Chapter 10
"Sheriff's Department." Walt said, as he picked up the phone. He'd sent Ruby to lunch and told her to just bring him back something. As angry as she was at him, he figured she probably wouldn't. He had made a mistake firing Vic. He didn't know how to apologize, and he certainly didn't know how to explain.
"Walt, I'm tied up here at the morgue." Ferg said. "I think they gave me ten pages of forms to fill out, and I'm sorry, but I don't know how to do this."
"Did Vic kill Ranger Parker?" Walt asked, half kidding. Ruby had told him where they'd gone.
"She tried." Ferg said, and it sounded like he was going to start crying.
Walt rubbed his head, that hadn't quit hurting since he'd had words with Vic that morning. Or not had words. He wasn't exactly sure why what had happened, had. He just knew that he'd screwed up with Vic, yet again. "Tell me what happened, Ferg." He said slowly. Then, " Wait a minute. Where's Vic?"
"In the emergency room getting her hands looked at. She beat the crap out of him, Walt. I didn't want to hurt her, and I couldn't get her off him."
"Hold on, I've got another call." Walt said, and punched the second line. "Sheriff's department." He said.
"This is Trooper Williams." The gravelly voice said. " And we are not having this conversation. Just listen. Don't say anything to me."
"Oh, shit." Walt thought, with a feeling of dread.
"I heard Parker calling for help this morning, with a drunk in a tree stand. Well, somebody beat the hell out of him. And this is one time I'd just look the other way. But he caused a serious accident. He's dead, and I don't know how bad Mathias is hurt. There was over a gallon of liquor and some drug paraphernalia In Parker's truck. I've documented it and sent copies to everybody I know. I'm not letting them hang Mathias out to dry over this. But if that pretty little deputy of yours laid a hand on Parker, you better be trying to protect her. The little asshole Fed that will be investigating this, is the one she punched." And he disconnected.
"Vic had hit a Fed?" Walt knew nothing about that. "Ferg, go get Vic and take her to Mrs. Allred's. Don't let her talk to anybody, and see if you can manage to lose her phone. Just bring all that paperwork with you. And you can tell me about Vic hitting a Fed when you get here."
"Do I have to?" Ferg almost whispered.
"I think you do." Walt said, and hung up.
"Why are we going to Mrs. Allred's?" Vic asked when Ferg stopped the truck in the drive.
"Cady's with Emma." Ferg said. That's all Walt had told him.
"I guess she's still upset from yesterday." Vic said. "I'm really sorry, Ferg. I left you a mess to clean up."
"It was worth it to see you kick his ass." Ferg said, and laughed. He caught Vic around the waist and sat her down from the truck, gently took her arm, and helped her up the sidewalk.
"I hear you've been busy." Leo said, as he opened the door.
Vic flushed. "I lost my temper. I'm sorry to bother you again, Mrs. A."
"I enjoy the company!" Mrs. A assured her. "Ferg, you got time for some hot chocolate?"
"I got to go back to work, but thanks anyway." He said, as he left.
Vic sat down at the table with Mrs. A and Leo. " Ferg said that he was fat when he was a little boy. But I found a picture of him with Laughing Bird, and he was just normal sized ."
Leo, evidently quite at home at Mrs. A's, went to the bookcase and pulled out a scrapbook. He leafed thru some pages, and laid the book in front of Vic . The two open pages were all shots of a really pretty lady riding a two tone horse, that Walt had told her was called a pinto, in a big parade.
"Who is this lady?" Vic asked.
"That's Ferg's Mom, sweetie." Mrs. A said. "Before her accident."
"What happened?" Vic asked. She would never have thought this woman, who actually reminded her of a younger version of Emma, could be Ferg's Mom. The Mrs. Ferguson that she knew, was a kind, motherly lady, who tried to feed everybody, but she wasn't very active at all.
"She was an endurance rider." Leo said. "One day poor Rocket," he tapped the photo so she knew who he meant, "had an aneurism. He fell on her and she was pinned under him for over twelve hours before we found her."
"Before you found her." Mrs. A corrected.
"I didn't know horses had aneurisms." Vic whispered.
"Betty," Leo pointed to the photo so that Vick knew he meant Ferg's Mom " was in and out of the hospital for like a year and a half. I think her leg was broken in four places."
"Poor Ferg lived with Walt and Martha for awhile." Mrs. A said. "His Dad drove a truck, and he had to work to keep his insurance. Those were some really bad years."
"We thought Arlo Boulin had shot that poor horse, it was such a mess, so I had some of the deputies stay out there all night with a bonfire going to keep the scavengers off him." Leo said. "Malachi was mad as hell at me. He didn't want the Feds poking around for fear they might find some of his misdeeds."
When Vic looked confused, Mrs. A said, "Arlo, senior. He's a piece of work too."
At the same time, Leo said, "I was the tribal police chief for thirty years, but I'd retired a little before that happened."
" I didn't know that." Vic said. All she knew was that Nighthorse had hired him when he fired Malachi. She looked at Mrs. A, "So Mathias's Dad got killed, Laughing Bird disappeared, and Ferg's Mom got hurt. No wonder Cady said -" she stopped. She wasn't sure she should say that in front of Mrs. A.
"Those poor kids got cheated out of the last of their childhood." Leo said.
"And we didn't know what to do with poor Ferg, except feed him." Mrs. A said. "Cady could always eat like a horse, and get by with it. She's just got that kind of metabolism."
"Sorry, Troop, got one in front of you." Doc Bloomfield said as he saw the Trooper wheeling in a body bag on a gurney.
"How bad is Mathias hurt?"
"Broken ribs and eight stitches in his head."
"I want a full tox screen on this one." Williams said, pointing at the body bag. "No matter what anybody else tells you. If I have to pay for it out of my own pocket. But if he happens to have some pre-existing injuries -" he stopped, seemed to be searching for words.
Doc Bloomfield, who was nobody's fool, in spite of what Walt thought, understood what he was not saying, and assumed that Violet had beat Ranger Parker up before his accident. "I know he's a meth head. He could have been unconscious before he even hit Mathias."
Williams sighed, as he took the clipboard with the forms that the morgue attendant handed him.
"I'll take over here." A voice said, and Williams looked at the squirrely little FBI agent. "It was a tragic accident and no autopsy is necessary." He said to Doc Bloomfield, gesturing to the body on the table.
"Parker's over there." Bloomfield pointed to the gurney. "Or is it Mr. Tompkins that you don't want an autopsy done on?"
"Ranger Parker." The Fed snapped, and he grabbed the clipboard from Trooper Williams.
Mathias's left hand hurt like hell. It felt like it was crushed. And he couldn't quite manage to get his eyes open. It hurt to breathe. He definitely had some broken ribs. He just needed to lie still and hope whoever had kicked the crap out of him was done, because he wasn't going to be getting up for awhile. He hoped to hell he hadn't just come off a bull, because if he had, he was dead.
It wasn't quite so bad the next time he tried to open his eyes. He didn't know what had happened. He thought his left hand was ruined though. He finally managed to focus, and realized he was in the hospital. Cady was sitting in a chair next to the bed, and she had a death grip on his hand. She'd been crying, and it looked like she'd fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion. He wanted to tell her to ease off a little, that she was hurting him, but then he thought, maybe he was dying, and she was the link that was holding him there.
He looked around the room, expecting to see Rose, but it was Emma in the chair on the other side of the bed. She had a Drovers magazine in her lap, but she wasn't reading. She looked exhausted too. He must have made a sound or something, because she looked up at him. He had never understood why his Uncle Robert had married a somewhat plain white woman when he could have had any of the beauties on the Rez, until he'd seen Emma smile. He needed to tell her that he loved her, and the reason they fought all the time was that they were exactly alike.
WHOA! He must have gotten a really good whack on the head.
Emma put her finger to her lips, and hugged him very gently. She kissed the top of his head before she whispered in his ear. "I have to go get the nurse. Please don't proposition Cady again, you embarrassed her half to death the first time." When Mathias glared at her, she said, "Yes, you did."
Emma disappeared, to get the nurse, he assumed. How long had he been in here? He felt like he'd been hit by a truck. Everything was starting to hurt. He tried to shift his body a little to see if he could get more comfortable, and Cady's eyes snapped open.
"Oh, Matty! Please be alright! You scared us half to death." She pressed her lips against the side of his neck.
"What happened?" Mathias managed.
She shook her head. "Doesn't matter."
He remembered going to the tribal council meeting, and it had been a disaster. As usual. And then Nighthorse had blasted all of them, and offered to buy the police department an SUV. Violet and Trooper Williams had been playing in the snow like kids. And Violet had kissed Trooper Williams in the wrecker. No, none of that could of had happened, he had just knocked the shit out of his head.
"What's your name?" the nurse asked him, as she took his pulse.
"Henry Standing Bear." Mathias said, to annoy Emma.
"He's just being a jackass." Emma said to the nurse.
"What do you do for a living, Mr. Bear?" The nurse continued. Mathias didn't know who she was.
"I do the PBRA circuit." He said, figuring she wouldn't even know what it was.
"Aren't you a little old to ride bulls?" She stuck a thermometer in his mouth, and Mathias glared at her.
"Matty, please be nice." Cady said. "Tell the truth. Don't make them misdiagnose you." She looked like she was going to start crying again.
When the nurse took the thermometer out of his mouth, he said, "My name's Mathias, and I'm the chief of the tribal police department, and I am not too old to ride bulls."
The nurse looked at her clipboard, and then looked at Emma. "You're his mother?"
Emma gave the woman a look that would have made anybody who knew her back pedal in a hurry. "Yes." She said. She didn't want the woman throwing her out. She hoped to hell that she didn't have to make any medical decisions, because Rose was upcountry on a hunt with Omar.
"You don't look like a half breed." The nurse said to Mathias.
"I'm Cheyenne." Emma said, thru clenched teeth.
"Everyone seems to be Cheyenne so they can get a share of the casino profits."
"Oh, shit." Mathias thought. Emma actually thought she was Cheyenne, and she was going to kill that stupid nurse. Cady looked like she was going to help her. There was no way in hell he could stop them. "Use your brains before you use your fists." Leo had told him long ago.
"Don't upset Cady!" Mathias said to Emma, and breathed a sigh of relief when she sat back down.
"Who are you?" The nurse asked Cady.
"My girlfriend." Mathias said. "And she's not leaving."
"Well I need to check your catheter, but the ladies are welcome to stay if they want."
"You can just take the damn thing out." Mathias said, thru clenched teeth.
"We'll go out in the hall for a few minutes." Emma said, coming around to help Cady get up. The nurse closed the door as they left.
"I hope he doesn't kill her." Cady whispered, as Emma sat her down in a chair in the hall.
"He'll have to get in line behind me." Emma said. "If she wants to snipe at Matty and me, that's fine, but she better not be treating our tribal elders like that."
"And let me apologize for Mathias." When Cady turned purple again, she said, "Well, let me apologize for myself. I'm sorry I embarrassed you. I would have told you to just get in bed with him. He would have settled down if you snuggled up to him." At Cady's look of shock, "Honey, people do not do the wild thing when they have broken ribs -" When Cady started laughing, she said, "Ok, we are talking about Mathias. I give up."
Both of them were still laughing when Nurse Nasty came out and told them she was done. Mathias was gritting his teeth, he was so mad. "Tell me what happened." He demanded.
"Inez called me and told me you'd been in a car accident and I needed to go to the hospital." Emma said. "And I understand why you did it, but it might have been nice if you'd told me that I was your emergency contact."
At Cady's confused look, Mathias said. "Mom had a nervous breakdown when Dad got killed. I'm not doing that to her again." He sighed, "Please tell me what happened. Did I kill somebody? I can't - I can't remember."
"All Violet told me was that someone ran into you and she was taking you to the hospital." Cady said. "And that you were asking for me."
"Violet brought me to the hospital. In the wrecker?" Mathias asked. "Then, she did kiss Williams. I didn't imagine it."
He missed the absolutely horrified looks that Cady and Emma shot each other. He was seriously hurt. They knew it. Violet was a kind, loving woman who mothered everybody, and Trooper Williams was a big angry man who quite frequently acted like a grizzly bear with a tooth ache. There was no way the two of them would ever get together.
Henry got up at 4am to start breakfast. He had called Emma three times the night before, and left messages, and she hadn't called him back. He had almost called Sue, and just told her that all he wanted to know was if Emma was ok, but he had stopped himself. Emma was mad. He had no money and no prospects. Nothing to offer her. Except himself. Maybe it was better this way. He felt like banging his head against the wall though.
A little before 5am, he heard someone open the outside door, and come in the cook shack. Well, the men were in a hurry for breakfast this morning.
"Not quite ready yet!" He yelled.
But it was Inez who stepped into the kitchen. She looked like she'd been crying, and she was nervously smoothing the creases in her uniform trousers. "Do I look alright, Henry?" she asked.
She must have had a fight with Bill, and there was no way in hell he wanted to get in the middle of that.
"You look lovely, and very professional, Inez." Henry said, which was true.
"I'm just being silly." She looked like she was going to burst into tears again any second. "I'm in charge, and I have to do a good job."
There had been a Tribal Council meeting yesterday. Had Mathias gotten so angry that he had quit? Or had the Tribal Council fired him? Surely he would have heard. Except - Most people had called him on the landline phone at the Pony. Very few people had his cell number.
"Did Mathias get mad and quit?"
"He was in a car accident yesterday." She looked into the eating area to make sure that none of the cowboys had slipped in. "Emma and Cady spent the night with him at the hospital. He's hurt, Henry, and you know how he is." She tried to smile. "It's all a big mess. The Feds have taken over."
Which meant that Mathias had been in a traffic accident with a white man. Even though he didn't like Mathias, he hoped the accident hadn't been his fault. "Was anyone else injured?"
Inez just looked exhausted. Which meant the other party was dead. And she wouldn't have been so upset unless - The person who had been killed was also a government employee. Which left - "Ranger Parker." Henry said.
"He's related to some muckety muck in California, and that's why they sent him here. I guess they thought there were less women for him to get in trouble with. I'm just scared they're going to hang Matty out to dry." She swiped at her eyes. "Trooper Williams saw the whole thing - well, he and Violet did, and he said it was Parker's fault."
"How badly is Mathias hurt?" He might need to call Emma again after all. And why had Cady gone to the hospital? Unless it was just to sit with Emma. Where was Rose?
"He's got some broken ribs and he had stitches in his head, but he hadn't really woken up the last time I talked to Emma. She said she was turning her phone off because it wouldn't stop ringing, and she didn't even know half of the women who were calling her."
So maybe she hadn't gotten any of his messages at all. The look on his face must have said everything, because Inez said, "Hang in there, Henry. She'll get over being mad at you."
All the ranch hands had left to start their day, and Henry was just sitting down to his own breakfast, when his phone rang, and he saw it was Emma.
"I'm sorry, Henry." She said. "I turned my phone off last night. Mathias was in a car accident yesterday and Cady and I have been at the hospital."
"I just wanted to make sure you were alright." Henry said.
"I'm fine, and I'm sorry I got so mad at you. I hope I didn't hurt you, because I know I hit you." He thought she was crying.
"I know I hurt you." Henry said.
'Mathias gave me a lecture and said that you saved me from getting shot." She said, ignoring what he'd said about hurting her, so he knew that he had.
"Is he alright?"
" At first I just thought he was being his normal hateful self, but now I'm afraid he's got brain damage. He's said some really crazy things. He told the nurse that he was you. And that he was a professional bull rider. Then he saw how much he was upsetting Cady. But then he started with more craziness. I told Doc Bloomfield to give him a brain scan, or whatever you call it, to make sure he wasn't bleeding inside his head. The kid is not going to be happy until he gives me a stroke." Emma said.
Henry felt like pointing out that the kid was thirty something, and a self centered asshole, but Emma was upset, so instead he said, "Where's Rose?"
"She took out a hunt with Omar. She moved in with him. I did tell you, didn't I?"
If she had, he'd forgotten it in all the excitement from yesterday. "So Cady came to stay with you."
"The poor girl is in love with Matty. And Henry, I love him, but he doesn't date nice girls. He's slept with half the women on the Rez. Hell, he's slept with half the women in Absaroka County! And if he hurts Cady, I'm going to kill him."
"And I will help you." Henry thought to himself. They talked a few minutes more, and hung up. He looked at his breakfast that he no longer wanted. The daughter of his heart was in love with one of his enemies. He didn't know what to do about that.
Mathias was stretched out on Emma's couch with her laptop. "I didn't figure you'd mind." He said.
"I'll get you a towel. You're going to burn yourself." She said, looking at the computer sitting on his bare stomach.
He shook his head. "It feels good."
"You give up on the pain pills?"
"They just make me puke."
"I'm sorry, Matty."
"You want your computer back?"
She shook her head at him and grinned. "Don't be reading all my emails from my lover though."
"You need to keep Henry." Mathias said, and then thought, "Oh, shit, I should have kept my mouth shut."
"We have managed to be nice to each other for three days." Emma said, giving him a disgusted look. "You started it. So let me tell you something. If you have some crazy notion that you're going to get back at Walt Longmire by playing poor Cady for a fool, I will kick your -" She stopped at the quick flash of hurt across his face, before he hid it and retreated behind his mask of indifference. "Oh, Matty!" She said. "You love her! I'm an idiot. I'm sorry."
He just shook his head at her, and she knew that if he hadn't been hurt, and he'd had any way to leave, he'd have been out of there in a flash.
"I have something for you." She said carefully. "Please don't take off."
"I don't have a vehicle." He said thru gritted teeth.
"And you full well know that half of the ranch trucks always have the keys in them." Emma said over her shoulder, as she left the room.
He couldn't believe that she thought so little of him. But then, he had inherited the nickname, "Casanova of the Rez" from his Uncle Robert.
Emma held up her hand and showed him the ring she was now wearing.
"Great." Mathias thought. "Just great. Henry already asked her to marry him, and now I've put my foot in it and she won't, just to spite me."
"Your Uncle Robert made this for me." She said, sliding it off her finger and putting it in his hand. "From his great grandfather's watch chain." At Matty's bemused look, "He probably took it off a white man that he scalped. Anyway, I would really like it if you would give it to Cady when you're ready. Or if you don't want it -" she looked upset, like maybe she'd done the wrong thing. "I can keep it and give it to Caitlin when she's older."
"I want it." Mathias said, squeezing her fingers for just a second.
"Things are different now. I hope it will be easier for you and Cady." She grinned at him, then looked like she was going to say something else. "Somebody's coming." She said instead.
Mathias still hadn't heard a car, but the dogs started barking, and he got up and followed Emma to the door, to see the Tribal SUV and the Highway Patrol SUV both coming up the driveway.
"I won't let them take you." Emma said, looking frantically at Mathias, before she started to head back inside.
He caught her arm. "Emma, you're not going to shoot anybody." What hadn't she told him? She evidently thought they had come to haul him off to jail. Then, "Wait a minute! Violet's driving! That's my new vehicle that Nighthorse bought me!"
"What?" Emma looked at him in shock. When Violet parked and got out, she was still standing there with her mouth open.
"What's wrong, Emma?" Violet asked.
"I made Doc Bloomfield give him another MRI." Emma said, looking like she was going to start crying. "I thought he had lost his mind."
"Matty, you need to get some clothes on." Violet said, as he hopped in his car, barefooted. "It's too cold out here."
"Let him play." Trooper Williams said, and grinned at her.
Emma turned white as a sheet and looked like she was going to pass out. "Um - um -" she stammered. "Want some coffee, or hot chocolate?"
"Thanks, but I'm on duty." Trooper Williams said. "Violet wanted Matt to have his new car. Make sure you take his keys from him though, I hear he's not cleared to drive for another couple days."
"Thank you." Emma managed. Then, "Thanks, Vi." Looking at Matty inspecting all the gadgets in the car. "It'll give him something to do. He was getting pretty bored."
Violet just grinned at her, and Trooper Williams opened the car door for her, and they left.
Emma got in the passenger side of the SUV with Mathias. She reached and put her hand over his. "Matty, you have got to stop being a jackass. You scared Cady and me really badly. I made Doc Bloomfield give you another MRI."
"Because I said I was Henry?" Mathias asked, not really paying attention.
"Because you said Violet and Troop were making out in the wrecker. And then you said that Nighthorse bought you a new car -" her voice broke. "I thought there was something really wrong with you."
"Well, Violet and Troop is pretty far fetched." Mathias said. "But they seem to really like each other."
"I noticed. I wonder how long that's been going on? I'll get you your coat." Emma said. "The last thing I need is you getting pneumonia."
She retrieved his coat and boots and helped him put them on, and then he drove them around the barnyard twice, even though he wasn't supposed to.
Mathias called the office the next morning after Emma had left to start her day. "Hey, Harve, are you busy?"
"Sorry boss, I'm not supposed to talk to you." Harv said, but he sounded like he was teasing, and Mathias wasn't sure if he was or not.
"What happened when Uncle Robert first married Emma?"
"You mean when they kicked him off the Tribal Council?"
"Shit!" Mathias said. Had he known that, and forgotten it? Or had he just been a kid and never realized what was going on?
"Tate Hunt made some kind of big stink about how a real Indian wouldn't marry a white woman. That man was an asshole."
"So they voted Uncle Robert off?" Mathias asked, clenching his fists.
"Leo told them they were fools, that not all white people were evil, and there was no way in hell that Mrs. Nez would have married them if she hadn't approved."
"Mrs. Nez married them?" Mathias knew that he hadn't known that.
"Mrs. Nez has always thought a lot of Emma. I don't know that Mrs. Nez is really a witch -" Harve stopped. "But she just knows stuff. And you can't lie to her. She got really mad at the Tribal Council, and cursed all of them, except Leo."
"I'm afraid to ask." Mathias said.
"Well Tate Hunt was building a huge new barn, and it caught on fire and burnt to the ground. And then his wife ran off with the milk man."
"We've never had milk men."
"The guy that drove the milk tanker for the dairy. You remember the big Jersey dairy, don't you?"
"Yeah." Mathias said, feeling like an idiot.
"Landis Pettigrew got drunk and passed out on the railroad track and got run over by the midnight train. Sandra Logan, well, she'd been a beauty queen. All her hair fell out. She demanded they give Robert his seat back before anything else happened to her. She resigned, and took off for Canada, I think. But Robert wouldn't go back. Said he had a new wife to spoil and he was going to spend all his time with her."
"Tell me about my car accident."
"I'm not supposed to talk to you."
"Somebody's dead." Mathias said. "Emma thought they'd come to haul me off to jail yesterday."
"It wasn't your fault. We've got two eyewitnesses. And the other party was, shall we say, intoxicated."
"But who -"
"Inez will have my head if she finds out I talked to you at all." Harve said, and hung up.
"Hey, Red." Mathias said when he answered his phone, recognizing Cady's ringtone.
"How are you feeling, Matty?" Cady asked him.
"Just sore. I'm ok." He said, which wasn't true, but he wasn't going to complain to her.
"I need to talk to you and I couldn't find anybody to give me a ride out to the ranch."
"Just spit it out." He said, holding back a sigh. She was going to tell him that she didn't want to see him anymore. She wasn't going to be able to handle him being a cop.
"Branch left me his house." She blurted out. "And I don't want it. Lark told me that I wasn't stupid, that that could be security for me later on. She and Lucian are going to lease it for a year, before we decide anything."
"She and Lucian are going to live in Branch's house?
"They really like Branch's house. Nobody even wants to go to Barlow's. And there's nowhere to live since the casino opened. You know Vic couldn't find anyplace."
"What else?" He knew there was more.
"I found out my opposing council is Dow." She sighed. " I'm scared of him, and he knows it. I wanted to do this by myself, Matty. But now I'm just afraid I'll screw it up. I'll never be half the lawyer that Lark is."
"Well, I don't imagine that Lark knows how to pull a calf. I know she never won a barrel racing championship. And I seem to remember that Lucian said she was the only woman in the world who could completely ruin a cup of coffee."
"Emma can't make coffee either." Cady said, and they both laughed. "Thanks, Matty." She said.
"I thought I might drive up and talk to Marigold since I'm not really supposed to be doing anything." Mathias said. "You want to come with? You can practice being a lawyer on her."
Cady burst out laughing. "Thank you, Matty. You made me feel better. Are you sure you feel up to driving that far?"
"I'm about to go nuts. I moved into the bunkhouse so that Emma and I don't kill each other." Doc Bloomfield had only let him leave the hospital on the condition that he stay with somebody. He couldn't go to Jeanne's, because Caitlin regarded him as her own personal jungle gym, and there was no way his ribs would withstand that.
Cady couldn't believe they were doing this. What had really shocked her was that when she had told Walt that she and Mathias were driving to Montana, and probably spending the night, that all he had done was tell her to make sure she had her gun, and to be careful.
She glanced over at Mathias. It was snowing again, and he was concentrating on driving. He looked so tired. She knew his ribs had to be bothering him. She wondered if any of them would ever be able to relax until they had Boulin locked up. And Charlie's case - she had been so excited that she might be able to help him. And now, she was just afraid that she was going to screw it up. She didn't think she'd be able to live with herself if she lost. Lark had told her, long ago, that sometimes being a lawyer really sucked.
They didn't talk at all, and Cady was relieved when Mathias finally pulled up at the front door of the ski lodge. He'd insisted on putting the reservation in his name, and paying for it. They'd be sharing a room. Cady wasn't sure how she felt about that either. She hoped they had two beds. She was going to feel really bad if Mathias had to sleep on the floor. He was hurt too, and neither one of them could move very fast.
The valet opened her door for her, but Mathias must have scared him, because instead of helping her out as he'd started to, he just held the door open and nodded politely to her while Mathias got her out himself. The valet carried their few bags inside, and Mathias deposited Cady in a big armchair in front of the fireplace, and went to park the tribal SUV.
He was having second thoughts too, Cady realized. It had been one thing when they were talking about it at home. Mathias could rattle Marigold a little bit and see if she'd keep lying for Arlo, and Cady could hit her with the legal side of it. In theory, it had sounded great. But she wasn't so sure that she and Mathias being alone together for any amount of time was a good thing.
Mathias went up to the desk to check them in. Two ski bunnies had just come in from the slopes. They were both tall, blonde, and gorgeous, and probably total airheads, Cady reflected, but they had two working feet. And she didn't think she was going to be able to deal with Mathias honestly until she got her cast off. He was being so careful with her, and that wasn't Mathias. And she was having to be careful too, which she didn't like.
"Ooh….." One of the bunnies said. "I'd really like to share his wigwam." She was looking at Mathias like she was going to jump him in the middle of the floor.
Cady felt a white hot spurt of rage, and if she could have gotten up, she swore that she would have yanked a handful of that blonde hair out - or broken the girl's face - she wasn't sure which. She hoped that Mathias hadn't heard her.
"Can I get you some coffee, ma'am?" One of the hostesses asked.
"Oh, God!" Now people were calling her ma'am. She was going to scream. "No, thank you." She said politely, and looked up at the server, whose name tag read, "Marigold Hoskins." Except she wasn't Marigold. Cady knew that she knew the girl, but she couldn't remember her name. And the girl recognized her at the exact same time, and started backing away.
She'd seen Cady's crutches, and underestimated her. Cady launched to her feet, and grabbed her. The girl who wasn't Marigold shoved her, and took off, and if the two blonde bunnies, who must not be as dumb as they looked, hadn't both caught Cady around her waist, she would have gone down.
"MATTY!" Cady screamed. "Get her!"
Mathias, having no idea what was quietly going on behind him, whirled around and instantly accessed the situation. He sprinted after the woman and grabbed her arm, and when she swung at him, cussing and screaming for all she was worth, he just dropped her on the floor, and cuffed her, in one efficient move.
Cady blinked, and he suddenly morphed into a Cheyenne warrior, his bronze skin glistening in the sunlight -
"Cady, you ok?" Mathias yelled, as he hauled the still screaming woman to her feet, and her fantasy evaporated.
"I'm ok!" Cady called back, wondering what was going on. She had just meant for him to stop the girl, but whoever she was, she was fighting Mathias for all she was worth, and cussing a blue streak. And Mathias was furious. He wrestled the girl out the door, and Cady suddenly realized that every woman in the lobby was watching him. He was an attractive man, but when he got mad, and his eyes snapped like that, something about him just -
"Whew!" One of the older ladies said, and fanned herself with a ski brochure. "If I was twenty years younger, that man wouldn't know what hit him."
"More like thirty." Her companion said, and grinned. When the first woman slapped her with her brochure, "I need some ice cream. I don't know if it's that gorgeous hunk of man, or if I'm having a hot flash."
"It's that man!" The girl behind the desk said, "But I think we're embarrassing his wife." And looked directly at Cady.
Cady knew she was turning purple. Everyone turned to look at her.
"Are you a cop too?" One of the ladies asked.
Cady shook her head. She didn't think she could talk. She was mortified.
"She still tried to help him though." One of the bunnies said, as she and her friend helped Cady sit back down. "Are you ok?" she whispered to Cady.
Her girlfriend punched her. "Just because your husband is sex on a stick you don't want every other woman in the world drooling over him." She hissed. "I'm sorry." She said to Cady. "He's just -" Mathias walked back in the lobby then, and she faltered. "Really nice to look at." She finally said.
"Thanks." Mathias said to the two bunnies, instantly dismissing them, as he caught Cady's hands. "You ok?" he looked down at her worriedly.
Cady almost, almost felt sorry for the two bunnies. Never mind that not five minutes ago she had been quite ready to rip one of thems heads off. It was quite apparent that no one had ever ignored them before. "Thanks." She said suddenly, realizing that she hadn't said a word to them.
They just grinned at her as they left, but she noticed that both of them were still checking Mathias out.
"Cady?" Mathias put his hand on her cheek. "You ok? Did she punch you?"
"No, Matty, I'm fine." Cady said, trying to figure out what had just happened. "Are you ok? You shouldn't have done that with your ribs." When he just shrugged it off, "Who is that girl? I know I know her, but?" she shrugged.
"Her name's Mary Little River and I've got at least three warrants for her arrest, and Walt's probably got some too."
"She's a -" Cady suddenly remembered the girl. She didn't know why she was embarrassed.
"She's a prostitute and a meth dealer." Mathias said flatly. "And since she appears to have assumed Marigold's identity, maybe a murderer as well." He looked at her worriedly. "You sure you're ok?"
"Something going on here I need to know about?" A voice behind Mathias asked, and Cady got a good look at an older man wearing a sheriff's uniform, who did not look happy. And just like that, reality was back.
"Sorry, sir. I didn't mean for that to happen." Matty said, and his mask was back on. "My girlfriend and I just came up for the weekend and a woman I've got some warrants on turned out to be working here."
"Your girlfriend?" The man said.
Cady didn't like the way he looked at Mathias. She didn't like the way he was talking down to him either. "My name's Cady Longmire. I'm Mathias's fiancé. We're getting married July 4th."
Dear God, she had actually said it out loud. Mathias was going to kill her. He might be in a little trouble for arresting somebody where he had no jurisdiction, but she'd just made it worse. He was looking at her like he didn't even know who she was.
"You Walt Longmire's kid?"
"Yes sir." Cady said. What she wanted to do was ask him what in the hell her being Walt's daughter had to do with any of this, but she decided she'd better keep her mouth shut.
"What did you plan to do with the woman?" The sheriff asked Mathias.
"Well I locked her in my car, so I could come make sure my fiancé was ok. She shoved her down. And then I was going to call the locals." Mathias shifted his feet, "But she seems to have assumed another woman's identity. So maybe she's looking at murder as well."
"I'll haul her in, so you don't have to ruin your weekend." The sheriff said, and he and Mathias went outside.
Cady gritted her teeth. She could not believe what she'd just done. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and texted Vic, "Where's Dad?"
"Out on a call. Everything OK?" came back.
"Just need to ask him something." Cady typed back, and stuck her phone back in her purse. The last thing she needed was for the sheriff to come back in and see her frantically texting away.
Mathias came back, gave her a look that said he didn't even know who in the hell she was, and hauled her to her feet. He kept a tight hold on her arm as they got in the elevator, with the valet bringing their little bit of luggage.
Cady sat down on the bed, and decided that that had been a mistake. Mathias shut the door, and turned to her, his hands on his hips. He was mad.
"It was really nice of you to inform me of our wedding date." He hissed.
"As far as I'm concerned, Mrs. Nez can marry us in your office when you can spare five minutes." Cady hissed back at him. What was wrong with her?
"That's not legal in the white man's world." Mathias said, and propped a foot on the bed.
"Well after Mrs. Nez marries us, we can skip on over to the justice of the peace."
"What kind of ring do you want?"
"What?" Cady looked at him in shock.
"What kind of engagement ring do you want?"
"I don't want a ring."
"Because this is all just a big joke to you." He had gone from being mad to something she didn't understand at all.
"I want a home." Cady said. "I always thought it was stupid to waste so much money on a diamond when there were so many practical things you needed."
"You have a house. Branch gave you his."
"I want a home. Like Jeanne has. With kids, and love and laughter, and dogs and cats underfoot, and the horses in the backyard. Like I used to have before Mom died."
"I have to live on the Rez." Mathias said.
"I want the Walker's house." As the look on his face changed again, she grabbed for her computer. "Jeanne told me it's for sale." She pulled up the listing. "I emailed the realtor and I have a meeting on Monday."
"You want to live on the Rez?" his voice was disbelieving.
"Most of my clients will be on the Rez." Cady reminded him. "It makes no sense for me to live off it. I always loved the Walkers house. It was a happy place, and Mrs. Walker made the best cookies. She spoiled Jeanne and I rotten."
Mathias actually took the computer and scrolled thru the photos. "I'll buy the house." He said.
"Matty, what?" Cady looked at him in disbelief.
"I'm supposed to support my wife and kids. I'll buy the house." He said again. "You do want kids, right?"
"Not right this minute." Cady said. This sounded like some kind of business merger. There was nothing remotely romantic about it at all.
"Two?"
"A boy and a little girl, hopefully." Cady said, but what she wanted to say was a little boy who looks just like you.
"I'll buy the house." Mathias said again, like it was a done deal. "You can help me pay for the repairs, and I know you'll want a new barn for Smokey."" At the look on her face, "You don't get it, do you?"
"Mathias, I know you're mad at me, and I'm sorry. I didn't like the way that sheriff talked down to you -"
"You think I'm not used to that? You think I don't deal with that everyday?" He looked at her, and then he was back to being sad again. "It's all a game to you." He got up and walked to the other end of the room.
"Mrs. Nez told me that you were a Cheyenne princess." He had his back to her, and she was afraid he might be crying. "She said it wasn't your fault that you were trapped in a white girl's body. And that you were my destiny, no matter how much I -" he clenched his fists, and then he sighed. " Just forget it. I'll take you home in the morning." He started to leave.
Cady grabbed for her crutches, dropped them. "SHIT!" she said, "Mathias, this isn't fair, I can't chase you!" she yelled at his back. As he opened the outside door, "I love you, you idiot! And I don't know why, because you are the biggest pain in the ass in the world! I was so scared that you were going to get killed at the Dino Mart, and I hadn't told you, and I was afraid if I said anything it would distract you and make you get shot, and I asked Vic what to do and she didn't know either. And she's just as stupid as I am because she's in love with Dad and he won't even acknowledge her - " her voice trailed off.
Mathias shut the door, but he didn't turn around. "We'll have to get married at Emma's." he said.
"What?" Cady asked, tears streaming down her face.
"There's not enough room at Mom's for the horses and all the wedding party." He said sensibly. "I mean, I listened to you and Jeanne talk about it for years. The big wedding on horseback. How romantic it was, because you saw it on that western. And Jeanne, for all her talking, had Mrs. Nez marry her and Lane in Mom's backyard. And the next day they went to the justice of the peace and had a white man's wedding. But they had their Cheyenne ceremony first." He cleared his throat. "You want to invite Bill Beeker? I mean, he was supposed to be the groom, not me."
"Bill's dead." Cady snapped at him, shocked and horrified that he remembered all that from their childhood.
"Shit." Mathias said, finally turning around. "I'm sorry, Cady. I didn't know that."
"I'd already broken up with him." Cady said. "I decided I didn't want to be a rough stock rider's widow. You had enough sense to stop riding bulls, and Lane was - Lane was careful."
"You might be a tribal cop's widow though." Mathias said, looking at her worriedly.
"You will not do anything stupid and get yourself killed." Cady said. "I mean it, Matty."
"I'll try my best not to get myself killed." He wasn't even smiling. "Do you want some dinner?"
She shook her head. She wasn't hungry. This day had been too full already. She and Mathias were getting married. July 4th was her favorite holiday, she liked it even better than Christmas. And she did want Mrs. Nez to conduct part of the ceremony. Couples that Mrs. Nez married, did not divorce. Cady didn't know if it was because they were afraid of her, or just that they had more traditional values, but they worked thru their problems, went to counseling if they needed it, and stayed together. "Mathias," she said carefully. "I'm not a princess."
"You are to me." He said, and for once he dropped that mask that he usually wore.
"Matty?"
"I am going to kiss my fiancé good night." Mathias said. And this time, he actually did kiss her. Cady looked at him in shock.
"Go to sleep." Mathias said.
"Matty?" she knew she'd never be able to sleep after that kiss.
"That's all you get sweetheart." He grinned at her. "Nobody is counting my first baby's birthday."
"Matty, people don't do that anymore!"
"Yeah, they do." He just looked at her. "And Mom and Ruby would kill us both."
"Not Emma?" Cady asked devilishly.
"Emma is a rancher. She's more practical."
"Will you at least lay down and talk to me?"
He gave her a look that said she was an idiot.
"I solemnly swear not to ravish you." Cady said, holding up her right hand, and he actually laughed out loud.
"Ok." He said, and stretched out next to her.
"But I have a question?"
"Ok, lawyer lady."
"Do I have to wait 'til our wedding night to have you?"
"Just 'til your cast comes off."
"Matty, we could be careful -"
"I don't want to break anything else." He waggled his eyebrows at her and made her laugh. Then, "When you yelled at me I thought you had pulled out half of that blonde woman's hair, and wanted me to sit on her so you could finish the job."
"You heard her."
"I don't want to share my wigwam with anybody but you." He laughed again. "This brings back some memories." And then he sighed.
"Don't cry, Matty."
"I'm not." He said, and it was only when she brushed the tears from his face that he realized he was.
Mrs. Ferguson had had Rocket in training. She'd planned a twenty five mile ride, and had left the truck and trailer at Lane's parents the day before, so they had a way back home. All the kids had gotten off the school bus at Lane's to get in some roping practice.
Ferg was the editor of the rodeo newspaper, and a talented photographer. He usually just sat on a gentle horse and snapped photos, or acted as their timer.
Mathias usually roped with Lane, but it was a given, that if Jeanne was anywhere around, his buddy preferred being with her. So he roped with Cady, and didn't complain. He'd tried to be nicer since Laughing Bird was gone.
Emma came to pick he and Jeanne up. They were all still living at the ranch, and Mathias didn't think they'd ever go home. All of them had been shattered when Tommy had been killed, but Rose was just broken. He didn't think his Mom would ever be herself again.
That's when they realized that Mrs. Ferguson was long overdue. Emma went in the house and made some phone calls, and when she came back out, they could tell that she was really worried.
"Lane, you and Matty saddle up some fresh horses." She said. "Rocket's probably just thrown a shoe." But if he had, all Betty would have had to do was lead him out to the highway and flag down a trucker. Any of them would have called a ride for her on the CB. And any of the local ranchers would have come to help her.
She's pulled a map from her truck, laid it on the hood, and was marking areas off in a grid, when Lucian and Leo pulled up, fishing poles still in the back of Lucian's truck. Mathias and Lane were saddling horses, Cady, Jeanne, and Ferg were giving the ones they'd been using a fast grooming.
Leo took the map, pointed at the kids, and started talking. Mathias figured that it would be teams of a kid and a grown up going out to search. But Lucian said something, Leo turned white as a sheet, and Emma grabbed hold of the truck mirror and looked like she was going to start crying. Whatever Lucian had said, had definitely changed things. Emma opened the truck door and retrieved her gun belt and .45 and buckled it on.
Lucian evidently said something about her staying with the kids, and Emma let him have it. They were too far away for Mathias to hear the words, but he knew what she was saying. She was a better rider than any of them, and she knew the area like the back of her hand. Emma started walking towards the barn, and Leo called her back to the truck. The three of them went back to the map, Emma grabbed a pad and made some notes. Then she went back in the house, to get back on the phone, he supposed.
About thirty minutes later, trucks and trailers started pulling into the yard. Walt came in the sheriff's car, and Martha brought their truck and trailer with their horses. Mathias figured that his Uncle Robert would let him search no matter what Lucian had said, but he was wrong. He was shocked when he was told to help Lane finish all the chores and to be nice to the girls. Robert must have figured that he was fixing to blow up, because he said quietly, "Mathias, I need you to act like a man and not a spoiled little kid. Lucian thinks that Arlo Boulin shot Mrs. Ferguson. You know Rocket does look a lot like Voncett Redwing's brown pinto from a distance. And Voncett and Betty do favor each other a little. The Boulins and Redwings have been enemies for years, you know that. You know how it is since you lost your Dad. Well Ferg lost his girlfriend and he may lose his mother. Do the chores, do what Lane's Mom tells you, and behave yourself."
Mathias didn't like it, but he went and helped unload the rest of the horses off the trailer. He tightened Emma's cinch for her and held her horse for her to get on. Not that she needed the help, but there were horses and riders milling everywhere. She squeezed his shoulder for just a minute before she headed out with Robert.
Lane's Mom called Ferg into the house, they figured she wanted to talk to him without them underfoot. Mathias went to get the cow for Jeanne to milk, she was a hateful old witch and hard to lead. Lane was on one side of the barn forking hay down to the horses and Cady was on the other.
They finished all the chores, and shut the barn up for the night. Mathias clowned around and actually got both the girls to laugh. As they headed for the house, carrying the milk pail between them, Lane grabbed Mathias in a headlock.
"Thanks, little brother." He said quietly.
They'd only picked at the dinner that Lane's Mom had made, none of them had any appetite. The girls helped her clean up the kitchen and the boys spread sleeping bags out in the living room. Lane's Mom made them go to bed at 11:30. There was still no word from anyone.
Mathias figured that Ferg was probably going to cry, and he was going to give him the sleeping bag on the end closest to the door. But Cady pointed out where everyone was going to sleep. Lane, Jeanne, Ferg, herself, and Matty. Nobody argued with her. Everyone was silent for a long, long time, and then Ferg started crying. Cady and Jeanne both talked to him, and Mathias reached over and put a hand on Cady's arm in silent comfort. Finally Ferg cried himself to sleep. It was only a few seconds later when Mathias had heard Jeanne make a soft little sound of distress and knew his sister was crying. He felt, as much as heard, Lane move, and knew he was holding Jeanne. And then he realized that Cady was crying too. He took the back of his hand and brushed the tears from her face, and then he caught her hand and held it. All night long.
It was almost dawn when Emma stumbled into the house. She was so exhausted that she could hardly walk. They were all instantly out of their sleeping bags, and she had told Ferg that his Mom was alive, and they needed to get to the hospital.
"I always wondered if it would have made any difference if we'd all gone out looking as soon as we realized she was late." Cady whispered. "We might have found her before dark and gotten her to the hospital. And I know why Lucian did what he did, but -"
"It's not easy being a lawman."
Mathias finally went to sleep, but Cady didn't. She realized that he hadn't told her that he loved her, though she knew him well enough to know that he did. Walt had never said the words either. Was she going to spend the rest of her life with a man who was as reticent as her Dad?