Page 2 of Wellspring
That only added to Cade’s curiosity.It would be his downfall, Nadua, his adoptive mother, always told him, but he wanted to find out more about the mysterious stranger.Heller had obviously arrived only minutes ago.Cade could offer to show him around, help him find a boarding house and maybe even a restaurant for dinner if the boarding house didn’t include meals.He could ask a few of his questions and learn a little bit more about the man.
Heller returned a few minutes later, the horse’s papers in hand.
“Did you get it all taken care of?”Cade asked, though he already knew the answer.
“It is done,” Heller said in his funny accent.He clearly knew what he was saying, but the pronunciation was a little off, bringing a smile to Cade’s face.He handed the rope back to Heller.
“Good.Could the captain tell you anything about him?”
“The captain said Thunder is his name.This is not for a horse a good name.”
There it was again, Cade thought.The awkward turn of phrase that wasn’t quite right.It reminded Cade a little of when he’d had to get used to speaking English again after speaking Comanche for so many years.“Why not?He certainly made a lot of noise earlier.”
“Names are important,” Heller said.“With a name like that, everyone expects a loud, difficult horse, and so they make him one.Much better would it be to give him a name like….Butterfly.Then everyone will a quiet horse expect, and so he will one become.”
“Just like that?”Cade asked incredulously.He’d worked with his share of horses and had known more than a few who were completely misnamed.
“Nein,” Heller said, “not ‘just like that’ but with work and patience and time,ja.Yes.”
“So his name’s Butterfly now?”Cade asked.
“Perhaps not Butterfly,” Heller conceded.“I will on the proper name for him think.Now I must a stable find.”
“If you’d like, I can show you where I kept my horse the last time I came to town,” Cade offered.“It’s run by a German couple, actually.You might enjoy meeting someone from home.”
Heller’s face tightened at the offer, making Cade wonder what he’d said wrong.“Texas is home now.Prussia is in the past, where it will stay.”
“There is another stable,” Cade said, “but I don’t think it’s as clean or as well-run as the one where I kept my horse.”
“Clean is important,” Heller said slowly.
“I could take him there for you,” Cade said, not sure why he suddenly cared so much about not letting this man out of his sight.“That way you’d know he was taken care of without having to be reminded of ho—where you came from.”
Heller hesitated a moment longer, clearly torn.“Nein,” he said finally.“There is no reason to avoid others from Prussia.”
It seemed an odd concern.Cade took any opportunity he could to visit with Comanche when he came across them, but he didn’t know what had driven Heller across an ocean, so maybe their circumstances were different enough to explain it.“Come on, then.I’ll show you where the stables are.”
“First must I for supplies arrange,” Heller said.
“That’ll mean a few days in Galveston,” Cade observed.“Let’s get your horse settled and then we’ll see if we can’t work out the rest.”
“Why are you me helping?”Heller asked suddenly as they walked down the street toward the stable.“You know me not.”
“Because you have a way with horses.”Cade gave Heller the acceptable part of the answer.He kept his growing fascination to himself.“My boss is looking for a couple of new hands, including a new bronc buster, on the ranch.I thought you might be interested.”
Heller stayed silent for so long that Cade worried he’d committed some kind of breach of etiquette when Heller finally looked at him again.“I might be interested.”
Chapter Two
ERICK SATat the table in the saloon across from his new friend, not quite sure how they had gotten there.He had expected to need time to find his footing once he arrived in America, but events since he stepped off the ship in Galveston had moved so quickly that he felt a bit like a leaf swept in the wind.How much worse would it have been had he not been fortunate enough to meet Webster?He hadn’t been managed so thoroughly since his mother arranged his presentation at court when he was sixteen.Webster had shown him around town, helping him settle his new horse and find a boarding house with an empty room.The boarding house only served breakfast, so Webster had promptly offered to buy him dinner.Erick had almost refused on the grounds that he was already beholden to the man for his help, but Webster had insisted he accept, saying it was only fitting to welcome Erick to Texas.
The beans and rice the saloon girl brought to the table were spicy, unlike anything Erick had ever tasted in Prussia, but he found himself eating more even as his eyes watered from the heat of the dish.
“You okay over there?”Webster asked.
Erick nodded and took another deep swig of beer.It wasn’t Prussian beer, but it was drinkable and it quenched the fire in his mouth, at least until he took another bite.“The food at home was not so spicy.”He smothered a frown at the slip.Texas is home now, he reminded himself.
Webster laughed.“I had the same problem when I first arrived.You get used to it.”
