Death Has Its Price

Chapter 16 – Clean Britches

The next morning found John the first one up, probably because he never slept. Cora had a pot of coffee ready and he took a cup out to the porch and sat down, wanting a smoke but not willing to re-disturb his finally calming lungs. Within a few minutes Gage Stanhope joined him, drinking his own coffee and looking like a man with something weighing heavily on his mind.

"How ya feelin' this morning?"

John chuckled and took a sip of coffee. "A whole lot better than last night, I'll tell ya that."

"Yeah, that's usually what happens when some a the dirt tries to move from outside to inside."

There was a silence between them that foreshadowed a conversation to come. When fifteen minutes passed John finally brought up the unspoken subject. "About last night – "

"Something you didn't say?"

"Yeah. Somethin' happened in town."

"Something Amy didn't want me to know about?"

"Yeah." More silence, followed by "How'd you know?"

"She's been my daughter for almost twenty-five years, John. I know when she's not telling me something. How bad was it?"

"Bad enough. Three saddle tramps tried to make their reputations by ambushing Doc Holliday."

"With Amy there?" Gage's voice had risen considerably in volume.

John shook his head, intent on calming her father down before things got out of hand. "No, I'd already sent her out before the shooting started."

Stanhope sighed and quieted down considerably. "And?"

"Two dead, one arrested." He glanced at the torn shirt on his left arm. "One slightly winged. One totally safe."

Gage shook his head. "Not totally safe. Not as long as she's around you."

"I know." John exhaled slowly. Somehow this was all too familiar. "I know what I need to do."

"And that would be?"

"How about selling me Noble?"

"No, I won't sell you Noble. But I'll give him to you. The horse thinks he's yours, anyway. Maybe he is." A pause while Gage figured out exactly how to word what he wanted to say. "Thanks for giving me back my daughter. Both times yesterday. She's gonna be inconsolable for a while."

John nodded. "She'll get over it."

"You're the first man she's loved in a long time."

"I won't be the last."

Gage looked right at the gunslinger. "No, probably not. But at least she'll be alive after . . . . . . after you're gone. Sorry, I don't know how else to put that."

John turned to look at the father of the woman he loved and finally smiled. "That's alright, it's the truth. She'll live a lot longer than I do. And I'm grateful for that."

"So am I. When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow. Don't say anything, Gage. I don't like long goodbyes."

"You have my word. I was wrong about you, John, I'm happy to say. If people could know you, the way we do – "

"They'd still have no use for me. But thanks for that, I'm glad for once to prove somebody wrong." He averted his eyes and said very quietly, "Take good care of her, Gage. She's sure one hell of a woman. I'm gonna miss her."

If Gage Stanhope had been able to see John's eyes, he would have recognized the pain, and longing for an ordinary life, and might have told him to stay. But it was all there in his voice, and then it was gone as he finished, "Thanks for everything. You've been real good to me, and I appreciate it."

Gage offered his hand, and John shook it. "Godspeed, John Holliday. I hope you find what you're looking for."

John left his thought unspoken. 'I already did.'

XXXXXXXX

Doc insisted they take the long way around the Superstition Mountains. "I'm not givin' those mountains a second crack at me," he told Bret as they saddled their horses.

"No argument from me," answered the man that he'd really, finally bonded with. "They seem to have it in for the Mavericks. We can cut south about halfway around them."

"Where we headed, anyway?"

"A big spread called 'Stanhope Ranch.' Folks were nice enough, but there just seemed somethin' off about the answers they gave me. Besides, I had the oddest feeling that Bart was close – I mean really close. I didn't push harder when I was there because I just couldn't figure out why they'd lie to me. And I was so worn down to nothin' that I wasn't thinkin' straight. But I've heard some things since then that make me wonder what I missed."

"That's what happens when you talk to people. Give 'em half a chance and they'll lie to ya."

Bret shook his head and laughed a low, sad laugh. "Can't be that suspicious, Doc. If there's a lie there's usually a reason for the lie."

Doc snorted, ever the skeptic. "And the reason for this lie would be?"

"If it is a lie. I don't know, but I'm sure as hell gonna find out." Bret double-checked the cinch on his horse and mounted. "You ready to go?"

"Onward Christian soldiers," Doc intoned.

"I'll take it that was a yes."

Doc laughed as he mounted his horse. "Lead on, MacDuff."

XXXXXXXX

John sat on the porch so long after Gage left the ranch that Cora brought the coffee pot out and refilled his cup. Things were peaceful and quiet, a dearth of noise that he'd come to enjoy and would no doubt miss. Noble whinnied from the paddock and John watched the horse toss his head and trot around, lord and master of his domain for the moment. He was thinking about going for a ride when barely audible footsteps approached from the house. He turned his head just in time to catch the kiss that Amy was about to plant on his cheek.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he greeted her.

"Morning. You're up awfully early. Is there a reason for that?"

"Never slept."

"Something wrong?"

"Nope. Just not sleepy."

She looked at him and wondered if he was being truthful. "After what we went through yesterday?"

He shrugged. "Sleep comes and goes with me."

"Did you see my father this morning?"

"Yep."

"Did he ask about last night?"

He wasn't going to lie to her now. "No, I told him."

Amy shook her head as she drank her coffee. "You're a braver man than I am, John Holliday. How'd he take it?"

"He wasn't happy, if that's what you mean."

"Better than I'd expected him to. You're still alive."

He nodded. "Yep. So far."

"When are you goin' gamblin', gamblin' man?"

"Couple days from now." That was the truth. As soon as he got out of the territory he intended to do the one thing he was sure he could still do.

"Back in Mountain City?"

"Maybe. Maybe Dry Gulch, or Borderton. Not sure yet. Might not go back to Mountain City because of the trouble." That was still true. He might go to any of those places to play poker, or he might go down to Tucson, and then on to Mexico. Something about Mexico was appealing, almost like he'd fled south of the border once before, over another woman.

"And on the agenda for today?"

"Don't know yet."

"How about lunch at the mine?"

Oh, God. He'd tried to avoid the mine, knowing how close they'd come to consummating their relationship the last time they were there. But if he told her 'no' she'd try to find out why and wouldn't be happy until he'd given her a reason. Finally, "Sure. Let's take a bottle of that wine with us that your father keeps." Amy loved the wine and usually fell asleep after the first glass.

"Oooh, a special occasion. Why not? We've been through enough lately. It's about time for a little enjoyment. Ride out at eleven o'clock? That way we have plenty of time to enjoy the day."

"Eleven is good. Think Cora'd kill me if I asked her to heat bath water? I feel like I'm carryin' about ten pounds of desert around with me."

"Then she's gonna kill both of us. I feel the same way. I'm not goin' anywhere without a bath. We could save Cora a lot of trouble and take ONE bath, you know." Amy giggled mischievously as soon as she said it.

"Sure. I bet your father would just love that."

"It wasn't daddy that I was thinking about making happy."

As serious as everything was, even John had to laugh at that. "Have you no shame, woman?"

"Absolutely none, sir."

He stretched and stood up. "Come on, let's go see who she gets maddest at."

"You, no doubt. I'm much cuter."

"Yeah, but I'm more charming." He smiled at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him. At that exact moment, she'd never been happier in her life.