Charles West - Lawless Prairie

“She said she would wait for me,” he told a disinterested Rowdy, remembering her embrace when he had left her. “She must feel the same way about me.” Insecure, even though she had promised, he wondered whether now she might have had second thoughts. After all, he was a convict. What if her husband comes back? Who would she choose then? “Dammit to hell!” he exclaimed in frustration. “Bein’ in love is too damn hard on a man.” He stood up and drained the last of the coffee in his cup. I’ll go tell her what’s happened , he decided. I owe her that. Then I’ll head west.

No more than two days behind him, Deputy Marshal Zach Clayton sat beside a campfire on the Tongue River. He had been moving fast, not attempting to track Clint Conner. He was intent upon gaining the Yellowstone as quickly as possible, knowing where he was going. The boomtowns on the river were the most likely places to find Ballenger and Yancey. By his own admission, it was a hell of a long way to make an arrest, but he had too much personal pride invested to consider limits of jurisdiction.

Joanna Becker brushed a stray wisp of hair from her face and got up from the milking stool. She had taken over the morning milking from John, since he had the added responsibility of helping build onto the cabin for her father and her. It was not a chore she particularly enjoyed, and her young cousin was laughingly patient when teaching her how. But she had gotten to the point where the cow accepted her clumsy touch and no longer tried to swat her with her tail. She put the stool out of the way, picked up her bucket, and went back to the house to help her aunt Bertha with breakfast.

As usual, there were thoughts of Clint darting through her head, but on this chilly morning in late August the thoughts seemed constant, and she tried to picture him on the day she last saw him. She never pictured him languishing in a prison cell, because that image upset her. How long, she wondered, would she have to wait? Three years seemed an eternity now, but the marshal had said that it might be less. She would pray for that. “What . . . ?” she asked, aware then that her aunt had said something to her.

“I said, check those biscuits in the oven,” Bertha said. “I think they might be getting a little too brown.” She paused in her turning of the bacon in the big iron skillet to take a closer look at her niece. “Are you awake yet this morning? You look like your mind is still in bed.”

“I’m fine,” Joanna answered, laughing. “Just still a little sleepy, I guess.” She glanced up at her aunt’s typical closed-lip smile that seemed to say she understood everything you were thinking. “You know,” she decided, “it’s going to be such a nice day, I think I’d like to take my horse for a ride this afternoon.”

“It is fine weather for it,” Bertha said. “Any day now the weather is bound to turn cold. Why don’t you do that?”

“I think I will,” Joanna replied.

The afternoon was pleasant, sunny with only a slight breeze, and just cool enough to warrant her coat. Seeing her struggling to carry her saddle out of the barn, John jumped down from the rafters of the new addition to give her a hand. While she stood at the gate, he caught her horse and saddled it. When she thanked him, he said, “I’d go with you if I didn’t have to work on the house.”

“Maybe next time,” she said, smiling. On most days, she would have welcomed the company, but today she was too deeply into her private thoughts to want distraction. She reached over and playfully flipped his hat over his eyes as she rode by him.

Although there was no destination in her mind, she knew where she would eventually end up. She let the little mare have her head, and the horse followed the track along the river from memory of other rides. As usual, they arrived at the same spot as before. Joanna could feel a slight increase in her heartbeat as she approached the little island of willows close to the river’s bank. Moments later, her heart almost stopped when she was startled to discover a horse grazing among the willows. Fearful, she started to turn the mare at once, but she hesitated when the horse lifted its head to neigh at the mare. It was a buckskin. It looked like Clint’s Rowdy, but she knew it could not be. Knowing she should turn her horse back toward home, she could not help but wonder about the horse. And then he appeared, walking from the cover of the trees. “Clint . . .” she gasped, unable to say more, not sure she could trust her eyes.

“I was hopin’ you’d ride out this way,” he said, and waited for her to cross over the shallow water to the island. “I remember you sayin’ this was gonna be your special place.”

He caught her as she slid from the saddle. “But how . . . What are you doing here?” she stammered, still finding it impossible that he was actually holding her in his arms. Her face beaming now, she asked excitedly, “Did they let you go?”

“I’m ’fraid not,” he replied apologetically. Seeing the puzzlement in her eyes, he hastened to explain.

After he had told her the entire story of his betrayal in the courtroom, she could only sigh in bewilderment, “Oh, Clint . . . what will you do?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “They’ll be comin’ after me again. That much is pretty certain, and if it’s Clayton that’s comin’, he’ll be showin’ up here for sure. So I guess I’ll be headin’ for the hills somewhere.” He placed his hands on her shoulders so he could look into her eyes. “But I had to come here first to tell you what happened.”

“Why didn’t you come to the house?” she asked.

“I didn’t wanna get your pa and your uncle mixed up in my troubles. That’s why I’ve been waitin’ for you out here. I’ve got no business involvin’ you in the mess I’ve made of my life, but I need supplies and ammunition. I don’t have anything but my horse and saddle, and the little bit that was left in my saddlebags. So I need to get some of the stuff I left here. I’ve been camped here for two days, hopin’ you’d show up. I don’t wanna just ride in and upset your folks, but I reckon I don’t have any choice. Who knows how much time I’ve got before a lawman from somewhere shows up? But I had to see you again before I leave.”

She moved closer, holding him tightly, her head pressed against his shoulder. “Dammit!” she cursed. “I just found you, and now I have to lose you before we’ve even had a chance. Where will you go?”

“I don’t know,” he answered. “But maybe if I can keep myself clear of the law, maybe after a while they’ll give up, and I can come back for you.”

“I’ll go with you,” she said, without taking a lot of time to consider the consequences.

“No,” he said. “I can’t do that. I won’t do it. We’d be on the run all the time, never knowin’ when Clayton or some other lawman would show up. It would be mighty rough livin’ out in the wild country.” He pressed her close to his chest. “I don’t wanna think about you out in the mountains alone somewhere after some sheriff or marshal puts a bullet in me.” She started to protest, but he quickly silenced her with a finger on her lips. “I’ve got to know you’re safe here with your father. It’s the only way I’ll have peace of mind.”

“Stay with me here tonight,” she pleaded. “I love you.” It was the first time she had told him that. A tear welled in her eye as she realized that her one chance for happiness was rapidly dying. “I love you,” she repeated, this time in despair as she opened her soul to him.

The words shattered him. He wanted to cry out in protest to the gods that played such vile tricks on miserable mortals. This one woman who held his heart was to be denied him, and he knew that it had to be. “Know this,” he said emphatically. “I love you, too, Joanna, and if there’s any way to make it happen, I’ll find us a place that’s safe, and I’ll come back for you.”