Prarie Fire Part 11

"They took leave of each other, each going in a different direction. Opossum couldn't keep his mind on anything else for the rest of that day. The days turned into seasons, but opossum's admiration turned into envy and finally into jealousy.

"It got so bad that opossum refused to speak to his brother, angry for what his brother had. One day, opossum decided that he too was good enough to have a colored tail.

"He got some hickory bark and wrapped it around his tail. He built a fire, but opossum wasn't used to building fires. It turned out to be much larger than he needed. When opossum went to singe his tail, the fire burned all the hair off his tail.

"Because of opossum's inability to be happy with the gift that the sun G.o.d gave him, Hashtahli had his friend, Luak, who we know as fire, take off all the hair from opossum's tail.

"That is why opossums, to this day, have no hair on their tails. They are embarra.s.sed by this and still sulk over it, so they travel at night."

Devlin wondered if Sarah had heard the entire story. She could feel her relaxed, heavy breathing in sleep. Devlin thought she should rise and find something to help Tima or the villagers with, but at that moment, she couldn't imagine anything that could take priority over this.

Devlin smiled into the silence of the chuka. That story made her think of her mother. Devlin had avoided the truth when she told Sarah that her grandfather had told her that story. She hadn't lied. Kontonalah had sat her down to tell her that tale, but she hadn't the heart to tell him that it was one of the few tales she remembered from her mother. Devlin had never thought about not telling Sarah. She swallowed hard to hold back tears, which instantly appeared over thoughts of her mother. She realized that when she explained her story to Sarah, it would be an emotional discussion. Devlin didn't like feeling out of control and she knew that's what a talk about her real family would do.

Devlin could hear the sounds from outside. There were children playing and some women singing as they worked to shuck corn. If she listened closely, she could hear a few young men as they bragged of their latest hunt. She could hear her mother's pleasant voice in her memory. Devlin had laughed whenever she heard the story of c.o.o.n and opossum.

"But what does it mean, Mama?" Devlin asked.

"It means not to worry so much about what you don't have and to always be thankful for what you do have."

Devlin held Sarah in her arms and thanked anyone who would listen for the blessing of this woman and her children in her life.

Chapter 10.

The elders decided that the best course of action would be to trust in Sarah and Devlin. Taano had traveled a great distance and gave his life to deliver the message. He said the spirits indicated that Devlin and Sarah alone would be able to solve their dilemma.

Sarah wished there was an easier way, but there didn't seem to be one. She and Devlin discussed the idea of talking the cattlemen into taking down their fences. While that prospect appeared slim, they knew they had to persuade the ranchers otherwise. With Sarah's new wealth came a larger voice among the territory ranchers. She and Devlin hoped it would be enough.

Sarah was sad that she could not stay and go through the rituals to become Chahta. Although frightened at first by the mysticism surrounding the ceremonies, she now wanted nothing more than to be married to Devlin in the eyes of the clan. She promised Tima they would return with the children in the spring as soon as the weather allowed and to communicate if their circ.u.mstances changed.

Sarah let the heavy curtain fall back over the window. The bulky cloth prevented the cold winds from filling the room. The fireplaces in every room also helped to keep the ranch house warm. Sarah plopped back into the soft chair beside the window. She felt lonely now that Mattie had gone back home and the sound of screaming children no longer filled the house.

Devlin was out on the range. She took an enthusiastic Matthew with her whenever she could. Hannah was asleep during her afternoon nap, and Sarah wandered the house aimlessly. Maria and Angelia shared the household duties and Angelia did most of the cooking. Since cooking and cleaning were a big part of the day, Sarah felt lost in her own home. It was more than the isolation the cold weather brought. She had been depressed for the last two days about the situation with the cattlemen.

Two months had gone by since they left the clan village. It was nearing the end of February, but Sarah and Devlin had discussed how best to approach the problem from the moment they returned home. The idea of calling a meeting in town held no thrill for either woman. The Cattleman's a.s.sociation of the territory was composed of men, with two exceptions-the widow Henley and Sarah. To the town's populace, Devlin was just a hired hand. Even the people who knew of Sarah and Devlin's relations.h.i.+p weren't going to accept them as a couple. It wasn't done. Sarah considered herself and Devlin as equal partners in life and business, but she agreed with Devlin that the others wouldn't see it that way.

No one had seen the widow Henley in a few years. Next to Sarah, the widow owned the largest ranch in the territory. Sarah and Devlin were unable to get her to listen to their story because they could never talk to her. William Hennessy took care of everything from the widow's legal affairs to her personal business. He relayed the message to her, but the answer he returned was that the widow didn't care about anybody.

Devlin and Sarah decided that Sarah should be the spokeswoman. Calling a town meeting was her idea, but it was a disaster. Any credibility she had with the townspeople dropped after that humiliation. The men laughed so hard that it took every bit of Devlin's restraint not to unload a few rounds over their heads to quiet them down. Sarah, a naturally strong and intelligent woman, became tongue-tied and frustrated at the men's jokes. The more she tried to explain without making herself look like a lunatic, the more the men jeered and ridiculed her. Finally, she had no other choice than to give up.

The winter had been a cold one so far but with little precipitation. Usually, the late fall was rainy leading into the winter snows. There had been no rain or snow this season, only bitter cold and blowing winds. This turn of the weather didn't sit well with Sarah. The drier the land grew, the closer she felt they were to her vision becoming a reality. The hardest part to accept was that they were no closer to a solution.

Sarah detested failure. Inequalities were a part of life, and Sarah had set high goals for herself over the years. She was one of the lucky ones. Through determination and hard work, she had accomplished everything she had set her mind to, even though the odds against her were enormous at times. She didn't like not measuring up, and in her opinion, that was what was happening. She was at her wit's end and a disastrous deadline was drawing near.

She hadn't meant to sit there and feel sorry for herself, but when Devlin returned home a short while later, that was how she found Sarah. The sight of Sarah with tears running down her face was enough to alarm Devlin.

"Sarah! Are you okay?" Devlin rushed over to kneel in front of her. "Is something wrong with Hannah?"

Sarah's heart melted at Devlin's worried expression and her words of concern. "No, really, I'm sorry. There's nothing wrong, Dev." She brusquely wiped the tears from her face. "I hate crying like this."

"Don't feel that way, sachu-kash. Your tears are part of your compa.s.sion. It's a part of you."

"Well, it's a part I can do without so often, I guess," Sarah said. "Whew, you smell," she added with a smile.

"I ought to." Devlin laughed. "I've been working hard."

"You need a hot bath."

"Nah." Devlin stood. "I can wash in cold water."

"You'll catch your death. I'm going to heat some water. If you promise to wait for some warm water, I'll scrub your back for you," Sarah said with a gleam in her eye.

"Now that sounds like a good reason for a bath." Devlin watched Sarah leave the room. "That woman's moods change quicker than the weather," she said to herself.

Soon after, Devlin was enjoying her bath, although it was difficult for her to stay focused. Sarah began by helping Devlin to wash her long hair and continued with the promised back was.h.i.+ng. Her hands tended to wander, which made concentrating on speech that much harder for Devlin. Finally, promising to behave, Sarah sat on a stool beside the tub. Devlin leaned back and closed her eyes, luxuriating as the warm water relaxed her sore muscles.

"Why were you crying, Sa?" Devlin asked. Her eyes were still closed, but she peeked one open to gaze at Sarah.

Sarah sat with her chin cupped in both hands, her elbows resting on her knees. "I'm frustrated and angry. I don't know what to do or who to turn to for help."

Devlin knew she referred to getting the ranchers to tear down their wire fences. The reaction from the cattlemen at the town meeting had devastated Sarah. So far, the women had been searching for people to help them spread the word and get the job done. Something Sarah said, however, made Devlin think that perhaps they were going about it wrong.

"Why do you think Taano gave us that message? I mean, why would the spirits send an old man across the country like that?" Devlin asked.

"I guess because we must have some sort of abilities that others don't. Something unique that will get the job done."

"I agree. If that's the case, why do we keep trying to find others to get the job done instead of just doing it?"

"I'm not sure I understand," Sarah said slowly. "We don't use wire fences on our ranch."

"Then maybe it's time we went out to every rancher personally and used some of these unique abilities the spirits give us credit for. Sarah," Devlin sat up, and her voice grew stronger as a plan of action took shape in her mind, "you may not know it, but you have an incredible gift for persuasion. It's not always in the way you speak or in what you say. Sometimes it's just the way you carry yourself or the expression on your face. Those kinds of things have to be experienced one on one, not in front of a crowd."

"And you think that will work?"

"It's how you got me."

Sarah looked into Devlin's smiling face and remembered the day Devlin decided to ride for her brand. She had a.s.sumed her Uncle Art forced Devlin to accept.

"I think we need to go see every rancher within a day's ride. Talk to them individually. Work some of your magic on them."

"And just where are you going to be while I'm working this magic?"

Devlin leaned back and entwined her fingers, cracking her knuckles. "I'll be using my unique abilities."

"Which are?"

"Keeping you out of trouble." Devlin laughed.

Sarah reached forward to splash Devlin. She then moved in and kissed the woman pa.s.sionately.

"Hey, don't kiss me like that unless you plan to keep going," Devlin said after they broke apart for air.

"And if I do?"

Devlin's heart fluttered. "Then go lock the bedroom door," she said in a husky voice.

Without another word, Sarah rose and Devlin heard the key turning in the door's lock. The fluttering moved into Devlin's belly as she eased her body from the water and made her way into the bedroom.

"Make sure Hannah goes down for a nap, Angelia. She'll try to talk you out of it if she can," Sarah said.

Angelia and Maria had become trusted members of the household. Sarah's uncle had hired the sisters to cook and clean when Maria's husband, Alejandro, brought them from Mexico and started work on the ranch as a rider. Sarah had offered the family a house on the ranch. She felt more comfortable with two other women around to talk to and Hannah enjoyed playing with Maria's girl, Nelli. Sarah didn't know what she would do without them.

"Si, senora. I know how that little one can be." Angelia laughed.

"Where are they all this morning? Dev and I are getting ready to leave."

"Hannah is playing dolls in the kitchen with Nelli. Maria is cooking and has an eye on them. Matthew is in the barn with Senor Hank. He shows him how to care for something they called tack."

"Well, we'll be back by suppertime. Just let them be. If you need anything at all, call for Hank. He'll be here all day."

"We will be fine, senora. Be safe."

Sarah and Devlin took the smallest wagon. The back had been packed with supplies should they need them and a picnic basket for lunch. It was a quick ride, and even though it was the end of February, the breeze was infused with springtime's warmth. The widow Henley had quite a bit of land to the south, but her ranch house was only a two-hour wagon ride from the Double Deuce.

Devlin pulled the wagon up to a stop thirty feet from the house. It looked quiet enough, which was how the widow liked it. Her riders, bunkhouse, and nearly all of the ranch's activity were situated on land farther south. The two-story house was in the middle of nowhere and seemed perfect for the antisocial old woman.

Devlin jumped from the wagon first and walked around to give Sarah a hand. Sarah stared at the quiet house from her seat in the wagon.

"Sachu-kash, she's not going to eat you."

"You don't know this old woman, Dev. She shoots first and asks questions later." As her feet hit the ground, Sarah heard the distinctive sound of a girl's giggle.

Devlin tilted her head and furrowed her brow at Sarah. "Did you hear what I just heard?"

"Oh, that's impossible."

Once again, they heard the m.u.f.fled laughter.

Sarah stepped to the back of the wagon and removed the canvas covering their supplies.

"Hannah Marie," she exclaimed.

"I wanted to s'prise you, Mama," Hannah said in an attempt to remove the stormy expression from her mother's face.

"Uh-oh. Sarah, come up here and count to ten." Devlin waved Sarah to the front of the wagon.

"Dev, I-"

"Honey, there's nothing we can do about it now. Let's just make the best of it and-"

"Make the best of it?" Sarah's voice was a high-pitched whisper. "Dev, you've never met this woman before, have you?"

"Well, no."

"The summer I was ten, I lived out here with Uncle Art. Mrs. Henley's husband had just died, and I came out with Uncle Art to offer condolences. She shot at us with a rifle and not a peashooter, I might add. She's as ornery as...as..."

"Okay, okay, I get the picture. Let's just get Hannah, go back home, and hope the old woman didn't see us."

The women agreed with a nod, and Devlin went to the back of the wagon to get Hannah. "Um...Sarah?"

Sarah followed Devlin and looked into the bed of the wagon where moments before Hannah had been hiding. "Oh, my G.o.d," she cried out as she did a double-take at the empty wagon bed. "Dev!"

"Well, who do have we here?"

"Hannah Marie Tolliver," Hannah said proudly. She walked up the back porch steps and sat on a small keg.

"Well, just make yerself at home," the old woman said.

"My mama's got one of those an' she shot a fox, an' bam! Right here." Hannah placed her finger between her eyes. "From a long way aways, too."

"I guess I'd best not shoot you then. I wouldn't want yer mama after me with a Winchester."

"You shouldn't shoot me anyway." Hannah looked up at Mrs. Henley with a serious expression. "Mama says people shootin' each other don't make sense. She shot that bad man, though. We should only shoot when we hunt. You should be careful where you point that thing. That's what Mama tells my brother, Matt, a lot. He's a boy and you know how boys are. He never listens to nothin'."

Mrs. Henley chuckled. It had been a long time since she had heard her own laughter, but this girl was a regular chatterbox. She leaned the rifle against the wall beside the door. "Reckon it wouldn't do to be shootin' you then, considerin' yer not much bigger'n a prairie dog."

"I am so bigger'n a prairie dog." Hannah puffed out her chest.

"Was that you makin' all that ruckus out in front?"

"Nope." Hannah absently kicked her heels against the wooden keg. "That was my moms."

"You got more than one mom?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, come on, little prairie dog. I wanna see these two moms of your'n. Easiest way to get to the front is goin' through the house." Mrs. Henley held out her hand and Hannah obediently slipped her small hand within the withered yet strong grasp.

"Okay, okay, let's not panic. I mean it's not like she's really lost." Devlin kept telling Sarah not to panic, yet she could feel her own voice rising in pitch with every word.

"I swear, Dev, if that old woman shoots my little girl-"

"We are not going to let that happen. I haven't seen any movement from inside the house, so chances are the old lady's taking a nap or something. Let's work our way very quietly to the back."