The Long Trail (The McCabes Book 1) by Brad Dennison (microsoft ebook reader .TXT) 📗

best he could remember. “He had been working as a ramrod for a spread in California. That was when he met Lura. He was in love with her like with none other. Then, after he had spent a month with the line riders one time, when he went to see her, she was gone. Her parents told him she didn’t want to see him again, and said she had told them not to tell him where she had gone.”

Ginny nodded. “I remember that time well. She was four months pregnant with Joshua. Her parents had sent her away, and away was my house, in San Francisco. She was but my niece, but in many ways was more of a daughter to me than she ever was to my sister.”

“Well, he went on a drunken spree like only he could do, and this was a bad one. It was almost like the spree was in equal proportion to his love for her, and the hurt he was feeling because he thought she had left him without even a goodbye.”

Ginny nodded. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive my sister for that.”

“He quit his job and just headed east, over the mountains into what they called Utah Territory in them days, drinking himself stupid in every saloon along the way. His brother Josiah and me, we rode along to keep him out of trouble as best we could.”

Zack explained Johnny had gone into one town alone, claiming he needed some time to himself, simply to think. “He had promised he wouldn’t get himself drunk. But when Josiah and I woke up the following morning and he wasn’t in camp, we went into town looking for him. Found him in the bed of a saloon woman, so drunk he could scarcely even see. She was a dark-haired woman, with dark eyes. Had some Indian in her, I thought.

“Back at camp, we filled him with coffee, and once he was ready, we rode on. All he could remember was he had gone into town and started pouring down whiskey. He remembered nothing after that.”

“And this woman, she was never...followed up on, as you put it?”

“No, ma’am. We were young, and maybe a little stupid.”

“Maybe is the operative word, there.”

“Well, we rode north. It was how we found this valley, actually. Wintered here with a band of Shoshones. There was a girl, the daughter of one of the warriors, but as far as I know, a romance never really developed between them.

“He spent the winter mostly sobering up, and getting his head clear. He finally decided to find Lura and hear it from her directly that she didn’t want to see him anymore. The letter didn’t tell him where she had gone, but the first place he thought of was San Francisco. I guess she had told him about you.”

Ginny said, “And when he arrived, he found Lura and their infant son. And they married.”

“Yep. That’s about the size of it, I guess.”

“I’ll never forget how he looked that day, standing on my doorstep. He’s changed a bit, his face is a bit lined now, and he moves a bit more deliberately, as the impulsiveness of youth has finally fled him.”

“Why do you ask all of this?”

“Because I’ve seen him again. Or, at least, the spitting image of him, as he looked when he first landed on my doorstep. And I think it’s simply too much of a coincidence. Zack, I think the son of that dark-eyed saloon woman might be here, looking for his father.”

ELEVEN

When Dusk was starting to touch the land and Zack felt it was becoming apparent Johnny McCabe wouldn’t be returning this day, he asked Fred to ride into town and fetch Hunter.

“I hope Johnny’s all right,” Zack said, standing on the porch and gazing off toward the darkening valley.

Aunt Ginny was in a rocker, a cup of tea in her hand. “I have told that man, time and again, that one day he will ride off and simply not come back. He will get himself killed, riding off alone like that. What does he think stagecoaches are for? And he seldom rides by the trails, but rather straight through the mountains.”

Zack took a sip of the trail coffee he held in one hand. He said nothing. He knew when silence was the wiser choice.

She said, “Zack, if you would like to be on your way, I’m sure Sabrina and I will be fine until Fred returns with Hunter. You have a long ride ahead of you, and it’s getting dark. And if those riders are indeed scouting possible targets to strike, if they are indeed outlaws at all, you might want to be home with your men, should they strike there.”

“My ramrod is there, and a couple of the hands, and Ramon. And the tracks seemed to indicate the riders might be focusing on this side of the valley. They likely already scouted my place, and realized this is the bigger of the two ranches.”

They were silent a moment. Then he said, “I still find it a little hard to believe that young gunhawk working for Hunter could be Johnny’s son from that saloon woman, all those years ago.”

“It’s possible.”

“Yeah, but is it really all that likely?”

“Do you think I might be jumping to conclusions?”

“Well, no disrespect intended, ma’am, but I do think it might be just a little bit of a stretch.”

“Intellectually, yes. So do I. Possible, but not very probable. Yet, I’ve learned that the intellect can seldom be relied upon. It’s the heart one must use, Zack. It is only with the heart that one can truly see. It is the feelings, more than the thoughts, that must be relied upon. Oh, we must all employ judgment, but when we are confused, we need look no further than our own heart for the answers. And we will often find that we already knew the answer.”

Zack shook his head, and took another sip of