Ask No Tomorrows (3 page)

“
You’re kidding, right?” She glanced at him.

He frowned.
“No, I’m not; now please put it back. It’s very special to
me.”

“
Okay, sure…it is lovely. And that’s a lovely idea. Just sounds
a little funny coming from a man.”

“
It
comes from the Indians.”

“
Oh.” She hung the dream catcher on the saddle once more and
smiled. “How come a black man knows so much about the
Indians?”

“
I
lived with them…that’s how.”

Sam noted the
dark shiny hair, men’s clothes, and big blue eyes staring at him,
those innocent eyes seemed to look right through him.

“
That’s Jason Wells.” She hollered eyeing the stiff body on the
ground. Her glance colliding with his when he looked at her over
the rim of the canteen.

The
intensity of her low voice washed over Sam like velvet smoothing
over skin. He hadn’t expected such a deep voice by such a little
lady.
‘Course he
hadn’t expected a lady either, not out here in the middle of
nowhere.

Sam glanced at
the girl, overlooking her clothes; he couldn’t overlook the sweat
and dust that covered her. His curiosity got the best of
him.

“
You know this man?” Sam asked, surprised to see anyone out
here in the middle of nowhere, without a horse or buggy. Nodog
relaxed and laid back down, Sam noticed. Whatever, or whoever she
was, she was no threat.

“
Sure do, he used to work for me ‘til he got enough money to
run his own place,” she answered after she swigged down some more
water. “He had a small ranch not far from here. I wonder why they
hung him.” The girl came closer and stared down at the dead man as
though she couldn’t quite believe what had happened. “He was a
right nice fella.”

“
A
thief maybe.” Sam ignored her for the moment and kept digging the
grave. “Do you know who did this?”

“
No, I have no idea. I liked him, he was a family man. Nice of
you to bury him though…” she said, glancing up at Sam as she came
back toward him. “You don’t even know him, do ya?”

“
Nope.”

“
But you are buryin’ him; how come?” she asked.

“
Everyone deserves to be buried, don’t you think?”

She shrugged.
“I guess.”

“
He
got any kin…?” Sam asked, casting her a quick glance but careful
not to stare.

“
No…” She seemed to study the question, her face growing almost
sad as she spoke. “No…his wife died last year; they didn’t have any
kids yet,” the girl answered. “Kinda sad when a fella dies and has
no one, isn’t it?” she asked, her blue eyes clouding with tears.
“Poor Jason, he sorta lost the will to live once his wife died. He
let his place go, stayed to himself, took to drinking some too. I
wonder who could have done such a thing. And why…”

Sam eyed the
girl with interest then resumed his task. “Yeah, well, least we can
see he gets a proper burial.”

Nodog licked
his paw and eyed the girl with interest too.

But the girl
was not going away. Instead, she sat on the ground and watched Sam
dig the grave, her hand extending to pet Nodog. Sam wondered for a
moment what she was doing here, and who she was. Nodog didn’t
usually take to strangers. He would have to use some tact he
supposed to get any answers. Strange, his dog rarely liked anyone,
but he sure didn’t mind the affection he was getting from this
misfit girl.

“
You from around here?” he asked as though it were a common
question.

“
Got a place, a ways back…” she said, the canteen still in one
hand. “At least, I did have. Guess I won’t be going back, though
not for a while.”

“
Oh, why not…you got troubles too?” Sam stopped his digging and
stuck the shovel in the hard ground so he could lean on it. His
usually pleasant face screwed up into a frown. He couldn’t stop
staring at how easily his dog took to her. “Where’s your
horse?”

“
Everybody has troubles of some kind of troubles, I reckon.
Don’t have a horse. I mean not with me.” She looked at him
strangely. “And yeah, I got plenty of troubles, that's why I ran
away.”

“
Buggy?”

“
Don’t have one of those either,” she replied, taking another
sip of water.

“
Then how did you get way out here in the middle of nowhere
without a horse?” Sam asked as he gave her a quick once over, not
dwelling on her curves or manner of dress too long.

“
I
walked…well, no…actually, I ran.” She gulped, obviously trying to
explain but not doing a very good job of it. “Some men were chasin’
me, ya see. I hid out in the bushes this mornin’ ‘til they gave up
lookin’ for me, then I got to the road and every time I heard a
rider, I’d duck into the bushes.”

“
Ran?” His head came up and his eyes narrowed on hers. “You
look a little tuckered, but who are you runnin’ and hidin’
from?”

She pulled her
flop hat down so he couldn’t stare into her eyes. “I’m in a bit of
a fix…”

“
Do
tell!” Sam’s hand went to his hip as he stared at her, his
exasperation with the problems he’d been dealt today beginning to
show. “I probably shouldn’t ask, but what kind of a
fix?”

Nodog licked at her hand. Sam’s eyes widened,
the
traitor
.

“
You really want to know?” she asked, peeking out from the
hat.

“
Why not? You’re just another stumbling block in my plans. So
go on, explain what kind of fix you are in.” His laugh didn’t reach
his face.

“
My
name’s Riley Morgan,” she said quietly. She seemed to wait for the
name to sink in, but Sam still didn’t know much more than what she
told him.

“
Riley,” He tipped his hat and squatted down on the ground to
listen to her story. The old scrub oak creaked from the wind and
they both looked up at it. “I’m Sam Tanner.”

She smiled
shyly up at him. Her face held a quiet innocence that caught Sam’s
attention. It was for sure and certain this was no ordinary girl.
Nodog didn’t like ordinary people. Sam shouldn’t be surprised that
he took to her so quickly, but he was.

“
That shore is a pretty tree, but it don’t deserve to have a
man hang from it…Is this your dog?”

“
Yes, his name is Nodog.” Sam stared again; she was a curious
lady, that much he knew. Yet he hadn’t expected her appreciation
for the tree or his dog. Most women were afraid of Nodog. She’d
barely blinked an eye when she headed straight for Nodog and
extended her hand for him to smell.

“
He’s beautiful; part wolf, isn’t he?”

“
He
is…” Again, he was astonished.

As innocent as
the girl might be, she was not ignorant of animals, Sam
noted.

“
I
thought so, such beautiful eyes. Why’d you name him Nodog? That’s a
right peculiar name for a dog.”

“
He
was given to me by a friend, an Indian friend. Chase had nursed him
back to health as he’d been attacked by a bear. He said, ‘He’s a
good one, but he is no dog.’ So that’s what I named him,
Nodog.”

“
Pretty clever. I don’t reckon I would have thought of it. Your
friend’s name was Chase?”

“
Chase Rivers, a breed.”

“
Oh
well, that explains it. Indians always have such interesting
names.”

“
So
what exactly is your trouble, ma’am?” Sam asked, going back to his
digging. “I mean, other than being out in the middle of nowhere
with no buggy or horse.”

“
It’s kind of a long story, but then…I guess with diggin’ a
grave, you got the time to listen. Everything was fine ‘til this
morning.” She began once more trying to answer his question. “Then
all hell broke loose.”

Sam knew from
experience that he shouldn’t ask, shouldn’t show his curiosity, but
a woman in the middle of nowhere with no horse or buggy confused
him, especially a woman dressed in pants, like a man. This was no
ordinary female.

“
Wait, wait, start at the beginning. You’re name don’t tell me
much.” Sam tried to be patient with her lack of understanding.
“Since I’m not from around these parts, name’s wouldn’t mean much
to me.”

“
I
guess that makes sense. I’m sorry. I’m George Morgan’s daughter,”
she explained as though that said it all. Again, she
waited.

Sam shrugged.
“Okay, like I said, names don’t mean much to me.”

She squinted
up at him, and moved her head out of the sun. “I thought everyone
either knew my father or knew of him. He’s one of the biggest
ranchers in these parts. Or was.”

“
Or
was. Does that mean he’s no longer with us?” Sam asked.

Looking
thoughtful, she nodded. “You really aren’t from around here, or
you’d know who I was talkin’ about, and that he was dead. He died a
few months ago. He had a bad heart and a wild bronc to tame. The
two didn’t mix. I’m his only daughter, his only kin, well
practically. So naturally I took over the ranch. Nothing unusual
about that, except I’m a girl.” She stopped and looked at him. “And
it’s one of the biggest ranches in the territory.”

Sam’s
expression didn’t change and she seemed surprised.

“
My
God, this water is so good.” She sighed, licking her
lips.

“
I
can see you’re a might thirsty.”

“
A
might.” She smiled. “Thanks…” She took the canteen in both hands
and turned it up and sipped it slowly, enjoying it as though she’d
hadn’t had a drink all day. Sam watched her out of the corner of
his eye. Once she was full, she put the lid on it and wrapped it
around the saddle horn. She walked back over and sat down on the
hard earth once more, watching him.

“
But it wasn’t hard taking the ranch over from my dad. I mean
it wasn’t like I didn’t work there every day of my life. I can
ride, shoot, and do figures as good as the next rancher. Anyway…as
I said everything went like always ‘til this morning, when my
foreman Harry Stevens took a gun to me. I got away, as fast as I
could. The ranch hands were in on it with him, I soon found out.
There were too many of them. I couldn’t do anything but run. So
that’s why I’m out here in the middle of nowhere without a horse,”
she explained and looked up at him once more.

“
Why would your foreman suddenly take a gun to you? You get
into a squabble with him or somethin’?” Sam stared at her for a
long time. She was trouble and he knew it. But she’d become his
trouble he realized with regret.

“
Not really. He asked to marry up with me and I told him no, of
course.”

Sam squinted
up at her. “Of course…”

“
Well, it’s not like he’d been courtin’ me or anything.” Riley
shrugged with indignation. “I had no relations with the man other
than as my foreman, so I found the proposal a little stunning. He’d
never mentioned an interest to my father, when he was alive. Dad
always said I was pretty plain so I sure didn’t expect him to
propose, although I realize that would be one way of takin’ the
place over. He didn’t take too kindly to the turn down, though. But
I never expected him to turn violent on me, either. I got along
good with the boys on the ranch, most of them.”

“
You mean he didn’t love ya?” Sam asked, his face screwing up
with confusion. “You sayin’ in one breath he asked you to marry and
in another to kill ya?”

“
No, of course he didn’t love me. I guess they wanted the
ranch, and decided to take it from me,” she huffed indignantly. “I
guess they figured it would be easy, and so far, they are
right.”

“
They? There’s more than one? I mean, you are sure the other
hands are in on it too?”

“
It
would seem so; most of the hands were takin’ his orders and lookin’
for me. Dead or alive, it didn’t matter to Harry.”

“
Did they chase after you?” Sam asked.

“
For a while, then they just sorta gave up. They figured I’d be
dead before I got anywhere. Sometimes I think because I’m not that
big, they thought I couldn’t hold up to things, like ranchin’,” she
explained. “Harry never thought much of women anyway, except for
his own purpose if you know what I mean.”

“
Well, they can’t just take over your land, like that. I mean,
it’s yours. So what you gonna do now?” Sam asked as he stood up
once more and began digging again.

“
I
don’t rightly know. I was figurin’ to catch the stage,” she
answered. “Get as far away as I could and then figure it
out.”

“
That’s a good idea, but if I was you, I’d get to a town, where
someone can help you.” Sam added, “You can tell the Sheriff. You
livin’ around here, people are bound to know you. With a spread
that big, everyone would be familiar with you runnin’ the place,
seems like.”

“
No…I can’t do that.” She pet Nodog behind the ears and Nodog
waged his tail. “Everybody knows me, but don’t many care about me.
You see out here, men don’t think women can do things like runnin’
a ranch, and that’s pretty common thinkin’. Besides, there isn’t a
Sheriff around these parts. No real law unless you go to Ft. Worth,
Dallas or Waco. No towns either. Just ranches mostly.”