"But Mr. Clayhilla""

"He'll pay for the use of your shop for a private conversation," Kain said, entering behind Vanessa and Ellie.

The man took off his ap.r.o.n and hung it on the chair. Something was going on here, he thought. Something big! He left the shop hurriedly.

"Close the door, Henry. Do you want to sit down, Ellie?" Kain asked.

Ellie seemed not to have heard him. Her eyes were glued to Adam Clayhill. He had the same thick hair, gray now where once it had been blond like her son's. Even his mustache was the same as in the picture made on their wedding day. He had the erect carriage of Henry Hill, and held his head at the same angle. He was dressed as fashionably as Henry had been dressed twenty years before.

"You are Henry Hill." Her flat, unequivocal statement brought an even deeper frown to Adam's face.

"I'm Adam Clayhill. I've never seen you before in my life. What game is this? Are you trying to get money out of me?" There was a fleeting trace of desperation in his voice.

Ellie rejected this with a slow shake of her head. "You lie. Let me see your hands. The forefinger on my husband's right hand was crooked. My son has that same crooked finger."

"Husband? I'd know a woman if I'd married her, for Gawd's sake!"

"You married me in Springfield, Missouri and left me a month later to go to Chicago."

"He was on his way to Boston to marry my mother, Ellie," Kain said.

"Gawdd.a.m.n you, Kain. You dug this woman up to embarra.s.s me. What are you getting out of it?"

"I want to see his hands, Kain. That way I'll know without a shadow of a doubt that he's Henry Hill."

"Show her, Clayhill."

"I don't have to show her a d.a.m.n thing!" Adam almost strangled on the words. His hands were deep in his pockets and he left them there. The emotion rioting through him was plainly written on his face.

"Show her or I'll break your G.o.dd.a.m.n arm!"

"There!" Adam jerked his hand out of his pocket and held it palm out in front of Ellie's face. The forefinger curved outward at the second joint. She drew in a sharp breath when she saw it. "It doesn't prove a d.a.m.n thing!" he bellowed.

It was a moment before Ellie could speak. She watched Adam shove his hand back in his pocket. "Show him your hand, Henry."

"I wish you'd tell me what's going on, Ma."

"I will, son. But first show him your crooked finger."

Henry obediently held out his hand. The finger on his hand was identical to that of Adam Clayhill.

"Why did you do it?" Ellie asked quietly. "You sent me the letter saying Henry was dead. I grieved for you all these years."

"Jesus Christ, woman!" He loomed over her, his gaze locked with hers. "Are you trying to shove your b.a.s.t.a.r.d off on me?"

Ellie's hand flashed up and struck him across the face. "My son is not a b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

"He sure as h.e.l.l isn't out of me. I'd not sire a gutless, whining weaklinga""

Ellie struck him again, and he caught her wrist in a cruel grip. Both Kain and Henry sprang toward them. Henry struck out blindly. The blow landed on the side of Adam's face. Caught by surprise, he dropped Ellie's wrist and staggered back.

"Don't you hurt my mother!"

"Jesus Christ! I'm getting out of here." Adam started toward the door and Kain barred the way.

"Not yet."

"What the h.e.l.l does she want from me? She's got no proof I married her. She married a Henry Hill. She said she did."

"I have my marriage papers, Kain. And the photograph taken on our wedding day. I married him, and our son was born of that marriage."

"Papers? I signed no papers."

"You signed the marriage papers at the preacher's house and he sent them to the hotel. The clerk gave them to me. I had them recorded at the courthouse, just as I had the birth of our son recorded."

"So that's your game! You're wanting me to claim him for my legal son so he'll inherit. I got news for you, madam! That will never happen. I'll get my lawyer on you and sue you for slander if you spread that story around."

"Don't worry about that, Ellie," Kain said dryly. "He married you under an a.s.sumed name, and then married my mother. I think they call it bigamy. It's against the law in Missouri and in Boston. What would the Republicans down in Denver think of that, Clayhill?"

An agony of fear shot like a fiery bolt through Adam. He gritted his teeth and clawed at the collar of his shirt, then struck back in the only way he knew.

"Gawdd.a.m.n you, DeBolt! You buck me on this, and you'll wish to Gawd you'd never come back here! I'll ruin youa"both of you! And you, woman. Take that imbecile and get the h.e.l.l out of this territory or I'll drag your name through such filth and slime you'll be spit on when you show your face on the street. Hear? I made this town, by Gawd! I was the first white man to s.n.a.t.c.h this land from the savages, and no split-tail woman is going to ruin my name. I never had to wed a woman to f.u.c.k her! And I'd certainly not have wed you, madam!"

Ellie looked closely at the man, noted the sickly pallor of his skin and the sheen of desperation that shone in his eyes. His ruinous brutality, crudeness and ungiving hardness had been there all the time, smoldering behind a charming facade. She recognized it through the layers of pain that dulled her senses.

"What a fool I've been to waste my life on such as you," she said slowly in a flat voice. "You bedazzled a young girl; and in order to get her to bed, you went through a ceremony using another man's name. You left me to raise our son alone. You're the lowest, most vile creature I have ever known."

"Your opinion means less than nothing to me. You mean less than nothing to me," Adam sneered.

The door opened and Della stood poised in the doorway. Her white felt hat was adorned with a white feather that brushed the top of the doorframe. She had a white fringed shawl folded over her arm and a pale blue scarf at the neck of her princess styled coat.

"h.e.l.lo," she said cheerfully. Silence followed her greeting. "I didn't have any trouble finding you. Everyone up and down the street is waiting to hear what's gong on. What is going on, Papa, darling?" She moved inside and closed the door. She stood with her back to it, and her glance fell on Henry. "Oh, flitter! I can guess. Another one of your b.a.s.t.a.r.ds has showed up."

"Shut up, Della," Kain roared. "Get out of here, and take this old son of a b.i.t.c.h with you before I kill him."

"You're going to get violent? Naughty, naughty." Her smile stretched to show pearly white teeth and a pink tongue she stuck out teasingly at Kain. "He's my brother, you know," she announced proudly.

"They know the miserable fact. And they also know I'm not proud of it."

His blunt statement had no apparent effect on Della. Her smile was brilliant, but her eyes were insulting as they toured up and down Vanessa's body.

"The redhead cleans up pretty good, Kain. You might be able to use her at The House when you open it, if you do something with that awful hair. But good G.o.d! Where in the world did she come from, and where did she dig up that horrible, backwoods sunbonnet?"

Vanessa's head jerked up and anger flared in her blue eyes. "Where I came from people have some manners. What back alley did you crawl out of?"

"Oh, dear. She's got an Irish temper, too. Her breeding is showing, brother. That's what happens when you take up with the lower cla.s.ses."

Kain's fury burst forth in a strangled shout. "d.a.m.n you, Della. You and that old b.a.s.t.a.r.d make a pair!" He flung open the door and shoved Della out onto the boardwalk. People were gathered in small groups, all looking toward the barbershop. "You're a b.i.t.c.h, Della!" His raised voice echoed up and down the street. "You're nothing but a b.i.t.c.h!"

"Sure I am," she said sweetly, and touched his cheek with her fingertips. "A very well paid one at that. You're making a fool of yourself, brother," she added softly. "But then you always were a fool."

Adam shoved his way past Kain and grabbed Della's arm.

"You keep that two-bit wh.o.r.e away from me, hear?" he snarled, and propelled Della down the boardwalk, looking neither left or right. They turned the corner and Kain went back into the barbershop. Ellie stood with her hands gripping the arms of the barber chair.

"Are you ready to go, Ellie?"

"Why don't ya let me run 'n get Mr. Wisner?" Mary Ben moved protectively close to Ellie. "He can brin' the wagon 'n she won't have ta walk out there with all them folks starin'."

"That's a good idea. Tell him to bring it up the side street." Kain had never felt as sorry for anyone as he felt for the white-faced woman holding onto the chair.

"We left our packages at the store," Vanessa said.

"I'll get them, honey. I've got to post my letters with McCloud."

"There are eggs . . . for the cake," Ellie murmured.

"Me 'n Mr. Wisner'll swing by there 'n get 'em." Mary Ben put her hand on Henry's arm. "Stay right here by yore ma, Henry."

After Mary Ben left, Ellie looked up at Henry's troubled face. "She's a dear girl, son. You must always cherish her."

"I will. What happened, Ma? Is hea""

"I know this is confusing to you, but can you wait awhile longer? Later I'll tell you everything you want to know. Right now I feel like something inside me has died."

Chapter Seventeen.

"Stop pushing me, Adam!" Della said testily.

"Hush up your d.a.m.n mouth and get in the buggy. We're going home."

"Back to the ranch? We just got here for G.o.d's sake! We can go to the little house here in town until you get cooled off."

"Joseph!" he shouted. "Flag your black a.s.s in here and get this thing moving. We're going home."

"Ta the house on A Street, suh?" The man hurried to untie the horse and climb into the driving seat.

"I said home, you fool!"

"Ya.s.suh." Joseph sailed the whip out over the backs of the team and the buggy lurched.

"I'm not ready to go home," Della protested. "You said we'd stay the night in town. I'm tired of being stuck out at the ranch. Now, d.a.m.n it, Adama""

"Pull up, Joseph. Get your gawdd.a.m.n a.s.s out and stay or stop your d.a.m.n whining!"

"Well, for G.o.d's sake! What's put you in such a state? Go on, Joseph."

"Yas'm." Joseph flicked the reins on the back of the horse and the buggy rolled smoothly out of town. The master was in a state, all right. Joseph was grateful he didn't get the toe of his boot in his back.

There were two bright spots of color high on Adam's cheeks, his eyes were as bright as gla.s.s, and the cords in his neck stood out and throbbed. He didn't seem to notice the sweat that rolled from his forehead down his nose.

"Gawdd.a.m.n that son of a b.i.t.c.hin' brother of yours. I could kill the f.u.c.kin' meddling b.a.s.t.a.r.d! He's bucked me from the first time I laid eyes on the arrogant, know-it-all p.i.s.sant!"

"I told you all along Kain wasn't our kind," Della said gleefully, knowing now there wasn't a chance she'd have to share her inheritance with her brother. "Has my dear brother flushed out another one of your b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, Papa Adam?" She loved it when Adam was so angry he used filthy words.

Adam ignored the question. He placed his foot on the back of the driver's seat and looked off toward the mountains. Joseph put the horse into a brisk trot and turned down the winding river road they had traveled not more than an hour before.

Adam smoldered with rage at Kain. Even as a boy Kain had hated him. He'd shown his dislike the instant his mother had promised to marry him. The sulky little b.a.s.t.a.r.d had dragged his feet coming West, making his dislike for Adam known every chance he got. He had stayed only a short time before going back East to school. Now he was back and had set out to ruin him. Christ! How the h.e.l.l had he managed to find that woman? The one time in his life when Adam had done something stupid was catching up with him.

Adam had been on his way to Boston to marry Etta DeBolt and bring her back as his wife. He had stopped in Springfield to do some business with a banker who owned stock in a mining company he wanted to buy. He had met Ellie and, as he admitted to himself now, she had been a pretty little thing. She had made him h.o.r.n.y as h.e.l.l but refused to bed with him until after they married. He had gone through the ceremony, thinking it invalid unless the papers were recorded. He had enjoyed her day and night for several weeks.

Before he left town he had pressed the preacher for the marriage doc.u.ment. He had been told it was given to the clerk at the hotel, who a day later had run off with the hotel owner's wife. Ellie hadn't mentioned them, and deciding the papers were lost, Adam had dismissed the legality of the marriage from his mind. Later, after a number of letters from Ellie, he had sent the letter saying Henry was dead and promptly forgot the whole affair.

Now what in h.e.l.l was he going to do? The woman didn't have the brains to press the suit; but Kain did, and he'd not let it rest. And the boya"he was a weakling, a throwback! He had the look of a Clayhill, had the Clayhill crooked finger, but he didn't have the brains to go with them. In fact, he acted like a gawdd.a.m.n kid still s.h.i.tting yellow! He wondered how he could face having folks know that dolt was his son?

"Adam?" Della slipped her hand through his arm. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm all right! Hush your mouth and let me think!" He threw her hand away from him and turned in the seat, giving her a view of his back.

"I'll not take much more of this," she said in a shrill, tight voice, and dug her elbow in his back. "You'll not talk to me like I'm one of your servants. I don't know what Kain has done and I don't give a d.a.m.n. But you'll not take your anger out on me. Do you hear me, Adam?"

There was no sound from him to indicate he had heard her. She leaned forward to see his face. It was rigid and he was staring straight ahead.

"s.h.i.t!" she muttered, and sank back on the seat.

As the miles dropped behind the speeding buggy, Adam asked himself why this had to happen to him now. He had overcome the stigma of having sired a half-breed son and the fact that his other b.a.s.t.a.r.d hadn't wanted anything to do with him. The Republicans in Denver had slapped him on the back and said, "There's a skeleton in the closet of every great man. Look at Thomas Jefferson. It was said he had b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, both black and white, strung all over the South." Adam was sure that they would not be so tolerant of bigamy.

Adam had no doubt that Kain would use the woman and her simpleminded son to ruin him, getting his own back for Adam's bringing his mother and sister West. All his plans for becoming the governor of the territory would be washed away in the face of a scandal. A murderous hatred for Kain began to fester in Adam's mind. It was boundless and unchangeable, too complete to allow any vestige of reason to disturb its fathomless depths. It clamped its hot fingers around his throat, pinching off his voice so that when the curses rolled from his lips they came out thin and unintelligible. He brought the curses up out of the burning pit of hatred and they spewed out, laced with every filthy word he had ever heard. For endless minutes his cursing went on, and when it finally ceased he turned and stared fixedly at Della.

She stared back, vainly waiting for some break in his expressionless face. But there was no change at all in the steady look he gave her; and in the end, it was she who turned away. Not since the time he had slapped her in front of a crowd in Junction City for lying about Logan Horn's alleged rape of her had she been so frightened by his rage.

Kain watched the wagon roll down the dusty street and out of town before he went back to the boardwalk fronting the stores. As he pa.s.sed the open door of the barbershop he tossed a coin to the barber and walked on, ignoring the curious stares of the bystanders. When he reached his horse he stepped into the saddle and rode the block to the mercantile.

McCloud met him at the door. "Howdy. I heard a few days ago you were back." The men shook hands. "Guess you know the town's buzzin' with news of the set-to you folks just had with Clayhill."

"Yeah, I guess I do." Kain pulled the letters from his pocket. "I need to get these out to Logan Horn and Cooper Parnell. It's an invite to my wedding. I'm being married on Sunday."

"I've already met your bride. Mighty pretty woman, and the little gal isn't bad looking, either." He held his hand out again. "Congratulations, Kain."