Chapter Three

Benjamin Issacson got off the stage at the Jack County station. It was the end of the line for the rail. He had removed his jacket and rolled up his white sleeves on the train. The dry heat had baked him since Kansas. The ride since Salt Lake City had worn him down. He had never been past Denver before. The prairie lands were dry and arid. The southern train into Fort Worth was fraught with drover cars and cattle scents.

He checked into the hotel, changed his clothes, and went straight to the first address on his list. No one answered. He peered into the windows and could not see anyone at the lawyer's office. There was unopened mail piled up in the slot.

He telegraphed Jarrod and Nick: Arrived. Property Jack County.

Jarrod had told him to telegram them and not the Wheelers to protect their location.

He felt his jacket pocket and was assured the deed was still there. Jarrod and Nick's plan was well-thought-out and—-crafty to say the least.

"Well, I might as well ride out to the ranch on second thought." He checked his sidearm as Jarrod reminded him.

He rented a horse at the livery and headed out north on a mare. A hand at the livery waited until Ben left and went the other direction to report to Mr. Magness.

He rode the six miles to the Wheeler ranch. The gate was open and no livestock was to be found. Ben walked around outside and saw an empty corral, chicken coop, and barn. A single barn cat came out of the corral meowing loudly at him. He jumped back in surprise and said a little prayer to YHWH that no one was around to see his discomfort.

The front door was not locked; he drew his gun and slowly went in. The house had been ransacked; drawers and cabinets left wide open.

He carefully went through each room to make sure he was alone; he ascertained he was.

The bedroom closets were opened and emptied. The wedding dress on the list was shredded in a heap on the floor. He pulled up the torn lace overlay and carefully folded it up and put it in the velvet ladies bag he found to hide the items. He found the Bible quite easily and laid it on top of the lace. He saw a child's picture book unscathed on the bookcase. He took it.

The gun cabinets and racks were empty. No ammunition was left, not even a bullet. In the study, the desk had been torn apart and papers shredded.

He found the arrow broken in half under the debris. He picked it up and placed it in the Bible to protect it. He searched the bedrooms and living areas carefully for any more family mementos. There were none left. The oak furniture had been taken to by an ax; the mirrors shattered. There were bullet holes in the walls. Curtains were pulled down. Most of the windows were shot out.

A Stetson and a black hat were crushed on the floor as he passed them. He remembered Jarrod telling them how the Wheelers escaped the Magness family's wrath with their minimal belongings in a chuckwagon.

The kitchen and dining room were the last to search. Every bit of China was broken into shards. He stepped over several empty whiskey bottles. He crunched across the floor in his boots. He opened the sideboard. A tatted tablecloth was wrapped in newspapers. Along with two odd purple glass bud vases.

He gingerly picked them up. "This looks very old and full of memories. I will take it too. Riva's mother had one just like this and brought it out for family dinners."

He methodically went through the kitchen cabinets. Nothing of sentimental value seemed to be left there. His parents had died young and he had been raised by his Uncle Abraham and Aunt Riva. They had no living children of their own and she made sure he knew the history of every item in their home.

"Memories are kept in our hearts and on our shelves" she had told him.

He walked onto the back porch of the rambling ranch home. A table and chairs were set for four with dirty spatterware plates and mugs, the kind found in every mercantile. An old coffee pot and extra mugs were on a pot-bellied stove. In the window was a dried arrangement of prairie flowers in a crystal vase.

"That's what I am looking for! Carl's grandmother's prize possession when she came west as a young bride. Her family had brought it from the old country. The marauders had no idea of its worth or it would be in shards too."

He emptied the vase, wrapped it and the bud vases inside in the tablecloth, and packed it in the valise. He walked through the home one more time and found nothing else of value except a worn sewing basket. It contained scissors, a seam ripper, several crocheted and tatted laces on cards, needles, and an assortment of thimbles, some of which looked very old. An unfinished baby gown was on top of the basket.

Ben picked it up and examined it. Riva had kept his mother's basket to remind her of her sister—-"Why not? They can discard it and I have plenty of room in the valise."

Since Carl had packed photographs and jewelry and quilts into the chuck wagon as well as their personal items for the quick escape to California, he had almost thought of everything in Ben's estimation. "Maybe these few items I have found will soften the loss a tad."

Ben looked around at the rambling ranch house, built with love and added onto for years. He pulled the door closed respectfully and looked up.

A single horseshoe hung over the door. He took it down too. "Might like to have this too"

He rode quickly back into town as he realized he was being followed. He went into the livery, walked out the back alley into a hardware store and then into a feed store. He watched as the man tailing him was still watching the livery. He tossed a coin to the boy manning the seed bins. He went out back and into the side door of the freight office. He paid for the items to be packed into a wooden crate and shipped to Nick Barkley at the ranch. He watched as they were loaded onto a train car and he headed back to the hotel, his hand on his gun the whole time.

The man tailing him and frustrated at the livery saw him and took after him across the street. The last thing Ben remembered was locking his hotel door behind him and a resounding thud at the back of his head.

—&—

Liesel fretted all evening over Jarrod's night meeting.

"Stop it, Liesel. He has given you no reason to distrust him. He has been the most attention husband, father and lover—"

But she couldn't settle her nerves. She trimmed the lights downstairs leaving only the one in the foyer. She went upstairs and readied herself for bed. She picked out a new pink nightgown and tried to go to sleep to no avail.

The clock struck midnight and she got up; she looked out the window facing the street for a few minutes until she saw the rig pull into the carriage house. Quickly she got into bed and pretended to be asleep.

She followed his movements by the sounds. Door then stairs then water closet. The bedroom door opened quietly and she heard his boots gently tap into his dressing room. She heard the soft shuffle of him hanging up his clothes; the drawer opened and she assumed his silk pajamas were removed.

He quietly slipped into bed and kissed her on the top of her head. He pulled her into his arms and began to spoon. She sighed and rolled over into his arms. She took a deep breath and was relieved to take in the scent of bay, cigars, and scotch.

"No perfume" she chastised herself relieved, and so ardently responded that she surprised herself and Jarrod.

"Well Mrs. Barkley, I missed you too"

—&—

Heath, Nick, and Ed rode in from their hunt just as Jim Rivers rode up in a two-seater buggy to pick up Isabella for the dance.

The men took their guns to the gun room as Jim waited to be announced. Nick was pleasant; Heath and Ed just responded with minimal grunts and nods to the awkward small talk.

Silas called up for Isabella and she walked downstairs with Victoria. Audra smiled from the landing.

Her strawberry blonde ringlets were pulled back in a half chignon and her eyes shone brightly in the cerulean blue dress chosen by Audra. She wore the pearl drop necklace of Marie's.

Jim stood in awe holding the flowers he had brought her. She smiled sweetly as the men coming out of the study caught her eye.

Ed stopped mid-step as he caught sight of Isabella. Jarrod's admonition to stay away from the young innocent crossed his mind. I wish I wasn't a man of my word.

Victoria's words brought him out of his thoughts.

"Welcome back. I hope you had a very successful hunt. The larder and smokehouse have plenty of room. You know Jim Rivers?"

Nick began to describe the hunt and multiple kills of deer and elk. "The meat is already on ice"

Ed took a step forward, "Miss Beaufort, you are a vision. I would come closer but the stench of the hunt is still upon me. A Diana as yourself would recognize it immediately."

Nick blurted out, "Diana? Who is Diana?"

Victoria stifled a laugh, "Nicholas you may not have paid attention the day they learned about the huntress Diana of mythology at the Stockton schoolhouse."

"Oh yeah, her. Well, have her home early, Rivers. I will be heading upstairs."

Ed followed him up with another appraising, wolffish look at Isabella, "Goodnight"

Heath walked out of the door frame where he hung back-just watching her.

He dipped his head, "You look lovely, Bella. Good night" and glared at Jim.

Isabella took one more look at Heath. Their eyes met and he ducked away first.

She took Jim's arm and headed out for her first dance in America.

—&—-

Jane and Douglas were finishing up supper in the foreman's cottage. She was cleaning up the dishes as he banked the fire. He came over and grabbed a dish towel to dry the dishes she had placed on the counter.

"Oh my Douglas, that's my job"

"Jane, I have dried dishes for the past thirty-odd years. It ain't hurt me yet"

They looked up as the rig left the ranch.

"That's Jim Rivers from town; he owns the new store. He was pretty sweet on Isabella in town and at church. Audra convinced her to go to the dance. She looked lovely when I saw her before supper. I hope they have a wonderful time at the dance."

"Janie, do you miss those fancy balls back east?

"Not one ounce, Douglas McColl"

He pulled her close and dropped the dishtowel. He grinned at her and turned her towards him. Grabbing her hand and placing his large hand in the small of her back began to dance her around the kitchen.

"I don't need no music to hold you close, Miss Jane. I hear my own music when you are here"

"Oh" she sighed

And they danced to their own music in the small cabin and felt very spry in each other's arms in her first dance in California.