A Bad Place to Die Read online

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I can’t tell you just now. Just don’t try to prove nothing with this here marshal job. Just take it, lay low, and wait.”

  Tennie looked down at her hands in her lap, despondent.

  “I promise, Miss Tennie,” Ben continued. “I got me a pretty little gal down on the lower Colorado, and Poco’s got señoritas from San Antonio to Chihuahua, but Wash, he ain’t got nobody. He ain’t gonna leave you high and dry. We’ll pull you out of this in time, we promise.”

  Tennie nodded, but she knew what promises were worth. All the times someone visited the orphanage, vowing to bring them presents of food and toys at Christmastime and never showing back up. Even worse were the ones who brought one turkey and one pie to feed fifty children and expected an enormous show of gratitude for it. As soon as they were gone, the staff devoured the food, leaving the children with cold grits once again. Promises like that meant nothing to Tennie.

  She rubbed her forehead and did what she had learned to do. Not get mad, not get excited, and keep her disbelief to herself. “Thank you, Mr. Ben.”

  At the supper table, the boys talked about the jail. Wash and Ben ate in silence, eyes fastened to their plates. If anything, Wash’s eyes narrowed more over his food, and it seemed to Tennie the scar running down across his lips reddened in a fiery glow.

  “The living quarters are behind the office,” Rusty said. “The jail where they lock up the prisoners is on the second floor.”

  Wash got up and left the table. Rusty looked after him, his face puzzled.

  “He’s not too taken with the idea of us moving into a jailhouse,” Tennie explained, but it worried her. Why would her taking a nominal job as marshal make him almost blaze in suppressed fury? He knew she had no choice.

  Ben, almost always the silent one, told stories on the porch that night, describing the Indian attack that wounded Poco while the three Granger boys listened with wide eyes.

  It did not surprise Tennie that the boys appeared to hold no resentment against Wash and Ben for the rough treatment they had received. The fights at the orphanage between boys had upset her when she first arrived, but she’d soon learned to ignore them. The boys wrestled with one another every day and were the best of friends three minutes after knock-down slugfests. The girls had cliques and running feuds that lasted for months and even years, but the boys fought their way through disagreements.

  Ben asked Tennie if she was able to talk about the Indian attack on their wagon train.

  “It didn’t last long,” she said. “Some of the women could shoot, but I don’t know how. All I could do was cower and hand out ammunition.”

  “If you were handing out ammunition,” Ben said, “you weren’t cowering.”

  “The only help I could really give them was my fervent prayer God would get us out alive.”

  She couldn’t see Wash’s face in the dark, but she felt his eyes, silent and brooding, upon her the entire evening.

  CHAPTER 3

  The next day, Winn Payton and his wife arrived at the ranch. He introduced his tiny gray-haired wife to Tennie, and together they accepted her invitation to come inside. This time, the boys were not told to clear out, and they stood behind the adults, listening.

  Mr. Payton started by stating he was against Tennie becoming marshal and suggested she find a man to marry as soon as possible. “The quicker the better,” he said. “I don’t want men killing one another over you in Ring Bit, Tennie.”

  Tennie didn’t take offense at Mr. Payton’s brusque advice. When he’d realized on the wagon train to Ring Bit that her shoes had holes in them, he’d bought her a new pair with his own money at the first opportunity, along with fabric for a new dress because hers was so worn and faded.

  He was also fretting over the banker’s treatment of her and the boys. “Ashton handed over the money to me to fetch a wife without any hesitation. He never mentioned he had taken out a loan at the bank, but I have no reason to believe the banker is anything but an honest and fair man. Still, Tennie, this bothers me. A lot of things about Ring Bit are bothering me.”

  “Is there a good attorney in Ring Bit?” Tennie said, feeling shy about asking.

  “No, the closest one is in Cat Ridge,” Mr. Payton said. “You’d think in a state full of disbarred and bankrupt lawyers swarming in from other places, Ring Bit would have managed to attract one of them. And this scheme to make you a marshal—”

  “Now, Father,” Mrs. Payton interrupted. “You leave Tennie be about that. She’s just trying to keep body and soul together.”

  Mr. Payton waved his hand in front of his face, but said in agreement, “That’s why I’m here. The bank may have a note on the cattle and property, but as far as I know, it doesn’t own one on the contents and the other livestock. I’m willing to pay you for the farm equipment and anything else you won’t need or be taking with you.”

  “That’s very kind of you,” Tennie said. “But I would have to talk that over with his sons first.” She turned to Lucas and Badger, but Rusty had disappeared. “Where did Rusty go?” she asked.

  They shrugged, and she turned back to the Paytons. “I’m sure he’ll be back in a minute. In the meantime, would you come into the kitchen for some bread and peach preserves? There is coffee in the pot.”

  They agreed, but Mr. Payton wanted to see Tennie’s patient first.

  “He’s a Mexican,” he said when he looked down at Poco’s sleeping form. Tennie wondered if Poco was pretending to be asleep or unconscious. He lay so still, it looked unnatural.

  “He’s been very ill,” Tennie said. “I hope he’s well enough at the end of two weeks to be up and around on his own.”

  Mr. Payton must have shared Tennie’s skepticism of Poco’s slumber. He leaned forward and spoke in Poco’s face. “Mexican, you hurt this girl or these children, I’ll hunt you down clear to Oaxaca to slit your throat.” He raised and turned to Tennie. “If he’s still not well when you have to leave, send word, and I’ll fetch him and take care of him at our place until he can be on his own.”

  Tennie nodded. Wash and Ben had disappeared again, and she did not know why she said nothing about them to the Paytons. The words didn’t seem to want to form in her mouth. Instead, she said, “Boys, go look for Rusty, please. I’ll save some bread and preserves for you, too.”

  On their way to rejoin Mrs. Payton in the kitchen, Tennie wondered if the boys had told anyone in town about the other men at the ranch. Mr. Payton hadn’t acted like he knew anything about them, and she thought he would have said if he did. As she sliced fresh bread for her company and put out the preserves, Tennie reasoned perhaps the boys had kept quiet because they did not want to admit the severe discipline they had received at the hands of almost total strangers. Tennie did not know what her reason was.

  They had finished their coffee before Rusty returned with the other two boys.

  “We want to keep our wagon, our mule, and the two horses. And our Pa’s saddle and tack. And his guns,” Rusty said without preamble. “You can take whatever furniture we won’t need at the jail, along with the rest of the tools and equipment in the barn for a hundred dollars.”

  The adults stared at the boy. “For somebody who only went to school for a total of two weeks last year, you drive a hard bargain, son,” Mr. Payton said.

  “I’m going to talk to the teacher about getting them back in school,” Tennie said.

  Mr. Payton stood facing Rusty. He turned his head an inch to tell Tennie it wouldn’t work. “If it was a male teacher, you could turn those big eyes on him and probably get them back in, but it’s not, and she’s not going to let them return. Not after they hogtied her and did an Indian war dance around her.” He spoke to Rusty. “I have to look at what you have first.”

  “All right,” Rusty said, gulping in nervousness, “but nothing less than seventy-five. It’s worth more than that.”

  Mr. Payton stood staring at Rusty for a long time. “Let’s see what you got.” He walked out the door with Rusty trailing, straightening his shoulders and trying to stand taller.

  “Would you like me to go through the house with you, dear,” Mrs. Payton said to Tennie, “and help you decide what to take to the jailhouse and what to leave behind?”

  “Oh, yes, please,” Tennie said, rising. She looked at the door, wondering what was going on with Rusty.

  The Paytons stayed on. Just as Tennie was speculating what she should cook for dinner to feed them, the boys appeared with a large mess of fish and more peaches.

  “We’re smoking some fish down by the creek, Miss Tennie, so we aren’t hungry,” Rusty said.

  Lucas added, “You don’t have to worry about us none.”

  “You boys caught all those fish just now?” Mr. Payton asked in suspicion.

  “Uh, we have a trap, sir,” Rusty said before Lucas or Badger could open their mouths. “We’re heading back now.”

  Tennie quickly realized where Wash and Ben had disappeared to. She tried not to look troubled and took the fish into the kitchen to fry. She made another peach cobbler for her company.

  “I’ll say this for them, Tennie,” Mr. Payton said. “I’ve never seen them so well-behaved.”

  It was on the tip of Tennie’s tongue to say she hadn’t, either. Whatever Wash and Ben were, no matter why they wanted to hide, they had worked minor miracles on her new stepsons.

  The Paytons stayed all day. The boys returned; Poco still pretended to be unconscious, and Wash and Ben remained invisible. Tennie was about to ask the Paytons what they would like for supper when Mr. Payton announced they best be getting on if they wanted to reach home before dark.

  “I’ll come with some men tomorrow to fetch what we agreed upon,” he said, addressing Rusty.

  Rusty, looking like a nervous colt, said in a speech sounding rehearsed, “If it is all right with you, sir, I will take my brothers on a hunting trip. It might upset them to see our Pa’s things hauled away. We trust you to take what’s yours and nothing else.”

  Mr. Payton again stared at Rusty in puzzlement. “That will be fine, boy.” He turned to his wife. “Come along, Mother.”

  Tennie thanked them for their kindness and saw them to their wagon.

  When she came back into the house, Rusty said, “Mr. Wash and Mr. Ben are taking us scouting around and hunting tomorrow. He said to tell you not to worry about being alone with Mr. Poco. He wouldn’t hurt you even if he wasn’t sick as a dog.”

  “Scouting what?” Tennie asked, not sidetracked by talk about her safety with Poco.

  “Oh, just looking around,” Rusty said. “Is there anymore cobbler left?”

  Tennie sighed. “Yes, and you’d better fetch Mr. Wash and Mr. Ben. They may want some of that cobbler before you boys gobble it all up, seeing’s how they are the ones who picked the peaches in the first place.”

  Wash wouldn’t look at Tennie, and Poco wouldn’t shut up. After spending all day dozing or pretending to doze, he wanted to talk. He talked about his mother; he talked about the purity of his sisters, seeing no irony in doing his best to take the virtue away from somebody else’s sister multiple times up and down the Rio Grande. He talked about the food his mother cooked. He wanted Tennie to prepare beans the next day.

  “I’m not sure you should be eating anything solid yet,” Tennie said.

  “They will pass through me like grease,” he promised. “Mash them and fry them in onion and garlic in bacon fat, and you will make cerdos of all of us, señorita.”

  Ben laughed. “Let him have what he wants, Miss Tennie. If I can find him some chile pequenos growing wild, he’ll get better even faster.”

  Late that night, Poco finally wound down. “Tomorrow, I will instruct you how to make tortillas, Señorita Tennie,” he said. “The tortilla, the bacon, the beans, muy bueno. . . .”

  But the next day when Mr. Payton returned with his cowhands to load the things he bought, Poco shut his eyes and refused to open them until they departed. The others had disappeared before dawn, stuffing leftovers from the night before into poke bags and promising to bring back venison.

  Mr. Payton brought two young cowhands and a third who appeared older. Tennie smiled and said hello, grateful Mr. Payton was paying enough money for them to survive a while if things went wrong in Ring Bit. The two young cowhands smiled at her, their faces turning red every time she neared them as they hauled furniture from the house. She stood away from them most of the time, but had a hard time controlling her impulsive desire to clean underneath what they were moving before they even had a chance to step away with it. The older cowhand grinned at her and tried to hold her gaze, making Tennie uncomfortable. He seemed content to let the younger men do the work, and Tennie saw Winn Payton eyeing him numerous times.

  The men finished with the house and moved on to the barns, where Tennie left them alone. She cooked dinner for them, but Mr. Payton told her to bring it to the barn; they would eat there. She did as he asked and went back into the house to finish cleaning. Awhile later, she heard them on the porch and Mr. Payton’s rusty voice calling to her.

  Wiping her hands on her apron, she walked onto the porch. The men had rinsed their plates and stacked them on the porch for her. The young cowboys were in the wagons, while Mr. Payton and the older cowboy were on horseback. Mr. Payton told her they had finished and needn’t come back, and she again gave her thanks, throwing a smile at him and the other cowboys that did not rest on any one of them in particular.

  The older cowboy, however, drew his horse closer, stopping to stare at her with an intenseness that caused her to feel ill at ease. “I’d like to come back,” he said with a smile.

  Tennie didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to be rude, but she did not want the man to return. She looked at Mr. Payton.

  “You!” he barked. “Leave that woman alone and don’t show back up here again. In fact, go back to the ranch, draw your pay, take your saddle, and vamoose.”

  The cowboy glowered at Winn Payton with eyes burning in hatred. He didn’t argue, but spurred his horse and galloped away.

  Tennie looked at Mr. Payton in concern. She hadn’t meant to get the man fired.

  “I don’t have any further use for that no-good weasel,” Mr. Payton said. “I’m glad to get shut of him.” He looked down at Tennie. “That’s the kind of shiftless trash you’ll have to deal with in Ring Bit, so you better get ready.” He turned to leave, saying, “Take care, gal.”

  “Yes, sir, Mr. Payton,” Tennie replied. “Good-bye.”

  She went inside to try to get Poco to eat a little more, but he refused food. “I have beans cooking for supper,” Tennie promised him. “I’ll leave you to rest. I believe you stayed up too late last night jabbering.”

  He nodded. “Tomorrow, I will sit up. But today, I lay down.”

  Tennie left him to tend to her other chores. As she worked in the front room, she thought of the money Mr. Payton had paid her, which raised her spirits. Maybe they could use the money to move somewhere else, and she wouldn’t have to be a marshal. But she didn’t know where else they would move. She had made friends with the women on the wagon train. Maybe they would take them in after seeing how much better behaved the boys were. The instant after she thought it, she could almost hear Mr. Payton saying, “Don’t move in with some married couple and stir up trouble with the husband, Tennie.” He would be right; she didn’t need that kind of trouble.

  Wash and Ben arrived toting a deer, the boys bubbling with pleasure. While Tennie fried backstrap, Wash and Ben cut the rest in strips, showing the boys how to smoke the meat for jerky.

  After supper, Wash took Tennie aside. “We’ll be leaving here next week, and what is facing you in town is going to take all the strength you have. Don’t work yourself to death on this house in the meantime.”

  She nodded, a lump coming into her throat at the thought of moving into Ring Bit.

  Wash’s nostrils flared, the scar across his lips becoming even more pronounced. “Don’t look at me like that. This is hard enough for me as it is.”

  “Then look somewhere else,” Tennie cried, fighting to keep tears down.

  An expression of torment crossed his face as if he wanted to say more, but couldn’t. He turned and walked out of the house, disappearing into the barn.

  They didn’t speak the rest of the evening. It grew dark, and Tennie knew she should be sleeping in her own room; she no longer had the excuse of a patient who needed her. She told herself she was too frightened to be alone and placed her pallet in one corner of the porch, far away from the others, and turned her face to the wall. She had to stuff a corner of the quilt into her mouth to keep from sobbing, thinking about Ring Bit.

  During the night, she woke up. Propping herself on one elbow, she pushed her tumbling hair from her face and looked around. The others were asleep, except for Wash. He sat in a chair, and even in the dark, Tennie knew he was watching her. She fought an unexpected and overwhelming desire to go to him, put her head on his lap, and beg for a reassuring hand. Instead, she lay down and fell back into a troubled sleep.

  Wash sent Rusty to town on an errand the next day. As Rusty readied one of his father’s horses and was about to leave, Badger, not allowed to go, fell to the dirt, kicking and screaming. Rusty paused, looking to Wash for guidance. Wash motioned for Rusty to go on, speaking to Badger in a tone filled with as much iron as the guns he habitually wore. “Stop acting like a baby and get up off the ground.”

  Badger paused in midcry. After a few seconds’ hesitation, he jumped up and ran to Ben.

  “Don’t be coming to me,” Ben said. “You know better than to behave like that.”

  Badger slunk to another part of the yard.

  Wash joined Tennie. Watching Badger, he said, “You’re going to have a problem with that boy, Miss Tennie.”

  “His brothers have given in to him and spoiled him, I fear,” Tennie said. “I guess that’s how he earned his nickname. He badgers them until they give him what he wants.”