no fun at all without you."

How could I resist those beautiful green eyes? "Thank you, Nora, I'll be here with Bret. And you behave yourself, hear?" I kissed Ally on the cheek and limped back to the buggy. I vaguely heard Nora and Ally talking to each other as the door closed but I couldn't catch what they were saying. I drove the buggy back to the hotel, hoping to find Bret in our room. He wasn't, but he'd left me a note. 'Bart – I'm in the dining room. Can you stand another cup of coffee? Bret.'

I didn't need to be asked twice.