After they left, the house settled into a routine. Always on the lookout for Primer Ta.s.s, Jeb and Clay snaked logs down from the hills, John spent his odd hours working on an old buggy that had been left in the barn, and Henry and Kain reset posts for a pole corral.

One afternoon Kain had vicious pains and headed for the barn where he vomited violently. When he saw blood mingled with the vomit panic surged through him. It had been over a week since he'd felt the hot agony in his stomach. It took several minutes before the pounding of his heart slowed down and he realized he'd released only a small amount of blood, not the great gush the Arizona sheriff had thrown up at the last. He walked out of the barn and sat down on a stump to wait for the weakness to pa.s.s.

Living with death, he had come to a new appreciation of all that was about hima"the warmth of the sun, the eagle soaring in the sky, a cold drink of water after a long thirst. He remembered things, felt things more deeply, now that they soon would be taken from him. Vanessa, his wife, his lovea"Everything about her was precious to him. She was soft and yielding in bed, lovely and proud across the table, beautiful and tempting in a faded dress with her arms buried deep in soapsuds. She would never know what being with her had meant to him. Should he tell her that he was dying? She was already carrying the burden of knowing he would be leaving her one day soon. No. He couldn't bear to see the misery that would fill her magnificent eyes. He would write her a letter and leave it with Ellie. In it he would tell her how much he loved her and that he wanted her to live her life to the fullest. And if she should meet a man she could be happy with, she was to remarry and not feel guilty. Kain's heart swelled and he struggled to keep a sob from breaking loose at the thought of his wife in the arms of another man.

He had already begun to make his arrangements. Logan had taken with him, along with Ellie's papers, a newly written will to send down to Randolph in Denver. There was no way Della could get her hands on this place now unless Vanessa sold it to her. Vanessa and the Hills would be able to make a living here with the help of John and the Hookers. Logan and Cooper would keep an eye on them.

The other thing he had to do was kill Primer Ta.s.s. He did not doubt that Ta.s.s was stalking him. But he would not attempt a shot until reasonably sure of a kill. It could be a duel of wits that could last for weeks, and he didn't have time for that. If Ta.s.s didn't make a move soon he would go looking for him. There was the chance Ta.s.s would kill him. If so, he would have John and the Hookers to contend with. Kain knew with a certainty that if Ta.s.s got him Griffin wouldn't rest until he tracked him down. He also knew that if Griff got to Ta.s.s first he would kill him. Griff played by no rules of fair play; he didn't believe in letting a man who needed killing have the first shot. Life in Yuma prison had made the young rancher hard, and he had become even harder since his struggle to get his horse ranch going. Adam Clayhill had not made it easy for him to keep his range.

Vanessa came out of the house. She had a shawl wrapped about her shoulders and a worried look on her face. He watched her come across the yard toward him.

"My sweet, adorable little red bird," he sighed, and held out his hand to her.

"Henry said you were sick."

"It was nothing. I must have eaten something that didn't sit well in my stomach." He drew her to him and pulled her down on his knee.

"How could beef stew not sit right in your stomach? Have you been eating that spiced meat the Hookers cooked?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," he lied. "Stop worrying, sweetheart. I've even gained weight lately. It's all that milk Ellie makes me drink."

"If you throw up anymore, you'll see a doctor. Rosalee said one set up practice in Junction City about a month ago. She said he's young; but his father was a doctor, and she thinks he's good."

"I'm glad of that. Civilization has come to Junction City. I don't think there's been a doctor here before. The first thing we know there will be a town sheriff, a chamber of commerce and prayer meeting nighta""

"Stop trying to change the subject. If you're sick again you're going to see that doctor." She wrapped her arms about his neck. "I love you."

"You shouldn't have said that. Those are dangerous words to say out here in broad daylight. I might have to take you to the barn or to our room." He laughed softly at the shocked, exasperated expression on her face.

"You're a glutton, is what you are, Kain DeBolt. We've been married for five days, and every night of those five days we'vea""

"If you're counting days, love. Let's be correct and go back to before we were married."

"You're no gentleman either! It's mean of you to bring that up." Her brilliant blue eyes regarded him with insolent appraisal. She c.o.c.ked an eyebrow and pressed her lips together in order to keep a stern face.

He laughed and his arms tightened about her waist. "Lovely Vanessaa"my own." His teasing had shifted to a low, husky murmur.

"That's better." She sighed. "Darling, do you think it's decent for us to be kissing out here in broad daylight?"

Chapter Twenty.

Adam Clayhill sat in the big chair in his office. His legs were stretched out in front of him, his hands clenched together over his stomach, his eyes on his stockinged feet. He was in one of his quiet moods. Since the chance meeting with Ellie Hill he had alternated between these quiet spells and fits of rage. When the rage was on him he paced the floor, cursed, threw things, bellowed unreasonable orders, and cuffed the servants until the only ones left were Joseph and Cecilia. The laundress left after he slapped her, and the cook and the kitchen girl slipped away quietly at night after he had thrown a bowl of hot soup at them saying it wasn't fit to use for slop.

Della walked the floor in her room and fumed. For the first time in her life she had been unable to get Adam to tell her what was bothering him. She knew it had to be more than the fact that another b.a.s.t.a.r.d had showed up and he was not as bright as Adam would expect a Clayhill to be. She had done everything she knew to try and pull him out of his depression. She had offered s.e.x, and he wasn't interested. That led her to believe he was both mentally and physically ill.

Della stood gazing out the window thinking that she'd never seen Adam so unkempt. His hair was uncombed and he hadn't bathed. Until today he hadn't even shaved. She had taken the soap and razor to the den and shaved him herself. He had sat there, indifferent to her coaxing, refusing to talk to her, staring straight ahead, lighting one cigar after the other, letting the ashes fall on the floor.

The dammed old fool! She wished she knew for sure if he had made out a new will. At one time he was going to leave everything to her and Kain. Later, when Kain sided with Cooper Parnell and the rancher, Griffin, he told her Kain wouldn't get a dime of his money or a foot of his land.

She spun away from the window. There was only one way to find outa"ask him! She checked her hair in the mirror, dabbed some perfume on the white globes of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s that swelled above the neckline of her dress, and went downstairs.

The house was quiet except for the rattle of pans in the kitchen where Joseph and Cecilia were preparing a meal. Della swept aside the velvet draperies that covered the doorway to Adam's office and went inside. He sat in the same position as he had when she left him hours earlier, legs stretched out, head resting against the back of the chair.

"Papa, darling, are you hungry? You didn't eat anything this morning, and I had Joseph fix scrambled eggs with peppers, just like you like them." Della leaned down, so that her face was close to his, and pouted prettily.

Adam looked at her without moving his head, then back down at his feet. Exasperated, Della moved a small stool in front of him and sat down. She leaned over so the front of her dress gaped invitingly, and covered his hands with hers.

"Talk to me, Adam. I'm so lonesome."

He looked at her again. His eyes stayed on her face, and she smiled. Then he pulled his hands from beneath hers and looked away.

"What's the matter, darling? Tell Della. You know I love you. You can tell me anything, Papa Adam. I'll understand. We're family." He didn't acknowledge her words by as much as a bat of an eyelash. Anger flared and blazed brightly, fed by a wounded ego. Who the h.e.l.l did he think he was to sit there like a great lump and ignore her? Men had paid as much as a hundred dollars an hour for her company, and here she was wasting her time on him, sitting at his feet, begging the b.a.s.t.a.r.d to look at her!

She got to her feet and began to pace the room. It wouldn't do to speak to him when she was angry. She had to choose her words carefully, ease into the question she was determined to ask. She calmed herself by planning her strategy, then went back to the stool and sat down.

"Darling, I need advice and you're the only one I know who can tell me straight out what to do. Are you listening?" His eyes flicked to her and away. She was encouraged to go on. "As you know I've been quite successful with my business and I've acc.u.mulated a sizeable amount of property. I've made out a will, darling, leaving it all to you. I'm wondering if there is any way Kain, as next of kin, can step in and take it from you after I'm gone. I don't want him to have anything that's mine. Not after what he's done."

He looked at her and his eyes began to brighten with interest. They honed in on her face, narrowed, and glinted. It was as if a light had suddenly gone on in his head.

"Is that all that's worrying you?" His voice was rough, but she didn't care as long as he talked to her.

"No, darling. I also want you to tell me if there's any way Kain can take my inheritance away from me."

"What inheritance?" he asked quietly.

"Well, this place." With a wave of her hand, she gestured to the area around them. "That is, if you leave it to me."

His move was so quick and unexpected it brought a startled cry from her. He jumped to his feet with such violence that she almost fell off the stool. His arms swung around and his hand just missed her face. She didn't know if he meant to hit her or if she was just in the way. As soon as she could get to her feet she backed away from him. He stormed across the room, pounded the opposite wall with a balled fist, turned, and came back.

"I thought that was what you were getting at, you b.i.t.c.h! All of you gawdd.a.m.n women are alike. All you want to do is get your greedy hands on my land. You want to know if I have a will, isn't that it, Della? And you want to know if I'm leaving everything to you. You're thinking the old man is going to cash in his chips, and you'll have your own private little stud farma"a whole bunkhouse full of cowhands to screw." He threw his arms wide and his head jutted forward. "Ain't that right, Della? Ain't that right? You've never cared a gawdd.a.m.n for anything but money and a stud in beda""

"Don't be vulgar, Adam. I merely asked you a civil question."

"Hush up!" he bellowed. "Hush your f.u.c.kin' mouth! I know what you are! Everybody knows what you are, Della. You're a wh.o.r.e! A s.l.u.t!"

"Yes, I'm a wh.o.r.e, and a d.a.m.n good one. And I won't hush! You've moped around here like a love-sick calf since you saw that woman in town and I'm sick of it. I'm sick and tired of taking your abuse. Don't throw that word s.l.u.t at me again, Adam. There's a world of difference between a wh.o.r.e and a s.l.u.t," she shouted.

"Get your hot little t.w.a.t off my ranch! Go! I sure as h.e.l.l don't need you," he roared. His face had turned crimson and the cords stood out on his neck. He kicked over a halltree, strode to the desk and swept the ink bottles to the floor.

A long ribbon of fear that she had spoken too hastily unfurled in Della. "Now, Papa. Don't talk like thata""

"Don't now papa me, by Gawd! I'm not your papa. I'm not your anything. I wasn't even married to that straightlaced, prissy b.i.t.c.h."

His appalling words rocked her. "What do you mean?" she asked with biting urgency.

He ignored the question, turned and stomped to the end of the room, flung back the drapery and looked out the window. Then, as if jolted to action, he spun around and strode back across the room.

"I'm leaving this ranch to the United States government to be made into a park. They'll put a statue of me right out there in the yard, sittin' on my white horsea"a monument to a great man who wrestled this land from the gawdd.a.m.n red a.s.ses." He threw his arms wide and brought his fists back to pound on his chest. "That's me, Adam Clayhill, the first white man to take a chunk of this wilderness, tame it, and hold it. Adam Clayhill ran off the savages, Adam Clayhill held this land to keep the sc.u.m that follow the trailblazers from coming in and cutting it up. Adam Clayhill did it all. By Gawd, when they hear what I'm going to do they'll beg me to be the governor of Colorado, or they'll not get an inch of my land!"

"I doubt if your lawyer would make out a will like that," Della said with feigned indifference, although she was desperate to know if the will had been made.

"What the h.e.l.l do you know about it?"

"He made out your other will, didn't he?"

"I've never made out a gawdd.a.m.n will in my life! But I'm going to. You can bet your little hot t.w.a.t I'm going to. I'll go down in history, along with John Fremont, Zebulon Pike, and that great know-it-all Custer, who thinks he's going to fence in the redskins. I say kill 'em and be done with it. Chivington's way is the only way, by Gawd." He paced the floor in long strides, and the words poured from his mouth, laced with curses.

Della was so angry she was almost sick with it. Her fury burst forth in a strangled shout. "You couldn't even kill one red a.s.s. Logan Horn has beat you at every turn. His ranch is even bigger than yours. Face it, Adam, you're nothing but an old has-been, and the sooner you die the better I'll like it!"

Adam continued pacing and muttering as if he hadn't heard a word she said. Suddenly, he stopped in front of her, his face frozen in a mask of hate. Spittle ran from the corner of his mouth.

"You wh.o.r.e! You've teamed up with Kain to ruin me. I'd never have married you, but there wasn't a wh.o.r.e in town, and I was bored. That gawdd.a.m.n clerk said he'd give me the marriage papers, but he run off. d.a.m.n you and your half-wit brat! d.a.m.n you to h.e.l.l and back!" As quick as a flash he slapped Della across the face with the palm of his hand, then on the other side with the back of it.

Della was dumbfounded. He was out of his head. She saw that he was completely confused as to who she was. He looked so frenzied, so ugly and maddened that she was paralyzed with shock and fear. She turned to leave, but he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.

"Hear me, Ellie! You're nothing but hair and bone and skin with a hole in it." His voice rose to a deafening yell, a fierce, wild look contorting his face. "Oh, I know what you thought! Yes, I know, I know. You b.i.t.c.h!" he shrieked. "Gawd, how I hate you. I'll kill you . . . I'll killa""

He reached out for her and she shrank from his hands, backing away. The corner of his mouth jerked down, his eyes stared, and he hung there as if suspended while his face became expressionless. Then, as if his legs were melting into the carpet, he sagged to the floor.

Della stared down at him, appalled and astounded, not knowing what to do. Then she screamed for Joseph.

Vanessa had gone to the porch to call the men to dinner when the sorrel horse pulling a small, light buggy turned into the lane leading to the house. The horse was halted beyond the porch, and the man stepped down.

"Howdy." He was a tall, thin young man in a wrinkled duster over a black suit. He was clean-shaven except for the beard that outlined his jaws and came together at his chin.

"Good afternoon." Vanessa could see John and Kain coming from the barn on the run.

"I'm Dr. Warren. This poor beast pulling my buggy is going lame. Oh, how do you do, sir?" he said as Kain rounded the end of the buggy. "Dr. Warren. I was just telling the young lady my horse is going lame."

Kain stuck out his hand. "Kain DeBolt. My wife, Mrs. DeBolt, and Mr. Wisner."

The doctor shook hands with Kain, removed his hat and nodded to Vanessa, then held out his hand to John. His face was young and friendly. He had not a single hair on the top of his head, but a thick growth around the edges connected with the hair on his face. His accent had the flavor of the deep South.

John moved over to the sorrel and cautiously lifted the leg the horse was favoring. The doctor patted the animal on the side and peered down at the leg.

"The animal was suffering, and I didn't know if he could make it to town. I wondered, sir, if you could spare a horse. I'll return it later and pick up this one."

"We'll certainly work out something," Kain said. "Meanwhile, my wife was calling us to dinner. Won't you come in and join us?"

"Thank you. I would be pleased."

"The horse has a bad cut on his fetlock, Kain. The doctor can use one of my horses, 'n we'll get this feller in the barn 'n put some pine tar on it." John began to unhitch the horse, who stood quietly as if he knew his ordeal was over.

"Can you doctor it after you eat, John?" Vanessa called. "You know how it irritates Aunt Ellie when her corn bread gets cold."

"I'll be right in, missy."

Kain led the young doctor into the kitchen and introduced him to Ellie and Mary Ben, and then to the others as they filed in. They sat down at the table and Ellie asked Henry to say grace. Ever the polite hostess, she engaged the doctor in conversation while the dishes were being pa.s.sed.

"Did I hear a bit of the South in your voice, doctor?"

"Yes, ma'am, you did. I was born and raised in Mississipi, not too far from the Shiloh battleground."

"I thought that battle took place in Tennessee."

"It did, ma'am. I'm from Cornith, right across the border."

"That was a terrible battle. Vanessa's father was a doctor, and he told us stories of terrible suffering."

"My daddy was a doctor, too. He spent most of his time in a northern prison." He accepted the meat platter and helped himself.

"I didn't know we had a doctor here until a few days ago," Kain said.

"I've only been here a couple of months. I guess you'd call it the lure of the mountains that brought me here."

"Usually it's the lure of gold that brings people here."

"Yes." The doctor laughed. "I heard before I came here that a man need only to find a stream coming down from the mountains, wade in, and pick up the nuggets. Thank you," he said to Henry, who pa.s.sed the plate of corn bread. "It isn't what you have that makes a happy life, it's good health. The patient I just attended, a man who seems to have everything, a big ranch, a beautiful home, servants, would probably trade places with the poorest man alive if he could be healthy again."

"Is he someone who lives near us, doctor?" Kain asked the question in the silence that followed.

"As far as I'm concerned, there isn't anything near anything else in this country, Mr. DeBolt. It's all sky, plains and mountains. My patient was a Mr. Clayhill. His ranch is about ten miles from here. Do you know him?"

"Yes, we know him." Kain looked at Ellie. She was watching the doctor, letting nothing at all show on her face.

"One of his cowhands came in yesterday to fetch me. I spent the night out there. Mr. Clayhill has suffered a spell of apoplexy." The doctor helped himself to another serving of corn bread, over which he spooned a generous amount of gravy. He was obviously hungry.

"Is Mr. Clayhill paralyzed?" Ellie asked when it seemed the doctor would drop the subject.

"Are you familiar with the disease, ma'am?"

"Yes, a little. I know there are several types of apoplexy."

Vanessa watched her aunt, as did everyone else at the table.

"He did not suffer a temporary fit. It's much more serious. Mr. Clayhill has no voluntary movements except breathing, turning his head slightly and moving the fingers of one hand." The doctor filled his mouth and after he swallowed, he added, "Sad. Very Sad."

"Why do you say that? Is Mr. Clayhill dying?"