Do Not Forsake Me(131)

“No.”

“In Montana there are huge, almost mountainous ridges that create sound barriers. The way I heard it, army scouts at one time were right on the other side from where up to ten thousand Indians were camped, and they never knew it.”

Jeff nodded. “I never heard that.” Both men sat quietly for a moment. “You okay, Lloyd?”

“No. I’m dynamite, remember? But Pa, he’s nitroglycerin. That thing he did to Dooley back there in Guthrie—I don’t think I could have done that, but it didn’t bother me to watch Pa do it. There’s the difference between us.”

“Jake seems calmer,” Jeff mentioned.

“I know. I think it’s partly from learning my mother is all right. He takes so much strength from her, and he knows she’d be telling him not to go off half-cocked here. She’d tell him to stay calm and use his head. She’d remind him that he doesn’t think straight when he’s raging mad. I expect he feels her with him. That’s all it takes for him to settle down.”

Jake joined them, gathering everyone close. “Tomorrow we’ll make our way up this ridge—leave the horses here. I am hoping two things will give us an edge. Because I was gone when those men raided Guthrie, they have no idea when I got back, so they don’t know for sure when I’ll come looking for them. So I highly doubt they expect me to reach them so soon. And they don’t know I’ve already had a little chat with the man Katie shot back in Guthrie and I know exactly where they are. They think they have a lot of time to have their enjoyment with my daughter and drink and take it easy and talk about all the ways they intend to torture me before they kill me. But before we go in there shooting, I’ll need to weigh the options. I can’t do that till we get up on that ridge tomorrow and get a look at the layout down there, so I don’t want any man here to just start shooting without my orders. I’ll tell you when to shoot and who to shoot so there are no wasted bullets. And it could be Lloyd and I have to go into that camp with guns blazing, so you men pick your targets and make sure one of us doesn’t end up with a bullet in our own back by accident. You’re all good with those rifles, so aim at a man and imagine he’s just a deer or a bear. He’s not a man. Understand? You can’t let doubt or feelings get in the way. If you have qualms about it, leave now. I’ll understand.”

Ruben Tate spoke up. “That woman down there is loved by a lot of people, Jake. She’s not just your daughter—she’s Lloyd’s sister and Brian’s wife. And we all have no use for any man who’d abuse a woman or a little kid. There’s not a man here who’ll hesitate to put a bullet in any one of those men.”

“All right then, get some rest.” Jake stepped closer to Brian. “Come with me, Brian. Leave your rifle here.”

His head still bandaged, Brian got up and followed his father-in-law farther into the woods. Jake sat down on a log and told Brian to sit down beside him. Both just sat there quietly for a moment, resting their elbows on their knees, listening to the crickets.

“Brian, you know about that time I went looking for Randy back before I married her, when she went alone to find her brother in Nevada…and how I found her at that trading post…so sick and weak she could barely move. Those men…” He sighed. “They didn’t actually…do the worst…but they took liberties. They defiled and humiliated her. I took care of them my own way, and I got her out of there…and I nursed her back to health. And I saw her only as the beautiful woman I was falling in love with, and nothing those men did made any difference. I felt like she was mine, before I even touched her that way. And she was someone to be treasured and loved.”

Jake sighed thoughtfully before continuing.

“And that’s what Evie is to you…yours…to be treasured and loved. As her husband, you’re the only one who can erase all the ugliness of this. The preacher told me something this morning that I’d never considered before.” He paused, listening to an owl. “He said that evil can’t touch Evie. He said evil could use her to get to me, but it couldn’t touch her, and I believe that. She’s carrying your baby—your baby—if she hasn’t lost it. Even if she’s lost it, you’re the one who planted that baby in her belly, out of pure, innocent love, which is the only kind Evie knows. So there isn’t a man down in that hollow who has really touched her at all, and only you can make her understand that. Do you know what I’m saying?”

Brian nodded, fighting the tears that wanted to come. “She was only eighteen when I met her. I’m the only man she’s ever been with, the only one who owns her heart and soul, just as she owns mine. This changes none of that, and I’ll damn well help her see that.” He choked in a sob. “What hurts the most is that I failed to protect her.” He rubbed at tear-filled eyes. “A man is supposed to be the protector. I mean—look what Katie did. I should have done something like that.”