Comanche Haven (The Loflin Legacy: Book 1) (17 page)

Celia watched as Red Bear nodded. A
sinking feeling of dread churned in her stomach. She couldn’t help
getting in the next words. “This isn’t the way the Great Spirit
intended us to behave,” she said, finally shaking her
head.

“
The Great Spirit has
forsaken our people,” he growled.

Celia couldn’t stop her own sharp
intake of breath at his blasphemy.

Lines of grief fanned out from the
corners of Red Bear’s eyes like evil streaks of lighting. “We must
look to our own strength to see us through.” He raised his fist and
beat his chest once in a show of commitment. “You have my word,
Celia, now go and find out what I need or his people will
die.”

Trembling, she reminded herself she had
his word, if his word meant anything. She prayed it did.

Leaving her with three great strides,
Red Bear disappeared into the night mist clinging to the ridge. The
pony followed his master.

Chapter 5

The Truth

“
Sheriff Cole!” Seth reigned
in at the hitching post.

“
Boys,” The sheriff greeted
them both and laid down his knife next to his latest whittling
project.

“
Looks like you’ve been
busy.” Ty motioned to the pile of wood shavings between Cole’s
feet.

“
A little.” Cole didn’t miss
Ty’s jab. Instead, he ignored it. “What can I do for
you?”

“
We need to talk with you.”
Seth tied Sarge to the post and faced Cole.

“
Sure, step into my office.”
Cole got up and opened the door to the one room office and jail was
Tyler’s answer to law enforcement. “Don’t mind him. He’s just
sleepin’ off another drunk.” With a nod in the direction of the
snoring man behind the bars, Cole settled himself behind the desk.
“Now, what seems to be the problem?”

The position of authority was Cole’s
solely. He’d been Tyler’s one and only lawman for thirteen years.
The fort offered further assistance if they needed any. Weary with
the ride, Seth slid into the nearest chair and rested his elbows on
his knees. “Sheriff, Lone Eagle and his tribe were massacred on
Shooter Creek land two days ago.”

“
Lone Eagle? Massacred?”
Cole’s eyes searched intently from brother to brother. “Are you
sure? Do you know who did it?”

“
Yes, we’re sure and no, we
have an idea but no real proof.” Seth glanced at Ty then before
continuing, “U.S. Army rifles and shoe prints point to the Cavalry,
but I think they were stolen by the murdering bastards who actually
did the deed.”

“
Sheriff.” Ty’s face was
grim. “They scalped them and shot the horses. What Cavalry man do
you know who would do that?”

Cole leaned back in his chair and
steepled his fingers without saying a word for several minutes.
“What about tracks?”

“
There were plenty. Broken
Horse is tracking them right now.” Ty helped himself to a cup of
coffee and motioned to Seth to see if he wanted one.

Cole took a closer look at the two
brothers from over his hands he now propped on his desk. “From the
looks of things, you boys haven’t had much sleep.”

“
We’ve had better days.”
Pushing back the Stetson on his head, Seth peered steadily at the
lawman. “I need you to come out to the ranch and take a look at
this mess.” He waited a beat as the Sheriff considered.

“
Sure, I’ll ride out this
afternoon. Give me time to deputize somebody to watch over things
here. Okay?”

“
Okay. Much obliged,
Sherriff.” Seth’s next statement was firm and earnest. “We have to
find out who’s responsible before things turned into an all-out
Indian war.”

His meaning wasn’t lost on the lawman.
“Don’t worry Seth. We’ll find out who’s responsible.”

“
There’s one other thing I
need to mention.” Tension churned in Seth’s gut as he pondered how
to explain Celia to Cole.

“
Sure…” Sheriff Cole’s eyes
tracked from one brother to another. “Tell me what it
is.”

Seth explained the situation with
Celia. “I’ll bring her into town in a few days and you can speak to
her yourself.”

“
Good. It’s unlikely she’ll
have any information. Maybe Broken Horse spoke to her about the
problems the Comanche are causing in his communications with her.
At any rate, I’ll talk to her about Red Bear’s whereabouts. He’s
the one I’m worried about now.”

When the brothers left, Cole leaned
back in his chair. “Did you hear all of that?”

The man in the cell rolled slightly as
he scratched at a spot under his arm. “Yeah, I heard. Didn’t expect
‘um to find it so soon.”

“
You’ve made a mess of
things that’s for sure,” Cole said from his place behind the
sheriff’s desk.

“
Well, we’ll just have to
fix things then won’t we?” the man in the cell said as he stared
sleepily at the ceiling.

***

A couple of very, weary brothers rode
into the ranch yard later in the evening. They’d pushed to get back
to the ranch as quickly as possible. The call from the tower went
up as the two crossed the cattle gap.

Seth’s worry over leaving Celia alone
had fueled their hasty return. He would’ve normally stayed
overnight and enjoyed the company of a lovely young lady or two at
one of the Tyler saloons, but not this time. What Claudette didn’t
know had never worried him before. Now irritation at the thought of
more responsibility warred with the unmistakable urge to see the
intoxicating beauty again. Seth found his mood fowl.

Seated on the veranda, Shorty and Jake
watched them ride up.

Seth would have much rather made it
into the house and at least have gotten his boots off first. Being
interrogated by his foreman and the chuck wagon cook wasn’t the
homecoming he was looking for.

“
How’d it go in town?”
Shorty spit tobacco in a stream off the side of the porch and wiped
the juice off his lip with the back of his sleeve. His pruned face
sported the stubble of a beard and the old, grizzled veteran
squinted at Seth from under white, bushy eyebrows. Shorty had been
a fixture on the ranch since before Seth was born. He knew
everything there was to know about cattle, horses, women, booze,
cards, cooking and whatever else came to mind. All anybody had to
do was ask Shorty.

Reluctantly and without a word, Seth
headed down the porch to where the two sat. The cool breeze
whipping around the corner of the house did little to relieve his
mood at the point. “We told Sheriff Cole everything. He said he’d
keep a watch on the situation.” Seth’s eyes flicked from one man to
another. “Not much he can do. Then we spoke to Major Chance at Fort
Tyler. He told us Texas Rangers had been patrolling the area
earlier this month. Said it was Brannon’s bunch.” Seth gave his
audience a disgruntled sneer. “Since they were most likely in
pursuit of hostiles, it’s probable they would’ve thought nothing of
eliminating a few more Injuns.” Without even trying to hide the
sarcasm tainting his words, Seth continued, “After all, they’d have
the blessing of the Governor of the great state of Texas.” His jaw
tensed at the thought. He could never agree with the
non-discriminatory killing of innocent women and children. There
was no justice in the cowardly act as far as he was concerned.
Probably one of the reasons he mustarded out of the army and came
home, Seth mused. He thought of Celia and the grief she’d endured
because of such a cowardly deed. His gut tightened
again.

“
Did you find anything out
on the trail?” Shorty reared back in his chair and peered up at the
boss.

“
We tracked about twelve
riders heading north into Oklahoma territory, but never caught up
with them. They rode army issued horses. I’m sure of that. Maybe
with them headed northwest, we can concentrate on convincing Red
Bear’s bunch we didn’t kill his people and things will die down. At
any rate, I’m going to double the watch for the time being and move
the majority of the herd in from the north grazing range until the
Comanche move on,” Seth added.

Shorty sat pondering the dregs in the
bottom of his coffee cup and said nothing.

Seth knew his mind was working. The
wheels were turning. Ever since Earl Loflin had died, Shorty had
taken over the role of guardian. Apparently, Seth thought sourly,
the old man figured Seth needed somebody to look out for him. It
irritated him to no end, but he let the old man think he was the
one running the show just to keep the peace.

“
How does it sound to you,
Shorty?” He couldn’t help the need to poke at the old man with the
point of his words.

“
Yeah, yeah, that sounds
fine.” Shorty’s face pokered-up and he lowered his head to study
the dregs in his cup more thoroughly. “Still can’t believe they’re
gone.” The scruffy, old geezer coughed and wiped at his face with
the back of his battered old hand.

Seth looked away rather than
acknowledge Shorty’s moment of sorrow over the loss of old friends
and a whole way of life. Things were definitely moving too fast for
all of them.

Jake cut in to the silence. “If you got
a minute, Seth, I need to talk to you about the new calves. A
couple of them seem to be under the weather.”

Seth nodded and followed Jake off the
porch and then down to the barn. He’d been thinking about a warm
bath and a stiff drink all the way back from Tyler, but the foreman
seemed serious so he fell in behind Jake as he entered the big,
weathered wooden doors. There was no more loyal a man than Jake
Turner. He too had been around since Earl had first set up ranching
on the piece of ground his father had christened ‘Shooter Creek’.
Seth trusted his word above all others and thought of Jake in some
respects as the father Earl had never been.

As they entered, Jake walked toward the
backside and peered out first one way and then the
other.

Bemused, Seth stood patiently waiting
on the slow moving, slow talking, cigarette smoking , died in the
wool cowboy who habitually referred to him as ‘Boss’ despite Seth’s
repeated objections.

Retracing his steps, Jake began, “Ain’t
no calve I need to talk to you about.” He paused and looked down at
the hay mixed with the dirt at his feet. “I kept a close watch on
things like you asked me to. Maggie suggested I show Celia around
the place to keep her occupied. Everything was going fine until we
spotted a lone Comanche on the trail yesterday.” Jake shifted
uneasily and glanced back at Seth. His face wreathed in lines of
concern. “He was a warrior and when Celia saw him, I could’ve sworn
she knew him. She got real jittery and wanted to turn back right
then. She claimed she was tired and needed to rest.”

“
Did you get a good look at
him?”

“
It was a ‘fer piece but I
could make out a red sash tied at his waist.”

Seth’s mouth firmed at the information.
Only one Comanche wore a red sash – Red Bear.

Jake hunched his shoulders even further
and kicked at the hay lying on the floor of the barn. “Then last
night I was outside smoking. I watched Celia creep back into the
barn on her mare. When she’d gone in, I went out to check on the
mare. Its coat was wet with sweat. Its legs were scratched and it
looked like she’d been ridden a long way.” His face drooped even
further. “Celia came from the direction we ridden.” He looked
sheepishly toward Seth. “I thought you should know,” he finished
tightly.

Seth nodded slowly and then took a step
toward the back door. Suddenly, he needed the air. He stood looking
off toward the hills skirting the ranch. You could just make out
the silhouettes of their tree-covered tops in the waning light. He
didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, he lowered his head
and kicked at the hay under his feet. “I appreciate you keeping
your eyes open. If you see anything else, let me know, okay? Oh
and, Jake, remember to double the watch from now on. Have Ned
Johnson and Pearly Simmons head up to the line shack tomorrow to
get the herd ready to move south. We’ll meet them on the way back
as soon as I can get caught up here. Okay?”

“
Sure, no problem,” Jake
assured him.

Seth thought Jake had gone and was
mildly surprised when he came out of his own head and found him
still there. “What – something else?” Seth asked with a grain of
irritation showing.

“
We lost nearly twenty head
of cattle and ten horses are missing as of last night.”

“
I know I shouldn’t be
surprised, but hell…” Seth stuffed his hands into his front pockets
and stood absorbing the news. The temper , which had wormed its way
up his gut into his throat settled with a bit of force now. After a
beat, he spoke again. “I’ll tell Ty. Thanks for lettin’ me
know.”

Jake ambled out the door and answered
without looking back. “Sure thing, Boss.”

***

Seth sank into the steaming tub of
water Maggie had prepared for him, almost immediately, after
reaching his room. Steam rose in a cloud around him. He leaned back
and closed his eyes. The numbing power of the hot water was doing a
fine job on the aches and pains in his body. What the water
couldn’t fix, the whiskey in his hand could, so he closed his eyes
and tried to forget the trouble brewing around him.