Rose(109)

“Neither do I, but if anybody can talk him into it, you can.”

Jeff looked startled, then distrustful, as if expecting a trick.

“What makes you say that?”

“You’re very persuasive when you want to be. You’re also tight as a tick with money. We need the very best deal we can get, and you’re the one to get it for us.”

Jeff looked a little flustered by the compliment. He had apparently expected some sort of argument when George asked him to stay behind. His defenses had been up. His jaw set, his teeth clenched. Now he looked surprised.

“Suppose King won’t trade?”

“There must be other ranchers shipping out in the spring. Or agents looking to buy a herd. You might even find someone willing to take our herd with him for a commission. I don’t like the idea of going that far until you boys have had a chance to go over that trail with somebody who knows it. Ask him if the twins can go with him next spring.”

“How much should I ask for?”

“As much as you can get, but don’t settle for less than twelve dollars a head. If you can’t get more, we’ll have to take them ourselves. Otherwise we might as well sell them for hides and tallow.”

“When do you want me to leave?”

“The sooner the better. I asked Rose to see that your clothes were ready to pack.”

Jeff’s expression went from sulky to sullen. George ignored it.

“There’s also something else I want you to do while you’re in Austin,” George said. He went over to his horse and returned with something long and slim wrapped in a cloth.

“That’s your sword,” Jeff said. “Is something wrong with it? I doubt they have anybody in Austin who can work on anything as fine as that.”

“Nothing’s wrong with it,” George said, handing it to Jeff. “I want you to sell it.”

“Sell it! Why? We’re not that short of money.”

“I want you to sell it and buy a wedding ring for Rose.”

Jeff looked thunderous.

“Take it to McGrath and Hayden. Ask for Jim Hayden. I’ve already spoken to him. He knows the ring I want. He’ll give you a good price.”

“Damn, I won’t do it. I can’t sell your sword to buy a ring for—”

“You’d better think before you finish that sentence,” George warned. “And while you’re thinking, try to remember you’re speaking about my wife.”

“But—”

“There are no buts, Jeff. You seem to think your getting mad will change everything, but it won’t. Rose is going to keep on being my wife no matter what you do.”

“I keep hoping you’ll come to your senses and—”

“And do what? Send her back to Austin? Divorce her? What for? She hasn’t done anything except take better care of us than our own mother.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because it’s true. Pa never took care of anybody. And Ma never took our side against him. Maybe you don’t remember, but I do.” His eyes grew just as hard as Jeff’s. He remembered the beatings when his mother had stood by, helpless. He remembered the anger he’d harbored against her for her weakness. “Rose would kill me if I tried to do half the things to Zac that Pa did to me, and you know it.”

“I’m not buying a ring for that woman. Even if I were, I wouldn’t sell your sword to do it. It’s sacred.”

“It’s nothing but a sword, Jeff. It only reminds me of four terrible years I’d just as soon forget. You see a cause, the beliefs we fought for. I see the boys I commanded shot to pieces, some so badly mangled I didn’t even know who they were.”

“I still don’t think you ought to sell it.”

“I can’t use the family’s money. That ring has to come from me. And this is the only way I can do it.”

“I won’t do it. I can’t.”

“Which? Buy the ring for Rose or sell the sword?”

“Both.”

George looked at his brother’s twisted, unhappy face and some of his own anger faded. He could have been the one to lose his arm. How did he know he wouldn’t be just as angry and bitter?

“Jeff, you’re going to have to let go of the war. Right or wrong, it’s over. There’s no going back, no doing it over again. If you keep looking over your shoulder, you’re going to make yourself miserable and everybody around you unhappy.”

“How am I going to forget?” Jeff shouted, waving his stub in George’s face.

“By letting go of the hatred. You may be mad at the Yankees, but you’re taking it out on us.”