Journey of the Heart (2 page)

“Oh, Gabe, it was my fault. I didn’t really believe it.” She flung herself into his arms and sobbed “I hate her, Gabe. I always have.”

“Now, now….”

“She won’t let up, you know. Not till she’s got you twisted around her finger like she has Pa.”

“I know she won’t let up, Sadie. She followed me into the barn today.”

“The barn! She never sets foot in the barn if she can help it. Too smelly and dirty for her!”

Gabe smiled. “Well, she was in it today. I’d been working…on, uh, something.” Whatever he did, he would not spoil Sadie’s birthday surprise. “All of a sudden, there were her arms around me.”

Sadie’s eyes flashed. “That bitch!”

“Sarah Ellen Hart, what would Ma think about you using such language?”

“If Ma is anywhere close, she’s thinking the same thing, Gabriel Hart!”

Gabe smiled. “I guess you’re right.” They were both quiet for a minute, remembering their mother, thinking how different things would be if she were still there.

Gabe finally broke the silence. “I have to leave, Sadie.”

“No, Gabe,” she protested. “What will I do with you gone?”

“Why, turn out to be the best damn schoolteacher in the county, just like you’ve been planning.”

“They haven’t given me the job yet, Gabe. And even if they do, who knows if I can do it.”

“You’ll get it and you’ll do it well. Just like Ma did till she married Pa.”

“And what will you do?”

“Head west, most likely. Hire myself out as a wrangler.”

“You should be raising and training horses for yourself, Gabe, not for anybody else.”

“Maybe I will be someday, Sadie. But if I stay here, well, Pa’s bound to find out soon enough.”

“Let him, Gabe. Let him see who she really is!”

“I couldn’t bear to see him hurt like that, Sadie.”

“It’ll hurt him if you go.”

“A little. But nothing like if I stayed.”

* * * *

Gabe kept himself busy the next few weeks and depended upon Sadie to keep an eye on May. Between the two of them, the woman never had a chance to get Gabe alone again. But he walked around as jumpy as an animal that senses the presence of a predator. He felt he was being stalked and he couldn’t wait to break away.

He was able to ride the little bay mare the day before Sadie’s birthday. The women and boys were in town and his father watched Gabe walk her around, his long legs hanging from the stirrups.

“You’ve done a good job with her, Gabe. Your sister will have a pretty little horse to take her to and from school. It’s too bad I don’t have more money to put into horses. You’re a fine trainer.”

“Thanks, Pa,” said Gabe as he brought the mare to a stop in front of his father and slid off. It was rare for James Hart to compliment in words. Usually he only gave a nod of appreciation or a pat on the shoulder. Gabe cleared his throat and said with a smile, “I do think my talent lies with horses more than cows, Pa.”

“Well, mebbe in a few years, Gabe.” His father took his hat off and ran his hands through his thin gray hair. “With all the work we put into the damn cattle, you’d think we’d be rich twice over by now!”

* * * *

On the morning of Sadie’s birthday, there were several small presents at her place, as was their family custom. She started opening them immediately.

“Aw, Sadie, can’t you wait till the coffee’s been poured?”

“No, I can’t, Gabe. I never did have the self-control you have on your birthdays. Oooh, thank you, Ben. Thank you, James,” she said when she had unwrapped their gift, a length of dark green calico. “This will make a pretty dress for schoolteaching.”

After a few sips of coffee, Gabe excused himself to ‘go out back.’ A few minutes later there was a knocking on the front door.

“Who could that be!” exclaimed James dramatically, a wide grin splitting his face.

“Why, it’s Gabe with Sadie’s….” Ben almost choked when his brother’s hand came down over his mouth.

“Go see, Sadie.”

There was Gabe, holding the reins of the bay mare, all saddled and bridled.

“Happy birthday, Sadie, from me and Pa.”

“Oh, Pa!” Sadie threw her arms around her father, who stood there awkwardly patting her back. Then she turned to her brother. “She’s saddle-broke, Gabe? When will I be able to ride her?”

“Why, right now, if you want. But let’s start out in the corral, just till she gets used to your skirt.”

They all tramped out to the corral and hung on the fence as Sadie put the mare through her paces. “Oh, Gabe, she’s as easy a ride as I thought she’d be.”

“She’s a sweet-tempered thing, aren’t you, girl?” said Gabe as he held the mare still for Sadie to dismount. “But she has some spirit too.”

“Gabe has been working hard for weeks in training her, haven’t you, Gabe,” said May. “I’d say he has a special touch for the ladies,” she added with a teasing smile.

“I know Molly Preston thinks so,” teased James.

They all laughed and trooped back to the house for breakfast.

That night, Gabe sat on his cot, his bedroll half packed beside him. He was heartsick at the thought of leaving his home and family. “I’ve tried my best, Ma,” he whispered. “I’ve taken care of the young ones, like you said. Sadie’s grown now, so she’ll do fine. And the little ones, well, they love May…and so does Pa and that’s why I’ve got to go.” He finished packing up his few clothes and lay back on the bed, using the bedroll as a pillow. He’d have to wait a few hours for the moon to come up before he left. He’d take Jasper, the Roman-nosed dun gelding. He was too big to be a good cow pony, but he had endurance. He’d leave a note for his pa, explaining that he had to be off on his own, that he was sick of cowpunching and mending fences. That he was sorry not to tell him in person, but it was easier on both of them this way.

He’d ride west, toward the New Mexico Territory. He was sure he could find a place without much trouble. Maybe in a few years he’d be able to come home. Surely, with him gone, May would turn back to Pa. Goddamn, but he didn’t think he’d ever hated anyone in his life, but he hated his father’s wife.

Night Sky had wandered a few hundred yards from the other horses. It had been a dry summer, with too many promises of rain not kept, and the grazing had taken the herd farther from the ranch than usual. Sky had been led away by a small patch of grass and then another, until he was almost under the branches of an old cottonwood that brooded over a dry stream bed.

He was upwind, so it was the shadow of the big cougar that spooked him and saved his life. Just as he was about to reach for a tasty bit of grass, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye and he lifted his head and shifted backward a few steps. It was an old cat and she wasn’t quick enough to adjust for the extra distance he’d put between them. So instead of breaking Sky’s neck, she only raked his shoulder. Her claws dug in as she felt herself begin to slide off and Sky screamed as she tore a large flap of skin loose. There was an answering call from the big gray stallion who led the herd and the cat scrambled off and climbed the old cottonwood, reaching the top before the stallion got there.

The younger horse’s head was down and after rearing and pounding his hoofs into the ground as though he had the old cat underneath them, the stallion turned and nudged Sky away from the tree and back to the herd. Then the stallion drove his herd slowly but steadily back to their home pasture.

Michael Burke was just sitting down to dinner when Jake, his hired hand, knocked on the door. “Beg pardon, Miz Burke, for disturbing your meal, but the horses are coming in, boss.”

“It’s early for that and Finn usually waits for us to come after them. I’d better go, Elizabeth,” he said apologetically to his wife.

“Of course, Michael. I’ll keep your dinner hot.”

The mares came in first, colts and fillies clinging to their sides. Finn, the big gray stallion, was far to the rear and seemed to be alternately pushing the two-year-olds along and turning back for a lone black straggler.

“ ‘Tis Night Sky hangin’ back like that,” Michael muttered. He crawled through the fence, making his way back through the milling mares. The stallion came right up to him and pushed his head against Michael’s chest. Then he wheeled around to nip the black’s hindquarters and drive him over to Michael.

“Dear God in Heaven!” he exclaimed. A flap of skin was hanging from the horse’s neck and withers and dried blood caked his shoulder. “So this is why you brought them in, boyo,” he said to his stallion.

“My Lord, look at him,” said Jake, coming up behind Michael.

“Get me a halter, Jake. And some water.”

“Right away, boss.”

Michael talked soothingly to the black. All the while backing him up toward the fence. He and the stallion worked as a team, for every time the younger horse would try to get away, the big gray would gently crowd him back.

“Here you are, boss.”

“Thanks, Jake.” Michael took the halter in one hand and holding it down by his side, approached Sky slowly, holding out the bucket of water and sloshing a little over the side. The black’s ears pricked up and he let Michael approach, backing up only a little as the man managed to get close enough to touch him.

Michael put the bucket down in front of the horse and Sky took two steps forward, which brought him close enough to dip his head and drink.

Michael squatted down in front of him and murmured softly in Irish and English as the colt drank. He cupped his hand in the water underneath the colt’s muzzle and when Sky lifted his nose out of the bucket and then dipped down again, it was Michael’s hand he was drinking from. In one smooth movement, Michael drew the halter over the horse’s head and ears. It was a moment before the black realized he was caught. When he did, he pulled back and tried to rear, but Michael held firm, and taking the rope from Jake, clipped it to the halter.

“Hold him for a minute, Jake.”

“Yes, sir.”

Michael dipped his hand into the water again and whistled to the big gray stallion. “Have the rest of this, Finn. And there will be oats for you and your mares tonight. Yer a fine horse, boyo, a fine horse,” he said as he stroked the gray neck. “Ye do your mother proud.”

* * * *

Elizabeth had watched the whole thing from the door. She’d held her breath as she watched Michael push his way through the milling horses, even though she knew there was no need to worry. Michael had an almost magical way with his horses, and the bond between him and Finn was as strong as that between him and Frost, Finn’s dam. But there was clearly something wrong with Night Sky and the two-year-old was her daughter’s own, given to Caitlin by Michael when the colt was two days old. Elizabeth hurried down to the barn.

Michael had brought the horse in and had him cross-tied in the largest stall and was gently wiping the blood off his shoulder with warm water, taking care to stay away from the wound itself.

“Oh, Michael, it is Cait’s Sky. What happened to him?”

“It looks like a cougar tried for him and almost got him. He’s lucky he isn’t lyin’ out there, his bones picked clean by the buzzards. But maybe it would be just as well,” he added, frowning at the horse’s torn side.

Elizabeth slipped into the stall, and standing beside her husband, gazed at the colt’s damaged neck and shoulder. She shuddered as she saw the flap of skin and muscle hanging down. The colt’s eyes were dull and now that he was inside and tied, his head was drooping.

“How bad is it, Michael?”

“He’s lost a lot of blood, haven’t ye, boyo?” said Michael softly, as he sponged the black’s leg and side. “But he seemed to be walkin’ all right, just a little stiffly. If Finn hadn’t gotten him in, though…. But the nearest horse doctor is three days away.”

“Michael, let me try sewing him up.”

“Do ye think ye could,
a ghra?”

“I can try. This is Caitlin’s horse, Michael. We have to do something. She’d be heartbroken if we had to put him down.”

“I know, Elizabeth, I know.”

Elizabeth hurried over to the house and came back with her sewing box. “I’ll have to grease the thread, Michael. And use a heavy needle. Will you be able to hold him?”

“He’s worn out, and I’ve hobbled his rear foot, so he can’t move much.”

Elizabeth shuddered as she lifted the heavy flap of skin and flesh. She stroked the black’s muzzle and Michael had his hand on the horse’s hindquarters. The horse raised his head to look at her.

“Poor Sky. We’ll do our best for you, boy. Michael, you’ll have to wash around the wound for me. And I brought some basilicum powder to sprinkle on it.”

Michael sponged the edges gently and Elizabeth matched the flesh as though she were mending a sheet. At the first few stitches, Sky pulled back and Elizabeth almost lost her balance following him.

“There, there, boy, if you keep still, this won’t take long.”

It took a good ten minutes, but at last the wound was closed.

“It looks good, Missus Burke,” said Jake, who’d come in to watch. “Better than the doc’s stitches.”

“You’ll have to keep him tied, Michael, so he doesn’t roll or rub against the side of the stall,” she warned.

Michael reached out and pulled her into his side. “Ye did a fine job,
a ghra,
and I know it wasn’t easy.”

“No, but I’ve had a little experience,” she said with a smile, reaching over and patting Michael’s hand, which had a long, crescent-shaped scar from a wood-chopping accident.

“Do you think he’ll heal, boss?” asked Jake.

“With Elizabeth’s good stitching and some tonic in his oats, I think he’ll come through, Jake. But I doubt he’ll ever be of any use to us,” he added with a sigh. “After he’s had a big cat on his back, he’ll never let anyone ride him. And a horse that can’t be ridden…well, he’s no use to Caitlin or to me. Finn might have saved him for a time, but we can’t afford to feed a useless animal.”

“Oh, Michael, you couldn’t destroy him after all this,” his wife protested.

“ ‘Tis the last thing I’d want to do, you know that, Elizabeth.”

“Caitlin will be home from school in a few months. Why, Sky used to follow her around like a puppy when he was little. And surely you can work with him after he heals?”