Chapter 7

Johnny ate dinner with Murdoch in the kitchen, and then shooed Teresa and Iona away from his brother's side and out of the room.

"Did Elspeth tell the three of you what happened?" Johnny settled into the bedside chair, set his left foot on his right knee and began to fiddle with his spur.

"No. Teresa saw MacPherson bleeding though. So, do you feel better since you hit him?"

"No." Johhny paused as a grin grew on his face. "I didn't hit him."

"You didn't, but..."

"Didn't get the chance. The old man beat me to it."

"Murdoch?" Scott started to rise in surprise before the pain in his knee stopped him. "Murdoch hit him."

"Decked him with one punch. Broke his nose and said he'd kick his arse out the door if it wasn't for the girls. The MacPhersons will be leaving in the morning."

"But what..."

Johnny shrugged. "Don't really know. They were arguing in Scottish. MacPherson said something that pushed Murdoch over the edge. Murdoch wouldn't tell me what."

"You talked to Murdoch after?"

"Yea. He was out beating the anvil into shape."

"You asked?"

"Sure, I did. The argument was about Madrid being around his daughters." Johnny saw the question in Scott's eyes and waved his hand dismissively. "He didn't say; he didn't have to; I had that much figured out on my own. Old man wouldn't do no translating at all. You know Murdoch; he said it didn't matter what was said."

"It doesn't, still..."

Johnny leaned closer to his brother and dropped his voice to his softest drawl. "Ya know, brother, our pa said he was proud of both of us."

"He did?"

Johnny nodded. "He said it straight out."

Scott smiled. "Well, that's nice to hear."

"Yeah." For a few seconds the two brothers simply smiled at each other. "I told him if MacPherson filed charges, we'd see to it that he did it in Green River. He said there's bail money ready in the safe. He ain't worried about it a bit." Johnny grinned broadly.

"Well, the sheriff is a friend of yours." Scott laughed. "The worst thing about this knee is that I didn't get to see it."

Johnny had seen pain cross his brother's face with every small movement. "You'll be needing some laudanum later if you intend to get any sleep." Johnny's eyes scanned the bedside table looking for the familiar brown bottle.

"The girls gave it to Elspeth. I don't think MacPherson deals well with pain."

"I'll fetch it back in a bit." Johnny's fingers drummed on his thigh. "Murdoch did say something in English about 'insulting my child or your own.' If he was insulting Elspeth or Iona, I should have picked him up and broken his jaw. Probably a good thing MacPherson wasn't speaking English because Elspeth heard things too."

Scott's eyes darkened. "Johnny, she would have understood." Johhny's foot hit the floor. "Iona told me she and Elspeth had a nanny who was a Scot. She taught them. They thought it would please their father."

"And did it?" Johnny's voice dripped scorn.

"Not particularly. At least that was the impression I got."

"Ain't there a way we can get them girls away from that fiend?"

"Neither of them is of age, Johnny."

"Elspeth went to him after Murdoch knocked him down. She went to him knowing what he said." Johnny's fingers clenched and unclenched repeatedly.

"He's her father, Johnny. Sometimes there's no way around that." Scott sighed.

"Ya could marry Iona. You said how she's a pleasant companion."

"And Elspeth?"

"She could move in with ya to help take care of the babies. Lots of maiden aunts do."

"John."

"I know Boston; I know." Johnny stood. "I'll go fetch that laudanum. You want me to send Inoa so you can have a private good-bye?"

"Actually, yes, but don't expect a proposal."

"If somebody sees her coming out of a bedroom where the two of you have been alone, well, social convention will demand..." One of the pillows that had been behind Scott's back hit Johnny squarely in the face. He backed out the door laughing.

(L)(L)(L)(L)(L)(L)(L)

Elspeth answered Johnny's knock and stepped out into the hall. "Did you need something?"

"The laudanum."

"Oh, of course." Elspeth started to turn.

"It can wait. Your father?"

"The laudanum put him to sleep. We'll be leaving first thing in the morning."

Johny leaned against the wall, his hand fingering a concho on his pant leg. "To go home or to the sheriff."

"Home. He doesn't want, well, he won't be able to hide his face, but he'll say it was an accident if he can contrive a believable one."

"He can say he was riding and when something startled the horse it threw back its head and caught him full in the face. It's been known to happen 'specially with less experienced riders."

"I'll suggest it then."

"Without mentioning where the idea came from?"

Elspeth smiled. "No need to mention it."

"Scott would like a private good-bye with Iona. She could take him the laudanum, or would she think she shouldn't be alone with him?"

Elspeth shook her head. "If anyone should know and take issue with it, we'll say we didn't think it inappropriate because his incapacitation made anything unsuitable impossible."

Johnny chuckled. "Send her with the medicine then." Elspeth turned, opened the bedroom door, called in to her sister, and waited for Iona to walk down the hall.

"I'd like to speak with you, but since I'm fit as a fiddle, I suppose we can't just step into that bedroom."

Elspeth shook her head and managed the first cheeky smile Johnny had ever seen on her face. "I wanted to take Brandywine some sugar and say good-bye. We could talk in the stable."

"Fine." He smiled and leaned closer to whisper conspiratorially. "You go out the front, and I'll go out the back and meet you there. I'll gab some sugar in the kitchen."

Johnny was talking to Brandywine when Elspeth arrived. "Them girls got the both of ya spoiled with all the treats they've been giving ya. Much more of those, and ya would have ended up fat and slow."

"Never. He is a fine and noble steed and shall always remain so." Johnny laughed and caught Elspeth's hand filling it with sugar cubes. Elspeth promptly fed them to Brandywine while telling the horse about his many fine attributes. Johnny turned and gave Iona's mount his share of sugar. Elspeth then began scratching Brandywine's favorite spots behind his ears. "Johnny, you'll give them a treat from time to time for Iona and me, won't you?" She turned to gaze at Johnny. "Please, pretty please."

"Sure, like I said you two have spoiled the both of them. Won't get a good day's work out of them if I don't."

"Thank you. I wish I could do something more than just say thank you."

"Ya could do some translating." Johnny watched Elspeth's expression grow serious.

"Does it matter what they said?"

"I'd like to know. We speak openly, don't we, Elspeth?"

"Yes, yes, we do." She cleared her throat. "Well, evidently Father heard some talk about you being Johnny Madrid. I didn't hear but the last of it. Father said something about not being surprised that someone of your father's background..."

"Murdoch's background? What about Murdoch's background?"

Elspeth sighed. "My father is a snob, Johnny. Back in Scotland the MacPhersons were landed gentry and the Lancers were not."

"Then why..."

"When my father and yours first meet, well, this is second hand, of course, but Father and Mother met the first Mrs. Lancer before they met her husband."

"And Catherine Garrett Lancer was good enough for your father to associate with?" Johnny's eyes had turned to blue ice.

"My mother was not a snob, Johnny. She thought of the Lancers as friends. Father kept up a certain pretense. He was somewhat glad he did when he saw Lancer the first time."

"So, half a valley was land enough to buy a Lancer a seat at the MacPherson's table as long as that Lancer wasn't a gun hawk!"

"Johnny..."

"What was the last of it? What made Murdoch swing?"

"Well," Elspeth's voice fell to a whisper, "It might not be an exact translation, but he said, 'I'll not have Iona or even Elspeth, worthless as she is, sullied by his bloody hands'." Her eyes dropped, and she turned away from Johnny.

Both Johnny's hands were clenching and unclenching in rapid succession. Then he drew in a deep breath, turned Elspeth toward him, and cupped her face in his hands. "Ya know what he said about you ain't true. It just ain't true."

"In some ways it is, but, well, you've made me see in others it isn't."

"In the important ways, it isn't." Johnny leaned forward bringing his lips toward hers, but Elspeth put her fingertips against them and shook her head. She took a step back, and he dropped his hands to his sides.

"Social convention or just not wanting?"

Her eyes widened. "You know better." Her eyes fell and focused on her hands. "Social convention aside, Iona's going to kiss Scott if he wants."

"He will."

"We thought he might. She doesn't think a kiss is a forever promise. She's kissed boys before, and she'll kiss others before she's married."

"If you know it doesn't have to be a promise..."

"For Iona it would be a pleasant memory, a fitting good-bye... I thought about it, you know, thought about being able to say, 'Yes, I have' when one of Iona's children asks their old maid aunt if she's ever been kissed. I wouldn't have to tell them it wasn't out of passion or anything like it." She sighed. "But I thought it through and... well, you can want to eat something you've heard of or seen, but you can only truly crave what you've tasted."

"Elspeth, I..."

"A person feels what they feel. One can decide how they will act toward another, but not how they will feel about them." Elspeth looked directly into Johnny's eyes. "You've treated me better than any man I've ever known. That will always put me in your debt."

"Not in my debt. Were friends, Elspeth. Friends, plain and simple, for always."

"For always." She turned and walked swiftly out of the stable. Johnny stayed to feed Barranca the last of the sugar he had brought from the kitchen.