Bittner, Rosanne (20 page)

"Oh, look at you two!" Lettie exclaimed. "All dirty and sweaty. What a way for your grandmother to see you for the first time!"

"Robbie kept running away from me," Tyler answered. "I got hot chasing him." He wiped at his sweaty face with his shirtsleeve.

"Oh, I don't mind how dirty they are, Lettie. I'm just so happy to see my grandchildren finally."

Lettie smiled and took Paul from her. "This is Tyler," she said, indicating the handsome boy who was already becoming a replica of his father in size and coloring. "He's seven, but anyone who doesn't know him thinks he's at least ten. He's going to be a big man some day, like Luke. And look at those blue, blue eyes. Just like his father's."

Tyler grinned. "Pa's going to take me with him on the cattle drives as soon as I get big enough," he told his grandmother. "Someday I'm going to help run this whole ranch."

Katie smiled indulgently. "I'm sure you'll do a good job, Tyler."

"His middle name is James, after his uncle James," Let-tie reminded her. She set down little Paul and picked up the one remaining child, a boy with his mother's dark auburn hair, but his father's blue eyes. "This is Robert Henry. He's four already."

They were surrounded then by barking dogs, and Tyler scolded one of them for jumping up on Louise. "The big yellow one is called Pancake," he told his grandmother. He picked up the small black-and-white mongrel that had jumped on Louise. "This is Pepper. The beagle over there is Jiggles."

"This is Smoke," young Katie told her grandmother, petting a huge, shaggy black dog. "That over there is Wolf. His daddy is Bear, Uncle Will's dog."

"Uncle
Will?" the elder Katie asked. She eyed the huge, wolflike dog that young Katie had pointed out. It hung back from the others, looking less receptive of strangers.

"All the children call Will and Henny aunt and uncle," Lettie explained.

"Well, they're like family to us," Will put in with a hearty laugh. He growled playfully and chased after Pearl and Robert, who screamed and ran from him.

As the children ran off to play, Henny joined Lettie and her family, putting an arm around her friend.

"Doesn't your daughter have beautiful children?" she asked Lettie's mother. "I helped deliver every single one of them, but thank goodness we had the doctor here for the last one. I can't have children of my own, so being a part of this family has been the next best thing. I was so happy when Lettie and Luke first came here. I had a woman I could share things with, visit with, someone who didn't wear red dresses and paint up her face, if you know what I mean. That's about the only kind of woman you ever saw around here before Lettie came. Now more families have come in. Lettie is thinking of forming a women's circle, some way we can all meet together at certain times."

"Except in winter," Lettie reminded her. "Most winters there are a couple of months when we can't get into town at all."

"Yes, I've read about that in your letters," Katie said, her gaze still on the children. "You have a handsome family, Lettie. Of course, with a father like Luke and a mother like you, how could you have anything but bright, handsome children?"

Lettie smiled. "Luke is such a good father, Mama. He's so proud of them. He wanted a big family. I'm glad I have as many children as I do, but I would have dearly loved two or three more." Her smile faded. She and her mother looked at each other, both of them remembering another child.

Katie grasped her daughter's hands. "You never hear anything?"

"No. Luke believes Nathan is dead, but I just can't get over the feeling he's alive, Mama." She turned to look out over the valley and to the mountains beyond. "He's out there somewhere. I just know it. He'd be eleven years old now. There isn't a day goes by that I don't think about him, pray for him. Time is supposed to heal all wounds, but this one will never heal."

Katie led her away from the others so that they could talk alone. "Is everything all right with Luke now, Lettie?"

Lettie's eyes misted. She nodded toward the playing, jabbering children. "See for yourself. A woman doesn't have that many babies without everything being all right with her husband."

Katie smiled softly, thinking how pretty her daughter still was, even with her hair piled into a plain roll on top of her head. She wore a light green calico dress. "You hinted in your letters that first year after Nathan was taken away that things were pretty strained. After that you didn't say much about it any more."

Lettie breathed deeply to keep from breaking down. The pain of losing Nathan suddenly seemed as keen as it had just after it happened. "Things were strained for a long time, not because I blamed Luke for any of it, but because he blamed himself. He has never quite stopped suffering over it, Mama. He works so hard building this ranch, building our wealth so he can give me all the things he thinks I should have, building me a big house, giving me a life better than anything I had before. I know he thinks it can make up a little bit for losing Nathan, but nothing can take away the pain."

"Of course it can't. It's too bad Luke blames himself as he does. He's a good man, Lettie. I remember that about him. He loved you so much."

Lettie nodded. "I've never doubted that love. If anything, it's even stronger. For months after Nathan was taken, Luke didn't even sleep with me. He thought I wouldn't want him in my bed, and both of us were hurting so much on the inside that we had no desire for..." She blushed. "Things finally got better." She laughed nervously. "As you can see." She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. "Things are good now. We've both resigned ourselves to the fact that we'll probably never know what really happened to Nathan. We pray for him, pray that if he's dead, he didn't suffer; and if he's alive, God is watching over him, and that he's happy. We thank God we have each other and that we've been blessed with five more healthy children."

She waved her arm. "Look out there, Mama. As far as you can see, that's what Luke owns. I'm not sure about the legalities of all of it. Luke has learned that out here men set their own laws, their own boundaries. That's just the way it is. He needs the land, so he's laid claim to it, thousands of acres and thousands of head of cattle, most of the herd built up from cattle he brought here from Oregon. Every summer he drives cattle down to Cheyenne to be loaded onto the Union Pacific and shipped back East, mostly to slaughterhouses in Omaha and Chicago. He gets top dollar because his cattle are fattened up on some of the best grass in this country, right out there on his own land. He has ten men working for him year-round, hires more in the summer to help on the cattle drive so that some can stay here and watch the ranch. Those six cabins out there to the south belong to the families of some of the permanent men. It all seems so big to me already, but Luke says it will get much bigger— more land, more cattle and horses, a bigger house."

She sighed deeply. "With all this success, I feel sorry for Luke, because I know he still hurts inside, not just over

Nathan, but also over the situation with his own father. I told you in my letters the story behind why Luke came out here. He has written to his father several times, but the man never replies, nor does Luke's brother. I know it hurts him deeply, but he refuses to show it."

Katie took her daughter's hands. "And what about you? You went through so much hell those first couple of years."

"Life goes on, Mama. Actually it was Luke who thought about giving up, right after Nathan was taken. He said we could move to Denver so I could be with you, that he'd find a job there. I know he didn't really want that. He just made the offer for my sake, but I couldn't take his dream away, Mama; and I couldn't leave this place, not when I know in my bones Nathan is still alive. I've always thought that if he ever comes back, he'll come here looking for us. I want to be here when that day comes. At the same time, we've both grown to love this land. This is home now, Mama." She squeezed the woman's hands. "Except for the ever-present longing to find Nathan, we're fine. Our love is strong, and we have the other children. Life is still often very hard. It will be a long time yet before Montana is as civilized as most of the rest of the country; but we're getting there."

Katie smiled sadly. "I'm glad you're doing so well." She sighed deeply. "We saw the graves on the way in. Will reminded us about the outlaws buried there. I remember you telling us about it in one of your letters. I just couldn't imagine Luke shooting down seven men."

Lettie looked up the hill toward the graves, their mounds now sunken and weathered by time. "That was not an easy time for him, but out here men have to take the law into their own hands. In some ways Luke is a much harder man than the one you knew when we first parted on the trail. He's actually feared by some, respected by all. He has taken to this land and to ranching like a fish to water. Not all men can come here and settle. It takes a special breed." She looked back at her mother. "But when it comes to me, and to the children, he's always good and gentle," she added.

She put an arm around her mother then. "No more talk of this. We're happy and everyone is healthy, and it's been nine years since I've seen my mother. I can't believe you're really here. You'll stay till Luke gets back, won't you? Surely you didn't come all this way just to stay a couple of days. We have a brand-new bunkhouse that the men haven't moved into yet. It would be a very nice place for the three of you to stay. With five children and three bedrooms, there isn't room in the house, but you'd be quite comfortable in the bunkhouse; and of course, during the day you'll spend every minute with me, every meal. I'll introduce you to the wives of some of the help. We can have a big picnic when Luke gets back! That would be fun. He should be back within a week or two. You
can
stay that long,
can't
you?"

"We were figuring on a nice, long visit, unless we wear out our welcome!" The woman laughed lightly. "Louise's husband owns two banks. He's his own boss, so he can do what he wants. Their little girls will be fine with James and Sara. We had already agreed that we would stay as long as necessary. After all, I'm getting on in years myself. This might be the last time we see each other, Lettie."

"Oh, Mama, don't say that."

"Well, it's just a fact of life; but we won't think about things like that. Let's enjoy the visit. I want to see your house, Lettie."

They returned to Louise and Henny, and all four women strolled into the house, chattering and laughing.

"There's nothin' that can gaggle more than a bunch of women," Will commented to Kenneth.

"I fully agree!" Kenneth answered, rather intimidated by the much bigger, buckskin-clad Will Doolan. Will was friendly enough, and as soon as he'd got word that Lettie Fontaine's mother was in town and looking for someone to bring her to the ranch, the man had readily obliged, renting a comfortable carriage for them, introducing them to his wife.

As Kenneth looked around the sprawling ranch, it was obvious what a different life people led out here. "She must be a very strong woman," he murmured.

"What?"

"Lettie. She must be very strong, for all the things she's been through."

Will nodded. "That she is, Mr. Brown. She's a good match for Luke."

One of the hired help rode past them then, dressed in dirty denim pants, his shirt stained with sweat. His horse kicked up a cloud of dust, and Kenneth looked down to brush at his suit.

"You'd better be wearin' some sturdier clothes than that if you intend to stay here awhile," Will told him with a laugh.

Kenneth took out a handkerchief and wiped dirt and sweat from his eyes. "Yes, I can see that." How did these people put up with being so far from town and civilization, with no schools, no bricked streets, no law? "I am looking forward to meeting Luke," he told Will. "He sounds like someone a person never forgets once they've met him."

Will laughed. "Oh, he leaves an impression, all right. You mark my words, Mr. Brown. Luke Fontaine is a name a lot of people will know someday, even down in Denver."

"You do good this time, boss?"

Luke looked over at Runner, a half-breed Crow Indian who worked at the ranch and had gone on the cattle drive to Cheyenne. "Good enough to pay you enough to buy some
good
whiskey," he answered, "instead of that rot-gut junk you bought from those whiskey runners last spring. I don't want you dealing with them any more, Runner. Next time I see them on my land, I'll bury all of them."

Runner grinned, remembering how Luke had chased off the whiskey traders he'd found camped on Fontaine land a few months ago. He hated them because they sold whiskey to the Sioux, and he hated the Sioux for stealing his son from him. Runner didn't mind that. All Crow Indians hated the Sioux also. They had been warring with each other for generations, but that was over now. The Crow were at peace, most living on reservations. They no longer roamed wild, competing with the Sioux for land and game. The Sioux were one of the last of the American Indian tribes to continue resisting white settlement. Red Cloud and a new warrior called Crazy Horse were causing a lot of problems, had even chased out the army and burned forts. They were aided by another warrior whose name no one dared mention in front of Luke Fontaine. He was called Half Nose.

"I don't like you drinking at all, Runner," Luke warned. "But as long as you don't cause trouble and as long as you don't drink when you're supposed to be working, I'll put up with it."

Runner not do you wrong, boss. Double L a good place to live. Better than reservation."

"What's the matter, Runner? Don't you like farmin' and livin' that quiet life on the reservation?" Ben Garvey, a bearded, grizzly old man who Luke suspected was as strong and hardy as a twenty-five-year-old, looked over at the half-breed from where he rode on the other side of Luke.

"Reservation life no good," Runner answered. "Nothing to do. Just sit and drink and die. No good. I like working for Luke Fontaine."

Luke laughed as he removed his wide-brimmed hat and wiped at sweat on his brow. "You're just soft-soaping me, Runner, so I'll let you have your whiskey."