Luke's Gold (30 page)

 

Inside the cabin, Cade lay in fitful slumber, a chill having descended upon him. The fire in the fireplace had died down to a few rosy cinders that cast a dull glow in the darkened room. He had thought about dragging himself from the bed to put more wood on the fire, but he was reluctant to revive the pain that such movements were certain to cause. Although it disgusted him to do so, he had pulled Snider's blanket over him instead, and dropped back into his uneasy sleep. He was not aware that he had company until the cabin door creaked ajar and Bonner cautiously peeked into the room.

“Slater,” Bonner whispered, “you all right?”

Blinking sleep from his eyes, Cade looked up to see the huge man now filling the low doorway as he stepped inside. “Yeah,” he whispered in response.

“I weren't shot as bad as I thought, so I went back up that mountain to help you, but you was already gone by then,” Bonner lied. Getting no reply, he reached slowly down and rested his hand on his pistol. “Are you shot or somethin'?” When there was still no reply, he knew something was wrong—maybe Slater had caught a bullet. The possibility of that was enough encouragement for Bonner to make up his mind. Expecting to see evidence of a gunshot, he suddenly reached down to grab a handful of the blanket, and snatched it off the wounded man. Even in the soft firelight, he could plainly see the muzzle of the Colt .45 staring up at him, but for only a split second before it exploded in his face. With eyes wide in shocked surprise, Bonner sank to the floor beside the bed and lay still. Though it took little effort on Cade's part, it was enough to tire him out. He dropped his arm back beside him on the bed and lay there without moving. In a few minutes' time, he was asleep again.

 

“Where you go?” White Moon demanded, standing in the doorway of her room. “It's the middle of the night.”

“Shhh . . .” Elizabeth replied as she tiptoed down the front hallway. “You'll wake everybody.”

“Where you go?” White Moon repeated sternly.

Elizabeth explained that Red Reynolds had tapped upon her window to tell her that Cade had been seriously wounded, that he was on his way to fetch Dr. Bates.

“Why he wake you up to tell you that?” the Shoshone woman asked.

Elizabeth shook her head, exasperated that White Moon had to ask. “To give me time to get dressed and get my horse saddled,” she answered. White Moon seemed astonished. “Because Red knows I care about Cade,” Elizabeth explained. She didn't bother to tell White Moon that she had persuaded Red to ride after Cade. When White Moon still seemed puzzled about where Elizabeth was going in the middle of the night, Elizabeth told her that she was going to meet Red and the doctor on their way out to John Slater's ranch and join them. White Moon was totally confused at that, until Elizabeth relayed Red's accounting of the shoot-out on the mountain. “John Slater shot him, so I'm going to help him if I can,” she concluded.

“Not without me,” the somber Indian woman stated emphatically, finally understanding. She turned immediately to fetch her clothes.

“Well, hurry up,” Elizabeth said, “and don't wake Aunt Cornelia.”

 

“What the . . .” was as far as Red got when he saw the cabin door standing open. Already feeling a need for caution when they had found another horse, saddled and tied to the porch post, he motioned for the others to stay back until he checked the cabin. Pulling his revolver, he dismounted, stepped quietly on the porch, and edged slowly toward the door. Inside, he found Cade just as he had left him, with the exception of one oversized corpse lying on the floor beside him. “Well, I'll be gone to hell,” he muttered under his breath. He holstered his weapon and signaled the doctor. “You ladies better wait a little while,” he said, then went to Cade's side.

Cade opened his eyes to find Red's face inches from his, Red's eyes wide and staring. When Cade's eyelids flickered open, Red recoiled a few inches, startled. “I thought you were dead,” he said.

“I thought I was, too . . . a couple of times,” Cade said. “When I woke up just now and saw that ugly face of yours, I was sure I was in hell.” He formed a weak smile for him.

“I see you had company while I was gone,” Red said. “I'd best drag him outta here.” He took another look at the body and added, “That is, if I can. He's a big'un.” He shook his head in wonder. “You sure picked a helluva bunkmate.”

Cade smiled. “Well, at least he don't snore.”

Dr. Judson Bates entered the cabin as Red was in the process of pulling Bonner's body away from the bed. Still grousing about being routed out in the wee hours of the morning, he paused to register a look of disgust for the scene. “Merciful heavens,” he snorted, “this place looks like a pigsty.”

Red returned his look with a wide grin, and nodded toward Cade. “He don't live here, he's just visitin'.”

Bates turned to watch Red pull Bonner's body out the door. “Damn fools,” he muttered. “I don't know why I bother. Patch 'em up and they go out and get themselves shot again.” He glanced back at the patient, then called after Red, “Tell the women to come on in here. I need somebody to build that fire up again and heat up some water.”

Elizabeth was already on her way in, having waited as long as her patience would permit. White Moon was right on her heels. “Oh, Cade,” Elizabeth sighed in distress upon seeing the strong young man in such pale condition. Charging past the doctor, she ordered, “White Moon, build up that fire and heat up some water. We've got to get him out of those clothes and clean him up.”

White Moon nodded and quickly responded. Dr. Bates stepped aside to avoid being run over by the big woman. He gave Elizabeth a look of mock alarm, astonished by the young woman's taking charge of the situation. “Well,” he said somewhat chagrined, “I don't know why you bothered to get me out of bed.”

Realizing then how assumptive her actions may have seemed, Elizabeth smiled at the doctor apologetically. “I just thought you might want him out of that bloody shirt.”

Bates laughed. “I do. Let's get him cleaned up a little so I can see what we've got.”

Even with the flurry of activity that had suddenly filled the tiny cabin, Cade was only halfway conscious of what was going on. Afterward, he remembered talking to Red and feeling the doctor's probing, but he also was aware that Elizabeth was in the room—even though he thought that unlikely. It was a little before midday when he woke up with a sense of where he was, and discovered that Elizabeth was there indeed. “Beth? What are you doin' here?”

“Somebody has to make sure you take care of yourself,” she said, pleased that he had awakened. Guessing that he was well enough now to scold, she continued. “Were you out of your mind, coming out here by yourself? Red told me about John Slater. I couldn't believe it! He was going to kill you!”

Although still very weak, he tried to smile. “Yeah, Red saved my bacon, but I reckon he mighta spoiled your wed-din' plans.”

She favored him with a deep frown. “Bite your tongue,” she scolded. “I never had any such feelings for John Slater.” Smiling again, she said, “Dr. Bates said it's a good thing you stayed put here last night instead of trying to ride back to town.” She sent a gracious smile toward the doctor then. “He's got you all patched up, and you'll be on your feet in no time.”

“I reckon I can stay on a horse long enough to get back to the Bar-K now.”

Bates cocked his head toward his patient when he heard Cade's remark. “You don't need to ride anywhere for a day or two. You were mighty lucky, young man. That bullet didn't damage any major organs, but it only missed by a hair. You're gonna have to be laid up for a spell until some healing starts.”

That caused a look of concern to fall upon Cade's face. “I can't stay here,” he protested.

“Yes you can,” Elizabeth interrupted. “We're gonna stay with you, White Moon and me. We're going to clean this place up, and Red's going to butcher a cow. Dr. Bates says you need fresh meat to build your blood back up.”

A silent observer to that point, Red piped up then. “Yeah, I'm gonna go cut out one of Slater's herd and butcher it.” He laughed. “I ain't seen more'n half a dozen cows around here. Ain't much of a cattle empire.” He took a few steps toward the door, then stopped and turned to face Cade again. “I still can't figure why that man wanted you dead so bad. You sure you ain't stepped on his toes somewhere before, and you just forgot about it?”

“I've seen him before, and I sure as hell never forgot about it,” Cade answered. He then went on to tell them about Luke's gold, and how Lem Snider had murdered Luke Tucker. “I guess he recognized me all along. He looked at me kinda funny on the mornin' we left Butte for Deer Lodge, like he'd seen a ghost. I just didn't recognize him.”

Listening with eyes open wide, Elizabeth was horrified to learn of John Slater's murderous past. She could not help but quiver suddenly when she thought about his quest for her affections. Glancing at White Moon, she was met with a smug expression and the words, “I told you—no good.”

Cade couldn't really say he liked the idea of remaining in Lem Snider's cabin at first. There was still a loathing for spending any length of time in any dwelling that Lem Snider had called home. But he soon softened his feelings of resentment after White Moon and Elizabeth burned Snider's personal items and scoured the cabin. Red killed one of Snider's cows, but left the butchering to White Moon, while he escorted the doctor back to Deer Lodge. He promised Elizabeth that he would also reassure the Kramers that she was all right. She had left them a note the night before, but she was afraid they would be worried until they heard more from her.

When Dr. Bates and Red had departed for town, White Moon put some beef over the fire to roast. The aroma wafting from the roasting meat reminded Cade that he had not eaten for some time, and he was thankful that Snider's bullet had not pierced any internal organs. The day passed peacefully enough with only one minor confrontation between patient and nurse—an argument over whether Cade was going to struggle to get out of bed to answer nature's calls, or use the bucket White Moon found in the barn. “Don't be silly,” Elizabeth scolded. “Dr. Bates said you were to stay in bed for at least a couple of days. Besides, you act like you've got something nobody's ever seen before.”

“Maybe so,” Cade replied, “but I ain't ready for you to see it.”

A compromise was reached with the two women agreeing to leave the cabin while Cade used the bucket. “It's not fair,” Elizabeth complained, joking. “The ladies have to go outside and freeze our behinds when we get nature's call, while you get to go inside where it's warm.”

By nightfall, Cade was tired and more than ready to sleep. Elizabeth checked the bandage around his torso as Dr. Bates had instructed, then tenderly tucked the blanket around him. Feeling his eyes searching her face as she tended him, she met his gaze and smiled.

“I don't know how your daddy would feel about this,” he said softly. “I reckon maybe with White Moon here to look after you, he wouldn't get too upset.”

She didn't answer at once, continuing to smile down at him. Then she glanced over to see that White Moon was tending something on the fire, and leaning close, kissed him lightly on the lips. “It wouldn't matter if he did, would it?” she whispered. “You're going to see a lot more of me, Cade Hunter. Now close your eyes and go to sleep.”

She left him then to lie awake wondering what her remark really meant. Was there a promise implied? Or was it just wishful thinking on his part? When he finally drifted off, his dreams were filled with visions of Elizabeth and the grassy plains between Big Timber and the Crazy Mountains; Luke Tucker, and Levi Crabtree and Willow.

He awoke the next morning feeling stronger and hungry. From the kitchen section of the cabin, he could hear White Moon complaining that the spit she had tried to fashion had loosened two of the fireplace stones, causing the spit to collapse and spill water from the pot suspended from it, almost putting her fire out. Elizabeth went to help her, but discovered the stones would not stay firmly in place, so she removed them and was surprised to discover a hole in the stone hearth. Puzzled to find what appeared to be dirty canvas rags stuffed in the bottom of the hole, she then realized that what she had uncovered were leather pouches, eight in all, each one filled with gold dust. Speechless, she turned to Cade and held up one of the pouches for him to see.

It was surprising to Cade that Snider still had eight of the original pouches. “Luke's gold,” he murmured softly as Elizabeth brought it to him. “So that's what's left—there were sixteen to start with.”

“Maybe half of it's gone,” she said with a mischievous smile, “but it still looks like enough for a man to plan his life and maybe start a family.”

Uncertain as usual when around her, he replied cautiously, “I reckon, if a man could find a woman who would have him.”

Elizabeth shook her head and struck a pose of exasperation. “I swear, Cade Hunter, you might be the dumbest man I've ever met.”

“I reckon,” he said.

“You hurry up and get yourself well,” she said, taking charge as usual. “I can see you've got a lot to learn about calling on a lady.”

“Yes, ma'am,” he replied, happily, “but I can learn pretty fast when I set my mind to it.”

Standing by the fireplace, listening to the conversation between the two young people, White Moon rolled her eyes heavenward, sighed, and shook her head.