Travis (18 page)

“Wait, I want to add something,” Houston said as everyone picked up their forks.

Travis nodded. “Go right ahead on, amigo.”

“Thank you God for us not being in the orphanage and us having good parents like Travis and Violet. Amen.”

“Pass the mashed potatoes.” Travis smiled. “I think maybe I can eat a little now.”

Violet looked around the table. She felt happy and fulfilled. Her family was all eating together and the only thing that would make her happier was to marry Travis and be a real mother to these orphans without him ever finding out she’d once been a saloon girl. “Harold, don’t stuff your mouth so full.”

“I can’t help it,” he choked out. “Everything is so good.”

“Growler and me want more milk,” Bonnie piped up.

Houston said, “Must she feed that old dog at the table?”

Violet shrugged as she got up to get the milk pitcher. “I’ve given up on that. Anyone want another biscuit?”

“I do!” yelled two children.

“Don’t forget to save room for dessert,” Violet reminded them. “It’s banana pudding.”

Travis’s eyes lit up. “You got bananas? I thought I smelled something good.”

“It’s a wonder to me you can smell anything,” Violet snapped before she thought, and went into the kitchen to get the bowls of pudding.

Kessie dived in and then licked her spoon. “Travis, we saw that pretty lady at church. She asked about you.”

“Oh, who?” Travis paused in buttering a biscuit.

Violet sighed. She hadn’t meant to mention the rich widow. “Mrs. Van Mayes.”

Travis grinned. “She is pretty and rich, too.”

“She invited us to dinner, but Violet said she already had dinner cooking,” Harold volunteered.

“Well, that was nice of the lady,” Travis said and returned to his biscuit.

Kessie said, “I’ll bet she’s so rich that her kids would all have ponies.”

“Pony,” Bonnie lisped, “pony.”

The children looked interested, and Violet said, “Well, now, Travis will give you all rides on Mouse. Hasn’t he been teaching you to ride, Houston?”

Houston nodded. “I ride pretty good and I can shoot, too. I think I’m gonna be a cowboy—or a Texas Ranger like Travis.”

Travis paused and his dark eyes filled with regret. “I used to be a Texas Ranger. Reckon those days are over for good. From now on, I reckon I’ll just work in a gun shop.”

Violet said, “Oh, don’t give up hope, Travis. That arm might eventually heal up and you can return to the job.”

“Maybe,” he said as he ate, “but I can’t take a chance that my arm’ll go numb on me again and I don’t have the money for surgery. Anyway even if I did, I’d spend it on Houston’s leg or sending Kessie and Harold to college.”

Violet sighed. “I wish we had enough money for both, but until then, we’ll all just do the best we can and enjoy our happiness while it lasts, okay?”

Harold smiled. “Life don’t get any better than what we got now, does it, Violet?”

“I reckon not.” She got up suddenly to hide the tears in her eyes. Yes, life could be better if she and Travis were wed and she could make love to him like she dreamed of doing and give him a couple of kids to join the four they already had.

 

 

After dinner, the children set up a howl to go swimming in the little pond at the end of the creek in the park by the school.

“All right,” Travis said, “but someone has to go with you in case you get into trouble.”

“Can we skinny-dip?” Harold asked.

Travis scowled at him. “Not with girls going along. I’ll sit on the bank in the shade and you all can swim.”

Kessie looked at Violet. “You going?”

She thought quickly. If Travis saw her in wet clothes, he might figure out she was older than thirteen. “No, I’ll go along, but I’ll sit and watch, too.”

Kessie frowned. “I hope I never get to be older. Ladies and big girls don’t have as much fun as kids.”

“Well, I might get too much sun and ruin my complexion,” Violet excused herself. “I’ll bring along some cookies and lemonade.”

So in minutes, the group was walking to the pond in the park. Nobody had a real bathing costume, so they decided to swim in their old clothes. Travis walked beside Violet and took the basket from her hand as the kids ran on ahead, Growler barking madly. “Here, give me that. You’re just a kid and too small to carry it. That’s what men are for.”

As he took it, their hands brushed and she could feel the spark that passed between them. Travis looked startled and scowled. “The kids are right, Violet. You work too hard for a young girl. I probably should take all of you home to my mother to raise.”

“I thought you said your parents were barely getting by?” She looked up at him, wanting to kiss him.

He looked down at her, his face troubled, then started walking again. “That’s a fact. I reckon then I ought to find good families to put all of you with.”

“You could get married,” Violet said and, without thinking, fluttered her eyelashes at him.

He looked alarmed and then cleared his throat. “I told you I was a confirmed bachelor. A girl named Emily broke my heart and dragged my pride through the mud.”

“Haven’t you gotten over her yet?” Violet asked as they walked.

“I reckon I didn’t love her as much as I once thought I did, but I’m a proud man and having everyone laugh at me was more than I could handle. I don’t ever want to be the butt of jokes or ridiculed again.”

If he only knew Violet’s background, he would throw her out in the street to fend for herself. “Sometimes one can be too proud.”

“Maybe,” he said, “but Emily left me with a distrust of women. I figure they’re all liars and cheaters and I don’t trust a one, except my mother, of course.”

She smiled up at him as they walked. “Not even me?”

“Oh, well, that’s different. You’re not a woman, you’re a girl, and you haven’t learned yet about conniving and lying. Maybe you never will and someday, some boy will be lucky enough to get you for a wife.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say. She’d woven this web of deceit and now there was no way out of it. Either way, she’d lose Travis.

“Now,” he joked and poked her, “if I wait ’til you grow up, a half a dozen years from now, I might marry you myself.”

“Would you?” She paused and looked up at him, wanting to throw her arms around him and kiss him, but of course she didn’t.

“Be reasonable, Violet,” he said. “By the time you’re old enough to marry, I’ll be much too old for you. You’ll be looking at younger men while I sit in my rocking chair.”

“I always liked older men,” she answered.

For a moment, they stared into each other’s eyes until the silence became uncomfortable. She wished she knew what he was thinking.

Then the tension was broken by Houston yelling, “What’s keeping you two? We want to go swimming.”

They finished their walk to the park. Travis spread a blanket and Violet made sure everyone knew to stay in the shallow water and not to jump off the rocks.

“Come on in,” Kessie called.

Violet shook her head. “I’ll just sit in the shade and after while, we’ll have some lemonade and cookies. Make sure Bonnie doesn’t get out too deep.”

“Not deep,” Bonnie said as she and Growler splashed in the water.

Violet leaned back against the trunk of the big cottonwood tree and Travis sat down next to her. Their arms brushed and she tensed, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“You’re a good kid, Violet,” he murmured, “old for your age. You shouldn’t have to be loaded down with the responsibility of looking after a house and all these kids. Everyone keeps saying I should get married. At least it would take a load off you.”

“Who’s been saying that?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Oh, everyone.” He shrugged.

He was sitting so close, she could feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek.

“I don’t mind,” she said. “Better than having some mean stepmother who would mistreat the kids.”

“I wouldn’t put up with that.” He shook his head. “I think of all of you as my kids now and nobody better even think about mistreating any of you.”

She had never felt so loved and protected. She had to fight an urge to lay her head against his chest. The kids played and splashed in the water, and Violet thought she had never been as happy as she was now. She pretended for a minute that she and Travis were married and these were their kids playing in the creek.

He was looking down at her again, puzzlement in his dark eyes. He looked like he might be thinking of kissing her or maybe remembering kissing her last night.

“What’s the matter?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I had the strangest dream last night.”

“Tell me about it.”

He shook his head and stirred uncomfortably. “No, it’s not something for a decent girl. I reckon I need to stop drinking.” He paused and didn’t meet her eyes.

Abruptly there was a scream from the water and then all the kids were yelling and Growler barked excitedly.

Houston and Kessie were both screaming, “Harold’s in trouble!”

“What the hell?” Travis swore and they both jumped to their feet. She saw in an instant that the Chinese boy had gotten farther down the creek and into a pool of deep water and was now thrashing around and going under.

“Oh, my God!” Violet took off running toward the water, but Travis grabbed her arm. “You stay here, kid, I’ll go after him.”

“But—”

He didn’t let her finish before he was running for the water, stopping only an instant to pull off his boots.

Travis dived into the pond, swimming rapidly toward the floundering boy. Ahead of him, Harold went under again and came up gasping and thrashing. “Hang on, kid, I’m coming!”

Behind him, he heard the dog barking and the others yelling and Violet shouting something about his wrist.

To hell with his wrist. It seemed to have healed up and anyway, he didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t let Harold drown.

He wasn’t sure how deep the water was here, but he knew he couldn’t touch bottom and Harold, with his thrashing, was drifting farther away from him. “I’m coming. Trust me!”

He reached out for the boy and saw panic in his almond eyes as Harold grabbed on to him in terror, pulling him under. Travis came to the surface and grabbed the child from behind with his right arm. “Stop fighting, I’ve got you.”

Harold stopped thrashing, but he was still coughing up water as Travis swam toward the bank. And then the pain in his wrist kicked in at the strain of keeping the boy afloat and he flinched and almost went under himself. On the bank, he was aware of Violet’s frightened face and her calling, “Travis, are you all right? Do you need help?”

His wrist sent shooting, throbbing pains up his arm, to his shoulder and all through his body. He gritted his teeth to keep from fainting, but he knew he was in trouble. If he could just get Harold to the bank, he might drown himself, but the boy would be safe.

“I’m coming in!” Violet yelled, stripping down to her cotton drawers and chemise.

“No,” he gasped, still attempting to swim although every stroke sent agony coursing through his body. “I’m too big, you can’t—”

But she was already in the water, swimming toward him and now she had Harold by the arm. “Travis, can you make it alone?”

“Maybe,” he gasped, and then she was swimming strongly toward the shore with the child. Travis thrashed in the water with one good arm until finally he put his feet on the muddy bottom.

He took a deep breath and staggered out of the pond, stood dripping and gasping while Violet laid Harold out on the ground and applied pressure to his chest.

“Harold,” she scolded, “didn’t I tell you all to stay out of the deep?”

He sat up, still coughing. “I—I stepped in a hole.”

She stood up and breathed hard. “Travis, are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He took a good look at her standing there dripping in her wet underwear that clung to her form. Funny, she had more shape than most girls her age. He stumbled up the bank and sat down hard on the blanket. “My damned arm gave out on me. I hate being so crippled up.”

“Here, let me wrap a towel around you.” She knelt down before him and put a towel around his shoulders. Her wet clothes brushed his arm and he had a guilty rush because he felt a sudden desire for her. “It’s a wonder I didn’t have to rescue you both,” she scolded.

He tried to take his stare away from her nubile body. “Where’d you learn to swim? I doubt most girls can.”

She shrugged. “I was raised in Memphis, right on the Mississippi. My brother and I swam a lot, hanging around the docks.” Suddenly she seemed to realize he was staring at the way her wet underwear clung to her curves and she grabbed for her dress, turned to yell at the children still in the water. “I think you all had better get out now before you get wrinkly and pruney.”

“Is Harold going to be all right?” Houston called.

“Yes, he’s okay. Now you all come dry off and have some lemonade.”

Travis grinned at Harold. “Remind me to teach you to swim.”

The other children came out of the water and Growler tagged along with Bonnie. When he got up to the blanket, the dog shook all over, bringing out screams of protests from Kessie.

Travis gave Violet a long look. “You look like a drowned rat.”

“I know.” She took her dress and slipped it over her head; then she poured lemonade for the kids and handed out cookies. “In all, it’s been a pretty good Sunday.”

Travis leaned back against the tree and sighed. “Except I found out that even if my wrist looks healed, it isn’t.”

“The doctor told you that, didn’t he?” Violet chided. “You’ll just have to be careful until you can afford surgery.”

“Which is never,” he muttered. “So I reckon I’ll work in the gun shop from now on. I had hoped to maybe go back to the Rangers or own a ranch.”

She handed him a glass of lemonade. “We’ll just do the best we can, Travis.”

He sipped it. “Thanks, young lady, for jumping in.”

“I could tell you were in trouble,” she whispered and without thinking, reached out and patted his wet face.

He caught her hand and for a moment, she thought he would kiss it. Then he seemed to think better and let go of it.

Houston said, “This was a fun day. It was almost like having real parents.”

“It was nice,” Harold coughed, “except for me almost drowning.”

“It was still like a real family,” Kessie said and lay down on the blanket.

Violet looked around. Little Bonnie had drifted off to sleep, Growler lying by her side, licking her face.

Violet smiled. It had been a great day. The only thing that worried her was the way Travis had stared at her with her wet underwear clinging to her body. Even though she was small-breasted, he might figure out that she was not a young girl. Then there would be hell to pay.

Travis broke into her thoughts. “It’s getting to be late afternoon. I reckon we ought to be going.” He stood up.

The children, all except Bonnie, scrambled to their feet.

Travis said, “Houston, you and Harold manage the picnic basket. I’ll carry Bonnie.”

Violet looked up at him anxiously. “Has your arm stopped hurting?”

He nodded. “Pretty much. Let’s go home.” He leaned over and picked up the sleeping toddler and cuddled her close; then he turned and started toward the house with Violet walking beside him and Growler at his heels. The other children trailed along behind, everyone sleepy and tired.

It was turning dusk when they got to the house. Travis carried Bonnie in and laid her on her bed. Growler hopped up on the bed and lay down next to her.

Behind him, Violet said, “I’ll get the others ready for bed and put away the picnic things.”

He turned around and caught her wrist. “Violet,” he said, and the way he looked into her eyes made her uneasy. “I want you to start locking your door at night.”

“Why?” She looked up at him and saw the passion and the need in his dark eyes.

“You don’t need to know why. Maybe someday, when you’re grown, you’ll find out, but right now, I just think it’s wise.”

“But—”

“Don’t argue with me, damn it!” he thundered so loud, it startled her.

He was afraid he might not be able to stop himself from coming into her room some night, she realized, and making love to her.

“All right.” She turned and fled out down the hall and into the kitchen.

Kessie looked up from putting away the picnic things. “What’s Travis shouting about?”

“Nothing you would understand,” Violet said and began to busy herself at the dishpan. “Tomorrow, I’ll take you all to the library. Would you like that?”

“We sure would, but see if you can get Bonnie to leave the dog at home. I don’t think that old Miss Knowlen likes dogs in her library.”

Violet turned to Houston. “Check on the horse and make sure it’s got plenty of hay and water,” she said, “and Harold can milk the cow.”

“I don’t think scientists milk cows,” Harold complained.

“Well, this one has to or there won’t be any milk for breakfast. Then you boys get ready for bed.”

“Aw, why can’t we stay up?” Kessie moaned.

“No one’s staying up tonight,” she said. “Everyone’s tired and we’re all going to bed early.”

“Even you and Travis?” Harold asked.

“Yes, I said everyone.”

The northbound train roared through at seven o’clock, shaking the house, but it did not stop. Violet hardly paid attention to the trains anymore.

In another hour she was in her own bed, but she couldn’t sleep. She stirred restlessly, knowing she hadn’t locked her door as she’d been ordered to do and wondering if Travis would come to her late at night. She wanted him in the most primitive way. The thought of him kissing her, caressing her breasts, set her very being on fire, and she lay awake a long time, hoping he would come and she could finally admit to him that she was almost twenty years old. Maybe in the throes of mutual passion, he would forgive her and make love to her. She lay there a long time and finally dropped off to sleep.

 

 

Travis lay awake a long time, thinking about Violet and the way she had looked with her wet underwear clinging to her body. A suspicion crossed his mind and he dismissed it immediately. There could be no reason for a girl to pretend she was younger than she actually was—or was there?

He was scared of the way he was beginning to feel about her. This was not only loco, it was sick. He couldn’t fall in love with a young kid, it just didn’t make any sense. Probably it was only because he was lonely for adult female companionship. There was plenty at the saloon, including that lusty redhead, Kate. His mind switched to Charlotte Van Mayes. There was a beauty who seemed hot and ready. Maybe he ought to marry her. At least it would give the kids a good home and pay for things they needed that he couldn’t provide. However, as he drifted into a troubled sleep, the female in his dreams was Violet—so young and innocent.

Travis and Violet avoided each other’s gaze at breakfast, but the kids were so noisy, talking to each other, that no one seemed to notice.

Travis said, “What’re your tasks for the day?”

Violet kept her eyes on the biscuit she was buttering. “The kids want to go to the library and I’ve got a little shopping to do. What about you?”

“I expect things will be busy at the gun shop today,” he answered, sipping his coffee. “Maybe I’ll stop off after work at the saloon for a drink with the boys.”

Now she did look into his eyes. “Just a drink? That’s all?”

“Violet,” he snapped, “I’m a grown man. I don’t have to answer to a kid.”

The children quieted.

Violet felt her face redden. “It’s just that, well, we don’t have enough money for you to spend much on . . . beer.”

“You think I don’t know that?” he snarled, getting up from the table. “But I ought to be able to cut loose once in a while.”

Violet grimaced. “Very well. Give my regards to the girls.”

Harold looked at both of them with his big almond eyes. “What girls?”

“Friends of Travis’s,” Violet snapped.

“Then why don’t you bring them home for dinner?” Kessie asked. “Violet would be happy to cook some extra.”

“I don’t think so,” Violet said.

“Damn it all to hell!” Travis shouted and stomped out the front door, slamming it behind him.

Houston looked puzzled. “What’s he so mad about?”

“Nothing,” Violet answered. “Drink your milk.”

Kessie looked around the table and began to chew her nails. “Have you ever noticed when grown-ups get mad, they always answer ‘nothing’ when you ask what’s wrong?”

“Kessie, you are too smart for your own good.” Violet got up from the table. “Now stop chewing your nails and help me do the dishes. Bonnie, stop feeding the dog your bacon.”

“Growler like bacon,” Little Bonnie said.

“Let him eat scraps,” Violet said. “Bacon is expensive.”

Harold had carried his dishes into the kitchen. “Travis forgot his lunch,” he called back.

“Then you can go take it to him,” Violet said.

He stuck his head around the kitchen door. “If we’re all going out anyway, why don’t we take it to him then?”

She hesitated. She was angry with Travis and didn’t want to see him. “I’m busy cleaning up the kitchen. You take it to him.”

Harold grabbed the sack and went out of the house while Kessie and Violet cleaned up the kitchen and Houston went out to take care of the livestock.

 

 

Travis looked up from cleaning a rifle to see Harold coming in. “Oh, howdy.”

“You forgot your lunch.”

“Oh, yeah. Just put it on the counter.”

Harold came over and looked up at him. “Are you mad at her?”

“I could wring her pretty little neck,” Travis said before he thought.

“Please don’t. We all love her. Don’t you?”

Travis looked down into the anxious face and smiled. “Of course I do. It’s just something people say when they’re mad.” He paused. “Harold, did Violet come in on the orphan train with you kids?”

“Uh—” The boy hesitated, which gave Travis the answer he wanted.

Travis tried again. “How old is she, really?”

Harold backed toward the door. “I—I’ve got to be going.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Sweat broke out on the boy’s brown face. “Honestly, Travis, I don’t know.”