Chapter 22

Opal Anne walked out of the Sheriff’s office satisfied that she had delivered her message to the powers that be with the cattle company. I wondered what was going through the cowboy’s head when my wife threatened the entire outfit, with a little baby strapped to her chest. I have no doubt that he believed every word she said.

“I’m hungry,” I said.

“We too,” Opal Anne said.

“We? Haven’t you fed her?” I asked with a smile.

“You know what? Brandon is like so many men. Once they get a teat in their mouths, they just don’t want to let go!”

“Seriously?”

“No Paul,” she chuckled at me. “I fed Pauli when she fussed, but her time is coming around again. If you want, I can take the horse back to Daisy’s and eat with her, while you two go to the restaurant. Being seen after all this will show that you’re not afraid. So, you and Rory go eat, you’ll be seen, and I don’t have to bare my breast in public.”

“I don’t mind,” I looked down at her breasts, “but if that’s what you want, go ahead. I’ll see you when I come to bed.”

“I’ll still be up, I think. I want to talk to Diana some more.”

I looked at her, a curious expression on my face, and she chuckled.

“I don’t get to talk to other whores too often. We have to compare dress patterns and recipes and so on.”

“OK. I’ll see you later. I love you, Opal Anne.”

“Even when I threaten people’s lives?” Opal Anne asked sweetly.

“As long as it’s not mine,” I said before I kissed her and Pauli.

“Or mine,” Rory said.” Come on, I’m hungry.”

“OK, little brother. Let’s go.”

We were walking out to the wagon while we talked. I untied my horse and held him while Opal Anne got on. A firm hand on the seat of her britches made sure she safely rose to the saddle. A husband can’t be too caring. She stood in the stirrups and wiggled her bottom at me, then blew me a kiss and rode off to Daisy’s.

I climbed up into the wagon seat and Rory drove us to the hotel. Rory tied the mules to the hitching post, then we walked into the restaurant, and ordered our dinner. We sat there talking about plans and hopes, until I felt the need to bring up the thing that had been bothering me.

“Rory, I passed over it earlier, but what are you going to do when we get back regarding Betty Mae?”

“I don’t know. I mean, the fact that we’ve had sex kind of makes it easy to say she’ll live with me and Raylene, but I won’t really know until I talk to her. She doesn’t even know Mick’s dead yet.”

“What about the possibility that both the children have lost their father?” I said seriously.

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to not think about that. I guess on the other side of the matter, now I have both my children with me, and I can be openly responsible for them.”

“I guess that’s one way to look at it.”

“Look, Paul. I’m not going to take the side that says the girl isn’t mine when it could be and I’m not going to deny the boy because he might not be mine. We’ve made this bed and now I have to sleep in it. And I don’t say that as a joke. With Mick gone, I’m going to raise both as though they’re mine. Period. And I don’t want any more words from you about it.”

My little brother looked at me as an equal for the first time. He was telling me that he was a man and he was going to be treated like it by me or else. I nodded in agreement.

“Obviously if you need anything, I’ll do what I can,” I assured Rory. “I’ll also keep our current deal with the gold from the plain. By the end of Summer, you all should be able to move and be set. By the end of next year, well the O’Dell clan will be known as being very well off.”

“But you’re still going after the outfit that those guys were working for?”

“I am. I have to know if Lucky was acting alone or under orders. If it was alone, then he, and his, paid the price. If it was on orders, then that outfit is going to pay the price.”

“If what I saw is real, then in a year you could be wealthier than that cattle outfit. You could buy them and then put them out of business.”

“True, and I talked to Cody about that. I could also walk into the offices and shoot them all. I’d have enough money to bribe my way out of jail.”

Rory looked at me and scowled.

“Don’t talk like that. You are not that man. I would be the first to disown you. Mick wouldn’t stand for it and neither would I. If you want to use our wealth to go after them, do it. But no gun play unless they come after us. If that happens, then it’s not revenge, it’s war.”

Early in our meal, people were watching us. We both noticed it and whenever we caught their glances we smiled and nodded. It’s not every day that an outfit drives in, drops eleven dead bodies in the street in front of the Sheriff’s office, and then walks around free. People knew us from our previous encounter, and I guess they wanted to know if we looked like devils or giants or monsters.

We weren’t monsters, we were O’Dells and we’d been wronged enough. I wanted us to eat in a public place so people could see that we were normal; That we were friendly; That we weren’t afraid. It helped a lot when half-way through dinner Sheriff John “Jack” Cleese walked in and asked if he could join us.

“Please do, Jack. It’s good to be seen with the Sheriff and not be arrested.” Then I had to ask, half out of curiosity, “We’re not going to be arrested, are we?”

“Nope. After getting the name of the outfit from Mike Farmer, I sent a telegraph to Pueblo. I let them know that eleven of their men were dead and I had the bodies. I asked them what they wanted me to do with them. I haven’t heard back from them yet.”

“Jack, what do you think they’ll do or want done?” Rory asked.

“I don’t know. They might want to know what happened. But that’s a long story for the wire. They might send agents to investigate. That’s my guess.”

“Should we be gone when that happens?”

“Paul, honestly? If they do send agents and caught you in the open, it could get ugly. If they had designs on getting even, it might be best to do it here in town. I’d hate to think of you and your wives and Mick’s widow caught out in the open. I hate to have trouble in my town, but I’d rather you were here if it’s going to happen.”

I looked at Jack Cleese, then at Rory. The good sheriff had just offered to back our play if we were in town and at the same time let us know that he could do nothing if we were on the open trail.

“We’re going to be staying at Daisy’s place tonight, Jack. We’ll stop by in the morning and see if you have any word. If not, I think we’ll head home. I feel better defending my home rather than shooting up your town. Thanks.”

“Thank you. You know that you and yours will always be welcome here.”

Rory and I finished our dinner and excused ourselves while Jack continued to eat his meal. We exchanged handshakes and left to go back to Daisy’s.

“Paul, I think we should leave the mules and the rig at the livery. We could get an extra canvas to wrap Mick in. The animals need a brushing and some good grain.”

I nodded to Rory’s expertise. He was the wagon master. At the livery, we caught Shaw as he was closing up.

“Hello, Shaw!”

“Mr. Paul? Hello. I’m sorry about your loss.”

“Our loss?” I wasn’t sure if the word had gotten out.

“Yes sir. I mean the death of Mr. Mick. He was a fine man.”

“Thank you for that Shaw. We’d like to put up the mules for the night and have them brushed and fed,” I said, pausing for a long time. “Mick’s body is in the back. It’s wrapped up in canvas. If you have a canvas, I’d like to wrap him up a little more.”

“I have just the thing. It’s canvas used for wagon covers.”

“Fine, where should I drive the wagon?” Rory asked.

“Leave it just inside. I’ll unhitch the team and take care of them.”

“Where’s the canvas? We’ll take care of Mick before we go to the hotel.”

Shaw took us to the pile of canvas he kept for repairs and we took one of the pieces. We got into the wagon and wrapped Mick’s body in the second canvas. We checked for any marks or stains on the first canvas. It was clean. Mick had a couple of days to bleed out before we found him. After we secured the wrap, we got down, exchanged handshakes with Shaw and told him we’d see him in the morning.

“Paul, that’s a good man. We should do something extra for him.”

“I agree, Rory.”

We walked in silence back to Daisy’s house on the other end of town. The lights were still on so we walked in after wiping our dusty boots on the porch. There was no one to greet us, so we made our way upstairs. Several doors were open and as we passed, we glanced inside them. The first was empty, the second had a couple of women sitting and quietly talking. Each had a baby to their breast.

“Hi love!” Opal Anne said quietly, but happily.

“Hi, Opal Anne. How’s our girl?”

“She’s asleep. I just didn’t want to move her and wake her. Would you put her in her cradle?”

“Gladly.”

I took hold of my girl and she released her mother’s teat without so much as a whimper. I very gently kissed her forehead and set her in the cradle next to the bed. I lay her on her back, as Opal Anne had always instructed, and covered her with a small blanket.

As I looked down at her, I thought of Mick’s child and Betty Mae. After the thought flashed in my head, I realized I’d made no condition to Michelle’s parentage. I looked at Rory and smiled.

“Rory, I think it would be a good thing if Michelle grew up knowing that Mick was a great man and was her father.”

“I’d already come to the same conclusion. I’ll raise her as her Uncle Rory. She’ll never know a life any different.”

“Thank you.”

“Rory, let me show you to your room,” Diana said standing with Brandon still at her breast.