PART II – Scotty
May 1882

Chapter 7
The Shopping Excursion

Leah pursed her lips as she peered down the two rut road that led off from the main one. She was fairly certain that the house she was looking for was located in that direction, but she was not sure. She didn't want to come up on the wrong dwelling and find herself as an unwanted and unwelcome guest. She wasn't sure if she'd be welcome anyway, uninvited as she was.

But with a final sigh she urged her palomino horse forward and ducked beneath a shady oak. The small road twisted through the sparse forest, the musty scent of decomposing leaves and moist earth tickled her nose. The trail led to a clearing in the trees with a medium sized cabin situated in the middle, a barn to its left and a corral just beyond that. A larger trail through the trees was cut that led out to the main pasture land of the ranch. Leah could see dots grazing along the flailing grasses.

In front of the cabin was a clothes line lined with various sizes of clothing, men's britches, shirts, a boy's clothes and a girl's. And Leah could see the dusky form of the girl hanging up the clothes. When she approached the girl stopped and stared at her, her dark eyes large and frightened.

Carefully Leah swung off her horse and stepped closer to the girl. "Hello. My name's Leah O'Leary. Is Scotty home?"

The girl had been frozen in place, but now she broke free and ran towards the house, two twin braids flying and she was crying "Ma! Ma! Ma!"

Scotty came running to the door way, a dish towel in her hand and fear on her face. When she saw Leah standing there, holding the reins of her horse and looking rather bewildered, relief shone from her face. "Goodness, Nellie," she shook her head at the girl. "Come on in, Leah," she motioned, a smile on her face. "We haven't gotten many visitors of late."

Leah wasn't sure they'd had visitors since they'd moved to Stockton, with the exception of Nick in the beginning, unless Jarrod had come by to see her and Leah hadn't known of it. "I'm sorry if I startled her," Leah apologized.

Scotty shook her head. "Nellie, why didn't you answer Miss Leah?"

The girl hung her head, but didn't reply. "She wasn't going to hurt ya, ya know?"

The girl still didn't say anything and Scotty sighed. "Tell Miss Leah your name at least."

"My name's Nellie Scott," the girl said in such a low tone that Leah had to lean forward to hear. She had not raised her head, but continued staring at her feet.

"I'm pleased to meet you Nellie," Leah said and held out her hand to the poor frightened child. The girl looked up horrified at Scotty who stared at her sternly.

"It's okay," Leah withdrew her hand. "She doesn't have to shake my hand." Relief shone in her face.

"No," Scotty shook her head, sadly. "I'd rather that she did."

Nellie sighed and extended a trembling hand, that Leah took and gently shook. Then the terrified little girl stared up at Scotty and she gave an assenting nod, to which Nellie took off running towards the clothes line and hid behind a sheet. That's when Leah noticed a tow-headed boy poking his head around Scotty. "And who is this?" she asked smiling.

"This'll be Luke, my youngest," she smiled at the boy who jumped forward.

"Hello," he said, half-bashful, half-enthusiastic. "Do I call you Miss Leah too?"

"You may," Leah followed Scotty into the house. "I hope I'm not intruding on you?"

"No, no, of course not. I'm glad you came by. Haven't been to town in a while to of dropped by to see you."

"I'm sure you have lots to do around here," Leah commented idly as the boy dropped back down on the front room floor, lying on his belly, his legs swaying in the air as he looked through a book.

"True, but I'm always glad to have company."

"I actually had an ulterior motive for dropping by," she said, smiling slightly. "I wanted to invite you to join Audra and I for a small shopping trip in town."

"Shopping trip?"

"Yes," Leah nodded. "We're looking for dress goods for what we are going to wear at the 4th of July celebration."

Scotty raised one eyebrow incredulously. "Me? In a dress?" she chuckled to herself. "Ah can't remember the last time ah wore a dress." Leah frowned, taken a little aback by her words. "Oh, don't be offended. Ah didn't mean fer it to sound quite like that," she hastened to add. "I'd love to join y'all. Ah suppose ah should pick out some material for the boys shirts and Nellie's dress. I ain't made 'em some good stuff in a while. And ah might pick me out somethen."

Leah's face brightened a little. "We'd love to have you," she added. "We thought we'd go in this Friday if it's not too soon for you?"

"Course not," Scotty smiled.

"You could bring Nellie along as well if you wanted, and Luke too."

Scotty frowned slightly and shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Not many folks take too kindly to a white woman raising black children. Some black folks don't take too much to it either. And besides that Nellie don't take it too well when folks makes comments on the color of her skin. She…well, saw things, 'fore ah found her. Took me and the boys nearly six months to get her fully out of her shell around us. The Klan had some…activities in the area where she lived and it's made her fear most any white folks that she doesn't already know."

"That's terrible!" Leah responded. "Poor child." She murmured.

"Ah find it's best to let 'er stay home with the others most of the time. Ah do try to help her get over her fear, but…" she sighed. "It's difficult. Ah hate makin' her do somethen that terrifies her so and most people don't help much."

They were silent for a few moments before Scotty spoke again. "So what time do we need to be in town Friday?"

"We were going to try to be out around 10 or so. Audra said she'd stop by to pick you up. And Jarrod's invited us to have lunch with him."

"All right," Scotty nodded. "I'll be waiting fer Audra then."

Bob Tylin staggered down the road. He couldn't remember how he got here exactly, only that he needed to follow this road to find the petticoat rancher, his former boss. He'd never much cared for the woman, or taking orders from her, but she did have a weakness. He'd always been able to convince her that she owed him something. And right now what he needed was some more whiskey.

His steps were uneven and he suddenly realized that the rut he'd been walking in had now turned to grass. He had to scratch his way through the fog in order to realize that he must have walked out of the ruts so he slowly turned his head back and forth to find the road. Seeing it he began walking towards it in a struggling line.

Now back on the sand he let his mind wander as he walked along. He needed more money and if that meant working for the ol' petticoat witch, then that's what he'd do. But he'd have to convince her that this would never happen again. He had stopped counting how many times he'd guilted her into hiring him back on. Though, he might have to deal with Jon Capri, her foreman, or one of those Negro boys she kept around.

He sniffed. Tylin didn't have anything against them personally, but he sure had wished his former boss hadn't taken such a protective, motherly shine to the boys and that little girl.

With a start, he realized that he was past the turn off in the woods to the Scott ranch and he uttered a curse under his breath as he stormed back the way he came. His vision, he realized were quite fuzzy and he struggled to find the correct trail.

It took him over a half an hour, but he finally succeeded in finding the clearing where his boss now resided and marched right up to the door. He hammered his fist on it until an irate, short, stout little woman slammed open the door and glared at him. He'd once found her quite attractive. He still did, and if she weren't so stuck up he would have convinced her that they should strike up a more friendly relationship. But she had put an end to all thoughts of that.

"What do ya want?" she demanded of him.

"I need a job, Scotty," he wheezed. She leaned backwards from his breath.

"Ah told ya not to come begging me for a job, Tylin and I meant it."

"So? You meant it before."

"Ah mean it this time. If you don't get off this property right now ah may be forced to put you off," with that she pulled up a shot gun from where he knew she kept it in the corner near the door.

"You wouldn't shoot me, Scott. You don't have the guts."

"Ya wanna chance it?" her green eyes flashed.

He didn't. He might not be a coward, or at least he didn't think of himself as a coward, but he wasn't stupid either. He'd only been feeling her out. He had no doubt that she wouldn't do what was necessary to remove him from the vicinity. Possibly for good.

Deciding it wasn't worth pushing the issue he scoffed and turned around. "You'll be sorry Scotty!" he shouted over his shoulder as he staggered back up the trail. His stomach growled and he wished he had some extra money for whiskey.

Scotty peered up at the sun as she fell into step beside Leah. Audra was ahead of them looking at the mannequin in a shop window. "Now there's a lovely dress," she exclaimed pointing at a blue satin trimmed with white lace.

"I don't know," Leah shook her head. Scotty smiled. She had sensed that Leah was uncomfortable with the fancier styles.

"How 'bout that one?" Scotty pointed to another, plainer dress that was still pretty. It was a lightly sunny yellow and the lace that trimmed the cuffs and the collar was less extravagant than the blue one.

Leah's green eyes sparkled and her dark braid swung. "Oh yes I like that one!" They entered the shop and almost ran into a tall, well dressed gentleman wearing a grey suit who was heading outside. "Oh, good afternoon Mr. Hansen," Leah nodded to him.

"Good afternoon Miss O'Leary, ladies," he nodded to them, tipping his bowler hat slightly.

When he'd left the shop, Audra giggled and leaned towards Leah, but Scotty could still hear her question. "Who was that?" she whispered.

"Oh, that was Mr. Clarke Hansen. A businessman of some sort. He's been at the restaurant a few times," Leah explained as she fingered the yellow garment with eagerness.

"He sure is handsome," Audra murmured. Leah quirked an eyebrow at her friend, but Scotty just smiled to herself. She'd seen quite a few things in her lifetime, and she was not inexperienced with young women like Audra.

"Have you decided on anything yet?" Leah inquired as she checked the price of the garment and then her purse.

"Well," Scotty sighed. "I'm just not sure. The plaid'll do good fer Capri and Ben, but ah think Joel would prefer something solid and that he could wear when he goes off ta college. That pink calico we picked out'll do nicely for Nellie."

"But what about yourself?" Leah insisted.

"I'm leanin' toward the grey."

Both younger girls stared at her incredulously. "You're not serious are you?" Audra asked, tittering between whether her comment would hurt Scotty's feelings and trying to convince her it was not a wise choice."

"Ah don't see anything else that suits me," she shrugged.

Leah pursed her lips and looked Scotty up and down. "Every time I've met you, you've been wearing something that had a bit of green in it," she said, her lips still pursed in thought. She walked over the bolts of cloth that lined the walls. "This ought to make a nice dress for you," she held out the minty green material. It did feel nice when she ran her fingers across it, but she hesitated. She hadn't worn a dress since she'd left the mountains of Tennessee. Could she make herself one and actually be able to wear it?

"All right," she told her friend. "I'll buy it."

With their purchases made they headed for Jarrod's office where he was just finishing up some last minute business. They chose a restaurant, and at Leah's request it was not the one in which she worked, and settled in for a nice lunch.

Unintentionally, Scotty found herself sitting next to Jarrod, which she did not mind until she realized that he was paying special attention to her more than he was to either of the other women present. It was not that he was inattentive, just that he seemed to be specifically paying more attention to her, engaging her in conversation.

She suddenly felt uncomfortable. She hoped that she had not planted a seed of encouragement in him for his attentiveness. That was certainly not her intention! She felt sick for being so foolish, but she could not help it. It was not that she did not like Jarrod, far from it, but she also knew that anything more than friendship could never work between them.

While she quietly ate her meal and thought, she realized that they were probably of an age of one another. She didn't think he was much older than she, but she sincerely hoped that her attempts at friendship had not been misinterpreted as something more.

She was glad when Audra finally announced that they should be heading back towards the ranch. Her head had begun to throb as they rode home. She had to make things right, but she had to sort out the right way to go about it.

When Audra left, though, she saddled up her chestnut mare and rode out to the range where Ben, Jon and Joel were working. After getting a report from them, she rode out further to inspect some pasture to the east. She wanted to start grazing some of the cattle out there in a few more weeks.

She was enjoying the late spring afternoon when the report of a rifle and a whiz of a bullet made her fly out of her saddle, grabbing her shot gun and roll to a lower spot in the ground. A small area of rocky and craggy land pointed heavenward in front of her. She searched it thoroughly trying to find the culprit of the firing.

Two more shots landed near the rise of ground before her. Her heart pounded in her chest as she saw the flicker of metal in the sunlight. She checked her shot gun. She studied the area surrounding where she'd seen the metal.

As she lay their, waiting, the sound of galloping hoof beats drew closer. She hoped it wasn't one of the boys or Jon. If they had heard the gunfire earlier, but it was a little too soon for them to be riding up, she reasoned.

Just then she saw the dark haired rider. Simultaneously she saw the gleam of the fire arm from the craggy rocks. "Nick watch out!" she shouted as she rose to her knees and fired at the ragged figure.

Nick ducked off his horse, and the figure in the rocks slumped to the ground. Scotty tried to find her heart beat again as she swallowed back the fear that had knotted in her stomach. "Are ya all right?" she asked, as Nick was picking himself up off the ground, dusting off bits of grass.

"Yeah," he snapped. She shrugged just as Capri and the boys rode up.

"Are y'all all right?" her foreman asked, worriedly searching them both with a glance for signs of injury.

"Yeah. Who is it?" she asked as Ben, who'd rode off towards the rocks after they'd caught up with her horse.

"It was Tylin," he said, shaking his head sadly. Scotty sighed.

"He had it coming, Scotty," Capri told her. "You did what ya had to."

She nodded, agreeing. But it never made killing any easier.

(To Be continued…)

With Part III. A new businessman has come to Stockton with a proposition. But is he as legit as he seems? And when Nick and Scotty set out to find him, will they be able to survive each other first? Leah finally regains Heath's friendship.