When I opened my eyes I expected to find aqua-blue orbs starin' down at me. Instead I saw a chin that needed to be shaved. Simon, no doubt in my mind. "Hey, partner. Welcome back."
Welcome back? I didn't remember goin' anywhere. At least I didn't right away. Then it came back slowly; the heat, the dark, the dirt, the falling down I kept doing. I started to reach for my forehead, but Simon caught my hand and stopped me. "It's bandaged already."
"Was it that bad?" I asked rather weakly.
"No, I've seen worse, but you are a Maverick – and you bleed like one. So, as a precaution . . . "
The room was quiet, like we were the only two in it. "Doralice?"
Simon chuckled slightly. "Downstairs with Althea getting lunch."
"Lunch?" It was just barely morning, the last I remembered.
"Lunch. You've been out for quite a while, Bart."
"Can I . . . sit up?"
"Sure you won't fall out of bed?"
"Did I do that?"
"You tried. Fortunately I'd just sat down and I wasn't going to let you go anywhere."
"Like last night. Couldn't stay on my feet."
"That's what Doralice said. What were you doing outside, anyway?"
"Woke up and couldn't breathe. Had to get some air."
"Night sweats, too?"
"Yeah."
The questions stopped, momentarily, at least. Simon helped me sit up in bed just as Doralice and Althea returned to the room.
"You're awake!" Doralice sounded surprised.
"I am? Oh, yes, I am. Sorry."
"Can we go home now?"
Simon shook his head. "I think you better wait another day. Let's give that head wound a chance to heal a little."
"I can drive the buggy. At least if we're back at the ranch the grounds will be familiar." God bless the woman, always thinkin' ahead.
Doctor Petry gave the suggestion careful consideration. "Alright, but only if you let us follow you."
"That's not . . . " I started.
"That'll be fine." I was overruled by my lady. "How soon can you be ready to go?"
"I have to pack," Althea answered. "Maybe an hour."
"Good. We can get some food in this man before we leave."
"We?" I questioned Simon.
"Don't want you going down stairs by yourself. At least not today."
"What about coming up stairs?"
Petry shook his head. "You won't have to. I'll come up and get the luggage."
I relented. "Alright. Let me get dressed."
I was over-ruled on that one, too. "I'll help with that." Doralice was firm.
It took a few minutes but I finally looked presentable, and the three of us started downstairs. Truth be told it was a good thing that Simon was with us, because I lost my balance in a spot or two. By the time I was done eating, the ladies were packed and ready to go. It took another hour to get everything loaded and squared away, and I felt a bit silly when Doralice took the reins. But I was happy to be headin' back to Little Bend; as had been mentioned earlier, at least I knew my way around the ranch and wouldn't be stumblin' in the dark on unfamiliar ground.
The trip home was about as eventful as the trip there had been, and by the time the sun started to go down we pulled up in front of Ben's house. Lily Mae was the first one out and was grateful that Simon had been in Claytonville to lend a helping hand. Eventually Pappy and Uncle Ben came out to get everything put away, and Pappy was a lot more cordial to the Petry's than he'd been in a long time. Doralice insisted I go back to bed, and Simon agreed with her. "Just for today," the doctor affirmed, "Tomorrow you can go back to your normal routine." I finally gave in, just so I wouldn't have to listen to the two of 'em gangin' up on me.
Once Simon and Althea were on their way, I argued that I would be much more comfortable in front of the fire with everyone else than I would be upstairs in bed by myself. Doralice saw the wisdom in that, hoping that I would stay put once my family was around me and she had help keeping an eye on me. I was content to toe the line; my head still hurt, and everyone had gone out of their way to take care of me. There was no sense in misbehaving any further.
Supper was ready and everyone ate – I even managed a small plate of food. Beau and Lettie were awfully quiet and everything seemed peaceful. At least right now.
XXXXXXXX
I'm not exactly sure just when the fight started. Not a physical fight, of course, just a rapidly escalating argument that seemed to get out of hand. Sometime after supper everyone had adjourned to the front room, with me sitting closest to the fire. Doralice was to my immediate right, then Pappy, Ben, Lily Mae, Beau, and Lettie. We were talking about The Four Mavericks' saloon up in Montana, and what had been goin' on there since the rebuilding.
"Jody and Beck still aren't married – they just don't seem able to find the time. Between Beck's practice and the saloon, they're busy day and night." That was Beau's take on the matter.
"I wondered why I hadn't gotten a summons to give the bride away. Isn't it about time they forgot about work and concentrated on each other?" If ever two people should be married, it was my 'sister' Jody and Doctor Beckham Dooley.
"She won't listen to anybody anymore. Just keeps expanding and improving the saloon, and encouraging Doc to do the same with his clinic. Stubborn woman." There was more than a trace of hostility and bitterness in Lettie's voice, and I wondered what it all meant. The last letter I got from Jody was almost six months ago, and she didn't mention Lettie or her leaving at all.
Maybe no one else saw the look that Beau aimed at Lettie, but I did. He wasn't at all happy with her, or her remarks; I'm not sure which.
"Maybe that's what makes her happy," Uncle Ben remarked.
"Hmpf," was the only sound from Lettie.
"Well, at least if she's stubborn she comes by it honestly. Every one of us has the same problem," Pappy added.
"Some of us more than others," I finished.
"I think – "
"That's enough, Leticia," Beau interrupted her. "Jody and Beck have the right to live their lives any way they want without you constantly criticizin' 'em." Beau's tone was soft and gentle, but it lit a fire under the girl.
"I'm entitled to my opinion, Beau," she snapped back at him.
"Yes, you are, and I'm entitled to some relief from listenin' to you express it. You don't approve of Jody and Beck. Maybe they don't approve of you, either. But they don't try to beat you into the ground with it."
Was this the cause of the discord between the two of them? Like I said before, somethin' was bothering Beau, and he'd been real close-mouthed about just what it was. I tried to change the subject, unsuccessfully, as it turned out. "What about you and Leticia, Beau? You got any future travel plans?"
"We can go anywhere Beau wants to, as long as it's not back to Silver Creek." Lettie had swung the conversation back her way again.
"Why is that, Leticia?" Ben asked innocently.
Before Lettie could say anything, Cousin Beau got up and left the room. The girl quickly got out of her chair and followed him, and it was only a few seconds before voices were heard in the kitchen, arguing. The volume increased until every word they yelled at each other could be heard quite clearly.
"You couldn't let it go, could you?"
"No, I couldn't. What do you expect, after the way I was treated?"
"That was months ago, Leticia. Don't you ever forget anything?"
"Could you forget it if someone called you a whore?"
There was dead silence for more than a minute, then Beau's voice said somethin' that we couldn't quite make out. Just a few seconds later a slap echoed through the house, followed by footsteps running from the hall and up the stairs. "Lettie!" Beau yelled, and it was evident from the racket that he'd run upstairs after her. The sound of a door slamming concluded the fight, and all downstairs fell silent once again.
"Trouble in paradise." Trust Pappy to make the remark. Doralice reached over and took my hand, giving it a squeeze.
"I don't think that's paradise," Lily Mae added.
Ben finally commented. "And that's more than trouble."