Ladies and Gentlemen, I can see from my stats that I have readers in China, Hungary, Ireland, Canada and the UK. I'm fascinated by this and would love to hear from you - either in reviews or as a PM. I suppose I wonder whether GS played and had a following in these countries, or if what we have is ex-pats working overseas. Thanks!

Chapter Twenty: Luiz

Matt began teaching Luiz to read English at the beginning – which was Genesis. In some ways it was easier because the boy already knew how to read in Portuguese. In some ways that made it harder. Luiz was confused by English vowels, which could be pronounced a variety of ways, and complained bitterly that English was a foolish language and impossible to learn. Matt soldiered on, smacking him occasionally to get his attention, forcing him to sound out words, and not objecting when he realized Luiz was memorizing whole passages rather than actually reading the words. He'd done the same himself, in his early years, and knew that the reading would come if they just continued on. Matt being Matt, staying focused was not an issue.

The weather became steadily chillier as they sailed south, although not really cold to a man used to Kansas winters. Matt searched the slop chests onboard and found a jacket and a sweater not too overly big for Luiz, but nothing remotely large enough for himself. After watching him pacing the deck one evening in a chill, mizzling rain, Captain MacIntyre pointed the man out to the first mate as he came to relieve him. "I was wondering if we might still have that little chest onboard, Barlow? Belonged to the man Carmichael replaced?"

"The Swede, Captain?" the mate asked, "Yes I think it's still in Carmichael's cabin. We cleared the letters out of it so you could write to his family, but the clothes are still there. Far too big for… ah, I see. Shall I bring it to Dillon?"

"Yes, I think that's a good choice, Barlow. It's going to get colder and wetter the further south we go." MacIntyre replied. "You have the wheel, Mr. Barlow." The mate stepped forward to relieve his Captain. "Maintain heading two points off of south southwest. "

"Aye sir. I relieve you, sir, maintaining heading two points off of south southwest."

"Safe watch Mr. Barlow," the Captain said.

Barlow's gaze followed his captain as he walked down to the lower deck and into the main cabin. MacIntyre had a reputation as a hard man, and in many ways it was true, but he was fair as well, and more considerate than many of the crew gave him credit for.

After the morning meal, the first mate made his way down the ladder into the bow hold with a small trunk on his shoulder. The smell appalled him, but none of the horsemen seemed to notice it. "Any way you could air this place out?" he asked.

Dillon regretfully shook his head. "It was better before the rain started, sir. We could keep the big hatch open most of the day then, but I can't risk the feed getting wet."

"I don't know how you manage to sleep with that smell," Barlow commented, "Glad it's not me. Look here, Dillon, we had a mate who died on the way into Shanghai last year. Big fellow like you, a Swede – his English was good though. Captain said to give you his chest, likely you'll find some warm clothes you can wear."

Dillon nodded, "Please thank the captain for me, sir. And thank you as well."

Luis wanted to open the chest immediately, but Dillon set it in a corner and lifted Luiz onto the black's back before leading the horse out of his stall. There was far more space in the hold now than there had been when they started, and more than three-quarters of the feed was gone. He led the horse back and forth repetitively for half an hour before returning him to his stall and setting Roddy and Luiz to do the same thing with the brown mare.

Matt didn't open the chest until after dinner when the two grooms were in the seamen's mess singing and drinking their rations of grog. Usually Luiz would have been with them – the Captain wouldn't allow him rum, but he liked the music. Tonight, however, he hung around the stalls waiting for Matt to open the chest. The Swede, whoever he had been, must have been a good match for Dillon. The trousers, two pair, were a little short, but he could tuck them into his boots Texas-style. There were two hand-knit sweaters and an oilskin coat that fit him well. Moreover, there were underwear and several pair of socks, mended but clean, that Matt made free of immediately.

"Why?" Luiz asked.

"Used to it, I guess," Matt replied. "Anyway, it's warmer."

Luiz accepted that and went on rooting through the chest. He found a photograph of a young blonde woman holding a child, and also a straight razor, brushes, and a shaving mug. These fascinated Luiz. On the Lupinho, only the officers had even attempted to shave. He broke into Matt's sad reverie looking at the photograph to say, "My father, he used a razor like this. Every day. I would watch him. Sometimes I brought him the hot water."

Matt set the picture down slowly. It was only the third time that Luiz had ever mentioned his family. "What else do you remember, Luiz?"

"My mother, she was beautiful. Her hair was dark but her skin was very white. She did not like to come on the ship, to leave my grandfather, but she did what my father told her." Luiz said

"So before you went on the ship, you lived with your grandfather? In Portugal?" Matt asked.

"Sim, padrinho. We did not live in the city, but outside. Like a big farm, with a big house, and a church, and stables with many horses. My grandfather was a cavaleiro."

"What does that mean, Luiz, a cavaleiro? A horseman, a groom? "

Luiz laughed, "No, padrinho. Not like you and me. That would be a cavalariço. My grandfather had many men like that working for him. A cavaleiro, that is an important man. My grandfather owned much land, many horses. His grandfather and his grandfather they lived there in the same place. Long ago they rode the horses and fought with swords."

Matt took that in. He didn't think the boy was lying, he didn't seem to care enough about it to lie. "Why did your family leave, Luiz?"

"My father and my grandfather they fight all the time. My mother is unhappy. So my father says he will go to the new world, to Brazil, and make a fortune for himself. Me, I like that idea. My mother, she did not. But we all went together." Luiz shrugged, "And they all died."

OoOoO

It had been almost a year since the day that he'd left Dodge with Tonneman on the train when the Annie Laurie arrived in the harbor at Sydney. Matt was impressed with the huge circular bay that the men called a "key". It was several weeks before he learned that the word was written quay and pronounced differently than an American would say it. Matt was eager to unload the horses, load their new cargo, and head out. When he found that the Captain planned to spend a month with his family in his home port, Dillon asked to be released from his contract. Amenable in many things, Captain MacIntyre was adamant in his refusal.

"You signed on for San Francisco, Dillon, and that's where we're headed. I've taken cargo consignments based on your contract." the captain told him.

"Sir, I've been gone a year. My family may not even know I'm alive. I have to find a ship leaving sooner." Matt said.

"You will not do that while part of my crew, Mr. Dillon." MacIntyre said. "You signed articles for yourself and the boy for this ship, and you will sail on this ship. If you want to make that more difficult for yourself, I can arrange it." Matt just stared at him. "Come, man, another month can't matter that much. Let me sweeten it for you. You and the boy go inland with these horses. I'll write a letter to my friend Mr. Collier and he'll put you up at his station while we're in port. Better for both you and the boy than hanging around this city spending your pay and getting in trouble."

Unable to think of an alternative, Matt nodded his agreement. "Is there a way I can send a letter to the States, Captain?"

"Yes, the post office here will take international mail, but it's damn slow. You write your letter and I'll give it to another ship that's heading out for San Francisco next week. The captain can mail it there and it will likely save you time."

"Is there anything at all I can say that would convince you to let me go on that ship instead of the letter?" Matt asked.

"No, Dillon, there is not. There's pen and ink in the officer's mess that you may use. Write your letter now and give it to me before you leave. I've already sent word to Collier and I expect him to be here tomorrow morning to pick up the horses. You and the boy be ready to leave then."

MacIntyre walked away. He didn't know how it was that he came to argue with the horseman. He wasn't a man who argued. He was used to giving orders and having them obeyed without comment. Somehow, with Dillon, that wasn't the way things worked out. He went to his cabin and started a letter of his own, a long one, telling his friend about the horses, the voyage, and the strange American who'd stepped in to save his horses.

Matt went into the officer's mess and found envelopes, paper, pen, and an inkwell stored tight in a desk that folded down from the wall. Barlow entered the cabin while he was sitting struggling with how to start. Dillon looked up. "The captain said that I could write a letter here, sir."

Not showing his surprise, Barlow nodded. "Anything I can help you with, Dillon?"

"Can you tell me when we'll arrive in San Francisco?" Matt asked.

Barlow thought a bit, "We're due to leave Sydney on the first of August. The current plan is to sail to Wellington, that's New Zealand, and from there sail on to Hawaii. We usually give the men a week in Hawaii. I'd say we'll arrive in San Francisco sometime the first two weeks of November. That suit you?"

"No, sir, but it doesn't look like I can do anything about it." Matt said.

"You in a hurry, man?"

"I have a child born last Christmas that I've never seen, and a woman waiting for me not knowing if I'm alive or dead. Yes, sir, I'd say I'm in a hurry." Matt agreed.

"Has anyone ever told you to 'make haste slowly', Dillon?" the first mate asked him.

The question stopped Matt cold. It had been a favorite phrase of his father's, and one that he thought he lived by. He allowed himself a slow nod. "Annie Laurie's a tight ship," the mate said, "and faster than many. You might find yourself leaving later but arriving earlier by staying with us. Also, your position on the ship is secure, and your boy's as well. Not every ship would do that – I'm frankly surprised that the Captain allowed it. You'll arrive in San Francisco with money in your pocket, and if it's a week or two later than you like…" Barlow shrugged.

"Thank you, sir." Matt told him, his strained face relaxing into a rare smile, "I suppose I needed that reminder."

"I'll leave you to write your letter." Barlow said and stepped out through the cabin door.

The letter took Matt a while to write, and when he finished it he made a second, almost identical, copy. He addressed both letters, tucked one inside his shirt, and handed the second over to the Captain about noon. "You have any objection to my spending some time ashore this afternoon, sir?" he asked.

"Not if you leave the boy to watch the horses," MacIntyre responded civilly.

While that made it clear to Matt that he still wasn't trusted, it also made sense as Roddy and Stoner had left the ship earlier in the morning. "Yes, sir," he agreed without comment and went to find Luiz.

Luiz was disappointed to the point of anger to have to stay on the ship, but Matt was firm with him. Leaving the boy sulking in the hold, which was at least open to the cool, sunny air of Sydney harbor, Matt headed for the wharf and the city beyond. In the area near the docks he found the chandlery shops that were now familiar to him and purchased socks, underwear, two sweaters, a good coat, and a knitted hat for Luiz. He found little that would fit himself and had to settle for just more socks and a hat. Then, smiling to think of Luiz's reaction, he bought several cakes of soap and a towel.

Matt spent an hour wandering around the streets of the huge city. He heard English on every side, but the accent was just enough different to baffle his ears unless he listened closely. He found the main post office and mailed his letter to Dodge – paying a premium for the fastest possible service. Then, having a new thought, he purchased paper and stood at a desk there in the post office to write a letter to Washington. He mailed that as well, and then went looking for a hardware store.

He bought a good knife and whetstone to supplement the knife he'd purchased in Luanda and that he'd nearly ruined on the horses' hooves. He then purchased a second knife for Luiz, and a leather sheath to hold it. Other than food, he couldn't think of anything else the boy might want or need, but as he was coming out of a bakery with a paper-wrapped bundle of meat pies and little cakes, he noticed a bookshop across the way.

Back on board, Matt filled hay nets and mucked out the stalls while Luiz gorged himself on food and fruit. Afterwards, making the boy wash and dry his hands before they began, Matt opened another parcel and presented him with two books. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" Luiz read aloud, and then looking at the next "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". Greedy eyes paged through the pictures in the second book, "A ship that travels underneath the water, padrinho? There is such a thing?"

"Maybe not like that ship, Luiz, but yes, our armies back in America used submarines in the last war. They could sneak up on a ship in harbor and sink it with no one knowing they were even there," Matt told him.

Luiz grinned at him. "These are good books, chefe. We will read these and put away the Bible."

"We will read them all three," Matt told him firmly.

"Sim, padrinho." Luiz replied.

"Use English, boy." Matt told him.

"Yes, sir."

OoOoO

Matt had Luiz up before dawn, grooming the horses and cleaning out the stalls for the last time. One by one he led the horses, blindfolded, up the makeshift ramp from the hold and down onto the wharf. He tied each one to a ring on the posts there, and left Luiz to watch while he went back for the next. When he was done, he sent Luiz down for the duffle that the two of them had packed the night before. By the time he returned, Matt was watching four draft horses pull a horse box as big as a circus wagon up to the dock.

Captain MacIntyre came striding down the gangway and stood next to Dillon while a well-dressed man in formal riding clothes dismounted from a dappled grey gelding. The men shook hands cordially and MacIntyre introduced them. "Robert, this tall gent is Matt Dillon, an American horseman who came to my aid in Macau. He's been taking care of your horses since then. Dillon, my friend Robert Collier."

"Pleased to meet you Mr. Collier," Matt said, offering his hand, "This is my boy, Luiz."

Collier took the hand with some surprise. His grooms didn't usually address him in that fashion. "Dillon," he acknowledged, seeing the quickly hidden grin on MacIntyre's face. "An American, eh?"

MacIntyre might not know horses, but Collier certainly did. He examined all three of the animals closely, looking in their mouths, lifting their feet and feeling their legs. He nodded in satisfaction when he was done. "You did a good job, Thomas. I wouldn't have expected them to finish the voyage in this good a shape. You'll have a draft from my bank in the morning."

"I need to let you know about the grey mare, Robert," the captain told him, forthright but nervous, "She, uh, came into season just as we were leaving Macau, and the black, uh, mounted her. Dillon says you'll have a foal next spring."

Collier's face broke into a hearty grin and he slapped his friend on the back. "That was smart of you, Thomas! If it's a colt you may just have doubled my investment!"

Relieved, but honest, MacIntyre said, "It was Mr. Dillon's idea, Rob. Said it was the only way to calm the black down."

Collier guffawed. "Bet you'd never seen anything like that in all your seafaring life, eh, Thomas?"

The Captain's smile was tight. "I'd like you to take Dillon and his boy out to your station, Rob. He's never been to Australia, he's from the American west. Likely he'll be more at home with you than waiting a month here in the city." He drew an envelope and three small scrolls from inside his jacket. "Here are the papers on the horses. Ride in and see me next week. Bring the boys. Mary and the children would love to have a visit."

The two men shook hands, and MacIntyre returned to the ship. Collier proved himself a horseman in Matt's eyes by not leaving it to the grooms to box the horses, but instead led the black up himself. Matt left his bag in back with the horses, hoisted Luiz up to the high seat, and followed him up to sit beside Collier's driver.

OoOoO

A station, apparently, meant what Matt would have called a ranch, and Collier had a big one. Matt and Luiz ended up not in the bunkhouse as he'd expected but in a room at the big house. Eating a bigger, and better, meal than he'd had since Dodge, Matt relaxed and answered questions from Collier's family about the wild west. As they sat on the verandah drinking coffee, one of the Collier boys brought him a dime novel, and asked if he knew Wild Bill Hickok. "I did when I was younger, son, but Bill's been dead a dozen years now."

Collier listened with interest and some disbelief. When the children had gone to bed, he called the man on it. "You didn't need to agree with Joey, Dillon. It's hard enough to keep him focused on his work when he's always reading those penny dreadfuls."

Matt shrugged. "They make up a lot of stories about Bill Hickok, and about the Earp brothers, too. They weren't any different from other men. Good lawmen, mostly, but Bill was always too much of a gambler. He was a big man in Kansas when I came up from Texas and started working the law."

"MacIntyre said you were a marshal or sheriff or some such, but I wasn't sure it was true." Collier said.

"I'm still a US Marshall as far as I know, sir. They may have marked me off as dead by now, but I have no way to tell." Matt said. "When did the Captain tell you that, Mr. Collier?"

Collier smiled. Dillon didn't miss much. "In the letter he handed me with the horses' papers. He asked me to entertain you as my guest this month. Not something he could do, Dillon, seeing as you report to him. I've known Tom MacIntyre for a long time, man. It's something I might have expected him to do for an officer, but not for a seaman."

"I'm not a seaman, Mr. Collier. I'm his horsemaster." Matt said.

"So he says. And you're really a lawman?"

"Yes, sir, I am. But you don't have to believe it if you don't want to. I'll keep it to myself around your boys." Dillon told him. "I won't lie, Mr. Collier, but I don't need to take the subject any further if you'd rather I didn't."

"Do as you like, man, the boys are old enough to sift fiction from fact if they need to. How old is your boy?" Collier asked.

"Fourteen."

"Adopted?"

Matt smiled into the dark. "Rescued. He rescued me and I rescued him." He turned to his left and called quietly but sharply, "Luiz!"

"Sim, padrinho?"

"It's not polite to listen to other people's conversations." Matt said mildly. "Go to bed, boy."

"Sim, padrinho."

Matt rose and stretched. "I thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Collier, whatever prompted it. It's been a year since I last slept in a bed. I count on you to let Luiz and me help you while we're here."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Dillon."

Luiz was finally asleep. He hadn't been happy with the idea of a bed, and even less with sharing one. Matt had stripped off his outer clothes, blown out the lamp, and laid down, leaving Luiz to work out his problem on his own. He thought for a while that Luiz would sleep on the floor, but the boy had, at last, eased himself, fully dressed, on top of the covers at the far edge of the bed. Matt's lips had curled a little at that small sign of trust.

It felt good to stretch out, even if the bed wasn't quite big enough for him. He tried to keep his mind away from his last night with Kitty, just a year ago. That wasn't something to let himself dwell on while sharing a bed with an already skittish youngster. It was a short step to thinking about Frank and Kitty. He wondered if they'd stayed in Dodge. He couldn't imagine Kitty up in the Montana wilderness, and, like him, the law was the only trade Frank really knew. He imagined Frank as marshal, marrying Kitty, and taking his own place in her life. At least, if anyone could keep her safe, it would be Frank.

Eventually, Matt dreamed. The dream was warm and filled with familiar ease. Kitty sat on her small settee, and she was laughing at something. Frank was sitting at her feet with one leg stretched out in front of him and his arm wrapped around a raised knee. He was talking to Kitty, teasing her, but Matt couldn't seem to hear what they were saying. It was late, and he knew it was time for Frank to leave, like he always did when the three of them were together, and head down the hall to sleep – alone or with one of Kitty's girls. But in the dream he was the one who was standing up and moving towards the door. Frank and Kitty stood smiling beside him, he leaned down to kiss Kitty's lips, felt Frank's hand warm and firm on his shoulder, and then he was out in the well-known hallway. Alone. All alone. Somewhere in the distance a baby cried.

Matt woke in the quiet darkness. The bed was solid and still beneath him, and he found he missed the roll of the sea. He opened his eyes, staring long at nothing, before closing them and trying again to sleep. It was a long time before he was successful.

OoOoO

The month passed quickly. The station worked much like the ranches Matt had known. He made sure that he and Luiz were up early every morning, and that they were busy through the day. Luiz spent all the time he was allowed with the horses, as if attempting to make up for the years at sea. Matt tried a little of everything and found most of it familiar. Some things seemed unreal - like sitting a horse and firing a rifle into a mob of kangaroos as if they were a herd of antelope. He knew Collier was watching him, and it didn't bother him. He was what he was.

There were no handguns on the station. Men used rifles, and there were plenty of those. He began teaching Luiz to handle one, setting up stones and cans as targets. Collier and his boys joined in, and Matt found his aim as true as ever. He wondered if he could still draw a gun. He wondered if he'd ever need to again.

Collier had been quick to begin using the Chinese black to cover his own mares. Matt discussed breeding with him and was told that most of the horses imported to Australia as breeding stock came from either England or India, and were draft horses or racehorses. His own aim was for a better, stronger, sturdier breed of riding horse that could deal well with the dry reaches of the outback where Australians ran enormous herds of sheep. Matt asked him if he'd ever seen an Appaloosa or a Morgan, and their conversation on that subject continued on and off for days.

It was the last week of July and a chill, rainy evening. Matt and Luiz were sitting on the floor next to the fire. The younger children had been sent to bed. Mrs. Collier was working on a never-ending pile of mending. Her husband looked up from the rifle he was cleaning and said without preamble, "You want to stay, Dillon? You and the boy?"

Matt had wondered if this were coming. Collier was subtle, but it hadn't been hard to see he was being put through his paces. "I can't, sir. I have family back in the States. I need to go home."

"Seems from what you haven't said that maybe you're not exactly expecting your family to be waiting for you." Collier said.

"Not waiting, no, but there all the same."

"And the boy?"

Matt found Luiz watching him. "You want to stay here, Luiz? With the horses? It's a finer spread than I'll ever have."

Luiz looked away, hiding tears in his eyes. "Do you want to leave me, padrinho?"

"No, son. I want you to be free to choose." Matt told him levelly.

The boy recited, his eyes shut, "'Whither thou goest, I will go. And thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.'" He opened his eyes and looked straight into Matt's, "This is right, yes?"

Matt pulled the boy to him and laid a cheek against his hair. "Yes, son. That's just right." He turned to Mrs. Collier. "I'd like to thank you for having us, ma'am. I'll remember these meals fondly when we're back on the Annie Laurie." To Collier he said, "We should probably head back tomorrow, sir."

"I'm sending six horses to Hawaii with Captain MacIntyre. We'll ride some in and lead the others."

"I thought it might be something like that, Mr. Collier." Matt said, "Breeding stock?"

"Three young stallions, but they're barely two year olds, shouldn't give you any trouble like that black stud." Collier chuckled, "Wish I could have seen Tom's face when you had him cover that mare."

"You hush, Rob," his wife said, "Mr. Dillon, it's been a pleasure having you and Luiz. If things don't work out for you at home, well, you just stay on the Annie Laurie and come right on back. We'll have a place for you."

OoOoO

It was his last night sleeping in a bed. Luiz, whose fear had eased with familiarity, curled in a warm ball under the covers beside him. Matt thought of the words Martinez had said to him that first day on the Lupinho. "I will go home." Matt had said, and Martinez had replied, "That is possible. Some men have. Most do not." He had thought at the time that Martinez had meant that most men in his position died. Now he wondered if he had meant something else entirely.

"I will come home, Kitty," Matt whispered into the darkness, "I don't know what's waiting for me, but I will come home."